Strong Beer

The Yang was insanely bitter but was otherwise rubbish (because, I suspect, it was not at all fresh). Rip Tide (dated branding!) was brill as was Tsar (although it had this weird minty/root beery thing going on I think). Tickle Monster was great, but a little too flat, maybe a little too sweet and had bloody enormous lumps of yeast in it. Wyoming Sheep Ranch is easily the pick of this bunch. Had it few times over the years, keg at the Old Red Cow and a couple of bottles too. When fresh, it's an instabag. Can't find my bottle shot for it though :/

Buxton, Tsar Bomba III

This bottle was a finely judged birthday gift from my brother (currently living in Australia) - he'd had it before (at up the brewery itself) and had good things to say about it. It's a rather expensive bottle as I understand it, largely due, I suppose, to the complex aging process (see here). Unfortunately, my last stout with Brettanomyces didn't work out too well - and so I admit I was nervous about this one.

I was due to leave it down for a year or two (potentially to share with my bro on his return from Oz) but I was stuck for a night cap one night and then noticed that it said "drink fresh" on the bottle. Now, my knowledge of beers brewed with wild yeast strains is limited at best, but I understood that some of those sours can age in their bottles longer than stouts? This was bottled August 2013, so it was the best part of 2 years in the bottle already - hardly "fresh".

Plasters and germolene nose, bit of that pink dentist's mouthwash (nothing at all like a normal impy nose). Some of that in the up front taste, some woodchips. The brett (I think) was there mid-palate: sweaty. Then stout characteristics towards the end: touch of mint, liquorice, chocolate, soggy bark. Bitter choc finish. This drink made me realise that I am still a long way from fully appreciating soured beers but overall, I enjoyed drinking it. I wonder how this would compare to Burning Sky's Monolith (as I understand it: a dark sour rather than a soured dark.)

Thanks Kon for this!

Buxton, Battle Horse

Ever since a trip to Denmark where I sampled the glorious Mofo Stout, I've always expected my ideal drink to be a DBIPA, although up until now, I'd never actually had one. I've discovered that Kernel did one but I'd not seen any other versions until this one from Buxton. It was excellent of course, low viscosity, big DIPA character with burnt malt bitterness at the edges. An Untappd friend described it as 'a DIPA but black', which is more or less spot on: the 'black' characteristics were very much at the sidelines.

(On a purely personal note - as much as I fiended for this drink upon discovering it, the actual experience of drinking wasn't particularly epiphanic. I think my tastes (currently) lie with saisons, so as excellent as Battle Horse is, the lack of effusery in this post is possibly down to some sort of lupulin fatigue syndrome rather than indifference.)

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!

Buxton, Axe Edge

Synchronicitously, I actually blogged my last Buxton IPA this time last year (I drank this bottle in April last year). This is the old branding, before they ditched the 500ml bottles. Buxton are ace - top collaborators (Wyoming Sheep Ranch and Carnage were big beers) and purveyors of silly, modern ale types. I made a yeast soup out of this Axe Edge, but it remains a solid US style IPA. Picked this one up from Mr Lawrence blooming ages ago.

Buxton, Imperial Black

I've only had the almost surreally good Brodie's Dalston Black on keg (Westow House) so not sure what the bottled version is like. This beer from forward thinking Peak District brewery Buxton is, I feel, very close to the Brodie's (a lot better then their Black Rocks in my opinion). Big tropical nose, slight tinge of booze with a full body but delivered with a surprisingly light touch. Very professional balance between the resiny hops tand the meaty malts. Buying this again.

Buxton Brewery, SPA

Classic 'special pale ale' from Buxton. Another ale singly hopped with Citra. (I'm making a habit of this citra thing - purely by accident in most cases!) The usual citra affair - hoppy and fruity, lychees nose (learnt from Oakham blurb) with a gentle carbonation. Instant rounded grapefruity bitterness on the inside of the cheeks but it didn't hang about for too long. I drank this at room temperature for a change.

Buxton, Wild Boar

Elegantly fruity IPA from Buxton. Unfined and a glowing pale gold in colour. Very lightly carbonated, smooth and hoppy with a nicely bitter finish. I first had a pint of this on draft at The Rake in Borough and hadn't seen it in a bottle until quite recently (purchased again from the soon-to-be-mailorder-only Mr Lawrence Wine Merchant).