Breweries "Visited"

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Day 549: The National, Weyerbacher Riserva. What Are Things I Really Like?

Friday night we hit the Mann Music Center for the National show. The band is touring in support of their new album Trouble Will Find Me. While it hasn't been winning acclaim like some of their past albums have, I do highly recommend it.

I like music that stirs emotion and the National does just that. Matt Berninger (lead singer) has a voice that rattles my soul. It's deep, pensive and flows like honey--except when he's given to a bit of screaming. Then it's just raw emotion and I feel like I shouldn't be looking at him/listening to him. Watching him perform is mesmerizing. Where the music seems to flow out of the other members of the National, it's like it's battling with Berninger to get out. Or to stay in...I'm not sure which really.

Mr. Blog Named Brew and I debated whether this was one of the best shows we've seen and I was decidedly on the "YES!" side of that argument. Each song felt weighty...building to a point where it exploded in a fit of joy, anger, mind bending  lyrics and finished leaving me wanting more...waiting excitedly for the next song to start. Sweet release. Over and over. Song after song. 

That desire for more was repeated when I opened up this bottle of Weyerbacher Riserva (2012)--recently named the best new beer at The Philadelphia Inquirer's 2013 Brew-vitational, an annual competition for local beers.
Riserva is an American wild ale with raspberry purée added and aged in oak barrels. As soon as the cork came out of the bottle, I knew I was in for a treat. I believe the first words out of my mouth after the first sip were, "Holy hell this is good!"

It poured a hazy ruby-tinted brown ale with a small pale tan head. It has a fresh fruit smell that isn't sweet..more organic. There's definitely raspberry in the nose and a little wood too. The flavor is tart fruit and tart raspberry specifically. It has lots of prickly carbonation up front, then a little sharpness but it quickly mellows out and gets very smooth. It's fruity and woody and seriously one of the better beers I've had in recent memory. It's going in the top 25!

It also weighs in at a whopping 11.4% ABV. Amazingly you don't notice the booziness at all.

Beer stats
Style: American wild ale
ABV: 11.4%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from Weyerbacher
His review of Riserva, Double Simcoe IPA
My review of Merry Monks

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