Strength: 5.5%
Brewed: Aberdeen, Scotland
Since launching their first proper brewery last year, Scotland’s Fierce Beer Co. has become extremely prolific. Having produced over 50,000 litres of beer over the past year, the brewery offers a whopping core range of ten beers amongst some limited edition offerings and collaborative efforts of which are currently in the pipeline. Now operating from an industrial estate in Dyce, Aberdeen, Fierce was originally set up by joint owners Dave Grant (Managing Director) and David McHardy (Operations Director) as a home-brew hobby, initially selling kegs to Aberdeen clients from a home nano-brewery. Now, the new brewery boasts a state of the art stainless steel brewing set up with six fermenting tanks and an in-house bottling and labelling machine. As for the beers, unlike many other local breweries there is very small focus on IPA. Instead, the core range’s main focus is a selection of pale ales, fruit beers and dark porters, all intended to deliver strong, bold flavours.
Brewed with American Chinook hops and cold pressed coffee – Eskimo Joe is one of the brewery’s wildly creative pale ales. When poured, the liquid has an amber complexion with a fleeting off-white head and highly visible carbonation. On the nose, dry coffee beans are instantly prominent, followed by notes of vanilla, roasted chestnuts and straw. In addition, faint aromas of grapefruit rind are followed by a subtle smokiness. As expected, the taste has plenty of coffee, though the bitterness is surprisingly mild. Instead, there’s a dull sweetness with flavours of caramel, further notes of chestnut and some lactose to conclude. Some fruit juice is noticeable within the finish, working strangely well alongside more sweet coffee.
Boasting prominent coffee notes, Eskimo Joe is surprisingly smooth. Purists will be unenthusiastic, yet as far as unconventional brewing techniques are concerned – this is a very pleasant pale ale.
Further information on Fierce Beer Co. can be found at fiercebeer.com.