looking back a week

I don't get down to the center of town much, partly because of the crowds and partly because even in good public transportation it takes a while I could be using to watch Youtube or drink beer.  But, when there are beer festivities, I can see my way down.  It was a week long to-do, but I only made it down a couple of days, since I have to, like, work some mornings.  On Tuesday I visited La Buena Pinta and El Pedal.

There was a birthday party or something with little kids flying around the center of the market, but La Buena Pinta was more or less out of the action.  I got a NEIPA, Mad Brewing Yellow Mood, which looked for all the world like the most typical NEIPA there should be.  Maybe that's just my approach to them, though.  It looks just like a fresh-squeezed glass of orange juice, even looking like there's some pulp floating around the top.  I suppose it must be the light carbonation giving that impression because there's certainly nothing actually in there and there isn't any head to speak of.  The aroma is also orangey and a little bit peppery.  The taste comes out with more banana, oddly, with a kick afterwards.  Like a citrus banana I guess.  The initial sharpness dies down over the drinking time, but the tropical sweetness is enduring.

Down the street, El Pedal was also quiet in the first hours of the evening.  My Aeromancia wheat IPA from Zeta was very carefully poured.  This was also quite cloudy, but more typically beery with a good head on a golden brew.  Not too much to the nose, although it's rather spicy for a wheat beer.  Starts with a little bittersweet, but leaves a robust bitter behind, heavier on the IPA than the wheat.  None of the grass of, say, Franziskaner, not ruthless like Peninsula, or tropical like a passel of IPAs I could name.There is a sweetness that comes and goes and gives a little weight to the beer, although not quite to the extent of barrel aged beers.  Aeromancia stands well on its own, carving out its flavor niche.

Just enough energy for a quick beer on Friday, unfortunately it's a common feeling.  I walked by several places that were stuffed full of loud drinkers, and a few even had the outside tables occupied in spite of the threat of rain.  I ended up at La Fuente de la Virgen, where Madrid's great ex-craft is offered, but they also have a "guest" tap, filled today by Yakka.  That's a little more promising.  It's Hoppy Pils, which I think I have come across before, and have no bad memories of.  It looks light and thirst quenching if not substantial, and boasts a rather citrusy smell for a pilsner, more like and IPA.  There's a definite sweet note right up front, bitter only trailing in at the end.  It's not unbalanced and very bright for a pilsner, although it's a little bit heavy around the middle of the tongue.  Otherwise, it's light enough to vanish in seconds.  It's a rather summery beer, and would have been more appropriate the week before, but now it can be a kind of celebration after a surprise snow/hailfall.

I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of my beer, but for some reason I do have the sign

Why does it make sense for shoes to be churchy?

Saturday evening I crammed myself into La Misa de 8:00 for Tito Blas Brewing's Pa' Bro Dry Stout.  Despite the frantic clientele I managed to find a nice corner to squeeze into for a little while.  The beer is not really black, but a nice dark brown.  There's a dirty chocolate smell, maybe a little smoke in there too.  The flavor is very woodsy, bitter, kind of a licorice aftertaste but not exactly sweet.  After the first sip, which is a bit rough, the beer is really quite smooth.  Not too heavy either, and actually a bit thin for the aroma.

I felt like hunting down a little supper and ended up at Café Viralata, where there was an offer of Mad Brewing beer and a toasted sandwich.  Well, alright.  The beer is super hoppy and super citrusy, an IPA no doubt.  It isn't bitter at all, much brighter than that stout.  It goes nicely with the sandwich, adds a little sharp flavor to the mellow cheese and meat, and even the onions and peppers are subdued in comparison.  It turns out the beer was Camarillo, and when I asked the waiter told me there was a tasting of seven (7!) Mad Brewing beers starting in minutes.  Free!  How could I resist?  My camera did not resist, so the beers in question are only pictured on Instagram.  The list was: Wheat, Pale Ale, Camarillo, Red, Granny's Cake, Holy Smoke and Galactic Nuts.  Three black beers!  Huzzah!

I headed out early on the last day and found Emói Cocktail Bar to be in quite a civilized state.  Not too many people, music not too loud, quite nice to sit and relax in.  They had Nómada Beermuth, which I was not quite sure about but willing to try as something different.  It certainly looks like a spirit with that watery tan.  Maybe the wateriness is just the ice.  It also smells definitely orangey, which is definitely the garnish.  It has an extremely bitter orange flavor, I'd say mediciny, with a touch of tangy sweet at the end.  The bitter kind of fades out after a while, leaving an alcohol crisp with a mild orange coat.

There was also an unfiltered wheat? from Nómada on tap.  A golden, cloudy beer with a mild flavor and a dusty feel.  It's slightly grainy and definitely bitter, refreshing and certainly for summer drinking.  It develops a sweetness and oranginess after a couple of sips and gets more interesting and nuanced with a little time on the table.

Around the corner was Casa Zoilo with Basqueland for the public.  First, the IPA.  It's very aromatic, easily whiffed just from the glass sitting on the table.  With good head and color, it's a Euro IPA, lacking in tropical fruit.  While there is a hint of sweet, bitter is the most evident flavor, with a touch of pepper in the background.

There was also Jumper Kitten barrel aged porter.  Gotta have at least one dark beer a day, right?  So there it is, heavy, sneaky, sweet and desert ready, chocolate and fruit in a glass.  Kind of syrupy, but a nice beer to finish a meal with, or enjoy by itself.  It would have been nice to have some cake with it, but we were still a bit early in the day for cake...or just in the wrong establishment for cake.  Half a leg of ham was carved up and devoured while we were sitting there.

Those bottles aren't for my beer, good Bacchus

Como Vaca Sin Cencerro wasn't too crowded when I walked past, and I determined to have the very last one of the celebration.  After that porter, an IPA seemed like the best idea, something strong flavored but shiny.  Eterna IPA was there to fit the bill.  It's fruity and tropical, the typical craft IPA, with weight and presence.  It's not overly bitter and the flavor stays balanced.  While it's not exceptional or unique in the IPA crowd, it is very pleasant.

A poster of wishful thinking perhaps

 And now we wait for May...

reminiscing

Let's take a trip back a month or so, a time of beer promotion everywhere.  One thing that's been regular is Beermad, the craft beer fair in a tennis facility.  This time there were four-day passes for a reasonable price, so I determined to make the most of one.  The first day I only planned to be there an hour or so in the evening.

Being fall, I was hoping to find a good selection of stouts and porters, but alas.  We're in a trend of blond beers.  I did find a few, though, like Panda Doop Imperial Stout.  It's a dark, dark brown rather than true black, with a chocolatey aroma.  It has kind of a milk chocolate taste with a little twist of sour.  While substantial in texture it feels light down the throat, creamy and smooth.  The sour builds up a little bit over time but the chocolatey-ness remains.

As I hoped and dreamed, it's not crowded on a weekday night, so I have plenty of time for one more.  Another stout appears, Ziva 5.0 Russian Imperial Stout.  They had a regular and a bourbon barrel fermented version, and since I was going to leave after this I let myself be convinced that the barrel aged was worth it.  It looks awfully thick in the glass, with a thin head and a lot of poofiness underneath it.  It's also more dark brown than black, influence of the bourbon perhaps?  There is a strong, sweet bourbon smell, candy corn-like, but the taste is almost watery at first.  It does pick up on sweetness before bringing out the alcohol sting.  Despite the appearance, it's much thinner in body than Doop, with some grain or woodiness in the aftertaste.  After warming up a little it's salt-and-chocolate in flavor, which is an interesting shift.

Day Two begins with a lighter touch, 90 Varas Segovilla amber ale.  Cloudy orange, off-white and somewhat thin head, mildly beery smell.  It's bitter at first, then a hint of citrus.  Sweetness starts building little by little in this smooth and light textured beer, and it tickles the tongue from start to finish.

Then there was Enigma Tostada Roja.  It looks very similar to Segovilla, a little stronger in smell, maybe.  The taste is much sweeter, though, with really no bitter at all, but a good mouthful of grain.  That calms down over time and the beer loses a bit of power, but a happy and summery flavor remains.  It's a little cloudy, but ends up clearer than Segovilla, and might be a better beer for snacking than my first choice of the day.

Gotta get that flag up before Brexit!

Domus was in attendance with the cream drink that I've seen around for some time in the stores.  Might as well have a shot of it while I'm here.  It looks like milk, or medicine, but is very smooth and surprisingly sweet, leaving traces of licorice and vanilla behind it.

Peninsula Autumn Smash brought me back to regular beers, a lighter, happier drink after the sweetish shot.  Again, very similar to the previous beers in color, but the head is lighter and slightly more abundant.  It has a strong hoppy bitter, although not as citrusy as most IPAs.  Something keen and sharp develops in the background, not quite grassy, but along those lines.

I'm not quite sure why I didn't get a picture of the beer...

There was a whiskey stand among the beer this time and curiosity got the better of me.  They also have a pilsner, which I thought to try out.  It has a fairly typical appearance, very light straw color and fizzy white head.  It's a little cloudy, although that might actually be condensation on the glass.  It has barely any aroma and just a slightly beerish flavor, not as grainy as other pilsners.  Bitterness is barely perceptible, but present.  It's a good clean beer, ready to accompany food or talk, not being especially attention-grabbing by itself.  I took the opportunity to take a shot of the whiskey as well, first the Moonshine, which is only aged a couple of months (or was it weeks?).  Rather harsh to my palate.  There is also a whiskey distilled from stout that has a more expected color, and I find much smoother, woodier, and more flavorful.  If I was the kind of person that had whiskey at home, that would be my whiskey.

There's still plenty of time, so I stopped for an Arriaca.  Lots of light beers, including Centeno.  A lighter and whiter head than the other beers of the day, and a much citrusier aroma.  It has an attention-grabbing taste, citrus and bitter with hardly any sweet at all.  It's a light IPA kind of flavor.  A really refreshing choice when spicy food (such as papas al mohón) is involved.

Second half begins!  I can't resist trying a märzen on offer, Brew and Roll Camille II.  It's much lighter than what I'm familiar with as märzen, very much like Imperial IPA, but the aroma is heavy and malty and the taste grassy/grainy with a hint of bitter underneath.  While malty it doesn't get syrupy or terribly sweet, stays rather light actually, as befitting the color.

Now, The One IPA.  I got the spiel from the guy at the taps, and I actually wondered about the wee heavy, but went for the IPA in the end.  It's similar to the märzen in color, but much hoppier in aroma and clearly an IPA in taste.  It's not too bitter in fact, but sharp and fruity with those tropical flavors they like to bring out.  Let it warm up for a bit of sour (although that could also be some wee heavy that didn't get washed out completely).

I guess I could go for that new craze of NEIPA while I'm here, in a beer market, and with such good prospects.  I passed by Jakobsland several times, admiring the selection, but now it's time to see what's up.  Pixel Dust DDH NEIPA is.  What is.  Up.  Right.  It's a cloudy lemon yellow, not much head to it, and a lemony smell.  Not too strong to the nose.  The flavor starts with a bitter hops kick and quickly moves off into a smoother, creamier sensation.  The bitter remains at the edges, but the central feeling is one of sweetness, almost vanilla.  At first I thought I could detect some licorice in there too, but further sipping didn't bring it out again.

More pale ale?  Lupo Lord at your service!  I was "recruited" off the track by the rep, and as I was paying the head died down a little so he topped it up generously.  It's a good golden color, pretty fruity aroma, although not as tropical as IPAs.  Something more appley.  There is also apple in the taste, which is something like a dry cider.  There's no bitterness to speak of, and it loses some of the apple flavor over time.  It stays on the light side of sweet, not syrupy, but refreshing and summery.  Might fit right in at a Hallowe'en party instead of a darker and heavier apple cider.

To finish the next to last day I found something I thought wouldn't weigh me down on the metro: Basqueland Brewing The Captain Kölsch.  It looks darker than I expect in a kölsch, although in the sun it is close to straw colored.  Nothing of particular note in the aroma, smooth and only slightly bitter flavor.  It's a little heavy for a kölsch, clean flavored but with a hint of sweet trailing behind it, the slight grassiness of German lagers, no ginger spice although the description promised ginger.  It does have a very German flavor, but more lager than kölsch to me.

Pinocchio's a big boy now, apparently

Finally, the last day had to come.  I was on a mission to find the most interesting beers.  I started with La Verbena Heavy Kilt Scottish Heavy.  Not too strong to start out at 3.8%, but a nice tasty beer for a Scottish kind of day.  Good dark cider color and off-white head, smells bready.  The flavor isn't too strong, a little grainy with just a touch of caramel.  Not nearly as sweet as other "Scottish" labeled beers out there, rather a sipping beer for light conversation or for sitting down to some heavy reading.

Since it is around Hallowe'en, it seems right to partake of a pumpkin ale.  Sagra had its offer, but if I can find something new I prefer to go for that.  Tyris Pimpan Pumpkin fit the bill.  It's a good dark orange color with a nice fluffy head, and a tiny hint of pumpkin spice aroma.  The flavor has a sweet tingle in the beginning but burrows down into cinnamon pretty quickly.  It's not exactly sweet, more of a pumpkin pie taste, not even as sweet as a Starbuck's latte.  It's also not a heavy textured beer, very light in feel in spite of the strength of the spice.  A little more interesting than Sagra, which is a nice, safe sort of pumpkin ale bet.

Another odd one, at least on the signage, was Yakka's Lunatica grape ale.  It has a slightly pinkish brown color, a sort of dark champagne.  The scent is winey/grapey, just a little bit sour, but then the taste is very  sour, hits you right in the palate.  The aftertaste is a little salty, something like a red wine in fact.  Served cold, the sourness fades over time, but the similarity to sparking wine remains, sharp and pretty clean tasting.  Really, it might be more like sparkling grape juice, although that 8% does start to make itself felt after a short time.

Nothing like a magician to get people drinking

There's not a lot of extra special stuff at the moment, but the normal stuff can still be damn good.  There's Gabarrera Brown Ale/Tostada.  It's not too dark in color, but identifiably brown ale.  Nothing special in the aroma, the taste starts on the sweet side, then moves into a sort of mellow non-bitter.  There's a good texture, neither syrupy nor watery, and a flavor that enhances rather than distracts lacking all bitterness.  It seems like a brown sugar ale, a good wintery sort of beer with the power of the sweet to fuel warmth and the weight to be a good companion for a breezy evening, even on a day of a hurricane.

What else?  Got to have one last stout.  La Pirata Black Block Stout for example.  It smells of licorice, has a slightly sweet flavor, but ends up more bitter overall.  Licorice lurks in the flavor throughout, gets a little sticky after a time, but generally it feels like a good beer to relax with, curled up on a couch.  Although heavy, the texture of the Black Block is also very pleasant and fulfilling in consumption.

I guess I'm just looking for excuses not to leave now.  Sevebrau is no slouch with the beer, though, and I haven't tried anything from them for a while.  There's a nice IPA to finish, XIPA.  It's a very dark color, but light aroma, bright and happy.  The taste is nicely bitter, slightly citrus and only a touch of sweet.  While somewhat hoppy it's not overwhelming, just about the quintessential craft beer for the masses.

Sackman also did whiskey cocktails, for the more refined taste.  Or you know, for everybody.

And now what, with no more fairs on the horizon?  Maybe a song will give me some ideas...

double header!

It's the last Saturday, so it's time for drinking out!  There was a "black beer party" on Thursday, which is something I just cannot pass up, but I went off for a quieter beer on Saturday as well.  The black beer was all at Roll at c/Amaniel 23, a restaurant rather than just a bar.  I'm told the burritos are amazing.  But!  Just beer for me this time.

Yakka Beyakka Black IPA, not what I expect to start with, but under the recommendation of the bartender I’ll take it.  They all kind of look the same today, black and opaque with dark beige head; well, the IPA head isn’t quite so dark.  I’m intrigued by the kind of stouty aroma, a little chocolatey in fact, not much citrus behind it at all.  It’s much heavier than other black IPAs I’ve tried, creamy and not too bitter at first.  It’s rather stouty in feel as well, smokey, earthy, no citrus flavor at all.  It’s really quite a surprising beer and extremely pleasant.  After a few sips there is a mild sourness that starts to raise its head, perhaps a nod to its IPA roots.  It also gets a little sticky as the glass winds down, nothing too bad, but it might require a palate cleansing if there’s variety of flavors to be had. At the bottom of the glass there’s kind of a weird smell, I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, it’s a little bit grassy.  Still, all in all, a nice finish to a well balanced beer.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout, the cousin to KBS, I guess.  Mapley instead of bourbony ought to be the style.  The look is the same between the two of them, nice, dark black/brown with the thick beige head.  It has quite a strong scent, very sweet and really quite alcoholic.  This is kind of bourbony, in fact.  The taste is definitely sweet but not cloying, kind of like a lightly mixed cocktail.  Smooth with no sharp edges going down, although with a healthy burning, like you might expect from a strong liquor.  The aftertaste is really sweet, in that warning kind of way.  It’s a much punchier sweet than wheat beers, for example, which have kind of a light floaty sweetness to them in many cases.  CBS has an “I will fuck you up” kind of sweet.  At least with a bitter beer, you don’t find yourself constantly wanting to sip.  CBS is very drinkable at first, but the alcohol starts piling on almost immediately and remorselessly.  It also actually increases in sweetness as time goes on, getting almsot a cotton candy aspect to the flavor.  When it’s down to the last sips, it also gets a bit syrupy for my taste, and starts weighing down the enjoyment of drinking.

(imagine a picture of a small glass here - it looks like I forgot!)

I’m told the batch of KBS this year is less balanced than the one before, having a much stronger alcohol push and less blended flavors.  I only ask for a taste and find it to have a strangely footy smell and, while surely alcoholic, a little sour and a little bitter but without a clear note of chocolate or coffee that I remember.  Disappointing!  But them’s the breaks.

For a real taste of black beer, I go to The Flying Inn Local Roast Export Porter.  I feel kind of shooed away from the KBS so I’ll fall back into bottles.  This sounded good at first, but there’s a sort of ashy aroma from the brew...coffee and cigarettes maybe?  It’s a rather sour porter, thin compared to the Beyakka, maybe it’s a sort of green coffee flavoring.  It’s pretty sharp whatever it is.  Waiting a while allows a light fruitiness to develop, some plumb perhaps.  The background is still sour more than creamy, earthy or anything else.  I started out strong with the first two, only to stumble in the end!

To try to find a good note to end on, I pick up another bottle, Vic Ale Choc Infested Porter.  It looks good, nice dark brown, a little light on the head.  It has a spicy smell actually, maybe a little bit of pepper even.  The flavor is slightly sweet but mixed with bitter, enticing, but also kind of thin.  At least the taste is strong and pleasant, fairly typical porter with a hint of sour, but a base of thick dark beer.  I can’t say I notice a smokey flavor, but there is something black and weighty, making itself known but not oppressive.  It’s not the greatest, but it’s certainly a better note to end on than the last one.

My outing for the weekend was to Birra y Paz, a beer store, but one of those with taps.  There's only one, and today it's pouring out La Pirata's Panoptic NEIPA.  Well, it's a change from the black beers.  Contrast is good.

It's cloudy and evenly opaque, strongly citrus scented.  Good NEIPA, very juicy and fruity, hardly bitter at all.  There is a slightly bitter aftertaste that floats up, with a touch of sour too.  It's very summery, tropical and light feeling, really a refreshing beer for the days ahead.  While it doesn't let you get complacent drinking it, the beer is a bubbly complement and not demanding of your full attention; you could give it if you wanted, though.  The flavor is very even and calm, no big changes from top to bottom or from fresh and cold from the tap to instilled with room temperature enhancement.  The fruit essence doesn't get out of hand and no sourness overwhelms the balancing touch of bitter.  A fine goodbye to May drinking!

Birra y Paz is on c/Menorca 9, quite near Retiro, so I'm always a little surprised that there aren't more thirsty people roaming around.  I mean, I'm not upset for me, I can't stand a crowd, but you hope the place stays afloat.  There is often one other person or small group when I go, though, so that's something.  There was a family with a young girl today, sipping some NEIPA.  There girl wasn't, of course.  And she was pretty patient for having nothing to do but wait for her parents.  They did walk out with quite a bundle, so at least for them a few minutes to sit and sip were worth it, I'd guess.

yakka it up

It's the first day of Beer Week and I feel like I should be drinking local.  Or at least national.  The only really national beer left, it seems, is Yakka Mare Nostrum Ale.  Good enough to start with!

The label invokes the calm of the seaside, with the design as much as the color scheme - until you take a closer look and see what ugly fish those are.

Yikes

It's definitely beery beer: right color, right suds, although maybe a little light on those actually.  A little aley in smell, but not too much.  I think I detect a hint of the sea in the flavor, just a hint of salinity, but otherwise it is, as I said, a very beery beer.  In spite of being an ale, it's only mildly bitter and slightly sour in the aftertaste.  I'm told to be on the lookout for citrus notes, but All Day might have burnt those taste buds out.  There is some mild fruitiness that develops as the glass empties, but I don't identify it as citrus.  Although seafood is the recommended accompaniment, the flavor is mild enough to go with anything, really.  Not a walloping start to Beer Week, but you don't want to run out of steam too early, do you?

sweet special

It's still time for cool beers, and interesting flavors can be eye-catching on the label.  Rum?  Wood?  Vanilla?  Let's see about that!

Yakka appears in a lot of collaborative efforts, usually with less heard-of flavors, and they tend to do good work.  I have high hopes.  The beer is a rich, dark brown, with satisfactory sandy colored head.  I think I can catch a whiff of rum in the scent, but the vanilla is stronger.  I have some trouble fishing out the components of the flavor.  Knowing that rum and vanilla are ingredients makes me think that's what it is, but I don't think I would identify them without the label.  It's an odd whirlwind of flavors that blasts through the mouth, everything entwined and blending.  At first there's something of the wood, but immediately the sweet taste comes out and settles in.  The label suggests consuming the beer by itself, unless you have something really, really great to go with it.  I wouldn't disagree.  Most snacks would cover up the complexity of the flavor, which might not be all that important to some drinkers, but for those who like to pay attention to their beers it would be a loss.

Tasty!  Wait, what's that on the label...

"Rompe el me aburro de las pilsen sin alma"=Break out of the boredom of soulless pilsens

Hmm, who could that messsage be for?