32 Bottles of Beer | part 2

This is part 2 of the super popular Land of Le Beef exclusive series, "32 Bottles of Beer". Basically it's a loose, illustrative review of some random beers that have been delivered to me through the Beer of the Month Club at the Bottle Shop in Hong Kong. Since the first review, I have grown an appreciation for hops and IPA's, I have discovered a few breweries that are awesome, and I have learned how to draw a clown riding a really short unicycle.

Wells - Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale

When I first saw the label of this beer, I was expecting not to like it. Not that I have anything against sticky toffee pudding (and I certainly don't have anything against beer), but the combination of the two just don't interest me much. In fact, it is not a bad tasting beer. There is definitely a toffee taste in there, but it lingers for just a moment, and sits amongst a light refreshing beer taste. Although I probably wouldn't order this at a bar, I could imagine drinking one of these at a seaside carnival while watching a clown on a unicycle juggling bowling pins - it’s like the grown-up version of eating a candy apple. 

Moonzen - Moon Goddess Chocolate Stout

This beer comes from a small brewery in Hong Kong. It took me a while to actually taste it because I carelessly poured it into a glass and  gave is an inhibiting amount of head. With the first sip (several moments later), I found it refreshing, slightly sweet, and a pleasant amount of bitterness. There is also a hint of vanilla somewhere in there. None of the flavours seem to scream for my attention - they are perfectly unified, living together in harmony. I feels like a night time beer - a quiet reflective, staring up the night sky beer. Perhaps that’s why they called it Moon Goddess.

St Austell - Big Job

This is a big manly-sized beer (a full half-litre), with a very proud label. It claims to be a ‘massively hopped cornish double IPA’ - this means that it should be the hoppiest beer that I have ever encountered. It smells excitingly hoppy. The taste is fresh, light, full of flavour, and just mildly bitter. It is well balanced. The flavour comes in with its full size - like a cowboy kicking in a saloon door. It holds nothing back. At 7.2% alc, it packs a fairly heavy punch as well.

32 Bottles of Beer | part 1

I recently received a 3 month Beer Club subscription through the Bottle Shop HK. This means that I will receiving a case of 8-12 randomly selected beers for the next few months, and I would like to invite you to share this journey with me.

Although I would love to call myself a beer connoisseur, I am actually fairly ignorant about the subject. I barely know the difference between a stout, a lager, and Riesling (I know that a hop is something a rabbit does, but I'm not sure how that relates to beer). I'm sure I will learn a few things along the way, and I hope you do as well.

A few weeks ago I received my first delivery; it felt like Christmas. This month there are 6 different beers. I can't wait to get to know them better...

#1. Rochefort - Trappistes 10

(a medieval taste for the lute enthusiast)

Looking at the label, this beer would fit in perfectly at a Renaissance fair. In order to really set the mood, I found some medieval ‘lute’ music to go with the tasting. An interesting note about Trappist beers - they are made by monks in a monastery (there are only 10 authentic Trappist breweries, and Rochefort is one of the oldest). More interesting still, all of the water comes from a well within the monastery. 

As I took the first sip, the lute music got faster and more dramatic, exploding into a crescendoSlightly fizzy (not unpleasantly so). It is rich with flavour. Lighter than I expected, and a little bitter. You can almost taste the monk water, and can certainly taste the long history and craftsmanship that goes into it. It’s a long way from a Coors or a Heineken. It lives in much simpler time, when the only thing you had to worry about was plagues and viking attacks.

#2. Omnipollo - Mazarin

(an unexpected flavour explosion)

This was the coolest looking beer of the bunch, with just a single melted candle screen printed on the front. It is an ‘american-style pale ale’ from a Swedish company, Omnipollo (which I think means ‘every chicken’). A bit of background info - American-style pale ales uses american hops, which distinguishes it from a European pale ale. There are lots of floating debris in this one, which apparently are remnants of yeast from the brewing process. 

It smells floral, with a hint of peaches, but still somewhat masculine. The taste is a different story - it is like a firework. It hits the tongue, stays for a brief moment as you notice the many exciting flavours, and then it is gone. It reminds me of butterflies fluttering about, and then landing just long enough to show off their colours. If you brought a case of this to a party, you would look cool, artsy, and probably sexy. It is a beautiful beer inside a beautiful bottle. 

Omnipollo - 3.14

(a sophisticated summertime jaunt)

This one has a nicely designed text-based logo, that doesn't feel the need to yell at you with giant lettering. It is a ‘saison beer brewed with wild flower honey’ (a saison beer is an ale that is traditionally brewed in the winter, to be consumed in the summer. They tend to be fruity, earthy, and spicy).

It has a light colour, with a very different taste. The closest thing I can compare it to is a Hoegarden. I think I tasted pepper and hops (bitter), with a slight floral note. After the first few sips the honey flavour is started to emerge. It tastes like a summer beer, but with a a lot more sophistication. With every sip I feel that I am laying in a hammock in the sun, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a monocle. The taste seems to evolve, and it gets better and better with each sip. Omnipollo is quickly becoming my favourite brewery.

Mountain Goat - The Delmont

(a big, friendly, outdoorsy kind of beer)

As if the size of this beer isn’t exciting enough (640ml - nearly twice the size of an average beer), the label is a beautifully designed piece of print right down to the ingredients list. The beer itself is a ‘west coast IPA’, which means that it should be jammed packed with as many hops as is legally possible. I don’t actually know what a hop tastes like, but I think I have an idea after drinking this one.

The first sip reminds me of hiking through the mountains on a cool morning, with a taste of fresh mountain streams, moist soil, and budding pine cones. Quite enjoyable. The taste does’t linger. It comes in strong and then quickly fades out with a slight echo near the back of the tongue. There is definitely a bitterness from the hops, but just enough to remind you that you are drinking of notable quality.

Brouwerij De Molen - Op & Top

(a well balanced beer that overflows when you open it)

It is a cool looking bottle. The design is very modern looking, like it would be served at an ultra trendy downtown bar. It is an ‘american bitter-ish’ beer, which I assume means that it uses American hops (whether or not american hops are drastically different than european hops, asian hops, or antarctic hops, I’m not sure). 

As soon as I opened the bottle it started overflowing all over the place and so the first taste I had was when I frantically put my mouth over the bottle to keep it contained; not the most ideal way to enjoy a beer. It is a dark beer, like a Guiness, but lighter and more refreshing. Like the bottle says, it is bitter-ish, but just slightly. Although it is flavourful and complex, I can’t discern any one taste that sticks out - it all seems to be in perfect harmony. It is a lot like the label, good clean design without any unnecessary ornamentation. All in all, a very enjoyable, sophisticated beer.

Follow-up: There were two of this beer included in the delivery, and the second overflowed the moment I opened it as well. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I assume that they are not designed to do this.

Omnipollo - Yellow Belly

(a "beer" that can't be described by words)

I wanted to end off with this one because it was the most mysterious of the bunch. I’m not sure who’s meant to be the aforementioned yellow belly here, me or the beer. I won’t reveal exactly what’s beneath the wrapping, but I will say that there is more information about what to expect, and I've come to realize that the costume less like a ghost, and more akin to a Ku Kuts Klan member hiding cowardly behind the anonymity of organized racism. It is a beer that celebrates open-mindedness. More specifically, it is a “peanut butter biscuit stout with no biscuits, butter, or nuts”. Omnipollo has proved itself to be a very passionate and design driven company, and I'm excited for anything it throws at me.

The smell is very toffee like, with definite hints of peanut butter. It’s super dark, and almost syrupy. I can already tell that I wouldn’t want to drink too many of these in one sitting. At first sip it was not as sweet as the smell, and slightly more fizzy than I would have expected. There are a lot of tastes here to sift through, so here’s my best shot: toffee, malt chocolate, coffee, black liquorice, bitterness, root beer, crushed up soda crackers, radishes, old vinyl records, and duct tape. It tastes more like a weird chocolate soft drink than a beer. Although I greatly appreciate Omnipollo’s courage in putting this out there, I’m pretty sure I don’t like it.

hot potato

so I'm sitting at a bar the other night, minding my own business, when I notice two potatoes talking to one another. from my vantage point, it appeared as though one of the potatoes was hitting on the other one. Needless to say, I became instantly curious as to what kind of game a potato lays down when trying to close the deal with a tasty tater. This is what I overheard:​

"what do you say we go back to my place and get baked?"

"I've had my eyes on you all night..."

"I find you very, very a peeling...."

"would you like some fries with that shake?"

"baby, I'd like to peeeeeel you out of those skins..."

"owww! you are one SWEET potato..."

"Would you like to be f#@k spuddies...?"

"you wanna see my couch, potato?"

"Care for a game of one potato two potato?"

"Who the hoe? I-DA-HO! Get it?"

"This spud's for you"

Have any to add? Share them with the world by writing in the comments section....​

a st. patrick's day extravaganza

​it's that special time of year again when friendly leprechauns come out of their various hiding places, and prance around while showering people with shamrocks and drinking beer.

many people don't know this about me, but I once caught a leprechaun - I found him passed out in an ally. I assumed that he would lead me to his pot of gold, but mostly he was just confused and angry about why he was in my house, so I let him go. All in all, it was a pretty magical experience.