Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom

A fruitful update, 3 new beers from the list ticked off, a couple of decent outsiders, including one cracker. First up the beers from the list:

Beer 176 from “1001 Beers...”

• Green King Strong Suffolk Ale. Style: Old Ale. ABV: 6%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  
  Description: Dark brown, translucent, basically no head. Aroma of ripe fruit and figs (maybe some prunes?), a little toasted malt, burnt caramel, and a fair bit of booze. Sticky and sweet tastes, ripe fruit. Mid to full bodied, with a coating sticky mouth feel – no fizz.
  Thoughts: Despite my expectations (a clear glass bottle is generally not a good sign), this wasn't bad. Sticky and sweet; a sipper rather than a gulper. Not sure I would buy it again, but it had a good sweet boozy hit.
  Score: 6.5
  
  

Beer 177 from “1001 Beers...”

• Nils Oscar God Lager. Style: Helles. ABV: 5.3%. Purchased: Tesco

  
  Description: Poured a pale straw colour, clear, small white head, and surprisingly flat looking. Not much aroma; lager yeast with a little citrus fruit in the background. Sweet flavours, a little grainy, some fruit, and no real bitterness to speak of. Light with next to no carbonisation.
  Thoughts: I'm not a huge fan of lagers generally, but I think Helles are really tasty. This was light, refreshing, and easy drinking. Really decent session lager.
  Score: 6.5

Beer 178 from “1001 Beers...”

• Augustier Lagerbier Hell. Style: Helles. ABV: 5.2%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  
  Description: Poured very light yellow, clear, with a big white head. Again not a huge aroma; lagery. Tasted much like the God Lager, but maybe a little more bitterness and not as sweet. Light bodied, but this had a good fizz.
  Thoughts: Another good Helles, the bitterness gave this a slight edge on the God Lager. Tasty; though I think their Edelstoff was better,
  Score: 7

Beer 95 outside the list

• Brooklyn Sorachi Ace. Style: Saison. ABV: 7.8%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

Description: Comes lovely big wine bottle with a cork and cage. Pours bright yellow and hazy; big white head. Lots of citrus and soft fruit aromas, a little floral hoppiness in the background. Subtle and soft flavours, again lots of fruit, a little pepper/chili bite, buttery (some vanilla too?), and a nice bit of lemon rind thrown in for good measure. Light and fizzy; hides its ABV very well but still has a nice warming sensation from the alcohol.
Thoughts: Loved it. Close your eyes, and this could be a tasty aged Chardonnay, but one with a nice peppery finish. I presume it's the champagne yeast that gives it the vinous quality. Not cheap but worth every penny.
Score: 8.5


Beer 96 outside the list
• Aecth Schlenkeria Weizen Rauchbier. Style: Rauchbier. ABV: 7.5%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines
  
  Description: Light brown and cloudy; big white head. Unfiltered and unpasteurised. Lots of woody smoke on the nose, not much else getting through. Taste follows the smell; woody, smoky, but a bit lighter and less hammy than their Marzen. Mid bodied; creamy.
  Thoughts: Great stuff again from Aecth Schlenkeria. Overall I think I preferred the smoked bacon of the Marzen - but this might be slightly easier drinking.
  Score: 7

Cheers

Alternative Arthurs and Starting Oktoberfest

So I had a few beers at the weekend to celebrate the start of Oktoberfest, and there are a few alternatives here for a different sort of Arthur's day. Lets start off with another beer being ticked off from “1001 Beers...” and its a good one.

Beer 175 from “1001 Beers...”

• Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale. Style: Amber Ale. ABV: 5.2%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  
  Description: Pure amber in colour (I almost expected to find a mosquito in there with dinosaur DNA in it...), clear, with a good beige head and plenty of lacing. Subtle smell of caramel, toasted malt, and a little breadiness. Good lightly toasted malt flavour profile, sweet, but nicely balanced. Light to mid body, coats your mouth a bit, with a dry tart finish.
  Thoughts: I think we've found (and when I say “we” I really mean the folks from Lighthouse Wines) another good American craft brewer. This is lovely and autumnal. Not quite as good as their Hop Ottin IPA, but still a good wee beer.
  Score: 7.5

The observant among you (hands up, who noticed...) will realise I went from beer 173 in the last post – to beer 175 in this one. Well a quick flick through the book by chance showed me that one of the beers I have had, which I thought was outside the list, – Kozel – was actually there under a slightly different name. A free tick, it doesn't get much better than that!

I had a few from outside the list too...

Beer 91 outside the list

• Sam Adams Oktoberfest. Style: Marzen/Oktoberfest. ABV: 5.3%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

Description: Amber and clear, with a small white head. Not too much going on smell wise, some malts, and some hoppy citrus. Caramel malt flavours, a little buttery/nutty sweetness, and some grains. Light to mid bodied, decent carbonisation.
Thoughts: I know I really should be drinking the German originals but picked this up to fill the gap and finish off the last of the Sam Adams seasonals we get here. Nothing amazing but a good solid drinkable autumn beer.
Score: 7




Beer 92 outside the list


• Brewdog #mashtag. Style: Brown Ale. ABV: 7.5%. Purchased: Brewdog
  
  Description: Brown with a good white head. Smells of caramel and malts. Some marzipan nutty flavours, caramel malts, a little hop light fruit in the background. Mid body with medium fizz.
  Thoughts: A bit of background to the interesting development of this democratic beer here. Given this process I wasn't sure what I was going to make of it, there was a real chance this could have been a confused mess, but this was good. Again I think that overall Brewdog's darker beers are better than their lighter ones.
  Score: 7.5
  
  
  
  
  Beer 93 outside the list
• Brewdog Liberty Black Ale. Style: Black IPA. ABV: 7%. Purchased: Brewdog
  
  Description: Black but transparent. White Head. Aromas of toasted malt and tropical fruit from the hops. Dark, chocolate malts balanced against some tropical fruits (grapefruit mainly) and a little funk. Slightly oil mouth feel, medium bodied, dry finish.
  Thoughts: Black IPA always interest me, this was good, but not as good as Thornbridge's Wild Raven.
  Score: 7

Beer 94 outside the list
• Theakstons XB. Style: Bitter. ABV: 4.5%. Purchased: The Vineyard
  Description: Dark brown and white head. Woody/smoky aroma (tobacco and ash?), a little citrus, and some OK toasted malt. Not a huge amount going on flavour wise, a little caramel malt, slightly sweet with a light bitter finish. Light to Mid body.
  Thoughts: A beer I bought because I thought it was on the list but it isn't... And anyone who has read a few of these posts will know I’m not a fan of bitters. This one didn't have much going on, but wasn't... bad just a little dull. Probably quite session-able though not sure I’ll be buying again.
  Score: 6

Cheers

Taking a flyer

A hell of a haul from LightHouse Wines in Whiteabbey (see pic below) will help make a real dent in the list. Reviews will probably come in the next few posts rather than this one, but go get 'em while they're fresh!

Beer 173 from “1001 Beers...”

• Badger Blandford Flyer. Style: Bitter. ABV: 5.2%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  
  Description: Copper colour. Clear but no head. Lots of ginger and spice aromas.  Again ginger flavours, sweet, a little bit spicy, with some toffee malts in the background. Light mouth feel.
  Thoughts: A bitter with added ginger. Not a huge fan of ginger beer generally – this isn't something I would have bought if it wasn't on the list - and this beer doesn't do anything to change my opinion. Too much ginger, too light bodied. Not the worst but not something I would try again. (Note – name change from the book, this used to be called Blandford Fly but it's the same beer).
  Score: 5

Beer 89 outside the list

• Brewdog Nanny State. Style: “Imperial Mild”. ABV: 0.5%. Purchased: Brewdog

Description: Amber, clear, and a good head. Big aroma of tropical hops. Hop bomb on the first taste, settled down a bit after. Lots of pine. Slightly astringent. Light and fizzy mouth feel.
Thoughts: You can read the background to the development of Nanny State here. A bit of a fun “up yours” to regulations and regulators then. It's actually not bad, though the low ABV means it lacks a bit of something for me, especially in mouth feel – it's almost watery. Having said that, for a low alcohol beer it packs a real flavour punch!
Score: 6


Beer 90 outside the list
• Brewdog Cocoa Psycho. Style: Imperial Russian Stout. ABV: 10%. Purchased: Brewdog
  
  Description: Man this is dark, jet back in appearance with a decent dark brown head. Lots of coffee, chocolate and roasted (almost burnt) malt aromas. Big flavour hit of coffee, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, woody, smoky  and booze. Syrupy, sweet, and boozy mouth feel.
  Thoughts: There's a lot going on with this beer, but it's all good. Not up there with the Kernel stout I had recently, but pretty damn good. Just a note, you'd know this was 10% but not in a bad way.
  Score: 8

Cheers

Too Many Hops?

So here’s the thing, beer geeks love hops. I love hops. After many years of drinking bland fizzy things masquerading as beer, hops are a revelation. I just wonder if we are now getting a bit carried away, can there be a beer with too much hoppy bitterness...

Beer 84 outside the list

• Brewdog Jackhammer. Style: IPA, ABV: 7.4%. Purchased: Brewdog
  
  
  Description: Golden appearance with a good white head. Tropical hop aroma, a bit of grapefruit. Starts sweet and fruity, goes citrus, and then a really bitter hop finish. Very dry, with a long bitter finish.
  Thoughts: See, I thought I was a hop head - this beer has made me question that. It starts promising but, for me, the huge hop bitterness and very dry finish make it almost undrinkable. No doubt there are plenty of people out there who will disagree with me – if you do let me know in the comments or on twitter – or maybe the bottle I had was a bit off. If you REALLY like hops give it a go.
  Score: 5

Beer 85 outside the list

• Mikkeller Yeast Series Lager 2.0. Style: Lager, ABV: 6.4%. Purchased: Brewdog

Description: Light amber colour, with a big beige head (some yeast gunk made it into the glass too). Hoppy tropical smell, with a little yeast mustiness. Starts with some floral hops, then a little malt, followed by a quite tart bitterness. Very fizzy, quite dry and a wee bit sticky.
Thoughts: My first Mikkeller beer. This one is part of a series of beers where all the ingredients and processes are the same, they just change the type of yeast used (and the appropriate fermenting temperature). Quite a lot of hops in this so maybe more like an imperial or strong lager? A lot of bitterness and mustiness in mine, along with a very dry sticky mouth feel, made this one a bit weird to me. Wouldn't try this again but look forward to comparing notes to others in the range.
Score: 5.5

Beer 86 outside the list

• Brewdog Electric India. Style: Saison, ABV: 6.4%. Purchased: Brewdog

Description: Blond and clear, with decent lacing. Great smell of yeasty mustiness, backed up by some tropical fruits. Sweet/sour taste, plenty of funky yeast, but plenty of tropical fruits flavours too. As it warms up it gets a really peppery finish. Thin and light body.
Thoughts: Now this is more like it. Fun beer, that became better as it warmed up. Light yet complex. Get on it.
Score: 8

Beer 86 outside the list

• Brewdog Watt Dickie. Style: Ice Distilled, ABV: 35%. Purchased: Brewdog

Description: Poured light brown, clear, with no head. A really strong booze aroma – you could probably fuel a plane on the fumes alone. Prune and brandy tastes, lots of booze. Syrupy and more like a spirit than a beer.
Thoughts: More in the line of Brewdog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck. Described by my wife as “vile”. It's not quite that bad but not something I’d buy again. Fun to try but tough to finish.
Score: 4.5

Beer 172 from “1001 Beers...”

• Wadsworth 6X. Style: Bitter, ABV: 4.3%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  
  Description: Copper colour. Clear with a wispy white head. A little biscuity malt. Mostly a malt flavour, a little hops, a little ash, and overall not much going on. Lightly carbonated and a mid mouth feel.
  Thoughts: Beers from the list normally start the blog, this one was so dull I stuck it here. Not awful, just not much going on. The slight ash taste isn't my thing.
  Score: 5

Cheers

Beer 171

So here we go again. Another post, another tick from “1001 Beers...”

Beer 171

• Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA. Style: IPA, ABV: 7.5%. Purchased: Brewdog
  
  
  
  Description: Light honey in colour and clear. Skinny white head with good lacing. Lots of citrus aromas, grapefruit and piny hops. Good bready pale malt tastes, with citrus flavours. Bitter finish, slightly sticky coating and a resiny mouth feel.
  Thoughts: You hear it all the time in craft beer circles, “needs more hops”. This beer shows why it not all about hops and why balance is key. Just great. Up there with the best IPAs I've had.
  Score: 8.5.

Beer 83 outside the list

• Brewdog / 8 Wired Brewing Dog Wired. Style: Imperial Pilsner, ABV: 6.8%. Purchased: Brewdog

Description: Pale blond in colour with a good white head. Wow, lots of tropical fruits on the nose – very fresh aroma. Again a big, totally topical taste (seriously this reminded me of a beer version on lilt). Some grainy cereal in the background. Good fizz (may be too much?) and light.
Thoughts: A twitter review by Tim Higgins and a follow up blog by the BeerMack had me intrigued about this one. I have never (to my knowledge at least) had an imperial pilsner before. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Very fresh tropical hops against a nice fresh cereal background (though maybe slightly too sweet). Actually felt slightly boozier than 6.8%. Nice and different.
Score: 8.

Beer 84 outside the list

• Brugge Tripel. Style: Belgian Tripel, ABV: 8.2%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  
  Description: Poured amber with a big white head. Lots of bready and yeasty smells – slightly musty. Taste of malts, banana , some hoppiness, and a little sour/bitter finish. Syrupy, slight astringent. Dry.
  Thoughts: Wasn't a huge fan of this, tastes every bit 8.2% and then some. None of the really interesting bits that a good tripel has – it just came across too boozy and one dimensional for me.
  Score: 5.5.

Cheers

Extravagantly Hopped

Brewdog

First time I've placed an order through the Brewdog web-shop and overall I was quite impressed. Not cheap but access to their occasional range, and some great guest beers I haven't seen locally, helped make the decision (pic of the purchases below). As did the discount through their Equity for Punks scheme. Order placed on Monday, arrived on Thursday, and good brewed on dates too!

I still prefer to buy locally where I can, as much because I enjoy a good nosey around an offie as anything else (I'm the guy wondering aimlessly around The Vineyard and LightHouse Wines), but it's another option for picking up some of the harder-to-get beers from the list.

Future posts will cover the Brewdog beers, but starting off with a few others...

Beer 170 from “1001 Beers...”

• Green Flash West Cost IPA. Style: IPA, ABV: 7.8%. Purchased: Brewdog
  

  Description: Poured amber with a good head. Big citrus hit on the nose, lots of grapefruit, and some decent hop pines. Caramel and biscuit malts, with plenty of citrus flavour. Piny, grassy notes in the background. Good bitterness, with a light-to-mid body, slightly resin like.
  Thoughts: It claims it is “Extravagantly Hopped” on the bottle, so another for the hop heads. I get the feeling that if fresher it would have more piny and grassy hoppiness, but actually the little big of age may have helped balance it and make it more drinkable. Great IPA.
  Score: 8.

Now A beer from the list i have had before but haven't blogged about - beer 79 from “1001 Beers...

• Thornbridge Jaipur. Style: IPA, ABV: 5.9%. Purchased: The Vineyard

Description: Light blond and clear. Decent white head that stayed. Great hop smells, a little pineapple. Light and fruity, lots of citrus, a little honey sweetness in the finish. Light and fizzy mouth feel.
Thoughts: Lovely example of a light, fruity and citrus IPA. Not much malt going on in this one, making it very drinkable.
Score: 7.5

Beer 82 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Hitachino Nest Amber Ale. Style: Amber Ale, ABV: 5.8%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  
  Description: Poured dark brown/red with a tan head. Lots of malt smells, some brown sugar. Good malty taste, quite subtle. Mid mouth feel with light fizz.
  Thoughts: Had a bit of a cold so may be not the best circumstances for a review. Nice beer still, quite subtle, though not as good as their white ale.
  Score: 7

Cheers

A Partizan Crowd

First up, I've ticked another beer off the list and it a good'un:

Beer 169 from “1001 Beers...”

• Liefmans Curvee Brut. Style: Fruit Beer, ABV: 6%. Purchased: The Vineyard
  
  Description: Dark ruby red, a good pink head with plenty of lacing. Aroma of tart stone fruit, cherries, slightly sour notes, with hints of marzipan sweetness. Deep dark cherry flavours, a little malt, and a lot of tart sourness. Light but sticky mouth feel, nice carbonisation; dry finish.
  Thoughts: Fruit beers can be a bit “love 'em or hate 'em”. This though is seriously good, a blend of aged beers mixed to perfection. Sweet but the perfect sourness to balance it. Two points: (1) it's 6%, so stronger than some fruit beers and it might creep up on you; and (2) if you don't like marzipan dark cherries, this ain't for you (how cherry could it be you ask, well for a hint its described on the bottle as “brewed with cherries, aged with cherries, with cherry juice added”! I loved it though, great beer.
  Score: 8

Now on to the topic of the this post: Partizan Brewing. To me, they're a bit of a conundrum. The first beer of theirs I had was was great. That was followed by one I didn't get at all, and one that had a lot of promise but didn't quite deliver. Ever intrepid, and being interested by what they are trying to do, I went back to the well for two more beers...

First up is beer 80 outside the list

• Partizan Brewing Dr Rudi Pale Ale. Style: Pale Ale, ABV: 5.5%. Purchased: The Vineyard

Description: Light amber and hazy. Very slight white head. Lots of tropical fruit on the nose – this sounds weird but it reminded me a bit of Umbongo. Fruit sweetness, with a little citrus/grapefruit bitterness. Mandarin? Long bitter finish. Unfiltered, very light bodied, no carbonisation, slightly oily mouth coating.
Thoughts: First up, I love the Ska inspired artwork – took me back to the '80s! After that, I'm really not sure what to think of this beer. I veered from liking it to not liking it – all in the same mouthful. In the end, I think I enjoyed it more as it warmed up. I maybe need to try another bottle of this, but I've never been so indecisive about a beer before!
Score: 6.5

Beer 81 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Partizan Brewing Mild. Style: Mild?, ABV: 6.4%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  
  Description: Dark Brown and translucent. Small white head. Lots of toasted malt aromas, real smell of porter from this. Tastes of toasted (almost burnt) malts, brown sugar, with a bitter finish. Mid mouth feel.
  Thoughts: This is described as a Mild, but to my uneducated mind it was more like a porter. This is by no means a bad thing. Really enjoyed this: complex, dark, bitter, and perfect for an autumnal night.
  Score: 7.5

Based on this I reckon their dark beers are much better than their light beers. But they are definitely trying interesting things and I'm looking to try more of their brews. Try some folks, see what you think, and let me know!

Cheers

The Outsiders

Going off Piste
I normally like to kick off these posts by ticking off another beer from “1001...”, however this weekend I had a cracker from outside the list so thought I'd cover it (and a few others) prior to getting back the the trail!

Beer 76 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Kernel Imperial Brown Stout London 1856. Style: Imperial Brown Stout, ABV: 9.9% (!). Purchased: The Vineyard
  

  Description: Poured so black it started sucking the light out of the room. Nice tan head. Smells like an awesome coffee shop – coffee, cocoa and toasted malt. Again coffee on the palate, some dark fruits, almost burnt malt, and booze. Slight dark chocolate taste on the finish. Thick mouth feel, with a slightly oily mouth coating (this doesn't sound good but is).
  Thoughts: Now that’s what I call a beer. Dark, warming, complex; what more could you want? I can't recommend highly enough. Apparently this could be kept and aged, which I'd love to try that but I'm convinced I'd just drink it...
  Score: 9

Clearly myself from Belfast Beer Blog have similar tastes. There great review of the same beer is here. The only problem is, at 9.9% ABV, I'm not sure you could drink too many and it’s a bit of a nightmare to follow...

Beer 76 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Flying Dog Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout. Style: Oyster/Dry Stout, ABV: 5.5%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  

  
  
  Description: Slightly lighter in colour than the Kernel Beer above, but still dark brown. Very small head, but it was a bit of a ham fisted pour by me in fairness. Not much aroma going on, a little bit of chocolate and coffee. Toasted malt taste, with a wee bit of brininess. An unexpectedly light body.
  Thoughts: I'm a fan of Flying Dog beers (see here and here) but I think I preferred their Gonzo Porter to this. It may have been affect by following the Kernel Brew, and this paled a bit in comparison (and maybe that unfair on the beer, I'll try another bottle and update if required). A little too light in taste and mouth feel for me. Overall, OK.
  Score: 6

Beer 78 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Partizan Brewing Saison Grisette Styrian Goldings. Style: Saison, ABV: 4%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  

  Description: Almost lemon in colour and hazy. A very flimsy head that didn't hang about. Lots of lemon on the nose, slight biscuit notes, and some bitter yeast. Lots of zesty lemon, a little sourness and slightly bitter. Very thin and light mouth feel. Yeasty and dry finish.
  Thoughts: This is interesting, and it feels like there is a good beer in their trying to get out, but I'm not sure it works as well as it should. Much better than the rather strange sage thing of theirs I tried, but this is just a little too light and too thin for me. Refreshing though.
  Score: 6

The observant among you, or at least anyone still reading by this stage of one of my posts, will have noted I skipped from beer 76 to 78. Well I also had Macs Gold All Malt Lager – a pale lager that’s not really worth going into detail about: scored 4.

Next time we'll be back on the trail of beers from the list, and I have a few ticks already lined up!

Cheers