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.

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.

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.

Ska with an MO

Modus Hoperandi - 6.8%

Coventry is famous for the 2 Tone Ska music scene from the 70's.  The Specials came from here and what you might be wondering about is why am I rambling on about Coventry and Ska in a blog called Beer Experiment?

Obviously I'm talking about it because this beer is from Ska Brewing and I bought it in a shop in Coventry.  They are not based in the city, nor the country I would talk about them some more but other than they are American know nothing and their website is down.

Modus Hoperandi is an IPA that comes in cans not bottles which is unusual in the craft beer world, if exploring Beer Gonzo's shelves is any way of measuring it.

With some seriously intense hops it's a great example of how an IPA should be done.  Be prepared for a massive flavour and not for the feint of heart.  Take it from someone who would typically pick one this is worth the chance.

If you find it's not for you I doubt any IPA is.

Burgers and Beer

Picture yourself in a city.  Lets, for argument sake, say it's Birmingham.  You are feeling hungry and thirsty and being a discerning type you don't want just any old lager with your meal, you'd much rather have something better to drink and don't want to scrimp on the food either.

Enter the beer drinker and burger lovers delight, The Handmade Burger Company.

The food there is fantastic.  Quality ingredients, very generous portions coupled some real ales.  There is no pretension, it's all simple things made into delicious things.

Full disclosure time.  I was invited to dine here for free.  This is something I jumped at because I love burgers and it was mentioned to me that they also served some local ales.  It turns out in Birmingham this mean a couple from Purity which was a great way to start the meal, and continue the meal, and to wrap it all up.

What I need to do now is visit some of the other around the country to see what ales make it into the restaurants there.

Fancy bottle tops

Tosca 5.2%

I remember I first saw these swing-top style bottles on Grolsch and would always want to open one even if I wasn't such a fan of the contents.  There is just something about pushing open the lid that is an exceedingly satisfying action. Plus it doesn't matter if you cant find the bottle opener.

Tosca here was found in an unassuming supermarket in Tuscany while I was stocking up on food.  I did some minimal hunting but all I could find was the distributor in Italy rather than the actual brewery.

This is a gem of a beer.  Rich malts over a crisp, almost honey like, tone.  This is perfect for a sunny afternoon or even a drizzly evening (I think Italy is sad to see me go)

There is one more beer I've had here.  I might write it up but I'm not sure.  One way or the other the southern hemisphere challenge approaches.

Beer from an area almost indistinguishable from ivory

For the past week I've been in Tuscany right in the Chianti region.  Of course being smack in the middle of a famous wine making region I couldn't resist hunting out a few beers to see how much competition the vineyards have.

Turbone - 5.0%

Enter Turbone.

Yes that's a wolf in a hat fishing.  I'm assuming it's an amusing pun based on a wolf themed brewery, if my Latin from 18 years ago is correct.

I have a bit of a soft spot for wheat beers.  I find them refreshing like a larger but with more flavour and not as over the top as the IPA's I've run into more recently.

It's got hints of citrus fruits and a pleasant mild bitterness that doesn't overpower everything at the end of a mouthful.

I've got another couple of Italian beers chilling in the fridge so hopefully I can get onto them next.