Total eclipse of the palate

Its sometimes interesting to compare two or more beers in a series, to find out what different treatment can bring to the flavour of the beer. Sunturn brew is an 11% barley wine from our Norwegian friends  Nøgne Ø. This one is brewed with 30% peat smoked malt and 20% rye malt. 

It pours impenetrable black with the merest suggestion of ruby brown corona when held up to the light. As you'd expect it reeks like an Islay whisky and peat is the only flavour in your mouth for the first few sips. Once the palate shock has subsided however, other flavours are allowed to come through. There's the juicy red berry rye flavours and a whole jumble of dried fruits and chocolate from the malt. Its a complex beer which evolves as you drink it and you certainly have plenty of time for contemplation as that alcohol is not shy about showing its head.

What happens when it is aged in a bourbon barrel then? in this case an unfortunate mess. It starts off promising with al the requisite vanilla and butterscotch on the nose, but the tasty peat phenols have disappeared altogether to be replaced with harsh alcohol flavours and unbearable caramel sweetness. If I'd kept some of the unaged version I dare-say they'd have made a beer greater than the some of its parts, but on its own the barrel aged version has just been left for far too long and is a struggle to get through.

What have we learnt then? It takes a deft hand to barrel age a beer well. We've also learnt that brewers will still try to sell their beer when its been ruined, especially if gullible beer buyers (this one included) will part with their cash for it.

#CABPOM October: Alesmith Old Numbskull and Cornish Blue.

Its been a few months, but that doesn't mean the cheese and beer pairing has fallen by the wayside. In fact its stepped up somewhat as I did 50 pairings in September and October in preparation for the e-book I am writing. I still had some spare time (and more importantly spare cheese!) to do a pairing for the blog though.

 

This month its a Trans-Atlantic mash-up with a beer from across the pond and a cheese from sunny Cornwall. I picked up the beer (a bottle of Alesmith Old Numbskull if you haven't yet read the post title) from Brewdog online. There are still some left if you're quick. At £15.29 its at the pricier end of the spectrum but for an 11% beer in a 750ml bottle its comparable to the price of a bottle of wine (and in my view much tastier).

It pours dark amber with fluffy off-white head. Amazing sticky orange marmalade and underlying ginger-snap biscuits. Quite sweet, light bodied, oranges, crystal malt, orange pith, balanced with malt bitterness. Touch of mango, long dry orange juice fairly pithy finish. It reminds me somewhat of Franciscan Well Bell Ringer with a bigger hop-hit.

The cheese is on the milder side of the blue spectrum, though still fairly funky and creamy. The pale yellow paste has a few slashes of blue bacteria which of course yield the most interesting flavours. Its also on the firm side for a cheese.

Initially the cheese is lost against the hop onslaught of the beer, but it soon regains ground stomping an hitherto unseen fruitiness into the middle of the mix. The gentler carbonation (Alesmith bottle condition expertly, some UK brewers could learn a thing or two) means the cheese sticks around a bit longer allowing a progression of flavours to develop. 

Its a solid, complementary pairing but I think a funkier, stickier blue cheese might even be better still. Try a Gorgonzola piccante or even a Shepherd's Purse Yorkshire Blue. For those of you that aren't blue inclined then you can't beat a good mature cheddar with a barley wine. The hops are pretty brash; so pick something with plenty of flavour.

I also got bottles of Wee Heavy, Yulesmith (summer), X and Speedway stout all of which were tasty, though the darker beers were perhaps a tad over-boozy. The pale ales were exceptional though and the 650ml bottles were finished in short shrift. I was aware of Alesmith from their rave reviews on rate beer, but now I have tried some I will definitely be looking out for others.

A pair of Bitches

Today is world whisky day and in honour of the occasion, what better than a whisky-barrel aged beer to celebrate? Two whisky barrel-aged beers of course!

Brewdog released their zany collaboration with Three Floyds, Bitch Please, about 6 months ago. That iteration was aged in a Jura cask. But they also secreted some away in Laphroaig casks. Laphroaig is widely accepted to be one of the peatiest drams out there, its phenolic and iodine-full character is certainly an acquired taste and one that I myself have only recently discovered.

I've gotten hold of one of the latter and decided to open alongside the original for a comparative tasting (as I am wont to do). Will my original thoughts on the beer hold true up against the souped up version?

The original first then. I gave this 4.3 out of 5 on ratebeer originally. I said "A lighter beer than I’d anticipated, chestnut brown with cream coloured head and a light level of carbonation. Fantastically complex nose, I can detect toffee, hops and smoked malt with some oak wood character. Smoky/peaty flavour certainly to the fore on the first taste with noticeable alcohol presence and a fruity sweetness that reminds me of toffos. Finishes with unmistakable sugar butteriness of shortcake an alcoholic warmth and the ghost of the wood. A good solid beer." and I largely stand by those thoughts, though the smoke and peat seem somewhat subdued in this bottle.

Two brothers in arms.

Its older, more boozy (13.5% vs 11.5%) brother next then. Its slightly darker but certainly appears the same beer.That is until you get a whiff of its aroma and its unmistakably been fraternising with that more southerly distillery. Phenol, smoke and deep heat are the order of the day and it tastes like inhaling a bonfire. The sweet toffee is still there but the subtleties are lost and replaced with vegetal peat, iodine and ash and a massive warming finish from that lovely ingrained whisky. Perhaps a touch of cola hidden in there too. Certainly an acquired taste and even one I can't take too much of. I still enjoyed the beer but it could perhaps have come out of the barrel sooner to retain some of the base beer characteristics.

As always, don't take my word for it, give it a go yourself. It may seem pricey, but for the strength its pretty decent. Both beers are still available in the Brewdog Online shop. I'm off for a wee dram.

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!

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.