getting late in the year...

So I had an outing yesterday, to Toast Tavern (Guzmán el Bueno 34).  It's been a while since I've been there, but the bartender remembered I liked darker beers, and was pretty pleased with himself for guessing which beer I was going to pick.  No stouts or porters on tap now, but there is a doppelbock, which is about as good.  Twice As Nice, from Hi-Wire, is the beer in question.

It's a dark, dark doppelbock,  almost like a stout in color.  Still a shade lighter though.  Mildly sweet aroma, but sweet bock flavor, juicy and honey-like.  It’s a Christmas cake!  I fear there will be a heaviness later on, if I don’t drink up, but the thing is 10% and it’s been a few hours since lunch.  I think I will have to put up with it.  Chips don’t do much for the taste honestly.  Not salty enough to really set off the sweetness.  Over the drinking time, I did not notice a lot of heaviness developing, and the beer stayed pretty much as it was in the beginning.  That is a good sign, it's a little weird to have a beer that starts out nice and gets sticky or changes flavor in significant ways.  Twice As Nice was a perfect doppelbock and a perfect gentleman of a beer.  I just need to find a better snack to go with it than potato chips.

they don't use jelly

I have been disappointed of late with the lack of dark beers to go with the still wintery nights!  It's getting lighter every evening, of course, but that doesn't mean we have to settle for endless pale ales and lagers.  Anyway, feeling adventurous, I found myself a fruity porter at La Tienda de la Cerveza.  The clerks applauded my choice.  This particular one is a tangerine porter, so I'm expecting some tanginess.  I just hope it still has some black beer weight.

Yeah, yeah, it's an old song...

It pours nicely, with a rich liquid chocolate appearance.  The head is a bit fluffy, not very resistant.  I get a much more standard porter aroma than I was expecting, I wouldn't think to list tangerine in the ingredients by smell.  There is a tart citrusy flavor running through the beer, nonetheless.  It rises up out of the aftertaste, once the smooth rather chocolatey porter is on its way down.  The initial taste is on the heavy side, typical porter, but the tangerine gives it a light, bright finish and perks up the taste buds for the next sip.  While I am really not a fan of chocolate covered oranges, or any mix of chocolate with citrus at all, Tangerine Porter seems to have gotten the blend just right.

Supplier: La Tienda De La Cerveza
Price: €4.40

more taste testing

More and more places are deciding a nice, quiet beer tasting with a variety of well-made craft beers is a clever way to attract customers.  Of course, some places don't worry too much about it being quiet.  This is Spain, after all.  I had never been to, or even heard of, Macanudo Bar Espacio Arte, but if they have good beer I'm game.  The tasting was presented by a representative of Freaks Brewing, which I am familiar with.  One of the beers was even one I had tried recently.  But, we were also getting special tapas, so the experience will be different.

Uh oh, nice beer?

We all crowded around the bar and prepared for the first taste.  It was Flying Rebel pale lager.  It has a wheaty kind of scent, a little bit sweet and with a hint of grass.  The taste is surprising, though, being rather sour.  It's very light and despite the suggestion in the aroma of wheat, there's no sweetness in the beer, nor is there that grassy aftertaste.  There are only Saaz hops used in it, although it's not as bitter as you might expect.  Oddly, I got a little floral aroma as the glass came to its end.  Our first tapa was a mushroom spread.  It was a heavy tasting and spicy snack, peppery really, and a good choice to tame the sourness of the ale.

Tropical Explorer APA came out next.  I was wondering if it would be much different in the bottle as on tap.  We had a spicy pork tapa (actually the spiciness was from the extra sauce, not the pork itself) and the beer really neutralized that heat.  It was otherwise as I remembered from Craft Against The Machine; fruity smelling, but much more bitter and beery than you expect from a sniff.  Good combo.

Third was Lord Cobra IPA, which I had also sampled previously, albeit some time ago.  In spite of being an IPA it's supposed to be a versatile beverage, going with most food.  Especially strong flavors, they said.  Well, our tapa was a hot dog with pickle mayonnaise and beets, not what one would consider delicate in taste.  Lord Cobra did not pack a punch in its own flavor, just a little bitter and light flavored on its own, but was a welcome palate cleanser after the sticky and pickly snack.  A good mealtime beer indeed.  Now on the dessert!

We finished up with a stout (hooray!), Roast King Imperial Stout.  There isn't a very strong smell to it, just a little bit of coffee.  Even the taste is mostly coffee, but the Starbucks kind with a couple of shots of syrup.  There's even a hint of fruit in the background, but it's very subtle.  Our dessert tapa was a chocolate mousse with nuts, maybe pistachio?  After scarfing that up, the stout washes it right down, gaining a richer chocolate flavor itself, and a smoother finish.  Those touches of sour fruit get wiped right out. 

I found the noise of the room distracting, but being gathered closely around we could hear the rep pretty much the whole time.  I was also amused at the number of questions that came from the group.  In part, it would be that most were not beer snobs and just trying something new for the evening, but I also think it might be that people feel more comfortable in a louder environment, where anything silly can be brushed aside as a misunderstanding because of the noise.  Maybe I should put a white noise machine in class when the students don't seem to want to ask questions that they obviously need the answers to.

IPA and APA

Mouth watering stouts

always another surprise

Beery stuff just keeps coming up every day!  I open up my browser and there's a notification for another fair, this time just a small one.  Chinaski in Lavapiés (Calle de la Fe 19) organized a weekend of craft beer, with presentations and all.  The first night I was camera-less, but on Sunday I was able to capture a couple of drinks.

In front of the "sousages" on the menu

First, Bierol Mountain Pale Ale, a double pale ale from Austria.  It's a very standard looking beer, maybe a little darker than one expects from a pale ale.  There's a lightly citrusy smell, in line with craft ales, and a sweet flavor that's orangey and mild, completely lacking in bitterness.  It's over 7%, so the feeling is deceptive, not seeming very alcohol heavy at all.  Actually, maybe the sweetness supposed to be a warning, like some of those malty dunkles, or a barleywine.  (I had a barleywine on Friday, Lervig, no escaping that sugary headswimming.)  After sitting a few minutes, a hint of bitterness seems to develop, but the beer remains much more sweet than anything else.  Fortunately it doesn't get syrupy.  After 1/3 pint in twenty minutes, I start to feel some effects, so I guess it's over 7% after all!  One of the founders of the brewery was on hand for Friday presentations, and is quite the friendly fellow.  He actually has a bigger market in Italy and France, with an expanding one in Spain, than he does in Austria.  His explanation is that people are so used to what they've always had there, and with the historical reputation for quality, that they just aren't interested in anything new.  Thanks to globalization though, I guess, there's always a market somewhere.

I finished up with a little La Quince, their Hidden Valley doppelbock.  It has an appetizing color and a good head, although there's something ephemeral in the taste.  It's bittersweet and vanishing with a little high note of dunkles, but the beer is light and fizzy.  It's not as filling as other bocks I've had, but a pleasant end to a weekend of rain and wind.  Now on to the tasting, a tale for next Saturday!