Cwtch Welsh Red Ale roughly 4.6% (Homebrew)

Brewery: Muntons (For Tiny Rebel)

NameCwtch

ABV: 4.6%
Hops Citra, Cascade
IBU ???

Place of Origin: Wales, UK

Website: http://www.tinyrebel.co.uk/
               http://www.muntons.com/

Purchased: Thornton Homebrew shop

Price: around  £ under £20

The Beer:

Red/Brown cloudy with a large head, reducing in minutes to a fingers worth of head

Aroma:

Caramel and a slight homebrew aroma

Taste extremely hoppy, the cascade hops take prevalence over the citra, leaving a pleasantly unharsh bitterness, with a slight homebrew taste, but unlike home brew from the 80s and 90s that taste really is not unpleasant, if anything it adds to the flavour. the beer itself is full bodied and leaves a very pleasant after taste, of berry's and/or fruityness.

Rating 8/10

This wheat beer i think would go well with a cheese board, its richness and strength of character, combined with its strong citrus notes would pair well with strong cheese such as blue cheese or lancashire.  Do not let the colour put you off. it loses points for the colour.

Magic Rock Rapture Red Hop Ale 4.6%

Brewery: Magic Rock

Name: Rapture Red Ale

ABV: 4.6%
Hops ???
IBU ???

Place of Origin: Huddersfield, UK

Website: www.magicrockbrewing.com

Purchased: Booths

Price: around  £2.00

Can:

Red with custom artwork, silk finish to the can

What is says on the can:

Nothing

Beer:

The Beer is a chocolate brown/ red, unfiltered hazy beer, with a three finger natural head which dies down  to half a finger head within 5 minutes.

Aroma:

The first nose you get is a strong hit of citrus, the most prevalent citrus is strong grapefruit notes, beyond this very faintly is a pine aroma that is very feint behind the grapefruit.

taste: 

From the Aroma you would be expecting a very strong hopped beer full of new world hops and brimming with bitterness, but what you actually get is a surprise when it hits your mouth, you are ar hit with a strong well toasted malty cereal taste,  similar to a well toasted corn flake. , as this coats your mouth you get a sweetness on your middle tongue followed by a sharp bitterness at the back of your tongue if the feint taste of coffee, this is lingers for a little while (long enough to just become unpleasant) however the taste of the front and middle taste is enough to leave you willing to drink more. There is none of the normal grittiness that comes with unfiltered beers in this despite its very hazy appearance which is a pleasant surprise.

Pairing: 

If i was to pair this beer  it would be good with stews, or smoked meets, where i feel the bitterness would compliment the smokiness of the meat, or the stodginess of a stew.

Rating: 5/10

In conclusion:

While this is very far from the rapture it promises it is a good rounded beer, It loses points for the slightly unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Let me clarify this, bitterness in the aftertaste is good, but some bitterness isn't pleasant, and this one inst that pleasant, while not a deal breaker, and i can live with it, its a harsh bitterness not the smooth one you would expect from the a well made craft beer, which this undoubtedly is, as their other beers prove. All in all a decent beer but one i wouldn't go back to, or choose if there was other better options.  Id say this was one of the go to beers  if there was just this or the bog standard macro brews. It doesn't really have the  wow factor of their other beers, which disappoints me for such a reputable brewery, and to me this is one of their weakest offerings (not in strength)    

Vocation Brewery Life and Death IPA 6.5%

Brewery: Vocation Brewery

Name: Life and Death

ABV: 6.5%
Hops ???
IBU ???

Place of Origin: Hebden Bridge, UK

Website: www.vocationbrewery.com

Purchased: Booths

Price £2.00

Can:

Black with green writing, with tattoo flash, style designs

Whats on the can:

This is Life and Death. Three kilos of hops and forty kilos of barley selflessly gave their lives to brew every barrel of this beer. Its a lot to ask, but their reincarnation as this life-affirming IPA makes their sacrifice worthwhile. Life and Death is a ballsy, US style IPA. Expect flavours and aromas of tropical and citrus fruits, with a lingering bitterness set against a smooth malty backbone

Our beer is naturally hazy because filtering kills the flavour. Never pasteurized.

Colour: Rich Golden

Aroma: Tropical Fruits

Taste: Fruit Salad.

The Beer:

A hazy golden beer, with a reasonable body. for a light light ale it doesn't seem too thin, and coats the mouth well.

The Aroma:

The aroma for this beer is very fruity.  very strong aroma of pinapple,. and tropical fruit, and orange comes through, and only a hint of alcohol. 

The Taste

On first entering the mouth you are hit with the citrusy fruity hoppiness of the beer, On the middle tongue the fruitiness gives way to a building bitterness, that rolls down the throat, and peaking to a pleasant bitterness in the aftertaste, but never becoming too bitter. 

A slight taste of sediment in the beer that comes from it being unfiltered, but this in no way takes away from the experience, but may put off people new to craft beer. 

Rating:  9/10

In conclusion:

I think this is a very very good beer. I recommend this for anyone who loves a fruity, medium strength IPA thats easy to drink, and doesnt feel like its strength. The fruityness and the hops really shine through and work really well together in this beer. The lost point is for the slight sedimentary feel to the beer, which while many experienced craft beer drinkers enjoy may be slightly off putting for those new to craft beer, but does add to the positive experience. 

Guiness Foreign Extra Stout 7.5%

Brewery: Guinness 

Name: Guinness Foreign Extra

ABV: 7.5%
Hops ???
IBU ???

Place of Origin: Dublin, Ireland

Website: www.guinness.com

Purchased: Booths

Pice £ £3-4

Bottle:

Black and yellow, with their signature golden harp

Whats on the bottle:

Brewed to travel the world, with more hops for a bold, intense, rich flavours. This is Guinness with adventure in its soul. Drink chilled, and drink in the beauty of Guinness Foreign Extra.

The Beer: 

Ruby coloured with a similar thick pouring texture to standard Guinness, with a more carbonated head.


Aroma:

A very milky sweet caramel aroma, with hints of chocolate and coffee.

Taste:

Very rich and thick consistency with the traditional coffee and burnt toast flavours of ordinary Guinness but you can tell  its stronger than ordinary Guinness (7.5)% as it loses some of the well known smoothness you associate with the worlds most famous stout, however it has the same richness you would expect of a standard Guinness.

Rating 7/10

In conclusion: 

This beer loses points for its quick head reduction, and for it not being as smooth as standard Guinness, however this may be a trade off for strength, as well as the fact it isn't smooth-flow with a widget.

The Wild Beer Co. POGO 4.1%

Brewery: The Wild Beer Co.

Name: POGO

ABV: 4.1%
Hops ???
IBU ???

Place of Origin: Lower Westcombe Farm, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, UK

Website: www.wildbeerco.com

Purchased: Booths

Pice £2.00

On the Can:

Orange coloured can with presumably Wildbeerco. Employees in black and white trying to pogo on pogo sticks. This is a glossy can

What it says on the can:

“Passionfruit, Orange and Guava jump out of this refreshing pale ale. Energetic tropical hits in a thirst quenching hoppy beer”

The Beer:

The beer is slightly cloudy golden/pale coloured ale, with a 5 finger head naturally, and maintained a decent level of head until about halfway through the pint. The texture is rather thin. 

Aroma:

Hoppyness, citrusy orange smell, almost soapy with a very faint tropical fruit aroma, not much other to say about the aroma, as it doesn’t appear to be that complex to me.

Flavour:

Surprisingly un-hoppy compared to the aroma, very fruity, you can really taste the orange, and passionfruit comes in on the middle tongue, leaving a fruity sweet aftertaste. This is almost a fruit beer, but not quite. It1 retains enough body and hoppyness to keep it a  true beer. The bitterness of the hops is counterbalanced with the sweet fruitiness of the fruit tastes making the sweetness come forward to the front, making it almost feel non-alcoholic, like a fizzy pop.

In conclusion:

I would say this is the perfect beer for someone new to drinking craft beers, as it gives a full flavoured beer, with only a mild bitterness in its aftertaste, and an overlaying sweetness, and fruitiness, that is very pleasant on the tongue.

I also feel this is a great summer beer, to suit and sunbathe with, as its not too strong, and has almost the feel of shandy.

Rating 6/10

This loses marks on the body of the drink, it may be too light (almost like a light beer) for many craft beer drinkers, and may leave them feeling less satisfied, and the nose on it, isn’t very strong, leaving not much of a clue as to what you may expect when you take you first drink. Also the after taste is very short lived. Which may be a boon to some but I prefer a longer lasting aftertaste.

Buy this beer here

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Beer, by Charles Bukowski, from Love is A Mad Dog From Hell (1920-1994)

I don’t know how many bottles of beer I have consumed while waiting for things to get better I don’t know how much wine and whisky and beer mostly beer I have consumed after splits with women— waiting for the phone to ring waiting for the sound of footsteps, and the phone to ring waiting for the sounds of footsteps, and the phone never rings until much later and the footsteps never arrive until much later when my stomach is coming up out of my mouth they arrive as fresh as spring flowers: “what the hell have you done to yourself? it will be 3 days before you can fuck me!” the female is durable she lives seven and one half years longer than the male, and she drinks very little beer because she knows it’s bad for the figure. while we are going mad they are out dancing and laughing with horny cowboys. well, there’s beer sacks and sacks of empty beer bottles and when you pick one up the bottle fall through the wet bottom of the paper sack rolling clanking spilling gray wet ash and stale beer, or the sacks fall over at 4 a.m. in the morning making the only sound in your life. beer rivers and seas of beer the radio singing love songs as the phone remains silent and the walls stand straight up and down and beer is all there is. Buy "Love is a Mad Dog From Hell" Here