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stout

at the feet of giants

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It’s an early summer, but damn if I won’t find a stout to go with my weekend. La Mundial recommends Cierzo’s Colossus, an imperial stout at a hefty 10%. I hope the shade of the beer will have some kind of placebo effect and give me the illusion of being in the shade, with a cool breeze keeping things civilized. As it is, I have some serious worries about keeping comfortable in July. We keep hearing promises that there won’t be restrictions on water usage, but once elections pass anything goes, I bet.

A little more shook up than it should be, but that might be the excessive temperatures. Looks nice anyway, good dark color, fluffy head. It has a green and piercing kind of aroma, and a slightly sour smoky taste. It’s a little bit dusty with a solid stout mouthfeel, but still easy going down. It develops some plant notes while it warms, but the smoke stays steady and stimulating coffee also makes an appearance. It’s not the biggest stout I’ve ever had, but Colossus has stature and poise, it’s a fine specimen for sure.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €4.70

rewind

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Times change but processes are always the same. It’s not so strange for businesses to close after a few years, some sooner than others, but it’s usually a little sad when they go. You get used to having them there in the background, even if you don’t patronize them super often. It’s going to be time to say goodbye to another beer store, this time near Retiro, so not too surprising that costs might catch up to them. It was a convenience, though, if you spent some time in the park and then went and got a good beer (or two) to take home. RIP, Birra Y Paz, these last few purchases will be your legacy. La Quince Vanilla Black Velvet is definitely something legacy worthy. My introduction to it was my first experience of glory with a craft beer.

Rich and chocolate syrup smell, deep dark color, only light head. It’s malty and bitter, very stouty flavor, not as sweet as more recent pastry stouts, but with that touch of chocolate that blew my mind all those years ago. This particular batch or bottle is a little bit dusty, not smooth or syrupy, although it goes down easy and doesn’t have any distracting aftertaste or leavings. It has a more classic feeling to it, more of the echoes of beers of old being reflected in a craft brew than the craft beer shining its own dazzling light. This classic from La Quince (and Guineu) may have its off years and less successful variations, but it’s hard to say that it’s ever not good. The starry-eyed beeriness that I get from it awakens some nostalgia and some determined hope for the future. Good beer is here to stay and arriving over the horizon.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz
Price: €4.50

a real dessert

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So the month of stouts finishes, and I have a very nice brewery with something that might be very nice.  Frau Gruber sounds like it should be kept until Women’s History Month, but it was actually the work of two brewdudes (the Frau comes from the surname of one of them, so it’s not actually any kind of appropriation).  This is a 5th Season Imperial Stout (without Schischi), which sounds like it ought to be something revelatory and the result of years of testing.

Weirdly no head whatsoever – kept it too cold maybe? It still looks appetizing, very black and a little bit slick, with a slight perfume of banana bread. The flavor is sort of a rum banana cake, a little bit sweet and filled with alcohol. It has a very rounded feel, like a candy ball in the mouth almost. There’s some reminder of a Sahale rum barrel aged stout, which left very positive impressions, so there’s the familiarity and nostalgia factor working for it too. It’s not a beer to simply swig down; although smooth, there’s a weight behind it that makes itself known. They call black beers petroleum in Spain, and this one definitely has that kind of essence to it. It feels like fuel, giving off potency and power, the kind of drink that you imagine revving in the glass as you pour it.

Supplier: Labirratorium

Price: €9.50

for the pros

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Continuing the route of darkness, another nationally made stout.  I get raves about Sanfrutos from various sources, although I have not been blown away by their stuff.  Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been disappointed either, but their beers have been limited to proper, well-made, satisfies, not miracles.  Actually, there was a stout on tap at Gaztambirra that did me good, now that I think of it.  I should really give Pro Negro a fair shot.

Very promising appearance, black, deep space black in color. It’s slightly plummy in the nose, a little bit scratchy. The drinking part is smooth as silk, though, with a touch of fruit on top of a well-cooked dark chocolate cake. It has a nice feel to it, very balanced and not overly heavy, but also no watery nothing in the mouth. With such a carefully crafted start, it’s no surprise that there isn’t much change from the first sip to the bottom of the bottle; the feel, flavors and overall sensation of the beer remains the same from beginning to end. And maybe this wasn’t a miracle, but it was a damn fine drink.

Supplier: Lambeer

Price: €3.95

black bear

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Oso Brewing is one of the many little breweries doing Spain’s craft beer sector proud, with creative and surprising recipes popping out all the time.  I have been especially impressed with their pastry stouts in the past.  La Penúltima is no pastry stout, although it certainly looks like something you wouldn’t have as an appetizer.  13% beers don’t often leave a lot of room for the main course.

Extra thick and extra smooth, it looks like a melted milkshake but smells like an extra strong cocktail. It’s kind of a licorice-y aroma, a heavy perfume, with something recalling petroleum floating around. There’s a touch of licorice on the tongue, but the smooth soft-serve mouthfeel is much more noticeable. It starts out mild with just a touch of sweet but develops some rough edges with a little time, and starts to get sticky, no surprise given how thick it is from the beginning. It’s a very satisfying beer, although not one that you can really have a marathon drinking session with. Hell, it even slows me down a little, but that wouldn’t stop me from having another the next day.

Supplier: Lambeer

Price: €6.10

T(welve)-8

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On the eighth day of Beermas I went and bought for me
Eight maids not for cleaning
Seven avian vampire teasers
Six plans a-hatching
Five collaborations
Four miles of nowhere
Three tropical tree eggs
Two staring wings
And an icy raven looking needy

I complain about all those birds, but the other gifts aren’t all that easy to match up either.  This year the maids a-milking was one of the harder ones, for some reason nothing stood out that was maidenly or milky.  Finally, there’s a good stout that has a good picture on it.  It’s a little more like a sexy maid than a milkmaid, although I don’t think she’s quite that either.  More like somebody who’s going to be doing some milking of a slightly different kind.  Hopefully, in a nice warm room.  It’s from Estonia, a brewery called Pühaste, so I think this Dekadents ought to be formulated for warm indoor spaces, no matter what’s going on outside.

Pouring out, it’s lighter than expected, although the dark brown color is pretty strong once the glass is full. The aroma is a lot fuller than the coloring, sticky, syrupy, heavy chocolate and toast. The first impression of the taste is similar, but quickly followed by a blast of licorice, wrapped up in a return of toasty, burny sensation. It’s a heavy, melted milkshake of a beer, extra thick. It doesn’t have excessive sweetness, with just that pop of mediciny licorice. It’s not hard to get down at all, although the full texture does not encourage chugging.

T(welve)-3

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On the third day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Three tropical tree eggs

Two staring wings

And an icy raven looking needy

Getting creative again!  Is it because I ran out of time and had to make do with what I grabbed off the shelves?  Is it a true challenge propelled from within?  Is it just the cussedness of refusing to not have a stout?  All three?  Let’s say all three.  It’s true, I really really wanted to fit Gran Cacao in somehow, just by virtue of it being an imperial stout with cacao nibs.  So instead of French hens imagine French Polynesia or the French Caribbean.  It’s not quite the temperature up here right now, but there’s an almost tropical humidity the past couple of days.  Weird, but could be worse.  I guess the people at centrally Spanish Península and Caleya also wanted to enjoy a warm weather fantasy.

It pours smooth and creamy, with almost a nitro like consistency in building the head, although with much bigger bubbles. It looks delicious and doesn’t smell like sunblock at all. There is just a tantalizing whiff of cacao, but it’s mostly a sturdy, earthy stout. The cacao is present in the taste, but very…natural. Meaning, it’s not overly sweet or sticky, there’s kind of an earthy sensation to it, like dusty nibs grabbed off the ground for the brew. Also, it’s impressive how smooth and slick the beer is for it’s mouthfeel; it’s a weighty one, and at almost 10% to boot. It’s a really pleasant stout, with a delightfully easy balance. It might even be acceptable for the squeamish in the summer, with it’s tropical hints, especially going along with a cold dessert. And for me and those of my tastes, it’s a beer for every day of the year.

just one more

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Just what I was hoping for, another stout!  And it is an imperial, and a pretty good alcohol content too.  Oso Brewing has put on an almost sinister label, warning the weak off it I guess.  Called La Penúltima, it plays on Spanish drinking culture, where every drink the next to last.  At 15% I wonder if this one wouldn’t send you home right after, though. 

It pours out like chocolate syrup, and even has a little bit of that smell around it. It isn’t an overly sugary kind of chocolate, a little bit sharp, something you wouldn’t actually drink on its own, but use as a flavoring. The beige head deflates a little but stays firm looking if a little thinner. The chocolate carries over into the taste, giving the beer a rich chocolate shake feeling. It’s dark chocolate of course, so not cloyingly sweet, but there’s hardly any bitter to be noticed. It doesn’t leave much aftertaste behind, but there is a kind of feeling of weight that does stay. Oddly, the beer itself feels very smooth and light. It is a lot like a gourmet milkshake, with the high quality dark chocolate and natural, fatty milk. It’s a treat for sure, maybe so much that it has to be…the ultimate.

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.

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

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