Anchor Steam Beer

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Anchors founding beer, first made in 1896 with the current one derived from that recipe. The first California Common brewed for a long time when it was revitalized in 1971. The story and history behind this brew is a fantastic one and so I would urge you to watch the video behind it. I served this straight out of the fridge

Appearance: A slightly murky amber gold colour with a very thin off white head.

Aroma: Quite like white wine with hints of malt characters

Flavour: Crisp and fresh. A nice solid malt body at the back with some fruity esters. 

Body: A little over carbonated for my liking, and that appears in the taste. Quite a wet beer, with some dryness around the edges of the tongue. Hints of apple juice as it starts to warm up.

Aftertaste: A little bit of residual sweetness followed by that classic, semi-green tasting, larger note. A little bready as well. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, very enjoyable to drink, plain and simple, but nothing spectacular; however, it is one I would drink again and again.

Price Range: £2.09, great price for a seasonable all-day drinker, definitely get it again.

Food Pairings: Perfect for a barbecue (I know, finally a beer that goes with a barbecue ...), but would probably go better with the stodgier sides of the barbecue that the meat.

Stout

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Like their Porter this is another one of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s all year round beers. They describe this as American version of a stout. It is brewed with whole cone hops and made to be a big and rich beer. This is said to be one of the beers that they used to test out the brewing system at the original brewery. This was served at room temp but that was quite cool.

Appearance: Black with a maroon colour coming through around the edges when it hits the light. A thick tan coloured head that stays.

Aroma: Smells like a very chocolatey red wine, hints of hops right at the end. This mellows out into a sweeter malty smell.

Flavour: A very dark sweetness first off with some roasted notes at the end, a bit like grape juice throughout.

Body: Very smooth and velvety, similar to milk. Not too carbonated but is doesn't feel nice going down.

Aftertaste: Some chocolate mixed with some green hops and metal, some juice flavours coming through here as well.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 4, I prefer the Porter very slightly better as it is an easy drinker. The serving temp for this I think was well suited, slightly cool.

Price Range: £2.39 for a 350ml bottle, not a bad price but not a great beer; so I wouldn't see myself buying it.

Food Pairings: Some smoked beef stew, the sweetness and roasted notes you get from the beer would complement the hot, smoked flavours you would get from something like paprika or chipotle.

Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout

Brewery: Kiuchi Brewery

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Made using "well roasted espresso beans" this beer has come all the way from Japan. It uses a Russian Imperial Stout recipe as a base but is more similar to the style of a normal stout. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: Black and very fizzy, but quite clear when the light comes through the edges. A dark maroon coloured head that is large but fades away completely very quickly.

Aroma: A very unusual smell; coffee on the front and then an unmistakable and strong note of elderflower twined with a hint of Marmite.

Flavour: A bitter-sweet and well balanced blend of elderflower and coffee with the flavours fluctuating in dominance. A bit of an unpleasant acidity on the back. After some drinking the elederflower becomes the dominant flavour and the coffee turns to an OK tasting burnt toast.

Body: Very smooth, not too carbonated like it looked. A bit sharp going down.

Aftertaste: Not much in the after taste, a subtle but distinct coffee/burnt toast flavour throughout. A bit too dry. The elderflower taste does start to say longer, into the after taste, with drinking; but the roasted flavours still come after

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 8, a great beer with a very unusual taste, but this might be swayed from a 7 by my love of elderflower...

Price Range: £3.69 for a 330ml bottle, definitely worth it to try but probably wouldn't spend this much for it again. The price obviously includes shipping so I would definitely have it again if I was in Japan (or found it cheaper elsewhere).

Food Pairings: The complex contrasts in flavours of this makes it hard to select a food pairing for it. I'm thinking a light dessert, something like Panna Cotta. It might also go with a selection of cheeses, but I'm less sure on that one

Hook Island Red

Brewery: Five Points Brewing Company

Supplier: Kris Wines

This is a new brewery opened in March of this year in Hackney, London. This is their red ale brewed with Chinook, Columbus, and Simcoe hops (some of my favorites) and with rye. This bottle was bottled on the 22nd of June and was served slightly chilled.

Appearance: Murky brown with hints of orange. A very thin varnish coloured head.

Aroma: Smell like fresh green apples and lychees, a very hoppy smell that is synonymous with Simcoe.

Flavour: Subtle malts with a bit of citrus at first but then a nice roasted malt flavour at the back with a bit of sweet caramel in between.

Body: Nice and light but too fizzy so it becomes rough going down.

Aftertaste: An incredibly bitter plant like taste, coupled with some soapiness, that absolutely dominates in a bad way. Thankfully this seems to lessen with drinking but not enough and it also develops into a weird savoury taste. There is also some peppery spice that comes from rye. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 2, solely because the after taste is so bad; however, the initial taste and the aroma are quite nice and it would do quite well if it didn't have this aftertaste.

Price Range: £2.50 for a 330ml bottle; anything is too much for a beer that wasn't nice.

Food Pairings: Something very strong to counter the taste, maybe Marmite and toast.

Bedow Autumn Porter

Brewery: Mikkeller

Supplier: Luvians Bottle Shop - St Andrews

This is something I got about two years ago and I thought it would be nice to open now as I've just had my birthday and some Exams, and it is the first cold day of Autumn. This beer won an award for its labels as they use photosensitive ink that changes Dandelion seeds to rain drops depending on the temperature.

Appearance: Pitch black with no light coming through and a thick head the colour of milk chocolate that dissipates completely quite quickly.

Aroma: This is one of the most delicious smelling beers I have ever smelt. It smells of rich chocolate liqueur and fresh grapes, very sweet smelling and makes you nose  feel full! Smells very boozy with time.

Flavour: Not much on the front but this is followed by a rich sweet mocha flavour with hints of bourbon. The flavour seems to disappear on some sips but then comes back with vigor on the next. It also develops a sweet fruity taste when it is allowed to breath.

Body: Not too thick but still has a good robustness for this style, a bit too fizzy for my tastes.

Aftertaste: Quite fresh at first but leading into a nice burnt toast flavour, this goes with time and is replaced with the black treacle taste.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 9, raised above 8 purely because of the gorgeous smell; although with the unlocking of flavors when allowed to breath it is closer to a 10. I would definitely allow this to open up in the glass before drinking.

Price Range: .... I bought this a while ago, long before I even thought of starting this blog, so I have forgotten; I think it was about £4 for the 330ml bottle. For that price it was definitely worth it, I might get this again for special occasions but I would definitely recommend people to try it!

Food Pairings: This is such a rich drink that it is well suited to be by itself. If I had to pick a food, keeping with the special occasions theme, I would probably go for a nice slice of fruit cake.

Liberty Ale

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is one of the first new Anchor Brews made when Frederick Louis Maytag III took control. It is an American style IPA brewed with only cascade hops; it is thought to be the first modern American single-hop ale and dry-hopped ale.

Appearance: A slightly murky orange colour with a large but thin white head that dissipates quite quickly.

Aroma: A tad yeasty but with a strong undertone of resin that is synonymous with cascade hops; smells delicious. 

Flavour: A bit of a malty front with hints of cloves and banana this then goes into a sweet resin flavour before developing a caramel note.

Body: Light with a little thinkness going down; but way too carbonated making it rough to drink, this does fade with time after pouring.

Aftertaste: A very dry bitterness with a hint of very green vegetation.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, definitely a solid 6, nice taste but let down by the carbonation and the aftertaste.

Price Range: £2.09 for a 355ml bottle, good price for a nice beer.

Food Pairings: I'm thinking this would go well with fresh peaches, maybe something like peaches and cream.

Coffee Porter

Brewery: Meantime Brewing Company

Supplier: From the Brewery itself

My parents got this for me (along with the glass) when they took me to the brewery for my birthday last month. This is one of the two beers that they only produce for the American market and so you can only get it in the states or from the brewery. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: Not as dark as I would have expected, it looks brownish when you are pouring it and there is a ruby red tinkle when you hold it to the light. A mocha coloured head that fades quickly but leaves a little behind.

Aroma: You get a huge wiff of rust at the beginning followed by a very heavy sweetness with strong coffee and chocolate notes.

Flavour: Relatively fresh on the front with a sweet and strong chocolate covered coffee beans taste at the end that has a hint of rust in it. After some time it starts to feel boozy.

Body: Incredibly smooth, nice and velvety with slight bubbles mainly on the front.

Aftertaste: A fresh, coffee acidic taste that lingers and spreads in you mouth. It also drys your mouth out.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, close to an 8 but the rust taste puts in down a little. This is definitely one beer you would only want one of at a time.

Price Range: Under £3 for a 330ml bottle (don't know the exact price as it was a gift). Enjoyable and I would definitely get it again, especially for the winter time.

Food Pairings: Some sort of oats dessert like cranachan. Would also go well with most mousse-like desserts.