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

drink of wisdom

Whooo wants a drink?

 Something about those owl eyes make the bottle beg to be picked up.  La Quince makes a fine IPA in the style of many Spanish ales these days.  It comes out with a dark, dirty honey color, crowned with a thin but resistant head.  The odor of IPA fills the air as it's poured.  The taste is a rounded, grassy bitterness with the lightest hint of sweetness in the first taste.  It goes down cleanly without any weird aftertaste or lingering sourness.  Wonderfully thirst-quenching with a touch of citrus in it, it's great with something salty like potato chips or pretzels.