Onto the beers, first up 'Furnace' 500mls, 4.8%. This indeed pours a nice ruby colour, a small head that quickly goes. Aroma has a sourness about it, reminds me of a heavy oaked white wine. Taste has a solid malt element but i'm struggling to differentiate between bitterness and sourness. I put away 2/3rds of it before i knew it i must admit, but i'm really not sure about it, whether i liked it or not.
The 'Honeyed Stout' sounded really interesting, they use honeycombs from local beekeepers and its aged for at least 2 months. It had a just off white head which was light and frothy, its body was relatively light for a stout but not thin. Again the aroma has some sourness to it, plus a sort of burnt malt element. Upon drinking i get dryness and a little smokiness at the end, little sweetness, no honey at all though. Although there is a spicy edge to it there is again that same sourness i got with the ruby ale, i'm not sure whether this is a feature of the yeast they use or something else.
Some of the other beers they had on sale sounded interesting also (and i really wanted to like these), but they possibly might make me a little hesitant before buying any of them is all i can say.
Sour ay? Maybe a bacterial infection, or maybe the bottles wern't kept well some point before you got them.
ReplyDeleteah good, a brewers expertise!
ReplyDeletetalking generally - so can an infection do this, although it was 2 different beers an infection could affect two brews? could the yeast do this?
Having a bottle of the Honeyed Stout myself, and that's exactly how I'd characterise the flavour: sour; almost like a lambic. (Which I like! :-) )
ReplyDeleteAnd it's the same with all the Warcop stuff I've tried. Surely not an infection then...
thanks john, that interesting. Possible a house yeast characteristic then?
ReplyDeleteI've not seen any more of their bottles since but i'd certainly try them now.