Un-Human Cannonball 2015, Magic Rock

My third year of UHC - I loved 2013 (murky and tropical), 2014 less so (blog post here - clear and piney) and for 2015, it seemed as though it was back to murk and Lilt which is absolutely fine by me. (In fact, I much prefer that style to the 2014 style.) Heavyweight body, but easy to drink with hardly any trace of booze save for a slight harshness. Bottle conditioned, which was a surprise (don't think the previous years were?). Big thanks to Manish for saving me a couple.

Magic Rock Brewing Co, Un-Human Cannonball

Noteless for this one from Magic Rock, but you already know what this tastes like right? There weren't as many woeful twitter tales of missing out this year and it seems that there are still a few kegs of this floating about, so I'm guessing that everyone who wanted a taste got one.

I was lucky ('stupid') enough to attend the Craft Beer Co N1 launch of this. I paid £20 for a bottle and got a tote bag too - money's worth for sure! Paid a fiver for a third too! Happy days! Sorry, that's a bit harsh. It's just that Manish got a case in and was charging only £12.50. (Forward slash face.) No one to get upset at but my geek-greedy self.

Anyway, it was a delicious drink, pine sap mayhem, felt like I was sinking my teeth up to the gums into a fleshy piece of bark. Controversially, I think I may have preferred the 2013 version, but it was a long time ago so I can't be sure. If I was flush and I saw this again on keg, I'd almost certainly buy it. And I will get the 2015 version.

Anyone want to buy an Un-Human tote bag for a tenner?

Magic Rock Brewing Co, Cannonball

Alot has been said about the calibre of this IPA from Huddersfield stars Magic Rock, and by people more fully versed in beer related wordery than myself. (This post by Matt Curtis is pretty good.) I agree with pretty much all of what's been said. Sweet tinge from the caramel malts is the perfect foil to the hop wallop in this: there's perfect balance all the way through. Negatives: in short supply and relatively expensive. Not being bottle conditioned is a plus though (for me). Getting a bit tired of the unavoidable yeastiness (however small) in my IPAs at the moment.

Magic Rock Brewing Co, Barrel Aged Bearded Lady

I think that this was the drink that really kick started a drive to sample imperial stouts for me. I drank my first bottle (perhaps somewhat incongruously at the height of summer. I've started to get into saisons as the winter is settling in, think I've got my season pairings back to front somehow...!), of this back at the beginning of August, way before I deliberately started to search out any other similarly styled drinks. After the Un-human Cannonball (bottles of that stored waiting for review + relatively 'special' photo idea) I kind of had the geek-greed for this special edition bottle, so I bought 2 just in case (courtesy of the good folk at Mr Lawrence).

It poured thick and opaque - almost purple. I'd never smelt anything like this before, bitter and dark chocolate, used coffee, liquorice and boozy aromas. The taste for me had all this plus some more wet coffee grounds, the faint tinge of whisky right at the edges, and some hard grape bits - possibly brandy-ish? Peppery smoked meat tinges??

Mouth feel very smooth despite decent carbonation, you could feel the alcohol slightly on the gums (I good thing I think) and a very gentle bitter after. For my 2nd glass from the bottle it was nice to have a Maoam on the side just to sweeten the edge off.

I've had more whisky-er impy stouts since this one (most notable the Kernel BA Glen Spey), but in it's 660ml presentation, wax seal and beautiful bottle graphics, this had an air of occasion about it that adds to the drinking experience. Of course the limited nature of it helped too, plus the hype online and on the Magic Rock website.

Having said that: there's a contingent of electronic music producers/labels that release very rare tunes on a very limited run of vinyl and this alienates those who will never be able to get hold of it. (The vinyl then inevitably appears on discogs at silly, well over-inflated prices). I saw on twitter that beer releases such as this one and the Un-human Cannonball from Magic Rock can have the same effect. I was fortunate to get both, but I think I'd prefer them to be more available, if only to drive down the price a little bit. (Obviously, the rarity adds to the desirability...a double edged sword I suppose.) £12 for 660ml of 10.5% liquid is certainly high. A similar amount of money will get you A Chateauneuf du Pape. It seems that's where we're at with this type of strong beer (leaving aside tax issues on creating beers above 7.4% abv). It is certainly a sting on the wallet, but I for one, am more or less content to pay these prices. For comparison, Kernel did a BA impy at £6/330ml, Mikkeller obviously take the piss even more (and on tap: Even More Jesus from Evil Twin at £13/pint...). Whatever, vote with your wallet I suppose.