Kernel, Bière de Saison, Barrel aged and blended with London Sour.

Not sure if Ninkasi is barrel aged or not. If not, then I think this one from the Kernel was my first barrel aged saison. Very nice too, drank just under a year since bottling date. Vinegar nose (the London Sour influence?), saison taste and fizz. Wineous. Super drying on the finish (tannins from the oak barrel or the grapes?). Not had this style before. (Since - I had a similar drink by Anspach and Hobday, a galaxy saison aged in Chardonnay barrels.) An understandably expensive style, but one I will go back to (wallet permitting).

Kernel, Imperial Brown Stout - Tormore and Port Dundas BA

Is this a blend? I'm assuming Tormore (single malt) and Port Dundas (now owned by Diageo apparently) are separate entities...

Served cold. Whiskey nose, big whiskey taste: scotch (banana) and some wood. Surprisingly sweet for a Kernel stout. Finish is a massive whiskey dryness well mixed with hop bitterness (signature Kernel impy).

The Kernel Brewery, 2013

I try to keep the beer bottles I drink for photographing. They're rinsed and then they sit in a Sainsbury's bag under the sink until I get an opportunity to photograph them in a way in which I've planned out in my head. I shot a previous run of posts where there was a common theme and I'd hoped to continue it with this second batch of Kernel bottles. However, my mind is in clear-out mode at the moment, so I plumped for something quick and simple instead this time.

Kernel beers are very possibly the best in London, if not Europe. Quality control is obviously very high and it's rare to have a bad, even an average beer from them. (Going through these images for this blog has got me salivating for them at 8 in the morning. That's not good is it....) I know that it's largely redundant reviewing Kernels but sod it: I'm a completist so indulge me.

Imperial Brown Stout

Version photographed is obviously not the 1856 version (I suppose they're not too dissimilar from one another). Smell of raisins, oil and booze in the gob, barely carbonated and heavy coffee flavours. I find that when this is chilled, I get more of the grassy/freshness element of the hops which I really like. Drunk at a warm room temperature, this is a very imposing drink which really oughtn't to be drunk after a night out.

I've got a stash of bottles of the 1856 version which were bottled in Jan 2103 - they're more or less perfect for me: very smooth (unctuous) in the mouth and highly drinkable. There was a batch which was bottled over half a year later in October 2013 and I remember them being quite harsh by contrast. Not unpleasant by any means, but there was certainly a sort of mild 'stripping' effect on the palate and throat whilst drinking. Anyway, left to condition for a year or more, this impy is rivalled only by the De Struise Black Albert. I've got a weird (and slightly sad) OCD thing that I can't not know that I have at least 2 bottles of this in the flat at all times.

Simcoe IPA

I went a bit silly with this one and bought quite a few. Ultimately, I think I preferred the Mosaic version, but I came into a bit more dosh around the time this came out so I indulged. Archetypal cat piss IPA this one, with stupid tropicalness and stratospheric drinkability.

Mosaic IPA

As above but better.

CREAM IPA

There's this cool game that you can play with the Kernel brews - "Guess The Acronym". Actually, it's not that cool (Chinook, Riwaka, Ella, Ahatanum, Moteuka). Anyway, this Wu-Tang inspired IPA was actually not so much to my tastes. Which is annoying as it makes me feel that I'm one of those lupulin idiots who's only impressed by hop IEDs. Anyway, in some (very probably) psycho somatic way, this IPA tasted like cream soda with a little tangerine on the edges. Hoppy obviously, but quite a mild drink in terms of overt flavours, much like their subtle Ella pale ale that came out around the same time iirc.

Double 4C

4C? Chinook, Columbus, Centennial and ummm....hang on...err...is it...maybe...Cascade? DIPAs (or imperial IPAs or whatever) from Kernel are rare. This was one of only 2 (I think) from 2013, the other being their Double Citra which was bloody brilliant and won the CAMRGB best of 2013 award. the Double 4C wasn't as good. Thick mouth feel, foam sweets etc but it was a bit flat and lacked something, not sure what though. I'd love it if the Kernel did more DIPAs. Maybe a DBIPA would be nice....(please..?)

Barrel Aged Stout

Noteless for this one. I imagine it was a bit like this one. In a world of almost parodical beer label blurbs, this one makes me laugh.

Imperial Brown Stout, London 1856 B.A. Glen Spey

Sensational BA impy. Heavy whisky nose and taste with a viscous booze at the end of each sip. £6/bottle is about right, I bought a few and I've got one left. Good until 2020 apparently.

Kernel Brewery, Glen Garioch Barrel Aged Stout

The back of this bottle says: "A blend of Imperial Brown Stout and Export Stout. Aged in a Glen Garioch whisky cask. Second Fill." I like the way the Kernel give you full info on their drinks. Bought direct form the brewery this one at a relatively hefty price (not as expensive as the full Impy version though....), this one smelt of tar, T-Gel, london smoke and the occasional sharp vapour of Glen Garioch whisky. Very mildly carbonated and an opaque black with brown tinges. Poured slowly so no head. Alcohol at the edges of the tastes, coffee and maybe the occasional blackberry or sour cherry? (Am I being influenced by the Magic Rock description here? Possibly....) Definite whisky aftertaste - scotch plus that sort of palette cleansing, stripping down effect.

Massively satisfying, small sips only required. Took me just over 1hr to drink the whole bottle so worth every penny. Really rather looking forward to the Imperial version of this drink!

Kernel Brewery, Black IPA

Reappearance of Kernel's black IPA. Nice enough. I've put one down for Christmas, by when I suspect the malts will have almost certainly taken over. Not so much in the way of hops here. There was a metallic mouth feel at the end of the aftertaste. I preferred the collab with Brodies.

Kernel Brewery, Chinook IPA

A sweet IPA from Kernel - we had a home made (paste included) Thai Curry (which was excellent by the way...!) which more or less annihilated my palette, but maybe lemon and grapefruit in this? Massively bitter aftertaste. Chinook is primarily a bittering hop if I understand it correctly, which might explain apparent lack of discernible fruit/resin in favour of almost overwhelming bitterness.

Kernel Brewery, Galaxy + HBC 291 IPA

I'll add the glass/bottle picture when I buy another bottle of this - I seem to have misplaced it on my hard drive (*deleted it accidentally*). Brewed with the Aussie Galaxy and the catchily named new hop HBC 291 from the US. Like Dead Pony Club but 750% better - fuller, stronger, bitterer. (An unfair comparison? Dead Pony Club is actually quite good I think....) Drank 3 weeks fresh, bought direct from the brewery. Palette = roast vegetables and hummus.

Kernel Brewery, SANS IPA

I hadn't had a Kernel for a while (a month or two) up to this one which I drank just before going on holiday this month. It reminded me just how good drinks from the Kernel Brewery can actually be - this one properly made me sit back and go 'cor'. I'm hesitating to call this an American style IPA - have the Kernel established their own distinct type of IPA now?

Kernel Brewery, Double Citra

My first DIPA experience I think? Set the bar really quite high this one from Kernel. Very hazy pour, much deeper in colour than the pale ale version (being drunk next to me by my wife). Obviously a fat and healthy body to it. Intense tropical flavours. Pursing the lips after swallowing seemed to trap the alcohol around the gums - you could certainly get a feeling for the 9.7% alcohol this way. I liked this drink quite a bit - I felt it deserved the Tarkovsky background.

Kernel Brewery, Export Stout London 1890

Possibly my favourite stout from The Kernel. I don't have any notes for this, but I don't suppose you really need them: if you love stout and you haven't tried this one then you're an idiot.

Kernel Brewery, Mosaic IPA

Some slightly gushing notes on this IPA from Kernel - zero head, but a tight carbonation, pours a deep orange, intense tropical nose. First taste is like Lilt then deep hop resin flavours rise above. A drink of 2 halves then? Brewdate on this one was 12th March - I drank it a month after that.

Kernel Brewery, Cascade Pale Ale

My first beer write-up for a while - I have a bunch of bottles under the sink that have been sitting around waiting to be photographed and for one reason or another, I simply haven't got around to it. Anyway, I thought I'd make a series of sorts out of a bunch of Kernels. Their cascade pale ale is from back in April I think. I suppose you'd sort of know what to expect from this, a standard affair really - a typically amazing pale ale.

London's Brewing 2013

Lots has been said about the organisational problems of London's Brewing 2013. Luckily for me, my brothers queued on my behalf, my wife and I arrived later on, collected our tickets at the door and walked straight in. My main bugbears were beers running out, beers not being available from the start, and, as Matt Curtis pointed out (as did a punter next to me in the keg tent queue) that Weird Beard's Mariana Trench, was not in fact Mariana Trench. Queuing times were, at worst, no longer than you might expect at a busy music festival or even a packed bar in town.

I must confess to grumbling on my arrival - angry punters storming off upon discovering the queues inside may have coloured me slightly - but, after things settled into a vague routine, I ended up sampling some excellent beers (I wasn't particularly adventurous though) had a great time, and ended up quite drunk.

2/3 Redchurch IPA
1/3 Kernel LBA Stout (love this)
2/3 By The Horns Hopslinger (loads better than the last time I had it in a bottle)
2/3 Beavertown Blood Orange IPA (New favourite IPA, my wife loved this. Went back to get some more but it was all gone by then.)
2/3 Windsor and Eton Conqueror
2/3 London Fields Black Frost
2/3 Beavertown Dark Saison thingy

Went on the The Fox after that, but then things went a bit hazy. (Disclaimer: up since 6.30am, minimal lunch, sleep deprived!)

Addended thanks (and sheepish apologies!) to Mr. Plant for putting up with some drunken ramblings about the blood orange drink.