Oli Meade
With Dry January and Tryanuary rumbling on, in this post, you’ll get tips for both wicked AF beers as well as great-but-out-there boozy brews.
We start with the alcohol-free stuff, and in particular Gipsy Hill’s two new AF sours – which are both top notch stuff.
Gipsy Hill have mastered the alcohol-free sour!
Apparently, these are a right mission to make, which might explain why so few exist, but somehow Gipsy Hill have developed two alcohol-free sours that make for pretty damn outstanding AF drinking.
Peach Bellini is full of soft and oh-so-subtle sour peach mixed with creamy goodness – this is kinda like peaches and ice cream, only with the peaches slightly soured.
Squashed: Raspberry, Ligonberry & Blackberry is more Gipsy Hill’s usual sour MO (minus the alcohol) – so a sour fruit medley with subtle sweetness all blitzed up into a sexy sour smoothie.
At 0.5%, these are both technically alcohol-free – they have about as much booze in as a very ripe banana! They’re borderine works of art – and they give those avoiding booze a wicked new avenue to explore.
The other AF beer I have to highlight this week is Mash Gang’s Chug XPA.
We managed to get a keg of this in for our taproom… and it turned out to be our bestseller this week! Here’s why: this is filled with all those nice biscuity, caramely and comforting malty notes we all need in Jan, but is unbelievably refreshing at the same time.
I know that sounds like some kind of praradox so just trust me on this – this is what you want when you bang your laptop screen down at 6pm.
Moving from Dry January into Tryanuary, Almasty and Zapoto’s new American Brown Ale is something completely different.
American Brown Ales are riding a bit of a wave right now (Neon Raptor have just jumped in on the trend), and this is an attempt that’s outside the box.
There’s a lovely sweetness to this from cara malts, but the hop bill is juicy and fruity, New England Style. Oats add creaminess, making this almost like a black IPA – just a little sweeter.
This is not one that the masses will flock to… which is exactly why you want it in your fridge.
Anspach & Hobday are dark wizards as far as I’m concerned, and their new The Stout Porter fuses traditional and modern brewing in the way only Anspach & Hobday can.
Here the brewery have taken their (excellent) flagship porter and advanced it into an export-strength stout, which means more roastiness, more coffee, and more burnt, malty goodness. Hides its booze well – take care!
While you might expect me to call out the exquisite Almasty darks Coconut Stout and barrel-aged Blended Barrels, in the spirit of Tryanuary (and probably to the detriment of my bottom line), the last beer I’m going to highlight in this section is Utopian’s Černé Speciální Black Lager. That’s right, not every dark beer in the world needs to be a creamy, thick and sweet!
No creaminess here. This is far more pure than that.
As you drink this, you can relax into your armchair and pick out the individual flavours. For me, that’s fruity hedgerow berries on top of roasted pine. This is a lovely, lingering beer. In the words of an old supermarket ad campaign, try sumink new today!
Pressure Drop manage to come up with such outstanding beers in every single style that they might just be the best brewery in the UK right now, and their latest Visit The Mountains Fresh Hop IPA shows they can make whatever they want miraculous.
In this, the brewers have been playing around with green hops – ie fresh hops plucked from their vines and used in beer quicksharp, without ever being dried.
The idea is fresher beer full of more hoppy flavours. Pressure Drop used West Coast classics Simcoe and Citra here – if you like your beers to end with piney bitterness, this is about as good as it gets.
I’m also loving the latest pale from Pomona Island, Clarky Cat, which for me draws you in with some sexy artwork uncharacteristic of this brewery, but then wins you over with a complex hop combo that combines for something special.
Cryo Citra, Ekuanot and El Dorado all unite for a lemon-lime pale that’s sweetened with mango.
A beautiful drop, even if it is winter.
Remember how I said Anspach & Hobday are masters of fusing traditional and modern brewing? Well, it’s almost like I predicted the future, cause their new Citrus Wheat Beer is yet another example!
Wheat beers usually have an in-built banana and clove combo and this is no exception, but Anspach & Hobday have brewed this one with orange and lemon zest for a citrusy edge.
On paper it’s weird… but that’s just one of the reasons it’s so great!
If it’s more traditional sour stuff you’re after, fret not, cause Brew York have your back.
Actually, is a marzipan and cherry Amaretto Sour Beer traditional?
I don’t recall the Belgian forefathers brewing up such concoctions.
Either way, at some point, we’ve all wondered if an amaretto sour beer would be possible to brew. Brew York have done it – and done a good job, too.
Almasty’s Blended Barrels Imperial Stout. Rum, whisky and bourbon barrel aged beer, all combined for a magnificent beast that would surely take top billing were it not for Tryanuary – get involved!
Brew York’s 11.6% Tonka, Maple and Ginger Stout ain’t half bad either.
As I’ve already mentioned, Neon Raptor jumped on the American Brown Ale game this week, and their Barnum Brown is much more in keeping with the style than Amasty’s twist.
Someone asked us to stock more craft bitters recently, holding their hands up and saying it probably wouldn’t be that good for business. First Chop’s Manchester Bitter is just for you.
Finishing off the darks this week we have Pomona Island’s Destroy and Exit Mocha Stout. And if you are all about Tryanuary, try The Dunkel.
Balance the indulgent darks with more low-alc stuff if you like – there’s more Mash Gang awaiting and an AF IPA from First Chop. Pomona Island Pale Todd’s Favourite Cheese and The Table Beer have a bit more booze but not much. School night beers, if you will.
We took in a lot of Almasty stuff this week, and curious drinkers could do much worse than check out their two new Farmhouse Pales. They’re a kind of fusion of sour and pale ales, tinged with funky, fruity esters and sweetness. The Elusive Collab is conditioned on blackberries. The Rigg & Furrow Collab is all citrus and spice. Almasty’s Czech Pilsner, meanwhile, swerves the funk in favour of a brew that’s clean and crisp.
Finally, in other Anspach & Hobday news, The Passionfruit Sour, The Pidgoen Queen IPA and The IPA are all available for your drinking pleasure. Great value too – which is something we’re gonna be upping as 2022 unfolds.
As always, I really hope you get to try some of these treats this week.
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
In January, beer guzzlers tend to do one of two things –
We either set out on a reluctant, dubious and destined-to-fail quest to ditch alcohol for the whole month. Or…
We go completely nuts and stuff our faces with every beer we see, excusing our abhorrent behaviour by labelling it ‘Tryanuary’.
Either way, over Christmas, I’ve been gathering up some great craft beers to cover both bases.
In this post, we cover 7 of the best – so let’s begin!
Yep, non-alcoholic beers are usually a bit naff. But recently, craft brewers have been changing that.
How?
Well, the macro boys tend to brew their beer then remove the alcohol (along with the few scraps of ‘flavour’ they manage to muster up). Craft specialists, meanwhile, tend to just make sure alcohol levels remain low throughout.
The result is low-alc beers that are actually lovely, and one recent sexy effort is Lowtide’s The Cosmic Turtle NEIPA. Lowtide have jam-packed this bad-boy with citra, with mosaic, with el dorado and amarillo for a fruity juicy, punch that’s even got creaminess going on.
Lowtide’s Brune-DMC is also a sterling low-alc effort.
You don’t see many dark low-alcs on the market cause they’re so hard to pull off, but this take on a traditional Belgian Abbey is all caramel and currants and it ain’t thin at all. Get in!
Brauerei Kaiserdom’s Pink Grapefruit Weissbier is a final cheeky hat-tip this week for those cutting back.
Here, the brewery combine a non-alcoholic wheat beer with pink grapefruit fizz for a perfect balance of sour and sweet. Get involved!
On the Tryanuary front, I’ve got to start with a brewery I haven’t mentioned for a while but who I def have a soft spot for in Brew York, and who I’ll continue to have a soft spot for so long as they keep sending me stuff like Champale Supernova Pale Ale.
If you’re after fruit, this has it in spades – it’s pineappley, it’s tropical and it’s got some nice pine going on thanks to a bucketload of Simcoe.
A good carbonation ensures the beer lives up to its name, plus when you open a can Noel Gallagher comes flying out. Win.
If anyone knows hoppy brewing, its Polly’s, and their latest IPA showcases their prowess in this particular arena.
In Hold Fast Drifting IPA, Polly’s have taken one of their favourite hops – Idaho 7, a hop known for giving beers a hint of pineapple juice – and squeezed everything out of it they can. T90 and Cryo Idaho-7 hops combine for, as you’d expect, an IPA drenched in pineapple, but the two hop varietals come together to form much more than the sum of their parts – so yes, this is pineapple forward, but you’re also treated to a mango-papaya medley for the kind of full-flung tropical juiciness beer drinkers love to love.
You already know how good Polly’s are. This beer just underlines it – an epic effort.
Finally, another brewery you might not have tried yet but surely should is Queer Brewing, which is why I’ve just hoovered up a couple more of their formidable cores!
Existence As A Radical Act Pale is an easy-drinking, mango, passionfruit, and tangerine-tinged pale, while Burst Into Bright IPA has a bit more citrus and a bit more bite. But why choose?! It’s Tryanuary – try both, try the DIPA too, and try any of the other 491 beers in stock while you’re at it!
Although we don’t run sales often (I just like to sell beer at the best price I can all year round )there are currently some bargains to be had over in our first ever January Sale!
Think Amundsen’s Dessert In A Can: Tonka & Caramel Swirl Ice Cream.
Or Nerdbrewing’s When Fluffernutter Imperial Milk Stout.
There’s one can of Overtone’s 11% Dark Banter Imperial Stout left at the time of writing.
Greece’s Seven Island Brewery’s 13% Hazelnut Moctezuma Imperial Stout is a steal.
Get involved & try something you otherwise wouldn’t – I don’t plan on running another sale any time soon!
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
The year might have ended – but brilliant brewing continues.
This week, I’m recommending people tuck into Polly’s new QIPA, a trio from Burnt Mill and a Black IPA that showcases how good the style can be.
Ready?
Worthy of a place in anyone’s fridge right now is This Never Happened QIPA by Polly’s which, at 13%, is comfortably the biggest beer Polly’s have ever brewed!
A mammoth 80kg of tropical hops went into this, which includes the single biggest dry hop charge Polly’s have ever commissioned.
A soupy, pulpy, hop bomb dripping with pineapple, mango, passionfruit, and papaya… plus a delicate bitterness for balance right at the end. This is top level brewing!
Track are known for their smooth beers. Beak, meanwhile, are known for making things all soft and fluffy. And the two have just joined forces for Spark Extra Pale Ale! Light and fluffy, this also boasts 5 different hop varietals that all get their turn in the spotlight.
Spark is at points tropical, at points herbal, and at other points resinous – a complex yet easy-drinking cheeky extra pale ale.
In their new Gardens of Green series, Burnt Mill combine just two hops in a single brew. Then they tailor their recipe and brewing process to best express the chosen hop combination, to really maximise flavour.
In this, their first iteration of the series, Burnt Mill have paired two wildly popular hops, citra & simcoe, for a zesty, cirtusy NEIPA backed up by big, dank, piney notes. This isn’t juice masquerading as beer – it’s a proper beer brewed by a serious and unflinching brewery that isn’t afraid to shun trends.
A second Burnt Mill number we’ve loved this week is Citra Fog Green Hopped NEIPA – a must for anyone with an affinity for the wonderful, zesty citra hop.
This is one of only a few beers you can ever find that uses green hops rather than dried hops – which means Burnt Mill picked the hops then had them in the beer within 24 hours.
You don’t get much fresher than this – it’s outstanding, and just 6 left in stock at the time of writing!
Burnt Mill don’t shout about themselves as much as some other breweries, preferring to let their beers do the talking, and that’s definitely the case with Orion NEIPA.
The brewery pours no fewer than seven different hop varietals into this soupy NEIPA for a fruit punchbowl that’s as varied as just about any beer you’ll find in the category.
(By the way, I never really intended to include 3 Burnt Mill beers in this week’s round up – but each of them deserves their place in this list. They just so happen to be from a single brewery – fair play Burnt Mill!)
Fight Like Hell DIPA is a banger of a DIPA brewed to fight a banging cause.
The beer itself is everything you want in a DIPA: big, thick and juicy with a bit hit of dank. There’s a lovely mango and peach punchbowl going on, with a subtle (but noticeable) bitterness that kicks in late to keep things balanced.
The fact that a percentage of the profits for this beer goes to charities makes it even sweeter.
Polly’s reckon 2021 was the year of the resurgence of the Black IPA. I’m personally not so sure – but only because from what I’ve seen the buzz around black IPAs has been growing for a good few years now.
They’re a bit of a paradoxical brew, using roasted malts but then tropical hops, they’re franken-beers that on paper sound odd but in reality work wonders.
This particular iteration calls in Sabro for coconut-y pina colada vibes, then citra and mosaic for mango and blueberry drizzled with a squeeze of lemon. That’s all presented in a dark beer format.
Fruity and roasty, this is a right treat.
There’s more Track just in, more Polly’s just in, and even more Burnt Mill just in than the beers mentioned above – get rummaging and see what you can find!
In the last few days we’ve also taken in a IPA/Lager hybrid from Lost and Grounded in Running with Sceptres IPL.
It’s of course still kinda the festive season, which means it’s your last chance to treat yourself to the likes of Pentrich’s December Dreaming TIPA, or Azvex’s Hazelnut Dreamcake Coconut & Hazelnut Imperial Stout, or Polly’s Against The Darkness Christmas Spiced Imperial Stout, or Amundsen, or S43’s Quality Street Stouts, or any reorders of any beers you’ve loved over the last few days – replenish your stock and have a blast.
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
Loads of breweries have been releasing barrel aged brilliance lately, but Overtone have gone and raised the bar even further with Lost in AnCnoc, a barrel-aged imperial stout aged in highland single malt casks!
The casks were previously used to mature 18 and 24 year old AnCnoc whisky… which means they held a beautiful single malt whisky for almost a quarter of a century!
All that goodness has seeped into Lost in AnCnoc, which is full of warming honey, sweet vanilla, candied orange and woody coconut.
I’ve always loved Overtone, but this is next level!
We’ve just been handed our biggest ever haul of Amundsen’s famous Desserts-in-Cans! 18 lines of the stuff – where do you begin?!
Well, on the barrel-aged front, how does BA Coconut Choc Chip Cookies 11.5% Imperial Pastry Stout sound?
Or, if you’re a 5-a-day proponent, how about BA Mamma’s Blueberry Pie 11.5% Imperial Pastry Stout?
Mamma’s Cherry Pie 10.5% Imperial Pastry Stout isn’t barrel aged – but it’s still a flavour combo that had us all drooling.
Mango Chocolate Creamsicle. Pina Colada. Pineapple Upside Down Cake. All REAL beers, all invented and crafted by the first and best purveyors of big, boozy, brash and bonkers dessert stouts Amundsen – dive in, pick your favourite, and get them all delivered in time for the festive season!
Where Amundsen weigh in with some of the world’s best stouts, fellow countryfolk Stigbergets are fast building a reputation for banging out some of the best hoppy beers you’ll find anywhere in Scandanavia!
And as it’s Christmas, naturally, we went out and secured the fabled cans for you lot – and I can confirm the hop-bombs we’ve tried live up to their reputation!
There are a MAHUSSIVE 16(!) cans to choose from, including the rich and juicy Things Are Not As They Seem NEIPA and the six-hop monster Mega Muddle DIPA.
And check out the can art on Juleljus NEIPA, the Christmas tribute NEIPA. Can you really say no?!
Now while Azvex’s hop game is one we’ll all be watching in 2022, it looks like their dark beers are going to be pretty great too. They’ve just released two gems that everyone’s talking about right now – and for good reason.
Hazelnut Dreamcake Coconut & Hazelnut Imperial Stout is so rich and so decadent and just gets better as it warms.
Vantablack Creatures Peanut Butter Brownie Impy Stout – this is mega thick, mega roasty and mega chocolatey, with a measured level of peanut butter that doesn’t take over. It’s great!
Elsewhere, it’s barrel-aged madness left, right and centre down here at the mo!
BBNo are in on the action with Bourbon BA Bimber, Brew York have a Bourbon Barrel Aged Espresso Patronum, but maybe the most exciting prospect is Northern Monk’s Heaven 2021.
Monk only aged this in barrels for 6 months – which means the bourbon isn’t overpowering. Instead, it compliments the warming roasted chocolate, for a lovely little 330ml pour.
Drop Project have done something out of character in brewing a triple fruited imperial sour – and it’s bloody great!
Pucker Imperial Triple Fruited Sour is violent raspberry red in colour, and loaded with ligonberries, blackberries and tart cranberries.
It’s not sweet, nor is it creamy – it’s just a bold and unashamed face-scruncher that’s perfect for sour winter refreshment.
Colorado’s Left Hand were the first brewery EVER to release a bottled nitro stout, and they’re back up to their old tricks with the magnificent, chocolate-laden, smooth and creamy Milk Stout: Nitro.
Pour hard to develop this stout’s world-famous pillow-like, whipped cream head, then let the beers blissful velvetness take your drinking pleasures to places unknown. It’s great!
(For the curious, there’s an Imperial Version, a White Russian Version, and an (unnitrogneated) Peanut Butter Milk Stout too!)
Talking of collabs, there’s another dream team combination of Monk, Overtone & Neon Raptor behind The Ressurection TIPA.
It’s bright, it’s citrus, it’s gooseberry, it’s mouthwatering tropical juice, it’s smooth, it’s floral, it’s sweet – what more could you want?!
Elsewhere, we’ve had a few dream collabs in recently, and the latest is It Hovers Above The Water DIPA by Left Handed Giant and Polly’s.
Mosaic and motueka combine for this sticky, dank and piney DIPA with subtle notes of lemon and lime.
Polly’s upped their dark game quite considerably in 2021, and the pinnacle is Against The Darkness Christmas Spiced Imperial Stout.
There’s more Beak just in too – in Hi! IPA and Weather Rye West Coast IPA. There’s also more Whiplash, there’s more Verdant, there’s new OFS Monk and DEYA’s latest Something Good is here!
There’s a new double drop of solid hoppy stuff from Floc just in in Come to Me IPA and the slightly more subdued On The Inside Pale Ale.
LHG are also in on the hops with two new hazies. Young Hearts Hazy IPAuses whole, raw, fresh, unkilned citra cones and is citra at its very finest. Layers Of Reality Hazy IPA is less experimental, but still great.
Left Handed Giant also fired out a big, decadent stout in Woodland Creatures Milk Stout, while Drop Project dialled up the ABV for their first ever impy stout – at 12%, Voyage Imperial Stout is the booziest brew Drop Project have ever made.
New DEYA drop alert! There’s a cheeky DEYA session IPA to check out, then Road To Unruin DIPA is stronger (and drier, west coast stylee), plus Urgent Philosophy Porter is thick, sweet and biscuity.
And finally, a 2021 marzen from DEYA and kings of craft lager Donzoko? I’m sold – this is a gem.
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
There’s just one week left to stock up on glorious Christmas beer.
In need of a few tips?
Cause if so, read on – these are the most exciting beers just in this week!
Northern Monk’s OFS Series has hit a country we’ve all been waiting for – Scotland! And that naturally means whisky barrel-aged goodness in BA Wee Heavy.
This is black as night, full of rich, dark, malty character, and comes with lots of peaty smokiness to top things off.
It’s 11%, so perffect for sharesies, ideally over copious amounts of turkey stuffing.
There’s a few new wicked BBNo’s just in too, and for the time of year 08 Stout: Chocolate & Orange is the stand out bestest.
They might not be able to say it for legal reasons but I will: this is a Terry’s Chcolate Orange in silky velvet stout form!
Cacao nibs, lactose and orange zest all go into this one, and you get smooth milk chocolate with subtle orange as you sip.
Plus, at just £3.75 a can, it’s a massive bargain!
Oh, and there’s new Christmasy Tartarus stuff just in too!
Marshmallow Abaddon Russian Imperial Stout is a 17% BEAST made with no fewer than 15 different malts. It’s complex, it’s rich, it’s decadent, it’s brilliant.
(Meanwhile, King Arthur Barley Wine is all dark chocolate topped with sticky marmalade and chewy currants. It’s a right, cakey treat.)
If there’s ever a right time for a TIPA then it’s at Christmas, and if you’re going to go ahead and bust open a boozy TIPA then you may as well be having one by Pentrich, who are up there with the best when it comes to big, boozy, hop-forward deliciousness.
December Dreaming TIPA is the latest of the brilliant lot, and it’s exactly what you want in a TIPA: thick, rich, fruity and juicy.
Speaking of those who know what they’re doing with hops, we’ve just taken in DEYA’s The Results Are In DIPA, and this really showcases what DEYA are all about.
It all starts with a nice, clean malt base, which quickly becomes an orange and pineapple medley thanks to choice hops Azacca and Idaho 7, which DEYA pack in in spades for another hazy fruit-bomb that caps off another great year for one of the finest breweries on the planet.
Seriously, we’re lucky to have these guys right here in the UK – thank you DEYA!
Beak aren’t as well known as DEYA, but for my money their hoppy stuff matches that of anyone in the UK – and Wool DIPA is yet another perfect example of what the Lewes brewery can do.
Beak brews are pretty much always soft and fluffy, and this is no different, with notes of squishy overripe mango and rum punch, and sweet pavlova to finish. Yeeess!
Breaking and very important new: this week, S43 released three Quality Street stouts!
There’s the Strawberry Delight Cream Pastry Stout, into which the brewery swirl bucketloads strawberry puree and creamy layers of lactose to recreate one of my favourite chocolates of all time.
There’s also the Toffee Penny – here, S43 dunked a whole load of toffee into their fermenters to dial up the chewy, fudgey, toffee notes within… and unlike the annoying sweets, there’s no danger of this glueing your mouth shut.
My favourite though? It’s The Purple One! Think gooey caramel on top of crunchy roasted hazelnut on top of chocolate malts, all on repeat. S43 are always good value too – get in on this Christmas crop!
I obviously can’t let a week pass without mentioning a sour, and I can’t think of a better sour to mention right now than Overtone’s Ruby Jewel Pomegranate, Raspberry & Cranberry Berliner Weisse.
You need some palate-cleansing refreshment sometimes at Christmas – and this is it!
Other darks just to drop include Box Car’s Double Dark Mild (their mad-popular Dark Mild, amped up) and their Dark Harvest Robust Porter.
Pressure Drop’s Velvet National Honeycomb, Vanilla & Chocolate Imperial Milk Stout is bang on trend. Their American Brown Ale is a subtle, welcome curveball.
There’s a new Maple Scotch Ale from Pentrich, Milk Chocolate by Overtone is one to pair with your selection box, and you may as well add in Brew York’s Imperial S’more Tonkoko Milk Stout while you’re at it.
Would it be wrong to have Left Handed Giant’s Solitude Vanilla Hazelnut & Coffee Milk Stout on Christmas morning?!
As well as their Chocolate Orange Stout, BBNo have weighed in with a ton of their lovely hoppy brews, including 05 India Pale Ale: Citra, Simcoe & Centennial, Boxcar collab 21 Pale Ale: Amarillo & Simcoe and more of their famous 55 DIPA: CBD Infused DIPA.
Pressure Drop’s India Rubber Ball Blood Orange IPA works nicely in December, Left Handed Giant have a lovely GF Citra & Amarillo Pale Alefor those who want to reserve their gluten quota for cakes and whatnot, Track’s Hikari IPA is all gooseberry and orange, and Boxcar’s Mycology DDH IPA is all apricot and peach – and pours an epic colour too.
And finally, Howling Hops are out with a couple of little treats in West-Coast style Flipper League DDH Pale and also Flipside DDH Pale Ale.
I really hope you get to enjoy some of these wicked new beers this Christmas. Last postage is 22nd December… but I’d recommend getting an order in earlier to guarantee its arrival!
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
The Christmas beers are coming out thick and fast!
So this week, we take a look at some of the best – including a Christmas Pudding Stout by Three Hills.
Ready?
Here are the beers you should gather up this week…
If you think wax-topping cans is completely pointless and a bit annoying, you’re absolutely right, but Three Hill have really put the practice into perspective – their new cans (seriously) are WAX-BOTTOMED! Is this a joke? Some kind of satire?! Who knows, but when you’re brewing beers of such a high calibre we need ask no questions!
Above you’ve got Nativitas BA Dark Christmas Sour, a Christmas-inspired Barrel Aged Dark Sour infused with cranberries, redcurrants and cinnamon. It’s caught people’s attention, cause already they’re flying off the shelves!
On the left, it’s a Three Hills special in Trium: Faba Tonka, Cacao & Vanilla Imperial Stout. Viscous, dark, decadent, it has it all, and it’s going to be amazing to bust out on a frosty Christmas eve.
Then, it’s only the bleeding Christmas Pudding Pastry Stout! Raisin, dates, Christmas spices; it’s all on offer, and for just £5.95 a can?! Bust it open with your Christmas pud, just as Three Hills suggest!
Garage are already one of the best hoppy breweries out there. And now, they’ve joined forces with three other world-renowned hop superstars to take hoppy brewing to a whole new level!
Garage’s Soup Showers NEIPA is with Other Half! It’s Soup – but with a hopping rate amped up by almost 50%!
Lost In The Logic DIPA is with Ireland’s Whiplash! Fruity, piney, and dank as you like.
Then there’s Steady Rolling Triangles, brewed with DEYA – yup, DEYA’s Steady Rolling Man taken to new heights.
Those into hops will want to scoop up all three – it’s that hard to choose between them. My own personal pick, if you’re really pushing me, is going to be Soup Showers. Imagine: Garage’s Soup, only elevated by Other Half!!
OK, Low Key & Vault City Collab The Lizard King Blueberry & Chocolate Stout. That’s right – Vault City’s name… emblazened across a stout!
And not just any stout.
A stout that also carries the name ‘Low Key’. Can brewing get any better?!
Expect luxury blueberry and indulgent chocolate madness (there’s a limit of one bottle per order on these to ensure as many people as possible get to try this.)
Next up, it’s barrel-aged goodness from Track in BA Giant Haystacks Coffee, Blueberry & Granola Impy Stout and BA If I Had A Soul Chocolate & Banana Stout.
Haystacks has it all: whisky, tartness, dark fruits and coffee.
The latter? After nearly two years in Jim Beam barrels, it’s all oak and bourbon with sticky peanut butter coated with melting dark chocolate.
(Oh, and it’s Track’s birthday, and they released this to celebrate!)
I could name pretty much any of the darks released this week in this blog post, but I’m going to go with a gem by Mad Squirrel because the brewery doesn’t get the love it deserves, and because I think the team there have come up with some quite unique stuff this week, especially with Crack Le Whip Dbl Walnut Milk Stout.
This is their extremely popular walnut whip of a beer, but with double the flavour, double the smooth, rich, chocolatey notes and double roasted nuts. And it’s double the strength!
Full Circle have been gathering steam and gaining acclaim throughout the year, and this week they’re back with hoppy goodness, including Dooper DIPA.
This is an amped up version of their outstanding Looper – which means even more citrus, lemon, lime and grapefruit. It’s great.
The just-in stuff from both is great, obviously, but I also want to highlight the new hoppy stuff by Floc.
Floc is a brewery all about hop-forward deliciousness, and that’s crystal clear in If We Were IPA.
Big notes of pineapple, there’s crushed mango going on, a good squeeze of citrus… and oats and wheat keep things smooo-oooth.
And don’t panic – I’m not gonna leave this section without mentioning the best from the west!
This week, for me, it’s gotta be Polly’s White Oak WCIPA.
So much pine and so much resin, all with Polly’s characteristic juice factor. The can art, too, is epic stuff.
Time to get serious on the sours, because serious brewing is exactly what Holy Goat are about, and they’ve weighed in with a 1-2 punch in new blends Sunslayer and Blood Eagle.
So much goes into these things it really is unreal.
Sunslayer is such a unique ‘raw’ beer – made in a unique way (without boiling the wort), part barrel-aged, plus with Spanish apricots and Tanzanian vanilla, it’s got everything and then some.
But then Blood Eagle is arguably even better – with smoked plums, rye whisky and red wine, is this even a beer anymore?!
Vault City’s latest drop meets their usual stratospheric standards, and Apple, Cherry, Cinnamon Swirl might even surpass them.
At any other time of year this’d just be a delicious, doughnut-like treat.
But its release date, in my mind, puts it firmly in the ‘Christmassss’ category.
(Thinking about it, the same is probably true of Three Hills’ Forbidden Fruit: Cranberry Sour.)
As always, I really hope you get to enjoy some of these wicked new beers over Christmas. Last postage date is the 22nd December!
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
This week, we received the first of Azvex’s new beers. You know Azvex, right?
Just in case you don’t, Azvex is the brand new, Liverpool-based brewery spearheaded by a former head brewer of Neon Raptor!
So for sure, I was excited to try their launch beers this week.
Here’s what I thought – plus my comments on 9 more epic beer releases.
Finally!
Neon Raptor alumni Azvex are fresh out the blocks as a brand new brewery, and we’re privileged to have cinched launch beers Jelly Jar Blackberry & Blackcurrant Sour, plus Space Telescopes IPA, and (especially!) Lava Lamp Encryption DIPA.
For me, this week, Azvex is a must-try, and the stand out brew is the thick, dank and murky Lava Lamp Encryption DIPA.
A classic hop combo taken to places rarely reached. Give these guys and whirl – you’ll be glad you did once you pour yourself one of these.
Darks season is in full swing, and somewhere towards the top of the gargantan pile of new releases this week lies Left Handed Giant’s My Paradise In Burning Russian Imperial Stout.
This is the Bristol brewery’s take on a straight up Russian Imperial Stout, which means it’s big and strong and thick and rich.
The dark roasted malts do all the heavy lifting, turning this into a roasted chocolate treat that goes on and on – a gem
Low Key’s Emergency Pod Rum BA Chocolate & Tonka Barleywine is next on the hit list.
You know how you try some 10% beers and go “well where are they hiding all the booze?!”?
Yeah, this isn’t one of those.
Through the oodles of whirling booze lies rich dark chocolate and indulgent tonka, both of which trade blows while fighting for top spot.
Pointlessly, obviously.
Because this is aged in Appleton Dark Rum barrels – and the rich rum is the flavour that wins out.
I love how St Mars. of the Desert basically always completely ignore trends and hype and just go ahead and brew whatever they like, and their new Fumapapa Smoky Imperial Stout is their latest great example.
This is a big hitting impy stout full of chocolate, but SMOD mix things up with beechwood-smoked barley and peat- and oak-smoked malts, so it smokes and smoulders from start to finish.
Barbapapa, meanwhile, is SMOD’s smokeless version.
More into sweet stuff? Then Pressure Drop’s It’s My Party & I’ll Cry If I Want To Maple Coconut & Chocolate Imperial Granola Stout is for you.
Rich fudge dominates, but there is of course an inherent hazelnut crunch, and dark chocolate thanks to bitter cacao.
Polly’s have been experimenting with other styles this year, and then of course they released their new core range. Both were successes. But what Polly’s really do best is massive, juicy, thick, hopped-up specials, and my word have they delivered with Pura Vida Antipodean IPA.
This is what happens when one of the best breweries in the UK smashes together rare New Zealand and Australian hops – a tropical fruit salad of gooseberry, peach, pineapple and passionfruit.
Approching Back IPA is as good – but a celebration of Simcoe and Talus weighted in Simcoe’s favour.
These are Polly’s at their very best.
The new Northern Monk Fresh From The North 007 TIPA ain’t bad either. This adds earth notes to the otherwise straight-up juice-fest, plus a citrusy, sour lemon-lime edge.
Finally on the hop-front, am I the only one that wants to compare the hoppy new Azvex stuff with that of Neon Raptor? All good natured but, for some reason, it feels a bit like violating some sort of unwritten code.
Either way, you could do much worse than pick up Neon Raptor’s Carol Hazy IPA this week.
Citrus leads, followed by a hint of orange, complete with a subtle bitterness.
(Whether or not you also pick up any Azvex is entirely up to you…)
I’m writing this on the 1st of December, which means it’s definitely OK to crack into the festive specials, and Stocking Filler Fig, Lemon & Cherry Sour by Howling Hops is a fine place to start.
It begins life lemony, but then a one-two punch of festive fig and juicy cherry give this a nice Christmas twist.
At 4.2%, it’s a wicked way to start the festivities.
Whoop whoop!
Meanwhile Monk have once again served up a sour that’s dividing opinion in OFS055 Mango Coconut Sour.
This is a sweet, salty and sticky sour served with a generous side of mango and coconut ice cream. It won’t be for everyone… but if it’s for you, you’ll know!
GF-ers rejoice, for I present to you Brass Castle! Whether you tuck into Snow Eater GF Chinook Pale or Vast Dreams GF IPA you’re on safe ground. Be sure to top proceedings with the excellent Christmas Kitty GF Festive Spiced Vanilla Porter – the best of the lot.
Sticking with the darks, the fact I’m only mentioning Brew York & Fyne”s Release The Cranachan Imperial Raspberry Oatmeal Stout down here goes to show how good the darks are at the moment.
Ditto Duration’s burnt-caramel-tinged Fortitude Imperial Stout.
And Northern Monk’s adjunct-free Rejoice! Imperial Stout, for that matter. To be honest, you can’t really go wrong with the darks at the minute – dive on in!
If it’s juice you’re after, Pressure Drop have got you: Future Steve NEIPA is as tropical as you like, while Keyboard Club NEIPA is all orange, pineapple and honeydew melon. Lorikeet NEIPA is a celebration of one of Australia’s fruitiest hops.
LHG jumped in on the hazies this week with A Straight Line Existsand Meet Me In Montauk. The former is the tropical punchbowl. The latter comes with resin (and an excellent name). Talking of fine names, Brew York’s Schooner Matata is a fruity DDH Pale I could drink and drink.
Northern Monk’s Visions Of Another Ale Tropical Imperial BIPA melds fruity pineapple and roasted malts, and Duration’s Ebb & Flow is of the same ilk, while OFS057 Vietnamese Coffee Imperial Brown Stout leaps into the sweet side.
And finally, for lager fans, we have Pressure Drop’s Premium Lager Beer, a crisp German pilsner that, even in the current freeze, just seems to make sense.
As always, I really hope you get to enjoy some of these wicked new beers this week.
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
Pomona Island’s birthday beers are here!
So, of the 5, which is best?!
Read on for the answer – then read even more to find out which unusual Nerdbrewing wax-top you should definitely gather up.
Pomona Island are 4! And to celebrate, they’ve brewed 5 of their favourite beers from the last year, the glistening results of which are showcased above!
There’s Raul Chamgerlain Kviek Pale, a Fruited Sour DIPA, and a Sour Farmhouse IPA to tuck into. The stand-outs for me though are Athleticos DIPA (Pomona know what they’re doing in that department!) and the thick and decadent Maple & Vanilla Imperial Stout.
Collect the whole set & join in the fun. Just think how epic these will look staring at you from your fridge!
Pomona Island aside, this week also saw a mega drop of wax-tops from Sweden’s Nerdbrewing, each of which is a thick, rich and decadent dark delight.
The pinnacle is surely the Barrel Series 010 Cognac & Bourbon BA Barley Wine.
A barley wine?! That’s right!
Get in on this & you’ll be rewarded with a viscous cognac-laced layer cake with rich dried fruits and ripe dark cherries.
(And if you really are deadset on a stout? Well, Malloc Toasted Pistachio Imperial Milk Stout is truly immense…)
Neon Raptor clearly know a thing or two about darks, and they’ve teamed up with rising stars Newtown Park to brew something special in I Remember The Future Vanilla, Coffee & Hazeltnut Pastry Stout.
This is bang on for the season, full of warming hazelnut and dark-roasted coffee from Guatemala.
Then there’s Unbarred’s Stoutzilla Imperial Stout 2021.
The can art on this is enough to draw you in, and the roasted chocolate syrup intermingled with sweet Madagascan vanilla, Bourbon Whiskey, and cold steeped coffee make sure you keep coming back!
The flavours come through one by one in layers before all intermingling and lingering – it’s an epic offering I’m currently urging everyone to try!
I don’t ALWAYS want to be banging on about Vault City, but when they release beers as epic as Blackberry Mango Coconut Dreamcake I’ve really got no choice.
This is their thickest beer ever, which is saying something, and it all begins with tart, late-picked, face-shrivelling blackberries. After a few luscious moments these melt into juicy mango, which is finally followed by the crunchy coconut that completes the ensemble. Immense!
(By the way – gently roll the bottle back and forward a few times before serving!)
Meanwhile Pastore continue their brilliance with Bamboccione Blueberry Maple Sour. This showcases suave brewing at its finest.
It pours a thick, vibrant purple and begins as a dense, tart fruit smoothie. But then the maple and sweet banana wander in, followed by the cinnamon, and somewhere along the ride there’s even a smokiness akin to bacon going on!
A breakfast smoothie sour in every sense. Pastore know what they’re doing!
Talking of which, Unbarred have definitely flexed their guns for SHSF 2021 Bramling Cross & Blackcurrant Saison.
The saison isn’t an easy beer to nail – and here Unbarred used Bramling Cross hops for the berry, lemon and hay notes characteristic of the style.
This thing showcases earthiness, tartness and funk in perfect proportions, and a mammoth 300KG addition of Blackcurrant Puree take it into territories uncharted – great work!
Should you need a break from all the mammoth imperial cocktailiness, then this week pick up Track’s new Time Don’t Mind Pale Ale.
Flaked and crushed wheat with extra pale and Vienna malts make this creamy and rich, while Citra, Amarillo and Motueka add juicy orange, mango, lime and resinous pine to the mix.
Plus, at 4.8%, it’s a welcome change of pace!
Beak’s Tumbles IPA also lands on familiar territory.
With more flaked oats and wheat than Beak usually use, this is even more fluffy than we’ve become used to!
Notes of grapefruit, pine, peach and passionfruit make this a lovely, comforting fruit cocktail IPA.
West London’s Weird Beard always punch well above their weight and they’ve done so again with their new Embers Never Fade West Coast IPA.
Rarely one to stick to the norm, Weird Beard have taken the classic WCIPA base, dialled up the fruit with a truckload of mango, then added a spicy edge with scotch bonnet chillis. The result is something pretty special.
Fans of the WC will want in on this!
Weird Beard’s hoppy outpouring continued this week with Brett Oat of Hell, a kinda sour IPA, while Dodo DDH Pale Ale is a crowd pleaser, Mariana Trench Pale Ale is back, and Mariana On Mango DDH Mango NEIPA is a dosed up version for fans of the original.
Pomona Island added to the pales with Hissing Fauna and The Art of Happiness.
Newtown Park, meanwhile, were more focused on the IPAs, with Infinite Horizons and Packed Party both as fruity as they come.
Drop Project joined in the juice with Drip and Elevation, while Track supplemented fruity Time Don’t Mind with Without A Word IPA – also fruity, but with a zippy bitterness thanks to Nelson Sauvin hops.
It’s also great to have Villages back with Warm Dawn WCIPA and Wildcat Pale. Our South London neighbours are going from strength to strength!
I’d actually place SMOD in a similar bracket. A brewery quietly going about their business to wicked effect, concerned with nothing more than the quality of their output. Their two sexy new cans are deliberately hard to categorise – Mice is golden and bitter, Frogs is strong, dark and alluring.
Jumping back to sours, Vault City and Pastore for my money continue as leaders. Both Winter Sun Mixed Berry Passionfruit and Pineapple Sour Pale are bold, but they work. Pastore’s Black Cherry and Plum Waterbeach Weisse stays with the season but dials down the ABV.
A sexy Sour IPA this week comes courtesy of Unbarred’s Citra and Passionfruit, while Talus & Grapefruit is a West Coast IPA amped up. There’s also a Polly’s Imperial Gose that’s as good as it gets.
Capping the darks is Kees, with Caramel Fudge Stout Pedro Ximenez and Top of the Morning Oatmeal Stout; there’s more great stuff from Weird Beard in Sadako Imperial Stout (10 different malts!) and Mendacious Pastry Stout, and Newtown Park’s Internal Monologue will leave you wondering why yours is so mundane.
Finally, how about this cheeky Beak Pale for just £4.85 a can?
As always, I really hope you get to enjoy some of these wicked new beers this week.
Happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Oli Meade
Between the new Emperor’s collabs and the To Ol/Omnipollo stouts, this week was probably one of the best week’s for dark releases the beer world has ever seen!
So let’s get straight into it.
Here are the beers we’ve loved this week.
This week, somehow, we snagged some of the latest mega limited Low Key & Emperor’s impy collabs!
This stuff is rocking horse SH!T!
Unwax Toss A Coin To Your Witcher: Speyside BA Stout for layers of chocolate, indulgent tonka, raspberry, and linger Speyside whisky.
Try the big, boozy and norty PB&J Jack Daniels BA Stout next to a fire, taking in the chocolate as it warms.
Mega limited & limited to just one of each per order please. These are guaranteed to sell out!
Update: As predicted, this sold out in hours! If you want to receive emails when we get beers like the above in, just sign up to our mailing list below.
If you miss out on the Emperor’s (and you’re expecting a Christmas bonus) then you have to consider getting in on To Øl x Omnipollo collab Brewtrance Bourbon BA Marshmallow, Coconut, Vanilla & Hazelnut Salted Caramel Coffee Stout.
It’s seriously pricey – but then it is seriously, seriously good.
Those who picked up the rum version of To Øl’s Yule will know it’s a serious contender for stout of the year.
After I tried it I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I ordered To Øl’s Yule Bourbon Edition this week – which will no doubt be just as epic.
This week also saw the arrival of Neon Raptor’s Marshmallow & Chocolate Impy Stout.
Think of Stay Puft but bigger, sexier, fluffier and actually good.
Oh, and 12%. This is the nuts!
I don’t normally namecheck this many dark beers in one week, but I honestly cannot move on without mentioning Burnt Mill’s Other World’s extra Sepcial Japanese Bitter.
Full of jammy spice, hops meets bitter meets rice lager – it’s a gem, and I’m gutted we never got hold of a keg of the stuff for our taproom down in Penge.
Get it while you can!
Breaking: not one but TWO new Holy Goat sours have just landed!
In the intricate Blood Incantation BA Flanders Red, juicy redcurrants fight with tart blackcurrants in a fruity dual, while bourbon and rye whiskies oversee proceedings.
Meanwhile Gnosis Tart Farmhouse Ale is Holy Goat’s take on a Belgian saison, and it’s full of zingy orange, funky lemon, and chewy apricot goodness. Oh yeah.
And Staggeringly Good are back with Un-bongo Wrecker!
This pours like bright and pulpy, thick and murky, freshly squeezed mango juice blitzed with passionfruit and peach.
A generous swirl of lactose makes this creamy and smooth, and delicate spice caps things off. Mega!
Pastore. One of the most underated breweries going, if you ask me.
Their stuff rarely gets the attention it deserves, but if you’re a sour fan do yourself a favour and scoop up their latest treble drop.
Carlotta Di Mele Pastry Sour might be my favourite, packed with tart apples then finished with warm cinnamon and sweet vanilla, it’s like a waming apple pie.
The Watermelon and Black Cherry Sour is a little more sophisticated, while Blueberry Waterbeach Weisse is the cheeky 3.8% session – all are great.
Hop stuff more your thing?
Well, you’re in luck, cause Beak have brewed their second version of Trumbo DIPA!
As if Trumbo wasn’t good enough first time around, Beak have increased the hop quantity and loaded Trumbo mark 2 with oats and wheat for more juice, more cream, and a magnificent amalgamation of blueberry melon & mango.
Whoop whoop!
DEYA are so damn good that when they release another soft and fruity, zingy IPA it’s almost expected, so we all need to appreciate Stop Making Sense IPA for how good it really is.
This is a tropical fruit medley in which you’ve got pineapple, lemon and lime all wrapped up in cotton wool with low bitterness and lovely sweetness.
Classic DEYA, by which we mean ace!
In all the excitement over the darks this week, there wasn’t even space to mention Beak’s Pencil Porter – despite it being layered with six varieties of roasted, crystal and chocolate malts!
DEYA’s Closing Time Export Stout also deserves more attention than I can give it – so, so dark, it pours like bleedin’ tar.
Hammerton’s new Made In The Dark. Just listen: they made this by blending a mega imperial stout with their 2019 vintage that had been ageing in 24 year old bourbon barrels for over 18 months. This is all chocolate, bourbon and dark winter fruits, with a smooth, luxurious body to it. Waffle Sauce Blueberry & Maple Stout is far less suave, but much more fun.
When Maltgarden start playing with coconut it’s always magic, and that’s exactly what they’ve done with new dessert stout All That Decisions. I’m going to recommend you buy this but don’t care if you don’t – the longer this sticks around, the more I get.
Completing what might be the best week of darks EVER is Boxcar’s Dark Harvest Robust Porter. With toasted chocolate and dark fruits, tobacco is what makes this unique.
Boxcar also sent us over a neat little IPA this week in Austral. Fruity and tropical, it’s a lovely hop drop.
Polly’s new Yellow Blaze DDH Pale is of the same ilk: classic hop bill, classic Polly’s.
Brew York made a rare venture into hoppy places this week with Juice Campbell NEIPA and The DIPA’rted East Coast DIPA. I like the latter. DIPA, to be fair, is where it’s at.
That leads me nicely on to DEYA’s Gently Down DIPA. Fluffy thanks to wheat, and tropical thanks to Ekuanot CRYO and Simcoe.
Verdant’s Loud Charge NE Double IPA might even be the pick of this week’s DIPAs, laced as it is with bright citrus, dank pine and candied fruits, while Brick & Neon Raptor’s Black Light Black IPA takes things further, blending tropical hops with roasted malts.
Finally, in a bumper week we finish things with Brick & Wiper and True’s out-of-season It’s Summer Somewhere Weisse.
Too cold for that? Staggeringly Good’s I Didn’t Ask For A Monster Fruit Sour will warm you up.
As always, I really hope you get to enjoy some of these wicked new beers this week.
Happy drinking!
Oli, Olly & Charlie
(The three people behind Craft Metropolis)
Oli Meade
Unbelievably, in the week we brewed our first ever collab beer, Polly’s decided to release their first ever core range!
Talk about stealing the limelight!
Luckily, as excited as I am about our new collab, I kinda find the new Polly’s core range even more exciting.
So how did the range turn out? Read on, my friend, and all will be revealed.
Here are the 9 best new beers to try this week.
The juicy hoppy specialists we all know and love have been threatening to do it for a while, and this week, they actually went and did!
Polly’s released their first ever core range – three exquisite hoppy beers that really showcase the Polly’s brewing philosophy.
Rosebud IPA is the flagship and it’s a bundle of New England style tropical brilliance.
Little Petal West Cost Pale is pure resinous deliciousness for those that remember a time before the NEIPA.
And Floret Pale Ale is a lower strength peach, mango and pineapple cocktail.
All are very reasonably priced too – so treat yourself and congratulate Polly’s – here’s to a craft brewery on the up!
More big news on the hop front this week comes hot in from Leeds… because Northern Monk’s 8th Anniversary NE DIPA is here!
As is the brewery’s outstanding tradition, they’ve brewed this to celebrate where beer is at the moment. So this is a massive DIPA that’s heavy on the jooose with an underlying dank edge balancing the beer out – which is spot on if you ask me!
Oh, and the new Fresh from the North DIPA is just in too – as always, get this while it’s fresh!
My final hoppy hat-tip this week goes to Track, but not necessarily for the beer you’d expect.
The new Gold Top DIPA Saving Grace is as creamy and immense as ever, but given that’s about to sell out definitely take a look into the loveliness on offer from Floating Moment DIPA too.
I mean, peach, mango and cantaloupe melon with an orange sherbet sprinkle. How can any beer fan say no?!
My must-try sour recommendation this week is hands-down Neon Raptor’s Vampyre Disco Imperial PB&J Sour.
It’s a dripping sour fruit concoction, with Blackcurrant, Strawberry, Cherry and Redcurrant all fighting for your attention, while a huge dollop of salty Peanut Butter slowly slinks into the frame and, like a Dark Side Star Wars Ship, overshadows all.
If you only go for one sour this week, this is the one.
Hardly a week goes by without me recommending something from Brew York and this week is no different, cause Granny Smith’s Brambling Habit Blackberry & Apple Pie Pastry Sour is a right treat.
Sours were once only for summer, but in this collab with Unbarred, Brew York call on seasonal fruits and warming spices to make this perfect when the cold fronts come in: it’s a blackberry and apple crumble with warming cinnamon, and just a hint of tartness.
You’ve got to love Howling Hops too, first for being mischievous enough to brew a coffee sour, and then for absolutely nailing it in Jairo And The Juice Coffee Sour.
My mind can never understand how these work but to be honest I’m happy enough to not even bother trying, preferring instead to let the pale straw appearance, espresso aromas and funky, juicy berry notes take my appreciation of craft beer into unchartered waters.
It’s a beaut.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a thick and hard-hitting impy badboy then Northern Monk’s 11% Shaun of the Dead Strawberry Cornetto Imperial Stout is ready and waiting.
This is Death taken to another level: thick vanilla cream and ripe strawberries all slathered on a rich and roasty chocolate base.
It’s a dessert stout but a sophisticated one, like the kind you’d see posh people eat in tiny bites really slowly after their roasted partridge main.
Completing our glorious (if a little pared down) stout stock-up this week is Brew York’s Blueberry Muffin Pastry Stout, which I haven’t yet tried, but which I’ve got my eye on.
Lager fans, we’ve just taken in a new Pils from Boundary, and we’ll do our best to keep you stocked up with the best lagers coming out over the colder months too.
The only milkshake pale we took in this week was Neon Raptor’s Millscherrn Milkshake Pale – but rest assured, it’s a lovely, smooth and sweet breakfast-esque gem.
Track’s last WCIPA sold out quick-sharp, but the brewery has just released a belting update in the form of Up On The Moon WCIPA, a collaboration with California-based Green Cheek Beer. Truly Likely So Pale Ale is also just-in, for those who prefer Track’s East Coast offering.
Finishing things off this week is a steady hoppy ensemble from Howling Hops, including the new and fruity Company Shakes DDH Pale, the crushable Swing Time DDH Pale, the resinous Lonely Town Session IPA and the thirst-quenching Wolves At The Door Pale, which is actually a collab with the cycling company Rapha.
As always, I really hope you get to enjoy some of these wicked new beers this week.
Happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Step 1
We trawl the globe tasting great beer
