I love this beer. A darker version of its brother Delerium Tremens which is one of my absolute favorites. I love the Belgian yeast in the nose and the notable presence of alcohol. I would definitely drink this one again and I have, a few times!
Lips of Faith
I had the chance to try Lips of Faith last night at @SugarBowlCafe. It’s a collaboration brew between @CigarCityBeer and @NewBelgium. It’s a pale ale made with chillies. I don’t normally like beer with fruit and veg in it but this one was good. I couldn’t really taste the chillies but they left sort of a sour aftertaste, no, a sour feeling really sort of at the back of my lower jaw. I described it to Kim as “sour brackets” and unintentionally coined a new beer geek tasting term. It’s cool, you can use it.
Even though it’s technically a pale ale it struck me as more like a saison. Probably the spicy earthy flavour o the chilis and the Belgian style yeast used in it.
So yeah, I’d drink it again and so should you!
Murasaki Dragon by Alley Kat Brewing Co.
Dear @alleykatbeer, please never stop making this beer. #yegbeer #drinkagain (via Untappd)
I posted that in all seriousness. I want to support Alley Kat more than I do, but to date the only beer I’ve wanted to pursue was the extremely limited run of Fresh Hop Full Moon Pale Ale. If my appreciation for hops wasn’t apparent to you before, it should be now.
One of my favorite beers from the last few years is Sorachi Ace from Brooklyn Brewery. That beer introduced me to the hop that Alley Kat used in Murasaki Dragon. The biggest difference between these two beers would probably be aggression. Brooklyn brewed a Saison, while Alley Kat produced a double IPA (or DIPA) with somewhere north of 75 IBU. This beer has what most of Alley Kat’s lineup is missing in my opinion, which is some teeth.
This means that in Murasaki Dragon you’ll get all the good stuff you’re looking to find in an IPA. It smells piney and lemony. The colour is gorgeous. And while the hops are obvious when it first hits your palette, you can catch up with some malt in the middle and there is enough fruity sweetness to carry it through to a nice but dry finish.
Alley Kat has this listed as a limited run beer, but I’m willing to start a petition and possibly even chain a close friend to some sort of barrier in protest if they don’t find a way to continue production of this beer. I believe that it stands head and shoulders above any other beer being brewed in Edmonton currently.
After that initial post on Untapped, I made sure I would drink this again. I bought a case of it. Alley Kat, if you keep making it, I’ll keep buying it and drinking it. Again and again.
BrewDog Hello My Name is Vladimir
BrewDog has never been a stranger to controversy—even seeking it out. They’re not even new to a specialty brew in honour of the Olympics (see: the hilariously-named Never Mind the Anabolics which I wish I could have tried). All this is in keeping with BrewDog’s punk ethos, sure, but it’s nice to see them making noise for a cause that isn’t their own.
With Hello My Name is Vladimir they’re having a laugh at the farce that is this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, while also donating half the profits to charities in support of repressed minorities all over the world.
Not to mention it just sounds like an interesting beer. I just wish we’d see more of BrewDog’s occasional & limited brews in our neck of the Canadian woods. Kudos!
