Beer tasting, with Davefromtshop.

Hello,

         this time last Tuesday I was out and about waking up my palate at Shakespeares in anticipation of Davefromtshop arriving to sample some bottled beers. This is our second beer tasting of the year, if nothing else organised in recognition of my having quite a few aged beers that needed sharing, and also the fact that last time we made exactly no notes. This time we had the camera and  took pictures and videos throughout.

We started on Dunham Massey Mildly Ginger  a 3.8% BCA (bottle conditioned ale), probably not chilled enough  due to bad planning on my part, but this was still a really good beer to wake the palate (not that mine needed waking...), with just enough ginger to make it zesty but not overpowering. It became a much softer slug with the yeast in.

Derwent Parsons Pledge 4.0% was our next bottle. Hmmm. Derwent Eh. I had one of their stronger beers once and it was OK. Just OK, you understand. This was a glass of toffee with no discernible bitterness. Not as woeful as their Carlisle State Bitter, which was an exercise in redefining the word flavour, but in a bad way, this was very much like a West Country bottled light brown, except it was 4.0%. And it had a label that would make Jeff Pickthall fume. And any right minded person.

Moving on, Geeves Brewery No.1, 3.8% was an inoffensive (I have been swotting up on euphemisms for "poor") malty sort of brew that cries out "Brown Bitter". This time the novelty addition of hops gave it an edge over the Derwent but it was quite a standard beer with a mahogany colour to it.

We switched to Germany for Hainhauser Schlok-weisse Dunkel, 4.8%, probably illegal in not being 5.2% like what Dunkels are, it was a very agreeable beer not dissimilar to the Geeves but having a far greater depth of flavour and biscuity wheaty malt at the end, which also made it quite refreshing. Dunkel in colour, this was a move towards more distinct flavours on the night.

Dunham Massey Porter 5.2% BCA was our fourth beer. One of the bottles I received in compensation for the rather disappointing purchases in December, all had been great so far (although the light orange coloured stout was, if nothing else "a surprise"). This was also a surprise, but in a comprehensively bad way. It had 11 months date on it and had been stood for 6 weeks yet was decidedly undrinkable. I know that not every beer with live yeast in it can be perfect but this was just bad.

Nearby (erm, in the sense that they are in the same county) Tatton Brewery's Obscure, 5.7% was up next. A dark bitter beer with plenty of body and chocolate malt notes, and a big bunch of hops in the aftertaste that reminded me of those distinct New World flavours one comes across. Was this the obscure element? It was in essence a subtle black IPA, and perhaps all the better for it.

Dunham Massey East India Pale Ale, a 6.0% BCA came next. I had three of these in my box and this was the last one so I was fairly confident, and it didn't disappoint. As far as I know its an IPA made with all English malt and hops, and, I suppose, irrespective of arguments over strength, it at least makes sense that its brewed with those ingredients. Bitter, but quite floral with lemon and orange predominating in the long aftertaste. A good effort.

Kernel Export Stout London 1890, at 7.2%, (and a BCA?) is a big favourite of mine and Davefromtshop had the opportunity to fall for it now as well. There was oatmeal in a luxuriously thick body, with Dave identifying coconut after we'd added the yeast, as well as chocolate. In the end we decided it was a kind of dark chocolate Bounty with coffee, and worryingly easy to drink. Much better served at room temperature as well, having bought it from the fridge in a licensed premises.

Kapplerbrau Altomunster Export Hell was a bit of a break from the stronger ales and a palate cleanser before the monsters that lay ahead. This was perhaps the maltiest beer I ever tasted yet it still managed to be refreshing on the palate, no doubt an ingenious by product of the lager malts used (although it was a Hell(es?) in style, so am not sure which malt they use?). However it reached its flavour balance, it was a good beer to have when we did.

Thornbridge Alliance Strong Ale Reserve 2007, at 11%, was the first of the two finishers. The Strong ale, which is unoaked, is matured for 18 months before bottling. It didn't seem plausible,  as we tasted the heady whisky tinged notes, that it hadn't been in a spirit barrel but whatever and however that edge was achieved  it was a stupendous creation. Sweet, still noticeably hoppy, honeyed but not cloying and very easy to drink.

Its a conundrum of flavours really, because you end up thinking of rich vinous and sticky tastes like Christmas pudding yet it drinks like a 5% honey beer.  Best summed up by Dave - "its multi-layered but nothing is jarring, its well rounded and a great argument for aging beers". Adding the yeast made it a little easier to drink, if that was even possible, but added another dimension, with hints of marmalade coming through. A faultlessly executed beer, and only one bottle left now. A crying shame!

Goose Island Bourbon County 2012, at 15% was our last bottled beer, for obvious reasons. Subtle only in the sense that it didn't knock you out, it inhabited a region in the taste-buds between beer and bourbon. Not a subtle background tang or Islay aged phenols, just a massive chunk of alcohol.

At one stage during our final wobbly angled video summary (where I helpfully covered the microphone, like a pissed up genius) we concluded it was "not unpleasant" and "drinking it is a bit like running into a brick wall". Dave advised he didn't fancy an entire evening on it - I wholeheartedly agree. With the time getting on and a taxi required we opted to down the last bit just to get that burning cheek, fuzzy headed  thwack that the alcohol and thickness promised. It did not disappoint.

So, a fantastic five hours of drinking and listening to Tom Waits and Frank Black (note - this is not a collaboration album before you go hunting for it) was had by both.  Possibly a more gradual climb to the stronger beers would have been beneficial, but the two we finished on were magnificent. Overall though, the Alliance won by some margin. A beer that you simply could not improve upon.

Other notable entrants were two of the three Dunham beers, the Kernel and Tatton Obscure. Overall it was a varied and mostly enjoyable meander through multiple beer styles.

Cheers.

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's May Bank Holiday trip out

Afternoon,

 alas the above title makes this seem like I am 9 years old, and have been to the beach with a bucket and spade and a worry free unembittered cloud of relentless optimism bubbling above my brow. Alas its not like or about that. This is Britain. Its cold.  I am middle aged. I am not in the least bit optimistic about any attractions I visit. I am woefully unexcited about almost everything i undertake. Except going to the pub of course which is usually tremendously rewarding...

So it was we set off, Wee Fatha at the wheel, Chala in the front, me discarded in the back like a pile of coats or other underutilised ephemera, heading out through the Peak District to the magical land of the Cheshire Plain and to our first stop at Lindow Common for lunch. It had seemed recklessly optimistic to head out through the peak District on a Bank holiday weekend but despite the sunny weather it was quiet. Perhaps everyone knew something we didn't? Perhaps it would be suddenly cold and wet at dinner?

Well luckily, sat on the common overlooking Black Lake, it wasn't that cold, although we were instantly besieged by swarms of tiny confused insects, with whom alas I have an unrivalled reputation as a great tasting snack. In fact, by the time we reached our first pub I was still feeling the aftereffects of my being nibbled, so was looking forward to a beer to distract me.

The Railway, Mobberley

This was my first trip to one of the Mobberley pubs all three or four of which I understand sell real ale. The railway is, appropriately, situated near the station, and is a rather interesting building that seem to have its back to the road and its side is where you enter. There are lots of very small windows at different levels, and a set of steps up to a back entrance, helping to reinforce the impression that its back to front. Am sure if you head left from the entrance you'd find the front.

Inside is evidence of many small rooms, not completely retained as such but divided up similarly to carriages to create separate cosy areas. The bar is on the far left as you enter and the loos at the end. The bar is quite low and sports four handpumps, on this occasion selling Black Sheep Bitter, Wincle Waller and Dunham Massey Big Tree bitter. I had a pint of the excellent Wincle Waller (a brewery that only missed my 2012 top ten because I hadn't bought any this year) and WF a half of the Big Tree.

One rather disappointing anomaly in what is quite a traditional pub is the sighting and volume of the TV. It is right next to the bar, stood at which with a trailer for terrifyingly important sport on, neither myself or the person serving could hear each other.

I don't mind a screen taking up a specific area of a pub if there is something important on (and there was I admit) but the screen is situated in the middle of the pub. As soon as the coverage started the whole pub became a sea of gawping and gasping and groaning - the pub practically became the fixture. I don't get that at all.

Anyhoo, on the bright side, the food seemed popular, and there were many people eating in the areas free of screen, and the Wincle Waller was truly excellent as I had expected - I could easily have had another had we not been off to our main destination next.

Not as reliable even as pubs...

That place was Arley Hall near Northwich. We had checked the website for details of opening hours to check which dates it was open, our visit fell withing those dates and we had postponed our visit by a week to avoid last Sunday's deluge. However, being a predictably calamitous Beefy clan day out, the hall was, naturally, shut.

Seemingly, this was all over the website, and besides, the gardens were open.  I checked the website in mid April (as late as the 18th). There was no mention of the hall being closed, and it was a wedding - did they book  last minute (on potentially the busiest Sunday of the year?). Either way, its on there now, but announcing the closure surely long after knowing it was to be shut and expecting everyone to check the website the day before they travel in case you have taken a decision to close on one of the weekends people are most likely to visit, is a bit backwards. Am over it now though....

So after our brief but comparatively expensive visit we headed off to the village of Great Budworth. Much like some of the gems of the Cornish coastline, Great Budworth is one of those quintessentially English villages that attracts visitors in their droves, and crucially, it has a pub.

The George and Dragon, Great Budworth

The George, appropriately named in terms of perceived English patronage at least, is an odd shaped pub sitting near the top of the village at a junction diagonal to the church. It has a distinctive wrought iron sign, a half brick half plaster exterior and a large tall porch with a peaked roof. I am going to naively described this as Flemish in style, but its not really. Its more likely an amalgam of styles.

Inside the porch are inscriptions above the door and into the main bar there is lots of dark wood and unfortunately dark paint. To the back left is a more comfortable room with sofas and a dining area beyond. The bar screams brewery chain, all new wood and chrome and spotlights, and this is indeed a Lees House - I understand that a few years back it was a free house selling local beers. On this occasion the beer choice was the Governor, which I misread as 3.5, but in bottles is 4.1 and rate beer reckons is 3.8, their standard Bitter, and the Great Budworth Bitter.

I had a pint of the Governor, which was quite a pleasant and refreshing pint, a bit reliant on malt over hops but Lees don't exactly buy lots of Simcoe and Sorachi Ace I suspect. Wee Fatha had half of the Budworth, obviously a rebadge, but its slightly higher strength gave it more flavour, but it suffered a little with being sweeter.

The food and wine looked nice but we weren't here for more than a quick pint, and besides, the air was full of the peircing shrieks of mewling kids so I wouldn't have been able to relax had we stayed. Not a bad pub overall though, for a branded brewery chain house.

Swan with Two Nicks, Little Bollington

We had been hoping to squeeze a quick half in at the Tunnel End, Dutton, but it was Chala's day out and she was getting hungry, so we took a rather bizarre route (what WF rather incongruously described as "the old roads", meaning a bewildering series of back lanes, endless direction changes and needless detours that would look like a childs scribble if plotted on a map) to Little Bollington next to the entrance to Dunham Massey Country Park.

What I like about the Swan is that it sells Dunham Massey beers on draught - usually two or three, and also, that it sells good food. Not too expensive, nothing needlessly pretentious, in sensible sized portions, and even though last night it was heaving and packed full, we didn't have to wait too long for our food. Meals average out at about £10.50, alas am unsure of the beer prices as they went on the tab.

Better still, last night they had two brilliant Dunham Massey ales on, including one of my favourites. I had a pint of the Dunham Dark and WF a half of the the same. The beer is even better on draught than I expected, bearing in mind its excellence in bottle conditioned form. Also, they had on the 7.5% Dunham Gold, which I tried a half of - this was a little more rounded than in bottle and all the more enjoyable for it.

So this was an enjoyable bank holiday weekend trip out, and it didn't rain (just looking at a showery scene outside my window now...) and despite predictions wasn't especially cold either. We also got to try some good pubs and some excellent local ales on the way round. Time and money well spent

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's beer bites : old hairy man tells you what some beer tastes like

Now then.

  I have had a bottle of beer, and so here, using an oft used template, are the details of that experience, for your delectation.

Brewery : Dunham Massey, Cheshire
Name : Porter
Strength : 5.2%
BCA/none BCA? : BCA.
Purchased : Dunham Massey brewery shop.

Pictured below is the beer and its gloriously death metal inspired bottle, pictured in my evil fakir receptacle which I only last night learned was a beer housing imposter. Looks orate in it mind...

Colour : dark brown, nearly black, muddy with orangey red hints in the light, with a thick, white coffee coloured, bubbly head. (note, the exposure used makes it seem jet black, but the label is more so...)

Carbonation/Pouring : quite highly carbonated, although this may be because it wasn't artificially chilled at all, only cooled naturally from being in front of the empty fireplace. The beer is slow to settle but looks very appetising with its frothy milkshake coronet.

Aroma : surprisingly light; having troughed a few of their bottles I can now identify their signature scent, but apart from strong malt and the feintest roasted hint on the nose I couldn't smell anything else.

Taste : Strong malted milk and an incredible smooth creamy mouthfeel, a trace of white chocolate is suggested before all is washed over with a wave of bitterness which resides in the aftertaste. As you take the second swig and following on as the beer continues to settle and warm, the bitterness becomes more prevalent and some of the creamy malt fades away, which is a shame.

See the pic below with helpful sugar tin to provide perspective, lest you should think the bottle was the size of an oil drum, and a homely angle that makes it seem like I might like sweet tea or breakfast cereal.

At this point, I started to detect a coffee flavour, which was not entirely pleasant, like a mug of coffee made with viscous granules from an ancient jar in a holiday cottage where the granules haven't separated in the mug. I'd earlier retained the yeast in the bottle to get as clear a dark beer as possible, and had added that to see what difference it made.

Dunham Massey beers are great because you can almost always drink the yeast, which I always consider a good sign, given the grim astringent bite of some bottling yeast which I always think puts the beer in perilous danger of turning sour.

This additional impetus releases the creamy balance once more and straight away tempers the harsher ends of the roast bitterness, whilst adding none of the sharpness that sometimes can occur. Both the head and the aftertaste now remind me of milky coffee and the sweeter malt is coming through more.

Head retention - the head is very airy and bubbly and slides oozily down the sides throughout, resting on the beer and depositing thick trails all the way, perhaps its density is its downfall as it settles irregularly on the sides and splits toward the end.

WBrating : 7.9
Am afraid I have succumbed to my strongly held view that this is the best Dunham Massey bottled beer, so I may have cranked up the score a little to reflect that. Definitely only able to get this score with the yeast added, and served a little warm which avoids an imbalance in flavours. Having followed that advice, a lovely creamy finish contrasting with the roast malt is perhaps its star turn.

More bottle reviews to come as I try the last remaining offerings from my large selection of Christmas beers.

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's beer tasting bites.

Hello again,

   last night me and Davefromtshop did our inaugural 2012 beer tasting in my salubrious abode. Here are the details of that epic festival of the taste buds and the salient points rescued from the nonsense we came out with in rating said drinks.

The line up.

Its worth pointing out that optimism had decreed that a much lengthier roll call of beers were to be supped. We only had about 4 pints on our crawl first but I have to concede that really a beer tasting should be done an empty bloodstream (not literally of course).

In light of that here is the original line up, including the ones we didn't get round to - any beers not marked BCA are assumed to be not bottle conditioned beers :

1. Dark Mild, Dunham Massey Brewery 4.0% BCA
2. Evensong, Durham Brewery 5.0% BCA
3. Stout, Dunham Massey Brewery 4.2% BCA
4. Ape Ale, Blue Monkey Brewery 5.5% (BCA? need to find the bottle again!)
5. Yeti, Tatton Brewery 4.5%
6. 300 Ale, Chiltern Brewery 5.0% BCA
7. Pils, Flensburger Brauerei 4.8%
8. Kahuna NZ IPA, Summer Wine Brewery, 6.0%
9. Traditional Porter, Harviestoun 6.0% NOT TRIED
10. Torpedo, Sierra Nevada Brewery 7.2% NOT TRIED
11. Vintage Ale, (2004) Fullers Brewery 8.5% BCA
12. Temptation, (2007) Durham Brewery 10.0% NOT TRIED (much to do with the previous beer's magnificence)

As you can see there was a hint of optimism in my choice of taste overloads, and we finally gave up after the Fullers around 01.30 AM, having truly run out of steam.

This time we didn't worry ourselves about scoring, more entering into a detailed review of each beer and an overall assessment. Alas, the passage of time and accumulation of alcohol meant I can't honestly say that we picked a winner! The Fullers Vintage was seven years of wonderful perfection, however, interestingly, it was slightly flawed. Not only did it take about 45 (albeit heavenly) minutes to drink, but somehow in the maturation process, almost all trace of hops had disappeared.

By way of comparison, last year we had tried a bottle that was less than 2 years old and it was perhaps the finest bottled beer I ever tasted. However, picking the best time to open one is complicated further by the fact that the hops and malts and recipe change every year. So, given the above, and mindful of the authority afforded to me by this being my blog, I would have to say that after careful consideration the winner was the Chiltern Brewery 300's Old Ale.

We attended a tasting (by accident, just by turning up at their shop) in September 2011 and the insights into the beers and the knowledgeable staff showed what a slick operation Chiltern Brewery are. For more details see Chiltern Brewery bottled beers. I'd hate you to think that this swayed my decision, so I will attempt to validate my choice by explaining that the 300's wins because it was 5.0% and yet tasted a little bit like a beer double that, or one that had been aged at length. I think the fact that it punched so high above its weight, and had all the constituent ingredients of a strong but balanced English old ale means it outshone the Fullers. Although if there had been a "wow factor" to judge, Fullers would have easily walked away with first prize.

Other highlights were the Dunham Porter, The Ape Ale and the Durham Evensong. Interestingly though, there was no top accolade for the much anticipated Summer Wine Brewery Kahuna NZ IPA. I had expected to be bitten by ferocious hops and I wasn't disappointed, but, having tried and loved their draught offerings on numerous occasions now, what did disappoint me was the over reliance on the massive hop flavour, with seemingly not much else in the mix.

Both me and Dave were fairly certain that the hop in question was nelson sauvin, although it could have been green bullet as well. Either way there seemed a lack of balancing flavours. Having decided on the hop's identity we couldn't shake ourselves from the thought that this was a nelson sauvin attack more than it was a celebration. Yes, it was worthy of a buzz brewing descriptiopn like unapologetic, but that could be applied to BrewDog Hardcore IPA (in fact, I worry it may actually already be so) for example, a classic of its style. Kahuna, I concede, was more a bold experiment that didn't quite work. Which was a shame.

Overall, this was one of a couple of beers that fell short of expectations (those old chestnuts!) - perhaps a few less dry hops and some more balancing malt would have made this IPA an incredible beer. The only other disappointment was the Tatton Yeti, mainly because it did not live up to the promise of the blurb on the label (a fireside copper ale needs a bigger flavour and more lasting finish if its to work) and, against the quality of the Tatton Ale I tried the night before. Having said that, even though I can admit to a certain, ahem "tiredness" starting to befall us, there honestly wan't a bad beer.

Finally, for a snippet of the mumbling chaos of beer reviewing at gone midnight, I was going to have attached a short video, however the only one short enough to upload in under 25 minutes is very late on when, erm, clarity of thought and clear pronunciation of words has become more challenging. Instead I have posted the above picture of a glass of beer. This will have to do am afraid! You can rest assured however, in the absence of video evidence, that a robust assessment of each beer was carried out, to our very great enjoyment!


Happy beer tasting,

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefys 2012 beer bites - 2 bottled beer reviews

Hello again,

  regrettably (or mercifully), 2012 beer bites is not a series of 2,012 separate pieces of information regarding pubs and real ale. Instead its just a title, which I have used before, that has been adapted slightly. So don't panic, you do have time to read this post.

So, here are my reviews of two of my Christmas beer bottle selection this year.

Brewery : Dunham Massey, Cheshire
Name : Milk Stout
Strength : 4.0%
BCA/none BCA? : BCA.
Purchased : Dunham Massey brewery shop.

Here is the beer pictured modelling my rather fetching retro Tolly glass that I was kindly given by the Rutland in Sheffield - cheers gents. Alas the bottle pic did not make it....

Colour : Jet black, with a thin white head
Carbonation/Pouring : low, poured flat, with some latter bubbles joining the head, however the lack of carbonation was a benefit as excessive fizz disturbs the yeast sediment.
Aroma : Oh dear.

I had smelt the particular aroma that greeted me on opening the bottle, and then on pouring into the glass, before. It was the rank smell of sour beer and nasty yeast. Dear god, I thought, here I am about to review a beer, a bottle conditioned one at that, and from a brewery I reckon have nailed bottle conditioning, and its only gone and been orf! I sighed whilst looking at the "CAMRA says this is real ale" logo and remembered disconsolately how many times that sticker adhered to the label of a bottle of undrinkable filth, and how bad that was for real ale, and how I would have to solemnlyy concede to Wee Keefy that even a brewery I rated had got it wrong, and then I had a sip. And it was fine.

Taste : somehow the first swig, despite the smell, tasted of dark beer, and in the second, somehow that initial grimace making aroma was gone. Now almost all I could smell was roast malt.

The main flavour that hits you is a very ascorbic dry roast malt, like a much meatier stout than one you might find labelled milk stout (the milk, of course, is just lactose but it still usually renders the stout sweet). In the second taste the roast malt gives way to a light creaminess, before a further wave or roast malt bitterness comes through.

As you take more slakes there is a strange but by no means unpleasant lemon sherbets fizz in the mix, I wondered if this might be the sweetness of the lactose fighting through the roast malts. The beer is described on the label as a sweet stout but, it certainly isn't that, which is maybe to its credit.

Head retention - the head is very thin and very quickly moves to the edge of the glass and slips slowly lower with the beer, leaving no trace on the glass, and looking not unlike a thin halo of white icing that hasn't separated from the cake.

WBrating : 6.5
Loses points for scaring off less trusting drinkers with its initial aroma, and for being, although nice, not much like it claims to be.

Beer number 2:

Brewery : Tatton brewery company, Cheshire
Name : Ale
Strength : 3.7%
BCA/none BCA? : none.
Purchased - Tatton brewery shop

Colour : dark varnished wood, virtually red, with a lustrous frothy head.
Carbonation/Pouring : very lively if not well chilled, however the beer does settle down quickly allowing you to enjoy mostly burp free beer. The carbonation does remain throughout however.
Aroma : strangely, almost no malt or hops, just subtle spice, apples and grapefruit.

Taste : Grapefruit, and biscuity malt hit you initially with a long dry fizzy hop finish. Its startlingly snappy for a lower gravity ale, and although the bitterness is warmed by malt in the background it still has a very pleasing bite, albeit more traditional English than Nelson Sauvin as is often found in bitter beer these days.

The second taste is even more bitter, but its tamed by a sweeter flavour perhaps the malt. As you continue drinking, the long bitter grapefruit finish seems to increase its bite. The beer would probably lose its sharpness if chilled so make sure you serve it at room temperature. Despite my attention being drawn by the bitterness its not unpleasant or overpowering and is a very well balanced beer overall.

Head retention - the head is quite large, possibly a temperature issue, but it follows the beer loyally down the glass leaving sparkling white trails behind it, and remains sat in the middle as well as round the edges to the bottom of the glass, which is pleasing on the eye.
WBrating : 8.5

Gains extra points for being far more astringent and packing in much more flavour than the ABV suggests.

Happy supping!



Wee Beefy.