Tasting Notes: Anchorage: Bitter Monk

Anchorage: Bitter Monk (USA: IIPA: 9% ABV)

Visual: Clear gold. Huge loose bubbled white head that descends down to just an inch.

Nose: Peaches. Vanilla. Cheesecake. Wine and white grapes. Strawberries and cream. Lemon sherbet. Cinnamon. Melon.

Body: Nicely bitter. Lemon meringue. Wheaty. Vanilla ice cream. Avocado. Grapes. Kiwi and strawberry. Light fruity esters. Watermelon. Funky feel. Creamy.

Finish: Dry bitterness. White wine and grapes. Avocado. Spritzy feel. Wheat flakes. Carrots.

Conclusion: What is it that Anchorage does with beer styles? Belgium Style IPA, or Double Belgium Style IPA in this case. I know them. I’ve had them. This aint it. This is something else. The mix of wheat and bitterness is closer to a hopped up Belgium wit than what I would expect of their IPA. By the way, I need to emphasise that this disagreement in beer style is not meant to mean the beer is bad. Not by a long shot.

This is funky and full of light fruit esters. Melon and strawberry as subtle notes over white wine sharp grapes and moderate bitterness that kicks up into heavy bitterness for the finish. Very wheaty and very yeast influenced.

Dry for the most part, in part the influence of the wheat feel of the beer and in part the flavours. These combine to create an environment where you are quite unprepared for the bitterness when it hits, even moderate as it is mid body.

While the bitterness can rise in the finish to be pretty heavy none of the flavours follow suit. You need to pay attention to find the intricacies such as subtle melon and green fruit with dry cheesecake sweetness mingling. Another beer for slow contemplation. Definitely drink it as your first or only beer of the night, if it has to fight with other beers it could easily disrupt the subtle harmony of flavours.

A quirky beer, while it is bitter I would say it has very little crossover with expectations of the IPA style, Belgium, imperial or otherwise. Again, a thing of its own, the yeast and barrel ageing very evident in feel and flavour. By about half way through the beer does smooth and become more recognisable as a Belgium IPA, but it still has as many differences as similarities.

Only drink if you are in the mind to do the examination it demands to be truly enjoyed. Challenging in its dryness and its mix of bitterness, tart and hops. I think it is a beer that will split the crowd but for me it is a great beer to be sampled but rarely but enjoyed thoroughly when you do.

Quirky, odd and challenging. Put me down as a fan.

Background: Ok, where do I start on this one? A double IPA, fermented with Belgium yeast in French oak loudres (Even after a google search I have no idea what loudres is, if you know help me out please) Then fermented with Brett in Chardonnay barrels (Brett being the yeast often used in sour and lambic beers), then bottle conditioned with more yeast. After Anchorage’s previous odd IPA I just had to give this one a try. I was going to save it for review 900 but I felt like treating myself. Drunk while listening to Bad Religion: True North, which I had just received in the post.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Beavertown: Catherine’s Pony

Brewdog: Beavertown: Catherine’s Pony (Scotland: Imperial Porter:  8.8% ABV)

Visual: Black. Good sized beige froth.

Nose: Smoked. Dried beef slices. Fresh dough. Bitter chocolate dust. Sulphur. Slightly medicinal.

Body: Bitter chocolate. Smoke. Milky coffee. Treacle. Black cherry. Charring. Grapes. Custard. Light iodine and salt. Port. A port touch.

Finish: Treacle tart. Coffee. Lots of dry smoke. Light wood. Custard slice. Blue berry.

Conclusion:  So a contender for the smoked porter range, head to head with Bristol United’s take, and by some strange coincidence, this one is a collaboration as well.  For differences however this is bigger on abv, racking in as an imperial porter. Let’s see if it brings in enough extra joy to go with the abv.

This one is big on the coffee and chocolate with light medicinal touches and a good dose of smoke. There is a smoothness of texture that the smoke, salt and medicinal prickle through, resulting in a contrast of the velvet and sudden sharp pin pricks that excite the taste buds.

This is definitely the smoother, and yet distinctly more weighty of the two contenders. The smoke is a very present character. Despite a good range of flavour it doesn’t seem to have the contrast and well defined plays and trills that the Bristol united beer does.

The extra alcohol result sin it feeling slightly spirity, almost Islay whisky character at times. I’ve had it on tap and the extra smoothness there, even on top of what it already has here, really helped the prickles define it. It’s still pretty good here with a beef broth like element that gives a bit of weight as it settles.

Slightly dry, spirit touches, smoked and smooth. It doesn’t out do the United beer but is a darker, more edged alternative.  The dash of razorblade flavour on silk.

So not the best, but bloody good and a great mix of flavour to texture. Impressive.

Background: A collaboration between my old favourite’s from Brewdog and introducing to me Beavertown who I haven’t run into before. All I know is that they are based in London and have only been brewing since 2012.  I’d had a few bottles of this before finally reviewing it, and have tried it on tap as well. I have many a time mentioned my confusion at the term Imperial Porter, but I have come to acceptance of its existence and the reasoning.

Tasting Notes: De Molen: Hel en Verdoemenis 666

De Molen: Hel en Verdoemenis 666 (Netherlands: Imperial Stout: 10% ABV)

Visual: Black. Sud like bubbles around the edge but not really a head.

Nose:  Roasted. Bitter chocolate. Cherry liquore. Combined they seem like Belgium chocolates. Marzipan. Sherry trifle. Chocolate cake. Smooth. Gin spirit air.

Body: Treacle. Chocolate liquore. Cherry liquore. Toffee. Gin undertone. Port.

Finish: Bitter chocolate. Cherry liquore. Roasted. Mint touch and gin. Spiced cherry. Rum. Slight hop bitterness. Almonds. Rye bourbon.

Conclusion: Holy hell this is like a Belgium chocolate filled with liquore. No really. Despite being an Imperial Stout the closest thing it reminds me of is the barley wine “Old Numbskull”. There is the same feeling of dragging cherry sweetness over Belgium style bitter chocolate in a luxurious way. Despite being aged with cognac wood chips the finish ends with spiced rum and port like touches, and a dry but flavoursome element that makes it heavier and richer.

The style feels like a black barley wine, with a spiced and sweet element. The Imperial Stout is there, but there is so much spirit like elements added in and sweetness that it doesn’t seem to naturally fit the expectations of that style.  In fact it feels like the inverse of AB08. That was a so called blond Imperial Stout that felt like a barely wine with stout dropped in. This feels like a black barley wine with stout dropped in.

So Belgium chocolate, barley wine, imperial stout. That is pretty high concept. Smooth, you can feel the spirit in it but without any burn. Gin, rum, port or just very strong beer rolling within, the only thing you don’t really get is the aforementioned cognac. It is mighty and delicious. Maybe a touch too heavy in alcohol feel over the smoothness of the liquore texture but not very much so.

If we are going by flavour, Old Numbskull does it better. If we are going by style there are much closer takes on the style. This is very different and vibrant and gives you a lot of spicy and bitter flavor mixing above the Imperial Stout base.  Feels like it should be shared like the spirits that so influence it.  Shared in a late night drink amongst friends. Warning though, this is no nightcap beer. The flavours and spice snap you awake.

Delicious and refined.

Background:  Hell and Damnation, or so this beer’s name translates as, very nice. Aged with 40 year old cognac soaked wood chips this sounded pretty nice. I have been putting off having this one for a while. I have had a ton of stouts and Imperial Stouts recently so have been trying to mix things up a bit. However the stock at Brewdog Bristol has been going pretty fast so I thought Id best grab one while they last.  Had a nice conversation with some people I’d just met at the pub while I was reviewing this which put me in quite the cheery mood.

Tasting Notes: Wild Beer Co: Ninkasi

Wild Beer Co: Ninkasi (England: Saison: 9% ABV)

Visual:  Hazy banana skin colour with small overripe banana touched white head.

Nose: Apples and tart cider. Apricot meringue. Pineapple. Banana candy sweets.

Body: Sparkling. White wine and lots of grapes. Vanilla. Gooseberries. Cider.

Finish: Light bitterness. Malt biscuits. Apple juice. Quite dry.

Conclusion: This is utterly lovely. A Belgium styled Saison with wine elements and Bristol cider touches. Yes that is a complement. No really.

This thing really rocks the saison style, but with a range of different flavours completely different to what you would expect. Considering that that Saisons can sometimes seem simple unless they are done very well that is especially impressive. There are real fresh grapes and a wine feel that sparkles in the mouth.  The finish especially calls to sparkling white wine. The tart elements that comes with it are utterly refreshing but never become what some of my friends refer to as “Challenging”.
There are lots of light fruit flavours in there, calling to apples, apricot, gooseberry and more. The flavours float and sparkle (and not in a bloody twilight way). Full of flavour but never heavy. You can barely believe that there is 9% abv behind this, and if there wasn’t you would be able to drink it for days.

So far Wild Beer Co have turned out good and different beers, but until this one never hit the moment of excellence.  This thing never betrays its Saison style, but borrows from so many others to layer upon it. While it is not as pure an example as say, the excellent Saison Dupont, instead it chooses to transcend the beer style.

So, for weakness, you cannot session it as it seems to beg you to do, and it isn’t a very traditional take on the style In all other ways it is a frankly great beer.

Background: I’ve been looking for this one for a while. From Wild Beer Co, a new experimental brewery in Bristol. This uses Somerset Apple Juice, Wild yeast, secondary fermentation with champagne yeast and is brewed with NZ hops. Ninkasi is apparently the Sumarian goddess of beer. Maybe I should switch to “To Ninkasi” from ”To Bacchus” as my salutation of choice. Anyway, after looking out for this for a while I found it on tap at Brewdog Bristol. Perfect.

Tasting Notes: Brodies: Mocha Milk Stout (Rum barrel)

Brodies: Mocha Milk Stout (Rum Barrel) (England: Imperial Stout: 9% ABV)

Visual: Very dark brown to black. Dust of off white head.

Nose: Very roasted coffee. Spicy undertones. Roasted nuts. Cloves. Mulled touch.

Body: Spicy. Rum and raisin. Bitter chocolate. Red wine. Glacier cherry. Very smooth. Cream. Lots of spices and mulled wine.

Finish:  Bitter coffee. Spice again. Cream. Bitter chocolate. Greenery. Rum and raisin.

Conclusion: A very odd nose to body combination on this one. The nose is roasted, very much so, and gives very little hint to the rum.

When you sip the base stout below is detectable as smooth chocolate and very creamy but it doesn’t take long for the spiced warmth to start pulling through.  The mix of smooth chocolate and spice could not be more different to the dry roasted aroma.

It runs on a hair line balance between the spice and the stout and it manages it will. There is an eternal warmth of character to it that reminds me of chilli or ginger aged stouts but here the heat is just implied with flavour rather than being actually fiery kick. To me this is the best of both worlds, the great flavours but without making it hard to drink from the heat.

I had the beer in a third and more than that would probably have hurt it. The huge delicious spiciness was growing throughout the drink but never reached a point where it overstayed its welcome. I have a feeling by a half pint it may just have been doing so, but that is a guess.

Very well done, with great emphasis of the creamy chocolate and full use made of the benefits of barrel ageing. Maybe a bit simple in the nose but it makes up for that with the rest of the beer. Very much worth trying.

Background: Drunk at the Brewdog Bristol, Brodies night where we got to meet the brewers. Apparently made with actual milk and chocolate rather than cocoa nibs or similar. Also apparently a total shit to clean up after brewing. There was both a rum and port version on offer. I grabbed and reviewed rum, my mates grabbed port, but we pretty much shared the two between. For comparison Port was sweeter and seemed less roasted on the nose. I preferred the rum, if I remember rightly James Brodie said he thought he would prefer the port as the temperature warmed up.  I could be wrong. Drink was involved. Due to rum being quite a navel drink the slightly piratical looking photo of my good friend local stand up comedian Dan “Dagger” enjoying the beer seemed appropriate so I have shared it below.

Tasting Notes: Birra Del Borgo: Brewdog: ReAle In A Kilt

Birra Del Borgo: Brewdog: ReAle In A Kilt (Italy: Scotch Ale: 8.4% ABV)

Visual: Caramel to brown, large loose mounded froth for a head of custard cream biscuit colour. Head leaves lace around the glass.

Nose: Smoked kippers. Pineapple. Smoked salami. Muted cherry. Marmalade. Cinnamon.

Body: Smoked and rocks. Cherry and fruitcake. Marmalade and grapefruit.

Finish: Peat. Salt and smoke. Tangerines. Pink grapefruit tart tang.

Conclusion: So, a peat smoked beer. With the peat smoked golden ale Rex Attitude I wanted more complexity. Here comes a contender, how does it do? Initially it seems very smoky and heavy, lots of peat, smoked kippers and meat. Not very subtle.  This was pretty heavily chilled down due to the current cold snap.

Then to my surprise marmalade in a Dalmore style started showing up, then sharp pink grapefruit pushed through.  There is some of the expected scotch ale fruitcake flavours but only really as a backing for the fresh sharp hops and heavy smoke.

I will give Rex Attitude the advantage in being a bigger and more “event” beer, but this beer gives much more flavour and intrigue which is what I look for in a beer combined with the nice peat smoke element . This beer has a similar clash of expectations to Rex Attitude as well. There it has the huge peat versus golden ale, here it is the sharp citrus against peat.   Frankly it makes me intrigued to try more from the Italian brewer as the base beer seems to be what makes it special, with the Brewdog contribution a flourish on top.  I would have to try the base beer to confirm but that is the current impression I get.

I have tried this beer at warmer temperatures and I found the peat smoke dominates too much like that. Much as this would shock the younger writing version of me I would say that you want to give this a nice bit of chilling down to let the citrus come out a bit.

A tangerine tart, citrus, peat smoked beer. That is just mixed up, fun, and gives you a lot of room to play and enjoy.  A well balanced and thoroughly fun beer.

(Note: You know, I don’t mind not drinking bad beers, but if my reviews keep being this positive people are going to think I’ve gone soft in my old age)

Background: Bloody mid word capitalization, and yes I do realise with my number of grammatical and spelling errors I am in no position to question a deliberate stylistic choice. Still…In good news a chance to break out the thistle glass again, I love the look of it, but it is a tad silly for most beers. Thought it gets more use than my Kwak glass. Maybe I should get in some more Belgium beers so I have an excuse to bring it out. I’ve not tried the original ReAle but this collaboration is a tweaked version of that which uses much more peat smoked malt if I remember correctly. Italy is meant to be the up and coming exciting place in the craft beer scene right now. Yet I’ve drunk nearly nothing from there. I really should sort that out at some point.

Tasting Notes: De Molen: Muhle and Bahnhof Barrel Aged

De Molen: Muhle and Bahnhof Barrel Aged (Netherlands: Gose-Traditional Ale: 9.2% ABV)

Visual: Slightly cloudy cherry red, clear in the light at times. No head at all.

Nose: Apple crumble. Stewed fruit. Soft rhubarb. Very soft and delicate and dessert like.

Body: Cherries apple and toffee. Syrup like feel to the texture. Stewed fruit. Just slight tart behind very sweet. Vanilla. Slight salt,

Finish: Banoffee pie. Very thick and slick. Raspberry. Salt. Red wine, rhubarb and apricot.

Conclusion: Holy shit. No seriously. Holy shit. Where do I start with this one? Stewed fruit and apple crumble over soft vanilla and toffee. I had this after a few highly hopped beers and that slight tartness it carried cut straight through them.

Very fruity, slight salt and sourness which has a similar to lambic in its power to deal with other flavours, but this is richer and far less dry than that style. Also much more easy going which I would put down to the fruity character I mentioned. Despite being more easy going that touch of salt can give you a thirst (a tremendous thirst)* on drinking which can result in it going down far too easily for the abv.  There’s so many interesting flavours from rhubarb (which I’m fairly sure I’ve never run into in a beer before), to sweet cider like flavours, and a toffee element that I swear must be from the barrel ageing.

It looks like fruit juice in a very deceptive way, no head no matter how I tired to pour. Despite the abv there is no burn to nose or body, the word that most comes to mind on drinking is stewed fruit, but the exact expression shifts as you drink. I haven’t tried the non barrel aged version,  but I imagine it would be lacking at least some of the heavy dessert sweetness that this thing shows.

A beer to match a great dessert wine, yet still with that sour and salt edge amongst the sweetness. My first gose so I don’t know how well it represents the style but it sets the bar for quality bloody high. This is a great beer.

Background: Finally, I get to review another De Molen beer . It nearly didn’t happen, the stock was still in the cellar of Brewdog Bristol due to a full bottle fridge but they were kind enough to bring one up for me to try. Even then I wasn’t planning on reviewing it until my first sip where I realised I had to record this for posterity. This is a barrel aged version of Matthias & Menno. I’ve never tried a Gose before. They are usually a lot lower alcohol than this and should have at least 50% of the grain being a malted wheat (or so wikipedia tells me, take that with a pinch of salt).  Unusually for German styles this style allows other ingredients include coriander and salt. They have a reputation for sourness, and originally were spontaneously fermented, though that practise is no longer used.

* Yes I am a fan of the Mitchell and Webb Lager Beer Sketch, why do you ask?

 

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Cocoa Psycho

Brewdog: Cocoa Psycho (Scotland: Imperial Stout: 10% ABV)

Visual: black. Froths up coffee brown for a head but leaves no trace of itself within seconds after that.

Nose: Roasted coffee beans. Roasted nuts. Sour dough. Bitter chocolate. Wet wood.

Body: Milky chocolate fudge. Frosted chocolate cake topping. Sugar eggs. Slight sour dough. Rich velvety texture. Bitter chocolate undertones.

Finish: Fudge chocolate drink. Bitter cocoa. Sugar dusting. Milky coffee. Very smooth. And coats your tongue. Caramel.

Conclusion: Count the number of times I have written chocolate above if you dare.  It paints a picture doesn’t it? Very chocolaty, very smooth, very luxurious. A good range of expression of the chocolate character as well.

Outside of chocolate flavours? Not that much. It plays lightly with that sour dough touch that seems popular in stouts these days to keep them from being too sweet.  There also a very chewy fudge element mid body.

Considering what the dominant element of the beer is it does a good job of balancing bitterness to sweetness and manages to defy the abv to keep the beer so smooth.

Compared to its precursor, the Chocolate and Coffee stout? This is smoother, more chocolate dominant and less coffee elements. Sweeter, not as bitter. This is definitely the better beer and also better than Riptide, Brewdog’s closest commonly brewed beer.

Very luxurious but quite one note. I don’t see myself as desperate for having one often, and I think it work’s best in thirds as you get the total feel of the beer very quickly with few surprises after that.   It is good for a steadfast always quality beer, but for an easily bored short attention span beer drinker like myself it is less so. Then again that is a very specific quirk so your mileage may vary.

A good beer and I would be intrigues to see what a paradox equivalent oak aged version would be like. I would guess that it would give the beer that bit extra range that it really needs and may make it something special.  So a high quality, tad one note beer of very high class texture and good flavour within its limited range.

Background: The winner of Brewdog’s 2012 prototype set according to their website and thus will be an ongoing beer for 2012. I have to admit I was hoping a non Imperial Stout would win as despite my love of the big Imperial Stouts they do seem to overly dominate a lot of the craft scene these days.  This is a tweaked recipe of the Chocolate and Coffee stout and  a beer I first had on tap at a  Brewdog event. As always I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers.

Tasting Notes: Bristol Beer Factory: Crème Brulee

Bristol Beer Factory: Crème Brulee (England: Sweet Stout: 8.5% ABV)

Visual: Black. Dust of toffee froth head that leaves suds.

Nose: Milky chocolate and bitterness. Crushed hazelnuts. Caramelised sugar and custard. Fortified wine. Glacier cherries. Rich and vinous.

Body: Sweet. Cherries and chocolate. Fruitcake. Almonds. Vinous. Dessert wine. Yes, ok, crème brulee, kind of. Bubble gum. Orange crème. Lactose.

Finish: Marzipan and cherries. Bitter chocolate. Raspberry yogurt. Caramelised brown sugar. Bubblegum again. Bitter coffee.

Conclusion:  Definitely the biggest of the BBF stouts of Christmas I’ve had from the 2012 pack so far. Initially chilled it seemed to be very vinous, almost more strong English Ale than stout in flavours. There was sweet dessert wine, fruitcake and cherries and to my shock actual crème brulee like hints all in a mix. Very sweet very vinous.

I gave it a bit of drinking and a bit of warmth and the expected stout flavours built  up into roasted, chocolate and bitter coffee, taking the fore and pushing the previous elements to the side to add rather than dominate.  Very much the lactose filled milk stout with sweet touches added. The base stout flavours proved too strong to be suppressed for long.

Every more oddities came with bubblegum adding to the mix – tasting like J-pop tune sounds, however never interfering with the main flavours. There is never dull moment with this beer and always something new fizzing and popping to the surface.

So a good base stout, great range and a mix of vinous and English ale flavours in with it. So, it’s great right? Erm. Well. It is very good, but not quite great. The flavours don’t quite mesh at times. Like the better Doggie Claws this beer feels a bit too mixed up. It is always open to drinking and examination but has no one coherent whole to latch onto.

it is a great fun ride and there is something interesting in every moment don’t get me wrong. A beer that is very much of each moment you drink it.  Well worth it and a distinct experience that should be tried.  The only flaw it has is that it does not manage to be more than the sum of its parts, but that it a small flaw indeed.

Background: Bloody hell an 8.5% ABV sweet stout, pretty heavy for a style that tends towards a lighter end of the scale. This is based on the milk stout and was aged in Rum casks for two months. Part of BBF’s 12 Stouts of Christmas 2012 which is quickly becoming a mini seasonal celebration. I’m a big fan of BBF’s stouts and like their other beers to boot.

Tasting Notes: Brewdog: Coffee and Chocolate Stout

Brewdog: Coffee and Chocolate Stout (Scotland: Imperial Stout: 9.5% ABV)

Visual: Black, large caramel to cocoa hued head. Lots of froth to the head but few discernable bubbles.

Nose: Slightly cloying. Bitter cocoa. Mellow coffee. Vanilla. Creamy yet bitter. Cloying milk. Lots of milky coffee.

Body: Milky coffee. Cream cheese and chives. Bitter and heavy. Charred barbecue notes.

Finish: Bitter coffee that slowly rises to serious bitterness. Sour dough bagels. Vanilla. Chocolate cake.

Conclusion: If I had to use one word to describe this it would be “Heavy”. The aroma is thick and you have to get your nose right into the glass to appreciate the elements beyond the cloying.

The body is thick, rich as heck and laden with coffee into a finish that kicks bitterness at you via coffee ladle. It’s rich, think and no nonsense. For true world greatness it would need an actual touch of subtlety but as sheer assault goes it is pretty impressive. The body is impressively smooth and the coffee gives a similar bitterness to Speedway Stout.

Like Speedway I think it needs a touch more range, but also it is flavorsome as hell. Frankly, when the near comparison is Speedway you can’t really complain.

A heavy drink that does what it says on the tin, don’t look for more than that and it is a joy. Look for subtlety and disappointment is near guaranteed. That statement should let you know if you need to run screaming or drink it straight from the tap.

A good beer any which way.

Background: This thing is a precursor to the Prototype beer Cocoa Psycho. So a prototype of a prototype. I will be reviewing the Cocoa Psycho when I get my hands on it in bottle, but got to try it at a recent Brewdog Bristol event and it is similar, if smoother in flavour to add to the texture. Also at the same event I got to meet and chat with James and Zarah from Brewdog which was cool. Anyway I am not an unbiased actor on Brewdog beers. Oh this stout was made with chocolate and coffee. If you hadn’t guessed.