Throughout the years, when I buy a lot of beer, there are always some of the beers that stand out, not firstly because of their taste but because they are so different from the rest.
We get a lot of different beer styles in South Africa, but sometimes you stumble upon a couple that you don't find that often.
This week, I drank three of them: a Kolsch, a California Steam, and a Pumpkin Ale.
They were interesting in their own ways, sometimes challenging my perception of what a beer and should be, but always still being a good beer!
So, join me through my drinking notes to experience these beers along with me, for this week's #BeerSaturday!
Without further ado.
Hops Hollow's Digger Draught
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This brewery is apparently the highest in Africa. They also recently bought over the Sabie brewing company. Sadly, this was the only Hops Hollow beer that I could buy, as they did not have any others available.
The first smell on the nose was very yeasty. It is definitely from bottle conditioned as stated on label: it is a live beer.
The first taste was heavenly. I drank this beer after a jog and it could not taste more refreshing.
It was a smooth beer with low alcohol by volume and incredibly low IBUs; there was almost no hops. But strangely enough, it was not too malty either. It had an almost weiss taste. It was a smooth beer but nothing out of this world, but having it after the jog was heavenly.
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Boston Breweries Van Hunks Pumpkin Ale
This beer along with some of the other from this brewery was some of the first ales we learned to drink. It has a special memory in my mind. When I saw this beer, I knew I had to buy it. It is not that often that I see it in the shops.
There was not much on the nose, besides a light ale nose.
The first taste incredible, it was pure pumpkin. It was almost like roasted pumpkin pie, with a slight hoppiness as a nice bitter aftertaste. It had a nice malt also coming in from the side. But the taste was overwhelming pumpkin spice.
All in all this is was an incredible beer. The last sip was pure pumpkin tart; one that I have made many times for myself with way too much cinnamon sugar on it!
Saggy Stone's California Steam
This was the first time I had such a beer. It was something I was not expecting. That first sip blew my mind. I did not know a beer could taste like this.
There were so many fruity esters immediately when I poured; yeasty flavours as well.
It was incredibly carbonated almost could not pour; but the pour resulted in a good cloudy beer. It also had good lacing and good head.
The first smell was almost a weiss smell but also very sweet smell; no bitterness or hops on the nose.
The first taste was the incredible sweetness, then the yeasty maltiness combination, then the fruity esters coming through. It was an incredibly delicate sweetness. I have never had a beer like this before; so different from others found in the area.
It reminds me of wild fermented sours with distinct sour taste, toasted maltiness coming through as well, very yeasty aftertaste. But this was a very nice beer. Even though it is “sweet” it is not like spoonful of sugar in my mouth, subtle sweetness, more fruity.
Postscriptum, or Cheers to Another Busy Week
This week was much like the previous one, marking marking marking. As I was marking, I got another notification, that I was receiving even more papers to mark. But such is life they would say. I need to make money to buy these beers, but in the moment the marking feels like it is sucking your soul dry. Such is life!
For now, I had a couple of beers making the moment a bit better. Only a bit. Less bitter less sweet, more hoppy and beer filled!
Happy drinking, and keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by these beers. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.