Monthly Round-Up October 2024

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We started our month with a trip to North’s Springwell for their Oktoberfest event before heading to Cape Verde for a lovely beach break and some Cape Verdean brews. We also battled five Chimay beers, revised an official Oktoberfest beer and tried our first green-hopped beer. 

This month’s top five new brews

Here’s a rundown of our favourite new brews for October 2024. 

Ayinger Kellerbier by Ayinger (Germany)

Kellerbier 4.9%

We couldn’t make it to the real Oktoberfest, so we decided to head up to Springwell for their Oktoberfest event. We sampled a couple of Marzens and some delicious wurst while enjoying the live band. Our final beer of the day was this lovely ‘Kellerbier’ from Ayinger. 

Brewer’s note: This nostalgic beer specialty, which can be confidently ranked among the traditional old Bavarian beers, is brewed in commemoration of the good old times and in honor of the brewery’s founder, Johann Liebhard. The special feature of the “Kellerbier” is the fine yeasty cloudiness and the pleasantly bitter taste. As it is bottled unfiltered, many of the natural protein, yeast and hop elements remain contained in the beer. It consequently retains its original character and the beer connoisseur can appreciate the fullness of taste that this very drinkable beer offers. Furthermore, the vitamin and mineral-rich yeast also provides a significant contribution to the nutritional requirements of good health.

Brewer’s website: Ayinger Bierkultur 

Time Travelling Taxi by Brew York (York, UK)

IPA 6%

It’s been a while since we’ve had a beer from Brew York so when we saw this DDH pale ale, we decided to give it a go. It was an excellent pale ale and worthy of a place in this month’s top five. 

Brewer’s note: A DDH Pale Ale crammed with CTZ, Citra and Loral Cryo hops. Expect a creamy mouthfeel from the oats, and a punchy hop profile

Brewer’s website: Brew York Craft Beer

Chimay Blue (2023) by Chimay (Belgium)

Belgian Brown 9%

We decided to battle five Chimay beers (you can check out our notes on our Big Belgian Beer Battle blog). This was our favourite beer of the night and one of our top five for the month. It had flavours of dried fruit and a lovely long finish. A great beer to finish on. 

Brewer’s note: The beautiful warm, dark hues of Chimay Blue and its compact light-brown head put on a spectacular show. This beer is without a shadow of a doubt a match made in heaven between luscious fruity aromas and delicious chocolate. It begins with a light sweet note before the creamy caramel transitions to a soft Mocha combined with an intense spicy taste, culminating in a delicious candied fruit finish. The delicious overall flavour develops into a pleasant lingering aftertaste, triggering a subtle warm feeling and the sensation of pure chocolate.

Brewer’s website: Bières et Fromages de Chimay

Baia by Afreecana (Cape Verde)

Cream Ale 5%

We weren’t sure whether the craft beer scene was big in Cape Verde, so we were delighted to find a lovely craft beer bar and a range of beers from Afreecana. We tried six of their beers in total and this was our favourite. It had a unique flavour – almost like a cross between a lambic and a wheat beer (which sounds like it would be gross but was actually delicious). You can read more about the Afreecana beers in our Cape Verde blog post

Brewer’s note: Afreecana Baia is a wave of emotions, a celebration of the sea, a tribute to friendship, music and animation. It is a cream ale style beer with added corn, refreshing, with high carbonation, light and easy to drink. It has a sweet scent similar to corn, accompanied by a straw yellow colour. Because it does not go through the filtration process it preserves the brewer’s yeast in each bottle.

* BEER OF THE MONTH *

Harmony by Amity Brew Co (Leeds, UK)

Fresh Hop Old School IPA 5.8%

We follow a lot of breweries and bars on Instagram and we’d seen a few posts going out about fresh-hopped (aka gree-hopped) beers so we wanted to make sure we tried at least one. 

So when we saw Whitelocks were offering the Amity fresh hop beer on cask, we made a special trip to try it. 

It was amazing. So creamy and as an added bonus the hops were grown in Leeds. It’s a shame this isn’t available all year round as it was a fantastic beer. 

Brewer’s note: As huge fans of the iconic fresh hop beer, Sierra Nevada’s Celebration, this as our tribute is a classic U.S. IPA brewed with fresh hops grown in the Leeds Co-Hoperative’s gardens across the city. Expect a perfectly balanced blend of vibrant citrus and zesty orange peel, complemented by a rich crystal amber malt base. This provides a delicious malty sweetness foil to the assertive bitterness levels delivered by the Leeds grown UK Cascade Hops.

Brewer’s website: Amity Brew Co

Honourable mention

These new brews didn’t quite make it into our top five, but we still feel they are worth a mention. 

Paixon by Afreecana (Cape Verde)

NEIPA 6.4%

Not quite as good as the Cream Ale, but still a great beer and worthy of an honourable mention. 

Brewer’s note: Paixon is a New England India Pale Ale style beer, known for its appearance, fruity aroma and low bitterness. It has intense notes of passion fruit, with a hint of orange. This NEIPA offers a smooth, velvety flavour profile with a subtle bitterness that allows the fruity flavours to dominate. The medium body and moderate carbonation make it an easy-drinking beer.

Revisited

Not a new brew but a beer we’ve revisited recently because it’s one of our favourites. 

Oktoberfest Bier by Paulaner

Festbier 6%

Back in 2023, we tried all the official Oktoberfest biers over a couple of nights at home. This year, we decided we didn’t need to revisit them all – we’ll be heading to Munich in December. However, we decided we couldn’t get through Oktoberfest season without treating ourselves to at least one.

Brewer’s note: Ever since 1818 we have brewed our bottom-fermented Oktoberfest Bier during Oktoberfest – Germany’s favourite Oktoberfest beer and a true institution in Munich. The glass is full of October sunshine, strong and golden. The perfect balance of a light taste of hops and a strong note of malt. A feast of a beer, which always goes down well. This beer is only brewed for the Oktoberfest. That’s where it belongs, along with all the fun of the fair like the Ferris wheel and roasted almonds. A distinguishing feature from other festival beers is the particular harmony of balance between the sweeter taste of malt and that of the hops. The initial mild taste followed by a stronger note, invites you to take a second taste. By tradition it is also slightly stronger than a normal Lager, but the high grade of fermentation makes it particularly easy to drink.

Brewer’s website: Paulaner Brauerei München

Ayinger Kellerbier by Ayinger (Germany)

Kellerbier 4.9%

We couldn’t make it to the real Oktoberfest, so we decided to head up to Springwell for their Oktoberfest event. We sampled a couple of Marzens and some delicious wurst while enjoying the live band. Our final beer of the day was this lovely ‘Kellerbier’ from Ayinger. 

Brewer’s note: This nostalgic beer specialty, which can be confidently ranked among the traditional old Bavarian beers, is brewed in commemoration of the good old times and in honor of the brewery’s founder, Johann Liebhard. The special feature of the “Kellerbier” is the fine yeasty cloudiness and the pleasantly bitter taste. As it is bottled unfiltered, many of the natural protein, yeast and hop elements remain contained in the beer. It consequently retains its original character and the beer connoisseur can appreciate the fullness of taste that this very drinkable beer offers. Furthermore, the vitamin and mineral-rich yeast also provides a significant contribution to the nutritional requirements of good health.

Brewer’s website: Ayinger Bierkultur 

Time Travelling Taxi by Brew York (York, UK)

DDH Pale 5.4%

It’s been a while since we’ve had a beer from Brew York so when we saw this DDH pale ale, we decided to give it a go. It was an excellent pale ale and worthy of a place in this month’s top five. 

Brewer’s note: A DDH Pale Ale crammed with CTZ, Citra and Loral Cryo hops. Expect a creamy mouthfeel from the oats, and a punchy hop profile

Brewer’s website: Brew York Craft Beer

Chimay Blue (2023) by Chimay (Belgium)

Belgian Brown 9%

We decided to battle five Chimay beers (you can check out our notes on our Big Belgian Beer Battle blog). This was our favourite beer of the night and one of our top five for the month. It had flavours of dried fruit and a lovely long finish. A great beer to finish on. 

Brewer’s note: The beautiful warm, dark hues of Chimay Blue and its compact light-brown head put on a spectacular show. This beer is without a shadow of a doubt a match made in heaven between luscious fruity aromas and delicious chocolate. It begins with a light sweet note before the creamy caramel transitions to a soft Mocha combined with an intense spicy taste, culminating in a delicious candied fruit finish. The delicious overall flavour develops into a pleasant lingering aftertaste, triggering a subtle warm feeling and the sensation of pure chocolate.

Brewer’s website: Bières et Fromages de Chimay

Baia by Afreecana (Cape Verde)

Cream Ale 5%

We weren’t sure whether the craft beer scene was big in Cape Verde, so we were delighted to find a lovely craft beer bar and a range of beers from Afreecana. We tried six of their beers in total and this was our favourite. It had a unique flavour – almost like a cross between a lambic and a wheat beer (which sounds like it would be gross but was actually delicious). You can read more about the Afreecana beers we tried in our Cape Verde blog post

Brewer’s note: Afreecana Baia is a wave of emotions, a celebration of the sea, a tribute to friendship, music and animation. It is a cream ale style beer with added corn, refreshing, with high carbonation, light and easy to drink. It has a sweet scent similar to corn, accompanied by a straw yellow colour. Because it does not go through the filtration process it preserves the brewer’s yeast in each bottle.

* BEER OF THE MONTH *

Harmony by Amity Brew Co (Leeds, UK)

Fresh Hop Old School IPA 5.8%

We follow a lot of breweries and bars on Instagram and we’d seen a few posts going out about fresh-hopped (aka gree-hopped) beers so we wanted to make sure we tried at least one. 

So when we saw Whitelocks were offering the Amity fresh hop beer on cask, we made a special trip to try it. 

It was amazing. So creamy and as an added bonus the hops were grown in Leeds. It’s a shame this isn’t available all year round as it was a fantastic beer. 

Brewer’s note: As huge fans of the iconic fresh hop beer, Sierra Nevada’s Celebration, this as our tribute is a classic U.S. IPA brewed with fresh hops grown in the Leeds Co-Hoperative’s gardens across the city. Expect a perfectly balanced blend of vibrant citrus and zesty orange peel, complemented by a rich crystal amber malt base. This provides a delicious malty sweetness foil to the assertive bitterness levels delivered by the Leeds grown UK Cascade Hops.

Brewer’s website: Amity Brew Co

Honourable mention

These new brews didn’t quite make it into our top five, but we still feel they are worth a mention. 

Paixon by Afreecana (Cape Verde)

NEIPA 6.4%

Not quite as good as the Cream Ale, but still a great beer and worthy of an honourable mention. 

Brewer’s note:

Paixon is a New England India Pale Ale style beer, known for its appearance, fruity aroma and low bitterness. It has intense notes of passion fruit, with a hint of orange. This NEIPA offers a smooth, velvety flavour profile with a subtle bitterness that allows the fruity flavours to dominate. The medium body and moderate carbonation make it an easy-drinking beer.

Revisited

Not a new brew but a beer we’ve revisited recently because it’s one of our favourites. 

Oktoberfest Bier by Paulaner (Germany)

Festbier 6%

Back in 2023, we tried all the official Oktoberfest biers over a couple of nights at home. This year, we decided we didn’t need to revisit them all – we’ll be heading to Munich in December. However, we decided we couldn’t get through Oktoberfest season without treating ourselves to at least one.

Brewer’s note: Ever since 1818 we have brewed our bottom-fermented Oktoberfest Bier during Oktoberfest – Germany’s favourite Oktoberfest beer and a true institution in Munich. The glass is full of October sunshine, strong and golden. The perfect balance of a light taste of hops and a strong note of malt. A feast of a beer, which always goes down well. This beer is only brewed for the Oktoberfest. That’s where it belongs, along with all the fun of the fair like the Ferris wheel and roasted almonds. A distinguishing feature from other festival beers is the particular harmony of balance between the sweeter taste of malt and that of the hops. The initial mild taste followed by a stronger note, invites you to take a second taste. By tradition it is also slightly stronger than a normal Lager, but the high grade of fermentation makes it particularly easy to drink.

Brewer’s website: Paulaner Brauerei München

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