You know what's fun about all those big ass brews out there? Those more-is-better, bigger, bolder, boozier brews? Those "anything below 10% ABV is for frail old ladies and babies" brews? You know what's fun about those?
They practically scream to shared.
So when Fellow Beer Geek Bert showed up last night carrying a box of zythological discoveries in one hand, and a fistful of Magic cards in the other, I was quick to help ease his burdens.
First things first, a host must offer to share bread and salt, lest the laws of hospitality remain disregarded and his House shamed forever. Recent events in Westeros however prompted me to skip the bread-and-salt bit and cut right down to the beer: Brew#6, the Lawnmower Citra weizen.
I still owe you all a pic about that, but suffice to say, it looks okay. It's cloudy and (very) pale, with a bit of a disappointingly unstable head, atypical for a weizen. But in the nose, and on the palate, the hops and the yeast and the wheat combined do all that I wanted this brew to do. Fruity, just bitter enough, light and refreshing.
Beer: Brew#6: Lawnmower Citra
Brewery: HoppySlosh Home Brewery
Style: Hoppy hefeweizen-ish
ABV: 4.5% est.
EBU: 45 est.
EBC: about 10
Served: 330ml bottle
I think Bert's comments were "quite okay" so not quite the winner I'd wanted it to be, but a good starting to point to vamp this until all the stops are pulled.
But hark! Slumbering in Bert's cardboard box was more beer to be sampled. Without further ado, I give you...
Evil Twin are a Danish brewey, specialising in potent, slighly off-beat brews. They've a certain lack of seriousness which I find quite charming; a boyish "for the heck of it" attitude which strongly appeals to my Inner Geek.
Even More Jesus is an imperial stout, which is obvious from the moment gravity tries to coerce the beer to vacate the bottle: thick, viscous, bordering on treacle. No head whatsoever at any given moment, and a colour which, according to science, isn't one.
In the nose, you get that rich, dark malt fragrance, earthy and slightly boozy, with such a shitload of chocolate you might be fooled into thinking you're sniffing a bottle of cacao concentrate. Only it's not, and the malt and the hops still manage to come out in high enough doses to make this not just a chocolatey dessert thing, but beer after all. And while all I'll say from hereone still applies, it's also a beer which is somewhat pining for a barrel. There a lot going on, but like so many impy stouts, this one seems made to mature in a bourbon barrel, and it's just a little bit of a pity that this lack of Even More Booze becomes apparent as soon as you take a whiff.
In the mouth, the beer does crazy things with your tastebuds. There's the intense sweetness of the gloopy malt base, combined with a wonderfully balanced, but very present hop bitterness. One one hand, the malt is cloying and chewy, and on the other hand, the hop is puckering, giving a weird in-and-out sensation as the tastebuds contract and expand in quick succession to accomodate all those conflicting inputs. Chocolate is less pronounced than in the nose, but notably present, next to a firmly chunky roastiness. The bitterness, while quite present initially, wears off rather smoothly, and the aftertaste is sweet and aromatic, with sweetened coffee, rich milk chocolate and a bit of toffee or fudge in the background.
Make no mistake: this is a big beer. A bold and spanking brew. It's nowhere near the best in its style, and I can see myself getting a bit tired of the sweet-bitter woingwoing effect after a while, but it has a lot of character, a quality which, ironically, is sometimes overlooked in imperial stouts. Immensely enjoyable.
Beer: Even More Jesus
Brewery: Evil Twin Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%
EBU: pretty bitter but no numerics forthcoming
EBC: a bit darker than that pic I put up earlier
Served: 330ml bottle
Whilst getting beaten up in a little bit of Izzet vs Golgari duel deck Magic mayhem, Bert uncapped the last of his bottled prezzies:
Not to be mistaken by 't Hofbrouwerijke's "Ceci n'est pas" series, this brew from Sainte-Hélène is indeed a Barley wine, coming from a Belgian brewery I've not heard a lot about, It wasn't until I saw their regular labels that I realised I do in fact have a bottle of their Black Mamba waiting to be sampled.
Barley wines aren't at all common in Belgium, and other than the ubiquitous Bush (known in the USA as Scaldis), I can't think of one I might have tried before. It's a bit of an oddity, as it's not so much a beer style as a certain attitude, I suspect.
Ceci n'est pas did pour exactly like I expected, from what little I understand of the style: an almost-flat, dark-golden-bordering-on-deep-amber hue, with a fine lacing of foam on top. Crystal-clear and very pleasing to look at, I'm now wondering why the brewery chose to abandon their trademark mysterious ladies label design in favour of this more austere presentation.
In the nose, you'll find much of what makes Bush such a great couch-lounging brew: oodles of subtle malts, floating on a crisp, alcoholic cloud. There a dark sugary note there, and a bit of almost pharmaceutical je ne sais quoi which I think is coming from the yeast. It's nowhere as present as some of the more phenolic brews I've tried, but it's there, and I'm sure not everybody likes that.
Aromas and taste were spot-on and entirely congruent with the nose: there's that almost whisky-like maltiness, so drastically different from that of the preceding stout, combined with a volatile alcohol presence. Despite the malt presence, it's quite a dry beer, and the alcohol and carbonation levels accentuate this just enough to make the sweetness, which is its main focus taste-wise, enjoyable. Low hops presence, which is a bit of pity if you're a hop head like me, but probably a wiser course for this particular beer. I can see how this beer would benefit from a touch of Sorachi Ace though, something gummy/woodsy to make it hum a little more. A firm yeast presence evokes plenty of estery flavours, all equally subtle and understated.
In almost all respects, this beer is the opposite of the Even More Jesus. The malts are employed in almost perpendicular strategies, hops play entirely different parts here, even the alcohol applies itself differently. Interesting to see how extremely different these two beers are, in spite of the things they have in common.
After the chunky presence of the Even More Jesus, Ceci n'est pas still held its own, although I would advise trying this on a clean a palate as possible. Barley wines' powers lay in their subtle maltiness, whereas impy stouts are rarely very subtle at all.
Excellent brews, and my appreciation of Berts generosity translated itself into a flawless victory on my behalf.
Gratitude will manifest itself, but certainly not in the form of letting him beat me at games again.
Beer: Ceci n'est past un Barley Wine
Brewery: Sainte-Hélène
Style: oh it's a barley wine alright
ABV: 10%
EBU: 60 IBU, although you'd never tell
EBC: rouge-brun. That's science for you.
Served: 330ml (green) bottle
Until next time!
Greetz
Jo
They practically scream to shared.
So when Fellow Beer Geek Bert showed up last night carrying a box of zythological discoveries in one hand, and a fistful of Magic cards in the other, I was quick to help ease his burdens.
 |
| Because there's always room for more Geek. |
I still owe you all a pic about that, but suffice to say, it looks okay. It's cloudy and (very) pale, with a bit of a disappointingly unstable head, atypical for a weizen. But in the nose, and on the palate, the hops and the yeast and the wheat combined do all that I wanted this brew to do. Fruity, just bitter enough, light and refreshing.
Beer: Brew#6: Lawnmower Citra
Brewery: HoppySlosh Home Brewery
Style: Hoppy hefeweizen-ish
ABV: 4.5% est.
EBU: 45 est.
EBC: about 10
Served: 330ml bottle
I think Bert's comments were "quite okay" so not quite the winner I'd wanted it to be, but a good starting to point to vamp this until all the stops are pulled.
 |
| Maybe not all of them. |
FLTR: Even More Jesus,
even more Even More Jesus,
plushie,
and half a Bert
Evil Twin are a Danish brewey, specialising in potent, slighly off-beat brews. They've a certain lack of seriousness which I find quite charming; a boyish "for the heck of it" attitude which strongly appeals to my Inner Geek.
Even More Jesus is an imperial stout, which is obvious from the moment gravity tries to coerce the beer to vacate the bottle: thick, viscous, bordering on treacle. No head whatsoever at any given moment, and a colour which, according to science, isn't one.
A bit like this, only darker.
In the nose, you get that rich, dark malt fragrance, earthy and slightly boozy, with such a shitload of chocolate you might be fooled into thinking you're sniffing a bottle of cacao concentrate. Only it's not, and the malt and the hops still manage to come out in high enough doses to make this not just a chocolatey dessert thing, but beer after all. And while all I'll say from hereone still applies, it's also a beer which is somewhat pining for a barrel. There a lot going on, but like so many impy stouts, this one seems made to mature in a bourbon barrel, and it's just a little bit of a pity that this lack of Even More Booze becomes apparent as soon as you take a whiff.
In the mouth, the beer does crazy things with your tastebuds. There's the intense sweetness of the gloopy malt base, combined with a wonderfully balanced, but very present hop bitterness. One one hand, the malt is cloying and chewy, and on the other hand, the hop is puckering, giving a weird in-and-out sensation as the tastebuds contract and expand in quick succession to accomodate all those conflicting inputs. Chocolate is less pronounced than in the nose, but notably present, next to a firmly chunky roastiness. The bitterness, while quite present initially, wears off rather smoothly, and the aftertaste is sweet and aromatic, with sweetened coffee, rich milk chocolate and a bit of toffee or fudge in the background.
Make no mistake: this is a big beer. A bold and spanking brew. It's nowhere near the best in its style, and I can see myself getting a bit tired of the sweet-bitter woingwoing effect after a while, but it has a lot of character, a quality which, ironically, is sometimes overlooked in imperial stouts. Immensely enjoyable.
Beer: Even More Jesus
Brewery: Evil Twin Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12%
EBU: pretty bitter but no numerics forthcoming
EBC: a bit darker than that pic I put up earlier
Served: 330ml bottle
Whilst getting beaten up in a little bit of Izzet vs Golgari duel deck Magic mayhem, Bert uncapped the last of his bottled prezzies:
 |
| Ceci n'est pas un Barley Wine. C'est quoi alors, enfin? (pic not mine btw) |
Barley wines aren't at all common in Belgium, and other than the ubiquitous Bush (known in the USA as Scaldis), I can't think of one I might have tried before. It's a bit of an oddity, as it's not so much a beer style as a certain attitude, I suspect.
Ceci n'est pas did pour exactly like I expected, from what little I understand of the style: an almost-flat, dark-golden-bordering-on-deep-amber hue, with a fine lacing of foam on top. Crystal-clear and very pleasing to look at, I'm now wondering why the brewery chose to abandon their trademark mysterious ladies label design in favour of this more austere presentation.
In the nose, you'll find much of what makes Bush such a great couch-lounging brew: oodles of subtle malts, floating on a crisp, alcoholic cloud. There a dark sugary note there, and a bit of almost pharmaceutical je ne sais quoi which I think is coming from the yeast. It's nowhere as present as some of the more phenolic brews I've tried, but it's there, and I'm sure not everybody likes that.
 |
| A certain something. |
Aromas and taste were spot-on and entirely congruent with the nose: there's that almost whisky-like maltiness, so drastically different from that of the preceding stout, combined with a volatile alcohol presence. Despite the malt presence, it's quite a dry beer, and the alcohol and carbonation levels accentuate this just enough to make the sweetness, which is its main focus taste-wise, enjoyable. Low hops presence, which is a bit of pity if you're a hop head like me, but probably a wiser course for this particular beer. I can see how this beer would benefit from a touch of Sorachi Ace though, something gummy/woodsy to make it hum a little more. A firm yeast presence evokes plenty of estery flavours, all equally subtle and understated.
In almost all respects, this beer is the opposite of the Even More Jesus. The malts are employed in almost perpendicular strategies, hops play entirely different parts here, even the alcohol applies itself differently. Interesting to see how extremely different these two beers are, in spite of the things they have in common.
After the chunky presence of the Even More Jesus, Ceci n'est pas still held its own, although I would advise trying this on a clean a palate as possible. Barley wines' powers lay in their subtle maltiness, whereas impy stouts are rarely very subtle at all.
Excellent brews, and my appreciation of Berts generosity translated itself into a flawless victory on my behalf.
 |
| Would monsieur like some pommes frites to accompany his cul de soi-même? |
Beer: Ceci n'est past un Barley Wine
Brewery: Sainte-Hélène
Style: oh it's a barley wine alright
ABV: 10%
EBU: 60 IBU, although you'd never tell
EBC: rouge-brun. That's science for you.
Served: 330ml (green) bottle
Greetz
Jo
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