Beeryness is next to Godliness

I missed @lighthousewines beer club again, this was specially hard to take give it was Stone Brewing Night! However, given it was my anniversary, and my daughter's birthday, chances of getting out were slim to begin with. Had a lovely dinner at Uluru in Armagh to make up for it (they even have a few local beers on the list but i was driving so on good behaviour). Managed to pick up the left over bottles (see below), any favourites from the night I should look forward to in particular?

My last post covered this years Hilden Beer Fest, which was a great night sampling beers. I managed to follow this up with another night beer tasting with a beer loving friend - even ticking a few more off the list. Now I did take notes, but I seem to have misplaced my geeky little beer book... so the below is going to be based on my memory (which is bad at the best of times) and untapped logins!

  

229. Brouwerij Van Eecke Poperings HommelBier

Style: Belgian Pale Ale. ABV: 7.5% From: The Vineyard.

Description: Hazy, golden, with a decent little white head. Belgian yeast on the nose, with a bit of spice and some unripe banana and clove esters. Nice herbal bitterness, a little floral and a little grain. Well balanced stuff this. Quite light, hiding the ABV far too well... 

Thoughts: Lovely little beer this, light, delicate but packing in plenty of interesting subtle flavours. Pleased it came in quite a small bottle as I'm guessing this is dangerous in larger quantities. Worth looking out for, I'll buy again.

Score: 7.5

230. Brouwerij Bosteels Deus (Brut de Flanders) 2012
Style: Biere De Champagne. ABV: 11.5% From: The Vineyard.

Description: Poured a bright yellow, with a very light cloudlyness and a tiny white head. Lots of very obvious carbonisation. Given the obvious links with champagne production referenced on the bottle I'm not sure how much of this is the power of suggestion... but there is a real vinous and soft fruit quality to the smell. The taste also has some of that peachy soft fruit and some light oak, although there is definitely more graininess than you'd get in champers. As it warmed it got slightly sweeter, but still pleasant - though I did follow the serving instructions pretty closely. Light bodied, slightly thicker and oiler as it warmed up. 11.5%? Where?

Thoughts: Saved this for an occasion and for another beer geek to share it with. I really enjoyed it, interesting, and lots of flavour. My wife wasn't so keen, feeling it was neither a proper beer nor winey enough, so be warned. Glad I bought it, at the price I'm not sure I'd buy again but if anyone one wants to donate a bottle... 

Score: 8.5 (may be a 9)

Of the other's we tried I'd say To Øl's Dangerously Close To Stupid (Imperial IPA, 9.3%, The Vineyard but also at Lighthouse Wines) was the best - lots of citrus, pineapple, and grapefruit (especially in the aroma) I was a bit worried it would be an over-bitter hop bomb but the flavour was nicely balanced, very drinkable, and something I need to be buying again for a proper taste! 

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