I’ve been tasting a few "not like your usual beer" beers recently. Those of you who read last week’s column will remember my affinity with fruit beers having a look in.
This week I’ve been enjoying some more cafe-style brews by sampling some milk stouts, coffee beers and general flavours that perhaps belong more on a Parisian boulevard than in your very own living room.
Fallen Brewing Chew Chew Salted Caramel Milk Stout (£2.90/ 6%/ 330ml)
Based at the old Kippen railway station, Fallen Brewing regularly pun on the Age of Steam for the names of their brews (Just the Ticket being another firm favourite), but this name makes me think more of slobbing on the couch with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. The milk stout gives a slightly more viscous mouth-feel, but the flavour is much more refined. Think liquid milk chocolate with just a hint of coffee that finds a great balance underpinned by a delicate caramel sweetness and mild salty after-taste. All this might sound a little too sweet, but there’s still a slightly bitter stout note that cuts through just enough to make this a real treat.
Rocket Brewing Co. Rings of Kahawa Farmhouse Ale with Coffee (£3.00 / 2.8%/ 330ml)
Well, this is not what I was expecting. You read coffee; you think dark colours and bitter flavours. Not so with this farmhouse ale. Light amber in colour, it has a nose of a cold brewed coffee but with a slightly sour note. This comes through on the palate too with notes of orange and citrus fruits making your mouth water. Kahawa is Swahili for coffee so it’s pretty aptly named given coffee is there; surrounding the palate, but it’s not the main character in this beer’s story. If you wanted to be overly dramatic you could say orange and sour dance on a frappucino stage. But I won’t, I’ll just say it’s pretty cracking.
Deya/Odyssey Brew Co. Honey Bee Good Honey Milkshake Pale Ale (£5.10 / 5%/ 500ml)
This one actually looks like a honey milkshake: light, frothy and…well, honey coloured. Mead fans beware: this is not the beer you’ve all been waiting for. It’s got a really fruity nose and there’s definitely a fresh, heather honey aroma that strikes you at first, but it mingles with a bit of tropical fruit and mango which contrasts nicely with the milkshake texture, cutting through the lactose to make a beer that is both rich and refreshing.
Up Front Brewing Ahab Stout (£3.40 / 6%/ 330ml)
Don’t quote me on this, but Up Front seem to be using biblical figures for their nomenclature (their other beer so far being called Ishmael). And so Ahab reigns as the mighty king of stouts. Which it does. Rich, mildly bitter with dark malty notes and complex coffee flavours. It’s got a light body but is packed full of bready, yeasty layers that keep developing through to cocoa and dark, bitter chocolate.
Out of Town/Grunting Growler Blood Orange Milkshake IPA (£3.50 / 6.3%/ 330ml)
Fairly new to the brewing scene, Out of Town have teamed up with an old colleague of mine, Jehad, of Grunting Growler fame, to create this peculiar little number. My initial thoughts were that blood orange and milkshake seems like an odd combination, but they really do work. The texture is nice and creamy without being too thick and cloying whilst there is a definite warm and fruity blood orange flavour that is nicely supported by juicy bitterness from Warrior, Amarillo and Ahtanum hops. It’s definitely an unusual flavour combination, but one that works so well you can’t help but wonder why nobody has thought of this before.
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