Vitus

Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

Supplier: Beers of Europe

From the world's oldest brewery, founded in 1040, this brewery is most commonly know for via their Hefeweissbier. This is their Weizenbock version that has been matured for extra long in the monasteries cellar. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: Pale straw with deep orange, quite opaque. Very effervescent and creates a large, long lasting head. Gushed out of the bottle when I opened it, spilling some :( .

Aroma: Cracked black pepper, washing up liquid, and some herb/plant smell; all in all very yeasty smelling.

Flavour: Not much on the front and then a chemically yeasty flavour on the back. Some sweet malts and orange in it but not much.

Body: This is odd as it is very light but definitely has a thick creamy body. A bit too fizzy right on the front.

Aftertaste: This is where the flavour is at! Boozy oranges, lots of wheat malt coming through and some spices (including a menthol like experience that cools the tongue). A bit of a dry pill taste also, something like paracetamol.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, for this type of style it is very good; for its style it should be higher. Very refreshing but warm, good flavours and really easy to drink.

Price Range: £3.29 for a 500ml bottle, a bit pricey but worth it (however, more the price I would pay at a bar for rather than in a bottle).

Food Pairings: This sounds silly and a bit of a cop-out but this would go well with pretty much and hearty German meal (or similar), something stocked well with potatoes and pork.

Hennepin Farmhouse Saison

Brewery: Brewery Ommegang

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Named after the founder of Niagara Falls, this beer was brewed to have more of that classic Saison spice than others. The spices used in this include coriander, sweet orange peel, ginger, and grains of paradise. This beer was served cold as suggested.

Appearance: Cloudy pale straw with a thick, long lasting, white head and lots of bubbles.

Aroma: Has a yeasty smell, a bit of a cross between the classic Belgian yeast smell and the smell of rising bread dough.

Flavour: Quite a light front with a very strong taste of orange bread at the back and a hint of booze. The flavours meld very well. After some time the orange settles down and some smooth spices come out.

Body: Light and smooth, but way too carbonated. 

Aftertaste: Bready and boozy aftertaste with a bit of a stickiness.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, nice but not to my tastes and too carbonated.

Price Range: £3.99 for a 355ml bottle, definitely not worth the price even if it is more suited to your palate.

Food Pairings: Roast duck, the orange and spices will complement the gameiness and richness of the duck.

Hop-It

Brewery: De Leyerth Brouwerijen (Urthel)

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Originally a Belgium brewery in town Ruiselede in the province of West Flanders; but since 2007 the beers from this brewery have been brewed in the Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven (the brewery that makes the Trappist "La Trappe" beers) in North Brabant of The Netherlands. This is one of their three specialty beers; a Belgian Blond Brewed with extra hops, making this a Belgian IPA. Served cool.

Appearance: A deep straw colour with hints of orange. Lots of tiny bubbles that form a large head which stays reasonably long.

Aroma: Smells initially like a commercial lager but then you can get those spice Belgian esters right at the back which comprise mainly of cloves and tobacco. Not much hop coming from it.

Flavour: Super sweet malty gummy bear flavour right at the front. This spices up to a typical Belgian body with lots of yeasty spice going on, it is also very boozy. The hops come right at the end; initially an unpleasant plant like bitterness, but this turns into a more palatable green noble hop flavour with drinking. 

Body: Very thick but refreshing, the carbonation is just right, very easy to drink. 

Aftertaste: A commercial lager-like (but more intense) hoppy bitterness at the back,some pleasant fruitiness from the hops. This, however, turns into an unpleasant boozy, yeasty spice 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, I would say this has a little too much of the Belgian phenolic flavours that don't go with the hops, there is also an unpleasant similarity to commercial lagers; however, there are also some very nice flavours (both Belgian and hoppy) that make this nice enough to drink.

Price Range: £3.19 for a 330ml bottle, bit too expensive for what it is; you are paying for the alcohol here, not the flavour.

Food Pairings: Hopefully this isn't just my cravings coming through and that this is actually some sound advice, but I think that this would go well with salted meat, something like ham hock, but bacon would do as well.

India Pale Ale

Brewery: Odell Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Odell is a lovely brewery in the town of Fort Collins Colorado. This IPA is one of their core range and they proudly state that they focus on using the hops for flavour and aroma, rather than bitterness, and that they've used a strong malt body to get balance. I served this after about 10 mins out of the fridge.

Appearance: Looks like liquid gold with a slight orange hue. Nice and bubble with a thick and long lasting head. 

Aroma: Man, you could smell this right on the opening. Huge amounts of sweet mango and passionfruit hops with a fresh creaminess coming from it. Amazing smell.

Flavour: First you get some caramel malt flavours coming thought before leading into a citrusy, resin-like hop flavours at the back. These flavours die down and become a tangy fruit flavour.

Body: Great body, nice and smooth, sooo easy to drink.

Aftertaste: Some acidic sweetness that leads into an unpleasant taste of green plants, this thankfully fades with drinking, but doesn't go completely, replaced with and acidic bitterness. This acidity stays for far too long.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7. So close to an 8, but the aftertaste puts me off a little. If it was just for smell they would get 10/10.

Price Range: £3.19 for a 355ml bottle. A good beer, an average price.

Food Pairings: This one took me ages to figure out what I was thinking of. Some sort of sharp-tasting-fruit yogurt parfait. As for a main, some sort of rice dish; I'm thinking jambalaya but I'm having a hard time remembering the flavours and I have now finished the beer. Also, maybe something with fresh onion; as you can see this is a unusual one.

Raging Bitch

Brewery: Flying Dog Brewery

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is one of Flying Dog's core beers. The 3 types of hop they use are all American (in fact I believe they are all from Washington state); Warrior, Columbus, and Amarillo. The yeast they use is they call El Diablo and this is a Belgian or Belgian-like yeast. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A rusty gold colour, verging on the side of an amber ale. Bubbles are good and there is a thick, long lasting off-white head.

Aroma: Initially you get citrusy sweet hop resin but this leads into a underlying funky, tart smell that is present in some farmhouse ales.

Flavour: Very fresh at first leading onto a quick hoppy taste before ending with a very phenolic boozy, almost Grappa like, taste at the back. After some time the hops open up and makes the beer more pleasant, probably due to it warming up a little. 

Body: Decent light body with a solid mouth feel. 

Aftertaste: The aftertaste is also boozy, but with some very distinct dried orange notes to it, a bit of pepper and is very harsh. This is mixed with a nice hoppy bitterness at first but this becomes an unpleasant dryness later on.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, it's a nice beer but something just doesn't flow right with the flavors. I would suggest that you serve this at room temperature.

Price Range: £3.19 for a 355ml bottle, it's an OK price for a beer that I think other people might enjoy more than me. I personally wouldn't get it again but I wouldn't discourage others to try it.

Food Pairings: Gingerbread, admittedly I saw ginger as a food pairing on their website and I agree with them on that (not so much for the other food they had in mind but that's just me). I think the the sweetness and the spiciness from both will complement each other well.

Big Swell IPA

Brewery: Maui Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is from one of the breweries in Hawaii and is a Dry-hopped IPA using four different types of hops. One thing I love about this is that it is in a can; I'm a big fan of the Canning Revolution and you are able to see more about it later when I update the website some more. This beer is made in the high temperatures of Hawaii so I thought it would be better served with a bit of a chill on it.

Appearance: A coppery gold colour with a good amount of bubbles. A medium off white head  that reduces but stays. 

Aroma: Smells like lemon rinds and sweet hop resin, a hint of malt comes through eventually. It also smell incredible fresh!

Flavour: Good malty beginning leading into a very sweet hop resin flavour with a hint of booziness. Not a range of flavours but they are good!

Body: Maybe a little too thick for this beer as it is all very fresh apart from this heavy clingy body. Perfectly carbonated.

Aftertaste: This sweet hop resin flavour turns into a very lemon-rind like bitterness on the aftertaste, not unpleasant but not the best. This fades with drinking 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 8, there are a few things letting it down but I would still give this an 8 as it is a very good beer and a perfect IPA for drinking in the sun (if the UK got any). I can see why this would be popular in Hawaii.

Price Range: £2.99 for a 330ml can, good price for a good beer, especially if you consider the distance it had to travel.

Food Pairings: I'm struggling to think of something for this but on the spot I would suggest a bacon sandwich with lots of ketchup (but then again what wouldn't go with that).

Southern Hemisphere Harvest

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This IPA is to mark the the 1st of August, which, of course is IPA Day! The Hemisphere harvest ales is where they pick the finest hops, dry them and get them into the brew kettle in the shortest amount of time possible.This is their 2013 Southern harvest, for which they got their hops from New Zealand.

Appearance: A deep amber red, an off white head, and a decent bubbling.

Aroma: Smells quite stagnant and a little musty. Some hoppy booze on the back.

Flavour: Some rich malts with a hint of booze at the front, this leads into a hoppy taste that tastes surprisingly stale. However, it has got a good balance and the tastes flows together pretty easily.

Body: The body is incredibly thick with it not going down the throat easily, develops into a creamy mouthfeel. 

Aftertaste: First some nice melon-esk flavoured hops come through, but these turn into a bit of  planty taste.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, very disappointing for all the hype, especially as Sierra Nevada are usually impeccable. This very stale in taste for expecting fresh hops.

Price Range: £6.29 for a 710ml bottle, that works out at about £3.15 for one of their normal bottles. This is too much, but I would try it again as I suspect that this isn't what it is meant to taste like.

Food Pairings: With something like rice pudding; even better would be coconut rice pudding, however be warned that the coconut fat might make it take longer for the taste to penetrate to your tongue.