Buxton, Jawgate

A style of beer that I do know a thing or two about: the good old American Pale Ale. This is Buxton's second branding of this (the old one is in this image). This mid strength beer didn't exist in Buxton's core range for a while (the closest was Wild Boar at 5.7%) and why they introduced it when they already had an existing beer that was quite similar in style and taste seems a strange choice. It's certainly a solid APA, but the fact that it doesn't reach Gamma Ray or Bethnal Pale Ale heights makes it seem as though it's really only included as part of the range to make up the numbers, to tick the APA box.

Cheers Kon once again for this!

Buxton and Omnipollo, Stolen Fruit

My second bottled sour at home I think (I had the Kernel's London Sour a long while back iirc). I'm afraid I turned my nose up at sours a while back - I remember the Beavertown/Wild Beer Co collab Rubus Maximus not really doing it for me and sort of (totally unfairly) dismissing all sour beers out of hand. However, since the Zwanze micro-hype and the Kernel flashing pornographic images of their taking delivery of their new foeders, I figured I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try to ride this next beer trend wave (that Fou'Foune sounds well sophisticated bruv). Anyway, so far, I've had a go at the Brodie's + Brewdog Clapham collab Southside Zester and the Wild Beer Schnoodlepip (not a trad. sour I suppose).

(I read this: apparently IPAs are mainstream now. Obviously I'll come off as some sort of fickle hipster about this 'new' sour beer thing, so without wanting to protest too much, I'll just hold my hands up and admit to being a new fad whore. But it's always good to try new things (except incest and barn dancing, apparently) and push yourself right?)

So with the caveat that I know next to nothing about sour beer....I liked this one (the German version of the Belgian equivalent: Berliner Weisse) from Buxton and Omnipollo. Grapefruit and lime massively evident off the nose and in the taste. Minor 'beer elements' it seemed to me. Obviously puckering, sharp and sour yet moresish and quite mellow and drinkable once I'd acclimatised to that. Massive thanks to my brother Konrad for this as a spot on birthday present!

Partizan, Stout Porter

A very pleasing drink. Not mind blowing, but all the better for it: to my mind, it was just nice to have a beer with nothing wrong/weird/different with/about it. It was exactly what I wanted. Appropriately light body for this porter, nose was consistent, taste was tar, some berries. Nice lick of booze on the finish.

Redchurch Brewery, East End Sasion

Orange pour - mad fizzy. Big piney/orange smell off the bottleneck. Taste follows, then a minor pepper/farmhouse element. Can't taste the booze (6.9%) Some bitterness. Typical London beer hype is Camden, Beavertown and some others, but Rechurch have been around since dot, knocking out amazing and consistent beers. The Pale ought to be ranked close to Gamma Ray and the Hoxton Sout is, for me, possibly the greatest hoppy stout on the market. This saison mightn't quite reach those heights, but it is another example of this understated and apparently overlooked brewery doing things really well.

Green Flash, West Coast IPA

When will I learn not to buy US IPA bottles? How fresh are they realistically likely to be after a massive sea voyage? I had the previous incarnation of this beer a while back at Cask which, iirc, was better. This one had no nose (how does it smell?) and a thin body. Bitter though.