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The Hobby Drinker Blog

dark dreams

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It’s unseasonably warm right now, although cooler temps should be on the horizon. That’s what usually happens around Easter anyway. Still, how do you say no to a stout? You know very well that I don’t! And this is a special one too, Drunken Bros Black Maiden Imperial Mocha Stout. It’s from the Nightmare series, with a touch of oak conditioning that ought to add some strength and body.

It’s magic radiating off the can, that’s why it’s blurry, that’s the ticket!

It pours thickly, but silky smooth, and settles like some sci-fi B movie monster in the glass. It’s black enough to pull your soul out through your tongue, and even the head vanishes in minutes, unable to contain the power. It is one of the heavier beers I’ve had for a while, like a barely melted shake. It plays on the mocha angle heavily too, with a dark roasted coffee coming on strong at the end of the sip. It has a very toasted grain flavor, with a mild chocolate undertone. While not excessively sweet or coffee bitter, it’s not the easiest beer to drink. It has a robust body and a little bit of crinkly texture that keeps your attention, but doesn’t exactly whip down the hatch like a whisper of wind. I happen to have some white chocolate on hand, and since it isn’t an extra sweet stout, it might be a good little helper….Well, it does cut through the body a little, but it lends a more sour quality to the flavor. Was not the best outcome. Oh well, there’s still beer in the can and more chocolate for another day.

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €6.95

across the water

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Although it seems like an American celebration with its consumption, loudness and flashy tradition, it’s the feast day of the patron of a completely different country. Sure, there are many millions of Irish-Americans, and when the world thinks of St. Patrick’s Day it’s the American style parade and green beer that come to mind. Even in Spain you find some examples of pubs and promotions for the occasion. Typically, it goes along with Guinness, but since I am consistently disappointed by that particular beer, I have myself another, more promising Irish stout – Galway Bay’s Ostara.

Very heady, cappuccino froth, and a touch of smoke and dirt in the aroma. Although dark, it isn’t a deep, deep black stout, or the purported ruby red of Guinness, more of an extra coffee color. The head vanishes within minutes, leaving practically nothing on top, even a little layer of foam. There is a lot of coffee in the flavor, very toasty and slightly dusty. There’s a touch of milkiness, but it’s more of a hint of lactose sweetness than a smoothness or creaminess in texture. It is actually a bit of a rough beer on the throat, although certainly drinkable. It’s stronger and more evocative than Guinness ever is for me, making me think of imagined Irish wind and landscape. Of course, if I ever I might find out that Galway Bay was exaggerating the experience.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €3.60

that stuff’ll kill ya

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I saw it sitting on the shelf behind the bar, raising its glass, winking without eyelids. Burger Burger was not a beer to be rejected. I did have a moment’s hesitation seeing it was a sour, but it was also a milkshake inspired sour, and packed with fruit that make almost anything worth drinking – raspberries, black currants, even the strawberry. A black jacketed skeleton doesn’t seem like the most appetizing choice for the label, but the brewery, Fermenterarna from Sweden, might be making a reference to their ghostly lack of internet presence. There is a Facebook page, but their website doesn’t have much to speak of, except the posts from said Facebook page.

Slightly shocking color, although with the fruits listed I shouldn’t have been. It does give off a little puff of that fruity sour gas, along with some overripe banana. The top layer of flavor is pretty much strawberry milkshake, tangy fruit and fluffy creaminess, but there’s an undercurrent of banana and vanilla too. The raspberry and current are not immediately apparent but I suppose they add to the tanginess. On a relatively cold and wet evening, I might have preferred to pull out a stout that’s waiting in the wings, but there’s also a feeling of fun in a less common style and a creative can design. Also, skeletons totally go with windy, rainy weather. Early Halloween!

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €7.30

so what?

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That’s the beer, and there’s no need for any other title I think. It’s the call of a generation, several generations in fact. It’s the lament of those in the middle of a long road with no end in sight. That’s just the kind of design that appeals to me too, such a reminder of, well, all my past. You’d think Naparbier would have more optimistic offerings, being one of the most successful craft breweries in Spain in terms of longevity and reputation, but we can imagine a more positive interpretation. It’s the monster itself that elicits the phrase, from the traveler, not the viewers response to the situation. We may find difficulties in our way, but they might only be phantoms. We create problems for ourselves and use them as excuses to avoid making an effort. And that sucks, because there are real things that we can overcome if we actually invest some energy in it. Thanks for the push, Naparbier!

It’s a bright, happy yellow, with piney and citrusy scent to match, but doesn’t hold its head very well. Flavorwise, it’s also bright and bubbly, with a light sheet of bitter across the tongue rather than a rolling boulder that you might get from a stout. It’s very much a West Coast style, with little to no fruit in the taste but still maintaining a sunny and modern quality. It smooths out with time and warming, gaining a touch of citrus sweetness, and a little more weight in the mouth. If you’re fast it’s a good warmer weather treat, with the sharp bitterness to jab you out of lethargy, but if you’re patient it’s a little more of an all-year choice, sweet and summery but also warmingly full. No apathy at all!

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €5.20

diva in a can

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Nothing like a stout on a potentially rainy day, and nothing like a pastry stout for a relaxing weekend. Attik’s Soprano sings out to me with promises of delights and joys on the tongue. The cacao is pretty standard at this point, but I don’t recall seeing hazelnut in a pastry stout, although there was a Black Velvet version a few years ago. There’s something vaguely art deco about the design on the can, which is another plus for me, although I can’t quite make a connection with the song and the art. Maybe the beer is so good it makes you squeal those high notes.

It lives up to its style perfectly, oozing out of the can and trailing chocolate, vanilla and some kind of liquor through the air. It doesn’t build up a thick head, but looks almost jelly-like in the glass. A couple more careful whiffs tilt my perception more to chocolate syrup than anything else. It’s oddly not sweet at first, sort of a mild dark chocolate taste, but then fingers of orange and red berry grab at your tongue. It doesn’t quite go sweet, but more fruity-tangy. The pastry part becomes more and more apparent, sort of a raspberry pie drenched in chocolate. I may not be hitting high Cs, but I was always more in the alto range anyway.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €7.70

kernel of joy

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Still winter, technically, but the temperatures might cause you to doubt just a little. Or at least doubt where you are. But I still have the hankering for the dark beers, so I can’t refuse a stout when it comes my way. It’s a little different from most that catch my eye, a so-called Imperial Brown Stout, but it comes from The Kernel, which has its fame and its fans. A simple brown rather than a more profound black should be welcome once in a while anyway.

It’s a good dark brown, not the lightest purported stout I’ve ever seen. It releases just a whiff of toasty malt aroma as it pours and produces a neat and not too thick beige head. In the glass, it has a little more of a grainy sharp scent, a little lighter than some stouts, to go with the color I suppose. It’s very toasty in flavor, and much heavier than I was expecting. In spite of the evident smoke on the palate, it’s a smooth and easy beer for drinking. It seems to have a tiny bite of hop, like a hoppy lager or a really laid-back black IPA. Despite its subdued feel, it’s quite a strong beer at over 9%, but it doesn’t quite drink so strongly. The overall feel might be what knocks people out first.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €7.40

last whispers

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It’s not a black beer, but bocks do have the heavier feel to them that I generally like. This is not famous Spaten, but it is an authentic German bock, from Weiherer of Bavaria. Maybe I cold have picked out some red ale or fruited sour for the coming holiday, or saved that Mahou rosé, but sometimes it’s nice to rest on a standard. Like many classic things, there are reasons why some styles remain popular for decades and centuries. Weiherer itself is not a traditional, centuries old brewery, only having about 30 years under its belt, but it does make some big claims about its sustainability and care with the environment. Sadly, that’s not very traditional at all. But in the future, it may be that those attitudes will be the ones that survive. Here’s to trying, Weiherer!

Clear, golden brew, just a thin sliver of head, and not terribly aromatic. It has kind of a sour grass smell, not exactly what I expect from a bock. Flavorwise, though, it does line up. It’s not as heavy as Spaten bock, but it has a dark maltiness and a certain solidness of body. There’s a flicker of sourness, but it’s much more clearly bitter. It’s not quite a light summery beer, although it doesn’t go down the path of darkness either. It eases up on the bitter, growing some grainy sweetness, fitting right in with the typical bock character. I feel like it could go with some little treat, tart apple or mild cheese, but even on its own it feels nourishing.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €3.75

following instructions

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I almost passed over this porter, thinking it being “by the book” as a little too uninteresting. Am I getting to be too much of a beer snob to enjoy the simple things? No, but they do have to be particular things, like a black beer rather than not. In the end, I had to come back to a porter. Also, who am I kidding, I love things by the book. Those tentacles make me think the inspiration might have been 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea…did Captain Nemo have a homebrew kit on board? Maybe his roaming inspired nomad brewers La Quince and their collaborator of the moment Es Pop. Black, Bold & Bookish ahoy!

Dignified dark brown and a firm not-quite-beige head make the first impression. The aroma gives up mild coffee, fresh woodiness, the tiniest bit of winter wind. The flavor is much smokier than expected from a rule-following porter, although it isn’t as heavy as the average rauchbier. It takes a couple of sips for the coffee to make an appearance on the tongue, but it does amble up eventually. It’s a bitter and smoky beer, giving the impression of a traditional recipe, and has echoes of cold northern shores. A bit of coffee-drink sweetness develops over time, but with a heavy hand still on the medicinal or herbal fruit of the coffee tree. It’s pretty light, fairly easy to swallow, an easy-going drinking experience. With oddly warm temperatures, it’s a good choice for a dark beer for many, although I could always do with something heavier, lover of darkness that I am.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €4.65

shielded

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As much as I love a beer, I am open to other choices. With the unseasonably warm days, something lighter and sweeter might be appetizing. Still, the nights get kinda-sorta cold, so the northern connections of a mead feel fitting. They come and go in the stores, with a disappearing act just before Christmas, but some have returned to populate Labirratorium’s shelves. This one seemed the most likely – semi-dry, unfiltered, stern looking label. I don’t think I’ve come across Guerrero before, but let’s see if Escudera, the simplest of the meads I saw, gives them a good introduction.

It does look very unfiltered, kind of like a glass of honey in fact. It has a tingly, tangy scent, a little bit like some of the melomels, that tickles the nose but zips away as soon as you put the glass down. It’s definitely bubbly, but not being a beer there’s no appreciable head. There are a few bubbles at the edge of the glass, so it has a more soda like appearance. Lightly sweet at first, it builds in honey character as the drink goes down, giving you some oddly sharp floral notes and a kind of whisper of wax. I haven’t tasted natural beeswax in a long time, so my first thoughts go to those old wax candies, but I imagine I’m supposed to picture the hive giving up its treasure for the delight of humans, with only the simplest of production to get it in the bottle. It scores high on all counts, although I’m looking forward to the possibility of a stout next week.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €3.30

rosy gateway?

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What desperation is this, a Mahou beer? Are all the beer stores shuttered forever and the craft breweries wiped from the face of the earth? No, although I feel a little embarrassed. I guess my face can go with the beer – La Rosé de Mahou. It’s supposed to be a lager “with a fruity touch”, something for people who want to explore different flavors in beer. It feels like they’re trying to push their not-ABI/not-Heineken side, like when they picked up their share of Founders as a “family company”. Being the industrial beer that it is, I doubt there’s going to be any of the weirdness that fruity sours give off in scent, and I kind of doubt that the flavor is going to be that strong. It is a Mahou, after all. Although, most of the craft styles that the Spanish macros have made have been perfectly acceptable, so I might be in for a treat.

It does look a lot like a rosé, with a fluffy head on it. Very similar to some sours too. It’s an interesting aroma, slightly fruity, although that might be psychological, but mainly malty sweet. It’s lager sweet at first, but the taste deepens and develops a little bit of herbalness. It has the mouthfeel of a bock, although one that leans a little syrupy. I get a hint of licorice too, even kind of an artificial raspberry flavor. Although sweet, it’s probably too heavy to be one of the more refreshing hot weather beers, but that weight with its color could make it festive. It has the potential to be a gateway beer, one that people who don’t really like “real” beer can enjoy drinking, only graduating to the more bitter, less soda-y at a later time. I’m not sure who the target consumer is, to be honest. They might be trying to fool the more unsophisticated wine drinkers rather than rope in young beginner beer drinkers. Who knows? We have to take risks if we want to get stuff sold, I guess.

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