Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 7th

The stouts must be in season or something...yesterday's beer was an 8% oatmeal stout courtesy of Mikkeller, today's beer is a 9% oatmeal stout courtesy of Brewdog.

So I guess we'll have a stout-off.

Brewdog - Hinterland
Hinterland would appear to be the complete opposite of Beer geek breakfast brunch big blend (BGBBBB, to save me typing that over and over) - I opened the bottle to be greeted by stillness, and there was very little foaming at all until I started to get a bit aggressive with the pour.

It's incredibly smooth.  The roasted flavours are soft and mellow, helped along by the sumptuous (yes, I'm like an M&S advert) malty backbone.  The rest of the flavours you can probably guess - coffee, dark chocolate, fruits.

Brewdog definitely wins this stout-off.

10/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 6th

I read a review of this beer before I bought it, and the word that stuck out was "gusher" - I know what they meant now.  After popping the cap it spewed out a dark brown frothy foam for a good while, before I gave up waiting and started pouring it.  Not that pouring helped - it crept all the way to the top of the glass, and then kept on creeping.

Mikkeller - Beer Geek Breakfast Brunch Big Blend
Barrel aged in six different casks - bourbon, brandy, cherry wine, cognac tequila and whisky.  Is there any need?

Yes, as it turns out.  Because it's nice!

This is one of the smoothest high ABV (8%) stouts I've ever had.  Great balance of sweetness and bitterness.  Though it's not remarkable in any other way, aside from the gushing and the terrific flavour.

Anyway, I can't write any more - it's given me the munchies.

8/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 5th

Delirium Noël - Delirium Christmas
It's just not Christmas without Delirium Christmas.  So it must not have been Christmas before because I don't think I've had it in the calendar before.  I put the tree up today so it's fitting.

The bottle says "STRONG BEER" on it.  They're not wrong.
It's a hefty 10%, and might be the second strongest beer in the calendar.
As you can see - it poured with a significant foamy head.  It smells fruity and sort of sweet/spicy.  It seems very energetic when you first start drinking it but it settles nicely.  It's really smooth, but if you're not a fan of yeasty flavours you probably won't enjoy it.

It is tremendous, though! Highly recommended.

9/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 4th

A new brewery! Huzzah!

Hopcraft opened Hopbunker in Cardiff (where BarFly used ot be) a while ago.  I've still not been there since I can't bring myself not to frequent Brewdog, UTH and the City Arms.

I've not heard great things about it from beery folk, but there might be promise if this beer is anything to go by.

Hopcraft - Maple Porter
This drink is cool.  It's quite typical, but very good.  Poured with a huge frothy head (my favourite kind of head) with some decent aromas.
Nice flavours, usual stuff (coffee, cocoa, dried fruits) with a decent bitter kick.  It's not very maple-like though.  According to this blog (if it is indeed the same beer as this 'edition') they struggled with obtaining the stuff so I wonder if that is a factor.

Anyway.  Nice beer.  I'm being stingy with scores though so it's only getting a...

6/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 3rd

Finally a beer I can talk about.

A while ago, Brewdog released a fundraising video, and caught a lot of flak for it from some overly-sensitive people (in my opinion).  So it was nice to see them release No Label, a beer with some strong LGBT themes and donating all the profit made from the beer to Queerest of the Queer.  Only to get more flak.  Nice.  Well the beer is nice!

Brewdog - No Label
This is a kolsch style beer, which I knew was from Cologne, but had to do some reading up on the beer science.  It's warm fermented, then lagered at low temperatures.  It's a lovely light drink, and very easy to quaff.

It's very clear and yellow, it smells a bit like crackers.  It's a very soft drink with a very good balance of flavour.

Really enjoyed this one.  It's a shame it's a small-batch brew because I could happily spend all day drinking it.

8/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 2nd

Evil Twin - Hop Flood

Well this is a tasty beverage.  Goes very well with my toasted tomato mackerel and smoked cheese on toast (I'm a culinary whizz, see).

Pretty decent volume (7%) is evident in the smell, though there's some malty sweetness trying to get out.  Some very dense hop flavours throughout so not that refreshing - with a significant bitter finish.  Nice crisp mouth-feel.  It's more interesting to drink than it is enjoyable, but it's still the latter.

7/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 1st

Happy...errm...December!

This years beer advent calendar is probably the most expensive one I've ever done.  Thanks to a few beverages running close to £10 each.  I hope they're worth it.

Brains - That Quiet Earth

The back of this bottle reads like the back of dozens of other beers I'd just put down and write off (dark fruits on the nose, malty backbone, full bodied with a smooth dry finish), but I decided to keep it for the calendar because Brains Craft Brewery have put some really tasty beverages out in the last 12 months.

It is not a disappointing drink, I could have used a large bottle though, as I was just getting into the flavours when it ran out.  It's not remarkable though, it does remind me of the Brains Strong Ale (Not the SA you see today) I had during one of the GWBCF's a few years ago.

It's nice.

I think I'll score out of 10 this year...

5/10.