The Growler Strikes Backgrowler: a pail or can formerly used to carry out beer bought at a saloon, etc. My local hop temple, my beer palace, procurers of the finest beer; Westhill Service Station, has just had a refit. After a recent review of their licensing, and the go ahead from the owners; the shop will now house a growler filling station. This will consist of two 30 litre kegs that will allow you to fill your growler will the freshest beer! Also as part of the recent refit, the craft beer section of the store has been totally overhauled with new fridges and shelving in place to house their ever expanding selection of the finest craft beers. The amount of refrigerated beers available in store now is absolutely incredible! There has also been a new coffee station installed in store. Take a look for yourself at the pictures (which Chris from WSS kindly sent me) below, and I think you will agree that it looks amazing. The plan for the growler station is that they will try to get their hands on kegs of some of the hottest beers at the time, or if they take in a limited stock of cans/bottles of a certain beer, then they may try to supplement this with kegs. I'm really excited about this, as it is a fantastic way to experience great beer at its freshest - I can't wait to see what they bring in first. Also, if you don't already have your own growler, then they will have a range of them available in store.
The guys are hoping to start pouring beer next week, so be sure you are signed up to their Craft Beer Newsletter so you can find out which beer their pouring first, as well as keeping up to date with their latest stock and make reservations. This is a HUGE step up for the guys at WSS. One that sets them apart from almost every other bottle shop in Aberdeen, except maybe Brewdog Castlegate. For a city that has such a great craft beer scene, that is a fantastic achievement, and one they can be extremely proud of 🍻
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27/7/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - Comfortable SilenceSiren Craft BrewSiren Craft Brew are a brewery that I've seen a lot of, but never had much experience with. A few weeks ago I tried their excellent sour IPA; Pompelmocello and I have more recently managed to get my hands on Comfortable Silence; a glorious sounding Fruit Smoothie IPA, coming in at 6% ABV. Here's what Siren have to say about it: "Welcome to the next scene in our fruit smoothie movie! Comfortable Silence is the follow-up to Ten Dollar Shake, and we’ve upped the lactose for an even smoother, even thicker body than before. We’re topping it off with peaches, apricots and sweet cherries for good measure." I have heard nothing but good things about Siren, and have had a great experience with them so far myself, so I have high hopes for this beer. Cracking open this bottle, you are greeted with wonderful fruity aromas; tropical fruits mixed with sweet cherries and soft peach – great start! It pours a murky orange leaving a small foamy head. Again, as per New England IPA v2, this beer has quite a lot of sediment in it – so this may not be to your liking. However, I am again unsure if this was just purely my bottle.
The flavours in the beer are fantastic; instantly you are met with glorious sweet cherries & peaches, backed by some citrus orange. There is a slight amount of bitterness at the end rounding it all off, which complements the sweetness perfectly. It has an incredibly thick mouthfeel – which does actually give the impression of a fruit smoothie! I really enjoyed this beer, and I can’t recommend it enough. This has really opened my eyes to what Siren can do, and I will definitely be looking forward to trying more from them in the future. 4.5 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 22/7/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - New England IPA v2Brewdog x CloudwaterNew England IPA by Brewdog & Cloudwater is arguably in my top 5 beers of all time. It was so good. It was up there with the best that Cloudwater have to offer; v12, v13 & NW DIPA Citra. So it’s safe to say I was rather happy when I heard that V2 was on its way. New England IPA v2 is 8.5% ABV New England Style IPA. Here's what Brewdog have to say about it: "A second team up with Cloudwater sees us brewing an 8.5% ABV New England IPA, hopped with a blend of hops known for their citrus, tropical and berry characteristics. Spicy, zesty and piney aromas give way to an effervescent, tropical IPA, backed up with a hints of clove and pepper. Hopped in the whirlpool with Mosaic hops, and dry-hopped with Citra, Mandarina Bavaria and more Mosaic." If this beer is half as good as the original it would still be a great beer. However, I suspect it may just be as good, or even better... When you open this beer, you'll instantly notice the BIG juicy flavours that we're used to with this style of beer; pineapple, mango & orange are complimented with a huge amount of pine. It pours a hazy amber with a thin white head.
The flavours here are excellent. Those juicy fruit flavours are at the forefront of it all backed by loads of piney bitterness. You also get that slight hint of spice at the end, coming from the cloves. This is such a great beer to drink, and the 660ml bottle ensures it's an extremely boozy drink! Now this is one HAZY beer and it has A LOT of sediment. I'm not sure if it was just my bottle, or that is how it was meant to be, but there was a lot of it. It didn't bother me, but if you don't like sediment in your beer, then this one might not be for you. This beer is AWESOME. You simply have to try it while you still can. It will be interesting to see if Brewdog & Cloudwater continue this collaboration in a similar vein to Cloudwater's DIPA series. Overall I loved this beer, but I think the original just scrapes it for me; that was almost the perfect beer. 4.75 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 Evil Twin Brewing x OmnipolloWe all love a nice ice cold shandy on a refreshing day right? So when I seen that Evil Twin Brewing & Omnipollo had come together to brew an Old Fashioned Lemonade IPA, I was extremely interested in trying it out. Old Fashioned Lemonade is a 7% ABV IPA that has been brewed for Evil Twin by Dorchester (home of Marky Mark!) Brewing Company in Boston, Massachusetts. "A refreshing drink often associated with childhood nostalgia to others a pop-cultural symbol of emancipatiion. Whatever the association Evil Twin teamed up with Omnipollo to squeeze out a tasty, tempting and deceivingly well balanced IPA with sweet and sour notes of old-fashioned memories. Perhaps you can taste the dishonesty, it's all over your breath - it's Lemonade." When brewing giants come together, it usually produces good results, lets see what happened here... Cracking open this can and it is just lemons galore; the sweet citrus aromas fill your nose as you pour it into a glass. It pours a bright golden yellow with a foamy white head, with a surprising amount of murkiness to it.
This beer tastes exactly as you would expect it to - like lemonade. There is really no other way to describe it. From the first sip you get that instant sourness of the lemons coupled with a decent amount of sweetness. There's a slight hoppy/bitter backbone to it all that reminds you that you are in fact drinking a beer, and not a can of lemonade. The overall result is that this is literally the perfect summers day beer. It's so light, smooth, refreshing and the ABV is almost non existent that you could easily smash your way through a few of these. However, it didn't stand out enough from me and was too similar to other fruit beers I've had in the past. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it - I did, it was just missing something that could have took it to the next level. 3.75 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 17/7/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - King SlayerBuxton BreweryHow can you still count yourself a knight, when you have forsaken every vow you ever swore? - Catelyn Stark, A Clash of Kings I've been waiting for the return of the epic TV show, Game of Thrones to crack this one open. Bearing the same name as one of the the show's titular characters; Jamie Lannister, Kingslayer is a 8% ABV New England style DIPA. Buxton are usually purveyors of the highest quality of beer - so a New England style DIPA from them can only be a good thing... Popping open the bottle (complete with dragon!) you are greeted with sweet, tropical fruity aromas with a backbone of pine. It pours a golden amber, with a thin white head and little to no carbonation.
Those smooth, sweet tropical flavours show themselves again on taste; pineapple, mango & grapefruit are combined with some slight piney bitterness that gives this beer the all familiar awesome taste that we are so used to with a New England style IPA. This is such a smooth and sweet beer, it is incredibly easy to drink and the 8% ABV is well hidden by the fruit flavours. Overall this was an extremely enjoyable beer - one that is certainly worthy of a king. 4 out of 5 hops from me. Valar Morghulis 🍻 |
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