7 Colours of the Rainbow Project 2017

Rainbow Project 2017 photo bombed by a rainbow!

It's that time of year again for the Rainbow Project launch! Now in it's fifth year, this event brings together breweries from other countries and the UK to create beers inspired by the seven colours of the Rainbow. The project started in 2013 but it was 2014 that was the most memorable. This was the year that the partnership of Omnipollo and Buxton were born with their Yellow Belly which still is produced today. This has lead them to go on to collaborate on the growing range of ice cream ales! Last year the UK were teamed up with seven New Zealand breweries however these didn't quite live up to the hype as the previous years had. Although the descriptions sounded amazing the tastes fell a little flat. That being said one did stand out to me - Black & Blue by Wild Beer and 8 Wired. This has some great spice from the peppercorns used in the brew and real lip puckering sourness. I do love a Rainbow a Project so of course I had to get a case and this year the project headed back to the US for some inspiration. I noticed from the descriptions that a few of the beers had a Mexican theme running through them. With that in mind my boyfriend cooked up some fiery soft tacos to accompany this Rainbow Project. 

Blue - Santo Del Frio by Siren and Sante Adairius

Sours are usually predominate styles within the Rainbow Project so it makes a change to see an American lager. Brewed using cryogenically frozen hops this beer has a crisp taste as well as light finish. The breweries put a lot of thought into the ingredients to give it a Mexican finish by adding blue corn tortillas and blue agave (barrel aged in tequila barrels) to the brew. I didn't really get much of the tequila but the overall finish of the beer was good. A very easy drinking lager perfect with spicy tacos! 

 

Red - Amancecer Mexicano by Magic Rock and Casita Cerveceria

This has some complex flavours running through it. The first flavours that you get are spice from the chilli and cinnamon followed up with some citrus notes. These flavours are all balanced with the sweetness of hibiscus which I suspect have also given this beer it’s colour. This sour was a great way to finish our Mexican meal but one can was enough. 

Green- Mojito by Hawkshead and Modern Times

Quite a murky looking beer from the pour and the most dominant flavour is mint. On the back of the throat I got a familiar rum warmth. I quite like this beer as I do enjoy a mojito and I think it stays true to the flavours of this popular cocktail. My boyfriend in the other hand didn't feel it was for him, “a bit too much like toothpaste” he commented! 

Yellow - Rex Apiary by Beavertown and Jester King

This beer is a bit more savoury in flavour from the rosemary, it reminds me of Walkers Roast Chicken crisps! For me though I feel this herb has overpowered the other notes listed in the beer description, honey and Texas dried lemons. I do like that Jester King have had their own culture shipped in from the US so that this beer truly had a piece added to it from both sides of the pond. 

Orange - West Fork by Partizan and New Belgium

I don't think there is anything groundbreaking about this beer but it is highly drinkable. I really like the background of the beer from my Rainbow Project leaflet. It tells a four year old story of wild fires destroying a beautiful area of Colorado where spruce tips grew. Despite the spruces not yet being ready for this brew the story is inspired by the Phoenix, rising from the ashes and being reborn. This is a really nice saison, pure and simple. 

Indigo - Indigo by Wild Beer and Side ProjectThis beer pours a pretty purple colour and smells like it is full of berry flavours. Unfortunately it doesn't live up to its promise and the taste is a little weak. The mild sourness is not something I would expect from Wild Beer so it is a little disappointing. Particularly as I am such a huge fan of their beers and the Black & Blue from last years Rainbow Project was my highlight. Hopefully they can bring it back next year! 

Violet - Burial Vault by Burning Sky and 3 Floyds

This wasn't a beer for me, I felt the flavours of the bourbon and the burgundy seemed to overpower my palate. My boyfriend however really enjoyed this white stout. He liked the balance of the burgundy and bourbon against the sweetness of the lactose. Not sure how this is linked to the colour violet but it is definitely the beer you want to finish the Rainbow Project on! 

All in all I've really enjoyed this years Rainbow Project. I think the Red and Green will have to be my favourites as they have interested me the most. Even though there was one or two from the collection that weren't to my tastes the Rainbow Project is all about being creative and having fun. It's also a good way of building relations with international breweries which can only be a positive thing in this growing beery world. 

Missed the Beavertown Bus? - Beavertown Extravaganza 2017

So it's the day after the end of Beavertown’s Extravaganza 2017 weekend and what a great festival it was. So many breweries spread out throughout the Printworks London which proved to be a great space for this type of event. 4,000 people were said to be attending the Extravaganza and to be honest it didn't feel like that many as it wasn't overcrowded. I went along on the first day on Friday and as I was getting closer to the Printworks I could feel myself getting excited. On arrival we were all given a short snifter style glass for the 100ml pours in this ‘all you can drink’ festival. I'd already looked at the beer list before arriving and I thought I had planned out where I was going to get my samples but as we filtered into the halls I was overwhelmed by the amount to choose from - it was like being a kid in a sweet shop. I saw lots of people had come prepared with their beer lists printed out. I even saw one guy had made a spreadsheet with colour codes for which room the breweries were set up in! I found it impossible to stick to a plan as breweries were rotating their beers on two taps each. You just had to get to the front of the queue and decide when you were there. 

My first beer had to be Rubus Maximus, a collab with Wild Beer and Beavertown which has been reprised from 2014 when it was special limited edition batch. I loved this beer when it first came out and was lucky enough to have one of the last growlers from Wild Beer so naturally I wanted to start my Extravaganza day with this. It was just as I remembered, fruity raspberries with a sour kick. It was a good job I went here first as within 25mins of the festival opening the Rubus was all gone! 

Some of the main events that got people talking at the Extravaganza were the Rainbow Project 2017 and Buxton/Omnipollo ice cream beers. As I have already sampled Buxton and Omnipollo’s ice cream beers I decided to give them a miss but from what I heard they were doing soft serve again! I had been looking out for the Rainbow Project beers during the Extravaganza as it looked like they would be served at their respective breweries however in the centre of the festival popped up a stand that was serving all 7. I only managed to try two of the colours, Red - Amanecer Mexicano by Magic Rock & Casita Cervecería and Green - Mojito by Hawkshead Brewery & Modern Times, but I have just ordered a Rainbow case to try at home so look out for that post! There was, however, another green beer doing the rounds at the festival. Troll So Hard brewed by J. Wakefield, a sour lemon and lime Berliner Weisse that certainly looked like it should have been in the Rainbow Project. I didn't get an opportunity to try this but from what I saw of it walking around the festival is that it was indeed an eerily green colour - hope nobody Hulked out after drinking it! 

I had even more trouble trying to pick what to eat as Kerb had supplied some really great street food stalls with so many different cuisines on display. After doing a few circuits of the food stalls I decided on a steak and chips with béarnaise sauce which hit the spot after a few beers. I also found an Indian street food stall that were selling onion bhajji bowls. These were amazing giant bhajjis served with a drizzle of mango chutney - I could see why the queues from here were so long! 

I saw on Twitter that some people had a few gripes about the Extravaganza, mostly about the queuing and that a few breweries sold out during the festival. To be honest the queuing at the beginning was a bit long but as everyone got into different rhythms the lines got shorter. Also because we were only having 100ml pours people were getting served quickly and you didn't mind waiting if it was a beer on your list! As for the breweries selling out you could see why as a lot of the big names had the longest queues, Other Half, Wild Beer, Buxton, Omnipollo and Cloudwater to name a few, so it was inevitable that they might be the first to close up. I didn't feel like this caused me any problems though, there were still plenty of breweries still serving up their beers and it was a good way of trying breweries who I had not heard of yet. 

Overall the Beavertown Extravaganza was well organised with a great display of beers from breweries all over the world. I had such a great time and tried quite a few beers, some I loved and others that weren't perhaps to my taste, but that is what it's all about. I can't wait to go again and hope to see you guys again next year! 

After the Beers of Summer have gone

Its been a busy couple of months over the summer for various reasons but I still found time for some beers. In August London played host to many festivals and fringe events, most notably the London Craft Beer Festival (LCBF) followed by CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival (GBBF). Unfortunately I didn't make it to GBBF as the beer list didn't really appeal to me, however I was really excited to be able to attend the LCBF.

Held at the Electric Light Station in Shoreditch, the London Craft Beer Festival was overflowing with great names from the beer industry. My highlight has got to be Buxton’s newest Ice Cream ale range in collaboration with Omnipollo. Buxton kept us waiting with anticipation as they were only serving one keg at a time - when it was gone, it was gone! They were also running their slush machines offering iced beer toppings with each sample. If you’ve read one of my earlier blog posts you will remember that I already fell in love with Buxton/Omnipollo’s first range of ice cream beers - the classic Neapolitan which I was lucky to try whilst in the Buxton Tap. With my eye closely watching the Buxton stand at LCBF I got to try these latest additions to the ice cream range: Popsicle Ice cream Pils, Blueberry Slab Cake and finally the Raspberry Meringue. I honestly felt like a kid in a sweet shop with the range of beers on display. The great thing was that with the smaller servings I could get round and try as many beers as I could! 

Although August has been quite quiet for me on the beer front, my diary is packed with events to go to in September. First one on my list is Beavertown’s Extravaganza being held on Fri 8th and Sat 9th Sept. The event boasts a large gathering of breweries and friends of Beavertown from the UK and Internationally. I am really looking forward to the reprise of Rubus Maximus, which was a Beavertown and Wild Beer collab in 2014 and has got to be one of my favourite beers! The Rainbow Project 2017 is also making an appearance with UK breweries pairing up the US again this year. I can’t wait to taste the Rainbow! 

Next will be Bristol Craft Beer Festival (BCBF) being held on 15-17th September. In attendance is a range of independent and well known breweries from Bristol and the South West as well as some guests from around the UK, US and Europe. I do enjoy seeing what our local brewers have to offer so I will be looking to see whats new during this festival. 

To finish off my September I’m venturing back up north to Indy Man Beer Con at Manchester’s Victoria Baths. In my opinion a great venue for a beer festival with great cubby holes to explore in search for my favourite beers. This will be my third visit to the city and I intend to see what else it has to offer with it’s Indy Man fringe events.

Maybe I’ll see you there!