Ölbeat 165: Buxton King Maker

Brewery: Buxton Brewery
Country: England
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 10,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is clear light orange with a finger-thick white head. Aroma has boozy fruit cocktail i.e. alcohol, orange and banana. Taste starts with strong fruity alcoholic bitterness. Bittersweet orange-mango liquor fills the mouth with hints of bitter grapefruit and dry pine. Towards the end sweet fruit candy, spicy-biting alcohol and strong piny bitterness start to compete with each other. Aftertaste is strong and lasting and has bitter pine and sweet fruity booze.

Really strong, fruity and bitter Imperial IPA. The combination of sweet orange, boozy bite and pine bitter make this one hard to handle - the beer barks and bites. And I love it. Excellent stuff from the other Derbyshire master brewery.

Ölbeat

Strong brew asks for a powerful song. In addition to a sword pictured in the bottle label, the king needs a temple or a sanctuary. This is a medieval-toned fantasy ballad about one. Rainbow was one of the supergroups of the 70's, originally joining together Ritchie Blackmore's mastery of guitar and Ronnie James Dio's unbelievable vocal range.

Rainbow: The Temple of the King (YouTube)

From the 1975 album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, the song was written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.

Ölbeat 114: Bell's Two Hearted Ale

Brewery: Bell's Brewery
Country: United States
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden orange with nice large foamy white head. Aroma has mild lemon and orange with a flowery scent. Taste begins with gently bitter, a little lemon-tart bite and smooth carbonation. Fresh, not overly bitter grapefruit takes over with sweet slowly-growing orange flavour on the side. Near the finish a gently dry touch of pine comes out. Aftertaste has mostly bitter grapefruit, some piny dryness and the final touch of orange.

Smooth and balanced performance. Delicious citrus-driven semisweet India Pale Ale that gives bitter kicks all the way and some moderate dryness in the end. Even though this wasn't as fresh as it could be but still extremely tasty and drinkable. A classic that had to be tasted.

Ölbeat

One of the legendary IPA's requires a rock classic. So I'll pick the immediate association that I had after the first mouthful: I just stopped fighting and looking for flaws.

Rainbow: I Surrender (YouTube)

From the 1981 album Difficult to Cure, the song was written by Russ Ballard.