not finding its own

It's not quite Halloween season yet, but I was just in a store with a whole aisle of Halloween decorations - whee!  I hope they don't sell out of the hanging top-hatted skeletons before I get back there.  Still in keeping with the season is my black beer tonight: Evil Is In A Midnight Mash.  It's a Baltic porter collaboration between Lliso, the brewers, and Bidassoa, whose facilities were used.

Lookin' sinister...

H-Horace...?

There's that nice, sharp porter smell that greets you when you open the bottle, and an appetizing heft to the beer that comes out.  One of the more opaque beers I've had for a while, a good start to the season.  Up close, there's a little more of a chocolatey odor, and it carries over into the taste.  Not as tangy as some porters, with just a hint of a sour note, but mostly bitter and earthy.  The bitter is probably what makes me think of chocolate, like one of those 90% cacao bars.  There is a little bit of fruit sour that develops, but nothing too significant.  It's just a fine black beer, perfect for any evening and occasion, with enough flavor to stand on its own but not so overpowering that it would clash with food.  Well, Halloween candy might not go so well.

Supplier: The Beer Garden
Price: €4.50

time to bee happy

"There's a new bar in my neighborhood!" my friend said.  She had the business cards and everything.  I wasn't in a big hurry to go somewhere new, but it's always nice to have something different to explore.  I thought Bee Beer was just a gastro-bar, but when we went down there, it turned out to be one of those beer stores with taps.  Very small, very intimate.  They have more taps than most stores, hell more than a lot of bars, and for €8.50 you can get a flight of five beers.  I was disappointed that it didn't include number 7 actually, but you have to save something for another time, I guess.

1-5, right in a row

La Trappe was a very Belgian type beer despite being Dutch, typical scent, typical taste, a bit on the sweet side.  Oddly, I though there was a little bit of marshmallow in the flavor.  As expected from a Low Countries brew, something sour had to be in there somewhere, and it's in the aftertaste.  It's not a bad beer if you're a fan of the Belgian style, but I have different tastes, personally.

I had high hopes for the red ale, but it wasn't actually much better.  It was about the same scent, with a cloying sweetness, but the taste had a heavier sour fruitiness.  More in line with a lambic, although not quite so punchy.  It's sweet and sour, tangy, but a cleaner taste than La Trappe, going down with less aftertaste.  This is one time I prefer a lambic-like beer to...any other really.

The weiss bier is extremely pale and also nearly scentless.  Maybe there's a little grass in there.  It does have a nice wheaty taste, clean and sharp, not clingy, certainly refreshing for summer.  I was surprised to find something like lemonade lurking the background.  Makes it a contender for Spanish patronage.

Lefèbvre Barbãr pops up in bars here and there, but I haven't taken the opportunity to taste it.  Here it is without my even asking for it explicitly, so let's see what it's like...it's not bad at all, although not beery.  It's just sweet and smooth, without even a hint of bitterness.  It even smells like pure honey.  Not even a hint of bitterness.  Must be all that sugar that makes it so powerful.

Finally, an IPA to finish off.  It's another one of those collaborations, 7 breweries this time.  The smell is just what you'd expect from a craft IPA, citrusy and a little fruity.  It's a little astringent in flavor, not much fruit there, citrus or otherwise.  But it's a nice cleanser after the line of sweet beers in the flight.

There's nothing like finding a little corner of good beer, even though this city isn't lacking for it at the moment.  Hopefully, neighborhood interest will keep these experiments going.

don't hog it

The art comic label can't help but draw the eye, and I couldn't help but pick up the bottle.  Monsieur Gordo purports to have just what I'm looking for, since I'm in the mood for a good dark beer, with just a touch of sweet.  The label gives interesting suggestions, like consuming within the next 30 years, unless it's worth more than you paid for it, in which case you should sell this bottle right now.

Also, don't consume with fast food

Are those...sentient triangles at the bottom?

It seems thicker than even a normal stout while pouring into the glass.  Also, the head is light but fizzy.  There's a little fruity sweetness in the air around it.  It's just barely dark brown instead of black, but that's good enough for me.  The beer is thick and smooth in the mouth, the texture being more noticeable to me than the flavor at first, but the mild sweetness does surface pretty quickly.  It's not an identifiable flavor to me, not like apple or honey that I've found in other beers, but tasty of course.  It might be a little heavy for the temperatures of the moment, although I personally would have stout anytime anywhere.  It does get a little sticky towards the end, but that's to be expected.  It remains tasty to the end, more sweet than stouty bitter, a nice dessert in a glass.

Supplier: La Birratorium
Price: €3.75