Irish Whiskey Finish

Brewery: Innis & Gunn

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Another aged beer from Innis & Gunn; this one is one of their seasonal range, a stout matured over Irish whiskey infused American oak heartwood. During 2014 it was awarded Gold in the Monde Selection Awards and Silver in the Speciality Beers of the International Beer Challenge (although for some reason it is listed as Bronze on their website). I served this at room temperature.

Appearance: Dark with maroon edges when held to the light. The is a reddish-brown head at first, but this dissipates completely in a matter of seconds.

Aroma: There is lots of sugar at first similar to maple syrup; then a woody notes similar to that found in sherry comes about, mixed with very subtle underlying whiskey notes. 

Flavour: Again you initially get  sweet maple syrup notes, but coupled with dark roasted notes. At the back some of the sherry like wood notes come out. 

Body: Quite thick and syrupy, which works with this drink but could probably be tones down slightly. The carbonation in this is also too much. 

Aftertaste: The aftertaste is quite dry with a slight burn similar to one you get whilst drinking whiskey. There is also a subtle vanilla and wood note. However, with some drinking an unpleasant green wood and tannin note developes.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, nice but I wouldn't want to drink more than one. The whiskey and wood does really work in this but there are still some off notes too it. It is similar to a dark red wine, but much sweeter.

Price Range: £2.19 for a 330ml bottle, probably about right due to the high alcohol, although I wouldn't get it again as they have others at this price that are better.

Food Pairings: I would say this would go well with heavily flavoured beef, such as sticky ribs or teriyaki steak.

Nollaig

Brewery: Williams Bros. Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

I got this one specifically for Christmas (but then forgot about it) as it is made using Spruce sprigs - AKA its a beer that is brewed with Christmas trees! I decided to drink it now as its best before was May 2015 and I'm not sure how well this type of beer ages. Although it is labeled as a Gruit it does actually use hops, they used big American hops Amarillo & Centennial to give a bold flavour that matched that of the spruce. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A dark amber colour; but with no head, just a lingering off-white foam. I thought I had poured this carefully but there are LOTS of dark solid bits.

Aroma: Lots of sugar with some sweet lemon notes

Flavour: Not much on the front but then a syrupy back, there are some notes that are a bit unfamiliar, a bit of a mix of rose oil and orange peel. 

Body: Quite syrupy, a bit too thick, but quite well carbonated. 

Aftertaste: A nice mix of preserved oranges and a hoppy bitterness. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 4, not bad but a bit too much and a bit too sweet.

Price Range: £2.79 for a 330ml bottle, not a great price for it, I wouldn't get it again.

Food Pairings: Very strong and gamey meats, something like venison, in a rich stew.

Sorachi Ace

Brewery: Barney's Beer

Supplier: Beer52

Founded in his kitchen (as he likes to advertise on his bottles), this brewery in now located in the old Summerhall brewery in Edinburgh. Sorachi Ace is an IPA based on their main product - Volcano IPA - but using just Sorachi Ace hops instead of the usual hops used. I served this chilled

Appearance: Pale straw colour which is slightly opaque, there is a thin white head that stays

Aroma: Definitely citrusy hops with some apricot and some flowery hints of coconut.

Flavour: There is some hints of coconut but not the nice parts, more like that fattiness from it. This settles into a soft flavour, merging with the malts quite nicely. 

Body: Good decent body for a pale ale, with a good amount of soft carbonation. A bit of a clingy mouthfeel. 

Aftertaste: A bit of an artificial coconut taste but OK, not bitter either.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, but only just, quite a nice and soft beer but the coconut from the hops just doesn't taste right. Also, this is more of a pale ale than an IPA as listed.

Price Range: Part of a box of 10 I got for £14 (usually £29), so it works out at £1.40 for a 330ml bottle; an OK price, I probably wouldn't get it again, but I would get others from the brewery for that price.

Food Pairings: I think the soft notes of the citrus and coconut would go well with white fish. The good malt body would make it pair particularly with battered/breaded fish from a fish & chip shop.

Stallion Stout

Brewery: Banks Barbados Brewery

Supplier: Beers of Europe

So I've had this one lying around for a while now, it has a best before date of nearly a year ago. I don't usually fuss about the BB date on stouts but I'm unsure as to how milk stouts age. So this brew is made in the caribbean island of Barbados (or so it says on the bottle), but I think that it is brewed specially for the UK market (as far as I can tell). I served this with a little chill on it.

Appearance: A very thick black with a hint of maroon right at the edges, no head at all though. 

Aroma: Smells very strongly of brown sugar, sherry and dark rum; very strongly.

Flavour: Rum on the front coupled with tart grapes, followed by that distinct sweet brown sugar note. A tad watery on the back.

Body: Too light and probably just a little too fizzy for this type (but perfect for most). 

Aftertaste: Still a little sweetness, and a hint of the rum, mixed with some of the typical roasted notes found in stout.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, let down a little by the body and nothing amazing, but a very nice beer to drink

Price Range: £1.49 for a 275ml bottle,  definitely worth it for this price despite being a small bottle.

Food Pairings: Flambeed bananas, I know it sounds like I'm just pairing it with something stereotypical from the country (and maybe I am subconsciously); but I think the sweetness, along with the brown sugar and rum notes, would go really nicely with it.

Wild Goose Chase

Brewery: Wild Beer Co.

Supplier: Kris Wines

This beer is made using a Saison base and fermented with Wild Beer Co's trademark wild yeast, I've seen it listed both as a sour ale and a saison but I think it airs more towards the saison style. This beer is made more complex by the addition of Gooseberries. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A pale straw colour that is slightly opaque. There is a thin white head the dissipates quickly. 

Aroma: Some very hoppy notes more towards the grassy side with some citrus in.

Flavour: There are much less hop notes in the flavour with followed by some fruitiness and a little tartness. 

Body: Quite thin like with should be but then leaves your mouth feeling a bit rubbery 

Aftertaste: The malt notes seem to come into play here but they aren't great and taste like weak cereal, there is also a very weak but definitely present note of burnt plastic. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 4, I had high hopes for this one but it turns out it is just a plain beer the is reasonably nice.

Price Range: £2.99 for a 330ml can, too much for what it is especially as you can get other, more flavourful beers from this brewery at the same price.

Food Pairings: Something with a delicate flavour such as white fish with minimal additional flavours.

Fix Dark

Brewery: Olympic Brewery

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is the Dark Lager that comes from the Greek Brewery, Olympic Brewery, first produced in early 2012. It seems like quite a highly marketed beer in Greece, but doesn't give much detail about what is in it. I served this at cellar temperature.

Appearance: Pitch black but maroon on the edges when held to the light. There is a thin mocha coloured head at the beginning but this fades to nothing with about 20 seconds.

Aroma: The harsh rust and grape smell you get with most uncomplicated dark beers, although a lot more grape in this.

Flavour: Nothing on the front but then a hint of a creamy vanilla and toast, but it then fades bad into nothing on the end.

Body: Way too effervescent, and the body is incredibly light for a dark beer - which is bad in this case. 

Aftertaste: Hints of grape and toasted malts, but they are faint and there is a slight and unpleasant bitter tang. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 3, some pleasant notes but they are short lived and don't make up for the the body.

Price Range: £1.49 for a 330ml bottle, you get what you pay for in this case. I wouldn't get it again but if it was the only thing available then I wouldn't be too displeased as it is quite cheap and easy to drink once you tame the fizz.

Food Pairings: The creaminess and the roasted flavours from this would complement, rather than cancel each other out, with those same flavours found in good quality chocolate ice-cream (prefrably dark).

La Curtius

Brewery: Brasserie {C}

Supplier: Beer52

Haven't managed to do a review for a long time now, in fact this is my first post of the year. Though I'd do another from the Beer52 box that contained mostly European beers. This one is from a relatively new Belgian brewery that established in 2012; La Curtius is their Blond ale, made from barley and wheat, that has gone through several fermentation steps and presented in a champagne-esk bottle. I served this chilled, Happy Easter.

Appearance: A very pale gold colour with a thin but persistent pure white head, there is also a huge amount of particulate matter.

Aroma: Definitely a Belgian nose but with lots more floral and apricot notes.

Flavour: Quite sweet on the front with lots of apricot, this leads into a more fruity honey note. With drinking more of the floral notes come out, along with some of the alcohol.

Body: A medium body with a nice soft carbonation, perfect. 

Aftertaste: A bit tangy lemon with lots of white grape notes, these become a bit more complex with drinking becoming more like white wine notes.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice beer the is complex enough to keep you interested, but light and simple enough to keep drinking.

Price Range: Part of the box of 8 I got for £12 (usually £24), so it works out at £1.50 for a 375ml bottle; a great price but you probably wont see it for that, I would say it was worth upwards of double that.

Food Pairings: This would go well with a lighter meat in a dark sauce, maybe something like chicken in a cream based sauce, my gut is telling me something like pheasant in a dark gravy.

Imperial Stout

Brewery: Founders Brewing Co.

Supplier: Beers of Europe

Merry Christmas! I decided to review one that I have had for a while now, this is founders Imperial Stout brewed only on special occasions around the beginning of each year. This has a best before of the end of November 2014 (take no notice as imperial stouts tend to only get better by age - also this age is written in the european format indicating it was put on by people other that Founders who don't usually to BB dates), meaning that it was bottled in 2013 - I think. This beer has ranked well with a WBC Bronze Medal in the "American-Style Imperial Stout" category in 2010. This was served at room temperature and lest to breath for a bit.

Appearance: An incredible dark black with a very thin and short lived head that had the colour of red clay. 

Aroma: Coffee, red berries, caramelisation and lots of boozy notes. I kind of want to say the caramelised flavour is a bit like that you get on the meat, but that sounds gross and this smell is definitely not that. 

Flavour: Nice sweet flavour with some surprisingly fresh notes but also with those roasted notes that you would expect in a beer like this. There are definitely some notes like liquorish on this

Body: Incredibly smooth and velvety 

Aftertaste: There is a bitterness that starts to come, partly from the hops and partly from the malt, that increase throughout the taste but is still pleasant. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 8, a strong but well balanced beer. Well made and what you expect, but nothing that is a surprising flavour.

Price Range: £3.89 for a 355ml bottle, an appropriate price for this, expensive but worth it.

Food Pairings: Something slaty to offset the sweet, but with strong flavours, maybe like a beef roast.

Christmas Ale

Brewery: Brouwerij St. Bernardus

Supplier: Beers of Europe

So this is to start of the Christmas season. This is the breweries dark, strong Belgian ale that is brewed for the christmas period; made using the breweries own strain of yeast that has been used since the end of WWII. I served this at room temperature. Merry Christmas!

Appearance: Very dark with only just a dark ruby tint when held to the light. The head is comparatively light as a creamy hazelnut colour.

Aroma: Some fruity but lambic-esc notes with a background of banana, raisins and roasted notes.

Flavour: Sweet and complex with the raisins flavour coming out most. There are some other notes like treacle and gingerbread coming through as well. 

Body: A little too carbonated for my tastes, but it is still nice and thick.

Aftertaste: Tastes like a flanders red ale on the back; with that tart/dry, typically Belgian, flavour.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice complex and spicy ale, not completely to my tastes and a little too carbonated, but still worth trying.

Price Range: £3.19 for 330ml bottle, probably a little too much but a good price

Food Pairings: Complex enough that it could be left by itself, but if were choosing I would say something like a Reuben sandwich (composed of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing, grilled between slices of rye bread), with strong flavours coming from all the  veg, cheese, bread and meat flavours. Or a simple pastrami on rye.

Kellerbier

Brewery: Brauerei Göller

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is the Kellerbier (or cellar beer) of this 500 year old brewery. The beer is an unfiltered lager that has been cellared. It won a gold medal from the German Agricultural Society - Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG) - in 2007. This particular bottle apparently went off in mid September, I have no experience with Kellerbiers so I am unsure if this will affect it in a positive or negative way. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A slightly pale and slightly amber golden colour with a very thin off-white head. 

Aroma: Some spicy notes mixed with lots of honey and a hint of dried orange.

Flavour: Definitely a german beer with the typical notes associated, with some dried orange. There is a descant malt body but with more savoury hints.

Body: Quite light and refreshing but with a substantial back.

Aftertaste: The main flavour continues but with some green and almost ear waxy hop notes.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 5, a good standard drinker with some decent notes, but nothing special.

Price Range: £2.09 for a 500ml bottle, a good price for what it is, especially with the bottle (if you like those type of bottles)

Food Pairings: Some nice warm and buttery bread, lots of garlic would also be nice.