Black Tokyo Horizon

Blending beers together. An image is immediately conjured in my head of a man stirring a massive black pot with a big wooden paddle. We know though, that blending beers together can be a fabulous thing, just look at the black and tan!

But does it always work? Well tonight I have another attempt to find out! Brewdog's Black Tokyo Horizon is a a massive 17.2% Imperial Stout blended together from 3 separate Imperial Stouts. Let's look at the beers individually:

Tokyo*: A 18.2% Imperial Stout from Brewdog. The original Tokyo was a 12% Impy Stout which was brewed with jasmine, cranberries and aged on French toasted oak chips. I'd be surprised if much had changed apart from the % between the two.

Mikkeller Black: This beer is in my top 5 Imperial Stouts, possibly number 1, it really is something else. A monster of bitterness, it's made not only with ale yeast and champagne yeast, but with dark cassonade (whatever that is!) I've loved it from the first sip, and after trying it on tap in the Cask in London, it was cemented as a beer for all time.

Nogne O Dark Horizon: It's a beer which I haven't had the pleasure of yet. I have a bottle of the third series upstairs patiently awaiting a review. The third series is a 15.5% Imperial Stout, and if it's like the first series it should have a good dose of coffee, sugars and wine yeast used in the production. A beer I am very much looking forward too.

So back to the beer at hand then. Black Tokyo Horizon. Apparently, according to the box; "Individually, these progressive beers were small strides in the journey to provoke change through creativity and innovation in the world of beer." I wouldn't say so.... I would say they were bloody massive strides in the beer world... and I've only tried two of them!

The three beers (beers, not bears) used in the creation of this beer are all fantastic on paper, I think it's a great idea to think; 'what do you reckon these would be like blended together?' - It's shows a great deal of innovative initiative, and it's always great to be experimental in my books. How does this beer rack up though, does it work??

Well no. Not really....

The beer comes across the nose with aromas of raisins, rum, charred oak, hints of vanilla and a slight touch of burnt rubber.
     This beer is sweet... massively sweet. It's sickly sweet, almost cloying, and unfortunately it's so sweet, the massive bitterness I would have wanted never really manages to push through. The finish adds more of the same - syrup-like flavour, but now it's hidden under a massive unbalanced alcohol warming hit. As it goes down a touch, a slight meaty/woody flavour starts to come out, but it's a bit too late, I'm not going to get rid of that sugar now.

I'm left disappointed. But that's just my personal taste, I know plenty of others who have really enjoyed this beer, and more props to you, but I was left under-whelmed. Maybe it's because I was so massively fond of the beers in the singular forms.

So after all the hype, all I can say is: Give me the three beers on their own, and forget about the big black pot!

BREW 1000

It's party time for Naylors Brewery as they celebrate brew 1000 with a special beer for commercial release. Naylors first started brewing back in 2005. You may have heard of the pub that they first set up in; the Old White Bear in Crosshills near Keighley. The pub was sold in 2006 though, so they could really buckle down and focus fully on making their ales.

This celebratory beer comes in a a full on 10% and is aged for two months before it's bottled, I can't find what it's aged in, but I'm sure someone out there knows.

The aroma is very inviting. It smells a little of marshmellow and loads of marmalade. There's a slight hint of sweet candy sugar too, which almost gives it a Belgian quality. The beer itself is incredibly fruity. I'm thinking sweet jams, marmalade, some figs, raisins - the good old fruit cake like flavours you'd expect from a big Strong Ale.

It's rich and rather warming, with a long drying/bittering and slightly woody finish. It's a great beer, and it's great to see local brewers like Naylors trying something out of their ordinary range and getting it spot on, so well played! Not that I think you need an excuse to get your party on but, you can get your party on to beers like this and celebrate with good folk like Naylors!

Imperial Smuttiness

You may have heard of Smuttynose Brewery, they make some really good quality American beers. You may know them better for beers like Big A IPA, Finestkind IPA and darker ones too like their really tasty Robust Porter. I could hug that seal all day long!

They also do a range of specials, a 'Big Beer Series' according to the bottle. This series includes much sought after beers like their 11% Wheat Wine Ale, Gravitation - a 10% Belgian Quad Style Ale and of course, the Imperial Stout pictured left. Let's not just leave it at those though. I really like the art work for all the Smutty beers, the label for Julio's Ry(e) an Ale is an absolutely fantastic example. I think some of the range has some great names too. Let's face it, who wouldn't want a pint of Smuttynose Smuttonator Doppelbock?!?! Or some Oak-aged Terminator G-Bock and some Homunculus Belgian Ale for that matter!

When I saw this in Borough Market, it was pretty obvious I had to have it, after all these bottles were bottled in 2007 so I reckon they'll be pretty good by now!

After a bit of research on'tinterweb I found this to be a 10.1% Imperial Stout. That's nothing to go by really though, as I think the abv may vary from batch to batch. (I could be wrong) I think with the bottle conditioning of around 4 years though it could have risen a touch anyway. It smells very interesting for an American Imperial Stout. Initially you get some lactic dairy-ness, loads of oats and even a touch of salt. As you get more of an inhale after a bit of a breather you get richer aromas of dark chocolate, burnt toffees, light but dark coffee and some rum soaked raisins.

The initial flavour is initially really intense and kicks you straight in the face. It's really burnt and massively bitter straight up front. I got really big woody hints, like someone had used rum soaked oak to make this beer, it was verging on leaving a slightly tart bitterness with small vanilla hints. Let it warm up a little, and get used to the mouth feel and this becomes a much different beast. It evens out and the smoother richer flavoured elements push forwards. Toasted fruitcake, big chocolate and lots of coffee bitterness now dominate the senses. The finish is dry, long and leaves you wanting. It does enough to make you respect the beer, but it's still very approachable at the same time, a truly spectacular beer if I must say so.

It's rather strange, I've been talking about Imperial Stouts quite a bit more than usual over the past few weeks, and although my tasting notes may sound a little similar on paper, I can assure you that not one I've tried in the past few years has ever tasted the same. I just think it's quite interesting that (to me) the most favourful, and overall, 'king of beers' in one hand is enough to pummel the senses but at the same time, be so diverse in actual flavour from beer to beer. Maybe that's just another one of the reasons why I love it so much...

Back to topic: Smuttynose make some amazingly impressive beers, and all I can recommend to you is that; if you see a Smuttynose beer.... just buy it, you don't need to give it a second thought.

Beer From Near & Far

I really enjoy Sam Adams beers. Their Boston Lager was the first American lager I ever tried, even before Budweiser! (could be a good thing) And even though I've had only a few nicer Lagers since, it will always remain an instant classic, and a perfectly enjoyable beer.

My second reason for my Sam Adams passion is that it seems that's all I ever drink whilst in the States. They have an incredibly massive range of beers, and where ever you (or we go anyway) it's the Sam Adam beers which are present on tap, it's so readily available. (and go for the happy hour and you get 2 for 1, which is brilliant!)

However, despite how many styles and varieties of beers I consume from this brewery in the States, (and it's usually about 20+ different styles!) we do not have that range over here in the UK. The Imperial Stout pictured is always a regular treat which I have to bring back with me on the plane! In fact, the only beer I've ever seen from Sam Adams for sale in this country is my old favourite; the Boston Lager.

That was until I took a trip to the Rake in London last week and spied this bad boy!

As soon as I saw it, I had to have it. It stood out a mile to me in the fridges.

It's a Chocolate Bock, and it's a BIG Chocolate Bock! All 1PT, 9.4FL OZ of it.

It looks... well you can see for yourself really, it looks dark! The aroma is quite unusual. It's quite fitting that I pictured the two beers at the top as, although there might be quite a bit of chocolate in there, it has big hints of both these beers mixed in together. It has nothing towards the big American strengths that we're used to though, or even a regular Bock strength, it's only 5.5% but that's certainly no disappointing thing. (I think I would have had to share if it was much stronger, it's such a big beer)

It has a great flavour, it's light, and there's not really a lot of depth to it. It makes it incredibly drinkable, and with such a drying, almost lactic finish, the beer is half gone before you know it. Chocolate, chocolate malts, chocolate biscuits, chocolate milk, chocolate raisins - it's a very tasty and light beer. I'd love to know how Glyn and the Rake team get their hands on beers like this.

Unfortunately it has been a fleeting moment for the night though. As nice is it is to get amazing beers from Sam Adams,  it's always going to be from afar, unless they start importing their whole range to retailers near you, and not just the Boston Lager. (I really wish they would!)

Yin & Yang: The Best Black & Tan!

I have no idea how to start this post.

I've only ever tried a couple of Black and Tans in my life, and they've always been from English brewers.
I do however, know my Imperial IPAs, and I certainly know my Imperial Stouts! Mix them together?? Sounds perfect on paper, but what is it like in reality? Would it work? With such extreme flavours on display, should you even bother? Well one brewery has certainly tried to dare!

I'm talking of course of Evil Twin Brewing (perfect name if you ask me, and an even more perfect name for the beers!)

Lets break this down. Yin is an Imperial Taiji Stout coming in at 10%. Yang is a 10% Imperial Taiji IPA. Personally I think they may have got these the wrong way round, I would have the Imperial Stout as the last, but that's just me. They state on the bottle that these two beers are absolutely perfect on their own, but so much better blended together. Could this be true? Could my favourite beer style and my second favourite beer style really be married into one glorious style of beer? Well lets bloody find out! But first lets look at the beers on there own:

We'll start with the Yang. (see it's a little strange to start with the Yang, with it being the lighter.) This is a dark looking Imperial IPA. The classic aromas of caramel and grapefruit lunge forward with side notes of lemon-grass and dried straw. The flavour pushes forward with a massive biscuit malt body which is followed with notes of caramel, toffee, a little marmalade and lots of chewy - rum soaked raisins. The finish is long and bitter. Very warming, (unsurprising for 10%) this beer starts very sweet and juicy but there's a huge dryness in the finish with almost a straw like tartness.

Next up was the Yin: a 10% Imperial Stout Bruiser! It pours much thicker and richer looking than the Yang, and the head rises much smoother looking - very much like the perfect brown edges of a super cappuccino, but all over. The aroma is mental. It's so meaty! Massive salty smoked salami flavours rise from this darkened drink, I can't help but think this is a smoked I.S.. I've not actually smelled an Imperial Stout like this before so this is beginning to get exiting. It starts very rich and very sweet. I'm thinking this must be smoked now, because of the flavours. Either that, or aged in some Islay whisky casks! All the classic IS flavours are there too, shed loads of dried/charred fruits. It's big and boozy but it's also balanced. The finish is super bitter, and everything I really want from an Imperial Stout, but what are they like together??

Well, first things first... the coffee maker in me couldn't resist doing this!!:

Yes! That's your half and half right there. Your layered latte, read it and weep.

Now of course for anyone who buys a layered latte, the rule is you need to take at least 15 seconds to look at, and appreciate the latte before you stir it all up into a drink, otherwise your just an inconsiderate dick. So that's what I did before I stirred it up. This is what I was presented with afterwards, my own Yin & Yang half and half, Black & Tan:

I was really concerned about this to be honest. I really thought the massive flavours that you get with any Imperial Stout would completely crush and mask any flavours that would try to present themselves in an Imperial IPA, and I thought it would all be completely pointless.

Turns out I was rather wrong! The two blended perfectly together. You certainly got a big IIPA aroma which masked well, any flavours I got from the stout, like salty meats. It's also perfectly balanced, these two really do work together - it's clear a lot of thought has gone into this. I couldn't help but think though, like a couple of others had said to me,  that this was just really a great big Black IPA, and to be truthful, that really didn't bother me. What would you really expect from mixing these two styles? Would a Black IPA or an Imperial Black IPA be a bad outcome? I don't really think so. This was a fantastic experience. I've never had anything like this, so I'd love it if some other brewers tried a similar thing. The only question that is left unanswered is this: I have no idea about this brewery, and where they're from, so I just need someone to explain this to me (see bottom):