a work of art

It's not the scariest thing or the most beerfest traditional, but you can't say no to a good Czech beer.  There are good memories in Sibeeria, too.  Although Candinskij looks like it should be some kind of sour or fruity ale, but it is actually a stout.  A sweetened stout, along the lines of pastry, with maple syrup and coffee.  Interestingly, this is a collaboration with Candycane Coffee, so an explanation for the name I guess.  This is a beer to look forward to on a rainy, rainy weekend, something to give you a little warmth as you sit around at home watching horror shorts and online marathons.

While only dark brown and not soulless black, it looks rich and heavy, like a real stomach filler of a stout.  There is definitely coffee in the aroma, although not much sweetness.  There is a touch of stouty earth, perhaps.  The taste starts with a little bitterness, easily linked to the coffee, with a bit of sweetness to balance.  At the end of the swallow, there's a high note of maple, a lot like maple candies.  The name works out after all.  Something in the mix of flavors brings out some licorice, which isn't what I would look for in a stout, but it's not too much so it's bearable.  The beer is quite thick and a luscious mouthful, yet not leaving a lot of sticky aftertaste.  Despite being such a weighty drink, it doesn't really overload the stomach.  It's not a beer you would down without realizing it, but it's no difficulty to take in either.

Supplier: Labirratorium

Price: €8.55

gnädige Frau

For a long time it seemed like German craft beers were going to stay beyond my easy reach, way down in the south that I am.  But, surprise, surprise, they've been making more and more appearances.  Naturally, they are being promoted for Oktoberfest, although they certainly aren't the traditional styles that you find in Munich.  The one picked up isn't even from Munich (although not so far away), but Frau Gruber does make me think of some German (or Austrian) TV shows that take place in the area.  Licious Biermischgetränk contains a fair amount of fruit, that being orange and mango, so I wonder if it will be a little lighter than what you might be looking for at the end of October.

Oh, it's just orange juice in the can!  I can coax a little foam from it, but not much, and it doesn't hang around for long.  The aroma has only a little oranginess to it though.  It smells like a battle of bitter and sweet, not actually the most appetizing, but I will trust in the Frau.  The drink is quite a mouthful, much thicker in the mouth than I was expecting.  Practically syrupy in consistency, although not sweet at all.  It's a very heavy bitter, with a little tickle of sour in the aftertaste.  I was wrong about it being light, it's a beer drink with presence.  It doesn't have an overpowering flavor exactly, it has a little bit of a party to it, but maybe a little too much to go with breakfast.  Breakfast by itself, maybe.

Supplier: Labirratorium

Price: €7.45

the return!

After two scuttled attempts, Beermad returns!  Generously, for a long weekend, going from Saturday to Tuesday, and with tickets available online for priority entrance.  There's no all-event pass this time, but maybe I only need one day to enjoy myself anyway.  It's been a long time, my tolerance isn't what it used to be.  I thought about the first day, Saturday, but when I went to purchase there were no tickets left for the early entrance time.  Even Sunday was sold out!  I could probably have gone later, but I thought there might be a chance that people would just kind of agglomerate inside, and that does not interest me at all.  Monday was a workday for me, but since Tuesday was a holiday, I had all day!  Tuesday it was.  I thought if I went early there wouldn't be huge lines of people waiting.  Well...

Going in, you see the outside tables and the food trucks in front of the building, while the beer stands were inside Pabellón de Cristal.  It didn't seem as extensive as at Caja Mágica, but memories can be treacherous.  It was probably about the same as at Delicias, maybe a little bit smaller.  I decided to start light.  Well, light-colored.

Damas Koh Tao, named for a location in Thailand, is a good-looking IPA with a super tropical aroma and a good thick head.  Within the dark gold thousands of bubbles dance around.  The flavor is flowery bitter, not very IPA-y at first, although some fruitiness does come out later.  It's not the typical tropical IPA, with less citrus than most, and more flower.  It does make you think of more Pacific destinations, though.  I'm slightly sad that we don't get the souvenir glass this year, not sure if it's a question of health safety or cost cutting.

Next, I absolutely need my black beer.  I wandered around a little seeking them out, and there are a couple out there.  Castiza's Suomi Bourbon-Negra looked promising, with that northern name.  Northern stouts have quite a positive record with me.  The woman at the stand also warned me that it was a pretty heavily flavored beer, which sounds like just what I'm looking for.  It certainly looks powerful, like a real glass full of oil.  There isn't a very sweet aroma, just a hint of strong stuff.  I get a bourbon-y flavor, but it's not very strong to my taste.  There's a good bitter grounding, but the beer is otherwise very laid-back.  I'm actually a little disappointed, since I was hoping for more of a sock in the mouth kind of barrel aged beast, but it's a nice enough beer for a good talk and snacks with friends.  I notice if you hit the metal tables you almost get concentric circles like in Jurassic Park.

The entertainment starts up and the country-surf music is interesting.  Somehow I think it goes better with the mead than with the beer.  Did I say mead?  Yes, that's next!  Crisada's Loki, a hibiscus and wild berry version.  Kool-Aid in appearance, clover or meadow flower smell, honey flowery flavor.  It's very light and very refreshing, sort of a sangria sensation without all the floating fruit.  Absolutely no sharpness either, a soft and pleasant drink, although perhaps too summery for the season to be truly fitting.  A good choice tastewise, though.

It's time to go back to the darkness, and one looked especially promising.  I could have sworn that I had picked up Murmar's Nahuatl at some point, but for the life of me I can't find any trace of it.  I must have just considered it and ended up with something else.  Nahuatl is a Coco Cacao Stout, and believably the keg was nearly empty.  I got a little taste that decided me on the bottle and I happily went away with it.  It's somewhat lighter than Suomi but with a much richer aroma.  The coconut is quite evident, although more in the bottle version than from the tap.  I think there's more cacao in the keg than in the bottle.  It's a little sweeter, a little fuller in feeling, the tap outperfroms the bottle in my opinion.  While it has some stout earthiness, it's not the most mouthfilling beer.  Perhaps even smoother than Suomi, I feel like it could have been more and therefore am a little sad about it.

I feel like I have time for one more, and I can't stay away from dark beers.  In the end, not a stout this time.  Cervezas Ibérica Quadrivium, a dark ruby red quadruple will play me out.  There's the predictable tangy Belgian aroma, a little sour in the nose, but tamed with vanilla.  The sour sticks around in the mouth, the vanilla not so much.  There's a mild hint of spice, not exactly "pumpkin" quality.  It's a nice, fairly quiet beer, alright for an evening out, a calm dinner, but by itself it doesn't demand attention.

Nothing got me up on the roof, but I wasn't on the floor either

 

It's not a bustling Beermad of years past, but I won't say no to the next time!  Everything has its ups and downs.

festive festiness

With October in full swing we can also enjoy Oktoberfest legitimately.  Last weekend, Mad Brewing was offering an Oktoberfest menu with several German style beers, including a nice märzen.  The menu was really for sharing, but there is also a bratwurst "sandwich" and big, puffy pretzels.  Not to mention fruit pies (don't remember which, wasn't strudel).  It seems fitting to have another seasonal beer, another märzen in fact, although it comes from the States rather than Germany.  Founders Oktoberfest, off we go!

It has a similar look to La Caníbal's märzen at Mad Brewing, both of them somewhat warmer and richer looking than märzen's like Voll Damm.  The scent is malty and caramelly, with a little tingly fall feeling.  There's more apple in it than a lot of this style, something like a beer/cider blend.  It's not really bitter at all, although not sweet either.  Like apple cider, it's tangy and twisty, with beer bubbles making it cocktail-like and festive.  Eventually a little breadiness makes an appearance, but the fruit profile remains supreme.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €2.90

chocolate in the middle

You can't resist a chocolate, right?  You can't resist it!  Whether it comes in a box, a wrapper, a jar or a bottle.  If there's some beer with it, even better.  Salamander Milk Stout Chocolate came recommended for its flavor, and I don't mind a central European beer at all.  It might have been more fitting to find a German one, but hell, those beers don't seem to make it down to Spain!  Someday, Beyond Beer, you'll be hearing from me.  Or Ratsherrn, whoever seems to have the most interesting thing available (thinking Advent calendars?)

It is chocolate right away when the cap comes off, a really rich kind of aroma.  It's surprising, since the beer is only 5.7%.  It looks pretty good too, not super dark and the head is kind of scanty and light beige-y, but all perfectly fine for a chocolate stout.  There is absolutely no disappointment in the flavor if you're looking for chocolate; like a few stouts of the past, it almost tastes like a dark chocolate shake, with a very mellow and smooth flavor, really no syrupiness that sticks around either.  While it's clean going down, there is something of a toasty aftertaste.  Also not too weird for stouts.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas

Price: €3.50