Beer - #622 - Moon Dog - Mummy Have A Bite

Odd beers, odd music, odd numbers and the odd party or two. BeerJerkNZ  beer club - week 3. Get in!

' ... Biting into a toffee apple..... Barrel aged, toffee apple, imperial amber ale. '

Brewed by Moon Dog Craft Brewery this is in the style that is either an Amber Ale or American Strong Ale and they're in Abbotsford, Australia

The 330ml bottle of beer is of 8.2% ABV and 248 calories a serve, 32 IBU thingies, and overall this is 2.14 standard drink units in the bottle.

[caption id="attachment_11354" align="alignleft" width="300"] New haircut same old squint[/caption]

Belgian brewers have been using candi sugar forever to produce stronger beers with rich caramel notes. Calvados is a type of French brandy made with apples. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Mummy Have A Bite is that no other brewers had thought to combine these classic fairground flavours before.

The solid malt base makes this a well rounded beer which is one to savour rather than swig. It is heavy and sweet but not overly so. It is fun to sip and list flavours, as well as the obvious we noted oak, grapefruit citrus, vanilla & whisky.

So what could possibly go wrong with that? Well I don't know, but I do know that the label is incredibly hard to decipher, particularly with old man eyes, grumble grumble like an old man, none of which has any effect in the beer though, so harden up.

Aroma is like a cider apple, then a wash of toffee

Pour is lot darker than I thought I was going to get, it's the same orange toffee colour that you get on toffee-apples at the fair, and it pours with a small white head, In the glass it's a lot darker, physics of light probably or something.

I still get a predominant cider apple aroma.

What an interesting taste that is, it most certainly is like a Belgium beer with the candi-sugar, then it gives way to a alcohol heavy tartness that is really noticeable and somewhat overtakes everything else.

It's always going to be and to quieten down such a high alcohol, leaving it to warm more brings out the middle flavour and a softness, but it isn't quaffing beer, an easy sipper.

A confusing beer, but an audacious effort that for me is a bit imperfect.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. A 7 makes it 'good' in arbitrary terms, solid. I really liked the Belgium style candy-sugar hit that was the initial taste, I didn't really like the raw alcohol note, and when it warmed I really like the softer middle, but it still finishes with a alcohol twang that reminds you sip now swill.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? I started really enthusiastic but it wore me out.
Would I have another? I don't think so, but it did remind me I like Belgium beers.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I might though, this is a good test of palate and preferences that explore your perceptions and remind you that it's never 'just' a beer.

Music for this, surprised myself with ' Black Rebel Motorcycle Club'  (often abbreviated as BRMC) is an American rock band from San Francisco, CA. and their album ' live in paris' Listen here on Spotify, or all the other places. This is a track  ' Sometimes the Light '

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S9N7iF2Wy4

AMBER ALE

A style without definition, amber ales range from bland, vaguely caramel beers to products with a fairly healthy malt and hop balance. Often the differentiation between a quality amber and an American Pale is that the amber might have more dark malt character, or a less assertive hop rate.

AMERICAN STRONG ALE

Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.

Beer - #612 - 8 Wired - Tall Poppy India Red Ale

I had this ways back when, in a bottle, the 8 Wired Tall Poppy India Red Ale. So tonight it's the same but different, different but the same, same same and same faces.

'designed to have it all, to be the greatest common denominator'

From the fill-your-own this is a 1000 ml bottle of a  7% ABV, beer that makes it 5.52  Standard drink units, and 60 IBU's so at the lower end for, say, an IPA and 210 calories a serve size.

This is brewed for  8 Wired Brewing and is brewed at Renaissance Brewing, this one in the style of a  Amber Ale or American Strong Ale and they're in Blenheim, New Zealand.

[caption id="attachment_11226" align="alignleft" width="300"] The world's smallest Giant hold a Tall beer[/caption]

This is an ale that is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers. The intense, sharp and fruity hoppiness is backed by its complex, caramel-like malty structure.

Big, yet refreshing.

Bold but balanced.

This beer has been designed to have it all, to be the greatest common denominator.

So what could possibly go wrong?

This was a very popular choice amongst the staff at the bottle shop, the aroma on opening rich hoppy, sweet, hoppy, I can see why.

Dark rich read pour that is lively and a head the size of a birthing appears, the head persistent and fluffy.

Aroma in the glass is much of hoppiness/ grassy and a fair crack of sugarness.

The taste is big. dry, big and dry. Full dry big. Lots of bitterness a full mouthfeel and a big dry finish. Wasn't quite expecting that after the lovely and well behaved RareBird beer I had earlier.

ike chalk and cheese.  This is a frontal assault with hops that are I believe Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo, I wonder if they are the 4 horsemen a coming for me.

Lots of linger in the mouth for this, it is a beer that is full noise and fireworks. The bitterness isn't such a big note, for me it's at the level that ticks a box rather than punches you overtime you sip it, the worst is the full dry finish that creeps more forward.

But what an experience though.

'twas my birthday and I took a food stop here, slow cooked ribs, fried and slaw, which I might suggest were wonderful, but only about 8 on the pdubyah-o-meter, the ribs slightly too long on the second warming in the oven, I digress,

Anyway the beer with the food just enhanced the beer. Ideal for the finger feast that I just had. Plus it had the effect to warm the beer more in the glass which brings more of the dryness forward and give you that lip licking moment that we all know we've had and enjoy but don't often get. That might just be me though.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 of its things from the thing. It's a matter of what I don't like or miss then. Which is hard.  In the glass a full aroma hop beer. The drinking is a bitterness without roughness, and a finish that is more towards a really dry dry. Which is annoying to be honest, the back half of the drink more prevalent than the front of palate, which isn't perhaps what you look for.

So a beer more about a finish that a beginning. But what a journey.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? I am enjoying it. It's bitter, it's not rough it's tasty.
Would I have another? I've had enough, it's wearing and beats you in the end.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I would though, because it's loud and annoying and needs a good talking about.

Music for this. well my younger brother suggested 'Low Roar',  which is the self-titled debut album of Icelandic band 'Low Roar'. So instead listened to their album '0', this is 'Dreamer' Listen to it here on the Spotify and probably the everywhere else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQzdO0ANNxA

AMBER ALE

A style without definition, amber ales range from bland, vaguely caramel beers to products with a fairly healthy malt and hop balance. Often the differentiation between a quality amber and an American Pale is that the amber might have more dark malt character, or a less assertive hop rate

Beer - #539 - Nøgne Ø - Red Horizon 2. Edition - a redux

Back to the past, back to past, back to basics and back to the familiar. (warning poetry and waffling might follow).

Brewed with Masumi sake yeast no. 7

I remember this as being expensive at the time for a 250ml bottle of beer, and that is was over-packaged  but in a delightful way in a tin, or in a can! and wrapping paper, and all a bit sumptuous.

Last time up it got a pdubyah-10 I wonder if I've got more picky, or this had got less?

So I kept one aside, but it's not a treasure and needs to be drunk and so 12 months after the main event we go back.

I can't do this often as frankly keeping beer seems a bit weird, and I'm not that rich.

Nøgne Ø - Red Horizon 2 - Formerly brewed at Nøgne Ø (Hansa Borg) and this is in the style that is  American Strong Ale  and they were are in Grimstad, Norway

This then the unusual  250ml bottle,  an it was/is a 13.5% ABV beer,  and of 100 IBU things, making it 405 calories a serve size,  and this tiny bottle would be 2.66 standard drink units.

[caption id="attachment_10320" align="alignleft" width="300"] Small as a small thing[/caption]

We brewed this ale with the famous sake yeast No 7 from Masumi Sake in Nagano, Japan.

On advise from Masumi’s master brewers, we fermented this ale very slowly at low temperatures to bring out No 7’s fabulously fruity character.

This product is unfiltered and unpasteurized.

Please enjoy chilled! Special thanks to Masumi!

I have no idea what a year or so in the fridge has done or not done or could do but I'm about to find out .

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="10321,10322,10323"]

This is thick like chocolate aroma, and then perhaps that sake, I'll go with the chocolate.

A year in the fridge has done nothing to help it pour with a head, but its a golden orange, slightly cloudy. Aroma is orange fruity and deep.

The alcohol astringent is a lot more forward, and the deep fruitiness appears to be a lot less deep and fleeting. It might not be as complex as I remember it being the first time.

However I might have changed, which is also probable.

This seems a lot more mellow in places and less peaky in others, sort of rounded out. It's such a small amount of beer to drink and explore that you kind of have to go with your first impression.

And that would be wrong as this does develop with warmth and sitting. If you are frugal in the coins then sitting and watching might work out well in the value for time taken.

On that scale this has been in the fridge for 12 months which must be some kind of record for me. I'm not sure that "in the fridge " for 12 months counts as either "cellared" or "aged" but hey I tried. I overcame my will power and went again. I've never seen this since though so this is it, must be near the end of the word supply somehow I tell my self.

It's a lovely beer, lets stop pretending, the warmth from the alcohol and the malts, but I'm not getting a strong toffee or richness in this that I thought I had the first time. A year is a fun thing in beers, come to think of it a day can make a difference in taste and the way you enjoy a beer, as can venues. It's not science, the drinking of beer, the making of beer might be though.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as a 10  of its things from the thing. Things might have changed, it might be the way I drink beer, it might be that a year in the fridge waiting has mellowed and changed the beer in some way, it's possible. It is still a great drinking beer. I sit her convincing myself that there are people that would have paid me serious coin to have the beer I'm drinking. As I run my finger in a forlorn way around an empty glass gathering up the sweetness and stickiness I glance over at MrsPdubyah who stands there looking askance.

I got MrsPdubyah to smell the beer. I got a really strong reaction of not liking it, I think the sake part of the thing didn't appeal. It's one less beer to share :-)

I'm disappointed that it is the smaller of the smallest bottles as this is sipping beer that needs to be enjoyed over a simple conversation and in contemplation. The lovely aroma delivers first the crash on the tongue that is at both a bit tart on the tip and then warm and comfortable in the middle and finishes to something a bit or both things sweet and sharp.

I write a lot as i'm scared to drink the last bit, because then it's gone and I'm done. I poured the last of the beer, a small amount, the 'dregs' into the glass and it was like another beer altogether, such a thing.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? It was like drinking angels tears from a unicorn horn.


2. Would I have another? I'm having drinkers remorse now, it's gone done and I already miss it.


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Kidding me, we could have a shot glass each, well two shots each but what a time that would be, I still think this is possibly the most expensive beer I've ever had. It's also one of the best beers I've ever had.

Musically -  I was listening to the album Wings at the Speed of Sound, and when you've stopped laughing at that, you'll notice that It is the band's only album where every member sings lead on at least one song. Like you cared.

I quite like the song "The note you never wrote"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Uw4qKwklc

AMERICAN STRONG ALE

Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on theIPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.

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• Beer - #518 - Mikkeller - Mielcke & Hurtigkarl - a redux


• Beer Man: Amazing fruit, malt flavors stand out in Abt 12


• How A Tiny Brewery Run By Monks Came To Make The Best Beer In The World

Beer - #454 - Ballast Point - Tongue Buckler

I had a couple of very good IPA beers today, New Zealand ones,  and not I digress and continue with this one, a Ballast Point Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale

Our Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale doesn’t pull any punches. This is a big brew with hops and malt in extreme abundance. The I.B.U.’s (International Bitterness Units) alone test the limits of your palate. Yet while the timid should take warning, Tongue Buckler generously rewards the bold with an exceptional ale experience

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company this of course in the style that would be : American Strong Ale or, Imperial/Double Red Ale, and they are as always based in San Diego, California USA

Gosh, 107 IBU things, in this a bottle that contains a beer of 10% ABV,  300 calories a serve, and in NZ this would be for the 650ml therein a 5.13 standard drink unit's worth of beer.

[caption id="attachment_9390" align="alignright" width="300"] I wave a bottle ![/caption]

Prepare to walk the plank to an Ale of overwhelming proportions. More hops & more malts than any land lubber can handle.

After this experience...your tongue will be buckled. The I.B.U.’s (International Bitterness Units) are off the scale on this ale.

Be forewarned, those with a timid palate, this is not a wee beer! Handcrafted in small batches for those sailing the seas in search of great ales.

Get in!!!

Beer - #299 - Stone - Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Beer #299 then, the prequel ..... Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co. in the style of  American Strong Ale and they are still on the road to Escondido, California USA

Small though, being a 355ml bottle of a 7.2% ABV beer, which is just about 2 standard drinks, and 216 calories.

This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have

[caption id="attachment_6421" align="alignleft" width="300"] Arrogant Selfie[/caption]

the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory --- maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.

Too many strive towards complacency as a goal. We grow up thinking that the ability to become complacent is the equivalence of success in life. True Arrogant Bastards know that this could not be further from the truth. The real beauty, richness and depth in life can only be found if the journey through life itself is looked upon as a constant chance to learn, live and find life’s passion. Passion threatens the complacent, and fills them with fear. Fear of the new, the deep and the different. We, on the other hand, seek it out. Endlessly, joyously...and aggressively. To this end we bring you the “OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale.” Another reward for those seeking new sources of passion, and another point of dissension for those who are not.

Opening aroma is more of bready yeast, in the English beer style,  Missy says "oaken" but then she read the name first, bwahahaha.

Pours a lot lot darker than I was expecting, rich dark ruby read, and without a head, which I wasn't.  Aroma settles more to fruits.

This really is a very aggressive beer.

The intense bitterness and hops really wash the palate out, leaving you with an uncompromising taste sensation.  You can pick grapefruits, or pine resin, they're pretty close, and they're intense.

We are all different though, and I don't think this is balanced the way some people do, it is tilted fair square to hop bomb and overload. That said the bitterness don't make you pucker, which is a good thing.

So, cut to the chase, because  we're near the bottom...  the pdubyah-o-meter. Brought to you by the number 8 . 8 is very good.  Not spectacular, sit back and light a cigar it's all over rover  though. It's just too arrogant, too in your face, and it's probably for that that it gains the popularity that it has -- it is what it says it is.

Somehow the music became Bruce Springsteen, and album I'm trying to stick with "High Hopes"  it might be paying off.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOPDhoZH91g&w=560&h=315]

AMERICAN STRONG ALE

Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.

Related articles

• Oaked Arrogant Bastard - Stone Brewing Company


• Arrogant Bastard Oaked


• Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale - Ale Aged with American Wood Chips


• Beer- #261 - Stone - Arrogant Bastard Ale


• Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale

Beer- #290 - Nøgne Ø - Red Horizon 2. edition

Beer in a can :-), Nøgne Ø Red Horizon 2. edition

Brewed by Nøgne Ø, in the Style of an  American Strong Ale and they are in the exotic Grimstad, Norway.

This is a 250ml bottle (tiny) of a 13.5% ABV beer, which translates into 2.7 standard drink units, this is 405 calories! Also has an IBU of 100

This product is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Contains; Grimstad water, malted barley, malted wheat, hops and sake yeast No 7. 

It says importantly that this is from batch 741, brewed 12/20/2011 and is best before  20th december 2016. They all are :-)

We brewed this ale with the famous sake yeast No 7 from Masumi Sake in Nagano, Japan. On advise from Masumi’s master brewers, we fermented this ale very slowly at low temperatures to bring out No 7’s fabulously fruity character. This product is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Please enjoy chilled! Special thanks to Masumi!

Love the way that this is packaged, mind you how much that added to the cost who cat tell, and of course the fact that the shop had a 20% off beer day today made it an easy easy choice.



Sour aroma is what I pick immediately opening, not off-putting sour, just is sour.

Of course no head, what was I expecting. Well a head to be honest. It looks terribly flat but I did hear a hiss on opening.

So here goes. Cracking aroma in the glass, all fruity and rich. And <insert swears word> wow!

What a full full mouthful taste this has, startling!  Lots of rich depth, a lovely amount of bitterness, and plenty of flavour textures to enjoy. All this in such a small package.

There isn't really a lot to indicate that this is a 'big' beer at 13.5%, but it does have that astringent tang at the end. But the lovely nose aroma when you go to drink only gets better even with slight warming.

Not to be quaffed then this is a beer that I'm sipping and quietly enjoying, puzzled over it's complex nature.

The pdubyah-o-meter says make this  a 10. You just don't get beers like this every shopping trip. A total treat for the tastebuds .

As it warms you get much more sticky toffee qualities and a much fuller mouthfeel, carried on a tip tongue of bitterness, but with immense fruits and richness.  Let down only by the lack of a head on pouring, blame the workman, I would suggest that for this less is most certainly more.

Would I offer you your money back if you didn't like it?  This might be one of those beers where possibly not. I can begin to tell why this might be too bitter, or have too much astringent in the carry, but there is no way you'd pick this as being a big hitting beer. Perhaps I should have finished with this and not let it finish me first :-). If you can try this please try it.

Nøgne Ø appear to be the darlings of the craft brewing scene, or that may just be me and the dissonance of seeing their name, on this occasion I'm really impressed.  It's been a long time between Nøgne Ø beers for me, and I can't imagine why I've avoided them, perhaps I should have a closer look at the shelf next time.

Music tonight is again those nice people  - Tame Impala, this though isn't music for everyone, unless you like psychedelic rock that is.  Like my beer I like a change and challenge, and although I don't love it, Im not not loving it.

AMERICAN STRONG ALE

Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.

Related articles

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Beer- #287 - Southern Tier - Imperial Compass

Southern Tier - Imperial Compass Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company in the style of a  Belgian Strong Ale and that's being concocted in Lakewood, New York USA

Intriguingly Southern Tier call this  a bottle Conditioned Sparkling Ale w/ Rose Hips, and that it has "high" bitterness. I've seen it called an American Strong Ale too in reviews.

This is a 650ml, of a 9% ABV beer, with 270 calories a serve, which makes it a 4.62 standard drink unit beverage  in NZ. After the stunning Porter Noir and the Creme Brûlée I have a high expectation going into this.

[caption id="attachment_6273" align="alignleft" width="300"] The obligatory Selfie[/caption]

We rely on age-old tools in the brewery despite being surrounded by high technology. As a sort of compass, we use the six pointed brewer’s star to help navigate uncharted brews. The cardinal points of water, malt, grain, yeast, hops and a brewer make the baseline. From there anything goes. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination.

You’ll notice a slight bitterness in Compass derived from our use of rose hips accentuated by high effervescence. Drink it cold from a fluted or tulip glass. And by all means, avoid sea serpents.

Just grassy hops on opening, then an underlying  note of something sweeter, fruitier.

But this doesn't immediately translate to the palate, and I get a very excitable and well carbonated pale yellow straw coloured beer, Fantastic head.  But as to the sharper points they don't appear to be immediate.

On the nose you can pick something sweet, on the tongue you get a understated bitterness for the carry, and it's carrying a slightly sweeter thing, but it's not well defined, not really that sweet and frankly a bit coy.

This doesn't make this a bad or undrinkable beer though, just one that is giving me a few challenges of identification.

Couple of major things that I have a thing with.

No Belgium style, aroma, or taste discernible.  No familiar yeasts, no alcohol astringent note.  So hard to measure it against that. The aroma continues to carry something sweet though.

A quandary ensues then, and as usual I have to put aside what the pre-conception I may or may not have  about this and the style it may or may not have.  I've got a lovely pouring, and looking beer with a head and lacing. I've got a fine mouthfeel and a muted low level of bitterness, but a beer that has a really low and persistent sweet note. It has a great aroma.

All the things that should make this a spectacular beer.

Crucially there is absolutely no indication at all, anywhere in this, that you're drinking a beer that is by any measure strong at 9% and it delivers that without any of the other noises that you'd expect or associate with 'strength'. By which I mean that this is not a LOUD beer to drink, you don't get a punch in taste buds and a wallop of bitterness or a wave of astringent tang. It's just a really really decent quaffable beer, but it's not for all that fulfilling.

So the pdubyah-o-meter rates this at a still very good 9. I've managed to drink it all in not a lot of time, it hasn't warmed in the glass to give me anything else, except an empty glass and that forlorn tipping the bottle as if some magic will happen and more beer will suddenly pour from it. I did that, it didn't do that.

A cautionary note would be that "bottle conditioned" means that this comes with passengers that will cloud up and dance in the glass. I wish I'd thought that through. I now have a cloudy yellow straw well carbonated beer, and I'm going to miss it when it's gone. I'd happily go another of these, and then possibly an early bedtime, it's got a lot of good things about it, but it's an awkward beer when you have expectation (A) and delivery (B).

Music with this tonight  is Tame Impala - an Australian band who give the psychedelic rock a go.

BELGIAN STRONG ALE

Belgian Strong Ales can vary from pale to dark brown in color, darker ales may be colored with dark candy sugar. Hop flavor can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character. Types of beers included here include tripels, dubbels and ultra-strong abbey ales.

AMERICAN STRONG ALE

Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.

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• Southern Tier- 2XIPA


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• Southern Tier Krampus: See You In Helles

 

Beer - #281 - Dogfish Head - Palo Santo Marron

I wasn't going to have a beer today, but events conspired and I feel the need for solace.

This then the unusually named - Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron - Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery in the style of an American Strong Ale and they are in Milton, Delaware USA

A 300ml bottle of a 12% ABV  beer, which weighs in at  360 calories per serving,  making this  3.35 standard drinks

Big Brown Ale aged on palo santo wood from Paraguay. This beer is a 12% abv, highly roasty, and malty brown ale aged on the wood of the Palo Santo tree from Paraguay. Palo Santo means "holy tree" and it's wood has been used in South American wine-making communities. We were lucky enough to get our hands on 20 blocks of the super-dense wood and the wood was added to the ageing tank after fermentation.

A big nose of chocolate on opening, and rich fruits, pours thick dark dark brown, with a small and fading head that leaves to a thin film of brown. The aroma doesn't seem to stay, but moves to more a milk chocolate note.

That's a really big mouthfeel of beer. Rich and full and rich and full and long and rich. This tastes amazingly thick. There is a bunch of tongue tip bitterness that moves to the end as you drink this, the delivery of the darker sweeter notes taking the centre quite easily.

You can get a sense of the alcohol content in this, you'd be strange if you couldn't.

Truly then this is a beer that I'm enjoying, it's got a lot of the good things about it, a cracking mouthfeel, intense chocolate and rain notes, but it lacks the head and lacing. The bitterness is an adjunct to the overall flavour, and is at the acceptable level for me.

I can tell already that I shouldn't have started with this, as it is a big beer in many ways.

The pdubyah-o-meter says that this is a 9 and great! on the  scale of things. I can't see this being to everyone's taste, there is a fair crack of the alcohol astringent with this as it warms up a bit. but I really love the fullness of the way this tastes, the dark roast fruity chocolate notes and the wash of bitterness. Gosh.

 

Get in!

AMERICAN STRONG ALE

Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt

Related articles

• Palo Santo Marron, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc, Milton, DE


• Beer Review: Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

Beer- #261 - Stone - Arrogant Bastard Ale

Arrogant Bastard Ale  - Brewed by Stone Brewing Co. as an: American Strong Ale   and that'd be on the road to Escondido, California USA



This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory–maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beverage will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make things taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.

This is a 7.2% ABV beer in a 20fl oz bottle (600 ml give or take), 216 calories, in NZ 3.69 standard drink units.

The in-laws have arrived and I've been driven to Monday beer.  This by most accounts is a good one.

Not overly aggressive aroma, possibly some herbs possibly a tint of orange.

Its much much darker than I expected, it doesn't pour this thick, and the head what there is is persistent. Still nothing on the aroma to give you a clue.  It's very omen brown burnt orange, dense.

Now there's a complex mouthful of beer. blindingly complex. Despite the aroma being like bread yeast there is so much flavour punch it's all a bit of a surprise. Overwhelming perhaps.

Bitterness abounds, but it's of  the subtle variety and not the puckering type, and it's carried on a sweeter base that you'd expect.

So trying to pick what's what in this is a challenge.  Pine, and citrusness of something, not grapefruit more tart orange. Whilst you're dallying around the taste maze you notice that you've managed to quaff a fair amount, and that's not surprising. This brings you in to drinking it,  draws you close, but doesn't give much away until it's in your mouth doing it thang.

The pdubyah-o-meter enjoys this a 9 as a great beer. Ok so I talked it up and then it's a 9?  It finishes dry and as it warms you start to get a kick from the alcohol in the back. With this amount of dry you're going to run out of steam drinking it if you have your mind set on a session. Arrogantly you could try. I think you'd fail.

This beer has heaps of fans, I imagine it has detractors too. This is a stand up beer, and if you like Bitter beer, Strong Ales, and want a beer that has something to talk about when you're drinking it this would be a good place to start.

The bottle label says "You're not worthy", I'm probably not, but what I am is "wanting Another" ....

Music you can hear in the background was the Black Keys.

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Beer - #141 - Golden Eagle - Big Yank American IPA

Oh yes I did.  Golden Eagle Big Yank American IPA, on a Thursday!, Brewed by Golden Eagle Brewery Styled as a American Strong Ale in Christchurch, New Zealand.

7.5% ABV in a 500ml glass, making it 3 standard drinks.

During 1944/45 the B17 Bomber - Big Yank - completed 50 combat missions, attacking targets throughout Germany.  

In true American IPA style, this beer packs a nose and mouthful of hops with a malt backbone and bitterness to match!

Not even much on the Golden Eagle website about this, but I'm looking forward to this, as I've not yet had a bad experience with the Golden Eagle.

Lovely hoppy aroma straight up, Fantastic dark brown colour, decent carbonation, and a good attempt at a head. A fair wallop of bitterness in this, the right amount, and backed with a decent malty back.  Nice citrus in this too, and decent length.

What this also does is hide that it's a strong beer.

I'd hunt this out if it was on tap, this hits my spot nicely. The pdubyah-o-meter says 8.5 things on it's scale of things. There's not a lot not to like about this to be honest. If you're up for an IPA, like the bitterness at a level that decent and carries itself well then this is the go.

Beer - #119 - Hallertau - Maximus Humulus Lupulus

Hallertau Maximus Humulus Lupulus. Brewed by Hallertau Brewbar & Restaurant in the styleof an American Strong Ale, in Auckland.

Strong Ale? It says Pale Ale on the label.

The fiercely floral and fragrant hop, known as the Earth Wolf by the Ancients, has been cunningly tamed with a soft, rich maltiness. Please drink respectfully

India Pale Ale – The Gladiator of Hops of 5.8% ABV in a dinky 330ml bottle, not the larger 750ml size.

The fiercely floral and fragrant hop, known as the earth wolf by the ancients, has been cunningly tamed with a soft, rich, maltiness.

So again a beer with mixed messaging from the intertubes. Again I'll go with the source on this. This has been re-packaged to the smaller bottles and toned down from a 6.8% ABV offering. That's not always a bad thing.

Hazy muddy cloudy golden pour with a rapidly disappearing head, fantastic flush of hop aroma. Not the prettiest beer I ever poured. Bittery hops but with a short length finishing. Lots of grass, and what you'd have to put down as an overall dry taste.

An interesting beer this, it's the most complicated named, the ugliest looking and it delivers a mixed bag of taste. I didn't really like the Hallertau 1,2,3 or 4 beers, and this was somewhat a last chance saloon, and because I'd heard a whisper that it might be heads above those.

There's not a lot of body in this, and adding to the dry I'm therefore also going to say thin, which is usually a sign that they've given up on something and left out the bite.

Given the trick packaging you could be lead to think that this was going to deliver something of an adventure.  It doesn't

The pdubyah-o-meter just says 7. Making this a beer that sits in the pack, it's bitter hoppy facade really does mask the shortcoming that this has. This has not made me a bigger fan of the Hallertau beers.

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Beer - #118 - Coronado - Red Devil

The Red Devil they say an Imperial Red Ale -  Brewed by Coronado Brewing Company in the style of an  American Strong Ale, in of all places Coronado, California 'merica.

Talking it up Coronado says that The Red Devil is a "double dose of our "Mermaid's Red Ale"  We simply doubled the ingredients (double the malt, double the hops) and created an award winning Ale. An incredibly balanced and smooth beer with a strong finish."

Worries me when they say "simply" did something, which might be code-word for this one time we had a new kid and he didn't pay attention and threw a second helping in the pot, which we had to sell, and it  turned out ok, so we carried on with it.

This is a 8.5% ABV beer in a 650ml (pint) bottle, the attached label says however 10.7% abv which is about 5.5 standard drinks, the plot thickens somewhat. Is there a US and a Foreign ABV rating that I'm not aware of? I'm picking the lower number since it's on the bottle and in other places. Weirdly though the original Red Devil appears to be a 10.7% ABV beer. Perhaps it's mellowed in it's age?



So a mixed start to start. They've changed the label and so they may have changed the mix for this and that is what I'm going to go with. Clearly their own information has to be taken as gospel.

So many words without any action then. And I've built up an expectation of having my thirst quenched because I've been making rib marinades this afternoon, and that's time in the kitchen, that I have to balance up with a beer. It's the law.

The alternate description is this This robust, roasty, aggressively hopped imperial red is an amplified, more sinful version of our flagship Mermaid's Red™. Heaping additions of Amarillo and Simcoe hops provide clean, botanic bitterness to slice straight through a well rounded caramel sweetness borne of chocolate malt.

There is definitely a load of hops on the aroma, and it's dark dark red on the pour with a faint and disappearing head. It's a lovely aroma, I could sit here enjoying just that, but I dither. Enjoying it though I get a lovely sweet fruits note too, like soaked raisins.

and it's initially as pleasant as any beer I've drunk for a long time, lovely soft bitter and overtones of a sweet malt and caramel, but it finishes on the bitter. Not that it's a bad thing, This isn't a beer that's going to leave you reaching for an elusive taste that's on the top of your tongue, it's fairly well all up front. The caramel is lovely and balanced with the bitterness, which after sitting takes a less dominant position. All in all a bit good.

The pdubyah-o-meter has this at 8.75 things on the scale of the way things work, which isn't shameful and makes this a beer that I'd reach for if I had my pick of things. So for a simply doubled up on a few ingredients they've managed to retain a marvellous balance of tastes, Good work.

 

Beer - #116 - Liberty - Yakima Scarlet

The Liberty - Yakima Scarlet. Brewed by Liberty Brewing  In the style: American Strong Ale and they do that of course in New Plymouth, New Zealand

Of course. It's been a while since I had a new beer to drink about, and time to get back on the horse.

They say "My original records for this beer date back to a batch of home brew in June 2007. It was a beer called IPA Massacre. It was brewed three times under this moniker with minor tweaks along the way. The most significant tweak I made to the recipe was changing to use hops grown in Washington USA. Accordingly, in January 2011 the name was changed to Yakima Scarlet. There were no less than seven iterations of this beer brewed before releasing what you hold in your hands right now. I still don’t what style of beer it is, but I can tell you that it is hoppy and it is red."

I say... 500ml bottle of 6.9% ABV beer, that's 2.8 Standard Drink units,  here I come... and I'm  expecting a  beer with a history of chop and change but that with American hops should make it a mouthful...

It does have a bitter hops aroma, a fluffy dark head (a head yes!) and decent carbonation, it's all happening. When I say bitter aroma, I mean pungent because the aroma is sweet malty sweet.

The beer is a dark red, not stout dark, but burnt brown dark, it's really a very pretty thing.

And the taste is to amaze at, there is a balance between the hops and the malts that brings a smile to the dial, this at first flush seems to be the goods.  This isn't like any "red ale" that I've ever had, and I don't profess to be any kind of expert or aficionado, but this is nice as is.

As it sits between sips though the hops take a hold and push the malt sweets to the back, but overall this is a bit of alright. The pdubyah-o-meter says 8.25 arbitrary things for this, not because there are things wrong with it but because I'd prefer the malt to hag around for a bit longer.

Very good, I'm off to cook some lamb, and watch some cricket, and smile .

 

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Beer - #103 - Epic - Mayhem

On the premise that it can't get worse for me, only better now it's the turn of   an Epic Mayhem to step up . Epic Brewing Company   brewed at the  Steam Brewing Company
in the style of an  American Strong Ale

500ml (pint) of a 6% ABV beer, which is about 2.4 standard drinks, which means that I've had my allowance for the week all in two beers, dagnabit. Standby Kidney and Liver.

We have set out to wilfully maim and cripple the palates of the most extreme hop head. This act of wanton destruction is in the true spirit of what festive brews are about, to create something unique and fun. It is our intention to create a violent and needless disturbance in your olfactory senses. The riotous confusion, from the unnatural quantity of dry hopping, will leave your palate satisfyingly violated after having just one taste. Only the brave can be assured to tame this hop insanity.

Expectation list: "Festive Beer" - warning might be a mistake, "Cripple the palate" Might be over hopped... on the other hand might be a fairground attraction.

So we have then an intense hop aroma, a lovely rich brown pour and a decent head from a well carbonated beer, might have cracked this head thing. Although it might be the hops that do that.

The grassy hoppy aroma doesn't seem to hang around, and I get some malty richness. There is tangy on the tongue, but it seems "thin" and transient, ambivalent. Not exactly mayhem or an ambush, and unlike the Cilla Black song there is "nothing there to remind me".

It really is thin. The pdubyah-o-meter has been tested of late with some magnificence, and sadly this isn't in that class and the result will be 7 things from the arbitrary scale of things. Not a beer that I'd race you to the bar for.

This was an expensive beer, and I'm not going to lie, it might have been money spent elsewhere.  7 makes it "acceptable in social circles" but I wouldn't take it home and introduce it to mother. Let's be fair I might not get the dry hopping, which I could be totally wrong on, but if this is an example, and it's an improvement, then perhaps this is best off as a "festive" "limited edition" beer. Someone is going to love it, but I bet it's not going to be seen again. And Epic are astute enough to be discovering new things, they'll find something that hits a sweet spot and we will all love them for it, but to get there we have to get through this.

I'm happy to make that journey with them.

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