Now then.....
no Lazerngennulmurn, this is not a post about a discalculate soul pop covers band, instead it is my musings on a rather magnificent collaboration IPA in a can which I purchased and supped before entering "the dark time" of no frol. Please find hereafter some observances about said luponic compound.
The first thing to mention is Boak and Bailey, erstwhile beer blogging legends, successful authors, and persons who create a host of reactions queries and debates from readers by writing in a concise but simultaneously voluminous style. I ramble, Boak and Bailey subtly, but intentionally, ask numerous questions in 30 lines. Its quite a skill.
Years ago, in the past, they wrote a brewery map or family tree starting with Kelham Island and Thornbridge breweries. There is a link to the PDf about Kelham here. Using the much over-relied-upon meter of "facts" they sewed together a tapestry of links between the starter brewery and where their former brewers had since gone. Kelham Island, it seemed, had certainly set a lot of brewers careers in motion.
It was interesting therefore to find that the 4 Degrees of Separation IPA was based on a reunion of the current and three previous brewers at Abbeydale Brewery in Sheffield. Especially given that one of the founders of Abbeydale Brewery, Patrick Morton, used to work at Kelham Island Brewery and was featured in that very same article. Abbeydale may not be a brewing family tree, but it certainly has notable links between some excellent and talented brewers. The brewers involved in this were Abbeydale, Magic Rock, Northern Monk, and Siren Craft. All worked or brewed at Abbeydale in the early stages of their career and as the list above illustrates, have since gone on to start successful enterprises of their own.
Alas the can has insufficient space (although it features amazing artwork from Yasmina Kontiki) to tell you whom it is from each so am going to guess that Stuart Ross of Magic Rock was one, since he brewed in Sheffield - I know he did at Crown and am willing to guess he did at Abbeydale too. A prize of the joy of knowledge goes to anyone who can name the other two....
Its great that Abbeydale have branched out into the kind of full on, hop laden, citrus hop smack, fruity, cloudy, and dryly bitter IPA's that I drink so many of these days. Its better still that this type of production sits so comfortably in its portfolio along with Moonshine, Deception and Absolution. Abbeydale produce cask, keg and small runs of cans (I understand they hired a canning machine for this) and whilst they may brew more cask than anything else there is no detectable "battle" for style supremacy. What they have done is forged ahead into new areas of beer style and production, whilst remaining united behind all their products.
As a footnote to this, since you are probably justifiably expecting it, the beer was fantastic. It was very very easy to drink, cloudy, or as I call it "London opaque" (thanks Nate!) and had a wonderful lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. From memory (AKA the can) I can recall tasting Amarillo, Cascade, Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy in the heady hoppy mix. That last line is simultaneously accurate and dishonest. Not because I couldn't taste any of the hops listed on the can, but because I had to look on the can to remember....
I did like as well that its initial flavour was slightly less juicy hopped than I was expecting but soon became overwhelmingly fruity and dry as I supped. It was a darkly orange 7% IPA of deliciousness, and the glass of it probably lasted me about 15 joyful minutes. A great testament to the drinkability and wonderful balanced flavours in the beer.
I understand some may still be for sale in Sheffield but I also understand it was a limited production line so I would recommend that you grab some whilst you can. Well done to Abbeydale for not only setting the three protaganists on a career in brewing, but also bringing them back together to treat us to a fantastic IPA, made, of course, in sunny Sheffield.
Your very bestest of healths!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Siren Craft Brew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Siren Craft Brew. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 May 2017
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Further excellence
Hello,
over the first few days of 2016 I encountered some excellent beers. I posted about that. However, in keeping with that theme, I have encountered some other extra quality beers in cask, keg and bottle. Here is what I found...
I recently came across the Cloudwater Imperial stout. It was 10.1% and an eye watering £6.00 a pint on cask.
I naturally had a pint - and finished it in 20 minutes. This was not my most sensible move. Luckily, at Shakespeares, Matty was on hand to get another round, and after that he bought me another pint of the excellent Cloudwater. A fantastic beer to end any night - which I had a further (slower) two pints of at a later date.
Last night I was in the Bath Hotel. They had the excellent Cloudwater IPA on at 7.4%. It was chuffing lovely. In the end, I bought pints for Matty and Tash and had 4 or 5 pints myself. Accompanied by an excellent roast pork sandwich this was the perfect night out!
We later went into BrewDog Sheffield. Tash sensibly had a half of a keg beer whilst me and Matty had a bottle of Fantome Saison to share. Thirsty as we were for this excellent saison, we had another bottle - a fantastic way to finish...
Finally, and I apologise for the brevity of this post (as possibly justified hereafter) but tonight after excellent pints of the Blue Bee into the Void and Oceanic Red (along with Acorn Gorlovka for Matty) at the Three Tuns, we ended up once again in Shakespeares.
Here, as well as the Siren Orange Boom at 2.8%, an exemplary, refreshing, low gravity orange wheat, we also had, and I tried, a pint of the Double Ace from Buxton, an, at least, triple IPA based on the excellent Axe Edge, at 10.1%. This, in some ways, may explain the brevity of this post!
A fantastic IPA, this featured vanilla as well as hoppy citrus flavours as well as strong chocolate orange character in the initial and after taste - an astounding and hugely enjoyable beer.
The final beer is in bottle - Hitachino Nest Saison du Japon. Made with lemon and rice wine it is possibly the easiest drinking beer I have ever tried. Me and Matty drunk ours in about two minutes! A perfect but uniquely enjoyable palate cleanser in a line of stronger beers. We bought ours from Archer Road Beer Stop by the way....
And talking of which, tomorrow I will be out with Dave for a rerun of a previous pub crawl - I hope to , write that up soon....
Cheers!
(Hic - edited, as was a trifle refreshed when I posted the above....)
Wee Beefy
over the first few days of 2016 I encountered some excellent beers. I posted about that. However, in keeping with that theme, I have encountered some other extra quality beers in cask, keg and bottle. Here is what I found...
I recently came across the Cloudwater Imperial stout. It was 10.1% and an eye watering £6.00 a pint on cask.
I naturally had a pint - and finished it in 20 minutes. This was not my most sensible move. Luckily, at Shakespeares, Matty was on hand to get another round, and after that he bought me another pint of the excellent Cloudwater. A fantastic beer to end any night - which I had a further (slower) two pints of at a later date.
Last night I was in the Bath Hotel. They had the excellent Cloudwater IPA on at 7.4%. It was chuffing lovely. In the end, I bought pints for Matty and Tash and had 4 or 5 pints myself. Accompanied by an excellent roast pork sandwich this was the perfect night out!
We later went into BrewDog Sheffield. Tash sensibly had a half of a keg beer whilst me and Matty had a bottle of Fantome Saison to share. Thirsty as we were for this excellent saison, we had another bottle - a fantastic way to finish...
Finally, and I apologise for the brevity of this post (as possibly justified hereafter) but tonight after excellent pints of the Blue Bee into the Void and Oceanic Red (along with Acorn Gorlovka for Matty) at the Three Tuns, we ended up once again in Shakespeares.
Here, as well as the Siren Orange Boom at 2.8%, an exemplary, refreshing, low gravity orange wheat, we also had, and I tried, a pint of the Double Ace from Buxton, an, at least, triple IPA based on the excellent Axe Edge, at 10.1%. This, in some ways, may explain the brevity of this post!
A fantastic IPA, this featured vanilla as well as hoppy citrus flavours as well as strong chocolate orange character in the initial and after taste - an astounding and hugely enjoyable beer.
The final beer is in bottle - Hitachino Nest Saison du Japon. Made with lemon and rice wine it is possibly the easiest drinking beer I have ever tried. Me and Matty drunk ours in about two minutes! A perfect but uniquely enjoyable palate cleanser in a line of stronger beers. We bought ours from Archer Road Beer Stop by the way....
And talking of which, tomorrow I will be out with Dave for a rerun of a previous pub crawl - I hope to , write that up soon....
Cheers!
(Hic - edited, as was a trifle refreshed when I posted the above....)
Wee Beefy
Monday, 11 January 2016
Five of the best
Hello all,
firstly, happy 2016 - seems very similar to 2015 to me, yer know, eleven days in. And no bloody dryanuary for me once again - really, f you must do it, at least buy soft drinks in the pub as well, thereby keeping pub atmosphere alive and profits near normal in January, the worst month of the year. Actually, this post serves as a reminder in many ways of just why going to the pub is so vital. I mean, if I hadn't how would I have tried five such amazing beers?
By the way, five of the best is restricted to a time frame, 31 December 2015 until today. They are the best beers I have tried in those twelve days. Maybe over a longer period. Not that I can remember....
On New Years Eve against my better judgement I left work quite late and met Tash and Matty in Shakespeares. We were intending to catch the last bus, but in a surprising outcome, we did not. I had heard that the Cloudwater Special IPA was on cask. When I arrived they were already drinking a pint each - something told me it was quite popular so I bought two pints and sat down and joined them Shortly after it ran out. It was, as I thought, a very popular beer.
Interestingly, Matty found it a little one dimensional, and Tony thought it had deteriorated in the cask over the months it had been kept. Cloudwater, he advised, brew beers to be drunk fresh. This is an interesting pint, since I can't think of many cask IPA's that have improved with ageing. On the other hand, I thought the beer was bloody lovely. An excellent end to the year.
On Sunday I was surprised to read that Walkley Beer Co was open. Having lazily plodded to Spasda for supplies I left it late to get there for 17.00 - I arrived at 16.53, just as Kit came out to call last orders. The cask had run out but the excellent Kernel Centennial Simcoe IPA at 6.7% was on keg at a fiver a pint. Kernel IPA's rarely disappoint - and this blew me away. A fantastic blend of citrus fruit and bitterness that I could have made last a lot longer, had time not been called soon after.
However, just before that I decided to buy a bottle to take out. I asked Kit what saisons he had and he pointed one out which I thought about and then saw some Cloudwater. I said "Ooh, Cloudwater! I bet you haven't got any Double IPA". Kit went quiet, walked to a small fridge near the bar and got me a bottle out. "its my last one" he said. I was so grateful. If nothing else because Tony had raved about this beer, and I had read their blog about it. It was £4.20 a bottle and m,e and Tash drank it later that night. It was wonderful - complex, bitter, refreshing, easy drinking, aromatic, punchy, strong - an exceptional beer.
Back at Shakespeares early the next week I tried two new keg beers. Described I think by Chris B as perhaps the hoppiest beer Siren have ever brewed, the rather oddly named Dippy and the Equinox is a wonderful, if strong and slightly pricey, keg pale or possibly red ale. Brewed with Boneyard Brewery in far away, it has heaps and heaps of complimentary hops and a wonderful zesty lingering finish. In the last week I have had several pints and enjoyed every drop of every one. A tremendous brew!
My final favorite came from The Beer Engine. Arriving the same night as the staff party meant I saw Tom for the first time in ages, and me and him had a conversation about cans - as per my last blog post. The beer that stood out here however was a 7.0% cask Ryesing Tides IPA from Siren. I remember having this beer last year at some point and hadn't actually had a rye beer for a while - which is strange, since I really like a rye IPA. The beer is strong but very easy to drink and reasonably priced at £4.20 a pint - bearing in mind that you don't need many. Siren are well known for well balanced beers (although sometimes they get it very wrong) and this was perfect example of a blend of rye and hops and I think red malt, making a delicious real ale.
Once again, a range of different venues purveying excellent beers in cask, keg and bottle demonstrate how lucky we are here in Sheffield to be able to find such a range of excellent ale. Lets hope this quality continues throughout the rest of 2016. Just don't stop going to the pub to find it.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
firstly, happy 2016 - seems very similar to 2015 to me, yer know, eleven days in. And no bloody dryanuary for me once again - really, f you must do it, at least buy soft drinks in the pub as well, thereby keeping pub atmosphere alive and profits near normal in January, the worst month of the year. Actually, this post serves as a reminder in many ways of just why going to the pub is so vital. I mean, if I hadn't how would I have tried five such amazing beers?
By the way, five of the best is restricted to a time frame, 31 December 2015 until today. They are the best beers I have tried in those twelve days. Maybe over a longer period. Not that I can remember....
On New Years Eve against my better judgement I left work quite late and met Tash and Matty in Shakespeares. We were intending to catch the last bus, but in a surprising outcome, we did not. I had heard that the Cloudwater Special IPA was on cask. When I arrived they were already drinking a pint each - something told me it was quite popular so I bought two pints and sat down and joined them Shortly after it ran out. It was, as I thought, a very popular beer.
Interestingly, Matty found it a little one dimensional, and Tony thought it had deteriorated in the cask over the months it had been kept. Cloudwater, he advised, brew beers to be drunk fresh. This is an interesting pint, since I can't think of many cask IPA's that have improved with ageing. On the other hand, I thought the beer was bloody lovely. An excellent end to the year.
On Sunday I was surprised to read that Walkley Beer Co was open. Having lazily plodded to Spasda for supplies I left it late to get there for 17.00 - I arrived at 16.53, just as Kit came out to call last orders. The cask had run out but the excellent Kernel Centennial Simcoe IPA at 6.7% was on keg at a fiver a pint. Kernel IPA's rarely disappoint - and this blew me away. A fantastic blend of citrus fruit and bitterness that I could have made last a lot longer, had time not been called soon after.
However, just before that I decided to buy a bottle to take out. I asked Kit what saisons he had and he pointed one out which I thought about and then saw some Cloudwater. I said "Ooh, Cloudwater! I bet you haven't got any Double IPA". Kit went quiet, walked to a small fridge near the bar and got me a bottle out. "its my last one" he said. I was so grateful. If nothing else because Tony had raved about this beer, and I had read their blog about it. It was £4.20 a bottle and m,e and Tash drank it later that night. It was wonderful - complex, bitter, refreshing, easy drinking, aromatic, punchy, strong - an exceptional beer.
Back at Shakespeares early the next week I tried two new keg beers. Described I think by Chris B as perhaps the hoppiest beer Siren have ever brewed, the rather oddly named Dippy and the Equinox is a wonderful, if strong and slightly pricey, keg pale or possibly red ale. Brewed with Boneyard Brewery in far away, it has heaps and heaps of complimentary hops and a wonderful zesty lingering finish. In the last week I have had several pints and enjoyed every drop of every one. A tremendous brew!
My final favorite came from The Beer Engine. Arriving the same night as the staff party meant I saw Tom for the first time in ages, and me and him had a conversation about cans - as per my last blog post. The beer that stood out here however was a 7.0% cask Ryesing Tides IPA from Siren. I remember having this beer last year at some point and hadn't actually had a rye beer for a while - which is strange, since I really like a rye IPA. The beer is strong but very easy to drink and reasonably priced at £4.20 a pint - bearing in mind that you don't need many. Siren are well known for well balanced beers (although sometimes they get it very wrong) and this was perfect example of a blend of rye and hops and I think red malt, making a delicious real ale.
Once again, a range of different venues purveying excellent beers in cask, keg and bottle demonstrate how lucky we are here in Sheffield to be able to find such a range of excellent ale. Lets hope this quality continues throughout the rest of 2016. Just don't stop going to the pub to find it.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 22 March 2015
A beer tasting and a meet the brewer - Sheffield Beer Week
Hello,
given that it was the end party yesterday I think I am quite certain that Sheffield Beer Week is now finished. Due to a lack of funds at times, I haven't actually been to many events, but before I forget (any more) I thought I'd write about two events I went to on Monday and Tuesday at Shakespeares.
Arriving late, I was given a "posh glass" from the bar and went to find the organisers and a handful of guests enjoying their first beer, which was an IPA called 11/08 from Brew By Numbers. I like their saisons, and I recall this was a session IPA at low gravity. It packed plenty of punch hops wise, but in comparison to other beers lacked the requisite clout - which to be fair, as a session IPA, its entitled to. Looking at my terrible photos I can see this featured Mosaic and Centennial hops - being two of my favourites that explains why I loved the hoppiness.
We were joined by Ed and there was Mr Cullen, John, Steve who I found out I'd met before, a man who left early, Nicci Peet who photographs breweries, Jules from Sheffield Beer Week, Sean from Beer Central and a Chinese media student. Although she didn't pay, she was kindly offered a taster of all the beers, as well as interviews with Chris and Clare and Jules. I don't think she liked any of the beers though.....
Next up was probably a canned beer - and the overuse of the word controversial. Frankly, I've not drunk beer out of a can since I was 19 and have no intention of doing so again, however, the canned beer, much like the kegged beer, you get now, is a whole different kettle of fish. This was Baby Faced Assassin from Roosters brewery. it was significantly stronger than the BBN and had a much more rounded flavour. It relied heavily on Citra and it was noticeable on the nose and not as much as I'd expect in the initial or after flavour. It was, crucially, an excellent canned beer.
WE also had a beer from far away Without the notes I was promised (clears throat) I can't possibly be expected to remember what it was, although I do have some photos to look at......
So, as I wasn't saying, next up was Port Brew Wipeout IPA, a 7.5% American IPA - straight away I noticed the aroma, very much Belgian style but with that bite of American Hops. A much more impressive beer in terms of style, but actually quite heavy to drink. Sean gave us a detailed history of the brewer and brewery and this was something that he and Chris both did throughout. I think this beer was Ed's favourite.
Next up was further Camtroversy - an India Hells lager in a can, from Camden Town Brewery. They have probably tried to claim ownership of the word Camtroversey. Even though I only just made it up. Anyway, despite hype and background issues this was a very tasty and commendable beer style. Refreshing as it used lager malts, but with a punchy hop bite at the end. Just what we needed, in fact, to wash out our palates after the enjoyable but heavy Wipeout.
Next we tried Dugges HopBlack, an unusual Black IPA from the Belgium. Or Netherlands. Or neither. This was a lot of peoples' favourite, although no-one could agree on how to pronounce the brewery name. I am told there is no point searching it either as the beer does not even feature on the beer list on their website! So I haven't. Cho welcome.
The final beer was a fantastic treat - Siren Craft Brew Liquid Monstrous. Essential a stronger version of their Liquid Mistress IPA, this was a hefty but hugely complex brew. A monstrous black in colour (controversial?) the beer was delicious, but had far too many flavours for me to remember. In short, I can't, I was a little refreshed by this stage. For interest, the brewery have a website and the following description . To be fair it lists four amazing hops so I'm bound to have loved it. Its just the haze of alcohol that is shielding my memory from accessing the details of the beer....hic.
I realise this leaves me little space t tell you about the meet the brewer event the next night with the Siren Craft Brew. Well, judging from the number of photographs of me drunk, its hardly surprising that I can't remember much. In effect the event was to launch the only cask (or only one of 2 , can't remember) of Maiden 2014, a whopping 12% blended and different barrel aged beer of incredible flavours. We also tried a small tasting of Fortunata, their Christmas beer, and their unusual sour smoked wheat beer which I can't even describe - not because of alcohol, but because it tastes like no beer, and no thing, I have ever had before.
The guys from the brewery arrived to have one of them give a brief introduction and talk, before members of the team sat among us and told us more details about the brewery, their roles, previous experience and plans, and of course about each beer. The Maiden 2014 was still on yesterday, and despite its strength, I would highly recommend you go and try and try it. The overwhelming flavour for me was wine, with port and whisky and also red ale, for some reason. Its an incredibly complex and powerful beer, yes, but its easy to drink for its strength.
The event was a £10.00 entry fee but were given at least that much to drink ( I think I am forgetting the broken dreams, which I bought a bottle of for a fiver) and the level of detail provided into the blending process was fascinating, even though I have "mislaid" most of it in my memory...
Overall these two events were very much in keeping in terms of quality, with others that took place last week. They mean I will have many fond, and indeed blurred, memories of it for a long time to come. Congrats to Jules, Clare Chris Bamford and Sean, and many many others, for all their hard work on Sheffield Beer Week.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
given that it was the end party yesterday I think I am quite certain that Sheffield Beer Week is now finished. Due to a lack of funds at times, I haven't actually been to many events, but before I forget (any more) I thought I'd write about two events I went to on Monday and Tuesday at Shakespeares.
Arriving late, I was given a "posh glass" from the bar and went to find the organisers and a handful of guests enjoying their first beer, which was an IPA called 11/08 from Brew By Numbers. I like their saisons, and I recall this was a session IPA at low gravity. It packed plenty of punch hops wise, but in comparison to other beers lacked the requisite clout - which to be fair, as a session IPA, its entitled to. Looking at my terrible photos I can see this featured Mosaic and Centennial hops - being two of my favourites that explains why I loved the hoppiness.
We were joined by Ed and there was Mr Cullen, John, Steve who I found out I'd met before, a man who left early, Nicci Peet who photographs breweries, Jules from Sheffield Beer Week, Sean from Beer Central and a Chinese media student. Although she didn't pay, she was kindly offered a taster of all the beers, as well as interviews with Chris and Clare and Jules. I don't think she liked any of the beers though.....
Next up was probably a canned beer - and the overuse of the word controversial. Frankly, I've not drunk beer out of a can since I was 19 and have no intention of doing so again, however, the canned beer, much like the kegged beer, you get now, is a whole different kettle of fish. This was Baby Faced Assassin from Roosters brewery. it was significantly stronger than the BBN and had a much more rounded flavour. It relied heavily on Citra and it was noticeable on the nose and not as much as I'd expect in the initial or after flavour. It was, crucially, an excellent canned beer.
WE also had a beer from far away Without the notes I was promised (clears throat) I can't possibly be expected to remember what it was, although I do have some photos to look at......
So, as I wasn't saying, next up was Port Brew Wipeout IPA, a 7.5% American IPA - straight away I noticed the aroma, very much Belgian style but with that bite of American Hops. A much more impressive beer in terms of style, but actually quite heavy to drink. Sean gave us a detailed history of the brewer and brewery and this was something that he and Chris both did throughout. I think this beer was Ed's favourite.
Next up was further Camtroversy - an India Hells lager in a can, from Camden Town Brewery. They have probably tried to claim ownership of the word Camtroversey. Even though I only just made it up. Anyway, despite hype and background issues this was a very tasty and commendable beer style. Refreshing as it used lager malts, but with a punchy hop bite at the end. Just what we needed, in fact, to wash out our palates after the enjoyable but heavy Wipeout.
Next we tried Dugges HopBlack, an unusual Black IPA from the Belgium. Or Netherlands. Or neither. This was a lot of peoples' favourite, although no-one could agree on how to pronounce the brewery name. I am told there is no point searching it either as the beer does not even feature on the beer list on their website! So I haven't. Cho welcome.
The final beer was a fantastic treat - Siren Craft Brew Liquid Monstrous. Essential a stronger version of their Liquid Mistress IPA, this was a hefty but hugely complex brew. A monstrous black in colour (controversial?) the beer was delicious, but had far too many flavours for me to remember. In short, I can't, I was a little refreshed by this stage. For interest, the brewery have a website and the following description . To be fair it lists four amazing hops so I'm bound to have loved it. Its just the haze of alcohol that is shielding my memory from accessing the details of the beer....hic.
I realise this leaves me little space t tell you about the meet the brewer event the next night with the Siren Craft Brew. Well, judging from the number of photographs of me drunk, its hardly surprising that I can't remember much. In effect the event was to launch the only cask (or only one of 2 , can't remember) of Maiden 2014, a whopping 12% blended and different barrel aged beer of incredible flavours. We also tried a small tasting of Fortunata, their Christmas beer, and their unusual sour smoked wheat beer which I can't even describe - not because of alcohol, but because it tastes like no beer, and no thing, I have ever had before.
The guys from the brewery arrived to have one of them give a brief introduction and talk, before members of the team sat among us and told us more details about the brewery, their roles, previous experience and plans, and of course about each beer. The Maiden 2014 was still on yesterday, and despite its strength, I would highly recommend you go and try and try it. The overwhelming flavour for me was wine, with port and whisky and also red ale, for some reason. Its an incredibly complex and powerful beer, yes, but its easy to drink for its strength.
The event was a £10.00 entry fee but were given at least that much to drink ( I think I am forgetting the broken dreams, which I bought a bottle of for a fiver) and the level of detail provided into the blending process was fascinating, even though I have "mislaid" most of it in my memory...
Overall these two events were very much in keeping in terms of quality, with others that took place last week. They mean I will have many fond, and indeed blurred, memories of it for a long time to come. Congrats to Jules, Clare Chris Bamford and Sean, and many many others, for all their hard work on Sheffield Beer Week.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 28 December 2014
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......
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......
Friday, 26 December 2014
Two different beer festivals
Hello,
after "Dryvember" (coughs) was a relative failure, I have striven to make up for the at least expected lack of bowze in December. Hence, unsurprisingly, I have had little time to remain sober. Sorry, to write. My review of a beer festival a month and slightly over a month ago therefore appears now. Soz un all.....
The New Inn at Cropton is famous for having two breweries - or, at least, two brewing companies based there. Cropton Brewery is the longer established outfit and produces mainly cask ales and bottles. The new fella is The Great Yorkshire Brewery, who produce cask and keg with potentially more emphasis on keg, as well as bottles. For 20 odd years now the New Inn has held a beer festival to not only promote its wares, but also treat pub=goers to a wider range of UK real ales and to provide camping and live music.
Last year as you may recall the weekend of the Cropton beer festival, starting on the 22nd November, was when Wee Fatha was rushed into hospital so we didn't go. This year, although Jambon and Jo pulled out late on, me and Wee Keefy decided to travel oop North as a kind of pilgrimage to WF - we even rang him Saturday morning, to receive a ten minute moan about his Doctors - so we knew he was well.
Arriving around Midday we got parked behind the pub and set up camp in the field opposite. By 13.00 we were in the marquee drinking. I started with a half of Hopcraft "whose been sleeping in my brain" and we had other beers from Banks and Taylors and Gyle 59. If I have a criticism of Cropton festival, and its a small one, its that you, as well as the staff don;t know where the beers are, or indeed which ones are on. And the names on the signs are often wrong. But hey, that's a minor issue. It makes things more fun....
After 2 pints we went for a walk in the village, along a muddy track and then back as we lost track of the path, before returning to the tent after seeing the sun for 20 minutes break through the heavy fog, to eat dinner before returning to the festival. It was far busier now and we got sat near the food area and started trying beers, more from Gyle 59 and Moor, invluding So Hop and Dark Alliance, and chatting to persons from bike clubs and Sheffield band Kingfisher Blue. We also ate, and the food was lovely, and went for a walk in the black fog to find "phone signal" - we failed. On returning we eventually moved into the pool room and I began my 3rd of 5 pints of the Art Brew Double IPA at 7.2% - and a bargain £3.20 a pint.
This is a great festival with a good and varied range of ales, decent food, and, if you are still "young" enough to like camping, fantastic free accommodation! We both hope to be returning next year.
The next week was Shakespeares 2014 Autumn beer festival. Having acquired funds me and Tash went Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the range of beers, perhaps excepting the odd Wild beer co ones which were um....odd?
One of the great things about Shakespeares festivals of late was the availability of good quality and well priced keg beers from small UK and other breweries - a highlight of which included Radler from Burning Sky, a distinct lemony ale with lost of subtle hops to unsweeten it, as well as an excellent IPA from Kernel.
Alas, in th intervening month since the festival I have contrived to mis-file all my copies of the beer list. Luckily, my erstwhile drinking companions Mike and Danny write their own beer blog, so I have borrowed some details of the beers they tried to fill out my own piece. I haven't asked their permission, but assume they don't mind....
So, the beers I tried definitely, were:
Five Towns V2 Schneider Dunkel
Weird beard K**ntish Town
Loch Lomond Simcoe
Moor Dark Alliance
Brewsmith Oatmeal Stout
Waen Avalanche Pale
George Wright Yorkshire Brown Ale
Siren Ryseing Tides IPA
Arbor NZ Amber
Siren Calypso
Bridestones/Steel City Brewing So Craft It Hurts (vanilla aged stout)
Kernel Pale ale Citra Mosaic
To Ol Fuck Art this is religion (barrel aged double)
Beers of the festival were the Burning Sky New Gods Radler, the Waen Avalanche and my most drunk favourite, the Siren Ryseing Tides, a "tidy" 7.4% pal ale that drank like a far lower strength ale, but was packed with complimentary rye and tangy hops.
Both these festivals were excellent but really quite different. The main thing linking em, however, was hard work and dedication by the venues involved, and absolutely cracking real ale and keg beer. Looking forward to the next ones.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
after "Dryvember" (coughs) was a relative failure, I have striven to make up for the at least expected lack of bowze in December. Hence, unsurprisingly, I have had little time to remain sober. Sorry, to write. My review of a beer festival a month and slightly over a month ago therefore appears now. Soz un all.....
The New Inn at Cropton is famous for having two breweries - or, at least, two brewing companies based there. Cropton Brewery is the longer established outfit and produces mainly cask ales and bottles. The new fella is The Great Yorkshire Brewery, who produce cask and keg with potentially more emphasis on keg, as well as bottles. For 20 odd years now the New Inn has held a beer festival to not only promote its wares, but also treat pub=goers to a wider range of UK real ales and to provide camping and live music.
Last year as you may recall the weekend of the Cropton beer festival, starting on the 22nd November, was when Wee Fatha was rushed into hospital so we didn't go. This year, although Jambon and Jo pulled out late on, me and Wee Keefy decided to travel oop North as a kind of pilgrimage to WF - we even rang him Saturday morning, to receive a ten minute moan about his Doctors - so we knew he was well.
Arriving around Midday we got parked behind the pub and set up camp in the field opposite. By 13.00 we were in the marquee drinking. I started with a half of Hopcraft "whose been sleeping in my brain" and we had other beers from Banks and Taylors and Gyle 59. If I have a criticism of Cropton festival, and its a small one, its that you, as well as the staff don;t know where the beers are, or indeed which ones are on. And the names on the signs are often wrong. But hey, that's a minor issue. It makes things more fun....
After 2 pints we went for a walk in the village, along a muddy track and then back as we lost track of the path, before returning to the tent after seeing the sun for 20 minutes break through the heavy fog, to eat dinner before returning to the festival. It was far busier now and we got sat near the food area and started trying beers, more from Gyle 59 and Moor, invluding So Hop and Dark Alliance, and chatting to persons from bike clubs and Sheffield band Kingfisher Blue. We also ate, and the food was lovely, and went for a walk in the black fog to find "phone signal" - we failed. On returning we eventually moved into the pool room and I began my 3rd of 5 pints of the Art Brew Double IPA at 7.2% - and a bargain £3.20 a pint.
This is a great festival with a good and varied range of ales, decent food, and, if you are still "young" enough to like camping, fantastic free accommodation! We both hope to be returning next year.
The next week was Shakespeares 2014 Autumn beer festival. Having acquired funds me and Tash went Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the range of beers, perhaps excepting the odd Wild beer co ones which were um....odd?
One of the great things about Shakespeares festivals of late was the availability of good quality and well priced keg beers from small UK and other breweries - a highlight of which included Radler from Burning Sky, a distinct lemony ale with lost of subtle hops to unsweeten it, as well as an excellent IPA from Kernel.
Alas, in th intervening month since the festival I have contrived to mis-file all my copies of the beer list. Luckily, my erstwhile drinking companions Mike and Danny write their own beer blog, so I have borrowed some details of the beers they tried to fill out my own piece. I haven't asked their permission, but assume they don't mind....
So, the beers I tried definitely, were:
Five Towns V2 Schneider Dunkel
Weird beard K**ntish Town
Loch Lomond Simcoe
Moor Dark Alliance
Brewsmith Oatmeal Stout
Waen Avalanche Pale
George Wright Yorkshire Brown Ale
Siren Ryseing Tides IPA
Arbor NZ Amber
Siren Calypso
Bridestones/Steel City Brewing So Craft It Hurts (vanilla aged stout)
Kernel Pale ale Citra Mosaic
To Ol Fuck Art this is religion (barrel aged double)
Beers of the festival were the Burning Sky New Gods Radler, the Waen Avalanche and my most drunk favourite, the Siren Ryseing Tides, a "tidy" 7.4% pal ale that drank like a far lower strength ale, but was packed with complimentary rye and tangy hops.
Both these festivals were excellent but really quite different. The main thing linking em, however, was hard work and dedication by the venues involved, and absolutely cracking real ale and keg beer. Looking forward to the next ones.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Friday, 12 September 2014
I forgot to mention.....
Now then,
just to quickly let you know a few bits of "news"....
The long closed Wellington pub in Darnall has had a repaint and the steels shutters removed and is To Let. No indication yet that anyone has taken it on but it has been for sale (I think) through Colliers CRE since at least 2009 so maybe this will be its best hope? It was widely tipped to become the new Doctors back in 2011 but that plan was shelved. Having never visited this local pub to me, I'd love to see it reopen, preferably of course, with real ale.
The little altered (I am told!) Old Crown Inn on London Road is to reopen on 25 September 2014 offering live bands and real ales. This is another pub which has escaped me but was one which Dave Barraharri wanted to list on our Sheffield pub crawl, an ambitious plan which never got off the ground (and which is now operated on a similar basis by Real Ale Trails). It will be interesting to see who runs the new venue and indeed which real ales will be on offer. This is especially prominent since the Bell Jar has been closed on my last three visits. According to the following website the pub currently, or rather did, sell Moonshine....
Coming to the much loved National Inventory listed local The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street in October is Sheffield Brew Fest - a curated celebration of Sheffield and further afield brews. The festival, which has a website link here has already acquired beers from Siren Craft Brew - follow them on Twitter and access the website for updates on available beers.
On West Street on 13 June this year Maida Vale opened its doors, offering, much like the Old Crown, live bands and real ales. I ventured in on the Saturday and had halves of Osset Silver King and chatted to someone behind the bar who stated that the last incarnation only stayed open for a weekend or similar. It is noticeable therefore that I'm not certain the venue is still open, but will try and find out and update you.
The Three Cranes on Queen Street also appears to be closed, or keeping very restricted hours. If anyone knows what the situation is, please let me know!
Finally, the very long closed Cannon on King Street is To Let as retail units. Closed down some time ago it seems nobody wanted to take it on as a pub. This brings into focus the extent to which the potential reopening of the Wellington at Darnall is a surprising development.
All the best
Wee Beefy
just to quickly let you know a few bits of "news"....
The long closed Wellington pub in Darnall has had a repaint and the steels shutters removed and is To Let. No indication yet that anyone has taken it on but it has been for sale (I think) through Colliers CRE since at least 2009 so maybe this will be its best hope? It was widely tipped to become the new Doctors back in 2011 but that plan was shelved. Having never visited this local pub to me, I'd love to see it reopen, preferably of course, with real ale.
The little altered (I am told!) Old Crown Inn on London Road is to reopen on 25 September 2014 offering live bands and real ales. This is another pub which has escaped me but was one which Dave Barraharri wanted to list on our Sheffield pub crawl, an ambitious plan which never got off the ground (and which is now operated on a similar basis by Real Ale Trails). It will be interesting to see who runs the new venue and indeed which real ales will be on offer. This is especially prominent since the Bell Jar has been closed on my last three visits. According to the following website the pub currently, or rather did, sell Moonshine....
Coming to the much loved National Inventory listed local The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street in October is Sheffield Brew Fest - a curated celebration of Sheffield and further afield brews. The festival, which has a website link here has already acquired beers from Siren Craft Brew - follow them on Twitter and access the website for updates on available beers.
On West Street on 13 June this year Maida Vale opened its doors, offering, much like the Old Crown, live bands and real ales. I ventured in on the Saturday and had halves of Osset Silver King and chatted to someone behind the bar who stated that the last incarnation only stayed open for a weekend or similar. It is noticeable therefore that I'm not certain the venue is still open, but will try and find out and update you.
The Three Cranes on Queen Street also appears to be closed, or keeping very restricted hours. If anyone knows what the situation is, please let me know!
Finally, the very long closed Cannon on King Street is To Let as retail units. Closed down some time ago it seems nobody wanted to take it on as a pub. This brings into focus the extent to which the potential reopening of the Wellington at Darnall is a surprising development.
All the best
Wee Beefy
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