Honeydew is the Moneydew

So this lot arrived (pictured below), should keep we going for awhile and another good few ticks from the list to come too!

It’s also almost time for the Hilden Beer and Music Festival 2014, line up looks good and I really enjoyed it last year – despite the weather. I hope to get up on the Friday night but might have to see how it goes. Anyone else heading up to Lisburn?

Right on to the beers…

228. Fuller’s Honeydew

Style: Golden Ale. ABV: 5%. From: Drinkstore.ie (though my local Tesco has it as well at the minute).

Description: Poured a vibrant yellow and perfectly clear, there was a thin white head for about 2 seconds until it faded off into history, no real lacing either. Pretty looking pint when the head was on it. Not much aroma, vaguely grainy and beery (I know that’s not a really helpful description but hey – it smells like beer!) with a hint of sweetness and golden syrup. Again I get a hint of grain in the taste, almost slightly lager like, a light bitterness, not too much in the way of hops here. It then finishes on a sweeter note (again to me more syrup than honey) and some very light spices. Light bodied and slightly sticky.

Thoughts: This did a perfectly acceptable 5pm on a Friday job, refreshing and easy drinking. I wouldn’t rush back, slightly on the sweet side for me, but would drink again if options were limited.

Score: 5

I also managed a couple of beers not from “1001 Beers…”. First up was Sierra Nevada Summerfest 2014 (Style: Pilsner. ABV: 5%. From: The Vineyard) – straw coloured and clear with a small white head. Again not much aroma – a faint grassy graininess. Flavour follows that, this is clean and crisp with that grain and light grass again. A decent little bitterness on the finish. This is another light easy drinking summer beer – prefect for after mowing the lawn. Score: 6. Finally we have Beavertown Gamma Ray(Style: Pale Ale. ABV: 5.4%. From: Drinkstore.ie), amber and hazy, this poured with a huge fluffy white head – a really gusher. Aroma is fantastic, lilt like tropical aromas: pineapple, grapefruit, and a touch of bubblegum. Taste is tropical too, mango is added to the lilt, as is a resinous caramel malt backbone. Though I found this quite bitter and astringent. While this was grand, the taste just didn’t live up to the smell and I found the bitterness just a bit too much, over balancing the beer. Score: 6.

Right, hope to see you at Hilden.

Cheers

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

The Outsiders

Been struggling to pick up beers from "1001 Beers..." recently for various reasons (might need to do a wee online order soon) but I have been picking up other new beers from outside the list to try! Here's a quick run through of the latest outsiders...

130. Weird Beard Hit the Lights
Style: IPA, ABV: 5.8%, Purchased: Gap Wines
Description: Copper colour, hazy,  small white head. Light tropical hop smell, a little malt. Taste to follow, plus grapefruit bitterness. A little earthy. Light boded though a slightly slick mouth feel.
Thoughts: Didn't do much for me (though it's not bad) more bitter than citrus. I wouldn't turn it down but I wouldn't seek it out either.
Score: 5.5





131. Weird Beard Hit the Fairy Lights
Style: APA, ABV: 4.8%, Purchased: Gap Wines
Description: Hazy and light amber. Small white head that dissipated quickly. Floral hop and a little biscuity malt in aroma. Similar taste, with a little orange bitterness to it. Moderate bitterness overall, light to medium body.
Thoughts: Brewed with oranges and star anise apparently. Got the orange but not the star anise. Again didn't do much for me, though it is drinkable. Weird Beard haven't blown me away so far...
Score: 5.5

132. William's Brothers Good Times
Style: Golden Ale, ABV: 5%. Purchased: The Vineyard
Description: Light straw colour. Decent white head. Smells light and a little flowery (brewed with elderflowers apparently). Refreshing and light drinking, a little hops and a little sweetness. Light bodied, decent fizz.
Thoughts:This reminded me a bit of a helles - light and fairly quaffable, would go down a treat at a BBQ. 
Score: 6.5

133. Ilkley Pale
Style: Pale Ale, ABV: 4.2%. Purchased: Lighthouse Wines
Description: Straw coloured and clear. Small white head. Not much aroma, some citrus. Light. Easy drinking. A little sticky. A little bitterness. 
Thoughts: Grand - but nothing I'd go out of my way to get - was expecting more umph from the Nelson Sauvin Hops!
Score: 6

134. Ilkey The Mayan
Style: Stout, ABV: 6.5%. Purchased: Lighthouse Wines
Description: Black with a decent tan head. Aroma is huge choc. Tastes of powdered hot choc (perfectly called by Darren at LightHouse Wines) rather than the good bitter dark choc I was expecting. Chilli brings heat on he finish. Thinner than I was expecting.
Thoughts: Probably the most interesting beer on this list, and the one I'd say to try out of them all. It kinda has all the elements, but just hasn't been balanced and evened out. I could take darker, more bitter chocolate, and less chilli heat.
Score: 6.5

I also picked up a bottle of Brooklyn Black Ops from Lighthouse wines, not cheap but i'm saving it for a special occasion (one beyond the fact that it's a Friday night).

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

In the pink...

Thursday Night Beer

I wasn't going to have a beer until the weekend; then work happened. So screw it I opened my fridge to see what was cold and interesting. Step forward beer 165 from the list...

• Roisin. Style: Fruit Beer, ABV: 4.2%.
  
  
  
  Description: Poured rose/pink and hazy. Big pink head that stayed for ages. Strong berry aromas. Not as much fruit on the palette as on the nose. Quite a lot of hops and malt in the taste, despite the fruit content. Bitter-sweet berries. Light mouth feel, but slightly syrupy.
  Thoughts:  I have enjoyed all the Williams Bros Beers have had to date, this was... not bad. A slightly different take on a fruit beer from Belgian examples, given the malts. Personally I prefer a sour finsh on a fruit beer. Being colder might have helped
  Score: 6.5

Update

And dammit one beer became two, this one recommended by Light House Wines and is Beer 65 not from the list

• Maredsous 6. Style: Golden Ale, ABV: 6%.
  
  Description: Poured light golden with a wispy blond head. Grapefruit and sour yeasty/bready aromas. Light fruit flavours, again grapefruit and citrus tastes. Slightly sour finish. Started light body but with decent carbonisation, though it became slightly flat before I finished it.
  Thoughts: Nice solid Belgian blond. This would have been my favourite of the maredsous range if it hadn't been for how flat it went at the end. May that was my fault (badly poured maybe?) but it brought down the score a wee bit. Very refreshing beer though, you'd never guess it was 6%!
  Score: 7

Cheers

Strawberries, Cream and English Ale (and Glasto too)

The Weekend's here!

With a weekend of sport (well done Laura Robson – Unlucky Lions) and good music ahead, I decided to head up to Sainsbury's to stock up on a range of English Ale to see me through.

There's a quite a lot of English Ales in "1001 Beers to Try Before You Die" that I'm yet to sample, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to tick a few off the list. As always this was easier said than done.

I REALLY need to start taking the book with me on buying trips. I managed to buy a couple of beers I have already ticked off the list (d'oh – but at least they are good beers!), and a few more I thought where on the list but aren't. This happens me all the time... I reckon if I ever make it through all 1001 beers I'll have sampled at least twice that (actually now I've thought that through maybe its a good thing after all...)

Anyway, here's what I sampled:

From 1001 beers

• Fuller's ESB. Style: Bitter, ABV: 5.9%.
  
  
  
  Description: Poured with a big, amber head that dissipated quickly. Clear, mid-amber in colour with a decent amount of bubbles that stayed well throughout. A malty bitter, only mildly hopped. The maltyness means that it feels bigger than expected given the colour and clarity.
  Conclusion: I’m not the biggest fan of bitters generally, but I can see that this one is a good example of the style. I definitely buy it again, but I'd guess there would mostly be better, more exciting or new beers to try instead!
  Score: 6.5
  
  
• Theakstons Old Peculiar. Style: Porter, ABV: 5.6%
  
  
  
  Description: Nice head, that lingered for awhile. Toasted malts to taste. Quite thin mouth-feel considering its a porter.
  Conclusion: After IPAs, Porters are probably my favourite style of beers. This one's grand, but a wee bit too thin and light for my taste.
  Score: 6
  
  
• Abbot Ale. Style: Bitter, ABV: 5%
  Description: Quite a light bitter with a carmel taste. Poured with a nice head that hung around till there was no beer left!
  Conclusion: I thought that I wouldn't like this (clear bottles tend to be a bad sign), but actually it was fine. Though I doubt I’ll ever buy it again.
  Score: 5.5

• Old Empire. Style: IPA, ABV: 5.7%
  Description: Another clear bottle... Poured clear and light amber. Lightly hopped and not much IPA bitterness
  Conclusion: I like my IPAs big and bold (see Hoppelhammer in my last post). Not bad but again there better out there so not one I’d go back to.
  Score: 6

Not on the list

• Southwold Bitter. Style: Bitter, ABV: 4.1%
  Conclusion: It might have been the few that preceded it but this came across quite well. Really solid bitter.
  Score: 6
  
  
• Old Thumper. Style: Bitter, ABV: 5.6%
  Conclusion: Strange after-taste to start, almost tempted not to finish it. It improved as it was drunk. Perhaps I served it too cold.
  Score: 5
  
  
• Green's Golden Ale. Style: Golden Ale, ABV: 4.1%
  Conclusion: Apparently brewed in Belgium for Greens in England. Wheat and gluten free. Smells like Duvel, but tastes nothing like it. To thin too light, and is actually more amber than blond. Refreshing but no backbone.
  Score: 5

Right I’m off to enjoy the Stones at Glasto.

Cheers