看這酒瓶側標寫那麼一大串憤青文字，讓我熊熊想起第一次接觸 Stone 廠牌啤酒時臉上的斜線 印象。看他們的 Arrogant Bastard Ale 酒瓶正面標著：『你沒資格喝！』(“You’re not worthy”)，那時在想，這行銷的策略，還真是十分地逆向操作啊~~

這會兒，蘇格蘭的《憤青狗狗》也狂吠呼應：『你啊，不懂酒啦！』(“You don’t understand beer.”) …… 招誰惹誰啦？是狗，就一定要亂咬人嗎？真的，需要這麼狂妄的語氣才能得到別人的注意嗎？我想，稍微多解釋一下這酒為什麼要叫 5 A.M. Saint 好像比較貼切吧？

對此，憤青酒標上甚麼也沒說。最後，只悠悠地丟了一句：

………… 拜託喂~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ X-p

BrewDog, 5 A.M. Saint, 5%abv. (American Amber Ale)

Coming in a 330ml slim brown bottle, BB 22/04/2014, served mildly chilled in a tall tumbler. Notes: the front label writes “iconoclastic amber ale”, while the side label gives a long… essay (propaganda-style) on how the general public needs more educating about beers, blah blah blah, the UK beer scene is sick and they’re the doctor…??!! Seriously?

4/5 Appearance: pours a clear, dark chestnut brown colour, coming with a thick layer of beige creamy head and moderate flows of carbonation.

4/5 Smell: almost like an ultra-aromatic Premium Bitter, the hoppy Altos sing in front of the deeper toffee-ish Baritones as of caramel-, crystal-, and/or roast-malts, giving a richly fruity and floral performance full of rose petals, longan-fruits, sweet citrus, jammy dark berries/raisins, and sweetened black tea. Weighty and creamy at the same time.

4/5 Taste: lively but not too fizzy, the creamy foretaste is immediately bready+roast-malty, citric-peel-ish, and dark-fruity, with plentiful aromatic notes of toasted nuts, raisins, deepening tannic sprigy and herbal bitterness as of roast malts plus mixed hops, and milder undertones of lightly smoked dark tea. Moderately dry-ish in the finish, where a lively flow of acidity reaches a harmony with the wonderfully attenuated sweetness and bitterness.

4/5 Mouthfeel & 4.5/5 Overall: softly carbonated, medium bodied, yet tasting surprisingly light on the palate, this is a balanced, deliciously hoppy and also complex-malty brew very much my choice for a session beer, packing so much good stuff at 5%abv. Recommended (i.e. the beer itself, NOT the manifesto on the beer label…!)

--Yau (28/05/2013)