The beer wot I brewed. Well, the beer I weighted out hops for and then watched the brewer Matt Clark do all the hard work. And then watched my mate Ian Harrison clean out a mash tun. Whilst I drank a Thornbridge/Dark Star collaborative brew...
Julius is a citrus-inspired Summer Ale, full of Thornbridge grown herbs including Tahitian Lime Leaves, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass, Mint and Coriander seeds. Light and lemony on the nose with a hint of spice and honey. Biscuit characters dominate the mouth, with a hint of ginger and a soft mouthfeel. The finish is lightly bitter, a little dry and wonderfully thirst quenching.
Funnily enough, an exhaustive review wil feature here in the very near future ;-)
>
What I know about Amarillo; 14th largest city in Texas and one-time helium capital of the world, Neil Sedaka wrote about the way to it and Virgil Gamache Farms have the registered trademark for the hop variety.
So let's concentrate on the latter. Described as 'super Cascade', the hop has a high oil content and lends citric notes tending towards grapefruit / orange whilst having a high enough alpha acid content to allow a clean bittering touch. I've collected a few Amarillo-based beers from three different countries in the last few months, so a lazy Sunday seemed an ideal time for a side-by-side tasting.
Stone Levitation is a US amber ale dry-hopped with Amarillo. Most of the Stone brews I've sampled so far have had heavyweight ABVs; Levitation lands almost featherlight at 4.4%. The aroma's hard hitting, though, breakfast juice citrics riven with hop oil. Just a waft of spicy biscuits in there too. Steady carbonation leads to a soft mouthfeel and thick lacing. As the light chestnut body warms, those hops start to feel sticky in the mouth. I'd like to try a pint of it, just to see if I become inured to the hoppiness. And then try another pint. And then another....
Back over to Blighty for a CAMRA award-winner. Crouch Vale Amarillo is cold filtered in bottles to try and capture the fresh hop feel of the cask version. It certainly has a cleaner flavour than Levitation, almost perfumed in its complexity. There's subtle honey on a sweet edge frayed by fruit, some drying orange, preserved peach, perhaps even lychee? A thinner body with little carbonation, this still carries a reasonable biscuityness that segues into slight sweetness.
Ten days ago, I'd never tried a beer by Dutch brewers De Molen. Thanks to the RateBeer European Summer Gathering I've now tried several from the bottle and even one on cask (in Huddersfield. Yes, really). Their Amarillo is another one that's been dry-hopped but has none of the Levitation's harsh edges. Instead there was a pervading sweetness; beneath lay yeasty peaches with pine and grapefruits holding back a soft caramel maltwash. At 9.2% it was remarkable for the sheer pleasure with which it hid its ABV and concentrated on delivering solid flavours. I rarely come across a bottle of this weight that offers such easy drinking - I'm glad that such accessibility and sustained flavour has been a hallmark of all the De Molen beers that I've tried.
Three beers, one hop, no cheesy puns about the song lyrics. Amarillo is a great hop variety that allows brewers plenty of space for experimentation; I'll be looking out for more examples on my travels.
I bought all three bottles from Beers Of Europe; the Stone and De Molen are stocked in limited quantity, so I'd order quickly if you fancy trying them.
>
It's been a warm afternoon to be slumped in front of the TV watching motorsport. A few beers were needed, so I raided the boxes for a handful of wheaty ones.
First up, a Belgian wit from a brewery new to me. Daas have been on the scene since 2001 and produce bottle-conditioned, organic-certified beers. The Witte poured pale yellow with an instantly disappearing head and didn't have too much in the way of clove aromas leaping out the glass. But the creeping carbonation made for a lively mouthfeel, plenty of baked lemon flavour came to the fore with a prickle of toasted spice in the background. The only complaint was the fizz made it a sipping drink rather than a quencher.
Into hefe territory for the next one. From the Maisels stable, Bayreuther Bio-Weisse is also organic, I'm guessing. Most of the German I know was learned from Commando comics which, oddly, never featured extended narrative on the merits of organic brewing. Anyoldhow, the Bayreuther was fairly anonymous... thick gold body with a collapsing head, sweet and grassy aromas, mild esters and a slightly short sweet finish. Quaffable, but only because it was thin bodied and under-malted.
A favourite to finish off with. Three great things about Schneider Weiss; the off-amber body holds a well-stacked head, the aroma is chock full of fresh-baked spiced biscuits and it actually carries off a wheaty-banana flavour. And I swear blind there's a little bit of powdery chocolate lurking in there. Yummy stuff.
The sun buggered off behind a cloud, Button made a balls-up in Q3, To52land did as well as he could have and Wiggo kept fighting. Mixed fortunes in the armchair sport, mixed enjoyment from the beers. And that's the way the crumble cookies.
When I'm on holiday, doing nothing is not an option. I'm not suited to the beach-bum, poolside lounging lifestyle. Mainly because I don't like sand between my toes, that I can get sunburnt under a full moon and the last time I relaxed on a beach, a Greenpeace team tried to refloat me. I need something to do... and beer to drink. So one of the highlights of my recent holiday was a day at the Royal Norfolk Show. Pom-pom headed chickens, HUGE combine harvesters and beer tents. What a combination!
I'd never been to an agricultural show of this size (4500+ animals and 600+ trade stands on a 375 acre site). That's plenty to get around and certainly helps to build up a thirst, especially on one of the hottest days of the year. Good job that there was plenty of beer on offer, then.
First stop was at the Woodforde's bar. Sundew was pleasant enough, though three quid and over for a pint seemed steep given the footfall they were likely to achieve. The Food Hall was bristling with stands including a healthy selection of brewers. I had samples from Wolf, Elgoods and Norfolk Square along with a half of Tipples Elm Hill Gold which was very impressive - plenty of smooth hops in there. The irrepressible Denis Gwatkin was there too, so it have been rude not to have a chat whist enjoying some of his Farmhouse Perry. He was having a good show, though the poor perry harvest last year had severely restricted the range of perrys he could offer.
But the standout bar, opposite the 'village green', was Humpty Dumpty's. With at least eleven casks of their own beers (all in perfect condition) along with tinnies for the macro mob, it was a popular place to be. The shade and through breeze was very welcome, as punters watched the ballestra and shimmy on offer over on the green as fencers and dancers strutted their stuff. Little Sharpie, Golden Gorse and Lemon & Ginger were all excellent quenchers. It was good to meet up with the guys and girls here; if it hadn't been for their Twitter updates I might not have known about the show.
Next year's Royal Norfolk Show will be at the Showground on the outskirts of Norwich between 30th June and 1st July. I'm gutted that I won't be there; if you visit, sink a beer of five for me!
>
It's great to holiday somewhere and enjoy the locally brewed beers. Almost as good is to find a bottle retailer so you can bring some of those tastes back with you. Fortunately, Norfolk was blessed with some of the finest outlets I've found.
By far the largest (in fact the largest in the UK) is Beers of Europe, just outside Kings Lynn. It's a huge warehouse, natch, with a comprehensive selection of beers, wines and spirits from around the world. Their range of Norfolk beers is impressive with most (if not all) of the county's brewers represented. A good range of Belgian and German stuff too, often with matching glassware. You can buy whole cases of a particular beer at a discount or fill your trolley with individual bottles, which will be securely boxed up for you at the checkout. And with beers from far-flung parts (Vietnam, Brazil, Belarus) alongside rarer continental and US imports (De Molen, Cantillon, Stone) it's well worth the visit. If you're not passing through North Norfolk, you can buy online for reasonably-priced next day courier delivery.
At the other end of the scale, there's The Real Ale Shop on Branthill Farm just outside Wells-Next-The-Sea. They specialise in beers brewed with barley grown on the farm; some bottles even give a grid reference of the appropriate field! With a range of beers from the likes of Elveden, Fox, Humpty Dumpty, Woodforde’s and Grain, there's certainly plenty of choice and quality. Their passion for local brewing is reflected in their Drinks Retailing award as Independent Beer Retailer of the Year for 2009, complementing their CAMRA Online Retailer award in 2008.
When it comes to cider and perry, a visit to Whin Hill is a must. Their shop is located handily in a public car park near to the seafront in Wells, where you can try samples, treat yourself to a pint in the courtyard (as they're fully licensed) or pick up bottles to take away. They have a standard range of still and sparkling ciders and perrys as well as occasional single variety specials such as the delectable pink-blushed Browns. It's a superbly civilised shop, the staff are always happy to have a chat and it's a pleasure to go say hello to Fred again.
A couple of honourable mentions. The Walsingham Farms Shop in Little Walsingham offers a compact but perfectly formed range, including Whin Hill Cider and beers from the likes of Yetmans, Why Not and Wissey Valley (including their Walsingham Bitter and Walsingham Spice). If you're staying in self-catering accommodation nearby, you'll want to take advantage of the sumptuous range of meats, pies and cheeses.
As our visit co-incided with the Royal Norfolk Show, there was plenty of opportunity there to meet a number of brewers to sample and buy their products. This year, the food hall featured the likes of Tipples, Norfolk Square and the irrepressible Denis Gwatkin to name a few. More about the show tomorrow.
Needless to say, the car's back axle was put under some strain with the amount of bottles I brought back. I'll be posting a Norfolk special of 'Bottled Up' in the near future.
>
Before I forget and get carried away with Ratebeer Euro Summer gathering articles, there's a few things left to write about my Norfolk trip. Plenty of pubs were visited; only a couple were genuinely disappointing, a few were missed out on due to their reduced opening hours. But there were some absolute gems; here's the best of the best from each day.
Sunday - The Bull, Walsingham - OK, they still don't serve hoppy beer, it's still pricey, it still gets ram-packed with pilgrims but... there's something about dropping off your luggage, arriving here for opening time and sitting outside in the sun with a pint of Aspalls. That's when I know the holiday has truely begun.
Monday - The Jolly Sailors, Brancaster Staithe - no hoppy beers (again) but a decent pint of their own brew (Brancaster Best). Rooms to suit all needs - cosy bar, TV room, dining area, conservatory, large beer garden - and the tastiest whitebait I've had in ages
Tuesday - a dead heat between the Victoria, Holkham and the Three Horseshoes, Warham. The former had an almost-colonial feel in the lounge bar and a great beer selection (Wolf, Dark Star, Adnams, Woodfordes). The latter was an eighteenth-century gem crammed full of knick-knacks and bar games (Norfolk Twister, anyone?), beers served on gravity, proper cider from Whin Hill and the best chicken suet pudding I've ever tasted.
Wednesday - The George, Dereham. On the edge of the town, the George was an ideal spot for a long lunch. Smart-looking hotel bar with no pretentions, hearty snacks, top quality Grain Summertime and some of the least-miserable bar staff I've met.
Thursday - Ugly Bug Inn, Colton. Tucked away down lanes that seem destined to end in a cowshed. With a comfy bar and dining room overlooking the gardens, this was a treasure of a pub to find after a long hot day at the Norfolk Show. The beers were of cracking quality; excellent Beeston Worth The Wait and Humpty Dumpty Reedcutter. Wonderfully engaging landlord who was happy chatting about the beers and the Royal Norfolk show, brought over the specials board over for us to peruse and found the time to say goodbye when we left. The food was superlative; huge portion sizes (Bec's fish pie could have fed her three times over) and my seafood salad had a great combo that included fresh Lowestoft smoked salmon and Cromer crab. The samphire that had arrived in fresh that day was some of the best I've tasted.
Friday - Kings Head, Norwich. A stripped bare boozer redolent of some Castle Rock pubs I know. There's a small room faceing the main road with a larger one to the rear, both served by a central bar stocked exclusively with East Anglian beer and cider. Proper no-nonsense boozer that should be an essential stop off point on any Norwich crawl.
Saturday - The Plough Inn, Horbling - tucked away in a village not too far from the A52, this is just the kind of pub I hope to find for a weekend lunch. Quiet bar and the snuggest snug I've seen. Just the one cask ale (Adnams Explorer) but I'd rather they served one in decent nick than four dodgy ones. Excellent food - my half-pounder burger certainly felt weighty - so the bacon, cheese and curly fries with it made for a substantial lunch. Landlady Karen was cheery and helpful. it was an ideal pub to break up the journey home and I hope it's not another year before I return.
Pub of the week? Almost impossible to call; each of them had many of those qualities that'd I look for in my perfect pub. But the Ugly Bug is a place I could see myself returning to over and over again - particularly as it offers accommodation as well. It had that rare combination of well-kept beer, superb fresh food and genuine bonhomie. If I close my eyes tightly, I can still taste the samphire....
>
Having spent five hours in the garden molesting hedges and dodging fox shit, I was ready for a beer, so...
I went to the pub (Royal Oak, Ockbrook) and had a great pint of cask beer (Brewdog Zeitgeist) and a Stilton cob (brown bread, natch) and bantered with the landlord over prices and hummed along to a cheesy song on the radio and deconstructed England's cricket tactics with a fellow toper and thought, sod the lawnmowing, I'll have another pint and drank more Brewdog whilst reading the paper and finished off the Suduko and almost finished the crossword and stopped for another pint and had twenty minutes of sitting and thinking and drinking and then got a bus home before the rain came
It's Sunday. Fairly warm. I've been working up a sweat in the garden. Freshly showered, there's only one thing on my mind for satiating my desires. And there they are, chilling in the kitchen. A couple of Slags.
I'm not fussy this afternoon. Dripping wet with a bit of body will do me fine. And these are fine - a bit bubblegum around the edges but they go down easily. Quite sweet, actually.
They were procured for me in the back of a white van by Phil from beermerchants.com. Who, if HM Customs read this, will probably get a flashlight shoved up his back passage the next time he rolls through Dover. Sorry, Phil.
Slag is, indeed, a pale lager from Belgium's Brouwerij Slaghmuylder. I'll be honest, the tacky-chewy saccharine tang doesn't do much for me. Far more impressive was Klug, a crisp German pils. And I'm about to try a tin of Cristal. Sadly, beermerchants don't seem to import Binky, Sod or Plop. Yet.
>
Last Sunday saw me digging out my least-crumpled summer jacket, hoping that last season's strawberry stains didn't still show. I was off to Thornbridge Hall for their annual charity garden party and a few choice beers from the brewery bar.
The Hall itself is interesting architecturally, with alterations, reversals and restorations contributed by successive owners. There's a keen balance of old and new; spectacular stained glass in the wood-panelled stairway, a minimalist indoor swimming pool that looked cool in every sense of the world. What's really great about Thornbridge is that the current owners, Jim and Emma Harrison, are keen to show that it's a family home and not a museum. There's a widescreen TV on the wall in one room, a Wii Fit board sitting under the coffee table.
And I could have spent hours gazing into the stained glass. There's some outstanding examples, including an exquisite window by William Morris & Edward Burne-Jones. But I was here for the beer as well. Both the bar by the lawn and the one at the brewery were busy, the weather staying warm and topers lining up for something cool and refreshing. They weren't disappointed. One of Thornbridge's very first brews made a reappearance; Craven Silk has a soft, light body with just a hint of elderflower to lift the palate. Seaforth was an interesting take on IPA, purposely brewed with English ingredients resulting in a darker, dryer feel than the brewer's own Jaipur. Given that most English 'IPA' is as weak as dishwater and half as tasty, Seaforth was rather brooding and edgy. Hoppy without being resinous, offering an assertive balance rather than bitter aggression.
It was fun to take a wander around the extensive gardens at Thornbridge with a pint in hand and take in the sights. Families were chilling out on the terrace, a gaggle of teenage girls were making goggle-eyes at the band, green-fingered visitors (my Dad and sister included) were noseying through the greenhouses. There was something around every corner, including the supremely athletic women's Cotswold Morris team, Pecsaetan, and writer Pete Brown who was sampling beers with his wife Liz.
It all made for a relaxed and beery Sunday afternoon, one I'd thoroughly recommend you try next year if you can.
Unchuffed by the selection and prices at the Derby CAMRA festival, I thought I'd trawl round a few of the city's choicer pubs to see what they had to offer.
Brunswick - 12 beers, tried Westerham British Bulldog, a sparklingly well-balanced bitter
Alex - 8 beers, tried Holden Midsummer Witch, sweet malts aren't really my thing sadly
Smithfield - 8 beers, tried Abbeydale Belfry, chock full of tangy hops and cool toffee notes
Royal Standard - 8 beers (some pumps were dry), tried Derby Hop Til You Drop, flatter than a very flat thing with some hops leaking out
Silk Mill - 8+ beers (didn't count properly), tried Harviestoun Schehallion and Thornbridge Kipling, both in good nick, the latter being 40p cheaper here than at the festival.
Flowerpot - 30 beers... so many it was tricky to read the board. Tried Lymestone Ein Stein, lots of fresh hay and fat pears.
So that's seventy-odd beers, most in decent condition, plenty of variety, plenty of ticker-tastic stuff and local favourites. And keenly priced, too.
Yet.... with grinding inevitability, I ended up in the fest. £1.80 was just worth paying for half a Fullers Vintage Ale. £1.60 was still too pricy for Kipling but I couldn't resist (and I was also buying it for a fellow Tweeter who'd never tried it before).
Verdict? The pubs win on range, quality and price. - the Flowerpot alone is worth travelling to Derby for. It's a real shame that the festival this year for me is just an average barstop rather than an exciting centrepiece of a grander Derby crawl.
>
Let's start with the positives. Derby CAMRA beer festival is held in a large, air conditioned venue. The beers are almost always in great condition. Plenty of people drink there so there's a good atmosphere and brisk beer turnover. It's my hometown festival so I can get to it every night (for free, as a member) if I wish. But...
this year, the beer range is decidley average and the prices somewhat steep. The main bar has a clutch of festival specials and a whole heap of 'brewery bars'; as much as I like Fullers, Adnams, Marstons etc. I like to try something at a fest that I can't get in a dozen or so pubs around the city. Having a mere 18 breweries represented in the main hall seems paltry.
The Darwin Suite traditionally seems to offer an interesting range of brewers and beers, albeit only twenty at a time. But this year's list seems to revisit over-familiar fayre, with a few notable expections such as beers from Outstanding. Yet, one third of the beers on that bar last night were from one brewery... Everards being the sponsor of that bar.
And these beers don't come cheap. Breech the 5% ABV mark and prices start to rise above £3 a pint - and if you're drinking thirds, wer'e taling in the region of £1.20 for a 5-6% beer. That's the equivalent of £3.60 a pint. Yes, I know beers ain't cheap, axe the tax etc. But this is CAMRA. Where's the bargaining power? Where's the relationship with LocAle producers to secure regular AND special beers at a competitive price?
Thankfully I'm a CAMRA member. So last night I didn't have to pay four quid to get in. Friday night, pay seven quid entry to drink lots of regional beer? It's cheaper to go to the pub - and I can't remember the last time I wrote that.
It's not all moan, moan, moan though. There's still drink to be had from a great range of producers (both established and new), in a range of styles and at £1.20 a half it's much cheaper than beer of a similar ABV - the cider and perry bars at Derby have always offered quality stuff at competitive prices. If you want to find me at the fest, you know where I'll be...
>
Rather than brew every day on a small plant, it may make logistical and financial sense to have one brewday on a larger plant. To then have the time for deliveries, collections, marketing etc as the weekly brew took one day rather than three or four.
But the smaller brewer can't afford the larger plant; can't afford the cost of set-up and running, can't afford to brew at the larger plant's capacity because they haven't built up enough of a market for the product.
So how about co-operative brewplants? Brewers pay a fee to use it, though they make savings due to the economy of scale at the larger plant. That fee pays for operating costs and someone to oversee the operation. Brewers could maintain their own smaller plants for experimental beers. Homebrewers could have access to commercial standard kit.
If it allows a bunch of brewers to produce beer of higher volume and greater consistency - and let them get out of the brewhouse and run their business better too - it could be a real winner.
>
Keg bitter. There's a reason why brewers brew it, pubs stock it and punters drink it. Reliability. Cask beer can be shagged up at every turn; on too long/tapped too early in the pub, poorly stored by the distributor, infected when it left the brewer. Keg gives a drinker the confidence that their beer will taste the same every time they have it, regardless of where they buy it.
A shame, then, that most keg bitter tastes of wet cardboard. What a great opportunity going begging - a ready-made market who (hopefully) wouldn't be scared off by a slightly tastier pint than the usual smoothflow dross. A quality keg bitter from a successful cask brewer could be an entry-point into the rest of their portfolio for non-cask drinkers. I'd rather walk into a pub I don't know and have the choice of quality-keg than only potentially-dodgy casks.
>
With the sun blistering, my wife driving and my wallet ready for emptying, last week saw the Reluctant Scooper hit the A149 for a North Norfolk coast road topering session.
First stop, Sheringham. And coastal fog had shrouded this particular extension of God's waiting room. Hordes of cardigan-clad wrinklies were hauling their zimmers up to the sea wall only to be greeted by the kind of pea-souper that many hadn't experienced since the war. Possibly the Crimean. But we still went for our morning constitutional along the prom, if only to build up an appetite for an ice cream (by the renowned Norfolk creamy Ronaldo; thankfully it doesn't dribble fantastically before falling out the cone for no apparant reason).
In the end, I plumped for a crab sandwich instead, (crab flavoured ice cream... wonder why you never see that?) which was wolfed down whilst waiting for a pub to open. The Windham Arms had been recommended to us by a few people and also features in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide and so it would have made a great start to a beery day. Except... revised opening times meant it was firmly shut at 11am and we'd have to be on the road when it opened at noon.
Westward, then. Last year we discovered the Ship at Weybourne, a few miles along from Sheringham. With its recently refurbished bar, huge servings of whitebait and some damn fine Humpty Dumpty beer, it was one of our standout pubs of the week. It's still a smart looking pub, but sadly something's gone awry. It was quiet (literally) for an hour, with just off-duty staff gabbing at the bar. My first beer - Grain Oak - did have a hop edge but that was soon blunted by a flabby feel of a beer slighly too warm and flat. Buffy's Terrier wasn't in great condition either. And although the menu ran on and on, it was the same eight items in a baguette/on a spud. When the music went on and the tattooed over-fifties turned up, we decided it was time to push onward.
Lunch became something ad hoc and al fresco. Approaching Cley-next-the-Sea, we decided to stop off at Picnic Fayre. This is a corking deli that we'd found via the supplier page of Bray's pork pies and were delighted to pick up one of their Old Spot specials. A fat slice of chicken and five-herb flan along with a lamb and apricot pie made for a pastry-mongous lunch. We weaved our way along the main road between gaps in parked cars - navigating narrow roads with no pavements is a challenge for a wheelchair user and escort - and pitched up close to Cley windmill to enjoy our feast.
More beer was needed. Instead of joining the sunseekers outside the George Hotel, we decided to move on down the coast. It had been a few years since we visited the Red Lion at Stiffkey and loved the mix of salty old seadogs and Chelsea weekend warriors - both wore chunky jumpers, just that some were Army & Navy and others were Armani. But we were foiled; the pub was open, but the car park was now further up the hill than we remembered it to be. We'd have made it down to the pub but would have really struggled to get the chair back up again. A real shame - with no on-street parking at pub level, we had to keep moving on.
Another recommendation that had been made was the Lord Nelson in Burnham Thorpe. Genuinely historic pub (Lord Nelson's local), Good Beer Guide listed... sounded great. The Guide listed it as open all day, too. But not anymore.... here's the problem with a guidebook that's already months out of date when it's published. The change to opening hours isn't listed on CAMRA's site either - I assume they're relying on the local branch to forward such changes. Yes, we should have checked the pub's website or gave them a ring.
Shit or bust, then. The Jolly Sailors at Brancaster Staithe was as far as we could roam before heading back to Walsingham. It had a good write-up in the Good Beer Guide and was listed as open all day, but we've been there before. So choruses of hallelujahs erupted in the car park when we could see it was clearly open. And, what a find it was. A whole heap of rooms, comfy lounges and tiled bars were served by a bar at the front of the building. Towards the back, a conservatory set out for dining backed out to a sizable beer garden. We sat outside, a pint of Brancaster Best not satiating my hop need but at least it was in good nick. As we were out for a meal somewhere else that night, I tried really hard not to give in and order some whitebait. But failed gloriously - I'd barely had time to get back to my seat from ordering before a plate of flash-fried silvery fish appeared with a hunk of bread, chunk of lemon and pot of tartare sauce. Absolutely ruddy gorgeous - I'll be back next year for more. And one of their stone-baked pizzas...
A serendipitous day. If the pubs we'd known hadn't been of middling quality / shut / not too accessible, we wouldn't have kept going onto Brancaster and so wouldn't have ended the trip sitting in the sun enjoying some of the best whitebait I've tasted. And an important Norfolk & beer lesson learned - check those opening times before you go!
>
This has been rolling round my head since a drunken tweet about it a couple of weeks back.
#1 You do not talk about Hop Club. #2 You DO NOT talk/blog/tweet/SMS about Hop Club. #3 If someone says "no more hops", requires malt or goes limp, their drink is over #4 Only two guys to a bottle #5 One bottle at a time. #6 No pens, no pads, no PDAs #7 Drinking will go on as long as they have to. #8 If this is your first night at Hop Club, you HAVE to drink a Double IPA.
Coming soon to a room upstairs in a pub near you???
>
Back from holiday to find a beer box lurking under my desk. Beermerchants.com send me the occasional selection box and this eclectic mix promises to liven up this summer's thirsty Thursdays.
Some, ahem, 'interesting' lagers in there from around the world, so it looks like I'll have a frozen pizza night at some point in the near future. The Bayreuther Bio-Weisse looks interesting. The Punks; well, I've something special planned for them. The Keizers will get shoved into a cobwebbed corner to be enjoyed at Christmas. As for the Mega Blend Geuze - There Will Be Indigestion.
This week, I'll mostly be having a gaggle of Slags. Appalling puns will be mandatory. You have been warned.
Let's be honest, it's been too damn hot to blog. Norfolk was blessed with occasional internet connectivity and tons of good beer, so I was busy sampling the latter whilst not giving a fig about the former. All the beery details will be revealed through the week, including;
- why cider is ten times better than beer as a lunchtime drink - why some microbrewers in the county are missing a trick when it comes to selling bottles - how fresh beer and fresh food, both local, is an ideal combination - how reduced opening hours restrict topering at lunchtime
But I can find the time to write a few words now about beer and cider buying. Norfolk is well catered for with outlets ranging from the brewer's doorstep to the largest store in Britain. From places such as Walsingham Farms Shop, the Real Ale Shop, Whin Hill Cider, the Norfolk Show and Beers of Europe, I've picked up several dozen bottles in the last week. They range from local microbrewers through to US and continental fayre. Here's what I'm hoping the highlights will be:
An eclectic selection of Norfolk ales including some light fruity numbers from Humpty Dumpty and a couple of IPAs by Grain and Fox.
These two will be winging their way to Sheffield in acouple of weeks for the ratebeer.com European Summer Gathering. Artic Ale from Elvenden is a recreation of a Samuel Allsop beer brewed for sailors undertaking artic expeditions in the ninteenth century (there's a useful potted history here and an article by Roger Protz on his blog). Wagtail's Black Beauty Coffee Porter uses Kenyan coffee beans to add another dimension to an already-tasty beer.
We may be just out of a heatwave, but I'm always on the lookout for those bottles with which I'll while away the winter evenings. These two should be good; Brewdog's Paradox Islay I've had a few times already, so I'm already looking forward to tasting it alongside Harviestoun's legendary Ola Dubh.
And these just looked like fun; the Crouch Vale Amarillo I've had several times before on cask, so I'll be interested to see if it maintains that hop intensity once bottle. As for the De Molen, it's not a brewery I'm familiar with but I'm always prepared to take a punt on something new. I just need to find a few more Amarillo-heavy beers for a proper hop-off one weekend.
So, there you go. I'm off for a quick kip before I raid the fridge for a few US beers; it is Independence Day, after all...
>
First day of a Norfolk holiday today, with posts here as and when tinternet connection holds up. Most of the afternoon was spent outside the Bull in Little Walsingham, pints of Aspalls cider (in an impressive looking glass) to drown my sorrows as the Lions lost the decisive test against the Boks. With a fair amount of fizz and no tacky aftertaste, Aspalls was a refreshing change from the usual Woodfordes/Adnams fayre that I'm used to round here.
Then, a long linger this evening by a ford over the river Stiffkey; just me, a couple of hares, a clutch of long-tailed tits, half a dozen ducklings with mother, Pete Brown's book 'Hops & Glory' and a bottle of Wissey Valley Walsingham Spice. Procured from the Walsingham Farm Shop, it's a gentle spiced ale with ginger and cloves adding zing to a well rounded bitter.
More waxing lyrical tomorrow, last orders awaits ;-)
>
Time to get the boots mucky again. A market town with a microbrewery was the destination, a corking inn with Thornbridge beers was the waypoint. And there was even time for some lovely lager....
Slabs of sun were falling onto the Derwent Valley as the train criss-crossed its way over river and up to Matlock. Which is as good enough place as any to start the walk, particularly as it has a beer shop, a 'Spoons and a wonderful butchers. But you can't have everything - well, not at quarter to ten in the morning. The shop, Peli Beers, was shut so nosing through the window was as close as I got to bottles by the likes of Howard Town, Derventio and Spire. The 'Spoons (The Crown) offered promise too with clips for Thornbridge McConnels and Amber Imperial IPA but... yep, they were 'coming soon'. At least the butchers, Hambridges, delivered on the breakfast front; a bacon and sausage cob positively straining with juicy protein. Reluctantly, I had to pass on the the lamb & cider pie and the sage & honey sausages but did secure a pork-pie half for lunch.
From Matlock, it was a steady grind uphill towards High Tor. Behind, the town sprawls in brick and stone over the hill. Ahead, the path works its way close to the edge of the Tor, affording great views of the 400 foot vertical drop to the valley floor. I passed up on the Giddy Edge walk - the cliff face on your left, two feet of rocky path under your feet followed by several hundred feet of fresh air to your right - and zigzagged my way down through the woods and past the cable car station into Matlock Bath.
The smell of chip fat warming up, ice creams being eaten just after breakfast, arcade machines spewing loose change - Matlock Bath is like Skegness's country cousin. Once more famous as a spa town, it's now a tourist trap rammed with candy-floss-faced kids and chip-fuelled bikers on any weekend when the sun shines. I took a constitutional stroll along the river before partaking of a pint at The Riva, a pleasant place on the main road overlooking the Derwent where you can while away the hours watching domestic disputes develop amongst daytrippers as they make execrable attempts to park their Chelsea tractors. I needed a quencher so none of their malty-clack-sticking Marstons would do the job. A pint of Stella went down easily. Yes, dear topers, I'm not averse to a jar of Samlesbury's finest.
I thought I may as well let the train take the strain for the next few miles. Partly due to laziness, mainly due to me wanting to get to the next pub sooner. At least it gave me time to wolf down my pork pie half from Hambridges. Good chunky mixture of meats in here, crispy enough pastry, though perhaps not quite enough jelly. The train was on time and was busy - Derby County were playing at home and it seemed every other passenger was a Rams supporter. Never mind, eh! We can't all be cultured. Off at the second stop down the line, the wonderfully named Whatstandwell, and ready for the real slogging section of the ramble.
From the river crossing to the pub, it was a long haul uphill. It was one of those slogs over fields, a steady rise that was fairly easy going over the bare fields with boggy corners. Although the view ahead wasn't that inspiring - field, sheep, field, field, sheep - looking back eastwards there was the impressive Crich Cliff topped by the war memorial of Crich Stand. Crossing over the Midshires Way, the path still rose relentlessly westward towards the village of Alderwasley. Cutting across the edge of the village, a farm track takes weary toper legs up to this stretch's final field where a handpainted sign points the way across to the far corner and a stile into the car park of The Bear Inn.
Here was the kind of pub that weary topers dream about. Rooms with eclectic furniture were tucked away at every turn, some hidden behind curtains, some with candelabra, most with lunchtime reservations. The small bar had a clear divide with locals clustered around the wrought iron fireplace to the left, whilst tourists roamed off to the right where the blackboarded menus could be found. Those locals were landowners and landworkers; shovel-hands scooping up frothing pints and slamming down dominos with equal vigor.
And Jaipur was on. I'd heard that the Bear was a regular Thornbridge outlet and a pint of their finest hoppy, sticky-round-the-gums IPA slipped down alarmingly quickly. I was sat away from the bar, in a cubby-hole with high back settles, near enough to the kitchen to hear the pub bell rang out for service... and the local's banter about beer prices. "I remember when that would buy you two calves" said one tweeded farmer. "Aye, or a crate of Guinness!" replied his stout friend.
More Jaipur followed as I meandered through the Saturday papers. The food looked gorgeous - roast beef dinners, steak and potato pie, lamb shanks - but I'd promised myself a short liquid lunch here. Which meant I could make room for half a Halcyon; another (stonger) Thornbridge IPA with a head like hide peppered by shot; a chill-hop-hazy body hiding viscous, wincing, wonderful hops. As it was (literally) downhill all the way from here to Wirksworth, I forced myself into having another half before the final leg.
I was truly Reluctant to leave the Bear behind, especially with Thornbridge in such fine form. But that walk to Wirksworth wasn't going to get any shorter. The ribbon of road along the ridge gave great views away over to Crich Stand and the Derwent Valley, before the slow and sometimes muddy footpath descent into the town. They'd been celebrating their newly-bestowed Fairtrade status that day, but it was all rather quiet now; the market has packed up, the major's tea party had supped up. I bought two hunks of flapjack from a bakery-cum-tearoom and dreamed of fish, chips and Jaipur....
But there was a pub I fancied visiting here - in the hope of getting some Wirksworth beer. The Hope and Anchoris one of those imposing busy-market-town pubs, multi-roomed with a lounge given over to flat screen TVs screaming out a music channel that the barmaid seems to wish she was appearing on. The bar was quieter, just a few paper-readers supping slowly. A newish Wirksworth beer - Bunny Hops - was good enough with a refreshing and sustained gentle hop feel, quenching enough at the end of a good day's wandering. As the local football team turned up and the smoothflow began to, er, flow, I beat a retreat for the last bus back to Derby.
Good food, good beers and only slightly sore feet. I'll certainly be back in the summer to sample more Thornbridge in the Bear garden (couldn't resist...) and visit Wirksworth on a market day to see what Fairtrade goodies are on offer.
And I have to say... the walk was made possible by two trains and two buses all covered by a Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket. Check with your local council / transport authority to see if they do a county-wide ticket - it's a great way to toper out and about.
>
Plenty of gardening to do today. I used to hate it - stupid plants that die, stupid grass covered in fox shit, stupid tree that just stands there. But I grew to love it; perhaps it's the practicality, of getting dirty and expending effort after a working week of not but number crunching. Still need some motivation to spend most of the day doing it, though.
So for every gardening task completed today , I gave myself a beer reward. And there could be few finer beers to satiate a thirst and satisfy a hop craving than a clutch from Brewdog.
The hedges thickening over the path to the shed were slashed back so I could sit back and suck on a Trashy Blonde. Bedding borders were hoed over on the promise of Punk IPA after. Front borders cleared and re-edged to let How To Disappear Completely venture out the fridge. Lawns mown on the lure of Chaos Theory. And that annoying clump of grassy crap by the back door torn out to complete the day and let Hardcore IPA come out to play.
Now I'm tired enough, have interesting lumpy bits under my fingerskin and a mouthful of popping hopness. The garden looks good and the Brewdog beers have made for a damn fine afternoon. Someday, all gardening will be like this - including Brewdog variety six-packs in garden centres. Then there would be something actually worth buying there...
>
Warm weather. Beer garden with great views. Thornbridge beers (Jaipur and their new English Pale Ale, Hopton). Hot tuna and cheese melt. Inquisitive finches and pipits. The calmest chocolate labrador. No need for an excuse to down another pint. This is My England and I ruddy love it.
>
Passionate beers require passionate people involved in their production. So it's great to read that rather than resting on their laurels, two of the UK's most forward-thinking brewers continue to expand with the recruitment of passionate staff.
Award winning New Zealand homebrewer James Kemp joins Thornbridge and expands the Kiwi enclave in north Derbyshire spearheaded by brewery manager Kelly Ryan. James joins Thornbridge at a key stage in the brewery's development, bringing valuable experience of laboratory analysis from his time at Fullers. With Thornbridge investing heavily in a new brewery with expanded laboratory facilities - still unusual for a brewer of their size - James proved to be the ideal candidate to join their brewing team.
North of the border, Brewdog have appointed a commercial manager to assist in their "aggressive" plans for 2009. Des Mulcahy muscled his way onto the beer scene in 2007 as co-organiser of the awesome Beer Exposed exhibition. His business nous and unbreakable attitude will undoubtedly serve Brewdog well as they roll their beer revolution out around the world.
Do they have the passion? Well, I've met each of them fleetingly and you can see that sparkle in their eyes. With guys like these working for two of the UK's most innovative breweries, I honestly believe that our brewing scene could be on the cusp of some staggering developments that could change utterly the public perception of craft brewing. Not micro-brewing; craft brewing. Brewing with care; with dedication. And bags of passion.
>
It was hosing it down. That gave me a day pass away from gardening, yet stopped me from watching the cricket. What's a beery boy to do...? As I was off to Nottingham to meet that splendid nest of vipers that is my sister, I thought I'd shlepp around a few pubs. And as I hadn't been to a Castle Rock pub for an age, I set myself a challenge - visit four of their pubs, have a pint of their Harvest Ale, an interesting guest, something continental on tap and a bottle from Brewdog.
My sister was buying jewellery when I met up with her. The shop had over 120 items in the window... I only know this as I had time to count them all as she faffed about inside. With the rain still lashing and the pubs opening, I shepherded her away for lunch at the Kean's Head. This single-roomed pub in the shadow of St. Mary's church has won multiple awards for its food and rightly so. Seasonal specials with an Italian twist, great snacks such as home-made scotch egg or fish-finger sandwiches... it's difficult to make up your mind. But I had to try the pie of the day - pork and peach baked with Timmermans peche. Mounds of fresh mash (little sis had the same pie with hand-cut, home-made chips) and the most surprisingly tasty red cabbage that seemed to have been cooked with something aniseedy. A pint of Harvest Pale went down a treat, too; a no-nonsense lazy lemony pale ale that's always a joy to drink.
Onward to the next pub, leaving little sis to go and look at shoes or hand cream or some other such girly stuff. I hadn't been to the Newshouse for a couple of years; having recently been voted as Nottingham CAMRA's Pub of The Year I felt I ought to pay a visit. I dripped into a quiet lounge, low-volume R&B entertaining the two punters. With framed newspapers of key historical events adorning the walls and plush banquettes all around, the lounge had a clubhouse-comfy feel to it. The beer was top notch too - Hadrian & Borders Reivers IPA may not have had the citric bite I usually like in an IPA but the creamy hop feel made for an easy-going pint.
Out into the slashing rain and flooded streets and onward to the brewery tap. Sat in the shadow of the brewery and close to the Inland Revenue offices that inspired its name, the VAT & Fiddle pub offers a range of Castle Rock beers as well as bottles from around the world. Reluctantly, I left the Brewdog in the fridge and plumped for a guest ale, Leeds Midnight Bell. This has been stunning every time I've tried it, deep fruits seeping through smooth roasty notes. Seemed a shame not to be drinking one of the brewery's own beers here, but when the guests are this good I couldn't resist.
Still siling it down as I made my way down to the Canalhouse. It's an old warehouse where barges are still mooreed inside the building (as the photo shows). To go all sepia for a moment, I remember this place when it was Nottingham's Canal Museum. And mightly boring it was. Now it's been reinvented as a booming-music bar, even on a torrentially damp Saturday with only a dozen or so people in. Just the place to drink a fizzy pint, then, so I had a Veltins. I'd seen Maisels Weiss on tap and, to be honest, I really wanted a Paulaner but that doesn't seem to be served in Castle Rock pubs anymore. I should have gone for the Maisels, mind - the Veltins was rather bubblegummy and strangely bland. Sat by the barge mooring, the slack water bulged every now and then, crisp packets and green slime sliding back and forth. I'm not sure that thirty-odd foot of stagnant canal is really a great feature for a pub to have...
One Castle Rock pub left for the day's visit, the one which for me just edges out the Kean's Head as their best in the city. A wee walk over to the north side of Nottingham, the Lincolnshire Poacher is an unassuming pub from the outside. Within, there are treasures to behold; a bar bristling with beers, a small lounge tucked away from the throng and a sizeable sun-trap patio backing onto a conservatory out the back. I'd waited until now for Brewdog as there's always a chance of having their cask beers here. I'd settle for a bottle of Punk IPA, of course. But - the horror! No Brewdog - even the bottles had been out of stock for a month! I'd seen them languishing in fridges all day; now I wanted one and was to be denied. Instead, half a Harvest Pale was drank in a huff.
At least the rain had lifted. I was tempted to go back across the city to the Kean's Head for a Brewdog bottle, but I know when to call it a day. Well, almost... wandering back for the bus I forced myself into the Bell, a pub I haven't been in since the Greene King takeover of Hardy & Hansons. A good line of of beers to, plenty of Nottingham Brewery offerings to complement the GK staples. I couldn't resist Belvoir Star, particularly as it offered all the bittery goodness of the old Shippos with the added bonus of not giving you the shits the next morning.
Castle Rock have promoted themselves as "Nottingham's Major Micro". To be honest, they're what a city needs - someone with enough muscle to invest in a pub estate that offers great dining, pre-club and easy-Sunday venues; someone that can produce regular beers of consistent quality in sufficient quality to satiate said estate; someone who can offer quality continental draught and bottles in recognition that drinkers deserve a quality choice; someone who actually cares about their customers and seeks to offer them a fair pint at a fair price. Too often, the only times I've really thought about what Castle Rock have to offer has been when I've been stuck in the middle of arse-nowhere with a choice of a cavernous Spoons or national pubco bland-taps. Thinking - I wish I was back in Nottingham. With a pint of Trammie Dodger.
>
When do you finally give in to beer? When to you finally think; sod this, I fancy a beer? For me, tonight, it was 1720 as I walked home from work, the sun in my hair, contemplating a bottle or three after mowing the lawns/sorting the laundry/burying the neighbour's recalcitrant cat beneath the patio. Instead, I looked over my shoulder as I approached the bus stop and rode off to the next village for lashings of beer and fish and chips.
The beer was Blue Bear Splendid Ale, light in colour and ABV, impressive malt balance, actually refreshingly malty in a season of over-fruited washy-hopped 'summer' offerings. The fish & chips was beer-battered haddock with home-made tartare sauce and proper mushy peas. The sun still, cattle lowed from the shed next door and even the sight of an insufferable cock in a droptop BMW didn't put me off (doesn't he know all the *really* insufferable cocks are driving Audi R8's this year?)
There's only one problem with tipping points... they lead to another. Another drink beckoned on my return home, my hoppy beer wasn't cold enough, so that left me with only one viable option - and the reason why I keep gin in the freezer and vermouth in the fridge. The last of today's rampant sunlight is fracturing across the buddleja globosa as I savour the killer aromatic blend that can be found only in a dry martini. On a school night. Handcart to hell has been reserved for tomorrow morning.....
>
This should have been a pairing of Manchester's finest with some ginger and coriander chicken at the weekend, but a rather, ahem, accessible bottle of chenin blanc forced its way down my gullet instead. For reasons best described as desperate, I'd also got some cajun-ish chicken pieces knocking around and was hoping that gingery beer would work well with the spicy-ish food.
From the off, let's be quite clear on one thing - I love Marble Ginger. This is the full-fat no-nonsense gingery beer of the Marble stable; they have a 4.5 percenter called, er, Ginger Marble as well but Marble Ginger is 6% and chock full of Zingiber officinale.
But not in a fiery, itchy, who-the-feck-polluted-my-beer-with-this-root-muck kind of way. It's.... refreshing. It tingles and leaves a mild heat behind. It's baby spice rather than overblown Ginger. On a hot day, this puts a smile on my face without making my tabs laugh, a balance of warmth and alcohol that counter-intuitively make it a proper quencher.
Having just spent an hour carving into a hedgerow with the Loudest Trimmer In The World Ever, my neighbours were ready to concrete my garden over and I was ready for a relaxing drink. Marble Ginger sated a thirst in sips, the natural spice warmth ensuring I didn't bolt it down.
How did it fare with the meal? OK - to be honest, the pre-prepared 'cajun' chicken wasn't going to win any authenticity awards but the mild spices of both dish and drink complemented each other pretty well. The slightly dusty tang of the chicken coating took the freshly-grated ginger feel from the beer, too much spice would perhaps have been confusing on the palate.
I reckon Marble Ginger would work with marinated lamb dishes as well. In fact, I'll be buying a few more bottles to try that pairing out sometime this summer. I buy mine from Derby's organic store Sound Bites - Marble beers being one of their popular organic beer offerings alongside the likes of Pitfield and Amber Ales. Why not ask your local organic store if they stock Marble beers - you can't beat a ginger beer that really is a beer and really does taste of ginger!
>
Most of the time, Facebook is like growing a sixth finger - intriguing at first, something to play with and gossip about. Then it starts to get in the way, hinders your daily activities. Then you realise half the world seems to have a sixth finger as well, and you'd rather yours would just shrivel up and drop off. But, sometimes, something comes along that reminds you how 'virtual' communities with shared interests can surprise you with something that hadn't triggered your radar yet.
That's what happened to me with Drink Beer & Carry On, whom I found out about via a Facebook group joined by some of my beery friends. They have a premise stated simply: what to do in these trying times to not prevent pubs, the "backbone of Britain", from withering away. Their conclusion is forthright: Drink Beer & Carry On!
If you agree, you could wear your heart on your sleeve.... or that slogan on a T-shirt. Inspired by the never-issued wartime propoganda poster, 'Keep Calm & Carry On', the Eric Gill-esque fonted message and craftily-refashioned crown adorn shirts that can accommodate even the most rotundly patriotic of topers.
Take a look at their website for more info and pics of not-so-secret agents in action. They also have a Google map shows if anyone's been DB&CO near you; if not, go get yourself a shirt and join the throng. If there are already agents operating in your area, go get yourself a shirt and join the throng! No secret handshake required (unless by mutual consent).
I'm often out and about in my shirt - fellow drinkers often stop me and say they like it. So go get one while you can.
Psst... Facebook users may be able to get a 'buy one, get one free' deal. Check out the Drink Beer & Carry On Facebook group for more info.
Fantastic news - the Nottingham branch have won the CAMRA Newletter of the Year award for the second year running. This forty page, A4, full colour magazine has production values and editorial quality that puts many commercial beer magazines to shame. It's by far and away my favourite CAMRA publication (and, no, I don't write for it).
There's always plenty of news and features about local pubs and breweries. But there's articles about beer from all around the world, bottled beer, beer with food and much, much more...it's well worth a read even if you're out of the area (or even out the country).
Here's a flavour what's in the current issue:
- trips to microbreweries in Malaysia and Sarajevo - profiles of new breweries (Prescott) and local ones (Maypole) - cooking with beer (chili and stout) and dining out with beer - LocAle updates (Nottingham being pioneers of the scheme) - bottled beer reviews (from Sheffield and Iceland - Iceland the country, not the frozen food chain...)
Special mention has to go to editor Spyke Golding's legendary 'In Praise of PUBlic Transport' feature. Complete with hand-drawn maps and full-colour photos, these are detailed pub crawls accessible by bus, train or even tram - indeed, the current issue features fifteen pubs close to the route taken by the Supertram in Sheffield).
Nottingham Drinker also features contributions from interesting and perhaps unusual persepctives. Both the local police and the local alcohol advisory service APAS provide thought-provoking articles that make a positive and constructive contrubution to the magazine.
If you're planning on visiting the city for its beer (and you really should) then the Nottingham Drinker is indispensible. It's got plenty of up-to-date gen about discounts, gigs and festivals as well as all those interesting articles.
Fortunately, you don't need to be in Nottingham to read the Drinker. Both the current and back issues are available in PDF format from the branch website.
Why not download a copy now... having read this, you need something else to do!
Back in April, we had a National Cask Ales Week. Apparently. A concerted marketing effort by Cask Marque via (in the main) pubco estates to increase the sales of regionally-brewed beer. So, England expects and all that twaddle - I did what I needed to do. I went out to drink the finest keg beers I could find.
As you may have guessed, I felt ambivalent about National Cask Ales Week. It didn't involve all cask pubs as it was driven by Cask Marque; not all pubs think cold cask beer is the way to go. The marketing gets lost in its own hyperbole (if, as they say, 65% of adults haven't tried cask ale, how can it be our 'national drink'?). And as for the Saturday's world record attempt for the largest number of people giving a toast.... ".. participants don’t have to raise a glass of cask beer but can use any drink, although cask is preferable". WTF?
So I wasn't particularly surprised to see a headline saying lager was a valid part of the week's proceedings. Budvar was being offered at the The Crooked Chimney in Lemsford as a way of 'encouraging lager drinkers to give something more like a real ale a try'. Still with me? It's gets even more mind-bending: up then pops Roger Protz to say, "Not many people realise that Budvar is actually the only craft lager approved by the Campaign For Real Ale", adding that Budvar is "the only lager that's not CAMRA shy!".
I'd noticed that quote cropping up in some more stories.... then realised all the pubs in question were in the Vintage Inn group and part of Protz's quote is featured on their website.
So, let's not worry too much about all those English cask lagers, eh? Or even consider that fine Derbyshire keg lager, Moravka. But anyway - if Rog says its OK to drink keg this week, I'll go with the (smooth)flow. On Wednesday night, then, I took an amble upriver from where I work into Derby to see what non-cask delights I could find.
First stop; the Brunswick Inn. Fourteeen cask beers, half from their on-site brewery, two of them (White Feather and Triple Hop) being two of my favourite beers. But, I had a mission so I was on the Budvar. And you know what? It looked good - even the tap looked good. Clear and sparkly. Tasted refreshing. There I was, in a suit and tie, drinking lager. With out-of-towner cask-ale-drinkers almost looking down their nose at me whilst exclaiming "... they brew *this* one at the end of the corridor, you know. It's lovely and malty!". How the other half drink, dear topers...
Next door to the Alex next where there's always a few continental keg offerings. Indeed, today there was a new addition and a Reluctant Scoop for me, Duvel Groen. Which was OK-ish; dry and spicy, slight creeping sweetness. But every mouthful reminded me of just how great 'full-fat' Duvel is on draft. And at 2.40 GBP a half, I wasn't rushing back to buy another.
Ever onward upriver to the Smithfield. Now, my knowledge of keg beer here is akin to a pair of bridesmaid's knickers - scanty. And so was the selection; Carling, Guinness, Strongbow.... with a fail whale making its way up the Derwent, I had to Reluctantly drink cask. Didn't want to. Vile, living, yeast-ridden stuff. So, with a heavy heart I suffered a pint of Whim Hartington IPA. Every mouthful tasted like the last leper from hell was shitting into my mouth. Obviously.
(for the benefit of my humour-challenged readers who send me incomprehensible post comments, the above paragraph is an example of irony. Have you got your favourite crayon handy? Let's write it together - i-ron-y. Well done!)
Last stop, Royal Standard. Renowned for its generally overpriced continental keg offerings, I plumped for a glass of Schneider Weiss and took to the deserted roof terrace. With the sun slumping over the river and nascent leaves waving in the evening breeze, I sat and slurped the Schneider. And it was damn fine. Refreshing, sippable, mild spices and easy esters. I actually enjoyed it more than nearly all of the usual Derby Brewing cask fayre also on offer.
You know what? I really enjoyed that evening. Yet at the same time there was a tinge of sadness. Where's the quality keg beer brewed in the UK? Apart from Taddington's Moravka, where's the tasty UK keg lager? Where's the experimentation by major micros or regionals? Are they afraid of being accused of selling out? I know CAMRA will gripe about keg... but the queues at the foreign draft bars at the likes of Reading and GBBF tell their own (profitable) tale.
Ask if it's cask? Fair enough, but kegs don't always contain dregs...
>
Now then. I like coffee flavours in beer. But I also like coffee flavours in chocolate. Which one is better? There's only one non-Harry-Hill way to find out: drink 'em, eat'em, blog 'em.
Let's start with the Brewdog Coffee Imperial Stout. It pours an opaque brown washing away to black edges. A flicked wrist offers a light roast coffee/hazelnut puree aroma. So far, so promising. So, a sip: bitterness. Burnt coffee grounds. Harsh. Dry. Some longer gulps knocked the rougher edges off but there was still a resinous, off-puttingly hoppy lick to it. Even the scorched coffee got lost towards the end.
Perhaps some chocolate can redress the balance. Lindt Coffee is billed as dark but actually smells and feels milkier. Digging around showed that it was 47% chocolate, so it was actually more towards the milk end of the spectrum after all. A first nibble gave an understated coffee flavour with a grainy feel, offering just enough resistance against the tongue. Paired with the Brewdog, the beer does taste better, that slight chocolate sweetness taking the edge off the hops and letting the beer drop a gear to achieve a frothy quality.
Shit or bust time. Perhaps a hardcore chocolate can save the day. And in my collection, there was none more hardcore than Hotel Chocolat's The Purist - 100% Ecuadorian cocoa. No shine to the bar, an almost dusty aroma, rolling the first sliver around the mouth you feel pure cocoa powdering around. The first bite brings bitterness but also a surprising cream note with dusty intensity breaking in waves. Alongside the Brewdog, the beer is elevated into a different league. Coffee now climbs out of the glass, jolting into the chocolate palate in a reverse mocha moment.
Only one way to go now - Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. I love this beer; it appears three time on my unwritten list of 'beer experiences yet to enjoy' (namely; drink more than one bottle of it to myself in a sitting, drink a bottle of it for breakfast, drink any of the Beer Geek Brunch varieties). It's so soft, the oatmeal in it working wonders to round out the body and carry the light cofee and creamy chocolate flavours. Such a stunning chocolate nose, too. It's a very easy going beer, no overloading on the palate, just enough consistant carbonation tp keep pushing out the flavours.
Alongside the Lindt bar it's... not much different. But dip some of The Purist in and you're mainlining cocoa. It's smothering your nose, dusty chocolate coats your palate, washy coffee intensifies the flavour. It's almost too flucking much. And hurrah for that - great beer and great chocolate desrves to take your taste buds to the edge and back again. A hyperreal combination.
Mucho kudos to Craig Garvie for the Brewdog Coffee Imperial Stout and to BEERmerchants.com for the Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast.
>
