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!

The Adventure Begins

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to our adventures in craft beer.

I'm Keiran and let me give you a little insight into what we are trying to do here.

Over the past year or so Clark and I have fallen down the rabbit hole that is craft beer. We have went from being the guys buying the cheapest mass produced beer in the bar, to the guys who live craft. Now with a love of all things craft we have been drinking our way through some of the best beers from around the world.

Despite this shared love of beer it seemed as if our adventure would be short lived. Clark turned down a place at M.I.T to go live in Austen Texas and do a PHD in Math at UT. Yeah thats right turned down M.I.T!

So to make sure we don't lose the love of craft beer and to help us keep in touch we are going to write about our search for great craft beer. I will be searching Scotland for the best craft that Europe can offer, while Clark searches for the best the U.S.A can offer.

Now you know what we are trying to do and I hope that you will stick around for our tales.

Let The Adventure Begin!