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Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2013

Posted on May 13, 2013 by bierebelle

Last week I fulfilled a dream of many beer geeks and jetted across to Copenhagen, Denmark for the second edition of the Copenhagen Beer Celebration hosted by the esteemed ‘gypsy’ brewer himself, Mikkeller. This was a rare opportunity to sample beers from a wide selection of the best breweries in the world today. Our tickets were for the Saturday afternoon session and, between 18:00 and 23:00, all the beer we wanted was ours for the taking. Getting off the flight and going for our train into the city that afternoon, I was already geeking out, spotting t-shirts and stickers and jackets depicting brewery logos everywhere I looked. Some I’d never even heard of. Having checked into the hotel and dumped our cases, we made our way across town clutching Google Map directions, but we kinda knew when we were in the right area. The folks staggering out of the previous session and lying on the pavement gave it away.We had arrived.

Posing with my cute festival glass

We were issued with cute little stemmed tasting glasses and told to help ourselves but it was tough deciding where to start! There was way too much choice so I started with Stillwater Lower Dens (6%ABV) and made my way around the hall to peruse the stands. One of the nicest things at a beer festival like this one is meeting the brewers or at least people associated with the brewery and hearing them talk so passionately about the beers they’ve brought I loved the team from Boxing Cat who had come all the way over from Shanghai. Their King Louie (8%) which had been aged in bourbon barrels was insanely rich and complex and one of my favorites of the day. The team were so friendly and really wanted to talk about their beers and the brewery, which I learned was named for the brewery cat Louie who used to look like he was boxing when he chased butterflies (unfortunately now no longer with us). I also loved the very smiley team from Westbrook from South Carolina and their spicy, chocolaty treat Mexican Cake (10.5%ABV).

Unfortunately, I completely missed the 3Floyds stand, I believe because there were too many people around it to actually see it, so I missed out on the legendary Dark Lord! In fact, 3Floyds were the first to run out of beer – for some reason I hadn’t expected this to happen (yes they make some of the highest rated beer ever) so next year they’ll be my first stop. Luckily we happened to be in a huge hall packed with so many amazing breweries I was spoilt for choice!

How will I get this in my suitcase?

It was great to have a flat ticket price which included all drinks rather than using a token system – it took me the whole 5 days I was in the country to work out the Danish money so cash would have been a disaster! I felt like a kid in a candy store, wandering wide-eyed from one stand to the next clutching my little glass and marveling at all the wonderfully creative brews. I’m glad that the festival glasses were so small so I could try lots. A lot of the beers were pretty strong and as you can see in my list below, I didn’t drink many that were below 10% so even 1/3rd pints would have been disastrous. The trends I noticed around the hall were barrel-aging (OK that’s been popular for a while) and saisons and lambics, two styles I have only recently started getting into. I’m not sure whether I especially noticed these as they are still relatively uncommon here in the UK. Mikkeller brought a particularly exceptional lambic Spontandoubleblueberry (8%) (imagine trying to say it after a few drinks) which had a pretty disturbingly purple color and a super-serious sourness.

So was it possible to choose a favorite amongst such a stellar line-up? Possibly not but a few stand out in my mind. One of my top picks was actually from Siren who hail from the not-so-exotic Berkshire; ‘Chai Love You a Latte’ (6.5%ABV) is a spice-infused version of their breakfast stout Broken Dream. I initially loved the cute name but the flavor was a pretty close match to the hot-cross bun chocolates I love which Hotel Chocolat bring out every Easter. I also rate Against the Grain Bo & Luke (13%ABV) quite highly – the guys on the stand were great which helped but they had brought over a port barrel aged version of this Imperial Stout which was fabulously smoked. Then of course there was the Anchorage tripel, The Tide And Its Takers (9%ABV) which had an amazing citrus sourness and totally lived up to its reputation as an outstanding beer.

Of course, our trip to Copenhagen was more than just the CBC – I’ll be following up to tell you how we got on at the Mikkeller block party and whether the two bars are worth a visit. For now, I’ll leave you with a list of the beers I sampled:

What Bierebelle drank:

Anchorage: A Deal With the Devil (17.3%ABV)

Brewdog: Abstrakt AB13 (11.3%ABV)

Mikkeller/Brodies: Big Mofo Stout Blueberry & Danish Liquorice Edition (10.5%ABV)

Against the Grain: Bo & Luke (Port Barrel Aged) (13%ABV)

X-Beeriment: Brett the Elder (Berry) (9.3%ABV)

X-Beeriment: Agent Coopers Delight (10.5%ABV)

Siren: Chai Love You A Latte (6.5%ABV)

Siren: Oi! Zeus! (11.4%ABV)

Cigar City: Cheers! (10%ABV)

Firestone Walker: Double DBA (12%ABV)

Jester King: Funk Metal (8.2%ABV)

Hoppin’ Frog: Hop Heathen Imperial Black IPA (8.8%ABV)

Boxing Cat: King Louie (Bourbon Barrel Aged) (8%)

To Øl: Liquid Confidence (12.3%ABV)

Stillwater: Lower Dens (6%ABV)

Mikkeller: Spontandoubleblueberry (7.7%ABV)

Anchorage: The Tide and its Takers (9%ABV)

Mikkeller: X Barley Wine 2006/2013 (12.9%ABV)

Westbrook: Mexican Cake (10.5%ABV)

Welcome to the sunny Saison

Posted on May 2, 2013 by bierebelle

Saison to be jolly!

Yay! It’s Thursday evening and the weekend starts here! I’m super-excited as I’ll be spending tomorrow around the fabulous pubs of London town before jetting off to Copenhagen to party with Mikkeller & Co. at the CBC. I have a feeling that my poor old liver might be in for a bit of a workout so tonight I’m being super-healthy! As well as being a beer-geek, I’m also a bit of a juice-monster so tonight I juiced a generous shot of fresh wheatgrass and what better to wash down that wholesome green juice than a delicious organic Saison Dupont Biologique (5.5%ABV) from Brasserie Dupont! Isn’t the label so lovely – you could almost see it on the shelves of a health-food store among the tonics and coconut water. In fact, Saisons were originally brewed by farmers because it was better for their workers to drink than the dirty water which might have made them sick.

Saison is a style I’ve been slightly suspicious of but I’ve been making an effort to try a little more. I just think it smells a bit like a farm yard sometimes. I’m learning to love them for their unusual character and it’s a pretty good thirst-quencher for this warmer weather. This one actually had more of a lager-like aroma when I popped the cork; it took me back to those mornings I spent as a student tipping away dregs from Carling tins as I cleared up from the party the night before. In the glass there’s an additional note of honey rising from the lively carbonation. It’s a pretty beautiful shade of yellow-orange with a generous puffy white head.The flavor is super-crisp with banana and cinnamon and a lot of yeast. There’s a touch of sweet citrus but a lot of bitterness. The wheat and hay combined with the sunshine color and the arid dry finish make me long for a real summer I can spend outdoors.

Arrogant Ales

Posted on April 21, 2013 by bierebelle

Wow guys it’s been a while hasn’t it! For some unknown reasons I’ve been finding it really difficult to find the time to blog recently. Maybe it’s that the prolonged winter hasn’t done a lot to inspire me to write but spring has sprung and I have a pretty awesome year ahead. The highlight of the beery year (so far) comes as early as Saturday May 4th when I’ll be jetting off to Copenhagen to Mr Mikkeller’s fabulous Copenhagen Beer Celebration which promises to be a massive party featuring a who’s who of the greatest brewers working across the world today. It’s motivation to get drinking some of those beers I have stashed away just in case there’s anything worth bringing back. There was extra motivation to break into one of my special bottles today when the OH dropped a camera lens on the bottle of Stone Double Bastard (11.2%ABV). Don’t worry – the lens was somehow fine but the bottle cap was somehow slightly loosened so, since the seal was broken, we just had to drink it. Oh well. I’ve taken these here lucky taste buds of mine on quite an adventure since I started this blog. The first full-on American Strong Ale I tasted was Stone Arrogant Bastard which was possibly before I started blogging and it stuck in my mind as a benchmark for full-on over-hopped bitterness and big flavours – not to be messed with. However, a lot of beer has flowed since then and I

Arrogant like a Sauce Boss

recently revisited the Arrogant Bastard. Although it remains a well-made and tasty ale, it didn’t blow me away as it did the first time round. So would Stone deliver the next big hit with their Double Bastard? According to the website, the IBU count is actually classified and the blurb from the label promises much. Well the good news is this bastard has every right to be arrogant – this bad boy has swagger. The deep golden color is almost sunset red topped with a wispy white hint of foam. The aroma is dark malts and deep burnt caramel with a little spice. The flavor is a real wake-up for the tongue, starting with roasted malts in spades and delicious candy sweetness, then diving into devilishly deep bitterness offset by a little berry fruit and a hint of wood. It packs a punch whilst staying well-rounded, balanced and complex.There’s only a tiny burn at the back which has a rum-like warmth. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how it shines through in the Double-Burn Habanero sauce (pictured as part of the unholy ‘trinity’ of hot sauce) when I find an excuse to open that – maybe it’ll have a run-in with a falling Tupperware and then of course I’ll have to try it!

Stouts for a snowy weekend

Posted on March 16, 2013 by bierebelle

Salty stout!

Last weekend I ended up venturing on yet another trip to Bristol for a bit of a rest from the dreariness of Southampton and a change of scenery. This time, the all important beer selected for the train was the fabulous Netherlands brewery De Molen‘s Spanning & Sensatie (9.8%ABV). This Russian Imperial Stout is one of their limited editions and boasts additions of spice, salt and chilli! Like any great stout, the opaque thickness and deep chocolate brown with tight tan head lace the sides of the glass enticingly and there was an excitingly chocolate malty aroma with a twist of spice. The unusual flavor was typically stouty dark chocolate but it fell more onto the raw cacao side with a little sourness. The salt at the end was mouthwatering and moreish and there was a so so subtle hint of warmth at the back from the chilies.

Since the weather took a turn for the worst and snow and winds descended on the city, we spent a lot of our time in our favorite pubs (OK any excuse). After dropping into the lovely Bag O’Nails where I enjoyed a refreshing, biscuity pint of Box Steam Broad Gauge (4.8%ABV), we headed to Brewdog where I found my top beer of the year so far, Mikkeller Black (17.5%ABV) (other beers be warned – this will be a tough act to follow). I was overjoyed to see this on the bar as I wanted to try it for ages! The hypnotically luxurious aroma was like vanilla smooshed up with dark chocolate mars bar,

Super-happy Bierebelle!

deceptively sweet sticky chocolate caramel in a minstrel black with a golden head. Surprisingly the strength doesn’t hit as hard as you might expect but it starts of super-bitter, courtesy of the French Cassonade sugar (thanks for this fact @BrewDogBristol).it takes a few sips to really get into and surrender to the dark malty burnt chocolate and slight tang of red berries with an alcoholic afterburn on the tongue. But my goodness the bitterness was delicious. CBC cannot come quickly enough – I can’t wait to get immersed in the decadent world of Mikkeller and friends!

I can’t really mention the trip to Brewdog without commenting on the amazing service I saw there. Have any of you fellow beer snobs ever been into a super-awesome pub where somebody strolls in off the street, asks for a lager and is scolded or mocked for suggesting such a thing? It’s pretty funny and a lot of bar staff can get away with such banter due to their charming personalities. However, Molly (really hope I got the name right) in Bristol trumped such behaviour with her brilliant knowledge and enthusiasm and may have even started some lucky customers off on the path to discovering more awesome beer. I saw three groups walk in who were new to Brewdog and possibly just sheltering from the blizzard conditions, nervously asking if there was any lager. Each group stayed and tried something new as Molly enthused about what set their beers apart, poured tasters and talked about the ingredients and brewing process with a lot of charm and a sense of fun. If we can have somebody like Molly in every craft beer/real ale pub who knows how many folk we can coax away from the drab old commercial fizz?

Jingle-Belles, Jingle-Belles….

Posted on January 3, 2013 by bierebelle

As usual, the flights up North for Christmas really should have come with a health warning or possibly an in-flight detox on the return journey. There’s so much choice of real ales and craft beers in the many many pubs that every day feels like a beer festival. Having spent a day enjoying the fabulous pubs of Leeds, we caught the train to York where, there in the station, is one of the best pubs in Yorkshire, the York Tap. It was just my luck that after I had been trying to track it down for so long, the Tap were serving Marble Earl Grey IPA (6%ABV) brewed in collaboration with Emelisse. It looked pretty much like an IPA, smelled like an IPA, albeit an IPA that had a little stroll in a floral meadow. The taste was initially typically hoppy and satisfyingly bitter, but there was this beautiful gentle bergamot and orange blossom drifting in and the tea itself glides in at the end and leaves a slightly over-brewed bitterness which totally compliments the hops. Worth tracking down!

No sign of the Apocalypse yet!

Of course, one of our first stops is normally the bottle shop on Stonegate for hotel beers. However, we had procured some hotel-room refreshments already at the lovely Beer Ritz in Leeds. The beer we selected to toast the morning of the End of the World was To Øl Moccachino Messiah (7%ABV), a classic breakfast beer. It could have been mistaken for Coca Cola on its deep red-brown colour and a fizz to almost match. If those four horsemen were to actually show up, I felt that this exceptional dark roasted espresso wake-up call was a good way to start the day. There was a slightly harsh bitterness at the end but the lactose sugar lightened it up and smoothed over any sharpness.

Since being absolutely spoilt in Canada for delicious pumpkin ales, I’ve been missing them so much that I have brewed my own! Naturally I was delighted that when I visited the cozy Pivni to see that they had a Pumpkin PA (6.8%ABV) on which is the result of a collaboration between Tempest and Cromarty. It certainly looked like the real deal with a really lovely cloudy amber colour (maybe helped with the addition of carrot juice to the brew) with pumpkin and vanilla in the aroma. The first flavour to hit was the pumpkin and at first I didn’t really get much spice but once it had a chance to build up, there was a definite spicy cinnamon and ginger spice which warmed the throat along with cracked pink peppercorns. This was the proper smooth, thick pumpkin ale I had been missing so badly.

A ray of sunshine

One of the biggest surprises of our trip came from Sunbeam Ales which I had never even heard of before, but that’s not surprising since they are the ‘smallest brewery in Leeds. Seriously, go to their website and look at the pictures. This guy makes 50 litre batches in a regular kitchen in a back-to-back terrace and has picked up several home-brew awards. No wonder if the Honey & Lavender (4.9%ABV) I tried was anything to go by. What a joy even to look at, such clear, golden, straw-coloured liquid sunshine with a beautiful honey aroma. The honey sweetness stood out and the lavender (from brewer Nigel Poustie’s garden!) was so delicately lovely. It made the bus out to Beer Ritz all the more worthwhile.

No trip to York would be complete without a visit to the Maltings, conveniently situated about a two minute walk from our hotel Of course if the river level had come up any further we may have had to swim to it. Despite the flooding of the cellar, we still managed to get ourselves a bowl of some of the finest chilli and chips in Yorkshire and more importantly, an exceptional Old Ale (8%ABV) courtesy of Kirkstall, with a little help from Doug of Colorado brewery Odell.who just happened to drop in on a trip to Leeds! I feel slightly bad mentioning this beer here – landlord Shaun had kept his cask for a year so it was pretty unique as far as I’m

You can’t argue

aware (although I’m still wondering if it was also available under the name Aquitane). What a beer! It was complex, strong and fruity, almost like a beer version of a dark rum with a red wine aroma and a slight woodiness. .

For our last night in York, we cracked open the Hardknott Rhetoric Edition 1 (10.2%ABV) chilling out in the hotel and what a special yet ever so unusual beer that was. Beautiful beery dark gold with an exceptional aroma-sweet sweet treacle and star anise like a festive spiced bread. It was malty and sweet up front with an almost minty, kind of metallic cool freshness. The exotic star anise after taste had received a light sprinkling of cinnamon which made me recall a distant memory of some Chinese pork dish I can’t quite remember but certainly enjoyed.

Christmas is always a busy and sometimes stressful time of year, rushing around to get around all my friends and family. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have such a brilliant choice of pubs and bottle shops in and around the city I grew up in so I can relax with real treats in the time I have for myself. They don’t call it God’s Own Country for nowt!

Santa’s Little Helper

Posted on December 16, 2012 by bierebelle

Sorry Santa this one’s mine

It’s my last Sunday in Southampton before I go back to the beautiful North for Christmas. I’ve wrapped my presents, posted my cards and I’m almost packed – that calls for an extra special festive beer. Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper 2012 (10.9%ABV) sure looks the part in its elegant 750ml bottle, topped off with red foil like it wants to be fancy champagne. I didn’t know what to expect since, as is often the case for Mikkeller, there’s not a lot of information other than the ingredients on the label! It’s a Belgian, strong, dark ale and it’s a deep opaque black with almost a reddish hue. The aroma is malty and fruity with some of the alcohol coming though, think boozy Christmas cake. The taste is just on the right side of candy sweet with a juicy mix of plump raisins and cherries, orange, nutmeg and cinnamon smothered in smooth chocolate. The warm glow at the finish is reminiscent of a fine Venezuelan rum. Exceptional. I’ll definitely be looking to buy another for Christmas Day and I’ll be looking forward to next years incarnation! If you have a little more discipline than me, I imagine this would be lovely to age for a while.

Christmas time, mistletoe and…beer!

Posted on December 15, 2012 by bierebelle

Captain Ginger Beerd

Now that the countdown to Christmas is truly in full swing and the days are actually getting cold (I am on the South coast so it’s rarely properly cold!), I’ve been raiding the beer stocks for some comforting winter warmers. A coupler of days ago I re-discovered my supply of Summer Wine beers I bought a couple of months back and then criminally neglected. Of course, this time of year is just about right for a Calico Jack (8.6%ABV), the Imperial Caribbean Ginger Stout from Yorkshire. As black as the heart of Davy Jones with an aroma reminiscent of black treacle, spices and burning pirate ships, it was a pretty satisfying stout with yummy chocolate and zing. However, I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t really detect much ginger in the aroma or flavour but I don’t tend to go for subtle when it comes to ginger!

Since that was a work night, I was pretty well-behaved and saved the main beeryness for the weekend’s festivities. Today was a special day in the Bierebelle household. The day of the pre-Christmas warm-up dinner where the OH and I enjoy a big roast with absolutely no sprouts. It’s essential stomach preparation for the real thing and a treat for just the two of us. As a reminder of the meaning of Christmas, we decided to open a bottle of our Tsjeeses (10%ABV) Belgian X-Mas Ale Brewed with Spices by De Struise Brouwers. It’s billed as a ‘jolly blonde

Favourite Tsjeesus? Baby Tsjeesus?

winter ale….with hints of fruit, spices, refreshing herbs, and noble hops. OK it’s not that blonde, more a dark golden colour but it sure is beautiful with its delicate white lacing and treacley clovey, herbal aroma. As I’ve come to expect from the ‘Sturdy Brewers,’ the flavour packs in a sleigh-full of complex flavours and a body so bootylicious you can almost chew it. The warming fruit and alcohol is almost like mince pie filling with lively hoppy bitterness. There’s a tiny Christmas tree pine in the finish and a lot of burnt wood and molasses.

Never ones to be content with making an awesome ale to enjoy in its original state, Struise have also aged some of the Tsjeeses in different barrels to further enhance the wonderful flavours. I had the Tsjeeses Reserva (10%ABV), Vintage 2011 aged in Port barrels but there is also an Oak Aged and a Bourbon Barrel variation. This one had so much flavour sitting in there it was bursting to get out of the bottle (literally – my poor table cloth!). It had the same cloudy deep sunset amber colour with a finer smoother light head and a similar smell, albeit a little funky. There’s the same fullness in the mouthfeel but the complex flavours are richer and there’s cherry thrown in the mix with more of the woody aftertaste. The hops aren’t as obvious and the alcohol is warmer, or maybe it’s the lovely spices.

Bristletoe and beer

To round off the pre-Christmas Christmas beers, we opened our bottle of the lovely Bristol Beer Factory Bristletoe (4.3%ABV) which we picked up along with our 12 Stouts of Christmas at their recent open day. It’s spiced with coriander and ginger and it’s a lovely, warm, cloudy deep orange colour with a gingerbread and marmalade aroma. At a relatively low ABV (compared to the Tsjeeses!) it still packs in a massive amount of warming spices, orange peel, dark malts and a hella bitter but spicy lingering warmth. It kinda reminds me of a Christingle (who else made those in school?). It’s like one of those comforting woolly jumper ales you wish you could come back to on any cold evening.

What would your last beer be?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by bierebelle

So I had actually thought that with all this cold weather I would find more time to get blogging. No chance! Christmas is hurtling towards us like it’s been shot from a catapult and this one may even be our last if you believe those Mayans and their crazy calendar. In fact, if the world ends on December 21st all of this running around the shops in a mad and crazy panic will all have been for nowt. Maybe the apocalypse will begin with War breaking out over the last Furby, Pestilence spread amongst cheerless shoppers shuffling through the over-crowded high-streets, Famine as the German markets close and we can no longer shovel down foot-long bratwurst and finally the Death of any chance of sobriety and sanity.

Torrent of awesome

I’ve always been one to cut things fine but the deadline to finish my blogs about the exciting Craft beer from Canada could turn out to be pretty final so I’d better get on with it. Those guys at Elysian, located South of the border in Seattle, decided they would mark the End of Days with a series of 12 commemorative beers, one for each month of 2012. Their brief for their brewers was simple: which 12 beers would you brew if you knew they would be your last? Apocalyptic beer requires awesome artwork which was taken from comic book artist Charles Burn‘s fabulous Black Hole series. I was lucky enough to catch two of them whilst I was in Vancouver. The Maelstrom Blood Orange IPA was an amazing marmalade treat I enjoyed from the tap at the Alibi Rooms. The second one I got hold of was Torrent, a pale beet bock, at an off-licence and I was glad to have the bottle just for the artwork. Out of the bottle, it was the colour of the last sunset; golden red burning up the little fluffy white clouds with in glorious destruction. There was a definite beetroot aroma lifted with a touch of honey and the flavour was perfectly balanced and lightly malted with lots of proper, honest beetroot. Earthy, vegetal, deliciously bitter and incredibly dry at the end. As a beetroot juice addict, this would definitely go on my list of beers to drink as I watch the world burn!

If you brew your own brewer and like a little experimentation, the list of 12 is pretty inspirational. Which beer would you brew for the end of the world?

January: NIBIRU Yerba Mate Tripel

February: RAPTURE Heather Ale

March: FALLOUT Green Cardamom Pale Ale

April: PESTE Chocolate Chile Ale

May: RUIN Rosemary Agave IPA

June: WASTELAND Elderflower Saison

July: TORRENT Pale Beet Bock

August: MAELSTROM Blood Orange Ale

September: BLIGHT Pumpkin Ale

October: OMEN Belgian Raspberry Stout

November: MORTIS Sour Persimmon Ale

December: DOOM Golden Treacle Pale

Caught in a Twit-Storm!

Posted on November 20, 2012 by bierebelle

I can’t believe how quickly time has gone since I was in beautiful Vancouver but at least I can relive it by sharing it with you in my blog. One of the things I find most bizarre about Canada is that so many websites look like they were made about 10 years ago and a lot of them may have not even been updated since! Many retailers had websites that would make CAMRA websites over here look polished in comparison (for overseas readers, CAMRA UK websites tend to be shockingly bad). However, unlike in the UK, the beer industry and its aficionados seem to have really got the hang of this internet thing. The Most Awesome Website award (which would see the average What’s Brewing reader have the whole bar condemned for sorcery) would probably go to St Augustine’s Brewpub. Imagine if you could see exactly what beers are on as well as what colour they are and how much is left at a glance before you leave the house. Imagine no more thanks to the Live Beer Menu. As well as on-line, it’s also shown on screens around the bar.

As an avid Tweeter, I didn’t need to be in Vancouver long to find the awesome YVR Beer Tweetup. They’re a

The menu at Smileys

group of craft beer lovers who organise and promote craft beer events such as the Hopscotch event held over two nights as part of the Craft Beer Month celebrations and as a warm-up for the Hopscotch festival. The Tweetup event featured 8 Highwood Distilleries Whisky based casks of amazing beers. On each table, along with the beer menu, there was also a list of hashtags and Twitter IDs to enable drinkers to tweet their opinions and shout-outs which were displayed on screens around the bar. There were also competitions where prizes were awarded to the first person to tweet an answer to a question, Pretty clever since as more people tweet, the event starts trending and this means free publicity – sweet!

The two nights were held at two different bars which are part of the Donnelly chain (like ‘Spoons but with good food and good beer), Smileys and The Bimini. Of all the beers, the best was easily the Lighthouse Imperial Whiskey Marmalade IPA. The bitter hops totally intensified the Seville orange marmalade to the max. This was closely followed by the Central City Spanish Oak Aged Vanilla Bean Whiskey Stout. Hopefully if they ever bottled it they’d have a think about the name, A superb stout with plenty of coffee bean, it picked up a fair bit of the woodiness from the oak which was offset by delicate vanilla. I also loved the Howe Sound Pumpkin Ale Spiced Whiskey. Their original pumpkin was one of my favourites but the warmth of the whiskey and the round woody flavour pushed it over into a new level.

Wakey wakey breakfast’s ready!

Posted on November 4, 2012 by bierebelle

Hi all. It may look like Bierebelle has left the building but I assure you I am alive and well. Just very very busy but I’m quite excited about putting some blogs together about my recent trip to Vancouver during their Craft Beer month. I am pretty sure you will be eager to book your flights when you see the amazing variety of beer out there by the most creative collection of brewers I’ve seen outside of the North of England. However, since my return to the UK I haven’t actually been home long enough to write anything, with long, tiring days at work, a trip to London and a weekend away in Bristol for the OH’s birthday.

A special occasion such as the OH celebrating another year wiser was the perfect excuse to break open a rather lovely looking bottle we had been saving for a while, Mikkeller‘s Beer Geek Bacon. It’s the smoked version of his amazing Beer Geek Breakfast espresso stout. Since we had just secured tickets to the Copenhagen Beer Celebration, this was pretty appropriate. Although I would normally only drink a breakfast stout for breakfast, we drew the line at the 07:05 train, unlike the chaps who got on a stop later with their bottles of Stella. I’m glad we waited until we were checked into the hotel as this beer was worth savoring. It was one of the blackest beers I have seen with a gorgeous tan head and delicate bubbles and an aroma of mouth-watering smokey caramel. It had the most satisfyingly smokey taste I have had in a smoked beer for a long time and finished with a lot of salt, a little like really crispy, almost burnt bacon glazed with a golden brown sugar. There’s even a hit of wakey wakey espresso and he burnt smoke lingers on the tongue for a long time after the final sip. A delicious breakfast in a glass and I didn’t even set off my smoke alarm with the grill to enjoy it.