UK beer in the new era

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

Kernel raspberry London sour tonight over crisps - extremely refreshing, fine saison base, the sour and the fruit perhaps lacking some of the depth and intensity of their damson sour but still a fine effort. I recall it from that craft beer festival a few months back, where it had a starring role - bottled perhaps less stellar but I must emphasise still an extremely tasty light sour

A kind word for Belhaven's Scottish Oat Stout, tonight over popcorn - it's really really tasty and actually rather sophisticated, dulling the usual stout sweetness and giving it a rounded, bitter quality.

I really liked Tropigamma! But not as much as their blood orange thing over the summer, which the bloke at the great offie in seven sisters says sold as quickly as he got it in (and he also admitted buying a case for himself)

tt just returned from the black heart with four bottles of trolltunga (see OP)!!!! oh my god

it's so, so great. get it while you can. everybody's doing gooseberry sour now but this is the north star. three cheers for buxton/lervig!

what did you drink it "over"? i have to know.

one of papa john's finest pies

you had a papa john's on xmas eve? is everything okay?

yeah I had a bottle of Trolltunga a couple of days ago and thought it a v good example of the form

drank a Blacklight Banana by Siren yesterday which is a sweetish imperial stout. claims to feature coffee beans "stored in bourbon barrels" pre-roasting which I struggle to believe would make any discernable difference tbh. decent anyway

you had a papa john's on xmas eve? is everything okay?

― Bein' Sean Bean (LocalGarda), Sunday, December 25, 2016 9:42 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

night of the 22nd!!

last night we were lazy after present-wrapping so had crisps with dips lol

and ya the blacklight banana will have been appreciated, it's not bad at all

got a big haul of mostly american and scandinavian beer at an off licence in dublin yesterday. to-ol's christmas stout is nice, slight note of orange and cardamon but mainly just a good winter drink. have a few mikkellers and some seasonal sierra nevadas also - might be a basic admission but i love the sierra nevada christmas beer.

At the Toll Gate, Turnpike Lane, last night: Long Man Old Man old ale. Very good. I've realised that I'm more or less certain to love anything calling itself 'old ale' (whereas, for example, anything called 'ruby ale' I tend not to like very much).

Partizan's saison kriek one of the best of its kind I've had recently. tt bought a bottle the other day and we're drinking it now - extremely refreshing, quite dry, really noticeable if understated sour kick, fruit very subtle. Low alcohol content might raise suspicions but this is pulled off very smartly

not UK per se but I am looking at a Mikkeller Spontanberliner w/ Passion Fruit and I wholly recommend etc etc