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.

Critical Temperature

Thank goodness that the weather has calmed! I mean, tropical storm, but at least it's not another heatwave. 2020 has brought many things (and I do mean to blog about some of them) but heatwaves... well, there's been rather too many of them. It seems, therefore, somewhat fitting that when I popped into The Crafty One Bar and Bottle Shop (largely because I could) that I pick up a coffee-porter by the name of Critical Temperature from Atom because, well, it is.

It's a mark of how long it's been since I have blogged that I honestly can't recall if this is the first mention of the brewery or not. Still, it's not terribly important if it is or it is not. Would you like to know more?

The style, coffee porter, rather gives a few things away from the off: it's not a stout, it's not sweet and it's not a stout. It does this because the name includes the hidden word: porter. And coffee. In fact, it rather tells you that you're not in for a dessert experience. Which is perfect, because I was attempting to recreate the experience of an annual trip to the Proms with my father and brother, which includes a decent ale on the train to London. The fact that it has coffee in it, in the name at least, means that it is the sort of ale that would usually feature on such a trip as a pick-me-up rather than a put-me-to-sleep. And so it proves on the pour. I shall be honest, it has not been long since I got it from the shop and I walked rather quickly back, so it was a bit fizzier than I would have liked and was a bit lively in the glass!

That said, it calms quickly and rapidly expands in aroma. It has a pleasant sort of roasted smell up close, putting me in mind of the old coffee shop on Bank Street in Carlisle that I don't even know whether or not still exists. So, making a reference to a particular smell that probably no one reading this will know. I'm a man of the people, I am, regular populist. Anyway, where was I? Oh, Carlisle, on a train. Yes, this is coffee heavy up close and as someone who isn't a huge fan of coffee you might think this was a bad thing. But it's not. It's hard and meaty, it knows what it is and it is definite and not insipid. These days, few ales are. But this is a definite aroma and, for that, it is good. Like one expects of a porter, it knows its way around, guv. Good colour, dark and swirling, and a nice head on it.

Into the taste and I was surprised. A lot of my drinking has been dessert stouts (like the amazing Desserts in a Can from Amundsen that I hope I will get round to talking about on here) and so the fact that this is not sweet is something of a change. Once I had got over my initial confusion, borne almost entirely out of expectation, then we were into the real territory. Second sip! Bit fizzy around the edges, soft and velvety in the middle, with the texture of flat cola. This is not a bad texture for a porter to have, it is smooth and gentle. The aroma plays a role, of course it does, pushing for a rougher edge that never quite appears, and the roof of the mouth plays host to the dryness of the bubbles and the coffee taste. The roast never dominates, never pushes aside, and the dryness never becomes bitter - but it remains not sweet. As it pulsates down to the back of the throat there isn't any roar of the alcohol, and it is 5.5% so it's no lightweight, and then it drains pleasingly down the throat like a cough lozenge without the sugar. What I'm saying is, it's a porter done well with coffee overtones, exactly what it says it's going to be.

As I am not, in fact, on a train; this beer works well for me. I can imagine it being the sort of ale that I would enjoy on a trip to London and the sort of size that would make for amusing tales of how I managed to find a glass/cup that would take it. It's 440ml, which appears to be something of an industry standard now. Back when I was posting more regularly such ideas were far off and bottle still dominated (was it really only two years ago?) but I have spotted a definite trend to this size. I'm not complaining, it meant that the lively head and pour was well contained by my pint glass!

And yes, it moves through the glass well. the first taste is very much a facet of the coffee, but as I get through the ale I find that it remains dry without becoming rough and brusque. It stays smokey without becoming like a BBQ sauce or paprika spice. In short, the more I drink, the clearer the balance becomes in the taste and I can't and won't complain. Unlike the very hot weather that has had me in actual shorts for a while (I know, and I call myself a northerner too! Mind you, I don't even have a big coat) this has been comfortable and pleasant. It's not an A-Team theme tune but it is a nice little drinker to have on the way to somewhere (my somewhere will have takeaway Chinese food and a Prom performance on the telly) without spoiling one's appetite or making one tipsy enough not to be able to enjoy another ale.

One thing has been pretty constant, I don't tend to have more than a single beer on any given day, because I am a. a lightweight and b. boring. Oh, and 3. me. Anyway, this is the sort of ale that, if you give enough space, you can probably risk having something else later. I like that. One final point: it does say treacle on the can, I can't detect it but that doesn't mean it's not there. I suspect that is what stops it getting too dry for me and keeps things balanced, but I honestly can't say I spotted it. Maybe it's the texture (I went with velvety rather than treacle, but the effect is much the same).

Drink best when waiting for something with anticipation. Autumn. Waiting for winter. Leaves are golden, squirrels are eating acorns and there's a band playing in the park bandstand with an accordion, drum and fiddle. Somewhere there are women singing in harmonies without instruments. There are pine trees and a bat is courting a maiden fair. Hoo-hoo, says the wise owl and you take a sip that lets the alcohol warm and the coffee keep alert. Settle, rest, sip again and close your eyes...

Headband

It's been a long day and I have been bombarded a little with events - football in the morning (not playing, you understand, watching my children play, exhausting enough) through to a centenary in our local park and then an arduous slog to the Crafty One bottle shop in Ilson with a small child to try and get them to sleep. I tell you, it's a hard life being a parent and harder still buying and drinking all these beers. Honestly, it's like I get no rest. So it is that, tonight, on a dark and slightly cooler evening than the rest of the week I am compelled to try a bit of brewed summer in a can from those rather clever folks at Verdant Brewing Co. again. Tonight's effort is called Headband and comes in a rather delightful orange labelled can. I got it in to have down at my father's back on Tuesday but we never got round to it. You can find out what we did get round to by clicking here. In the meantime, time to get down with this can.

I've already opened it and poured and, as as spoiler, I just said 'wow' even though there is no one in the room to hear me. Make of that what you will. Would you like to know more?

New England IPA V2

It was a while ago now, but we had a lovely friend come to stay and visit. You may remember her as the Belgian with whom I drank some beer back in 2014 (find that by clicking the word clicking). However, all of this is mere prelude as I wanted to share something a bit special and had picked this up from my local bottle shop with the exhortation to 'savour it'. I'd picked it up on a whim as I'd missed that they had any in, but seeing a collaboration between the giants of the craft scene, BrewDog  and Cloudwater meant that I really had to part with a sizeable fee to see what happened.

Before getting down to this I have seen many opinions expressed on this ale and I should point out that I did not have those in mind when having this. I had intended to follow it up with other ales but, for reasons that will become obvious, I did not. Would you like to know more?

Delirium

I picked this one up sometime in March,I think, because I was so keen to get hold of one and it was the first time I'd really seen one in the wild. Well, at least at a time I could get my grubby mitts on it. Then circumstances and me being busy at work meant that I really didn't have the time to get round to drinking it. So it was stored in the dark of the understairs cupboard for a while then moved into the pantry in expectation of actually drinking it and there it stayed through the heatwave before being returned to the cupboard. Then we had a few moments, my Boy and I got back from the park and I had the time and inclination to have a beer in my garden.

I refer, of course, to that mighty ale from Belgium, in advance of having our favourite Belgian over to stay, from Huyghe that comes in the form of Delirium with all the elephants on it. Alas, not a stoneware bottle but a glass one painted to look the same. Not being stoneware may well have led to the experience, but that may just be me. Would you like to know more?

Superluminal

I shall be honest, I got this in as I misread the label and thought it was the amazing Subluminal stout, but I'm not complaining. Buxton make a fantastic range and they've yet to put a foot wrong for me, so I was actually looking forward to this. A sort of birthday present and it's been sat in my fridge for what feels like an incredibly long time. However, the official marking period is now over, and I've broken up from work, time to surface with style!

Hot and humid weather, dark and grey outside, brooding and ready to rain. It is obviously the time to break out the big summer ale guns with this IPA and a sour touch. The last sour I had, Waimea Sour, in London did a great job with the humidity, so I have high hopes for this, Buxton Brewery's Superluminal sour IPA. Would you like to know more?

Session IPA Simcoe Mosaic

I have seen this brewery all over the online craft drinking circles and never heard a bad word about them, back last year I saw a chance to get hold of their DIPA from a micro-pub that my father took me to visit for a fiver and turned it down. Well, my local bottle shop announced that they had a crate of Cloudwater's Session IPA Simcoe Mosaic in and so I had to bob down and get some in. I don't even remember the price, I'm sure it was pricey, but I was keen to try it.

It was a sunny day too so, with lunch in hand, I was able to get out and sit in the garden on the picnic bench to enjoy it amid the sunshine and warmth. Would you like to know more?

Vermont Tea Party

Having finished a study task, as in a task set to study stuff, I charged the car and ensured that things were in order. Then I got bored and decided that reviewing an ale would be a good way to alleviate that feeling. Naturally I decided to go for something a little bit special and settled upon this Vermont Tea Party from Siren Craft Brewing because what's not intriguing about Earl Grey Tea in a beer? Okay, maybe that last part is just me. However, this brewery has not yet hit a false note and all the people I see drinking their stuff give positive views. I must assume they know what they're doing!

It's grey skies out and the dark is gathering, I predict more rain before bedtime. A pale will do a good job of conjuring some sunshine methinks. Would you like to know more?

Lupuloid IPA

I heard these were on in my local bottle shop and carefully planned my route going shopping to ensure that I would accidentally pass the shop with enough money to get some in. I've seen these things flash by on the beer feeds and felt left out as everyone said how good it was. Well, tonight I get to try it for myself and find out what I've been missing.

It's Lupuloid IPA from Beavertown Brewery and I am well-pleased to have it in my possession. Look at that can! I'm itching to get to the drinking and reviewing so would you like to join me by pressing the read more below frantically? Yes? Then do so!

Breakfast Stout

I am painfully aware that I haven't made it out into the garden this year. And today I was given opportunity to do just that. Equally, I am aware that today's ale is not one that is easily available. I am indebted to a friend on Twitter who asked to remain anonymous for today's stout, all that and they asked no payment - so I owe them, big time! Anyway, the subject of the review on this crisp sunny spring day is Breakfast Stout from Founder's who so impressed me back in the summer at Leeds International Beer Festival (see here).

My garden is some disarray, the lawn is unmown and the various beds are all a bit of a mess, in short it is a garden in need of TLC but that's no bad thing when there is a slight breeze, warm sunshine and a brightness that makes me narrow my eyes. Would you like to know more?

Eldon

I have been warned about this by other beer drinkers and reviewers. Which was a shame as I was ageing it at first and looking forward to having it. Still, here we are at the end of a long winter in a new year that has delivered the promise (if that is the right word) of that which has preceded it. In short, I am in a mood to contemplate ale and disappointment. So, bring it on! It's time for another speciality Sunday and tonight I am reviewing the much-reviled Eldon from Thornbridge because I can and because I would like to.

The warnings are that this is saccharine sweet and a bit too fizzy, not befitting an Imperial Stout, but let's test that assumption. Would you like to be delving deeper?

Millionaire

I may be having these the wrong way round. I have decided that the Billionaire (click here) has pretty much ruined beers for me because it was so good that it is hard now to have another stout that can even get close. It even made me wait a while before daring to chance tonight's guest to be reviewed, that being the rather respected and sought after Millionaire. This is also by Wild Beer and is the sort of poorer cousin, one would assume from the names.

Anyway, it is a stout after a busy week of hard graft and little sleep. Mainly because I am lazy. Yeah, like a fox! Would you like to know more?

Chocolate Porter

Another speciality Sunday that is supported by my patronage of the Crafty One Bottle Shop in my locale of Ilson. I can't claim that it is supported in any way beyond the fact that I popped in and got me some chocolate ales and heavy stouts and porters for this dark part of the year. The window resounds with rain, the night with cold. It's a night for some porter and some chocolate to make me feel a bit better. Tonight it's the return of the rather maligned Meantime who sold out and I first encountered back last summer on holiday at Center Parcs. It's their Chocolate Porter because I didn't telegraph that at all!

I do rather like the shape of their bottles, if truth be known, and if I ever get a bottle capper I suspect I I shall hoard these for to use with my own brewing. Would you like to know more?

Billionaire

I've been looking forward to this. I had intended to have it on the same night as the Saint Petersburg (click here) but then didn't due to a combination of indolence and light-weightedness. Thus it has waited a week, coldly rejected on the shelf, and eyeing me carefully and suspiciously as one would a potentially useful contact in the black market. However, a long week and an odd morning, all self-induced, mean that a strong one ("it's a bit pokey" warned the nice man in the bottle shop) is just what I fancy now.

I refer to the Billionaire from Wild Beer Co. and it promises a great deal in the chocolate stout department, enough to tempt me out to the bottle shop to get the Millionaire as a potential after, but we'll see. Would you like to know more?

Saint Petersburg

I miss speciality Sundays. But, wait, what's this? I have an imperial stout from Thornbridge Brewery that I picked up from the local bottle shop just sitting around and begging to be drunk. And, you know, when you see one of these it's just rude not to buy and imbibe as soon as possible. So, I suppose I ought to mind my manners and turn straight to the tasting of Saint Petersburg, an imperial Russian stout that ought to bring all kinds of love and happiness into the room and my proceedings.

I do have a bit of a fondness for Imperial Russian Stouts, it would appear, and I am an historian of Russia generally, so I guess what I'm saying is, chto delat?

Beer Review: Law of the Land

This week I 'ave been mostly in Lincoln. Basically, a place I usually go one day for a trip I ended up there on three consecutive days. And, what do you know, there are plenty of ale shops (including a lovely bottle shop that had a specimen of Sink the Bismarck in it, but too rich for my budget) - by the end of the third day, as I get rather stressed on trips, I caved in and bought some of the special ales they had in the castle. So it is that today I decided that I should break from my marking and enjoy a look at the Law of the Land brewed to celebrate last year's 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta by Batemans Brewery and only just still in date (being best before the end of June 2016).

Couple that with a warm and bright day, if not terribly sunny, involving much ferrying about and rushed shopping (I was up late last night marking like a berk) and it seemed like the perfect moment to sit a little in the garden. I say seemed, because I tired of that and retired indoors fairly soon after starting because it was a bit too close out there.

Not even a King can escape the Law of the Land so would you like to know more?

Beer Review: Fired Oak Scotch Ale

So it's time I returned to my roots, I guess. And by my roots I mean going back to an old favourite pastime, reviewing speciality ales on a Sunday. Of course, most of those ales were from the Innis & Gunn stable and so it makes sense that when I have a bottle of speciality ale from them that I review it as a Sunday ale. Also I am boring and thus always like to keep some semblance of a pattern - it's almost like I plan things in advance.

Tonight, then, it is my pleasure to review Fired Oak Scotch Ale that I picked up rather cheaply locally - and I haven't seen it anywhere else. This could be a good or a bad thing, but past reviews from the brewery suggest a better hit rate than a miss rate and so I am reasonably confident that I am in for something that will at least warrant my time spent typing up the review.

Would you like to know more?

Beer Review: Dunkel Fester

What ho! It is coming up to Hallowe'en and, unlike last year (see here), I thought that I would actually have and review an ale early enough that people could act upon it to buy in ale for Hallowe'en. Novel, I know. Of course, All Hallow's Eve, held around the same time of year as Samhain, is very much a Christian festival with the superstition of 'evil spirits' woven in for good measure as the nights turn longer and darker. Samhain, being a festival of light, has more in common with the very British Bonfire Night, which is also associated with Autumn bonfires and, well, the equinox. All of which is a very long-winded way of saying: I had some Dunkel Fester in the garden today, by Wychwood, and decided to review it here for your delectation.

Thankfully, I shan't be plumbing any further into the history of the events of October (and so any errors are mine and shall forever remain errors) as I enjoy the ale more than I enjoy splitting hairs over historical things (and for those of you that know me, you know that this is high praise indeed). So, would you like to know more?

Beer Review: Toasted Oak IPA

The weather was fine and warm, the garden was full of the scents of growing things and the buzzing of bees, I had a mountain of work to do that I was (and am) studiously avoiding on such a day and so it was definitely time for a beer. More than that, Willow had sent me out to find some compost on the proviso that I could have an ale in the afternoon, and I am not one that needs telling twice. It's a Sunday, it's sunny, my garden is free and I have a presentation pack to be getting through so it was perhaps inevitable that I would end up with something from the Innis & Gunn stable. One day I may be able to convince them, by force of will I suppose, to pay me to drink their brews but, until such time, I shall drink them by paying for them like pretty much everyone else.

The bench was rapidly running out of sun, so I ended up supping the Toasted Oak IPA on my feet and standing near the deep bed. This may sound awkward but I am made of such stern stuff and thus was unfazed by it.

Are you still in a mood to read further? You are? Oh good, then read on!

Beer Review: Rum Finish

Another week behind me now and I only messed up once. I do enjoy a good debate but am still feeling guilty for not noticing that I had offended someone in one. Whoops. Also, much in the way of marking (all my own making of course) means a long weekend. I can't complain, there's a new Star Wars trailer out and the Boy has joined me in getting all excited. I just hope it's not like Episode 1. Anyway, it's Sunday and I fancied breaking into my gift box set of Innis & Gunn that I treated myself to. I've started, at random (I just plucked the first bottle out without looking), with the Rum Finish and I have to say I'm looking forward to it.

Would ye like to come with me on a sail through the seas of insanity for to learn of an ale that be tickling yar tastebuds? Yar? Would ye be likin' t'know more?