A pub is for life not just for Christmas
Quality rather than quantity.
Vibrant Forest -- Altitudes Azacca//Simcoe IPA
Vibrant Forest -- Precipice of Light *
Vibrant Forest -- Darkened Ardour *
Thornbridge -- Jaipur IPA
BOTW goes to Vibrant Forest Darkened Ardour ,a 10% bourbon barrel aged imperial stout bursting with a multitude of malt induced flavour,with tonka beans adding cinnamon and vanilla.As it says on the tin,"a cauldron of flavours".
Next week more fruits from the Forest.
"Good people drink good beer" Hunter S Thompson
42 days to the pub:
Bottles:
Brewdog Mr President
Oakham Citra
Titanic Plum Porter
Cans:
Marble Berimbolo
Marble Extra Special Marble
Marble Cross Collar
Northern Monk New World IPA
Marble Lagonda
Vocation Smash & Grab
Oakham Eldorado/Simcoe Hop Slam
Oakham Green Devil T90
Vibrant Forest Pup
Vibrant Forest Altitudes
Vibrant Forest Stone Sap
Vibrant Forest End of Days
Vibrant Forest Elmo
All good and the variety was supplemented by a welcome delivery from Vibrant Forest. All these have a touch of the tropical to a greater or lesser extent and all are murky but thoroughly enjoyable and quite poky as I discovered on Saturday morning.
BOTW Vibrant Forest End of Days A 6.2%, moreish West Coast IPA.
"Beer is food." Morse, Colin Dexter
It's a much more difficult now , than when the pubs were open, to choose a BOTW. I'm generally selecting beers from breweries I know are going to be good, that choice isn't always possible in a pub. Of course though, I would still rather be drinking in a pub.
Northern Monk/ Fieldworks Eternal Sunshine
Pollys Slacks*
The Kernel Pale Ale Mosaic*
The Kernel Dry Stout Vic Secret*
Siren/Omnipollo/Casita Nacken*
Siren Maltiverse Nitro
Siren Cacao & Cherry Broken Dream*
Siren Sold My Soul For Simcoe*
Siren Shattered Dream Nitro*
Siren/Elusive Zombies Ate My Neighbours*
Wiper And True/Deya Plan D*
Burnt Mill Higher Grounds
Salt/Magic Rock Ripe Times*
BrewDog Lost Lager
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale*
Another tough pick this week, very tight competition from both the Kernel beers as well as from Pollys , the winner comes from Siren and it is the Nacken , styled as a Hopfenweizen , basically a wheat beer supercharged with hops, and what hops they are , Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic , Galaxy and Cashmere . After drinking this the first time it was so good I put an order together and visited Sirens Taproom on a click and collect basis the next day. BOTW SIREN NÄCKEN.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
Quiet week, slowly finishing the stouts and porters I amassed in the New Year:
All cans
Vocation Heart & Soul (4.4%) pale ale
Wild Beer Nebula (5.0%) hazy IPA
Black Iris Her Name Was Weborah (9.5%) chocolate & hazelnut porter
Wander Beyond Maple Dream (10.0%) imperial stout
Magic Rock Bearded Lady (11.0%) imperial stout
The Black Iris beer was a pleasant-enough start to the week and with perhaps more than a nod to Jarvis Cocker. The Wander Beyond beer – a gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan-friendly maple imperial stout – was interesting to say the least. This week's gong goes to a self-styled "Bourbon barrel orange crème brûlée imperial stout" that was wonderful, and one of those rare occasions where I could actually discern everything that was claimed on the tin:
BOTW: Magic Rock Bearded Lady
"Breakneck speed we drown ten pints of bitter"