Rice + Seaweed + Yuzu = Yadokai

After spending the entire day counting every single bottle, can or box in the shop, to a painstaking degree of accuracy... I hope. I think a beer after work sounded like a good idea. One or two beers, then ride home for some dinner and possibly an early night.

A single and innocent tasting glass filled with whatever beer we had on cask at the time. It happened to be a rather hoppy and tasty pale from Northern Monk Brew Co called 'Monacus NZ Pale' full of as many antipodean hops as you could fit in.

Without intention, this beer opened up a barrier that made it impossible to resist any more. I'd bought some beers to try at home but thought that opening one would be fine, I might still make it home in good time. A cold can of this Belgian Saison went down a treat, soft and farmyardy it was soon gone. Following that we opened up a couple of bottles from Bristol brewing aces 'Wiper and True'. The first was their newest batch of 'Triptych IPA', a punchy IPA hopped using a variation of three hops used in the current Triptych series. Bitter, hoppy, fruity, crisp and lovely. That was chased down with 'Milk Shake' a milk stout with a tempting label. My love of stouts made this one particularly irresistible. Nothing so soft and smooth and creamy has ever passed my lips and into my mouth, it was a texture that was totally alien and unknown to me. I thought so much of this beer that I bought my brother a bottle to take out to him, show him how good the beers are that are coming out of the UK right now.

We finished at 8pm, I cashed up and got on with the usual closing down procedure while my colleague tried to input the counted figures into the system. Once we'd got a rhythm with the counting, it stopped being a tedious task and was quick, efficient and felt as natural as could be. The time had flown by, and it was already 9.30pm by the time we opened the stout. With the beers that I'd bought earlier was a tart offering from Wild Beer Co. Finishing a session on a sour or at least something with a bit of bite really cleanses your palate and helps refresh after drinking heavy beers. I was worried that 'Wild Goose Chase' may turn out to be unpleasant ans overly sour but it was light enough and not at all as tart as I was expecting, it made for an easy drinking can that I split between us. I was done and ready for my long cycle home.

As I was pouring it into the glasses, the label of a beer in the background caught my eye and stole my attention. I'd always wondered what a Belgian Porter was like, how different would it be to a British style Porter? With a bottle of 'Viven Porter' there was only one way to find out. Annoyingly as I was drinking the Wild Goose Chase, all I could think about was this porter, what would it be like, smoky, strong, burnt coffee etc... I was picking up the sour notes of green plums and grapefruit but the thoughts of the porter were floating around the front of my mind causing disruption and distracting me from my current task. I needed to taste it so got a bottle and stayed for more.

I can say that it had many similarities to an English/British style Porter, rich, dark, toasted malts, roasted coffee and bitter chocolate and being hopped with American hops it had a slightly more herbal note like modern craft Porters rather than the classic London Porters of yesteryear. This made we wonder why it wasn't more popular.

There may have been more beers, I can't remember. Not due to the fact that I hadn't written anything down, or that we'd been drinking for a long time, I just simply couldn't remember.

The ultimate beer of the evening probably deserves a post solely dedicated to it but as it was part of the same session, I'll include it here.

A spectacular looking beer. A tall, sleek and gorgeous looking bottle, smooth lines with a wax top. Wax droplets rolling down its neck like melted cheese oozing out the side of a succulent, tender and juicy beef burger. The label stands out as being simple yet at the same time packing in masses of information. It is obvious on the shelf but not loud like the Beavertown cans or shouty like the Flying Dog labels, it is more elegant, refines and dignified. An inspired beer with many collaborators. One of which I was told about a few weeks ago by a customer. He told me of this chef, Tim Anderson that had won a cooking competition, Masterchef and is a specialist in Japanese cuisine.

A beer like 'Yadokai' by Wild Beer Co, seemingly deserves a permanent spot light, wherever the bottle goes the light should follow. Actually, it deserves more than just to be in the spotlight, it should be followed 24/7 by an entourage. Smaller and less spectacular bottles guarding it from the grubby hands of any Tom, Dick or Harry.

Maybe it was just me but I couldn't quite understand how to get past the wax closure. I could see and feel the usual bottle cap under the thick solidified layer of wax but couldn't get it off with any ease. I picked at it and eventually had to cut the stuff off with a knife and then used a bottle opener to gently pry off the cap.

Yuzu, flaked rice and three different kinds of seaweed was more than enough to spark way beyond the slightest bit of interest. A beer inspired by traditional Japanese Sake and costing about the same. There was so much going on without even pouring any into the glass and tasting it. Flaked rice, Sake, seaweed, what the bloody hell is something sounding more like a recipe of some fine sushi going to drink like?

Oooooh.

Let me start by saying not to trust all you see, hear and read on places like ratebeer.com. Something so subjective like the taste of beer varies so much from person to person. Giving an honest opinion is fair enough but most of the time these should only be used as very rough guides and not as a base for any credible judgement. The scoring system on ratebeer.com is far more confusing and nonsensical than that on the quiz show 'QI'.

This beer didn't score too well which I personally feel is outrageous, wrong in fact, totally and utterly wrong. It is almost an uncategorisable beer and should be judged on its own and not compared with anything that has come before it. Giving it an overall score of anything less than 4.2 is like agreeing with and believing that guy who thinks that the Queen is a shape-shifting lizard. On of the greatest and most respected lagers in the world has a score lower than 50 which doesn't make any sense. That alone is enough to disregard most of what you read on there alone.

The first sip didn't do anything for me. I was worried that I'd created such high and false expectations of this beer and it was going to turn out like the reviews. After the second sip, third, fourth and so on the beer just sang. A full orchestra accompanied by a complete choir in my mouth. The flavour molecules were jumping all over my tongue like the sound waves bouncing around the concert hall. It elevated me to new heights. A spiritual experience that got better and better. I didn't want it to end, ever, but like all good things it had to end at some point. The pleasure felt more addictive than any drug. Huxley once said in regard to opium that “it was like kissing God”. This beer was like being passionately French kissed by God. What a truly astonishing beer. When I said to Wild Beer Co that this beer was amazing, it was an understatement. Either my vocabulary isn't broad enough or there aren't the adequate words in the English language to describe such a wonderful beer.

wildbeerco

wiperandtrue

northernmonkbrewco

viven