It’s been quite a while since I came across an American beer on the shelves. Import and shipping costs, I guess. But here we are after all this time, with a Kentucky Imperial Stout. This West Sixth Brewing has been around for a while, since 2012, but I don’t remember seeing them pop up around here before. No complaints about a stout though, whoever makes it, wherever it comes from. Snake Eyes could just make my night!
Extra dark brown, a good mocha color to the head, although the foam is a little on the light side. The aroma is malty and somewhat heavy, expected from the appearance. There are hints of gingerbread lurking, but no smoke or earthier notes. The taste is surprisingly sweet for not being a pastry or milk stout, rather a maply flavor. It could be a recipient of Kentucky’s bourbon barrel treatment, although that is not on the label. It’s an unusual sensation of taste explosion, but quick fade away, giving the beer a deceptive lightness. It’s not weighty on the tongue, but after a good amount of sipping it does start to hang around a little. It’s in double digits with ABV, so no surprise really.
In spite of the uncomfortable blazing of the day, I insist on seeking out stouts. They can be refreshing too, you know? They don’t have to be very alcoholic to be true to style and tasty. So I feel pretty confident in Deep Web, a so-called draught stout in a can. It is from Laugar, after all. While my experience with Laugar tends to be with much stronger barrel aged and similar strength stouts, this one is a very reasonable 5.5%. Stronger than the most widely available version of Guinness, but nothing too crazy. I wonder about the name; is it trying to say that the Deep Web is more normal than we think and we have little to fear from traveling through it? Or is there some hidden message, perhaps in the beads of the web (chin scratching emoji)?
Extra full can, but no explosion. A little bit bubblier than you might want, but good dark chocolate color and a fluffy head on the darker side of beige. It falls to a light cap pretty quickly. There’s a pretty typical stout aroma, a little bit earthy and smoky. The taste is malty and thick, maintaining the notes present in the fragrance, and with a slightly green undertone. It makes me think of fresher plant-based drinks, like horchata. While the first impression is sweet, a little hint of bitter starts to build up with each sip. While not an excessively strong stout, it does leave it’s mark on you, and it has a body that lives up to Laugar’s record with me. It’s quite pleasant and flavorful, a happy standard kind of stout for a bar visit or a gathering of friends when you don’t want to be distracted by your drink.
The last Saturday of June and it’s not all that comfortable. It’s not roasting like it has been until this week, but it’s plenty hot for me. I guess I’ll stick with a sour for refreshment. It’s kind of a fancy sour too, Cloudwater, nobly presenting its name for inspection. Hopefully Cherry Sour Breeze will give me some cool feelings and help me relax in this wretched, wretched season.
It’s a very rusty red, lightly headed, probably what you can expect from a more natural cherry. There’s hardly any aroma at all, just the merest hint of sour fruit. It isn’t really identifiable, just a generic fruit scent. It’s fizzy on the tongue and not really sweet or sour, although it leans more to the latter. It’s kind of a cherry jam taste. Once the fizz dies down a little, it’s a smoother drink (naturally), but also slippery and shiny feeling. It’s a polished marble counter, a well-worn wooden bannister. There is some kind of woodiness to it, kind of like the old Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. Let it sit for a while and a certain amount of tangy sour comes out, like mist off a morning lake. It has an effervescence about it, very easy to drink, but the lack of candy sweet and sour gives it a maturity and solemnity that keeps your attention on it.
Summer is still creeping up, giving warning signs along the way, and it’s another good day for a sour. Fruit sour, let’s not go too crazy. I have had Fermenterarna before, in a similar style, but this one was particulary appealing. The mix of berries, the underground comic label, it’s something that calls to you. It’s kind of an odd mix with those Scandinavian breweries; on one hand they make fantastic stouts, which seems to be fitting, but they also bring out some great fruit sours, very creative, which is a little less predictable. Let’s see how Wild Berry Shower stacks up.
Big fruit aroma, with that little bit of gassy sulfur that I’ve come to expect. Balanced out with bubble gum. It’s a slightly more solemn fruit punch color, a winey pink rather than bright red. The head starts off beautifully, mostly white with just a tinge of pink, but disappears in the blink of an eye. The taste is like a liquid Fruit Roll-Up (remember those?), although a more sour version. It’s less lambic sour than candy sour, and beyond that very clean, without a lot of aftertaste or clinging. While it’s on the tongue, there’s a battle of flavors, raspberry, currant, blackberry…what’s on the can, basically. Not being much of a blueberry fan, I can’t identify them in the mix, but I think I do get just a tiny hint of vanilla right before the whole thing disappears down the throat.
There were supposed to be storms this weekend, but not thus far. There’s always tomorrow, I guess. In the meantime, I fall upon my trusted stouts. This time it’s Dos Kiwis Gravity, an luscious sounding imperial, recommended at the store as a sturdy and headturning choice.
Rich and dark, with a mocha colored and bubbly head. It dissipates quickly but leaves a thin cap behind. The aroma is heavy and boozy, with overripe bananas, a little coffee and a splat of chocolate. The taste is also overripe fruit, jelly toast, not much chocolate or coffee. The flavor gets heavier, raisiny, prickly, a mouthful that doesn’t leave you struggling, although it feels ready to throw its weight around. Cinnamon and some other wintery spices start to make an appearance with a little bit of settling. It blooms like Christmas, a hint at more tolerable days to come.
Toasty weekends, that’s what we can look forward to from now on. This is a German Film Fest (official name now, remember) weekend, but I didn’t make the time to seek out some German beers to add to the list. I don’t even have a German style for tonight, although plenty of German craft breweries make their own IPAs of various substyles. It is practically a requirement of craft beering. It is a bit of an experiment, since you always have to go farther than your fellow travelers to make your mark, and Soma has taken the farther path. Midnight Club is not the first QIPA to come on the market, but there aren’t that many of them out there. Probably with the price of ingredients now everybody has to cut back, so it’s a good idea to take advantage when we can. Before midnight.
Oddly light for an extra IPA, fuzzy peachy straw colored. A good fluffy head, though, and with staying power. There’s some new IPA citrus in the aroma and also a little bit of dark caraway base. It’s a strong bitter at the first sip, with a rough feel and bustling swallow. There’s an almost candy sweet chaser that raises its head for just a second. It feels both oddly light and predictably weighted. It doesn’t show off its alcohol content, although it has a wild and woolly body, but it does sneak up on you over time. It’s one of the more fitting sipping and conversation IPAs, too strong to just suck down, but without an overwhelming hit of booze, which you might expect from such a powerhouse of a beer. It doesn’t hold a candle to the Belgian (style) quintuple, or even some quads, in that regard, but it’s certainly pleasurable and inviting to drink.
It’s hot! I’m not a fan. The fridge is less right that it was a week ago, although I have my doubts that the weather is to blame for that. Even though I often brag about my devotion to heavy, black beers, at any time and temperature, I do like to surprise my palate every once in a while. This feels like a good moment for a sour, and most especially a fruit sour. Basqueland is a good one to go to, having provided much tasteful examples in the past. Not to mention the label design. This is a real salaf of a fruit beer, with four berries going into it, including my preferred raspberries and blackberries. Strawberries are taste, but sometimes a little more acidic than I’m looking for when I pick up something fruity. Then there are the blueberries…I’m a fan of their cran cousins, although they often make kind of a rough beer for drinking. But, for some reason, blueberries have never grown on me. Maybe this time it will hit me like a bolt a lightning. Cold Fruit Lightning.
Very fizzy with a good head build-up and retention. It’s candy cherry red and some dark pink bleeds up into the foam too. The aroma is very faint but tantalizing, with whispers of fruit and a little sulfur as a sober foundation. The taste is tangy and a little dry. It has a certain similarity to dry ciders or wines. There’s an odd medicineIt’s y bitterness, maybe a hint at some natural ingredients and production, but I’m having trouble picking out individual fruit flavors. A kind of metallic taste starts to surface after a while, some steely knife slicing through the general fruit. It leaves a little stickiness behind although not much aftertaste, so it isn’t quite as refreshing as other sours. It’s still quite a shocker, hence pickmeup, one that would find a lot of popularity on days like these.
Well, well, what have we here! It’s our friends Anspach & Hobday, with The Celebration Porter. The London Black was not…disappointing, since I know how I feel about nitro beers, but it did nothing to change my mind about them. That being the case, you might wonder why I deigned to purchase a similar brew from them. Every beer is an individual, my friends, every beer deserves a chance. This porter is not terribly strong at 4.5%, but it probably has a little extra compared to the everyday, classic one. Let’s see if the celebration is open to all.
Not quite a dark blackish stout, but a warm and coffeed brown, bubbly head, and oddly green aroma. It smells very fresh, like some just harvested crop. There are also notes of roasted something, not coffee exactly, but some sort of cooked up plant matter. It’s light and nutty, slightly tangy, a pretty typical porter, although it’s also the same kind of weight as London Black. It isn’t as airy as that porter, there’s a little more oomph to this one, some prickles to let you know you’re getting something. Being a lighter porter, it’s perfect for some heavy reading or study, a deep conversation that requires all your attention, an artistic movie that you have to think about for days afterwards. Or, what the hell, just staring out the window, enjoying the view. Whatever you do, it will feel like something special.
Time to venture down to the beer stores, and Be Hoppy is hoppin’. It seems like somebody’s having a party, but hard to tell who and what for. In any case, it’s good for places to be busy, even if it’s less comfortable for me. Not too many stouts in the fridge right now, but there is a rather eerily beautiful can on the shelf. Oh, it’s Seven Island! Now it has to come with me. There is a small note on the can that Polish Stu Mostow also has something to do with this, but that is not a deterrent. There is a series, apparently, of Dark Ages stouts. This one is Light Devourer, an Imperial Stout with pecans and creme brulee. Not a pastry stout? Still a find, and now that the resurrected fridge is with us, it will cool off properly.
A delicious pour, maybe festival worthy, with a rich dark brown beer and a milk chocolate head. The bubbles aren’t quite even in size, but it doesn’t dissipate very quickly. It’s not terribly aromatic, but there is a promise of chocolate and liquor, possibly with a foundation of toast. It has a prickly entry, in spite of being a very smooth tasting beer. It is somewhat candied, with a little bit of butterscotch and caramel. The toast might be slightly burned, but not to the point of making the drink unappetizing. The smokier flavors fizzle out pretty quickly, leaving a desserty essence. It’s not quite a pudding pastry beer, but it definitely leans in that direction. The creme brulee is certainly present, and maybe it’s those pecans that are providing a slightly savory and gritty undertone. Despite the growing weight, it remains slippery and lively. It’s no Trees For Life, or even Passage Temporaire, but Light Devourer is a beer that can hold its head high.
While Beermad prepares for a fall appearance, Oso Brewing organized a festival while we wait. They tried something a little different in terms of consumption; pay a fairly sizable entrance fee and then drink as much as you want. Given that I seek out stouts, which tend to be on the more expensive side, I think I can make the €40 worth it. It’s in the upstairs space of Chamartín, where Beergote was a few years ago, and most likely with much better temperatures. Unfortunately, those temperatures come with some moisture as well, making the outdoor space a little less usable. I was happy to see quite a line ahead of me when I arrived 20 minutes before the doors opened. This is what a festival is supposed to start up like, with anxious patrons looking forward to getting in there! We were lined up under some overhanging building features, so when it started raining, hard, just before noon, we were not bothered. It took a good 15 minutes to get in the door, with some starts and stops to keep the glass distribution uncluttered. I did not see stouts featured at first, but checking the guide, I saw a few on offer. I managed to hop right up to Vault City while the tapman was explaining their stout Swiss Peaks to some other interested visitors. It’s based on Toblerone, with chocolate and caramel, and supposed to be a cheeky little brew. How can I resist?
Waiting, waiting…
It’s a good, dark color, with a candied and nutty aroma, and an inexistant head. It really does smell like a Toblerone. The taste is a pleasant blend of stouty earth, salt, chocolate, and something a little rubbery, reminiscent of airports. It’s not very heavy in texture, but firm bodied. They keep the ABV a secret on the guide – too strong and scary or too unbelievably light?
It’s coming on 12:30 and there’s still a pretty long line of people waiting to access the fest. Seems like a positive, except for them. I find Soma and Factory side by side, each with a nice sounding stout for me. Factory is a little less busy, so that’s where I start, with Lady Cupcake #10. It’s another “simple” imperial stout, nicely dark colored and also rather lacking in head. There’s a vaguely sweet aroma, but very subtle. Tastewise, it’s something a little different. There’s a burst of cherry with a dark chocolate cake, oddly dry feeling in the mouth, and a slight hint of timber in the aftertaste. I’d expect it to be shortly barrel aged, but it doesn’t seem to be one of those. It’s a very respectable stout though.
There’s a line building up inside, and at first I’m not sure what for. Later I see it’s for Messorem, and even later I find out why everyone is willing to wait.
I wander back to the pair from before, but this time I sidle up to Soma. Burial sounds like something preprared for a Halloween release, but here it is on a fertility promoting May afternoon. Again, merely imperial stout, but also again, very good looking. He filled the glass right up to the tippy top, but still no head. The aroma is very slight, but there’s something earthy and wooden wafting up. The wood also comes out in the flavor, strikingly so. Hard nuts and vegetation also come to mind. It has that nutty flavor that’s not exactly sweet, but there’s no traditional stout bitter. There’s another character in there too, some kind of smoking supporting actor lurking in the background, not quite in focus but leaving its mark.
Anspach & Hopday sounds like it ought to be German, but it is not, it is English. They didn’t get their Stout Porter delivered to them, so maybe some postal workers are having a party somewhere, but lots of people spoke very well of London Black, so I’m persuaded to give a nitro beer a chance. It’s fascinating to see in the glass, but the show is over a little too quick for my camera skills. As expected, it’s very easy drinking, with a sort of mineral watery flavor. The head, finally, is perky and abundant. All respect to A&H, they must work hard, but it is as I feared and just another nitro beer. I can understand what other people like, but it does nothing for me.
The bubbles, almost got ’em!
Neighboring stand Cloudwater had a **barrel aged** stout, which felt like something deserved after that nitro. The rain had let up and people were drifting out into the patio area for a little extra room, although the surfaces were not really ready for sitting on. Cleaning staff was mopping inside most of the time, and were even trying to dry off the outside tables, to little avail. Trees For Life is quite the name, and quite the beer from the get go. Cinnamon, cherry, ginger, the aroma is incredible. It has a sort of Christmas candle essence to it. The taste does not disappoint. Apfelstrudel, gingerbread, a faded memory of Sachertorte, this beer is a glory and privilege to drink. It kills off any previous disappointment, and doesn’t stop there. The complexity of flavors builds, they melt into each other to create a fantastic blend of experiences. This isn’t an all-year beer, this is a beer that transcends time, with notes for every season, a weight for winter and a shining light for summer.
It mught not be fair for any beer to come after Trees, but Lervig is a formidable stout maker and if anyone can come to the match up, it’s them. Five By Rackhouse is also barrel aged, so it’s starting from the same place at least, but it doesn’t have the jack-in-the-box of scents. It’s mild and disarming, and diving in there’s a definitely stouty but also syrupy flavor. It leans toward bourbon, clearly displaying its barrel aged background, but it’s not as explosive as Trees. Still, Five is well-presented, solid, balanced, self-assured and hitting all the necessary points. It might not be a Black Forest Stout, but it is a delight in itself.
It’s finally time to switch it up and look for something else, perhaps a fruit sour to cleanse the palate. Sudden Death has an enticing one: Blåbärsoppa International Women’s Day Celebration Beer! There was a woman serving, fittingly. So, a couple of months late, but still appetizing. It’s a deep ruby red with a strawberry whiff, and wow oh wow, it’s cherry Kool-aid! It is in fact delicious, not to mention clean, sweet, summery and hopeful.
Sad, cold empanada
I haven’t visited the local beers this festival, which you really should. If not for them, there would be no audience, after all. I wander over to their taps and at this time we have Arktos, which I am well familiar with. I’m still trying to land gently after all those stouts, so I choose the honey beer, which is not exceptionally heavy. It’s not exactly a palate cleanser, but it certainly doesn’t take up all the air and has that touch of sweetness that perks you right up.
Water down yer drink?
Wandering with my honey beer, I run into my old beer friend Javi! It’s been years, but he’s looking well. He strongly recommened Messorem’s stout to me, and for good measure let me enjoy the last drops that he had in his glass…I was ready to let it go because of the line, but holy shit, that is not a beer to pass up. After warmly felt niceties I hustle over and get in line. I’m not quite sure why it moves so slowly, maybe there are some very chatty people up front. Finally I reach the end and get my little taste of heaven, Messorem Passage Temporale. We’re back to low head beers, and with a licory aroma on top of that, but there’s something else. This is a familiar sensation. It’s Sahale’s special rum stout! It’s cake in a glass, honeyed and cunning. It doesn’t have the onslaught of Trees, but it is undeniably delicious and a beer after my own heart. Despite its smoothness, it’s not a beer to rush through, it deserves its time and contemplation, and would really be a better beer for a porch or terrace than a bustling beer fair, where you can calmly observe your surroundings and enjoy to the utmost.
I still have some time and some thirst, so I veer back over to the fruity beers. How could anyone walk past Pretty Decent Beer? What kind of name is that if not perfectly unassuming? They must be hiding some kind of achievement! Since it’s coming close to closing time for the first shift, I’ll go for a moderate sour, Honk If You’re Sour redcurrant beer. It’s dark red with a generally fruity aroma, no specific ingredients stand out. It’s not very sweet in taste but has a strong flavor of natural fruit, not very sour but very drinkable. There’s just a touch of acidity and to my relief, no sulfur or gassiness like that which plagues other fruit beers.
Time is running out! Do I have enough time for something light? I think I can make time. There’s Prizm, a venerable contender among cans, always with something special and tasty. No stout, but the one for the road should be something lighter anyway. How about a NEIPA? Recess is also a collab with Frau Gruber, so all the better for me. It’s a light straw color, with hardly any aroma, but there’s a strong ale flavor. It’s only slightly bitter, and somewhat melony, very refreshing, a good send-off. Time to go sleep off the excesses of the day, and get home while the sun still shines.
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