tonights pre Christmas drinks were
dark star -American pale ale -okayish
darkstar -revelation -bit better
north -lost cosmonauts - great beer - makes me realise how dull the two previous beers are and they used to be favourite beers of mine.
magic rock -surreal stout -a great stout without coconut.
thornebridge -Jaipur - still a standard ipa that has stood the test of time
Whilst I agree with your above assessment for most of the above John, is "dull" a little bit harsh on the Dark Star beers? I agree the taste profile has moved up a couple of gears but Lost Cosmonauts along with IKAT previously mentioned are essentially different styles , NEIPA's, ( that's New England IPA for any non beer nerds among us) , the Magic Rock Dark Arts - Surreal Stout is excellent and the Jaipur is Iconic and solid.
I wasn't in the Pubs Galore bar last night, I made my last pub visit before being plunged into tier four tomorrow. I had three different cask beers ...
Three Castles Hoppy Christmas - a mid range , not overly hopped golden beer - average but ok.
Disruption ( a craft shoot off of Ascot Brewery) Battle Royale Citra, a single hopped effort featuring my favourite hop - fairly decent.
Ascot Anastasiia Stout - a pretty solid but standard stout with roasty flavours.
Back on the tins and bottles from today, probably kicking off with Elvis Juice which most definitely is not dull.
Merry Christmas all.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
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This one woke me up ! Cosmic Respberry from the Overworks range by BrewDog,described as an "oak aged sour" with plenty of raspberry dregs it shocked me into life this Christmas morn.
"Good people drink good beer" Hunter S Thompson
I was quite excited to find the Darkstar beers as I have drank and liked them before but they were highly carbonated and sorry but they were dull.
Christmas day found me drinking these
tiny rebel -electric boogallo (pish)
thornebridge north ridge (very good)
brewdog -new England ipa (very good)
darkstar -rail ridge ipa (good)
northern monk -eternal sunshine (very good)
vocation -imperial kirch stout 11.5 superb)
Boxing day was good
magic rock -saucer (average)
magic rock -clairvoyance (good)
salt -alpaca (superb) 8.75/10
buxton -ace edge (good)
white hag -choc orange stout (very good)
thornbridge -halcyon (very good)
vocation -imperial kirch stout (superb) give this a 9.25/10 must be my top rated beer this year
Working my way through a delivery from Siren Craft just a month ago. Readers of my earlier reports may recall that I didn't think much of their Saison: Through the Hourglass 8.2% or their Sour: Gather and Store 6.8%, both of them barrel aged and not seemingly benefiting much from the time spent cogitating. I've also had (but did not review, as far as I can recall) a 5.3% pale ale called Flex; Maltiverse, what they call a microporter and I call a 3.4% mild; and a regular 5% porter called Cold Blooded. (I have second cans/bottles of these, so I might report back on the second round.)
Tonight it's the turn of a couple of IPAs: first up is Scene Stealer California IPA 7.0% in a 440ml can. "...a real blockbuster. The simple malt bill is crisp and clean, providing the perfect stage for our ensemble cast of hops to work their magic. Citra, Hallertau Blanc and Nelson Sauvin are all involved, driving resinous, ripe tropical fruit flavours and a satisfying piney bitterness." Just for once the blurb is fairly accurate. The beer pours almost clear (none of your New England murk in California!) with a brief head soon disappearing, and very little detectable carbonation. There's a bit of tropical fruit but nothing excessive, and the grapefruit seemingly dialled quite a long way back. The finish is quite bitter, reminding me of Allendale Wanderlust IPA 6.5%, which I've had quite a few times since finding it at Morrisons during the first lockdown. If I'd been tasting this blind I might well have gone for that one, but my bank account tells a different story, as Wanderlust is around £2 per 33cl can, whereas this one is £4.50 for a short pint. So, quite a decent beer but I know where I can get something similar quite a bit cheaper.
Next up will be Sold My Soul for Citra, after a short break.
Come On You Hatters!
Second 440ml can from Siren Craft tonight is Sold My Soul for Citra 7.3%, which the blurb tells us, somewhat redundantly, is "a celebration of Citra", someone-or-other's favourite hop. The blurb continues, in a sort of technobabble that seeks to justify the high price I've paid for this beer so that you don't have to: "We're using this magical hop in four different formats to provide the widest possible spectrum of flavour and aroma. Between Incognito®, T90®, Cryo® and BBC® we're pushing mango, grapefruit and citrus notes to the limit, with a mix of soft tones, intense highlights, clean bitterness and layers of impact."
The beer pours in a similar fashion to the previous one, and looks much the same in the glass, with just a hint of a haze that may derive from the oats which are the only difference in the malt bill. The head is frothy at first but soon subsides, and the mouthfeel is smooth, with a touch of carbonation detectable but not off-putting. The oats give a smoothness that is quite pleasant, but the main flavour on the tongue is crisp banknotes making their way to the developers of the Incognito, T90, Cryo and BBC versions of someone's favourite hop. Well, at £5.60 for a short pint, someone has got to be making something tasty from this beer, and it had better not be the writer of the blurb. (What is a "layer of impact"?)
Actually, to be fair, this is a pretty good beer; not one I could see myself drinking over and over again - think of the cost! - but I certainly don't dread drinking the second can in a few weeks. Point to ponder: would this beer work on hand pump in a pub? Or on keg? I think the latter would probably turn out to be too cold and too gassy, while the hand pump version would be too expensive for most people and would go off before reaching the bottom of the barrel; also, being thrashed around by a tight sparkler would make a mess of the subtle influences - sorry, "layers of impact" - of the four different versions of someone's favourite hop.
Speaking of which: Mick, if you're with us, you should ask someone to buy you a few of this one as a late Christmas present. (If they haven't already.)
Come On You Hatters!
Not had any as a Christmas present unfortunately but did treat myself to a Siren delivery a month or so back and thought this beer was spot on as were all four versions of Caribbean Chocolate Cake proving it's not all about Citra. I get what you say about price, but I will be indulging again if this tier four hell continues for too long. For some reason I didn't get on with Allendale Wanderlust (though only ever trying it once), despite the presence of someone or others favourite hop, beers a funny thing sometimes.
Last edited by Mobyduck; 30-12-2020 at 09:32.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields