Two Cocks Brewery 1643 Leveller Bitter

Two Cocks Brewery 1643 Leveller Bitter
Style: Bitter

Alcohol Content: 3.8%

From: Enborne, West Berkshire, United Kingdom

Purchased From: Noble Green Wines, Hampton Hill, United Kingdom

http://www.twococksbrewery.com/

Have you ever got to that stage in life where you just want to stop what you’re doing and head to the countryside? Well, in January 2009 Michael Butcher and Paul Palmer did just that, leaving the West End of London behind for a taste of the “quiet life” in Enborne, Buckinghamshire. Here they set up a farm on 40 acres of lush English countryside, with the intention of selling provincial food stuffs primarily focusing on rare animal breeds. After stumbling across a rogue hop vine in October 2011, the pair decided to open a brewery. As the farm is based on an old English Civil war encampment, ‘Two Cocks’ decided to doff their cap to this historic period and label their beers accordingly. With names like Roundhead Bitter and Clavier Golden Ale, plus the addition of a real cockerel feather on the label of each bottle, the spirit of these times are forever remembered. The subject of this review is 1643 Leveller Bitter.

Colour: Pours a deep chestnut with a strange lemon yellow hue once settled in the glass. A thin, light brown head is also initially present but this quickly fades away after a few seconds in the glass.

Aroma: The first thing you will notice is that this bitter smells rather sweet. The malt provides a wholemeal bread sensation which is promptly followed by notes of sweet, slightly burnt caramel. This would suggest to me that Two Cocks have used a caramel malt which is just on the verge of becoming roasted/chocolate malt. As this drink settles, the aromas become slightly nutty and less sweeter than before.

Body: Rather surprisingly, this beer feels a lot thicker in the mouth than I was expecting it to. The rich stickiness coats every crease of mouth and lingers in the shadows for the duration of your pint. This helps to provide a clogging sensation on the back of your throat, causing you to drink more and more in order to refresh your palate.

Taste: As soon as you take a sip, you could be mistaken into thinking you’re eating a wholemeal roll smothered in dark treacle. Whilst this can be initially quite sickly, this feeling soon dies down as the bread notes begin to move to the fore. Although this beer is not extravagantly hopped, the hops used help to provide subtle notes of lemon which in turn loosens the sticky treacle taste. This citrus edge also helps to develop the flavour as the drink warms, revealing a strawberry jam like after-taste. In short, this is a lovely bitter that you should enjoy in a Ye Old English pub whilst catching up with the in-laws. If this was on cask in my local, I certainly would be ordering a few cheeky pints.

As 2014 draws to a close, I would like to say thank you all for taking your time to read my posts. Whilst I am not a professional beer writer by any stretch of the imagination, I have found everyone’s warmth and support overwhelming for my blog. Hopefully I have given some insight into the world of craft beer and potentially inspired some of you to follow in my footsteps. With that in mind, I came across this quote from Oliver Cromwell whilst researching this review:

“No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going.”

Happy New Year to you all, and I hope to hear from you in 2015.

For Emma, my present and future.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/east-london-brewing-foundation-bitter.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/wild-beer-company-somerset-wild.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Green Flash West Coast IPA

Green Flash West Coast IPA
Style: Double IPA

Alcohol Content: 8.1%

From: San Diego, California, United States of America

Purchased From: Great British Beer Festival 2014, Olympia, United Kingdom

http://www.greenflashbrew.com/home/

The Green Flash Brewing company was founded in 2002 by Mike and Lisa Hinkley. Originally based in Vista, California, the brewery soon out grew their premises and moved down to San Diego in 2011. Here the brewery has grown from strength to strength and now outputs circa 45,000 barrels per year. Always wanting to give a little back to the community, Green Flash are members of the “Brewing it Forward” campaign which encourages brewers to donate beer and merchandise to selected non-profit charities.  I always knew good beer can make a difference.

Earlier this year, Green Flash acquire the artisan Alpine Beer Company (whom are also based in San Diego). Commenting on the deal Mike Hinkley said “This partnership is win-win-win. Green Flash wins because we are teaming up with a truly iconic brewery. Alpine wins because they get to see their beers enjoyed by so many more of their adoring fans. But most of all, beer geeks everywhere win.” Sounds like good news all round then! The subject of this review is Green Flash’s flagship beer; West Coast Double IPA.

Colour: Pours a deep copper with a brilliant two finger deep white head. This soon dissipates down to a dusting of foam which laces the glass perfectly on every sip.

Aroma: Woho! A powerful hop howitzer will destroy your nasal passages as soon as you pop the cap. The perfect blending of five hops provides a myriad of different aromas. Pineapple, mango and citrus scents are provided by the use of Simcoe and Citra hops, whilst a delicate perfume of floral and pine notes are released from the Cascade and Centennial hops. Very powerful and extremely up lifting after a hard day at the office.

Body: A beautifully dense IPA that oozes quality from the first sip to the last. The denseness of  body followed by a subtle level of clogging ensures a very pleasurable drink experience that just begs you to drink more and more.

Taste: Now for the all important taste test. The base notes are full of biscuits and caramel flavours. This sweet underpinning becomes more pronounced as the drink warms and helps to add a real depth to this beer. This sweet base playful mixes with flavours of juicy grapefruit and mango and really elevates this beer onto another level. The finish is extremely dry with subtle hints of the resinous hops in the after-taste. My mouth feels like I have been licking my pet cat for days on end. Overall, I found this beer to be perfectly well balanced and I can certainly see why this is one of Mikkaller's favourite beers.

Flash Ahhhhh! Saviour of the Universe

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/oskar-blues-brewing-dales-pale-ale.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/founders-backwoods-bastard.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Mikkeller Koppi

Mikkeller Koppi

Style: Coffee IPA

Alcohol Content: 6.9%

From: Copenhagen, Denmark

Purchased from: Real Ale Shop, Richmond Upon Thames

http://mikkeller.dk/

What a weekend! Not only did I get to eat an amazing lobster roll at the Big Easy, I also visited the White Horse in Parsons Green. The selection of craft beer was quite frankly remarkable. From Rouge to Windsor and Eton, the White Horse had them all. After spending an eternity looking at the craft beer menu, Emma and I plumped for the following: Stone Levitation Ale, Goose Island Honkers ale, Kona Big Wave, Rouge Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Beaverton Black Betty Black IPA, Westbrook White Thai, Blanche De Bruxelles and Windsor and Eton Zinzan's Drop. You must agree, a very drinkable line up indeed. Couple this with a fantastic atmosphere and friendly staff, make the White Horse a winner. Whilst there, I noticed a number of Mikkeller beers were available. Rather than pay £20 for a bottle of their Geek Breakfast beer, I remembered I had bottle of Mikkeller Koppi sitting in my cupboard at home. So without further ado, here is the review.

Mikkeller is a so-called "phantom" or "gypsy" microbrewery founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The brewery was founded by two home brewers, a high school teacher Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and a journalist Kristian Klarup Keller, with the intention of bringing their home-brewed beer into public awareness, and to "challenge the beer friends with intense new tastes". The two also found some inspiration for their widely-varied, edgy brewing approach from the American breweries that "aren't afraid to play and break all the rules". In craft beer circles, the Mikkeller brewery is considered to be one of the innovative and well thought of breweries in the world. During its history, unlike many other microbreweries, Mikkeller has brewed over 600 different beers in a wide variety of styles.  As of 2013, their annual output is 8,500 hectolitres of beer. So onto the tasting.

Colour: Pours a dark chestnut brown which when held up to the light, produces a slight hazy orange hue. The head is very minimal and does not stay around long, so catch it if you can.

Aroma: The use of tomahawk hops helps to create aromas of elderflower and orange blossoms. The addition of Ethiopian Guji coffee adds bitter, lightly roasted coffee notes to the nose. Both these flavours will perform a merry little dance in your nose, leaving you wanting more.

Body: Very smooth in the mouth, but the heavy hopping and the addition of coffee causes a bitterness which clogs the back of your throat.

Taste: Firstly, bitter coffee will fill your palate, this slowly mutates into notes of crunchy biscuit and smooth, creamy fudge. The finish is long and bitter, with the continuation of coffee, cream and bitter hop resins. As the drink warms, the coffee notes will slightly fade into the background. The tomahawk hops compliment the coffee to ensure neither overpowers this beer. This helps to create a very enjoyable beer that I would return to over and over again.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/beavertown-8-ball-rye-ipa.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/einstok-icelandic-white-ale.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery