Tasting Notes: William Brothers: Profanity Stout

William Brothers: Profanity Stout (Scotland: Imperial Stout: 7% ABV)

Visual: Dark brown black. Creamy beige suds for a head.

Nose: Coffee and cream. Fruitcake and raisins with a brandy style touch. Rich chocolate and a light waft of citrus. Maybe grapefruit hop touch there. Slight greenery like crushed leaves.

Body: Smooth. Bitter hops but not aggressively so. Bitter chocolate, Belgium style. Coffee. Almonds. Hint of citrus hop character – kiwi and passion fruit. Apricot.

Finish: Growling hops and bitter chocolate. Pineapple air.

Conclusion:  Damn it! I so wanted to use a “Profanity Stout, bit shit” joke and then the Williams Brothers have to actually go and pull out a decent beer just to annoy me.

Life is pain some days.

Anyway, while not in the same level of bitterness as some of the American experiments this still stands as quite the hoppy stout. The highly hopped stout is a beer style that I have a love/hate relationship with. Some days I find them delightfully aggressive, some days I just fight them sticky, sickly and simple.

This one balances it well. The hops do kick but the main body is slick and it doesn’t linger past its welcome. The hop finish is similarly growling but not grating.  It keeps the main flavours simple and distinct. A small range but well defined. Suitable as subtlety oft becomes murky against aggressive hopping.

So it has forthright flavours that punch out of the glass yet sit well on the tongue with just enough mild citrus hopping to keep it fresh. This is a distinctly well made stout. Not quite world class, but it presents the chocolate and coffee character well against a new age hopping and keeps away from many a potential brewing mistake.  You can do far worse than this one.

Background: Williams Brother brewery and I have had a mixed relationship. Some beers I have found just dull, yet some have been ingenious and using distinctly odd ingredients that perk my interest.  This one is part of their run of beers aimed at getting amateur brewers recipes made into more widely available beers.  Found as part of the new beer range at Sainsbury’s where I grabbed a batch of beers I hadn’t tried before for sampling.  This one was picked mainly because it was called profanity stout. Yes I’m shallow.

Tasting Notes: Green King: Innis and Gunn: Irish Whiskey Cask

Green King: Innis and Gunn: Irish Whiskey Cask (Scotland: Stout:7.4% ABV)

Visual: Dark brown to black. Browned head, though not much of it. It tends to clump around the edges for what you do get as well.  Red highlights to the beer in the light,

Nose:  Charring. Liquorice and lemon sherbet. Rum and raisins. Shortbread. A grain like alcohol touch. Malt loaf.

Body: Sticky treacle and sticky toffee pudding. Slightly sherbety froth to the texture. Light oak influence.  Bitter and liquorice at the core. Vanilla beans. Bitter coffee.

Finish: Liquorice. Quite slick. Slightly oily texture. Dry malt.  Fish oil. Charring and bitterness. Brown or possible rye bread. Toffee. Ash.

Conclusion: It seems that the time spent in the whiskey casks isn’t the only Irish influence on this Scottish born stout.  The finish in particular reminds me of the dry highly attenuated finish of some Irish red ales. The main body similarly cleaves closely to the traditional Irish interpretation of the stout (for a mainstream reference imagine the standard bottled Guinness as opposed to the thicker creamier pub tap style).

The whiskey influence onto this is pretty heavy as well. Sweet toffee notes feel as if they have been rinsed throughout. In many ways it’s odd that it took this long for I&G to go the stout route for their beers as oak ageing in most of the industry has tended towards the heavier and darker beers as their base for a while.  It just seems heavier beers survive exposure to the spirit better that their lighter counterparts. For the most anyway.  Now they have gone the stout route they pick the lighter Irish whisky rather than the generally more booming Scottish whisky to go with. It copes better than you would guess at challenging the heavy stout flavours and has no problem making itself apparent.

The Innis and Gunn style is still highly event even with the change in beer style. By which I mean the weird mix of oak and almost bubblegummy feel which is hard to pin down in tasting but obvious whenever you are exposed to it in a beer.

So does it work. Actually yes. The whisky sweetness offsets the dry stout very well. It is in turns dry, bitter and slightly cloying put against a sweetness that by itself would be sickly but here balances well.

The range of stouts available these days is massive, and crowded with high quality beers. This is a good entry, maybe slightly sickly towards the end but that minor flaw is offset by the fact that this beer manages a distinct feel that stands out from the pack.

I’m sure there will have been Irish whiskey aged beers before, but this is my first encounter with such a thing and its mix of styling makes for a welcome difference for an old hand to the scene.

Overall and enjoyable and different celebration of the style. Very glad I got the chance to try it.

Background: I return from work one day to find this bottle awaiting me. Turns out the kind people who promote Innis and Gunn decided to send me a bottle.  Many thanks, it was a nice surprise and always appreciated.  This stout was aged in Irish Whiskey casks for 60 days after brewing.  I don’t think I have run into Irish aged beer before.  I think. Innis and Gunn have been solid to great in their beer releases so far (with the exception of I&G Blond, but I will let them off on that one). Despite the mass of stouts I have been drinking recently I don’t seem to be getting burnt out on them yet. Thankfully.

Tasting Notes: Sticklegs Brewery: Tendring 100

Sticklegs Brewery: Tendring 100 (England: Bitter: 4% ABV)

Visual: Pale grain to gold. Frothed off white bubbled head. Slightly hazy due to looser than expected sediment. The same incident resulted in some small sediment lumps at the base of the beer.

Nose: Light earthy hop touch. Passion fruit. Slightly acrid sourness. Cooking apples. Some gooseberries.

Body: Dry. Heavily attenuated. Rye bread. More earthy bitter hops. Cooking apples. Slightly acidic.

Finish:  Moderate bitterness and earthy hops. Cooking apple touch. Dry.

Conclusion:  Not the best start. On opening this I was nigh convinced there had been a yeast infection in the beer. The bottle had given out a sharp wisp of sourness that made me distinctly distrust it.  The loose sediment on the pour despite having left it to settle for a few days didn’t help either.

Once in the glass though things seemed a bit more approachable. The sour funk had settled to a sharp dryness that I would associate with some American style wheat ales.  Despite this is still wasn’t doing much to impress me on first sniff or sip. Then again that is an achievement in itself. Takes one heck of a beer to manage to give the impression of yeast infection on opening and yet still not have any unusual elements on sipping.  That unfortunately is not a compliment though.

The beer is dry, almost over attenuated and has a close range of earthy hops. The description states a mix of English and American hops were used but it is hard to find any particular hops stand out characteristics. No real stand out characteristic front, middle or back. Its all pretty monotone earthy bitterness and dryness.

So, erm not the best. I hate to give a bad review to a beer given as a present but there it stands.

Still two more to try from the brewery. I’m sure they will be better

Background: A kind gift from Paul. Many thanks for these beers.  I had not heard of the Sticklegs brewery but always appreciate the chance to get some beers that don’t often leave their home county. Despite the less that positive review I gave the beer I am still happy to have had the chance to try beers from new breweries, and there are still two beers left for the brewery to redeem themselves. Thanks again.

Tasting Notes: De Molen: Ramsgate (GADDS): Fresh Hopped Bohemian

De Molen: Ramsgate (GADDS): Fresh Hopped Bohemian (Netherlands: Bohemian Pilsener:6.2% ABV)

Visual: Hazy amber gold with a massive yellowed thick bubbled head that leaves lace. Fizzy main body.

Nose: Tart. Gooseberries and grapefruit. Pineapple. Very fresh. Banana sweets. Apricot.

Body: Custard and grapefruit. Very fresh still. Peaches. Slight hop character behind.

Finish: Hard pineapple sweets and cream. Elderberry. Peaches. Good bitterness and hop character.

Conclusion: Oh yes. Why is this beer style not more prevalent? The few Boihemian Pilseners I’ve had have been delicious.

This one is tart with a fruity aroma, then takes all that and adds bitterness in main body. The bitterness remains until the last moments with a fresh feel yet stable bitterness.  It’s a beer that balances itself between easy drinking, tart thirst quenching and utterly fresh flavour delivering.

The texture is pretty thick. It gives the flavour grip but that and the abv are the only two elements that keep it from the session beer category.  A category it would otherwise be a very good contender for. I would say it’s a disappointment but you can tell its been designed for a different purpose.

While you would not fill a summers day with it’s drinking you could relax in an evening and contemplate the beer with friends. The beer had a whole orchard of fruit flavours and I can image drinking in a grove of fruit laden trees as the sun goes down. Talking with mates as the shadows roll in.

Of course to do that I would not only need to find a grove of fruit bearing trees, but also find enough bottles of this in limeyville to get enough to share. Maybe I could manage to get enough between this and the equally excellent Beersel Lager.

Any which way a fantastic beer.

Background:  I’ve been meaning to do a De Molens beer for a while and this collaboration between them and the comparatively local Ramsgate Brewery seemed the perfect time to do so.  I’ve had a few Ramsgate beers though I’m fairly sure I never reviewed any.  May have to alter that.  Drunk whilst listening to Spektrmodule 07.  The beer was bought from Corks of Cotham, a shop that’s beer selection is going from strength to strength currently.

Tasting Notes: Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte: An Turas Mor

Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte: An Turas Mor (Scottish Islay Single Malt Whisky: no age statement: 46% ABV)

Visual: Clear gold.

Viscosity:  A lot of fast thin streaks.

Nose:  Peat and smoke.  Light dried beef jerky.  Campfire ash.  Dry pomegranates.  Water makes more broth like. Beef crisps.  Aniseed and peppercorn.

Body: Burnt and peated. Touch of sweet syrup below that. Charred thin beef slice. Dried apricot, pomegranate and vanilla cream. Water makes sweeter and the meat and peat roils in.

Finish: Dry. Chocolate and smoke. Slightly medicinal dryness.  Light charring. Dried peach slices. Water makes more chocolate and smoke.

Conclusion: I’ve played with a few whiskys recently that turned out to be very dry and peaty and a few of them have turned out a bit too mouth drying and antiseptic for me. Oft the ones with higher alcohol content exacerbating the effect.

On first sip I thought this one was going to be another of those. The dry peat and medicinal style is distinctly present, but backed up with light fruit and sweetness.  Then a few meagre drips of water take that edge off balancing it up just right.

Smoke on the nose, sweet and peat then into fantastic dryness and chocolate which gives great mouth freshness. It is still dry, even the fruit feels like dried fruit. The added flavour range does not reduce the distinctive style.

Near the end of the drink the alcohol becomes tongue numbing in intensity, even with the water and in but a single measure.  It is possible the whisky would have benefited from a touch more water but since I enjoyed the flavour balance so much I did not want to risk ruining it.  As is it has an impressively bracing style. If you have access to a full bottle I would advise taking some time to play with it as I’m fairly sure it will have a better range than I found.

The fruit to kick balance is impressive and I really want to return to it at some point to experiment more. A very impressive dry peat whisky with good complexity for the punch.

Background: An Turas Mor is apparently Gaelic for Great Journey. This is best I know the only multi vintage version of Port Charlotte with the rest being yearly releases of the evolving spirit. Port Charlotte is the name of the peated version of the Bruichladdich and has a good reputation in the whisky world. Found at the “Tasting Rooms” I just had to give it try.

Tasting Notes: Bristol Beer Factory: Imperial Stout Aged In Glenlivet Casks

Bristol Beer Factory: Imperial Stout Aged In Glenlivet Casks (England: Imperial Stout: 10.7% ABV)

Visual: Black. On a fast pour it manages a coffee coloured set of bubbles that may or may not pass for a head.  Not much life on the bubbles even. Leaves a slight viscous brown trail.

Nose: Bitter coffee. That sour dough freshness. Apples. Custard cream biscuits.  Fruit crumbles toppings covered with sugar.  Vanilla doughnuts. Slight sour grapes. Barley husks and raisins.

Body:  Apple crumble. Bitter chocolate. Very slick. Good bitterness and light fudge.  White grapes. Frothy chocolate fondue. Teabags. Raisins.

Finish:  Chocolate gateaux. Fudge. Bitter chocolate. Almonds. White wine. The alcohol is more evident at this end.

Conclusion:  I was wondering how well the Glenlivet cask would stand up to this beer. I always think of the Livet as a lighter fruitier whisky, while this imperial stout is a harsh thing to fight.  A bit of a David and Goliath match up here.

Initially impressions are one of a smoothed out version of the Imperial Stout.  Main body is rich yet bitter. At the finish you do notice the alcohol more with an air that can’t help but remind you of the over ten percent abv and the years it’s spent lazing in the cask to achieve that. Unfortunately it’s mainly the alcohol hit not the whisky flavour that reminds you.

The whisky influence does seem subtle. There are sub notes to the beer of fruit and occasional wine like notes with sour grape touches.  The ageing seems more to have restrained the beers excesses rather than use the whisky flavour to massively expand it.

The reigning in and smoothness make for a much better beer though. It allows the bitterness to be present without getting annoying. In fact it seems like an actualisation of the intended difference between Yeti Stout and Oak Aged Yeti Stout.  While I never really got the oak aged Yeti the intent was to smooth out the beer and here, unlike the Yeti, the concept seems to have really worked.

Initially this beer was chilled and then allowed to warm to room temperature. The aromas and flavours shifted heavily during this time resulting in the laundry list like group of flavours listed above.

So, a good Imperial Stout which benefits from the ageing in subtle ways. In a way I am disappointed the Glenlivet was not more obvious. It seems like a high quality Imperial Stout rather than a good example of oak ageing an Imperial Stout.  In that way it seems a beer of similar quality to the BBF Ultimate Stout. It shares that beers smoothness and good range of complexity, plus has a nice set of fruit notes. Unfortunately the high price, low availability and high abv means that it doesn’t have quite the same niche it fits as the Ultimate Stout and so while it is a beer I enjoy it’s not quite one I would hunt out as often as Ultimate Stout.

A good, but not obviously whisky, Imperial Stout.

Background:  Bristol Beer factory are the great stout producing brewery that made the “Twelve Stouts of Christmas” set of which this is one. In fact this is one of the last two. I have been saving the big gun whisky aged beers until last. This one was drunk whilst listening to Spektrmodule 6.

Tasting Notes: Bristol Beer Factory: Bristol Stout

Bristol Beer Factory: Bristol Stout (England: Stout: 4% ABV)

Visual: Black with the occasional red highlights if held to the light. Small sheen of greyish bubbled head.

Nose: Liquorice. Slightly tarry. Almond slices. Bitter coffee and sough dough balls.

Body: Bitter. Sour dough. Touch of charring and slightly chalky in the middle.  Touch of fish oil right at the back. Wholemeal bread.  Slightly astringent and tannins at the back. Green nut freshness.

Finish: Bitter and charring. Touch of earthy hops. Light treacle touch.  Bitter chocolate. Hazelnuts. Chalk.

Conclusion:  Memories. Ah memories. Odd wee things. For one thing I’m fairly sure I used memories as an introduction to review before but I cannot find the review for love or money. So I’m using it again.  For another thing I tried this beer a few years ago on hand pull cask. Now I remember this as being an absolute stonker of a stout.

Now I’m not sure of its faulty memory, the difference between bottle and cask, or just the range of beers I’ve encountered over the past few years but I return to find it still good, but not as exceptional as I remembered.

It’s a very nice beer, lays on astringent touch to the back, a bit of harshness mid body with chalk and charring then that odd sour dough touch I’ve noticed in a lot of BBF stouts.  Keeps you on your toes to say the least.

It also has some of the slight sourness that I noticed in the hazelnut stout. Now back then I presumed it was the nut influence, but since it turned up in this one as well I must presume it is a core element of the beer that had just been emphasised by the addition of the nuts.  In fact here in its toned down version is much more manageable and enjoyable. You get the nut flavour but much more as a balanced element,

So since I am laying on the high praise, in what way then does it not hold up to my memory? Well the mid body does not quite have the thickness I remember of the cask version. It could be the bottle vs cask thing, but it does mean the flavour isn’t quite as present mid body.   Also the flavour ties itself more towards the charring edge of the spectrum than I remember and it sometimes feels it need a touch more working against it.

All in all a good stout, and I am probably being unfair comparing it to my rose tinted memories. I will say of the mainstay BBF stouts though I do find the milk stout is the superior of the two for a better range of flavour and also it seemed to stand up better to my memories of the cask version.

Still this aint a bad wee stout for all that.

Background:  Bristol Stout was the first stout I had from Bristol Beer Factory  (No 7 being I think the first BBF beer I ever tried) and was responsible for a lot of my early interest in  BBF.  This bottle came with the 12 Stouts of Christmas so it seemed like a good time to get reacquainted with it.

Tasting Notes: Plain Ales: The Wife’s Bitter

Plain Ales: The Wife’s Bitter (England: Bitter: 3.9% ABV)

Visual: Chestnut brown with a dust for a head.

Nose: Light bitter hops. Parma violets (the sweets). Slight earthy aroma. Slight treacle.

Body: Slick. Sweet sugar eggs. Parma violets again. Light toffee, with good bitter behind it.  Sweet lemon styling and a touch of glacier cherries. Custard cream biscuits. Creamy drinks.

Finish: Love heart sweets. Light strawberry and bitterness. Red cherry touch. Fresh. Toffee and a dry bitterness.

Conclusion: This is one of those unexpected favourites.  Light and smooth bitter with a light touch and a good range of sweet fruitiness that plays a fresh touch throughout the beer.

This flavour combines with a perfectly placed abv to create the spot on session ale. It’s easy drinking and uses an understated bitterness in the finish to make sure it doesn’t get sickly.  The really have done a good job balancing the hops just right on this one.

A lovely counterpoint to the idea that a session beer should be dull, or must sacrifice the standard bitter styling to make it interesting.

The lovely flavours are laced through a solid old school bitter body. It adds to this core rather than replacing it making for a superior amalgamation. This is the first Plain Ales beer that has really impressed me. It isn’t a contemplation beer and should not be judged as such. It is a session ale and an excellent example thereof.  A darker counterpoint to my other favoured session beer Art Brews I Beer.

Well worth a nights drinking.

Background: Oddly I could not find much info on the beer style for this one.  Based on its taste, name, colour and abv I would guess at a bitter, despite it being quite sweet and fruity for that style. I’ll keep an eye out and see if anyone lets me know I’m wrong.  Plain ales have been ok, but a bit dull for me up to this point.  Looking at their website it seems this is their February ale with a deliberate shot at Valentines Day in the title. Fine enough by me. Drunk at the Royal Oak. I’d drunk the beer a few times already and decided I really should review it.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Prototype 17.5

Brewdog: Prototype 17.5 (Scotland: Fruit Beer:  4.1% ABV)

Visual:  Clear amber. Small white dusted head.

Nose: Sour and sharp. Raspberry backed by musty book stores. Gooseberry underneath.

Body: Bitter and smooth. Countering this is tart raspberries and gooseberries. Passion fruit and pineapple. Very slightly thin mid body.

Finish: Gooseberry and a gin air. Raspberry laying low until the end. Smooth passion fruit.

Conclusion:  Yet another prototype bloody variant. Oddly this one smashes away all the elements I had like from the previous trashy Blond based prototype. Thankfully it then replaces it with all new elements which I like.

The previous version had very slight and subtle raspberry influence. This is pretty much all raspberry influence. Less in the flavour than in the tartness creating a great summer refresher. Mid winter. Oops.

What the hell is up with beers doing that this year?

The trashy blond styling only come in late body to the finish. It acts as a rounding off of the flavour. For all Trashy was never one of my favourite beers its influence works really well here, smoothing out the sour tartness with mild bitterness and fruity flavour.

If anything it’s my preferred of the various prototype variants for its balance between the smooth main beer elements and great freshness. A nice quirk on the style and a nice development on the prototype.

Background: Drunk in Brewdog Camden after visiting the Doctor Who Experience.  The burger I had ordered turned up half way through the review and the two complemented each other perfectly.  This is about the third variant of prototype 17 from the raspberry obsessed brewers Brewdog.  As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. This was my last tasting note at the bar, but I enjoyed many more of their excellent range of beers throughout the day.  Like the second version of prototype 17 this is a Belgium yeast version of Trashy Blond aged with raspberries. Depending on who you talk to this differs in having more raspberries, more time ageing with the raspberries or both.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Chris From Stone’s Stout

Brewdog: Chris From Stone’s Stout (Scotland: Imperial Stout: 10.2%ABV)

Visual: Dark brown to black. Shimmer of toffee froth around the edges but no head.

Nose: Raisins and brandy cream. Buttery shortbread. An understated liquorice touch.  Fruitcake. Pumpkin seeds. A very faint sour touch.

Body: Lots of raisins. Light citrus – grapefruit? Vinous but insanely smooth. Barley and toffee. Light charring and milky chocolate behind the main fruity body. The bitterness slowly grows mid body.

Finish:  Pineapple. Raisins. Light hop trace but very unobtrusive. Light coffee and a small amount of bitterness.

Conclusion: This beer’s over ten percent? No way. This things sips smooth as can be. Fruity and spirit styled, but without any of the burn, it manages to be very light and graceful. There is no harshness and for an Imperial Stout it plays surprisingly subtle with the chocolate and coffee notes.

It’s pretty much pure on the sweetness and very appetising raisins on first touch; it takes a while before the subtle bitterness reveals itself.  It mainly comes out on the finish as a counterpoint but is not completely absent from the main body.

Now the flavour is not the most forceful for an Imperial Stout, the fruitiness is very much there but everything else works on a much more restrained model.  It also uses a light citrus touch near the end to offset the main flavour and make more refreshing. A trick seen before on BBF’s chocolate stout and appreciated here.

I don’t think there exists a style called Fruitcake stout but there should be just for this. Kind of ESB Stout mix. Very enjoyable as this lovely beer, and puts me in mind of Port Brewing’s Older Viscosity in its smoothness and subtlety of flavour.  If I have to push flaws the then beer could do with just bit more kick to the flavours. Frankly I’m being picky and messing with the balance could negatively impact its careful sipping yet high alcohol balance. Therefore it may be a bad idea to mess with it much as I’d like the extra flavour.

Well worth a trip to London to try if you are near, a great fruit ESB Stout hybrid.

Background: Found in Brewdog Camden. This is an Imperial Stout brewed with Raisins.  Apparently this was made when Chris from Stone Brewing was visiting during a brewers exchange.  I’m a huge Brewdog fan (and not and unbiased actor on them) and a huge fan of Stone Brewing so this was a must try.  With the insane abv I decided to limit myself to just a third of a pint. Had a delicious burger from the menu, but waited until I had finished the beer before sampling it.