Four way

No messing about today, just straight into four more beers ticked off from the list...

211. Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale
Style: Pale Ale. ABV: 6.5%. From: Drinkstore.ie 
Description: Light amber with an off-white head. God, I hate trying to read my notes... Citrus but caramel malt backbone on the aroma. Taste is fruit, citrus, and caramel malt and a bit of bready/biscuity follow through. Light to mid bodied, slightly sticky, creamy/foamy.
Thoughts: Second craft in a can! This was lovely, nothing over played just a well balanced American Pale Ale. Worth getting your hands on.
Score: 8

212. Grottenbier Bruin
Style: Bruin. ABV: %. From: Light House Wines
Description: Poured brown and murky with an off-white head. Candied sugar and belgian yeast on the nose. Flavour provides more brown sugar, caramel, spice and some clove. Quite light bodied for the style. 
Thoughts: I rather enjoyed this, though I seem to enjoy most beers that come from Belgium - reasonably priced and certainly worth trying.
Score: 7.5

213. Rogue Juniper Pale Ale
Style: Pale Ale . ABV: %. From: Drinkstore.ie 
Description: Poured golden yellow with a small off-white head. Aroma is like a grainy lager, but there's something more in there, something sweet and fruity but it doesn't shout juniper. Grain and malt on the taste, again there a hint of crisp lager here, but with a touch more floral hops and fruit. Though the Juniper really doesn't push through. Lots of small tight bubble, makes it smooth and creamy.
Thoughts: I had high expectations of this beer, but it really didn't deliver. It's fine, drinkable, but not a huge flavour. There was a lager type cleanness too, but a muted flavour. Wouldn't buy again.   
Score: 5.5


214. Oakham JHB
Style: Golden Ale/Bitter. ABV: 3.8%. From: Drinkstore.ie 
Description: Very pale golden, hazy, decent white head. There's a definite herbal hop aroma (my wife even got a whiff of mint!), there's also a jaffa citrus here too. It's the tangerine/orange citrus that comes through on the taste too, giving it a decent bitterness, and more of those herbal hops. Light bodied.
Thoughts: This was enjoyable, lots of flavour despite the 3.8% ABV. Nice beer for supping on a sunny evening. Would buy again but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it.
Score: 6.5

Right, see you at Beer Club on Thursday!

Cheers

Belfast Beer Fest

I recently moved house and this lead to me being exiled from the internet for much longer than planned, so this update has been a while coming...

22nd November meant a glorious half day and an opportunity to hit the Belfast Beer Fest before the crowds got there. Think I preferred the old set up of beers dedicated to a “bar” rather than the alphabetical order thing but I still managed to get to the bar and order a beer or 3! I even got to tick 4 beers off the list (it could have been 5 but they seemed to have Tribute on rather than Proper Job which I was hoping for).

Given the time delay these are going to be quick reviews!

Beers from “1001 Beers..."

187. Green Jack Ripper Tripel. Style: Barley Wine?. ABV: 8.5%

This was described as a barley wine in the tasting notes and on rate beer. I'm not sure that's how I'd describe it, but then who am I to disagree. Sweet and sticky, very warming finish. I rather enjoyed it. 

Score: 7

188. RCH East Street Cream. Style: ESB. ABV: 5%

My notes for this one are pretty unreadable! A premium bitter, some malt, some caramel, but it didn't do too much for me. 

Score: 5.5

189. Butcombe Gold. Style: Bitter. ABV: 4.4%

Another bitter, this one a bit lighter. Though I got a very ashy finish that wasn't that pleasant. A bit too weak and light for me (or as one of my party said "pish"). 

Score: 4.5

190. O'Hanlon's Port Stout. Style: Stout. ABV: 4.8%

A stout with a splash of port... what's not to like? One of the better beers of the day for me.

Score: 7.5

I'm not going to cover some of the other beers outside the list sampled this time, as my notes are crap as I was too busy talking rubbish to anyone who would listen... but two other beers sampled are worthy of a mention Whitewater's Bee's Endeavour and Otley Saison Obscura. The Bee's Endeavour was nice warming and I enjoyed the honey and ginger, pretty good stuff. Saison Obscura - a darkly tastly belgian inspired ale - was probably my other favourite beer with the Port Stout, interesting stuff and worth try if you see it.

The next post (sooner rather than later hopefully) will cover the Belfast Beer Club on 28 November @ the Hudson Bar looking at Belgian Beers! A heads up though, the next one - looking at stouts and porters - is on 12th December. Stick it in your diary now as its sure to be a good night!

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