This was an excellent event back in October, my friends and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in lovely surroundings and with the beer on offer. So as you can imagine I am looking forward to this March’s event to socialise and of course for the chance to try different new beers. Being more organised this year I decided to have a peruse and organise what beers are going to be my “Must-Trys”…….
and here is the problem……… I want to try near as possible the whole list! Just look at some of what is on offer;
Milton Cambridge's Minotaur Mild
Atlas Kinlochleven’s Latitude
Lymestone Brewery’s Stone Cutter
Twickenham Fine Ales’ Sundancer, Spring Ale and Grandstand
Skinner’s Ginger Tosser & Keel Over
Allgates’ Napoleon’s Retreat
Naylors Crosshills’ Pinnacle Bitter
Rudgate Brewery’s Odin’s Raven
Leeds Brewery’s Eager Owl
Titanic’s Lifeboat
Cathedral Ales’ Red Imp
Bushy’s Brewery’s Manx Pride
RCH Brewery’s Pitchfork & Old Slug Porter
Atlas Brewery’s Equinox
B & T Brewery’s Easter Eggstra
You can see my problem here, there are some great beers there. Luckily I will be going again with friends and we can try each other’s choices but at the moment I have only knocked 4 off the festivals lists as beers I don’t want! This isn't a bad place to be as we all know, but there is a high chance I will be standing at the bar with a manic expression trying to decide on my next half. So if anyone spots a short female with a crazed expression it's not alcohol that has done it but too much choice.
Choices, Choices! Looks like another great festival and I can’t wait!
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Bath Ales – Barnstormer
ABV 4.5%
First off I will say this is an excellent name for a beer, it certainly raised a smile for me. I like a good name for beer, one that's amusing but not awkward to ask for in a pub.
Now the beer! This is a medium dark beer which pours from the bottle without much of a head and what it does have it loses fast apart from a fine line around the glass because of this it isn't the most attractive pint but it really delivers in taste! The barley malt smell that comes off the pint is very appealing and it backs this up with a nice bitter dark chocolate flavour in taste. It is fruity but more in a stolleny (without the marpizan) flavour rather than fruit as such, in fact this reminds me in taste of the dark chocolate stollen I made at Yule.
It is a rather morish pint and very drinkable, I prefer a pint with a lower ABV for a session beer but this is so tempting that it could end up on the list.
For more information: http://www.bathales.com/
First off I will say this is an excellent name for a beer, it certainly raised a smile for me. I like a good name for beer, one that's amusing but not awkward to ask for in a pub.
Now the beer! This is a medium dark beer which pours from the bottle without much of a head and what it does have it loses fast apart from a fine line around the glass because of this it isn't the most attractive pint but it really delivers in taste! The barley malt smell that comes off the pint is very appealing and it backs this up with a nice bitter dark chocolate flavour in taste. It is fruity but more in a stolleny (without the marpizan) flavour rather than fruit as such, in fact this reminds me in taste of the dark chocolate stollen I made at Yule.
It is a rather morish pint and very drinkable, I prefer a pint with a lower ABV for a session beer but this is so tempting that it could end up on the list.
For more information: http://www.bathales.com/
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Sink the Bismarck
I haven’t really said much on the alcohol hot topic as many better bloggers than me have put some very good points out there, but today comes the news of Brewdog’s latest beer ‘Sink the Bismarck’ and at 41% it has already raised the heads of Alcohol Focus Scotland;
‘Over the past few months BrewDog have continued to produce stronger and stronger beers. By commenting on this irresponsible brewing practice we only serve to add to their marketing and therefore we have no further comment to make.’ From the BBC website
No doubt many more will be commenting on this but how many will see the point of what Brewdog are doing. They are creating beers which are finely crafted and they come at a price, these beers come in Brewdog’s customary 330ml size and cost an amount which makes most of us think about it.
I could understand the controversy if they charged £5 - £10 per a bottle but let’s face it £35 for a 330ml bottle in the case of Tactical Nuclear Penguin is hardly something anyone thinking of getting drunk for the sake of getting drunk is going to buy let alone the new one which according to the brewery is going to be £40 for 330ml.
A majority of supermarket deals make 750ml bottles of SPIRITS cheaper than Brewdog’s strongest beers and they are easier to get hold of too. These controversial beers are not sold in supermarkets but at places which do limit the amounts brought in a sensible manner and from this I am confident that the online buying of this latest offering is going to be as sensible and sane too. I wish though that they would brew a decent tasting low percentage beer as well as these stronger beers, that end of the spectum they have barely scratched the surface.
So in conclusion what we have is a brewery creating very strong beers which are priced to reflect what they are. There is a difference between a cheap supermarket bottle of vodka which costs £5 and a bottle of U'Luka costing £55, likewise with these beers.
Edited to add; Both 'Taking the beard out of beer' and 'Pumpclip Parade' have the right idea that the only real reason to be annoyed is the really bad naming of the beer.
‘Over the past few months BrewDog have continued to produce stronger and stronger beers. By commenting on this irresponsible brewing practice we only serve to add to their marketing and therefore we have no further comment to make.’ From the BBC website
No doubt many more will be commenting on this but how many will see the point of what Brewdog are doing. They are creating beers which are finely crafted and they come at a price, these beers come in Brewdog’s customary 330ml size and cost an amount which makes most of us think about it.
I could understand the controversy if they charged £5 - £10 per a bottle but let’s face it £35 for a 330ml bottle in the case of Tactical Nuclear Penguin is hardly something anyone thinking of getting drunk for the sake of getting drunk is going to buy let alone the new one which according to the brewery is going to be £40 for 330ml.
A majority of supermarket deals make 750ml bottles of SPIRITS cheaper than Brewdog’s strongest beers and they are easier to get hold of too. These controversial beers are not sold in supermarkets but at places which do limit the amounts brought in a sensible manner and from this I am confident that the online buying of this latest offering is going to be as sensible and sane too. I wish though that they would brew a decent tasting low percentage beer as well as these stronger beers, that end of the spectum they have barely scratched the surface.
So in conclusion what we have is a brewery creating very strong beers which are priced to reflect what they are. There is a difference between a cheap supermarket bottle of vodka which costs £5 and a bottle of U'Luka costing £55, likewise with these beers.
Edited to add; Both 'Taking the beard out of beer' and 'Pumpclip Parade' have the right idea that the only real reason to be annoyed is the really bad naming of the beer.
McMullens’ Original IPA
ABV 4.8%
Quite surprised I actually got to try this given the difficulty I have had in the past finding McMullen’s specials however my local came up trumps. They have now had this for the last three weeks giving myself and other regulars more than enough chance to have a good tasting of this beer.
I am glad they have had this on pump; it is a nicely balanced beer. The pint itself pours well with a foamy head which fades to an attractive lacing around the top about half way though and has a clean hoppy scent which is rather appealing. It reminds me a lot of this brewery’s Hertford Castle bottled beer but without the alcohol kick which that one has.
Like many of McMullen’s beers it is a hoppy light tasting style of beer yet it manages to hold it’s own against strong flavours which is no mean trick. It finishes with an extremely clean end note which means it works well with spicy flavours such as chilli crisps although sadly I can’t try this with a curry until I order some bottles of this online but I hope to do this soon and unlike the Meantime IPA which I found fought with food flavours I hope this one will compliment instead.
One annoying point (as I find a fair bit with breweries) is that McMullen’s say that it is “One of our Head Brewer’s favourites” yet it is only available in the pub for such a short time. Why do breweries do this? If it is a favourite why not make it more available and allow it to become one of your customer’s favourites!
Quite surprised I actually got to try this given the difficulty I have had in the past finding McMullen’s specials however my local came up trumps. They have now had this for the last three weeks giving myself and other regulars more than enough chance to have a good tasting of this beer.
I am glad they have had this on pump; it is a nicely balanced beer. The pint itself pours well with a foamy head which fades to an attractive lacing around the top about half way though and has a clean hoppy scent which is rather appealing. It reminds me a lot of this brewery’s Hertford Castle bottled beer but without the alcohol kick which that one has.
Like many of McMullen’s beers it is a hoppy light tasting style of beer yet it manages to hold it’s own against strong flavours which is no mean trick. It finishes with an extremely clean end note which means it works well with spicy flavours such as chilli crisps although sadly I can’t try this with a curry until I order some bottles of this online but I hope to do this soon and unlike the Meantime IPA which I found fought with food flavours I hope this one will compliment instead.
One annoying point (as I find a fair bit with breweries) is that McMullen’s say that it is “One of our Head Brewer’s favourites” yet it is only available in the pub for such a short time. Why do breweries do this? If it is a favourite why not make it more available and allow it to become one of your customer’s favourites!
Monday, 1 February 2010
February’s Seasonal Warmers
Since doing a list for January I have been curious about the amount of seasonal beers and ales there are so I have decided for this year to do a mini monthly post rounding up some of that month’s seasonals to attempt to taste in this fine month.
February is a cold and wet month so what better than to settle down in a warm pub preferably near to the lit fire and sample the brews which have been created especially for this month? After all it makes the weather outside more bearable knowing that there is something special about the month, namely these;
Gales – Swing Low 3.8%
Loddon Brewery – Sorry Not Available 4.3%
Adnams – Oystar 4.3%
Marston’s – Sweet Chariot 4.8%
Tom Woods – Wagoners Ale – 4.8%
Little Valley – Red Dyke 3.9%
Brakspear – Special 4.3%
Fullers – 5% But name yet to announced (Oooh the suspense!)
February is a cold and wet month so what better than to settle down in a warm pub preferably near to the lit fire and sample the brews which have been created especially for this month? After all it makes the weather outside more bearable knowing that there is something special about the month, namely these;
Gales – Swing Low 3.8%
Loddon Brewery – Sorry Not Available 4.3%
Adnams – Oystar 4.3%
Marston’s – Sweet Chariot 4.8%
Tom Woods – Wagoners Ale – 4.8%
Little Valley – Red Dyke 3.9%
Brakspear – Special 4.3%
Fullers – 5% But name yet to announced (Oooh the suspense!)
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Here Comes the Girls
On this site (for more info: http://uk.glam.com/articles/features/ppq_makes_beer_feminine/ ) they are trying to find the type of glass which would make women happier to use and consider drinking beer. One of the problems with special glasses is they are costly to produce and stand more chance of being nicked after the thief has that one drink in the glass but my main gripe with this, is the fact there are already some great glasses out there, which are being used by both men and women. Rather than do research into more appealing glasses for women why don’t they research glasses that people like to use?
Badger brewery do nice glasses for example their goblets for various beers and they did a fantastic pint glass for Fursty Ferrets with said ferrets climbing up the glass seemly to your pint. These are appealing to both men and women;
Badger brewery do nice glasses for example their goblets for various beers and they did a fantastic pint glass for Fursty Ferrets with said ferrets climbing up the glass seemly to your pint. These are appealing to both men and women;
Fuller’s pubs do both pint and half pint goblets which are appealing to use although only really use these with Honeydew but will put other Fullers beers in if asked nicely. Both men and women seem to like the ESB goblets as well. A bit of a bad picture I know but it shows their tulip glasses which I will be getting a few of;
I guess the main upshot of this post is just to say we don’t need a special glass to enjoy drinking beer. We just want to have a drink in peace and enjoy it, not be used as an advertising point.
Sorry about the awful formatting, still trying to get used to this!
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Hopback – Entire Stout
4.5% ABV
I enjoy stouts but so often you only find Guinness on the bar selection which just is not the same is it now? My only other experience of this brewery was their ever popular Summer Lightening before we stumbled into warm fire lit Sultan in South Wimbledon on a cold Saturday afternoon and once I saw the stout I knew I would have to give it a go.
This stout was a good way to finish off a very good day of fine beers and company, the first pint came over the bar a seductively dark with a good head. As you would expect nice red flashes when the pint was lifted up and wonderful roasted coffee scent but the taste knocked me for six! It has a rich strong burnt taste which coats the mouth pleasantly and tapers off smoothly leaving a nice chocolate nib impression which lingers.
This strikes me as a drink to go with a robust meal, perhaps steak but equally I think this would go well with some of the spicy veggie dishes I have tried at Terre A Terre especially as according to the Hopback website this is a vegan beer.
For more information: http://www.hopback.co.uk/
I enjoy stouts but so often you only find Guinness on the bar selection which just is not the same is it now? My only other experience of this brewery was their ever popular Summer Lightening before we stumbled into warm fire lit Sultan in South Wimbledon on a cold Saturday afternoon and once I saw the stout I knew I would have to give it a go.
This stout was a good way to finish off a very good day of fine beers and company, the first pint came over the bar a seductively dark with a good head. As you would expect nice red flashes when the pint was lifted up and wonderful roasted coffee scent but the taste knocked me for six! It has a rich strong burnt taste which coats the mouth pleasantly and tapers off smoothly leaving a nice chocolate nib impression which lingers.
This strikes me as a drink to go with a robust meal, perhaps steak but equally I think this would go well with some of the spicy veggie dishes I have tried at Terre A Terre especially as according to the Hopback website this is a vegan beer.
For more information: http://www.hopback.co.uk/
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