BEER REVIEW: 29

BREWER: Brick Brewery, South London, England

STYLE: Sour

ABV: 3.5%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE POSTED: 27th April 2018

 

JYMI SAY’S…

# I’ve been down the offie bought a drink with no name, It felt good to be out of the game, In the car now, exhaust got a flame, can’t wait to get home and drink that beer with no name… Laaa laaaa la la la lala laaa la la laa la….#

Now before I even get on to the taste, nose, packaging blah blah blah this has to be addressed. It’s not called anything. On one hand that gives this sour mystique that is backed up by the insanely cool packaging, but on the other hand… IT’S NOT CALLED ANYTHING! I was absolutely taken in by the look of this can in the bottle shop and fully expected when turning it around for it to have a little subtly written funky name for her, but no, I was just told what it was, a tamarind and lime leaf sour. I just don’t get it, but hey.

Why don’t you stop babbling on about the name Jymi and crack her open eh?

Don’t tamarind if I do.. (sorry, that felt funnier when I thought of it in bed last night).

Oh wow!! Wow wow… She is different!! She is sour!! She is incredible!! The initial taste is as TART as it comes, it sat me back in my chair, made me shake my head and then made me smile. I instantly went back for another massive gulp to try and work out what on earth had just happened. Sat me back in my chair again, TART again! Once past that it instantly switches to a massive lime hit then fades to a beautiful long citrus finish.

Now, the whole 3.5% thing got me thinking, this could be a fantastic session beer with that lovely citrus after taste. But then I thought, the intensity of the first 3 seconds puts it so so so far away from a sessioner it’s ridiculous. Tough one. I will put to test this coming summer and report back.

I absolutely love this but could fully understand if others didn’t. I guess it depends if you’re a sour head or not at the end of the day.

Great job you crafty Brick Brewery boys.

Jymi’s Rating: 76%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

It’s questionable to say whether or not making the packaging for a product indescribably cryptic is genius or indeed if it is in fact disastrous.  This is amplified when you’re peddling an unknown brand.  And so the case with Tamarind and Lime Leaf Sour is that it is impossible to identify this as an ale without cracking out the magnifying glass.  Me personally, I love it, but I’m not going to dwell on it because others will find it irritating – and I can understand why that’s the case.  

Pouring from the can shows this offering to be quite a lively beer and a strong head forms with little encouragement, which leads you to believe it will be lively on the palate.  Before the drinking though, the nose on Tamarind and Lime Leaf Sour is aromatic, on the citrus side with a strong flowery backdrop.  The first sip is, to be fair, a shock that is filled very much with a first flavouring of lime followed closely by the tamarind.  So, the flavour does exactly as it says on the tin (shame that hook line was stolen before this beer was launched).  

It’s not the liveliness of the bubbles that are the thing with this beer.  No, it’s the unusual and incredibly distinctive flavours that are its bag.  It will divide the crowd.  There’s no doubt about it.  Me – I really like it.  I like it because it’s different and it’s uniqueness is refreshing, just likes its flavours.  And that’s where judging this beer is a little tricky: it can’t be compared to others – it can only be judged by it’s own standards.  

Tamarind and Lime Leaf Sour slips down the watering hole very easily indeed. One or two on a hot summer’s day would pass by very quickly and would be very welcome on any occasion during the warmer climes. Once those initial thirst quenching moments had passed though, you would possibly find yourself looking for another ale to keep you company throughout the day.

One thing’s for certain, you’ve got to try this one!

Sammy’s Rating: 79%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 77.5%

MOB review next weekend: STREAMLINE by KETTLESMITH BREWING COMPANY

 

BEER REVIEW: 28

BREWER: Kona Brewing Co., Hawaii, USA 

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 6%

VESSEL: 330ml brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 21st April 2018

 

JYMI SAY’S…

I mean, I think we’ve all dreamt or at least pondered what we would do should we be CASTAWAY… The mind wanders, for hours and hours… just how are you going to make 7 plastic spoons, 18 paper straws and a full jar of mayonnaise in to a craft that will hopefully save your life? Also, assuming you’ve been able to construct your sea faring vessel, what’s the plan? What do you do?

Which brings me on to the look of our bottle. Don’t get me wrong AT ALL, I love it, but it is annoyingly flawed…

First off, the craft that has been assembled by this solo person, lost and alone looks like it’s been sponsored by bleedin’ Richard Branson. Look at it!! It’s incredible!! But not the work of a Castaway.

Secondly, the fact there is quite clearly land in front of our stricken sailor suggests that they are no longer CAST AWAY , and furthermore they are sailing in to the waves which suggests there is land even closer behind them?! I think? Could be wrong there :0)

As cool as the packaging is, it’s VERY uncastaway.

Anyway, rant over, this IPA is lovely…

The quality start’s with the nose, beautiful almost mango sweet but with dry pine, a total delight. The taste is great also. There is a lot to her but doesn’t come across as complex which shows the sign of some great brewing. It’s full of citrus yes but there are hints of herbs as well as Mr Malt to bring everything together. Personally, I find it a touch on the thick side, but that is just personal preference.

This is a cracking beer and if HMS Mayo failed to get you where you needed to be and you ended stuck with a large supply of Castaway, you would die a very drunk and happy soul.

Jymi’s Rating: 77%

 

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Castaway is a very good beer.  It’s as simple as that. 

Kona have developed a strong USP and Castaway does a fantastic job of launching you all the way to a Hawaiian island. 

The nose is tropical and has very good length.  It’s both tempting and soothing at the same time, and entices you to relax.  You can almost feel the sand beneath your feet while you fill your lungs with its sweet scent. 

As you draw down your first mouthful, you are left in no doubt that this is a member of the IPA family.  But what Castaway does so well is to maintain it’s strong tropical notes, all the way from nose to taste.  And it lingers on your tongue in a very pleasant manner, allowing you the luxury of continuing your imagined journey to the Hawaiian beaches from which it was inspired.

From bottle all the way through to drinking, Castaway knows its place.  You really couldn’t go far wrong drinking this bathed in warm sun, preferably on a Hawaiian beach.  Failing that, any time of year would do, especially if you’re looking for small moments of beach dreaming. 

Sammy’s Rating: 81%

 

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 79%

 

MOB review next weekend: TAMARIND & LIME LEAF SOUR by BRICK BREWERY 

Welcome to your weekend party people. We have a bottle with a beard in town as well as a guest review from He-Man’s arch nemesis…

BEER REVIEW: 27

BREWER: Robinsons, Greater Manchester, England

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 6%

VESSEL: 330ml brown bottle 

DATE POSTED: 15th April 2018

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

As I myself am currently the proud owner of a well-worn beard, you can only imagine my excitement at the thought of trying a beer named after this long lasting tradition.  With so much riding on this beer (based solely on its hipster name), does it live up to expectation?

Well – the first signs are good.   There’s a face with a beard very prominently displayed on the label.  And that’s great because…well….the beer is named Beardo!  Then, once released from its bottle into a glass, the chocolaty aromas are distinctive and give hope of something great inside. 

I’m sorry to let you all know that that’s where the greatness ends.  You see, Beardo does not follow through with taste.  It’s not a heady trip into the world of beards, as so teasingly promised by the label.  Neither is it a journey into the world of great craft beers.  No, Beardo is very much about being on show and trying to cash in on the wonderful world of craft beers.  The taste just isn’t there.  Beardo is distinctive for being hard to chew down.  It has no place with all the other fantastic beers out there on offer.

We all know that the trends for beards come and go over time: hundreds of years of being in and out of fashion.  I’d be very surprised if Beardo is around the next time beards are en vogue.  It would be some feat if Beardo was still here by the time the last beard associated with this current crop is shaved off!

More time needs to be spent on brewing as opposed to beard grooming.  

Sammy’s Rating: 45%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

There was once a time where ale was associated with chaps who donned beards and beards were associated with chaps keen on the consumption of ale.

As time has moved forward ale is now associated with chaps who don beards and beards are associated with chaps keen on the consumption of ale… hang on, so nothing has changed you say?!

Incorrect, though a beard is still a beard, and ale is still ale, plenty has changed my friends, plenty has changed.

The beard is no longer there because the consumer is far too hammered to contemplate a shave. Far from it. Most of today’s beard wearers have this furniture on their face because they’re a hipster, beatnik or just flippin’ cool.

Of course ale is still ale but nowadays it’s trendy to drink it and there are a million and one takes and tweaks out there for us to try. If you had mentioned something like an orange peel infused IPA back in the 70’s you would have been thrown to the floor by the aforementioned bloke that was too pissed to shave.

But the fact remains, Beards and Beers belong together, like Gin and Tonic, and the Robinsons branding division have recognized this and NAILED IT!!!

WHAT. A . NAME.

WHAT. A. BOTTLE.

WHAT. A. BEER?

Well, let’s find out..

The nose is lovely, a little old skool with the bitter tones but really good. I must also take a moment to comment on how good this looked in the glass. The colour and head on Beardo once poured just made it look so inviting. So I got stuck in.

Bizarrely, the initial taste took me back to when I was VERY young but just old enough to be offered a small sip of my Dad’s crappy pint of whatever it was. I genuinely liked the taste of those little sips though. I’m not sure the quality was good at all, but as said, I most definitely liked. The first two seconds of each sip of Beardo, taste wise were the same as I used to get way back when, and I have to say, enjoyable.

But then something happened, something totally out of the blue, and I have to tell you it was not pleasant.. The taste suddenly switched from the crappy old skool bitter taste that I liked, to this soapy texture and almost banana flavour. Odd, really odd. What is strange is the whole tasting experience seems like it has been put together well. But the taste poles are crazy complex and not really for me.

Beardo had so much promise but unfortunately missed the mark.

Jymi’s Rating: 59%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 52% 

 

 

SKELETOR SAY’S…

Firstly welcome to the guest review from the almighty Skeletor! I was given the task of sampling a Robinson’s Brewery tipple by the aptly named “Beardo.”
In order to get in the mood I donned a plaid shirt and skinny jeans with my most presentable deck shoes (no socks obviously). So upon popping the top I was welcomed by a beautiful yet powerful aroma of hops and zest, genuinely under the impression I was on to an absolute scorcher and at 6% ooh wee what a treat!
It poured a lovely golden colour and thick aromatic head to compliment, my excitement grew more so with this great appearance and the smell still lingering in my nostrils!

The chap on the bottle with his dark glasses beard and hat, looking almost “Heisenberg” like clearly utilised to draw the Breaking Bad fans which arose my first concern that they be trying to mask a certain level of mediocrity. Alas the info on the back not taking itself too seriously with a few cheesy jokes redrew my attention, this included pointing out the 6% marker as being able to “put hairs on your chest.”

I gave the beer some time to sit, although not too long as it’s been a tough week at work! I took my first sips and was overwhelmed by immense sense of mediocrity, it tasted like fermented pine cones and orange peel. I was determined to believe my first impression was wrong but after further drinking the flavour almost became worse by the mouthful. Although served well chilled it went warm very fast and like a can of Red Stripe lost any kind of carbonation less than halfway down.

In conclusion I offer the grade “could do better”
I was really excited to knuckle down and guzzle this bad boy only to be stricken with heart breaking disappointment and I shall not be imbibing this again.

Skeletor’s Rating: 56%

 

MOB review next weekend: CASTAWAY by KONA BREWING CO.

BEER REVIEW: 26

BREWER: BrewDog, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

STYLE: Pale Ale

ABV: 3.8%

VESSEL: 330ml brown bottle 

DATE POSTED: 6th April 2018

 

JYMI SAY’S…

As Frank Herbert once wrote,

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. The only trouble is I do fear, I fear I drink Dead Pony Club too g’dam quickly. (That’s me saying that bit about Dead Pony Club by the way, not Frank).

Honestly, I don’t know what it is about this beer but every time I drink it I seem to visit the glass maybe three times and it’s GORN!!

This beer is tasty, REALLY tasty! And seeing as it is only 3.8%, which is nowhere near strong enough to kill a Pony incidentally, this is quite the achievement from the ever expanding Scottish brewing giant, BrewDog. The taste is one of hops and suggestive citrus smacks as well as some lovely floral undertones which just make it a delight to throw down ones gullet I assure you. The only down side I would say is the length of DPC. For how fantastic the taste is it does disappear a little too quickly for me. However, this could be the key to what this ale is all about…. The session! What we have is a weak, super delicious and quaffable beer. The PERFECT storm.

Now for me personally I would have to calm down on how I approach drinking this for it to be one for a session, but that’s for me to sort out. This was built to be a session ale and that is exactly what it is, and it’s an incredibly good one at that.

Jymi’s Rating: 85%

 

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

You have a serious beer in your hands when you are handling Dead Pony Club.  It’s an incredibly light beer that is very hard to beat as a session ale.  You could be happily quaffing it down into the early hours (having started at any chosen time in the preceding 12 hours) and it still won’t lose its appeal.

It has a fantastic nose, which hints at the lightness of its drinking.  The subtle hint of pineapple is very welcomed indeed on a nice warm day.  Let’s be honest, that scent would be welcome on any day, regardless of the weather.  When you drink Dead Pony Club, you can’t help but be enchanted by its sweetish hops taste and the great thing is that this flavour is not overbearing; it’s as subtle as you like.

Sure, there will be those that argue that there are much better beers than Dead Pony Club.  That there are much better brews out there.  That there are much better hops being used.  That there are more exciting flavours, more technically challenging aromas.  And they might well be right.  But Dead Pony Club arrived to the party earlier on – and it has the ability to stay to the end. 

Sammy’s Rating: 88%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 86.5% 

 

MOB review next weekend: BEARDO by ROBINSONS 

So we are almost 6 months into our musings, which means by this Friday we will have tested 26 beers. There have been some serious highs as well as a few lows and by the looks of some of the beers that are coming up the highs could well get even higher.

Below is a list of the Top 10 beers that we have tested so far..

Find them, drink them, they are all fantastic!

 

1st… Puritan by Two Cocks Brewery, Berkshire – 88%

=2nd… White Tips by Siren Craft Brew, Berkshire – 84.5%

=2nd… Goose IPA by Goose Island, Illinois – 84.5%

=2nd… Leveller by Two Cocks Brewery, Berkshire – 84.5%

5th… Hepcat by Gipsy Hill Brewing Company, South London – 83%

6th… Proper Job by St Austell Brewery, Cornwall – 80%

7th… Electric IPA by Brixton Brewery, South London – 79.5%

=8th… Doom Bar by Sharps, Cornwall 76.5%

=8th… Ease Up IPA by Adnams, Suffolk 76.5%

=8th… Landlord by Timothy Taylor’s, West Yorkshire – 76.5%

 

 

If you delve into museonbooze.com you’ll be able to find the reviews of all of the beers that we have tested over the last half  year. Keep an eye out for Dead Pony Club by BrewDog this weekend as it may, just may instantly change the current Top 10!

Hope you’re enjoying our work and enjoying your beer. Time to press on for another 6 months of arduous testing 😉 …. See ya!

BEER REVIEW: 25

BREWER: Marston’s, Staffordshire, England

STYLE: Amber Ale 

ABV: 4.5%

VESSEL: 500ml  brown bottle 

DATE POSTED: 30th March 2018

 

JYMI SAY’S…

# Good old John Marston, a great Victorian bloke, he brought us Marston’s, the finest beer from casks of oak. Brewed the great Victorian way, up until the present day and Pedigree’s the finest brew in all the land, HOOOOORAAAAAY #

But is it, is it the finest brew in all the land?

No. Simple as that.

I mean it’s ok, but it is most certainly not living up to that very bold statement that I seem to recall was slung out there as an advertising campaign when I was a lad.

However, there are highs and there are lows when it comes to Pedigree as a whole package. And those highs and lows seem to come in varying levels of intensity as you move through the experience.

Ok, the look of bottle, very average. I like the Red and Black but that’s where it ended…well, I thought. Once I began to investigate what information had been bunged on the label I was met with a whole hoard of facts regarding the packaging and what I was drinking. The best of which was being told who the chap on the front of the bottle was (he was the head brewer at the time a staff competition was run to rename the beer formally known simply as ‘P’). See, loads of facts hey?! And I have to say it influenced my thoughts on the overall packaging. The look still isn’t great but understanding it definitely got this Midlands brew a few more marks. So after a low followed by a high we get to the nose, and let me tell you, it was a huge low, it was a HORROR SHOW! It smells like fuel, and I have to say it totally put me off drinking it. But I thought as I was mid review I had better proceed as didn’t want to let our 6 followers down 😉 So, as I’ve already mentioned, the taste is ok at best and certainly not the finest brew in all the land. However Pedigree is creamy smooth and actually goes down a treat to be fair.

Not bad. Not good. The end.

Jymi’s Rating: 60%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Sometimes, the brand design pulls one in straight from the start.  Often, the packaging suffices and does a decent enough job of tempting the drinker into the amber world of the ale contained within the said packaging.  Very rarely though, there is the product design that is so bad that it takes an effort to get over.  In my, humble it must be said, opinion, this is the case with Marston’s encasement of Pedigree.  I would like to liken it to a villain in a film, such as Darth Vader, but that would be far too generous to it because film baddies are very often so loved and designed to have some form of connection with their audience.  This packaging has no connection on any level.  So in that case, at least the design is unique – but for all the wrong reasons.  It really is that bad it took a mammoth effort for me to pull Pedigree out from its shelf on the fridge, where it had been nestled for some time and had become accustomed to.  I think you get the picture – I do not like the packaging on Pedigree: Marston’s, what were you thinking?

So let’s get over the high-jump equivalent of a hurdle to what really matters – the contents.   The nose is light and malty and doesn’t fade over time.  Those light aromas hang pleasantly in the nasal cavity and lead you to believe that there is much to come from Pedigree.  And the taste, like the smell, is light with a clear bitter backdrop.  There’s not too much length in the after-drinking but to be fair to Pedigree that’s very much in keeping with its nose a taste.  It lends itself to being a pleasant session beer.

And that’s the problem – it’s pleasant at best.  I don’t mean that as an insult to Pedigree but rather there are many more ales in this category that stand so much taller than it does.  It’s neither here nor there but somewhere in the middle.  For many that will work nicely.  For me, it needs to do more.  It needs to be better than pleasant.  The very fact that the appalling packaging has heaviest weighting in this review should speak volumes to you all.

Sammy’s Rating: 62%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 61% 

 

MOB review next weekend: DEAD PONY CLUB by BREWDOG

AND IT WILL BE OUR HALF BIRTHDAY TOO!! HOW FLIPPIN’ EXCITING!!

6 MONTHS IN ALREADY, WHO WOULDA THUNK IT 

We’re off over the North Sea to Scandinavia this weekend where we have a guest reviewer named JLarc to let us know his thoughts on this curious looking IPA. 

Hope you enjoy and have a most splendid weekend..

 

BEER REVIEW: 24

BREWER: Sofiero Brewery, Halland County, Sweden

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 5.5%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE POSTED: 23rd March 2018

 

JYMI SAY’S…

I’d like to think that we’ve all have all had that moment in our lives when younger (though of course not everyone has) where your Great Aunt Bethyl used to force feed you IPA…. sorry, Toffees, whilst sitting on a bench looking out over the vast sea. You could sit there chewing that buttery sweet for what seemed like forever, dreaming of becoming either a Pirate or Marine Biologist specialising in the annual movements and feeding patterns of the Cyprinodon Diabolis.

Fast forward some years and you could quite easily find yourself in a similar situation (though sadly fabricated Bethyl passed away in an unfortunate sit-on lawnmower incident). There you are, sitting on a bench looking out over the vast sea sipping on a very nice brew named Wolf Warning, the large buttery tones of toffee take you back, back to the time you dreamt of Piracy or Marine Biology, or in my case… BOTH!

This is a genuinely good IPA. The can tells us what we’re going to get and it delivers on it.

It’s smooth as hell, really tasty and pretty good you know! Not a huge amount more to say about it taste wise.

When it comes to the look of the tin though, I’m not totally sold. Yet again there is huge promise but it just isn’t quite there …. It’s a bit of a can of two halves. The top half with the matt silver back drop and black drawing of a triplane and moody clouds just looks ace. However the bottom half is really muddled and the Wolf Warning Triangle doesn’t do much for flow of the packaging. Overall the look isn’t all that appealing for a boy named Jymi.

All in all we have a good tasting ale here that isn’t toooooo hard to come across, so when you see one, I say grab…. Twelve.

Jymi’s Rating: 75%

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Craft Warning has two brands: Wolf Warning and Elk Warning.  The ‘Wolf’ are beer based products (lager, double brew lager and IPA) while the ‘Elk’ are cider based beverages.

Let us first begin with the obvious and let us not ignore the elephant in the room: this offering from a small brewery in Southern Sweden has an eye-catching, clever design.  Whoever is in-charge of marketing and creativity at Craft Warning deserves a good old-fashioned pat on the back and three cheers because they have produced an outstanding can – no two ways about it.   This beer stands out on the shelf and offers assurances of big things in a market that has some very stiff competition…

Once opened, the nose on this IPA is a definite nod to its crafty cousins (from well-established craft brewing houses) and carries a fruity, slightly apricot based, aroma.  And we all know that’s a hit.  Sweet and tempting, it promises to be another belter of a beer, one which could be enjoyed as readily on a long summer’s evening just as easily as it could on a chilly winter’s night in front of the fire.

On drinking, Wolf Warning IPA doesn’t quite live up to the big hitters that it’s pitched against.  Although the flavour is decent, it lacks in the depth and the length that the standout beers in this arena give in abundance.  But that said, it is good, and it is definitely not to be ignored.

While Wolf Warning IPA has some tough, and frankly better, opposition, it’s not one to be ignored on the shelf.  And with packaging such as it has, who could ignore it anyway? 

Sammy’s Rating: 77%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 76% 

 

JLARC SAY’S…

After a long, hard day in the matrix what better task could you have than to sup on a beer supplied by the Muse on Booze crew for guest review? Sat; feet up, football on, Wolf Warning IPA can cracked open, here we go…

I can’t say I’ve ever (knowingly) consumed a beer brewed in Sweden before, so I didn’t really know what to expect from this. Could it swing the way of Swedish cuisine… bizarre flavour combinations that on the odd occasion come together to form something far greater than the sum of its parts but on other occasions are just plain weird. Or was this to be a more middle-of-the-road IPA?

Wolf Warning IPA pours a beautiful, clear amber with a thin creamy colour head. Maybe it was the contrast between the warm inviting glow of the beer and the cold, dead look of the weather outside – this beer looked particularly appetising. Or maybe I was just cluckin’…

Quite flat on the nose, slightly floral with mild zesty fruit notes. Nothing special but nothing offensive.

Wolf Warning is rather dry but lifted by faint citrus notes sometimes resembling a mild, sweet marmalade, there’s that zesty citrus note somewhere in there but it mostly gets tempered by creamy malts and notes of toffee.

I could’ve quite happily sat and drunk three or four of these but after that I fear the tang would get me. All-in-all a pleasant enough beer but it doesn’t stand out and certainly doesn’t make the list of beers that I would traverse in to the upside-down to acquire a crate of. Also, you probably wouldn’t have to as it seems to be available at some of the big boy supermarkets. On reflection, it fits the middle-of-the-road bracket rather than a Swedish masterpiece, but it’s still a decent enough tipple

JLarc’s Rating: 64%

 

MOB review next weekend: PEDIGREE by MARSTONS