Greene King - Yardbird

This is one of four different beers I received as a birthday present by various members of my family. Good or bad, beer is always appreciated, so let's crack on..

Light waft when pouring of malt, citrus, some florals and faint grass.

Yardbird pours clear golden amber with a a white head. Fruity intake with malt, citrus, hops and some caramel while the finish is grainy dry, floral and mildly bitter. A caramel sweetness and some pine are left in the aftertaste. Despite the very lively looking carbonation just after pouring, it is not too gassy in the mouth and the body is light without being too watery.

Hmmmmm, blindfolded I would not guess this was an an American inspired Pale Ale/IPA. Certainly it tastes nothing like any of the bottles I have had recently or in years gone by. My brother commented it tastes like my first home brew which I done in August, during a heatwave, which was meant to be lager like but ended up a golden ale (which developed into a very fine pint after 6 weeks conditioning btw).

I put this in the category... if you go into a discount supermarket, say lidl or aldi, they always have a range of food/drink that is 'american style' but actually tastes bugger all like it is meant to be, either in taste or in quality. It is not as if it is bad or drain pour, it just reeks of cutting corners and marketing.

Summing up , if you like McKennedy American Style Burgers/Poopeyes Quality Fried Chicken, buy this..if not, avoid.

This scored a lowly 3.5/10 on the ' Is it a bird ? Is it a plane ? No, it's a poor imitation copy bastard' Beerometer.

Alc : 4%
Where to buy CPH : Høkeren, Ravnsborggade 13, 2200 N

Amager Bryghus / Three Floyds - Arctic SunStone

A newly released collaboration brew from Amager Bryghus. Instead of some meaningless lines of filler let's just get on with it after the blurb....

The sunstone - much disputed among scholars. Did the Viking navigators really have such a tool that would help them point out what was east and what was west - even on a less than sunny day? We certainly believe so. Many years later no sunstone was needed when Amager Bryghus was invaded by what very much looked like Viking ancestors of American descent. Hailing from Munster, Indiana, Chris Boggess and Barnaby Struve of Three Floyds Brewing arrived not with a vengeance but with very loud King Diamond on their portable mp3 player. This was not a day for slaughter but for brewing. And brew we did. The mellow and dangerously quaffable Arctic SunStone is proof that even Viking warriors can have a more subtle side to them. All hail to Three Floyds. 

Wafts of tinned mixed fruit syrup, peach, citrus and a little pine from the pour.

Arctic SunStone pours hazy amber orange with a fluffy off-white head. A very fruity tasting intake with malt, caramel, peach, the man from del monte's tinned fruit in syrup again and faint pine all leading  into a hoppy and bitter finish. Lots of citrus peel and a grapefruit linger in the aftertaste. Softly carbonated the mouthfeel is smooth.

Now reading the above you might wonder if it is too sweet ? Not at all, the sweetness of the fruity intake is blasted out the water by the hops and bitter finish. I hate the saying 'well balanced' as it screams 'bore the arse off you in one minute fair isle wearing beardy idiots' but it applies here. I enjoyed it although I'm not sure if I would go for two in a row as all the fruit for me would become tiresome. I have no problem buying and drinking again. Summing up, if you like your ying and yang or need a beer to fulfill your five a day then give this one a try.

This scored 7.5/10 on the 'The man from Del Monte, he says Yes' Beerometer.

Alc : 6%
Where to buy CPH : Kihoskh and Ølbutikken both had it in stock at time of writing.

Deschutes - Mirror Pond Pale Ale

This is one that has been hiding at the back of my beer shelf and bought in the now infamous American craft beer week at the start of July. Having tried the Inversion IPA which I really enjoyed I am looking forward to this....

For me, this has a mild pleasant aroma of malt, citrus, hops and rye bread from the pour.

Mirror pond Pale Ale pours hazy orange amber with a creamy off-white head. Quite a sweet malty intake with caramel, pine and hops. The finish is dry and has a mild hoppy bitterness. This has a very nice malty caramel aftertaste with some citrus bitterness.  Lowly carbonated, the mouthfeel is smooth and light creamy.

An ale dominated by the malt and caramel, which is ok in my book as it is not overly sweet and is balanced out by the mild hops. Light and easy to drink I enjoyed this one without being blown away by it. I would have no problem buying or drinking another. Summing up, very decent pale ale which is worth looking out for.

This scored 7/10 on the ' I thought I had drunk this one, bonus !' beerometer.

Alc : 5%
Where to buy CPH : Unknown at time of writing.

Lagunitas - New DogTown Pale Ale

The 'heatwave' continues and my alcohol consumption is right down until I hit the right beer..I just want something light and refreshing, with the emphasis on light. Today I was in the same supermarket that held the American craft beer week a few weeks back and they were practically giving away the rest of the stock so I picked up this and another Lagunitas up for basically the same price as a standard carlsberg after wheeler dealing to buy all their remaining stock, a bit of a bargain in every sense ! :)

After making a total arse of the pour the aroma of peaches, grapefruit, pine, citrus and a touch of caramel hit the nose.

New DogTown Pale Ale pours amber gold with a thick creamy white head that has a long duration. Sweet and light malt on the intake with citrus, pine and hops while the finish is quite hoppy and bitter. Floral hops and a bready malt linger in the aftertaste. This one has a light mouthfeel without being watery.

I played safe on this one and scored even though I probably chilled this one too much. Light, crisp and without sounding like a industrial beer advert, refreshing. Although this is a straight forward pale ale with no surprises it really hit the spot with me. No need to say if I would buy or drink again as I have eight bottles left ! Summing up, a well made and way above average pale ale that I really enjoyed on a hot summer day.

This scored 7.5/10 on the 'need to try this and score again when it is cold and pissing down' Beerometer

Alc : 5.9%
Where to buy CPH : Was bought in Superbrugsen though I have seen it in bottle shops.

yeah, that's a big head !

To Øl - Reperationsbajer

The last in the Mikkeller related posts. The two brewers behind To Øl being former university students of Mikkeller. Not my first encounter with To Øl having sampled quite a few of their brews with for me Sort Mælk, By Udder Means and Final Frontier being stand outs.

This beer is light-heartily aimed as a hangover cure, a recovery beer !

Wafts of tropical fruit, pine and floral hops on the pour.

Reperationsbajer pours a hazy orange to golden amber with a creamy white head. Quite bitter on the intake with malt, tropical fruit, pine and citrus with a bitter fruity finish. Grapefruit, peach and a little pine linger in the mildly bitter aftertaste. Nice and light creamy mouthfeel.

Very solid pale ale without any wow factor and continues the bitter profile that is in a lot of their beers. This one is quite light and refreshing, easy to drink and very session-able. I would have no problems drinking or buying another. I would quite like to try this one on tap.

This scored a generous 8/10 on the ' maybe it is better with a hangover ?' Beerometer.

Alc : 5.8%
Where to buy CPH, Ølbutikken, Istedgade 44, Kbh V

Evil Twin - Hipster Ale

Continuing on with a small Mikkeller related theme, this is one from his brother, the man behind Evil Twin who also owns the bottle shop Ølbutikken where I bought this along with a few others. One of the things I do like about this shop is you do have the option of drinking a beer in house which is handy if you want to sample before buying a few... though I live less than a Usain Bolt sprint from it so not much point for me having that convenience, smug git that I am.

Pre-shop warm up.

Big big wafts of tropical fruits, pine and citrus from the pour.

Hipster Ale pours a hazy orange with floaty sediment bits and frothy white head which leaves good lacing all the way down. Grapefuit, pine, citrus, malt and bitter hops on the intake while the finish is moderately bitter and dry. Very peachy, along with pine on the long aftertaste. Light mouthfeel but not watery.

I enjoyed drinking this one, actually I drank two as the first one was a bit over chilled. Quite a light and refreshing brew. Easy drinking ale and no problem to session on. My only gripe, the Scottish in me thinks it is a few kroner over-priced, then again most of the beer sold at Ølbutikken is compared to the other bottle shops, though I'm at nit picking level here.

This scored a whacking 8.5/10 on the 'if I drink this, will it make me a hipster ?' Beerometer

Alc : 5.5%
Where to buy CPH : Ølbutikken , Istedgade 44, Kbh V

Braunstein - Økologisk Sommer

This is one of these beers I just seem to walk by every day in the supermarket aisles while shopping without giving a second thought...my wife picked this one up for me ! :)  I've had a good few beers from this brewery before but nothing that gave any wow factor though I did like their attempt at a vienna styled oktoberfest which I thought was quite tasty.

Styled as an american pale ale.

A light waft of sweet malt when pouring and nothing much else.

Braunstein  Økologisk Sommer ( Eng: Organic Summer) pours a hazy yellow to orange with a thin white head. Sweet malt, caramel, some spice and yeast on the intake with a very mild bitter finish. Very faint floral hops in the aftertaste along with sweet malt and diactyl butter. Quite a nice light creamy mouthfeel.

An american pale ale ? Someone is extracting the urine here. I might be missing something but where is the hops in this ? Yet another extremely average beer from this brewery and yet another extremely average organic beer, can anyone point me to a good decent organic beer and preferably without the diactyl which has been the curse of the last three I have drunk ? Answers on a postcard to @fsicrew on twitter.

As you might guess I will not be buying another or drinking this again. This scored 2/10 on the 'pale ale ? yer havin' a laugh mate' Beerometer.

Alc : 4.5%
Where to buy CPH : Netto

Fuglsang - Early Bird

It was brewers day yesterday here and some of the local breweries were having an open house. I went along to one, talked to a few people and it got me thinking...

I like value for money, who does not ? While I do not mind paying top prices for good beer, the emphasis on good, I do mind paying a lot of money for a craft beer and finding out it is mediocre at best. I think there is a misconception among people in some circles that craft automatically equals good and they have lost sight of the simple fact that if a beer is crap then it is crap, no matter if it was passed through the dna cloned intestines of a stuffed mammoth before maturing in the digestive system of a sloth or came out a huge industrial tank.

To me, a lot of what I used to laugh about regarding wine snobbishness has crept into beer circles, meaning beer geeks can bore the pants off me just as quick. If I ever hear someone utter the two worded phrase 'one dimensional' or worse, two more words added so it becomes 'one dimensional and boring' I honestly have to walk away with a smile on my face muttering 'plonker' or a word to that effect. I'd be up for GBH too ofter otherwise.

My point ? You can get decent and good beer no matter where it comes from, be it a huge industrial brewer or a sloths digestive system,  cheap or expensive, you just have to find it first.

On to about the beer eh ?

Fuglsang have a small place in my heart as having made the worst Danish christmas beer I've ever tasted, Ding Dong being so bad I did not dare to put it down my kitchen sink for fear of it melting through the pvc pipes underneath, nope straight down the toilet with it while flushing and probably killed a few thousand sewer rats in the process. It's that bad Carlsberg Special Brew is a tasty brew in comparison !

Ok really, on with the beer this time which is styled as an american pale ale. Wafts of floral hops, citrus and pine from this when pouring.

Early Bird pours a clear amber copper with a small off-white head. Lots of floral hops, faint caramel malt and citrus on the mildly sweet intake while a medium hop bitterness takes over in the finish. Tangerine and lemon linger in the sweetish very tasty aftertaste. Good light creamy mouthfeel.

An absolute cracking beer and excellent value for money. No problem with drinking another or buying again, which I've done many a time as for as low as 10DKR a can, you cannot go wrong. One gripe, when this first came out a couple of years back it was extremely fresh tasting, nowadays I do not know if they still only brew it once a year like they used to or now changed to all year round but that 'freshness' has gone.

This scored a whopping 8.5/10 on the 'Danish Value For Money' Beerometer.

Alc : 5.5%
Where to buy CPH : Just about any larger supermarket.