The Session #7 – The Brew Zoo
by admin on Sep.07, 2007, under ale, beer, gruit, herbed beer
Rick Lyke of Lyke 2 Drink hosts this month's event, and has chosen an intriguing topic: animals. To hew purely to the rules, either the beer or the brewery should be named after an actual animal. Personally, I'm not great at rules.
The Kelpie is your standard fairy trickster. A weary traveler coming upon a young horse standing by the side of the road might not be inclined to question his good fortune, but would be wise to do so. The shape-shifting kelpie is particularly fond of that form, and if mounted will bear its rider down to a watery grave. 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth' is not a dictum to follow when dealing with this denizen of the fairy kingdom.
There's also a breed of dogs named the Kelpie, but that is not the source of today's beer's name.
Kelpie Seaweed Ale
Background: Brewed from malted barley, hops, and seaweed by Heather Ale Ltd. in Scotland. 4.4% ABV, 500ml brown glass bottle. Purchased as a single bottle for $3.99, best before June 2008.
Appearance: Pours a deep, dark brown (almost black) with a nice creamy tan head.
Smell: Very interesting. Malty sweetness with an earthy, salty seaweed aroma playing over the roasted malts.
Taste: Cocoa and dark chocolate from the malt, the earthy and vegetal seaweed notes add some nice depth. Sweetish, hard to detect any hop influence. The seaweed is almost lost in the porter-like base beer, but does barely manage to hold its own.
Mouthfeel: Almost full-bodied, medium carbonation. Carries you along nicely.
Drinkability: Excellent. Not (as one might expect) just a gimmicky powerfully seaweed flavoured beer, but actually a beer where all the disparate parts of the brew work together to form a harmonious whole. Givvus another, willya?
