Though I have two favourite
websites to purchase beer from – Beers of Europe and Beer Ritz – I am always
willing to try other companies if the choice excites me. After getting excited
about the choice on Beer Merchants, only to find they have nothing in stock, I
stumbled across Alesela via reading somebody’s blog (that I have since
forgotten whose, apologies.) I was
impressed with the offerings of predominantly Scottish brewers, many of whom I
was unaccustomed with, and decided to place an order.
Many of these Scottish Breweries
unfamiliar to me here are brewing beers in the styles favoured presently; Black
IPA’s and such forth being my meaning here. Many of the product descriptions
seemed to refer to American hops and big, aromatic flavours. So I tried to
purchase a range that would give me good judgement on these new breweries. I
purchased at least two beers from most of them. Below is a quick summary of one
of the beers tasted from the majority of the new breweries to me.
Cromarty arrived late 2011 and I
have seen their beers a couple of times, including BrewDog bars, but have never
punted for one. The description of Rogue Wave with its “mass of hop induced
flavours that will drown your taste buds” seemed perfect for my brewery baptism
and, ultimately, judgement. "Explicitally Hopped" it says. Unfortunately,
this seems to be a case of ‘hopped for aroma’ – it smells much better than it
tastes. There’s familiarity in the mango and passion fruit aroma over a caramel
malted spine. The taste, however, is a little thin bodied and weak with a
saaz like aftertaste. Those punchy, terse hops you can smell are not present
in the taste. Tad disappoi…FOOD - FOOD IS THE ANSWER! Halfway through this I
took a mouthful of Lindt Chocolate Intense Orange. I then took a swig of Rogue
Wave and all those hops I could smell before suddenly came and slaughtered my
tongue. They were waiting, for all things, for a big hit of chocolate orange.
It works and suddenly this is beautiful. Palate issues? Dehydration? I wouldn’t
have picked dark chocolate to balance a red ale, but it’s magic.
A brewery I’d sadly not heard of
before visiting Alesela, I really like Elixir’s branding. I bought several of
theirs and Cuzzy Brew is their Black IPA. However, though their can be many
definitions of this oxymoronic style, Cuzzy Brew, for all intents and purposes
is a stout. It’s an outstanding stout. A “modern stout,” if you wanted to be
truly anal. Unfortunately it's sold as a Black IPA. Apparently it's packed full
of Kiwi hops but this baby is dominated by a beautiful fresh coffee bean, melted
dark chocolate backbone that isn't a million miles from a toned down version of
your favourite Imperial Stout. Whilst the hops stick to your teeth to remind
you they are there, the malts wrestle your tonsils down your throat. It’s a
great beer. It’s stout.
Selling Beer for just over a
year, this is another Scottish Brewery I’d never even heard of but whose
packaging I really like. Though I was most looking forward to their Red Rye, I
started with Crail Special. I feel bad for not having had the "award
winning" Crail Pale to compare it too. A little paler and clearer than I
was expecting, this smells slightly sour, with a hit of lychees and dragon
fruit bordered with the scent of rotting apples. The taste is a lot more
flowery, a rather thin bodied, cherry sour feel with a little vinous
background. It's not unpleasant and is certainly easy drinking, but when you
look at the list of hops (Cascade, Chinook, Colombus and Mt Hood) you do expect
a fresher, citrus zing. Perhaps this is my fault for having such a
pre-judgement. This is more tangfastic than starmix. In the spirit of discovery
of the different I want to applaud this for being different, but the cynic in
me suggests this is more homebrew than revolutionary.
Whilst I still can’t remember the
blog that led me to Alesela, I do recall it was a post on Loch Ness Brewery.
Hoppyness pours hazy with an off-white head and is really potent on the nose,
with springtime spruces and zingy lemons. Once more, the aroma outfights the
taste. There’s a decent, peachy fruitiness to it, and a long, dry, bitter
finish. But a thin body with high carbonation makes for a muddled and
discerning brew that I enjoyed, but didn’t gasp for more.
Pours like clear coca cola which
is ironic considering the hint of maple coke sweetness over a milky chocolate
nose. This starts off like any promising Black IPA; well balanced between hits
of zesty citus and sweet, caramel malts. It's familiar but exciting. However,
it begins to settle into a rather thin, over carbonated, weak effort that
leaves a oily mouth and sour taste. Towards the end the taste seemed to have
evaporated. Maybe I should have tried food pairing once more?
Wow. Sometimes being proud of
your “award winning” status does you few favours. Everything about this
"Award Winning Pale Ale" I have judged on those remarks. I was
promised a Pale Ale with Slovakian, German, American and New Zealand hops, but
will concede that the tasting notes on the bottle are all about the malts. This
is useful as this beer was formed by taking malts from a maltings in Malta
whilst eating Maltesers. Timothy Taylor would be proud with this. Four
countries worth of hops couldn’t break through that barrier. I actually want
this to end. Malts!
According to my brother, Stewart
Brewing was all he saw on a recent trip to Scotland. Based on this beer, this
is good news for Scotland. I don’t like writing boring tasting notes, when I
feel I’m repeating myself, but this is very good. Think your other favourite
Black IPA, like Brodie’s or Thornbridge Raven. This is in that territory of
quality, but it’s the lower ABV that makes this stand out. This is definitely
the best Black IPA I can recall in the lower ABV range, managing to retain a
full, creamy body and long finish. Great stuff.
Trying new breweries is always
exciting and, whilst I won’t be dismissing any of these brewers based on one
beer, I felt I’ve got a good feel for what to expect from any of them at
present already. If I have learnt anything from this it may come from the Rogue
Wave, and that is to try bringing food in to my beer tasting more often to see
if I can find an extra depth. I bought all of these beers, and more from
Alesela here and their service was great.
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