Tonight at Sheffield Hatters Inn
A few more local beers tonight, these bought at local mini-market, off-licence, butcher and post office, Beeches of Walkley. I'm starting with two from Thornbridge that I haven't tried before, Tzara 4.8%, a Kölsch; and Shelby 5.0%, an IPA "the official beer of the Peaky Blinders TV serial" (apparently). Shelby is "the kind of IPA that might have been found behind the bar of the Garrison Tavern in Small Heath". It poured with an initally tight but very noisy head, which very soon dispersed despite being replaced by numerous bubbles from below. The carbonation was not as noticeable in the mouth, and in fact the beer very quickly became more like a cask beer than one from a bottle. Light amber in colour and lightly flavoured too, this is not one of those in-your-face fruity IPAs that are so fashionable. In fact I found it a bit underwhelming, and I was disappointed to find no bitter finish.
Thornbridge Tzara 4.8% is true to style, I would say, though Kölsch is not a beer I have drunk very often; I once had it in Köln - albeit nearly 15 years ago. I find it a bit too gassy, but I would say that, wouldn't I. These beers were both under the £3 mark, but the bottles were only 33cl, so this is quite expensive for Sheffield. Interesting and acceptable as a change from my normal preferences, but I'll not be making a habit of either of these two.
Tonight at Sheffield Hatters Inn
I'm getting towards the end of the cans that I got from the Dram Shop a couple of weeks ago. Tonight's marquee acquisition is North Brewing x Deya Triple IPA 10%. Yes, 10% it says on the can and 10% is what it yells at you when you take a mouthful. I've had a couple of mouthfuls and already my head is spinning. The other main impression is orange juice, aka very clever hops by the bucketful. The listed ingredients also include barley and oats, which is as you'd expect, but also dextrose, which is a rarity in my experience - and I do tend to read these things as carefully as my eyesight and the font size will allow. No mention of dextrose on the North website, where they big up other aspects of the beer: "...fermented with a little Kveik yeast and packed full of Lotus, Idaho 7 and Citra hops..." (Dextrose is chemically identical to glucose, but easier for yeast to ferment, so is used for brewing of very dry high gravity beers.) This 440ml can cost £7.50, which is towards the top of my bangs-per-buck range at £1.70 per unit of alcohol. This was the last can in the shop, but quite honestly I think one was quite enough for me.