Ölbeat 093: CREW Republic 7:45 Escalation

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,3 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden orange with a medium-sized white head. Aroma has mango, orange and some floral perfume. Taste begins with a spicy, modestly bitter bite. Gently bitter grapefruit-orange liquid fills the mouth with a sweet spicy and fruity side note. Towards the end the orange and even candy sweetness joins the fun, just to be knocked down by moderate dry pine. Aftertaste has sweet orange, bitterness and some dryness.

Tasty fruity multi-citrus-flavoured Double IPA. There's fruit, bitter, sweet, spice and dry. I expect this from this beer style. Zee Germans have brewed a heck of a beer again.

Ölbeat

A rock tune with hidden raw power, gentle bitterness and a presentation of musical skill. That matches this brew. That's Audioslave:

Audioslave: Shadow on the Sun (YouTube)

From the 2002 album Audioslave, the song was written by Audioslave.

Ölbeat 065: CREW Republic Detox

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Session IPA
Abv: 3,4 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is bubbly golden yellow with a thick foamy white head. Aroma has hops, lemon and grass. Taste bites first with extra bitter hops. Fresh grapefruit with carbonation joins the party. Near the end sour lemon and piny dryness are added to the flavour. Aftertaste has mainly dry and bitter grapefruit.

Detox is a nicely fresh and tasty session IPA. Bitter, sour and dry flavours are present strongly enough but still this one goes down easily and quenches thirst well. With this abv this works better than many around 4,5 % session beers.

Ölbeat

Many, probably most low-alcohol beers tend to fall behind the stronger ones. But sometimes it's better to be a good loser than a bad winner. I'm not referring to any certain Skippy-Digestive brews, but here's the song for Detox:

Beck: Loser (YouTube)

From the 1994 album Mellow Gold, the song was written by Beck and Karl Stephenson.

Ölbeat 026: CREW Republic Roundhouse Kick

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9,2 %
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The beer that slammed the revolving door.

CREW Republic, founded in 2011, is a microbrewery in Munich, Germany. The brewery is known for brewing something else than standard German-type beer. Breaking the tradition is intentional according to the webpages of the brewery. When Roundhouse Kick came available in Finnish market, I was straight away interested about a beer that reminds me of the legendary Chuck Norris. 

What about the beer?
Colour is pitch black with huge beige head. Aroma has roasted malts with traces of hops and salty liquorice. Taste unleashes heavy bitterness with burned-roasted malts first. The hop-coal combo gets joined with strong black coffee and salty liquorice. Palate is beaten by dry bitter hops and strong citrus flavours in a very black-IPA'ish way. Aftertaste is powerfully dry, roasty and hoppy - a finish-off with style.

Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing! Rough and aggressive, as the name promises. It's the Chuck Norris of craft beer, kicks and punches in the mouth. I loved the roughness and the complexity.

Ölbeat

What we need here is positively aggressive rock tune, that comes straight to the face. This one was the first that hit my head:

Foo Fighters: Monkey Wrench (YouTube)

From the 1997 album The Colour and the Shape, the song was written by frontman Dave Grohl, guitarist Pat Smear and bassist Nate Mendel. Described to be a power punk song by Grohl, the music is based on one fast-tempo main guitar riff and its alterations. Even though the video of the song shows then the newest band-member Taylor Hawkins on drums, it's Grohl who handles the sticks on the album and single version besides singing and playing guitar. The lyrics are about feeling trapped in a relationship that doesn't work and realizing that one of the problems is yourself. Despite the song is usually interpreted as venting negative feelings about a failed relationship, I've always found the song positively motivating with its in-your-face attitude. That's why it fits on the background of Roundhouse Kick perfectly.