ND: Maker: Privatbrauerei Bosch, Bad Laasphe, Germany Beer: Propeller Aufwind Double IPA (bottled, 330ml) Style: India Pale Ale ALC.VOL.: 6.5%
"A refreshing aroma of floral hops and citrus fruit. Refreshing start, and then the bitter hops kick in. Compact and well-balanced taste. There's a subtle remaining sweetness that interplays with the hop varieties." [brewery notes, my translation]
Colour: Deep yellow golden, small and fluffy off-white head. Nose: Mild, sweet oranges; medicinal notes, some oft caramel. Texture: Medium to full body, a bit oily, very moderate carbonation. Taste: Herbs, pine and sweet orange are dominant at the outset. Kickback of bitter hops and pine starts early, as drescribed by the brewery. Finish is the same, but with more generic citrus notes. Long-lasting, bitter pine aftertaste with some resin.
Impressions: Not bad, but not truly great strong IPA either. It's lacking in the fruit department, and there is a mildly unpleasant medical note to it from the alcohol. Strong bitter pine in the finish makes up for it somehow. Nowhere near as good as yesterday's Firestone Union Jack [My ratebeer rating: 3.3/5]
Get a life. I also write for Tripadvisor, Yelp on museums, restaurants and stuff, etc so I can give something back to the community of travelers/enthusiasts from whose advice and suggestions I profit in return. You don't, that's your choice [Oh, I see your non-profile. So you're just a troll]. There are a lot of beer enthusiasts around. If you're not interested, don't read it.
ND: Maker: Craftwerk (a.k.a. Bitburger), Bitburg, Germany Beer: Craftwerk Tangerine Dream (bottled, unfiltered, 330ml) Style: India Pale Ale ALC.VOL.: 5.8%
Colour: Hazy orange, with a big, frothy white head. Nose: Tangerines (or orange sherbet) some yeast, maybe a whiff of pinewood. Texture: Medium body, still a bit watery. Medium carbonation. Taste: Tangerines, indeed; fruity, a bit sweet, with bitter pinewood providing a quick counterpoint. Dry after the first few seconds, yeasty, too. Some caramel in the middle, also resin and a generic citrus note. Pine is dominant in the finish, with lemon coming up again in the aftertaste. Some resin there, too.
Impressions: Like the same company's Skipping Stone, this is not bad at all a craft ale from an "industrial brewer" (Bitburger). Also, it similarly lacks the final ounce in depth of flavour. [My ratebeer rating: 3.5/5]
Get a life. I also write for Tripadvisor, Yelp on museums, restaurants and stuff, etc so I can give something back to the community of travelers/enthusiasts from whose information I profit in return. You don't, that's your choice. There are a lot of beer enthusiasts around. If you're not interested, don't read it.
"Get a life"? Seriously? Easy there, big fella.
My point is that if you are posting similar content on other websites (hospitality sites, specifically), then obviously those are the more appropriate venues for them. True--this side of the board doesn't have to have anything to do with music, but there is already a perfectly fine pre-existing libations thread on what is still primarily a music-based website.. Therefore your blog here seems somewhat redundant and agenda-based.
And like I said, if you post something, then it's fair for others to comment on it. If you stake some claim as a professional or semi-professional writer, then the occasional criticism of your writing is part of the business--even if comments sometimes take the form of jokey jabs.
True--this side of the board doesn't have to have anything to do with music, but there is already a perfectly fine pre-existing libations thread
So you really don't know squad! I was specifically asked by Thor, the originator of the *other* drinking thread, *not* to post reviews there but use this thread instead since his thread is more concerned with the locations and social connotations of drinking, and not restricted to beer. So I wrote something on pubs and beer festivals for that one.
Interesting tactic using an alcoholic to defend blogging about alcohol.
I'm currently reading his diaries, as edited into a biography. BTW, the quote was from a note he made rather late in life. - Why don't you guys open a thread on the dangers of alcohol while I'm basking in the infinite variety of flavours that beers offer?
Colour: Dark brown, almost black. Small, frothy beige head. Nose: Roasted malts, licorice, a wee bit sour. Texture: Full body, oily, moderate carbonation. Taste: Strong coffe malts and equally potent licorice at the start, nicely balanced between roasted/sour and sweetish notes. High alcohoklic content blends in nicely. Middle is much drier: hoppy flavours complement the coffee. Licorice in the background. Finish is strong on espresso bitterness, with a lasting coffee and sweet malts aftertaste.
Impressions: Potent imperial stout that isn't cloying despite the high ABV. Clearly not sessionable. - Very powerful coffee notes throughout, pleasingly bitter finish. One of the good ones. [My ratebeer rating: 4.1/5]
ND: Maker: Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC (Fuller's), Chiswick, London, England Beer: Fuller's London Black Cab Stout (formerly Black Cab Stout) - bottled, 500ml Style: Stout ALC.VOL: 4.5%
"Brewed with a combination of five different malts, some heavily roasted for a near jet black appearance, and beneath its dark exterior features luxurious red berry notes, toasty aromas on the nose and culminates in a dry, bitter finish. " [brewery notes]
Colour: Pitch black. Medium beige head. Nose: Roasted malts. Coffee, a hint of vanilla. Texture: Medium bodied, not watery at all. Mild carbonation. Taste: Coffee malts, a wee hint of licorice and vanilla, but mostly dry. No fruit at first. Middle still dominated by coffee malts. Finish has a slightly fruity black currant note. Aftertaste is strongly bitter espresso, very dry.
Impressions: Powerful, rather straightforward traditional stout, dry like a Guinness but more interesting (and less "charcoal-like"). Good stuff from Fuller's. [My ratebeer rating: 4.0/5]
"My interpretation of a typical Bavarian wheat, refined with a little bit more hops and the intense aroma of our very own wheat beer yeast. Bold and surprising. Typical but yet so different. Deep cassis notes mix with Oriental spices and create a fruity, spicy finish." (Jeff Maisel)
Colour: Deep hazy amber, with a medium, frothy off-white head. Nose: Oranges, banana, spices, yeast, a hint of vinegar and medicinal notes. Texture: Full body, yet a still a bit watery. Moderate carbonation. Taste: Grapefruit, banana, clove, a surprising pinewood note (the brewer said it was more aggressively hopped than most weizen beers) at the start. Strong herbs, too. The alcohol blends in astonishingly smoothly. Hoppier in the middle, even resinous towards the finish. Some vanilla there, too. Aftertaste is predominantly yeasty, lemony and moderately bitter.
Impressions: When did you last hear about a cloudy wheat with resinous notes? Well, this is one is, and it's a very good, and very imaginative, wheat bock that is never cloying, but even refreshing. Complex flavours at the start peter out a little towards the end (wheat beers usually do). But first-rate! [My ratebeer rating: 4.1/5]
I was wondering about whisky (& my favourite tipple, bourbon), how long does it keep? I've been looking it up on t'net & was shocked to read that it does go off. An unopened bottle will last as long as you like, but once opened, the oxygen starts to do its work, of course it doesn't go off like wine, but a half empty bottle after, say six months, you will notice the difference, it loses that "hit" & continues going off. There was a guy on YouTube who would pour the stuff into much smaller bottles (medicine bottles even), that's probably a bit desperate. I have pump device where you can pump a lot of the air out of a bottle of wine, & it works a treat, you can open a bottle of red on Monday & it's still fine on Friday (keep it in the fridge, it only takes about half an hour to get to room temperature). Anyway I've started to use that on opened bottles of bourbon. I've probably got too much time on my hands.
Just drink the stuff, Rameau! Bourbon isn't like those tame John Williams and Jimmy Boy Horner score CDs that were manufactured with the sole purpose of sitting on one's shelf, ignored.
Glad you bumped this thread, as I was wondering where the beer reviewer guy's posts were.
