Ölbeat 263: Pühaste Dekadents

Brewery: Pühaste
Country: Estonia
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 11,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is black with a two-finger thick beige head. Aroma has milk chocolate, vanilla, sweet liquor and roasted malts. Taste begins with roasted sweet and bitter chocolate. Milk chocolate and sweet roast take over with some spiked coffee and vanilla. Towards the end fruity bitterness and boozy raisins join the sweet chocolate. Aftertaste has fruity liquor, vanilla-spiced raisins and sweet chocolate.

Sweet and delicious dessert Imperial Stout. Chocolate, raisins, roast, alcohol, some bitterness, a hint of coffee - wide spectrum of flavours. The sweetness is present but doesn't get overly dominating. Damn strong and tasty.

Ölbeat

Definition of decadence: "moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury". Moral decline - check. Excessive indulgence in pleasure - sadly, not quite there yet.

Sirenia: Path to Decay (YouTube)

From the 2009 album The 13th Floor, the song was written by Morten Veland.

Ölbeat 256: Bidassoa Larrun

Brewery: Bidassoa Basque Brewery (in Spanish)
Country: Spain
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,5 % 
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What about the beer?

Colour is cloudy copper brown with a large natural white head. Aroma has pineapple, mango, orange and caramel. Taste begins with biting bitter fruits and malty caramel. Piny and malty bitterness takes over with caramel malts and a slice of grapefruit. Towards the end bitter pine seems to rise above all. Aftertaste has oaky-piny-fruity bitterness, malty-nutty dryness and alcohol bite.

Powerfully piny and malty Imperial IPA. Pine clearly dominates but there are fruits clearly present. Alcohol bites in the aftertaste. Not exactly my cup of tea in the style but tasty anyway. Memories from last summer's Craft Beer Helsinki were better. Nevertheless, the first beer from Spain in the blog.

Ölbeat

Larrun is a 907 meter high mountain top situated at western Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain. It is a sacred place in Basque mythology, said to be the home of the first serpent, Lehensugea and later a gathering place of witches. I grabbed onto the myth of the serpent but chose the band from the other end of Europe.

Sirenia: Serpent (YouTube)

From the 2015 album The Seventh Life Path, the song was written by Morten Veland.