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.
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.
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.
I thought I had heard that stouts were in vogue. I thought I had heard that people were seeking out the darkness. I thought I had heard that there was finally a little balance on the beer shelf. O foolish drinker, paying mind to what you hear! I hadn’t been to Hidden Beers for a while, holidays you know, so I went on down expecting to find something special. I did, but…there wasn’t much else to go with it. Must I settle for IPAs and sours? I have to admit they can also be surprising and well worth your time. But I can pick out something a little special from that group too; a TDH NEIPA? That’s a new one! It’s from solid providers Prizm and Verdant, who have made some tasty collaborations in the past. Let’s see if Jus D’Orange continues the trend.
Opaque and juicy looking, sort of a natural orange juice appearance. It’s bubbly at first, but the head starts thin and vanishes in no time. Not a strong aroma, just whispers of caraway and sesame. The flavor is also sedate, but with a depth to it. It tastes very planty, unsweetened and undrowned in extras. I feel like the Mosaic was scantly used in comparison to the other two hops, at least from what I remember of Founders (?) Mosaic IPA at Roll. That was years ago, of course, and memory can be a treacherous thing. The taste is refreshing and summery, a bright spot for a dark weekend, but there is also some heaviness to the beer itself. It isn’t aggressive, but it sits with confidence and gives the impression that it won’t be pushed around. It’s able to present itself as an all-year possibility, a font of freshness in warm weather, a warm blanket in the cold and damp. It wakes up a little after warming up, but it’s still pretty much a softy. I was told to expect a “bomb” of a beer (in a positive sense), but I don’t think it’s that explosive. Really, it’s probably a more broadly appealing beer because of it.
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.
Darker and darker are the days, finally raining a little bit. If we had a good old downpour, that would clean up the streets too. But as always, I’m in the mood for dark beers no matter the weather, so it’s just a flimsy excuse to pull out a porter. And what a porter it seems to be! The Kernel’s Victorian, historic London porter, presented by Stigbergets no less. It looks to be on the heavy side for a porter at almost 6%, but there’s a strange cheeriness to the can. Even though those badgers remind me of Edward Gorey illustrations somehow.
A membrane of bubbles forms on the sides of the glass, but also a respectable head. It does descend, but only slowly, gradually getting more and more Swiss cheese holes in it. This is a brown porter rather than a black stout, but it’s a tarry and precious stone kind of brown. There’s a mild smokey roast aroma, but no smoke alarms. It has a heavy and earthy taste, but the beer still manages to be very drinkable. There’s a little plumminess raising the flavor off the ground, but it doesn’t quite get to sweet, exactly. It has the feel of a spectator’s drink, one you have while watching a game show. Especially trivia, when you always know the answers without the pressure of being on the stage.
One of my semi-secret treats to myself is watching videos on The Craft Beer Channel. They are a UK based channel, so a lot of their content is focused on the products of their nation, as is fitting. I’ve head them mention St. Austell’s Proper Job IPA more than once, and especially recently, so if there’s a choice to be made for something not stout, maybe go with something that has a presence among the experts? It’s unseasonably warm these days still, so this is a style that would be more popular among the masses. Also, this is heavily hopped, so just what people who feel a little nostalgia for the early days of craft might be looking for.
It looks like a picture dictionary entry of beer, with the right color, head and bitsy bubbles. The aroma is lagery at first, with grain and grass, but the hop tickle comes in at the end with a touch of spice. It tastes like a standard English IPA, maybe a little less bitter, but not very fruity and wild like its modern counterparts. Despite the simplicity of flavor there’s also a depth there, a towering brightness that illuminates your mouth and prepares you for launching a blistering opinion on that classic film you just saw (totally a classic/totally overrated). Since it isn’t an extra strong IPA, it has a gentle and friendly feel, very much for the street or a party that you don’t want to miss too much of. It’s another last gasp of summer, although we might be past those by now.
It’s amazing how the days are noticeably shorter in a week, just the opposite as in the spring. Is it the latitude? The altitude? The misaligned time zone? In any case, the time for dark beers never ends, and with a certain holiday only weeks away, why not a chocolate porter? Thornbridge’s Cocoa Wonderland has an almost majestic look to it and a promise of desserty fun. Will this be another highlight of my weekend? There have been fascinating and fun metro visits, and now a tasty looking can before me. Wait, did Alice get bigger or smaller from drinking?
It looks rich and chocolatey, with a very fluffy coffee ice cream head. It’s more chocolate in scent than coffee, but there is a hint of a warmer brew lurking. It delivers on the name, full mouth of chocolate, not sickly sweet but not weighed down by earth or smudged by smoke. It isn’t thin and vapory, which I appreciate, but has a round body that sits perfectly on the tongue and rolls down the throat. This is quite a companion beer, something that works well alone, with a snack (I’m imagining dark chocolate or pretzels), in a group of friends, all alone in contemplation. The options are many. I don’t think I’ve grown or shrunk, by the way, but maybe there needs to be a rabbit around for things to work.
So, the end of the month, almost the beginning of new opportunities. Or something? I cannot keep away from my dark beers, although this is a porter rather than a stout. It’s quite a well-known name too, Northern Monk. The ethereal name is Northern Star, but it’s description as a chocolate, caramel and biscuit stout makes it sound very earthy, if not temptation from the underworld. Perhaps a little early for dessert, but let’s just call it an evening snack.
Delicious appearance, practically black, but slightly lighter head than others. Very light aroma, with just a hint of toasted grain and a tiny ding of grass and chocolate. Chocolate floods through on the first sip, but is quickly overwhelmed by a dusty maltiness. There’s also a sour tang at the end, almost like a chocolate/orange thing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at a little fruit from a porter, but it isn’t the typical dark fruit of the porters I’m familiar with. It’s an extra sweet porter, with that touch of caramel coming through if you look hard enough. Looking at the label, you’d think it would be a thick and heavy kind of beer, but it really isn’t heavy at all. There’s a good amount of body, it’s very pleasant to drink, but it’s almost whispery going over the tongue. You finish the can surprisingly quickly, so it’s fortunate that the beer is a “normal” level alcohol-wise, at just over 5%. Maybe it is a trustworthy guide.
Continuing on the dark path, there’s a little dark humor to be had too. First I was tickled by the price tag calling this an “impy” stout, and then I saw the name: Beware Oblivion Is At Hand. The label seems to imply that Mayan temples were build before the extinction of the dinosaurs, or that a T-rex or similar species survived in Mesoamerica into practically modern times. It’s a statement that feels right these days, what with all the bullshit going on, and even if the world gets past another potential political disaster, there are plenty of individual oblivions for individual reasons to go around. At the same time, there’s a message of hope in the beer description, since they end telling us that whatever we’re going through our ancestors got through it. Although, if our ancestors had already reproduced they could have easily met unsolvable oblivion in adulthood and we would still be here.
Not much head to this one, but still good looking liquidly. This one also has a hot chocolate aroma to it, but more of a milk chocolate than a dark. The taste is strongly chocolate, and more of a milk chocolate there too. It’s a pure chocolate bar, not a fancy filled one with fruit or liquor. It’s simplicity is almost soothing, it’s a beer you can almost mindlessly drink. It remains steady over time, not getting syrupy or developing any odd flavors as it warms up. It is fairly strong at 11%, so it’s not one that you can just pour down your throat. It is most certainly a joy, though, one that might get you through the end of the world.
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