tasting notes OUR CURATED EQUITY PUNK BEER CLUB
THE BEERS INSIDE YOUR Hello there, Equity Punk! It s time once again to check inside that very special package that has just arrived on your doorstep. A journey through the world of beer, taken in a dozen steps the first six of which are a truly amazing selection of guest beer from breweries we love. Let s get to it! BottleBox kicks off with a tallboy can from the mighty Cloudwater Amber Enigma is the first beer up. Following that we have included a second can in the form of The Púca, the dry-hopped lemon sour from White Hag. Next we have a collaboration IPA from Dry & Bitter and Siren as ever they are Hard Rollin and then a return to Ireland for a second collab in the form of Whiplash vs Galway Bay Gravity s Rainbow. That double IPA is the departure point for two truly unique dark beers. Firstly we have To Øl s mind-bending #YOLOmælk, an imperial milk stout brewed with caviar and champagne yeast, and secondly the style-bending Very Big Moose from Fierce Beer that rocked our recent #Collabfest2017. How does that sound? BottleBox exists to showcase our own beer as much as our friends however so what six beers have we included alongside these amazing examples? Well, we have included a recent can of our own you guys asked for it, so we have consigned our hoppy American red into aluminium; it s 5AM Saint canned. To pour alongside, albeit in a harder fashion (check the can) is our prototype Jet Black Heart Nitro, and that is joined in your BottleBox by the return of our festive beers! Yes, Santa Paws and Hoppy Christmas are back. With two more slots we have gone all out with our brand new imperial saison Make Earth Great Again and we round things off as they should always be concluded it s time for Tokyo*. We hope you enjoy sampling these beers as much as we enjoyed putting them together. Until next time, enjoy BottleBox! James and Martin
CLOUDWATER AMBER ENIGMA 5AM SAINT CLOUDWATER AMBER ENIGMA 5AM SAINT The pride of Manchester seem like they have been around for ever, such has been the flurry of incredible beer emanating from their HQ but they ve only been brewing for a little over three years. Cloudwater are the real deal; opening up to their fans about their philosophy whilst releasing standout beer after standout beer. No wonder their everchanging line-up sells out as soon as we can get it in. Founder Paul Jones and his crew are right at the forefront of modern British brewing and are showing no sign of slowing down. Looking every inch the Cloudwater release, this amber has the tell-tale aroma of a motherload of dry hops. Citrusy, herbal and tropical, the flavours follow on in the same vein and reveal a fantastic balanced finish that is enormously fruity and hugely refreshing. Country: England Style: Amber Ale ABV: 4.8% Pair with: Mac & Cheese Colour: Opaque Amber Hops: Citra, Enigma, Vic Secret, Chinook, Simcoe A robust red ale, 5AM is hopped to the brink and back with some of our favourite North American hops and featuring a rich, roasty base of speciality malts for flavour and colour. The second beer we ever dry-hopped (after we had dialled in Punk IPA), this technique transformed one of our existing amber ales The Physics making a roasty, fruit beer so much more. Switching to US hops over English ones, combined with this massive dry-hopping, created this hugely popular beer that has remained in our Headliner range ever since. The nose is a riot of citrus and berry aromas, from orange to lychee to redcurrant. On the palate is a bold resinous bitterness which builds against the burnt sugar sweetness. The finish is clean and the fruity notes linger on. A bitter twist on a classic style, this red ale takes the best of sweet malt and bitter hops and fuses them in perfect harmony. Style: American Red Ale ABV: 5.0% Pair with: Ribs Hops: Cascade, Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, Ahtanum, Nelson Sauvin Malts: Extra Pale, Munich, Cara, Crystal, Dark Crystal - 4 - - 5 -
WHITE HAG THE PÚCA LEMON SOUR JET BLACK HEART NITRO WHITE HAG THE PÚCA JET BLACK HEART The small town of Ballymote in the northwest of the Republic of Ireland is White Hag territory; founder James Ward named his brewery after a mythical witch that could appear at will and in any form. Thankfully these days sightings are rare and his team can get on with the business of creating amazing beer, led by their Ohio-trained Brewmaster Joe Kearns. From IPAs to Imperial Stouts, White Hag turn their collective hands to it all and their Púca series of sours are a great example of modern Irish craft brewing at its best. Pucker indeed, this one is an all-out lemon bomb. More sherbet than anything else, this is an unashamed thunderbolt of tart citrus. The dryhopping adds more depth but this is a riot of lemon and an absolute winner for it. Country: Ireland Style: Sour ABV: 3.6% Pair with: Prawn and Coconut Curry Colour: Hazy Gold Hashtag: #PucaFace Extras: Lemon Peel, Coriander Seeds We long wanted to return a dark beer to our Headlining lineup, and after trialling a limited-edition B-Side Milk Stout, the fledgling Jet Black Heart was released into the 2015 Prototype Challenge to see what would happen. What happened was it won the competition at a canter, never polling less than 40% of the overall vote. Our eight malt, two hop, four-legged friend is black as pitch and smooth as hell. The flaked oats and wheat add to the mouthfeel throughout, with the rest of the malt bill setting up a truly smooth, rewarding finish. On the aroma, a depth of roasted coffee beans and chocolate, with raisin and other dark fruits. The first thing that comes to the fore on the taste is the full-bodied richness, with the velvety mouthfeel leading to an intensity of smooth vanilla and dark berry fruit. These flavours in turn lift and amplify the chocolate character into a long, roasty aftertaste. Style: Milk Stout ABV: 4.7% Pair with: Shin of Beef Stew IBU: 30 Malts: Magnum, Sorachi Ace - 6 - - 7 -
SIREN/ DRY & BITTER HARD ROLLIN SIREN Founded in 2012 by Darron Anley, from the very start Siren attempted to encapsulate a style and variety of beer not normally found in Berkshire. They began life with a quartet that made beer fans sit up and take notice; Undercurrent, Liquid Mistress, Soundwave and Broken Dream all reference the spirit of Homer s Odyssey whilst delivering as strong a core range as any brewery in the UK. The creativity of Siren s brewhouse team has only continued, with new styles and barrel-ageing becoming cornerstones of a producer continually at the top of their game. HARD ROLLIN Siren s collab with Dry & Bitter is anything but instead it weighs heavy (and proudly) to the other end of the IPA spectrum. Hard Rollin is dank, juicy, sweet and massively fruitforward the oats give a creaminess that the citrus rides into the sunset. Country: England Style: IPA ABV: 7.2% Pair with: Asian cod with mango salsa Hops: Ekuanot, Hallertau Blanc, Mandarina Bavaria Extras: Oats, Wheat, Milk Sugars -8- SANTA PAWS With Santa Paws we solved a festive dilemma. The desire for a quintessential fireside warmer strikes all of us; but usually these are one-shot beers enjoyed at the end of the evening. We worked up a beer with phenomenal backbone and pared it down to under 5% ABV the perfect answer for all those people who want something dark, roasty and warming but would then like another, followed by another. Brewed for a time of year when overindulgence reigns, Santa Paws is proof that less is sometimes more. SANTA PAWS This beer is a celebration of malt, at sessionstrength. A Baby Scotch with a depth of flavour from toast crust to deep coffee; the spicy hop notes lend balance but this beer is a who s who of malt character. SANTA PAWS CHRISTMAS SCOTCH ALE 4.5% Style: Scotch Ale ABV: 4.5% Pair with: Mushroom Wellington Hops: First Gold, Mount Hood, Willamette Malts: Extra Pale, Munich, Dark Crystal, Amber, Brown, Carafa, Smoked, Flaked Oats -9-
WHIPLASH/ GALWAY BAY GRAVITY S RAINBOW HOPPY CHRISTMAS WHIPLASH GRAVITY S RAINBOW HOPPY CHRISTMAS Whiplash is a one-manband based around Rye River Brewing in County Kildare. Head Brewer Alex Lawes itched for his own label, and Rye s owner Alan Wolfe acquiesced so he now sells Alex s creations under Rye s label and also the side-project Whiplash Beer. Doubling up in this way suits everyone as Alex has a second outlet for his creative side and Alan gets more beer out there for people to enjoy. This particular brew was co-created with Galway Bay no stranger to a humdinger of a DIPA themselves. This is a big beer. As soon as you get into it there s a hit of warming alcohol swiftly chasing the zesty, juicy orange and lemon citrus. Pithy and grainy, this beer definitely falls towards the sweet side of DIPA, and it s all the better for it. Country: Ireland Style: Double IPA ABV: 9.0% Pair with: Lemon Sponge Cake Hops: Simcoe, Ekuanot, El Dorado, BRU-1, Citra, Amarillo, Galaxy Artwork: Sophie De Vere With Santa Paws on (or hopefully in) one hand, we also twinned it with the diametric opposite for our second festive beer. Or maybe if not opposite, one to accompany. Hoppy Christmas is a single hop American IPA and is as far away from cosy and comforting as you can get. A no-holdsbarred salvo of resinous hopload, it is everything a festive release should be and that s release as in escape. Think back to the highs of summer and enjoy! Tastewise, this eulogy to the festive hop is a flurry of citrus pithy orange and zesty grapefruit, but with deeper layers of more fragrant tropical notes. They say everyone should get at least one Christmas wish and Simcoe is ours. Style: IPA ABV: 7.2% Pair with: Turkey breast (or chicken breast) salad IBU: 70 Hops: Simcoe - 10 - - 11 -
TO ØL #YOLOMÆLK MAKE EARTH GREAT AGAIN TO ØL #YOLOMÆLK MAKE EARTH GREAT AGAIN Tobias Emil Jensen and Tore Gynther almost literally learnt at the feet of the master Mikkel Borg Bjergsø was their high school teacher in Copenhagen. Staying behind for extracurricular homebrewing lessons, the man who went on to co-found Mikkeller inspired Tobias and Tore to also take the plunge, and To Øl were born. Brewing in facilities around Europe, they are equally as inventive, enthusiastic and dedicated as their one-time teacher and although Tobias left To Øl last year, Tore is forging ahead as ever. Not so much a twist on Sortmælk as a torpedo in its side, this beer is briney, frothy, black as the Mariana Trench and not something you are likely to forget in a hurry. Just go with it. #YOLO indeed. Country: Denmark Style: Imperial Milk Stout ABV: 14.0% Pair with: Canapés Brewed with: Caviar, Champagne Yeast Artwork: Poem of onomatopoeic words by Kaspar Ledet From the moment America decided to withdraw from the Paris Accord our planet has been on the clock so we brewed a beer to remind global leaders to prioritise issues relate to Climate Change. All proceeds from Make Earth Great Again will be donated to 10:10, a charity lobbying for legislative changes relating to global warming. We chose an imperial saison (which ferments at high temperatures), added water from melted ice caps and berries from the threatened Arctic region. Whether you work in a brewhouse or the White House, climate change is everyone s responsibility. Spicy and bright, MEGA has citrus notes of spiced orange, nutmeg, clove and caramelised banana with a dry yet warming body and a hint of acidity from the cloudberries to balance the sweeter notes. Style: Saison ABV: 7.5% Pair with: Apple Pie Hops: Amarillo, Mandarina Bavaria Extras: Glacier Water, Cloudberries - 12 - - 13 -
FIERCE BEER VERY BIG MOOSE TOKYO* FIERCE BEER VERY BIG MOOSE TOKYO* Fifteen miles south of Ellon is Dyce and the home of our nearest neighbours Fierce Beer. Dave Grant and David McHardy have only been going for a year and a half or so, but have already become firm fixtures with us and many other beer lovers across the UK. Our flagship bar in particular are huge Fierce fans (#FierceFans?) and for the recent Collabfest they headed up to Dyce and co-created an imperial chocolate stout that proved to be one of (if not the) best beers at our annual festival of collaboration. Enormously dark, decadent and moreish this beer envelops you with that vanilla and cinnamon one-two and then powers away with the remainder of your resolve with a big hit of warming alcohol. A masterpiece. Style: Imperial Stout ABV: 12.0% Pair With: Chocolate Brownie and Ice Cream Brewed With: BrewDog Aberdeen! Extras: Cacao, Vanilla, Cinnamon Our ground-breaking imperial stout has an intensity few beers can hope to match. Brewed with an intricate mix of speciality malts, jasmine and cranberries, it is then dry-hopped before being aged on toasted oak chips. Drawing inspiration from the mind-melting gaming scene of the Japanese capital, it is a beer we first brewed in 2008, to a reaction of pretty much mass hysteria. Beers as strong launch every week these days, without anybody blinking. Back then, you could have been forgiven for thinking that we had single-handedly caused the downfall of Western civilisation! On the nose, the combination of the malt bill, added ingredients and dry hopping manifests itself with aromas of dark stone fruit, vanilla and chocolate. This runs through to the palate where they are joined by a vinous tartness from the cranberries and a hugely complementary finish of warming alcohol. A beer with layer upon layer upon layer of complexity, it truly is one to savour. Style: Imperial Stout ABV: 16.5% Pair With: White chocolate ganache Malts: Extra Pale, Dark Crystal, Chocolate, Roasted Barley Extras: Jasmine, Cranberries, Oak Chips - 14 - - 15 -
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