Wychwood Brewery Hobgoblin

This looks like an interesting beer from an interesting line of beers. It comes in a uniquely shaped 500mL brown bottle with 5.2% alcohol/vol. The label is in a few different languages, and you would have to be a multilinguist to get all of the information on it. For example, there is an ingredients list but it's in Italian. Yet the beer's description is in English and French. There was a best-before date on this bottle of August 1, 2012, so I was well in the clear in terms of getting a possibly expired beer.

When opened, I was puzzled by the initial aroma.  If my nose wasn't lying, I could smell...  vinegar?  The beer poured a dark amber colour, a far cry from the "ruby" promised on the label.  There was a thin off-white head which disappeared almost instantly.  There were a few streams of small bubbles in the beer, but they were hard to see due to the darkness of the beer.  The aroma after the pour was remarkably different from when I opened the bottle.  It had a sweet caramel scent to it.

The first sip was fairly average.  The beer had a mild sweetness to it, and had a fairly soft feel in the mouth.  There was only a modest bitter aftertaste to it.  Overall, I found the beer quite approachable.  On the other hand, there was nothing spectacular about it either.  I'd probably skip buying it.

Orkney Brewery Dark Island

Today is my second Scottish beer. My first one was less than spectacular, probably due to an expiry date SNAFU. This beer has an amazing label. I really dig the artwork and info on it. It even gives the UK government's guideline amount of drinks for the average adult! It comes in a 500mL brown bottle, and has 4.6% alcohol/vol.  The label even tells you what to expect in terms of colour, aroma, and taste.  I purposefully didn't read it in detail, because I didn't want to be prejudiced.

Upon opening, I was greeted with dark malts.  The aroma was very much like that of a Guinness:  roasted dark malts with chocolate and coffee.  When poured, it formed a thin light brown head that disappeared quickly.  The beer itself was a nearly-opaque black.  The aroma gained a slightly sweet fruity hint to it.

The first sip was fairly smooth.  The beer was fairly bitter, and had a very dry finish.  The flavour was mostly dark malt.  A tiny hint of coffee and chocolate, but barely noticeable.  The feel in the mouth was exceptionally soft.  Considering that I had just come back from a run, this beer really hit the spot.  As such, my judgement may be a bit skewed.  I enjoyed this beer, and would definitely buy it again.  Doubly so if I found it in a pub.

Unibroue Maudite

It is finally time to try the last Unibroue beer I have in my basement. It comes in Unibroue's standard 750mL brown bottle with a cork top. It has 8% alcohol/vol. There's a flying canoe and devil on the label, which I believe refers to a legend about a group of voyageurs who made a pact with the devil to fly them home. Really cool label. 

When opened, I was disappointed. Spices. Not yet another Unibroue spice-fest. :( The spices this time were of a sweeter variety than usual. It poured a hazy dark amber colour, with a thick white head. There were lots of microscopic bubbles to keep the head going. The aroma did not change much after the pour. The usual spiciness, with just a hint of fruit.

The first sip was almost exactly what I suspected. There was a strong spiciness in the flavour, but it finished unexpectedly slightly sweet. The beer had a medium-soft feel in the mouth. Indeed, this beer was quite quaffable. I would place this beer 2nd on my list of Unibroue beers (after La Terrible). Overall, this beer is fairly well-balanced. I would probably buy this beer again, if only to develop my taste for tripels (even though this beer is clearly not a tripel).

Flying Monkeys Netherworld

I've heard much about today's beer. It comes from a renown craft brewery in Barrie, Ontario. It comes in a non-standard 355mL brown bottle, with 6% alcohol/vol. It has a rather interesting label, one that I don't particularly like. While I do like innovative labels on my beers, I don't like flashy ones. This is a flashy label.

Opening the bottle, I was bombarded by cascade hops and coffee.  My interest has been piqued.  I noticed a neat motto on the bottom of the cap: "Save water, drink beer".  It poured a very dark colour, almost black.  There was a little bit of light brown head but disappeared quickly.  The beer wasn't very highly carbonated, for I saw very little in terms of bubbles at the top; looking in at the beer from the side was a fruitless effort.  The beer had less of a hoppy aroma after the pour, and had more of a chocolate hint to it.

My first sip was pretty good.  I could easily see myself guzzling this beer.  There was a strong hoppy bitterness to the beer, and a strong coffee flavour.  The beer had an exceptionally soft feel in the mouth, making it much easier to swish around.  There was an extremely light lacing left on the glass as I drank.  This is not a beer for neophytes.  I will definitely buy this beer again.