Wistful drinking

With international travel off the cards for the next while, I've found myself buying beers from places I wish I could go. Today it's Barcelona, and two from Garage Beer.

The first is their contribution to the worldwide charitable project set up by Other Half in New York: All Together. It's an IPA at 6.5% ABV and a sunny hazy orange colour with lots of foam on top. The aroma is that of a citrus icepop; cool lemon and lime beats, though more sweet than bitter. It's very juicy to taste, a real fresh-squeezed OJ effect of the sort many IPAs promise but few deliver. That does get tempered by a little savoury garlic and a chalky dryness in the finish. Overall, though, it's very enjoyable, avoiding the hot, cloying and dreggy pitfalls that beset the style. If you've been confused by the haze craze, this is a beer to show what it's supposed to be about.

To follow that, with high hopes, the imperial stout Circus Tears, a whopper at 11% ABV. Maybe it's how I've been conditioned to mega-stouts lately but there's a bang of pastry off the aroma: black forest gateau, tiramisu and raspberry coulis all present to my nostrils. Looking it up, it's nothing more involved than pistachios and vanilla, that's all. And yes, it's very sweet on the palate -- clove rock is the first impression, then a shot of espresso and some soft chewy toffee. The texture is thick but it's not hot, and definitely not difficult to drink. It finishes clean with just a smear of chocolate residue, and then the clove kicks in again down below, warming the throat and stomach like a linctus. It's probably much better suited as a winter beer but I still enjoyed it late on a summer's evening. Not sure that would still be true if I'd attempted a whole can by myself, however.

Two quality beers here, no question. I preferred the New England IPA to the imperial stout, which is an odd thing for me to say. I guess one of the two styles presented here had a lower bar to clear.