Saturday 15 June 2013

West Country Ale

Buzzard - 4.8%
I don't remember exactly where I found this beer.  It was one of three possible locations.  A garden centre, a national trust property or the always delightful Beer Gonzo.

Either way that's not all that important when it comes to tasting it only for going and getting more later.

Cotleigh Brewery is based in Somerset and have been crafting beers for about as long as I've been alive.  It shows that in that time they have gotten good at it.

Tonight I'm enjoying Buzzard which is their Dark Ale that has a rich almost smoky taste.  Not to heavy and nicely refreshing.  Taking a deep breath over it reminds me of some of the Belgian beers like Delirium but without the sharp smell of alcohol.

Buzzard has been a wonderful beer to enjoy after a long day of work and should you come across it I suggest you pick it up and try it for yourself.

I'd like to point out that the over abundance of head on the beer is entirely due to atrocious pouring rather than the fault of the beer itself.

Friday 7 June 2013

Italy has been surprising me lately

Fear - 5.2%
I was pleasantly surprised when I was last in Italy that I could find some local beers that was more than just the lager that we typically see in bars over here.

Brewfist is an Italian craft brewery that produces some interesting looking labels to wrap at least one interesting tasting beer.

I went for Fear, a milk chocolate stout as I do gravitate toward the heavier brews.

Fear is actually not as thick as I was expecting and for a beer with no appreciable head the extreme effervescence on the tongue was quite a surprise.

The chocolate taste is a lot more subtle than I was hoping for.  when something describes itself as milk chocolate I would be expecting a little more sweetness than Fear provides.  I found the chocolate was more in the after taste than as it flows over the taste buds.

I'm not going to make it my mission to hunt it down but I certainly wouldn't turn a bottle down if someone offered it to me.

Saturday 1 June 2013

Golden Dragon

Gulden Draak - 10.5%
Tonight's beer is a Belgian style from the Netherlands in a town called Ertvelde and a brewery called Brouwerij Van Steenberge a family brewery coming up on 7 generations of work. Go have a read of the history of this place, it's interesting and coupled with a set of nice pictures. It's okay I'll wait for you to get back.
Gulden Draak 9000 is a quadruple and weighs in at an impressive 10.5% and as you would expect from that you get a real hit of the smell and taste of alcohol. It also though give you some complicated malts to taste as well.

The head is endless, nothing can shift it as you drink it and the carbonation involved makes this exceptionally gassy to drink.  Each mouthful covers your tongue in bubbles.

There is also a sweetness to the beer, not to the extreme of the Jamaican beers but definitely more than I'd expect in this Belgian style.

I love the flavours but it's such a strong beer you really have to take your time with it.  I'll be nursing this one for most of the evening.