Beer round up no.2

A bit of a round up post, featuring a few beers I've had over the last few weeks but not featured in any posts, so i can now get onto the new bottles sitting waiting, so here goes......

Picked up a couple from Morrison's, including Everards 'Beacon Bitter', and one from my neck of the woods, Ringwoods 'Boondoggle'
After a 12 1/2hr shift i welcomed the Beacon bitter, pounced on it, and drained it down quickly. Classic copper in colour, faint fruit aroma with malty background, 3.8% abv. Mellow bitterness, alongside its toffee hints on a medium body. Good standard bitter, not much wrong with it.

Ringwood's 'Boondoggle' is one i remember having on cask many many years ago, you dont forget that name really. 5% abv which is apparently strong than on cask, light golden in colour, its a 'blonde beer' that has the aroma of a honey beer, sweet and floral. Taste wise its sweet but with a dry bitterness, lemon, digestive biscuit malt. Overall though it wasn't one that impressed me, it was like a bad Badger beer, overly sweet and floral, wouldn't buy it again i'm afraid, Ringwood do produce much better beers than this normally.

Black Sheep do good beers. Fact. 'Square ale', 'Golden sheep' and 'Riggwelter' - good bottled beers. Riggwelter is a 5.7% strong Yorkshire ale, a marvelously chewy toffee ale, cracking beer. Rich roasted malts, strong dark fruits, a sweetness bordering on treacle flavored. A nice coffee bitterness in there too, medium to heavy bodied, really enjoyable.


Brewdog's 8% Rip Tide stout was a nice drop but a little bit of a let down if truth be told. Black, black, black in the glass with tan coloured head. A little thin in the mouth which was a surprise, coffee, chocolate malts, licorice. I think i was expecting something a little more 'bombastic' from it than it actually gave, hence feeling underwhelmed.

 Young's Double Chocolate Stout, relatively famous beer in most respects, and another that features in the "best beers in the world" books with some regularity. So was quite looking forward to this one, open it and got a well carbonated black pint, little frothy off white head. Smooth, chocolate and some spice aroma, surprisingly noticeable hop presence. Again i was a little underwhelmed with it, if anything the milk chocolate was a little too sickly sweet for me.

Coniston Brewing Co.'s Bluebird Bitter, award winning and very drinkable. As you can see from the photo i just about left some in the glass before i remembered to shoot it! Golden straw colour, malty aroma with sweet fruit sweetness. Taste was very good, bready, malt, but also a floral and hoppy element. There also seems to be a little apple and maybe banana in there too? I would certainly like to try this on cask if given the opportunity.

 
Finally the other night i tried the Weihenstephan Kristall Weissbier. Very refreshing, crisp, dry, very carbonated as you can see. As you'd expect it has banana, clove, yeasty, and bubble gum sweetness. Lovely, not much wrong with it, again best on a hot day i would imagine.

Erdinger Weissbier & Grolsch Weizen

Your author was an idiot tonight, going in for a night shift when i was not supposed to be working. Doh!
So on my return i opened a Brains Black and wrote up my notes on two wheat beers that soothed me the other night.
There is something comforting about wheat beers i find, soothing, comforting, they make you sink into the furniture, but the lightness and spices keep you floating just enough with their freshness
The first was one i think i have had before but never wrote up or photographed. Erdinger Weissbier, lovely hazy golden in colour, a thick creamy and foamy head. The body holds so well in the mouth, smooth, good carbonation, banana, vanilla, yeasty and crisp. Solid.
The second i have not seen before, in fact i cannot remember when i last had a Grolsch pilsner full stop, it must be 15 years at least. I will rectify that soon, although i do not recall seeing it in any shops recently.
Grolsch (premium) Weizen, a similar golden colour, another frothy white head, perhaps not as creamy as the Erdinger. The Grolsch has slightly more pronounced clove and banana aroma, but is that because i tasted it second and it was thus fresher in my memory?. Slightly sweeter, banana and clove again, fruitier and wheaty.

Two lovely beers, and i could have had 2-3 more of either of them, although if i have to say then the Erdinger was preferred.