Sobremesa

 Afternoon readers - am going to post about a new brewery to me that I came accross at Indie Beer Feast back in March. 

This year I secured 2 tickets and before I went to the first session i received a text from the lovely Tash about a chap she had met or been introduced to in the Old Shoe who specialised in Saisons - he was called Adrianne and was showcasing his products at Indie Beer Feast. Half an hour after arriving, and finishing my bold opening pint, I spotted what sounded like his bar, and I introduced myself. After a quick chat, I promised him I would pop back later on to purchase some saison, although I did get to try a sample of his bottled saison, and I admit I absolutely loved it.

So having finished my starter and after meeting up with kieron and RJW, I went back to his bar and got a half of his Farmyard ale - a saison style brew which was lovely, but sooooooooo easy to drink! I cant accurately recall if you could buy bottles to take out from the Beer Feast, but he assured me that his beers were available in Hop Hideout, and also the Old Shoe - infact, on my next visit there they were indeed selling two of his beers on draught!

The brewery is based in some out buildings at a farm in rural Wales - writing this post has pointed out to me that there are some facts which I need to check out - in the meantime - here is a link to their website: Brecon Breacons Craft Beer & Tap Room | Farmhouse Beer & Natural Cider | SOBREMESA Drinks

I admit that I had forgotten that they had a taproom in the Brecon Becons, for example......

I also forgot the meaning of Sobremesa - it describes the period post meal when friends and family members chat with each other sat at the table......

And also that they produce their own cider.

And I cant recall definitely if Adrianne's name is Adrianne......

What I do know is that his beers are marvelous!

Last week I popped into Hop Hideout and bought a can of his Farmhouse Pilsner, a 750ml bottle of his Farmhouse Ale, and an as yet untried bottle of his Damson Saison. I had the whole bottle of his Farmhouse Ale last night - it was poured over about an hour but I finished it all and after a large meal and a few hours in the pub this was an ideal finisher!

This is a link to the details of their Rosalind Yeast -Rosalind yeast | SOBREMESA Drinks

I always like to read these sort of facts at such a detailed level on a brewery website because many breweries seem reluctant to share this amount of info? Not an industry criticism, of course, but a valid observation - its reassuring to see the length of preparation undertaken by the brewery and cidery before they started - and thus far, possibly affected by the yeast used, their output has been fabulous!

Aswell as ordering online from the brewery in Talgarth, you can probably still buy from Hop Hideout here in fine sunny Sheffield! So I would recommend that you should pop in there to get a bottle or a can.....

Finally - and this is not proven - I suspect that Adrianne is probably Spanish - although his name may still not be Adrianne - have had a sleep since then.......

Warmest regards

Wee Beefy

Emmanuales - eh?

Orw waaaaarh. 

You may be thinking. 

              I know I was - I thought that Emmanuales had closed down? Do you not remember that number of slightly grim bottles without the leter K that they produced a few years ago? I did!  So it was with a certain amount of surprise that I saw 2 or 3 of their brews advertised at Beer Central back in August. And, purely on a research basis, I went for two - their Black IPA which was about 6.9% if memory serves (and it doesn't) along with their 10000 Saisons, described at the front of the can as a "Rustic saison". What would it be like? And who and where are they these days? 

Well, perhaps to my surprise - both were excellent. I tried their black IPA first, which had a name and everything, and it was fab! Quite an old time flavour if am honest - but not in a bad way. It was actually the perfect blend of bitter hopiness, fruit/citra and dark smokey malt. I loved it.

And what of their Saison? Well, to start with, it was a marvelous 7.8%. One of the things I very much appreciated about the Emmanuales bottles back in the day was that they were always strong - and in this case, not afraid to breach the 7.4% barrier that many brewers currently and understandably stay away from. So I was very pleased - and admittedly not surprised - to find that this saison was simultaneously strong as well as very refreshing!

There was also thankfully a lot of yeast left in the can - one thing that disappoints me a little about...um....modern cans...is the lack, irrespective of the cloudiness, of yeast in any substance, or possibly other adjuncts(?) left in the bottom of a can? Not least because I like to ensure that I get a good drop of each brew so am usually willing to wash out the bottom of the can or bottle in order to add more murk or depth to each taste, and of course' slightly prolong it's consumption. This ticked every box.

So - where are they based these days I hear me ask? Because I distinctly recall the brewer/founder being interviewed on Look Norfff about 5  years or so ago showing him selling, and presumably brewing, his bears at a Sheffield Brewery tap - am thinking perhaps at Sheffield Brew Company? Or I may have misremembered one of those facts....

I know that Neepsend had to move last year or  similar, and there's nothing preventing Sheffield Brew Company doing the same. But I wasn't actually sure whether firstly that would see him leave, or whether the issues with the brewing or bottling previously caused him to at best postpone production.

Now the can says they are based on Cromwell Street in S6. As a can it rather unsurprisingly doesn't name the brewer, but I have no reason to presume it has changed hands or indeed brewers. Either way both of the beers tried were more well balanced and perhaps more accomplished than the brewery's previous offerings. Alas, having as yet not carried out any internet searches - where everything is true - on the same, am unsure of whom it is brews there, and what happened to their previous undertaking or location.

I am however sure that they are now producing fabulous and very quaffable brews here in fine, sunny, Sheffield - go give them a try!

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Burning Sky

 Evening folk,

       I realise I may have said this previously - whether in a pub, or in previous posts - or both, but I really like Burning Sky Brewery based in Firle in Sussex. Am also aware that I may have mentioned the excellence of owner and head brewer Mark Tranter, previously the Head Brewer at Dark Star brewing, prior to it's consumptoin by a giant National brewery/brewing conglomerate, who previously produced the excellent Revelation. This month I enjoyed 4 Burning Sky beers - all of which I loved. I was going to blog tonight about the brew am on now. But they are all worthy of a nod.

The first I tried was called Snap Decision,  a very enjoyable American Brown Ale possibly in the high 5 or 6 %. Despite my love of pales am not in fact terrifed of brown ale - and when it's brewed by a great brewery am more than willing to try it. It was as perhaps obvious, a very nice drop - missing the oft dour elements of the UK versions of this style.

Next was a can of their Saison Printemps. Probably 6%, and a mix of what may have been aged beers along with traditional saison producing yeast (or, perhaps inevitably, any number of mis remembered ingredients). I have to say that this was fabulous. I know they have done a lot of different styles of saison but I hadn't had any for a while and this proved what I was missing - gorgeous mouthfeel, delightful aftertaste and drinkability. Nothing like it's strength!

I bought two mighty 750ml bottles - their 7% Greengage saison , a mix of greengage fruits along with a special oak aged saison. I treated myself to two glasses of this and quaffed it in about 90 minutes in total. I seem to have thought it featured Kviek yeast but am now certain that is wrong. That aside, this was another ludicrously easy drinking, mildly but effectively sour and bitterly fruited mix of joy in what is in affect a wine bottle.   

Tonight am finishing the second half ot the frankly amazing 9.7% Eldeberry Monolith - described as a long oak aged wild black beer then aged for a further 6 months on local elderberries. It suggests it tastes a bit like an earthy Burgundy. Wow. It's as good as that characteristic suggests. It is immense.

Not that this makes it in anyway hard drinking - am supping it slowly mainly because am writing and setting up the Laptop. It continues to delight. Being the last of the bottle I added the yeast or other adjuncts in the bottom of the bottle and if anything this mnakes it even more drinkable. The Burgundy is definately there in terms of flavour. But mainly it's a fabulous wonderous sup. And pleasingly, for a brew of such depth and strength , the best before date on the bottle is 2031. If I had managed to get hold of another I may well have saved it until new years eve in 2030.

Thankfully, Burning Sky continue to produce a lot more of their wonderful beer experiments along with excellent IPAs and other styles of beer. If you see any I would heartily recommend that you give them a try.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Sheffield Brew Fest at the Bath Hotel

Evenin,

             last night my camera tells me I was at Sheffield Brew Fest at the Bath Hotel. I also went to Peddler for half an hour. A pretty full day for me, and here are my thoughts on both festivals.....

Before I start, please note that you can see my pics on Facebook here assuming the link works. They are hardly detailed and mainly feature people drinking. The things is, that is really what Brew Fest was all about.....

I went Thursday after a "starter" at Shakespeares and found the festival rammed. People were standing outside the pub (but sensibly not on the road! ) drinking some of the 29 or so casks, 8-ish kegs and numerous bottles on offer. Myself and Miss N stood outside with Emily and the guy from Coach and Horses (Are you Adam?!) and talked beers for a while, before coming inside and somehow managing to find a seat. We started on halves of Blue Bee American Five Hop from Sheffield and Alechemy Summit Burst from Scotland. Both were very good.

We moved onto halves of the Northern Monk Blueberry Saison which (and everyone said thankfully") didn't taste much of blueberry, but was an excellent saison. I also tried a half of the Moor Illusion which was a refreshing if comparatively uninspiring beer, as well as the Anarchy Sublime Chaos Breakfast Stout at 7.0^, because I love it. I finished on a half of the excellent Summer Wine Brewery Cirachi, an outstanding Sorachi Ace Pale Ale at 5.9%.

On Friday I left work early and arrived at 16.30, to find seating and freely donated Wateralls pork pies on sale at £1.50. I had one, (the money went to charity) along with a half of Five Points Pale, and settled down. I got chatting with an older gent about the pies and then the beers. He had marked off on the flyer which breweries cask beers he had not found, and was quite disappointed. I explained that all the breweries listed featured somewhere at the festival, just some only on keg or in bottle. He was quite forceful in his rejection of such styles, stating that he "only drinks real ale, nothing else".

A couple pf years ago I would have been similarly, if not entirely in agreement but by trying good and bad keykegs and having always drunk bottles I couldn't agree, so listed some quality stouts, rye, pales sours and saisons on offer. This only annoyed the man further, telling me, with disgust, that he'd been to Cantillon, loved the brewery but hated the beer, and didn't like Belgian beer anyway. Seemed strange to have gone to Belgium, I thought..... I didn't even ask about German or U.S brews. Obviously the gent is entitled to his opinion and its good that he's so sure of what he likes but I couldn't help thinking he could maybe try one or more keg or bottled beers....

I later met up with Mike and Danny from Two Beer Geeks and got chatting to them whilst drinking the Atom Saison (on cask) and the Steel City, which seemed burnt to me - too much time aboil? Not an unpleasant brew though.

Yesterday I went to Peddler festival first. This was in a small yard and warehouse on Arundel Lane opposite the Lord Nelson pub. There was, as promised, street food stalls, all of whose wares smelled fantastic; there was, as advertised, live music, and a small amount of art. The "Craft Beer" aspect of the ads turned out to be the Hop box, who had two beers on. The Dark Star Hophead was lovely and about right on keg at £4.00 a pint, and I understand there was a saison on the night before but I was a little underwhelmed!

Up the Hill I arrived at the Bath about 18.30 to find it unsurprisingly busy. Many folks from the local beer scene were there and I eventually managed to secure a seat, along with a half of the Summer Wine Cirachi again, and the blueberry saison. I also tried the Black Jack Belgian Red, and the Ilkley Rye beer which was very strange but enjoyable. I was joined by Clare and then Miss N and we drank the rest of the night away, including more excellent Thornbridge Desert Sessions, and finished on Magic Rock Human Cannonball.

This was the busiest I've seen the Bath perhaps ever and there were some incredibly good beers on, and it was good to see people of all ages drinking cask, keg, can and bottle. Cask wise, the highlights were particularly the two Alechemy ones, and others from Ilkley, Hopcraft, On the Edge, Blue Bee, Five Points, Siren and Summer Wine.

If I had a grumble it was the prices. Apart from Blue Bee and Summer Wine (maybe) all beers were £4.00 a pint, or more. This seemed regardless of strength, so the stronger beers were usually better value, apart from Black Jack Belgian Red which was £5.00 a pint at 6.something%. The kegs would naturally be more expensive and were about right but the lower gravity cask was overpriced.

However, that was the only gripe and overall this was a fantastic festival, which, who knows, may even still be on now. The beer quality was in my opinion, excellent.

Well done to Jules and the team for arranging the festival, especially Ed and the Bath staff and the volunteers for working it. Lets hope the upcoming Sheffield Beer Festival can match it!

Wee Beefy

February firsts

Hello,

             its true to say that February has been resplendent - sunny days as often as howling storms, excellent ales poured straight form the cask, forced by gas pressure from a container or through a stout metal stick, or even poured from a glass container into another unsealed glass container. All have graced my days. Not to mention some first goes, which I have compiled below.

With some spare time to kill recently I made my way to the Nursery Tavern on Ecclesall Road. I had previously celebrated the Nursery's renown and its revolting horror with others without ever actually having visited it. As it was, I was in the right place about the right time and it seemed safe to pop in.

Outside its fairly as you'd expect. I'm not sure of the pub's history but I know it looks on the outside at least to be a 1920's or 1930's pub. Inside it smells of food, as you might expect given its position on Eccy Road, and there is a long bar on your left, a little similar to the old bar at the Hallamshire on West Street in the early nineties. There were three real ales to choose from, I think, so I opted for a half of Moonshine. It came in at £1.50 a half. It tasted fine, and I sat down on a comfy leather seat watching the door with a nineteen thirties style fireplace on my left. It wasn't bad, to be honest. But it was 16.00. On a Monday. I must pop back in on a Friday.....

Also on Eccy Road is Thornbridge's pub/bar/kitchen/restaurant/??? Graze Inn, seen on their  website here. It was also that same Monday, it was also very quiet - and it also didn't warrant a real ale since only Brother Rabbit and Lord Marples were on. Sigh. Following the signs on the left to the "bar" I noticed it was quite un-pubby and quite...empty. I decided to try a half of the Chiron since it had tasted of lavender in the DAda the other night. Here the Chiron was also wrong but in a slightly less wrong way. The pub was in some ways engagingly quiet, and had I not been heading back into town I could have stayed to lap up the silence a little longer. I did not.

Once in town I went to Beer Central. One of the fears I expressed on Facefriend when I heard about this amazing new beer shop was prices. After all, if you have the money you can probably get any beer in the world - but it would cost you a bloody fortune. With Dave valiantly struggling on at the Archer Road Beer Stop it seemed only right to see if his second nearest competitor had his head screwed on. He did.

Row after row of shelves starting with sensibly priced (and very inexpensively priced) local beers then spreading out to huge numbers of UK beers, the tiny shop is set out in a perfect way. You'll either find a £2.50, £3.00 or £3.50 shelf (there are a few mixed) and there are tons of unusual London brews, and lots else from the UK and abroad, to delight in. I decided today was a saison day and so opted to select  a "Brew by Numbers" Motueka and lime saison. It was chuffing marvelous, I can confirm. It was really very nice indeed. It was, maybe, £2.95 a bottle and so perhaps a smidgen too much but it was very drinkable. Only about 6 more saison to try now from there....!

The final stop was the night before and that was the Cavendish. Admittedly I had been in the Cav before but that was under sufferance on a team Christmas party a couple of times in the last ten years so this was my first time on my own. They had something major, like maybe Greedy King OSH, and Moonshine on Cask, with two more spaces waiting to be filled. On Keykeg, their "craft" range included 4 Keykegs at very reasonable prices. I had a half of the Red Willow heartless stout and a half of the Magic Rock Cannonball at 7.2% for about £3.50. The Red Willow was good, but not exceptional, and the Cannonball was grim at first but when replaced turned out to be very nice indeed. It may seem a little weird to sudden;y throw the pub into the mash up over Keykeg and craft, but at least it shows, if nowt else in terms of price (the Cannonball was, I think, £4.30 a pint), that thee are more than two sides to the price war. Good on the Cavendish for giving Keykeg a try. Go there and try it!

So the above shows that your expensive, awkward and possibly overpriced Keykeg nonsense doesn't just have to be found near the station, and also that you can have a quiet and enjoyable pint on Ecclesall Road - although it has to be a Monday Either way, the main message is that tasty cask or Keykeg ale is becoming even easier to find in Sheffield, and you can often enjoy the two with some very nice food. Making it, once again, a rather marvelous place to go supping.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Literally Sun fest 2013.

Cor Blimey!

       As I never say. Its ort!

Well. Good. It makes a chuffing change. I love rain, as anyone with no concept of enjoying anything does but you know now and again a blast of vitamin D would be well, a shot in the arm. So sparse have the glinting rays been over the last decade I was tempted to think that Sun fest had never been blessed with such a thing. Although 2006 was a scorcher I hear.....

Anyway this year sun was on tap as was a very large selection of rather good beers at Sunfest 2013 at the Rising Sun in Nether Green. Owned by the Abbeydale, its not really a pub I get to very often what with it being bloody miles away but almost every of the last 5 years I've rolled up at Sunfest. This year though I was heading for a Thursday visit. This would be a unique opportunity to sample an almost empty bar and to attend without 10,000 other punters.

Straight away I got my ticket card and proceeded to the bar. There were 5 staff and 3 customers. Get in! I tried to get two people to serve me simultaneously, you know, to make it worth their while but in the end I got just one person and one beer, a very tasty Smoke Bomb which was a light brown smoky ale with what I would, after the festival at any rate,m discover was their signature hoppiness - a good start.

I soon fund mys elf returned to the bar, without remembering to have checked where the beer was. In the heinous situation you didn't read last years review I'll explain briefly that all the beers have a unique code - U(pper) M(iddle) L(ower) and B(ottom) and a number. That way, both you and the staff can quickly find the brew you want. So its a bit silly to turn up, having looked at said code, with no memory of it. Yet somehow I accidentally arrived almost facing the Tiny Rebel Fubar. a slightly odd tasting but very enjoyable drop.

I caught up with Ally and Malc and Shaggy and Chris in-between spotting other beer monsters including Unpro,  whom I discovered cowering grumpily in the tent tying to avoid direct sunlight. Yes kids, it seems the rumours are true.

Next up was a very refreshing accomplished low alcohol North Riding Summer ale, before I tried my first saison, the Saison Noir from On the Edge. To an extent the dark malt aspect was a little heavier than I wanted, and some people said it lacked the lemony edge of a proper saison, but to be far, since when has any saison been black? It was still a very refreshing beer.

Its probably worth listing the rest of the beers I tried, since in all honesty the order is a little unclear some 4 days letter a

Arbor Ales Monsoon Saison
Barlow Karma Citra
Cross Bay tempest IPA
Hamelsworde Brewery Cherokee IPA
Purple Moose Ygaswen
Steel City Angel of Death
Talke o The Hill  Citrade

The Monsoon was my finisher but my favourite, it pains me to say, was the Angel of Death, which was really perfectly balanced. Other stand out beers included the Cross Bay Tempest, the Arbor Monsoon and the Talke Citrade.

I did intend to try one of the Keykegs (*its the future and its real ale, in fact, even more so than cask....) but they were mainly stronger offerings and the combo of sun and no food (despite a crammed wrap from Tesco) was making me a little tipsy. Not forgetting that I had a warm up half of the Green Devil IPA at the Bath - on for 6 days and somehow contriving to taste even better.

There were a few disappointments beer wise - the Barlow Karma Citra must have been the result of an evil act because it was Karma-crystal. Malt. No hops were detected. The Hamelsworde was even worse. A wincingly sweet heavy affair which I'd like to think was an anomaly. Surely.

Also, Dan Baxter, there wasn't any Ascension from Abbeydale on Key keg. Which was a shame since it sounded really nice described as being dry hopped to counteract the fact that it would be served at a lower than intended temperature. Yet despite being the subject of a rare Abbeydale blog post and being on the list in the beer tent it was nowhere to be seen. Which is a shame because that's one experiment that could have generated some interesting results on such a hot day.

Still, overall I had a very enjoyable drunken time talking beer with a multitude of people and enjoying a slightly less manic bar than I might reasonably expect on a Saturday.  My only suggestion for improvement might be a £5.00 card - since, I didn't have enough money to buy an £8.00 one (now I had a glass) just to use it to top up the shortfall of 30p on one half to cash it back in. I don't have spare cash in that quantity at the end of any festival unless I haven't drunk anything!

Otherwise another well organised well run festival with some truly exceptional beers, that I won't hesitate to attend next year.

Cheers

Wee Beefy

*I'd like to think you "get" the joke here. Obviously Keykeg isn't real ale. But surely that's the point. And it doesn't want to be either. Meaning us what like the few good examples get to enjoy stunning beer n Keykeg as well as enjoying the same in cask. That's called choice..... 

Conundrum saisonale

Hello,
 

           in the run up to Christmas I was asking Davefromtshop what delights he had for me to buy. Knowing I was a fan of the style he told me about the Fantome Saison. Apparently it was considered a classic, and had orgasmic and worshipful rave reviews on Ratebeer, which comes as a surprise what with reviewers on there being so shy of scaturient outpourings....
 

Then came the caveats. I listened carefully. Reviewers had almost unanimously noted it smelled really unpleasant (but tasted nothing like its aroma). Also, it was strong, and heart-stoppingly expensive.

Despite these warnings, I decided to buy a bottle, since I got the feeling it was a bit of a coup for The Archer Road Beer Stop (where I used to work, and whose owner I am a good friend of, just to provide full disclosure!) to stock it. I bought two of this enormous bottle of 8.0% beer, and tonight I'm tasting one.

The first surprise comes from the fact that on opening the cap there's a cork underneath. What is this, radioactive material! How likely is it that the contents will escape? Once I got the cork out, with a satisfying pop, I got to encounter the aroma, or, erm, smell, for myself. Hmmm. Its not foul but its a bit vegetably and tart and reminds me in some ways of compost, or more worryingly, off beer. Luckily the taste is unrelated to the above description. However, the taste is my next screwed up face making puzzle....
 

I should point out that I'm drinking this as I write. Its almost less hassle than making notes and then typing them up, and also stops me from constantly taking photos. My gut reaction is that I think the taste is the beers most surprising element - and I'm not sure if I think that's a good thing.
 

One thing's for certain - this is a strong beer and it needs to be chilled. Carbonation and sharp flavours and that lovely Belgian yeast don't need to be served at room temperature. As I have a lovely Orval glass, at least half the bottle is back in the fridge. I suspect that may restrain the flavours slightly so they meld seamlessly together. At the moment I am drinking three beers in one. Its a very confusing experience for my palate.

 

The first hit is yeast. Its that recognisable sweetish Belgian affair that really should be in a saison. Then there is orange, and bitterness, almost like a Fullers Vintage Ale. Its not terribly easy to drink either, but its 8% and not cold. I don't think its trying to ape the refreshingly light farmhouse style that I seem to lean towards, but equally I'm not sure what its trying to be.
 

The other element in here is a sweet and sour battle between barley sugar and astringent almost bitter fruit flavours. In one mouthful it goes Corsendonk Pater (note have not had this in years, this is an unreliable taste memory), gueze, Buxton Rye and an aftertaste of orange boiled sweets and the Popperings Hommelbier. To be honest, it could be described as fruit salad sweets, Kriek, Magic Rock High Wire, Marmite and Gulden Draak. That's far less accurate and a bit silly, but it performs the task of bamboozling your expectations and (on drinking), your taste-buds in a similar way. Why won't you make sense unusual saison thing!
 

I've took the glass out of the freezer now and poured slightly more chilled beer into it, and noted that the list of ingredients includes spices. Not which ones of course, that wouldn't be sufficiently "artisanal", but maybe there could be a clue in there? Other than that, the temperature exercise has achieved nothing. Where Urthel Saisonnaire and Saison Dupont have a refreshing lemony edge, this has a slightly jarring sour bitterness, more like earthy lime than zesty lemon. Its easier to drink now its cold but I'm not getting that must have, super refreshing palate cleansing mouthfeel that my favourite saisons have had.

Despite that, an hour after pouring I'm sort of warming to the ascorbic aftertaste, and liking the sour fruit that goes with it. Its complex, slightly unbalanced and surprising. Much like a lot of people I know and care about.

In conclusion then, I like this beer, but its nothing like what I expected. Its acidic bitterness is odd yet not unpleasant, but its aroma is hardly enticing and its probably not worth the price. If you had never tasted saison before I'm not sure you'd try it again after this - but if you had, I fear like me you'd spend all your time wondering why it wasn't as good as the Urthel for example - or the stupendous Dark Star cask Saison, which was epic.
 

The answer to the conundrum then? Now I think I know less about saison and more about expectation than I did before. I thought all saisons were meant to be fresh and lemony and delicately sweet and were brewed for farm workers (apologies if I have walked into some obvious beer writers in joke here!). Fantome is none of those things. And I have no confidence in the idea that the previous statement means this is not a proper saison beer either!
 

I can't even work out if that's good....

 

 

Wee Beefy