Hello,
I used to go to DaDa a lot, and I used to also go to Harrisons 1854. I loved the Rutland, Closed Shop and Hallamshire House. Recently, my go-to favourite pubs have changed slightly. I'm almost always in either the Three Tuns, Bath Hotel or, as has been the case for a few years, at Shakespeares. There is no failure on the part of the earlier mentioned pubs, just changing circumstances.
By way of illustration, here, as experienced on Tash's birthday, are a number of reasons to drink in the current top 3......
I was meeting Tash, having got the day off specially, at 12.00. We eventually plumped to meet at 15.00. Arriving at 15.10, I called Tash to explain I was there - to be told to "get inside and keep warm" as she was only just about to leave. Following this advice I nipped in the Tap and Tankard on Cambridge Street. Sill finding its feet I think , but the pint and a half of Hand Drawn Monkey IPA at 5.0% shows much promise.
Me and Tash met up and did some birthday shopping before heading up to the Bath Hotel. I always like going in before 17.00 because its quiet (although in a change from what I put in my Exposed article there is music), there's few people in and ts warm and relaxing . Perfect. There was excellent Crouch Vale Brewers Gold on cask (amongst others!) and the unusual Rouge Red Ale from Summer Wine Brewery on keg. As it was Tash's birthday, and this was a pricey pint, I bought us a pint and a half of this.
We sat on a large table behind the screen, opening cards, seeing The Child of Ash and Beccy, supping our unusual but beautiful red ale, and enjoying the surroundings. A great start.
Next we walked down in the howling wind to the Three Tuns. We met Matty in here and he was already on his traditional dark pint, which alas my memory has hidden the name of. Stand out casks here were from Blue Bee, their Natural, a hoppy 3.5% session pale ale, and their slightly stronger Reet Pale. Me and Tash had a couple of pints of that, Matty another dark offering, and we ordered food. Being a greedy guts and 1.5 pints ahead, I had the baked belly pork with mash to myself, and they opted to share a cider pig sandwich and chips. All the food was, as is now the case, matchless, as was the Reet Pale.
Off down the hill we made a terrible discovery - it appears that legendary curry supplier West Bar Tandoori has closed down. Speaking to Dave Unpro, it trans[ired the rent they were paying was extortionate, which is a bit harsh for a block of shops with only one now open, and they had to sell something like 60 curries a day just to make ends meet. Their excellent food - especially the Biryani and Saag dishes we used to get, will be sorely missed.
The only thing that could cheer us up was some good beer - and in Shakespeares, by eck three was plenty. I think the Brewsmith 6% IPA was the starter for me and Tash, and Matty had the unhoppy but quite burnt roasted milk stout from HopCraft. We had something else next - and I have to admit that by this time details were becoming slightly less important than keeping up with the conversation with Tony and Matty, so I can't remember what it was, but it was no doubt enjoyable.
This lack of detail however pales into insignificance against the important next beer - a pint of the Weird Bear Holy Hoppin Hell, an astonishingly tasty Double IPA at 9.2%. And worth every penny at £5.10 (or lightly less or more to the power of 20p) a pint. This admittedly, slowed me down. I did however soon regain my thought processes sufficiently to buy another two halves to share with Tash on her birthday. Holy Hopping Hell is easily the best beer I have had in the last few years. Its...amazing - well balanced, gloriously hoppy, bitter but with citrus and orange notes to balance. Impeccable.
I then discovered that in the cellar was the Beavertown, Siren and Magic Rock Rule of Thirds! I was now, officially, in hop heaven. Although on Thursday this was cloudy in the cellar, it should be clear soon and hopefully on the bar soon as well. Chris made an interesting observation by the way - that none of the three beers used to make rule of thirds is more than (I think) 5.6% - so how odes it get to be 6.4%? I suspect there is an explanation, but we did not arrive at it.
By the way, Chris is apparently going to write a beer blog - Mr Bamford, would you share the address? The other, keener and more important observation, is that it will sell for £4.00 a pint. Significantly, I am sorry to say, less expensive than at the Bath.
So, above is a taster of the quality brews encounter in just one day in January in Sheffield. A tale of hoppy crapulence to warm even the chilliest soul in this wintry 2015.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Summer Wine Brewery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Wine Brewery. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Sunday, 5 October 2014
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
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
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Wee Beefy's beer review bites
Good evening again,
on Friday, having recovered from my arctic trek, I had the chance to visit Davefromtshop at Davefromtshop's shop, to sample a few beers or 10. Arriving about 10 minutes before closing meant we could quickly get down to the serious business of reviewing the handpicked selection of offerings, which were shared between me Davefromtshop and Andrew, which meant we could have a few more than usual.
Starter for 10PM.
We began with a sensible pint of real live actual real ale from the handpumps in the shop. Alas the tasty Thorne Pale Ale had run out so it was a toss up between Farmers Brown Cow and something from Cottage. This posed a little dilemma for me - am not overly smitten with brown ale at all, and despite Dave's encouraging promises, I refused to believe that I would like the Cottage beer, since their output is so unfailingly poor or odd. In light of which, I decided to "go brown". (this is not a euphemism)
The Cow was in decent form, and being served slightly flat it allowed some of the flavours which may otherwise have been hidden in the foam to come through. This whetted our appetites for an eclectic selection that, relying on my decision to draft text the beer list being a sensible one, should be written below (Bottle conditioned ales are marked BCA):
Moor Brewery Somerland Gold 5.% BCA
Coors White Shield 5.6% BCA
Summer Wine Brewery Covenant Aromatic Red Ale 5.2%
Holsworthy Muck & Straw 4.4% BCA
Isle of Mull Terror of Tobermory 4.6%
Oban Bay Skelpt Lug 4.2%
Harvey's Imperial Stout unknown corked vintage 9% BCA
Summer Wine Brewery Teleporter 5%
Chiltern Anniversary Ale 6.1% BCA
Summer Wine Brewery Cohort Double Black Belgian Rye PA 7.5%
Durham White Stout 7.2% BCA
Nogne Porter 7% BCA
Its worth pointing out that the Holsworthy beer was a gift from a mysterious stranger, so its not on sale in the shop, which is a shame. Also, the Harvey's is a survivor from a long ago delivery - more about that in a bit.
Top beers were possibly the Holsworthy, the White Shield, the Teleporter, the White Stout and definitely the Nogne, somewhat expensive but price worthy porter from deepest Norway.
The devils in the (lack of) detail
The Somerland was also nice but not really what I was expecting, in that it had a very light bitter flavour that I hadn't really expected of a West Country Ale. That doesn't make it a bad beer, just a surprise. The Shield was a very well rounded but slightly less hoppy than I remembered beer, but scored well on the night owing to it having been brewed with impeccable malt balance, and also for containing very palatable drinking yeast which ironically you were always meant to keep aside with White Shield.
The SWB Covenant was a red ale (I think!) and was as bitter as you'd expect for one of their beers but it may be that I was expecting more identifiable red malt flavours. Instead I was slapped in the face by the hops and then spent time waiting for another layer of flavour to appear and make itself known, but it just never happened. Which was a shame. Mind you, this was the first beer displaying uncompromising hops that night so the change was noteworthy at least.
The muck and straw would likely horrify any hophead,citrus fiend or Simcoe addict but it was more West Country than the Moor offering whilst managing to be very drinkable, and if you forgive an understandable reliance on malt, was a very refreshing session beer.
The Isle of Mull offering was much anticipated, especially since I thought they had closed down, but alas this was a very weak flavoured one dimensional beer which failed to really have any winning characteristics. There was a hint of peat in the malt but no hops and it was, an overriding, really thin brew. A terror indeed.
The Oban Ales was memorable only for having a really strange malt flavour, and by simply failing entirely to be a dark ale - Bradfield Yorkshire Farmer is probably the same colour - not that I am sure now the cloud of grog has cleared where exactly I got the idea it was a dark beer from! It won a few extra points for having ensconced some peaty malt notes hat may have been present in a bottle of Islay ales, but again failed to carry much flavour, and it was the deceit of its alleged dark character that let down its score.
Not Grimstad but Grim stuff
By this time I was desperate for a real live dark beer, so we dusted off the last ARBS stock bottle of Harvey's Imperial Russian Stout, Gales brewery corked, with a label proclaiming that it was from 2001 but a 2002 brewing awards reference on the back label, meaning we have no idea when its actually from. Suffice to say however, what we do know is that this is one from a batch of Harvey's Imperial Stout that were sold at the shop, 6 of which me and Dave bought between us based on the ultimate excellence of previous vintages. Every one so far has been flat, with no life or work from the yeast, and sour, tasting of yeast and molasses only. Suffice to say they have been poured down the sink.
And, quelle surprise, this one was also a container of foul flavours. If you fought through the grim sour yeast and nasty bullying molasses you could detect a hint of how the beer should, have tasted, but it was too small a reward for such hard work.
What's incredibly frustrating is, I wrote to Miles Jenner at the brewery in 2008 after bottle number 3 came out crap and he confirmed that there was an identified problem with the yeast, that it hadn't worked or started or done something, and the beer had therefore not developed or indeed, remained drinkable. Which is great, but even considering that he took my address and promised to send me two of the new batch of bottles (now out, as per Boak and Bailey at : Harveys Imperial Russian Stout new crown capped brew ) no recall of the known duff beer was mooted, no replacements were sent to me, and all the customers who bought bottles from ARBS will have opened them at any stage after purchase and found them crap, with Dave and myself's rigorous and passionate endorsements ringing in the ears no doubt.
A hugely disappointing show from Harvey's, and one which affords them no credit at all.
Our next offering was thankfully very nice, and it was a dark beer - it was the excellent Teleporter from Summer Wine Brewery that I have reviewed before. Have a look at the tags list down the side to find my sober review of this ale!
The paper wrapped Chiltern Anniversary Ale was next up and was a trifle disappointing. Much had been said at the brewery shop about the might of its taste and how it was a true celebration ale, in honour of the brewery's anniversary. Except, when we poured it out and drank it down it lacked much oomph. It was a pleasant palatable pale beer. Like an IPA. There is nothing wrong with that, except that their Beechwood on draught and the 300's Old Ale we had last time are eminently better beers.
Next we had our final Honley Heaven, the Summer Wine Brewery Cohort, described as a Double Black Belgian Rye PA. This was not a beer fearful of hops and had sacks of the buggers in it, making it a very astringent bitter beast. My only gripe however was the very ascorbic dryness presented, which was not mellowed by other ingredients, which is a facet I have noticed in a few SWB bottled beers. I concede I may have made a dumb schoolboy error in thinking it was a dark beer exhibiting all the warming characteristics of a traditional burnt roast flavoured porter or stout - when its clearly another take on the Black IPA. That said though, I don't think I was in the mood for another hop demon and this may well have tainted my review. It was like the initial taste of Brewdog Physics, but followed by their Punk IPA. That is not a good combination, however clever it may be, or however impressive the hopping may seem. I think I need an SWB night to sort this out!
The End of all beers?
Our penultimate tipple was the eagerly anticipated Durham White Stout. As per much sales blurb and innovative media coverage it has been made clear that this is an old style of ale - in that, any strong flavoured and high alcohol beer used to be called stout, irrespective of the colour or nature of treatment of the malts used. I intend to post a full review of this beer in the coming weeks so will say only that it packed in a lot of hop flavour, and was replete with oily resonances from hop resins.
Finally, as the night and to some extent cogent thought and consciousness ebbed away, we had our final beer, Nogne Porter from deepest Norway. Their porter, a product which attracts an authentic Norwegian take on alcohol pricing, is labelled as an English style porter. It certainly ticked all the boxes, and was, even if you may wish to discount my appreciation based on the tumult of ale and alcohol that forwent this sampling, one of the most enjoyable beers of the night. It was a North European take on the glorious UK/Baltic dark beers of the past, but not as strong, and was as rich, rewarding, unctuous, creamy malty and vinous as I had hoped. For more information about this beer see : Nogne with that "o" I can't do, blog. .
At this stage young Andrew had gone home and I was ready for a long sleep so it was the end of beer tasting that day. I would certainly go back and try some more of the SWB bottles and a couple of Nogne's, plus a Durham White Stout as implied above. In the meantime, I can recommend you get to the ARBS and take a look yourself. There are huge numbers of UK and European bottles to choose from, plus very reasonably priced real ale on draught to take away.
And if you want something special, even though the Nogne - O, Moor, the Brampton Bock and some of the new French beers are sold at a premium price as a result of the idiot-hate-fest of HSBD, you should still ask Dave about the product and you'll find that there are always treats to be had. This is a completely independent praise fest driven by a desire to preserve one to one retail I should point out.
So, that's all for now, enjoy your haul of bottled beers from wherever they may emanate, and I will be back on soon with more info on the beautiful drink.
Wee Beefy.
on Friday, having recovered from my arctic trek, I had the chance to visit Davefromtshop at Davefromtshop's shop, to sample a few beers or 10. Arriving about 10 minutes before closing meant we could quickly get down to the serious business of reviewing the handpicked selection of offerings, which were shared between me Davefromtshop and Andrew, which meant we could have a few more than usual.
Starter for 10PM.
We began with a sensible pint of real live actual real ale from the handpumps in the shop. Alas the tasty Thorne Pale Ale had run out so it was a toss up between Farmers Brown Cow and something from Cottage. This posed a little dilemma for me - am not overly smitten with brown ale at all, and despite Dave's encouraging promises, I refused to believe that I would like the Cottage beer, since their output is so unfailingly poor or odd. In light of which, I decided to "go brown". (this is not a euphemism)
The Cow was in decent form, and being served slightly flat it allowed some of the flavours which may otherwise have been hidden in the foam to come through. This whetted our appetites for an eclectic selection that, relying on my decision to draft text the beer list being a sensible one, should be written below (Bottle conditioned ales are marked BCA):
Moor Brewery Somerland Gold 5.% BCA
Coors White Shield 5.6% BCA
Summer Wine Brewery Covenant Aromatic Red Ale 5.2%
Holsworthy Muck & Straw 4.4% BCA
Isle of Mull Terror of Tobermory 4.6%
Oban Bay Skelpt Lug 4.2%
Harvey's Imperial Stout unknown corked vintage 9% BCA
Summer Wine Brewery Teleporter 5%
Chiltern Anniversary Ale 6.1% BCA
Summer Wine Brewery Cohort Double Black Belgian Rye PA 7.5%
Durham White Stout 7.2% BCA
Nogne Porter 7% BCA
Its worth pointing out that the Holsworthy beer was a gift from a mysterious stranger, so its not on sale in the shop, which is a shame. Also, the Harvey's is a survivor from a long ago delivery - more about that in a bit.
Top beers were possibly the Holsworthy, the White Shield, the Teleporter, the White Stout and definitely the Nogne, somewhat expensive but price worthy porter from deepest Norway.
The devils in the (lack of) detail
The Somerland was also nice but not really what I was expecting, in that it had a very light bitter flavour that I hadn't really expected of a West Country Ale. That doesn't make it a bad beer, just a surprise. The Shield was a very well rounded but slightly less hoppy than I remembered beer, but scored well on the night owing to it having been brewed with impeccable malt balance, and also for containing very palatable drinking yeast which ironically you were always meant to keep aside with White Shield.
The SWB Covenant was a red ale (I think!) and was as bitter as you'd expect for one of their beers but it may be that I was expecting more identifiable red malt flavours. Instead I was slapped in the face by the hops and then spent time waiting for another layer of flavour to appear and make itself known, but it just never happened. Which was a shame. Mind you, this was the first beer displaying uncompromising hops that night so the change was noteworthy at least.
The muck and straw would likely horrify any hophead,citrus fiend or Simcoe addict but it was more West Country than the Moor offering whilst managing to be very drinkable, and if you forgive an understandable reliance on malt, was a very refreshing session beer.
The Isle of Mull offering was much anticipated, especially since I thought they had closed down, but alas this was a very weak flavoured one dimensional beer which failed to really have any winning characteristics. There was a hint of peat in the malt but no hops and it was, an overriding, really thin brew. A terror indeed.
The Oban Ales was memorable only for having a really strange malt flavour, and by simply failing entirely to be a dark ale - Bradfield Yorkshire Farmer is probably the same colour - not that I am sure now the cloud of grog has cleared where exactly I got the idea it was a dark beer from! It won a few extra points for having ensconced some peaty malt notes hat may have been present in a bottle of Islay ales, but again failed to carry much flavour, and it was the deceit of its alleged dark character that let down its score.
Not Grimstad but Grim stuff
By this time I was desperate for a real live dark beer, so we dusted off the last ARBS stock bottle of Harvey's Imperial Russian Stout, Gales brewery corked, with a label proclaiming that it was from 2001 but a 2002 brewing awards reference on the back label, meaning we have no idea when its actually from. Suffice to say however, what we do know is that this is one from a batch of Harvey's Imperial Stout that were sold at the shop, 6 of which me and Dave bought between us based on the ultimate excellence of previous vintages. Every one so far has been flat, with no life or work from the yeast, and sour, tasting of yeast and molasses only. Suffice to say they have been poured down the sink.
And, quelle surprise, this one was also a container of foul flavours. If you fought through the grim sour yeast and nasty bullying molasses you could detect a hint of how the beer should, have tasted, but it was too small a reward for such hard work.
What's incredibly frustrating is, I wrote to Miles Jenner at the brewery in 2008 after bottle number 3 came out crap and he confirmed that there was an identified problem with the yeast, that it hadn't worked or started or done something, and the beer had therefore not developed or indeed, remained drinkable. Which is great, but even considering that he took my address and promised to send me two of the new batch of bottles (now out, as per Boak and Bailey at : Harveys Imperial Russian Stout new crown capped brew ) no recall of the known duff beer was mooted, no replacements were sent to me, and all the customers who bought bottles from ARBS will have opened them at any stage after purchase and found them crap, with Dave and myself's rigorous and passionate endorsements ringing in the ears no doubt.
A hugely disappointing show from Harvey's, and one which affords them no credit at all.
Our next offering was thankfully very nice, and it was a dark beer - it was the excellent Teleporter from Summer Wine Brewery that I have reviewed before. Have a look at the tags list down the side to find my sober review of this ale!
Next we had our final Honley Heaven, the Summer Wine Brewery Cohort, described as a Double Black Belgian Rye PA. This was not a beer fearful of hops and had sacks of the buggers in it, making it a very astringent bitter beast. My only gripe however was the very ascorbic dryness presented, which was not mellowed by other ingredients, which is a facet I have noticed in a few SWB bottled beers. I concede I may have made a dumb schoolboy error in thinking it was a dark beer exhibiting all the warming characteristics of a traditional burnt roast flavoured porter or stout - when its clearly another take on the Black IPA. That said though, I don't think I was in the mood for another hop demon and this may well have tainted my review. It was like the initial taste of Brewdog Physics, but followed by their Punk IPA. That is not a good combination, however clever it may be, or however impressive the hopping may seem. I think I need an SWB night to sort this out!
The End of all beers?
Our penultimate tipple was the eagerly anticipated Durham White Stout. As per much sales blurb and innovative media coverage it has been made clear that this is an old style of ale - in that, any strong flavoured and high alcohol beer used to be called stout, irrespective of the colour or nature of treatment of the malts used. I intend to post a full review of this beer in the coming weeks so will say only that it packed in a lot of hop flavour, and was replete with oily resonances from hop resins.
Finally, as the night and to some extent cogent thought and consciousness ebbed away, we had our final beer, Nogne Porter from deepest Norway. Their porter, a product which attracts an authentic Norwegian take on alcohol pricing, is labelled as an English style porter. It certainly ticked all the boxes, and was, even if you may wish to discount my appreciation based on the tumult of ale and alcohol that forwent this sampling, one of the most enjoyable beers of the night. It was a North European take on the glorious UK/Baltic dark beers of the past, but not as strong, and was as rich, rewarding, unctuous, creamy malty and vinous as I had hoped. For more information about this beer see : Nogne with that "o" I can't do, blog. .
At this stage young Andrew had gone home and I was ready for a long sleep so it was the end of beer tasting that day. I would certainly go back and try some more of the SWB bottles and a couple of Nogne's, plus a Durham White Stout as implied above. In the meantime, I can recommend you get to the ARBS and take a look yourself. There are huge numbers of UK and European bottles to choose from, plus very reasonably priced real ale on draught to take away.
And if you want something special, even though the Nogne - O, Moor, the Brampton Bock and some of the new French beers are sold at a premium price as a result of the idiot-hate-fest of HSBD, you should still ask Dave about the product and you'll find that there are always treats to be had. This is a completely independent praise fest driven by a desire to preserve one to one retail I should point out.
So, that's all for now, enjoy your haul of bottled beers from wherever they may emanate, and I will be back on soon with more info on the beautiful drink.
Wee Beefy.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Wee Beefy's beer review bites - Christmas beers I have known.
Hello,
In the doldrum days of boring arse January I concede that finding the inspiration to do almost anything is difficult to come across. Thank Christmas then that I still have a few Yuletide brews sat in their bottles to enjoy. Please find below a couple of reviews of two quite different ales.
1st offering :
Brewery : Tucher, Germany
Beer : Kristkindlesmarkt Bier
Strength : 6.0%
BCA/none BCA : None
Purchased : Archer Road Beer Stop, Sheffield
Colour : Pale gold perhaps Baltic amber, with a thin but quickly none existent white head.
Carbonation/Pouring : The cap departs with no noise and there is a big fizz when you pour the beer into the glass, but then very little visible carbonation follows - this despite serving the beer a degree or two warmer than would usually be ideal.
Aroma : Clean lager with a mellow slightly sweet biscuit malt.
Taste : a very drinkable beer, this has sweet malt and a pleasing lager malt flavour with hints of banana somewhere in the background. The finish is clean and understandably the mellow lager malt dominates but there is a slight bitterness in the aftertaste that lingers between swigs.
The beer takes on a more balanced malt texture with the sweetness changing to a warming malt flavour, that ensures a big mouthfeel with each drink. Despite the fact that the beer rests almost entirely flat, the beer fizzes on the tongue if you take a swig, and it seemed to me that the balancing agent that "warmed" the beer up was perhaps a wheat malt, although the beer is perfectly clear.
Head Retention : None. I kid ye not.
WBrating : 7.0 - yep, its flat alright, and that's quite weird, but its shandy strength drink-ability belies its ABV and made me wish I could have tucked straight away into another.
Second subject.
Brewery : Summer Wine Brewery, Honley West Yorkshire
Beer : Teleporter 10 malt porter
Strength : 5.0%
BCA/none BCA : none
Purchased : Archer Road Beer Stop, Sheffield.
You will note that the image above (apart from being a bit dark, which is the camera's fault, obviously, because the battery decided to run out before I got a good shot), shows the SWB porter modelling a Sheffield beer festival glass, in order to create an unbiased reflection of my pint glass collection...
Colour : Black as coal, with a pleasing dark cherry when held with a light behind it, topped with an enticing mocha head.
Carbonation/Pouring : pours frothy initially and the level of fizz is appreciable without being in your face.
Aroma : Burnt sugar, hops, roast malt , and a hint of lemon zest if you breathe in.
Taste : Delicious astringent bitter malts flood in, bitterness coming from burnt malt and espresso characteristics which are amply reigned in by a creaminess , which perhaps reflects some of the less harsh malts used in the mix.
The second taste reveals some chocolate malt and and a smokey flavour, along with a balancing seam of pleasing creaminess which could almost be malted milk. This mingles effortlessly with the bitterness from the hops and roast malts. The bitterness builds trough the drink and lingers long after each taste.
Head retention : Good throughout, following the malty tide obediently down the glass right till the end.
WBrating : 8.8 - showing that SWB can pull off a tricky balance in their beers, and for being a damn good bitter, roast malt, porter at the same time.
I hope to be free of my homely shackles tomorrow so may have some beer news to post - it is a beer and pubs blog after all....
Wee Beefy
In the doldrum days of boring arse January I concede that finding the inspiration to do almost anything is difficult to come across. Thank Christmas then that I still have a few Yuletide brews sat in their bottles to enjoy. Please find below a couple of reviews of two quite different ales.
1st offering :
Brewery : Tucher, Germany
Beer : Kristkindlesmarkt Bier
Strength : 6.0%
BCA/none BCA : None
Purchased : Archer Road Beer Stop, Sheffield
Colour : Pale gold perhaps Baltic amber, with a thin but quickly none existent white head.
Carbonation/Pouring : The cap departs with no noise and there is a big fizz when you pour the beer into the glass, but then very little visible carbonation follows - this despite serving the beer a degree or two warmer than would usually be ideal.
Aroma : Clean lager with a mellow slightly sweet biscuit malt.
Taste : a very drinkable beer, this has sweet malt and a pleasing lager malt flavour with hints of banana somewhere in the background. The finish is clean and understandably the mellow lager malt dominates but there is a slight bitterness in the aftertaste that lingers between swigs.
The beer takes on a more balanced malt texture with the sweetness changing to a warming malt flavour, that ensures a big mouthfeel with each drink. Despite the fact that the beer rests almost entirely flat, the beer fizzes on the tongue if you take a swig, and it seemed to me that the balancing agent that "warmed" the beer up was perhaps a wheat malt, although the beer is perfectly clear.
Head Retention : None. I kid ye not.
WBrating : 7.0 - yep, its flat alright, and that's quite weird, but its shandy strength drink-ability belies its ABV and made me wish I could have tucked straight away into another.
Second subject.
Brewery : Summer Wine Brewery, Honley West Yorkshire
Beer : Teleporter 10 malt porter
Strength : 5.0%
BCA/none BCA : none
Purchased : Archer Road Beer Stop, Sheffield.
You will note that the image above (apart from being a bit dark, which is the camera's fault, obviously, because the battery decided to run out before I got a good shot), shows the SWB porter modelling a Sheffield beer festival glass, in order to create an unbiased reflection of my pint glass collection...
Colour : Black as coal, with a pleasing dark cherry when held with a light behind it, topped with an enticing mocha head.
Carbonation/Pouring : pours frothy initially and the level of fizz is appreciable without being in your face.
Aroma : Burnt sugar, hops, roast malt , and a hint of lemon zest if you breathe in.
Taste : Delicious astringent bitter malts flood in, bitterness coming from burnt malt and espresso characteristics which are amply reigned in by a creaminess , which perhaps reflects some of the less harsh malts used in the mix.
The second taste reveals some chocolate malt and and a smokey flavour, along with a balancing seam of pleasing creaminess which could almost be malted milk. This mingles effortlessly with the bitterness from the hops and roast malts. The bitterness builds trough the drink and lingers long after each taste.
Head retention : Good throughout, following the malty tide obediently down the glass right till the end.
WBrating : 8.8 - showing that SWB can pull off a tricky balance in their beers, and for being a damn good bitter, roast malt, porter at the same time.
I hope to be free of my homely shackles tomorrow so may have some beer news to post - it is a beer and pubs blog after all....
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
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
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
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