QIPA, I have heard........

                Evening readings - soz for the lack of recent posts. Since my thus far unreported meet up with chums in Shakespeare's fabulous beer and cider house the day before my birthday, have probably only been out four times, and even then, not to anywhere new. Not that they have been uninteresting.......so, tonight am here to describe a recent haul reflected move towards a reference, to what I imagine may have started in Belgium - to the suggestion of a quadruple IPA.

At the point I type this I can hear the mutterings - surely its just a triple IPA, surely there is no history of QIPA's, surely its just a fad - or, more ridiculous - "ar lass drunk keg back in 1969 n v nivver done sor since" - a scarcely reasonable quote from 2012, which I still hear from CAMRA remembers far too frequently. And which am not yet over.

So I bought a can of Fresh from the North, a 12.2% QIPA from Northern Monk, in can from the future, at the beginning of the month. Tonight I found it's best before was the 8th July, but if I had been more careful reading the label I assure you I would have supped it last week. That said it is 12.2%. I think, and now know, it doesn't disappoint.

I saw my chum, and possibly yours, Robert J Ward, supping and revealing this delight once arriving, or perhaps the night before going to, Seahouses in the marvelous North East. I may have already secured one - if not I did straight away, or ASAP. Tonight I finally opened it - and as hoped, it successfully blends a slab of hops with the natural and seemingly unavoidable "joy" of alcoholic sweetness. I also have to admit that I have found about a 5th of a pint of soup in the can bottom, and heinous as it may sound, I have very much enjoyed adding it to the glass!

So is it a QIPA? Well, sadly, after my all too regular search of the first page of google for info, details of QIPA are at best thin on the ground. The review that came up was for Polly's Spectrum, featuring possibly Spectrum hops, but definitely Mosaic and Citra. Am sure it was ace - sadly that is now sold out. Otherwise it's just Pomona Island and Northern Monk, that have brewed this style, although am sure that others exist. A following search to include "Belgian" at the start brought no other info. Whilst admittedly an at least poor search, I have to say that to start with at least, QIPA has not existed for very long at all. Please feel free to correct me if am wrong.

For me I can see that the issue stems perhaps from the idea of using 4 times the amount of hops and perhaps malt in any brew - already modern brews contain an oft increased and simultaneously amazing amount of hops, so arguably that would not be required. Except - in this case - the strength of the alcohol means that a large slab of hops in fact benefits the taste throughout.

Am still very slowly and I admit enjoyably, drinking the brew now. It is in fact a very admirable undertaking. I know that I like Northern Monk but am happy to say that not only does this creation not disappoint, the lack of specific detail of the type of brew style available,  means that this is in fact a successful undertaking.

I hope that you also get chance to try a taste of this brew!

With kindest regards

Wee Beefy

Hell's Bellers....

Good morning,

       I realise its Christmas day and I should therefore be wrapped up in bed awaiting Santa to come down my chimney (or something) but am wide awake and the festive mood is making me feel a little mischevious.......

With thanks first of all to Mr Q for the word Bellers, I thought I would share, almost as literally as I can, this run down of all that happened when six or seven corpulent whingers entered a bar popular for its kegs and cans and bemoaned almost every aspect - only for some to stay for more than a pint each.

I was sat near the bar, likely with my friend T-Dawg, but also likely by myself, enjoying a chat with the staff. The unwieldy hills of flesh arrived in a doughy trail and immediately started moaning at the range of beers. "You aven got enni bitter on then?" one asked in a thick West Midlands accent. The barman admitted his failure in life, but pointed the assembled party in the direction of Brass Castle Comet, a single hop pale ale, nearer to the unedifying dullness of bitter than anything else.

One by one the portly complainers tasted the beer and mostly scowled. "ooh, ooh, its gorra twang, its gorra twang this as" said one, about 47 times. "ooh thass oppy innit. Ooh no. Far too oppy....." Much mumbling followed, yet mysteriously, apart from one who had a gin (but was likely not part of the group) all had the Comet, apart from one who had a stout....

We none bellers continued our convivial chat whilst they sat down, saying loudly "iss really disappointing this place innit" and "oi expected a traditional bitter like that Barnsley they ave over the road". Even more perplexing than their choice of venue, was the comment by one that "ooh no, Commit is faar too oppy to be suitible forrah single op beer". As opposed to what? Target? First Gold?

Its important for me to point out by the way that this is not a criticism of their preferred beer style. Not at all. If all they drink is bitter then they probably damn well know a lot about it, and its good to be clear about what you like, and would prefer. My issue is, why come to a bar renowned for its keg lines and range of cans and bottles to drink bitter? They were heading to the Wellington next - and Gav from Neepsend who turned up as they were leaving was quick to point out that Neepsend don't brew a bitter and were very unlikely to have one in at the Wellington.

A couple of rogues in the crew stayed for another pint if memory serves, whilst the majority of the lumpish crowd shambled off with their broken dreams hanging in the air, and their ripe disdain fizzing on the seats they had sat on.

I think that my Dad is very set in his ways when it comes to beer but his main enemy is strength rather than the horror of ingredients or the rueful spectre of interesting flavours dirtying his long loved beers. These guys and girls far outstripped WF in terms of narrowness and determination to not enjoy anything new. And that is saying something.

It's their loss in the end, so I feel sorry for them, but equally there's no need to go round pissing in everyone else's sherbet because the ice cream is too cold. Perhaps its time to lighten up a little?

On a number of levels.

Your very best health!

Wee Beefy

Dankers

Helloo,

      is it not bonkers that I love a beer style with the description dank, murky, and soupy? When did I stop caring about pristine clear beer? And does beer have to be clear to be good?

Well, the answer to the last is a clear no. Of course not. Some styles, such as hefeweizen, dunkelweisse, saison and others are almost exclusively cloudy. And lets not forget unfiltered beers, or ales so heavily dry hopped that the hop residue never settles. The key is, I am talking about beer. All beer. In all climates, themes, styles and circumstances. Ever had a can conditioned can? Yes. It pours cloudy. And it should. The answer to the first question, ironically, is not as clear...

This is partly because I have been interested by a debate that has ignited itself on Faceache recently about DIPAs, and laterally, TIPAs. My good chum Danny started this off by saying that he was "over" DIPAs. For reasons unclear this really bothered me. But why? Am not a brewer after all. And surely, as it remains, one of the unending joys of beer is that there are so many styles, and so many different people who love different of them. When did I start to lose sight of that?

Sean at Beer Central also recently admitted concerns about the D and Tipa scene, and its products. Danny reiterated his position, and said that his issue with the style was that they all tasted the same. And that was it. I was now in a proper conundrum.

Had I accepted that all beer should taste like Wards, Stones, Tetley or Marstons, as it seemed to when I started drinking in 1990 (ish), then I wouldn't have undertaken the frankly marvelous, multifaceted, joyous journey of exploration that has underpinned my beer drinking life.  So it is definitely a bad thing that all beers of a certain style taste the same.

Well.....in some ways no. As with all alepinion, it depends entirely where you stand. I, as a person who is always more than willing to try new styles, or old styles on cask or keg not previously,   would still say that choice is the elixir. The choice to have a Fantome saison or a Buxton single hop IPA or a Black Sheep Bitter is inherently important, in fact crucial, to our freedom to enjoy the unending myriad of beers and styles available in the world today.

As it may be obvious to some of you, I absolutely love soupy, murky, dank IPas and DIPAs. Its one of the ironic facts of my battle with over consumption that I have "fallen" for a style where easy drinking characteristics are prized. As I said to a mate recently, its strange I should love a strong ale that is easy to drink. For reason of health and affordability, my best beer should be like near set concrete......

To me then, all D and Tipas tasting the same, which is a pervasive theme, if not literal fact, is actually fine. Its like finding my favourite Iberico chorizo, and then slowly discovering that all other styles of chorizo taste virtually the same, and there-everafter being able to enjoy this porcine prize. The downside of this dream is that there isn't actually the possibility for agricultural, geographical, cultural and financial reasons, that this could ever happen. And even if it were, the issue would be the elimination of every other chorizo style (and humongous, unmanagable herds of pigs in Iberican oak forests). The difference with the assimilation of style and to some extent tastes in the beer scene, is marked.

The gamut of choice on the beer smorgasboard is immense. There are too many styles to list here, and whilst through the ages some styles have dominated, the affect of that domination has been vibrant spring shoots of change. Remember when almost all beer except lager was brown? I do. And I knew nothing else until Kelham Island Pale Rider and Abbeydale Moonshine arrived,  some twenty years or more ago. Can you still get brown bitter? Yes. You may have to go to a specific type of boozer to find it but it remains well loved, and well drunk by those who love it. Did you have to seek out Kelham Island and Abbeydale in specialist guest ale bars when they started? Yes. And you have to do the same to find cloudy dank I and DIpas now.

Our beer universes, irrespective of personal preferences, are in fact very small. This does not for a second disprove the claim that all D and Tipas taste the same, it simply reassures us that other types and styles of beer are not only available, but are also being developed and released all the time. Am not suggesting dankness is a fad or short lived peak on the heart monitor of a dying industry. Am just saying that the same vibrancy that gave us dank, cloudy DIPAs and soupy IPAs loaded with hops is the same part that will, if we do get bored of them, save us once again from that self same repetition of style, format, product and taste by pioneering new styles.

The future's bright. The beer is cloudy orange.

Am now off to drink a soupy DIPA.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

What I learnt about beer, last year.

Happy new year!

             I was going to write this post on new years eve, as a kind of self justifying look back at my libations and other slaking exploits, and to throw in some observations about beer and its styles, methods of dispense and price. However, alas, beer got in the way (as did iced pavements but that's another story) so tis is a slightly late review of beer.....

Beer styles eh? Tchh. Who'd av um? Dark this, light that, this with wheat, that with lemon, this aged in marmalade casks, dry hopped with enchanted bark. Its a long running ball ache to keep up. Luckily for me, I know what I like, and know what I would like to try.

This year I found out I still really like saison, the beer you can't buy in the Wellington at Shalesmoor. BrewDog bar opened in Sheffield and sold the excellent Fantome saison, in three flavours, at what in terms of price in the shops is good vakue - £10.00 a bottle. What with their ambitious beer range I was quite often found in BrewDog riking a saison. I was also impressed by the Radler from Burning Sky Brewery. Given that Mark Tranter helped me fall in love with saison when he was at Dark Star, he seems to be leading the way once again.

I also found out I like beers from newer breweries. Siren Craft Brew continue to impress, as do Northern Monk, Sonnet 43, Fuggle Bunny here in Sheffield, Squawk, Burning Sky, First Chop brewing, and Weird Beard Brewing. All supplemented by Magic Rock, Kernel, Cromarty, Abbeydale, Blue Bee, Wild, and many more.

Meanwhile, more specifically, I have developed an insatiable desire to drink beer with rye in it. The Ryesing Tides 7.4% IPA was one of my beers of the festival at Shakespeares and noticing rye as an ingredient, mainly in IPA's, is always a good indication I will like it - brewery notwithstanding that is.

Which leads me on to strength. I am sure my difficult year has played a part but I seem to be much fonder of stronger beers now. In the good old days when we all had polio or something, almost all strong beers were dark and incredibly difficult to drink. Now, that is no longer the case, which costs me money, and sometimes consciousness.....I think I was into double figures for nod-offs in 2014!

The number of shops I can get a decent range of interesting UK bottled beers has also increased, I learnt, with Beer Central, Beeches and Hop Hideout being stand out examples. Despite this, and my obvious bias, the beer range at Archer Road Beer Stop remains exceptional.

My final "learning" (?!) is about desire for beer. Different from the types of UK beers when I started drinking 23 years ago, the sheer and vast range of UK beers, real ale, bottled or kegged, is astonishing. The appeal of these products is, perhaps unsurprisingly, increasing. With still over a 100 breweries opening each year and different venues offering a range of high quality, tasty, uncompromising and enjoyable beers, its now very easy to satisfy that, in my case seemingly never-ending, appetite for real ale, and now, keg and bottled offerings.

I'm sure this increase in demand will be mostly maintained in 2015. However, I am wary of the threat to our dwindling number of National Inventory pubs.

I read on Dimpled Mug's blog today that the exceptional Red Lion at Ampney St Peter in Gloucestershire was shut after the death of the landlord. This is tragic and very sad news and brings into sharp focus another aspect of drinking beer in the UK - where we do so. Last time I visited, with closing time fast approaching, I went to get another pint with a good third in my glass on the table. "You've already got some" said the landlord. I agreed, but assured him I wouldn't dawdle, to be met with the response "You can have one in the wood then" meaning he would bring it over once I had finished my current one, but it would remain in the barrel until then.

I think any post about beer should include the places we drink it in and the traditions and peculiarities that are attached to those places. I hope therefore, that in 2015 we don't see any more historic unspoilt pubs close, and maybe some reopen - but I have little faith that will happen.

Whatever does, I wish you a prosperous and thirst quenching year ahead, with lovely beer in lovely venues that suit your needs.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy