After our post on Monday, in which we decided were preferred canned Punk IPA to bottled, we have decided to do a little bit of research into what peoples opinions are on the topic.
So, we have created a quick survey to gauge opinions on the canned vs bottled beer debate!
Please head to this link to fill it out!
If we get a good response then we will report back with the results.
Please share it to your social networks so we can get a good response! :)
Maui Brewing Company: Mana Wheat (5.5%)
What does the brewery say?
An unfiltered, freshly handcrafted American-style wheat ale infused with Maui Gold Pineapple. Our crisp and refreshing wheat ale is lightly hopped to allow the fruity sweetness of the pineapple to shine. The yeast stays in suspension making the ale traditionally cloudy.
What do we say?
Wheat beers should be cloudy, and this one is. Good start. The colour is a deep golden yellow, with a white head. The smell is very much of wheat, with a slight hint of hop and pineapple. This is a very good wheat beer, with the taste doing the style complete justice. From the wheat beer base, they have built in an amazing aftertaste, with pineapple playing the leading role, adding a sweetness, which complements the other flavours perfectly. There is also some light hopping, but it is not over stated , which suits this fresh tasting brew. This is the second beer by Maui we have tried and once again they have proved there skills. They are making great beers, and breaking the mould in terms of packaging - making them ideal for transporting to anywhere you want to drink them.
Ratings
Ilona – 4/5
Thom – 3.5/5
Overall – 7.5/10
Caldera Brewing Company: IPA (6.1%)
What does the brewery say?
An American-style India Pale Ale brewed with plenty of body and an assertive hop profile.
Grist: Premium Two Row, Munich, Crystal
Hops: Crystal, Galena, Centennial
What do we say?
Its week two of our canned beer month and this week we are with Oregon based brewery Caldera. It pours a dark rusty orange with a white head, and a very slight cloudiness (which could be down to its travels across the Atlantic!) The smell is that of all great American IPA’s, hoppy - like seriously hoppy! The taste is on bitter side of things with grapefruit and citrus flavours in the background. It was a little too bitter for Ilona’s tastes, but ideal for hop heads like me! The taste lingers for quite a while, which is nice. From the point of view of it being a canned beer we don’t think it improves or deteriorates the flavour a whole lot, but it is more convenient. I (Thom) would happily have a fridge full of this beer, and would enjoy every last can without becoming bored. Ilona however is less hop inclined and would probably return to Maui’s Big Swell from last week!
Ratings
Ilona – 3/5
Thom – 4/5
Overall – 7/10
Maui Brewing Co.: The Big Swell IPA (6.8%)
What does the brewery say?
India Pale Ale was developed in Burton, England, as a “Super-Premium” hoppy pale ale around 1800. The extra strength in alcohol and hops helped preserve the beer on its long export journeys to India and beyond. The style developed a following worldwide. Its flavor begins with a smooth, malty creaminess followed with a big burst of dry-hop flavor from English Kent Golding Hops. It then finishes with a lingering yet pleasant bitterness.
Big Swell IPA is a fresh handcrafted India Pale Ale brewed with huge amounts of American hops and malted barley…dry hopped to perfection!
What do we say?
While bottled beer is great, sometimes its just not an option - like at festivals or beach trips. With the festival season fast approaching we have decided to go in search of great beer available by the can to provide an alternative to mass produced lager at festivals. The first to catch our eye in this endeavor is Big Swell IPA by the Maui Brewing Co. in Hawaii. They only produce canned beer, so it seemed a sensible place to start. Sold in 355ml cans, its a modest portion, but as long as it packs flavour this is by no means a problem.
So does it pack flavour? Yes, yes, yes, yes… It is everything a great IPA should be. It has a good ABV and is packed to the brim with hops. It pours an amber colour with a white head and slight cloudiness. The smell is tropical and hoppy - very appetising. The taste is something very special. It has a “big swell” of hoppy goodness which quickly dissipates to a refreshing citrus tasting beer.
For those not keen on overly hopped beers, this is great. It is using the hops well, and not just forcing them upon you, which creates a far more rounded taste. It certainly delivers everything the label promises and more. What a great start to our trip into the land of canned craft beer. Maui Brewing Co. has certainly just bagged itself two more loyals, with its great brand image and great tasting beer. We shall definitely be tracking down the rest of there range in the coming months.
Ratings
Ilona – 4/5
Thom – 4/5
Overall – 8/10
The Kernel: Pale Ale Simcoe Centennial (5.2%)
What does the brewery say?
What do we say?
The Kernel - we meet again. We have yet to be disappointed by the London based Kernel Brewery, so lets try this 500ml offering of a pale ale flavoured by two awesome hops - simcoe and centennial. It pours a cloudy pale straw colour with a white head, with a nice deposit of yeasty, bottle conditioned goodness resting at the bottom of the glass.
A quick aside - Bottle conditioning is something that may be a put off for people who don’t understand what it is - but don’t fear the yeast deposit! If anything it’s likely this beer will be more flavoursome having avoid forced carbonation and harsh filtering!
The smell of this beer is phenomenal, which has been the case with all The Kernel beers that we have tried.The awesome hop aromas shining through a great pale ale malt base. The flavour is slightly bitter, but more on the flavoursome/aroma side of things. This is yet another great beer from The Kernel and it backs up everything we have said about them in the past. These beers are produced small scale, to an exceptional quality and we hope that will continue for ever more!
Ratings
Ilona - 4/5
Thom - 4/5
Overall - 8/10
Black Sheep: Black Sheep Ale (4.4%)
What does the brewery say?
Beers for bottling are drawn from brewery conditioning tanks and transported by road tanker to our bottlers. There they are chilled, stored for ten days, then filtered and bottled. At the end of the bottling process, the bottles are pasteurised, labelled and packed.”
“Brewed with many generous handfuls of choice Golding hops, it is full flavoured ale with a rich fruit nose. The bittersweet malty taste is followed by an uncompromising long, dry and bitter finish. This beer was the first, most successful, of all of our bottled beers.
What do we say?
Back in the realms of traditional English bitters, this week we have what is regarded as one of the firm classics, Black Sheep Ale. This ale is a copper colour with a white head. The smell is familiar to anyone who has drunk English bitter, a somewhat comforting reminder of a Sunday spent in the pub with roast beef and potatoes. As far as bitters go, this is certainly a good one - but if you don’t like the style (Ilona), this is not one that will change your mind. For those who love the style (Thom) it is a well produced beer with all the qualities you’d expect. The taste is malty with the goldings hops, which are synonymous with English bitters, providing the bittering notes. There is little more to say on the matter; this beer has a strong following and will continue to do so for a long time.
Ratings
Ilona – 3/5
Thom – 3/5
Overall – 6/10
Schneider-Weisse: Meine Hopfenweisse (8.2%)
What does the brewery say?
Hoppy fireworks - a new wheat beer style
Shiny golden, slightly reddish strong wheat doppelbock. An intense floral aroma that reminds of tropical fruit and pineapple. A powerful bitterness is relieved by fruity sweetness. This extreme wheat beer shows how far wheat beer taste can go.
The ideal companion to very spicy and exotic dishes like minced meatballs with chilli, spicy feta cheese, hot spareribs or Zucchini-Chutney with Tortilla-Chips.
What do we say?
We did not find Schneider Weisse. Schneider Weisse found us, and we couldn’t be happier. Whilst enjoying a few of our favourites at Brewdog Edinburgh, we noticed something on the guest board that we hadn’t heard of, and decided to investigate. All we knew when we tried our first Schneider Weisse was what was obvious from the name - it was German Wheat beer. That day we tried Mein Grunes (tap 4) and it was phenomenal, and we quickly dubbed it king of the wheat beers. The next day whilst looking for some new beers in Peckhams Edinburgh we spotted Schneider Weisse: Meine Hopfenweisse (tap 6). So we promptly bought it and then waited in anticipation for it to chill, to find out if Schneider Weisse really were all that we hoped.
We poured as requested on the website, and were greeted with exactly what would be expected from a beer of this style - cloudy peach colour with plenty of white head. The smell is made of awesome! It has the obvious wheaty smell combined with herbal/floral notes. Very fresh and clean - it is something quite unique to the wheat beer style. The taste is quite simply an extension of all those great smells. It is tropical, fruity, tangy, hoppy and floral - built on a solid wheat base. The hops are all flavour and aroma - with little bitterness. It’s mad to think this is 8%, considering just how moreish and drinkable it is. This is likely to become a summer staple for us, refreshing and tasty - prefect!
Ratings
Ilona - 4.5/10
Thom - 4/10
Overall - 8.5/10
Magic Rock Brewery: Bearded Lady (10.5%)
What does the brewery say?
Say hello to the Bearded Lady, our uncompromisingly big and beautiful Imperial Stout. Born from our Dark Arts recipe she uses masses of magical malts to deliver deep chocolate, rich coffee and vinous berry flavours all complemented by a balanced yet subtly spicy hop profile. Powerful, robust, intriguing; yet decadently smooth and sumptuous, the lady demands respect…
What do we say?
Magic Rock have certainly been gaining a lot of momentum over the last year, and we have been enjoying the odd bottle/pint of their core line up for quite a while now. So we decided to dive into one of their “Special” brews, which is born out of a familiar beer we first tried at Brewdog Edinburgh, Dark Arts. Bearded Lady is the imperial version, promising more “powerful, robust, intriguing” qualities - right up our street if the “tops and bottoms” section holds any truth to our palates. The colour is as would be expected, thick black with a nice brown tan head on top. The smell is where this beer really begins to show promise, with a thick malty, fruit loaf explosion. The more alcoholic nature of this imperial stout was quite obvious from the smell, but it was by no means off putting! So the all important taste. It is one of those beers where the smell gives away the hidden secrets of the flavour. Sweet, dried fruit loaf, dark chocolate with a note of burnt toast. Unusual and amazing at the same time. It has some bitterness, and hop notes - but that’s not what’s important here. It’s the thick mouth feel of all those rich, dark flavours; combined with a lingering after taste. This beer is best enjoyed between two people with a cheese board and a plentiful supply of red onion chutney.
Ratings
Ilona - 4/10
Thom - 4.5/10
Overall - 8.5/10
Tempest: Brave New World IPA (7%)
What does the brewery say?
This is a strong intensely hoppy India Pale Ale with a complex “new world” aroma from our distinctive blend of New Zealand and American hop varieties. An extended dry hop maturation brings a delicious tropical fruit flavour with a long and punishing resinous finish.
What do we say?
So here begins our journey into the world of the Kelso based brewery - Tempest. This Brave New World IPA is a small batch craft beer designed to be drunk “as fresh as possible.” The best before date on ours is the 18th of July, so we can’t be sure of how fresh it is - but lets give it a whirl! The very first thing you notice with this beer is the smell - this is no ordinary IPA, its malty at first whiff, but give it a chance and you are rewarded with a citrusy hop kick! So its definetely intriguing so far as the smell. The colour of the beer is on the darker side of the IPA colour scale, with a dark copper like colour with a clean white head. The head retention is good, and if you give it a spin you can quickly get more if that’s your thing. The taste is great, its a combination of sweet malt with a great hop palate to match. The citrus smell leads on to a similar citrus taste, which compliments the other flavours perfectly. In amidst all the battles for the hoppiest IPA, its refreshing to see something that is actually quite well balanced, whilst still having a modern twist. So far as expectations go, the packaging and marketing gave little away, suggesting more a more traditional style - but that could not be further from the truth. This is a great beer and we look forward to try more from the Tempest Brewery as soon as we can get our hands on it!
Ratings
Ilona - 4.5/5
Thom - 4/5
Overall - 8.5/10
