Icelandic Beer Saga

Hey everyone Keiran here,

Sorry about the delay since my last post, Clark has been on at me to get another up as it's my turn but I've been very busy recently. But I am just back from a wee break in Iceland with my girlfriend and I thought I would let you all know about the beers I've been drinking up there.

Kirkjufellsfoss Iceland

As Clark promised this one is not about IPA's, I've got a few different beers I want to talk about so I may go on a bit long but trust me not a single IPA in sight.

Now Just as a heads up I did have some great pictures of these beers and of the scenery in Iceland, but I have broken my phone so I can't share any of these with you unfortunately, so instead I'm just going to use pictures pulled from the breweries websites.

Ok so it's hard to decide where to start but I am going to begin with Einsök Beer Company. This is the only Icelandic beer I have ever seen sold in the UK so I was excited to see what they had to offer in Iceland. The brewery is located just 60 miles south of the Arctic circle which is awesome.

Einsök Beer Company

I had three beers from Einstök on my trip, the first was the one that I had also had back in the UK. It's the Icelandic Toasted Porter (Woohoo first non IPA beer on the blog!) which is a great example of what a good porter should be. It's smooth, rich and has a good coffee flavour with notes of chocolate. Unlike most porters they actually add roasted coffee to the brew instead of just roasted malts so the coffee flavour is really on point. The malts in this one are Lager, Bavarian and Chocolate, which give a nice full body and the hops are Bavarian, but there isn;t much of a hoppy taste in this, it's really all about the malts. At 6% it goes down nice and easy and you can happily spend a night nocking these back, it goes particularly well with a a nice bit of meat, I had it with Icelandic lamb it was blown away by the food and the beer.

Einstök White Ale

Ok I'm going to stick with the Einstök Beer Company just now and run through their other beers I've tried before I move on to another brewery. Now I know I said there was no IPA's in this post at all, but that was a little bit of a lie. Einstök have an Arctic Pale Ale which while it technically isn't an IPA I would definitely say it is (sorry everyone). The Arctic Pale Ale is a great hoppy session ale at 5.6%. The first drink from this hits you with a lot of Cascade hops which gives it an American IPA character but the Northern Brewer hops used in the bittering process make this distinct and separate it from other beers in the style. Definitely worth checking out if you ever get the chance, it's hoppy but not crazy and good for warming you up in the cold Icelandic winter.

Last beer up from Einstök is the White Ale, now this isn't a beer I would usually drink because I'm not big on wheat beers but I did enjoy it so here it is. It has that classic wheat beer aroma but the taste is a little different from others I have tried. It has a slightly spicy note towards the end which comes from coriander but it leaves a nice sweet citrus taste behind. This is a really crisp and refreshing beer and although I wasn't very excited about trying it, it really won me over.

Craft beer in Iceland is a relatively new thing, in fact beer in general is a new thing for Iceland. From 1915 until 1 March 1989 beer was illegal to sell and make. Since then they have been drinking beer and importing most of it from other Scandinavian countries like Denmark. But in 2006 Iceland got its first craft microbrewery, in a small town called Árskógssandur in the north of the country. In fact it is even further north than Einstök, but I couldn't get the latitude for this one. The brewery is called Bruggsmiðjan Brewery and they make Kaldi beer there. All the ingredents for the Kaldi beers come from the Czech Republic, except the water which comes from the Sólarfjall spring. The Icelandic water is extremely pure and perfect for brewing. The Brewmaster at Bruggsmiðjan is also from Czech Republic so the beers really have a lot of central European characteristics.

Unfortunately we were staying in Reykjavík in the south of the country so I couldn't go and visit these breweries but there is a Kaldi bar in Reykjavík city centre which as luck would have it was only a 2 min walk from my hotel.

The Bruggsmiðjan Brewery Kaldi logo

We spent quite a few nights hanging out in Kaldi Bar, our first night was Saturday and the place was really buys and had a great atmosphere. On the Sunday and Monday it was a fair bit quieter but still one of the busiest bars in Reykjavík. I was able to get some info about the beers and the brewery from the staff there on the quieter nights, and they really knew their stuff.

Kaldi Chocolate Porter

First up is Kaldi Dark, this a dark pilsner similar to a dunkle. This is a very malty beer with very little bitterness and a lot of sweet notes. The Kaldi Dark has a great roasted malt flavour without being as strong or as full on as a porter. If you are not big into porters but enjoy a malty ale or lager then a beer like this is a great drink for you. It's only 5% and it opens up the flavours of roasted malts while still being light enough to go down like a lager (Clark that bit was for you, try a dunkle and get into porters!). This was the second beer that Bruggsmiðjan Brewery ever made, and with a beer like this as one of its foundations it is easy to see why they have done so well.


If a dunkle is a little light for you and you prefer an out and out porter then Kaldi have you covered on this one too. They offer a great 6.5% chocolate porter. Originally brewed as a Christmas beer in 2015 it is now part of the seasonal range and I got a fair few pints of this while I was in Iceland this year. In keeping with the Icelandic way off adding the flavours they want directly to the beer this beer has Icelandic chocolate from Nói Síríus added to it. when mixed with the roasted malt this has a great effect and it really works. The beer is full bodied and smooth like a good porter should be and the chocolate flavour is strong and easily identified without overpowering the beer, which I'm sure must have taken a lot of work to achieve.

Right one last beer from Kaldi then I'll move on to the last brewery I want to mention. This is another beer that was brewed as a Christmas special that was so popular it was added to the seasonal range and has come back every year since. This is one from 2008 and is just known as Christmas Kaldi. It's a 5.4% amber ale with some spice and fruit notes. This one really warms you up to the core, which is helpful in land of ice and snow. The main base of the flavour is from the malt and as with most of the beers here it is a great full malt taste with very little hops. Instead the aroma and subtle flavours in this beer come from spices. I had some difficulty in getting the exact spices for this one and the closest I got was just being told it is spiced beer. Given the taste I would definitely say there is some nutmeg in there which would make sense for a Christmas beer, but I'm not as good with spices as I am with hops.

Borg Brugghús logo

Last but not least the final brewery up today is Borg Brugghús, this brewery is located in Reykjavík but I didn't realise this until I had already left so I didn't get a chance to visit them. They have a huge selection of beers and I only had a chance to try a few, but of the once I did I have I think I found my favourite beer in Iceland, but I'll save that one for last. the names of all the beers from Borg are derived from the Icelandic stories and legends (know as Sagas) but they all have a number to help tourists like me.

Borg NR. 19 Garún

The first beer from Borg I had was the NR. 45 Askasleikir. This one is another amber ale and like a few of the other beers I've mentioned it has a slightly strange ingredient added to it. It's not really clear why this was added but the beer includes volcanic ash in it. I didn't really pick up much from the ash so I'm not totally sure what it is adding, but with that said its still a great beer. A fairly typical example of an amber ale this beer is light with some fruity notes, and it reminded me a lot of 5am Saint from BrewDog. 

Ok its time for the last beer of this post, and this really was my favourite beer of my trip. It's the Borg Icelandic stout, NR. 19 Garún. This is an imperial style stout and it comes in at a massive 11.5% which is nice and strong. As with the porters I've already mentioned this has a rich coffee and chocolate taste, but this also has notes of liquorice in it. The base of this beer is roasted barley as with most stouts and porters but the addition of roasted rye malt really gives this beer a distinct flavour which I have not come across before. the flavour is fantastic and along with the strong alcohol in the beer meant I couldn't stay away from it. There isn't much in the way of hops again with this, just enough to add a little bitterness and aroma but very subtle. For my trip this was the stand out beer and I am going to be keeping an eye out for it back home and I might even order some direct from the brewery.

So there you have it, an account of some of my favourite beers from Iceland. There were plenty more I didn't even get a chance to try but all in all a successful holiday with loads of great beers.

I will try to get another post in before Christmas, hopefully I have enough time. I also have something special planned for the new year so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Sorry this one was so long, there was just a lot of beers I wanted to mention. Thanks for sticking with it and reading. 

As they say in Iceland, Skál!

Keiran

Zilker Marco IPA

Well I wasn't expecting this to be my next post, but I've ended up hanging out at Zilker Brewing Company's brewery this Saturday and I've decided it's definitely worth writing about!  I actually hadn't ever tried Zilker's beer before, so it was quite a nice surprise to find out that this is another local brew I should be sipping on now and again.  The brewery only just opened in early 2015, which is even since I've been living here, so perhaps that's why I hadn't visited them as it doesn't quite have the hype that some of the more established Austin breweries have yet.  Although clearly this was a mistake on my part for not getting here sooner, especially with it being so close to downtown and easy to get to.

 

Zilker Brewing Company - just a neighbourhood brewery!

 

Also, I'm well aware that so far the only posts on this blog are about IPAs, and I was determined to break that pattern.  The Marco IPA that Zilker brew, however, is easily my favourite that I've tasted today - and I got a flight plus an extra sample, so I've tried all of their beers apart from the stout (which I doubt I'd like anyway...).  I believe that this may have been the beer that inspired the owners to start the brewery too, after it won a gold at a homebrew competition, so I guess it's appropriate that this was the beer that really caught my attention.  I almost wrote about their Honey Blonde though, which is a very light and refreshing ale and very subtly sweet.  I was told that it does not actually contain any honey, as you may expect, but the sweetness comes from the malts used.  I'd say this made it better as some beers with honey added that I've had in the past get a little sickly after one can.

 

Anyway, what I loved about the Marco IPA was that it's not just all about the hops - there's a strong malt presence here.  This level of maltiness is definitely more in line with that of an amber, which is usually the beer style that I prefer, and probably why I loved this beer so much.  As soon as you take a sip, however, it's the hops that hit you first, so you still know you're drinking an IPA, don't worry! 

 

The hops used in this beer are El Dorado and Simcoe.  From what I've found, El Dorado seems to be a slightly newer hop which brewers are using, and it leads to the overall fruity vibe for this beer.  The Simcoe brings in a bit of a piney note, but that's a little lost in the malts.  The IBU of this beer isn't listed anywhere, but I'd be willing to guess it was about 50-60.  It's also 7.0%, BTW, so I would almost categorise this as a double IPA, especially with that level of maltiness balancing out the bitterness.

 

Despite how great this beer tastes, I think what the real best thing about it is that Zilker describe the colour as Burnt Orange - so you can feel some Longhorn pride while drinking it!!  For those that don't live around Austin, the school colours for the University of Texas (whose mascot is a Texas longhorn) are burnt orange.  We may have lost against Oklahoma University in the annual Red River Showdown earlier today (in a pretty close football game, I might add!) but drinking this beer this afternoon made it all better!  The photo below here doesn't really do it justice, but trust me, in the right light it was a solid burnt orange!
 

The Zilker Marco IPA

 

I'm glad that I ended up taking the trip out to Zilker Brewing Company's brewery today, as it was great to discover yet more great local beer.  And the Marco IPA may quickly become one of my go-to IPAs that I will order whenever out at bars that have it on tap, mostly because of its strong malty profile.  They also can this one, so I'll definitely be picking up some fairly soon! 

 

And I promise that my next post will not be another IPA!!

Hook 'em Horns!

 

Clark \m/

 

 

Brewgod #MashTag16

Hey everyone Keiran here,

So I know this a little later than I anticipated but this is the BrewDog post I promised last time.

Since this is the first time I've done a BrewDog beer I should let you know a bit about the brewery but I'm sure most people into craft beer will know who they are and what they are all about.

BrewDog are probably the most well known and largest craft beer brewery in the UK, and arguably one of the most well known in the world. They are from Fraserburgh near Aberdeen in Scotland originally (so not far from where Clark grew up), but these days they brew in a massive state of the art eco friendly facility in Ellon. They style themselves as craft punks making beer for the people and for me they they are everything that is awesome about craft beer.

From my point of view they really kicked off the craft beer trend and they are definitely the main reason I am so into craft now.  I'll probably talk about them a lot in the future so I reckon that's enough back story for today, lets get on to the main event. 

Bottle design by Marty Breslin

For this one I've chosen one of BrewDog's special editions, because I'm sure most people who drink craft beer have already tried the core range and don't want to hear me go on about it. I'm drinking the #MashTag16, which Clark actually told me about when he was over in Scotland this summer. The concept is that every year BrewDog ask people what beer they want to get made and by voting with #MashTag16 they decide what to make. This year its a 10.5% Triple IPA! Yeah it's crazy and it's fantastic.

This is a big bold beer that really isn't for the faint of heart. But if you like your IPAs you are gonna love this. Right from popping the cap you can smell the hops in this and you know its gonna be a good one. And sure enough right as you take the first drink the hops hit you. Its got a woody nose with a lot of pine in the aroma as you drink but then the bitter hops take over on your pallet. It's bitter enough that you know it's an IPA that means business but not so bitter that its undrinkable for people who aren't used to it. The finish has just a hint of sour cherry that comes from cherries added to the beer during the ageing process. Lastly the alcohol warmth comes and its big with the beer at 10.5% abv.


 The hops used in the #MashTag16 are Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic and Amarillo. I guessed it was Simcoe, Amarillo and Cascade so I'm quite happy I wasn't too far off. The malt isn't a very big flavour in this one as its really all about the hops but there are biscuit notes in there if you look for them, but if you aren't into IPAs it could be hard to spot, same goes for the cherry actually.

After about half a bottle you get a lovely warm feel and a sense that this is not a beer to be taken lightly. Definitely not a session beer this is one to take your time with, to savour and enjoy. It's a great example of what an IPA can be when its let loose. This beer is strong, uncompromising and truly brilliant. It's a real shame that it's only about for a limited time because it feels really special. At the time of writing it's on draft and in the bottle shop at BrewDog Doghouse Merchant City, so get there and try it if you can! In my opinion it's one of the best beers from BrewDog's recent offerings and I've bought a few to save for a later date.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this even almost as much as I enjoyed writing it (and drinking the beer). If you have I would love the feedback since I'm quite new at this. Also if there is anything you didn't like let me know too. Feel free to tweet me or leave a comment below.

Uncle Billy's Green Room IPA

Hey, it's Clark!

Alright, now I'm finally getting my act in to gear and writing a post from the other side of the Atlantic, in Austin, TX.  And what better day to do it than National Beer Lovers Day?!

Like Keiran, I have decided to kick off with a favourite local brewpub of mine.  I stumbled on this place about a week after moving here on the way back from a free show nearby (at the Shady Grove, for those who know Austin!) and knew that I would be coming back over and over, not only because their beer is so good, but they have the chillest of vibes here too.  They always have a solid playlist of classic rock on the go, with a bit of country music peppered in for good measure, so it's fun to hang out here at any time of day.

Their flagship beer, as long as I've been here, is the Green Room IPA.  So that's what I've decided to choose as my first post. 

A mug of the Green Room IPA.

It's a pretty solid representative of the IPA style, coming in at 6.5% ABV and 70 IBU - so not for the faint of heart!  Actually, on the night that inspired this post, it was reading 7.6% ABV on their board, so I guess they decided to kick it up a level for a hot minute!  This just made it even more tasty, and a nice reminder that brewing is more of an art and little things can change for whatever reason from batch to batch.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any information anywhere about the hops or grains being used in this beer, so I can't go in to as many details as Keiran did for the Gladeye from Drygate (which, I might add, is another delicious IPA and you should definitely trust him on how great that place is too!).  The Green Room IPA does have a very citrus-y edge to it though, which almost disguises the high IBU.  In fact, overall this is quite a light IPA and very refreshing.  Uncle Billy's also have a variation on tap right now called the Boxing T-Rex, where they've taken the Green Room and added grapefruit to it.  So I guess they decided to play on the citrus taste!

All the beers here at Uncle Billy's are delicious and this IPA is one I keep coming back to.  They also can some of their beers so it's good to be able to pick them up in the store too.  The Green Room used to have the most awesome can art actually.

The old can design, with an Uncle Billy's glass.

Anyway, hopefully I've managed to persuade you how much I love this place and their beers.  I'll try and find some more amazing beers to talk about soon.  I imagine they'll almost all be from Austin.  The beer scene here is so great that I rarely drink beer that wasn't brewed here!

Happy National Beer Lovers Day y'all!!

Clark \m/

Gladeye IPA

Hi Keiran here,

As promised I'm getting the beer reviews going today. To kick things off I've come to my favourite craft bar / brewery . Drygate is a craft brewery in the East End of Glasgow offering a huge selection of beers, great food and a bottle shop like Aladdin's cave.

The gates welcoming you to Drygate

I'll probably do a post later just about the bar and brewery here but for now I'm only going to tease at how good this bar really is (and trust me it's fantastic!). Today I'm going to focus on Gladeye IPA. It's one of the core rage of beers and was one of the original beers available here on opening day. I've probably drank Gladeye most out of the Drygate range so it seemed like a good place to start.

Pint of Gladeye IPA

Drygate say that Gladye is "Inspired by trident-forging Cyclops of brute strength and singular vision".

In my opinion it's a great beer and very easy drinking. Not as bitter as you might think from an IPA, Gladeye is heavy on malts but still has a great hop finish. It has a sweet taste of caramel from the malt and the hops add a nice citrus note to the smell and taste. At 5.5% Gladeye isn't too crazy and you can sit and session a few pints of this all too easily.

The caramel taste comes from the blend of malts, in Gladeye they use Lager Malt, Caramalt, Dark Crystal and Vienna. The citrus is a result of the hops, they use Centennial, Nelson Sauvin and  Cascade. Also its dry hopped with Cascade, I usually like a lot dry hopping to add that hoppy taste and aroma, but in Gladeye it's a bit more subtle. You aren't hit with a big kick from the hops and I think the balance between the hops and malts is just right on this one.

Gladeye is definitely an all round crowd pleaser  with something to keep all beer fans happy. this was the first Drygate beer I ever had and for me it's one of the best session IPAs out there, which is why I keep coming back to it. Whenever people ask me for a beer recommendation this is always one of my first suggestions.

I hope you guys enjoyed this and feel free to get in touch on twitter or in the comments with any feedback. I'll be back next week with a review from Brewdog, see you soon.

Hey everyone Keiran here,

As I am sure is obvious this blog has seen little  use since it was set up (more like none at all). That's about to change. Clark and I recently got the chance to drink together while he was in the UK, and after lots of talk we decided to really have a go at this.

Later today I will be putting up my first post up actually about beer. I'll be heading to the Drygate brewery and giving one of their beers a write up.

See you soon!