Fierce Beer have the right attitude

Fierce Beers' new range of beers.

There’ve been wave after wave of new breweries opening over the past five or so years. Established newcomers such as Fallen, Tempest, Alechemy, Black Metal Brewery and Top Out and a good few others don’t seem like the babes on the block anymore. Not by a long shot. 

And in their wake another wave. This past year we’ve done well. Up Front Brewing, Dead End Brew, Camper Van all making a mark in the past 12 months or so. Most of these have been fairly lo-fi breweries, taking the leap from homebrewer to professional, or a professional brewer going their own way in the case of Up Front, and most cases using word of mouth to push their popularity rather than a PR budget. 

And there’s Fierce Beer, a bold brewing outfit from Dyce, near Aberdeen, who officially began life last year but who have clearly been impressing the right people for longer because they’ve just upped their game substantially with new premises and new brewkit, and have just recently released ten beers. 

Ten. All with nicely made up labels with Photoshop montages and jaggedy, edgy writing. And they’ve also had the budget to hire a PR, who in her, err, wisdom saw fit to send me some beers in the hope I’d write about them. 

And so here we are. 

First off, I was skeptical. Fierce is one of those words that Tyra Banks owned on America’s Next Top Model. (That clip is bonkers by the way.) 

Or maybe it was the logo. An angry looking hop that made me think of wee Banksy stencilling an radge strawberry onto a wall somewhere. Or maybe an alien silhouette with a beard, and a jaggy beret. Or Shaggy meets Paul from the film Paul. Anyhow it’s stuck in my head and done its job. So well done Fierce, a striking bit of branding there. 

Fierce also colour-code the angry hop-berry to help you know what you’re drinking. Green for porter, purple for IPA, blue for pale. Red is fruit beers, obviously. I think that’s right ... Maybe check the site first.

And then there were the names. Ginja Ninja is neat, though it’s a spicy beast not a ginger beast which is what I was looking for. Eskimo Joe is a cool coffee and vanilla pale. Works. Day Shift, a lovely, big hopped pale. Granadilla Guerilla is big fruit basket IPA of beautiful passion fruit flavours. I loved it. Juicy, packed, heavy bodied and solid. 

And then there was Dirty Sanchez. Maybe that phrase means something to you. Maybe it doesn’t. But for god’s sake don’t look it up on Urban Dictionary at work. A touch of chilli gives you a wee burn at the back of the throat. The beer. I’m talking about the beer here. 

A few others also had that chilli thing going on too. Fuego Feroz chief among them. I wasn’t mad on it, but a couple of my pals liked it a lot. Certainly different, and, err, fiery. Which is kinda fierce. Check the Tyra clip if you still need persuaded. 

Peanut Riot (great), Cranachan Killer (ok), clues in the name both helped position the brand character and gave you a hint of what you were about to be consuming. 

I’m assuming that WAS NOT the case with Sanchez. 

For me, the Cafe Racer porter was standout. Solid, thick, rich, it was like eating a rich chocolate pudding at your granny’s after she’s just been polishing the furniture and has made herself a cup of coffee (and she likes it black). 

So as an opening salvo from this souped-up brewery, I can’t wait to see what Fierce Beer will bring out next. And if you’ve not yet tried their beers do try them out, they make some cracking, interesting beers.  

Beer Reviews: Wookey Jack by Firestone Walker and five other great Black IPAs

Wookey Jack by Firestone Walker

Over the past couple of decades, as folks have woken up to great beer, we've seen the emergence of new styles and flavours as innovative brewers put their own slant on old recipes, as well as the revival of very old styles.

One of the newer styles to gain popularity is the oxymoronic Black IPA.

India Pale Ales are heavily hopped light-coloured beers that date from the heyday of the British Empire. Black IPAs, however, hail from the 1990s, when craft breweries on America's East and West coasts started added heaps of their local hops to dark malty beers to create lip-smacking bittering, exciting aromas and juicy, fruity flavours.

"Black IPAs," explains Derek Hoy of specialists Hippo Beers in Glasgow, " are stunning and complex beers when done well. It can be really difficult for brewers to get the balance right but when they do, the results are incredible."

For an incredible example of the style, try Wookey Jack black rye IPA (8.3%) from California's Firestone Walker. As Derek Hoy says: "Until now Firestone Walker have been one of the many excellent American craft breweries largely out of reach of UK-based beer fans. They've won 'Best Mid-sized Brewery' four times at the Beer World Cup and rightly so; and their arrival in the UK has created a real air of excitement."

Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack is one of the best examples of the Black IPA style you will ever get your hands on. So take your time with this one. And buy two.

First off, the aroma is a pungent blast of fresh hops, caramel, orange, citrus and earthy spices. You could breathe it in and die happy.

The flavour, though, is just divine. The alcohol is there, but it's in no way distracting. Instead, you'll enjoy amazingly complex flavours of dried figs, raisins, roasted coffee, rye spices, plum, caramel and grapefruit.

But what makes this beer so great is the balance. The sweet malts and bittering and aroma hops all blend perfectly together, building up to a long, smooth and woody conclusion that closes with a long and multi-layered velvety finish. Beautiful.

Five other great Black IPAs

In the Dark We Live (7.2%)
One of the best Black IPAs around. This beautifully balanced and deliciously complex beer brings out flavours of coffee and toasted malts, citrus pine, dark berries and spices. The aroma is intense; the finish long. A triumph from the team at Tempest Brewing Co in Galashiels.

Bea black rye IPA (6%)
The sweet aroma of fresh hops and rich treacle doesn't prepare you for the black coffee bitterness of this beer from Rotterdam's Kaapse Brouwers. It's tangy with a long, salty finish with subtle tropical hop flavours easing in under the domineering malts.

Magic 8 Ball (7%)
Tropical fruits - pineapple, grapefruit and mango - abound in this dark velvety beer from Magic Rock in Huddersfield. Rich roasted malt flavours, hints of coffee and chocolate, and a juicy centre that evolves into medium bitter finish.

India Pale Ale Black (6.8%)
The big, big hops really overwhelm the dark malts in this black IPA, from Londoners Kernel, whose take on the style ramps up the juicy bitterness and grapefruit flavours.

Sanda Black IPA (5.5%)
A recent revision of Fyne Ale's recipe turned this black IPA from alright to awesome. Along with coffee-like bittering and toasted malts, it's heavily hopped using Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand, blasting out juicy-fruit flavours of gooseberry and passion fruit.

Beer Review: Unforgiven red rye ale by Tempest Brewing Co

Unforgiven red rye ale by Tempest Brewing Co. 

It's been a good year for Tempest Brewing Co - the Borders brewers have lived up to many people's expectations and continued to create the fantastic beers they've quickly became known for.

Five years after starting out, they've opened a big beautiful brewery Galashiels in the Borders and begun rolling out a new line-up of great beers. They've a history in making some outstanding beers and a lot of people have been looking forward to the first batches from their new bottling line, and it's no surprise they were tipped as one of the hottest breweries to watch in 2015.

With a new brewery, Tempest also underwent a bit of a rebrand, slicker labels but smaller bottles. Their first wave of bottled beers comprises Brave New World, a potent, murky IPA (7.4%), Red Eye Flight mocha porter (7.4%) and In The Dark We Live black IPA (7.2%).

Their Easy Livin' Pils is part of Aldi's Winter Beer Festival, which launched at the start of October so hopefully there's still some left.

Earlier this year, Tempest also  released Unforgiven, a 5.4% smokey red rye ale with as much attitude as the Man With No Name. No surprises at the aroma. It's sweet campfire smokiness with tart gooseberries and bark. Pouring gives you a clear and deep amber, the colour of dying embers, with a light tanned head.

But the taste is surprising. It's shockingly alive and complex, and may be something of a challenge for anyone who's not a fan of smokey beers. The smokiness, obviously, is dominant but there's a lot more going on: fruits, spices, salt. The initial hit is peppery and exciting, like a gun battle in your mouth.

There's something sweet there too, like vanilla or caramel or wafer biscuit, but, like a shooting star in the night sky above you, it's away in a moment. And then there's a sourness, almost bloody, and a gentle sweetness of nectarines; light hops bring the notion of a soft breeze carrying the scent of those loch-side reeds near to where you sit by your campfire. It finishes slowly, bitterly and dryly.

Beer Review: Unforgiven Red Rye Ale by Tempest Brewing Co

Unforgiven Red Rye Ale by Tempest Brewing

At the start of the year, and five years after starting out, Tempest Brewing Co opened their big beautiful brewery Galashiels in the Borders and started rolling out a new line-up of great beers. They've a history in making some outstanding beers and a lot of people have been looking forward to the first batches from their new bottling line, and it's no surprise beer experts tipped them as one of the hottest breweries to watch in 2015. 

With a new brewery, Tempest also underwent a bit of a rebrand, slicker labels but smaller bottles. Their first wave of bottled beers comprises Brave New World, a potent, murky IPA (7.4%), Red Eye Flight mocha porter (7.4%) and In The Dark We Live black IPA (7.2%). Their Long White Cloud American pale ale (5.6%) is part of Aldi's Scottish Beer Festival, which launched yesterday so hopefully there's still some left. 

Tempest have also recently released Unforgiven, a 5.4% smokey red rye ale with as much attitude as the Man With No Name.

No surprises at the aroma. Its sweet campfire smokiness with tart gooseberries and bark. Pouring gives you a clear and deep amber, the colour of dying embers, with a light tanned head.

But the taste is surprising. It's shockingly alive and complex, and difficult for anyone who's not a fan of smokey beers. The smokiness, obviously, is dominant but there's a lot more going on, fruits, spices and salt. The initial hit is peppery and exciting, like a gun battle in your mouth. There's something sweet there too, like vanilla or caramel or wafer biscuit, but, like a shooting star in the night sky above you, it's away in a moment.

And then there's a sourness, almost bloody, and a gentle sweetness of nectarines; light hops bring the notion of a soft breeze carrying the scent of those loch-side reeds near to where you sit by your campfire. It finishes slowly, bitterly and dryly.

Popping the Cherry

Tempest Morello Cresta

I've been saving this one.

This 7% stout with its lo-fi hand-stamped label and four grain goodness.

Well, tonight I popped my Tempest cherry. By all accounts, this wee Borders brewery does great thing with their hops and yeast and that. But a solid reputation means heehaw when it's a wee one-off batch you're sampling. It could be howffing.

Guess what.

Tempest's Morello Cresta four grain 7% stout wasn't howffing. It was lovely. It was like those luxurious velvety sheets you get in some hotels that are wonderful but they'd be wasted in your wee bedroom at home. It's like a slice of Black Forest gateau that's perfect and wonderful and hits the spot nicely after that exquisite Valentine's meal, but next time you're eating out you'll probably just have the apple pie. With vanilla ice cream.

Anyhow, it poured smooth and thick but had more carbonation than I expected cause it's got something of a lively head, which is caramel in colour. The beer itself is as black as a 40-a-day smoker's lung.

On the taste, it was well rounded and chewy and velvety with a strong sense of malty wholesomeness, carrying with it hints of dark cherries and dark chocolate. I was thinking Black Forest gateau. But something else, too. A fruity tanginess that wasn't all just cherries. Maybe liquorice and cola all served with a wee espresso, too. Really, really tasty.

Would hoppily have again.

Kill List

Last post I mentioned a couple of daft decisions I'd made recently. Starting a blog about beer and then pledging to not drink for 31 ever-lengthening days is probably one of the daftest decisions I've ever made. I may have mentioned how fun it's been.

But it means I've had time to think about what beers I want to try, and about what I want to do with this site. I've put together a Kill List of beers I'm going to try on or after February 1st.

Top of the Twistedmouth Kill List is Skull Splitter by Orkney Brewery. On the back it says:

Skull Splitter is our strongest ale: which is named after Thorfinn Einarsson who was the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney. Sophisticated, satiny smooth with a deceptively light character, it is a tribute to our colourful forbear. On the nose, this strong beer has a fruity malt character, with hints of dark fruit, spicy hop, dates and figs. On the palate, rich and complex with sweet toasted malt, molasses, fresh and dried fruit and hints of warming spices.

Molasses and figs. That's beautifully over the top for a beer that's 8.5% and is surely going to make my eyes water and leave me with some sort of UTI. I'm half thinking about getting a can of Tennent's Supey and some paint-stripper and doing a wee Pepsi challenge or something ...

Next is a strong stout by Tempest, a Morello Cresta 4 grain stout. I bought this purely for the lo-fi, hand-printed label. I love that. It's 7.0%. A session ale for Borders folk then.

What else?

Well, I got me a Cromarty Brewed Awakening, recommended by my new beer chum Magnus, who has his own beer blog (far, far superior to this one). He also suggested Cromarty's Red Rock and Tempest's Cresta Black and Red Eye Flight, but I didn't see them in my last visit to Hippo Beers. Ho hum, next time.

And just before you start thinking I can't think for myself, I've also included West's St Mungo's lager cause it's my local brewery. And a Dragonfly amber ale from Fallen Brewing Co, cause it's from near where I grew up and not because it has a nice label and a dragon in the title, oh no.

Now, a wee clarification: as well as dumbass decisions, my last post may have falsely given the impression that this January has just been a series of loathsome days that have been relentlessly tiresome, each one more miserable than the last, apart from two auspicious days. This is not true; a couple of other great things have happened.

My wife and I learnt how to play Netrunner. And Utopia happened.

Happy (late) Burns Day.

Skull Splitting in the US

Real scary Viking that.
Doesn't even have a beard.

Good news in January is as rare as French vegan in a boucherie. And as much as I like beer, I also like good beer good news stories. So here's a wee one, luke-warmish off the press.

Axe-grinders Orkney Brewery have declared that their Skull Splitter ale is selling so well in the US that they've started shipping the stuff over in barrels as well as bottles.

First pub to start selling Splitter on draft is some pub on Passyunk East in Philadelphia called, err, Pub on Passyunk East. They've planning some mental Viking night to celebrate. Cause it's a classy joint, I take that to mean they'll be doing a traditional Ba' game up and down the streets of Philadelphia, seeing as the Orkadian season is over and US gun shops are doing great deals on body armour; and not a naff, daft night of loonies wearing fake beards and furry tabards and plastic helmets with horns sticking out the side of them. And going aaaargh like pirates. Cause that would never happen in Glasgow, oh no.

Anyhow, I like that a wee Scottish brewery is sending barrels of beer over the Atlantic. I like that Americans are drinking proper Scottish beer. (By the way America, at 8.5%, Skull Splitter is considered a fairly weak beer in Scotland; bit of a session ale if you know what I mean.)

I haven't drunk Skull Splitter, and remembered. In fact, last time I drank a beer that strong was a Christmas Party years ago that had gone from tedious to torturous so to take the edge offof it I nipped down the offie for a couple of cans of Tennent's Supey. Great idea that.

Anyhow, last night I nipped down to the marvellously curated Hippo Beers shop on Queen Margaret Drive in Glasgow and got me a bottle for February 1st. Also something from Tempest Brewing Co purely because I liked the label. Reviews to come you lucky duckies.