A Daring and Bold Move

This time, dear readers, I have tapped yet again!  What makes this tapping so exciting is the selection from Hammerheart Brewery, whose kegs are strangely spherical and have funny tap couplers.  Twas an adventure to get them on the wall to be sure, and unfortunately one of the three cannot be tapped right now because of a lack of proper couplers; it will have to wait until the Thor's Imperial Porter is gone. Onwards:

• Hammerheart Åttebeint Hest Northern IPA
• Hammerheart Thor's Imperial Porter
• Bell's Oktoberfest
• Bell's Two Hearted Ale IPA

Thor's Porter drinks heavily and darkly, fitting for a wrathful, powerful god.  The smell is of smoke and peppers, like pepper jack cheese.  It conjures a deep bitterness, rich yet extremely dark chocolate, a quick flash of maple syrup, a hint of smoke, and a fierce fieriness in the belly reminiscent of smoked peppers (chipotles perhaps); magnificent and intense for a porter.  The Northern IPA is slightly perfumy on the smell, perhaps with a little grapefruit.  The taste however is a lot darker than expected, with hints of roasted nuts and tree amber, perhaps with a little lime zest.  Earthy, deep, and quite good.


The astute reader will notice that, along with the Hammerheart and Bell's beers tapped just now, another Bell's brew was just tapped a couple of days ago -- the Winter White Ale.  It's just as well then to frame this week as a Hammerheart/Bell's bonanza!  So there it is, don't forget to come in.  Journey into a higher realm of delight.