CORAL

BEER REVIEW: 243

BREWER: Phantom Brewing Co., Berkshire, England

STYLE: Sour

ABV: 8.7%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

DATE OF POST: 5th June 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

What the F is a Mermaid Sour?

Time to hit the google machine…

Ah of course, Mermaid is a cocktail that includes pineapple and coconut in it’s line up of ingredients. Our Mermaid Sour, Coral, also contains pineapple and coconut. However it is actually the blue raspberries used that takes centre stage in our beer here. Pineapple is present for sure but playing more of a supporting role. And as for the coconut, well the flavour didn’t come through for me unless I pursed my lips, which was quite odd but in some way quite cool too as gave a little added extra as you moved through the drink. However it’s the texture of the brew that is helped out from the coconut.  Because of the coconut Coral is so creamy and smooth as you drink it down.

For me when it comes to the world of sours I prefer them to be SOUR, like eye twitching sour, but that is just personal taste. Coral is not eye twitchingly sour but that certainly does not make it a bad brew…

It’s complex as hell, comes in a frankly awesome tin and errrr, pours a striking green!!!

Jymi’s Rating: 70%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Coral, the beer, that is, is a mermaid sour. What the hecky decky is a mermaid sour? I hear you ask. The truth is, I have no bleedin’ idea. 

Of note, is the colour of Coral. It’s almost fluorescent green. And yes, I agree, something that’s described as fluorescent of any colour does not sound in the slightest bit appealing, especially when it comes to a beer. 

With Coral, don’t let the colour put you off. This beer is different. And in a good way. There’s sweet raspberry upfront, which is quickly followed by a brief, not overpowering, sour finish. While it’s by no means the sourest of beers, there’s enough there to class it as one.

I concede that Coral will not tick everyone’s beer drinking box. But what the team at Phantom have done is create something that is most definitely unique. You go on a journey as you drink and arguably, that’s what you want when trying out their beer. 

Whatever a mermaid sour is, I would have another one thank you very much. 

Mystical. 

Sammy’s Rating: 71%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 70.5%

MOB review next weekend: LIGHTHOUSE by HEDGEDOG BREWING

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

 

M O B 2022

DESPERADOS

BEER REVIEW: 242

BREWER: Heineken, Midlothian, Scotland

STYLE: Lager

ABV: 5.9%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE OF POST: 29th May 2022

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

A desperado, as many of you well know, can be described as a desperate person who is usually associated with criminality. And to add that definition, desperados are most widely associated with the Wild West of America. 

Now, Desperados the beer, clearly has a USP – it has tequila in it. And I assume that the beer is named so as tequila is from Mexico, which is also associated with the Wild West and desperados. 

Bit of a gimmicky approach if you ask me. And the only time I have had a Desperados before is at a BBQ having previously consumed some much more prestigious beers.  So, this is my first venture into drinking it cold (as in I have not consumed a beer before testing, as is always the case). 

I don’t mind telling you, I was anxious before trying. Anxious because the very thought of Desperados churns my beer tummy. And churning a beer tummy, as we know, is not a good idea…

As a side note, I am listening to Desperado by the Eagles while I test, just to add to the atmosphere. Hopefully this will help. 

Turns out, listening to a song with the same name (minus one ‘s’) really doesn’t work.

Desperados is poor. Trying to mask a beer with tequila might be a novelty that works for some but not for me.  It’s nasty to drink and, while it has a USP, it’s not one to add the BBQ shopping list. 

One thing is right – the name. It’s definitely a desperate beer. As for those in the Wild West – best stick to drinking whiskey. 

Sammy’s Rating: 32%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

Ok, I’ll be honest, I’ve taken Desperados on board a few times but not many. When it has happened it’s always been under similar circumstances… either a house party or an outside house party (AKA, a BBQ). Desperados has never been my brew of choice and I’ve certainly never bought nor brought for or to a do. So, when consuming I’ve always already had a few beers and have never really considered what Despo is actually like as beer, the only thing that has really crossed my mind is the fact it is a lager with a tickle of Tequila in it…

However, consider it now I will, but not until after this short interlude…

When I was about 16 my then girlfriend went on holiday to Australia for a month with her folks. Four weeks feels like four decades in a teenaged relationship land so it felt right for me and my buddy (Sammy btw) to hit the boozer to wash away my sorrow. Now, at this time we had just discovered that a pint of Guinness with a shot of Tia Maria in it was utterly divine (it genuinely is)! Sammy ordered up one of those but this was a hot summers evening and I wanted a lager. Not wishing to miss out however I ordered a LARGE TEQULIA to go in my beer. Utterly divine it was not. Blimey.

Anyway, Desperados, a lager that is 99.4% beer and 0.6% tequila. I think that is probably a better ratio than mine all those years ago but even so, beer and tequila in the same glass? What?? However, even though the tequila element doesn’t taste of tequila it does sweeten the drink and almost makes it taste like a shandy. Which, at 5.9% is a VERY dangerous thing!!

All in all this is just bad beer but actually quite drinkable to be fair to it. I would never purchase but if handed one nowadays I would still accept and not turn my now very snobby beer nose up at it.

 Jymi’s Rating: 41%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 36.5%

MOB review next weekend: CORAL by PHANTOM BREWING COMPANY

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

 

M O B 2022

VALMIERMUIZA AMBER LAGER

BEER REVIEW: 241

BREWER: Valmiermuiza, Valmiera Parish, Latvia

STYLE: Lager

ABV: 5.2%

VESSEL: 0.5l brown bottle

DATE OF POST: 22nd May 2022

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

So, I’m gonna come clean. I struggled to write this review. You see this Amber Lager has no point of difference. There’s nothing that stands out about it to make it great or ghastly. It’s just an average Joe. A Steady Eddie. 

Would I have one again? Sure I would. Would I rush out to buy another one? I sure wouldn’t. 

Amber Lager – it does exactly what it says. And there’s not much else to say about it…

Sammy’s Rating: 61%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

Well, the first thing that needs to be mentioned here is the absolutely stunning packaging!!! So grand, yet kinda simple. LOVE IT.

Beer wise, look, this tastes like a classic European lager, main reason is, it is one. Is there a point of difference? Well yeah probably, but you would have to be a beer sommelier to find it and am I one? No, I am not.

I can only comment on what is in front of me and what is in front of me is good, not great, but defo good.

Val’s offering here is soft and delicate in flavour and as smooth as it gets for a lager. The brewer has certainly worked some magic here too as it does not taste close to 5.2%.

I have a feeling that right place, right time, right amount of sun on your back and this brew could actually be situationally incredible.

However, when I tested Val’s Amber Lager it was a snowy British spring day… make of that what you will.

Jymi’s Rating: 67%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 64%

MOB review next weekend: DESPERADOS by HEINEKEN

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

 

M O B 2022

GROLSCH

BEER REVIEW: 240

BREWER: Grolsche Bierbrouwerj, Gelderland, Netherlands

STYLE: Pilsner

ABV: 4%

VESSEL: 450ml green bottle 

DATE OF POST: 15th May 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

I used to quite enjoy Grolsch as a lad, it tasted pretty good and that bottle, more importantly, that lid was just soooooooo flippin cool. I didn’t go as far as putting the lid on my shoes like the Goss Bros. but certainly had the odd one hanging off a rucksack or two. The lid is just so iconic, never challenged, never rivalled.

However, other than the top of the bot, everything else seems to have changed, only slightly but enough to make a fairly large difference.

Let’s start with the bottle as a whole, still decent but seems smaller and the current label seems cheap. The old sticker absolutely let the lid and bottle do the talking but this current iteration seems, well as I said, cheap. Oh and I’ve just checked the back of the label and it’s 450ml, so no wonder it looks smaller! Grolsch has also dropped to a fairly worrying 4% abv. If this percentage drop was from a smaller hands on brewery I wouldn’t be too worried but a mass produced lager going from 5 to 4% cannot possibly work out well…

But to be fair, the taste is still the same. Look, it’s not great but is perfectly drinkable. However, the percentage drop has definitely affected the body of the beer. It is now very thin and only just held together by an ok flavour.

Drinkable – yes.

Iconic – other than the lid, no, not anymore.

Buy again – I wouldn’t bother actually. Grolsch has lost whatever magic it once possessed.

Jymi’s Rating: 49%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Picture yourself in Amsterdam. It’s a hot day. The bartender is serving you a Grolsch. And in that serving, he or she scapes off the excess froth with a beer scraper. Sounds great. And in that scenario, Grolsch would be great. There’s no doubt. It would be in its element. But take away that romanticism and your faced with drinking Grolsch for what it is.  Sadly, it’s not a great beer. 

On the plus side, the sample we are testing here has the iconic beer top. Much better than having a Grolsch with your standard bottle top. Infinitely better in fact. The bottle itself is also clean and crisp. 

But, in the drinking Grolsch is watery. It’s a long way from being a good pilsner. You’d be hard pushed to identify it as one in a blind test. And then there’s the ever reducing alcohol content. Yes folks, Grolsch is now a sobering 4%. And while the percentage itself doesn’t matter, the diminishing flavour over time does. 

This is an unremarkable beer. 

Sammy’s Rating: 49%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 49%

MOB review next weekend: VALMIERMUIZA AMBER LAGER by VALMIERMUIZA

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

 

M O B 2022

DAVE SAYS IT WILL BE FINE

BEER REVIEW: 239

BREWER: Arundel Brewery, West Sussex, England

STYLE: Sour Ale

ABV: 7.1%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

DATE OF POST: 8th May 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

Sorry Dave mate, if I can call you mate, it is not fine. It’s actually nowhere near fine, it’s flippin’ awful buddy, if I can call you buddy…

The tin art is decent, the nose from the pour was nice, the look and colour in the glass of this brew is gooood. Texture and mouthfeel is also good, actually REALLY GOOD. However the taste I’m sorry to say is all over the card.

Dave says it will be fine feels like a hit and hope to me and to be fair almost sounds like it was for our brewery here too…

I quote from the tin…

This Sour Ale is a bit of an experiment

However the can notes say that Blueberries, Pecan, Marshmallow, Cinnamon and Vanilla are involved which for me, although a little funky, if balanced should work well together.

But whatever has happened in this experiment has not worked out. This brew is way too sweet and just when you think you will be saved by the sour, it barely rocks up.

I have never gone down the road of value for money et cetera et cetera in almost 5 years of doing this but at nearly 6 snerks a tin I’m not sure I want a brewery experimenting and not really knowing what they have put out.

Total fail.

Jymi’s Rating: 31%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Can you remember when you were a child and you mixed all the soft drinks available in one glass? The aim was always to create a mega drink that was greater than the sum of its parts. And as a child, what an experiment to undertake. Of course, invariably the finished product was never the hoped for elixir. In fact, you usually ended up with some piss poor concoction barely fit for consumption.

And so it is with Dave Says it’ll be Fine.

After a promising start – a good can, the promise of sour – the end product is so poor.

While it might feel like it has been brewed well, you simply cannot throw everything at a beer, label it a sour and hope it will turn out ok. There’s so much going on with DSIWBF, that you can’t actually work out at all what’s going on with it. And at the back of it all, it’s not the note of sour that lingers but a sickly sweetness.

Arundel Brewery claim this as an experiment.  Like the mixing experiments of our childhood, this sour ale is definitely not representative of all the things that have been thrown at it. You might have seen haute cuisine with a shorter list  of ingredients.

It’s an experiment gone wrong. And, Dave, it’s far from being fine.

Sammy’s Rating: 32%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 31.5%

MOB review next weekend: GROLSCH by GROLSCHE BIERBROUWERU

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

 

M O B 2022

ST PETER’S GOLDEN ALE

BEER REVIEW: 238

BREWER: St Peter’s Brewery, Suffolk, England

STYLE: Golden Ale

ABV: 4.7%

VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle

DATE OF POST: 2nd May 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

So after last week’s ‘write about the packaging before you sip the brew’ angle I’ve decided to go again, for three reasons…

Firstly, once more I have some time on my hands to write but not to test at the same time.

Secondly, I quite enjoyed last week and the point still stands, the outside and inside of a beer should be judged separately but of course still influence each other. Or sometimes not.

Thirdly, I have seen St Peter’s  bottles lurking on beer shelves since Sammy and I started this nonsense back in 2017 and have had something to say about them in my mind ever since. Let’s see if I can I get my thoughts down accurately and eloquently after all these years…

THEY LOOK SHIT

THEY LOOK LIKE FU*KING BOTTLES OF MEDICINE

Yep, fairly happy with that.

 

Anyway, it’s a few days later and on to the actual beer itself. Well thank gawd it is not as bad as the housing that it has just been released from. However, this does not mean that this a good beer, because it’s not. After a smidgen of early promise in the taste as potential orange citrus and toffee try and do something, it all just fades very fast into a practically non-existent aftertaste.

Quaffable and smooth makes this brew drinkable yes, but I would still not put it into the good bracket. However, it’s not necessarily bad either. Which clearly leads us to the pretty obvious conclusion of… average at best.

Jymi’s Rating: 49%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

I love the style of the bottle on this golden ale (which is named Golden Ale (not the most inspirational of names, I know)). Anyway, the bottle is like an old-style medicine bottle. And at times, beer can have the effect of a medicine (please drink responsibly).   So, I’m digging the bottle, if not the name.

And in the glass Golden Ale is, well, golden. In fact, it’s as golden as they come. So that’s a tick. And there’s definitely caramel notes on the nose, if not too pungent.

However, in the drinking, there’s quite a bite upfront, which is followed by a metallic finish. Although this finish passes quickly, it’s there none the less. The more you drink GA the less you notice it. But it’s not the most accomplished of golden ales in the brew.  Having said that, it’s not terrible.

In colloquial terms, I’m on what’s known as the fence with this one.

Sammy’s Rating: 68%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 58.5%

MOB review next weekend: DAVE SAYS IT WILL BE FINE by ARUNDEL BREWERY

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

 

M O B 2022

EASY

BEER REVIEW: 237

BREWER: Lervig, Rogaland, Norway

STYLE: Pale Ale

ABV: 4.5%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE OF POST: 24th April 2022

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Now, who’d have thought about putting a fella in his underpants on a can of beer? Well, the team at Lervig did when they designed their can for Easy. And as it happens, I quite like him. He looks like an easy-going fella, which ties in nicely with the beer concept. It’s a little bit of a shame about the wishy-washy colour combination on the can, but it certainly doesn’t detract from the Easy fella.

I’ve given over a lot of words to the styling of the can. That’s because there’s not too much to say about the beer.

Easy is perfectly pleasant. You can tell its a dry hopped IPA. It’s hoppy and there’s a dryness to it.  It’s a little bit dusty.

That’s it.

Sammy’s Rating: 62%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

This week I’m going with the angle of expressing my thoughts on the tin art and info before poppin’ n pourin’ the beer. Though it’s not always possible I do quite like the idea of doing this as outside and inside should be judged separately as well as together. Of course this brings the adage to the table of not judging a book by its cover, but whichever way you look at it, the better the packaging the more you will look forward to a beer, particularly when reviewing it.

(Though the main reason for going down this road is, for once I have a bit of time on my hands and won’t be testing Easy until this evening.)

And I’m looking forward to testing Easy because I really, really like the tin art and colours. If Easy was called Sludge and was in a brown tin it is fair to say I would be looking forward to it less. It doesn’t affect how the brew tastes (maybe, that’s a discussion for another time) but the packaging is what pulls you in in the first place, it entices you, it excites you… and on the whole it stops a beer sitting on a shop shelf for too long.

Anyway, as mentioned, I adore the tin art here as well as the name and there is enough info on the vessel to let you know what you are probably going to get.

Fast forward to this evening and I’m about to crack the can… here goes.

Well, ok, what we have instantly is a classic and straightforward CRAFT nose. It’s nothing different, it’s nothing new, it’s nothing to call Sammy at 3am and go on and on about, but that doesn’t mean it’s not lovely – it’s just not a breakaway from today’s very high standard of craft brewing smells that drift up the snoz before you take that first sip.

But when you take that first sip, even though there is no real point of difference and just tastes like a classic crafty pale, it soon becomes very apparent that this brew is flippin’ lovely.

Loads and loads of flavour hits you in the sip accompanied by plenty of orange on the nose as you take the brew onboard. Easy then sits you back and makes you wonder just quite how it is only 4.5 % as it is so flavoursome. Very moreish with bitterness a plenty keeps you coming back for more and I have to say I was a little disappointed that I only had 330ml of this beer to enjoy.

Nice work indeed Lervig, just get me a bigger tin next time please.

Jymi’s Rating: 80%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 71%

MOB review next weekend: ST PETER’S GOLDEN ALE by ST PETER’S BREWERY

 

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze since 2017

 

M O B 2020

EL PERRO NEGRO

BEER REVIEW: 236

BREWER: Williams Bros. Brewing Company, Clackmannanshire, Scotland

STYLE: Pilsner

ABV: 4.5%

VESSEL: 44oml tin

DATE OF POST: 17th April 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

Hey hey mama said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove…

El Perro Negro on one hand is a really cool name for a brew. However, on the other, if said brew is a Pilsner brewed in Scotland it comes undone a little. A dark lager or porter brewed in Spain then hey hey mama I get it!! But an amber coloured pilsner brewed in Alloa? Do me a favour.

BUT… this pilsner is brewed with Seville oranges, so ok ok ok I get the Spanish name. However the fact the word Negro is included seems ridiculous to me. Still in isolation, El Perro Negro is a cracking name for a beer so you’re getting the benefit of the doubt Williams Bros., JUST!

Now, I’m not too sure what I was expecting from this lager but once sipped quite a few things became clear…

It didn’t taste like a Pilsner.

There is hardly any taste of orange.

There wasn’t too much going on flavour wise.

BUT

It was amazingly smooth, very drinkable and actually rather enjoyable. Whether it be a roasting Sevillian summers day or a warm early afternoon in Alloa, El Perro Negro would go down well.

In conclusion this beer is sooooooooo far away from doing what is says on the tin but it is how much you enjoy drinking a brew that counts and somehow I enjoyed this one a fair bit.

Jymi’s Rating: 67%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

El Perro Negro might seem to be a strange name for a beer made in Scotland. But it’s simple to explain: it’s brewed with a ‘twist’ of Seville oranges. Ergo, it has a black dogged Spanish themed name. Makes sense. Except for the black dog part. But hey-ho, it’s still a solid name.

Enough rambling. Onto the drinking.

On the nose, there’s a slight hint of oranges. I can’t tell if they’re from Seville, but we will give the benefit of the doubt. Other than that, the nose is as you might expect from a pilsner, which don’t have the best reputation for stimulating the olfactory cells.

In the drinking, EPN definitely has an upfront sweet citrus taste. It’s very pleasant and refreshing. While it might not be the most inspiring pilsner out there, or indeed the most complex beer, it’s certainly got its place. Easy to drink, refreshing, with a little point of difference- I quite like EPN.

Unlike some other pilsners, EPN would definitely stand up well in session too. Its crispness would give welcome relief as you pushed through a session. It would keep many a customer happy on many an occasion.

Undoubtedly, EPN is a good solid beer.

Sammy’s Rating: 81%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 74%

MOB review next weekend: EASY by LERVIG

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze since 2017

M O B 2022

IMPERIAL APRICOT, MANDARIN & LEMON SOUR

BEER REVIEW: 235

BREWER: The Garden Brewery (collab with Freddo Fox), Zagreb, Croatia

STYLE: Imperial Sour

ABV: 6.4%

VESSEL: 440ml tin

DATE OF POST: 10th April 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

When a brewery decides not to name a particular brew of theirs it’s not a real big deal but is a bit of a shame. I feel like the beer no matter how good or bad lacks a little identity without a name and I also miss the creativity that comes with the naming of a brew. If St Austell had just named their exquisite PROPER JOB simply, IPA I can’t help but feel I would love it a little less even though the beer would be exactly the same. The reason I’m going down this road though to be honest is that The Garden Brewery along with Freddo Fox have decided not to name the beer we have this week which just leaves us with the description of what it is as our name. But it’s not simply a Pale or Stout no no, it’s a fu**in IMPERIAL APRICOT, MANDARIN AND LEMON SOUR.

However, IAMALS actually sounds like a name so we’re going with that, leaving any negativity behind and focusing on the positives and oh my…  there are many!!!

This is an absolute beaut of a brew!

The quite simply stunning tropical nose leads you to your first sip that instantly loads you up with apricot. So. Much. Flavour. The sip remains very much apricot led then moves to an orange and lemon finish. Apricot slowly bleeds back in with the aftertaste and completes the complex fruity rollercoaster.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a fine fine beer and would have probably scored EVEN higher for me if I was a fan of apricot, which on the whole, I’m not.

But a fan of this beer I most certainly am.

Jymi’s Rating: 87%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Ooo I say – what a cracker!

IAMLS is a sour. Sours are good. But, here’s the thing. It’s not the most sour of sours.

But it’s salty.

Yes, I know. Salt and beer sound like they shouldn’t work. But throw in some citrus fruits, add a little apricot and then hit it up with some cardamom and what you’ve got is a revelation of a beer.

Imagine going on a holiday that takes you to Seville, then onto India via North Africa, finishing up in Mexico. It would be incredible. And possibly not possible. Imagine then, trying to sum up that trip in 440ml of beer. Definitely near on impossible. Yet, that’s what the magicians at The Garden Brewery and Freddo Fox (yes, unbelievably this brew is a collaboration between a Croatian brewery and a Spanish brewery) have managed to do in a can! Sounds amazing. Well, IAMLS is amazing.

It’s unique. It’s well conceived. It’s well balanced. And it’s well brewed. IAMLS is well good.

Sammy’s Rating: 95%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 91%

MOB review next weekend: EL PERRO NEGRO by WILLIAMS BROS. BREWING CO.

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze since 2017

 

M O B 2022

TONY’S HOPOLONELY

BEER REVIEW: 234

BREWER: BrewDog, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

STYLE: Milkshake IPA

ABV: 6.3%

VESSEL: 44oml tin

DATE OF POST:  3rd April 2022

 

JYMI SAY’S…

BrewDog pretty much introduced me to the new and wonderful world of Craft Beer, and for that I thank them. There was a time where I would say to people, sometimes randomly in the street, these dogs can do no wrong. Punk was a f’ing cracker. A top top beer that was fairly accessible and pretty affordable. Dead Pony Club proved to me that lower ABV beers can still pack a punch and actually be really tasty.

However, of more recent times BrewDog have lost it. Punk is still drinkable and ok but not even half the beer it used to be. DPC is no longer drinkable it’s so shite. The vast majority of BD beers nowadays are average at very best, and if I’m being honest, actually way below average.

Now what we have for review today, Tony’s Hopolonely, does not fall into the way below average bracket. It’s worse than that. It is utter bollocks.

There was early promise from this very badly packaged product, at least. The smell of sweet Raspberries came through well. However once drinking you’re wishing you hadn’t. ALL THE RASPBERRY comes at you with the flavour yet little to no chocolate. Big raspberry hits done well can be a delight. But this hasn’t been done well. It feels rushed and forced and is quite frankly, shit. However, more promise raised its head briefly as the sweet / sour from the raspberry offered a nice balance to the beer. But it’s not too long before you’re back to the gawd awful flavour. Also, the fact this is a collab with an overpriced substandard chocolate maker and the beer doesn’t even taste of chocolate makes this whole enterprise absurd.

A brewery that in my eyes has gone from being able to do no wrong to suddenly doing everything wrong. If you’re happy drinking shit beer from a company with seemingly zero morals, then crack on with BrewDog. If you’re not, then boycott them. Like I am doing as of… now.

They need us. We don’t need them.

Jymi’s Rating: 27%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Right. Where to start.

I’m not sure what this beer is actually called so we won’t give it a name. But one thing is clear is it’s a mash up between Brewdog and Tony’s Chocolonely. Two big companies (shows you how far the Scottish brewery has come (I’ll reserve posting a view about that now)).

The packaging is distinctive. But it’s also shocking. Not shockingly good, sadly, but rather shockingly bad!

The one thing that gave me hope about this beer is the nose. It’s amazing. Almost like squash on a summer’s day.

Sadly, that’s where the positives end.

There’s definitely raspberry in the drink. Its bitter after that followed by smoothness. Then back to bitterness. But through it all there’s an underlying sweetness which doesn’t feel right. Too, unbeerish. And all in all that’s where the lacklustre adventure ends.

Whilst it’s interesting and different, I don’t like it. It’s too much novelty for me. It’s more bling than brew, which is a shame.

Brewdog have the resources at their disposal to do interesting and ‘out there’ things with beers. But this, whatever it is, is too forced. It’s too much about the amalgamation not the product.

Sammy’s Rating: 37%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 32%

MOB review next weekend: IMPERIAL APRICOT, MANDARIN & LEMON SOUR by THE GARDEN BREWERY & FREDDO FOX

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze since 2017

M O B 2020