Fraoch

Fraoch Heather Ale
330ml 5%

Sad day to end the Scottish quadruplets. Fraoch the Heather Ale it shall be today. A friend of mine told me that she has it shipped to her place in cases because it's the only beer she enjoys so this might be interesting. On a side note I got my Nexus 4 phone today and already had a Nerdgasm so I wonder whether it can get better.
Again I like the label a lot. They do invest in their labels and  design.. though the English labels are a bitch to peel of (I collect em so I'm a master at detecting labels..)

Aight, it has been chilled, I'm on the sofa..(And prolly won't get up to take a nice pic so the couch desk will have to do) I got a glas and the fun may begin.

It poors nicely with a slight foam head which isn't totally white but holds a creamy hue.
The beer itself is partly cloudy which is interesting as I usually just know filtered or unfiltered beauties but this one is just a tad bit cloudy.

It smells more or less like a standard Pilsener but has some fruity tones in it. All in all it doesn't have a strong smell, unlike the other beers I tasted out of the series of 4.

The taste isn't very strong and has some weird bitterness that doesn't seem to come from the hops. It's more watery than I expected and also I'm not too happy with the carbonation. I dislike the bitter tones that are present. I can guess where a fruity taste should be expected but the tones are so subtle that they do not outweigh the negative aspects.
Sadly I'm a bit disappointed by this but as 3 out of the set were superb It was pretty OK to find one that I didn't like. I originally thought I'd keep the best for the end but I was proven wrong.

DMW

Sylter Hopfen

Sylter Hopfen
Ernte 2012
750 ml
7,1%

To celebrate my back to work I decided to open something very special. This rare, numbered bottle was given to me by my awesome boss (She is reading this but she is awesome in any case :) ) as a birthday present. I have been treasuring it ever since but as beer is meant to be drunk I decided to open it today... though it almost breaks my heart to open a beauty like this.

The hops for it have been grown on Sylt and it's been bottle fermented with champagne yeast strains.

Even opening the bottle is a special joy as it is stylishly closed with cork.

It pours light orange with mediocre foam that dissipates quickly. Colorwise it reminds me of a Cola - Fanta mix. As it is unfiltered, it is naturally cloudy and the champagne yeast clouds the hoppy goodness in the best way possible.From the looks it seems not to be too heavily carbonated but that can't be judged till I try.

I chose a classical Pils tulip glass for it...even toyed with the idea of using a champagne flute but went with the more standard version.

It smells very fruity with fine apple tones that wrap around the yeast aroma. Light Marzipan hues can be distinguished. Now I _REALLY_ wanna try whether this German Beauty can top the Scottish ones I have had the last days.

The mild carbonation is perfect and the sweetness surprised me a lot. The light apple aroma is present and its a perfect balance of apple and malt. The hops are decent and there is not a lot of bitterness involved here. The sweetness is a true surprise as it is brewed according to the German beer purity law and there is no added sugar.  It is not too sweet but indeed perfectly balanced with the tartness, forming a delicate composition. Absolutely amazing.

This is easily taken into my top drink list and a rare gem that I would prolly never have heard about if it weren't for my boss. Thanks again Nathalie!

DMW

Ebulum

Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale
330ml 6,5%

Brewed with Elderberries and Myrtle this beer is brewed after a recipe from the 16th century.





Deep black in color, this dark ale swallows any light and even when held right in front of a lamp it's almost impossible to see any light through it. The slightly cream colored foam dissipates very fast and leaves a small layer of bubbles. (Somehow I feel as if I have written that sentence a lot in the last few days...).

Marketed as a dark ale I somehow expect something along the lines of Köstritzer or other similar Schwarzbiere.
It smells very deep dark chocolatey and has rich fruit tones as well. I can smell the alcohol (which usually isn't a good thing but let's see) and something else I truly can't pinpoint. It's not as chocolate smelling as the Kelpie but more fruity dark chocolate... Hard to describe. Definitely pleasant and after the last few beauties I am eager to test this.


The carbonation this time is about perfect and the chocolate tones blend in with fruityness. While the fruity tones mainly are on the tip of the tongue, the bitter tones fill the rest of the mouth. I wouldn't be able to identify it as elderberry or myrtle but it's definitely great. It lingers warmly in the throat and I can absolutely see that as a great drink in winter in front of a fire place.  It's a very interesting sensation for the taste buds.

DMW

Alba

Now if I HAD been reading correctly (a skill vastly overrated for a linguist *cough*) I would have read that the boxed set I bought holds 4 of the 5 mentioned beers... so I am missing the Grozet as apparently it depends what season it is for them to decide what they micro brew.

Alba Scots Pine Ale
330ml 7,5%

Going in my list from "weird" to "I expect much", I'm tackling Alba today which identifies itself as Strong Pine Ale. Now Pine is something I expect in the bathroom as an after ... you know what .. spray or as an addition to Sauna but not in beer... But as I am going beyond my borders for you dear readers, we shall embark on this strange journey together. As the nice leaflet tells me to drink it as an after dinner beer from a wine goblet I shall embark to do exactly that.. or as close as I can get. I got the Widmer Brothers glass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widmer_Brothers) from the US when I visited a friend in Asheville North Carolina (The beer capital of the US as I was told). There was an offer in an awesome beer place there (http://www.monkpub.com/) which gave me the glass as an extra. Anyways, dinner is over, I am full and I shall focus on this Triple now. I do expect a somewhat resinous taste but let's see. Like Kelpie before, I do like the label, they do put effort in their labels.
Which again I should have read...... as I NOW see that it should be drunk at room temperature ... and me being an idiot of course left it outside to chill...gnnnn. The slightly creamy foam dissipates relatively quickly and leaves a small amount of big bubbles on the surface... color wise this is lighter and redder than the picture suggests. A bright light red to orange and not too cloudy. I'm seriously angry at myself now that I chilled this...
It smells salty and fruity at once and I can't decide whether I like it or not. Slight raspberry tones in it, covering the slight yeast aspects.

As it is already chilled I shall give it a try in this state now. This is da awesomeness.... the strong tripel taste mixes with raspberry fruit tones and a pleasant bitterness that's filling the whole mouth and not only the back of the palate. The bitterness and the fruity tones balance each other perfectly and I easily put this in my top 10 list of things I ever drank. I don't know where they take the fruity tones from but it reminds me a bit of a lambic mixed with a tripel. Seriously superb! Wonder what it would have been when not chilled... guess I have to buy more MUAHAHAHAH.
DMW

Kelpie

Kelpie Seaweed Ale
4,4%
330ml

I thought I'll kick this off with the Kelpie as ... to be honest....
Seaweed ale doesn't REALLY sound too appealing to me.. I automagically connect seaweed with salt and salt and beer don't tend  to go too well together. Education wise I learned that apparently the Scots used to brew with it so time to give it a try. I really like the label. According to the enclosed brochure I should have chosen a different glas for it but a man gotta use what a man has. The foam is strong and dissipates relatively fast. The foam has a dark color and reminds me of Guinness. The beer itself is very dark red.. it seems black if not viewed against a light source. Even after a few minutes there is a decent foam layer left.

I am REALLY eager to try this... Now let's take a smell..
It smells really chocolaty bitter and full with very decent salty tones.. not in a bad way. It reminds me of some chocolate porters I drank in St. Urhos. Wonder whether I'm just imagining the salty smell :P...
Time to try...

With maybe a bit too much carbonation this ranks among the best porters I have had in a long time. Its very bitter, heavy and full with pleasant bitterness tones throughout and a nice chocolaty aftertaste. (And no... no real saltyness:P) If the heavy carbonation wouldn't be this would definitely rank in my top list. The Seaweed gives it a nice extra bonus taste that's not really noticeable but there.

I like it!

Historic Ales from Scotland

Starting a 5 part series today.
Again a goodie I found in the shop.
A 5 piece box labelled Historic Ales from Scotland featuring:
-Fraoch Heather Ale
-Grozet Gooseberry Ale
-Alba Scot's pine strong ale
-Ebulum Elderberry strong ale
-Kelpie Seaweed ale

 

 

I'm really thrilled to sample those so I'll take one or two a day.

Kellerbier Naturtrüb

Kellerbier Naturtrüb
Brewery: Brauerei Zirndorf
0,5l 5%
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/zirndorfer-kellerbier/87184/

And still the ongoing series from the shopping trip.
A classical Zwickel which I ordinarily wouldn't write about if I wouldn't have a bad day and am bored and somehow determined to plot down my thoughts to each and every one of the pieces I bought the last time.
As you can see I am also trying to vary the glasses I am using. Traditionally this should be drunk in a glass that fits all of it, in this case I picked a smaller one as I liked it today. the foam was nice and huge just like I like it. It dissipates and leaves a good nice cm of foam on the beer.

This Zwickel has the color I expect from it, bright golden, not filtered and a bit brighter than 'normal beer'. I especially like the unfiltered ones as the yeast does add to the taste and imho belongs to a beer.

It doesn't smell very intense which doesn't say much, yet there are distinct orange tones noticeable.... alas not a very strong scent.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Zwickel/Kellerbier is my current favorite of the different kinds of beer so let's explore whether this particular one shall make it to my top list.

It's mildly carbonated and I could live with a bit more of it as for my taste it's almost stale. Tastewise it's rather watery with some bitter after tones on the back of the palate. Also some metallic taste somehow..
I'd say I drink it and it tops the normal boring Pilsners but all in all it's rather bland and generic. Go buy and try but don't expect anything new or tantalizing.

DMW