Sunday 15 April 2012

Did I see you with IBU?

Morning!

    earlier on today I was able to taste a very special beer indeed. Its made with ingredients, including all those that you would expect to see, then put in casks, sent to a public house, and proceeds from there through beer lines using a pump and out into a pint glass.

Luckily, it managed to be a little more interesting than that....

DCLXV1 (nice catchy name lads!) was brewed by Steel City Brewing, beers they brew, here of using hops fame, and Arbor Ales, who are from Bristol and everything. Its 6.66% and 666IBU. Now, I'm no biochemist (or even a brewer) but I am led to believe that the above International Bitterness Units measurement makes this a very very hoppy beer indeed. And as if to reiterate that, I could smell the hops when the pint was put on the bar in front of me. Wow.


By way of comparison, BrewDog Hardcore IPA has an IBU of 150 (but Punk IPA apparently only 40?) so if you ever tried Hardcore and pulled a lime, salt and tequila face you might expect this Steel City beer to kill your tastebuds. Except it doesn't.

Its a Black IPA in style, granted, and they can often have masses of harsh dry bitter hops in the initial taste, and some Black IPA's, regrettably, fail to balance this out with the malts used and the way this leads through that malt to the aftertaste. This beer, on the other hand, achieves that perfect balance (considering the amount of hops such as Sorachi Ace and Simcoe used) of astringent hop, quickly followed by creamy malt and ushers a mixture of both into the finish, with hoppy flavours lingering long in the mouth.

This may be the best beer I have tried from Steel City Brewing. And its perhaps because the level of threatened bitterness, whilst am sure is there, is incorporated so successfully into the overall flavour. One wonders if perhaps it was the collaboration with Arbor that made the beer so much more balanced? Not for a minute wanting to take anything away from Steel City, but weirdly, I found the hoppiness in this beer nicer and easier on the palate than that in both the Black Hops and the Dark Funeral.....


In fact, the most terrifying or perhaps equally the most impressive thing about this beer was its excellent drinkability. Granted I only had one pint (it was 2 in the afternoon, am not mental) but had I been in for a longer session I reckon I could have put away three quite easily.

Finally, its not clear how much of this will be available and for how long so if you fancy a taste I suggest you get down to the Rutland Arms on Brown Street and get some.

Now to wait for the desperately silly Mikkeller 1000IBU beer, which I understand is served in lead lined tankards....

Wee Beefy   

10 comments:

  1. DCLXVI: To Ride Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth

    \m/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCLXVI:_To_Ride_Shoot_Straight_and_Speak_the_Truth

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    1. Thanks, heard some Entomed years ago on an Earache sampler (I think), not followed them but its nice to see where Dave Unpronouncable is coming from. Perhaps I could start calling it 666, which is lets face it, a tad more catchy.

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  2. Excellent write up.

    Living down south (Swindon) I'm lucky enough to come across Arbor Ales quite often - so much so that they have become my favourite UK brewer.

    The DCLXVI is great beer - in some ways it's almost like a heavily hopped Imperial Stout - and the best Black IPA, which is style I'm not normally a fan of, that I've encountered.

    The first pint of it I had was shortly after noon and the first drink of the day. The initial couple of gulps were crazy and demanding but still deliciously drinkable. Lovely stuff.

    Cheers.

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    1. Thanks Landells, I am quite envious of your proximity to Arbor outlets.

      I too rated this as a very good Black IPA. I had the Magic 8 Ball from Magic Rock (sadly keykeg only), and their Balck Arts on cask on Thuursday and they set the bar pretty high, but Steel Ciity and Arbor still cleared it with aplomb.

      I wonder whether the style is coming of age - 4 of the last 6 I tried have been brilliant - if you get the balance right like in this one, you get an amazing beer. Lets hope ther's plenty more to come.

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  3. I might have to have a go at this if I can get out for lunch. I have had the Mikkeller 1000IBU one, while it was OK it wasn't my favourite, definitely one for the end of the night!

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    1. I Read an interesting review on ratebeer, which is not something I usually do. One reviewer at least suggested it was in fact incredibly sweet, not really llike a beer at all. I may stick to more "regular" Mikkeller output (if that's even possible).

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    2. If you can, try "I beat you" which was on at the same night I had the 1000IBU one. It was really strong, don't get me wrong, but it felt almost as hoppy but a lot more drinkable.

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    3. I saw a review on porter pages I think.

      You say "on" - does this mean it was on draught? If so where? Never seen Mikkeller on draught, although APU cost would be a worry....

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  4. And had one. Well, isn't that just a punch to the head (but instead of a fist, it's a big ball of hops)

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    1. Yeah, a welcome high alpha beating. Like me you probably summised its not really a dinnertime pint....

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