De ranked in the top 220

Two beers away from another round number in my journey though "1001 Beers..." was enough encouragement to open a couple of bottles at the weekend:

219. De Ranke XX Bitter
Style: Belgian Ale (according to ratebeer) / Belgian IPA (beer advocate). ABV: 6.2% From: Drinkstore.ie.
Description: Mid-golden in colour, white head, and a slight haze. Floral hops lead the aroma, followed by Belgian yeast, bread, and something rustic and earthy. Taste kicks off sweet before giving way to some breadiness, floral hops, grapefruit, and some funky fruity yeast esters. Light-to-mid bodied, fizzy but creamy with it. 
Thoughts: Not quite what I was expecting (I try not to read about these before trying to as not to influence what I think it tastes like) but in a good way. Drinkable stuff this and certainly worth trying. 
Score: 7.5

220. De Ranke Guldenberg
Style: Belgian Strong Ale (RB) / Tripel (BA). ABV: 8.5% From: Drinkstore.ie.
Description: Poured a mango colour, hazy, with a tiny white head. Aroma starts with some funky Belgian yeast, but then its all soft stone fruit. Again the taste is surprisingly fruit led, peach, tangerine, nectarine, passion-fruit but a nice earthy malt/grain backbone. Hides the booze scarily well - I'd reckon this stuff is dangerous! Mouthfeel is light with good carbonisation.
Thoughts: Again this wasn't what I was expecting but again I was more than pleasantly surprised. This is really fruity, but not overly sweet - full on quaffable on a hot summer's day but with that ABV so well hidden this could get you in trouble. Great stuff.
Score: 8

I have tweaked the last post slightly, and still not sure it gets across quite what I was trying to say (this is why I do this for fun and nothing more - I'm crap at blogging!). Though I had a recent trip to Dublin that I think points to the future. I had about an hour in the city and got excellent beer and service at both The Norseman and Brew Dock - if you're in the city I can fully recommend both. 

I had a very tasty pint of 8 Degree's Amber Ella which was even better, fresher and more unctuous on draft than it was in the bottle. I'm a fan. Next was a quick sample of Rascal's Ginger Porter, I said previously I'm not a big fan of ginger in beer - this could bring me round quick smart. Coffee and chocolate flavours, with a nice soft body, finishing nicely with a full on whack of ginger spicyness. Would love to try this again and take proper notes. Finally (and about time too) I got a taste of Galway Bay's Of Foam and Fury. Holy shite this is how you make a double IPA - mango, passionfruit, and pineapple balanced with a great, balanced, bitterness and lovely malt. While there's booze here you'd never peg it at 8.5%. Beer of the year so far? I might need a proper bottle to put it to the test but it's right up there.

With this quality available so close by the local guys may need to up their game. If they could replicate any of these I'd be in a beery heaven.

For those who want to see / taste more of these Irish Beers, Brewbot/BelfastBeerClub's Tour takes in both Galway Bay and Rascals. If there are in spaces left your in for a treat!

Cheers    

Face Palm

I missed Beer Club Belfast again. Judging by Twitter it seems to have been a good night, any one who was there want to share their beer of the night?

A wee trip to the Vineyard helped ease my jealousy and lead me to pick up another beer from the list:

201. Palm
Style: Belgian Ale. ABV: 5.4%. From: Vineyard.
Description: Golden/light amber with a white head. Fizzy looking. Not much going on aroma wise, something slightly metallic. Taste is lagery, some light metallic hops, and a vague bitterness. Light bodied and fairly fizzy. 
Thoughts: Not sure why this is on the list personally. Very lager like. Drinkable(ish) but I won't be buying again.
Score: 5

To make up for missing Beer Club I picked up the two of the beers on show that I hadn't already tried, both are from outside the list:

159. Founders Imperial Stout
Style: Imperial Stout. ABV 10.5%: From: Light House Wines.
Description: This is dark, may be the darkest beer I've had since Bourbon County Stout. Dark Brown head, it every looks gloopy just pouring it into the glass. Aroma of burnt malt, coffee, bitter dark chocolate, and rummy booze. Bitter coffee taste, dark chocolate, then some oak, smoke, and tobacco. A big boozy hit: this is viscous and sticky. 
Thoughts: Very tasty; dark, rich and complex. Though for me there was may be a little too much going on, and every thing is turned up to 11. Personally I though last week's Narwhal was a more balanced beer, and overall I still think founders porter is the best of their range.
Score: 8

160. Williams Brothers / Brooklyn A Wee Bit
Style: Scotch Ale. ABV: 4.5% From: Vineyard.
Description: Dark brown, translucent. White head. Aroma is all peat and smoke. Flavour starts sweet, some malt in the middle, finishing with the peat and smoke. Quite light.
Thoughts: Not bad, not bad at all. Personally I could have taken more smoke, and it needed a slightly stickier body for me.
Score: 6

Cheers!

Not quite Senne-sational

A weekend with no plans other than the footy (great result) and the rugby (not so great a result) - and the fact that I'm in Birmingham (boys night away) and Cardiff (stag doo) the next two weekends - gave me an excuse to have a quiet one and a go at whittling down my beer stash slightly. Including ticking another beer from "1001 Beers...".

198. Brasserie De La Senne Taras Boulba

Style: Belgian Ale. ABV: 4.5%. From: Lighthouse Wines.

Description: Poured a pale yellow, cloudy, with a decent white head. Definite hoppy herbal aroma, mixed with some Belgian yeast. Starts off with the funky yeasty taste, but quickly the hops catch-up. There's a dry orange pithy bitterness here that builds up as you work your way through the beer. Light but a little stickiness. 

Thoughts: Quite hoppy for the style. Light and refreshing to start, with a decent herbal bitter kick. I'd buy again but wouldn't go out of my way to get it.

Score: 6.5

Just the one from the list in this post, but plenty of other new beers to tried too...

Not from "1001 Beers..."

138. Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest

Style: IPA. ABV: 6.7%. From: Lighthouse Wines.

Description: Deep amber, hazy, decent white head. Aroma of pine, grassy hops, citrus, maybe some peach and other stone fruit. Taste is led by quite a smooth honey/caramel malt, piny hops, and again some peach. Medium bodied, resin like mouth-feel. 

Thoughts: Another great beer from Sierra Nevada. I was expecting a big tropical hop bomb, but actually this was a bit more subtle and balanced than that. Tasty stuff, though not as good as the Northern Hemisphere Version for me.

Score: 8

139. Ilkley Holy Cow 

Style: Stout. ABV: 4.7%. From: Lighthouse Wines.

Description: Dark muddy brown, translucence, with a beige head. Aroma of coffee and burnt malt. Taste follows aroma, light coffee, slightly bitter-sweet, quite dry. Surprisingly light.

Thoughts: Didn't do much for me, too light, too thin, and where the hell was the cranberry promised on the label?

Score: 5

More brews to follow later this week including the excellent Kinnegar Maddyrow, Thornbridge Tzara, and Kernal's London Sour. Speaking of London Sour, it features in this week's Beer Club Belfast which is all about sour beers - get down there to turn your mind, and your palette, upside down.

Finally grateful for any hints and tips for good beer in either Birmingham or Cardiff - BrewDog Birmingham is already on the list but need to try a few other places with a local feel too.

Cheers

Refilling the beer box

The beer box was starting to look empty, fortunately a credit card cock-up left me in credit on my flexible friend! Well, I know how to make use of spare money... and fruitful trips to The Vineyard and Lighthouse Wines this week have helped build the collection up again! So, more new beers coming to a blog near you soon... but first a run down of a few recent tastings!

New Beers from the Lighthouse

Beer 183 from “1001 Beers...”

• Brugse Zot. Style: Belgian Ale. ABV: 6%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  

  Check out the head on that...

  Description: Light amber and slightly hazy. Might have been my crap pouring but this thing came out with a HUGE white head. I really didn't get too much aroma, some yeast and a bit of spice but nothing too strong. A bit of a tangy taste, some malt, some spice. Really fizzy, light to mid bodied, chalky finish.
  Thoughts: Another that might have been killed by expectations... I found this a wee bit all over the place, nothing very coherent. And nothing worth returning for – one of those beers I'm not sure why it made the list, but we all have different tastes!
  Score: 5.5

Beer 184 from “1001 Beers...”

• Thornbridge Kipling. Style: Pale Ale. ABV: 5.2%. Purchased: The Vineyard

Thornbridge Kipling

Description: Strong hazy yellow appearance, decent white head that lasted well. Lots of tropical fruit smells, pineapple and grapefruit. Lots of tropical hops to taste, but not too sweet or bitter – good balance. Light to mid body – coats your mouth slightly.
Thoughts: This is a great pale ale, really drinkable, well balanced. Another triumph for Thornbridge – one I'll definitely buy again
Score: 8

Beer 104 outside the list

• Gonny no brew that. Style: Golden Ale. ABV: 3.8%. Purchased: The Vineyard

Gonny no buy that again



Description: No head, dark yellow, clear. Very hoppy aroma – grapefruit and lemon rind. Again citrus fruit flavours, a little bitterness. Flat, slightly resin like finish.


Thoughts: Not sure I really got this... too flat for me.
Score: 5

Beer 105 outside the list

• Paulaner Oktoberfest. Style: Oktoberfest. ABV: 5.8%. Purchased: The Vineyard

A late Oktoberfest treat



Description: Straw colour, clear, with a good white head. No head, dark yellow, clear. A little bland smell-wise, some grain, not much else. Malty sweetness to taste, not real hops. Fizzy but light bodied.


Thoughts: Pretty middle of the road oktoberfest beer, drinkable but not very exciting.
Score: 6

Cheers