just a quick note or two about some beers I tried last night whilst out and about with Mr Cain.
Shakespeares
"I would give all my fame for a pot of ale"
Luckily that sacrifice won't be necessary, as I am in the Gibraltar Street hostelry spending a modest sum on one of their range of really good ales. Last night there was plenty that caught my eye - Sheffield Porter was the only dark offering but I decided to start light and had a pretty good choice to go at. Whilst Mr C stumped for cooking lager, which the barman protested less than vigorously was a term that didn't apply to Becks Vier, I had halves of the Ossett Winter IPA and Staithes brewery Boulby Blonde a surprisingly punchy bitter pale ale at 3.5% which stood up admirably to the Ossett IPA at 5%.
The next round saw me get to try some Wantsum Brewery beer from Kent, something I failed to achieve when I was down there in 2010. I had a half of their dark brown 4.6% Dynamo along with another really enjoyable glug of the Winter IPA. Its strange that I almost always plump for the guests at the Hop (assuming that is, it is a guest, see posts passim) and as if to justify that trend, this IPA at Shakespeares was one of the best pints of Ossett I've ever had. Maybe I should only drink Ossett when its a guest elsewhere...
In News news, there is a beer festival coming at the end of February here with the potential that they may keep back a beer from the cellar at the moment to have then - this info not fully confirmed yet though so keep an eye out for further details.
The Cranes
No dark ales in the Cranes alas but the Blue Bee beers are still a feature so I had a pint of the Nectar Pale, back to being hoppy but somehow still tasting different to when I tried it in the Rutland in the summer. That said it didn't matter since it was a very refreshing bitter beer. The pub was moderately busy which is always a good thing and there are a few decent brews advertised on the coming soon board - looks like I'll have to pop back again later in the week for a thankful tope.
Ta-dah!
Dee-dah's on Trippet Lane has finally broken its Christmas imposed ban on selling anything new and got some new offerings to tempt us. Mr C and I were well catered for with a pint of decent lager for him and for me, the dream of all beer lovers, a whole delicious pint of Thornbridge Pollards coffee milk stout, all to myself. Not even marred by it being a trifle too cold, I enjoyed every last drop, deven though I changed my order for round 2...
Mr C had a very agreeable pint of Thornbridge's Kolsch style lager Tzara, and I had a half of the Fyne Highlander, which lived up to its name by being a gloriously malty but bitter Scottish ale, and I also tried one of their key keg offerings. Of course, vital to my making a point of trying the beer was to attempt a comparison, but I've forgotten what the hell it was! Also available was the new Thornbridge offering "Scrawl" brewed to coincide with Friday's live arts pub crawl event, where 10 artists will display their work in 10 pubs or bars around Sheffield, for free, for one night only. For more details go to Pete McKee pub scrawl .
It could have been one from Flying Dog or possibly Kill Your Darlings from Thornbridge, but am sorry, I can't recall for certain. I do remember it was quite cold which was a shame, but it meant that I probably enjoyed the Fyne a bit more, and to be honest, when it had warmed up a bit it was very enjoyable, erm, whatever it night have been.
The 1854 overture
I still had time for a last drink in Harrisons, the beers were falling fast when I arrived as is often the case on the first night open after the weekend, but my half of fresh Farmers Blonde gave me a chance to pay it a bit of attention and try and work out what those prevalent flavours are. Its certainly quite dry, it was refreshing, but I think the off putting feature that lets it down a bit is the particular malt they use. Its still a nice well kept pint though, and in no way resulted in my falling asleep on the bus on my way home...
Do go and check out some of these pubs for yourself, and happy drinking!
Wee Beefy.
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