Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
Style: Doppelbock

Alcohol Content: 6.7%

From: Aying, Germany

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

http://en.ayinger-bier.de

Recently, feeling in the festive spirit, Kevin and I decided to re-home a stray cat that had crossed our paths. Due to his ragged appearance, we decided to re name him Scrappy. After an emotional couple of weeks of caring and feeding the little chap, it was time for him to be rehomed in leafy Bury St.Edmunds. Feeling sad about his departure, we both decided we deserved a little treat, so we popped down to Hampton Hill Noble Green Wines (quickly becoming our favourite bottle shop) and picked up our Christmas beers. Whilst browsing the shelves, I came across a beer which was aptly named Celebrator. After buying a few bottles, we soon made for home to celebrate Scrappy's successful rehoming.

Personally, I'm very excited about this beer. So as I sat down with some delicious festive nibbles (Brie and Cranberry parcels from Marks and Spencers in particular), I began researching to help 'prep my palate'. Ratebeer.com suggests that; "Celebrator has a creamy head of tight bubbles contrasting beautifully with its profound dark robe.". A dark robe I ask you; perhaps this is an academic master in disguise?

Intrigued, i decided to perform a little more research on the Brewery. Ayinger is a is a medium-sized German brewery located in Aying, Bavaria, about 25 km outside of Munich. Founded in 1876 by Johann Liebhard, the brewery struggled during the Great Depression and almost closed it door due to the hyperinflation and falling property prices. However, as the economy stabilized, the brewery was also able to restructure its debts and slowly develop into the brewery we know today. 

Colour: Pours a deep, mocha brown, with a foamy  tan head that later clings to the edge of the glass. When I hold this bock up to the light, hardly any light penetrates through this dark, mysterious liquid.

Aroma: Surprisely, this beer smells like a blend of alpine apple strudel, Christmas cake and sweet custard. Once warmed, the drink slowly develops subtle hint of smokiness, cocoa nibs and dry fruit.

Body: A beautifully fully body, complete with a delicate carbonation that coats your mouth on every sip. Now I'm beginning to understand the what the "Dark Robe" is all about, it's just so silky in the mouth. Personally I am surprised how full bodied it actually felt. Despite having a relatively low alcohol content, the sweet caramel sweetness adds a thick denseness that i would normally associated with my beloved Barley Wines. Amazing stuff.

Taste: Very, very fruity. This beer is bursting bold flavours of rich, spiced fruit cake. The use of caramel malts help to deposit notes of sweet, sticky molasses and hints of chocolate and coffee. Yum! Yum! This is a drink that you could easily ruin if you try and coif too soon, so its worth sipping slowly and really savouring that fruit cake taste. This beer really is a pudding in a glass. P.s. Each bottle comes with a collectible goat trinket. Since we brought quite a few of these beers, I'm beginning to build quite a collection!

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/paulaner-salvator.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/brooklyn-brewery-summer-ale.html

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

The Celt Brewing Experience Seven Flowers

The Celt Brewing Experience Seven Flowers

Style: Double IPA

Alcohol Content: 5.4%

From: Caerphilly, Wales

Purchased from: Real Ale Shop, Richmond upon Thames
http://celtexperience.com/

The Celt Brewing experience was founded 10 years ago by Tom Newman in the town of Caerphilly, Wales. In 2012 Tom developed the on-going Shapeshifter series of collaboration brews, with such names as Boxing Cat Brewery from Shanghai, Brasserie St Germain from France, beer blogger Simon Martin and beer writer & sommelier Melissa Cole to create exciting and innovative American, Belgian and German beers with a twist.

This is the first collaboration beer that I have reviewed. They seem to be very in-vogue at the moment so I'm certainly jumping on the bandwagon. This one is a true transatlantic collaboration bringing together three breweries from either side of the pond. Representing Wales we have the Celt Brewing experience and from the states we have Ale Syndicate and the Atlas brewing respectively. Both these fine breweries hail from from Chicago. Go Cubs! So before you post any jokes about the Cubs never winning the World Series, let's get on and review this beer.

Shall We Burn the Witch?

Colour: Pours a light copper brown with a slight reddish hue. A small layer of foam is present for you to play around with during the duration of the drink. This beer is also bottle conditioned and I accidentally poured some of the yeast into my glass. Pour it slowly people!

Aroma: Notes of freshly cut grass and newly fallen pine needles dominate the nose. This is swiftly followed by hints of sweet mango wrapped in toffee. Odd I know, but that's what you get when you hop a beer with seven hop flowers (hence the name). This little gem uses a blend of Citra, Simcoe, Hallertauer, Tomahawk, Cascade, Warrior and the old English faithful, Goldings hops.

Body: Quite dense for an IPA. The mouth feel is rather creamy and is actually more reminiscent of a stout. A beautiful drink to linger over on a cold winters night.

Taste: Just like the nose, you can pick up notes of grass and pine. After a big mouthful, you will receive a slight caramel and biscuit aftertaste in your mouth. This beer is amazingly fresh and the rather high ABV is extremely well hidden. The finish is dry, crisp and mildly bitter leaving you wanting more. Simply beautiful.

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

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/shepherds-neame-bishops-finger.html

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

Shepherds Neame Bishops Finger

Shepherds Neame Bishops Finger

Style: Strong Ale

Alcohol Content: 5.4%

From: Faversham, Kent, UK

Purchased from: Tesco, Ashford
http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/

Shepherd Neame is an English regional brewery founded in 1698 in Faversham, Kent.  It is the oldest brewer in Great Britain and has been family-owned since 1864. The brewery produces a range of cask ales and filtered beers. Production is around 230,000 barrels a year. It owns around 360 pubs, predominantly in Kent, London and South East England. Whilst visiting Kent in January I couldn't help but notice that almost every other pub was own by Shepherds Neame. Now that's the way to dominate the market! The subject of this review is their Bishops Finger, a Kentish Strong ale which holds EU Protected Geographical Indication, recognising its unique provenance. It takes its name from the finger-shaped signposts which pointed pilgrims on their way to the tomb of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. Will the finger of fate fall kindly on this beer? Lets find out. 

Pointing the way?

Colour: Pours a deep chestnut brown combined with a light bubbly head. This drops down to form a light dusting of foam after a few minutes in the glass.

Aroma: Slight notes of burnt toffee and vinous autumn fruits such as plums, cherries and red grape. However, I must stress that all these notes are extremely faint but they are lurking in the background in the shadows of the malt. 

Body: Smooth and easy to drink. There is a slight clogging on the back of your throat due to the resiny hops. Definitely one to sip on a cold winters night.

Taste: A big sip will provide you with notes of your Nan's fruit cake. Hints of Sweet orange peel, currants and sultanas will fill your mouth and the quickly die away. The finish is long and interweaves between dried fruit, rich malt and a deep, dry hop bitterness. These flavours are not overly pronounced and for me, it is a classic example of a mass produced bitter that you can buy from any major supermarket. Great if you just starting out on your real ale journey, but it's not the one for me. Perhaps I have now become a craft beer snob. Gulp! I guess I have.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/brakspear-bitter.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/anchor-brewing-company-liberty-ale.html

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

Partizan Brewing IPA Bobek Amarillo

Partizan Brewing IPA Bobek Amarillo

Style: IPA

Alcohol Content: 7%

From: Bermondsey, London, England

Purchased from: Utobeer, London Borough Market
http://www.partizanbrewing.co.uk/

Partizan brewing was founded by Andy Smith in 2006 originally as a way of getting cheap beer. He was frustrated that the majority of American IPA's were imported and thus were not enjoyed fresh as the brewery intended. In order to help him with this quest, Evin O'Riordain of the Kernel brewery gifted him a brew kit and he set up his brewery in Bermondsey, South London. He chose the name partizan as it symbolises lost cultures and more importantly, lost beer. Along with the vast array of beers on offer, this brewery is also famed for their label designs. These labels are crafted by an artist called Alec Doherty, who also lives in London. Now this brewery is quite small and have a limited output. So catch their beers while you can.

Sexy labels!

Colour: This drink pours a light, bright orange. This is quite different to the majority of IPA's on the market which poor ever a light brown, or (if it's an English style IPA) a dark brown. This drink looks more like a lager in the glass rather than an IPA. There is a small white head in the glass which will stay around for the duration of this beer.

Aroma: The aroma profile of this beer is extremely interesting. The first notes I could pick out notes of sweet mango's which have been ever so slightly smoked (weird combo hey?). There are also notes of spun caramel and herbs such as thyme and rosemary.

Body: The ABV of this drink is 7 percent and you can really feel this when you take a sip of this beer. It really knocks you sideways and takes quite a while to adjust to. Once this shock dies down the drink becomes very smooth to drink (due to the low level of carbonation) and leaves no sticky resin in the back of your throat.

Taste: The first sip of this brew was very bitter. Once this initial bitterness dies down you can taste fresh grape fruit, peaches and mangoes all held together with sweet spun caramel. The more I thought about the flavours of this beer, the more I realised that it reminded me of a sweet from childhood. The good old fashioned Rhubarb custard and creams brought from the ye olde sweet shop. The aftertaste unfortunately leaves little to be desired. It's quite acidic and metallic. Luckily the up front flavours will keep you wanting more.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/bear-republic-racer-5-ipa.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/by-horns-diamond-geezer.html

If you are interested in Alec Doherty's work click on this link: http://www.alecdoherty.com/

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