Just came back from the bottle shop. Domestic (NE)IPAs cost more than I thought. Between €3,75 - €7,00+. “DDH” anything is more costly, obviously. So the “DDH” beers are in €6,50+ price range. There were other people behind me in the queue so I didn’t ask about fridge beer prices.
€43,00 for this box today
Oh, I saw AleSmith’s Speedway Stout Espresso and Madagascar Vanilla on the shelf. Has anyone tried it? I think I’m gonna get it next time.
Speedway was good - I haven’t had it in a long time.
Some can designs are not good. Texts are tiny, important info is either not listed or literally impossible to see.
Natural Frequency - NEIPA -Sloop Brewing - NY, USA. 6,1%
With flaked oats & wheat. Sabro & Motueka hops.
Very dry. Thanks to the oat flakes, for giving the beer its characteristic haziness and also body (medium, but barely). Without the oat and wheat I think it would be thin. Tastes of lemon or lime zest, not very “juicy”. Subtle hop smell and taste. This beer drinks more like a Witbier or Weissbier (without the typical strong banana smell) to me. Actually, after the very first sip I thought I got a “good” Witbier. 6.1% is not outrageous but alcoholic warmth surprises me.
There is waaaay better stuff in a sea of NEIPA nowadays. Nice try.
Thanks! Next time I go beer shopping. Already got their coffee stout.
Have you checked the canning day at the bottom of the can ? NEIPA tend to lose the juicy part very fast if they not drunk within 1-2 months (assuming cold transportation which might be an issue with US beers in Europe). I had a few NEIPA really fresh which had all the typical juicy/tropical characteristics and then the same beer out of an older can (~3 months old) and the flavor profile was very different with juiciness pretty much missing and stronger citrus flavors
Meadows of Heaven - West Coast IPA - Browar Gollem - Poland. 7,5%
Hops: El Dorado, sultana, Columbus
Smells faintly acidic and fruity. Tastes juicy and fruity with a low sweetness but also a bit sour mixed in. (Fermented) peach and nectarine, some mango. Medium bodied, just a little dry and bitter. Soft and juicy with almost no traces of soap. Reminds me of of AleSmith’s version of the same style but AleSmith’s is in another league.
I’m starting to enjoy West coast IPA, a style I previously went out of my way to avoid in the early IPA drinking days. All the W-C IPAs I have been drinking lately have all been ranging from very nice to super delicious, and/or interesting. So glad I gave this style another chance.
Cloud Batch #4 - NEIPA- White Dog Brewery - Netherlands. 7,4%
Brewed with citra, incognito, cryo, T90, London Fog. Also contains oat flakes (beer is thick and hazy).
Creamy, fruity, juicy, hoppy. Full of sweet tropical fruits. Bitter and dry. A lot like a DDH NEIPA.
A solid and delicious NEIPA. This little brewery has nailed it. If one can’t make a decent NEIPA these days then they are not competent. The pressure is high as this style has become very popular.
I’m Your Barista - Colombia DSB Pink Bourbon - Coffee imperial stout - Maltgarden brewery - Poland. 11%
Creamy and thick. Very sweet. More chocolate-y rather than coffee. Some liquorice, borderline soy sauce (but not in a bad way). A touch of salinity, just enough to notice its presence and no more. At 11% the alcohol is well hidden at first. Medium bodied, creamy with a low dryness. Long lasting sweetness. Have to take my time with this one. Too sweet, but still tolerable.
Sourbit Mango & Apricot - Fruited Sour - Hopalaa! Brewery - Latvia. 7% 9 IBU
Brewed with Mango and apricot, sea salt, lactose and vanilla bean.
Hazy with floating bits. Drink like a fruit juice because the alcohol is well hidden. A little dry and tart. Watery. Lactose becomes more apparant only near the end with the rest of the sediments that’s now more concentrated. No sea salt that I can taste. I don’t detect any vanilla, but maybe it’s me. I need more than a drop, or a substantial amount of vanilla to taste it in a sourish/tart drink.
Sour but but my ears are not steaming like some Gose I have been drinking lately.
I check the more expensive ones. They do remove expired beers from the shelf when they do inventory so pretty sure they don’t sell old stuff.
Freshness is critical for this style [(NE)IPA]. The degradation could be a result of transport or storage, handling etc. But not all (NE)IPA from distant lands I have had is like that. Even domestic ones the quality can be subpar so it could be a combination of several factors.
Gnar-Gnar by Lead Dog Brewing (Reno, NV) - DIPA
A bit of a middle-of-the-road DIPA with notes of lemon, grapefruit and orange, followed by some moderate piney notes and a medium bitter finish. Nothing wrong with it but also nothing which sets it apart from many similar DIPAs
Hank the Tank by Jackrabbit Brewing Company (West Sacramento) - IPA
West coast IPA with citrus notes upfront which are immediately taken over by a lot of piney, resiny flavors which dominate the beer. Dry and quite bitter finish - overall not bad but also a bit one-dimensional.
Island Sherburps Slush by Alvarado Street Brewery (Monterey, CA) - Fruited Sour
Fruited sours can be fantastic but they need to be balanced - unbalanced ones are often to sour but this one is unusual as it is missing the sour component. It’s great tropical fruit juice but only sweet with no sourness - there is a point when “beer” is no longer a beer.
The beers are quite OK. Wouldn’t mind drinking them every day whilst on holiday in the area. The Kloster Brauerei (“Monastery Brewery”) is about 18km from my base village. We rented bikes to get around.
Food we had with the beers: sausage salad and pork collar steak.
Former monastery converted into brewery in a soul-calming setting. It’s a big place with several halls. We sat outside but next time it’ll be inside.
There’s also a little shop where you can buy some to take home. Many Germans buy a case/box or 2. They do the same when Riesling tasting.
Interesting.
I rarely have a sour that’s mildly sour, most often enamel meltingly so. and Gose that are super sour. Some NEIPAs taste just like fruit juices. Which is nice but completely misses the point of NEIPA.
Just wanna say, thanks for taking the time to share your vacations with us! 
Black Shark - Imperial Black IPA - Camba Brewery - Bavaria, Germany. 8,5% 100 IBU
Hops: Columbus, Chinook, Simcoe, Centennial, Crystal.
Not my style (“imperial” “black IPA”) but the IBU got my attention all right. Very roasty, heavy roasted coffee and a little less chocolate, liquorice. Dry and bitter but fruity. Alcoholic. Needs to take it easy with this one but it’s very nice. Saw 2 Camba beers in Edeka supermarket. Gonna get the other one next time.
Hanse-Porter - Störtebeker Braumanufaktur - Stralsund, Germany. 4%
Malty and very sweet. Weak coffee flavour and soft. The partner has to drink most of it for me.
Seems Störtebeker has a wide distribution network in Germany. I have come across their beers in many places in the country. I much, much prefer Rügener Insel-Brauerei farther east of Stralsund.
Dunkel Weizen - (Dark wheat beer) - Klosterbrauerei Machern - Germany. 5%
It’s supposed to be a seasonal beer but didn’t see it on tap at the brew pub. Thin and tastes of mild caramel. Not so strong smell of ripe bananas which is better for me. This Dunkel Weizen’s taste is too weak and soft. I drank their normal Weissbier on tap at the brewery and that was a lot better.
Thank you! If only I had more time and energy at the end of a long day Riesling tasting, biking, walking, eating. 
Stoertebeker was one of the beers we had in Germany on our last trip to see family (before the pandemic) and we tried different styles and all of them were strangely sweet.
I know it’s a tough gig, but somebody has to do this hard work you’re doing! Hope to be seeing these reports for years to come. 
Double Mango Sour by Untitled Art (Waunakee, WI) - Fruited Sour
Great example how a fruited sour should be done - strong, natural flavor of mango but not overly and more showcasing the fruitiness. And a great balance of sour towards the finish which again is not overwhelming but complementing - one of the best sours in a long time.
A new beer at our local Bermondsey Best. A Best bitter from a brewery, well in Bermondsey, about a mile and a half from where I am. The bar person was also new and obviously wasn’t used to hand pulled beers from an actual barrel. Normally if you got something this frothy, you’d inquire jokingly if they would " put a flake in it" (1) . As she was new and bit nervous I decided not to uphold the tradition.
(1)anyone seeking clarification on a very British reference will find it here.
We made our own 99 Flake, using a Flake bar and soft serve from the local Frostee-Freez, but it wasn’t quite the same as the real thing!
I haven’t had such a nice fruited sour like that, yet.
Usually just too sour/vinegary and unbalanced.
Nebraska (West Coast) IPA - Nebraska brewing Co. - Nebraska, USA. 6,9%
Piney and resinous. Piney hop smell and taste, good bitterness. Some stable yard smell to it (but how?). Long lasting bitter finish.
I guess it’s more “classical West Coast IPA” than say, AleSmith and some others brewed on the west coast. Those are smoother and somehow different.
Anaimalai Flying Frog - NEIPA -Bevog brewery - Austria. 5,9%
First taste is too fizzy on the tongue. Fruity and citrusy, spruce/grass. Medium bitterness, low creamy mouthfeel with a dry finish.
Tundra - Non alcoholic IPA - Põhjala Brewery - Talinn, Estonia. 0,5%
non-alcoholic IPA brewed with spruce tips.
Fizzy water with hop essence added to it. Dry and piney. I feel like drinking from a swamp. Still, it’s not an abomination of a low alcohol beer.
Catching Feelings -DDH hazy pale ale - Frontaal Brewery - Netherlands. 5%
Can’t believe this is “DDH”. OK, drinkable but quite weak for a “DDH” anything. Even my favourite hop Mosaic can’t make it better. Pineapple and some mango. A bit wheaty/oaty. I have had this brewery’s other beers and they were better. So, I’d rather catch flights than feelings.
