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ninth

  • por

On the ninth day of Beermas I went and got for me
Nine priestesses priesting
Eight pirate maids a-sailing
Seven boney swimmers
Six geese post-laying
Five gold nuts
Four obvious non-kiwis
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

There are fewer beer labels with women on them than you’d think, given how women are used to sell things. I’d say it’s a mark of the integrity of the craft beer sector, but we all know that is unfortunately not true. Yes, there are duchesses and queens, but this is the first time I’ve seen a priestess. Given the experience I’ve had with people from Segovia (which is little), it’s not such a surprise that Sanfrutos would find it fitting to name a beer after such a character. It is a West Coast IPA, so something light and sharp, connected to nature and spirit, is what I’m expecting to find. Let’s see what kind of fortune teller I am.

It’s darker than expected but still clear golden hue. The head starts out fluffy, but bubbles away rapidly. It smells like honey, like a hopped mead almost, which certainly goes with the color. The taste is bittersweet, a one-two punch delivered in a mouth-filling liquid. Knowing it’s a West Coast style makes me look for pine and spice, and in a ghostly aftertaste I think there’s a little pine forest there. In spite of its aleness, it feels right for the time, heavy and covering, with notes of field and forest, not as refreshing as some less, let’s say spiritual brews. Of course, less refreshing is not less enjoyable, and there are times when you want a little weight to let you know you’re alive.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €6.10

osmý

  • por

On the eighth day of Beermas I went and got for me
Eight pirate maids a-sailing
Seven boney swimmers
Six geese post-laying
Five gold nuts
Four obvious non-kiwis
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

I would like very much to have an all stout Beermas, but it would require a lot of stretching of the gifts. Maybe I’ll be feeling flexible next year. For the moment, we have La Grua’s North Shore, a DDH NEIPA. I’m not sure if there’s any history of pirates in the brewery’s area, although the community of Cantabria is on the coast. Actually, a golden beer is more appropriate for a pirate to be stealing, fossil fuels weren’t a thing when the romantic pirates were having their heyday.

It releases a tiny geiser of hop aroma, snappy, catnippy, jungly. No beer explosion though, and it pours very nicely. Not as heady as others, and cloudy like the past couple of weeks. There’s a wave of brightness in the sip, and an almost honeyed finish. Dry hopped beers in my experience have a bit more bitterness and edge, while this one has the NEIPA part of its background clearly coming out on top. If anything the dry hopping took off any edge a NEIPA can have. It gets more and more candylike, kind of like a flat soda, or a low-sugar lemonade. I guess I can imagine it’s sweet like pirate rum.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €5.91

siebte

  • por

On the seventh day of Beermas I went and got for me
Seven boney swimmers
Six geese post-laying
Five gold nuts
Four obvious non-kiwis
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

It’s not swans, but it’s definitely swimming. Or at least it’s something that used to swim, until being snatched up by undead hands. Somehow I think O Fortuna has several levels hiding in its name. It’s a complicated beer, DDH West Coast IPA, and to go with that it’s a collaboration between three, count ’em three, breweries. The magic of working together on a concoction has a fairy tale ring to it, three witches brewing up a potion that can only be counteracted by seven feathers of seven swans from seven seas, or some mystical folk numerology like that.

We’re back to clear, golden, blinding white headed brew, with a heavy and spicy aroma fitting of West Coast IPAs. There’s a mix of snappy hops and pine, and a sort of hot marmalade. The blend of perfume is reflected in the taste, although there’s more sourness and grain on the tongue. It dances and sparkles on the tongue, like fingerbones tapping. There’s a sweet center hiding in a ball of roughage and savory herbs, hard to identify exactly, but always peeking out. It’s like the setting sun in a mostly cloudy sky.

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €7.40

sexto

  • por

On the sixth day of Beermas I went and got for me
Six geese post-laying
Five gold nuts
Four obvious non-kiwis
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

It’s not every time that you can find the exact bird, but geese aren’t all that unusual. These geese have hatched after the laying, though. The name seems to be sarcastic; I don’t remember ever noticing geese flying in silence, or even walking that quietly. It’s just an IPA, from Barcelona’s Little Rain, no super hopping or extra zap, but it is a classic style. Classics usually hang around for a reason.

All the recent beers have been very foamy and this one is no exception. It seems to have been filled right to capacity and there’s a threat of an escape when the tab pops. The head does not actually hang around very long, releasing a standard IPA hops cloud. There’s also some kind of rubbery smell lurking in there. The taste starts out like a more traditional bitter IPA with a light coating of more modern fruity hops, but suddenly it’s all wrapped up in a raincoat. And in rubber boots. I guess that’s to go with the name.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €6.31

fifth

  • por

On the fifth day of Beermas I went and got for me
Five gold nuts
Four obvious non-kiwis
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

While the birds are difficult due to their abundance, the rings are hard to match just because.  You’d think there would be more references to gold, but maybe craft brewers are just too modest.  With a little imagination, though, there’s enough out there to find something satisfying.  I feel like I will be satisfied with Nuts & Crosses.  It’s a stout, there’s peanut butter, I’m expecting some kind of liquid Reese’s.  It’s a little bit of a surprise to see the name Buxton on the can, since I don’t associate England with peanut butter consumption, but there have been quite a few peanut butter stouts put out there from a number of European breweries, so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising.  Sometimes a liquid snack is a very different experience than a solid one anyway.

Somewhat sunny head, lighter than you expect to see.  It’s a mocha with extra milk.  The beer is good and dark, a well brewed coffee or dark chocolate.  The aroma a vegetable tang, like the juice in canned green beans.  It’s slightly metallic, slightly earthy.  The flavor is deeper and richer than the smell, with a feeling of quality chocolate and a salty hint of peanut butter.  It’s quite and armchair of a beer, an invitation to grab a fat book and invest some time in it.  It’s a very light, maybe milked down, stout, at only 4.5%, but it has a power and presence and does not slip by unnoticed.

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €5.90

čtvrtý

  • por

On the fourth day of Beermas I went and bought for me
Four obvious non-kiwis
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

It’s a perfect match! Four calling birds! Actually, I can’t tell if they’re calling from the label, but they look like maybe swallows and I recall them being a bit vocal. But then the brewery – Doskiwis? Only two! And they don’t fly! And the beer name is just…Ideal. It’s not my ideal, not being a stout, but those hazy IPAs can be good drinking.

It’s somewhat of a lighter color, but still cloudy and heady, albeit with bigger bubbles. It has a more relaxed aroma, just a distant call of orange at first, with an aftersniff of pine. It’s also very quiet in flavor, no big IPA bitter or tropicality, kind of a melony essence. There’s a sharp feel to the beer that comes at the end of the sip and trails off like it’s supposed to raise an aftertaste, but it’s more feel than flavor. I guess there’s an airiness to it, something that pulls you up and out, inviting spiritual expansion. You feel like there’s a stronger sensation somewhere just waiting for you. Maybe this is a beer to encourage you to spread your wings.

Supplier: Lambeer
Price: €7.50

dritte

  • por

On the third day of Beermas I went and got for me
A three-time remade masterpiece
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

Already it’s time to do some interpretation of the gifts, but that’s all part of the fun, isn’t it? Although later movie mythology gives vampires wings (sometimes), the old time monster Nosferatu didn’t transform into anything. Oh, maybe rats. But, it has been remade twice, giving it three versions to enjoy or not…I am not partial to the ’70s remake myself. Still have to see last year’s fluid filled one. See? Fluids! Just like beer is a fluid! Connections abound! Anyway, I’m surprised that it’s a hazy IPA, or any type of pale ale, really. Wouldn’t a red ale be more appropriate? Or a stout to reference the darkness. Even a rauchbier, given what happens to vampires in sunlight. That’s not a spoiler, the damn thing is more than a hundred years old.

Not as jumpy as the last one, and much cloudier. True to name. Still brilliant white head that hangs on for a bit, and a more perfumed opening. Very IPA, citrus and caraway and salt. The first sip is wildly fruity, with mango, mandarin and maybe a little pineapple. The beer is both light and filling, which is kind of an odd feeling, but it’s also clearly bright and perky. It’s such a strangely happy beer, very summery and with a suggestion of a Caribbean soundtrack. There’s really a clash between what you would expect from a beer called Nosferatu and what you get, but ’tis the season for surprises.

Supplier: Lambeer
Price: €6.50

segundo

  • por

On the second day of Beermas I went and got for me
Two guarding lions
And a crow glaring silently

These two just jumped out at me from the shelf, a pair, a couple, a duo, ready and willing to fill the role of number two. The armor on those Chinese lions covers the shell of the turtle in the turtledove I think. It’s also a good beer for starting the journey; first was the session stout, now a tropical IPA. It’s stronger, of course, but is supposed to have a mild and easy taste, very low on bitterness. Maybe this will be more like a typical NEIPA. Being tropical, I’m not sure why there are Asian lions garding the can, beyond having the Japanese name of Ikigai. Maybe Yria has a fascination with islands of any kind.

There was a bid for freedom as the tab opened, but only one little sprite splooshed out of bounds. I’m a little disappointed that there’s no explosion of aroma, but it does pour out nicely. It’s almost lagery in its clarity and dazzling golden color, but the sting of IPA comes up to your nose when you sniff. It isn’t as sparkly and fruity as you might expect a tropical ale to be, but more mellow and smooth. Melon, something flowery like hybiscus, and the barest whisper of citrus. The beer remains steady and bright, glowing like a harvest moon, a thoroughly pleasant experience from beginning to end.

Supplier: Lambeer
Price: €6.70

first

  • por

On the first day of Beermas I went and got for me
A crow glaring silently

I’m under a little pressure to get my Beermas together, since there will be traveling this year. I came across El Cuervo a while ago, and thought, “Why not start now?” And then let it lie around for a couple of weeks. It is a session stout, though, so it shouldn’t suffer very much. It’s also Sanfrutos, which makes solid and resilient beers, so no need to worry at all.

Is it me or do a lot of Beermases start with a crow? They must end up being solitary on cans more than other birds.

Extra foamy and bubbly, but good color and pleasantly roasty aroma. It’s thin, which shoudn’t really be a surprise, but the dark roast carries through. It has a hint of coffee but without some of the lactose or sweetness that other lighter stouts have. There is some milky aftertaste, so it’s not completely free of Starbucks connections. The beer consistently froths up with each new pouring, although the glass isn’t so bedecked with dew-drop bubbles after the first time. It’s not quite a stand-alone beer, but one you might like with food, or snacks, and maybe a scary movie. Up for The Birds?

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €4.07

Sneak preview!

come on, baby

  • por

The colors are right for the season, or at least half right, and the mascot is right for me according to some zodiacs. Yes, it’s a step away from the stouts for a moment, but I can’t resist that smile. Demon Dragon just calls to me. Although black beers are my default, a good NEIPA is always welcome too, and this one is a doozy double NEIPA, packed with a variety of malts according to the ingredient list. Barley, oats and wheat all come together in this liquid package. It sounds a little like a baking recipe, just missing some spices to be for Christmas. And those northern breweries do like to be festive. This is Kom Beer, a microbrewery in Cataluña, which I recall from Barcelona Beer Festival. What they had then was fine, but not especially memorable. Maybe this dragon will light a fire that lasts?

Dirty lemonade looking, bright headed, cracker and caraway scented, at least it looks the part. The beer is heavy and thick on the tongue, but oddly subdued in flavor. The herbal spice is not too heavy, but I’m certainly not getting the juice and natural citrus that I have come to associate with NEIPAs. The feel is familiar though, smooth yet sticky, a sort of melted jello sensation. It seems to me that New Zealand’s Riwaka is having more effect than Simcoe, which isn’t even from New England anyway. Besides the savoriness there’s wood and grapefruit, but at a low and enticing level, not a hit-you-over-the-head style, which you might expect from a double NEIPA. It doesn’t feel like a very alcohol heavy beer, more of a strong grain blend, but it is 8%. It actually takes a little while, but that makes itself known in the end. There’s a mild danger to it with how light the flavor is, and how easily the beer slips down, but with a proper lunch it probably wouldn’t cause too much trouble. Even as a late-night treat.

Supplier: Lambeer
Price: €8.30

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