Beer Alphabet G: Hardknott Granite

Resplendent in Hardknott glass

This is a beer that's been sat in my cupboard for a while, waiting for an excuse to #OpenIt.

Its an interesting drop. Very boozy indeed and akin to liquid Christmas cake. I like it, though perhaps a 330ml bottle would have been more appropriate! The 2011 vintage was bottled a few weeks ago, look out for it!

It pours deep ruby brown, with little in the way of carbonation or head formation. Damsons and sultanas and some marscapone cheese, plenty of booze too!Slightly marmitey yeast finish with a lot of alcohol warmth. Perhaps a hint of beetroot in the earthy after-taste! Certainly one for drinking at the end of the evening, perhaps with some decent unpasteurised milk cheddar such as Keen's and some oatcakes, wish I had some!

Wake up and smell the...

Coffee is probably my favourite non-alcoholic beverage. So when married with my favourite alcoholic beverage a match in heaven is formed (in my view, of course, to some coffee beer is akin to marmite). What's more the combination of beer and caffeine seems to work immediately, rather than a few hours later as with regular coffee.

A slew of brewers have been including coffee in their brews recently...or at least aging it over beans.I've reviewed a couple before...Hardknott Vitesse Noir and Summer Wine Barista.

There's always room for more coffee beers in my mind and with the creme de la creme of craft brewers indulging us I thought I may as well partake.

De Molen Kopi Luewak is dark brown-black with fizzy cola head. Rich and fruity nose with plenty of rich coffee flavour and a long fruity coffee finish. the high ABV (11.2%) is well hidden.

Kernel Coffee IPAs -In a world of stouts with coffee its refreshing to try a pale ale brewed with coffee, the fruity flavours pair well with those found in new world hops. I was lucky enough to try both batches. The first had tangerine and sherbert on the nose and an initial tart gooseberry followed by plenty of roast coffee and a pithy citrus/bitter coffee finish. Good mouthfeel, not to oily. Batch 2: Darker Amber with coffee much more to the fore on the nose. At first tangerine and a bitter sweet malt with long coffee finish. Well balanced this one. Mark Dredge's thoughts on this beer are here and Mark Beer.Birra.Bier here.

De Struise Black Damnation II - Mocha Bomb is another dark coffee beer, with a rich and fruity nose andh rich coffee flavours. Theres a roasted barley astringency to the finish. Some hints of vanilla appear further down the glass.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel (slightly disturbing video there) has a near cult status as it uses coffee reclaimed from the poo of the civet, supposedly the freshest you can get. Rich and viscous black pour with temporary teak head. Subtle smoky coffee on the nose. Coffee fills the mouth and coats every surface with underlying chocolate and a ling roasty and astringent finish. Alcohol tingle but otherwise very well balanced.

As for my favourite? Well at the time of drinking I rated Hardknott Vitesse Noire the highest, with the De Molen Coming in right behind.

So get some ocffee beers in your life if you haven't done so already! With at least one more coffee stout planned in the near future (Summer Wine KopiKat) 2012 looks set to be as caffeine fueled as 2011.

#StoutDay Black as...

...insert a very black thing here.

No brewery these days seems complete without an imperial stout in their line-up and I've managed to build up quite a collection; so its time to make use of #StoutDay to get some of them drunk.

Well that was the plan until I ended up having to take the day off sick, so just the one review in the end, the brand new offering from Hardknott Brewery (delivered to me yesterday morning) Vitesse Noir (11%). Billed as a Triple imperial vanilla mocha stout it was something I was keen to try. It looks lovely in the Hardknott snifter glass, which I have a feeling I'll be using fairly frequently in the future.

So on to the beer. It pours into the glass a luxurious velvety black with just a hint of a tan head. The aroma is immediately delicious and rich coffee, like walking into a coffee shop just as they've turned the percolator on. Beneath this coffee there are notes of juicy red cranberries and blackcurrant, inviting you to take a taste.I duly do so and find a lovely rich and aromatic coffee flavour waiting for me, followed in short shrift by plain chocolate and vanilla sweetness. As this departs the palate a bitter coffee and roast barley flavour appears briefly to be replaced by a lasting rich malt sweetness and a touch of orange peel. The alcohol remains well hidden throughout and its smooth, thick body slips down easily, resulting in the glass soon needing a refill. I heartily recommend you try this now!

I had planned to also review Mikkeller/Brewdog/NogneO Black Tokyo Horizon and a couple of others, but they will have to wait for another day!

CABPOM October: Dorset Blue Vinny & De Dolle Oerbier

I've decided to get my cheese and beer pairing up early this month as its British cheese week this week.

 

Dorset Blue Vinney nom nom nom

Whilst at Factoberfest I picked up some Dorset Blue Vinney. Ashamedly I have not yet tried this cheese despite having lived adjacent to the county for the first 23 years of my life (first in Somerset and then in Hampshire). A slightly less pungent cheese than stilton, it still has the ripe fruit and goaty flavours that you would associate with a blue. A word of warning, the outer rind is not edible!

Hardknott Æther Blæc nom nom nom

Looking through my beer cupboard I selected a British beer to match this British cheese: Hardknott Æther Blæc 28 y/o whisky aged. Having had the 27 y/o I was hoping this stout would be able to stand up to the cheese. In the nose it was all there, the ripe cranberries and sweet caramels would match this cheese. Together though they jarred perilously. The whisky notes (which when drinking the beer alone give a warm glow) took on an unpleasant metallic note with the cheese.

 

 

 

Cheese and beer double nom nom nom!

De Dolle Oerbier

Back to the cupboard then and I picked out De Dolle Oerbier, a 9% Belgian monstrosity. This was a bit of a gusher, it took me two minutes to get the lid off. When I finally got it poured it had an aroma of pineapple, fruity, yes but not quite the same as you'd find in a blue cheese. However when the two came together it was like magic on the palate. The gentle carbonation helped to scrub the sticky cheese from the palate whilst the cheese found ripe hedgerow fruit flavours in the beer that previously the yeasts' esters had hidden. The oatcakes I ate with the cheese brought out some of the malt character too making for a rounded drinking experience, with the alcohol providing a lasting warmth to brace against the oncoming winter (It may be an Indian summer in England but it certainly isn't here in Northern Ireland!).

So that's it then, cheese and beer pairing of the month is Dorset Blue Vinney and De Dolle Oerbier. I daresay another Belgian strong ale would pair equally well, but i think it needs to be a hard fruity blue, stilton wouldn't quite work and neither did the blacksticks i also tried.