Beer Advent Calendar Day 7- Brouwerij De Molen Hemel & Aarde

Good evening all. Another imperial stout has graced me with its presence on day 7, and it's fully appreciated amidst this frozen season. The offering in question is Hemel & Aarde from Brouwerij De Molen (Bodegraven, Netherlands), a veritable bad boy that's been brewed with peated malt from the Bruichladdich distillery to add an extra element to the proceedings. I've had this bottle in my collection for at least a year and a half, so I'm hoping that this has improved it to some extent. As if that wasn't enough to fuel my anticipation I'm also a massive Islay whisky fan, so the inclusion of peated malt is something I can definitely get behind. Review after the pics....

Hemel & Aarde (9.5% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a light brown head that settles to a thin coating on the surface of the beer. The aroma is pretty intense, with peat smoke, caramel and some very light roasted malt contributions (chocolate, coffee) residing in the background. The sheer power of the peated malt virtually obscures all of the other aromas at first, but once the nose becomes accustomed to this it's slightly easier to pick out other components. The caramelised sweetness supports the peated malt so well that the two are almost indistinguishable, and in the background the coffee and chocolate add some nice nuances to break up the smokiness. The taste delivers some more variety, with peat, coffee, chocolate, yeast extract, dark fruits, licorice and a warming boozy quality. Whereas in the aroma the peat dominated, on the palette it's more forgiving and retreats relatively early on to allow the other flavours to have their say. The booze provides a fair bit of tartness along the sides of the mouth- which seems to amplify the perception of the dark fruits (raspberry, blackcurrant)- and continues into the finish with a light burn at the back of the throat. Because of the power of the other flavours, the coffee and chocolate are most noticeable through retro-olfaction, with a partial reprisal during the finish once everything else has died down. As is the case with most imperial stouts the finish is relatively flavourless, save for some light hop-derived grapefruit and some random remnants (yeast extract, caramel, peat smoke). The mouthfeel is on the thick side and the beer is moderately carbonated, which works well with the peatiness and alcohol content. Overall, this is a great offering that utilises the peated malt very well to add a different but very complimentary dimension to the usual imperial stout flavour profile. Sometimes the peated malt can overpower the other aromas and flavours,  but this isn't too common and when all the flavours are balanced it creates an amazing drinking experience. Highly recommended!

Until next time....

Beer Advent Calendar Day 6- BrewDog AB:11

Good evening all. Behind tonight's cardboard door is AB:11, a Barleywine from BrewDog (Fraserburgh, Scotland). This is part of BrewDog's ongoing Abstrakt series, and has been brewed with ginger, brambles and chipotle peppers. At the time of writing it's raining like a beast and it's been consistently cold throughout the day, so I'm looking forward to the warming qualities of this quite a bit! Review after the pics....

AB:11 (12.8% ABV) pours a dark brown colour, verging on black, with a thick beige head that gradually settles to a light coating over the surface of the beer. The aroma is light and characteristically sweet, with caramel, brambles, grapefruit, coffee and some lingering alcohol in the background that slightly stings the nostrils when inhaled deeply. The usual barleywine sweetness and hoppiness is somewhat subdued, allowing the brambles to come through relatively unimpeded, but there's still enough caramel and tropical fruits to keep things interesting. The chipotle and ginger don't make much of an impression on the olfactories, and there's a distinct aroma of roasted malt that brings with it some coffee and licorice notes. So far it's nice, but not as stellar as I was expecting when considering the track record of the Abstrakt series. Fortunately the taste delivers more power, with ginger, brambles, booze, fortified wine and some light grapefruit in the finish. The ginger is noticeable through retro-olfaction and delivers some satisfying spice notes during drinking, which compliments the tartness of the brambles nicely. Some light bitterness and an alcoholic burn swiftly follows, leading to the finish which has some fruity hop remnants and a medley of flavours (fortified wine, roasted malt, burnt sugar sweetness) popping up. Towards the end of drinking the flavours coalesce and the beer resembles a Belgian Quad but without the usual yeast-driven spice and phenols. The alcohol sneaks up on you during drinking, and this is definitely one to sip slowly over a couple of hours if you hadn't guessed already. The mouthfeel is on the thin side and the beer is lightly carbonated, which definitely compliments the higher alcohol content of this bad boy. Overall, this is an interesting adaptation of the barleywine style; the usual sweetness and hop impact are more subtle than I would've liked, but the ginger and brambles add enough to just about compensate for this and the darker malt seems to round out the overall experience. Not my favourite Abstrakt offering or barleywine by far, but it's still worth trying at least once.

Until next time....

Beer Advent Calendar Day 5- Mikkeller George! Barrel Aged (Bourbon Edition)

Good evening all. Day 5 has brought more cold weather to the South West, so the offering behind tonight's cardboard door is rather serendipitous; it's George! Barrel Aged (Bourbon Edition), an Imperial Stout from Mikkeller (Copenhagen, Denmark). This bad boy started off life as regular George! before being put into bourbon barrels for 6 months, and comes in a 25cl bottle so you already know it's going to pack a decent punch. Weighing in at an epic 12.12% ABV, I'm hoping it will help me deal with the cold! Review after the pics....

George! Barrel Aged (Bourbon Edition) (12.12% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a short-lived dark brown head that settles to a thin halo around the inside of the glass. The aroma is amazing, with bourbon, licorice, chocolate, brown sugar, coffee and dark fruits, enveloped by the volatility of the barrel-ageing. The bourbon hits first with the usual woody vanilla notes and the accompanying alcoholic power, and never really relents throughout the course of the beer. The more subtle aromas compete for attention and pop up randomly, with the most common being the chocolate and fruits (mainly blackcurrant, and possibly even a bit of raspberry). The whole olfactory front is very rich, and has the dark candy sugar/marzipan sweetness of a Belgian Quad but with a nice boozy edge; damn good stuff so far! The taste is just as complex, with coffee, chocolate, bourbon, licorice, candy sugar, burley/perique tobacco, caramel and some raspberry. The bourbon is just as powerful as it was in the aroma, but lets up earlier this time and allows the other flavours to make themselves known. The raspberry flavour is surprisingly tart, but this works well with the booze and the roasted malt contributions. The chocolate and coffee are only noticeable through retro-olfaction, which also produces some burnt toast notes in the background. The power of the alcohol effectively cleanses the palette, so once this has subsided the only thing remaining in the finish is the bourbon and some light tartness. Towards the end of drinking, when the carbonation is at its lowest, some yeast extract and fortified wine flavours come through. Although it can be garnered from the alcohol content, this is definitely a beer to be sipped and savoured; saying this, it's still very drinkable and none of the flavours cloy. The mouthfeel is slightly thick and the beer is lightly carbonated, which is perfect for a beer of this strength and intensity. Overall, this is a fantastic beer that benefits immensely from the bourbon barrel-ageing, creating a myriad of balanced flavours in a very drinkable package. Highly recommended, and probably one of the best barrel-aged stouts I've had in a long time. Similar beers include Mikkeller's Black Hole BA Bourbon and Port Brewing's Older Viscosity.

Until next time....

Beer Advent Calendar Day 4- Haandbryggeriet Fyr og Flamme

Good evening all. Day 4 has brought an offering from Norway in the form of Fyr og Flamme, an IPA from Haandbryggeriet (Drammen, Norway). Haandbryggeriet have garnered a lot of positive reviews in recent times and yet somehow I've only had one of their offerings in the past, so what better way to change that than by sampling one of their best? This particular beer is the brewery's interpretation of De Molen's Vuur and Vlam, and has been brewed with three hop types and Maris Otter malt before being bottle conditioned. Sounds promising, so let's get to the review after the pics....

Fyr og Flamme (6.5% ABV) pours an amber colour with a very lively white head that maintains itself well throughout drinking; there's also some lacing during the early stages. The aroma is light and fruity, with mango, peach, grapefruit, resin and some caramel sweetness in the background supporting everything. The power of the hop-derived fruitiness isn't particularly significant, and I'd go so far as to say that it resembles a pale ale as opposed to an IPA, but it allows the beer base to come through more which is a pleasant surprise. The taste delivers much of the same, with grapefruit, orange, peach, biscuit malt, caramel and a subtle bitterness that lingers in the finish. The flavours are just as subtle as the aroma, with the citrus fruits coming along first but quickly giving way to a brief appearance from the malt, before the bitterness washes over everything to leave behind some grapefruit notes. The aftertaste is reminiscent of a dry martini with gin botanical flavours popping up now and again. The mouthfeel is moderately thick and the beer is well-carbonated, which would've worked nicely with a slightly hoppier beer but still compliments the flavours on show with this offering. Overall, this is a decent beer with a good amount of characteristic hop-derived flavours balanced in a very drinkable package. I don't know if it's inherent to this beer or if I decided to drink it too late, but it definitely could've done with more hop power to warrant the IPA label; despite this it's still good enough for me to recommend. Would definitely like to try it fresh though to see if it truly deserves the acclaim!

Until next time....

Beer Advent Calendar Day 3- Brouwerij Emelisse White Label Imperial Russian Stout Sorachi Ace

Good evening all. It's already Day 3 of the Beer Advent Calendar- how time flies when you're drinking! Behind tonight's cardboard door is White Label Imperial Russian Stout Sorachi Ace, a Russian Imperial Stout from Brouwerij Emelisse (The Netherlands). This beer is part of their White Label collection, an ongoing series of limited-release beers utilising different brewing techniques and unusual recipes. I had the White Label Imperial Russian Stout aged in Ardbeg barrels during the summer, which was pretty incredible despite the potential for personal bias as I am a massive Ardbeg fan, and by the name alone this is shaping up to be just as interesting. The Sorachi Ace hop can be found in single hop IPAs and even saisons, but using it in an RIS is certainly one of the more unconventional applications I've come across. Will it be able to penetrate the usual richness of an RIS and contribute something different to the proceedings? Review after the pics....

White Label Imperial Russian Stout Sorachi Ace (11.0% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a light brown head that settles to a thin coating over the surface of the beer. The aroma is very rich, with dark fruits (including some light soy sauce fruitiness), yeast extract, chocolate, coffee, toasty notes, caramel and a resemblance to barrel-ageing, as if it had spent some time in bourbon barrels but without the usual accompanying volatility. It's quite hard to pick out the individual aromas with this one; none of them are particularly intense but they seem to gang up and bombard the olfactories from the first inhale. The dark fruits and usual roasted malt aromas hit immediately, but are soon supported by the caramelised, almost burnt sugar sweetness. There's no sense of any lemon usually associated with the Sorachi Ace hop; possibly a hint of bubblegum in the background but certainly nothing overt. The taste is equally as complex, with chocolate, coffee, licorice, burnt sugar, dark fruits and some bitterness during drinking and in the finish. The flavours are fairly dark and smoky, with the caramel sweetness on the burnt side and the hoppy bitterness coming along in two waves; almost immediately and masking the other flavours, and then as a reprisal towards the end of drinking, delivering some tartness along the sides of the mouth. The characteristic Sorachi Ace flavours are slightly more apparent on tasting, with a hint of lemon and some grapefruit in the aftertaste. The alcohol content isn't discernible either, so it's wise to exercise caution as this is a very drinkable beer! The mouthfeel is quite thick and the beer is moderately carbonated, which balances out the flavours on show and works very well in this context to create a smooth drinking experience. Overall, this is an interesting stout that treads the line between RIS and Black IPA nicely- plenty of bitterness, some rich roasted malt flavours, and an impeccably disguised ABV percentage all make this a worthwhile offering from another great Dutch brewery. Probably the only complaint is that the flavours of the Sorachi Ace aren't as apparent as the hop-derived bitterness, but this is understandable when considering the impact and power of the stout flavours. Definitely recommended if you can find a bottle, and I'll be seeking out more White Label offerings in the future.

Until next time....

Beer Advent Calendar Day 2- To Øl/Mikkeller Sleep Over Coffee IIPA

Good evening all. It's time for today's advent calendar post, and the first of potentially many Mikkeller beers over the next 25 days. It's Sleep Over Coffee IIPA, a DIPA collaboration between To Øl and Mikkeller (Copenhagen, Denmark) that utilises espresso coffee in the brewing process to create an interesting DIPA/Black IPA hybrid. I'm a big fan of both of these gypsy breweries; virtually all of their output is fantastic, and even the less successful offerings still have some merit to them, so naturally expectations are high for this beer. Review after the pics....

Sleep Over Coffee IIPA (10.5% ABV) pours a cloudy orange colour with a bubbly head that settles to a patchy covering over the surface of the beer; there's also some lacing during the early stages. The aroma is unusual but very interesting, with coffee, grapefruit, mango, resinous pine, a light smokiness and a background smell similar to oily pimento olives. The olive aroma is something I've come across before (Goose Island Pepe Nero immediately comes to mind), but fortunately it's in the background and only becomes apparent once the main aromas pass. The coffee hits immediately and almost masks the influence of the hops, and they only become noticeable after a few inhales with the usual tropical fruits and some piney notes. No real sense of the malt/beer base either; some smoked malt seems to come along every once in a while but this might just be the coffee. Nothing much else to report regarding the aroma, but it's shaping up to be an interesting spin on the DIPA style. The taste delivers much of the same, with coffee, resin, caramel, grapefruit and a nice dose of bitterness during drinking and in the finish. As with the aroma the coffee is the most immediate flavour, but it doesn't let up as readily this time and so impedes the hop flavours until the finish, where some grapefruit and a hint of mango lingers on. Aside from this and the aforementioned coffee there's not much else going on, but this isn't a criticism as it makes a change from the usual DIPAs. There is some sweetness during drinking, and the bitterness can be pretty intense as expected, so it certainly ticks all the usual boxes! The mouthfeel is quite thick and the beer is well-carbonated, which is perfect for the flavours on show. Overall, this is another great collaboration between two Danish brewing titans; the coffee compliments the hop-derived fruits nicely, and the whole experience is a pleasant departure from the usual crop of DIPAs. Definitely recommended; similar beers include Mikkeller Koppi IPA and The Kernel Coffee IPA. 

Until next time....

Beer Advent Calendar Day 1- De Struise Brouwers Tsjeeses Reserva Bourbon Barrel Aged

Good evening all, and what a difference a year makes. Today officially marks the one year anniversary of Misplaced Hours, and the day that I decided/was convinced to start recording my thoughts about beer. On that day I was an unemployed Chemistry student living in Guildford, and on this day I am an unemployed Chemistry graduate living in Devon; all I can say is at least I still have beer. The journey to this point has been pretty epic, with many fantastic beers, a few duds and a lot of great times with old and new friends, and fortunately I'm still enjoying the reviewing enough to continue the blog. So, without further ado, let's continue the tradition that started everything with day one of 2012's Beer Advent Calendar. Tonight's beer is Tsjeeses Reserva Bourbon Barrel Aged, a Belgian Ale from De Struise Brouwers (Oostvleteren, Belgium). This is a special bourbon barrel aged version of their winter seasonal Tsjeeses, which I had last year but unfortunately can't remember- hopefully this one will leave more of an impression! Review, as always, after the pics....

Tsjeeses Reserva Bourbon Barrel Aged (10.0% ABV) pours a dark amber colour with a thick white head that settles to a nice film over the surface of the beer. The aroma is quite subtle and well-balanced, with yeast extract, spice, phenols, funk, caramel, candy sugar, hints of marzipan and some toasty notes in the background. It's very reminiscent of a diluted Quad or even a Quad/Saison mix, with that characteristic rich sweetness and spicy/earthy Belgian yeast character, and is supported by the light influence of the barrel ageing very well. The bourbon doesn't evaporate or impart any significant aromas as with most barrel aged beers, just an awareness in the background that acts as a platform for the base beer's qualities to come through gradually. The taste is as light as the aroma, with phenols, candy sugar, yeast extract, dark fruits and a bit of marzipan in the background. As with the aroma, the bourbon barrel ageing isn't apparent through any particular flavours, but does seem to have diminished the power of the other flavours and rounded out the overall drinking experience. There is a bit of bitterness towards the end of drinking, but aside from this every sip is very smooth and certainly not indicative of the beer's double-digit ABV percentage. The mouthfeel is quite thick and the beer is well-carbonated, which compliments the flavours on display nicely. Overall, a great beer that's very drinkable despite the high alcohol content, but one that could've done with a bit more of the power that barrel-ageing (particularly bourbon BA) usually imparts. Recommended, and I'm certainly looking forward to trying the Port BA version at some point in the future (hint- it's in the advent calendar somewhere so it shouldn't be too long!).

Until next time....