Mort Subite (Kriek)

Mort Subite (French for "sudden death") was the one that got away, the final beer we didn't quite get to in our wonderful AlesByMail tasting session recently. It's brewed with Belgian cherries and is 4.5%abv.

This is the first lambic beer we've reviewed. It's a style of beer from a part of Belgium, and is distinguished by being spontaneously fermented by being exposed to that regions 'wild' yeast, rather than the scientifically controlled process of normal brewing. This gives the beer a dry, cider-like and sour taste. Doesn't sound overly appealing, but let's see.

Out of the bottle its a fizzy auburn tumult, almost red, with a strong persistent pink head. The nose is a pungent cherry-sherbert yeasty waft, not unattractive although a little alien to a standard ale drinker.

The first sip is a big-style cherry hit, almost akin to 70's cherryade. I'd like to say it's followed by other notes, but the fact is the cherry is so powerful that once it dies, a short drying of the tongue leaves not a lot else.

It's not unpleasant, and does come across superior to some other fruit beers I've tasted. The tart nature of cherries suits a beer foundation, unlike the sickliness of some other fruit.

All in, not a bottle I'd seek out - it comes over as perhaps just a little bit too champagne-cocktail, although as a schnifter after a meal it's not a poor option.

Interesting.

5/10 - Fun and fruity - possibly the best a cherry beer can be, albeit a bit one-dimensional

- The Broadside

All Beer Experience + Taster Case (Ales By Mail)

The noble enterprise Ales By Mail sent the All Beer Experience kit through the supply lines for a Bunker review session, and we were glad to oblige.

Retailing at £51.99, it's a veritable treasure trove of all things beery, with malt and hops sample kits, a very well presented book on the subject, a gift bag and fourteen rarely-seen ales, in lambic, ale and lager varieties.

Armed with the promise of a sausage and mash dinner interval, a few guitar tunes on the Station One ghetto blaster and the red-hot @thebeerbunker twitter wire, we set to work on the beers.

Here are the twit-friendly assessments from a thoroughly enjoyable evening, complete with Bunker Grading according to our subjective taste:

Meantime Pilsner 4.7%abv – Light floral smell, sweetcorn, wheaty. Nice light sweet grain in the finish, almost bready. Very dry bitter finish. 7/10

Freedom Organic Lager 4.8%abv – Lightly caramel lager, Ed judges some rich malt, Paul veers to slightly less depth. Lacks a bit of snap but finishes very tidily. 6/10

At this point we tucked into a couple of malt sachets which were generously supplied along with the ales. Crystal malt was first, beautiful agricultural bready sweetness. The chocolate malt followed, and visited upon the tongue a shotgun pellet scattering of bitterness. Barley grains next – “inedible” proffered Ed, I had to agree - but what a wonderful grain.

Pitfields N1 Wheat Beer 5%abv – Cor, bold experimental beer. Bags of orange and coriander . Just too acidic, it’s a bit like licking a battery. Not for us 4/10

Hopdaemon Green Daemon Helles 5% - Grassy nose, lovely bready sup – perfectly balanced , Greek democracy in a beer – 7/10

*** Evening Winner *** Dark Star Sunburst 4.8% - Wow! Smell that! Caramel paradise, sublime taste. Gorgeous, toffee and a twist of lemon - sublime 9/10

Kelham Island Pale Rider 5.2% - Toffee in spades, creamy and over-tipped in favour of malt, but a capable dry bitterness that does much to veer away from being over-sweet – 7/10

Samuel Adams Boston Lager 4.8% - No nose, chilled malty wonder on the tongue, class leading depth for an amber lager – 6/10

Westerham Scotney Best Bitter 4.3% - National Trust produced beer, Minimal fruity nose, big sweet malts, faintly spicy length. Nice example of standard best – 6/10

Exe Valley Devon Glory 4.7% - Rough and acidic, poor ale. Zero nose, Mulchy mid-section, tart honky finish – 3/10

Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA 7.1% - Piney desert-dry hop nose, bulky malt sweetness quarterback-sacked by monumental hop bitter - 8/10

Hopshackle Historic Porter 4.8%abv – Fresh and indeed hoppy in the nose, but mellow choc and coffee tastes on the sup stride through like sentries – 6/10

Orkney Brewery Dragonhead 4% - Sumptuous coffee-choc nose. Smart texture, creamy easy-drinking stout, dark beery fun 7/10

Chimay Blue 9% - Magnificent pepper raisin nose, malty & potent. Sup is fizzy & earthy with a soily oily cosh of alcohol – 6/10

It has to be reported that at that point the wheels came off the session somewhat, so we didn't quite get to the "Mort Subite Kriek" lambic beer, but we will make amends by giving it a full Bunker review shortly!

Thanks to Neil Rimmer, The Ormskirk Baron, Alex Barlow, Andy Mogg, myBrewerytap, James Bird, Paul Tuffnell, Gregg Irwin, Newcastle's Free Trade Inn and the mighty Dark Star brewery for keeping us company on the wires during the evening.

Final assessment is that this is probably the most interesting and varied ale tasting kit we've seen. Ales By Mail offer real quality in return for your dollars, an excellent service for gift-senders and enthusiasts alike. Follow them on Twitter here.

Thanks Alesbymail.com

A huge thanks goes out to online beer merchant Ales by mail, we've had a soft spot for them since they gave us a free tshirt at GBBF but now its special.

They have grouped up with Alex at All Beer to create the ultimate beer tasting selection.

The case features a walk through of all the main beer syles, from Lambic to Lager, from Pilsner to Porter. Combined with the All Beer Experiance Pack of hop and malt tasting samples.

Plenty of detail and experiance here for newbies or those who already know their beer.

Can't wait to review, i think only a whole evening of appreciation for both Bunker members will do.

Keep your eyes peeled for the review and live tasting on twitter next week!