saving post-christmas

 From rainy Galicia, the bottle has an eye-catching, sunny yellow cap.  It's appley as soon as it's poured, a light aroma that floods out with the beer.  The beer itself is frothy and cloudy but classic beer colored.  It has a mild taste, bitter at first like a good ale, but after swallowing the fruity sweetness rises to prominence.  Both the bitter and sweet are tongue covering, maybe a little stronger in back, and maintain their strength and balance throughout the bottle.  A good drink, although one that would be better appreciated on balmier evenings.

Who am I kidding?  I bought it because it looks like Jack Skellington on the front

the universal beer

Another Toledo brewery, Sagra.  This is another special beer, but not for El Greco, apparently.  This is a collaboration between the brewery and a chef at the restaurant El Bohío de Illescas.  The idea was to make a beer that goes with any dish, but especially dessert.

The covered cap makes it classy

The result is this Belgian triple style ale.  It pours out with a rich, dark color and fluffy beige head.  It's sweet and smooth, with the chocolate notes coming through the strongest.  The promised coffee doesn't come out for me, but maybe it's really a mocha.  Or Starbucks.  No, really much more complex and interesting than any Starbucks I've had for some time.  Makes me want to head down to that restaurant, but maybe after I find some additional income.

That's really dessert in a glass

a work of art

Pass the beer, he's saying

 Domus is a fine brewery, and this time they seem to be trying to appeal to national pride and history, with El Greco.  So, the historical figure wasn't Spanish, his work is centered in Spain, in particular Toledo, where Domus is located.  2014 is the 400th anniversary of his death, so the city is organizing a celebration and this is the brewery's contribution.  This beer has some wild stuff on the label: almond, cinnamon...saffron??

Yep.

It pours looking thick and full of flavor, with a dark honey color and light head.  It's another noticeably bubbly beer.  It's not very aromatic, in spite of the listed spices, but the flavors come out immediately when sipped.  Sweetness is the most powerful, kind of a generic sweet though.  It's not clearly nutty or cinnamony, although tasty.  There's a very subtle hint of bitter underneath.  It's a stable taste from the beginning to the end, so I find it good as a stand-alone beer, not needing anything to pull out the flavors.  I'd prefer not having any strong tasting snacks with El Greco if I were to have any.  Peanuts might be OK, or some mild cheese.  Something to compliment the sweet without being overwhelming.

back to the bottle

Nothing like a new year to knock me off my schedule...

After some time back in town, I managed to organize myself enough to go beer shopping, at The Beer Garden since it's the closest.  The lines of the label drawing pulled my eye to Liquid Mistress.

It is a red IPA, the color visible in the glass.  It's also quite bubbly and the head seems kind of airy, but it's also aromatic and tempting.  The label mentions peach and grapefruit, but it seems more like apple to me.  Could be a lazy nose just grabbing for the first fruity label at hand.  The flavor is tongue-covering, mostly bitter, but after swallowing it lightens up into a mild sweetness.  A little smokiness develops over the course of the bottle, the "burnt raisins" from the label I imagine.  A nice, relaxed beer, not overdoing it with complexity, but interesting.