Hop It

Or rather what to use instead of hops....

Some of us have tried the International Arms race beers from Flying Dog and Brewdog, one is a ginger beer and the other a sour, from my viewpoint anyway. However that competition was to brew an IPA without hops, but the concept of brewing without hops is hardly a new one, so back to the home brewing books to see what is suggested.

Spruce beer has a fair few mentions and I recall seeing the foraging brewers on River Cottage making a spruce beer so it mustn't be a bad drop. Or at least they seemed to enjoy it and according to the books it goes well with hops if you want to combine the two.

The key thing according to the books is " the principle of balancing sweetness against bitterness once understood becomes easy", not a hundred per cent it becomes that easy but the idea of using nettles in stout, apparently an old idea, sounds an interesting one and I like the flavour of nettles. Nettle cordal and explosive beer experiments always a good one. :)

Wormwood was also used in the past apparently for its bitter flavour instead of hops, although I don't fancy that one much as I have used wormwood infusions to kill garden pests off the other plants and as I don't have bugs inside me I want to get rid.... I'm guessing the toxicity of wormwood stopped our brewers from using this herb nowadays.

Of course as someone who likes their darker beers, Treacle Ale is a good idea for brewing without hops. The dentist may not agree though!

Running On Beer Again...

It is that time of year when you finally find out if you have got a ballot place in the VLM or as most know it the London Marathon and finally after three attempts (and I know many have attempted for longer) I have got in.

I received the Congratulations magazine yesterday and after my initial 'MEEP' thoughts, started to tell everyone. My fee has been paid, running plan downloaded and trainers are ready to go from half marathon distance to full. Of course this means running over the festive period but hopefully getting that long long run of 22 before snow fall in March but I'm positive and feeling good about getting to take part in this iconic race.

My time is estimated at 4.10 hours, wish me luck folks!

Parsnip Stout

3.5 lb. Parsnips
1 Gallon Water
1oz. Hops
0.5 lb. Malt Extract
Yeast
1Tablespoon Caramel Gravy Browning (apparently liquid gravy browning is just caramel..who knew?)
1.25 lb. Demerara Sugar


Method
Scrub the parsnips, slice roughly to half inch pieces and place into boiling water with the hops and caramel colouring, boil for 20 minutes.
Strain onto the malt extract and sugar, stir well to dissolve and then allow to cool to 70F, then add the yeast, cover  and leave for 7 days.
Then siphon into bottles.


Yes, it's a bit Good Life but well the government suggests that we have five portions of fruit and veg so......


The interesting parts of home brewing books for me is the more unusual recipes, these are usually under the heading mock beer despite containing hops and the other bits I would associate with real beer. It is interesting What was considered brewable back then, just goes to prove that there is nothing under the sun, all the 'new' beer ideas have been done in one form or another, it's just they are being remade for our tastes. A small tweak on the old recipe after all.


I will be brewing soon, although my quantities will be smaller than most due to space but for the present I'm back to reading the books and enjoying a small glimpse at the past.

Great Orme Brewery's Welsh Black

4.0% abv

I would describe this as a mild, but it pours very flat and despite my best efforts I couldn't raise more than a lacing on the glass which disappeared very fast, leaving behind a dark chocolate coloured pint.

Whilst I enjoyed this beer it is very thin in the mouth, which is due to the abv and lack of carbonation in the beer. However the coffee notes though are lovely which must be from all the malts they use to make this beer and it has a long bitter chocolate finish but there was just something about it that just didn't work for me, could be I had some poorly stored bottles (brought online) but it just was a bit off.

All in all it is a good mild but the Merlyn from this brewery which has more caught my fancy.

Sambrooks Birthday Bash 2012

It's hard to believe that on this rainy, windy and miserable Monday morning that Saturday was a glorious sun filled blue sky day with only a hint of autumnal chill in the air.

But glorious it was, with live music from Dr Bluegrass, piggy goodness from Ginger Pig and beer from Sambrooks.

Dr Bluegrass

Luckily I had won tickets from the Sambrooks Twitter competition for hubby and I, although the fee of £10 was rather good as this included three and half pints of beer, not to be sniffed at I'm sure most of you will agree! Held again at the brewery in Battersea it was only a short bus ride for us to arrive at the door after lunch at a local cafe.

Unlike last year the only beer was Sambrooks own, this was fine by us, last year the only disappointing beer we had were from the guest beers. The hubby was pleased that they had the Lavender Hill beer on, it was one of the few beers we haven't tried and it fast became his favourite of the day. As honey beers go it has a lighter flavour than most, it didn't have any waxy taste and just the tang of honey dryness. This meant it was more rounded than alot of honey beers we have tried, unlike say Fullers Honeydew or the old Youngs' Waggledance, it wasn't just about the honey but the hops and malts came though too. Lovely.

Last year my favourite beer was the Powerhouse Porter and whilst still a lovely beer, this year it was Junction that became my favourite with a warm toasty note to it this year. The only point and niggle of the day wasn't anything that can be controlled by the brewery but more some individuals, if you spill some drink on another person then don't stand there and just talk louder, say sorry. Manners don't cost anything!

The surprise for us this year was the introduction of Pale Ale on keg, this came in a special glass but unlike many Sambrooks avoided the 'chalice effect' that has hit many a brewery, opting for a standard pint glass. The glass is designed on the similar technology for the newer champagne glasses, it is designed to keep the fizz so I know that some won't like the fact its on keg but the market is there for this version. Personally I liked it, yes its cold and fizzy but far more importantly it has a lot of flavour and I felt it works well and on a hot summers day (we may get some of those next year, you never know!) it would be a good addition to any bar.

The day was another fantastic event by Sambrooks, I'm hoping these come a yearly regular event.



In the words of Withnail and I, "I seem to have gone on a brewery tour by mistake!"



Great Orme Brewery's Merlyn

4.9% abv

According to their website this is the strongest beer they brew, it certainly is a lovely beer.

It pours lively and settles into a warm dark coppery pint with a fluffy top, very attractive and I would love to take up the suggestion of drinking it by an open fire in a pub. Maybe one day...

The beer itself is more a sipper, despite its strength not being that high (by modern standards), it has a big mouthfeel, initially quite sweet but mellows out with a long dry bitter finish. Despite your slow sipping you will find yourself getting to the bottom of the glass and wondering where it went, it is a cracker!

It is a shame whilst on holiday I missed this brewery on pump a few times with the clips just being turned around as I approached the bar so I'm glad that we got a couple of beers whilst we were in Conwy.

For more info: http://www.greatormebrewery.co.uk/

Liverpool Organic Beers

It was on our last day in Chester that we came across Liverpool Organics beer, the bar had just the two beers in bottles and so as there was only two of us we thought that this was meant to be.

Hubby jumped in first with his order and so got the stout (rats!);

Kitty Wilkinson Stout 4.5% abv

Initially neither of us liked this beer because it was served ice cold rather than the recommended chilled on the bottle. When this cold all we could taste was bitter chocolate and what I can only describe as a vanilla chapstick mushed into the beer. This was the fault of the bar for practically freezing the beer in their fridges.

However...... once the beer warmed up, it was gorgeous.

The chapstick effect melted into a chocolately vanilla stout which was coupled with a long roasted cocoa bean finish. Despite its lower abv it coated the tongue and wouldn't let go, truely a lovely beer. For me it ranks up there with Rogue's Double Chocolate stout as I didn't get the coffee nor butterscotch notes that are suggested on the brewery website.

My beer was the Shipwreak IPA at 6.5% abv

This beer was again served freezing cold but fared better than the stout which wasn't a surprise.

Lovely beer again, if you like Stone's Arrogant Bastard, you will like this one. If anything it reminds me an awful lot of that beer.You have the chewy hops and sweet caramel flavours that I have grown to love with the higher abv IPAs with a long pine tasting finish.

Once more, a lovely beer from this brewery, I think I have seen their bottles on sale at a specialist beer shop in London so maybe I'll be able to try a few more and maybe I may see them in London bars soon.

These two beers were vegan friendly, not that either myself or partner are but it is interesting to see as a few years ago I would have only been able to name one brewery who did vegan products now I can name about four or five with confidence.

For more info: http://www.liverpoolorganicbrewery.com/