Alba Scots Pine Ale

I really like what the Williams Brothers have been doing recently, and used to like the occasional Fraoch, but for some reason, I'd never had their Alba Scots Pine Ale. I picked up a bottle in Amsterdam after TheBeerNut looked pleased at seeing some for sale in the Cracked Kettle, and let's face it, him looking pleased at seeing a beer is usually a good sign. Usually!

This has an interesting aroma. A kind of sweet orange marmalade thing, with a hint of freshly snapped twigs, or forest floor. Perhaps that's the power of suggestion, I dunno. It opens up with juicy marmalade flavours on a toffee backdrop. Half way through, a dry, earthy, herb-like bitterness spreads across the back of the mouth while still delivering that marmalade kick, and later still, a kind of tingling numbness comes in. Maybe that's not the right way to describe it, but it's a bit like sucking clove drops, without the clove flavour, but with perhaps a touch of resin instead. The flavours just keep building up as you sip - and it is a bit of a sipper at 7.5% ABV, and with a chunky body too.

I gotta say, this is delicious. The combination of flavours blend into a wonderfully earthy taste, and it's really moreish. I'd have a couple in a row easily.

Last day at work today, and I'm looking forward to the break. We're still not sure if we'll head south to the in-laws, due to the weather, so we've bought a tree, just in case. And I'm still trying to finish my wife's present! Stupid work getting in the way...

Einbecker Dunkel

Einbecker Dunkel, from the home of the famous Bocks, is a nice deep amber with a thin head. It has a typical, generic Dunkel aroma; heavy on the malty sweetness with a hint of fruitiness and, in this case, a suggestion of hops.

First impression: thin.

Second impression: sweet.

Third impression: spicy?

There's a suggestion of roastiness, but in the end it's a simple, rather boring dark beer, despite the nice-sounding spicy hint. Oh well.

Leikeim Original Landbier

From Familien-Brauhuas Leikeim in Altenkunstadt this Landbier pours a pale gold - the colours in the photo are all wrong - with a thin, loose head and a light, malty aroma. It has a touch of graininess, light citric undertones and a hint of wood/resin. The flavour is certainly malty-sweet, but not overly so. There's a slight fruitiness in the middle-ground, reminiscent of pear, and on swallowing a slightly resinous bitterness comes in. The finish leaves a hint of spice, but mostly a sweet-yet-woody aftertaste. This beer has an interesting mix of flavours while remaining fairly simple; it's not leaning strongly in any particular direction, but is reasonably solid.

I thought this was a small, family-run brewery, and maybe it is, but their website hints of a bigger brother. I don't know why.

Southern Tier Porter and IPA

I got these babies in De Bierkoning while in Amsterdam (I say it again: you just can't get shit like this in Germany), and managed to wait over a month before drinking them.

The Southern Tier Porter seems very highly carbonated, with a huge foamy head that made it take a long time to fill the glass, despite my gentle touch. It looks good though, being an almost opaque, deep, ruddy brown.

The aroma suggests chocolate, vanilla, big chewy toffee and a quite a yeasty undertone, which is ok with me. The initial taste is surprisingly brisk, with a touch of fruitiness. This gives way to a dryness, with roasted malts and a slightly charred finish. It's quite sharp, but in a refreshing way, showing tart, appley notes. The carbonic sharpness grates a little after a while, but overall the roatiness is pleasing, and it mellows a bit after warming and losing a bit of CO2. Quite nice, but I wonder now if this amount of carbonation is usual, and if perhaps it affected the flavour a bit.

The Southern Tier IPA weighs in at 6.5% ABV and shows a slightly hazy, pale amber. It delivers a big, juicy American C-hop hit with a nice caramelly thing going on underneath.

First taste? Oh yeah! Big grapefruit and huge pithy bitterness all on a salty butter and toasty caramel base with resin and fruit dancing around the edges. It's actually really smooth, with massive hop flavours.

Great balance. My kind of IPA. Wonderful. Mmmm...

Bajuvator Doppelbock

The Bajuwaren were a tribe that may have been formed from several tribes during the so-called migration period in the late 4th to late 6th century, and who may have emerged from the area that is now the modern-day Czech Republic, pushing southwards to settle in parts of what is now Bavaria and Austria. Why all these "may haves"? Put it this way, my wife is an archaeologist, and on asking her about the name, it all got too complicated for me. Lets just say that it is popularly believed that this tribe lent it's name to what is now modern-day Bavaria and the people at Tucher Bräu used this as inspiration to lend a bit of history to their Bajuvator Doppelbock. Fine!

This is another nice looking, dark russet Doppelbock, with no head to speak of and minimal aroma; just a hint of sweet caramel and faint fruits. On the tongue, though, it's quite fruity, along with almonds and a pleasing digestive biscuit saltiness. It has a reasonable alcohol warmth (at the standard 7.2%), and a surprisingly light mouthfeel. The finish has some hops in there, but the lasting impression is more of warmth and malty sweetness. Quite easy drinking really, but not as deep flavoured as the Triumphator

Löwenbräu Triumphator

It's funny really. I'll happily toddle off to Brussels and spend an evening drinking high alcohol beers and come out the other end feeling fine, but the word Doppelbock always makes me leery. They're not all that strong in the greater scheme of things really, so maybe it's the big sweetness that many of them have that put me off. I'd bought a mix of Doppelocks during the summer to try and break this mental block, but I went through them quite slowly, even though there were some classics in the mix.

One of these was the Löwenbräu Triumphator, weighing in at what seems to be regulation standard 7.2% ABV. A rich, ruddy brown with a persistent off-white head, the aroma is certainly sweet, but in a comforting chocolate-orange way. There's a touch of fresh-baked bread to it, with hints of spices.

On first taste, I was actually a little disappointed. The chocolate-orange suggested by the aroma doesn't deliver and there's a bite that surprises. After a few sips though, I realised it's not as sugary as some Doppelbocks, and actually, there's a fairly decent hoppiness, which was unexpected. It all develops into a mix of dark toffee, a touch of chocolate, a slight roasty finish and though all this an alcoholic warmth and a pine-like, floral bitterness. Not so bad after all!

Warka Strong

My neighbour left a couple of these Warka Strong beers on my doorstep during the summer, bless him. He seems to like his stronger beers, and at 7% ABV, this is a reasonably strong Polish beer.

The aroma is reminiscent of burnt, buttered popcorn, apples on a slight caramely backdrop. The flavour delivers a similar first impression, again with butteredcorn, peardrops, hints of banana, but all in a terribly artificial way which makes your gums tingle. This is not an easy-drinker, as it's pretty sweet, and going completely flat after a few minutes does nothing to help. I reckon you need some fizz to make this feel lighter and a any way palatable.

Tramp juice came to mind, but I have no idea how much it cost.