I’m a huge fan of Leavenworth and Icicle Brewing, so this is probably biased. Ive had Crosscut at the brewery, but my podunk local store started carying it so I’m enjoying one now.
It has low level aromatics of peppery sulfur lager esters, and bready malt, with a faint spicy nobel hop in the background. If you are big on appearance this one is awesome. Straw yellow and brilliantly clear with persistent champagne pin point bubbles rising till your done with the pint. The head was bright white and fairly persistent for a pilsner. Light lacing, no legs. The flavor is spectacular, with a soft bready crackery malt, perfectly balanced against that peppery match head ester and spicy hop flavors. The bitterness is artfully balanced with the maltiness but not puckering. The mouth is full initially but the carbonation and bitterness sweep across the tongue making it finish clean crisp and dry. No lingering odd flavors at all. No off flavors at all. No faults. Yum!
If this were a home brew entery I would give it a 43-45
Thanks but I didnt give any suggestions as to how to improve it. Basically because I would have no idea how to improve it. Maybe different ambiance. Like if I had just won a million dollars, and owned the brewery… then it would be all of a 48
I’ve heard that argument and maybe it is a 50. But my thought is that if you’ve never made a 50 it might be tough to say how to do it. The 50 is a long standing debate for sure. If you take the stand that all beers are 50 until you find problems or do you start at 13 and add points for good things. Or do you keep the scoring matrix in mind and score them based on where it fits there. This beer in my view is approaching world class but I’m leaving a bit of wiggle room.
Some beers just do have some intangible ‘magic’. I’ve brewed a lot of quads over the years (one of my favorite styles) , and I’ve even done well in comps with a few, but I’ve never brewed one that quite had that magic of Rochefort or Westy.
I believe in the idea that a great judge should be able to explain their scoring. I’ll admit that for me the higher the score the harder it is to explain. Such as with this awesome beer. I get that it sounds like I’m saying it’s a 48 and I don’t know why it’s not a 50. Maybe that’s the difference between a provisional and a grand master. I think it might be equally weak to say that I can’t explain it so here ya go, 50.
I’m in the midst of taking the course before my November tasting exam. Lucky to live where I do because I get to take the course with David Teckam, a grand master IV (or V, sorry Dave if I got that wrong) and a great instructor. He specifically states that those last few points are just that, an intangible, ineffable, wordless ‘something’ that makes it truly world class. call it the Soul of Great Beer.
for sure! 100% I dread the thought of coming up against a beer that I think might be a 50. I would guess I would start experiencing spontaneous full body orga… well. I imagine it would have to be pretty special.
The first time I had the Russian River Beatification it was close. I didn’t have the words to describe it then and haven’t had it again in almost five years but that’s what my memory tells me.
damnit; I just drove through Leavenworth couple weeks back.
ironically I was in a hurry to cross the pass and head north for another pilsner, at Chuckanut.