Whenever I buy beer, I always look at the label. Sometimes I buy beer just based on the label. Some weeks ago, I bought a couple of cans just because the artwork on it looked good. But here again, I bought another bottle of beer just for thartwork. The barrel aged old ale intrigued me not just because it was barrel aged, but because it had such interesting and nice artwork on it.
Later trying to review this beer and trying to find out who actually brewed it, I was struck by an absolute silence. When I google the beer, I find nothing. The bottle does not have any markings on it, and the label with the art also does not tell me much. So, this beer is actually just a mystery to me at this stage, but what a nice beer was it not!
For this #BeerSaturday, then, I had one unclassified but barrel aged ale, and one IPA. How can that get better? Please join me on yet another beer review!
Unclassified Barrel Aged Old Ale
Old Ale | 8.4 % ABV | ?? IBUs
Firstly, I want to again just appreciate the artwork on the beer. It cannot get better than that. I can only imagine that the original artwork is possibly hanging in the pub where they brew this beer.
The first smell was heavy, with toffee and roasted malt notes; dark roasted, with some raisins. It was very warming.
The first taste was big and full bodied, with a slightly sour, woody, roasted, alcoholic taste. But there was a predominant brandy soaked fruit taste, and it was a long lasting taste. There was some bitter but not too bitter. It was a perfect balance.
As the warms up, more like port or sherry, with a thick viscosity and warm alcoholic flavours. It was deep and rich with caramel notes from the grain but balanced with the other more complex flavours.
Killer Queen IPA
IPA | 6% ABV | ?? IBUs
The first smell of this IPA was nice and hoppy. It reminds me of my homebrewing days, it had exactly the same notes as my beers had. It had nice caramel roasted malt notes under the hops.
The first taste was home brewed IPA right away, very bitter which is nice, and nice floral zesty notes. There was not a lot of the malt that I got on the nose. But the taste was a very nice IPA. It is not necessarily a beer that I will go back to, but it was good.
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Postscriptum, or Cheers!
As always, there is never a bad beer when you crave a beer. IPAs for days, as I would say when I am already a beer or two in it. But in all seriousness, there is few things as good as a beer, especially on a warm day.
These two beers sure did tickle my fancy, especially the first beer which I could not find on the internet. But that is probably the allure behind it.
For now, happy beer drinking, and keep well!
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by some beer. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.