Merlin's Ale

Merlin's Ale
Broughton Ales

0,5l
4,2%



I can't even remember when or where I got this brew. I also haven't heard of the brewery.

We are informed about different stats of it like: 1042° OG 30 EBU 18 EBC.

Apparently OG stands for the Original Gravity while EBU is the European Bitterness Unit and EBC apparently refers to the color in the scale of the European Brewery Convention.

I guess I learn something new every day... and this was a nice addition to the general Information given.

The hops used are Bramling Cross, East Kent Goldings, Citra & Perle while they are using their own Broughton’s Unique Yeast.

I chose this brew for today when the Scandinavian countries celebrate Midsummer -  the summer solstice - though it already happened on the 21st but hey... It is one of the cases when I fell for a beer because of the label and the name... so hey.. good marketing I guess?

The label holds a nice story and depicts Merlin the old sorcerer supreme himself.

An added sticker links to http://beerenthusiast.org/ so maybe my fellow Germans imported it through Scandinavia.

The bottle also holds nice stylized hops on the glass.... talking about glass.. the standard tasting glass it shall be for this beauty.

It bubbled nicely when I opened the bottle and pours with little bubbles which dissipate fast... well it is an English Style Ale so what did I expect. The color is reddish .. not as red as a red ale but definitely redder than a lager. (I know I'm not helping here...)

Ratebeer seems not happy about it with rather low scores.

How very fitting that his beer gave me the God Save The Queen Sticker on untappd on the day of the Brexit...

The aroma is honey-sweet with decent tart tones all in all a very mild aroma with very faint nut and hop aspects.

Carbonation is perfect, mouth feel very nice. The taste starts out fruity sweet and then develops more and more toward the bitter scale till it reaches an almost chocolate stout like after taste of dark chocolate and hops once air reaches the mouth. It is a decent ale I'd say and again I'm not sure why Ratebeer and I disagree ever so often. I do like the bitterness of it and the hops are very well developed, alas it could benefit from some more fruitiness in the beginning. 

Prost!

DMW


 

Hitachino Nest White Ale

Hitachino Nest White Ale
Kiuchi Brewery
0,33l
5,5%

I am not sure what EXACTLY the name of the beer is to be honest. I saw the bottle in my local store and thought hey it has an owl, how bad can it be.

The bottle is cute. 3 part label with an added 4t sticker because Germany wants all ingredients in German as well,

Now the ingredients do make me wonder... Orangepeel, Cilantro, Nutmeg and Orangejuice.... I expect something ehm... spicy? Herbal? I do not know and that is what makes it interesting. I wouldn't wonder if the Japanese writing on it says something akin to 'This is for stupid foreigners only' but hey... I shall have it checked. Tuuli.. expect an IM.

Aight so I said I like the bottle and the label design. It's up to date and made me interested...they did their job.

Today's glass is one of my standard tasting ones. Originally made for 0,2, I am confident it will hold 0,33 with pride as well.

This is VERY yellow. I mean pale Fanta yellow. The foam is very little and dissipates super fast. It's very cloudy and unfiltered. There was a huge amount of yeast in the bottle that I made sure was mixed with the beer before I poured.

The aroma is very appetizing, I can smell the orangepeel/juice and the cilantro with the yeast being present as well. It does have a bit of a medicinal smell but not in a bad way at all. The citrus aroma gives it a very fresh and crisp impression and I SO wanna try this now.

This is super interesting.
 The orange feel is strong with a carbonation that could be a bit stronger for my taste. The cilantro is a nice addition and compliments the citrus tones. Though it is fruity it also has a nice hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste. The medicinal tones I was afraid of aren't there really. The best I can compare this with is as if I first take a sip of nice orange juice and immediately follow it up with a Pilsener. This is definitely nice!
Do I dare to check RateBeer about it... Well I did and for once we kinda agree that this is absolutely in the top third of beers. I really like how they blended the nutmeg and the cilantro with the orange tones and made a worthy concoction out of it.

This does get my seal of approval!

PROST!

DMW