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!