I say Yes to Edinburgh

So a managed a wee trip to Edinburgh the week before the big vote. I LOVE Edinburgh. It's just one of those cities with a good vibe. I had a little spare time between work, and wondered the streets on my own taking in the buzz, the tourists, and watching the world's media (OK, well the UK's media anyway) descend like vultures on the latest news morsel to pick over (endlessly as it turned out) till the vote was done.

I had hoped to have more time and check out a few new pubs, the Hanging Bat in particular was on my list thanks to recommendations from beer gurus like Michael Kerr. Work screwed me. I had less time than I needed and therefore decided to drop into Brewdog Edinburgh which was near where I needed to be. Like the rest of Edinburgh, it had an easy going vibe but plenty of people out for a Monday night. Lots of American's in there getting their hops on.

I sampled Brew by Numbers Tripel, which I found a little chalky, there was some nice light hoppiness going on but a little too yeasty (and not spicy yeast at that) for me. Next up was a quick sip of Brewdog's This.Is.Lager., ridiculous name aside there wasn’t much more going on here than in Fake Lager. It was fine, and a decentish pils, but not worth a second go round in my view. I finished with a quick half of Brewdog's Dead Pony Club, which is still a good light, session-able IPA that made me wish I'd just started with that. I left heartbroken with two beers behind the bar which were on the list (Grand Divide Yeti and Fantom Saison) which were too big to drink that night but I had no way of getting home with me (no check in luggage). I still managed to leave with a smile on my face, until a realised I had work to do in the Hotel...

Back home I managed to add on another couple of beers from the list:

232. St Bernardus Tripel

Style: Tripel ABV: 8% From: Drinkstore.ie

Description: Poured a nice dark straw colour, hazy, with a small perfectly white head. The aroma did the normal tripel thing, yeasty Belgian spice, a bit of fruit (I’d say a definite hint of apple), but then added in a hint of smoke. Flavour was more of the light apple fruit, a green grassy hops, spice (coriander). Light to mid bodied with a definite vinous quality.

Thoughts: Ah now this is how you do it. It’s a big beer, but plenty of subtly with it too – dangerous stuff with that high ABV hidden so well (till the second glass anyway).

Score: 8

233. St Bernardus Wit

Style: Wit ABV: 5.6% From: Drinkstore.ie

Description: Pale yellow in colour, cloudy, it poured with a small white head. My notes say “damn it I’ve got the cold and can’t get much from this” so that’s enlightening… there was a hint of orange and lemon, and a fair whack of wheat too. Slightly chalky wheat flavour to start, more of that orange juice in the taste, and – if I try really hard - maybe a hint of lemon rind and lemongrass. Pretty light bodied – expected it to be creamier.

Thoughts: With so many good beer produced by St Bernardus, I came into this with expectations. While there weren’t met by the beer, it was fine without ever being exciting or particularly tasty.

Score: 6

234. Rothaus Hefeweizen

Style: Wheat ABV: 5.6% From: Drinkstore.ie

Description: Colour was on the dark side of yellow for a hefe, hazy, and a big white head. Lots of orange juice in the aroma, and a hint of winter spices (clove, nutmeg, etc). There’s more of that orange juice in the flavour, again backed up by some clove and unripe banana. Medium body and creamy

Thoughts: Quite enjoyed this, in my opinion it was better than the Unertl version I recently sampled. Would buy again.

Score: 7

Cheers

Woody's Round-up

Having covered 3 new beers from the list in the last blog, I thought I’d take this opportunity to run quickly through a few other things I’ve sampled over the last few weeks.

First we have Duvel Triple Hop 2014 (Belgian Strong Ale, 9.5%, from @lighthousewines) which poured a cloudy but vibrant yellow, accompanied by a fluffy white head. Belgian yeast is the first smell to hit, but there a definite grassy/piny hop aroma. That spicy Belgian yeast plays a fair part in the taste too, but there’s more lemon here than in the original and more of the fresh cut grass from the aroma. Light bodied for the ABV. It was nice but I think I prefer the original. Score: 6.5.

 113 IPA from Slyfox (IPA, 7%, from @lighthousewines) provided more craft in a can. This one is amber, clear and comes with a small white head. Aroma is biscuit and caramel, with a hint of citrus in the background. Taste is quite malt forward for an IPA - caramel, biscuit malt, with a light pithy bitterness. Resin like mouthfeel. This was ok, I don’t mind a fair bit of malt in an IPA but this one was a little too sweet for me. Score: 5.5.

Anchor IPA (IPA, 6.5%, from @lighthousewines) also poured an amber colour, this time touching on red. Clear with an off-white head. Surprising fruit aroma – lots of berries and passionfruit. The berries carry across into the flavour, with some plums and prunes, it actually tastes quite boozy for 6.5% but not in a particularly bad way. Fizzy number this but quite creamy with it. I think all anchor beers have an identity – there something in the yeast or water that means you’d know it was brewed by Anchor no matter the style. This was solid, and a little different, without being great. Worth picking up though. Score: 7.

Sticking with berries, next was Founders Rübæus (Fruit beer, 5.7% from @lighthousewines). Red, clear, and no head. Tart raspberry aroma. Taste wise this reminds me a bit of red creamola foam! Raspberries, sherbet, and a little sourness to stop it being too sweet. Light but a little sticky. Decent though I’ve had better versions. Score: 6.5.

Pistonhead (Lager, 4.6%, from Tesco) was picked up to round out a deal in Tesco. Straw coloured with an off-white head. Grainy lager aroma. Flavour is grassy, with some grain and something slightly corn-like. Light and fizzy. Wouldn’t buy again. Score 4.5. Charles Wells /

Dogfishhead DNA (IPA, 4.6%, from Tesco) was part of the same deal. Copper coloured with an off-white head. Malt leads an aroma that’s pretty reminiscent of an old school English Bitter. Flavour again is malt led, some caramel too, and a decent bitterness. Mid bodied. This apparently has a reduction of Dogfishhead 60 Minute in it (thus the DNA of the title), and while the 60 minute has more of a malt profile than you might expect, I'm assuming the reduction here is at homoeopathic levels as it really doesn't come through. Don’t bother. Score: 4.

Last, but by no means least, was Stone Pale Ale (APA, 5.6%, from www.drinkstore.ie). A nice amber colour, clear, with a good off-white head. The aroma is quite malt forward, the plenty of toffee but there a grapefruit citrus here too. Taste again is quite malt forward, plenty of bitterness, astringent, green hops, grass, and grapefruit. It opened up and improved a lot as it warmed. Fizzy and resinous body. I’ve had the IPA before which I thought was better than this, but this was an enjoyable especially as it warmed up. Score: 7.

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

The Outsiders

Going off Piste
I normally like to kick off these posts by ticking off another beer from “1001...”, however this weekend I had a cracker from outside the list so thought I'd cover it (and a few others) prior to getting back the the trail!

Beer 76 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Kernel Imperial Brown Stout London 1856. Style: Imperial Brown Stout, ABV: 9.9% (!). Purchased: The Vineyard
  

  Description: Poured so black it started sucking the light out of the room. Nice tan head. Smells like an awesome coffee shop – coffee, cocoa and toasted malt. Again coffee on the palate, some dark fruits, almost burnt malt, and booze. Slight dark chocolate taste on the finish. Thick mouth feel, with a slightly oily mouth coating (this doesn't sound good but is).
  Thoughts: Now that’s what I call a beer. Dark, warming, complex; what more could you want? I can't recommend highly enough. Apparently this could be kept and aged, which I'd love to try that but I'm convinced I'd just drink it...
  Score: 9

Clearly myself from Belfast Beer Blog have similar tastes. There great review of the same beer is here. The only problem is, at 9.9% ABV, I'm not sure you could drink too many and it’s a bit of a nightmare to follow...

Beer 76 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Flying Dog Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout. Style: Oyster/Dry Stout, ABV: 5.5%. Purchased: LightHouse Wines

  

  
  
  Description: Slightly lighter in colour than the Kernel Beer above, but still dark brown. Very small head, but it was a bit of a ham fisted pour by me in fairness. Not much aroma going on, a little bit of chocolate and coffee. Toasted malt taste, with a wee bit of brininess. An unexpectedly light body.
  Thoughts: I'm a fan of Flying Dog beers (see here and here) but I think I preferred their Gonzo Porter to this. It may have been affect by following the Kernel Brew, and this paled a bit in comparison (and maybe that unfair on the beer, I'll try another bottle and update if required). A little too light in taste and mouth feel for me. Overall, OK.
  Score: 6

Beer 78 not from “1001 Beers...”

• Partizan Brewing Saison Grisette Styrian Goldings. Style: Saison, ABV: 4%. Purchased: The Vineyard

  

  Description: Almost lemon in colour and hazy. A very flimsy head that didn't hang about. Lots of lemon on the nose, slight biscuit notes, and some bitter yeast. Lots of zesty lemon, a little sourness and slightly bitter. Very thin and light mouth feel. Yeasty and dry finish.
  Thoughts: This is interesting, and it feels like there is a good beer in their trying to get out, but I'm not sure it works as well as it should. Much better than the rather strange sage thing of theirs I tried, but this is just a little too light and too thin for me. Refreshing though.
  Score: 6

The observant among you, or at least anyone still reading by this stage of one of my posts, will have noted I skipped from beer 76 to 78. Well I also had Macs Gold All Malt Lager – a pale lager that’s not really worth going into detail about: scored 4.

Next time we'll be back on the trail of beers from the list, and I have a few ticks already lined up!

Cheers