Appearance: Fogged deep gold with a tall off-white frothy head of perfect retention. Aroma: Noble hop, grain, some caramel. Taste: Light sweet and bitter. Pretty hoppy. Herbal. Empty ending. Mouth feel: Light to medium body, average to lively carbonation. Overall: OK.

Appearance: Opaque deep brown to black with a decent ivory-coloured frothy head. Aroma: Cocoa, roasted and toasted malt, light metal & dried fruits. Taste: Medium dry. Dark malts, cocoa, ash, dried fruits, floral hop. Light plus ending bitterness. Mouth feel: Light to medium body, average carbonation. Overall: Not bad.

Appearance: Slightly misted gold with a moderate off-white frothy head of medium retention. Aroma and taste: Wormwood, biscuits, grapefruit, pine needles. Light sweet, medium bitter. Mouth feel: Medium minus body, average carbonation. Summary: Drinkable.

Rauchbier by this young craft brewery in Russia's Ural Federal District, bottle from Geers shared with Craftmember. Loose and bubbly, snow white, thin head quickly reduced to an open ring, over a lightly hazy, orange-tinged peach blonde beer. Aroma of smoked peaches, wet cigarette tobacco, cereals, green banana, apple peel, rubber, white bread dough, brown soap. Sweetish onset but in a very clean way, sme unripe peach perhaps, fizzy carbonation, slick cereally and white-bready malt body with indeed a pinch of smokiness coming in after the middle, eventually even evolving into a waferthin slice of the smoked ham effect I love so much in Bamberg Rauchbier; some light floral hoppiness joins in too, while a certain rubberiness of soapiness remains (as in industrial white bread), ending sweetish and insufficiently characterful. Very well-behaved for a Rauchbier - too much so in fact, I guess Spezial was more a source of inspiration here than Aecht Schlenkerla, but even then this one does not nearly reach Spezial's level of quality and nobility. If I were in Crazy Brew's place, I would have thrown a lot more Rauchmalz into the mash and go for a completely smoked herring-like profile. I truly love a thoroughly smoked Rauchbier, but it is apparently hard to find one like that these days, outside of Aecht Schlenkerla's output...

Bottle. Golden, almost clear, yellowish foam. Aroma: hay, citrus and flowers, fruit. Taste: sweetish, hay, fruity, needles, citrus, light and drinkable, medium bitterness.

Pours light amber with a decent white head. Nose: solid malts, overripe fruit, higher spirits, spicy yeast. Full-bodied. Taste: fairly sweet. Candy sugar, overripe fruit. Slight alcohol burn. By no means a quad. Feel like a tripel on steroids.

Bottle. Petroleum black. Small still thick beige head. Nose: faint, roasty. Coffee and lesser chocolate. Medium body. Taste: notable sweetness. Roast, caramel, toast, treacle, coffee, moderate hop. Warming.