Brooklyn Locals

I'm a fan of Brooklyn beers, so I was delighted to see the big bottles of Local 1 and Local 2 available in Lighthouse Wines. Even better, Local 1 is in the list so another tick as well...

From "1001 Beers..."

186. Brooklyn Local 1. Style: Belgian Strong Ale. ABV: 9%. From: Lighthouse Wines.
Description: Comes in a big 750 ml bottle with a cork and cage. Poured a light golden colour, big white head that lasted, clear, and lots of obvious fizz. Straight off you're hit by funky Belgian yeast aromas, a little citrus, and a little spice. Taste is what you expect from the smell, actually quite subtle, with may be a little more grain flavour. Dry finish, light bodied but very fizzy. You would never guess this is a 9%'er, I'd guess this could be quite dangerous!
Thoughts: A good US version of a Belgian classic. However, I came to this with lots of expectations and was slightly disappointed. This isn't a bad beer, it's not even a mediocre beer, but it's not a great beer. To be honest, I'd be as happy with a bottle of Duvel as I would be with this, and that's no slight as a love Duvel, but I was expecting a wee bit more... Try it for yourself and let me know what you think. Score: 7.5

From outside the List

111. Brooklyn Local 2. Style: Belgian Strong Ale. ABV: 9%. From: Lighthouse Wines
Description: Again comes in a big champagne style bottle with a cork and cage. This one pours dark red / brown. Decent beige head, but this time it dissipated quickly. Again that distinct Belgian yeast aroma, this time there's a lot more sugar and spice going on. Taste gives some caramel malt, coffee, and the honey comes through along with some dark fruit and some citrus. A bit boozier feeling than the Local 1, more bitterness  Mid bodied, this coats your mouth a bit (I'm putting this down to the honey).
Thoughts: Very similar feeling on this to the Local 1, again on the upper end of good but not great. While both have the same score, I slightly preferred the Local 2.
Score: 7.5

Reviews of Anchor Brekle's Brown and Big Leaf Maple to follow very soon!

Cheers

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

Born in the USA

Really, if I were in anyway organised, this blog would have been completed and posted on the 4^th July. But I'm not, and it wasn't - may be being posted after the Boss's concert can make up for it? Either way, no time like the present I suppose, and I'm a big fan of the American craft beer scene. Unfortunately, I don't get to tick off another beer from “1001 Beers...” in this post but I though it was still worth sharing.

Others

• All Day IPA. Style: IPA, ABV: 4.9%.
  
  
  
  Description: Poured from the bottle with little head and not much lacing. Amber/orange colour. Smells like cross between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Goose Island IPA, my wife thought its had grapefruit aromas. A real hop floral taste – with just a little bitterness in the after-taste.
  Conclusion: This was a lovely little beer. Really nice hop taste, with a bit of grapefruit in the background. Not too much bitterness, and the reasonable ABV, means this is very drinkable beer that you could have a few of and enjoy. I found it refreshing and would definitely advise anyone to give it a try.
  Score: 7.5

• Summer Ale. Style: Golden Ale. ABV 5.0%
  
  
  
  Description: A Brooklyn beer that poured with a good head. Light Blond but bread/yeast aroma from the malt and, erm, yeast. Hops not very noticeable in taste or smell. Malt and bitter taste.
  Conclusion: I'm a big fan of Brooklyn Brewery – especially their Black Chocolate Stout. A change from some of the other summer beers out there, this is actually more malt based and toasted grain tastes. A nice enough beer.
  Score: 6.5
  
  
• Pennant Ale. Style: Amber Ale. ABV 5.0%
  Description: Again bready and yeasty. Bit of spice (not unlike Anchor Steam actually) Decent head. Dark amber. Good fizz that lasted.
  Conclusion: More like an old English pale ale. A little more malt that I expected, slight biscuit/toffee flavour. Maybe better for autumn than summer. Not bad though.
  Score: 6
  
  
• Underdog Atlantic Lager. Style: Lager. ABV 5.0%
  
  
  
  Description: Lager from Flying Dog Brewery (again I'm a fan!). Light golden in colour. Fruit aromas with a slight sugar sweetness. Really fizzy, and the carbonisation lasted throughout. Not much head. Fruity/citrus taste with a little bit of grassyness .
  Conclusion: I've stated before that I’m not a huge lager fan. More accurately, I'm not a fan of mass produced lager with lots of adjuncts. This was really pleasant – quite fizzy and sweet, perfect for a BBQ! Going to buy a few more bottles of this, perfect for this hot weather.
  Score: 7.
  
  
• Pyramid Hefeweizen. Style: Wheat. ABV 5.2%
  
  
  
  Description: Cloudy (unfiltered), blond wheat beer. Very little head. Slightly chalky aroma. Mid textured mouth-feel. Light and refreshing with a little bit of orange spice on the finish
  Conclusion: Another nice refreshing beer for a summer evening. Enjoyable.
  Score: 6.5.

Researching the Pyramid Hefeweizen, I discovered a little bit of discussion as Pyramid (due to their ownership structure) are no longer considered a “craft brewer”. I'll be honest, for me the book, and this blog, is about finding and drinking good beer. I'm not too fussed if its real ale or not, craft beer or home brew, micro brewed or multi national produced - as long as the beer is good I’ll praise it. However, I do think the smaller guys are trying more interesting things, and I'm also keen to promote local producers. If its not good, well its one not to buy again - no matter who made it.

Right, a bit of research and shopping needs to be done now if I’m to get a few beers ticked off “1001 Beers...” in my next post. Anyone bought beers online? Checking out a few websites that carry a range of beers but any tips would be gratefully received.

Cheers

Beer Weather

It really is beer weather out there

A late lunch in Horatio Todd's on the Newtownards road also was a nice surprise. I knew they covered a few beers but there was more choice here than I anticipated. Good to see another pub option in Belfast where you can at least try a few different beers (they also had Belfast Ale on draft, and the food was good!). During the visit I managed:

From the List

• Anchor Steam Beer. Style: Steam Beer/California Common. ABV 4.9%
  Description: An amber and sweet malty “lager”. Light carbonisation. Nice head with some lacing.
  Conclusion: As a said in “the beginning”, Anchor Steam was one of the brews that got me into beer. Lager like but dark and with sweet malts (technically its a hybrid - warm fermented with lager yeast). At the time it was like nothing I’d had before. Much better on draft in San Francisco, the bottles still travel well, and just popping off the cap and taking a sniff bring me back to a great holiday and memories.
  Score: 7
  
  
• Sam Adams. Style: Lager. ABV 4.9%
  Description: Another amber lager with lots more maltyness than we get locally. A head that lasts with some lacing. Biscuit and sweet malt taste.
  Conclusion: A bit of a surprise that Horatio Todd's had this on draft. Another fine lager, a bit like Anchor Steam but a little bit more traditional. Again this is one of the beers that showed me what was available out there. Always happy to grab a bottle or a pint – just a sip takes me back to the Warren Tavern in Boston!
  Score: 7

Others

• Headless Dog. Style: Amber Ale, ABV: 4.3%.
  Description: Poured from a bottle. Amber ale with a hoppy taste, some fruit and malt to finish.
  Conclusion: Solid beer, and a nice one to use to introduce non-hopheads to different beers. A little too mild to my taste but a perfectly fine ale.
  Score: 6.5

The Long weekend in Northern Ireland and, with this weather, a perfect time to sample some (cold, cold, cold) beers at home.

Not on the list:

• Snake Dog IPA. Style: IPA. ABV 7.1%
  Description: Bright gold in colour, poured with a little white head that disappeared pretty quickly. Fruit aromas, but a pretty bitter piney type hope finish.
  Conclusion: Big fan of most flying dog beers, and this one was as good as the rest. Quite a bitter hoppy finish that might be a bit much for some. Maybe too bitter for a summer night but a fine beer.
  Score: 7
  
  
• East India Pale Ale. Style: IPA. ABV 6.9%
  Description: Golden Amber colour with a fair amount of bubbles. Bitter fruit aromas and another with a pine hop finish.
  Conclusion: Again I'm a big fan of Brooklyn beers. This is another good one. Very similar to the Snake Dog, but maybe not quite as bitter a finish. Went down well!
  Score: 7

Cheers

The Story So Far

Introduction
As mentioned in my previous post, this blog doesn't begin at the start of my journey with 1001 Beers to Try Before You Die. It is probably more the end of the beginning (though I still have a very long way to go). In this post I thought I'd provide a bit of a summary of where I've got to and what has been good and bad so far.

Statistics
As of today (23 June 2013):

• I have tried 153 of the beers in the book (just the 848 to go then!).
• I have scores for a further 34 beers that I have also tried.
• From the list 40 have been from England, 29 from the USA, 23 from Belgium, 15 from Scotland, 9 from Germany, and the rest from all over the world (including Laos and Peru!).
• 31 have been amber (red/brown) ales, 23 have been India Pale Ales (IPAs), 13 stouts, 12 porters,  and 12 have been speciality beers (including fruit, sours, aged, etc).
• Strength (ABV) ranges from 3% to 18.2%(!).

The Best So Far

My scoring system is a tad subjective (but then what else could it be!) with beers scoring between 1 (undrinkable) and 10 (I need more NOW). Because I can be a bit indecisive I have allowed myself 1/2 points. 

3 beers have scored a whopping 9 out of 10. If you seen any of these in your local offy I'd suggesting buying them now and drinking one out of a bag on the way home (but you do so at your own risk and if you get arrested or walk into a lamppost don't come crying to me)! These are:

• Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest.Style: IPA. ABV: 6.7%. I love IPAs, and would probably be classified as a "hophead". To me this is an almost perfect example of the style - the hops are intense but well balanced by a malty beer and the ABV doesn't overdo it. A really well balanced beer.
• Ola Dubh (30). Style: Aged porter/old ale. ABV: 8%. This is an imperial porter aged in malt whisky casks that previously held Highland Park 30 Year Old Whisky. Peaty and smoked; a real sipper of a beer.
• Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Style: Stout. ABV: 10%. This is a big, ballsy, beast of a beer. Dark chocolate, thick, and malty; yet it comes across creamy. You would never guess this is a 10% beer, its very moreish and the temptation to guzzle it is there - try to avoid this or you'll have a very sore head in the morning!

There has also been one beer that rated 8.5:

• Aventinus (Schneider). Style: Dopplebock. ABV: 8.2%. Unfiltered, cloudy, malty, and quite sweet, yet the alcohol content really carries it through to a well balanced finish. 

Plenty of beers have scored 8, but I don't plan to list them all in this post. I might come back to some of them in the future, but I'll give a special mention to Samuel Smith Brewery. In my opinion this is the best brewery in the UK, and none of their beers have scored below a 7.5 for me. Seriously, go buy Samuel Smith Beer and enjoy (responsibly).

Outside the beers listed in the book another scored a very impressive 9:

• Mein Hopfeweisse (Schneider). Style: Weizen (wheat beer). ABV: 8.2%. On a summers day there is nothing quite as refreshing as a wheat beer, though sometimes they can be lacking in taste - not this beer. There is a really pleasant hoppyness that cuts beautifully through the crisp wheat beer. Again it hides its 8.2% ABV disturbingly well so be careful!

And the worst

This is just my opinion, but the following beers (and I don't plan to go into any real detail) shouldn't be in the book except maybe for comparison sake. I've tried them, their crap, you don't need too. You have been warned!

• Scored 3 out of 10 - Deuchers IPA, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Tsingtao, Grolsch, James Boag's, Singha, Chang.
• 3.5 out of 10 - Havest Pale.
• 4 out of 10 - 80, SA, Beerlao (though they do provide great glasses!), Budweiser, Castle Lager, Kirin Ichoban, Banana Bread Beer.

Disclaimer - obviously my opinions are subjective. You may love some of the beers above, and that's fine we can agree to disagree and you can tell me why I'm wrong in the comment section below - I'll give any beer a second chance! The main thing is to drink beer you enjoy. 

From now on posts are likely to be shorter and focusing in more detail on the 2 or 3 new beers I've tried since my last post.

Cheers!