Urban Peaks (again)

It's not often, indeed this may be the first time, that I get the chance to try an ale a second time with a difference. Certainly not overnight. But, here I am with that opportunity.

It's a second bout with Urban Peaks but, this time, it has had a round with a nitro nozzle. Republica had it right and inform me as I write this that they are drop dead gorgeous. Oh, well, I was thinking of their other one: it's back and ready to go.

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Nitro definitely improves the body and removes the feeling that this is watery. For a start there is a strong biscuit head, the honey and almond hit the nose more heavily and instantly grab attention. There's a touch of mill-building in the sun about it. Dry brick grandeur making one squint in the light. The quiet brooding of something that has faced adversity and survived, changed but unbowed.

The cream previously noted, one of the lingering memories from last night's review, makes a bigger play on the opening of the taste and there is a definite hit of the honey there this time. Down the gunnels that honeyed sweetness continues, allowing the dry nuttiness of the almond and malt to make up the middle.

The chocolate remains subtle, warming more than the alcohol, drawing the honey and nuts together and hanging around in the aftertaste. It puts me in mind of a factory town humming with post industrial activity, but it's pre-gentrification so it's not affectation or ostentatious. It's honest and sincere. A kind of satisfied terrace with the extra brick moulding running through, made with care and pride. What a difference a nitro nozzle makes!

The whole thing hangs together more, not that it was bad last night, it wasn't. It was a bit like the terrace, but with the patches of pebbledash and stone facing where people have tried to improve on the original and hidden it instead. The pebbledash is gone here, the brickwork touched back up, the gardens open and the gates freshly painted. I liked what it was last night. But this is back in the big leagues.

I've said it before but Urban Pig (link) was a stout that belonged in the company of Desserts in a Can and Macchiato (link). It played in the premier league and could destroy all but the biggest rivals. This, nitro Urban Peaks, is a worthy stablemate to that triumph.

On a warm day, after shopping and regretting the pizza takeaway last night, the slippery honey is welcome. Not too heavy, nicely balanced at the 5.5% ABV this is back in its comfort zone. As am I. Two trips out to the Crafty One back to back? Truly I am spoiled!

Urban Peaks

Good evening! I'm back! Lovely to have an excuse to go to the Crafty One, and as excuses go, this is the best. Heard it was on tap on Facebook about half an hour ago and came out to see. What is it? Urban Peaks brewed by Urban Chicken and Alter Ego - both of which are proudly local to my neck of the woods. And, well, it's been a bit of a long week back at work, so I thought I would go down and sample the latest because, well, it would be rude not to.

It is worth saying at this point that I have reviewed this ale anew as, the following day, it was dispensed with nitro and... well, let's just say this review is out-dated now. You can find the new review by clicking on these words. Do it. Do it now.
 

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It's a collaborative stout so it has the pedigree and the care and attention going for it straight off the bat, this promises much before you even get round to looking at it - it has big shoes to fill. Deep dark aspect, like the depths of a deep sea trench, but calm and placid demeanour. No fuss, no head, no drama. Collected, this chicken is not headless. Aroma is subtle, faint almond and a distant honey echo on the back end. A call from far away to make you strain to hear, the hairs prickle, the night draws in. The chicken is loose. And the initial impression is thus set, this is going to be subtle and without too much in the way of flamboyance. After things like Pit Pony (link) and Urban Pig (link) this is going to have a lot to live up to - a full body of malt and oatmeal, a deep plateau of chocolate, a burn of soft honey...

Smooth cream on the tongue, lighter than a dessert stout but more than a milkshake IPA. Soft, like down but without the drying dusty quality. Slips over the tongue, not too heavy or wet. There's a familiarity there, signature of the Urban Chicken stable but lacking the usual fullness that comes with it, almost like there's a gap in the ale somewhere where the rain gets in. The subtle warm honey gathers at the edges and briefly threatens proper violence before the almond makes itself known on the precipice. Then the cream remains along with the coating of honey to make the throat comfortable after a week of taking lessons.

It's not bad, not bad at all, but the subtle flavours are betrayed a little by the body of the stout itself, it lacks the oomph of what I have come to expect and lacks the thickness that would allow that understated darkness and lack of drama to become a proper player. Like a music video mismatched to the soundtrack the notes are all there but remixed down and away from the original power and the necessary grab to make it all the way to the number one spot. Indeed, the strength of 5.5% ABV is hidden well, so that there is no unwelcome alcohol burn, but, at the same time, the body isn't enough to carry it. Had this been an imperial then maybe that could have built the power needed to let those subtle flavours shine brighter, but at least this isn't going to have me falling asleep when I've finished!

In the background the Cardigans tell me that they can erase and rewind, in a remix stripped down to the bass. It's a solid sentiment. But for the physical distance, the screens and the giving of details, the place is as it always was. As it should be. Happy chatter, good natured drinking. The quiet near the cans a haven as it has always been. The serious business of reviewing ale aside, it is clear that there is still life here and that the lockdown has left scars but not, thankfully, much else in the business.

Unassuming, that is how I like to think of this part of the Crafty One, like the stout. It's not a heavy thick weight like the imperials I've had of late. But it's not watery either. There's a lack of body that I usually associate with the stouts of the Urban Chicken stable, sure, and there's an argument that none of the feature flavours are bold enough to make themselves felt as a consequence. Indeed, were it not for the pump clip I would have been hard pushed to identify any chocolate in this brew - my initial impression was that there wasn't any and even knowing that I was supposed to look for it, it doesn't really pounch above the warmth of the honey. And that, itself, is but a shade. There's a hint it could be bigger but the watery nature does rather dominate as you go for bigger swigs even if the honey rapidly fills in and prevents anything too untoward.

A car starts to careen on a long desert highway. The almond builds sip on sip, an element of biscuit and Battenburg, crowding that honey with a slightly drier taste. No drying of the mouthfeel but less wet. Like a good wetsuit or a lady driving a car with her feet. No, it's the wrong music video for the song, but the games are gone for now: everyone has lost their favourite. Luckily this stout remains.

A glimmer of an end, a promise of grander things. And a reminder that two brewers can be greater than the sum of their parts. I am glad that I came out to have this one. I am glad that it was brewed and available. It is great to know that collaborations such as this exist. But it does not compare as well as one might hope to the greats that I have had in the past. The almond never really rises to make the grade as it ought, though it is there in the dry nuttiness, and the chocolate is just too subtle to really make a difference. The honey plays its part, trying to cover for the carbonation (or the lack thereof, not a bad thing in and of itself), but, again, never really has the power needed to make the most of the contribution. Someone else opined that maybe it was oats that were missing, something to give that cream something to ride on and surf down, something to let that honey hang around a bit longer and be counted. I don't know, I am no brewer. If you are able, and you feel safe enough, then this is worth venturing to the pub to have, absolutely. As critical as I am, this is still good ale and a decent stout, it won't be around very long!

However, what must last, what must survive: this place. It is good to be back. I didn't realise how much I'd missed it but that is testament to the deliveries during lockdown. Highly welcome, very appreciated, but they could never replace a visit.

And so, as I'm here, I follow up this stout with a DDH IPA from Howling Hops called Top Buzzer. This is a thick hop-forward beast of an ale, still 5.6% ABV and a great fruity follow up to the dry almond aftertaste of the main event. I can heartily recommend it for the citrus power and the bright colour to match the gregarious mouthfeel. That isn't the review though, so I shall leave it at that!

Wake Up and Smell the Gose

 It's a weekend. Just in case that passed you by! And, well, I have some excellent ales bought in from the Crafty One, a fantastic pub in the shape of The Burnt Pig and so, obviously, I'm deciding to drink an ale I got on special at the local supermarket. Because of course I am. Now, full disclosure, I have never been a fan of Gose as a style of ale, but these were on offer!

I refer, of course, to Wake Up and Smell the Gose from those wonderful people at Eviltwin Brewing. I remember them mainly because of the Molotov Cocktail I had that one time in Leeds (link). But here I am trying a Gose. Would you like to know more?

On the opening of the can (and it's all canned nowadays) one is hit by the aroma, as always. This grows on the pour and it took me a while before I could properly place it - it is, of course, a blueberry bush. Not the blueberries themselves, more on ytem later, but the bush. We have one growing in the garden and, this year, we had a decent crop from it. Being out in the garden during the hot weather that was and is the harbinger of mass extinction this year meant that I got to smell it more than I am used to, and this ale smells a lot like that bush. This is not an unpleasant experience, it's a comforting and welcome smell. When one lifts this to drink it is accompanied by the smell of a bush and then salt, plenty of salt. Again, not unwelcome, but decidedly different.

Once in the mouth, and that is the best place for any ale, one is allowed to have something of a three-part journey. It opens with a distinct fruity burst, definite blueberries here. The actual berries, not the bush, and with plenty of carbonation. This seems hop forward and is very much part of the added puree that the can tells me was used. Again, this is unexpected from a Gose (well, by me, who has avoided them for the best part of a few years) but not unwelcome. Then the middle hits and it's all Saison and slightly citric but heavily salty. This is the part of the profile that I find the least enticing and the bit that reminds me the most of the Gose that I had a long time ago (did I even review that?) in that it is a bit too salty. But, for that, there is that hint of a sour edge and I am long a convert to sours, so that is good. In short, the middle part of the taste is very confusing for me but not unpleasant. then it ends, abruptly, with a slight yeastiness and some lactose to fill things out and the softer part of the blueberry tang on the opening lingering by the back of the throat.

In the aftertaste, one still has to reckon with the salt from the middle, but there is plenty of the blueberry puree and lactose remaining to soften it and spread it out. Now, I am a big fan of salt in my food: from bacon to eggs to... oh, well, basically a Full English Breakfast. I like salt. I have not usually enjoyed it in an ale before. But this... this works. I... I like it. It does say that it is an Imperial Breakfast Gose and, well, it is a Sunday (I may have had a Full English Breakfast for tea just now) and so it does rather fit the general mileu of the day. Mind you, is it Imperial at 6.5% ABV? I don't know. I'm not going to argue with a brewery that is this good however and they say it is. So I guess it is.

Would I have this for breakfast? You know, I perhaps would. In the right circumstances, I think it would be a proper morning ale and the sort that wouldn't leave you trying to get through the day half cut and with nary a thought you can hold together. As it is, I am having it late on a Sunday afternoon having done nothing of any great consequence (the lawn remains unmowed, the floors unvacuumed, etc etc) and it is pleasant and welcome. The biggest thing here is the fact that I bought one on offer yesterday and had it with tea too - prompting me to buy more today. And, as I say, I'm not a Gose fan. A back-handed compliment it may be, but it is a big one.

B.P.A.V.K.

 It's a chocolate, strawberry, marshmallow, Imperial Stout in a 440ml can and it has been waiting for me for a while. So it was past time that I got round to it and I have the excuse of having been back at work proper for a week and a couple of days. Doesn't sound like much (hats off to all the amazing people who worked through the summer) but it has been reasonably full on.

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A fair while back now, I ordered a strawberry chocolate marshmallow imperial stout from

The Crafty One Bar and Bottle Shop

. It was, of course, duly delivered to my door.

I have now opened the can. I have begun to drink. It smells very strongly of strawberry chocolate marshmallow - heavier on the sweet end than the strength of the chocolate with a hint of Angel Delight hanging around the corners. Despite it being 10% ABV it tastes very sweet and welcoming. Dangerously so. And it is soft on the mouth, like a bit puffy marshmallow - who would have thunk?

On the sides of the mouth there is a bare hint of slippery chocolate mousse but this is mainly confected strawberry and sugar. It's gone down well with Willow. Very reminiscent of the original Dessert in a Can that I had a few years ago, actually, and about the same strength. The addition of the strawberry really helps with the enormous sweetness of the marshmallow and stops it being the sort of thing that makes my teeth feel all funny. However, the strength of the alcohol definitely rests in the stomach - making it easier to kick back a bit after a full week back. I moan, but it has been a full week and the students have clearly been happy to be back, making it good to be back.

Not much head, the aroma continues all the way down the glass. Ray Stanz would likely enjoy this on a cold winter's evening or out camping. Zuul would probably enjoy making it into something that would destroy all mankind, and it would be largely unthreatening were it not for the huge ABV. That alone would annoy Venkman by stepping on a church, to be honest. Still, at least the crossing of the streams would allow the Angel Delight strawberry goodness to cascade over the remains of the battle to allow for joyous consumption for a long while afterwards. Assuming you don't mind it having been irradiated.

In short and in closing, this is a good ale with which to end the week and likely to allow for some heavy sleep. Enjoy it, dive into the pool of whipped milk sugar-laced high-E-number count pink eighties icon material, swim luxuriously in the wafting aroma of deep strwaberry joy and allow the dark heart of this stout to wipe out all of mankind in keeping with the schemes of a spirit that thinks it's a god and is currently possessing a human from a fridge. At least, I think so, that may be the plot of a film with Bill Murray instead.