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!

C is for...

My second review for Ben's Beer Alphabet.

I'm a fan of sour beers. Lambic and aged beers respectively. But some commercial examples are just not good. And Chapeau Gueuze is one of those. Mistakenly ordered from Drink Store (it was advertised as the Cuvee).

It certainly looks the part, thick green glass bottle with cork and crowned it could pass as one of the greats. Pouring a hazy brown, with thin white head with acetic redcurrant aroma. In the mouth it was cloyingly sweet, made my teeth stand on edge. Vinegar sour, no lactic character at all and just a hint of Brett. hay and manure its only redeeming feature. 

Its just about tolerable, but that's only because I'm reluctant to pour money down the drain.I think without fruit even those of sweet tooth would find this a struggle. Avoid!


Edit: I had to tip away the last third...

B is for...

Ben is running a weekly beer alphabet series on his blog, open to anyone who wishes to contribute. I had no "a" beers at home but have plenty of "b's". Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is a Barley wine, perfect for sipping in front of a crackling log fire as the nights draw in and the days are laced with frost.(I think I should score double as both the beer name an dthe beer style begin with b! )

It begins unassuming as if a regular bitter, bit the Seville orange marmalade and toffee notes hint at what lies within its mysterious ruby-mahogany depths.Dusty candy sugar and Turkish delight on the nose. A fluffy tan head which soon collapses to a lacing. The first sip, oh my, what is this? Pithy bitter bomb. This is not what I expected! One of the hoppiest beers I've come across from Sierra Nevada and plenty of booze too at 9.6%. Crisp carbonation thick body sweet and pithy. Alcohol punch, big bitter finish.