I’ve been a bit busy so haven’t had time to post about the beers from Saturday. But here they are:
Monks Café Svea IPA (5,8%)
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a small foam that left a nice lacing. It had a strong smell of grassy hops, citrus and grapefruit. The taste is very fresh with medium to high bitterness and had lots of grapefruit and grassy hops. I really enjoyed this beer and would love to have it on a sunny day.
Total: 3,8/5
Struisse Rosse (6%)
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a medium foam, had some yeast at the bottom. It looked very appealing. It had a smell of orange and other citrus fruit, a bit “stingy” on the nose. The taste surprised me at first; it was sour, sweet and fruity with hints of druid orange. Very interesting beer and I enjoyed it.
Total: 4/5
Stone Ruination IPA (7,7%)
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a small foam. Smelled of grassy hops and grapefruit. The first taste turned my mouth into a wrinkly little circle. This beer is so bitter that it made my ass-hairs curl up in a fetus position. Since I love really bitter beers I’ve always wondered how far you can push it before it goes over the edge. Well I think Stone has crossed that edge, this was a bit too much for me. But I was in a bit of a rush and think I need to try it again to give it a second chance.
Total: 2,9/5
I finally got a full set of La Trappe ales this Easter. So yesterday I decided to try them out together.
La Trappe is the only trappist beer brewed outside of Belgium. The Dutch king donated the land to a group of monks migrating from northern France and the monestary Koningshoeven (the Kings Garden) was founded. The brewery was founded in 1884 and they named it Schaapskoi (fårfålla, not sure about English translation). After the Second World War the brewery was bought by Stella Artois who wanted to get a foot hold in Holland. But the their beer “Trappist Pils” was a fiasco and the monks bought it back. They now brew the trappist classics Dubbel, Tripel and Quadrupel, using varieties of münchener malt and hops from Hallertauer and British Goldings.
La Trappe – Dubbel (7%)
It poured a hazy dark red liquid with a big foam, but didn’t leave any lacing on the glass. It had a nice fizzy smell of bread, dried fruit (orange) and peppery spices. The first taste hugged my tongue and it was allot smoother than I expected. The taste was very similar to the smell with the peppery spices and dried fruit. Very round and well balanced which made it easy to drink. Out of the three this was my favorite.
Total: 4/5
La Trappe – Tripel (8%)
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a big bubbly foam which left some nice lacing. Smelled of warm alcohol and dried fruit. My first reaction when I tasted it was that it tickled my tongue, it also left an oily sensation. It was a bit sweet with hints of bread and dried fruit.
Total: 3,5/5
La Trappe – Quadrupel (10%)
It poured a hazy amber liquid with a huge foam (had to be fast to pour after opening). It had a strong smell with hints of dried fruit, bread, red wine, spices and alcohol. As with the tripel this one also tickled but this time on the top of my mouth. I wonder what the cause is of that sensation; it’s almost like eating kiwi. The taste was similar to the smell with lots of spices, dried fruit, bread and allot of alcohol. I found it to be a bit to fizzy for my taste though, even after letting it rest for a while, but still a good beer with a very round and complex taste.
Total: 3,7/5
They where all good beers, but not the best trappists I’ve had. They also had some similarities, a common character, but I can’t say exactly what it is. Probably the use of similar ingredients and yeast.
As I mentioned in a previous post we had an American beer testing on Good Friday (Lång Fredag). Well we had to drink something while brewing 
Flying Dog – Wild Dog Schwarz (7,8 %)
A dark black liquid with a dark foam and a smoky smell. It had a smoked taste with hints of chocolate and tobacco.
Total: 3,5/5
Fullers – Golden Pride (8,5 %)
The only non-american beer that we tried. Had a very weak smell but a nice round taste of sweet caramel and a bit sticky in the mouth. An alright beer.
Total: 2,7/5
XS Rogue – Imperial Youngers Special Bitter (7,4 %, 52 IBU)
Smelled of flowery hops. The taste is quite bitter with a bite to it. After warming the beer a bit the taste improved allot. Had a very round and nice taste.
Total: 3,6/5
XS Rogue – Imperial IPA (9,5%, 74 IBU)
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a small foam, looked very appealing and smelled fresh with lots of hops. The taste was really strong with flowery hops, I even wrote down “Hop Juice” in my notepad. I really enjoy these kinds of beer and this was a really good one. My favorite of the evening.
Total: 4,1/5
XS Rogue – Old Crustacean Barley Wine (11,5%, 110 IBU)
It had a weak caramellic taste. The taste was dry with a very high bitterness. I’m not sure why but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the other Rogue ales of the evening.
Total: 2,8/5
Left Hand – Rye Bock (7,7 %)
Smells of malt and caramell. The taste is very malty and easy to drink. A good lager but not a great beer.
Total: 2,7/5
Left Hand – Twin Sisters Double IPA (9,7 %)
The smell is dominated by citrusy hops. The taste is similar with lots of hops and bitterness but still smooth and easy to drink, doesn’t have that bitter bite to it that sometimes ruin these kinds of beers. Very nice!
Total: 3,9/5
Left Hand – Smoke Jumper (9,9 %)
Smelled of smoke, bitter chocolate and ham. The taste has a very strong hint of smoked ham (in Sweden called Lönnberga Skinka). Also some hints of tobacco and dark chocolate.
Total: 3,6/5
Sierra Nevada – Harvest Wet Hop Ale (6,7 %)
Smelled and tasted of flowery hops. Had a medium to high bitterness and was very easy to drink.
Total: 3,5/5
Goose Island – Bourbon County Stout (11 %)
Smelled of fudge and chocolate. Tasted of banana, chocolate, fudge, sweet and salty. Very nice! Most of the people at the testing really enjoyed this one.
Total: 4,1/5
My father got an untagged bottle of beer from his brewing friend Chrille. We didn’t know anything about the beer so it was pretty exciting opening and seeing the hazy amber liquid pour out.
It smelled a bit fruity and sweet with some hints of banana. So my first thought was dunkel weissbier. The taste was a bit weak with hints of smoked ham. Was pretty nice and I hope I was right about the beer type. Maybe Chrille can confirm?
Total: 3/5
I had a blind testing during Good Friday (Lång Fredag). It turned out to be Mariestad 6,9% and Mariestad Old Ox (also 6,9%). The confusing part is that Mariestad 6,9% is sold as Old Ox at some Systembolag and others sell Old Ox. They also have the same article number. So are they the same beer? My result is that they do differ on appearance, smell and taste. The only thing they have in common is the watered down taste.
Mariestad 6,9%
The liquid was clear yellow with a very small foam. It had a sweet taste with some hops, but was very watery and boring.
Total: 1,4/5
Mariestad Old Ox 6,9%
The liquid was golden with a medium foam. It had a metallic watery taste. My first reaction was that this was some American beer like Miller or Bud. Very watery and boring.
Total: 1,1/5
Anybody have any information on this?
I had a busy Saturday which included both a visit to the house of pain (aka IKEA), grown up Lego (assembling furniture) and cooking for an army (for some reason I always cook to much food). It was also Earth hour yesterday, which means you turn of your electricity between 20:30 and 21:30. I guess allot of people spend this time having sex, but I had some six instead.
I tested Maredsous 6 and Rochefort 6, both of which I have written about previously in my blog but then I didn’t have these bottles. So I figured why not fill in the gaps.
Maredsous 6 (6%)
Appearance: Hazy golden colour with a huge foam that left a ton of lacing. It actually leaves big chunks of foam on the side of the glass. Looks very appealing.
Smell: Ripe fruit, sweet, yeast and nuts.
Taste: Sweet but not so fruity, some nuts, spicy with some yeast and a slight alcoholic taste. However it’s pretty smooth and easy to drink. It feels very balanced but I would have preferred some more spicy taste to it.
Total: 3,7/5
Note: Maredsous 8 got a 3,4/5
While trying this beer, Karin showed up with some freshly baked raspberry and chocolate chunky cup cakes. They worked very well with the beer actually. I would give the combo a 3,5/5.
Rocherfort 6 (7,5%)
Appearance: Hazy dark orange colour with a big foam that quickly disappeared and left no lacing. It also had some yeast in the bottle.
Smell: Dried fruits, nuts and a hint of orange and banana. There’s a distinct smell which I can’t distinguish.
Taste: Strong taste of nuts, also ripe fruit. Fizzy with a small bite to it, alcoholic aftertaste. The mysterious smell is in the taste as well, not sure what it is.
I really like this beer, I’ve actually liked all of the Rochefort beers I’ve had so far.
Total: 4,1/5
Note: Rocherfort 8 got a 4,2/5
Rocherfort 10 got a 4,4/5
I got a tip from Bursat to try an Efes 500 ml in a dark bottle, since it is from the old brewery. Systembolaget had a bottle that fit the description, so I hope I managed to get the correct one. Unfortunately I couldn’t get my hands on a different bottle to compare against so I bought a Landsorts Lager from Nynäshamn instead.
Apperance: Clear yellow colour. Medium foam that left a little lacing.
Smell: Weak smell with a hint of metal and something sweet.
Taste: Lean taste and easy to drink. Had a very low bitterness and hints of bread, metal and that sweet smell I couldn’t but my finger on.
This beer probably works wonders on a sunny beach, but in my livingroom with a snow storm raging outside it feels out of place.
Total: 1,7/5
Nynäshamn Landsorts Lager. (5,3%)
Apperance: Clear golden colour with some small pieces floating in the beer. Small foam that left little to no lacing. For a lager it has a quite appealing apperance.
Smell: Weak smell of bread and metal.
Taste: Medium to low bitterness and a hint of bread and metal. It has a small bite to it and a bit more taste. An ok beer but still a bit boring.
Total: 2,3/5
Nynäshamn won this one, but it was a bit unfair since it’s a microbrewery versus a much larger brewery. Efes actually stands it’s ground quite well against the other lagers I’ve tried. Thanks for the tip Bursat Im very interested in more ideas or tips 
It has felt like this winter will never end and that bottle of Oppigårds Spring Ale is starting to grow dust in my fridge. Well today I had a busy day which started with a very interesting job interview. Then I punished myself in the gym, ran a couple of errands and ended with cleaning the apartment. When I was done, I looked out and realized the weather wasn’t half bad and I felt I had earned a reward. So I got my beer, a book and took cower from the chilly winds.
Appearance: The beer had a very appealing appearance with a clear golden color and a big foam that left allot of lacing.
Smell: The smell was very strong of hops and a hint of citrus.
Taste: Got a very fresh and bitter taste of grassy hops. The beer has been dry hopped which you really taste as you drink it. I liked this one, the freshness of the hops really appealed to me.
Total 3,7/5
Oh and I almost forgot… I got the job
I have a couple of fun tests coming up but I’m either missing a bottle to make it a full set or the quantity of beer is too large for a solo test. Yesterday I was running out of beer to drink so I headed off to Systembolaget to buy me a couple of beers. I went for the beers I’ve tried before but forgotten what they tasted like. First up was la Goudale (7,2%) from Gayant.
Background: It is a Biére de Gardé which translates to “beer to preserve”. According to Micheal Jacksons book “Beer”, this type of beers works wonders with lamb. But unfortunately I rarely eat lamb so I haven’t been able to try it out.
Apperance: Clear golden colour with a medium foam, which left a nice lacing.
Smell: The smell is very faint, either I’m sick or this smelled like water.
Taste: Has an alcoholic taste, also bread, malty with a hint of pears or apples. The aftertaste had a hint of honey. The taste improved when the temperature went up.
An easy to drink beer, it’s not bad but slightly boring.
Total: 2.8/5
While drinking the above beer I made some homemade pizza and I figured a lager would be suitable. So I opened a Stella Artois (5,2%), a beer I last had 8 years ago. I think I know why now…
Background: Stella has roots all the way back to 1366 and the founding of the brewery Den Horen (the Horn); the symbol for the brewery is visible on the label. In 1717 Sebastian Artois, the current brew master bought the brewery and changed its name. 1926 the beer Stella Artois was introduced. The brewery has since then grown and later on came to merger with another brewery creating InBev.
Apperance: Clear yellow colour, big foam that disappeared fast and left a lacing.
Smell: Had a very weak smell, almost not existent.
Taste: Had a lean and slightly bitter taste which saves it, besides that it was very watery and boring. Probably the worst Belgian beer I’ve ever tasted. However it has the highest score for a lager so far. But I haven’t tested many lagers seriously so far.
Total: 2/5
After those two beers I wanted something better so I pulled out a Milk Stout (5,2%) from Left Hand Brewery. Also a beer I haven’t tried for several years.
Background: The brewery is named after Chief Niwot whose tribe wintered in the area close to the brewery. The name Left Hand is derived from the southern Arapaoe word “Niwot”, meaning Left Hand.
Apperance: Black colour and small light brown foam.
Smell: Smells of dark chocolate, tobacco, smoke and a burned smell I can’t describe.
Taste: Tastes of dark bitter chocolate and left a smoked/burned aftertaste in my mouth. A lean but dry beer and I really liked it.
Total: 3,7/5
I didnt have a more organised beer testing planned for today so I just grabbed a bottle of Kwak (8,4%) from the fridge.
Background: Kwak is mostly famous for the timeglass shaped glas you can see in the picture to 
your right. Apparently it’s supposed to look like a goblet that riders used during the 18th century. The design made it possible to secury the goblet in the sadel between swigs. The beer is named after Pauwel Kwak who was a legendary inn keeper, famous for his strong ales. This beer is supposedly similar to the one he made.
Apperance: The beer has a clear dark amber colour with a big foam that quickly dissapeared and left a nice lacing.
Smell: Yeast and a sweet smell that reminds me of dried oranges.
Taste: Bread, grass, caramell, sweet, fruity and a burned aftertaste, similar to burned toast. The taste is sweet and leaves a sticky feeling in my mouth.
The alcohol was well hidden, didnt expect to see 8,4% when I checked the bottle after half a glass. I liked this one, its not great but its above average.
Total: 3,7/5
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