"Would you like a smoke and a pancake?"
Just as the courteous velour-clad Dutch villain, Goldmember, welcomed Austin Powers in the 2002 Mike Myers vehicle, so do the Beerland Brewing team for their June 2018 limited release, albeit with King Gee-styled brewers' shirts; I’m pretty confident Ken Arrowsmith isn’t signing off on any fluffy shell-suits just for this release. Or should that be "releases"?
“Twins, Basil. Twins”
Smoke And A Pancake is the brewery’s first foray into barrel ageing, but more on that later. Like a maniacal breakfast chef, the original flips the American brown style with 15 percent German smoked malt and maple syrup. Understandably, the smokey rauch characters are prominent but so too are caramel and chocolate in this full-bodied beer that’s lifted somewhat by the carbonation. Although some sweetness is present, the maple characters are subtle and long gone by the time the dry finish arrives.
But what about the barrel aged variant?
“Excuse me while I change. The Roller Boogie has made me sweaty, yeah”
The bourbon barrel aged variant sees the ex-Jack Daniels barrels adding light elements of vanilla, oak, barrel spice and a hint of bourbon to proceedings but what immediately grabs the attention is the tart edge that has thinned the body and added length to the palate. Whether intended or not, the barrel aged version has evolved into something akin to a light, smoked Tennessee Flanders brown†, something that worked very well with the smoked duck course at its Beer Club launch.
Guy Southern
† Is this your attempt at inventing a new style, Southern?
Published June 25, 2018 2018-06-25 00:00:00
