Since I decided to start this blog I've really had to leave my comfort zone when it comes to beers. My natural inclination is to always go for the stouts or porters, the darker the better, but I'm trying to branch out, and I'm starting to enjoy it. Drinking a pale ale of any description simply wouldn't have happened a few months ago but here we are. This one's from Scottish brewers Williams Bros, they've created a fair few beers over the last few years including Chokka Blokka Mocha Stout which you can read about here. Anyway the beer comes in a colourful 440 can which I picked up from LIDL.

I'll start with an apology. The picture above just isn't right, I don't know if I had the flash on or what happened, maybe I had the flash on when I shouldn't have, who knows. But anyway the colour doesn't look right. In reality it's a much lighter beer almost resembling a lager. Barely any head is created from pouring Talking Head, and yea it's a very light gold colour. This is a 4.4% proof beer so it's at a nice average drinkable level that will have an affect but not blow your head off. The smell is very citrusy and floral but certainly not unpleasant. 

The taste very much matches the smell. There's plenty of citrus and hops in there with a slightly orange and almost pineapple twang. There's just enough bitterness to give it a well rounded taste without masking the citrus. It's a crisper taste than I was expecting, but other than that it's pretty unremarkable. This is very much one of those pale ales which if a mate passed you it on a night out you'd say thanks, take a sip, think that's alright, but forget about fairly quickly. There's nothing wrong with Talking Head from William Bros, it's a decent beer. There's also nothing great about it, so it's just a decent beer. 6.5/10

This was another cheap treat from the LIDL beer festival, I basically just bought a couple of each as at less than £2 a can for craft beer you can't really go wrong, well I say that I've had a couple of terrible beers from there but I'm trying to look on the bright side. Lost in Mosaic comes in a 440ml can which is a decent size and clocks in at 5% making it a decent percentage for a covid Skype session, I've still not done the Zoom thing. It's a New World IPA, and it's unfiltered, and I do prefer unfiltered beers, they just seem to hold more of the taste. I don't usually look forward to IPA's but for some reason this one got my hopes up.

The smell is nice enough, there's hops, there's fruit, probably some pineapple and/or orange, certainly citrus anyway, and it pours beautifully. Just look at the head, that's what a beer should look like, well in my head it should look jet black but other than that it's pretty perfect. The light unfiltered hazy colour is certainly appealing, but really the head is exceptional for a craft can. Before drinking Lost in Mosaic it has all the feel of a good beer, the look, the smell, but that's all just for show what really matters is does it taste good?

The answer is a pretty straight forward yes. Loch Lomond Brewery have come up with a decent New World IPA. There's a nice subtle malty taste, with a good amount of hops, and an almost tropical fruits finish. Lost Mosaic is a very solid well balanced, easy to drink beer. You could have one after work quite happily, or have a couple at the start of a session. The taste will be familiar to most IPA or APA drinkers and it doesn't do anything hugely different to most beers of this type, but it really wont disappoint you at all. Loch Lommond's Lost in Mosaic is a really sold 7.5/10 beer.

Stewart Brewing is a fairly new Edinburgh based craft beer brewer. They have a decent selection despite starting less than 20 years ago, and seem to be having a fair amount of success. Small Giant is an American Pale Ale which isn't my drink of choice but I'm willing to give everything a try especially when it's going cheap at the LIDL beer festival. It comes in a nice, leafy 440ml can although for the life of me I can't understand how this relates to a small giant, am I missing something? Regardless of the odd but pretty branding it felt like a decent choice to review.

Coming in at a nice session percentage of 4.5% this certainly looks like a beer that isn't going to do too much damage, but will get you nicely on your way. The smell is hoppy with a bit of citrus mixed in for good measure. It actually smells pretty nice, which is always a good start. It also pours really nicely, slightly darker and hazier than I expected, but with a really good white head, can't really fault it so far, as American Pale Ales go aesthetically Small Giant looks and smells like one of the better ones. 

What really matters more than the look and smell of a beer is the taste, lets face it everything else is just window dressing. Fortunately Small Giant isn't just for show, it's actually a decent beer, and I say this despite traditionally been a porter and stout drinker. It's certainly got plenty of hops and a light crisp taste, but it goes down really easily, possibly too easily. I'm not going to pretend that the taste will blow your mind or anything like that, it's not spectacular in any way, but sometimes you just want something that tastes nice without any thrills. I'm going to give Stewart Brewing's Small Giant a respectable I'd drink it again 7/10