Tasting Notes: Nøgne Ø: Imperial Stout

Nøgne Ø: Imperial Stout (Norway: Imperial Stout: 9% ABV)

Visual: Black. Good froth on pour. Creamy coffee head. Not a hugely long lasting head, but it does exist longer than most at this abv.

Nose: Strong roasted popping nuts character with a hint of sour cream at the edges. Chives.  Smoke and maybe an odd touch of peppermint?  Almost toothpasty? Definitely different. There is a very booze heavy blackcherry styling.

Body: Solid. Subtle bitter frothy chocolate. Slightly sherbet like lemon feel and taste. Nuttiness grows. Moderate bitter back.  Slight roughness to the texture. Some pepper and peppermint over time.

Finish:  Grain cereals. Bitter chocolate comes in lightly then grows in intensity. Dry dusty feel. Peppercorn.

Conclusion: Good thing this came in a big bottle. The first few mouthfuls I took had me confused. There was very distinct…flavour, and yes definitely….. flavour styled flavours. In other words I could not pin it down worth a damn. It had definite character but not one with an easily described shape.  Time helped move past that initial confusion.

Possible the confusion came, somewhat paradoxically, from its simplicity. The main body is robust, yet straightforward. Not a criticism, it treats its style with elegant simplicity. Anything extraneous has been stripped out.

Now some of you may have noticed the somewhat long list of elements I put for the nose, and may be questioning exactly what I mean by “simplicity”. Rather than attempt to answer this, or pass you off to Karl Popper for an intricate examination may I just reply thus. I said the “first few mouthfuls” , a reference which I hoped indicated I was talking about the main body. The nose is an altogether different and confusing beast, so I had hoped to put it off until later in the review.

So, that explained shall we start on discussing the aroma then?  Most of the oddities come from when you have chilled the beer. I mean, chives? Peppermint? I am not entirely sure that they disappeared as the beer warmed as opposed to me just getting used to their presence. Either way, they may not be the archetypal stout aromas, but I must say they were a fun change.  It well worth playing with the beers temperature just to see what it will do. Lets face it you can always let it warm back to its more standard stout styling.

A solid imperial stout, taking simplicity yet quality as its mission statement. I can’t complain. Very much bitter chocolate and roasted nuts take on the style, with a peppery flourish as its doffed cap to a new styling. Not epic like some Imperial Stouts can be, but solid as a rock.

Background: Drunk to unwind on a Friday night. Whilst I have only had it a short while the bottle labelling indicates that this is a year old.  Nøgne Ø have been pretty solid so far, with robust expressions of the style. Not much wild experimentation yet, but heavy in character.

Bristol Beer Factory: Bristol Vintage 2011

Bristol Beer Factory: Bristol Vintage 2011 (England: Barley Wine: 6.6% ABV)

Visual: A simple cloudy reddened brown. Lovely tight bubbled head of a reddened peach colour. The head leaves quite a trail as the beer subsides.

Nose: Crisp. Fruitcake and rum. Malty chocolate. Cinnamon dusting. Reminds me of a Christmassy hot chocolate. Apricot or possible peaches and cream. Touch of cappuccino.

Body: Solidly bitter. Subtle dried apricot. Creamy texture. Slightly pineapple hopped. Lots of malt running through. Slight sour dough back. Subtle bitter coffee.

Finish: Dried apricots come through strongly. Lots of bitterness then light peach. Dry English hop character. Unsweetened bitter chocolate. Dry oak.

Conclusion: It’s a rare beer that is better in bottle than cask, but I think we just found one.    I had the cask version a few weeks ago and found it ok, but uninspiring.  Because of this the bottle ended up congregating at the back of the beer cupboard for a while.

So now, I dig it out to give it another try, bottle style.  The difference was immediately obvious, The aroma was so much more rounded and bold.  This alone led to looking at the beer in a different light.

The body itself wasn’t quite so different. A reasonable set of flavours but slightly indistinct in the differentiation between them.  The finish then comes in heavy with the bitterness and oak.

It’s a heavy beer, the texture is great and creamy but the flavour gives it this slightly gritty bitterness for grip.  The character bears well for potential ageing, though I feel possibly at a slight loss of clarity in its youth. Still a lot of promise. Light apricot coming through which is currently a background noise but will hopefully come more centre stage as the bitterness fades.

However I digress in this musing. I have a beer in front of me now damnit. A definite burst of fruity flavour characterises the beer, with a lot of hints to American IPA style, but matches to a traditional English Strong Ale like character in the main body, and a heavy oak influenced finish. Definitely benefits from room to warm, despite the American hoppiness it responds well like the traditional English beers to warmth.

So for now, I would say an average beer on cask, good but in need of a bit of polish in bottle, and Ill tell you in a year or so how the bottle I’ve tucked away does with ageing. Don’t let the musing fool you though, it’s unpolished but still heavy duty and tasty, just slightly raw.

 
Background: Bristol Beer Factories thousandth brew. So of course I hunted this down as soon as I could find it as they are a great brewery. Shortly after buying it I found it on tap, so grabbed a quick half for comparison as referenced in the tasting notes.  Five malts and four hop varieties used, aged in English oak.  According to ratebeer this is a Barley Wine. I would not have called that, but since I don’t have a better suggestion right now I’ll go with it, but I will try to confirm if that is right.  This was drunk whilst listening to Spektrmodule.

Tasting Notes: Kilkenny: Kilkenny Irish Ale

Kilkenny: Kilkenny Irish Ale (Ireland: Irish Ale: 4.2% ABV)

Visual: A slightly mahogany brown. Clumpy off white bubbled head but low carbonation.

Nose: Slight sour dough. Dry malt and malt chocolate. Dry roasted peanuts. You can smell the carbonation, if that makes any sense.

Body:  Burnt malt. Dry nuttiness. Resin and pine cones (Don’t ask how I know that one). Slightly fizzy texture. Touch of jelly babies with the sugar licked off.

Finish: Dry. Barley. Peanuts. Bit of charring.

Conclusion:  It’s that Irish beer that isn’t Guinness as it is unfortunately so often know.  They are very different beers despite that association, being completely different sodding styles for one.  They closer they come to sharing elements is that sour dough touch that gives a slightly cloying taste.  Apart from that, different worlds.

The beer is very dry and slightly nutty, with not much wild play to it.  Very stripped down it is dry and refreshing, nutty but no showmanship.

It’s a hard beer to place then. I mean it’s not vile, and not deserving of scorn, but I can’t help but find it a touch dull.  The role of slightly sour refresher does not release it from the need of actually being interesting.  It’s strange but these days I find myself more forgiving of a terrible beer that has ambition that a beer that is merely competent and dull.

I fear I shall have to damn it with faint praise. Nevermind. A very dry beer and follows this goal thoroughly and competently.

Background: One of Michael Jackson’s 500 recommended beers.  There is apparently a weaker version on draft in Ireland itself. Described as having toffee notes it sounds somewhat more interesting that its bottled version reviewed here. Despite oft being known as, that non Guinness beer, it is in fact brewed at Guinness brewery. Go figure.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Sunk Punk

Brewdog: Sunk Punk (Scotland: IPA: 7.1% ABV)

Visual: Clear browned amber. Good inch of beige head. Very loose bubbles in the head, but a thin head remains throughout the beers drinking.

Nose: Slight rocks and hops. Sea breeze. Prickly like gherkin jars. Passion fruit. Pickled chillies. Mandarin orange. Gingerbread. Warms to strawberry touch.

Body: Hops and rock salt, Malt loaf. Spirit like touches. Cherry elements. Custard and malt back. Grapefruit. Spirit soaked raisins. Greenery – seaweed? Nettles.

Finish:  Pickled gherkin. Charring. Salt. Clean vodka touch. Smoke. Very dry bitter hops to the end.

Conclusion: The? Fuck? No seriously. The fuck? What is this, I don’t even…Ok start again. This beer is all salt and gherkin and hops and spirit and at least two of them I thought I would never use to describe a beer. Underneath you have the hop fruitiness playing well in a much more comprehensible fashion. Still, the heck? This is not something I was expecting in a beer.

This is a beer that takes its nautical styling seriously. Distinct saltiness that leaves you more thirsty than before after each sip. Some seaweed like elements.  If a beer can tell a story then this one is a novel.  Oddly I couldn’t sense the declared rum used in making it, Then again with rum being so sugary possibly it was mostly attenuated during fermentation. Maybe.

Interjection: God damn that saltiness is odd, I’m half way through the bottle and while it isn’t overwhelming I do feel the need to rack up a water chaser for the end. The beer is really tingly as well, then dry and bitter at the end.  You get nettles and chilli style tingle for most of the beer.

So with all that I can’t say it is a classic beer, its just too damn far removed from what I would call a beer drinking experience. I mean I dig the rocky salty style of Islay whisky, but they don’t leave me parched like this.   Its interesting for all it’s oddities it is so dull on the eye.  Despite that they have a solid fruity hop beer at the base and then just shoved the most unusual stuff they could in there.

I can’t recommend picking it up for the taste, as you can get a lot better for the cash.  Heck of a unique experience though, rough and kinda mental.  Great texture, good background flavours, but not my favourite beer. Glad to have tried it, but not one I will try again.

Background: Well I say IPA, this thing is a real oddity in every sense. Despite everyone calling it an IPA it was made with lager yeast.  Dunno if that makes it an IPL. Anyway the reason lager yeast was used was to allow it to ferment at lower temperatures. By lower I mean under the water. Yes, this, Brewdog’s latest headline grabbing stunt was brewed at the bottom of the sea.  To keep the theme they used buckweed, sea salt and rum in the making of it. No I’m not making this shit up. They really did this. For reference here is their, somewhat mental, promo video

To think I was jealous when I heard about Rogues Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Porter, as I knew that madness would not hit the UK. Little did I know Scotland was going to do its own insanity. So With less than a thousand bottles made I thought I would have to give this madness a try.

Essays and Aphorisms: Shenanigans

Essays and Aphorisms: Shenanigans

Now you may get the impression from my writing that I am a very serious respectable journalist. Actually, that’s fairly unlikely, especially after the beer/sex act joke. Anyway, just in case anyone has made that mistake somehow I thought I would share some oddities from recent nights out.

It had been a quite fun night so far, my random writings and photo taking had resulted in a nice chat with the locals about what I was doing, and I had been making some recommendations of good whisky to try.

Then my good friend Dylan noticed they had something new.  Some weird Jeremiah Weed drinks. Now one was kinda ginger and root beer styled and the other Sour Mash kinda bourbon styled. I was wary, and those many whisky bottles on the wall kept catching my eye. However I am nothing if not open to experimentation. So my tasting note done I decided to join them in sharing two bottles of these new beverages between us.

Dylan and Will started on the ginger one, and made vague appreciative noises.

Huh, now that’s a phrase that looks wrong out of context.

Anyway.  I tried the Sour Mash one, reasoning it had a least a passing wave to my preferred style.
For feck sake why do I do these things?

It was as if someone had taken the vaguest whiff if bourbon and drowned it in water. If I wanted to ruin perfectly good spirits I can do that myself without having to get a fancy jam jar looking glass to do it with.  Shortly after my two amigos decided that the ginger one wasn’t actually all that either, something I could have told them a long time beforehand.  Then Dylan, very reasonably bowed out of drinking more than the small sample he had tried. With the reason being that he was the driver, leading to the following exchange

“God damn it, you ordered these pieces of shit and now you bow out?”

“Well yeah I’m driving”

“Ok. You have a good point. And we hate you for it”

“Well you wouldn’t want us to crash and die in a ball of flame”

“Yes, but only because that’s not the way we want you to die” “We have a list, a long one”

(DISCLAIMER: Despite the preceding piss take, we agree completely with Dylans choice and respect his decision. Drink driving is fucking stupid. Don’t do it. Seriously)

This was then followed by an example at the bar of exactly how bloody posh Bath is. A couple had come in and ordered Jagermeister Bombs, which if you are lucky enough to not know, is Red Bull with a shot glass of Jagermeister dropped in. By which I mean dropped in while still in the shot glass.

However this is Bath, so we couldn’t have that, no indeedy. Instead they dropped a shot glass of Woods 100 Old Navy Rum into a glass of Red Bull instead.  A concoction rapidly called The Bath Bomb, or The Bath Dambuster instead.

All with the Star Inn’s amused bartender looking on and joining the fun.

Anyway, then I ordered a measure of Dalmore 15. The silliness didn’t stop, but at least I had quality whisky to enjoy it with.

So why am I writing all this? Because it’s easy on a night out to get lost in the wonderful whisky and great beer and forget – booze is great, but it’s the people that make it special.

Here’s to all you out there. Share a glass with me would you?

Tasting Notes: Cantillon: Saint Lamvinus

Cantillon: Saint Lamvinus (Belgium: Fruit Lambic: 5% ABV)

Visual: Clear dark cherry to ruby red. A head froths to life, but does not last beyond the pour in the acidity. Looks somewhat like a single drop of blood has been dropped in and swirled around to create the hazy red look.

Nose: Horse blankets. White wine. Light blueberry. Slight tart gooseberries. That cheeseboard effect. Becomes slightly musty as it warms and much more fruity with red grapes coming out.

Body: White grapes. Tart yet dry. A touch gravely initially. Gooseberries. White wine. As it warms you get evident red grapes. Sour cherry, as well as oddly sweet shop sour cherry chews.  Cheeseboards again and blackcurrant.

Finish: White wine and light acidity. Grapes. Blackcurrant touches. Light brown bread slices. Dry. Occasionally oaken with a touch of fruit seeds.

Conclusion: Some people really take the concept of lambics as “the wine of beers” to the limits don’t they?  Merlot grapes and oak ageing of the lambic seems to be the result, and thus this beer.

The wine touches are unmistakable, oddly despite its gorgeous red colour; the flavour often calls more to white wine when it was chilled. As it warms the influence of the merlot grapes becomes much more apparent.   The colour, described as like a single drop of blood had been added, did lead to much quoting of “I don’t drink…wine” over the nights drinking.

For taste and aroma you have a lot of the call to lambic styling here. The dry acidity, horse blanket aroma, and cheeseboard like influence. The fruit influence is weaved in subtly, without the sheer sour force of say the kriek.  The dryness is similarly restrained, still present but not teeth drying in its power.  It may be just a sign of acclimatisation to Cantillons, but it does feel much smoother from its time in the oak.

Whilst restrained and fruity, it does not quite grab me as much as say, the Lou Pepe Framboise did. This can possible be attributed to the higher wine influence, which as a non wine drinker, was fascinating, but more appreciated intellectually than through the taste itself.  Still impressive, for whatever reason, but yes, more wine like that I tend to appreciate it.

So, your enjoyment will really depend on your lambic acclimatisation, and wine appreciation, but it is a fine crafted beer.

On a final note, much better as it warmed, though still slightly chilled, and make sure you take the dregs at the bottom of the bottle where the extra sediment really pushes the black cherry notes up massively in a very enjoyable manner.

Background: 600 Tasting Notes! Woo. To celebrate I broke open this from the beers that I always toe the line between love and hate for me, the Cantillons.  The most challenging of the Belgium, or in fact any, lambics.  This oddity has been aged in oak casks (apparently Burgundy barrels according to rate beer) and made with merlot grapes. Shared with friends, this beer recommends on its bottle to drink within a year of buying to appreciate the fruit nature fully. It was drunk seven days before said year deadline.

Tasting Note: Zuidam: Millstone 8 Year American Oak

Zuidam: Millstone 8 Year American Oak (Dutch Single Malt Whisky: 8 Years: 43% ABV)

Visual: A dark toffee gold. Very dark for its youthful age.

Viscosity: Very fast thick streaks.

Nose: Light toffee and oak. Cheese. Water lightens to planed wood and a touch of peanuts.  Some oddities at the edges like gelatin and a tar touch.

Body: Initially very smooth with sweet syrup, it quickly takes a big hit from charring and oak influence.  Touch of caramel. Water smoothes the charring out, leaving still evident oak and barley, but lets toffee run wild. Some Shredded Wheat touches maybe.

Finish: light charring and milk chocolate, or maybe bourbon biscuits.   Smoke and charring grows over time. Becomes mouth filling fresh with water. The oak remains however and some slight nuts.

Conclusion: Whew, this favours the oak just slightly. Reminds me a lot of bourbon in the way.  From the name and flavour I am wondering if virgin oak was used for this, at least in part.  It has that massive influence which either screams fresh oak of massive years, and I’m damn sure this doesn’t have massive years.

It feels touch rough and ready, all oak and smoke. However considering its youth it does have a smooth texture at the front, it’s near the back where the charring kicks in.  Besides that it has a nice play of sweetness, mainly caramel and toffee. It really is half whisky half bourbon and really shows a nice bit of innovation to the style.

Now I wouldn’t put it down as a favourite. It is kind of raw, though that is offset by water which makes it much more toffee sweet with each drop.  With a chunk of water id does gain a toffee pavlova kind of feel.

So nice, not showy, but experimental and interesting to try.  From vague memory I would describe this as a toffee influenced Makers Mark with not quite the grace, but it’s been a while since I had that so I may be a tad off.

Background: Drunk at “The Star Inn”, a small pub but very friendly and with a great whisky selection.  The bartender mentioned that this was a Dutch single malt and as sucker for something new, I had to try.  The bottle says American oak, and their website says that as well as Bourbon casks they do use virgin oak casks and I have a feeling they were used for at least part of this whisky.  This is my first sampling of Dutch whisky. The night in general was entertaining with my tasting noting bringing a lot of conversation from a few other drinkers.  There were other amusing oddities which will be the subject of a future post. Due to the chatting this had plenty of time to air and the aroma was very evident by the time the tasting started.

Malt Musings: Whisky and Comedy

Sometimes it must be a right pain in the arse having booze geeks in the audience.

At the local comedy gig the compere was doing a routine on how everyone knows the Irish whiskey, and everyone knows the Scottish whisky, but no-one ever knew the Welsh whisky.

At this point the voices of Dylan and myself shouted out in unison “Penderyn” quite putting the poor man off his set for a moment.

Its almost as unfortunate as the Belgian comedian who, for his set, relied on complaining that German beer was so much better received than Belgium beer. A point that, even for comedy, I could not let stand.

Fear the booze geeks, or at least make sure you have an appropriately comedic put down.

Tasting Notes: Ballast Point: Sculpin IPA

Ballast Point: Sculpin IPA (USA: IPA: 7% ABV)

Visual: Massive head on a hazy light apricot flesh body. Very lightly carbonated.  The head is solid for an exceptionally long time, and for a while it seems it will never die. When it finally does it leaves many lace traces around the glass in an off lemon and egg white colour.

Nose:  Light lemon sherbet, bitter hops and some dry wheat. Light apricot. Slight bread crusts. Peach skins.

Body:  Huge bitter front. Peach melba. The body seems very crisp initially.  Light plain yogurt. Nettles. Hop oils and lemon juice. The head has a great silk like texture as it touches the lips.

Finish: Dry bitter hoppiness. Light lemon curd and whipped cream. Dry bread. Peach. The bitterness grows slowly.

Conclusion: The very first thought that came to mind for the is write up occurred nearly immediately after pouring “Damn, that head looks so smooth you could think it was one of those evil smooth/cream flow beers. Thankfully, unlike said cream flow beers this is not utter shit.

The head sticks around, and before I move on to the rest of the beer I would like one final comment on it. Specifically its texture.  Since the head is so long lasting you sip roughly half the beer through it and it results in a sensation not quite unlike what I would imagine sipping hops through silk would be like. A very unique and expressive sensation.

Anyway enough talking about the head, if only to stop the nigh inevitable innuendo that will end up in the comments section. The beer itself is the thing!

Well like a lot of the USA IPAs it comes in heavy on the bitterness over a quite dry and crisp body. Subtle peach and lemon flavours bubble up, though without the force to completely contrast.  The lighter peach and lemon flavours feel like it would need a more IIPA weighting to them to properly fight the hops.  Oddly a lot less sweet that I would expect.

It does work though, and the crisp body gets creamier over time, again in a flavoursome way not a cloying cream flow way.  Despite the build up though the back never does properly scrap with the hops.  It does very well for, if somewhat more subtle than expected.

A very crisp creamy and just slightly sweet IPA. Near the end the crispness is hurt slightly by the growing creaminess. It adds to the roundness of the beer but at the cost of the drinkability it has been working on.

Overall a very full force IPA with well made flavour to it despite my criticisms, not a favourite but enjoyable.

Background: Drunk to celebrate finally 100% completing the computer game “Super Meat Boy” a game of quite evil difficulty and fun.  IPA falls pretty heavily into my favourite beer style, though I seem to tend more towards the NZ interpretation of the style currently.  This beer was picked up from Brewdog’s guest beer section of their store.  I’ve been hearing rumblings about Ballast Point for a while but never tried them before. On investigating this is currently rate beers third highest rated IPA.

Tasting Notes: Facers: Cwrw Campus: DHB: Dave’s Hoppy Beer

Facers: Cwrw Campus: DHB: Dave’s Hoppy Beer (Wales: Golden Ale: 4.3% ABV)

Visual: Just a bit hazy browned grain with barely a sheen of white suds.

Nose: Greenery and resin. Light sweetness and pineapple.

Body: Prickly hops and nettles. Greenery. Sweetness. Pineapple juice and toffee.

Finish: Hops, citrus lime and bitterness. Resin and hop oils. Vanilla.

Conclusion:  Sometimes all a beer needs is a simple trick done well. This is a simple beer of just such a style. Its trick is prickly hops and pineapple juice.  It tastes well enough as well, with the hop style being such that I wondered initially if it had been green hopped (for reference best I can tell it wasn’t).

The abv is nearly low enough to be a true session beer, and frankly it’s not far off so it does that job well enough as is.  The taste lasts well over a couple as well.  Nothing too heavy but it stays fresh and flavoursome.  Frankly it is a one trick pony, but if you are looking for something hoppy to tide you through a pub conversation then this will fill the session nicely.

So a nice prickly of moderate bitterness and nice hoppiness. None too bad I must say.

Background: Drunk at the Royal Oak.  Was the only beer I hadn’t tried on tap.  That about all I knew going in.