Mikkeller/BrewDog I Hardcore You

Good evening all. Tonight's beer is I Hardcore You, a collaboration between Mikkeller and BrewDog with a difference- it's a blend of each brewery's flagship DIPA, namely Mikkeller's I Beat You and BrewDog's Hardcore IPA. In a move that you'd expect from such big names in the craft beer world, they've gone one step further by adding two extra dry hopping stages to amplify the beer even further. Since hearing about this beer a year ago I've been desperate to try it, so getting hold of a few bottles at the start of the week made me incredibly happy indeed! In regards to the individual beers from which this one was made, I've enjoyed Hardcore IPA many times before, but the closest I've got to I Beat You is a bottle currently residing in my cellar that I've yet to open. I'm thinking there may be grounds for a three beer taste test in the future, but before I entertain those thoughts it's time for the review. Which, as always, is after the pic....

I Hardcore You (9.5% ABV) pours a dark amber colour (verging on ruby) with a thick white head that dissipates gradually to a patchy covering on the surface of the beer. The aroma is full of resinous and citrus hops, with a candy sugar sweetness and a slightly vinous quality that is reminiscent of previous Mikkeller barrel-aged offerings. Hop lovers rejoice, you'll already know by this point that you're in for something spectacular! The taste is packed full of sticky piney hops, with some malt character present and a sweet caramelised aftertaste. The finish is, unsurprisingly, rather bitter and dry, and there is a flavour reminiscent of tonic water in the background. I'd describe the bitterness as biting slightly during drinking, then becoming more puckering in the finish. The mouthfeel is quite light and moderately carbonated. Overall, this is a wonderful collaboration from two of my favourite breweries, the result of which is a formidable yet balanced hop bomb with a sweet edge that offsets the bitterness nicely. It might have taken me a while to try this beer, but it was so worth it. Very highly recommended!

Until next time....

Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat Duvel

Good evening all. Tonight's beer is a bona fide Belgian classic in the form of Duvel from Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat. Duvel was probably my first experience with Belgian beer, and I distinctly remember finding the new flavours and higher alcohol content to be a bit too "out there" for my tastes at the time. Fast forward a year and a number of perception-changing beer experiences, and I'm in the mood to properly evaluate this highly-revered classic that could easily be considered the benchmark by which Belgian Strong Pale Ales are measured. Also, it counts as another notch on my 2012 Belgian beer quest, so it's a multifaceted success. Review after the pic....

Duvel (8.5% ABV) pours a pale golden colour with a gorgeous thick white head that retains itself very well. The pic doesn't do it enough justice, it's an amazing thing to behold! As expected, there's some lacing present during consumption, but this diminishes towards the latter stages of the drink. Unfortunately I don't own a Duvel tulip glass, so I opted to serve this beer in my BrewDog Teku glass instead- beer geeks of the world, please forgive me. The aroma is very rich in spice and phenols, with oranges/citrus fruits, some honey-like sweetness and a slight awareness of the alcohol content coming through in the background. The taste is phenolic. fruity (both citrus fruits and dark fruits) and malty, with some floral hop character in the finish. There is a slight bite on the palette during drinking, but no excessive bitterness in the finish itself. The mouthfeel is thick, aerated and well carbonated. Overall, this is a great Belgian Strong Pale Ale that is packed with rich Belgian flavours but still manages to remain well-balanced and not overly cloying on the palette. Couldn't recommend it enough, and the best thing is it's so easily available!

Until next time....

Windsor & Eton Brewery Republika

Good evening all. Tonight I'm having a beer that I picked up earlier today at Utobeer during an unscheduled but ultimately rewarding trip to London. This trip culminated in a visit to BrewDog Camden, with two new beers from the scamps themselves available on draft- Libertine Porter and IPA Is Dead Simcoe. As Simcoe is probably my favourite hop variety, and because it was used so marvelously in this context, the IPA Is Dead is my firm favourite at the time of writing. Really looking forward to seeing these in bottles over the coming months now! The beer in question for tonight's review is Republika from Windsor & Eton, a pilsner lager that I've had before (and loved) but felt it deserved a proper evaluation on the blog. Review after the pic....

Republika (4.8% ABV) pours a golden colour with a white head that quickly dissipates to virtually nothing in the glass. The pic was only taken about 15 seconds after the pour, so you can see how short-lived it is! The aroma is subtle, with noble hops, malt and a sweetness that's very reminiscent of honey. The taste is much of the same, with bittering/noble hop flavours and biscuity malt, with a slight sweetness and bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is thin and not very carbonated. Overall, a very crisp and thirst-quenching lager with a decent helping of noble hops and a dry yet pleasing bitterness to the finish. Although it's not quite as good as I remembered, it's still a great lager and would make a nice transitional drink for anyone thinking of getting into craft beers. This is the sort of beer that you want to have at the end of a hard day, so it's a shame I can't have it around more often! Highly recommended.

Until next time....

Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Trappist Achel 8 Bruin

Good evening all. If tonight's blog post doesn't win an award for the length of the title, I'm going to be incredibly disappointed. In case you haven't guessed, it's time for another Belgian beer! This time it's Trappist Achel 8 Bruin, a Dubbel from Brouwerij der St. Benedictusabdij de Achelse. It's Friday, I'm listening to Dream Theater and I've got beer- pretty good if you ask me! Review after the pic....

Trappist Achel 8 Bruin (8.0% ABV) pours a rich maroon colour with a very lively bubbly head that retains itself well throughout the beer. Plenty of lacing down the side of the glass as well, always a good thing to see! The aroma is full of spicy phenols, dark fruits, citrus fruits and candy sugar, with a boozy dimension in the background that supports the aromas very well. The taste is slightly medicinal and phenolic, with candy sugar sweetness, raspberries, blackcurrants and a decent helping of malt in the finish. The aftertaste is quite dry and grape-like, and the mouthfeel is thick and well carbonated. Overall, a very good Dubbel that has plenty of the expected Belgian flavours and aromas in a very drinkable package. Yet another laconic Belgian beer review it seems, but when a beer is this well constructed the idea of being verbose seems rather superfluous. Definitely recommended, and another notch on the Belgian beer belt for the year!

Until next time....

Marble Beers Dobber

Good evening all. Tonight's beer is Dobber, an IPA from Marble Beers. Marble is a brewery I've heard a lot about over the last year or so, but it wasn't until very recently that I decided to seek out one of their beers to try. This does seem a bit crazy, but for some reason I always hesitated when given the opportunity to purchase one of their offerings, despite the positive feedback and their seemingly ubiquitous presence at my favourite London haunts (particularly Craft Beer Co.). My expectations are already pretty high for this beer, so let's get tasting! Review after the pic....

Dobber (5.9% ABV) pours an amber colour with a decent white head that dissipates to a thin coating over the surface of the beer. The aroma consists of resinous and citrus fruit hops with a caramel sweetness in the background. The taste is full of piney hops, biscuit malt, citrus fruits and a slight hint of blackcurrants, with a puckering yet pleasing bitterness to the finish. Sometimes the beer tasted green or "young", with the flavours appearing unbalanced and the overall mouthfeel coming across as watery, but I only got this impression early on in the beer and it soon diminished. The mouthfeel is slightly thick and moderately carbonated. Overall, this is a very impressive beer, with the hoppy bitterness and ABV percentage to warrant the IPA title (one thing that consistently angers me about English breweries is the seemingly never ending stream of 4% IPAs with virtually no hop profile at all) and a decent helping of malt to add a different dimension to the experience. Along with Lovibonds' 69 IPA, this is one of the best examples of a beer balancing English and American IPA flavours that I've had for a long time. Definitely recommended, I'll no doubt be reviewing more offerings from Marble Beers in the future!

Until next time....

Black Isle Brewery Blonde

Good evening all. Unfortunately there's not a lot to report for tonight's introduction, so I'll start talking about the beer I've chosen instead! I picked up tonight's choice from a wine shop in town that turned out to have a decent selection of bottled beers, so I'll no doubt be frequenting that place more often in the future. The beer in question is Blonde from Black Isle Brewery, a brewery whose offerings I've only tried once before in the form of Heather Honey Beer, a wonderful pale lager that I had at Tap East towards the end of last year. If that place wasn't so out of the way, I'd definitely try and go there more often as the cask and keg options always seem to be interesting. Anyway, back to the task at hand and, as always, review after the pic....

Blonde (4.5% ABV) pours a golden colour with a decent white head that dissipates to a thin coating over the surface of the beer. The aroma is very subdued, with subtle bittering/noble hops and some malt character in the background- very reminiscent of a lager. The taste is much of the same, with biscuit malt, grassy bittering hop flavours and a slight sweetness in the finish (but no bitterness). The mouthfeel is light and moderately carbonated, making the beer very drinkable. Overall, a fairly unremarkable beer from a brewery that seems to be able to produce significantly better offerings. Would be good as a session beer or as a break from fuller-bodied beers, but I don't see myself getting this one again anytime soon.

As a side note, I read on the Black Isle Brewery web site that this particular beer pairs very well with Laphroaig whisky. As I have a special bottling of Laphroaig currently on the go (11 Years Old from the McGibbon's Provenance range), I thought it would be wise to test this particular claim and see how well the two drinks complimented each other. What I found was the light flavours and subtleties of the beer provide a great platform for the whisky, with the Laphroaig taking on an almost Speyside-like sweetness and the medicinal, smoky flavours becoming quite subdued and partially masked as a result. Because the beer is contributing very little in comparison to the whisky, the two work very well together. Well, I couldn't just take their word for it, could I? Even as a brief aside, it was a very interesting exercise and I hope to be able to try more beer/whisky pairings in the future.

Until next time....

Trappistes Rochefort 10

Good evening all. It's been a while since my last beer review, as my post-exam life has involved attending a Big Lebowski Quote-A-Long, watching a variety of films and getting back into the lab to reacquaint myself with the project I'm meant to be finishing in two months. These have all conspired against me to ensure I haven't had a decent window of time in which to properly evaluate new beers. Tonight presented a perfect opportunity though, and in the spirit of continuing my Belgian beer crusade for 2012, I opted for Trappistes Rochefort 10 from Brasserie de Rochefort, purchased at The Rake a couple of weeks ago. Review after the pic....

Trappistes Rochefort 10 (11.3% ABV) pours a chestnut brown colour with a thick beige head that settles to a thin coating on the surface of the beer. The aroma is full of typical Belgian phenolic character, with blackcurrants, raspberries and a candy sugar sweetness. The taste consists of spicy phenols, raspberries and candy sugar, with a malty/yeasty finish over some residual sweetness. Initially the beer appears to be quite boozy, but this diminishes soon after the first sip. The mouthfeel is slightly thick and moderately carbonated, but exceedingly drinkable (as any good Belgian beer should be!). Overall, a very good Quad with plenty of spice and a good helping of fruity sweetness. It's a very solid offering, hence the succinctness of the review. Definitely recommended!

Until next time....