David and Walker are drinking a different beer each day* for an entire year, 365 beers in all, starting August 5th, 2010. We're writing about our daily regime to share the experiences and delicious discoveries with our friends and mild acquaintances to inspire YOU to bring previously unknown beers to your lips. (*limit one new beer per day consumed before midnight, no catch up days allowed)
Had Mantastic day with Nick G and Nic -shooting pistols and shotguns at the range in the morning, then In-And-Out followed by watching the bloody SUPER starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page in the afternoon, then beers at Cabo Cantina. I capped off the man-day by bottling my latest homebrew (whose title I've changed), Heisenberg's Honey Wheat.
Kinda ran into a problem though. I've made three homebrews in the last three months and I'm incredibly low on unused bottles. Either David and I needed to drink 10 bottles or it was time to dive into previous bottles we've drunk and saved and see if I can sufficiently clean them out in time to bottle. Much to David's disappointment, I was able to save enough Stone brews (which we drank in October!) to bottle the batch, although we still drank Belgian Home Brews - ya know - just in case we needed more bottles. I decided to spray paint the Stone label to avoid confusion. The result was a bottle as bloody as the film SUPER.
I dig the barleywines and I'm excited to try this. It has a VERY rich malt of caramel and toffee. It's fun to drink, but I think it's way too sweet still and needs time to age. Love the big malt though, and this characteristic reminds me of Stone's Double Bastard. I'm very tempted to buy this and age it another year in the closet. It could be a Transformers, but currently it's simply ARMAGEDDON.
Karl found a steal of a deal out in Westlake Village Saturday afternoon - wine tasting - 26 wines for $15 dollars. I know right? CrazyFunTime. Tiffany joined us for the trip out to Bellavino, a really cool restaurant Bellavino Wine Bar. I ended up actually sampling 15 wines, rather than getting drunk on all 26 (look at me being all sorts of mature). But then we went to Ladyface Alehouse house down the road and kept drinking, so, yeah.
AND hopefully I'll be as awesome as this guy later in life. Hey darling, you color and I'll drink! Everybody wins, yayyyy.
Her face lit up like it was Christmas when the tasting arrived. Then it fell when she realized it wasn't for her.
This isn't my first time at the alehouse but it was my first time seeing the Blind Ambition Belgian Abbey beer, so I went for it.
I like the ladyface ales, but my chief complaint for the majority of their ales are that they're "too clean." With the exception of the Chesboro DIPA, the bodies of the beer are too light for the alcohol. However, the Abbey Ale doesn't succumb to the "too clean" problem. It's very drinkable with brown sugar and caramel notes, but it lacks the complexity I expect a Belgian Abbey to embody. THE ISLAND rating.
I couldn't pronounce this until I heard the bartender say it, so it seems worthy for my beer tonight (my standards are pretty shot this late in the week).
10.3% alcohol! Thank you doctor for that perscription. The alcohol is masked well thanks to a BIG fruit and piny hop bite. I didn't enjoy my first sip but it grew on me. Stu, a fellow I met who's in town from Pasadena for a concert on Sunset, loves it and he's a big hop head. I'm liking this a lot, it's just a really intense beer. It's like the Arrogant Bastard of IPA's. THE ROCK rating.
We had a big group tonight come out, including the regulars above - Rhiannon, Matt and Tiffany. Here's the whole group!
We all hit up Baby Blues afterwords. Nothing great than Foosball, Beer and BBQ. Party on
For our traditional Thursday night brew with Karl, we're at The Father's Office in Culver City with Karl, Laua, Nick G, Nic and AJ for some amazing burgers and brews. This burger never gets old!
We tried an "Altbier" at the brew store while picking up supplies for my last homebrew, the Heisenberg, and tonight I figure it could compliment the burger.
Here is the definition of an "Altbier" from beeradvocate.com
A Düsseldorf specialty, an Altbier is a German style brown ale, the “alt” literally translates to "old" in German, and traditionally Altbiers are conditioned for a longer than normal periods of time. Other sources note that "alt" is derived from the Latin word "altus," which means "high" and refers to the rising yeast. Take your pick, but the extended conditioning mellows out the ale's fruitiness and produces an exceptionally smooth and delicate brew.
Brown ale is the perfect pairing for meat! Deliciousness prevails. The beer has a clean and subtle lager-like profile. I'm tasting toffee and caramel and a bit of heavy roast/chocolate at the end. If I owned a restaurant, I would pimp this style of beer out (if I could find my hands on any - who else makes this style?). TRANSFORMERS rating.
Great to see everyone tonight! Goodbye March and hello April.
I have 10 minutes to run into the Surly Goat before grinding my way through Hollywood traffic for a free screening of HOP (not a documentary on my favorite beer component, Hops, but rather that Easter Bunny movie starring Russell Brand). It's hard to say NO to anything with FREE in the subject line, even after college.
9 minutes and counting, the quarterback is going with a hot route and looking for some Devotion from the Featured Beer board.
I see many Lost Abbey beers but have never really tried them. The Devotion is a Belgian Pale Ale with 6.25% alcohol. 7 minutes and counting. It has a hefty belgian body and it's kinda how I expect the movie to go - mellow and relatively smooth, pleasing with your standard doughy notes.
3 minutes. Towards the end, I'm realizing how sweet it is and I'm picking up some great spice. The spice saves this beer and makes it different from other Belgian Pales. I'm glad I slowed down and was able to taste it. I like this brew, it's worth taking a glass on it. TRANSFORMERS rating.
(I was totally on time for the flick but wasn't a fan of it. Guess I finally grew up and I'm not a Toy-R-Us kid anymore)
A lot of people buy wine bottles solely based on the wine label. I suppose if you know nothing about wine then go with what's pretty, right? I followed suit in selecting this beer. There's a funny little man on front label with scoliosis. He probably made this beer to help pay for his mdeical bills, which practically makes me a humanitarian...in some alter-reality.
The Ale of the Hermit is pretty malty and has the qualities of an amber or brown ale. This reminds me of an ale my college friend Fuentes would drink. He likes brown ales and also dressed up as a Mexican Hobbit one Halloween. I feel like this brew is more a Bilbo than a Frodo. There isn't much here though (nothing against hobbits, of course). The Island rating.
Upon further investigation online, I discover it's a Double IPA. What the nards? David and I both thought this was a brown or amber ale, or even possibly a Scottish beer. That was coming from two people who drink a shameful amount of IPA's and they didn't guess that this is a DOUBLE IPA!
Apparently hermits are very confused about style, beer and fashion wise. This hermit probably wears 80's parachute pants with an Native American Headdress, like MC Hammer on Mescaline. Speaking of crazy, he also apparently he makes an IPA that exudes few IPA characteristics. This hermit is insulting to every other recluse. Boo, go back to your cave dwelling Downgraded to TRANSFORMERS 2.
I'm back from an evening Krav Maga class (martial arts) where I spent the last hour bear hugging people and learning how to defend against it. I need a drink and a shower badly (in that order). Karl is here to kill some zombies on Call of Duty and there's a big tasty brew in the fridge from a local brewery we love to visit (3 times and counting). The shower can wait.
Let me talk about this picture for a second: I mean, yeah, I'm sure girls find this cute and all...but really, WTF? Also, don't lions eat their young? Realize this magazine exists solely to sell statues for your garden. I want to meet the person whose flowerbed has a statue that depicts elements of a Serengeti wildlife refuge. Right now!
Anywho, this brew is quite pleasing. It's a Belgian Strong Pale ale by style but it's also very sweet and doughy. Duvel is a Belgian Strong Pale, but this falls more into the category of a North Coast Pranqster, which is the same style but a very different looking and tasting beer (also one of our favorites). It's a little cloudy and with the thick bread characteristics, it's reminiscent of a German Hefe. And thank you for the 8.5% alcohol (heyohh). I like it. It's very drinkable and fairly unique. A (high) TRANSFORMERS rating.
You can pick it up in SoCal at your local Whole Foods. Can't wait to get back to the Bootleggers brewery!
The day has come! Hoorayyy! Belgian Red, my first real experimental beer, is ready to drink. This was me when I woke up. David was Paul Pierce, the guy just running around after sinking a game winning shot:
So here is the Belgian Red Recipe. I have to say, it pours beautifully. Many home brews don't have great carbonation, but look at how much head it pours with! Awesomeness.
David says that you could have told him that this was the Belgian IPA we brewed and he would believe it. The IBU's are only at 50, opposed to the 80+ we have in our Belgian, but it's still quite hoppy. David also said, and I have to quote him because I'm proud, that the beer's "good quality exhibits my experience." Happy to report I'm getting better and not worse with age. Score.
Tell you what, it's different than I expected but I'm still very happy with it and it tastes delicious. The color pours beautifully but the flavor doesn't scream red ale, rather, the beer exhibits some light caramel flavors and the sweetness of a Belgian strong ale. There is considerably less caramel flavor than a Belgian Dubbel but there's definitely considerably more caramel than a Belgian Golden. I was hoping for a more "red" flavor profile, but this was the first recipe and I'll add more caramel notes next time. Otherwise, I'm VERY excited to share this with people in the coming weeks. It's tasty.
After sampling, we went onto "sample" more beer with Christine who is up from Newport and with Sara. It's time for a little Sunday Funday.
We checked out a bier garden on the Venice boardwalk. It's been a while since I've strolled the chaos that is Venice beach and I forgot how entertaining it is - that and how many dogs there are int he world. David brought Kamari (under the table in the picture above) and we settled in for a pitcher of Erdinger Dunkel, German puffed pasta and mozzarella sticks ordered by yours truly (not very German of me).
Sunday Funday continued with Sangria at Primitivo Wine Bistro. Guess what else is on Abbott Kenney? The Other Room. The beer of the day is now 3 out of 4 days from this bar. Starting to run out of options...Psych! Their menu is Laaarge.
Even though I know nothing about apricots (I have no idea what they smell or look like), I welcome any beer that can incorporate unusual elements in to make a balanced brew. Sam Caligione is the king of this, so I'm very excited to taste this.
I'm trusting Christine and Sara to help me out with the aroma. They say the Aprihop smells like a bag of dried apricots and weed. HA, silly girls - that's Dogfish Heads signature HOPS. But to be fair, hops are a distant cousin of the green cheeva that is so prevalent in this area. I blame it on the hippies. The fruit in this beer is very well balanced with the hops. I'm not a fan of fruit beers but I love this because the fruit and hops are so subtle. It's simply a well made beer. THE ROCK rating.
David announced that his next beer will be an Imperial Red, like Drake's Denoggenizer. I'm going to use my tax refund money like Ninkasi (the Sumerian goddess of fermentation) would want me too and invest in equipment to brew my first partial-mash beer. Time to step up home brewing a notch and get serious about this!
This is more of a social post than beer post, but sometimes that's what happens. Saturday I headed over to Aaron B's to meet David and co, I pickup some Hop Juice because this is what awaits me:
Yeah, that happened. Aaron has a deep fryer I didn't know about and they cooked up fried pickles, fried duck, and some amazing fried catfish, which was David's handiwork.
Everyone was on the couch moaning about how the fried food took a toll on them but I paid them no heed. Turned out to be the wrong call and my stomach hated me later, but you only live once. Guess which food was on deck? Twinkies? No, we're still hungry - so why wait?
Fried Snickers!
Snickers give you wings..?
Pretty gnarly right? Pretty weird that the Snickers grew little mutant fried stumps. Those are fried Blintzes on the right. Both were really gooey and delicious. At the end of the evening though, I felt like there was a brick in my stomach
Anywho, beer time. Hop Juice is a solid DIPA. Alcohol clocks in at 9.9% alcohol and you can definitely taste it. As far as the hops go, it has a big bite which social IPA drinkers may not enjoy, but the hop enthused will dig. ARMAGEDDON rating. Between the alcohol and the hops, it's just the big beer I needed for all this fried nonsense.
David went to a Clippers game so I got to take Kamari for a stroll on Abbott Kenney, the best walkin street in Venice. I love dog-sitting that dog. I had more beer at The Other Room later, including Maredsous 8 and Arrogant Bastardo.
Fried meat, fried dessert, good dog and good beer. Awesomeness prevails.
I'm fairly weary of beer names that tout a purported some sort of self-descriptive (see my article on HopStoopid), but Kern River has a reason to thump their chest, they made a great session IPA.
I promised last week that I'd show you the Unhappy Goat, so without further ado--
This guy looks like a....Saul. Saul the Surly Goat. Sounds right.
Foosball game is in full swing. The IPA is right around my favorite alcohol level, 6.8%. Not too much, not too little. There's a pretty big hop bite but I like it! It's like a distinctive bourbon, like Bookers. It's not for everyone, but those who like a bite and hair on their chest, love it (like this guys). This is the perfect IPA for Hop Heads who like that bite. THE ROCK rating.
With David, Karl, Tiff and Tierney gathered at The Other Room after work, I feel like it's going to be a big night. Tiffany is drinking Chimay for the first time (big step! Chimay is many peoples' 'gateway' or 'enlightenment beer), Karl is being bold with the Oaked Arrogant Bastard and David and I are going big with a Double Stout (8.8% alcohol). Green Flash is well known for their IPA's, but I know nothing about the rest of their game.
This stout is liquid dessert! A heavy chocolate aroma and flavor profile. It's dank, very rich but nicely balanced.
Midway through the pint, the chocolate is a little overwhelming but it's still enjoyable. This would be AMAZING as a beer float. Amazing. THE ROCK rating.
While I've been typing this out, the conversation has turned to bulldykes for some reason. Time to wrap this post up and focus on what's important....
POST SCRIPT - After The Other Room, Karl had a hankering to buy some Pranqster at Whole Foods and eat it with a burger at their bar. Unfortunately, Whole Foods thwarted our plans by revealing a brand new rule that forbids customers from buying a bottle of beer and bringing it to their bar (which only has 4 beers on tap). Karl is ingenious and he grabbed a bottle and 5 seafood chowder cups. Before long we were drinking the delicious golden nectar in my car in the parking lot, like we were back in high school. Actually, I never drank in high school so I suppose the experience is long overdue (we also paid a neighborhood street urchin to keep a lookout for the Fuzz, obvi). Soon after we were diving into enchiladas and $2 Dos Equis at La Cabana. And just like Keyser Soze, my one drink-a-night streak was gone. The streak lasted 10 days. It's far longer than I would've given myself though, HA. Baby steps Walker, baby steps.
I've had three other Ninkasi's and love'm all. I dig their company name; Ninkasi is the Sumerian Goddess of Fermentation, which is rad because Sumerians literally worshiped their beer (I could actually tell you why, thanks to reading "A History Of The World In Six Glasses"). The company motto is:
Beer is a staple of civilization. Worship the Goddess.
Love'n it! Great motto. The company has thus far excellent consistency in their brews and their Tricerahops, their double IPA, really grabbed me and I've been unable to let them out of my mind since. This is their standard IPA and guess how excited I am to drink it---
That and I got a new haircut. What up!
The color is is slightly more golden than typical American IPA's and the taste reflects a more subdued caramel profile. It's 6.7% alcohol and 65 IBU and the brew has a well balanced malt and hop combination. This would pair excellent with food and wouldn't overwhelm the palate. This has everything I look for in an easy drinking IPA. It's $4 for a 22oz bomber at BevMo. I love this company, the beer, the energy behind it and especially the motto (my nerdness is showing again). Pick this up and you won't be disappointed. THE ROCK rating.
After funghi pizza dinner at Jones in Weho with an old friend JBo, I get a call from David who wants to have our beers out of the apartment tonight. Luckily I'm moments away from beer haven Surly Goat and I drag Jen there with me to catch the Lakers triple overtime game.
It's a Warhead on steroids; a supernova of exploding sourness. It's incredibly tart and mildly refreshing. Guess what? I really, really don't like tart beers. I like trying new things, however, there has been only one sour ale which I consumed exactly halfway through the year (Lips of Faith Erics Ale) that has ever successfully wooed me. I will keep drinking American Wild Ales for the experience, but not the pleasure. THE ISLAND rating.
Thanks to Matt M, who weeks ago was gentlemanly enough dropped off this bottle of Golden Draak. It's a holdover from another month, so it's fitting that I'm munching some leftover Singapore Noodles from Chin Chin. Spicy food typically goes well with IPA's but Belgian's are the ultimate all-purpose beer. Thanks Matt!
The Draak is an unusual style of beer, a dark tripel. Usually dark Belgians are dubbels, but this brew clocks in at 10.5% so it's officially a tripel. Yayyy and the drinkers rejoiced for there was much booze to be had within the Draak.
Right off the bat, I have an issue with the brew. It's super carbonated - overwhelmingly so. Even after allowing time to dissipate - which sucks cause I need some liquid to put out the fiery Singapore noodles - it's still dominates the flavor profile. Wading through it, I love the sweet caramel notes and with time, I'm tasting the fruity dubbel properties.
This beer is well known, but I still can't break past how carbonated this is. It's a great dessert or special occasion beer for sure, but the carbonation personally stops me from drinking this every day. TRANSFORMERS rating
It's been POURING all and night, and there is nothing better after a long and glorious but rainy Sunday Funday than coming home to an 11.2% beer. It warms the body and nourishes the soul. Even better, we had this guy's little brother last week and it was delicious (Ringwood Old Thumper ESA). Double the trouble?!
The best rainy day solution is a really strong boar...I mean beer
Stone essentially made their Double Bastard the bigger, meaner, bolder brother of the Arrogant Bastard. Shipyard follows suit with the Double Thumper and the result is a brew that becomes closer in style to an English Barleywine than an ESB. The caramel notes are more noticeable, with hints of toffee and for such strong alcohol, this beer is too easy to drink. The Double Thumper isn't as delicious as the original Thumper, but I loved it nonetheless for its boldness and ...medicinal properties...so I'm bestowing THE ROCK rating.
Also, saw BATTLE LA today and it was a trip to watch aliens invade the coastline I live on. The police station Aaron Eckhart's team has to rescue and the street of Lincoln that is the first major defense line, are all part of my daily life. And I hate to say it, but if aliens invade, I AM TOAST. David and I will probably have to make a great escape in his kayak; make a run through their blockade. Right...Well, at least we'll probably be drunk on good home brew. Party.
Oh Saturday, I love thee. Time is on my side today. In one week from now, I'm able to taste my Belgian Red. But today, I'm charged with transferring my Heisenberg's American Wheat that I brewed last Sunday (Heisenberg's American Wheat Home Brew) from the bucket to the carboy. The sample tastes fine, but it's a little early still to draw assumptions. However, let the record state that I'm patting myself on the back for the temperature control exerted while this is fermenting. I've definitely been sleeping in what little cold weather clothes I own. The Kolsch yeast works best between 55 and 70 degrees, but the first 24 hours after brewing I brought the temperature up to 72 degrees (to get the yeast working). Then over the course of the week I've slowly decreased the temperature in my room to from 72, to 70 and down to 66. When it's in the carboy I'll sustain a 64 degree temperature and Let It Ride like Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
I realized this is my 4th home brew in as many months, and I've never posted a picture of the trub. You'll see why in a second. Trub is the output of the yeast interaction with the fermentables and what's left after transferring the brew to the carboy. It's essentially heavy fats, proteins and inactive yeast. If left in the bucket for too long, the trub can impart off-flavors.
Yep. Like staring into Satan's butthole
So in transferring the beer to the carboy, we separate it from the trub and allow it to settle, which creates additional color clarity in the beer and precludes the trub from imparting any off flavor.
Wallah!
So now I wait a week or two and then bottle it. It should settle to become a dark yellow - light gold color.
Nick G is coming over for dinner and that means a guys night out filled with Chile con Queso, Steaks, Beer and Mush-Shrooms.
Unlike David, I rarely cook nice meals but fortuitously for me, this beer was actually created to be paired with food. Hailing from Spain, they probably thought we'd be pairing it with more complex food but whatever, American Steak rules. Also, Estrella has a beautiful bottle and I love its shape.
It pours a golden goodness and it's malty smooth. The Damn Inedit is a wit / lager chimera and it definitely has the wit spicy floral and citrus notes and finishes like a sweet lager. They were right about pairing this with food, but steak wasn't the best choice.
Problem is, the beer is decently unique but it never really grabbed me. If this beer was a stranger, it would be someone who had a great ice breaker but was a mediocre conversationalist. Still, it's worth introducing yourself to one mister Estrella Damm Inedit. ARMAGEDDON rating.
Iron Fist Velvet Glove sounds like a Black Sabbath cover band. It also sounds dark, mysterious and a little sexy, right? Well so are Imperial Stouts that clock in at 9%. They're the new red-headed secretaries. You heard it here first.
Stay tuned because next week I'll reveal the face of the Surly Goat! Really wild stuff going on here at MilkisforBabies
I'm definitely starting to appreciate stouts more and more. When I first began the year, stouts were one of my least favorites but not anymore. Smelling a solid chocolate and roasted malt aroma. The alcohol presence is very strong and almost distracting. Still, it's smooth and delicious and an incredibly drinkable imperial stout. BAD BOYS rating.
In a feat of Herculean proportion, I nursed the Velvet Glove for over 2 hours! I'm holding strong to my 1 drink a night rule. Color me impressed (with myself). Thankfully, I had plenty of distractions to turn my attention toward. Props to Don who brought some excellent Foosball players who played the most competitive games I've had here. Lovin' it. And Lisa Z joined the fun at the end of the evening. Another great Friday night at the Goat!
P.S.
Today is a mildly significant milestone and I'm happy to celebrate it at my favorite weekly watering hole, the Surly Goat. The Velvet Glove was beer number 225. 225 days in a row of nourishing beer. That's kinda sumpthin. This is such a great year, so many great experiences with and because of beer. 141 to go...
We don't usually drink beers as widely distributed as Guinness on our beereveryday quest, but it's St. Patty's day, what did you expect?!
My tribute to all things Irish. Specifically fighting and drinking. A timeless photo my parents are certain to scrapbook
We arrived at The Daily Pint and met Karl K, Ned, Andrew G and his friends Jordan and Monica. Even though the group was surrounded by sweat, drunk douchebags, the night turned excellent. We quickly took over the shuffleboard table. Hall and Oates came on the jukebox and it was on like Donkey Kong. First game was epic (have to brag because it was gangster), and I threw what people like this guy (see above) are calling the "Shuffleboard Toss Heard Round The World." A game winning throw with the final puck around Ned's barrier puck to knock his 3 pointer out and mine in. It was - wait for it -
LEGENDARY. We played two more games, all electrifying games of course, and mingled with the other locals. Tiffany, Matt, Tierney and Bryce showed up and took over the table. With steely resolve and I succeeded in not breaking my 'more than one beer a day rule.' I'm still surprised and personally impressed that I've gone a whole 4 days only drinking a single beer per day. I suppose with beer it's always been one day at a time, and not the amount has simply changed.
David picked this up from Beverage Warehouse. It's an English Extra Special Ale that is brewed on American soil under an unwavering British eye of a Ringwood brewery (UK) employee. Why not brew it in England with the rest of their batch? Because they're sticklers for quality and the time it takes to ship is across the pond would drastically reduce it. It's the same reason why Stone is planning to unveil a European brewery in Belgium later this year. Apparently Old Thumper here is on the forefront of the British revival of traditional ales. I haven't tasted a many English ales so this is kinda exciting. Clearly, I'm a huge nerd.
The closest remnants of a thumper I own are in the form of Kangaroo Testicles. Judging by the jewels I'm sure he was a handsome fella...
I would love to be in England and order this from a pub (since I'm an ill-informed American tosser, I can only assume this style of beer is served in pubs). I think it's delicious. It smells of vanilla, however, their website says apples, but who are you gonna believe; me or a professional? It has a tasty creamy malt (poorly phrased Walker) and has a low but well balanced hop finish. It's smooth and rich and never overwhelms you. The perfect English gentleman. Taking David's rating system, I'd say this is Michael Caine.
The brew is exceptionally British - and that's a great compliment. Pick this up to drink with your bros. THE ROCK rating.
Isn't the boar's stare on label is pretty intense AND hilarious? That boar is sinister as hell, and I'm pretty sure he was serial killer during his life. Good riddance
I'm arriving home from a dinner at the Alibi Room (the Kogi Food Truck restaurant) where I had dinner with bowling team partner Betsy and then ran into Heather G, who is always a pleasure. The first test of the 10 beers a week rule came tonight, and I passed with flying colors. Thank goodness this was a dinner and not 'drinks,' because 3 glasses of water can only get me so far. HA
For each Abbey Ale bought, 25 cents actually goes to St. Josephs Abbey. Classy move Abita!
Even in the beer, I'm surrounded by church bells ringing
Abita is well known in the south, especially for their Turbo Dog and Purple Haze wheat beer. They have a variety of beers and even make a root beer, but this their only Belgian Style entry. It's a dubbel that clocks in at8% alcohol. It has a fruity smell, caramel body that's lighter than most belgians and is slightly sweet. The light body I feel, lacks a full flavor profile, but its still a decent scrumpet. It's no Belgian Dubbel and won't make you want to ring the abbey bells, but you won't be entirely disappointed. ARMAGEDDON rating.
