Posted on 15/04/21
Oli Meade
DEYA, Polly’s and Beak are all usual suspects, granted.
But a smoked pineapple sour from Alvinne?
A double barrel-aged cross between a Belgian strong dark ale and a sweet impy stout?
Or how about a ‘cookie sandwich beer’ from a brewery in Romania?!
Rejoice! For, once again, these are the best new craft beers of the week…
After taking in a seriously sexy DEYA haul this week, I couldn’t resist cracking a can of Illusion IPA more or less straight off the bat!
Illusion is one of DEYA’s cleaner numbers, full of luscious fruity goodness. But there’s definitely a biscuity vibe going on too. When we’re flip-flopping between sun and snow, this is a beer you want on hand.
Where DEYA dominates clean, Polly’s provide the muuuurk!
Holy Ghost Love DDH IPA is part of the Polly’s next-gen hoppy line, with a mammoth 50kg of Sabro, Galaxy and Simcoe in the dry hop for mango, pineapple and nectarine.
Thick, pulpy, juicy, wonderfully hopped-up stuff.
Beak, meanwhile, are developing a rep for their outstanidng soft and creamy pales, the latest of which, Jot Pale Ale, is as brilliant as ever.
Brewed with ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’ amounts of flaked and malted oats, it’s a creamy, silky smooth gem, with flavours of apricot, pine and grapefruit.
Our last Alvinne intake went down a treat, so I went and bagged a load more this week, and as I’ve saddled myself with the arduous task of picking a favourite maybe Phi Smoked Pineapple Sour just about edges it.
It’s a lively 8% number, soured then softened with fresh smoked pineapple. Wicked stuff – as is the entire Alvinne range.
Vault City are back with something mega – it’s only a bleeding mash up of two of their biggest beers!
Pies In The Skies is a Strawberry Skies and Double Crust Raspberry Pie collision. Combining the two you get a strawberry and raspberry packed monster with a crusty pastry-like casing.
Delicious.
My final sour hero-worship this week is reserved for Triple Fruited Mango Gose from North. It’s always popular, and it’s back in time for the (sporadic) spring sunshine!
Nothing but thick pulpy mango going on here, with two types of mango (kalamansi and totapuri) poured in. They bring a beutiful juicy, soft and sweet side to North’s signature salty gose-y goodness.
Heeding mounting hype we ordered in a load of new darks from Belgian brewery Struise this week, which turned out to be one of our better decisions. By all means dig into the likes of Mocha Bomb or the Russian Imperial Stout, but as good a starting point as any is their ‘flagship’ Pannepot Old Fisherman’s Ale (Vintage 2020).
Somewhere between a strong Belgian dark ale and a stout, you’ve got toasty malts intertwined with deep caramel, bourbon and even brandy as it’s barrel-aged in both bourbon and calvados casks. Insane value beer!
Romania’s Bereta came out with five little cans of fun, each as indulgent as the last, but can you really say no to Cookie Sandwich v2?
An 11% rich impy stout with oreos and gingerbread?!
You won’t regret this (no matter how much of grown up you pretend to be).
Kees brews maybe don’t make as many headlines as they should, but their new Vanilla Sky Imperial Pastry Stout really is something special.
Brewed with cacao, vanilla and tonka beans, it’s seriously dark, seriously rich and seriously decadent. Brewed by anyone else it would cost a lot more.
That North’s Track collab IPA isn’t a headliner is certainly a questionable decision from me, but I’ve got this far and I’m not turning back now. Bright lime, juicy orange & creamy coconut from Talus hops make this a real treat.
Burnt Mill’s one-two NEIPA and DIPA (a Track collab) are worth your time, as is Little Monster’s new DIPA Faultless Youth. We snapped the latter up because Little Monster’s Squash Court (their last DIPA) was soooo damn good, and Faultless Youth is the same vibe.
Looking around, there is so much good hoppy stuff going on this week. Pomona Island’s Robocop-inspired, 100% Strata DDH IPA. There’s a new TIPA from S43. Wow, I haven’t even mentioned Neon Raptor’s new DIPAor NEIPA yet.
Smaller brewery Jefferson’s deserve a nod too. Their Big Margins Strata DIPA (fermented with Verdant IPA yeast) punches well above its weight.
Brew York’s Guava Sour is an interesting, different sour. And talking of different, how about a papaya IPA from Black Iris?
Dark beer fans, check out Pomona Island’s Imperial Mole Stout, hop-heads, here’s an APA from Brew York, and Northern Monk’s OFS034 Caipifruta is a bonkers Caipirinha cocktail-inspired fruit sour.
And capping things off this week is St. Mars of the Desert with their ‘old school, out of season’ Our Finest Regards Barley Wine – juicy sultanas, malteasers and even marzipan!
As always, I hope you get to crack open one or two of these wicked new beers this week.
Cheers as ever & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
Step 1
We trawl the globe tasting great beer
