Tesco's beer choice

[Lesinge]

Last night a group of us bought and drank the following beers from Tescos (other supermarkets are available). Salt - Huckaback, Salt - Denim, Northern Monk - Faith, Northern Monk - Death Star2 and Vocation Imperial Banana Stout. I don't know if anyone has tried these but I have to say the latter two put me off drinking Imperial stouts - the Northern Monk is very complex and is amazing at first but a 440 can is far too much - mayne a 3rd of a pint would be perfect. The Vacation one was far too sweet and chemically to me. I was toying with the idea of brewing an IS but not now. It would have to be in a tiny batch as it would just be a waste of grains at 23L. Of the three other beers my favourite was Denim although the two were pretty good.

 

[Dads_Ale]

I am sorry to hear that you have been put off brewing an IS by your experience with the commercial beers. Some of these breweries try way too hard to be hip (why would you add banana to an IS, it has more than enough flavour to stand on its own).
I recently brewed an IS from an American recipe that was for 19L. I brewed it out to 32L which dropped the ABV down to a very pleasant 8% (ish). It is definitely a sipper but is packed full of flavour and very moorish. I have it in a corny so can pour as much or as little as I want.

 

[YeastFace]

Disagree on Death Star. Agree on Imperial Vocation's Imperial Kirsch is a blinder, but the banana one wasn't for me. Like you I found the flavour quite chemically/syntehtic.

Both of these are flavoured, so you may want to try some straight Imperial Stouts as they may ve more to your liking and make you want to brew something similar.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Les, I love a RIS. They do vary. You just may have not found your goto yet.

try and get hold of this...

https://brooklynbrewery.com/brooklyn-beers/limited/black-chocolate-stout/
It's what made my start doing my own.

 

[Lesinge]

Les, I love a RIS. They do vary. You just may have not found your goto yet.

try and get hold of this...

https://brooklynbrewery.com/brooklyn-beers/limited/black-chocolate-stout/
It's what made my start doing my own.

Thanks, I will seek this one out and give it a go...I like dark and chocolatey beers but not ones that are cloying which I found the two beers last night to be. First time in ages that I have thrown beer away.

 

[Lesinge]

Disagree on Death Star. Agree on Imperial Vocation's Imperial Kirsch is a blinder, but the banana one wasn't for me. Like you I found the flavour quite chemically/syntehtic.

Both of these are flavoured, so you may want to try some straight Imperial Stouts as they may ve more to your liking and make you want to brew something similar.

I will give them a go

 

[Lesinge]

I am sorry to hear that you have been put off brewing an IS by your experience with the commercial beers. Some of these breweries try way too hard to be hip (why would you add banana to an IS, it has more than enough flavour to stand on its own).
I recently brewed an IS from an American recipe that was for 19L. I brewed it out to 32L which dropped the ABV down to a very pleasant 8% (ish). It is definitely a sipper but is packed full of flavour and very moorish. I have it in a corny so can pour as much or as little as I want.

I will need a few days away from the memory of those last night but will give them another chance - just not those particular beers!

 

[DavidDetroit]

Aside from aging imperial stouts in a whiskey barrel, maple syrup barrel or maybe adding a dash of coffee, I wouldn't monkey around with other fancy additions.
I'm unfamiliar with your available stock so I wouldn't know which one to recommend besides the Gulden Draak Imperial Stout which I thought was really good.

 

[Hanglow]

Would agree with not giving up on them. Harveys' one is good, as is Fullers if you want a more trad type. Some of the modern takes on it are as appalling but some are good, that banana one sounds awful to my tastes

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

Would agree with not giving up on them. Harveys' one is good, as is Fullers if you want a more trad type.

Have you noticed Fullers haven't produced one this year? It took their social media people well over a week to get back to me when I DM'd the on Twitter and the message I left on their answer machine still hasn't been refurned.

 

[An Ankoù]

Disagree on Death Star. Agree on Imperial Vocation's Imperial Kirsch is a blinder, but the banana one wasn't for me. Like you I found the flavour quite chemically/syntehtic.

Both of these are flavoured, so you may want to try some straight Imperial Stouts as they may ve more to your liking and make you want to brew something similar.

Nothing personal. Far from it, but I struggle to see any of these horrors as beer! What's the point of carefully choosing and blending malts and hops and yeast, to bring out the best of all three, to then overpower it with bananas or mangoes, or even chocolate? As for cherries and raspberries, they work well in a kriek because the lambic and the fruit complement each other, but I've tasted both fruits mixed with other beers, made by respectable breweries, and they don't cut the dash. True, I've made a batch of raspberry beer by infusing 4Kg of raspberries in a batch of Summer Lightning, but that was to avoid throwing away the raspberries. It's sour as hell and will be great fot the grandkids on a hot summer's day! While they're at it, I'll be drinking the Summer Lightning or, more likely, a recent discovery of Gladfield's Nyoo Zilund Pilsner, which, having bottled it yesterday, has all the hallmarks of being the best beer I've made this year.
Nope. mixing all this shi'ite with good ale is an attempt at gilding the lily as far as I can see, and I'm not surprised it doesn't really work.
A subtle, almost discernable, hint of coriander and orange peel in those Belgian styles that use it, is not at all what I'm objecting to. These serve to bring out the best of the ingredients rather than overpowering them.
Having said all that, my Imperial Brussels Sprout and Liver shandy is spoken very highly of in polite circle, I understand and I was thinking of putting on a sage and onion version for the festering season.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I have a vocation banana stout down the shed. Im a bit scared to try it now. Maybe I should have the kirsh one instead on xmas day. I love that one.

The only beer pour I had was a leroy stout and yet the the same company do hommel bier which is awesome. I suppose even the best breweries have a T_URD amongst the diamonds.

 

[Lesinge]

Nothing personal. Far from it, but I struggle to see any of these horrors as beer! What's the point of carefully choosing and blending malts and hops and yeast, to bring out the best of all three, to then overpower it with bananas or mangoes, or even chocolate? As for cherries and raspberries, they work well in a kriek because the lambic and the fruit complement each other, but I've tasted both fruits mixed with other beers, made by respectable breweries, and they don't cut the dash. True, I've made a batch of raspberry beer by infusing 4Kg of raspberries in a batch of Summer Lightning, but that was to avoid throwing away the raspberries. It's sour as hell and will be great fot the grandkids on a hot summer's day! While they're at it, I'll be drinking the Summer Lightning or, more likely, a recent discovery of Gladfield's Nyoo Zilund Pilsner, which, having bottled it yesterday, has all the hallmarks of being the best beer I've made this year.
Nope. mixing all this shi'ite with good ale is an attempt at gilding the lily as far as I can see, and I'm not surprised it doesn't really work.
A subtle, almost discernable, hint of coriander and orange peel in those Belgian styles that use it, is not at all what I'm objecting to. These serve to bring out the best of the ingredients rather than overpowering them.
Having said all that, my Imperial Brussels Sprout and Liver shandy is spoken very highly of in polite circle, I understand and I was thinking of putting on a sage and onion version for the festering season.

I once tried to get a friend who did great fruit infused spirits to do a smoked Mackeral one - I thought it would appeal to fish lovers

 

[Donegal john]

Nothing personal. Far from it, but I struggle to see any of these horrors as beer! What's the point of carefully choosing and blending malts and hops and yeast, to bring out the best of all three, to then overpower it with bananas or mangoes, or even chocolate? As for cherries and raspberries, they work well in a kriek because the lambic and the fruit complement each other, but I've tasted both fruits mixed with other beers, made by respectable breweries, and they don't cut the dash. True, I've made a batch of raspberry beer by infusing 4Kg of raspberries in a batch of Summer Lightning, but that was to avoid throwing away the raspberries. It's sour as hell and will be great fot the grandkids on a hot summer's day! While they're at it, I'll be drinking the Summer Lightning or, more likely, a recent discovery of Gladfield's Nyoo Zilund Pilsner, which, having bottled it yesterday, has all the hallmarks of being the best beer I've made this year.
Nope. mixing all this shi'ite with good ale is an attempt at gilding the lily as far as I can see, and I'm not surprised it doesn't really work.
A subtle, almost discernable, hint of coriander and orange peel in those Belgian styles that use it, is not at all what I'm objecting to. These serve to bring out the best of the ingredients rather than overpowering them.
Having said all that, my Imperial Brussels Sprout and Liver shandy is spoken very highly of in polite circle, I understand and I was thinking of putting on a sage and onion version for the festering season.

Oh dear who woke up the grinch
Some of them are lovely for a one off beer but totally agree with the banana one
Chocolate in a stout is as old as time and I love a good chocolate stout but it can be done with malt and not by adding a bar of dairy milk in saying that I’m just talking to a brewer and a cake maker about a colab in the new year ! We talking about a raspberry ruffle and white choclate stout sorry @An Ankoù

 

[An Ankoù]

chocolate stout but it can be done with malt and not by adding a bar of dairy milk i

Some of you may remember from last year that some of us decided to have a go at brewing the same Christmas beer and we even voted on the style and recipe- which turned out to be chocolate stout. Some of us made out intrerpretation and that's the last we all heard of it. The recipe called for coco nibs, but, knowing I wouldn't like it, tried to get the chocolate flavour through the malts mix, invert sugars and by using Phoenix hops, which are alleged to have a bit of a chocolaty twang to them. The attempt was successful. It tasted unmistakably of chocolate and I hated it. There are still a dozen bottles left if anyone wants to come and try one. Having reminded myself of this fact, I'll try one myself tomorrow. I think I made a jolly good job of the beer, in fact, it's just that I don't like it. i love Phoenix hops in a bitter, by the way.