Schneider Weisse, Tap 6 Unser Aventinus

James Clay at it again, flooding the market with good beer. No complaints here. My bottle of Schneider Weisse Tap 6 Unser Aventinus was a bit of a gusher though unfortunately, did I contaminate the drink with the yeast? No problem if I did it seems, it was a great drink nonetheless. Never had a Doppelbock before (regular or the weisse variety), didn't really know what to expect (except something pretty malty). Murky brown like river water. Clove and root beer nose plus that thing you get off Belgian Tripels (germolene, plasters, a sort of dryness type thing). Occasionally, there was a pleasant whiff of bubblegum.

Mildly carbonated, taste was raisins (bit like a quad), banana echoes and generally quite sweet overall, although the hops did seem to do well to temper that. Very smooth on the palate and an ever so slightly metalliccy essence right at the death (possibly the yeast running through it after the gush?). Want more of this.

Schneider Weisse, Tap 5 Meine Hopfen Weisse

My first weissbier for absolutely ages (my last one being something a bit rubbish and commercial like a Hoegaarden or something). This one was very good! Very sweet, cloves etc, the hops merged well. Very morish! High carbonation typical of the style, citrus nose (orange and pineapple*), orange squash on the belches, no trace of alcohol. Drank it out of my pilfered Pilsner Urquell embossed stein of course. A pint at 8.2% though...phew. (Think I got a couple of these in the end.)

*For my sins, I can only ever discern orange and/or pineapple in those tropically hoppy IPAs. Passion fruit, mango, guava, peach, apricot - forget it. If it tastes and/or smells tropical, for me it's only ever gonna be orange and pineapple.

To Øl, Final Frontier

DIPA from Danish geeks To Øl. Dark in colour with an insane head. Gloopy and thick.

To Øl, First Frontier

My cold had come back when drinking this, so my taste buds weren't working too well. West Coast IPA from To Øl. Quite fresh tasting (I assumed it would have been quite old), not as gloopy as the DIPA. Oozing pine sap taste, Warrior, Simcoe and Centennial hops, according to the label. Drank it back in December last year, bought it from Beers Of Europe.

Victory, Hop Devil IPA

Victory make alot of different beers! At first glance, there seems to be at least 4 types of +6% hoppy ales. Fair enough! Their flagship (I think) IPA pours very red, stinks of sticky and resinous pine sap. Very pungent up your nostrils and in your gob. A little sweetness on the edges which is ok. Little bit of spice (pepper perhaps) in there? Very full bodied and very bitter.

Sierra Nevada, Narwhal

I still feel a bit daft buying imported US bottled beers: overpriced, out-of-date and over here: you can get just as fabulous and, more importantly, pingingly fresh UK brewed beers for a lot cheaper (in the vast majority of cases). Stouts I think get away with it, but of course a lot of US stouts come with those big fat hop profiles so I'm still not 100% convinced that even the dark beers are at their best.

This Narwhal from West Coast titans Sierra Nevada was very good though. Hops, booze and coffee nose. Taste was (iirc) bittering hops up front, followed by some gentle raisins, along with that impy stout staple of the mushroom/meaty/soy thing. Big coffee hit - dark and bitter. Yum. Minor cocoa. High-ish carbonation. "A stout for IPA lovers" my notes say. My favourite SN beer by a mile (although I haven't had any of their cans yet).

Art Brew, Earth Roots Resin

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting and chatting with the John, brewer at Art Brew, in Manish's Good Taste just as he was making a delivery. I couldn't not walk out of the shop without a bottle of Art Brew really could I? (John and Becky from Art Brew are currently changing the shape of their brewery right now, so their website's down - their twitter account is the best source of info right now I think.)

Earth Roots Resin has been on my radar for a bit now, mainly because I really like the dub reference in the name (implicit or not)! John actually told me to let the bottle condition for a little while, but patience has never been my strong suit. Anyway, it was pretty flat. Nose of porridge and brown sugar, masses of (nicely poised) pine in the taste (largely due to the christmas tree which gets lobbed into the boil I understand!) and very clean all the way through. I've been fortunate enough to meet a few brewers now (largely whilst they're working rather than at MTB events) and without exception, they've all been super mellow, chatty and flatteringly congenial. Nice one fellas!