Posted on 31/03/21
Oli Meade
What with it being Easter and all, this week, craft brewers pulled out all the stops.
The best new beers we tried here at CMHQ this week included a bourbon & coffee laced imperial stout and a sour apple beer/cider hybrid from Somerset’s Yonder.
The big news this week, however, was DEYA’s new Triple IPA…
We ordered Right Brain Feeds The Left Brain TIPA along with an epic haul of new DEYA this week (including Something Good 13 and Glue IPA), and I was hoping DEYA’s new TIPA would live up to the hype.
DEYA went even more neutral in their yeast strain in their second TIPA for a clean hop monster that smacks of juicy tropical fruit.
Make no mistake, this is a very special beer.
Overtone’s Charlie Doesn’t Surf Oat Cream IPA didn’t garner nearly as much hype as DEYA’s TIPA, obviously. In a way that’s criminal, but it’s also epic, because it means there’s more of this stuff for you and for me!
Brewed with truckloads of oats and lactose, Charlie Doesn’t Surf is as creamy an IPA as you’ll get this Easter. Waves of apples, pears and citrus. Different. In a great way.
I know it might seem obvious to pick out Pomona Island’s new-in Thagomizer DIPA as a beer of the week, but trust me, there’s a reason people flock to this DIPA.
It’s juicy and it’s tropical. But it’s the piney punch at the end that makes this murk-monster magic. Once again, with Thagomizer, Pomona Island have brewed up excellence.
In a bumper Easter uptake, it takes something special to top the dark beer billing… and this year the accolade has to go to Maltgarden’s I’m Your Barista: Colombia DSB Pink Bourbon Coffee Stout.
Rich dark malts. Boozy and smooth. But what makes this extra special is a big helping of Colombia Diego Samuel Bermundez Pink Bourbon Specialty Coffee.
The ingredient quality is spectacular. All melded together, you get a frankly next-level imperial gem.
Next up, Amundsen’s overloaded Neapolitan Ice Cream Shake Imperial Pastry Stout isn’t as serious as the Maltgarden drop, but that takes nothing away from how good a beer this is.
The original Neapolitan Ice Cream Dessert In A Can. is a big hit, and for Easter Amundsen have amped it up with this 440ml version.
The best way to describe this is an ice cream made up of big, boozy stout, oh-so-sweet stout. Picture it. Only then can you imagine how glorious this beer is.
Is it a stout?
Is it a sour?
After a fair bit of deliberation, I’m including Pastore Brewing’s Coffee & Cacao Noire in the darks section simply because it’s loaded with all the beautiful coffee and cacao notes you’d expect from a big-hitting stout… but then sour black forest fruits remind you this is Pastore.
This is a boundary-pushing, genre-defying beer you won’t regret.
Capping off the darks, I can’t not mention Pressure Drop’s Black Treacle Stout.
Olly number 2 described it as a ‘perfect stout’ earlier this week, and the description is pretty much bang on.
What do you get when you combine dark roasted barley, fruity hedgerow hops and a touch of treacle?
This is the answer… and it’s effing great.
Leading the sour march this week is of course Vault City, who’ve gone with a big, a medium and a small sour for the Easter weekend.
My pick of the bunch is Pear Drop Session Sour. (When you’re drinking a few over Easter you want a session in there somewhere!)
A nostalgic hit of hard-boiled pear drop sweets in a Sessionable Modern Sour Beer. Sour sweeties?! Sign me up.
Serpents Wild Ale by Yonder is also mega interesting.
Brewed in collaboration with Pilton Cider, this is a kinda mixed-ferm beer-cider mash up with a load of sour apple juiciness from the two varieties of Somerset apples that go in.
It is Easter, after all!
So how about kicking things off with Maltgarden’s new big bottles, including Polish Craft Mafia: Proton Imperial Cheesecake Stout and Free The Parrots Imperial Coconut Stout?
And did I mention Amundsen’s Desserts In Cans are now barrel-aged?! You’re going to have to dive in… be sure to check out Amundsen’s Coconut Choc Chip Cookie Barrel Aged Dessert in a Can and Cherry & Chocolate Ganache Barrel Aged Dessert in a Can when you do.
I’ve already mentioned Overtone’s epic-smooth Oat Cream IPA, but you know they can do darks well, and Stoater Oatmeal Stout is proof.
On the hop-front Overtone has also offered up Nelson Sauvin single-hopped It’s All Nelson DIPA, while Burnt Mill keep us all happy with the likes of Citra Fog NEIPA and the extra pale, extra soft Emerald Table NEIPA.
There’s good new stuff from Polly’s of course, with blueberry, bubblegum, and mango laced Falter DDH IPA and the bang-on-trend sweet pineapple and coconut-tinged Oh My…Citra & Sabro Pale Ale.
Wylam are the go-to for rye this week, with Purgatory In Paradise Rye Pale Ale, full of dry pepper spice with oatmeal biscuit.
How are we feeling about a 0.5% sour? Maltgarden have bucked their own trend with the intriguing, low-alc Free Sunset Fruit Ale. Oh, and Maltgarden also sent over their (brilliantly named) Museum of Classic Beers Hallertauer Pils this week too.
Something a shade stronger on the sour front? Pastore Lemone is 2.5%. Amundsen In Cafruits #4 Cherry, Raspberry, Lemon & Almond Pastry Sour is stronger still.
Just FYI the very final deadline for Easter delivery is 1pm Wednesday 31st. But to be honest the sooner you order, the safer you are.
So dive on in, fill up, and have a wicked Easter filled with good beer and up to six people from a distance!
Cheers as ever & happy drinking!
Oli
(The founder)
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We trawl the globe tasting great beer
