Change of Weather

Brewery: Devil's Peak Brewing Company

Supplier: Beer52

The last from this box of South African beers and the last from this Cape Town-based brewery. Again, this has not got anything on it as it is not on their year-round or speciality list. This is their chocolate stout, and it's more like an imperial. I served this chilled.

Appearance: Like the previous one, this is pitch black even when held to the light. The head a lightly rusty brown, starting off reasonabbly thick but thinning quickly to just a lace around the glass.

Aroma: Dark notes and fresh red berries like cranberry and raspberry. 

Flavour: More milky than chocolate, with some fudge and toast notes. 

Body: Really smooth and thick, very creamy. 

Aftertaste: Mainly just a continuation of the general flavours. A lingering sweetness is also there.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, nice with some decent creamy sweet notes, good dessert beer.

Price Range: The last from the South African beers, so £2.90 for a 340ml bottle; another one that's a good price and I would buy as a dessert beer.

Food Pairings: A dessert but not too sweet as it would mask the sweetness of the beer, something like a tart gooseberry pudding.

Gesha Coffee Stout

Brewery: Devil's Peak Brewing Company

Supplier: Beer52

So another from this Cape Town brewery, but I don't know much about this beer as it isn't on either their year-round or speciality list. All I know is that it is their coffee stout. I served this chilled. 

Appearance: Pitch black colour even when held to the light. The head is a very light brown which things to a lace around the edges very quickly.

Aroma: Loads of nutty and sweet coffee notes but with a little bit of washing up liquid in the back. 

Flavour: Tastes like a really smooth cold brew coffee with a little milk and sugar. However, this starts to fade quickly becoming a little more bland but still nice.

Body: Reasonably thick and really smooth, but there is just a little too much fizzy.

Aftertaste: The roasted acidity that you get with coffee, slightly metalic. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, more like a cold brew coffee than a beer but really nice, but the flavours start to die down with drinking.

Price Range: Another from the South African beers, so £2.90 for a 340ml bottle; a very good price and I'd get it again whenever I would want a coffee porter.

Food Pairings: Because of the coffee notes I would say a dark meat (like beef or venison) stew or pie.

Hoppy Wheat

Brewery: Little Wolf

Supplier: Beer52

Beautiful designs from this brewery, with this beer from another of the South African Breweries based in Cape Town - only a few meters away from the Devil's Peak Brewing Company that I reviewed earlier. This is their core range wheat beer which has loads of mosaic hops, hence the name.  I served this chilled.

Appearance: A pale straw colour with hints of gold, fairly opque so you can see to the other side of the glass but no further. The head is pure white but thins to a film very quickly, unusual for a wheat beer. 

Aroma: Lots of mango and orange juice with a little bit of yeasy bread. 

Flavour: Lots more of the orange jucie notes than the mango unfirtunatly, but a fantastic balance of hops and malt.

Body: Thick but super refreshing and very juicy. Becuase it's so thick, the mouthfeel is very good and works suprisingly well with such a light beer. 

Aftertaste: Some bitter ornange rind with some wholewheat bread crust.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, enjoyable, but a little bit of a unpleasant bitterness in the back.

Price Range: £29 for a pack of 10 South African beers, so £2.90 for a 340ml bottle; not a bad price and it would be a good price from a pub, but not a shop.

Food Pairings: A strong fish, maybe something like unsmoked salmon, just lightly grilled.

The King's Blockhouse IPA

Brewery: Devil's Peak Brewing Company

Supplier: Beer52

I got this as part of a box of 10 different South African beers, with five from this Cape Town based brewery. One of their year-round beers, this one being an Amerian style IPA. It's regarded as one of the best beers in SA, having won the best beer on show at the 2011, 2012 and 2014 Cape Town Festival of Beer, the 2014 Johannesburg Festival of Beer – and was the winner of the 2014 SAB Craft Brewer Championship. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A pale yellow colour, gold when held to the light. There is a thin white head, whcih thnis quite quickly. 

Aroma: Lots of green and citrus hops on the note, very fresh.

Flavour: Lots of those same hops in the front, becoming a little more bitter in the back.

Body: A medium body with a decent fizz level, a little too much in the back. 

Aftertaste: A dry hop bitterness in the back.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, nice but nothing special, a typical hoppy IPA.

Price Range: £29 for a pack of 10 South African beers, so £2.90 for a 340ml bottle; a decent price for a decent beer.

Food Pairings: Chicken thigh, with a nice spicy rub.

AM:PM

Brewery: Thornbridge Brewery

Supplier: Beer52

A reasonably famous brewery from the peak district in the middle of England. This is one of their core range (not sure if they do anything but their core), and this is a seasonal IPA but not much else is said about it. I served this chilled.

Appearance: Golden colour, even more gold when held to the light, but a little murky. The head is white, but thins to just a trace. 

Aroma: Lots of sweet resin and citrus hops. 

Flavour: Initially lots of that citrus hop note in the front, but it develops into a slightly more savoury and herbal hop notes.

Body: A really fresh start followed by a decent body. 

Aftertaste: A lot more cereal notes coming through, with a hint of bitterness from the hops in the background. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, it's a nice beer, but nothing special or that unique.

Price Range: Another from the Beer52 box, so about £1.10 for a 330ml bottle; but this is obviously not the price you would normally pay. This is, of course, a good price for this beer; and would be worth what you would normally pay for a beer.

Food Pairings: I think it would go well with some mollusc dish, maybe like moules mariniere.

Prenzlauer Berg

Brewery: Põhjala Brewery

Supplier: Beer52

A special brew from this Estonian brewery, this one being a Berliner Weisse with the addition of Raspberries and Lactose. The hops they use are the standard Hallertau Blanc, and it has the additions of oats and spelt in the malt bill. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A light amber colour with hints of a plum red, especially when held to the light, sort of like a murky rosé. The head is a pure whie colour but thins to a lase practically at pouring. 

Aroma: Raspberries with some sour hints, a little bit of yogurt and vinegar in the back. 

Flavour: Some lovely red berry sour notes with some fresh juicy notes, a little bit of vinegar. 

Body: Light and refreshing, turning really dry and tart in the back.

Aftertaste: The sour notes turns into much more of a yogurt notes, but the red berry notes prevail throughout. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 8, I'm biased to a sour, and this one is a lovely fruity one with nicely complementing yoghurt note.

Price Range: Another from the Beer52 box, so about £1.10 for a 330ml bottle; but this is obviously not the price you would normally pay. I like this a lot, and the price is fantastic, but it wouldn't be one you have a lot of.

Food Pairings: Would be great on a warm sunny day with a fresh salad that has a lot of salty cheese like feta.

Hop Hunter IPA

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beer52

Another year-round beer from this famous Californian brewery. This one being one of their five core IPAs, what makes this different is that they use "Farm Distilled Hop Oil" made by on-site steam distilling wet Cascade, Centennial, and CTZ hops to get pure hop oil. It also used other hops including Bravo, Cascade, Crystal, and Simcoe; along with a little bit of Oats in the malt bill. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A pale colour, with a bit of gold when held to the light. The head is medium and pure white, but thins to a few bubbles.

Aroma: There's a deep, funky apricot hop note, pleasant and a little different. 

Flavour: That same apricot note you find in the nose you get in the front, but this fades into a little bit more of a bitterness similer to the apricot pit with some sweet resin. Througout, there is an underlying sweet malt note. 

Body: A good body, but not too much that it's not refreshing, dry in the back.

Aftertaste: Some more cereal and some sharp citrus hops.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice an hoppy IPA with some less common notes.

Price Range: The box of 10 beers was only £10.95 so that amounts to about £1.10 for a 355ml bottle; this obviously not the price you would normally pay. At this price, and more, it's a really good deal.

Food Pairings: I think the apricot hops would go well with lamb, and as it's a fresh beer, charing on the meat would be good. So I would say something like a barbequed lamb burger.

Russian Rouble

Brewery: Flipside Brewery

Supplier: Beer Hawk

This looks like the typical CAMRA brewery, the old style of English brewing, and is located in Nottinghamshire. This is a core beer from them and is their version of an Imperial Russian Stout. I served this just below room temperature.

Appearance: A dark brown/black coulor, barely any light penetrates even at the sides. The head is medium, with a milk chocolate colour, but thins to a trace in the sides over time.

Aroma: Not much aroma, some roasted and some smoked notes in the back.

Flavour: A little sweet metalic notes on the front, there's a also a little bit of fresh plum.

Body: For such a heavy stout, this is very light and fresh. 

Aftertaste: There are some dry oak notes with some sweeter roasted notes. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, not bad, but just like a standard British stout you'd find in a pub.

Price Range: The last of the Mystery box set, so about £1.50 for a 500ml bottle; a good price for most beers, including this one. If it was on in a local pub I wouldn't mind getting it.

Food Pairings: I would say some spicy chicken wings.

Hopfenkönig

Brewery: Schloss Eggenberg

Supplier: Beer Hawk

From this centuries-old Austrian brewery run by a family for 8 generations; this is one of their core beers, a Pilsner with lots of hops (hence the name "Hop King"). Not much else I could find about this. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A very pale yellow colour, very slightly cloudy. The head is pure white, but thins to practically nothing. 

Aroma: Smells like a sharp larger, with some soapy notes.

Flavour: Note much flavour in the front, just a little malt sugar notes.

Body: Quite light, but reasonbly full for a lager. 

Aftertaste: The afternote is much more flavourful with more intense sugar barley notes and some light fruity/grape hop profiles. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, simple, but really easy to drink - like any good lager.

Price Range: Another of the Mystery box, so about £1.50 for a 330ml bottle; it's a good price, and I would definitely get this again for casual drinks.

Food Pairings: It's quite a full-bodied lager so I wouldn't mind pairing it with something a bit more full, as it's an easy drinker I would pair it with easy drinking food such as nachos.

Much Kneaded

Brewery: Toast Ale

Supplier: Tesco

So this is a bit more of an unusual brewery, their ethos is about using local excess bread from bakeries as a replacement for one-third of the malted barley. This brewery was set up by Tristram Stuart who did a fantastic TED talk a few years ago, and contributes to efforts of reducing food waste. This is one of their core range, being their craft lager. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A crystal clear gold colour, a slightly pale tinge. The head is pure white, but fades to nothing quite quickly. 

Aroma: Smells like a slightly sweet fruity lager, like one of the better, all malt, comercial lagers. 

Flavour: A nice sharp typical lager note with hints of strawberry, crisp green apple and citrus. 

Body: A lovely efferervesence, with smooth bubbles on your tounge. The body is perfectly balanced, maybe towards the more fuller side, and really smooth. 

Aftertaste: The notes seem to turn more of the tart flavours of Acetaldehyde and some herbal hop and gooseberry notes. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice balanced and drinkable beer, probably between a 6 and 7 as I think I might have been influenced by the story behind it.

Price Range: £1.80 for a 330ml bottle, I would definitely buy this again, and not just because it's contributing to a good cause.

Food Pairings: The dry notes in this would need something like a creamy parfait with a redcurrant preserve.