rough waters

Well, I can pick up another American beer after such a short time, can't I?  In honor of the heat wave.  Everybody suffers together!  But Anchor's Baykeeper IPA looks like the kind of beer that would help you tolerate those high temperatures, with the cool blues of the label and notoriously chilly San Francisco Bay featured.  I hope it works, I'm stewing in my own juices over here.

Hoppy, piney aroma, very snappy and invigorating.  Kind of like some of those energizing spritzes.  Cool, cloudy golden color, crowned by fine, white fizz.  It's definitely summery; there's also that tropical note in the scent, more of a sweet mandarin than mango, though.  Much more bitter in flavor than in smell, but there's also a sweet bit flowing under the bitter.  That sweetness is not so citrusy as the aroma, but still has a fruitiness to it.  The bitter part is resistant, hanging around on the back of the tongue for a while.  I find it refreshing and quite a pick-me-up.  I was a little afraid of it being cloying or too heavy, but it's a very light and easy brew, goes right down without residue, just an echo of bitter.  I don't actually feel much cooler - that's what you'll get with a high alcohol IPA - but I do feel more energized.  I'd say the Baykeeper has done its job today.

Supplier: Heneket
Price: €4.15

oh summer nights

Back to my dear stouts, in spite of summer!  I think of it as a psychological trick to remind me of cooler, darker nights.  Basqueland Brewing Project is one of the good breweries, alright, with a sparkling variety and high quality black beers, at least in my experience.  Begi Haunda Oatmeal Stout isn't on my list yet, though.  Time to slap it on!

Looks thick and substantial, with that sweetish aroma you get with the right kind of dark beer.  Not sweet at first sip, just a mild toasty bitter, but a sort of licorice bubbles up after a few seconds.  The toastiness never disappears completely, hanging around after the licorice is gone.  There's some kind of chocolate hiding in the background too, milk rather than dark.  It doesn't take long for a bit of tanginess to come out too, not my favorite thing with the black beers, but it's not too sharp.  Overall, it's a creamy only slightly sweet beer that doesn't let a lot of clashing tastes in.  Although there are some oddities that pop up from time to time, the flavors are generally consistent and relaxed, a good brew for colder weather, but not so heavy that it's difficult in the summer.

(Grumble) I need to find a nicer background...

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €2.75

(not quite) middle american

This was my backup for the 4th, even though it isn't an American beer - it just has a fine American name: Missouri.  Go back a couple generations, and that's my America!  Garage Beer of Barcelona made it, but there is more than one brewery in Spain with American roots.  If I did some digging, who knows what I would find.  Maybe something to do for August.  It's a fruity gose, containing grapefruit, lemon and blood orange, so I don't know if I'll really be celebrating this one.  It might be a good thing that I decided to keep it for later.

Rather classic color, a little on the cloudy side.  The head is nice and clean white, but disappears after a few seconds.  The beer is still bubbly, though.  Tangy, sour aroma, a hint of champagne.  Reminds me of a much milder version of the grape ale a couple of Beermads ago; that one wasn't one of my favorites, but if this is a lighter way to go it might be good for the summer day.  There is a quick sour grab at the tongue, but not with the acidity that I was worried about.  It's actually pretty smooth.  While it's sour beer on top, there's an undercurrent of real beeriness with a sweetish grain and round flavor.  It's a little strange tasting both at once.  Definitely a summer beer for me, with a fruity sharpness that gives you a quick pick-me-up on a hot afternoon/evening, but too light and flashy for a winter drink in my personal taste.  I like it better than the grape one, it has some more complexity and smoothness.  Easier to drink a whole can of.

Supplier: La Buena Pinta
Price: €5.80

red hot summer

For some, the alien part would be the attention grabber.  For me it was the blackcurrants.  I love those things!  Juiced, anyway.  So, Alien Juice "DDH Blackcurrant Milkshake Session IPA" made it's way to my refrigerator.  That familiar name Yria was right on top, but this is a collaboration, and not with Brits or Americans, but the Romanian Hop Hooligans.  I'm slightly suspicious of the milkshake part, but that might just be the oats in the ingredients.  They do tend to keep things smooth and milkshake smooshy.

It's a ruddy berry beer, although the cloudiness makes it look more like a dark grapefruit juice than most fruit beers.  The aroma is hoppy and crisp, with a snap that tells you it's an IPA for sure, but none of the citrus of regular IPAs.  It's a little bit musky, I'd say.  It teases with a hint of sweetness at the very beginning of the sip, but smooths out into a mildly fruity bitter immediately after.  The currants make it a wee bit acidic and even dry, although more refreshing than other beverages that revel in that sort of flavor.  The taste overall is mild and subtle, if you're looking for strong fruit or hops you'll be a little disappointed, but as a summer drink it doesn't demand much from the palate.  There's a good medium weight about it that lets you feel like you're having a good drink, while the understated flavors allow you to sit back and hope you don't get sunburned.  I wondered about sourness from the "milkshake", but it's not sour at all really, not in a tangy or fruity milk way.  The can warns that it's "dangerously safe", given the light flavor and low percentage (3.8% - it's a session IPA, remember).  While the oxymoron is chuckleworthy, you could knock back several cans of these without thinking much about it, until it's too late.  And then the flying saucer will come...

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €4.50

from a quiet corner

It seems like I have to look harder and harder to find American craft beers.  I suppose it has as much to do with the quality that Spanish breweries are producing now as with tariffs on either side.  This is a day when it makes sense to have some patriotic beverage, though, so I made that little effort.  My reward?  Untitled Art, of Wisconsin of all places, and a Chocolate Scotch Ale.  That's what I'm talking about!

Beer towel's back!

It kind of pours like a root beer, with a thick beige head that just sits on top.  Doesn't smell much like root beer, though, definitely a stronger thing.  It is sweet, Scotch ales are like that.  I don't know if I smell chocolate off it.  There is something in the flavor that reminds me of Hershey's syrup.  It's a quick strike of sweet and then a weird kind of tanginess that sits in the mouth for a while.  It's really a light feeling beer for being of this sweetened type. 

It would be nice if this was a fine drink that I record and don't necessarily remember later as opposed to the beer I had on the first day of the Empire.  All we can do is wait until the end, I guess.

Supplier: La Buena Pinta
Price: €5.80