Stash kill the roundup.

So there have been a few bottles emptied over the past few weeks, but with little time to sit down and update the blog these have gone undocumented until now! Thankfully I have notes on them all and am not just having to rely on memory.

Bla Spogelse - Mikkeller/Three Floyds

This awesome beer first came to my attention on my last visit to IndyMan beer festival, and was in my top 3 beers of the entire festival. A blueberry sour ale that was aged in oak barrels. Firstly the colour is nuts, an awesome deep purple with a light purple fluffy head. The aroma is pretty full on, blueberries and funk. Even though this bottle was a few years old, the blueberries haven't gone anywhere and are matched only by the sprightly sour notes. This is such a great beer, so keep an eye out for it.

Sanctification - Russian River

Last year I was lucky enough to holiday in California, and luckier still I got to visit Russian River. Well known for their imperial IPA Pliny the Elder, it is their sours that are the must try. This is a bretted golden ale, and supremely refreshing. The Brett gives it a subtle sourness, not mouth puckering at all. This just sparks with citrus, sherbet and banana. A perfect beer for a warm day.

Cuvee Reserve 2015/16 Burning Sky

I don't hide the fact that I am a Burning Sky fanboy, and there are certainly plenty more bottles of their exemplary beer still in my stash. I dug this out for two reasons, firstly I had two of them :) and secondly I had just tasted their 2017 Cuvee which left me wanting more Burning Sky goodness. This is a blend of Saison á la Provision with a large portion of lambic from Girardin which was then aged for a year in oak barrels on lambic lees. Now if that doesn't float you boat, check your pulse!
This is golden in the glass with a puffy bright white head, and is all subtlety and depth. Slight sourness but not overpowering, lots of hints of citrus lemon, white grapes, grapefruit and oak funk. Basically this is something to be enjoyed, shared and bathed in... ok that last bit may just be a dream I had.

DeuS (Brut des Flandres) - Brouwerij Bosteels

Where do you start with DeuS? It is a Belgian Triple that is literally the Champagne of the beer world. Once brewed it is transferred to the Champagne region of France where it is matured and fermented in the same way as Champagne, decadence in a bottle. It is sweet on the nose and taste. Lots of peaches, pears, lemon and hints of spicy pepper. There is an oiliness to it, so it goes down very easily but there is a hint of warmth from the alcohol. One for a special occasion, or in my case a Saturday night ha ha!

Szech 'n Brett 2015 - Logsdon

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales do some awesome saisons and this is one of them. An off white head sits on top of a golden honey coloured beer. The nose is what you would expect zesty funk with a pepper spice in the background. The taste follows but it is the level of that pepper spice that sets this apart, it is 100% on the money. There is also a herbal note to this. This is just a straight up saison but done better than most others. I have had a few others from Logsdon and this is what they excel at, old school beer styles done incredibly well.

Alexander 2015 - Rodenbach

Rodenbach should need no introduction, but Alexander might. From their own description, this mixed fermentation beer consists of two thirds beer that was matured in oak casks for 24 months and one third young beer, and has been subjected to maceration with sour cherries. In the glass this is a hazy brownish red. You can immediately tell this is a Rodenbach beer with that hint of soy sauce on the nose, along with some red wine and toffee. On tasting there is the immediate sour soy sauce tang that I love, but the cherries are actually quite subtle and I get a more prominent taste of toffee apple. As it warms there is more cherry but it never becomes dominant. It is a cracking beer, and once the bottle is finished I am immediately thinking about getting another.

Bourbon Barrel Oil of Aphrodite - Jackie O's

So you think you have tasted a big robust stout? So did I, but another one comes along that makes you just go, whoa!! This stout did that to me. It is stout brewed using walnuts and Belgian Candied sugar, then aged in Bourbon barrels just for good measure. The aroma that comes out of the glass is almost overpowering, bourbon, chocolate, nuts, truffle oil just fills the room. You get all that in the taste, with the extra hit of coffee roast and caramel. It is so full and smooth, it is like molasses. This is 100% what I like about imperial stouts taken to the next level. I am already scanning the online stores looking more from this brewery.

So there you have it, all up to date, hope you enjoyed reading.