I went for a quick drink and ended up scooping
I popped out yesterday to the Clockwork for a refreshing glass of crisp beer and ordered their Oregon IPA. It was one of the most confusing beers I can remember drinking. It's very heavily hopped and has all these sweet, spicy, perfumey aromas where you're not quite sure whether they come from the malt or from the hops. It tastes a lot stronger than it actually is at 5.5%. I finished my pint without actually being able to decide whether or not I liked it.
It's pretty much a straight line by bike to Blackfriars in the city centre where I was meeting a friend. Salopian Hoptwister and Lemon Dream were on; we tried both and I thought Hoptwister was the better of the two. It has grainy, vanilla, lemon and creamy aromas and a lovely bitter finish, but apart from that finish it's not nearly as hoppy as the name suggests.
Blackfriars has always had great beer, but they've really been pushing the boat out recently in getting more recherche craft beers that you just don't see in any other pub in Glasgow. We went for two American bottles from the fridge: Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter and Great Divide Titan IPA. My friend really liked the latter. I thought it was nice enough, but dull, uninspired and less than the sum of its parts.
As we were drinking those, a new draught beer appeared on the pumps – BrewDog 5am. What's that then? A scoop? We ordered two pints. Massive grassy hoppiness (my notebook has "massive hops" twice, which probably means something), grapefruit and, bizarrely, Oxo cubes. I liked it but I'm not sure my friend did. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this was related to the recipe for How To Disappear Completely; it has the same gorgeous autumn-leaves and chestnuts colour.
The bar manager said they had two casks of it, so I might go back and get some more.
It's pretty much a straight line by bike to Blackfriars in the city centre where I was meeting a friend. Salopian Hoptwister and Lemon Dream were on; we tried both and I thought Hoptwister was the better of the two. It has grainy, vanilla, lemon and creamy aromas and a lovely bitter finish, but apart from that finish it's not nearly as hoppy as the name suggests.
Blackfriars has always had great beer, but they've really been pushing the boat out recently in getting more recherche craft beers that you just don't see in any other pub in Glasgow. We went for two American bottles from the fridge: Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter and Great Divide Titan IPA. My friend really liked the latter. I thought it was nice enough, but dull, uninspired and less than the sum of its parts.
As we were drinking those, a new draught beer appeared on the pumps – BrewDog 5am. What's that then? A scoop? We ordered two pints. Massive grassy hoppiness (my notebook has "massive hops" twice, which probably means something), grapefruit and, bizarrely, Oxo cubes. I liked it but I'm not sure my friend did. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this was related to the recipe for How To Disappear Completely; it has the same gorgeous autumn-leaves and chestnuts colour.
The bar manager said they had two casks of it, so I might go back and get some more.
That BrewDog 5am sounds great, hopefully I'll get to try some somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good night. A quick drink that turns into more is often the best kind of night (or the worst, depending on what happens!)