Posted on 10/11/21
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)
Step 1
We trawl the globe tasting great beer
