UK beer in the new era

I'm into it

Gap in the market, quick get in there.

A friend bought over a can of the brewdog "neon overlord" chilli/coriander/mango IPA last week and my god it was literally undrinkable

Sitting with a can of Tropigamma just now and it mellows the sharper characteristics of Gamma Ray noted above by changing the fruit bias to more mango/guava.

picked up two cans of this from the amazing off license by seven sisters yday, going in on them tonight

the tropigamma is extremely like orange juice, i mean i assume it's meant to sound like "tropicana" - i had a glass last night but didn't love it.

there's an estonian brewery called pohjala which i've been trying lately. some seriously good dark beers, the imperial baltic porter is one of the best drinks i've had in a long time.

http://pohjalabeer.com/en/beers.html

a friend (= former ilxor carsmile steve) gave me a taste of his wild fermented beer last night: he says "acquired taste", i say "literally the nastiest thing i ever had in my mouth and let me tell you i've had some things in my mouth"

= hannsens oude gueuze

he (= a well known expert of beer) recommends it, i do not (but basically the only reason i like chocolate or coffeee or fruit beers is bcz chocolate and coffee and fruit are all better than beer)

oh that's a pretty good one

you'll be wanting the boon oude gueuze next

you know, i don't think he will

oude is a scary signal post to a variety of dutch secret culinary weapons

oude where's my beer

Siren/Garage Project - Blacklight Banana - a very well-balanced imperial stout with the right level of banana. Much better than say Banana Bread Beer and I'm no hater of that. Perhaps a little unremarkable as is usual for Siren but very tasty.

Coming up next are some heavy hitters

Wild Beer Co + 8 wired - Black And Blue - well, here it is! And it's great. I don't get the pepper/nothing/pepper vibe as ascribed to its prototype - it's a pretty intense lambic from start to finish, perhaps with a lighter texture than is standard but a firm peppery buzz through the finish, and almost no sweetness at all. Another sour triumph!

Btw, all the collaboration partners in this are from NZ - it makes a certain sense (high levels of wacky, high levels of intoxication)

OK, my poor vegetarian gf is missing out now, because the Hawkshead Brewery / Yeastie Boys - Kai Moana Gose is WONDERFUL. Less extreme than 'seafood-infused gooseberry gose' might have you dread, it's sumptuous and refreshing, with perfectly-balanced hops complementing the yoghurt buzz and the seafood swirl. It's got a fantastic texture and for all its subtlety there's something magical in there somewhere. The Trolltunga gooseberry gose by Buxton and Lervig (iirc) was the star of the craft beer festival I went to a while back, so it really does seem a winning method that I expect and hope to see much more of. I'm not even joking about all this, btw - this beer is great, and I'd even recommend it to more normcore drinkers in a way I wouldn't do for the preceding WBC effort.

Sounds like the beer equivalent of tilapia,cockles, and crab with a Thornton's and camembert sauce

Well remembered, but these folks know what they're doing

it was epoisses rather than camembert if we're splitting hairs

Keg Tropigamma superior to the can.

Glad to hear the Black & Blue has improved, Wild Beer Co are sending me some of the proper batch (and, God help me, the lobster one).

Odyssey's Grievous Angel is far and away the best beer they've ever produced and easily top 5 of the UK craft beer wave. Astonishing.

What's it like?

What are some good red ales? That's my favourite tipple. I had some Dunbrody Red last night. It was daycent

Grievous Angel's a chocolate coffee brown ale, but the balance of flavours is exquisite. Nothing dominates (maybe chocolate is just ahead, but it's a proper cocoa nib flavour) and it still tastes like beer (which many competitors forget).

Tropigamma... works, doesn't it? v nice.

Speaking of gooseberry goses, I'm currently drinking Magic Rock's Salty Kiss in my local pub. By no means the best exponent, but more evidence that the gooseberry gose is taking over. And it's pretty tasty, really. Magic Rock have a lot of work to do in general but this is encouraging and I've gotten it three times now.

...and more Magic Rock now, in the form of their contribution to the Conventionally Disgusting Motherlode - the Upside Down Rainbow Yellow Ale, which tastes a bit like every other Magic Rock beer ever except significantly nicer - must be the Fork Brewing collaboration kicking in. A very pleasant light sour witbier with turmeric and tropical fruit notes. More sour, more complex (as you'd hope) and far fruitier than Hoegaarden IMO.

Wild Beer Co have sent me some of the lobster one. I am drinking it just now.

I'm going to be diplomatic and say it's a completely failed experiment rather than flat out revolting. It tastes of something. Unfortunately the thing it tastes of is not very pleasant and isn't any of the ingredients. It's slightly salty but DOESN'T TASTE LIKE BEER.

haven't had magic rock in ages. their "big top", which they've stopped making, was an all-time favourite.

had my first schlenkerla of the winter at the weekend:

http://www.schlenkerla.de/indexe.html

SCHLENKERLA.

tt loves that stuff. idgi. it's probably the one extreme beer flavour i just can't do

obviously, blackheath oddbins have it too. best shop in south london probably

it is pretty intense/obnoxious but i love it once winter comes along.

I struggle with rauchbier, and I think we've established I'll drink anything.

imago's crown now, I'm afraid.

in a blind taste test i reckon all of you would approve of the seafood gooseberry gose mentioned upthread. all of you. each one.

You silly sausage.

have any of you even tasted Hawkshead's stuff before? not sure i have

p.s. the last two, most ilx-friendly, motherlode beers are incoming

over a caprese soup

Burning Sky (with Liberty Brewing Co) did 'Descent into the Maelstrom', which is a bit of a misnomer, because the strong, well-hopped initial taste gives way to a refreshing sweet citrus glow. probably the least impressive beer so far but not *bad* per se

Last but not least, Beavertown / Tempus Project - Universal Mind, a strong but well-balanced smoky porter - I know I just called out smoked beer as undrinkable but this dials it back enough and undercuts it with sweet earthy rich tones (those marsala barrels kicking in) and a lasting taste. Very flavoursome - I certainly approve. If you like smoky beer then this is a killer (especially at over 10%).

have any of you even tasted Hawkshead's stuff before? not sure i have

Rolled the dice on a can of this at the weekend - first time in ages I've poured a beer away half-way through (sure I remember liking some of their beer in the past, mind):

http://www.northernmonkbrewco.com/sites/default/files/styles/400_by_600/adaptive-image/public/beer/nmbco_-_tom_joy_nm1386_.jpg

Made up for it with some very palatable Five Points dark beers (also learned that the Five Points Railway Porter makes really top-drawer cottage pie liquor).

Oh and the Orbit Altbier (amusingly named "Neu") is delicious. I like Orbit beers a great deal.

am finally drinking a tropigamma

wtf. ban hops

would you like some beer with your hops sir? and perhaps some slightly incongruous fruit?

tt has an einstok white. fucking furiously envious

tropigamma isn't gigantically hoppy.

einstok beers are shit.

but if you want to drink budweiser pale ale and praise it cos it's from country x your options are various.

a big grapefruit-hop hybrid that didn't even have any grapefruit in it

einstok is really nice and has a slight sour buzz that makes it all come together

nothing like any sort of budweiser

so heated rn

i didn't like tropigamma at all - but cos it was too fruity, not too hoppy. they named it after tropicana and even to look at it it's really dense and unbeerlike.

had gamma ray again this evening - always great. neck oil also. wasn't hunting them down they're just good basics.

gamma ray is not unpleasant i agree