Ale, Beer, Stout appreciation

Abstrakt 20 is disappointing. Sweet and boozy but thin and flat. Fucking barley whine...

Yeah, whine.

14.2% though so full of goodness for tomorrow's ride. :)

They tweeted some places with it on draft earlier, North & South.

I got to taproom at 8.45pm, shuts at 9 so I didn't want to rush the draft. Told they had cans for Sat & Sun but they weren't Friday cans so they couldn't sell me one. Kinda understandable but sadface.jpg as I can't get there Sat or Sun.

Really disappointed with Buxton/To ol's latest batch of Sky Mountain sour. Had it last year in their tap room and it was miles better. This is very yogurty and one dimensional.

Abstrakt 21 on the other hand. I love licorice so this bad boy is excellent!

Still on the thin side but dark and licorice goodness. Win.

Brewdog's mystery box is a good deal price-wise, but could have done with a bit more variation (and not 3 liters of Punk IPA)

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Pretty much what I got.

Disapointed that there was no Elvis Juice. :(

Thats exactly what I got, give or take a Jackhammer.

So I guess it was more of an IPA clearance deal after all. Oh well, good value anyway. I just had a Hoppy Christmas, very nice

The Hardcore IPA is brilliant IMO, I enjoyed that the most.

My 2 favourite supermarket available Brewdog are still Jackhammer and Jet Black Heart.

Oh how I love this stuff.

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Mikkeller guesting at the bottle shop in Bermondsey - a few good drops

Can't moan about the value! I'll buy another box in a month or two and see what changes.

Went up to the Leeds Brewdog last night.

1. Smallbatch Nitro Breakfast Stout was good but I've had better.

2. Got the last of the Cloudwater colab. Really good.

3. The current Born to Die is worth it.

Think I got lucky at least 6 black things in my box for a bit of variation.

US beer update...

San Luis Obispo - popped to Woodstock pizza and had some more Fig Mtn beer, wishing I'd got the Founders Watermelon Gose but forgot to bring any cash with me, would have popped into Firestone's taphouse across the road too

Santa Cruz - entered a total burrito coma when we arrived, no beer

Yosemite - June Bug Cafe had a few beers on, tried some super bland pale ale and then a really hoppy IPA to restore the balance. Neither stood out, and while I wouldn't recommend it for boozing, if you need food or accommodation just outside the valley it's a great spot.

San Francisco - day 1:

• Cellarmaker tap house = fuckin' a! Tried 4 or 5 of their beers in 5oz measures (the perfect sample size?) including a collab with Cloudwater. Also tried somehting made with cryogenic hops, very nice
  
• City Beer Store - one hell of a bottle shop! Just at the end of their SF beer week with a "sea of sours", tried 3 or 4, Cascade's 'Tangerine Dream' and Sante Adarius' 'Contact Barrier' were the stand outs. They had 750ml bottles of Trappist Achel Blonde, took a lot of effort not to buy one.
  
  

SF day 2, currently hotel boozing - Logsdon Farmhouse' 'Seizoen Bretta' is nice and refreshing. Got Crux Fermentation Project's 'Half Hitch' coming up next, an imperial mosaic IPA...

I think at a certain ABV the alcohol literally thins down the liquid, so maybe they pushed this one a little too far. Barley wines should be syrupy goodness!

Plans changed today and so I was able to get to Cloudwater as they opened today to grab one of the last Birthday IPA cans. Will enjoy it later.

Will your Liver make it to NZ with you? ;)

5oz tasters are just less than 1/3 a pint. I think it'll be ok :p

Only managed a couple more mini drinks last night at a little dive bar called Toronado. Almanac's Blueberry something? was nice and tart. Sante Adairius 'Four Legs Good', a barrel aged belgian quad. Mmm...

Popped out to get some food at an Ethiopian cafe down the road, split a $20 platter between us and could still barely move afterwards. Edible plates ftw!

Toronado! What a place. I also think that Zeitgeist lives up to the hype, so if you're sticking around then you might wanna check it out. If you do go, make sure that you're dressed appropriately for the beer garden because there's nowhere to sit inside.

5oz tasters are just less than 1/3 a pint.

Ah yes, my in-head conversion was bigger.

As advertised, very hoppy. Big fruity flavours. Looks like the dregs of the farmhouse scrumpy.

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Warpigs Sky Burial barleywine was tasting beautiful at bottle shop today

Discovered Cloudwater Eldorado mosaic IPA this weekend - Cor! That's a goodun