16/4/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - Bloody 'EllBeavertownIt's back! Bloody 'Ell by Beavertown; quite possibly the greatest seasonal beer of all time is back. I love this beer. I once proclaimed that this beers big ugly cousin; Bloody Notorious was my favourite beer - it even inspired me to start this blog. Local heroes Westhill Service Station again came through with the goods, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a couple of cans. Bloody 'Ell is a 7.2% ABV Blood Orange IPA, here's what Beavertown say about it: "A smack of citrus with hints of warm blood orange aromas brought on by refined malt bill and loads of juicy hops. All hail Bloody ‘Ell!" I’ve made no secret of confessing my love for Beavertown and their can art, and yet again they knock it out of the park here...such a cool looking can! Bloody 'Ell pours a glorious glowing orange leaving a creamy foam head. The smells that it produces are unbelievable; sweet, citrusy, juicy orange aromas fill your nose as your pour it from can to glass. And taste? Incredible. What else do you expect from the beer lords that are Beavertown? This citrus IPA is full of big fruity flavours. The orange flavour is no understatement either - it is full on, before being rounded off by a lovely hoppy bitterness. Fantastic flavours, and extremely drinkable too. I can't recommend this beer highly enough. You should buy it and find out just how good it is for yourself. If you've never had a beer by Beavertown, this will blow you away - guaranteed.
Now...how about another run of Bloody Notorious? 5 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 http://www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk/beer/bloody-ell/
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15/4/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - Tasty JuiceLervigI must admit, I had never heard of Lervig brewery before this week. However, they are now firmly on my radar. Enter Tasty Juice, a 6% ABV IPA. When I seen the following words in Westhill Service Station's Craft Newsletter, I knew it was for me: "Big juicy, hazy IPA" Juicy. Hazy. IPA. Three things I love in a beer. After a bit more digging online...it gets even better, here's what Lervig have to say about it: "Tasty Juice is a double hopped IPA. It holds massive tropical & dank flavors from the double load of citra hops." I had to get my hands on this one. Well, this beer is great. It wouldn't look out of place with a Cloudwater label. It's that good.
Cracking open the can, you are greeted with big, juicy fruit aromas; mango, pineapple & grapefruit. It pours a golden amber, leaving a foamy beige head. The big fruity flavours follow through on taste; citrus & mango at the forefront. It's all rounded off with big hoppy bitterness. If I had one complaint, it would be that the alcohol was almost too in your face - but that doesn't stop this being a being a very drinkable beer. This was an extremely pleasant experience for my first Lervig beer. I look forward to trying more from them. If you're a fan of Cloudwater, and New England style IPA's then you should give Tasty Juice a go. 4.5 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 http://lervig.no/ 11/4/2017 0 Comments #PunkAGM2017Annual General MayhemThis Saturday past saw the #PunkAGM2017 descend on the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre. Thousands of beer punks made their way there to take in the epic beer, food & music. I ventured there with my wife and on entrance we were handed two full beer token cards. This equated to approximately 4 beers depending on what you ordered - great touch. The place was absolutely jam packed full of people and it took a good 10 minutes of queuing at the bar until we got our first drinks. This was a bit of a pain, but it was worth it for the awesome beers on offer. Over the next few hours we made our way around the venue, checking out what was on offer; from the various bars, excellent choices of food, Q&A sessions and live music - there was so much on offer. BrewDog certainly know how to put on a show! Without doubt my favourite beer of the day was the 7.5% ABV BrewDog Vermont IPA V3. This beer was epic! I couldn't get enough of it. It's definitely up there with the New England IPA collaboration with Cloudwater.
I also got a chance to try Lone Wolf gin, complete with their own brand tonic, which was great - extremely refreshing. Gin has fast become my spirit of choice, so I'm glad it's finally fully released. My one gripe however, was that at Bar 7, where Buxton was pouring - I am 100% certain that at one point they had the Original Ice Cream Pale Ale & the Lemon Meringue Ice Cream mixed up. I even ordered it twice to see if it was a mistake first time, but there was no way either time I was given the original. I was a little disappointed with that as the original is such a great beer - not that there is anything wrong with the lemon...I have a bottle in the fridge (review to follow soon). The biggest news from the event was that BrewDog have sold a 22% stake for a £213 million investment from American group TSG Consumer Partners, that now sees them valued at more than £1bn. Incredible! https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/agm-announcement I think that's more than enough cause for them to throw a party like that 🍻 7/4/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - DIPA v13CloudwaterWell this is it. This is v end. After 13 iterations, Cloudwater have announced that v13 will be the last in the DIPA series. During my review of v12 (my first Cloudwater DIPA), I stated that I hoped to try many more editions of this DIPA series. How wrong was I?! Safe to say that I was a little disappointed, yet also excited to try out the swansong in the DIPA series. Again, I was able to count on Westhill Service Station to come up with the goods; I was told they sold out of this in 10 minutes! DIPA v13 is the 13th entry in Cloudwater's highly acclaimed DIPA series, coming in at 9% ABV. Here's what Cloudwater have to say: "A revision of our Birthday DIPA recipe, v13 is similarly made up of 14% oats in the grist and a 25g/l dry hop. The combination of Citra BBC and mixed fermentation of a 50/50 pitch of WLP4000 and 4786th generation of JW Lees yeast, make v13 our boldest and fruitiest DIPA yet." The good news is that Couldwater have announced a new range of three stronger IPA's that they are going to be rolling out in the future, including a New England Style DIPA. Now this has me excited...their collaboration with Brewdog; New England IPA is one of the best beers I've ever had. Here's a little excerpt from their blog: "NE DIPA We’re far from done with our love affair with New England style DIPAs. So from time to time we’ll rotate into our production plan the softest, juiciest DIPAs we can make featuring complex malt bills (designed for maximum mouthfeel), WLP4000 or 095 with all their stone fruit flavours, and the freshest new season hops too." I already know I'm going to love this beer. Straight from opening this wonderfully packaged can, I know that we are on to a winner. Juicy fruit smells fill your nose; pineapple, mango & grapefruit, followed by the familiar hoppy piney aroma.
It pours a beautiful murky dark orange with a thin foamy beige head, releasing more of the intoxicating fruity aromas as it fills the glass. This beer tastes incredible. The sweet fruit flavours fill your mouth, almost reminiscent of a juicy fruit salad. The fruit flavours are so powerful, it makes this beer incredibly drinkable for one coming in at 9%. It's all rounded off perfectly by that familiar hoppy bitterness...safe to say I was gutted when I emptied my glass. I can't fault this beer at all, and I can't recommend it highly enough. If you can get your hands on this beer then buy it, drink it and enjoy it. This is up there with the best; standing tall alongside v12, New England IPA, Bloody Notorious & Tropigamma. It may be v end for now, however I have a feeling Cloudwatwer will come out swinging. http://cloudwaterbrew.co/blog/this-is-v-end 5 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 6/4/2017 2 Comments Born In The BrewSAJuice Springsteen & The Yeast Street BandI love beer. I also love Bruce Springsteen, he's my hero. So when I was browsing Instagram the other day and came across a can of beer that looked like the Born In The USA album...my attention was grabbed. On closer inspection it turned out to be a beer called Juice Springsteen & The Yeast Street Band. Awesome right? Created by Amplified Ale Works, out of San Diego USA - this canned tribute to The Boss is a 7percent ABV Juicy Oat Pale Ale. Released in pint cans, the incredible artwork pays homage to one of the greatest rock albums of all time. I have a great appreciation for can art. I constantly big up Beavertown and Brewdog for their consistently unique efforts. However, this tops the lot; it's without doubt the coolest can I've ever seen. I don't know much about Amplified Ale Works, and hadn't heard of them before yesterday but I will certainly be keeping an eye on them now.
It's unlikely that I'll get my hands on this beer as I can't see it making its way to UK shores, however if it does I will be sure to shout about it, Springsteen style 🍻 http://www.amplifiedales.com/ |
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