Brewdog Review

Welcome back to the ramblings of this mutt on beer.



About 2 weeks ago I managed to get my paws on some "Brewdog" beers. I was so excited that I almost peed on the floor. They seem to be all the rage right now for all the beer tasters. Also a plus, it is amazing how they can brew these beers and get such high alcohol levels in their beer. To a homebrewer like myself, it just blows my mind. This Craft Brewery out of Scotland is doing all sorts of things that the big breweries don't even think about trying.

I decided to get my pack of tasters together, to try these beverages. Rothy, Jay, Boozer X, and I all had some mixed reviews. So this was another one of those tastings that show you that every ones' taste is different. I have a total of six of their beers, but I did review one that I had on tap, which was "Tokyo", but they changed the labeling and the beer slightly on on the bottle version called "Tokio*". I don't know if it counts as a new review, but it is still being put in this blog. Also one is a collaboration with Mikkeller Brewery.

5 A.M. Saint. Poured a dark rich amber with a slightly off white head. We all got a little citrus, malt, and as Jay said some grassy smell, from when it was poured. The mouth feel was a little light and thin, but refreshing. The taste was a little earthy, sweet toffee taste, followed by citrus and hop flavors in the middle and continues to the finish of the beer. I enjoyed this beer, because it was something different from all the beers I have been tasting lately. Everyone else really said that if it was in the fridge they'd drink it, but they would not spend the money to get it. I would put this with a Vegetarian type of meal like, a Lentil Stew and Curry Rice.

Punk IPA. Poured a golden yellow with an off white head. The smell had hints of grapefruit, grass, citrus, and little sweet malt. Mouth feel was a medium body and finished a little dry. The taste was well balanced between the malt and hop flavors. The caramel malt sweetness hit your tongue first then comes the citrus hop flavor, and cares on to the finish of the taste. The bitterness hangs on long after you down it. Boozer X pointed out that he got a little bit of spiciness on the back end. All I could taste was the hops at the end. If your a "Hop Head" you would enjoy this. To pair this I would have to go with something with a strong flavor, but with some savory meat flavor. Ah, a Rabbit Stew with tap roots or a Bacon Wrapped Rabbits Leg. I know it sounds weird but I have had both, so don't make faces until you try it.

Rip Tide. Poured a dark brown with some orange hints when light pasted threw the curves of the glass, and had a thin tan head. The only things we smelled was some coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt. The mouth feel had a medium feel with a bit more carbonation then what I would have liked. The taste was sweet roasted malt, coffee, and a bit of hop bitterness on the back end. I really wasn't sure what to think of this beer, other than interesting. To pair this up with some food, I would put it with some good old fashion Fish and Chips.

Paradox Islay. This was a little bit of a downer for me. It poured a dark brown almost black with a little brown head to it. The smell had an odd old leather, smoke, whiskey, and could smell the alcohol. The mouth feel was light, smooth and dry. The taste was straight up burnt malt, whiskey or scotch, and old grass. Rothy commented by saying it tasted like "Bug Spray". Now I am not a whiskey drinker, but I think if you were you'd like this. Food pairings for this I could not say, but if I ventured to guess, some smokey cheeses and maybe a nice cigar after it.

Tokio*. It poured a black coffee color this a dark tan head. The nose on this was of a slight vanilla, with a touch of coffee, some rich malt, some chocolate or mocha flavors, and some fruitiness. The mouth fell was a creamy medium fell, was not as hot like when I had it on draft. I didn't pick up to much of the oak flavor, but I did get the caramel, malt, some dark dried fruit, brown sugar, and a little bit of a sherry taste. This is a sipping beer. I should have not chose it for my first beer because I had to ask for a glass of water to go with it. Just like the other review I would pair this with "Ice Cream", because I think a scoop of vanilla would be fabulous with it. Everyone enjoyed this one. I did give the other one a"7", because I think it tasted better from the keg.

Devine Rebel a collaboration beer by Mikkeller Brewery and Brewdog. Poured a dark reddish nut brown with a thin ring of a white head. The smell had a strong whisky smell, some wood, some malt, and alcohol. The mouth feel was a little syrupy and creamy. The taste was sweet up front with dark malt flavors, some brown sugar, and caramel. As it warmed in your mouth, you got some heat from the alcohol. It finish with some dark fruity flavors like plums, but really just sweetness of dried fruit. This would make a great winter warmer beer. I would have to not pair this with any food, I think this is a great beer to have when your could and you want to sit and warm up by a fire.

Check out the websites for more about these breweries!

http://www.brewdog.com/

http://www.mikkeller.dk/

I've also noticed between other reviews I've read on these beers, there seems to be a bit of differences in the bottle batches. So I might have to try some of these again in the future just to see if I got some that where a little off. Well I hope you enjoyed this, and always, "Be Well, and Drink Well!!"

Eulogy And Not My Own

Hi everybody,

So I had this blog all written and done, but to my surprise it was not posted. Although I could blame it on the Internet, but I think it was my fault. The reason I say this is because a computer only does what you make it do, so I must have did something wrong in that department. I have re-written this blog , and I'm kind of glad I did. I forgot a few things that I remembered when I had to do it over again. I hope you like it.

On July 10, 2010 I was delivering to Philadelphia, Pa. For those who don't know my profession is that of a baker. I own my own bakery, A small family owned shop, that I have worked at for over 20 years. Anyways, I was dropping off an order to the Terminal Market in Philly, and I decided to have lunch at a place called "Eulogy", that Barry (Barry's Home Brew Outlet), had recommended.

Eulogy is located on 136 Chestnut Street. It's really hard to find a parking spot so I recommend a side street to park. It is one of those places that if your not sure exactly where it is, you will drive passed it a few times before you see it. So keep your eyes open and look for the sign.

Once inside it has the feel of "Bistro", but in the Philly sense and not of those posh Euro style places you find in big cities, which has a bunch of stuck up people and so-called important people. It has those types of people there, but mostly its people who love the food and beer. I love the beer so you know I had to check it out.

I sat right at the bar with my back to the door, which I usually do not do, but I felt comfortable doing it. That in my book says a lot about the atmosphere of a place. Picking up the menu I noticed that the beer list was three pages long, and the food was one. That was impressive. This was a place to drink good beer and the food was a side note. I soon found out that this was and was not the case.

I asked "Dave" who was the bartender when I was was there, "What's good?", and he told me the special of the day, and I went with that recommendation. It was a pulled chicken sandwich where the chicken was cooked in "La Chouffe" until it fell off the bone and served a whiskey sauce and seasoned fries.

To say this sandwich was great would be an understatement. The chicken was tender and I could taste the "La Chouffe", but it was a layer on the flavor and not overpowering. The dressing on top was really good, but when you put the whiskey sauce on top, it was fantastic. My compliments to the chef to marry all these different flavors in a delicate balance without losing the focus of the main ingredient. I really did enjoy it, even with the two bits of cartilage I picked out, which usually grosses me out, but I just put them to the side and kept eating. It was bright meal, for a hot day. I wish I could have gotten more insight into how it was made, but I forgot to ask as I was tasting a few good beers.

Now onto the beers. I had three beers while I was there for lunch. Not the best idea because I picked a few that, we'll just say two of them are what we call "High Octane" beers.

Tokyo by BrewDog Brewery in Scotland. It poured a black coffee color this a dark tan head. The nose on this was of a slight vanilla, with a touch of coffee, some rich malt, and some fruitiness. The mouth fell was a creamy medium fell, a little hot, but that was to be expected. The taste did surprise me, I thought it was going to be extremely boozy but it wasn't. I didn't pick up to much of the oak flavor, but I did get the caramel, malt, some dark dried fruit, brown sugar, and a little bit of a sherry taste. This is a sipping beer. I should have not chose it for my first beer because I had to ask for a glass of water to go with it. To pair this I would have to say "Ice Cream", because I think a scoop of vanilla would be fabulous with it. Website: http://www.brewdog.com/.

Vuuve by Brouwerij Smisje was my second beer. They called it "Boobies" on the menu, so you know I had to try it. It poured a yellow/orange with a thin white head. The smell of wet hay and wheat malt. The mouth feel was a little thin, but light and refreshing. The taste was light with a little tang, a slight bitter in the middle, and some dry tannin feel on the after taste. Another beer to try if you like "Blue Moon". Any pairing would go well with this, but if I had to put it up with something I would say a nice Micro Green Salad, and Grilled Lemon and Herb Shrimp Kabobs. Website: http://www.smisje.be/

The last beer of my lunch was 'T Gaverhopke Extra by Brouwerij 't Gaverhopke. It poured Brownish red with a off white head. It gave of smells of Cherries, Candy, and some yeast funk. The taste was sweet when it hit the tongue. Cherries, dark candy sugar, rich malt, spice, and some tartness. The mouth feel was smooth, medium body, with just enough bubbles. The after taste was a little dry, but not bad at all. I would pair this with some Smokey Grilled Pork Chops. Website: http://www.tgaverhopke.be/

I really had a fantastic time there. The also have a take-out fridge with some great beers. They are a little prices because they are at bar prices, but you will not find some of these beers in you local beer store. Like always "Be Well, and Drink Well!"

Oh and a little extra to this blog is a picture I came across at: http://www.hawtness.com

Webster! You go BOY! ------------------------------------->