A different hymnsheet

Like any right-thinking drinker of Belgian beer, I consider Troubadour Magma to be one of the greats, taking strong influence from powerhouse American IPA and giving it just a little bit of a classy Belgian twist. I'm not the only one who thinks so highly of it, as evidenced by the brewery's insistence on releasing brand extensions. So far, only the Brettanomyces-spiked one has been worthy of the name, in my estimation, but here's another one to try: the inevitable Magma NEIPA.

It doesn't look especially different from its parent beer, being bright orange and hazy rather than yellow and hazy. The ABV is rather lower, however, at only 6.5%. There's a very fun mix of satsuma juiciness and a peppery Belgian spice, a bit more like a saison than an IPA. I'll take it. The flavour doesn't go in any significantly different direction, though the spice here is a little muted, becoming more of a medicine-cabinet herbal effect. It's still good though. Nothing fancy, and certainly not a typical New England-style IPA on any front, but it's very much a Belgian Belgian-style IPA, and a more enjoyable example than most I've tried. Magma finally has a respectable lower-strength version.

I'm not exactly sure what the Troubadour range of beers is meant to represent. The brewery, The Musketeers, also produces plenty of non-Troubadour beers and I've never been able to spot a pattern or connection between either range. Anyway, from fiercely modern hazy IPA, the second Troubadour beer today is a resolutely traditional Imperial Stout.

I don't use the description lightly. There's no gimmickry or tricks here: it's 9.5% ABV and tastes, in a very straightforward way, of strong coffee, high-cocoa chocolate and dark toast. Sweetness is in short supply, though so is hop bittering. I'm partial to both in imperial stout yet I don't miss either here. This is streamlined; slick, smooth and extremely classy. There's a tiny estery twang in the finish, but in general it's a lot cleaner than the Belgians tend to make their stouts, and better for that.

There have been problems with Troubadour beers in bottles before, something I only remembered as I was bringing these home. Whatever the root cause then, it seems to have been fixed now. Both of these were top notch.