Brizzle 2025

 Hello there  

     On Friday just gone (it was in fact 22nd August!) I went to Bristol - or Brizzle - after work, to attend the Forwards festival (Music), and also the East Bristol Brewery Trail, visiting for the first time a number of Taprooms in Bristol. On the Friday night we started in the marvelous kings Head - where owners Good Chemistry were celebrating their 10th birthday! Just the one in here, both myself and Matty enjoying a 6% Baltic  porter collab called Smooth Operator with fabulous Shefielders Abbeydale! We enjoyed this sat outside in the last of the sunshine

After booking in to the Ron Clayton hotel we headed next for BrewDog where the manager plays almost exclusively metal music, and sells a whopping range of beers as well. We had a pint of Marine Hazard Extravaganza and White Dog Will it float and finished on halves of their Habas and Fierce Very Big Moose barrel aged imperial stout. Having met Simon, Matt's dad, we finished the night in the Strawberry Thief where we enjoyed pints of Lost and Grounded Helles on draught and bottles of Augusteiner Helles and others, which I did not photograph....

The next day after a marvelous breakfast nearby we wandered through the city up to Arbor Ales Taproom for 12, once again meeting Simon at about 5 minutes before they opened. This was our first stop on the East Bristol Brewery trail and by 12 there was a hefty crowd waiting to get in! I started on Arbor C Bomb a Citra pale on keg from the current, and Simon bought me a second before we wandered off the trail slightly to a new Brewery and Tap to me.

At strength and Noble they had 6 of their beers on keg and two guests and we had 2 pints each of theirs and 3 halves to finish - we were once again sat out in the sunshine and enjoyed all of their beers, and I have to say the food smelled fantastic! Over the motorway next and down to Clark street where we walked up and into Wiper and True - this was really busy but we got a table for the 3 of us and ordered a few halves from an amazing range of 15 beers available - sadly I didn't take a pic of the line up but I know I had a fabulous pint of kaleidescope IPA on keg from the now, before we returned to the trail and headed straight for Good Chemistry Taproom for my also first ever visit!

I now I had a pint of Pure Celebration Party Pale also on keg, and at a pleasant 5.8 % and once again enjoyed that sat outside in the none sunshine! Off next back into town where we headed to Little Marthas brewing brew pub under a railway arch where we all ate delicious food, and once again sat outside as the clouds darkened the sky above us. We next went to the Portwall Tavern, which is not a brew pub and sadly, since my last visit in 2003 the beer selection seems to have gone downhill somewhat. No doubt based on it being a Craft Union pub, I had a pint of their Bonville Pale om cask from the past before myself and Matt hurried on up to Small Bar, which was not very welcoming, but  we finished on several excellent pints in the fabulous Famous Royal Navy Volunteer where we were both on pints of 8.2% Wibble DIPA on keg which was a fab collab between Balance Brewing and Cloudwater - possibly the best beer of the whole trip.

The next day was Forwards Festival and despite being the day before Bank Holiday Monday it was rather warm! Me and Matt opted to walk to the Downs in order to get some pre festival beers and we started in Zero Degrees Brewery Tap where we started on a clear lager before walking out onto St Michaels hill/Mount and despite its incline we quickly reached the comparative Darkness of the Highbury Vaults - I was once again on kaleidescope and Matt may have been on Otter Oak IPA as we sat in the back . Off next to the nearby turning for Brewhouse and kitchen where we stayed for just one, possibly a pale before visiting a new pub recommended by Simon - up a little side street past a closed pub was a marvelous micropub called Last Port of Call - a tiny 2 roomed boozer selling a great range of local beers where I started on a delicious pint of Gloucester Gold a pale at 3.9% on cask from the past and finished once again on a pint of kaleidoscope as its correctly spelled! A cracking pub to which I will return.

Beer at Forwards was once again cans from Lost and Grounded but £5.50 a can seemed lie a good festival price! We only watched about 4 bands this year, the best being Squid and Nea Archives - we were therefore back in town to make a quick final stop at BrewDog where I now we had Mad Scientist blackcurrant sour at 8.4%!

On Bank Holiday Monday I wandered off by myself post breakfast and made my first visit to the king Street Brew Pub where I sat inside looking at the busy Street outside enjoying a pint of their Hazy IPA at 4.8% before thanking them and waddling accross for my also first visit to the Llandoger Trow where I had a whole pint of their Three Acre Extra Special best at 5.4% which was a very easy drinking bitter on cask from the past.

A toddle next to the Grain Barge parked on the river where I had two beers - I know that they were both Bristol Beer factory but I forget which - before paying my first visit of the trip to The Myrtle Tree for a few excellent pints of Bass straight from the barrel - I even sat outside in the sunshine with two gents eating a cheese and onion cob, before being joined by Tash Matt and Rhodhri. Round the corner to the Bag O Nails next where not only does it smell less "feline" but also had a great selection of ales - I had Uley Guilty pleasure and something without a pump clip on keg before walking, now with Simon, up to a new pub  to me called the Three Tuns where we had a print of Bristol Beer Factory, and then walked into the Limekiln. Always worth a visit, this time it sold in its range Lenton Lane Big Dreams IPA at 6.5% on cask from the past so I was on that before me and Simon headed into town to get a burger and we all re met in the Old Hatchet Inn which used to sport a door made with possibly human skin? All I can say is that the beer selection was really underwhelming so we only stayed for one and I didn't even photograph it!

Our next to last day was quite cloudy and after our usual breakfast in Cafe Revival we went our seperate ways with a plan to  catch up later - I started by meeting a lovely lass on the bridge before walking up to see the church of the Holy Cross ruin and waling out to visit the fabulous Cornubia -a fabulous beer selection as always and I started on a pint of Burton Bridge XL Mild on cftp, then a Bobs your uncle IPA from Electric Bear at 5.4% from also cftp before walking to the Bridge on Passage Street, where the bar had a fab collection of beers on offer. I did ask the chap about Moor Brewing whose owner had posted an explosive outburst on the Friday about almost every customer and type of customer, and whom agreed not to take part in the East Bristol Brewery trail. He does sell quite a lot of their beers so I was happy to try some since he had paid for them, but I started on Newbarns Canopus IPA at just 4.5% which was delicious, then Misfit Brewing Astro Zombie IPA before finishing on Moor.

Next I headed to the Seven Stars for a pint of Hop Union Classic Gold which I enjoyed drinking outside, and then headed a trifle refreshedly for Left Handed Giant. It was really busy and in the end I was so surrounded by by shouters I opted to leave for food at the Fullers Old Fish Market where I met Tash and Matt and Rhodhri for scran whilst on Fullers Olivers Island before finishing in BrewDog on more plus 8% beers and getting cans of Chubbles for our journey home the next day.

After our final breakfast at Cafe Revival we walked together to the the Cornubia for pints of Electric Bear and then to the ruined Abbey for a look round and just got in the kings Head as it started to pee it down! Tash and Rhodhri only stayed for halves as they were off to catch an earlier train so me and Matt stayed for a few including two excellent pints of Good Chemistry kokomo weekday Hazy Pale on Keg and to finish on thirds of fabulous Vault City 7th birthday 14% stout between us, and to buy two Good Chemistry celebratory cans for our trip home.

Still time to pop in Simon's least successful recommendation, the Sidings, which sold no cask ales and sold only Beavertown mass produced beer on keg! We had halves, and I once again did not take any pics whatsoever.

So that was Brizzle! A mostly hugely enjoyable dawdle round some truly fabulous pubs and bars, mostly with fabulous ales and breweries!

Kindest regards

Wee Beefy

Beer. Twixt Christmas and New Year....

Ay up,

    well, having finally gone mad after 3 or 4 days virtually exclusively in the house, today I ventured out to collect a prescription from town. Despite this well meaning intent, that is not what predominated my trip out. or, indeed, what happened. Here's what did.....

I met up with Angie instead. Myself and Angie have known each other for many years and today was a great chance to catch up for the first time in months and have some drinks.

Meeting on High Street we negotiated slippy slopes down to Bank Street, along Queen Street and then eventually up to the Three Tuns. They aren't normally open on a Sunday* but I'd seen a pic on Faceache which suggested they were - I'd already found out the Bath wasn't, so this was an ideal starting point.

On arrival Dave welcomed us and we opted for a coffee for Miss H and a pint of Cliffhanger for me, and we began supping and catching up. The Brass Castle cliffhanger was possibly the most bitter beer on despite being only 3.9%, and was a perfect starter. As the conversation continued we repeated the round and also bought a portion of chips and cheese, before we left the pub which, having been the only punters on arrival, was now filing up.

A treacherous tiptoe across the ice landed us at Shakespeares where things were a little busier. I had a pint of the Arbor Transatlantic Pale ale and Miss H a half of Cherry beer, and we retired to the clockroom to continue catching up. Peace was temporarily disturbed by a pub crawl of folk who virtually blocked access to the toilets - ample indication that they hadn't yet been - but otherwise even as other crowds joined, this was ideal.

My penultimate pint was the excellent Siren Craft Brew 10 finger discount IPA at 7.2% on keg, whilst Angie stuck to the fruit beer, and we finished our evening of refreshment with another pint of the same for me and a coke for her.

Overall, it was a quiet but enjoyable evening, and great to see that, as expected, despite the pressures of Christmas, there was still a range of excellent beers available to those braving the ice and cold.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

*David informs me, just now, that nowadays they are. So there! Pop down......

Older boys

Oh aye,

            we can all fanny about cavorting with the new starlets on the Sheffield beer scene and sampling the output of camelopardelic jesters with donkey themed beers, but yer know, that's not  a long term plan. Sometimes you gotta go with what yer know. Luckily what yer know is often what yer like in Sheffield. Wherein another 40th and a few nights socialising near work have seen me enjoy a celebratory roll call of established Sheffield beer stalwarts.

First up is ickle babbeh DAda. Soon about to or having just had its second birthday, the oddly themed ale destination continues to be a favourite of mine with a winning combo of great beers and likeable staff. Relishing the prospect of a DJ (he spins rekkids, for our younger readers...) on Saturday we set about drinking quite a bit of good quality ale, including Red Willow. We started on the impeccable Smokeless smoked porter on cask, before moving onto the rather stronger Soulless black IPA on Keykeg. Further rounds included bottles of Hardknott Infra Red and some of their Azimuth on Keg before we finished on Halcyon. Plenty of thoroughly excellent beer to be had  as there is so often.

Next up is another slightly longer established haunt - but not by much. It's Shakespeares, who are barely two and  a half years old. Last week I "had" to attend several amber conferences with persons from work, and it seemed daft not to nip into the nearby award winner. First up on Tuesday was my friend Mr Marsh. He and I used to "work" at the exams board and much japery was had - for reasons of libel, I can't really name the individuals who made our tenure there so amusing but Frenjamine John, Mrs  Christine and Terry outer-organs were villains and pantomime fools in equal measure.

Pints of Arbor Tasmanian Devil IPA were my companion until Miss N joined us and I moved on to the Mallinsons Citra - also tasted was a rather excellent pint of Ascot Anastasia stout, although the Arbor probably shaded it . We also bought a bottle of Nogne Global Pale at about £4.00 - not their strongest beer but at least almost sensibly priced for a bottle in a pub.

Wednesday saw me catch up with Christingpher where I moved onto pints of the excellent hoppy Mallinsons Kahatu. Myself and Miss N also partook of a bottle of the  Emmelise espresso stout and a half or two of the Arbor Down Deeperest, now on at £5.00 a pint and still tasting rather fab even though its been " a while" since it was tapped.

Finally, Thursday saw Miss H accompany me for the first time in a year or so and it was Mallinsons all the way again, along with some Arbor when Miss N joined me after an epic shift at Chez gulag. All in all a great line up of beers from the venerable bard and a great venue to boot.

Friday saw me in town at the Rutland Arms, which is now nearly 4 and 5th years old, for some much needed food and some rather less important real ale. Miss N was steadfastly on the Gorlovka where as I was taking it a little easier on a beer which hasn't been named yet - we both finished on halves of excellent Magic Rock High Wire after I had a fantastic chorizo burger. We were also there on Saturday the week before last. Heading to meet Miss N at the Tap I found myself early in town and had to use up the time afforded to retrieve my scarf from the Rutland where I had drunkenly left it the night before. Such was the exhausting magnitude of this event I had to stop for a pint of Hop Studio XS and a half of the Acorn Bishops IPA.

A swift detour to see Matt and Miss N in the Tap heralded a taste of Tiny Rebel Fubar and a pint of the excellent Ilkley Black before we returned to the Rutland to be a little reckless. Despite the seemingly laudable undertaking of a steak and ale pie and chips (which was fantastic) this sensible layer of protection against crapulence was undermined in no uncertain terms by Magic Rock Human Cannonball. At 9.2%, even 4 halves of this beer, I can confirm, makes one a trifle drunk. And so it was to be. But it was damned good fun doing it.

The final stager is Abdeydale brewery. Now officially very old, I was visiting there the other day to catch up with Dan and was given a tour of the brewery, now about 5 times larger than when I first visited in the late nineties. Most of the rooms contained equipment, merchandising and casks apart from one which was surprising. Faced with a range of large stainless steel vessels spanning its length, Dan told me this was "where the magic happens". No wonder he doesn't do much brewing these days - quite how he has time to fanny around performing card tricks and rabbit out the hat deceits when he should be mashing is beyond me...

A quick trip to the breweries only pub, The Rising Sun at Nether Green followed. For reasons of journalistic independence I went for a non Abbeydale beer - Magic Rock Clown Juice, which was rather ace. Cadence forbids me from reporting what young Daniel had to drink however....

A good catch up followed along with a taster of the Four Yorkshiremen of the Apocalypse which I  understand was inspired by Ali Capper the well known British hop campaigner and grower, and which is a brew featuring exclusively British hops. Slightly tamer in taste than I expected it did however have a lovely aroma which I recognised straight away.

Abbeydale are a great example of an expanding and diversifying Sheffield beer success story - and they don't look out of place with quality like the Rutland, Shakespeares and DAda one bit. A resounding indictment of the quality of real ale in Sheffield.

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Shakespeares Autumn Beer Festival 2013

Mornin,

            This week I've had the pleasure of a couple of nights at Shakespeares sampling the delights of their latest beer festival. It seems like its been ages since they had one - I missed the one in March because I was fannying around at SIBA Beer X and I don't think they've had one since - perhaps I've been too addled to remember...

The festival once again boasts a LocALE and festival bar, the latter being upstairs on your left. There were sandwiches a plenty (alas no pork pies - tut)  and throughout there has been a programme of music in th Bard's Bar for those wanting to combine tunes with supping. Obviously, no such interference in the vital work of research would be allowed. I'd read the list, I'd picked out te beers from my favourite breweries to ensure I enjoyed everything I bought, and I was ready to go.

I could write at length about the individual flavours and aromas in, and distinctions between, all the beers I have tried so far. However, I can't recall a large percentage of those subtle minutiae in most cases, and also a large section of my memory, and likely my liver, was erased by having a half of the Arbor Down Deperest Black Saison - at 13%. Apparently, we got home. Whatevs.....

Instead here is a list of beers what I did drunk:

Five Towns Baby Blue 4.5%
Squawk IPA 5.5%
Hopcraft Bikini Atol 4.5%
Axholme Pumpkin Porter 4.3%
Art Brew Anarchy Party 7.2%
Art Brew Baby Anarchist 3.2%
Arbor Triple Hop  13, 4%
Arbor Down Deeperest 13%
New Bristol Angry Tom 5.9%
Steel City All Hallowes Eve 5.2%
North Riding Screaming Bedlam 4.2%

All the above were sampled over two sessions in pints - with the somewhat obvious exception of the Black Saison, of which a having pint, though comparatively inexpensive at £6.00, would have been a very unwise move. I also got to try the Bradfield Bristol Cream Stout, the New Bristol Beer Du Jour, and the Brown Cow Concorde Pale.

Pick of the bunch is a tie three ways between Arbor Triple Hop 13, Five Towns Baby Blue and Steel City All Hallowes Eve - as a first of the festival, the Five Towns was a cracking start, but there wasn't a bad beer in the bunch.

I am going down again today to try some of the new breweries offerings so will probably switch to halves but in the end, I won't want to miss out on the Art, Arbor and New Bristol beers - alas the Steel City and, I think, the Five Towns, have run out.

Congratulations to Shakespeares and their tireless for once again putting on a spectacular range of well kept beers, at sensible prices in convivial surroundings. And special mention must go to Chris Bamford, AKA Mister Christopher, who although not working at the time, spotted myself and Miss N sat in the dark on the tiny bench seat in the alcove at the back of the bar, and fetched us a light bulb on demand. Well done that man !

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Every four year old's dream - a 12% stout, jelly, and pirate lego

Hello,

          four years ago on Wednesday a pub reopened in Sheffield. A worrying headline had appeared on the front page of beer matters proclaiming the imminent closure of the Rutland Arms not long before, and it all looked pretty grim. Luckily a little thinking outside the box saw the pub leased from the owner (note - myself and Mr Stephens only discuss factual pub related business stuff when beer is involved, so you might be better making your own story up...), and the pub reopened with some secrecy, and some allegedly undrinkable cider.

Mr Stephens has now moved onto the Closed Shop although he oversaw some of the year since the 3rd birthday and was there on Wednesday night to join in the celebrations. The pub probably has a manager or something now and is run by Joe. I realise that doesn't make sense since that makes him the manager, but I doubt the Rutland who is a person actually worries about such trivialities. Its open, it sells great food and excellent beer.

On Wednesday I had a cold so announced, when leaving work, that I would have to drink strong beers, yer know, since I had an impaired smell and sense of taste. I was therefore quite pleased to find several of such beers on offer at The Rutland, and a chilli stout, Blue Bee Lustin for Chilli. This was my first beer of the night, along with a half of the 12% Arbour Goo Goo G'joob Maple Imperial Stout, which was rather fantastic. I had a half of that, and mixed a little with the chilli stout to create a third even more impressive option.

I met up with Christingpher, Ade, Matt and Miss N and had a bacon sandwich (well, what else would I eat in the Rutland?) before having a pint of the rather more sensible Blue Bee Light Blue and another half of the excellent stout. I then went to the Crucible for a couple of hours, leaving a serene scene of subdued lighting, free pint tokens and music...

On my return there were balloons and streamers everywhere, jelly and ice cream on the tables, numerous edible snakes, cake, party hats, rambunctious revelry and more beer than you could shake an outdoor candle holder at . Soon, everyone migrated out the back to get the sweets from the Pinata.

This year I feel the Rutland slightly cheated by making it out of something bloody tough. It was a good half an hour, even with the efforts of some notable heavyweights (I'll count myself in this category on account of having a beer belly), before the pinata finally gave up its treasure. Absolutely bloody kilo's of sweets of all kinds, which Mr Stephens, wielding an outdoor candle holder as we had broken the first two sticks, launched into the air to shower down over the beer garden - a pleasingly reckless and silly act. Cue chaos.

Meanwhile, I had dropped down from the dizzy heights of the Arbor Imperial Stout and was now supping their Yakima IPA which is at least 7%. Don't get me wrong, I still found time to have more of the 12% stout, but I convinced myself that the IPA was akin to sensible drinking. I'm not sure if this decision shortened or lengthened our repose at the celebrations, but to be honest the beer was too damned good to care.

Later, with the crowds thinning out and Matt studiously creating a complex structure from pirate Lego beside me, I was to become a climbing frame for Josh Jepson, and was to witness some quite excellent tunes on the jukebox being replaced by the worst music imaginable in an attempt to shake off those customers who seemed to be unwilling, or unable, to go home.

Congratulations to the Rutland for a quite fabulous party, which was every bit as good as last years, and apologies to all those of you whom I might have vigorously squeezed to death in my drunken, happy, social rampage through the pub.

Roll on another 12 months at the Rutland Arms

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Friday Night Likes

Morning slakers,

          last night I was meant to be taking Chala to the Blake for the first time ever - alas, she bailed on me as she had to go and undertake some Thangor* management (her Mum is recovering from an op and needs watering at regular intervals). Despite this upset to my plan, I forged on alone, in the spirit of adventure. And being thirsty.

I headed to Shakespeares as is only normal, and although Mister Christopher and Robenbacher were on duty, there was a distinct dearth of CAMRA folks. I had assumed that I'd bump into the usual crowd but it dawned on me that it was probably GBBF weekend. That event that gets held every year and which I went to once in the 1990's. Can't say I was blown away, but I've no doubt its changed by now.

Anyhoo, consumer groups or no I had to slake my thirst so started on a pint of Raw Cascade and a half of the XT brewing Pi Dark Mild. Not perhaps the finest example i have tried, and alas the Raw was running out, but it still tasted of lovely quality hops and had a fantastic reddish hue which made t look extra appealing.

I finished on a quite fantastic beer - Arbor mosaic at 6.8% was in the cellar as it wasn't quite ready to come on. Seeing it in the glass you could tell why since it was murky orange, but good God it tasted better than it looked. Light biscuit malt, punchy mosaic hops and the fruitiest flavour since Melba combined to make this my beer of the week, if not the month (faint praise since its only 10 days in...). Served just cool enough, had I not been harbouring plans to escape to Walkley I could have sat there supping this beer all night. I can't wait to get back and try it it when its on the bar - I highly recommend you do the same.

A short trek followed walking the 31 route to compensate for my having a while to wait for it - the upshot of which was it only cost me £1.30 to get to the Blake. Luckily the route is running as normal so the uphill slog is much more manageable. On the bar at the Blake there were a few pale beers to choose from and one caught my eye but having taken the money for it the beer promptly went off. The barman suggested I might like the 6.9& Kelham Island mind control - and very kindly let me have a pint for £2.60. Which was nice!

Although this did make me worry about upcoming bouts of relaxation, I happily supped this surprisingly bitter but well balanced strong golden ale, sat in the room on the left. Its an oft rolled out observation every time I visit the Blake but I really don't get there often enough. Hopefully, myself and the A.A will be there in about 3 hours time....

A struggle uphill found me wanting food so I headed for a food outlet near the famous Byrans (Bryans?!?) chippy - only to be informed by the grumpy lady behind the counter that they weren't a chip shop, an observation that was filtering in to my head as I spoke. Still, I knew I could head round the corner for New Cod on the Block where I bought a fishcake butty and received a smile and some goodwill before I headed to the Closed Shop.

Mr Stephens was on hand to serve a range of decent ales once more, and with no thought of what else may be on offer I went for the Blackjack, um, thingy, since it was a Blackjack beer. (it now transpires through the magic of looking that this brown ale was called The River - and was rather nice, as per the below) Once again there were no recognisable faces in the crowd but I enjoyed sitting in the beer garden via the other entrance (stop it...) supping my rather delicious pint of hefty flavoured but rounded beer.

I nipped over to the Hallamshire House next for a half of McConnells vanilla stout from a slightly disappointing range, and headed down stairs to meet the Man of Ash and the lovely Dave. I can quite understand the attraction of the downstairs outside bit and the garden, even at night. Its warm and cool enough to be comfortable and feels a little like being on someone's back garden when there is a party going on in the house. Mind you, the smokers in the crowd all wanted to go back inside so in the end that's what I did too.

I then returned to the Shop to try a Doncaster brewery pale ale that was coming on after the mild - which I should point out I had a fantastic pint of wen I visited briefly on Monday. The quiet and calm of that visit reminded me of the good old days when there was no customers and no-one bought anything. Apparently, this is "bad for business" - bloody capitalists!

Anyway the pale ale was excellent but alas I didn't want to be out late so headed back to the 52 route home to prepare for the mammoth exercise in pub crawling that starts at the Sheffield tap in...an hours time.

I may see some of you later - either way, make sure you visit Shakespeares and get some o' that Arbor darn yer! (not literally).

Cheers!

Wee Beefy


*sorry, I forgot the explanation - Thangor is better known as Thangor the Unpleasable. I hope that helps.

Moregna

Now then,

     after my annoying experiences at the Magna Rotherham Real ale and music festival 2013 on Thursday, I'd already thought of phrases like Baa Humbug, Baa'sil's gone West, Baa'sil gets worse, etcetera, to use in this second report. But would I need them?

Despite my misgivings, I had my glass, washed and intact, and I hadn't seen Matt for a year. So what better plan than to head back to the festival and see how things were shaping up.

It was a glorious sunny day, almost warm, (in my three layers), and I got there quickly, which cheered me up, and the first pleasant surprise on entering the North and East Yorkshire Bar was that there was plenty of beer left. I've been on a Thursday and seen more beers ran out. As it turned out, of the 5 beers I definitely wanted to try, 4 were still on.

I started on a half of the Yorkshire Brewing Co True North, a pale hoppy session beer, and went for a wander. Nothing really took my fancy in the Cheshire room, so I wandered into Lancashire to find it empty. The bloke behind the bar explained that there was loads of beer left because they'd ordered much more this year. Seemed perfectly plausible. Here I had a rather astonishing half of Thwaites 13 Guns. Hopped similar to BrewDog but with that characteristic soft malt background, I was impressed.

I visited the West Yorkshire bar; obviously it was freezing, and bought a half of Mallinsons Centennial, which I was surprised to discover was still on, and headed for the big hall, where I bumped into Liz and Ernie, and eventually Jen and Matt and his family. In here I tried the Dronfield Amber, which had a crisp taste with a cereal like body. I was told by someone else later on that it wasn't supposed to taste like that, but I don't think thats a big problem since it was enjoyable.

I also got to try a drinkable Raw Citra Black - and as predicted both it, and the Citra Pale, were on gravity - winner! This was probably one of the beers of the day to be honest, with a fruity hop bite and served with a light billowy head - ironically more lively than some hand pumped beers.

In no particular order, here are the other beers I tried :

Treboom Baron Saturday
Arbor Hoptical Illusion
Arbor Triple Hop (Citra Motueka and?)
Chantry Diamond Black
Harthill Village Brewery Harts Desire
Little Valley Python IPA
Elland 1872 Porter
Mallinsons Motueka

The Chantry and Arbor offerings were very good, and once again, the beers I drank were all in very good condition. There was also a plus in there being roast pork shoulder sandwiches on offer - which I seemed to have missed on Thursday. A generous portion, with apple sauce to keep it moist, and it was £3.00. They also didn't run out, or at least, not when I left about 20.00. A really good filling snack to keep you going as the beers continued going down.

So a marked improvement from the last visit, although, am still unsure about the whole glasses in toilets malarkey, and I noted with concern that Mr Robbery's half of Geeves Smokey Joe still tasted vaguely of paint. I think the positive developement is the increased beer order, and a goodly range still being available as the festival drew to a close. Plenty of people were still coming in when I left.

Still don't think its an 8 or 10 quid festival though. Siba BeerX is only a fiver. It will be interesting to see how that compares.

Wee beefy

Magna - smegma?

Hello,

                    am just recovering from the drinkathon of last night's Rotherham real ale and music festival at Magna. Its been a fixture in my life for about the last 12 years, during which time I've only missed one. To be honest, I've long been aware that its overpriced, but I usually see my mate Matt and his family on the Saturday and that's a tradition I don't want to break.

Am saying all this because last night's session was one of the worst I've been to. Some reasons for this were entirely self inflicted by the organisers; others were out of their hands. Both of these factors are cold comfort.

I went straight from work with my £8.00 advance ticket, and before I even got in, having walked round from the bus stop in near darkness (put a light on for God's sake!) I was immediately stopped and told I had to have my bag searched. I don't know if this happens at other beer festivals, its been a while since Sheffield but its not really a good way to welcome anyone. Immediately one of the three bouncers spotted my "illegal" lucozade bottle, which had water in. "You can't bring that in, its against licensing law, because the seal's broken - you can either sup it or throw it away". Being just water I didn't care and gave it them to dispose of.

I don't pretend to know licensing law but the idea that an unsealed container cannot be taken into the premises seems frankly implausible. Thank God my half pint of milk that I was taking home from work was in a sandwich bag in case it leaked - I'd have been most dischuffed waking up this morning to drink black tea....

Once inside I bought tickets and grabbed my glass, and headed for the Yorkshire bar. I tried a taste of the Whalebone Brewery Diana Mild - it was a bit Selby-ish - it tasted of under cleaned pipes and must. It wasn't unpleasant, but at the same time it wasn't good. The bloke next to me laughed at my description and despite of it, bought himself a half. He took a sip, mused, then turned to me and said "hmmm, very pipey". We both laughed, little knowing how prescient this phrase would become.

I wandered on through the rooms, nothing with disbelief the signs everywhere banning festival glasses from the toilets. Is this another licensing law? And where, if you'll excuse my French, the fuck am I going to put my glass, essentially my ticket for Saturday, whilst I''m in the loo? Some one, perhaps in jest, noted that there was to be a table where everyone could leave them - nut they are all identical. The epic retardation of this concept riled me further. And worse was to come.

I spotted Shakespeares Robin and Aunty Colleen from CAMRA in the main hall, and bad news was afoot regarding some mucky pipes. It seemed handpumps loaned from CAMRA hadn't been washed. The Raw Citra tasted of stale Laphroaigh. Tasted straight from the cask it was fine. I was drinking a very palatable and enjoyable Harthill village Dark Hart, and when I'd finished went to try the Raw Citra Black. It tasted of antiseptic. It was quickly established that this line wasn't clean either.

I moved onto the Thornbridge bar because I figured the delights of Halcyon would soothe my damaged palate - it didn't. It tasted of glue. Jesus wept. This time the man behind the bar insisted it was fine, as he just had done to the customer before me who suggested it might be wrong.

I gently pushed him towards admitting that Halcyon doesn't taste of glue, then went to give poor old Robin yet another taster of phenolic/adhesive/paint based beer. He pointed me in the direction of one of the bar managers and I got my token and 50p back. The organisers were as annoyed as the punters, and were trying valliantly to replace the offending pumps. Maybe some gravity beers will appear....

Next up was Geeves Smokey Joe. I had it a week or so ago in Leeds and it was excellent. This had that "pipey"taste that the Whalebone had. Smokey Joe does not. Luckily I was saved by a half of Doncaster Brewery Mucky Bucket Black IPA. Finally I had some clean tasting hops.

By now I'd caught up with Greg Robbery, Ally and Malc and Mrs Greg. We were sat on the Bombardier bus with two blokes who were hammered an hour after the festival had opened - seems the armies of security staff had been too busy rewriting the licensing lawas to spot that these entrants were hammered. Still, at least I had some company, and the chance to try some other beers.

So as to not make this the longest post in history, I'll quickly list the rest of the ales supped :

2 East Coast brewery beers that I can't recall the names of; 1 pale and 1 porter, both excellent;
Treboom Baron Saturday;
Offbeat Kilter;
Red Willow Smokeless;
Arbor Oyster Stout;
Bristol Milk Stout;
Harbour Pale Ale;
I tried the Yeovil Stout Hearted but that was pipey;
Elland 1872 Porter.

The Elland and East Coast beers were probably the stars, although the Bristol and Arbor ones scored highly as well. There were really no bad beers in the ones I bought, and plenty I still want to try. Magic Rock were listed but their beer did not arrive, which is a shame, and once you got over the puzzle of Cheshire Brewery Robinsons being in the Lancashire room, not the, erm, Cheshire room, there was an admirable line up of great beers. Well, potentially great beers....

Finally, the food was cheerlessly dry. I never expect good food at a beer festival but the cheese burger was so cynically onion free and served on dry hard breadcakes you needed another half for your mouth to recover. Poor.

So, am back tomorrow to meet my friends, and hopefully to try the 15 or so beers I didn't manage to yesterday, I will not be carrying a bag so won't have to have an intimate search of my internal storage, and my friends will look after my glass when I need the loo (last night, the deciet of the bag was my saviour).

I will however, be taking a step back and wondering whether this is a one off glitch, or whether its just going to become more annoying, and have more rules than Grindleford Cafe, in future.

Basically, if you run a festival that is very expensive to attend, you need to make sure its shit hot. It wasn't. By a country mile.

Wee Beefy

Beer festival goodness at Shakespeares

Hello,

    well, after two days of vigorous research I have now sobered up sufficiently to tell you about the Shakespeares 3rd (are you sure folks?!) real ale and cider festival which started on Thursday and runs until tomorrow.


Alespeares


Being a fest stalwart I was there Thursday evening, with my friend Mr C. We were in fact, the first people to sit upstairs in the concert room or Bards Bar as its more likely called. From a very good selection of ales I started with a pint of Steel City Parasite God, Spoof mild. This was a very interesting beer because firstly, it wasn't a mild by any stretch of the imagination, and secondly, its the first 2.7% beer I have tasted that I really enjoyed. Mores the shame it wasn't my round because I could have found out if it cost much less.

I bemoaned the lack of drinkable or useful sub 2.8% beers before and nothing has changed since, but here is one that actually tastes rather nice. Mind you, even knowing its a spoof, I still can't over emphasise just how un-mild it was! It was like any one of Steel City's excellent roster of 5-6% hoppy beers but with less alcohol. I'd have called it a modern luncheon ale.....

Next up I had an actual mild, half a Stringers Dark Country, and an excellent half of Arbor Ales Weissbeer. Mr C had bravely offered to try a real ale and he had a half of the Ascot Ales Aurole, and he liked the Weissbeer as well, but he is a staunch lager drinker at heart so went back to Becks for uor next round! The Weissbeer was a very good attempt and had that fruity Belgian quality that you find in Little Valley Hebden Wheat, which is far and away my favourite British wheat beer. The Stringers was a nice enough drink, but didn't really match up to the wheat.

Our final halves were of Ironbridge Citra, Botanist Q Gold and the excellent Yorkshire Heart Nightliner Stout. This was easily the best beer I tried at the festival, though the citra gave it a good run for its money. Alas we were only having a short visit as we were headed for the Kelham Tav, Ship and Wellycutler later.

There should still be plenty of beers on if you fancy it, like I say its on till Sunday - here are a few other Breweries who's beers are on the programme that I didn't try :

Attwood Ales
Black Hill
Brewshed
Cotswold Spring
Full Moon
Geltsdale
Liverpool Organic
Offbeat
Prospect
Llangorse
Quantum
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Wilson Potter
Blue Bee
Revolutions
Abbeydale
Summer Wine.

An impeccable selection, with bands on as well, and a range of ciders and Perrys including Millwhites, Orchard Pig and Pure North. All good!

Wee Beefy

Did I see you with IBU?

Morning!

    earlier on today I was able to taste a very special beer indeed. Its made with ingredients, including all those that you would expect to see, then put in casks, sent to a public house, and proceeds from there through beer lines using a pump and out into a pint glass.

Luckily, it managed to be a little more interesting than that....

DCLXV1 (nice catchy name lads!) was brewed by Steel City Brewing, beers they brew, here of using hops fame, and Arbor Ales, who are from Bristol and everything. Its 6.66% and 666IBU. Now, I'm no biochemist (or even a brewer) but I am led to believe that the above International Bitterness Units measurement makes this a very very hoppy beer indeed. And as if to reiterate that, I could smell the hops when the pint was put on the bar in front of me. Wow.

By way of comparison, BrewDog Hardcore IPA has an IBU of 150 (but Punk IPA apparently only 40?) so if you ever tried Hardcore and pulled a lime, salt and tequila face you might expect this Steel City beer to kill your tastebuds. Except it doesn't.

Its a Black IPA in style, granted, and they can often have masses of harsh dry bitter hops in the initial taste, and some Black IPA's, regrettably, fail to balance this out with the malts used and the way this leads through that malt to the aftertaste. This beer, on the other hand, achieves that perfect balance (considering the amount of hops such as Sorachi Ace and Simcoe used) of astringent hop, quickly followed by creamy malt and ushers a mixture of both into the finish, with hoppy flavours lingering long in the mouth.

This may be the best beer I have tried from Steel City Brewing. And its perhaps because the level of threatened bitterness, whilst am sure is there, is incorporated so successfully into the overall flavour. One wonders if perhaps it was the collaboration with Arbor that made the beer so much more balanced? Not for a minute wanting to take anything away from Steel City, but weirdly, I found the hoppiness in this beer nicer and easier on the palate than that in both the Black Hops and the Dark Funeral.....

In fact, the most terrifying or perhaps equally the most impressive thing about this beer was its excellent drinkability. Granted I only had one pint (it was 2 in the afternoon, am not mental) but had I been in for a longer session I reckon I could have put away three quite easily.

Finally, its not clear how much of this will be available and for how long so if you fancy a taste I suggest you get down to the Rutland Arms on Brown Street and get some.

Now to wait for the desperately silly Mikkeller 1000IBU beer, which I understand is served in lead lined tankards....

Wee Beefy