Bizarre Ride 7.2% ABV

After taking a two-week break just to focus on two beers that were part of my own stash: Spitfire Kentish Ale and Dark Drake! I am now happy to announce that I am returning to my Brews Of The World stash and I am glad to say we are kicking it off with a beauty!

As the weather starts to improve and the sunshine makes an appearance, the fruity and sweet beers that we all totally enjoy sampling start to appear on shelves in supermarkets and also if they were open, many pubs as well.

I’ve mentioned this loads and loads of times before, beers have seasons, in the spring/summer you would expect to find a citrusy and tropical fruit pale ale, whilst in the autumn/winter you would normally find and sample a dark, full-bodied and smoky stout or porter.

So today, I am bringing you a refreshing and citrusy beer review which is brought to you from the West Midlands, here is the Bizarre Rider (7.2% ABV) review.

History

Bizarre Rider is one of those classical and hoppy beers that is proudly brewed by Attic Brew Company which is based in Birmingham specifically in the area of Stirchley, the brewery is around three years old and was once started off as a small scale brewery, but over the years due to a surge in sales, the brewery had doubled in size.

The brewery was founded by two enthusiastic and beer obsessive students, Sam and Oli who actually met at Cardiff University before launching the brewery.

Before the brewery was launched, Oli who originally worked in London, left his job and moved to Birmingham. Then, after both of them deciding that they wanted to start a brewery, they both took out a loan and rented an old and run-down industrial unit in Stirchley.

At first, the two of them were using a small brew kit, which was enough just to fill a couple of bottles, to me a brew kit is the best way to start your brewing career, it’s all about trial and error! Then, several months later after building, painting and brewing a load of beer, the taproom doors were officially opened on 23rd November 2018!

In 2019, after having some amazing support from the locals, Sam and Oli managed to upgrade their small brewing kit to a state of the art 10 BBL brewery unit, this allowed the pair to brew quadruple the amount of beer and also start-up their own barrel ageing programme.  One iconic feature I totally love what the pair have done is keeping their original starter brewing kit and showcasing it on top of the bar within the taproom, this was an idea that was created to show the locals how far the duo have come along their brewing career path.

Over the past year, Attic Brew Co has extensively increased their core range of craft beers, there is plenty to choose from, pale ales, NEIPAs, DIPAs, stouts and so much more, plus Oli and Same have now been able to produce not just bottled products, majority of there beers can also be found in cans as well.

I am personally glad and totally overwhelmed that I’ve been able to try and sample a new beer from a new brewery, and I am completely looking forward to sampling some more beers from Attic Brew Co in the near future!

Tasting Notes

This golden west coast IPA has a classic hop combo of Citra & Simcoe which delivers citrus and pine. There is a strong aroma of caramel malt which supports a balanced bitterness. The finish brings a classical, fruity and tropical hit which is enormously punchy.

Review

Throughout lockdown, I’ve been enjoying doing many activities to improve my fitness, such as walking and cycling, to be fair today’s ride was an absolute killer, 30 miles, wow I’ve never done that on a mountain bike before, so I was generally pleased.

On the other hand, it wasn’t just going out on the bike that made the day very enjoyable, but being out in the glorious sunshine and enjoying the spring weather which was absolutely perfect, that being when I arrived home, I had a decision to make do I go for something dark like a porter or more towards a fruity pale ale.

Well after a few minutes, I made my decision and said that the Bizarre Rider was the winner and the beer that I wanted to sample in the evening, the beer was purchased at Brews Of The World and was retailed at £6.50, which isn’t too bad for a strong west coast IPA, so I was really pleased when I decided to purchase this beer, although, it was a difficult choice between the other Attic Brew Co beers!

Now, after feeling slightly exhausted from a cycling ride, it was time to indulge and sample this intriguing west coast IPA!

The most impressive feature I really liked about this beer was the aroma, there was a succulent malty caramel smell which was really gorgeous. At first, you’ll probably think, okay, I thought this was meant to be a spring beer, not some sweet sugary dark stout.

Instead, it’s the flavour that delivers those refreshing spring scents, citrus and pine are the first flavours that you’ll be welcomed by, but then I’ll mention this to you all, just imagine you are on holiday and sunbathing on the beach and you get a whiff of those mouthwatering tropical fruits that are being sold on a stand, that is what this beer reminds me off: Pineapple, mango, melon and so much more, it was perfect!

Personally, I don’t believe that this beer actually tastes like a 7.2% ABV craft ale, I was really shocked and my brain just had a point where I could have easily sampled two more cans of this beer, on that note though, I still thoroughly enjoyed this beer which was ultimately packed full of flavour.

I truly recommend this beer to you and also now that I’ve sampled my first beer from Attic Brew Co, I also recommend you to try and sample any of the beers from this brewery, I can honestly say it’ll be totally worth it!

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this post and I look forward to reading your comments on my latest beer review post, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I’ll be back next week with a brand new beer!

Cheers

The Cask Connoisseur

This is a collaborative post with Brews Of The World, all beer review posts are subject to my own honest opinion.