yay brewdog

had some incredible beers on at work the past few weeks - its such a hard job to have to taste all of them...and then even harder to decide which one i want to indulge in at the end of my shift...we've had some great beers lately, notably some good ones from local brewer Arbor Ales who made an amazing espresso/cocoa driven intense stout just for our rare ales night at the Portcullis
http://www.arborales.co.uk/joomla/

and the 7.3 % smooth going cakelike brew Old Freddy Walker from Moor Beers http://moorbeer.co.uk/our-beer/old-freddy-walker



Though the most outstanding have been the two we've had on from our scottish friends up at Brewdog

The First was 5am saint - the smell of this cascade hop driven beer brought me back to california right here in bristol - an amazing, almost perfect 5% Red ale


Here's the tasting notes

'Had on cask @ work at the Portcullis Clifton Village - Bristol.

pours a beautiful redish brown with a nice one finger head and plenty of lacing

smell just reminds me of california...i had a half pint and kept savouring the aroma - just pure perfect hop goodness that almost all english beers lack...normal piney citrus character, though this one had a unique strawberry fruityiness that was really nice.

taste is just wonderful for a red, just enough hops to drive this amazing brew, enough malts to carry the profile and compliment the fruit...the alcohol is very nice @ 5%...enough to create a lovely mouthfeel and the right amount of warmth (strong by brit standards! haha) but low enough to be a session ale. It isn't as over the top as american reds often are, still maintains the british balance, and is awesome on cask.

freaking solid, one of my all time favourite British beers...one of brewdogs best.'

OVERALL SCORE: A




And in addition had their 10% paradox isle of arran imperial stout aged in scotch whisky barrels.

Solid, here are the tasting notes from last night (bored during slow sunday shift)

'On cask at the portcullis Clifton village

Pours black and viscous with a bit of lacing and a small head

nose is slightly peaty whiskey smokey chocalte liqueur - can you have all that?

Taste starts out sweet and liqueur like and moves into a bitter oaky peaty finish - very nice but not nearly as smokey as some of the other batches

overall a deliciously drinkable, smooth balanced cask brew - rad

Note - some Brits can't handle 10% beer A local literally tripped out of the pub and almost passssed out after a few of these...leaving half of his half pint behind...funny.'


OVERALL SCORE: A-