Untappd Catchup


A few busy weeks at work have seen me fall behind in my reviewing once again; something that seems to happen almost every month… I know I’ve said it before but I’m going to make a concerted effort in April to turn all Untappd badges into full reviews. Hopefully there isn’t an Untappd Catchup post for a couple of months… 

Every year I make sure I have a Guinness on St Patricks Day. Normally that just unlocks one badge, this year it was 3! St Patrick’s Day (2016), Happy St Patrick’s Day from Guinness {for having a Guinness on St Patrick’s Day} and March is for Guinness {for having a Guinness in March}.

Guinness is arguably the most recognizable beer in the world. I’ve been drinking stouts at semi crafty places and been asked where I got the Guinness from. It’s the ubiquitous dark beer. It’s a beer I should review in full again, it’s coming up on 5 years since my last attempt… Although, if you don’t know what Guinness tastes like, can you call yourself a beer drinker? As for a question I’m occasionally asked; Melbourne’s best pint of Guinness is found at the Charles Dickens in the CBD.

Another beer to earn multiple badges was Knee Deep’s Hoptologist. This beer was recently ranked #1 among American Imperial IPA’s in a blind tasting, knocking Pliny the Elder into second. It was spectacular, with wonderful resinous bitterness. Was it better that Pliny? I’m not sure. In saying that the last time I had Pliny, in a blind tasting, I did not rate it highly… Land of the Free (Level 47) & Hopped Up (Level 32) were the badges. If you love hops, buy any or all of the Knee Deep IPA’s.

Danish brewers To Øl have been brewing seriously good beers since they started in 2010. Sur Simcoe is from their “Sur” range, which are single hopped, sour, pale ales. Simcoe is a hop that I’m quite familiar with, so I was surprised when I could only pickup some orange and grapefruit flavours from the hops. It’s quite a light bodied beer, with light sourness. It would be an incredible beer on a hot day as it’s very quaffable! I’m going to have to try more of these “Sur” beers from To Øl. Pucker Up (Level 30) was the badge.

Rye it Up is a relatively new badge and, given my current lust for rye, one you will be seeing a lot more of! The beer was Jester King’s Wytchmaker; a Rye Farmhouse IPA, which I shared with Coll last weekend. This beer changed dramatically over the course of drinking. At first it was purely pine hoppiness, as it warmed more spiciness from the rye became prominent. As we were just commenting that the Farmhouse element was missing, the beer changed again and some light Belgian funkiness became apparent. I think there was a little too much going on, which subsequently diluted each element and nothing shined through enough to take it to that next level.

Another beer Coll and I had earned Keep Your Wits About You (Level 5). Doctor’s Orders’ Zephyr is branded as a Double White Ale, or an Imperial Witbier if you will… It’s very citrusy, with a strong lemon flavour most prominent. There’s some peppery spiciness as well as some hints of coriander. You’d have no idea that this beer was 7.5% if not for the label, it drinks incredibly easily – like a normal Witbier. It’s one that’s worth trying if you haven’t already.

I used to drink Canadian beers quite regularly, clearly this has dropped off since the introduction of the Great White North badge, as Dieu du Ciel’s Rigor Mortis ABT only unlocked (Level 2). I actually aged this Quadrupel for 3 years and it’s mellowed beautifully. It’s lost a little bit of the raw alcohol that characterized it’s early days, while the malty sweetness, spices and dark fruit flavours that you’d expect from a Quadrupel have melded together perfectly. Glad I’ve got another couple in the beer cellar!

So there we have it guys; 6 beers, 9 badges and 1 more Untappd Catchup in the book. As I said earlier I hope it’s the last one for a while. Please hit me up if you’ve got any thoughts on any of the beers mentioned above or if you’ve got any general beer questions, suggestions or comments. In the next week or two I hope to have a macro lager review up, a post about some of my beer glasses and a post on The Hottest 100 beers. Until next time guys!

Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!