Head For Beavertown

One of my favourite brewers at this moment in time must be Beavertown.  This is despite the fact I have never tried any of their beers in cask and only once have I tried it from the keg.  What made me gravitate towards these wonderful beers then?  Well firstly I tried a bottle of their wonderful smoky porter called Smog Rocket (5.4% ABV).  This was sufficiently fab for me to try their 8 Ball Rye IPA next (6.2% ABV).  Then they brought out those fantastic cans with the funky artwork and I was hooked.  Gamma Ray is a luscious American Pale (5.4% ABV), Black Betty (7.4% ABV) is a damn good black IPA and finally we have the Neck Oil, a hoppy session IPA (4.3% ABV).  As core ranges go this is pretty fantastic.  

The week before last I was in the fabulous Cask Pub & Kitchen, Pimlico and I spied behind the bar cans of Bloody 'Ell and Power of the Voodoo.  Two more attractive looking cans from Beavertown so how could I refuse.  I managed to get them home without leaving them on the train which was a success and last weekend I sat down and gave them a try.

I started with the Bloody 'Ell because at 7.2% ABV it is the weaker of the two!!  I tried getting hold of some of this on my last visit to Cotteridge Wines as I had heard great things about it but sadly they had sold out.  Hopefully I would not be disappointed now I was finally going to try it.  It is described as a blood orange IPA.  Blood orange zest is listed as one of the ingredients of course and there are obviously tons of Amarillo and Citra hops from the US to satisfy the hopheads.  The Amarillo adds to the orange flavours that are the dominant force without being too overpowering as there are plenty of other citrus notes from the Citra hops too as you would expect.  It poured beautifully, it looked superb, it gave off a wonderful aroma and it tasted amazing.  My beer of the year so far without question.  Bloody amazing!!    

The story behind the next beer, Power of the Voodoo, is of a collaboration between Beavertown and Boneyard Brewing from Oregon.  At 10% ABV it is a triple IPA and having had Magic Rock's Unhuman Cannonball recently I was wondering how this would compare.  I found this beer to be less drinkable to be honest.  The UHC went down so easily for an 11% beer but this one is thick, syrupy and full of rich tropical fruit flavours.  Mango was dominant and there were hints of apricot and passion fruit too.  However the sweetness did give way to a good bitterness in the finish and overall it is a lovely beer that didn't quite hit the heights of the Bloody 'Ell for me.            

     

Beavertown open up their doors every Saturday with taproom Saturdays from 2.00.pm - 8.00.pm.  I am going to have to head to Tottenham for one of these for sure.  I love everything they do and I can't get enough of those cans.  

Cheers.