之前酒保说帮我留个位，也没怎么在意，去了才知道，原来星期五那么快就整个酒吧满满的都是品酒人。
这是在东京的最后一个傍晚，也一早就订了·2009年的DARK LORD。一起赏味的英国人朋友NEIL说，这瓶应该是亮点。
当天一起喝的还有NEIL的日本籍妻子，也是很有品酒经验的同道中人。
在开始喝“摇滚级”瓶子之前，三个人分别各自叫了一杯ON TAPS的啤酒。
我选了日本当地JOHANNA酿酒厂的EARL GREY beer，是的，就是茶种，非常清新容易喝的一小杯。
ratebeer:- http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/johana-earl-grey/119299/
第一瓶是NEIL选的OLD VISCOSITY (美国的Port Brewing酿）,这是旧式威士忌口味的啤酒，也有咖啡黑巧克力味，非常有层次感。
ratebeer:- http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/port-brewing-old-viscosity/19220/
喝完，问下大家第二瓶喝什么时候，反应是“把黑魔王”请出来吧！
好吧，那就“DARK LORD" 呗。
一拿出来，感觉就是瓶子很引人注目，因为包装是用不同颜色的蜡纸代表不同年份。2009 年的是白色。
ratebeer:- http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/three-floyds-dark-lord-russian-imperial-stout/15917/
喝完黑魔王之后，肯定需要一瓶可以让口味稍微“下来”的啤酒，我的直接反应是“开ADAM吧”, 觉得应该可以把魔王拉下来，结果，黑魔王很霸道，一直在霸占味觉。一直小口喝了第六口左右，ADAM的应有味道才算全跑出来（Adam之前有介绍，现在不重复了）
ratebeer:- http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hair-of-the-dog-adam/568/
ratebeer:- http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/lost-abbey-carnevale-2009-/107389/
总结这几晚去Craftheads寻宝的感觉，有点像去了一个很厉害的摇滚音乐节，每天看到听到的都是非常高水准的乐队/歌手，有时候会觉得不够， WANT MORE， 可是同时也很清楚一下子太多好东西挤在一起也不是件好事，还是应该分开时间段，慢慢赏味才对得起这些好酒， 对得起自己的味蕾。
对我来说，Craftheads就是藏宝箱，虽然要飞6个小时，只要有机会，肯定要再去。至于曼谷12月就要开的Mikeller Bar, 虽然应该也会很精彩，直觉是两家会很不同风格藏酒，所以，曼谷要去，可是东京更加要去，因为，Mikeller的创办人之一，酿酒界的ROCK STAR Mikkel先生上次在吉隆坡的时候说过，他在东京的时候，去Craftheads喝到凌晨三点钟！
Prior arrangements been made to meet up with Neil & his wife for the 4th and last visit to Craftheads. Neil is an Englishman in Tokyo and write a lot about beers while his Japanese wife is in no way lesser an experience craft beer lover.
Unlike my 3 previous visit, the place was jam packed very early on( no wonder the bar tender was kind enough to reserve a table for us when told the date and time we are coming during my previous visit)
the three of us started with each having something from the taps, I had a very light and pleasing Earl Grey beer by Johanna, a Japanese brew, nice glass to start with.
and then the bottles game started...
Old Viscosity by Port Brewing was the first chosen one by Neil.
For me the taste was coffee,dark chocolate,malty..smooth one to go one half or two notch up the palate...
And then it's time for a second bottle, i pop the question"what's next?"...and almost immediately and unanimously the answer was" bring on the DARK LORD!"
After a good few minutes spend on taking the "souvenir photos" of "before and after" opened bottle, there it was, sitting pure dark, no head whatsoever in the glasses.
The next very long minutes were basically spend on savouring, trying to figure out what is the next taste, aroma that comes out from the glass of dark monster...I remember I said "soy sauce, vinegar, whisky..." and both Mr & Mrs Neil were saying a whole host of other taste and smells...one thing was certain, for every sip the dark forces changes it's character almost every time!
Personally, i have to admit that very heavy Russian imperial stout is probably a bit too heavy/complex for my palate, especially one that bend more towards the wine and spirits direction. But I have to say this one is worth the hype(and price :)
looking for something to change the palate, i suggested the tried and cherished Adam by Hair of the Dog, a small bottle just to try and change the mouth feel.
Well, the dark forces is never easily beaten, that's exactly what Adam must have felt! for the first 5-6 sip, the Dark Lord was still very much in control of the palate, Adam was fighting hard. It was only after the 6th sip that the full flavor of Adam came out in full.
Because Adam was such a small bottle, we decided to have the customary" one for the road"( well for some this could mean no end and no sight of the road until perhaps after another 4 or 5 or 6..?:)
Neil did the honor of choosing and what a gem it was!
Carnevale Saison by The Lost Abbey was the chosen one and i must say it was actually a perfect fit for the palate, one i suspect might have "benefited" from the earlier "build up process" with heavier beers, but whatever it might be, for a Saison it really taste very complex and pleasant,
It was a perfect bottle to end the 4 very pleasing yet at times "difficult"( due to selection issue, which one to drink, which one to skip for now..) visits to Craftheads.
The 4 visit is almost like attending a rock music festivals with all the big name, hard hitting bands playing in front of you non-stop, it was so good, yet, at times you felt surreal that this is the treasure place you have found but can only have so many(or so much) while you there....
For now( and i suspect for a long long while too), Craftheads is my definitive place to be whenever i have the chance to visit Tokyo. Yes, Mikeller bar is opening soon with shorter flying time to Bangkok, that is a must visit too but i do think the two bars is not only far apart in terms of flying distances, but would also be in terms of beers served/stored.
The rock star of craft brews, Mikkel of Mikkeller himself said when he was in KL recently, that Craftheads was the place he went to while in Tokyo, "drinking until 3am ..."
I shall be back( missed out totally on The Bruery's beer which Craftheads carry...and lots more....)
No comments:
Post a Comment