El Perro De La Cerveza

Go Here immediately and buy their beer, it's fucking wonderful. Particularly the Punk or Hardcore IPAs, the most lip-puckering brilliantly bitter ales it has ever been my good fortune to come across. Punk is 6.8%abv of passionfruity dry-as-Death Valley ultrarefreshment that has knocked my previous favourite hot day ale* off the top of the 'Sun's out, let's make a brown glass bottle pyramid in the kitchen' chart. It even beats a perfect gin'n'tonic**.

Hardcore is to Punk what it name implies; harder, faster, louder***. 9.2%abv of hops, bitterness, hops, some more hops, bitterness and hops. God, it's good. There is bitter, there is IPA, then there's this. 150 (at least) IBUs§ of everything that makes a beer great, with nary a hint of the syrupiness (whether in texture or taste) that is unfortunately so often a feature of higher abv brews. It's so bitter it makes you dribble. And dry? Neat Campari or Manzanilla sherry (mmmm salty wine§§§) can't hold a candle to this fucker. Possibly the finest beer in existence.

*Cooper's Sparkling Ale, proof that, contrary to popular belief, the Aussies can make a decent beer. It's appallingly drinkable, and also has that sharp passionfruit edge that so many good, properly dry pale ales have. Weird thing is, I can't fucking stand passionfruit, never has a flavour/aroma been meant to exist as a backnote, a tint, as much as passionfruit. To me, in a beer, it's like civetone in perfume, in the background, in small quantities, it smells gorgeous, but you wouldn't stick your nose up a civet's arsehole...

**Hot day.

Big glass (3/4s of pint should do you).

Ice, made in the bottom of the freezer, lots of.

One and one half to two parts good gin (Tanqueray, Plymouth, Bombay Sapphire, Gordon's Distillers Cut. No crap. Sloe gin is acceptable.)

One and one half to half a part good tonic water.

Lemon zest, and a slice if y're feeling poncey. Lime is not acceptable in a G'n'T.§§

I'm a fussy fucker, what can I say?

***but unlike it's musical equivalent, not without subtlety.

§International Bitterness Units scale. Info here.

§§Quince might be tho, anyone got a quince tree?

§§§Seriously. Manzanilla is brilliant stuff, I generally don't like sherry, even most Finos taste a bit 'off' to me, but a good Manzanilla is astonishing. Like alcoholic sea.