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

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