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One Drop Brewing - Rainbow Country Fruited Glitter Sour Ale

Posted by John Shearlock on

One Drop Brewing - Rainbow Country Fruited Glitter Sour Ale

From the lemon gold of pilsners to the deep mahogany of Flanders reds, the world of beer really is a myriad of colours. But colour can be deceptive and, well, all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold.As humans we are hardwired to respond to colour in certain ways thanks to our evolutionary past. The ripeness of vegetables and fruits can, for the most part, be ascertained by colour, and so we see deep reds and think of sweetness, whilst greens have us primed for bitterness. Missing flavour cues would literally have been a matter of life and death at some points...

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Urbanaut Barrel Aged Bermuda Triangle Brut Double IPA

Posted by John Shearlock on

Urbanaut Barrel Aged Bermuda Triangle Brut Double IPA

It’s always fun watching the evolution of breweries, how they change, grow and develop their thing - and Urbanaut is the perfect example.They began brewing for the “global citizen” with a small range of classic beers inspired by cities and cultures with names like Kingsland Pilsner, Brixton Pale Ale and Williamsburg IPA. I guess a theme is a good means of bringing direction in the early days when you are very much finding your way.Today’s beer though, shows just how far they have come, and its naming seems equally apt. The Bermuda Triangle is a vague area and urban legend...

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One Drop Blueberry & Raspberry Fairy Floss Sour and the remarkable ride

Posted by John Shearlock on

One Drop Blueberry & Raspberry Fairy Floss Sour and the remarkable ride

I love beer! I also love words too, and the naming of this beer - plus the thought of ingesting it - has my mind literally racing in a million directions.Is it a sour beer whose flavour profile will somehow conjure up the image of a fairy doing “the floss” once I get it in my mouth (you know, the dance that only small children seem able to perform)?Or, will it evoke the experience of using a blueberry fairy (a sub-species I would presume) to floss between one's teeth?I’d be entirely happy with either, but after reading the can (maybe...

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One Drop and the art of dropping the first beat

Posted by John Shearlock on

One Drop and the art of dropping the first beat

It’s always nice to catch people off guard. Lull them into a sense of security with a product they believe they know, let their defences drop and then subtly tweak or alter a key element and - boom - you’ll have their full attention.The one drop rhythm which is famously used in reggae music works on this exact principle.Here, we find the drums working to a classic four four on the high hat, which is then cleverly offset with the snare and the bass drum atypically hitting on the third beat.We’re not used to this sort of syncopation - this...

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Why is Cabernet Franc suddenly a rockstar?

Posted by Joelle Thomson on

What’s not to love about Cabernet Franc? It's dark, it's velvety, it's juicy and it's smooth. And it's one of the parents of the much more famous Cabernet Sauvignon, so it has been a pretty important grape in the Bordeaux region for quite a while now, say a few hundred years at least. It is also the most important red grape variety in the Loire Valley, in terms of making red wines rather than the rosé for which the Loire is popular for.  So, why has it taken so long to come to our attention of mainstream wine drinkers? It's...

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