First up, the ever brilliant Lighthouse Wines is hosting their first beer tasting event at Bureau by the Lough on Tuesday 6 May. Apparently it's £10 in with 8 beers to sample (none have been announced yet that I'm aware of but give them a follow for more info). Should be worth checking out!
Anyway, took it relatively easy at the weekend (despite the temptation to crack open a bottle of something huge following the bloody football on Sunday) but did mange to tick another beer off the list...
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| Oatmeal Stout Battle |
208. Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout
Style: Stout. ABV: 6%. From: Drinkstore.ie
Description: Poured a very dark brown with a small tan head. Light coffee aroma, roasted malt, some cocoa, and a touch of dark fruit. On taste I got some smoke and wood to start, coffee and chocolate in the middle, and a toasted malt (and a hint of fruit) on the finish. Creamy and smooth, mid-to-full bodied but a little dryness.
Thoughts: Another little cracker from Rogue. Nicely balanced, nothing to fancy, but very drinkable.
Score: 7.5
Then I thought I'd be ticking another beer off the list, but I wasn't! I mistook the Achel Bruin with the Achel Extra Bruin... Ah well, buying a trappist beer is never that big a mistake.
169. Achel Bruin
Style: Dubble. ABV: 8%. From: Drinkstore.ie
Description: Dark brown, hazy, with a small beige head. Not much going on with the smell to start (it needed to warm up a bit) eventually there were hints of plum, marzipan and brown sugar. Starts with a whack of Belgian yeast, followed by dark fruit, marzipan, brown sugar, honey, nutty, and cherries. Quite full bodied, creamy, tight carbonisation.
Thoughts: There's a lot going on here, but it needed a bit of heat to get going. Actually there may have been slightly too much going on but overall excellent beer. Now I really want to try the Extra - anyone seen it available?
Score: 7.5
170. Kinnegar Scraggybay IPA
Style: IPA. ABV: 5.3%. From: Grange Wines
Description: Light amber, decent white head. Wow lots of peach in the aroma with some floral notes too. Taste starts off peach and nectarine, but doesn't really follow through with much punch - a little watery and no real bitterness. Light, low(ish) carbonisation, with a slight syrupy mouthfeel.
Thoughts: This is my third beer from Kinnegar Brewing, and the first that hasn't done much for me. It's not bad, just a little watery with no real depth - drinkable but not sure I would return to it.
Score: 5.5
Right - I'm off to to restock the beer supply.
Cheers
It finally feels like spring is here; hard not to be happy with good weather and a few days off coming up. I'm in London next weekend, I'll probably not get a chance to sample too much interesting as I will be fully celebrating a mate's wedding in true Norn Iron style (I'm guessing that even if there was something worth writing up my notes might be a tad blurry...). This weekend was therefore rather reserved but I did get a couple more beers ticked from the list.
204. Birra del Borgo Re Ale
Style: APA. ABV: 6.4%. From: Drinkstore.ie
Description: Pours dark amber with an off-white head. Smells wonderful, sweet fruits (mandarin), floral notes, and some tart grapefruit - hop heaven. I was expecting a big hit of hops following the small, but this was light, subtle, floral but quaffable, with a nice caramel malt backbone. Light but slightly sticky.
Thoughts: A bit like last week's Celebration, this may not have been at its freshest, but it stood up really well. Not too bitter, not too sweet, this balanced APA hit the spot with me.
Score: 8
205. Gouden Carolous Classic
Style: Belgian Strong Ale. ABV: 8.5%. From: Drinkstore.ie
Description: Poured very dark brown, opaque, small off-head. Not a huge aroma (my fault it was too cold) but there's hints of treacle and fig. Taste is dark fruits, figs and plums, toasted malts, treacle, and that Belgian yeast backbone. I also got some smokiness on the finish and a boozy hit. Mid bodied, syrupy.
Thoughts: I didn't read too much of this before trying, which screwed me up as I served this too cold, but as it warmed up it really came to life nicely. Felt a wee bit like a mini quad, or a big dubble. Either way it was good stuff.
Score: 7.5
Quick round up of a few other things I tried.
Off-List: 165-167. Steen Brugge Blonde / Wit / Dubble
For ease I have stuck these all together as they are all a bit same-y in my mind. First up I had to google Gruut - as each of these beers (picked up in the Vineyard) had "Enriched with Gruut" on the side of the bottle. While this made them all interesting, it made them all have the same herbal taste despite the style difference. None of them were bad but I couldn't see me buying them again.
Score: 5
Might manage an another quick post picking off a few more beers before the weekend, if not I'll catch you on the other side of Easter. Have a good one!
Cheers
Six new beers tried and tested over the weekend, and another ticked off the list! Straight down to business...
Beer from "1001 Beers..."
185. Boon Oude Geuze. Style: Lambic Geuze. ABV
: 7%. From: The Vineyard
Description: Vibrant yellow colour, hazy, and a good white head. Lots of funky yeast smells, grassyness, and citrus fruit. Sour and tart taste, lots of lemon rind. Quite light and dry, long sour finish.
Thoughts: Ah now this was nice. really well balanced, a little bit of fruit sweetness took the edge off the sour tartness. Really getting into Geuze, must try more...
Score: 7.5
Beers Outside the List
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| Some Porter |
106. Founders Porter.
Style: Porter. ABV: 6.5%. From: Lighthouse Wines
Description: Poured deep black with a good tan head. Lots of coffee and toasted malt aromas, a little dark fruit in there too. Coffee and bitter chocolate flavours, toasted, almost smoky malt. Rich, full, mouth feel.
Thoughts: I actually donated this bottle to my wife, I had a quick sample before handing over to and suffered instant regret. This stuff is class, rich, dark, and simply very tasty. The bottle was duly passed over very reluctantly, so I'm off to but more of my own!
Score: 8.5
107. Kernel Export India Porter.
Style: Porter. ABV: 5.7%. From: The Vineyard
Description: I'd say this was a deep dark brown rather than black. Good beige head that lasted well, plenty of lacing. Toasted almost burnt, malt smells, though you can get a hint of citrus hops in the background. Again a good toasted malt flavour, a little coffee, but then a good hop hit of bitterness and some citrus fruit. Mid bodied.
Thoughts: Another good dark beer, and another impressive one from Kernel Brewing. This one provided a great contrast - starts all dark and malty, and then in comes the hoppy fruit and a resin like finish. An IPA porter? A Dark IPA? What ever it is a found it very tasty.
Score: 8
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| Scotch Ale |
108. Founders Dirty Bastard.
Style: Scotch Ale. ABV: 8.5%. From: The Vineyard
Description: Poured reddish brown, with a small white head. Nice aroma: caramel, brown sugar and toasted malt. I get a real candy apple flavour from this, more brown sugar to taste, again a little toasted malt. Syrupy mouth feel, a little sticky, good alcohol warmth.
Thoughts: Another good Founders beer. The description above make it sound very sweet, but actually the alcohol and malt balance it out very well. Not something I'd drink all that often but I'd certainly buy again.
Score: 7.5
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| In the pink |
109. Boon Frambiose.
Style: Lambic Fruit Beer. ABV: 5%. From: The Vineyard
Description: Dark ruby in colour with a large pink head. Lots of tart raspberries in the aroma, and a little sour yeastynees. Again tart fruit flavours, lots of raspberry, and a sour tangy finish. Sticky mouth feel.
Thoughts: I rather enjoyed this too, very tart, a little sweetness. Not sure I could drink a lot of it but a perfectly pleasant way to start an evening...
Score: 7
110. St Bernardus Pater 6.
Style: Dubble. ABV: 6.7%. From: The Vineyard
Description: Dark brown colour with a log lasting off-white head. Toasted malt smell, a little sugar, and that unmistakable aroma of Belgian yeast. Some dried fruit flavours, a little caramel, a little bitterness. Mid mouth feel (may be slightly lighter than I was expecting).
Thoughts: By all accounts the bigger beers in the St Bernardus range rate better, if that's the case I look forward to trying them. This was a perfectly good, drinkable if unspectacular, Belgian dubble.
Score: 7
Cheers
