The BeerCast

The first podcast of any year is always one to look forward to – as tradition dictates it’s our BeerCast Beer of the Year show. As highlighted in our recent preview, the four highest scoring beers we could find from the podcasts recorded in 2010 are re-sampled, and a winner picked. Previous winners are Anchor Christmas Ale 2006 (2007), Hop Back Summer Lightning (2008) and Stone Ruination IPA (last year), so whichever beer came out on top this time, it would be in good company. Re-tasting is always an interesting experience, as a second go often brings a different result from last time – and so it was to prove. The four beers in our BOTY show were Tryst Raj IPA (5.5%), Odell Isolation Ale (6.1%), Kernel IPA C.S.C. (7.1%), and BrewDog Abstrakt AB:01 (10.2%). On the extended panel – Shovels, MrB, Andy, Richard, Jess, Grooben and a debut for panellist Katie, all of whom were seconded to a remote location to sharpen the tastebuds…

1. Raj IPA (5.5%abv) 500ml glass bottle
Tryst Brewery, Larbert, Scotland.
BeerCast#49 scored 32½/40 (81%) 3rd June 2010
Originally tasted by Richard 8½; Grooben 8; Shovels 8; MrB 8

What They Say – “This India Pale Ale marks a slight change in direction of Tryst Ales, away from low alcohol session ales to rather more substantial and serious Real Ale. This IPA is hopped with three popular British hops to produce a deep lingering taste, complementing the underlying malts for a memorable pint.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Jess – It’s quite sour and strong but I really like it
Grooben – Has a great balance of bitterness and sweetness
MrB – A great Scottish session IPA
Richard – Lot of bitterness from the three hop types
Katie – It’s maybe too bitter but I’d have it again
Shovels – I’d drop it to a 7½ but it’s still good
Andy – Tastes like old shoes that have been left in the garage

2. Isolation Ale (6.1%abv) 355ml glass bottle
Odell Brewing Co, Fort Collins, Colorado.
BeerCast#55 scored 33/40 (83%) 22nd December 2010
Originally tasted by Shovels 8½; MrB 8½; Grooben 8; Richard 8

What They Say – “Available each winter from the first of November until it runs out, Isolation ale is amber in color, malty and strong. We consider it a traditional winter warmer, without the addition of fruits or spices.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Andy – Needs no tweaking as the balance is perfect
Richard – Malty and fruity, with almost a caramel sweetness
Jess – It’s almost nutty, absolutely delicious
Grooben – Odell beers are always very well balanced
Shovels – Their beers have that fantastic aftertaste
Katie – I’d definitely have this again in the Autumn
MrB – Odell just don’t make a bad beer

3. Kernel IPA C.S.C. (7.1%abv) 330ml glass bottle
Kernel Brewery, Bermondsey, London.
BeerCast#52 scored 34/40 (85%) 27th October 2010
Originally tasted by MrB 9; Richard 9; Shovels 8; Grooben 8

What They Say – “American hops meet English malt. Burnished golden colour. Aromas of tropical fruits, hints of grass. The sweetness of the malt gives them the impression of fruit salad on the palate, juicy, then followed up with a big bitterness, with some pepper and spice.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Katie – There’s a bit of floral that balances the bitterness
Richard – Fantastic piney IPA smell, it’s outstanding
MrB – I don’t want to drink this, I want to savour it
Shovels – A really fantastic IPA
Grooben – Balanced so it doesn’t taste crazy for 7%
Jess – I prefer this to the Raj IPA
Andy – Would be difficult to drink a lot given the strength

4. Abstrakt AB:01 (10.2%abv) 375ml glass bottle
BrewDog Ltd, Fraserburgh, Scotland.
BeerCast#50 scored 32½/40 (81%) 16th July 2010
Originally tasted by Shovels 8½; Richard 8½; MrB 8½; Grooben 7

What They Say – “Abstrakt will only ever brew and release a beer once. BrewDog’s Abstrakt is about exciting, progressive and conceptual beers, beers which not only push the boundaries but smash them up completely.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – You can taste the vanilla more, but I still like it
Grooben – Sweetness has taken over, it’s a bit one-note now
Richard – The flavours have definitely developed with aging
MrB – I’m trying to work out why I gave it 8½, I don’t like it
Jess – First taste it lovely, but it gets overpoweringly sweet
Andy – I like sweet beers but that’s some sugary ass sh*t
Katie – I can taste some liquorice and parma violets

So that was the thoughts – or re-thoughts – of the panel during the tasting of the four beers that had made it through to the final. The next thing to do was go round the table and give a first and second choice for beer of the year, plus a beer each that we enjoyed over 2010 and felt deserved a special mention…

Jess
“For me, Isolation Ale was outstanding, and then the Kernel IPA. The best beer I had this year was a Wherry’s in Norfolk, from local brewer Woodforde’s, that I really enjoyed.”

Shovels
“My two picks are Isolation Ale and then Kernel. My beer pick for 2010 was Wold Top Gold – a blonde ale on tap and in the bottle is very good.”

Katie
“First choice is Isolation then Raj IPA. I’ve drunk more Sierra Nevada than anything else this year but also enjoyed St Lupulin and Wold Gold after a bike ride.”

MrB
“Kernel C.S.C., it has to be – because it’s the best one. My second choice is Raj IPA. My beer of note would have to be Tripel de Garre in Bruges.”

Grooben
“It’s really really close, but Isolation number one and Kernel number two by a very small margin. I can’t think of any beers that have busted my chops – but discovering lambics has been interesting and my mind is starting to open to Belgian ales.”

Andy
“Isolation Ale was a country mile ahead of the others, Kernel IPA second. My beer of note would have to be Shovel’s homebrew 6D.”

Richard
“My favourite from tonight and my beer of the year was Kernel IPA – I love Evin’s approach to brewing. My second is Abstrakt because I love how it has changed character over the months. My notable beer is also Tripel de Garre – probably my favourite beer of all time.”

The comments during the tasting made it look like a close run thing – but when it came to the judging there was a runaway winner. Five of our seven panellists went for the same first pick, making Odell’s Isolation Ale (6.1%) our 2010 BeerCast beer of the year. Congratulations to Doug and the team, their amber malty winter warmer is the fourth winner of our BOTY – and interestingly the third American beer to come out on top. Kernel IPA CSC (7.1%) came out second, with unfortunately the local entrants in third and fourth. Maybe 2011 will be the year a Scottish beer comes out on top…

Our panel also tasted a fifth beer – a surprise bought by Richard and smuggled to the podcasting under the strictest secrecy. On the Isle of Wight, the Yates brewery have combined with a nearby garlic farm to produce a 4.1% Garlic Beer. Listen to our tasting after the BOTY voting, and check back to the website in a few days for a full review post on a beer that truly united the panel…

As things wind down over Christmas we traditionally turn our attention towards the annual BeerCast Beer of the Year Show. We tally up the scores achieved by each ale podcasted over the last twelve months, and take the four highest scoring [more on this in a moment] away to a secret location for a re-sample. Which beer will follow on from Stone Ruination IPA and become our BOTY for 2010? Our BeerCasts this year featured 49 different beers, but only four can make it to the BOTY show.

For the three previous years, we’ve been very careful (and lucky) to track down the top four for the re-tasting. Even a beer from Sweden we tried in January 2009 we managed to root out for that’s years BOTY show (Carnegie Baltic Porter – it came fourth). Sadly this time a combination of rare podcast themes and the suddenly shocking British weather conspired against us. Of our actual top four, we have only one – the others we were unable to find again. Caldera IPA (93% in BeerCast #49), Sierra Nevada Harvest 2009 (90% in our 50th BeerCast), and Kulmbacher Monchshof Schwarzbier (84% in BeerCast #53) won’t be involved.

This is a massive shame, of course – Caldera IPA proved definitively that canned beer can be just as good as bottled, the Sierra Nevada was a peerless wet hop ale that was just down our collective streets, and the German entrant was a rich, malty discovery that none of us had heard of before. The problem is, Caldera is hard to find even outside Oregon, and when the shipments to the UK are gone, they are gone. Sierra Nevada Harvest is a seasonal release – we should really have bought more than one bottle – and I have ordered some Kulmbacher, but it never arrived having been delayed en route by the bad weather. I’m looking forward to trying it in January (hopefully).

So the 2010 BOTY show isn’t technically the top four highest scoring beers of the year – but we still have some absolute corkers, and a decent range to boot (our exact top four contained three IPA’s). Our first entrant – the top-four member we did source again – is Kernel IPA C.S.C. (7.1%). Since I paid a visit to London’s Kernel brewery in August we’ve been falling over ourselves to sample his beers. I say his, because it’s a one-man operation – Evin O’Riordain brews strong pale ales and historic London recipes that take his fancy. Our Kernel Showcase BeerCast featured some outstanding offerings – his Centennial, Simcoe, Chinook IPA the pick of them.

Kernel IPA C.S.C. scored an excellent 85% – the next beer to make it to our Beer of the Year show finished just behind, on 83%. Over recent months more and more Odell Brewing beers have made it over to the UK – probably as a direct result of Doug Odell’s visit here a few months ago. With probably the nicest labels in brewing, their English-inspired ales are a good fit for the British market. Odell Isolation Ale (6.1%) finished top of our recent Christmas Special, and really impressed the entire panel. We have a number of American craft beers at the top of our rankings – Isolation becomes the latest import to make it to our BOTY show.

However, our next two finalists both fittingly hail from Scotland, and they both scored 81% in their respective podcasts. Taken in alphabetical order first we have BrewDog’s Abstrakt AB:01 (10.2%), a vanilla-bean infused Belgian quad from Aberdeenshire. It marks the second BrewDog offering to make it to a BOTY show, after Hardcore IPA (9.0%) reached our 2008 final, finishing second. No other producer has featured twice – can they go a step higher in 2010 with the first of their well-received Abstrakt series? Designed to age well, six months after BeerCast #50 the flavours should have improved even more.

Our final BOTY finalist is Tryst Raj IPA (5.5%) – so we have two India Pale Ales in our four entrants at least. Also a one-man operation, John McGarva produces a range of classic Scottish ales from his base in Larbert, just outside Falkirk in central Scotland. Selected by MrB for BeerCast #49 (the show that unearthed Caldera IPA), the beer takes it’s name from the classical history of the India Pale Ale. You can argue we have a bias towards the hoppier offerings (all four BOTY shows have contained at least one IPA – indicating we score them highly), but when they are this well made – how can we not?

So we can look back at another great drinking year on the BeerCast. We’ll be recording the BOTY show at New Year with a specially extended panel, and it’ll be up sometime within the first couple of weeks of January. Stay tuned for surprises, controversy, and personal highlights, and in the meantime everyone associated with the BeerCast wishes our readers and listeners a fantastic Christmas and New Year, and all the best for 2011.

2009 Beer of the Year Show
2008 Beer of the Year Show
2007 Beer of the Year Show

Merry Christmas from the BeerCast to all of our readers and listeners – and not to forget the brewers who make everything happen! In this, our fourth annual BeerCast Christmas Special podcast, we review six seasonal beers and give our thoughts – both on the ale itself and the ‘Christmassy Factor’ of the label (i.e. whether looking at the bottle puts us in the festive mood).

First up we have Fyne Ales Holly Daze (5.0%) from Argyll, before we head to California for Anchor Special Ale 2010 (5.5%) – the fifth version of their winter beer to feature on the BeerCast. Our third festive cracker is Odell Isolation Ale (6.1%), before we head to Germany to sample the oak-smoked delights of Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock (8.0%). Our penultimate beer this time is Titanic Christmas Ale (7.6%) from Stoke-on-Trent, and we finish with another Scottish beer – the 8.5% Santa’s Madness from the Madcap Brewery in Dumfries-shire. On the festive panel are Richard, MrB, Grooben and Shovels.



1. Holly Daze (5.0%abv)
Fyne Ales, Cairndow, Argyll.
500ml glass bottle

Fyne Ales are rapidly becoming a Scottish brewing institution, and 2010 has seen them push their expanding range of bottled ales, as well as producing the much-praised Fynebridge Black IPA with ex-Thornbridge brewer Kelly Ryan. We’re unashamed fans of Fyne here at the BeerCast – MrB grew up a few dozen miles from the brewery, and their strong cask presence in Edinburgh pubs is always a welcome sight. Holly Daze is their Christmas offering and was recently released in 500ml bottles.

What They Say -
“An antidote to Christmas. No strange spices, just a really good stronger beer with a crisp fruity hop flavour and plenty of malt. A refreshing beer to clear the palate.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – A hoppy hit with a spicy something 8
Richard – It’s got a smoky aftertaste which I quite like 7
Grooben – Fruity notes and peaty overtones, the usual high standards from Fyne Ales 7
Shovels – I love the nice fruity aroma, I don’t know what category it fits into though 6

Label Christmas Rating
1/10 – The label looks like all their others, but it is called Holly Daze (Grooben)

2. Anchor Special Ale 2010 (5.5%abv)
Anchor Brewery, San Francisco.
535ml glass bottle

It wouldn’t be a BeerCast Christmas Special without the latest special festive ale from Anchor. Each year they produce a highly secret recipe, slightly different from all previous years – the 2010 vintage is the 36th in the series. The 2006 edition topped our beer rankings for a long time, and was eventually crowned beer of the year in our 2007 Beer of the Year show, (during which we also tasted the 2007 one). The 2008 version also scored well, before a dip last year with the 2009. There are never any tasting notes as the San Francisco concern keep the exact ingredients classified, but expect spices, piney freshness and all kinds of winter flavours.

What They Say -
“Chestnut in colour, with a hint of Christmas fruit and spice. This traditional ale is a real winter warmer.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – I could have two or three of these in a session 7½
Richard – Has a woody, sprucey, sap-like flavour to it 6½
Grooben – I like the Christmas tree flavours, it needs more body 6½
MrB – It’s like spicy Christmas flavoured water – I don’t think the flavour is that bad, it’s just the body 2

Label Christmas Rating
7/10 – It is just a tree, but to us this beer is now synonymous with Christmas (Shovels)

3. Isolation Ale (6.1%abv)
Odell Brewery, Fort Collins, Colorado.
355ml glass bottle

In 1989 Doug Odell decided to take his passion for home brewing into something more commercial. Together with his wife Wynne they left Seattle (where Doug had been brewing in his kitchen) and moved to Colorado to be nearer to his sister Corkie and start a brewery together. This they did in that same year, producing beer for the thirsty college town of Fort Collins. In 1996 they acquired the facility to bottle their output, and shipped across the United States. They have a large range of English-style classics and seasonals – we sampled their Cutthroat Porter in BeerCast #49 back in June.

What They Say -
“Available each winter from the first of November until it runs out, Isolation ale is amber in color, malty and strong. We consider it a traditional winter warmer, without the addition of fruits or spices.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Balance of sweetness, hops and bitterness – brilliant 8½
MrB – Very fruity, almost like fruit punch, I’d guzzle this 8½
Richard – You can quibble about how wintry it is, it’s just a good beer 8
Grooben – So many breweries bung the spices in and think that’s good enough – this proves otherwise 8

Label Christmas Rating
4/10 Wintry rather than Christmassy – but Odell have the best labels in the business (Richard) There could be presents inside the cottage (MrB)

4. Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock (8.0%abv)
Brauerei Heller, Bamberg, Bavaria.
500ml glass bottle

If you wander the historic cobbled streets of the Franconian town of Bamberg, you might be lucky and come across the Schlenkerla brewery tavern (it’s in Dominikanerstrasse). This classic Bavarian eatery is a half-timbered, geranium-clad hostelry of the oldest style. It’s here that the ‘original’ smokebeer is produced, by mixing beechsmoked malts with water and hops. We sampled this famous Schlerkerla Rauchbier Märzen all the way back in BeerCast #8, resulting in one of the most infamous BeerCast quotes (and the first ever 0 score) from MrB – “It tastes like hot dogs in a blender”. Their winter release is smoked with oak rather than beech, to give a slightly different flavour.

What They Say -
“The complex smokiness in “Schlenkerla Oak Smoke” is paired with the multifaceted bitterness of finest Hallertau aroma hops. With 8% alcohol and Bernstein color it matures for months in the deep brewery cellars underneath Bamberg into a special treat for smoke beer lovers for Christmas.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Milder and sweeter than the Märzen, but still smoky 6
Grooben – This is the smokiest smoky beer 5½
MrB – I like hot-dogs, I don’t like them in a drink 2
Shovels – The smokiness goes eventually but you’re still left with the hot-dogs 1

Label Christmas Rating
1/10 – What makes this Christmassy apart from it’s green? (MrB)

5. Titanic Christmas Ale (7.6%abv)
Titanic Brewery, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
500ml glass bottle

The Titanic Brewery might hail from land-locked Stoke-on-Trent but they have a nearby famous (or infamous) son. Captain Edward John Smith – who steered the Titanic to it’s ill-fated maiden voyage – was born in nearby Etruria. Founded in Burslem in 1985, the Titanic Brewery is currently owned by brothers Dave and Keith Bott who joined together to take over production in 1988 when the original owner ran into difficulties. Many of their beers have a naval theme – Steerage, Iceberg and Lifeboat.

What They Say -
“This sweet malty winter ale has a port-like aroma, oranges and lemons play around the edges of the tongue whilst dried fruit and cinnamon drive home the wonderful warming effect, the walnut aftertaste completes this slice of Christmas time in a glass.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Lambic sharpness, I just don’t know if it’s right 2
Shovels – I get blood oranges with grapefruit, and that’s it 2
Grooben – It ain’t no Christmas cake, that’s for sure 2
MrB – Tastes of lemons and oranges, I’m not saying it’s good 2

Label Christmas Rating
2/10 The Titanic on a red background is not Christmas (Grooben)

6. Madcap Christmas (8.5%abv)
Madcap Brewery, Annan, Dumfries-shire.
330ml glass bottle

One of the tiniest breweries in Scotland is the Madcap Brewery in Annan, a few miles southeast of Dumfries. All of their beers are released from 200 litre batches produced on equipment housed in a garden shed. They supply local pubs with cask ales, and also release a few bottles when time (and capacity) allows. These are uniformly strong and interesting – none of their bottled range weighs in at less than 7%abv. Their festive offering – Santa’s Madness comes in at 8.5%.

What They Say -
“Created in the style of a dark and malty, strong scotch ale, with the addition of selected seasonal spices to compliment the festive season.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Liquorice then smoke, this would go well with mince pies 5
Shovels – Three flavours – smoke, liquorice and monkey nuts 3½
Grooben – Aftertaste of those raw monkey nuts 1
MrB – Much more concentrated, really don’t like it 1

Label Christmas Rating
8/10 – Reindeer and baubles – what could be more Christmassy? (Richard)

Panellists – (clockwise from top left) Grooben, MrB, Shovels, Richard

BeerCast panel verdict
Odell Isolation Ale 33/40
Fyne Ales Holly Daze 28/40
Anchor Special Ale 2010 22½/40
Aecht Schlenkera Eiche Doppelbock 14½/40
Madcap Christmas 10½/40
Titanic Christmas Ale 8/40

Please keep those comments and emails coming in – thanks for all your comments this year. Our final podcast of 2010 is the big one – our fourth annual BeerCast Beer of the Year show. This time, we’ll have five of the highest scoring beers from our podcasts this year, sampled by a specially extended panel. Stay tuned for a BOTY preview…

Beer drinking is meant to be a social pastime, but often when it comes to websites and reviews it can become a solitary experience. Not that a moment of quiet contemplation over an imperial smoked porter or three is a bad thing – but some things are made for sharing. The online beer databases Ratebeer.com and Beer Advocate encourage the searching of bottle shop shelves for unusual wares, which are then often drunk at home. However, one way to convert the sampling of something new into a social occasion is to host a group tasting.

I joined up with Ratebeer a few months ago – ostensibly to add the various reviews from the BeerCast into some kind of order (hence my username BeerCast_Rich). Now that I’m up to 224 ratings, I can see where the attraction comes in finding and rating as many beers as possible. The current Ratebeer king in Scotland is Craig Garvie, who (at the time of writing) has notched 5,974 entries – putting my three-figure tally into perspective. Craig – who chose the slightly more European-leaning Ratebeer over Beer Advocate – was hosting a tasting session last Sunday, and notebook in hand, I went along.

Craig is – as you’ve probably guessed – incredibly keen on beer, but is also careful not to go too far. Some of the top-raters (or ‘tickers’ as they are referred to) have astonishing numbers – again at time of going to press the person with the most ratings has reviewed 16,986 beers. The mind boggles. What must their liver be like? Or their recycling? Are there even 17,000 beers out there?

Anyway, keen to get my score up a bit – well, I was actually more keen to drink some interesting beers I’d never tried before (and this is the key point that separates tickers from the non-tickers), I turned up at Craig’s house. The first beer we sampled was suitably spectacular – Haandbryggeriet/De Molen Menno & Jens (7.5%), a hop-free collaboration between two of Europe’s most exciting brewers. The Norwegians behind Haanbryggeriet revel in experimenting with old recipes, and together with Menno Olivier of De Molen came up with a gruit herb ale. It’s complex stuff, the total lack of hops compensated by piney herbs, smoky flavours, and a sweet syrupy roundness before the bitter finish.

After that we pounded through the beers, moving on to the only UK beer in Ratebeer’s current top 50 – Good King Henry Special Reserve (11.0%) from the Old Chimneys Brewery in Norfolk. Flat, black and viscous with rich woody notes from the oak chips – it was really nice. More like a thick red wine than a beer, although with a dose of vanilla and dates. The marzipan chocolate flavours of Stone’s Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout (9.2%) came next, before another from Norway’s Haandbryggeriet – the slightly sour cranberryness of Wild Thing (9.0%).

Portland’s Cascade Brewery have recently opened a new bar that specialises in sour beers, so I was interested to sample Cascade Apricot Ale (9.0%). Highly effervescent, the vinegary aromas gave way to a bitter apricot flavour that made it pretty interesting. We powered through the US craft producers, as Three Floyds Alpha Klaus (7.0%) fell down only as the archetypal non-Christmassy Christmas beer. Otherwise, it was outstanding. Cigar City’s strangely-named 110k+OT Imperial IPA (10.0%) was like syrupy pineapple cordial with a fantastic pine hop aroma.

Back to the UK next, as we tried Manchester’s Marble Chocolate Dubbel (8.5%), which was extremely good – followed by a couple of Italians from Birrificio Lambrate. Then it was back to the sours with Odell Saboteur (10.0%), a brettanomyces beer which had some barrel flavours, but wasn’t as tart as Jolly Pumpkin Baudelaire EYO (iO) Saison (6.8%) – you’ve got to love some of these names. Rosehips and hibiscus gave it a flowery yet punchy tang, which was thankfully not as perfumey as Buckbean Orange Blossom Ale (5.8%), which was like chewing a urinal cake with it’s soapy, chemical finish.

Anyway, we had more beers than that – including a rare taste of Bolvig Calling (4.3%), a beer brewed by Craig in conjunction with Loanhead’s Stewart Brewing – a very good mix of their Stewart 3 and added coffee. However, the highlight was when Craig asked if there was any beer I hadn’t yet sampled with the BeerCast that I wished I could. Being a trappist fan, the obvious answer was Westvleteren 12, as the Abbey only sell it on site – you can’t buy any in shops. It also happens to be the top-ranked beer in RateBeer history. Of course, Craig had half a case upstairs.

It poured a very hazy dark brown, with a few floating clumplets of yeast coming from the famous label-free bottle. There was a fantastic aroma, dark caramel malts, cloves, all kinds of sweet dark aromas coming off the beer. Tastewise the thing that surprised me was the balance – there was hardly any trace of the 10% alcohol because the mouthfeel was so smooth. A sweet, fruity finish really made the beer stand up all the way – just fantastic.

Thanks to Craig for the tasting – this post could have easily been twice as long…

If you combine a random Thursday night with a 25% sale at your local bottle shop (Appellation Wine), then to me a random selection of American craft beers is the result. Doug Odell was in the UK earlier in the year, and gave a tutored tasting of his beers at Appellation – which we missed, thanks to a cruel twist of fate. As a result of his visit, several Odell beers are now available here, so I picked up one I’d not had before – St Lupulin Extra Pale Ale (6.5%) – along with a couple from Longmont’s Left Hand Brewery – Blackjack Porter (5.8%) and Sawtooth Ale (4.8%). A second porter seemed in order to balance the two hoppy ales, so into the basket went Anchor Porter (5.6%).



Left Hand Sawtooth Ale (4.8%)
Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont CO
355ml bottle
First out of the gate was an ESB – Left Hand’s Sawtooth Ale – the first beer they ever brewed, which has now become their most popular. I’ve always thought ESB’s are a good fit for American craft brewers, being punchier than the traditional British bitter. They can be fired out as a 5%ish session beer for the US drinkers who would prefer something a bit weightier than the 3.8% long-drinkers over here. Sawtooth pours a clear copper colour with a fluffy white head. Aromas of hops, caramel and toffee continue into the flavour, which becomes quite sweet as the caramel tastes come out on the finish.

Odell St Lupulin Extra Pale Ale (6.5%)
Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins CO
355ml bottle
It’s pretty much impossible to feature four American craft beers without at least one heavy on the hops. Odell’s EPA (we’re heavy on the acronyms tonight) pours a lovely golden colour, and has a wonderful citrus hop aroma. On the palate, it’s like a glass of 5-Alive – lemons, passion fruit, mango – together with a touch of sweetness that leads to a mildly bitter aftertaste. Odell’s summer seasonal (first released in 2009), it really hides the alcohol very well. The warm days may be a memory, but it still tastes pretty good on a Scottish November night. St Lupulin may be fictional, but we have no objections to raising a glass to him.

Left Hand Blackjack Porter (5.8%)
Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont CO
355ml bottle
Given that we are in November and the clocks have fallen well and truly back, it has to be Porter time. Nothing combats a gale-wracked, window-rattling evening like a smooth, roasty brew – so the last two selections from the fast-emptying fridge at Appellation were two darker beers. Firstly, Left Hand Blackjack Porter – which pours the pre-requisite dark blackish brown with the short-lived tan head. The aroma is actually pretty smoky, alongside the roasted malts. Roasted coffee is the first flavour, before the smoke pays another visit, leading into the aftertaste. The almost 6% alcohol really isn’t that prevalent other than as a gentle warming – which is as it should be for the style.

Anchor Porter (5.6%)
Anchor Brewery, San Francisco CA
355ml bottle
In direct comparison with the porter from Colorado comes the equivalent from the west coast, and the brewing giants at Anchor. I have actually had Anchor Porter before, but as an accompaniment to the Black Jack it seemed like a great idea. And so it proved – the San Franciscan is deeper, darker and significantly more bitter. There’s a wonderful liquorice aftertaste following the balanced coffee and hop bitterness. I’ve always loved the design of Anchor beers, with their distinctive shaped bottles and labels. Look out soon for a review of their Humming Ale – not to mention the obligatory appearance of Our Special Ale 2010 in our Christmas podcast.