Einstök: White, Pale and Porter

A recent trip to Booths in Ilkley resulted in 3 bottles from Einstok Brewery. A good opportunity to explore different styles, 3 bottles were snatched up. A white, a pale and a porter.


71: Icelandic White Ale, Einstök, 5.2%
Expecting this to be like a pale ale on the extreme. Certainly it's appearance was very pale. Quite carbonated. The aroma was not entirely pleasant for me... it is that smell I struggle to pinpoint a flavour of... that of a witbier. A herby, slightly spicy smell. To taste, however, a lovely lovely beer. Mellow, orangey flavours, but still very fresh and summery. There is a warmth to it, but without it being wintery, heavy or dark. The label says it is brewed with coriander, not sure if this is seed or the fresh stuff, but I'm sure that is my palate letting me down.  I like it. The further down the glass I get, the nicer it is.

72: Icelandic Pale Ale, Einstök, 5.6%
Not as pale, slightly orangey in colour. Smells malty, a sweetish malt, and doesn't smell hoppy. Tastes of caramel, and biscuity flavours, with a hint of banana. All of which are appealing to me, but not what I expected from a pale ale. I keep seeming to be flummoxed by what does and does not denote a pale ale!!

73: Icelandic Toasted Porter, Einstök, 6%
Smells of burnt food, but burnt in a good way. You can smell the toastedness. Also slightly nutty smell. I've never experienced this in a beer before, yes, have coffee, chocolate and smokeyness, in dark beers, but never quite this. On tasting it, all of the above flavours materialise, but only hints of them, including toastedness. It seems thick to swallow, but still is delicate in flavour. Really lovely.

My winner? Toss up between the white and the toasted porter. I think the White has to come up trumps, because I would assume that toasted porter would be my thing, whilst the white would not normally be my choice, and I learned more from it.

Pale Ale Night

As it was the topic for the session, and having already written my blogpost, when choosing what to drink last night, some more Pale Ales seemed suited to the occasion.

53: Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, Flying Dog, 5.5%
Not particularly pale in appearance. A very hoppy smell. I thought I was smelling Citra hops, but was being a bit too much of an eagerbeaver in my endeavour to identify flavours as apparently Cascade is the hop variety used. Must remember to not get too big for my boots! Very fresh smelling beer. Taste was quite malty, but quickly disappears. Not particularly bitter. Not vastly unique, I would argue, but a good beer nonetheless.


54: Hermes, Summer Wine Brewery, 5%

Very pale in appearance. Smells of tinned peaches and mandarin. A really lovely aroma. Very bitter. Flavours similar, but not strong and meaty, and in conjunction with this the bitterness is pushing the boundary of too intense. It just manages to hold up against it though. Burnt orange peel bitterness. Drinking this pale ale made me realise that I might be missing out a bit when I share bottles, as this beer got better the more I drank, and the more accustomed to the bitterness I got. Another thought provoking beer from Summer Wine!

55: High Wire, Magic Rock, 5.5%
Massive amount of fruity aromas coming through. Mango maybe, a bit grassy. Amazing smell. Flavour-wise, was very different (something I am finding more and more often that the flavour isn't at all like what you'd expect from the smell). Malty, I was expecting more hops based on the 'west coast pale ale' discription. Popcorn and caramel flavours. In terms of appearance and bitterness, it struck the middle point between the Flying Dog and the Summer Wine.

All three beers smelt hoppier than they tasted, all were very enjoyable, and a learning curve, because they were all vastly different from each other and the beers from Thornbridge. It seems that not only are beer styles massively varied, but also that within styles, there are big variations.

The journey continues...

The Session no.64: Pale in Comparison

This month's brief from The Beer Babe is to blog about two pale ales. I had been under the impression that pale ales are at the lower end of the beer spectrum, taste-wise and ABV-wise. Drinkable beers, fit for a long session of drinking, requiring minimal thought and effort, and easy to drink with food and friends.

Recently, however, I tried a pale ale from Camden Town on keg. Not only did it fit the bill for an easy to drink, not too strong beer, but it stood up to the flavour profile of the "big boys" on the bar, the IPAs and IIPAs.

It hit me that my ignorance had got in that way of appreciating this particular style of beer.

I decided to approach this session by picking two pale ales from the same brewery, at different strengths.

51: Wild Swan White Gold Pale Ale, Thornbridge, 3.5%
Appearance of a lager, very very pale. Served out of a bottle and was quite carbonated. Lots of aroma considering it is low in alcohol not as bitter as other stronger styles. It isn't sweet, and there is definitely lemon thyme somewhere in there. I have to say I mostly agree with the label "tastes of light bitter lemon, hints of subtle herb spiciness and a long, hoppy, refreshing finish." There wasn't a long finish for me, and it is not as intense as an IPA, but it tips it's hat towards the hoppiness. A very crisp texture, a perfect beer for a hot summer day.

52: Kipling South Pacific Ale, Thornbridge, 5.2%
Very passion fruitlike aromas. Rounded bitterness. Very carbonated. No where near as pale. More of a head than the other beer. Peachy flavours as well as passion fruit, and a more intense bitterness than Wild Swan. A single hop pale ale,  made from Nelson Sauvin.  A really tasty beer. Is this effectively an IPA? Is it outside the guidelines for pale ale, or did they have to make it this strong to hold up to the Nelson Sauvin hop because it is so bitter?

I think that the Kipling is really tasty, and I preferred it over the Wild Swan. However, the Wild Swan, being packed with flavour despite being a pale ale and low in ABV, has so far in my beerticking quest been a rare find, and therefore I think it is a winner too.

I hope I've learned from being judgemental and learned not to overlook any style of beer due to previous conceptions.