Stone Cali-Belgique IPA and my new job.

Many of you reading this will either be perusing the internet or be a beer geek. If you are in the latter you’ll probably be interested in my latest review; Stone Brewing’s Cali-Belgique IPA.

Already the name spikes interest, what is a Cali-Belgique IPA. Simply put, it is a IPA brewed with Belgian yeast strains. This is supposed to add funkiness to the flavour of the beer. Whether this is true or not I will discuss later.

I actually now work at the Euston Tap so I am at the point of a great supply of bottled beers from around the world, some admittedly better than others, yet better than the average off-licence selection. Adding to this greatness is a small discount which I can use to buy some more expensive beers. We recently had a shipment of Stone products which included most of their regular line of beers in bottles plus some in keg (including the lovely Smoked Porter). I bought this and an Arrogant Bastard Oaked with my tips. I would save this for a little longer but after a 3-day shift, this was calling out from the fridge

But back on to the beers, literally and figuratively, and to the review of this IPA. First of all the beer comes in a strikingly good looking bottle. One advantage the American brewers seem to have of their British counterparts is the great marketing aspect of their beers. Although the new wave of craft breweries such as Otley and Kernel buck the trend of pump clips that have some truly awful designs, the American Brewers seem to have such great marketing originality in their packaging.

But on to the actual beer itself; the beer has a slight hazy look. Although many people are put off by this, I actually quite like it, it looks quaint and nice, a break from the clear as water mass-produced lagers. This is also a bit of a subjective view, although it is expected you are served a beer that has good clarity in a pub, at home it can be forgiven.

The smell is intoxicating, and is very similar to Sierra Nevada Torpedo, which is an outstanding beer, yet if you smell for a little while longer than other people (go on, have a gander), there is a very complex aroma that I could not get my head around, almost spicy, maybe piny; I cannot discern, yet it was good enough to dive into on the first whiff. But it is very tutti-frutti (if I am allowed to say that).

The taste is altogether a little step back, the first sip you take is full of those pleasing citrus pithy flavours that are indicative of an American IPA: orange, grapefruit and lemon are all there and it’s like seeing a bunch of regular friends. You then get an almost citrus bitter taste as you swallow the first mouthful. Then there is a lovely citrus-yet-spicy character lingering in your mouth. The malt comes through in the alcohol; and this is an alcoholic beer at 6.9%, yet I don’t actually want to taste malt in a beer like this. I enjoy them for the lovely fruity flavours they bring, but I equally dislike it when they are unbalanced e.g. with too many fruit flavours in place of malt. Yet this is balanced enough to provide a canvas for the fruit flavours.

But how does the Cali-Belgique IPA stand out. I’ll tell you how. The yeast strain gives it, in my opinion, a Imperial IPA taste, without the massive amount of alcohol (although this is suitably boozy). Yet it could stand out a little more in my opinion.

Overall I would give this an 8/10, not as good as Torpedo, but a damn sight better than a lot of IPA’s.

As ever put any comments in the comment box. Cheers

The Euston Tap and Sierra Nevada Torpedo

Haven't blogged for a while due to exams and all; revision is a killer. But i am now free to drink as much great beer as possible until i go away to Kavos where there will a lack of good beer for sure.

The Euston Tap, albeit in colder climes

As most in the English beer scene know, the Euston Tap has become something of a mecca for beer lovers in London and the home counties due to its friendly and knowledgeable staff as well as its amazing beer selection.

They serve both cask ale and keg beer, which will no doubt annoy some CAMRA members. I treated myself to two cask beers in the form of BrewDog's The Edge and The Redemption Brewery's Trinity. Both absolutely amazing beers form two very young breweries.

The BrewDog was my first and was in the mild style of ales. This often has a reputation for a lack of flavour, boring socks and sandals problem. But here that was simply not the case. It is incredibly low strength at 2.7% a.b.v. and made up in flavour what it did in taste. For such a low alcohol beer it was incredibly malty, there was an almost sourdough like taste to the beer, this was followed by coffee taste with a fruity after-taste. An excellent beer.

The second beer i had was the Redemption Trinity. Redemption are one of the newest breweries in London and they have some real guts behind them as they ride the wave of new London breweries like Sambrooks and Kernal. Trinity derives its name from the three types, the trinity if you must, of hop. They are all American and it is a pale ale in the style of the American Pale Ale. The nose is dominated by tropical fruit, as is the palette and it makes for a bloody refreshing beer at only 3%.

Better than it's younger brother

The Euston Tap also stocks bottled beer, albeit rather expensive at  minimum price of around £3.00 (making it possibly the only downside of this great craft beer bar), but quality does come at a price. I purchased a Sierra Nevada Torpedo and a Goose Island IPA. The Goose Island will have to wait, but for now, the Sierra Nevada. Most people will be familiar with Sierra Nevada's classic pale ale and it is very good, a store cupboard favourite for me; yet this i a wholly different beast. It is incredibly strong at 7.2% but the alcohol never really comes through. On the nose is an almost tutti-fruitti smell. like a sweet shop. The palette has some nice maltiness, and this is complimented by a massive explosion of tropical fruit and grapefruit. It is a roller coaster ride of flavour and one of the best bottled beers i have had for a long time. The only problem is that it is too drinkable, not good at 7.2%, you could get shit-faced pretty easily on these (although you would look more dignified than half the paint-stripper-cider drinkers).