parks of madrid - quinta de torre arias

The park once belonged to one of those noble families that likes so much to have abundant and exotic greenery around.  It's fairly large, although not nearly as much as Retiro, or less gardeny parks of the city.

Several centuries of ownership have given plenty of time for oddities.

18th century flower pots

Signs of care are still around.

Some old-fashioned fountains and new-fangled decorations on bridges hang around.  Also, some wood carvings seem to have been created for the park.

That's in the middle, not at an entrance.  Just in case you get lost, I guess.

There are also some obviously landscaped areas.  And tamed to the hand of man, I guess.

I'm told these trees are too close together and some are going to die.  Darwinism?

I don't see any yellow bricks here...

Besides the wilder parts, there's a little garden in the corner of the park with small flowers and rutabaga, apparently.  Quite the thing to find in a public park.

fly away

It's been a while since I had a good red ale, and at least the label on Barón Rojo is my style.  It's another beer made for a musical group - of course, what goes with good music like good beer?  Birra & Blues comes out of Valencia, where the craft scene seems to be bubbly but quiet.  More product comes from the north than from the east, but some tasty things have popped up before.

Bloop, bloop

It's awfully bubbly, but not enough for a violent eruption when the cap comes off.  The color is a clear rusty red, not terribly aromatic, but slightly sweet.  The taste starts out with the sweet, but suddenly goes sour, cider-like, and finishes with a bitter tail.  It's very light feeling, while flavorful, a sort of beer you could drink all night.  The airiness of the taste reminds me of the seawater beer from a Beer Fair some years ago, which I believe was also from Valencia.  From the coast anyway.  Towards the bottom of the bottle, I think I detect a little citrus among the other flavors, but who knows what aley ghosts lurk in this house?

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €2.99

looks like something coming up

I had the vague hope that I would come across a Cadbury Cream Egg beer, but maybe that was some kind of beautiful dream.  Cream ales are around, but we know there's no actual cream in there.  At least I can find a label that has something that looks resurrectionary, like a flying skull.  I don't indulge in Tempest Brewing that often, but it has given me some good drinks in the past.  Their Ancho Dark Lager looks promising, if nothing else as a mild and relaxing beer for a holiday weekend.  The ancho does refer to the chilis, so maybe it's a little spicier than I'm bargaining for.

Boo!  (6 months early)

The beer is a rich dark brown color, lightly headed, and with a smell that's an unusual blend of earthy and sweet.  I get the lager sweet in the Central European style, and a little smoke that I might be anticipating from the chili.  The flavor is mildly bitter in the first second, but quickly a lagery sweetness overwhelms it, with no hint of spiciness until the aftertaste.  It's also a very mild afterspice, with just a little, pleasant tickle.  Other chili beers have been a little more aggressive, but this Ancho is content to be laid back and rely on a quiet appearance that won't go unnoticed even though it doesn't shout.  I find it to be a bit on the sophisticated side, when it comes to chili beers.  Really quite nice, a likely pairing with salty tortilla chips.  Maybe some guac for good measure.

Guacamole would go with the label, too

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €3.45

days of chocolate ahead

It's getting close to a day rich in chocolate, which means I feel the need to focus on my dark beers.  It seems like I've seen Cadbury Cream Egg beer somewhere, but maybe it was just a beautiful dream.  In any case, I can find porters and stouts with little difficulty, like Thornbridge Cocoa Wonderland Chocolate Porter.  I'm expecting something a little heavy, which will be a nice relaxing moment for the evening (I had a porter-related disappointment yesterday), even though we're feeling the warmth of spring at the moment.  Even after the sun goes down there's no chill in the air these days.  The time of melting chocolate is at hand.

A little light on the head, which is fizzy rather than foamy.  It has an earthy and slightly sour smell, with an undertone of chocolate.  The taste is much sweeter, with that tangy fruitiness some porters have, like a chocolate covered berry.  It seems to get lighter as you go, a surprising thing as most sweet beers get a little syrupy as they warm up.  Wonderland does that illogical thing, or opposite thing, getting lighter and more delicate instead of heavier and thicker.  I miss the original complexity a little, the end is smooth but kind of generic porter flavored, but it's an easy drink and very pleasant.

Supplier: La Tienda de la Cerveza
Price: €3.35

foreshadowing?

It would be great if I was going to spend August somewhere else.  It would be great if I knew I was going already.  Well, patience, I guess.  In the meantime, a friend was in that place I hope to go and brought me back a souvenir.  Krakonoš is a historic brewery, with well over four centuries behind it.  This bottle is the pilsner style, typical of its country of origins.  I was warned it would be on the bitter side, but as a regular craft IPA drinker, I don't think that's going to be a problem for me.

The Jolly Green Giant's drunk uncle?

There's some extreme head going on, over a clear, straw yellow beer.  There's a touch of sour in the smell, intriguing for a Central European lager.  The taste is bitter-sweet, alternating between the two, but at the same time fruity.  I think of apples.  It's a smooth and unassuming beer, perhaps a little lighter than I normally like.  Still, it's a good choice for conversation and debate, being easy drinking and undemanding.