International Flavour

The best feature of my membership with Beer52 so far has been getting to taste beers I would either never have come across or never picked of the shelf.

Recent deliveries have provided me with a number of European beers to enjoy so I figured I would put these together in one post.

Art Cervesers - La Indiana Catalan IPA (Barcelona, Spain)

6.2%
To me this was darker and maltier than an IPA should be, but it was still an reasonable beer. It definitely had all the attributes of an ale, which I wasn't really expecting from a beer from Spain. It was slightly bitter-sweet and chocolatey from the local carob - an ingredient I had never heard of, but basically provide a caffeine free alternative to cocoa that can be a vegan alternative to chocolate.

Find out more about this Spanish craft brewery here.

To-Ol - Hop Love Pils (Copenhagen, Denmark)

4.5%
As the name suggests, this is a pilsner beer, although its cloudier than the picture I have in my head of a pilsner. It is a very citrus flavoured beer, possibly a little too strong on the flavour because I got an overwhelming taste of grapefruit when I was drinking this. An interesting note on this beer is that is is fully gluten free.

The brewery it comes from certainly has an interesting story and their range is wide and changing. I would like to try out more of them so hopefully some others will come in future Beer52 boxes. The name To-Ol is Danish for 'two beers', find out that and more about this brewery here.

Gamus - Ginger Pale Ale (Murcia, Spain)

4.5%
I'm not sure I need to write much about this beer, the name says it all really! It does what you expect but does it well. Enjoyable beer with a rounded flavour in a balance of malts and hops.

Find out more about this brewery here.

Krut - Gold (Barcelona, Spain)

6%
This one followed the theme that I'd started to pick up on from these Spanish - citrus and malty in equal measure. Nice drink.

Find out more here.

Brouwerij Het Nest - KoekeDam (Turnhout, Belgium)

6.5%

This one at 6.5% is quite strong, It tastes even stronger. To me it had a champagne taste to it. I didn't quite like it, but Emma did and was happy to finish it off. It is a Saison style beer, a style I'm not going to pretend to know anything about. It seems to fit the bill for the description of that beer type, and I will avoid it if I come across it again anytime soon.

Find out more here.

La Loca Juana - Loca Rubia (Valladolid, Spain)

4.5%

This Spanish beer was quite lagery and the main taste to me was oranges. It was really drinkable. 

Find out more about this beer here.

Bom Brewery - Triporteur from Hell

6.6%

This was strong and dark. If you know me, or have read this blog so far, you probably know this isn't a beer I'd choose. But actually I really enjoyed this. It was malty and chocolatey but fruity and drinkable. Surprisingly light for a dark beer, not heavy like a stout. 

Find out more about this beer here.

Brouwerij Roman - Gentse Strop (Oudenaarde, Belguim)

6.9%

What a nice lager. It was just a spot on subtly hoppy and refreshing beer. Not the sort of thing I would seek out in this country, but the sort of thing I would hope to find abroad on a sunny day. And it was really lively, the bubbles were still there at the bottom of the glass when I washed it up the next morning.

Find out more here.