OOPLA

BREWER: Beak Brewery, East Sussex, England

STYLE: Imperial Stout

ABV: 10%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

TWITTER: @TheBeakBrewery

INSTAGRAM: thebeakbrewery

DATE OF POST: 26th December 2021

JYMI SAY’S…

Before I get into just how flippin’ marvellous this beer is I want to get something off of my chest.

I genuinely thought when I picked this beer up from the mighty Hive bottle shop in Crowthorne that the folk over at Beak Brewery had done a collab with Mikkeller. This was because of the artwork. The character performing what I hope is an Oopla looks very much like a character that could well appear on some Mikkeller Brewing tin art, hence the confusion. I searched my tin hard for mention of this collab, but there was none. Can only conclude that no collaboration was had.

Curious, most curious.

Anyway, whatever, on to the beer…

F*** me this is a good brew!

It’s a dry, woody, tobacco nose that first gives you a hint that you may well have a major player on your hands. The next suggestion is the delicious and big vanilla, cherry and tobacco hit you get during the sip. The incredibly soft vanilla sweet aftertaste allows you to conclude that you are certainly dealing with a major player. To really ram home the quality of this Impy you suddenly remember this beer is actually 10%. Because it is so soft and smooth in the drinking it is very easy to forget that. It is a big big hit you’re getting from Oopla, but that is from the flavour, not the alcohol necessarily.

Oh well done BB… fire.

Jymi’s Rating: 93%

SAMMY SAY’S…

Oopla takes me right back to being a child. Odd remark to make about a beer, I know. But it gets even odder, because it’s the tobacco aromas that do it for me. Well, for those of you that can’t remember, time where folks used to light up inside. And that smoke had a homely distinctive aroma (warning, nicotine is addictive). Anyway, suffice to say, the nose on Oopla is heady.

Forget aroma though, beer is all about the drinking. And Oopla is phenomenal. The tobacco nose carries right into the drinking, where it’s paired up with chocolate notes and a little hint of liquorice. These combined notes are so well balanced it’s a wonder that Beak Brewery have managed to pull it off. Hats off to them though.

This brew is thick, unctuous, full of points of difference… it’s lush in the mouth and well worth the journey.

I know I love a stout. But Oopla is simply astounding. Please, make time in your (beer) schedule to get your hands on one of these. Believe me, it’s worth it for the experience. One for those special occasions…