Beer?

[srw]

View attachment 120776

Choices, choices.

The Kernel was a bit meh. Not properly integrated - a rather strange hybrid of Guinness with some fairly restrained floral hops.

The Seven "double brown stout" (7%, Orbit brewery of London) is delicious. Not sure why it's "double brown", but there you go. The bottle says "complex chocolate notes give way to a fervently bitter finish. Stoic yet sophisticated." and for once the taste lives up to the blurb - or at least its first sentence. And I can't describe what it tastes like better than the bottle, so I won't bother.

The other two beers are cellaring in the fridge, and I'll see whether I get onto either today.

 

[srw]

Well. "Bold as brass black barley wine, brewed with English and German malts and American and New Zealand hops"

"Whenever we get together with Steel City, something pretty daft usually happens. On this occasion, with Hopcraft also on board, we tried to rein it in a little and not go too mad with the hops. Instead we opted for as much malt as we could possibly get into a 10 barrel brew. Then threw in some Carafa Special III malt and a large amount of hops for good measure. The resulting black barley wine is a boozy combination of rich malts, dark fruits and New World hops".

It's 10.4% and opaque. It tastes a bit like molasses up front but has an enormously long and very bitter end. This is going to make it sound revolting, but it's a bit like the singed bits from a Christmas cake that has been left in the oven too long.

Very chewy, very complex, and really rather good. And as it's warming up from it's "cellared" temperature in the glass, the alcohol sweetness is coming through more and more.

 

[srw]

Incidentally, I don't know whether there's a special supplier, but both Seven and Argy Bargy have labels made with very unusual high-friction non-slip paper. It's almost as if they're designed not to slip out of the hand when you're drinking from the bottle - which is illogical as they're both bottle-conditioned.

 

[srw]

Oh, and you can add malt loaf to the description of that black barley wine. Proper cyclist's beer.

I'm now looking at the clock, considering the empty driveway and the text I got from @rvw saying that she'd popped into the pub for one small drink after her rehearsal, and wondering whether she will make it home before I stir myself into the kitchen to open the first tin of beer I've bought for an absolute age.

 

[rich p]

View attachment 120776

Choices, choices.

What's the verdict on the worktop @Aperitif

 

[Crackle]

What's the verdict on the worktop @Aperitif

Marbellous.

 

[rich p]

No pics, so I can sense your disappointment, but 2 Duvel, a Brewdog Vagabond, Brewdog Punk and a Yeastie Boy Gunnamatta. I'll sleep the sleep of an innocent.

 

[rich p]

Marbellous.

Ouch!

 

[srw]

The beer won. For something called "Smog Rocket" it's remarkably subtle. The last smokey beer I had (from DP's favourite brewery, DeMo) was a bonfire monster. This is a sitting-room hearth sometime in May, with the last hints of February's wood fire persisting in the background. And I don't think that's because I've blasted my palate with black barley wine.

The website says:

Inspired by London’s Industrial Revolution when Smog filled the air and the Porter was the beer of the people. An original home brew recipe using 9 different malts including a good chunk of smoked ‘Rauchmaltz’ from Bamberg, Germany. Big flavour hits of molasses, raisins and caramel are cut with the resinous US hop Chinook. Smokey aromas fly, reminiscent of the smoke stacks of industrial London.

Style
Smoked Porter

ABV
5.4%

IBU
29

Malt
Best, Smoke, Caramalt, Crystal, Oats, Munich, Brown, Chocolate, Black

Hops
Magnum, Chinook
http://www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk/beer/smog-rocket/

Actually, it's really rather good as a nightcap. There is, I'm afraid, a hint of tinny flavour, particularly in the froth (it produces a Crackle-worth head). It's not desperately challenging, but the smokey flavour is a bit like a peaty Islay scotch. And drinking it feels a bit like drinking a can of low-cal sugar-free Waitrose Ginger Beer after the gorgeousness of the others.

So, if I benchmark Seven as a very appropriate 7/10, I think Argy Bargy deserves 8/10, Smog Rocket 5/10 and Kernel India wotsit 3/10.

 

[martint235]

A pint of Martini Rosso with a splash of Baileys sounds proper tasty

That takes me back to my Uni days...

 

[MossCommuter]

I am unable to like any of @srw 's posts because some bastard appears to have bunged some wine, vermouth and cream based alcopop all over the photo

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I am only still viewing this thread to monitor 'Spoons prices. £2.39.

<Mary Poppins>
"Feed the Mossy £2.39 a pint, £2,39 a pint"

 

[CaadX]

I am unable to like any of @srw 's posts because some bastard appears to have bunged some wine, vermouth and cream based alcopop all over the photo

Has weatherspoons sorted out that rouundabout down at the trafford centre yet ?

 

[theclaud]

There is, I'm afraid, a hint of tinny flavour

You couldn't possibly be imagining that, I suppose?

 

[srw]

You couldn't possibly be imagining that, I suppose?

Now you mention it, it might have been a gustatory hallucination, or it might have been the tinny flavour of a mass-produced beer.

We need a blind tasting.