These are my last two beers that aren't Christmas novelty or seasonal beers, at least for now. They were selected pretty much at random, just to make up the numbers in a 5 for €10 deal.
Thwaites IPA pours clear amber with a big soapy head. Slightly acidic hop notes are potent on the aroma, and there's a hint of bubblegum in there too. The taste isn't much like this. Rather, it's more like any number of forgettable English ales. Exceptionally boring balance of biscuit malt and hop highlights, it's rather flat in the flavour stakes. Still though, it's plenty drinkable, if unremarkable, and totally unlike any IPA I've ever had.
And I mean that in a bad way.
The other beer is Mariestads Export, a lager from Sweden. It seems to be pretty popular up there too, if that tells you anything. It pours the dark gold of a standard lager, it has the sweet, slightly corny malt aroma of a standard lager, but it's big surprise is it's thick syrupy malt character that dominates the taste. Amazingly, it manages to do that while still remaining completely forgettable. That being said, I must admit I was pretty satisfied to have this with my pizza.
Not the best pair you'll ever have, but you could do a lot worse.
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