Beavertown, Bloody 'Ell IPA

This IPA from Beavertown came out to a bit of a fanfare earlier this year. I first tried it at the London's Brewing festival back in May. There, it was simply incredible - thick, very fresh tasting and unbelievably citrusy. The bottle wasn't quite as good - all the elements where there, the massive über-citrus kick, the solid body, but they were accompanied by some harsh, yeasty burning type effect which kind of ruined it for me. I did take care to pour, but to my mind the kegged version was just so much better, so I cam away a little deflated and disappointed. (Disclaimer: at the time of trying the kegged version, I was rather drunk...things may have seemed to me a little different to me in that state of mind than they might have otherwise....!)

Beavertown, Smog Rocket

This porter from Beavertown was a revelation when my brother bought me a bottle for last Christmas (2012). I remember being sat at the in-law's table, slightly miserable due to Greene King IPA and fiending for an APA. I hadn't had any dark beers up to this point so I didn't really know what to expect. I was blown away - the smoke, the tar, the viscosity (for me, at the time), the pungency. Delicious! Subsequent bottles faded in impact as I discovered imperial stouts and the like, and the most recent bottle I had was flat as a pancake (sadface). Nonetheless, Smog Rocket holds a place in my heart, being as it was, my first taste of dark and smoggy traditional(ish) London recipe brews. I had their imperial smog a while back too. I didn't really get it then, but I have their new barrel aged version set aside, looking forward to giving it another go.

Beavertown, Black Yeti

The first in a small series of some of the Beavertown Brewery beers. This Yeti stout (think it's called Black Yeti?) is good because it's cheap - £2.50 from Mr Lawrence (curiously, I've seen on the shelf at Utobeer for over £4...). Good coffee aromas, acceptable body for a low(ish) abv stout and a gentle hop essence towards the end, precipitating a decent and pleasing bitterness. Slightly metallic aftertaste perhaps?

Goose Island, Bourbon County Brand Stout 2012

Recently, it's been quite rare for me to write about a beer I've only just drunk. (Typically, I'm having to work my way through a backlog of unphotographed beers sitting in a Sainsbury's bag under my sink.) However, with this beer I felt reasonably compelled to get my thoughts up online relatively quickly, the main reason being, I think, that I need some feedback to sort of contextualise my feelings about this beer, their basically being the polar opposite of views of the the majority.

Basically: ratebeer/untappd/beer advocate etc etc all rate this beer as more or less flawless. I disliked it. In fact I think I disliked it more than I've disliked any other beer I've ever had.

Now, regardless of what you think about the various beer rating websites, they do offer some sort of (relatively) helpful gauge when you go to seek out new beer. (My way is: I fancy an impy stout, I take a coffee break to browse beers of europe then I copy and paste the beer titles into google and skim read the various reviews, see which ones paint the best picture.) I suppose this is a vary internet-centric way of doing things, but at least I'm doing my best to try new beers right? Whatever. The Goose Island stout receives 100s across the board. Barrel aged in oak bourbon barrels (for 4 years I think? No, that can't be right....) and 15% abv. The Americans seems to absolutely love this, reviews range from the moderately impressed to the fanatical.

For me: very, very oily, the liquid glistens under the tungsten lights in our house when poured. Very, very black and treacly in colour with a head the exact colour of a caramac. Medium carbonation. Nose off the bottle is heavy, heavy liquorice. The taste, for me, is an aberration: very, very sweet. Beyond sweet. Really very actually quite ugly. Very smooth, but otherwise it seemed so unrefined to my palette: a vicious vanilla bombardment and liquorice strafing. 0% hops, 0% bitterness (and therefore, to my mind, 0% balance), 0% tar/smoke/charcoal. The merest hint of dark fruit, no coffee, no burnt/roasted malts. I know that when they warm up, impy stouts get sweet. I refrigerate mine, start them off cold so that the last third of the drink warms up and the sweetness comes in last (the Magic Rock version gets this right for me - their bitterness is well intact). This was über sweet from the outset and only got sweeter.

I'm slightly (but only slightly) ashamed to say that this was offered up to the drain goblins. It took me well over an hour of wrestling with my conscience (and with the drink itself) before I could justify pouring the best part of a £7/bottle away.

So, in light of how this beer is more generally received (i.e 100s across the board): am I being fair? I've recently been informed (reliably so I believe) that you can't really expect a beer at 15% abv not to be sweet. (This apparently is true for impy IPAs too.) I can get that, but nevertheless, this drink was simply unpleasant for me. I suppose if you like stouts, if you like liquorice, vanilla, if you like desert wines (or sweet wines in general) then this could be for you. Maybe if the bottle was shared out amongst a few people, served in a large shot glass to be sipped like a digestif with a pudding/desert, it could be good? As a beer to drink by oneself in an evening, no. Absolutely not. I just couldn't recommend it at all. Sorry.

Please, please: if I've offended you, if you've got a salient point, if you're sure I've got this wrong (or perhaps if you think my bottle was past its best) - tell me!

Brixton Brewery, Electric IPA

Purchased from the lovely Market Row Wines in gentrified Brixton market. Recent offering from new(ish) south London brewery Brixton Brewery. Not so much of a citrus kick, more of a 'sharp pine' (?), almost spicy (peppery and sharp on the tongue) essence going on here. Decent body though, nice and thick. Satisfyingly bitter afterwards. Relatively cheap (sub £2.50 iirc). Could be a good go to beer this one if they can keep the price down.

Gyle 1, Mash Monkeys

The first of the 2 bottles of Gyle 1 from the Mash Monkeys (Honest Brew and Late Knights collab) that I've had the pleasure of drinking was a unsolicited birthday gift from the lovely chap (brewer?) behind the bar at the frankly amazing Beer Rebellion in Gypsy Hill.

Vicky and I had been to drink expensive imported DIPAs and impy stouts at the unpleasantly atmosphered (is that a word?) Craft Beer Co in Brixton (where certain staff unfortunately reinforced the snobbish/too cool for school, 'craft beer' geek stereotype. If you're reading this guys - please don't forget: you're a pub. Sort it out.) By massive contrast, Beer Rebellion (to be fair, being well outside of the Brixton Friday night idiocy zone) is congenial, warm and instantly welcoming.

We took home a bottle of this Gyle 1 which we shared over an episode of Masterchef, a Mikkeller wine glass of it lasting more or less the whole hour of the programme. A dark pour, minimal carbonation, a miscellaneous strata of pine and citrus followed by a satisfying bitter hop linger. Caramel sweetness underpinned it all - Werther's Originals? Setting this DIPA apart from others was it's particularly creamy mouthfeel.

Not sure if my description has done it justice, but for me, this is a very distinctive and pleasant DIPA. We look forward to the Mash Monkey's next collab!

Late Knights, Hairy Dog

Very black pour this one from Late Knights. The mildest of hop profiles here against burnt coffee bitterness. A different, south London take on a BIPA (as compared, say, to the citrusy elements of the US style), more like a rough and raw stout perhaps. Had this on cask a few times, the smoothness suited it slightly better than the carbonation in the bottle for me (the cask flow smoothness balancing out the almost biting nature of the coffee bitterness here).

Sierra Nevada, Hoptimum

Typically mild Sierra Nevada nose (although on my second bottle there were slight notes of bacon??) but a great, full body that you'd expect from this imperial. Decent balance (just!) and the abv hidden sufficiently (just!). Thick and heavy pine gloop taste + thick, thick hop unctuousity. I bought this on a couple of occasions from Mr Lawrence (they still have some in stock) - the first time ('freshly' imported) I was full of praise and admiration for it (took my time, drank it slowly etc). The second (a while after), I bought 2 bottles, one for myself and one for Vicky. Vicky had one taste and didn't like it so gave it to me. That was when all the bad things about impy IPAs came out (perhaps all types of beers at 10% +) for me: the thickness, the heaviness and in this case, the absence of freshness. Due to beers like Weird Beard's Holy Hoppin' Hell, and too a lesser extent, Odell's Myrcenary, I'm rapidly learning that IPAs with heavy hop content really do suffer if not drunk fresh, and are, perhaps, not worth it after a while. Someone prove me wrong?

Sierra Nevada, Torpedo

I've had this 'Extra IPA' from Sierra Nevada on about 3 occasions over the past year. Mostly I found it surprisingly bland (compared to, say, a Racer 5), except the time when it was on offer in John Lewis and Vicky and I had a bottle each for under £3 (ish), on the lawn in Cavendish Square in the summer sun. Sigh. I think I should probably try it out of a can, maybe they're fresher. Still, if you've got a Waitrose or Tescos nearby that sells this , then you'd probably buy it often as your go to strong beer (as I assume Simon at CAMRGB probably does...*wink*).

Sierra Nevada, Southern Hemisphere Harvest

I drank this ages ago and can't for the life of me remember how it tasted (the pictures have been sat on my hard rive since early August). I guessing it was the standard Sierra Nevada thing: 'nice enough'. As with the Northern Hemisphere version of this drink, there will inevitably be freshness issues.