P9 lives

Today's three beers are from Garage Brewing in Barcelona, all with names that give nothing away about what they are. Even a hint would help, guys.

With P9 even the stated style was obscure: "Barcelona weisse". It took some further research to deduce that they're referencing Berliner weisse here, as it's a 4% ABV sour beer with added fruit, namely raspberry and passionfruit. It's hazy and bright vermillion in the glass, smelling of not much but really pushing the passionfruit in the flavour. I'm reminded of the mighty and much-missed Castaway by YellowBelly. There's a tangy sharpness right at the front which gets the mouth watering before the fruit arrives. As well as the smooth and sweet tropical ingredient, the pink tang of tart raspberries brings up the rear. Neither sticks around long because the texture is quite thin and the finish quick and clean. I don't think it has much in common with real Berliner weisse, but as a simple sunny summer refresher it's absolutely bang on: super fun but seriously well-made with it.

Another German sour style gets an overhaul next. Everything We Do purports to be gose but lacks coriander and bungs in lime, grapefruit and mango with the sea salt. It shouldn't be surprising that something with the ingredients of mixed breakfast juice looks like mixed breakfast juice: a bright opaque orange. The aroma isn't far off that either. Although it's another light-textured one, sticking at 4% ABV, the base beer gets quite lost. Instead lime is dominant, oily and bitter, with something vaguely tropical behind it -- mango I guess, but not distinctive enough to be identifiable. It's fine as a generic fruited sour beer but not particularly interesting and definitely not deserving of being labelled gose. 

The trilogy ends with Lolcats, an imperial stout of 10% ABV with coconut. And it's very that: hot and heavy with a sharp hop bitterness, and bags of dry charcoal roast to begin, suddenly overlaid with sweet and oily coconut. There's almost a clash between the grown-up stout and the candy, but it gets away with it. Although all the aspects are loud and present, the traditional bitter side is dominant while the coconut helps serve balance its excesses. Well I'm entertained.

Overall, a good showing from Garage here. The beers are clean, precise and do everything they're meant to do, while also being a little daring and cheeky in their recipes. Isn't that what small-batch brewing ought to be about?