Starting with the Citra King. Looks good no? Don't go out trying to look for it though, as it was a very nice gift from fellow home brewer: Rob Derbyshire, editor of the famous HopZine.
I really like the idea behind the style for the beer: a bandwagon straddling IPA! 'Yes it's an IPA, yes it's hopped with Citra, so what, it'll taste great!' ...and you know what, it does! It has a great aroma of lemons and mangos. It smells very fresh even though it's been in the bottle for a while. A nice smooth brew with the obvious 7.4% coming through in the warming finish. Roll it round the tongue and you get a great pithy bitter bite on the sides. Long finish and great refreshing IPA classic flavour. I should say it's not just Citra in the brew, there's Warrior, Chinook, Columbus, Cascade and Centennial in there too!
Robs got some quite adventurous aspirations when it comes to his homebrews. I think his next one is a big-ish stout flavoured with cocoa nibs which have been aged in a bourbon! I don't think there's anyone holding this boy back, tell him to make an average great tasting pale ale and he'll want to chuck something else in there! (I do think making the same beer twice does tell you a lot though, I don't know, he may have done that before - I'm not here to judge.... too much ;))
The next brew comes from a brewery we all know and love. The one. The only. The Kernel! We've just got a couple of new Kernel beers in at the shop today, so I thought it was time to get this one supped to make room in the cupboards for some newer, new ones.
What can you say about the Kernel's beers which hasn't been said before? Well I'll give it a go!
It pours black and as flat as a pancake. (even from a great height) It has that powerful aroma of a strong coffee which has had a little too many drops of milk added to it. Properly roasted, it smells of burnt biscuits dipped in hot chocolate. (a tiny hint of the rubber tyre aroma that I've found with a few of Kernel's beers - it's really not a bad flavour!)
The 7.4% on this beer is masked almost completely! (see, I did have a link in there....) Thick, smooth and rich. The flavour fades away quite quick though leaving a big burnt malt bitterness in the mouth. A bit of light (verging on tart) unripened fruit flavour, mixed in with the cappuccino and slight drying chocolate flavours.
Two new beers for me tonight - very nice indeed!
Till the next time I drink new beer..... (probably tomorrow!)
Keep preaching the good word of good beer.
Love the lablel on both beers, only had the kernel and loved it, got another bottle waiting for special occasion.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately my Citra King pic doesn't really do it justice, the sides have a great hoppy profile leading round to the info on the back. Bless Adobe design programs!!
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