Freedom of movement

Rounding out this week of posts from the Alltech Brews & Food Fair with the small handful of foreign beers I tried.

There was a bit of a buzz around new English brewery Evolution, from Shropshire. They've taken over the former Battlefield Brewery in Shrewsbury. Where Battlefield brewed safe and traditional English styles, the new lot have gone for something more daring. I began with their pale ale Update Your Smile, a 4.6%-er. It's... perfunctory. It has the vanilla and a wisp of tropical guava, but that's all it does before finishing on a watery note. A bit of a damp squib here.

Picking something that would be harder to brew blandly I chose their imperial stout next: Descent of Man. It arrived almost headless, which wasn't a great start. The fermentation must have been done quite warm as it was full of toffee and banana flavours, quite out of keeping for the style. A certain roasted bite is buried deep behind this, but that's as stouty as it gets. The ABV is on the low side, but at 8.5% it should still be capable of greater substance and complexity than this.

I didn't try any more of their beers. I think Evolution has a way to go, and I hope they live up to their name.

At the Grand Cru stand they were pouring a new one from the Veltins Grevensteiner brand. This Naturtrübes Helles, per the name, is an unfiltered lager. Despite the novelty and the process variation it tastes very like a typical helles, and deliciously so. There's a lot of soft white bread in the flavour, plus a hint of spinach bittering. The one unusual feature was a hint of peachy fruit, but it was pleasant and didn't knock the rest of the beer off kilter. In keeping with the style, it's beautifully smooth and very sinkable. Worth looking out for, helles fans.

BrewDog had a large bar at one side of the hall. Martin Dickie was in attendance on the Sunday, announcing from the stage they'd be holding a sour beer tasting there during the afternoon. As far as I know it didn't actually happen, but while I was waiting for it not to happen I tried a taster of their Brutalist brut IPA. It's 6% ABV and very dry indeed, even by the standards of the style. There's a little bit of hop funk but not much else, making it disappointingly plain for the strength.

Not a festival exhibit, but a boxed bottle of BrewDog's Death or Glory was being hoofed around by Simon and he was kind enough to pour me a sample. For the record, this was decanted from casks 211, 212 and 221 of the barrel-aged eisbock, coming in at 26% ABV. It tasted supremely smooth; warming like a tawny port or Oloroso sherry, seasoned with a peppery spice and bringing a glow to the throat as it goes. Whatever the convoluted process was that resulted in this, it was worth it.

The week's final beer is another which was not pouring at the festival but was handed to me at it. Reuben had been on the inaugural BrewDog flight from London to their American brewery in Ohio and kindly muled me back a can of the commemorative IPA, Flight Club. It's of the session variety, a mere 4.5% ABV, and quite a pale yellow colour. The aroma reminds me of Punk on a good day: brightly tropical, all mandarins and passionfruit. The flavour, too, is exotically juicy, though there's also a cheeky herbal dankness and a grapefruit buzz in the finish. Said finish arrives quickly, the Achilles' heel being a wateriness that's not unexpected given the strength, but is a downer nonetheless. Like a lot of beers that go all-out on the tropicals, the first couple of sips have the wow factor, but those returns diminish quickly and it turns sharp and slightly savoury by the end. As a quenchable quaffer it gets the job done, and as a freebie I can't complain. Cheers Reuben!

And cheers to all the Alltech crew for another superb festival.