It is kind of crazy how many craft beers South Africa has. Considering everything, we are really a small nation and country, but also not. But either way, we have so many different craft beers, I cannot even drink them all. But the idea is to at least try!
This week, I got myself a couple of beers from Agars brewery, who claim to make some good "hand crafted beers". And I can concur: they were some pretty good beers, rivalling some of the best I have had in my life!
So please join me on this tasting adventure, where I review some of these great beers!
American Pale Ale
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The first smell as I opened this beer was incredibly malty on my nose, think caramel, toasted malt, but it was also nice and hoppy.
With cascade citra and centennial, the first taste was incredible hoppy (with only 35 IBUs I could not believe it). The taste was incredible, lovely citrus but mixed with malt.
The beers were all bottle conditioned, so there was a tiny bit of yeasty taste.
As it warms up a bit, almost IPA taste, incredible beer.
White Dog Belgian Saison
The smell was yeasty with a nice maltiness on the nose. It was a classic blond smell. It reminds me of leffe blonde; no real bitterness and fruity esters.
The first taste was quite bitter and not something I expected; no real sweetness, nice full bodied mouthfeel and fruity esters but very very bitter.
I cannot believe that it’s only 23 IBUs, the taste was way more bitter; not as carbonated as usual belgian beers, and no sweetness.
Slight yeasty bready taste (much more on the nose than im the taste.
Tomahawk IPA
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This was a big bold and brutal IPA.
Malty nose toasted; malt cookies, bread, yeasty, but with an incredible bitterness.
It had an incredible nose; not much pine citrus as one would expect.
The first taste mouth numbing bitterness, but everything you got on the nose on the palate as well. The toasty cookie malt delicate balanced with extremely bitter and warmth of alcohol.
Well carbonated and the lacing was good with good head retention through whole beer.
Warrior Double NEIPA
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There was some yeast smells on first opening it, but then strong fruity hoppy flavour so characteristic of NEIPA; mango, passion fruit.
I didn't really get grapefruit; slightly sour.
The first taste was incredibly bitter, but pure mango passionfruit and then slight grapefruit in taste which was not there on the nose. Slightly sweet taste but nice and full bodied with 8% ABV; incredible beer.
Nice and hazy, slight head but not much, good lacing throughout drinking though, not a lot of carbonation but just perfect.
Incredibly bitter but in all of the best ways. If not then very close to the best bear I have ever had!
Black Mamba Stout
The beer had an incredible chocolate and ground coffee bean note on my nose, think plunger coffee. The taste as good, but sadly bit watery not too full bodied.
Not so bitter, but chocolate and coffee notes, refreshing, beautiful smooth taste, not too complex but perfect.
As the beer warmed up a bit, I got more dark chocolate notes on the palate and the nose. Compared to all of the above beers, this was their weakest, and easiest drinking.
Postscriptum
A good beer goes down well. Few things in life is as fine as a good beer. It is strange how these small things in life carry us, especially when we get so busy we cannot breathe.
I hope you have a good cold beer today! Keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my drunken opinion. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.