Weird Beard, Saison 28

Drunk pretty fresh iirc. Murky amber pour, wood and booze on the nose. Taste was wood and booze at the front, then danky syrup hop, pepper saison yeasty into pretty long + dry finish. Strong dipper body. Spritzy carb wore off pretty quick. Really good, delcicious and morish beer. Hope it comes back.

Glazen Toren, Saison d'Erpe Mere

Delicious saison from Glazen Toren in Erpe-Mere (surprisingly enough). Sub £7 about 5/6 months ago, money very well spent. Watched Spectre, it was dull.

Fantôme, Brise-BonBons!

You know that really irritating taste in an IPA when you've got to it too late? The overpowering maltiness barely tempered by a nondescript herbal/vegetal parenthesis, the oily mouthfeel without the accompaniment, then a big bitterness that teases you about how good it was when fresh. This Fantôme basically. Maybe some bitter lemon flavours, some saisonyness, but mostly just the taste of dissappointment. (I've still got a Pissenlit wasting away somewhere to upset me as well.....)

Fantôme, India Red Ale

Since my first time with Fantôme, my experiences havent been so great. My second bottle of the saison seemed a little tired - there was none of that tropical, dry hop business. I put it down to hop fade (it was an older bottle that I'd been aging after all).

I figured their India Red Ale would be a pungent, dry hopped to eff saison. Not really, unfortunately. The fact that I don't have notes for it suggests I was underwhelmed although I do remember three things quite clearly - the first was this bizarre herbal taste that I didn't recognise (funnily enough, in hindsight, the closest thing I can think of that resembled that taste was the Wacky Cabbage that we used to buy from East West). Second was a very bitter finish, but not a particularly pleasant one. Lastly, I remember struggling to finish it. Overall, a bit of a shame really.

Brasserie Cantillon, Iris

Far be it from me to think I can do justice to the taste of this drink in words, so here are a bunch of over the top images of an empty bottle instead.

Brouwerij Lindemans, Blossom Gueuze

I think I drank this relatively fresh, purchased from Beer Gonzo after it'd been on other Belgian sites for only a month or so. Very pungent elderflower nose along with some sharp vinegar. The taste was basically Bottle Green with a very mild sharpness to it. Minimal funk, no oak. Medium dry finish. This was ok at the start, but I quickly got a bit bored to be honest. Would've been great shared on a pub terrace by the river in the sun. £13. I've never had the pleasure of Mamouche so I don't really have anything to compare this to, but I don't think I'll go back to it.

Brouwerij Lindemans, Oude Kriek Cuveé René

Bottled 20.3.14 ("2013 Vintage"), drank 11.12.15. Another pop, no gush. Sweet nose, sharp cherry, small nut. As with the gueuze, very sharp indeed. Zero sweetness. Fruit/citric/lemon. Minor fustiness/barnyard/funk up front, then almost immediately overpowered by the acidity. Some small woodiness towards the end. Very astringent. Again, fantastic price at sub £6 for a 750ml. My first glass was cellar temperature, the 2nd out of the fridge, I actually think the chill suited it better.

Brouwerij Lindemans, Oude Gueuze Cuveé René

Bottled date of 22.4.15. Cork pop and a small gush. A wafting aroma thereafter of plasters and funk. Very sharp indeed - the sharpness is almost overwhelming and mutes any other nuances. Possibly a bit indistinct or maybe one dimensional as a result. Definite oak though, finish is very dry and enamel stripping. Not my favourite gueuze but at the price poin, you simply cannot argue: £4.49 for 750ml from Beers Of Europe.

De Molen, Hel & Verdoemenis Bruichladdich BA

Wax capped brilliance from De Molen. I'd have had no idea where Bruichladdich was had my old (Scottish) neighbour not eulogised about it here. I don't really drink spirits anymore if I can avoid it, but I used to enjoy Islay malts and barrel aged stouts are probably the closest I get to drinking whisky these days. Heavy peat nose leading to sweet chocolate, not too much else immediately discernable. Taste is heavy peat, a tang of fruit which then mellowed into choc/coffee. A medium bitter finish. Peaty throughout and always sweet on the lips.

Fourpure, Oaked Porter Morning Star

Uh oh - I think I may be turning...I might be starting to appreciate those dreaded vanilla flavours in my beers....

This one started out like a root beer, then there was more vanilla which, to my surprise, I actually quite enjoyed (I was eating a reasonably salty peanut brownie at the time). The finish was roasty and bitter. Light body appropriate to the style with a non-jarring carbonation. Big thanks to James at Webroughtbeer for this gift! I understand this was made on Fourpure's pilot kit and that subsequent bottles had a proper label.

Weird Beard, Double Perle

No frills impy from WB and all the better for it. Great balance, possibly on the sweet side, but never too much. Big coffee. I bought 2 of these and it would've been more had Manish not ran out (the swine).

Okocim, Porter

Oops - no picture of the glass for this one. Another one brought back from Krakow by my folks. Not quite as 'full' and complete as the Zywiec but it's a style I can really get on with. Very roasty, well balanced and powerful. Both these porters are an absolute bugger to find in London. No luck so far.

Northern Monk, Parsnip and Black Pepper Dunkelweiss

Barely aromatic, thin body - none of the creaminess from the carbonation you might expect from the style. Banana (just), roast, pepper in the finish, some bitterness. Overall, a disappointment. (Although to be fair, once you've had Aventinus, nothing else will satisfy really.)

Telegraph Brewing, California Ale

A lovely surprise! I didn't really know what to expect but this has all the hallmarks of a quality brew. A great combo of yeast, citrus, firm malt and well pitched carbonation. Hoppy Belgian? As I write, I keep wanting to make a comparison to Orval....borderline sacrilege I know. It is really quite far off Orval, but it's at least very possibly in the same sort of territory....

This was a birthday gift from my brother last year. Cheers Kon!

Pizza Port, Swami's IPA

There are very, very few US IPAs that make it over here in decent nick and those that travel in cans, have been, in my experience, the best of the bunch (i.e. Central Coast's Lucky Day IPA and Ska's Modus). This one from Pizza Port was brill. I like a bit of sweetness to my IPAs. The Born To Dies of this world seem to lack body to me. A bit of crystal malt can work wonders if used properly. Not sure if that is used i this beer, but I thoroughly enjoyed the bombastic hopping and the complimentary balance from the thick and chewy malting. It was only towards the end of the beer that the malt profile became a little too sweet (as it warmed up a bit I suppose), but the memory of a bloshy, yet very finely balanced IPA remained.

This will probably be my last IPA/Pale entry in this blog. I'm hoping to concentrate on sours, imperial stouts and saisons from now on.

Żywiec, Porter

Like the Kernel impy, but 500ml of it. Happy days. (This one brought back from the motherland by the folks. Dziękuję mumia!

Arbor and Moor, Double Dark Alliance

I was fiending for this beer ever since it was first released (2013??). Dark Alliance I knew (blog post here), the double version I wanted. 2/3 years later, I saw it (almost by chance) in webroughtbeer and it was an insta-snaffle.

However.....whereas once the thought of a DBIPA would make me salivate, my tastes have changed I think (I thought something similar about Buxton's Battle Horse). This is an excellent beer, but all I could think of whilst drinking it was that I wish I had a 'standard' imperial stout instead. I wanted some more molasses and more roasty bitterness, rather than the 'cleaner' and fresher citrusy thing going on here. I suppose I'm a bit spoilt these days.

Crooked Stave, St. Bretta Autumn

I feel like American Wild Ales (AWAs apparently) are a bit of a can of worms - there are alot more of them (it seems) than there are of the Belgian equivalents and given that the majority of the rating sites are populated by Americans, the hype levels for Casey's, Side Project's and Hill Farmstead's beers are pretty feverish, sometimes bordering on the hysterical. (That DDB guy is probably to blame too.)

Crooked Stave are in the anti-kettle souring camp and by staying close to the lambic brewing ethos, their bottles are valued at more than controlled sour brews (i.e. £10 for a 355ml bottle).

How do they hold up to their Belgian inspirations? I hope I have the pleasure to find out with more AWAs. I'd imagine most US sour/wild brewers would be the first to admit that their offerings mightn't quite reach the same depths as some of the older Belgian breweries, but who's to say how that might change in a generation or two? The consolidation/maturation of US house yeasts perhaps remains a work in progress.

This AWA from Crooked Stave was, I think, my first experience with native American yeasts. A good beer. Blossomed when it reached room temperature, funky cheese/citrus nose. Sharp tang to mild sour citrus taste, minimal barnyard/funk. Dry finish. No overt presence of hops or oak in this for me unfortunately, but I enjoyed it and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to try it again. (Although I'd have to be pretty flush to warrant spending the above mentioned price when I could get 750ml of a Cantillon gueuze for the same or less.)

Beavertown, 'Spresso

Yet another canned imperial from Beavertown. Quality brewing, but if I were being uncharitable, I might say it was a bit one dimensional. That said - the real stand out on this is the mouth feel. Wow: absolutely zero harshness, velvety and carbonation just right. Have you had one of those canned coffees? Basically that's what this is.

De Molen, Tsarina Esra Reserva

Tar pour, very black. Smoked elements in the nose. Taste was sweet, much like a dark fortified wine perhaps. A very pronounced vinous character that bordered and the sharp/acidic. The bottle says barrel aged - surely in a red wine or port barrel? Very similar to Sam Smith's Taddy porter. No booze detectable, and bitterness subdued despite a high IBU. Apologies for the toilet gimmick, having a barren spell with ideas at the moment.... Purchased from the frankly amazing Bierkoning during a super quick job I had in Amsterdam last year.