We make home brew

Last weekend I saw a band called Trappist Afterland. Great band, good night; I’m not going to go into the music (because this is a beer blog!), but the band have done something novel with their new EP.

Trappist Afterland’s new EP is available for digital download, so they figured at the launch event, rather than selling a piece of paper with the download code on it, they attached said code to a bottle of home made beer – so every album came with the gift of beer, the greatest gift of all (other than the lovely music).

Singer/songwriter for the band, Adam Cole, explained the idea behind releasing the album with the beer:

“Being a massive beer enthusiast I liked the idea of releasing

the album with a beer to reinforce the sip and listen idea.

Great beer and good music are the ideal partners I reckon.  

And considering our band name was inspired by Abbey Ales

it seemed to fit well.”

Adam also mentioned prior to the set that he had made so much beer, he may as well do something with it!

This particular beer was made at a brew on premises (“BOP” according to the tax man) joint called Barleycorn Brewers in Oakleigh South in Melbourne. I’ve never done brew on premises, but Mikey has. Basically, rather than making it at home, a BOP has all the equipment and recipes there for you. It can be a great way to get started or if you don’t have the room at home. They generally allow you to make a very good quality beer.

Tasty beer sitting in front of some tasty cider in the carboy

This beer was no exception.

Firstly, the beer was highly excitable. It was one of those stouts that had to be poured a little, wait for the foam to die down, pour, wait some more, and so on. Once the waiting game was over, what was left was a dark, thick stout with lots of body, but not too heavy.

On the nose, there were some great malt smells. There was a nice crisp clean smell, most likely brought on by the hops, and a smell of sweeter fruits.

This slight sweetness/fruit continued on in the taste, which was fairly unexpected for a stout. It went well, although sometimes felt a little inappropriate given the style of the beer. There was also a little bit of chocolate which went well with these flavours.

Of course this was complimented by the general stout bitterness. There was also a bit of spice in the hops, which I generally like in a stout. Basically, there were a few great flavours in there all interacting.

This seemed like a well designed stout, especially for those new to stouts. It was good, but very “safe”, easy, and inoffensive. All of this enhanced drinkability and made it a surprisingly sessionable heavy beer. Although I love a good stout, I’m usually done after one or two; I could have done a few of these.

Because of all of this, this beer would make a good dessert beer. The sweeter fruit flavours would go well with a drier dessert like a cake or just generally with sweet fruits. Going with a more sour/tart fruit probably wouldn’t go as well, but it might work well with some berries.

Anyway, thanks again to Trappist Afterland for sharing their great music and great brew. I highly recommend both.

-Chas