Monday, March 12, 2012
Revelations
Bishop's Finger, the beer that got me started.
O'Hara's Stout - still my favourite stout, decent on nitro, a dream bottled.
Kout's 18 degree dark lager - the perfect end to many a session in Prague, dark lager is not just for the ladies you know!
Schlenkerla Marzen.....mmmmm rauchbier
Devils Backbone Trukker Ur-Pils, Americans can, and do, make good pilsners, it's just difficult to find them sometimes.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Victory!
As Mrs V was having some friends round for knitting and nattering last night, I took the opportunity to pop along to Beer Run for a couple of pints with a friend, Dan. On the stout tap last night was , which at 3.7% abv is an ideal post work beer, it really was a simple choice and 4 or 5 mouthfuls took care of the first pint, a proper pint that is, you know, the big ones.
I am a big fan of Donnybrook. Sure it might not be the most sexy, extreme beer on the planet, but it is a well put together beer for drinking with mates in the pub, and therefore pretty much perfect. It's the kind of beer that doesn't intrude on the conversation, doesn't butt its way into your thoughts by being tastebud strippingly hoppy, doesn't have you swilling it around trying to identify the aromas.
It is stout, pure and simple. You know what you are getting and can get on with the real reason for going to the pub, socialising.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Stout Blind Tasting
- 3lbs Muntons Wheat Extract
- 0.8lb Caramel 60
- 0.8lb Chocolate Malt
- 0.7oz Hallertau @ 60 minutes
- 0.2oz Hallertau @ 15 minutes
- 0.1oz Hallertau @ 5 minutes
- Weihenstephan Weizen Yeast
- Sight - very dark, slightest ruby at edges, big tan head
- Smell - light coffee, general roastiness
- Taste - dark chocolate, a slightly sour, lactic touch
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 3.5/5
- Sight - pitch black, rocky tan head
- Smell - big coffee and chocolate notes
- Taste - smooth chocolate cake, a beautiful classic stout
- Sweet - 3/5
- Bitter - 2.5/5
- Sight - Very dark, ivory head
- Smell - roasted grains, touch of dark chocolate
- Taste - light chocolate and coffee, not as pronounced as the others
- Sweet - 2/5
- Bitter - 2/5
- Stout 2
- Stout 1
- Stout 3
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Fuggled Review of the Year - Porter and Stout
From the many stouts and porters I have indulged in over 2009 the following have stood out:
The La Granja Stout from N?rrebro is made with coffee beans and boy does it tell, big, yet smooth, coffee flavours, rich chocolatey background and a subtle warming glow make this a simply gorgeous big hitter of a sweet stout. The first bottle I had of this beer cost me the equivalent of $20, crazy perhaps to pay an inflated price, but worth it for the lovely beer I got to enjoy, thankfully there was another place in Prague selling it at far more reasonable price, so indulge more I did.
Stout and Ireland go together like fish and chips, Wallace and Gromit or apple crumble and custard. Of the Irish stouts I have enjoyed, as well as "Irish style" stouts from the Czech Republic, UK or US, O'Hara's is head and shoulders above, simple as.
General Washington's Tavern Porter, from Yard's Brewing in Philadelphia, was a gift from a very good friend, and when gifts are this good you know that you have a good friend with excellent taste in beer. Big alcoholic glow and a flavour which packed a punch and a half, while still being eminently drinkable makes Tavern Porter one of the best beers I have discovered since I moved to the US.
Of the three, the one walking away with my utmost appreciation is
- O'Hara's Celtic Stout
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Tipsy Terrace Tasting
One of the most pressing things to get done this week before moving on was polishing off the varied beers still sitting around Mrs Velkyal and I's flat. My problem though was how to do it? I had basically three options:
- sell them
- give them away
- drink them
Admittedly I did give a few bottles away. However, I decided that the most prudent way of dealing with the situation was to drink them, but better to gather a few friends keen to try different beers from around Europe and introduce them to some of these delights. Thus it was that last night I went round to my good friend place to sit on his expansive balcony with another couple of guys and attempt to get through 25 beers from the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Scotland, England and Denmark.
Unfortunately we only managed to get through 14 of the beers, some pictures of which grace this post.
There was however one other beer on the list which I wanted the guys to try, the uninfected, though wildly over-carbonated, version of my Skippy Porter. I had previously only tried this beer with Evan Rail, who was very complimentary about it even though it erupted all over his kitchen floor. This time I was prepared, and opened the bottle in a flower pot, without flowers of course. Once again Skippy was a hit, with the guys saying it was one their favourite beers of the night, the smooth chocolate flavours I was aiming for were right up there, and the Fuggles bitterness was just right to add some bite. I initially thought that I wouldn't be brewing this beer very often, but given the reaction it gets I think I will have to simply refine the recipe and start making it in preparation for winter. I am finding now that I get more pleasure from my friends enjoying my beer than hoarding it all to myself in some attempt to save money on beer.
Thankfully I know that Mark and his family will be in the States for a few months at the end of the year, so our beer tasting will no doubt be repeated, hopefully with the added bonus of a couple of bottles of Strahov's Autumn Dark Special! On the menu already for when we sit on the patio in our new place will be my planned American style IPA loaded with Amarillo hops, also some more Skippy Porter as well as my first Irish Red Ale, tentatively called Mrs Velkyal's Red Hat.
Every prospect pleases!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Fuggled Review of the Year - Stouts and Porters
When I started my, legal, drinking life, stout was very much my ale of choice. I remember ordering my first ever pint in the Dark Island hotel back at home, it was a Guinness - a youthful homage to my eldest brother. When studying in Birmingham I would wander off for pints of Murphy's and Beamish.
When I came back from Oxford a few months ago, many of the beers I brought with me were stouts and porters of various types, and the only beers I managed to bring from Ireland were from the Carlow Brewing Company, makers of O'Hara's stout.
My shortlist of stouts and porters is as follows:
O'Hara's on draught was good, from the bottle it was great - and still I have a bottle in the cellar waiting to be drunk when the right day arrives.
Wrasslers XXXX was, they say, the choice of stout for Irish hero Michael Collins - a man evidently of exceptional taste in beer. Smooth, full bodied and yet easy to drink, if I lived in Ireland it would be my beer of choice.
What can be said about BrewDog's sublime Paradox series of imperial stouts aged in whisky casks, very simply - where can I buy more?
There is a clear winner here, and it is simply because within one drink the makers have managed to combine two of my passions, as such my Stout/Porter of 2008 is:
- BrewDog Paradox Smokehead
Whisky and stout in a single glass - sheer Genius.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Dark Month Quick Review
Most drunk in the month: Primátor Stout, yes it is very nice, and no I am not on a stipend from Pivovar Náchod.
Most enjoyed of the month: O'Hara's Stout from the Carlow Brewing Company, from the bottle that is, the remaining bottle I have in the cellar may be opened tonight in celebration.
Discovery of the month: Hukvaldy 14° amber lager, pure nectar.
Over-hyped beer of the month: Porterhouse Oyster Stout, it isn't bad, just not as good as I expected, even then it is streets behind Wrasslers XXXX.
Confusion of the month: Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter and Oatmeal Stout, are they supposed to have a slightly soapy taste to them? Someone help me with that.
I am sure this weekend will see several more darks enjoyed, though I may not write about them all, but I do have a special treat planned for Sunday, which is St Andrew's Day. I will be opening one of my bottles of BrewDog Paradox Smokehead in celebration.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Adept Nuts and Pints
Old Friends: Joseph's Brau PLZNR
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