Bonnatwist Bitter – Beta-taste

Yesterday it was time to open up the first bottles of Bonnatwist Bitter for an exciting tasting. All five of us, including our new member Jesper, gathered at Erik’s place to finally get a first sip of what hopefully is the beginning of a great era.

To our amusement it tasted quite good already. We knew we had added too much brewing sugar for a bitter but the carbonation wasn’t disturbing. It tasted little like a bitter with a (bonna)twist of strong Amarillo taste. When this have been on bottles for a month or two more hopefully it will be a really good brew. I’ll keep you updated.

Contrary to the doubt my face is expressing, I’m actually enjoying it.

Westgota Nidbryggeri has a logo

Our new member Jesper designed this logotype that is a modern version of our region’s heraldic symbol. You can see the original below:

Beer 100517-100521

Maredsous 8
Belgium
ABV: 8%
Rating: 3
Pretty acidic and not that bitter. Maybe that is because I have aged this bottle in an earth cellar for about two years from purchase, maybe not.Notes of fruit. Pleasant but a standard Belgian ale.

 

 

 

Alesmith IPA
USA
ABV: 7.25%
Rating: 4
Nice bitterness and a well-balanced IPA. Nothing more to say really.

 

 

 

 

 

Herslev Aspargesøl
Denmark
ABV: 5.5%
Rating: 3
Smells Asparagus. Tastes Asparagus. Wheat character. Very strange but not bad.

 

 

 

 

 

Struise Black Jack
Belgium
ABV: 7%
Rating: 3
Acidic with notes of orange. A little coffee in the after-taste. Perfectly fine.

 

 

 

 

 

Duvel Tripel Hop
Belgium
ABV: 9.5%
Rating: 3
Sweet, fruity and yeasty. A little acidic with subtle stable notes. Apple. A little like a good standard Duvel. Surprisingly little hop bitterness.

 

 

 

 

North Coast Brother Thelonious
USA
ABV: 9%
Rating: 2
Almond and artificial sugar. Like a synthetic Belgian Strong Ale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Port Brewing Santa’s Little Helper
USA
ABV: 10%
Rating: 4
Coffee. Very nice bitterness. A little acidic and hints of juniper. Notes of smoke. Pretty strong alcohol-taste but still very good.

 

 

 

 

Slottskällan Angel’s Share Hornig
Sweden
ABV: 6.9%
Rating: 2
Tastes iron and wheat. Rough to drink. Lager-bitterness shines trough and the only positive thing is some notes of blueberry jam.

 

 

 

 

Tokens Röklakritsporter
Sweden
ABV: 6%
Rating: 2
Smells like Jägermeister and that is not a good thing. Tastes like salt and reed. More like a gueze than a porter. Lime notes. Acidic as hell. Not good at all but the weirdness saves this brew from a rating of 1.

 

 

 

Stone Ruination IPA
USA
ABV: 7.7%
Rating: 3
Very bitter. A little too bitter for me and after all I might not be a real hop-head since I would have liked it a lot sweeter. Av very fresh taste with notes of newly baked bread.

Asguresh deck – second draft

So I finally got some time to trim this deck and this is the version I’m planning on trying out for a couple of games now. I have seriously considered adding Auspex as some of you friendly comments suggested but I feel its not the way to go. If Asguresh would have had superior Auspex some bleed bounce would have found its way there. As it is now I fear that the deck would lose potential and become more toolboxy adding the block-angle and I don’t think it would actually survive most games. The fifth copy of Asguresh is simply there for the opportunity of putting the first Nagaraja-deck on the Twda. Well, here is the updated list:

Deck Name : Asguresh skjuter skarpt
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 6 average: 5.16667
------------------------------------------------------------

5x Asguresh            6  CEL NEC aus   Nagaraja:5
2x Titi Camara         5  AUS CEL pot   Osebo:5
2x Idrissa             4  CEL aus       Osebo:4
1x Elizabeth Conde     5  CEL FOR pre   Ishtarri:4
1x Michael diCarlo     5  CEL obf qui   Assamite:4
1x Fairuza             4  CEL pre       !Brujah:5

Library [72 cards]
---------------------

Action [11]  
  9x Bum's Rush
  2x Fleetness

Combat [39]
  3x Blur
  6x Concealed Weapon
  4x Flash
  2x Infernal Pursuit
  6x Psyche!
  7x Pursuit
  3x Side Strike
  2x Sideslip 
  6x Taste of Vitae

Equipment [9] 
  7x .44 Magnum 
  2x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers 

Event [1]
  1x Dragonbound

Master [12]
  5x Blood Doll
  2x Fame
  1x Haven Uncovered
  1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  2x Powerbase: Luanda
  1x Tension in the Ranks

Beer 100509-100515

Eriksberg   
Sweden
ABV: 5.3%
Rating: 2
A dull standard lager.

 

 

 

 

De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis
Netherlands
ABV: 10.2%
Rating: 4
Coffee. Pleasantly acidic. After-taste of strawberry. Surprisingly few different tastes for an Imperial Stout but still very good.

 

 

 

 





Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier Helles 
Austria
ABV: 14%
Rating: 1
High alcohol and very high sweetness. Actually not drinkable at all, reminds more of sherry than beer. Malty with vanilla and spicy notes but everything is hidden behind the repulsing sweetness. Maybe my bottle is damaged with oxygen, I have aged it for more than two years in an earth cellar so hopefully for Schloss Eggenberg’s sake that is the case.

Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva 2006
Belgium
ABV: 10%
Rating: 3
Brandy-taste with a liquorice after-taste. Much fruit in the flavour. Pleasant but little too much alcohol.  It gets a bit milder as it grows warmer and it is a very complex beer that shows raisin and juniper notes towards the end. Too bad it’s not as good as it could be.

 

Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout
Netherlands
ABV: 11%
Rating: 5
Smooth with well-hidden alcohol. After-taste of juniper. Chocolate with a light acidic note. Hints of oak. Smoke, almost like pipe tobacco. An extremely well-balanced beer. Subtle fruit notes as it grows warmer and the juniper gets stronger. Apricots. This is close to perfection.

 

Cracked Kettle Amsterdam - Purchases

I went to the Netherlands this week for a work-trip and I just had to stop somewhere to get some good beer while I had the opportunity. I knew we were going to do a lot of car travelling and I had De Molen in mind but the schedule was simply too tight to be able to get there. The shop Cracked Kettle was my second choise but it didn’t look like I was going to make it there either. I was lucky and talked my hungry travel-companions into waiting in the hotel-lobby before going to the restaurant when we got home after a long day. I also talked our driver into driving me to the store where I spent a quick 10 minutes.

I really fell in love with the store at first sight. The manager was a really nice guy that understood my dilemma getting some really good beer in that short amount of time. Even better was that he played my favourite country artist David Allan Coe in the store and when I commented on it he was amused and told me not many customers know who that is. I now knew I would be leaving with some great products. Below is what I got:

 De Molen Rasputin, De Molen Molenbier, De Molen Hemel & Aarde, De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis

 Struise/Mikkeller Elliot Brew, Struise / De Molen – Black Damnation, Struise Black Jack

Port Brewing Santas little Helper, Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout x 2, Klein Duimpje Imperial Russian Stout

And Cracked Kettle didn’t live up to its name, not a single bottle was destroyed during the flight.

Asguresh deck – Help needed

Deck Name : Asguresh skjuter skarpt 
Author : Stefan Karlsson

 

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 6 average: 5.08333
----------------------------------------- 4x Asguresh 6 CEL NEC aus Nagaraja:5  
2x Titi Camara 5 AUS CEL pot Osebo:5
2x Idrissa 4 CEL aus Osebo:4
1x Elizabeth Conde 5 CEL FOR pre Ishtarri:4
1x Laecanus 5 CEL obt pre Toreador:4
1x Michael diCarlo 5 CEL obf qui Assamite:4
1x Fairuza 4 CEL pre !Brujah:5

Library [78 cards]
----------------------------------------- Action [12]
  10x Bum's Rush
  2x Harass

Combat [40] 
  5x Blur
  7x Concealed Weapon
  2x Infernal Pursuit  
  8x Psyche!  
  8x Pursuit 
  3x Sideslip
  7x Taste of Vitae

Equipment [10] 
  8x .44 Magnum
  2x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers 

Event [2]
  2x Dragonbound

Master [14] 
  6x Blood Doll
  2x Fame
  1x Haven Uncovered
  2x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  2x Powerbase: Luanda
  1x Tension in the Ranks

I have tried this deck a couple of times and usually it does quite well but sometimes it just dies before it gets started. I think the basic concept is good but the deck needs some optimizing and that is where I need your help.

Asguresh is a fantastic vampire for a Celerity gun deck, his special ability can counter virtually any form of combat or combat defence. The deck is built around him so advices like “Go for Anson/Ashur instead” are pointless. The reason for having duplicates of Titi and Idrissa is that I want to be sure to bring at least one Laibon to the ready region to be able to play Powerbase:Luanda.

Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers is very good for actually ousting and not only bringing a shitload of vampires to torpor. The Master package seems about right but when I’m efficient in combat sometimes I jam on Masters. Infernal Pursuit is one of the latest additions to be able to cycle some away. Where I feel I need the most help is the Combat-section. I don’t have much experience playing gun-decks and I have a hard time getting proportions right.

When you help me trim this deck think of it as the deck that will win EC2010. Many thanks in advance!

Beer 100427-100501

Oppigårds Starkporter

Sweden

ABV: 5.9%

Rating: 4

Fresh and a little fruity. Pleasant coffee notes. Pretty acidic with late notes of chocolate. Very nice over all.

La Rullés Triple

Belgium

ABV: 8.4%

Rating: 4

Fresh, spicy and fruity. Notes of vanilla and after-taste of sweet licorice. Very pleasant and drinkable.

BrewDog Trashy Blonde

Scotland

ABV: 4.1%

Rating: 3

It's like a bitter wheat beer. Notes of citrus and other fruits. Pretty standard for being BrewDog and therefore a little disappointing. Boring bitterness but drinkable.

Pauwel Kwak

Belgium

ABV: 8%

Rating: 3

The flavour is like a classical Belgian dubbel but the after-taste is estry and a little sour. A little lame and boring but ok.

Founders Breakfast Stout

USA

ABV: 8.3%

Rating: 5

Chocolate and coffee. Thick and pleasant in the mouth without making you thirstier. Nice wooden notes that increases as it grows warmer. This is a perfectly balanced and drinkable imperial stout that I could enjoy every day. Too bad Systembolaget has withdrawn it because of the kid on the label. It's nice to drink a really really great beer again, I have to do this more often.