A lovely weekend in the city of ale

Now then,

         do you see what I did? I put "the city of ale", knowing that those of you who live in Sheffield will at once correctly identify Sheffield as the city of ale, and that those of you who don't, may have other, erroneous assumptions about it. Its no more than a lure, of course. Its obviously Sheffield.....

Last Sunday, despite both of us being injured, myself and Tash decided to walk into town to meet Wee Keefy at the station. We took an unusual route, down to Darnall, over the railway, up to and over the Parkway and up Manor Lane to the castle then down City Road, Granville and along Norfolk Road to the station. Considering our injuries it didn't take too long. And once there, we headed for the Sheffield Tap.

Inside Wee Keefy was patiently waiting, and had been for 30 minutes. I got us both a pint of Oakham JHB and we chatted to WK about Scotland, the ttrip to which we were discussing and were given the tickets for. I thought about trying the non German and non mild German Mild from Kirkstall but went instead for delicious pints of Loki Black IPA from Tiny Rebel, in fact we all did. WK then lost control of his wallet and made a rash but ultimately delightful purchase.

We had been laughing at the absurd price of the Harviestoun Ola Dubh whisky aged reserve stout at 10.5%. It was nearly a tenner a bottle. Nobody would pay that wild they? Well,. WK did and got three third glasses and shared it between us. Gawd Blezzim! I understand from the blurb on the bottle that it was brewed in 1991. Or, at least, that is when they first did their increasing by 0.1% strong beer up until 2000. It could, therefore have been the 2000 brew, bottled in 1991 whisky casks, but to be fair its not clear. What was clear, was the absolutely beautiful beer the bottle contained.

Absolutely jet black, with a strong aroma of whisky - Highland Park casks were used - its difficult to convey just how easy drinking it was. At 10.5% you expect a bit of chewiness, but this was so smooth and ultimately very well balanced. Looking at the back of the bottle I see now - the beer was aged in oak barrels used previously to age Highland Park's 1991 vintage scotch whisky - and the front tells me it was bottled in April 2013. Irrespective of when the beer was brewed, it tastes amazing. It contains oats and barley by the way, but also is not a stout. Its a strong dark ale.

To finish, and now joined by Mr Devden, we had haves f the Magic Rock Human Cannonball at 9.3 %. I shan't disclose the price. It was a lovely end to a fantastic drink with WK in the Sheffield Tap.

Up next, after we had seen Matty off, we went to the Tap and Tankard. Sunday nights in the TnT are always quiet but all other drinkers had left by about 22.00. Me and Tash sat in the little alcove at the end of the bar for an hour or two enjoying perfect pints of the Hand Drawn Monkey Aussie Red, a deliciously smooth, easy drinking, but hoppy and bitter red ale from the Huddersfield brewers.

There was excellent tunes from female blues singers in the 30's to the 50.s and as it got quieter the atmosphere became more soothing, making us feel right at home. There were other beers on than the Aussie Red but we didn't want anything else. It was the perfect, mildly soporific finisher, to an excellent session of drinking.

Out of interest, we were given a free 3rd of the Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, which is more likely a stout, with our free food tasters at the Beer Engine a couple of weeks ago. It complemented the chorizo and sweet potato perfectly. I think I may have unknowingly fallen out of love with Harviestoun recently but along with Schiehallion their cask lager, I think the above displays a fantastic quality of products from the brewery. One to look out for, I think, across all formats.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Another Wee Beefy Christmas beer review.

Now then,
  
    I noticed the other day that another Sheffield blogger had reviewed the Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Porter. This made me think it was the same as the Traditional Porter that I got in Tesco Extraneous last month (the retail behemoth used to sell the Engine Oil you see). Having decided I needed to fill a beer shaped hole I gave it a try tonight, and my review follows.

You could have a look at the Barl Fire blog and read the review and see if you think its the same beer? Personally I think it is, but then the subjective nature of tasting notes coupled with my rather limited beer sommelier experience means they might end up sounding different even if they are the same. Go to Barl Fire Harviestoun Review after you have read the below. Especially if you work for Tesco and fancy confessing....

Brewery : Harviestoun, Alva, Clackmannanshire
Name : Tesco Finest Traditional Porter
Strength : 6.0%
BCA/none BCA? : none BCA.
Purchased : Tesco. I am going to hell.

Colour : No nonsense black but with some hints of dark brown, topped by a creamy white dense head.
Carbonation/Pouring : very good, in that its not too fizzy and quickly settles down in the glass.
Aroma : Burnt malts and roasted malts, cigar box, a hint of Islay peat and something like molasses.

Taste : There is bitterness from the start from the dark malts and followed by a long smokey finish, in amidst which I swear I can taste that Islay malt (Bunnahabhain, not Kilchoman, for you single malt fans). A few glugs in I noticed that now the strong burnt malt, although prevalent, was being balanced by what might be the addition of a paler warmer malt.

There is also an ascorbic bitter fizz in the finish which provides a good contrast in time for the next mouthful. Further down the malt mellows a bit more and I think there is an orangey hint, not unlike fruitcake, which adds to the rich and sumptuous overall taste.

Head Retention - the head keeps pace with the beer almost all the way down the glass, only disappearing, albeit quite quickly, because I dawdled over something I spotted on TV!

WBrating : 8.6 - this feisty beer from Scotland's smallest county nudges past the Tatton Ale because of its mighty weight at the outset, and plus the smokey malt idea has put me in the mood for a very small drop of something from the sound of Islay.

More beer and pub details soon. Sláinte!

Wee Beefy.