Ogham Ash

Brewery: The Celt Experience

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Continuing from the horizontal tasting of the Ogham range, having previously done Oak and later doing Willow. This is their Russian Imperial Stout using lots of hops and seven different types of malts. Its namesake Ash is the wood that implies spirituality, reflection, and power.

Appearance: A dark black that you can just about see through, with a thick tan head.

Aroma: Cream and chocolate on the nose with a little bit of coffee and berries.

Flavour: Lots of fruit and fresh chocolate, and a little bit of licorice. 

Body: Surprisingly fresh and very smooth. 

Aftertaste: A little smokey with coffee and some malty bitterness.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, quite clean and strong, nice but not sessionable.

Price Range: £3.08 for 330ml bottle, an acceptable price for such a strong beer.

Food Pairings: Some tender juicy steak with salsa.

Ogham Oak

Brewery: The Celt Experience

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Today I'm going to do a horizontal tasting of the Ogham range from The Celt Experience in Wales. This series is named after a secret code used by Gaulish druids and is a series of three big beer styles. Oak is the first I'm going to try in the series (Ash and Willow will follow) and this is a Belgian Tripel brewed with Orange peel and Cinnamon, using american hops and yeast from Flanders. Its namesake Oak is the wood that implies Strength and Wisdom. I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: A bright clear golden colour with a slightly thick head that reduces a little.

Aroma: Funky lemon notes twinned with sweeter notes that are slightly malty but also have some freshly made lemonade characters. 

Flavour: Typical Belgian malt notes on the front; followed by fresher, citrus notes, that have a slight funk - formed from hops and yeast.

Body: Medium body, quite smooth and thick on the end, but too fizzy.

Aftertaste: This funk increases in the back, coupled with a puckering. The flavours become a bit more green, there are also hints of peanuts. There is also a salty note in here, that becomes more prominent with drinking.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, very close to an 8 but there are just a few things off like the fizz and the green notes don't really work; there is also something missing that is needed to round it out. Not getting any cinnamon from it, but that is probably good as I don't think being strong enough to identify it would go well.

Price Range: £2.48 for a 330ml bottle, a very good price.

Food Pairings: Some sort of crustacean, probably prawns covered in lime and coriander.

Torpedo Extra IPA

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is Sierra Nevada's year round IPA. Named as it is the first beer to use their Hop Torpedo, a dry-hopping device that they invented. I served this chilled.

Appearance: Pale with an orange hue, the head is a medium off-white that fades.

Aroma: Very hoppy with citrus and lyche, hints of roasted notes in the back.

Flavour: Nice hoppy notes but with some slightly soapy hoppy bitter notes.

Body: Fairly smooth body with a chewiness on the back.

Aftertaste: Quite clean with some hints of bitter hop.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a very nice and clean hoppy IPA.

Price Range: £3.29 for a 473ml can, good price for a nice beer.

Food Pairings: Something very garlicy, maybe like a creamy pasta.

Boltens Alt

Brewery: Privatbrauerei Bolten

Supplier: Beers of Europe

My first beer after coming out of a little bit of time in hospital, so I thought I would try something interesting but not too heavy or alcoholic. This is a typical old style of beer from Dusseldorf called an Altbier; Alt meaning "Old". The amber colours from this beer come from the specialty malts ad the unique flavours from the in-house Bolten yeast strain.

Appearance: A thin brown colour with hints of red. There is a medium off-white head that thins out quickly. 

Aroma: Typical German beer smell with some corn and hay notes. 

Flavour: Lots of hay on the front with a back of very un-sweet malty notes. This becomes a bit sweeter with drinking, and then gains a little bit of an iced tea vibe

Body: A medium body, nothing distinctive, a bit too much fizz on the back.

Aftertaste: You still get the hay and malt notes but they are joined by iron and some subtle green notes.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 4, unusual hay notes making it interesting but not something I would really want to drink that much of.

Price Range: £2.09 for a 500ml bottle, a good price but an average beer.

Food Pairings: Something plain but meaty like roast chicken and home made chips.