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The Hobby Drinker Blog

around the block

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Finally!  I’ve been hoping to have a black beer pop up, you just can’t have a selection of wintery beers without stouts and porters!  Now, most people like to bring out their ales and pilsners and sours for a little brightness, but good Bacchus, alcohol should be fitting with the season.  I have had this particular beer before, La Pirata’s Vanilla Black Block, and I know I won’t be disappointed.

Very fluffy dark beige head, and the color, while dark, doesn’t quite seem perfectly black. A little more like dark roasted vanilla. The aroma also hits on the toasty side, with hints of leafy vegetation. The vanilla does come out in the flavor, along with warm smoke and fresh bread, giving a feeling of a powerful stout. It starts out a bit light, but develops more heft over time, adding both sweet and bitter notes. There’s even a kind of fiery smoke trail in the aftertaste, and some kind of sour fruit preserve that bites as it goes down. It’s a fine and fitting part of an Advent calendar, not excessively spiced and pastried, but in tune with the atmosphere of ever darker days and with just enough of a surprise to be gift-worthy.

central spain

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It isn’t a real holiday today, but it is the middle of the week and bookended by holidays.  It’s almost a holiday by default, but some people take Monday and/or Friday to have long weekends and kind of begrudgingly go to work a single day of the week.  Not everybody has the luxury of an “aqueduct”, as the Spanish refer to this extra-long weekend (a normal long weekend being a “bridge”).  For a working day, we seem to have a normal working beer, Guineu’s Latitud 41 lager.

Activity begins as soon as the cap is unsealed, but there’s no foam overflow.  The beer pours out with a sour-grain scent and a very fluffy head, settling into the glass with a very clear, slightly ruddy light lager color.  The glass gives off a little metallic aroma too, making me wonder if the beer has gone off in the bottle.  The flavor is at first strongly bitter and tinged with bread, a stronger flavor than I expect from a lager, but the aftertaste also has that metal and green bean bite.  The beer tries to override that bit of weirdness, and it seems like it really is a fine lager, but the aftertaste is a little distracting.

shrugging drinker

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I’m excited for something from La Quince, although it isn’t a famous Black Velvet.  Maybe a later date?  Anyway, this is something that might tickle anime fans with the picture on the label, and maybe the name Angry Boy would make more sense to them too.  It’s a DDH Cream IPA, which doesn’t sound like an aggressive or punchy style, but I have been fooled by light-sounding modifiers to IPA before.  It’s a respectable level of alcohol at over 6%, so it shouldn’t be watered down in any way.

Very light – creamy- color, and almost whipped cream resting on top.  Just popping the top of the can releases a slightly spicy fragrance.  There’s a flowery perfume too, a sophisticated blend of hops.  The taste is very subtle at first, but soon a little clovery sweetness makes an appearance, washed down by a light IPA bitter.  Some spikes of bread also pop up.  It’s a soft tasting beer, despite being double dry hopped, so maybe things got better kept in the aroma.  There’s some sensation in the aftertaste, warming the throat and tickling the back of the tongue.  It settles down into a pretty stable but layered flavor, a bed of bitter and a topping of sweetness.  Much sweeter than you expect an angry boy to be.

cross the line

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Here’s something fall-like and appropriate, a wheat IPA!  We’re back to Guineu and a very simply labeled WIPA, although I wonder if the color scheme is meant to be evocative.  I kind of appreciate the inviting message on the yellow tape, though.  Despite a certain sense of exclusivity, there’s always been at least the desire to have the door to the craft beer world open to all.

Mildly cloudy and a short but resistant head, the wheat comes through clearly in the aroma.  Very bready and meadow-sharp.  There’s some fruit lurking in there too, the ghost of the IPA I imagine.  First the wheat beer glowiness slides in over the tongue, then a bitter boulder rumbles down.  There’s kind of a fight between relaxed wheat and feisty IPA, a dance of different sides that kind of corkscrews its way down the throat.  It settles down into a modest easy-drinking beer, although it might be a little too demanding for those who just want to have snacks, sit back and watch the tube or something.  On a holiday eve, it could be a great choice for evening media consumption.  Old Christmas movies anyone?

to the top

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Suddenly, a large can!  I almost expect it to be a low or even another non-alcoholic beer, but it is Penthaus, Attik Brewing’s weizen bock.  A good style to fiddle with, connected to a very seasonally influencing country.  What I wonder is if it will lean into a champagne taste to go with its name.

It’s oddly dark for a weizen, but bubbly and sporting a jaunty little white head. The aroma is very standard beery, a little malty and a little grainy. The flavor is sweet-and-sour, with a little bitter punch at the end, sort of a reminder of warmer days past. Although bocks can have a sweeter and maltier flavor, this one’s almost sugary presentation is a bit of a surprise. The beer also has a pretty heavy mouthfeel, more like what you expect from bocks. It’s clean enough at first, but starts to layer up over the course of many sips. Certainly not champagne, or even cava, with enough attention you can start to sense clove and other spices sneaking out, but it’s definitely a more modern iteration of its style.

have a prize

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The World Cup is right around the corner, and while I don’t really care about that, I see from some advertising that Victoria Malaga is a sponsor of the Spanish national team.  Not a beer I know, so why not give it a try?  The spectators in Qatar aren’t likely to have a chance.  A quick look into the history of the brewery reveals a strong German connection, German brewmasters being brought in at the company’s beginnings and a happy German tourist being a memorable mascot mid-century.  Although the beer is named for the patron of Malaga, Our Lady of Victory, it does seem appropriate to sponsor a sports team.  Wishful thinking and all that.

As expected, very light, very foamy, a slightly sweeter aroma than many. A nice lager flavor, bready and malty, with a tiny hint of bitter skittering over the top. It has a disarmingly full mouthfeel, but then disappears right down the throat, making it both very satisfying to drink and quite easy to go for another sip. However Spain does in soccer, the beer is a winner.

with interest

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I eagerly await more dark beers as the month goes on, but something shiny is by no means unwelcome.  I pulled out a sunny little can of imperial sour, another Guineu, this time with Màger.  Fested Mind has some extra special ingredients – orange and white chocolate – which you might link to the season.  I don’t mind a little orange with my beer, but orange and chocolate leaves me somewhat cold.  Maybe that goes with the season too.

There’s that gassy smell that many sours seem to have, but with the essence of grape and a little plum mixed in. The color is juicy, the beer isn’t especially clear, and the head fizzles away in seconds. The flavor has a lot of sour candy in it, alternating between Jolly Rancher and mild lemon candy. It feels a little thicker than a lot of sours, leaving a little stickiness in its wake. Interestingly, I don’t really identify orange or chocolate in the flavors, although if I make an effort I can just pick out a touch of citrus. It’s bright and perky, so not quite what I naturally turn to at this time of year (who am I kidding, any time of year), but it’s like a dessert or special treat to add some light to the dark days of the season.

how could you!

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I got my beer calendar, weeks before I even expected it, and excitedly ripped into day 1…only to see sin alcohol on the can.  Alcohol free?  In a craft beer calendar?  Is the universe trying to tell me something?  At least it is an interesting craft style, a hazy IPA, and from a reliable brewery.  Actually, Boira is a collaboration between trusty Guineu and Althaia.  If they made the effort to bring the beer out, I guess I can make an effort to drink it.

Very cloudy and a very pale color greet me, not a bad aroma at all with a little bread and a little ginger (but not quite gingerbread), and a wrapping of grapefruit.  The head forms with relatively large bubbles and vanishes within seconds.  Now it really looks like a fizzy lemonade, one you would expect to be “organic”.  Flavorwise, it’s the grapefruit that comes out on top.  The bitterness is heavy although the beer itself feels almost effervescent, and it doesn’t have the sharpness that some hazies or NEIPAs end up with.  It’s not a bad imitation of its alcoholic counterpart, maintaining a feeling of bitter beer juice and citrus snap that is the attraction of the style.  It has less juice than many “real” NEIPAs, but there are quite a few that it lines right up with.

ear to ear

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Lambeer, I thought you had escaped me!  I only just discovered its existence east of me when they closed up shop.  But then…they announced a reopening!  Now they are in Mecado de Prosperidad, not in an independent store, but that’s no reason to complain.  It works for La Mundial and La Buena Pinta.  Stock had just come in when I arrived, so there were some bare spots on shelves and things out of place, but if you know what you want it isn’t that hard to find.  And what I want is stouts!  There were several peeking at me, but finally Dichosa De Tranquis was the chosen one.  I wasn’t sure, seeing as it proclaims its licorice flavor right on the label, but I was assured it was a tasty and easy drink, in spite of its relatively strong 10%.

It has a sticky raisiny aroma right away, and a pleasing black brown color.  Not a lot of head; I might have overchilled again.  The first sip is a blend of smoke, dried fruit and breadiness.  Despite the complexity of the flavor, the feeling is of a lighter, softer beer, very easy going down.  There’s little aftertaste, just a slight feeling of baked goods.  I have no regrets, not being overwhelmed with licorice, or coffee candy, as can also happen.  Good advice and a good beer!

Supplier: Lambeer

Price: €3.95

noisy, uncouth

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Another cheeky possibility looking out from somewhat disorderly shelves, Muted Sophisticated got snapped up as soon as I saw it.  It turns out its Garage, so good call by my gut.  Finback Brewery also participated, although they are less of a draw for me than Garage, simply because I’m less familiar with their products.  I can only assume they impress, given the company they keep.

Another sheer beauty in the glass, with a frosty chocolatey kind of whiff to it.  A pretty little head sits on top, although it dissolves pretty quickly.  The flavor is light and only a little sweet at first, but it develops a punch of both bitter and sweet, while filling out over the tongue, making itself impossible to let just slip by.  Although it has a fairly solid mouthfeel, I don’t feel it as very sticky, at least at first.  It isn’t excessively sweet, like some pastry stouts can be, or overly reliant on a coffee or chocolate taste to give the drinker a little kick.  It’s flavor is almost medicinal, a root beerish sort of taste, with a bitter base and a sweetened coating to make it go down easy.  In this case, mission accomplished for sure.

Supplier: Lambeer
Price: €6.90

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