not quite the end

A final splurge from Birra Y Paz for the summer, Valhalla Ragnarök mead.  I'm a little apprehensive, what with temperatures going up again, but it's not a fruited mead so I don't expect it to be too sweet.  I'm not sure if it's going to be a hoppy mead, which I've been told is a thing, but it is one of their special products, very simply made with a nod to history and care.

It sounds violent if I say I'm assaulted by a sweet pastry aroma as soon as the liquid hits the glass, but there is a viking on the bottle, so it fits.  It's not a cloying excessive kind of sweetness, it's the expected honey and a little bit of wine in the background.  It's a very fizzy drink, with a head that bubbles up a lot at first and dies down just about as fast., leaving a little ring around the outside of the glass.  Colorwise, it's something like a cider, very clear and a tannish gold.  The flavor is meady, full honey, but not sticky.  There's a hint of fruitiness lurking, maybe cherry or raspberry.  It has a sour tail that stings a little as a goodbye from the sip, but overall it's a very clean and smooth drink.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz

Price: €4.85

the return!

After two scuttled attempts, Beermad returns!  Generously, for a long weekend, going from Saturday to Tuesday, and with tickets available online for priority entrance.  There's no all-event pass this time, but maybe I only need one day to enjoy myself anyway.  It's been a long time, my tolerance isn't what it used to be.  I thought about the first day, Saturday, but when I went to purchase there were no tickets left for the early entrance time.  Even Sunday was sold out!  I could probably have gone later, but I thought there might be a chance that people would just kind of agglomerate inside, and that does not interest me at all.  Monday was a workday for me, but since Tuesday was a holiday, I had all day!  Tuesday it was.  I thought if I went early there wouldn't be huge lines of people waiting.  Well...

Going in, you see the outside tables and the food trucks in front of the building, while the beer stands were inside Pabellón de Cristal.  It didn't seem as extensive as at Caja Mágica, but memories can be treacherous.  It was probably about the same as at Delicias, maybe a little bit smaller.  I decided to start light.  Well, light-colored.

Damas Koh Tao, named for a location in Thailand, is a good-looking IPA with a super tropical aroma and a good thick head.  Within the dark gold thousands of bubbles dance around.  The flavor is flowery bitter, not very IPA-y at first, although some fruitiness does come out later.  It's not the typical tropical IPA, with less citrus than most, and more flower.  It does make you think of more Pacific destinations, though.  I'm slightly sad that we don't get the souvenir glass this year, not sure if it's a question of health safety or cost cutting.

Next, I absolutely need my black beer.  I wandered around a little seeking them out, and there are a couple out there.  Castiza's Suomi Bourbon-Negra looked promising, with that northern name.  Northern stouts have quite a positive record with me.  The woman at the stand also warned me that it was a pretty heavily flavored beer, which sounds like just what I'm looking for.  It certainly looks powerful, like a real glass full of oil.  There isn't a very sweet aroma, just a hint of strong stuff.  I get a bourbon-y flavor, but it's not very strong to my taste.  There's a good bitter grounding, but the beer is otherwise very laid-back.  I'm actually a little disappointed, since I was hoping for more of a sock in the mouth kind of barrel aged beast, but it's a nice enough beer for a good talk and snacks with friends.  I notice if you hit the metal tables you almost get concentric circles like in Jurassic Park.

The entertainment starts up and the country-surf music is interesting.  Somehow I think it goes better with the mead than with the beer.  Did I say mead?  Yes, that's next!  Crisada's Loki, a hibiscus and wild berry version.  Kool-Aid in appearance, clover or meadow flower smell, honey flowery flavor.  It's very light and very refreshing, sort of a sangria sensation without all the floating fruit.  Absolutely no sharpness either, a soft and pleasant drink, although perhaps too summery for the season to be truly fitting.  A good choice tastewise, though.

It's time to go back to the darkness, and one looked especially promising.  I could have sworn that I had picked up Murmar's Nahuatl at some point, but for the life of me I can't find any trace of it.  I must have just considered it and ended up with something else.  Nahuatl is a Coco Cacao Stout, and believably the keg was nearly empty.  I got a little taste that decided me on the bottle and I happily went away with it.  It's somewhat lighter than Suomi but with a much richer aroma.  The coconut is quite evident, although more in the bottle version than from the tap.  I think there's more cacao in the keg than in the bottle.  It's a little sweeter, a little fuller in feeling, the tap outperfroms the bottle in my opinion.  While it has some stout earthiness, it's not the most mouthfilling beer.  Perhaps even smoother than Suomi, I feel like it could have been more and therefore am a little sad about it.

I feel like I have time for one more, and I can't stay away from dark beers.  In the end, not a stout this time.  Cervezas Ibérica Quadrivium, a dark ruby red quadruple will play me out.  There's the predictable tangy Belgian aroma, a little sour in the nose, but tamed with vanilla.  The sour sticks around in the mouth, the vanilla not so much.  There's a mild hint of spice, not exactly "pumpkin" quality.  It's a nice, fairly quiet beer, alright for an evening out, a calm dinner, but by itself it doesn't demand attention.

Nothing got me up on the roof, but I wasn't on the floor either

 

It's not a bustling Beermad of years past, but I won't say no to the next time!  Everything has its ups and downs.

sweettooth

Nothing wrong with a little experimentation over the summer.  While it's always time for beer, it's not often you come across a mead these days.  This one is a little special, too, with its added liquid caramel.  It's also domestically produced honey, so we can feel good about supporting our local industries.  Or at least national.  It's not my first mead, but Crisada Beetter looks like one to be recommendable.

It definitely has the look of honey, unfiltered and aged honey.  No bubbles or head.  Interesting sweet wine kind of aroma, not super strong on either one.  The flavor has a winier kick at first, but some honey sweetness slides out in the end.  It's a very light drink despite the somewhat high alcohol content of 10.2%.  It also isn't cloyingly sweet like some meads can be.  It's a pleasant touch, flowery, non-sticky.  The bottle suggests accompanying the drink with nuts or something salty, which might bring out a little more sweetness in the mead itself.  I don't know if I would like it much sweeter actually; I might prefer some mildly sweet nuts like almonds or cashews over something salty.

Supplier: Birra y Paz
Price: €4.65

dot of color

Next week I'm quite sure it'll be back to the blacks, but the berry mead tickled my fancy this week.  Batberry, a mead flavored with wild berries, has an oddly enticing label, with a bat's head over a raspberry.  It kind of looks like the bat has some serious mutations, which could make it a Halloween label too.  There is actually quite a list of fruit in the ingredients, including the expected raspberries, currants and blueberries, but I also see pineapple and papaya at the end.  It purports to be perfect for a night out, which isn't quite my bag, but I'm giving it a shot anyway.

Opening the bottle releases a jelly donut-like smell, but the mead in the glass is much more like wine in aroma.  Pink with just a touch of violet, it's a fitting color for the season, even if a little bit late.  I can't help hesitating before taking a drink; even though there's a backing of honey, the sharp wininess is quite strong.  It's kind of the reverse with the flavor, however, sweet at first winding down to a grumbly bitter and finishing with tangy sour.  I wouldn't say it's too sweet, as some berry meads can be, just with a light, noticeable sweetness.  There is something of a summer drink about it, with the lightness and fizziness, and in fact it makes me think of an overly sweet sangria.  Sans fruit.  I don't think I would be able to identify all the fruit from the list if I hadn't read it, and I'm not actually sure I can suss them out now.  The tropical fruits are kind of in the background, with the pineapple giving a little acidity.  The red berries are definitely sweet, and the hibiscus and rose probably add some softness to the aroma.  Despite the appearance of a wine cocktail of sorts, I don't think I would appreciate this mead on a night out around town.  Its flavors are fine and on the delicate side, and deserve to be sat with for a while.  Maybe the appetizer, when everyone is still pretty much under control.

Supplier: Heneket
Price: €4.25

yarr!

As spring becomes more and more evident, one can't help but think of the bold explorers heading out on their longboats, ready to collect treasure and make land claims, gruff axe wielding heroes...what's that?  You don't think of vikings in the spring?  What's wrong with you?  Maybe you need some mead.  Although I've seen mead in stores before, I don't remember actually picking up a bottle until now.  It was kind of the dragon that did it for me, I think.  Who can resist them?  You can?  Shut up now.  Let's open up this bottle and we'll see how smug you are then.

*Gasp* a non beer on the beer towel!

So it comes out all bubbly and lemonadey looking, with the kind of foaming and disappearing "head" you see from sodas.  It has a whiff of cider to it, but nothing very strong.  But, man is it sweet!  There's a mild undertaste of bitterness, but the most noticeable and identifiable flavor is just sweet.  It's a little like a cider sweetened with honey, a lot of honey. It develops into something more like wine than beer, with a little sour acidic flavor to it.  Even that dies back as the glass empties though, leaving only a pretty gold and sweet drink, so there is some danger involved in drinking it.  This mead is not particularly alcoholic, under 5%, right in there with the majority of beers, but still, if you think you're just drinking a honeyed lemonade or paler than usual Mountain Dew, you may be in for a surprise.  The label itself warns you, with a tad bit of humor.

Oh, and what am I then? ...Oh. OK.

Supplier: Birra y Paz
Price: €5.15