Monday 20 June 2016

Beer Tasting: Weird Beard Double Perle


I have been doing a lot of rummaging in my 'cellar' (spare space in flat) during the past month or so. My latest discovery is this, Weird Beard Double Pearl, which was bottled in July 2014. This beer would not reach its second birthday.

It pours oily black with a dense, creamy mocha topping. The aroma is simply gorgeous, with lots of milk chocolate, smooth coffee, some dark fruits. Big sweet flavour - a little syrupy but still rounded and smooth, with more gooey chocolate, moderate roasted malts, burnt toffee, raisins, dried cherries and coffee ice cream. 

Full bodied, creamy and chewy, with fine carbonation. Barely a suggestion of the alcohol in the finish, just a little bit of warmth, with further overarching chocolatey character, more coffee ice cream, a dash of espresso bitterness, scorched earth, more raisins, faint vanilla and toffee. 

This is spectacular stuff. The richness of the chocolate is just phenomenal. This is definitely one of the best Weird Beard beers I have had. It has aged beautifully.

Wednesday 1 June 2016

Beer Tasting: Beavertown Bloody 'Ell


I hadn't had this beer for quite a while, so decided to revisit now that a fresh batch came out.

This really is a great beer. While the citrus character is not much more intense than you might find in a well constructed, juicy IPA, the citrus character is mighty. Lots of orange, tangerine, also some melon and papaya. The juicy sweetness is balanced out almost perfectly with nips of orange rind and oily pine. There's an interesting citric note in the aftertaste.

Beavertown have really been in the groove for a while now, and this beer is further evidence that they brew some of the best beer in London.