Category Archives: Bier Tasting

Nøgne/Bridge Rd India Saison, Red Hill Scotch Ale, Thisted Limfjords Porter

  By Admin | June 28, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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Another Thursday bier tasting, this one featuring 3 different biers.

First up was Brad’s contribution, India Saison – a collaboration between Norwegian brewer Nøgne Ø and Australian brewer Bridge Road Brewers. This is a 7.5% Saison featuring some Australian hops (Stella and Galaxy).

Nøgne Ø/Bridge Road Brewers India Saison

This bier is a cloudy yellow with virtually no head. The aroma is passionfruit, lime, grapefruit, summer melons and pineapple. It starts sweet on the palate and ends with a bitter finish. The taste is fresh grapefruit, passionfruit and a hint of melon. Overall it was quite well balanced and refreshing, and sits in a harmonious middle-ground between the Saison and IPA styles.

Next up was Red Hill Scotch Ale, from Red Hill Brewery in Australia, clocking in at 5.8% ABV.

Red Hill Brewery Scotch Ale

This bier is a clear rust colour with a small pale head. The aroma is strawberry, leather, raisins, lychee and caramel. It has a slightly creamy mouthfeel, a medium body, and is smooth on the palate with a sweet grainy finish and a slight tannin aftertaste. The taste is raisins, caramel, wood and toasted grain. Overall I found this a little lacking in substance for a Scotch Ale.

The final bier of the evening was Thisted Limfjords Porter/Double Brown Stout from Thisted Bryghus in Denmark, another bier I received recently in a trade. This one is a 7.9% Baltic Porter.

Thisted Limfjords Porter/Double Brown Stout

This bier pours a solid black with a good beige head that leaves behind some lacing. The aroma is liquorice, chocolate, leather, sandalwood, soy sauce and a touch of smoke. The mouthfeel is slightly oily and it has a roasty bitter finish with a hint of booze. The taste is liquorice, oak, burnt sugar and chicory. This was pretty decent but I really felt it could do with a little aging.

Grottenbier Bruin, Kinn Svartekunst F.E.D.I.R.E.S.P. and Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

  By Admin | June 21, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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This week’s Thursday bier tasting featured 3 interesting biers.

First up was Grottenbier Bruin, which is a newish bier from St. Bernardus Brouwerij (famed for the wonderful St. Bernardus Abt 12 ). This bier is a 6.7% Abbey Dubbel, and it is claimed to have been aged in the Caves of Kanne, Belgium.

Grottenbier Bruin

The bier pours a dirty brown with a small pale head that leaves behind some lacing. The aroma is quite unexpected – sour candy, banana bread, barnyard, violets and hint of heather honey. It is surprisingly light on the palate with a floral finish and a hint of bitterness. The taste is lavender, camomile, honey, candi sugar, violets and a hint of citrus. This was quite enjoyable, unexpected and unique.

The next bier was Kinn Svartekunst F.E.D.I.R.E.S.P. from Norwegian brewery Kinn Bryggeri. A shout must go out to my Norwegian friend Bernt who gave me a couple of bottles of this in a beer trade. This bier is a 10% ABV stout that is described as a “Foreign Extra Double Imperial Russian Export Stout Porter”.

Kinn Svartekunst F.E.D.I.R.E.S.P.

This bier is a dark brown with a small chocolate head that leaves some lacing. The aroma is chocolate, oak and liquorice. It is medium bodied with a bitter roast finish. The taste is coffee, oak, burnt sugar, with hints of liquorice and chocolate. I found this bier a touch harsh, perhaps it would mellow a little with age.

The final bier was Brad’s contribution, Palo Santo Marron from Dogfish Head Brewery.  in Delaware, USA. This is a 12% malty brown ale aged on the wood of the Palo Santo tree from Paraguay.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

This bier is ruby black with a reasonable chocolate head. The aroma is sandalwood, oak, chocolate, raisins, cherry and brown sugar. It has a creamy mouthfeel and is full bodied with a smooth, slightly umami finish featuring lots of wood and some roast. The taste is cocoa, toasted malt, oak, aniseed and dark dried fruits. I really enjoyed this beer – for me this was definitely the highlight of the evening.

Avery Mephistopheles Stout & Mikkeller Black (Cognac Edition)

  By Admin | April 19, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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Thursday. Great night of the week for bier tasting, and for some reason we both brought out the heavies!

This week Brad brought along a bottle of Avery Mephistopheles Stout from Avery Brewing (Colorado), an Imperial Stout that weighs in at 16.43% ABV.

Mephisopheles

This bier pours a dark black with a subtle red tinge, and has a nice chocolate head that leaves behind a little lacing. The aroma is oak, liquorice, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and booze. It is warming to the palate with a slight slickness to the mouthfeel. The taste starts big and chocolately, followed by some vanilla, lots of oak, a little liquorice and a bitter roast coffee finish. It has a bit too much overall booziness which makes it a little harsh, but it has a good depth and will probably age nicely.

My contribution was a bottle of Mikkeller Black (Cognac Edition). This is an imperial stout from Danish microbrewery Mikkeller, and the beer was aged for 3 months in Cognac barrels. It weighs in at a huge 17.5% ABV.

Mikkeller Black (Cognac Edition)

This bier is a thick dark black with a good chocolate head that leaves behind some great lacing. The aroma is incredible - liquorice, toffee, dates, wood, cognac, vanilla. The mouthfeel is oily and the bier has an incredible complexity on the palate – sweet to start, slowly fading to a subtle bitterness on the finish. The taste is raisins, plums, toffee, figs, chocolate and coffee. It is an amazing beer that is good for sitting back with, slowly sipping and savouring.

Avery Salvation & 8-Wired iStout

  By Admin | April 12, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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Another week, another Thursday bier tasting.

This week we started with Brad’s bottle of Avery Salvation from Avery Brewing in Boulder, Colorado. This is a Belgian Strong Ale that the brewer describes as having “luscious apricot and peach aromas delicately interwoven with spicy suggestions of nutmeg and cinnamon”. The ABV is 9%.

Salvation

This bier’s appearance is clear golden with a pale head that leaves behind some nice lacing. The aroma is peach, apricot, marmalade, pear, hint of wet hay. It has a reasonable body, slightly syrupy mouthfeel, and is sweet on the palate with a little bitterness in the finish. The taste is stone fruits, honey, citrus.

This was enjoyable, and seemed almost like a Belgian Tripel to me.

I brought along a bottle of 8 Wired iStout, an Imperial Stout from 8 Wired Brewing in Blenheim, New Zealand. They describe it as “Brimming with luscious roasted coffee and chocolate malt flavours which are balanced by a brisk bitterness and bold freshness from the hops”. The ABV is 10.5%

iStout

This bier pours a thick, syrupy black with a chocolate head. The aroma is liquorice, chocolate, coffee, oak, vanilla, star anise, black sugar, dates, raisins. It has an oily mouthfeel, is well balanced on the palate and has a good level of complexity. The finish is slightly dry with a touch of bitterness. The taste is chocolate, roast coffee, molasses, oak.

The aroma made me salivate, and I very much enjoyed this bier. It stands up well in the very competitive style of Imperial Stout, and is definitely the best beer I have seen so far out of New Zealand.

Sound Brewery Dubbel Entendre & Scaldis Prestige

  By Admin | April 8, 2012 - 11:00 pm |
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Another random bier tasting, this time done while helping my friend Brad do some home brewing.

His contribution was a bottle of Sound Brewery Dubble Entendre, brewed by Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, Washington. The brewer describes this Abbey Dubbel as having “Comforting aromas of chocolate malt and dark toffee, with a hint of banana and stone fruits. A dark abbey style ale with a subtle rich maltiness and a dry, spicy finish.”. ABV is 8%.

Sound Brewery Dubbel Entendre

This bier pours a clear brown with a reasonable pale head. The aroma is banana, chocolate, raisins, damp wood. It has a medium body, malty with a slight tang in the aftertaste. Flavours are chocolate, toffee, dates, banana, cloves.

Despite being a little thinner on the palate than I was expecting, it was very enjoyable, one of the best “new world” dubbels I have encountered.

From my collection I brought along a bottle of Scaldis (Bush) Prestige. This is a Belgian Strong Ale brewed by Brasserie Dubuisson in Pipaix, Belgium, who say “Aging in oak barrels for 6 months gives this beer an uncommon smoothness and richness”. ABV is 13%.

Scaldis Prestige

This bier pours a cloudy orange/amber with a small pale head that dissipates quickly and noticeable carbonation. The aroma is peach, cider vinegar, rhubarb, caramel. It has a good body, slightly syrupy mouthfeel and is sweet on the palate with a slight tang in the aftertaste. The taste is caramel, dates, plum, apricot, orange marmalade.

Quite a delightful bier, definitely a good bier to share with a few friends of an evening.

Murrays Punk Monk & Avery New World Porter

  By Admin | April 5, 2012 - 10:00 pm |
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I do a bit of a bier tasting each Thursday night with my friend Brad. We each bring a bottle of something interesting, pour a measure and then spend a considerable amount of time (much to my wife’s exasperation) in quiet contemplation of the bier’s appearance, aroma and taste.

The first bier was my contribution, Murrays Punk Monk from Murrays Craft Brewing in Australia. According to the bottle, it is “a hybrid of a few Belgian styles: influenced by Saisons, Belgian Blonde Ales, with a nod to Belgian Tripels”. ABV is 7.5%

Murrays Punk Monk

This bier pours a hazy yellow with a small pale head. The aroma is citrus, coriander, fresh cut grass, cilantro, jasmine. Light and flowery on the palate, on the sweet side with a bit of hop bite in the aftertaste. Taste is apricot, orange marmalade, heather honey, hint of grapefruit.

Although it wasn’t bad, and it did manage to have capture a lot of Belgian characteristics, this bier is trying to be too many Belgian styles all at once – is has an identity crisis that confused my taste buds.

The second bier of the evening was Avery New World Porter, from Avery Brewing Company in Boulder, Colorado. The label describes it as “a traditional black porter, with a surprise twist – it’s dry hopped!”

I somehow forgot to take a picture of this one, sorry.

It pours a good solid black with a small beige head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is the first hint that something unusual is happening – noticeably hoppy, cut grass, wet hair. Taste is smoky, with pine, no particular other distinguishing flavours. The palate is bitter hops which linger in the aftertaste.

To me this seems a lot more like a Black IPA than a Porter. There was no distinctive chocolate or malt character and not a hint of sweetness. It suffers from usual tendency of the “New World” to over-hop biers of every style.