Halcyon days.
Warm summers, strong sunshine, autumn leaves, cold white frost an inch thick on frozen surfaces, huge downpours onto moist Spring ground, lovely rare steak and venison, lamb casserole, beautiful red wine. The feeling that its Friday morning when in fact its Saturday and you can close your heavy eyes and get back to sleep. All things that can easily, for me at least, be associated with Halcyon. No longer, alas, with the Thornbridge beer of the same name.
I used to love Halcyon. It was, frankly, a completely terrific beer. Bundles of fruit and citrus hops balanced perfectly in a scrumptious mix to make the ideal fruity pale ale, but with beautiful lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. In 2012 I came back from a week of slightly less inspiring beers in Crete and went to the Bath Hotel for a pint. I wasn't actually enamoured with the selection of real ales and kegs so went for a bottle of Thornbridge Halcyon. I absolutely loved it.
This was the first beer that I loved in cask, on keg, and in a bottle. It was so well balanced, it hit all the right notes in my book for a wonderfully refreshing strong pale ale. Its arrival at any pub was a triumph of delivery over expectation because it was also almost always better than I hoped or imagined it would be.
Three weeks ago, likely more, I was in the Bath Hotel, talking to Chris, or a man with a similar or entirely different name, who is currently running the pub. I have been going to the Bath less often lately but that isn't a reflection of beer quality, more of a different drinking pattern, less often being one feature. I noticed that Halcyon was on keg and was about £4.70 a pint, and ordered it with glee. And then I tasted it.
Um...someone forgot to add the citrus hops and mouthwatering fruit flavours for a start. And the bitterness was there, but was bleak and harsh and a little like paracetamol. I had expected a wonderful taste, and hadn't had some for a while, but this was a terrible re-enactment of a once wonderful beer.
I don't know enough about brewing to figure out what changes have been made to the recipe, or indeed why Thornbridge beer has become so poor - especially given the excellent pale they brewed back in September. I do think that an alleged merry go round of new brewers in quick succession may have destabilised the brewing, but if that is the case the solution is surely simple.... employ a good reliable brewer on a long term rather than short(est) term basis.
I am sure that running pubs makes Thornbridge more money than brewing beer does, so as a business I can forgive them for prioritising one over the other (if they indeed are) but I can't forgive them for ruining one of m,y former favourite beers ever, and making a rubbish version of Halcyon, worse even than the needlessly sweet Belgian version.
What lies ahead in 2017 for Thornbridge? I hope its better beer, simple as.
Yours in regret and disappointment
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Thornbridge Halcyon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thornbridge Halcyon. Show all posts
Saturday, 31 December 2016
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Ta-ra, DaDa
Hello,
I am informed by a number of reliable sources (hoping not to be hoist by my own petard here!) that tonight will be the last night of trading at DaDa on Trippet Lane Sheffield. I understand the business and therefore assumedly the building (?) has been sold and therefore, of course, DaDa will be no more.
This is disappointing, but not entirely surprising news. I used to like DaDa especially because it was quiet. I was well aware that this was not good for the business, and so it proved. This, even against the backdrop of numerous managers and excellent members of staff, many of whom have gone onto manage other Thornbridge pubs. On that basis, the renowned quietness and inability to attract drinkers other than on Friday and Saturday nights is somewhat a puzzle. Or is it?
My first impressions of DAda or DaDa or similar weren't all that positive. Here is my blog post from November 2011 which sets out my concerns about its decor and lack of prominence for cask ales. Although I came to love Dada (no use fannying around with extra capital letters now eh?) I think some of my initial observations rang true when I last visited om January and had a half of pale ale before meeting Tash. Its not comfortable. Its noisy. It lacks atmosphere.
The strange thing is, Thornbridge has won national awards as a pub owning brewery. Like its brands or venues or not, its hardly unsuccessful in respect of running bars and boozers. The problem with Dada was, nobody really got what it was about. In fact, Dada never really got what it was about.
I understand the design was the brainchild or dream of the directors of Thornbridge. And it shows. Its not really the kind of place someone not in their middle age would want to go. It is pleasingly unconventional, but not enough to woo those seeking an unusual night out, whilst not being sufficiently traditional to win over many of the CAMRA crowd. It is and was a beer bar where people were for the most part, not there for the beer. The concept didn't work and it seems Thornbridge, possibly out of blind determination to stick with their vision of the bar and its themes, didn't want to change it.
On Thursday I was in the Bath Hotel drinking the rather amazing Jaipur X, a special keg 10% version of the excellent pale ale. I was with former Dada regulars Mike, Josh, Amy and Ben. As Mike summarised, the final straw was the two absurd huge frozen Heineken posts that were installed on the bar to absolutely no-ones rejoice. That, and long term staff like James, Emily, Steff and Jamie having left, started, or rather accelerated, what had been a slow decline. The music got louder. The gas ran out more often than it should. They stopped serving bar snacks. They bought near out of date keg beer to sell cheap. It was a venue that needed to do one thing to change which it couldn't. It needed to not be Dada.
Its important to point out that I have had some cracking nights in Dada. I have also drunk some amazing beers. I have met friends in there, and supped til closing time, I have reveled in the Halcyon, the Chiron, the Schlenkerla and the Melba and others. I have enjoyed its silence, its lack of customers, and its ska. Unfortunately, not enough other people did.
So long, ta-ra and it was good knowing you Dada.
Wee Beefy
I am informed by a number of reliable sources (hoping not to be hoist by my own petard here!) that tonight will be the last night of trading at DaDa on Trippet Lane Sheffield. I understand the business and therefore assumedly the building (?) has been sold and therefore, of course, DaDa will be no more.
This is disappointing, but not entirely surprising news. I used to like DaDa especially because it was quiet. I was well aware that this was not good for the business, and so it proved. This, even against the backdrop of numerous managers and excellent members of staff, many of whom have gone onto manage other Thornbridge pubs. On that basis, the renowned quietness and inability to attract drinkers other than on Friday and Saturday nights is somewhat a puzzle. Or is it?
My first impressions of DAda or DaDa or similar weren't all that positive. Here is my blog post from November 2011 which sets out my concerns about its decor and lack of prominence for cask ales. Although I came to love Dada (no use fannying around with extra capital letters now eh?) I think some of my initial observations rang true when I last visited om January and had a half of pale ale before meeting Tash. Its not comfortable. Its noisy. It lacks atmosphere.
The strange thing is, Thornbridge has won national awards as a pub owning brewery. Like its brands or venues or not, its hardly unsuccessful in respect of running bars and boozers. The problem with Dada was, nobody really got what it was about. In fact, Dada never really got what it was about.
I understand the design was the brainchild or dream of the directors of Thornbridge. And it shows. Its not really the kind of place someone not in their middle age would want to go. It is pleasingly unconventional, but not enough to woo those seeking an unusual night out, whilst not being sufficiently traditional to win over many of the CAMRA crowd. It is and was a beer bar where people were for the most part, not there for the beer. The concept didn't work and it seems Thornbridge, possibly out of blind determination to stick with their vision of the bar and its themes, didn't want to change it.
On Thursday I was in the Bath Hotel drinking the rather amazing Jaipur X, a special keg 10% version of the excellent pale ale. I was with former Dada regulars Mike, Josh, Amy and Ben. As Mike summarised, the final straw was the two absurd huge frozen Heineken posts that were installed on the bar to absolutely no-ones rejoice. That, and long term staff like James, Emily, Steff and Jamie having left, started, or rather accelerated, what had been a slow decline. The music got louder. The gas ran out more often than it should. They stopped serving bar snacks. They bought near out of date keg beer to sell cheap. It was a venue that needed to do one thing to change which it couldn't. It needed to not be Dada.
Its important to point out that I have had some cracking nights in Dada. I have also drunk some amazing beers. I have met friends in there, and supped til closing time, I have reveled in the Halcyon, the Chiron, the Schlenkerla and the Melba and others. I have enjoyed its silence, its lack of customers, and its ska. Unfortunately, not enough other people did.
So long, ta-ra and it was good knowing you Dada.
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Varsity Brewing Challange 2013.
Hello,
I coined it thus since I think a positive note about the brewing challenge is that it could maybe happen again. With a different commercial brewery perhaps. For now I'll just quickly tell you about the two beers I tried. Plus divulging some other info....
First up, Karha was brewed by the Polytechnic. Do you see what I did there? I pretended it was the 1980's! Oh, how we laughed about higher education reform as our families lost their jobs under Thatcher, etc...
Anyhoo, so as I was saying, Hallam Uni brewed Karha with Thornbridge. Points are deserved for it being in a similar vein name wise (Thornbridge often use gods goddesses saints and deities for their beer names, although I reckon that I'd mischievously suggest Anemoi as a name for a beer.....) and in some ways, in not being particularly pale, it was slightly bolder.
As I said before, I don't rate non dark (it wasn't dark) spiced beers, but the spice wasn't too intrusive. It was easy enough to drink, and seemed to be stimulating debate when it was on the bar in the Bath Hotel next to Brearley, which is sort of a backhanded compliment.
Brearley was brewed by Sheffield Uni Real Ale Society also at Thornbridge, this was a pale hoppy ale. It wins the prize for its name simply because its named after such an influential Sheffielder. It perhaps looked a little more appetising than Karha, and its description was better, but...
I didn't really like it. I am guessing it had Nelson Sauvin or Simcoe in, because it had that familiar BrewDog style cat pee aroma. In the mouthfeel it was a bit thin, but also had a strange unbalanced wet hop sort of flavour, but not in a good way. It lacked carbonation, but to its credit, and this applies to both beers, you could see what was trying to be achieved.
So as not to look like a completely miserable old twat, I'd sum up by saying that both were good first efforts and frankly, in brewing anything at all whatsoever, both sets of students demonstrated that they knew more about brewing than me.
So, on next to a quick round up of pubs and beers.
At the Bath that same night I had some of the last of the Halcyon. I was a trifle miffed because it was on sale in a nearby Thornbridge pub for £3.80 a pint. It was near its retirement here, not off, but not enjoyable enough to finish, so I swapped it for half of the Dark Star Hophead.
Prior to this I'd been in the Closed Shop chatting to Paultous, Chris and Nathan, and managing to somehow make every beer I wanted to try go off. I started with a Bees Knees Biter, possibly also brewed with help from the Uni real ale society, then a Broadside, my second choice after I looked at the Blue Bee Lustin For Stout the wrong way. The broadside was a nice change, but when it was realised that the Stout hadn't run out I found it was bitter and slightly burnt and not how it should taste. Humph.
I was off straight to the Bath from here but bumped into Adam from the C&H so decided to pop in the Hallamshire House with him for one. Here as alluded to earlier I also had tired old (but cheaper) Halcyon. He made a better choice in having the excellent Imperial Oatmeal Stout, but I didn't want to be trolleyed and avoided it. In essence I was on an unlucky run, and didn't really enjoy any of my beers. Shit happens, it seems.
Last night I was out watching a man. He was from elsewhere and he said things that made you laugh. Prior to that I was in DAda enjoying pints of Acorn Blonde and Acorn Bullseye, and would have had a Dark Star Porter - had that not also gone off the minute I coveted it. We also played an entertaining game of "shutting the 'kin door hobby" which involved me moaning a lot about the door being left open by young uns, or generally not closing. I live a fast paced and heady life....
After the gig we went to the Rutland - I had a pint of a dark beer that has escaped me, Mr Cain a pint of Becks. Great music on the jukebox as always and the beer was in good condition - it may have been a Raw beer come to think of it.
We finished for a last one on the Sheffield Tap where I had a pint of an aggressively bitter but pleasant drinking Buxton Moor top and Mr Cain a pint of Bernard Light. We got to sit in the brewery room on a surprisingly quiet sessoin, before wending our way home.
So, I have reached the end of a week where beer wise, not everything was good. But never mind, there's always Tuesday to redress the balance. And Thursday at BeerX. Friday maybe. Saturday....
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
I coined it thus since I think a positive note about the brewing challenge is that it could maybe happen again. With a different commercial brewery perhaps. For now I'll just quickly tell you about the two beers I tried. Plus divulging some other info....
First up, Karha was brewed by the Polytechnic. Do you see what I did there? I pretended it was the 1980's! Oh, how we laughed about higher education reform as our families lost their jobs under Thatcher, etc...
Anyhoo, so as I was saying, Hallam Uni brewed Karha with Thornbridge. Points are deserved for it being in a similar vein name wise (Thornbridge often use gods goddesses saints and deities for their beer names, although I reckon that I'd mischievously suggest Anemoi as a name for a beer.....) and in some ways, in not being particularly pale, it was slightly bolder.
As I said before, I don't rate non dark (it wasn't dark) spiced beers, but the spice wasn't too intrusive. It was easy enough to drink, and seemed to be stimulating debate when it was on the bar in the Bath Hotel next to Brearley, which is sort of a backhanded compliment.
Brearley was brewed by Sheffield Uni Real Ale Society also at Thornbridge, this was a pale hoppy ale. It wins the prize for its name simply because its named after such an influential Sheffielder. It perhaps looked a little more appetising than Karha, and its description was better, but...
I didn't really like it. I am guessing it had Nelson Sauvin or Simcoe in, because it had that familiar BrewDog style cat pee aroma. In the mouthfeel it was a bit thin, but also had a strange unbalanced wet hop sort of flavour, but not in a good way. It lacked carbonation, but to its credit, and this applies to both beers, you could see what was trying to be achieved.
So as not to look like a completely miserable old twat, I'd sum up by saying that both were good first efforts and frankly, in brewing anything at all whatsoever, both sets of students demonstrated that they knew more about brewing than me.
So, on next to a quick round up of pubs and beers.
At the Bath that same night I had some of the last of the Halcyon. I was a trifle miffed because it was on sale in a nearby Thornbridge pub for £3.80 a pint. It was near its retirement here, not off, but not enjoyable enough to finish, so I swapped it for half of the Dark Star Hophead.
Prior to this I'd been in the Closed Shop chatting to Paultous, Chris and Nathan, and managing to somehow make every beer I wanted to try go off. I started with a Bees Knees Biter, possibly also brewed with help from the Uni real ale society, then a Broadside, my second choice after I looked at the Blue Bee Lustin For Stout the wrong way. The broadside was a nice change, but when it was realised that the Stout hadn't run out I found it was bitter and slightly burnt and not how it should taste. Humph.
I was off straight to the Bath from here but bumped into Adam from the C&H so decided to pop in the Hallamshire House with him for one. Here as alluded to earlier I also had tired old (but cheaper) Halcyon. He made a better choice in having the excellent Imperial Oatmeal Stout, but I didn't want to be trolleyed and avoided it. In essence I was on an unlucky run, and didn't really enjoy any of my beers. Shit happens, it seems.
Last night I was out watching a man. He was from elsewhere and he said things that made you laugh. Prior to that I was in DAda enjoying pints of Acorn Blonde and Acorn Bullseye, and would have had a Dark Star Porter - had that not also gone off the minute I coveted it. We also played an entertaining game of "shutting the 'kin door hobby" which involved me moaning a lot about the door being left open by young uns, or generally not closing. I live a fast paced and heady life....
After the gig we went to the Rutland - I had a pint of a dark beer that has escaped me, Mr Cain a pint of Becks. Great music on the jukebox as always and the beer was in good condition - it may have been a Raw beer come to think of it.
We finished for a last one on the Sheffield Tap where I had a pint of an aggressively bitter but pleasant drinking Buxton Moor top and Mr Cain a pint of Bernard Light. We got to sit in the brewery room on a surprisingly quiet sessoin, before wending our way home.
So, I have reached the end of a week where beer wise, not everything was good. But never mind, there's always Tuesday to redress the balance. And Thursday at BeerX. Friday maybe. Saturday....
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Pints with Fluff
Fluff: "Scott"
Me: "Fluff"
Fluff: "Scott"
Me: "You are called Fluff. Geoff needs to know your name"
Fluff: "I think he'd rather call me Scott..."
So went the chat in the Sheffield Tap brewery room last night. Given the obvious annoyance that Fluff (for short, Fluffy in formal company) feels towards his nickname, it's important for me, as a mate, to give a mature and proportionate response to his preference not to not be called Fluff. The post title is that response....
We were catching up on a pub crawl starting at the Sheffield Tap, since we'd not met at the Hop. I was first to arrive, and Geoff was stood at the bar whilst the barman was serving a bloke, who's every choice of beer, of which he wanted 3 pints, ran out, so it was taking quite a while to serve him. There was another member of staff, but she had prioritised cleaning up over the 10 customers not getting served, and when she abandoned that to serve someone, she went straight to a bloke who'd just arrived at the bar at the other end. Well done.
Anyhoo I finally got to buy something - two halves. One was Tapped Brew Co Bullet, which due to my amazing eyesight I'd misread as buffet (I suspect there isn't a buffet hop, but it is brewed in a former dining room so its not as daft as you think!). The other was a half of the Karha, a beer brewed at Thornbridge by Sheffield Hallam University real ale society and brewer Ben Wood. This is the first of the Varsity Brewing Challenge beers I've tried, the other being Brearley from the Sheffield University folks.
Am not usually a fan of spiced beers, and so was disappointed that the brew was going to have bite - I loved Ilkley Chipotle Chocolate Porter, because heat in dark beers can be complimentary - as proved by chilli chocolate. Heat or spice in light coloured beer is rarely successful though. Against which backdrop I can report that it was actually OK. Not setting the world alight, but an enjoyable drink. What I will say is, Brearley best not be spiced.....
Next up I had a pint of the Tapped Brew Co Bramling, which I'd enjoyed at the Hop beer fest. It was just as good now, and nice to see a beer showcasing a British Hop, and also about £2.80 a pint which isn't bad at all. And don't forget, there's a beer launch for a Magic Rock (innovative) and Kissmeyer (overpriced) collaboration brew on Tuesday. Alas I will be fannying about in the West all day, so will miss it, but it sounds like a good do.
Off to the Rutland next, where I haven't been for a while, and straight onto halves of Magic 8 Ball from Magic Rock for me, and Brewdog 5AM Saint for Fluff. The 8 Ball was £5.50 a pint, and even being a 7.0% Keykeg that is a little steep (I initially thought it was good because I thought it was 8%, thus over the HSBD), but the Brew Dog was virtually the same price, and nowhere near as strong. Outrageous! The 8 Ball was OK, but it seems to have never matched its early quality and balance, although it improved on warming.
We were joined by Commonside Crawler Simon (although that sounds like a criminal nickname!) and he went straight onto the Double Top Brewery Madness Porter at 5.2%, £3.20 odd, and worth every penny. I had the porter next as well, and found that by adding its silky smooth richness to the remaining 8 Ball I got a far better beer! Like I said, 8 Ball lacks the balance of its early appearances.
We walked up to the Bath Hotel for our final pints, and in here it was really a no contest as to what we'd drink - pints of Halcyon all round! Fluff may well be a new convert, but to be fair, if anyone had any other beers later on I have absolutely no idea what they were because the Halcyon finished us all off. Even at over £4.00 a pint (which is steep for cask below HSBD) we weren't willing to miss out on Halcyon. It really is the ferret's fingers. Or something.
So ended a great night out with good friends, great beers and not so great nicknames. Ideal preparation for next weeks SIBA BeerX.
See You all there!
Wee beefy
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Celebration crawl
Evening,
myself and Mr P finally got out on our Wanderians on Wednesday, the day I found out I'd got a job interview. Not quite as tankard clinking and boisterous a piece of news as getting the bugger, but reason enough to celebrate. Because, you know. Normally I lead a virtually dry Methodist existence, with alcohol only passing my lips under duress. Di blah.
I had hoped for a Commonside jaunt as The Closed Shop is rapidly becoming my new favourite pub - more to come on that subject no doubt over the next month. One thing I'll quickly say is that its testament to the hard work of Mr Stephens from the death star canteen, to access the widest possible range of beers within the terms of his lease, that he has so consistently put on exceptional beer. Not every micro brewery is good, is kind of what I'm saying.
Anyhoo, this wander started after a brisk yomp through the unpromising territory of Neepsend, and up to Rutland Street, and the Woodside Inn. Landlord Gary was on hand to dispense warm greetings and cool beer. Better still, he had the Toolmakers Razmataz on. The former Forest pub, is the nearest licensed premises to the brewery.
I was a little confused when he said they'd only been in a week; not knowing much about the rapidly changing licensing history of the pub I didn't want to seem like I knew nothing, when in reality that is the case. I thought it reopened before Christmas, sorry, I know it reopened before Christmas, but that the incumbents then were still there now. Either way it didn't matter. Because the beer was good, and it was only £2.50 a pint. Or similar....
We stopped for two in the end, I had a brief chat with Gary about ales and his intention to regularly stock Toolmakers products. He actually had two Wood Street beers on as well, and I was offered a try of the Golden Larch. It wasn't in bad condition, but it was an odd mix of sweet malt with a bitter bite in the aftertaste. Interestingly, talking to Shakespeare Martin (no relation to the pub) at Magna yesterday, he said their beers had been on top form at The Hillsborough. Perhaps I should pop down to try them. And get over myself.
Off to the Gardeners Rest next and back on familiar Wanderians territory. Here I had a pint of Mulberry Duck brewery Wildfowler Mild, alas I forget what Mr P had but it was a pleasant pale ale. The Wildfowler was, erm, interesting. It probably comes under the category twiggy, but there was no crystal malt lurking in the mix - there was just too much mix. Not unpleasant though. Far better was my half of Early Dawn from Hayrake brewery, which was very enjoyable.
Our final, Mr P's anyway, stop was the Ship. As always 3 excellent beers were on, and we both had pints of Chantry Brewery Iron and Steel, a 4.0% darkish bitter at £2.65 a pint. As always there was an enjoyable mix of catchy, fiendishly catchy and achingly uncool tunes from the past to keep us amused, and a decent number of customers to drown out my somewhat late toasts.
After Mr P had headed home I popped in the Wellington across the roundabout and had an excellent half of the Little Ale Cart Darlington and what might have been their latest single hopped ale - in fact, it was, but I cleverly deleted the text containing this information in a bid to free up space on my creakily slow phone. For precisely no benefit.
I jumped off the tram at the University next and went to the Bath Hotel for a pint of Dark Star Festival and the brilliant 1910 Porter, which I topped off with a sneaky Halcyon, possibly on cask, but am not sure (last night it was on Keykeg and cask). It was nice to get to try some new (to me) Dark Star beers, and equally enjoyable to slake some Halcyon. Talking of which, as above, I was also in last night supping a couple of pints of that fantastic haze maker. It was great to finish on such an epic beer, and to catch up with Geoff, and John, from the now disbanded Sheffield beer board. A scheme or concept that none of you know anything about, because, erm, we never set it up, and I never mentioned it...
Business ideas eh!
Wee Beefy
myself and Mr P finally got out on our Wanderians on Wednesday, the day I found out I'd got a job interview. Not quite as tankard clinking and boisterous a piece of news as getting the bugger, but reason enough to celebrate. Because, you know. Normally I lead a virtually dry Methodist existence, with alcohol only passing my lips under duress. Di blah.
I had hoped for a Commonside jaunt as The Closed Shop is rapidly becoming my new favourite pub - more to come on that subject no doubt over the next month. One thing I'll quickly say is that its testament to the hard work of Mr Stephens from the death star canteen, to access the widest possible range of beers within the terms of his lease, that he has so consistently put on exceptional beer. Not every micro brewery is good, is kind of what I'm saying.
Anyhoo, this wander started after a brisk yomp through the unpromising territory of Neepsend, and up to Rutland Street, and the Woodside Inn. Landlord Gary was on hand to dispense warm greetings and cool beer. Better still, he had the Toolmakers Razmataz on. The former Forest pub, is the nearest licensed premises to the brewery.
I was a little confused when he said they'd only been in a week; not knowing much about the rapidly changing licensing history of the pub I didn't want to seem like I knew nothing, when in reality that is the case. I thought it reopened before Christmas, sorry, I know it reopened before Christmas, but that the incumbents then were still there now. Either way it didn't matter. Because the beer was good, and it was only £2.50 a pint. Or similar....
We stopped for two in the end, I had a brief chat with Gary about ales and his intention to regularly stock Toolmakers products. He actually had two Wood Street beers on as well, and I was offered a try of the Golden Larch. It wasn't in bad condition, but it was an odd mix of sweet malt with a bitter bite in the aftertaste. Interestingly, talking to Shakespeare Martin (no relation to the pub) at Magna yesterday, he said their beers had been on top form at The Hillsborough. Perhaps I should pop down to try them. And get over myself.
Off to the Gardeners Rest next and back on familiar Wanderians territory. Here I had a pint of Mulberry Duck brewery Wildfowler Mild, alas I forget what Mr P had but it was a pleasant pale ale. The Wildfowler was, erm, interesting. It probably comes under the category twiggy, but there was no crystal malt lurking in the mix - there was just too much mix. Not unpleasant though. Far better was my half of Early Dawn from Hayrake brewery, which was very enjoyable.
Our final, Mr P's anyway, stop was the Ship. As always 3 excellent beers were on, and we both had pints of Chantry Brewery Iron and Steel, a 4.0% darkish bitter at £2.65 a pint. As always there was an enjoyable mix of catchy, fiendishly catchy and achingly uncool tunes from the past to keep us amused, and a decent number of customers to drown out my somewhat late toasts.
After Mr P had headed home I popped in the Wellington across the roundabout and had an excellent half of the Little Ale Cart Darlington and what might have been their latest single hopped ale - in fact, it was, but I cleverly deleted the text containing this information in a bid to free up space on my creakily slow phone. For precisely no benefit.
I jumped off the tram at the University next and went to the Bath Hotel for a pint of Dark Star Festival and the brilliant 1910 Porter, which I topped off with a sneaky Halcyon, possibly on cask, but am not sure (last night it was on Keykeg and cask). It was nice to get to try some new (to me) Dark Star beers, and equally enjoyable to slake some Halcyon. Talking of which, as above, I was also in last night supping a couple of pints of that fantastic haze maker. It was great to finish on such an epic beer, and to catch up with Geoff, and John, from the now disbanded Sheffield beer board. A scheme or concept that none of you know anything about, because, erm, we never set it up, and I never mentioned it...
Business ideas eh!
Wee Beefy
How to recover from a beer festival
Hello,
it's not particularly scientific but the answer to the above is - go to another one! And then return to the first, but more on that later.
On Friday The Hop in Sheffield hosted it's Sheffield Showcase beer festival, with an extra bar jimmied into the small offshoot to the right of the entrance. I was looking forward to meeting Fluffy in the Bath Hotel first, and we were going to spend a few hours trying the beers but Fluffy, alas, was indisposed. So I went alone, on the assumption I'd bump into someone from the world of drinking along the way.
I started by having a pint in a nearby hostelry - erm, the Closed Shop, at Commonside. It wasn't overly tortuous getting there for once, and I arrived to find a good range of ales, and plenty of customers. I had a pint of Brampton Mild, and it was excellent. A really complex rich dark beer at 4.5%, and selling for £2.90 a pint. In fact, it was so damned nice that I "had" to have two more pints, although I was tempted by the Dukeries Gold on the other end of the bar.
It was a visit that heralded new information as well - it turns out that multi-instrumentalist Beck was in fact the founder of the brewery that make inoffensive fizzy drinks like Vier. This fact, which is made up, stemmed from a conversation about apostrophes - why aren't there any on pump clips? A case in point was J W Lees Bitter. Surely Lees'? Robinson's? Thwaite's?
I don't know why this doesn't apply, or whether indeed its needed (the only explanation I could come up with was "its different for beers", but I had nothing to back that up). None of this would have arisen as a subject if The Closed Shop hadn't elected to sell a product with an amusing superfluous apostrophe, thus "Kevin's Pie's hand made in Sheffield". As far as I can tell, that slogan informs the consumer that the hand that belongs to Kevin's pie is made in Sheffield. Am over it now though, obviously....
Anyway, off to the Hop next and it was rammed as always. I quickly spotted Mr and Mrs Greg Robbery and sat down with them supping a very quaffable pint of the 4.2% Bramling, a collaboration between The Hop and Tapped Brewing Company. Although delicious, it soon became clear that some of the other specials and collaborations were somewhat lacking.
I had a pint of Oatmeal Stout from On The edge, which was surprisingly heavy on the vanilla, which perhaps let down an other wise excellent beer. The Blue Bee and The Hop collaboration Ideal Mash was pleasant enough, but to my surprise, the Steel City Corrosion of Conformity was grim - although I suppose a pale beer with rum and raisins in has a lot of work to do to be enjoyable.
I got my final pint as the Robbery's were leaving, an excellent Dark Hart from Harthill Village Brewery, who seem to have hit the ground running. Alas this coincided with the band starting playing, and sat on he fringe of the infuriatingly large crowd of punters stood at the bar, I suddenly remembered why I can't get on with the Hop. Not least, because Dark Hart was misspelled Dark Heart. Disgraceful!
I finished the night in the Bath Hotel, where I was pleased to spot the rare visitor Steff, and even more pleased, having first had a pint of the Espresso Stout from Dark Star, to spot the Thornbridge Halcyon. On cask. Oh. My. God. Even better than I remembered it on cask, having more body to it than on Keykeg, and served drinkably cool rather than cold, it was an absolutely amazing beer.
I drained my glass whilst catching up with Sparklepete, who is that much easier to spot now I know what he looks like. However, I only spotted him because I thought I recognised someone from Shakespeares sat near the door - and having rather drunkenly established he wasn't who I thought he should be, I discovered he was sat with Pete. Recognised by proxy, as the young man commented.
So, a mixed bag regarding the Hop festival really. Ironically, I'd heard someone in the pub earlier in the week suggesting that rather than go to a beer festival, even one in a pub, I should just go to some great pubs. I did. And as it panned out, they were better.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
it's not particularly scientific but the answer to the above is - go to another one! And then return to the first, but more on that later.
On Friday The Hop in Sheffield hosted it's Sheffield Showcase beer festival, with an extra bar jimmied into the small offshoot to the right of the entrance. I was looking forward to meeting Fluffy in the Bath Hotel first, and we were going to spend a few hours trying the beers but Fluffy, alas, was indisposed. So I went alone, on the assumption I'd bump into someone from the world of drinking along the way.
I started by having a pint in a nearby hostelry - erm, the Closed Shop, at Commonside. It wasn't overly tortuous getting there for once, and I arrived to find a good range of ales, and plenty of customers. I had a pint of Brampton Mild, and it was excellent. A really complex rich dark beer at 4.5%, and selling for £2.90 a pint. In fact, it was so damned nice that I "had" to have two more pints, although I was tempted by the Dukeries Gold on the other end of the bar.
It was a visit that heralded new information as well - it turns out that multi-instrumentalist Beck was in fact the founder of the brewery that make inoffensive fizzy drinks like Vier. This fact, which is made up, stemmed from a conversation about apostrophes - why aren't there any on pump clips? A case in point was J W Lees Bitter. Surely Lees'? Robinson's? Thwaite's?
I don't know why this doesn't apply, or whether indeed its needed (the only explanation I could come up with was "its different for beers", but I had nothing to back that up). None of this would have arisen as a subject if The Closed Shop hadn't elected to sell a product with an amusing superfluous apostrophe, thus "Kevin's Pie's hand made in Sheffield". As far as I can tell, that slogan informs the consumer that the hand that belongs to Kevin's pie is made in Sheffield. Am over it now though, obviously....
Anyway, off to the Hop next and it was rammed as always. I quickly spotted Mr and Mrs Greg Robbery and sat down with them supping a very quaffable pint of the 4.2% Bramling, a collaboration between The Hop and Tapped Brewing Company. Although delicious, it soon became clear that some of the other specials and collaborations were somewhat lacking.
I had a pint of Oatmeal Stout from On The edge, which was surprisingly heavy on the vanilla, which perhaps let down an other wise excellent beer. The Blue Bee and The Hop collaboration Ideal Mash was pleasant enough, but to my surprise, the Steel City Corrosion of Conformity was grim - although I suppose a pale beer with rum and raisins in has a lot of work to do to be enjoyable.
I got my final pint as the Robbery's were leaving, an excellent Dark Hart from Harthill Village Brewery, who seem to have hit the ground running. Alas this coincided with the band starting playing, and sat on he fringe of the infuriatingly large crowd of punters stood at the bar, I suddenly remembered why I can't get on with the Hop. Not least, because Dark Hart was misspelled Dark Heart. Disgraceful!
I finished the night in the Bath Hotel, where I was pleased to spot the rare visitor Steff, and even more pleased, having first had a pint of the Espresso Stout from Dark Star, to spot the Thornbridge Halcyon. On cask. Oh. My. God. Even better than I remembered it on cask, having more body to it than on Keykeg, and served drinkably cool rather than cold, it was an absolutely amazing beer.
I drained my glass whilst catching up with Sparklepete, who is that much easier to spot now I know what he looks like. However, I only spotted him because I thought I recognised someone from Shakespeares sat near the door - and having rather drunkenly established he wasn't who I thought he should be, I discovered he was sat with Pete. Recognised by proxy, as the young man commented.
So, a mixed bag regarding the Hop festival really. Ironically, I'd heard someone in the pub earlier in the week suggesting that rather than go to a beer festival, even one in a pub, I should just go to some great pubs. I did. And as it panned out, they were better.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Monday, 11 February 2013
Pics and pubs and pints o' Pollards
Evening,
I set out on Wednesday for a trip round Neepsend taking photographs with Maureen. He is mad keen and takes it all very seriously, whereas I am frustrated with my little snapper (insert euphemism here) and take hundreds more photo's to compensate. Given that it was chuffing freezing, this trip also required warm rooms, and so morphed into yet another predictably threadbare excuse for a sup.
En route, having photographed some gloriously grim seventies tiles on the side of the Cannon brewery, and a building on the corner of Harvest Lane and Neepsend Lane which proclaims Bottled Beers above its doorway*, we popped into the Gardeners Rest. Maureen alas was pre vehicular so opted for a girls drink, whilst I enjoyed a very drinkable and tasty Vale Red Kite.
Its good to see a wide range of the Vale beers getting in here especially since the Hadda's seasonals are rarely seen, and beyond that its nowt. Drinking my beer I was a little sad for Maure, but he quickly showed how deserving he was of his purgatory by saying he find the Gardeners amazing because "its so ful of random shit and junk". A comment, under minimal duress, he tried to pass off as being made in admiration. Bad Maureen, back in your car.
We headed off for the Ship next, not to go in as it was only half 5, but to photograph it and steer a course up the hill at teh side of the dual carriageway along Upper Allen and Beet Street to Portobello to photograph the church and the surrounding floodlit buildings. Unfortunately, after nearly 2 hours in the cold and wind our hands were unresponsive and there were needs to meet so we headed to DAda for a drink and a warm.
The excellent Pollards was back on, and also what may be the last of the Thorny Goat, so there was much to enjoy, and Maureen seemed quite taken with the Pollards, as any decent person would be. This proved to be the catalyst for a rapid improvement in beer choice at DAda and The Bath nearby, which I will catalogue further on.
After waving Maureen off I nipped into Henry's for an excellent half of Great Heck porter and Crouch vale Yakima Gold. I don't know why but having tasted it on gravity and hand pulled I don't like this beer anywhere near as much as my senses tell me I should!
Straight of to the Rutland Arms next for a sandwich, which had become smaller but cost less, and some great beer, which was nice but not deemed worthy of recording (slack of me), followed by a very enjoyable half of Magic Rock Human Cannonball. Which was tremendous, of course.
On Thursday I popped in Shakespeares after work for pints of Steel City Brewing Nuclear bomb, an excellent hoppy pale ale highlighting the almost cereal like characteristics of Cluster Hops (in a good way, despite that description), along with Oldershaw Grantham Stout. I also had time for a couple of halves, of Toolmakers Brewery Apprentice, at £1.25 a half, and the excellent Raw Endeavour, at £1.30. It seems it doesn't have to break the bank to sup in Sheffield after all.
My final ports of call over the last week were a couple of visits to the Bath Hotel, where the brilliant Marble Stouter Stout was on, and the Thornbridge Pollards, both of which I enjoyed, along with pints of the Dark Star Espresso Stout and a Red Willow beer that ended in "less" and had red malt in in it, and which I forgot the name of.
Finally it was DAda's turn to welcome me and I noted with joy unbounded that Halcyon was back on as well as Pollards, I also had the Dark Star in here, although, being approaching 1am when I left you'll forgive me for forgetting whether or not it was the stout.
This is a great recent show from my two regular haunts, and long may it continue. And what a great advert for beer choice in Sheffield.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
*UPDATE: I have found via the rather excellent Lost pubs Project website that this pub used to be the Britannia Inn. However, further down the page is information and a photo of it purporting to be the sawmakers . If the Britannia closed in the 1940's it maybe was on the left hand side in the photo. Allegedly, the Sawmakers didn't close until the 1990's.
I set out on Wednesday for a trip round Neepsend taking photographs with Maureen. He is mad keen and takes it all very seriously, whereas I am frustrated with my little snapper (insert euphemism here) and take hundreds more photo's to compensate. Given that it was chuffing freezing, this trip also required warm rooms, and so morphed into yet another predictably threadbare excuse for a sup.
En route, having photographed some gloriously grim seventies tiles on the side of the Cannon brewery, and a building on the corner of Harvest Lane and Neepsend Lane which proclaims Bottled Beers above its doorway*, we popped into the Gardeners Rest. Maureen alas was pre vehicular so opted for a girls drink, whilst I enjoyed a very drinkable and tasty Vale Red Kite.
Its good to see a wide range of the Vale beers getting in here especially since the Hadda's seasonals are rarely seen, and beyond that its nowt. Drinking my beer I was a little sad for Maure, but he quickly showed how deserving he was of his purgatory by saying he find the Gardeners amazing because "its so ful of random shit and junk". A comment, under minimal duress, he tried to pass off as being made in admiration. Bad Maureen, back in your car.
We headed off for the Ship next, not to go in as it was only half 5, but to photograph it and steer a course up the hill at teh side of the dual carriageway along Upper Allen and Beet Street to Portobello to photograph the church and the surrounding floodlit buildings. Unfortunately, after nearly 2 hours in the cold and wind our hands were unresponsive and there were needs to meet so we headed to DAda for a drink and a warm.
The excellent Pollards was back on, and also what may be the last of the Thorny Goat, so there was much to enjoy, and Maureen seemed quite taken with the Pollards, as any decent person would be. This proved to be the catalyst for a rapid improvement in beer choice at DAda and The Bath nearby, which I will catalogue further on.
After waving Maureen off I nipped into Henry's for an excellent half of Great Heck porter and Crouch vale Yakima Gold. I don't know why but having tasted it on gravity and hand pulled I don't like this beer anywhere near as much as my senses tell me I should!
Straight of to the Rutland Arms next for a sandwich, which had become smaller but cost less, and some great beer, which was nice but not deemed worthy of recording (slack of me), followed by a very enjoyable half of Magic Rock Human Cannonball. Which was tremendous, of course.
On Thursday I popped in Shakespeares after work for pints of Steel City Brewing Nuclear bomb, an excellent hoppy pale ale highlighting the almost cereal like characteristics of Cluster Hops (in a good way, despite that description), along with Oldershaw Grantham Stout. I also had time for a couple of halves, of Toolmakers Brewery Apprentice, at £1.25 a half, and the excellent Raw Endeavour, at £1.30. It seems it doesn't have to break the bank to sup in Sheffield after all.
My final ports of call over the last week were a couple of visits to the Bath Hotel, where the brilliant Marble Stouter Stout was on, and the Thornbridge Pollards, both of which I enjoyed, along with pints of the Dark Star Espresso Stout and a Red Willow beer that ended in "less" and had red malt in in it, and which I forgot the name of.
Finally it was DAda's turn to welcome me and I noted with joy unbounded that Halcyon was back on as well as Pollards, I also had the Dark Star in here, although, being approaching 1am when I left you'll forgive me for forgetting whether or not it was the stout.
This is a great recent show from my two regular haunts, and long may it continue. And what a great advert for beer choice in Sheffield.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
*UPDATE: I have found via the rather excellent Lost pubs Project website that this pub used to be the Britannia Inn. However, further down the page is information and a photo of it purporting to be the sawmakers . If the Britannia closed in the 1940's it maybe was on the left hand side in the photo. Allegedly, the Sawmakers didn't close until the 1990's.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Stuff, not to mention, things.
Evening,
I have discovered a few snippets of info about Thornbridge over the last week which I thought I might share.
Their seemingly odd and sometimes risible policy of no guest beers is not all arrogance and fear of competition it seems. A man, who is male, and works in a Thornbridge pub, informs me that certainly in the case of the Greystones and Hallamshire House, its the terms of the lease with pub ruiners Enterprise, Punch or (add unlikeable behemoth) whoever. It seems the deals, which were fairly revolutionary at the time, only included Thornbridge beers, and none of that frightening outsiders stuff.
Broadly, if the restrictive terms of the original agreement meant licensees/tenants could only buy guff like Burton brewed Stones or Tetleys at twice its market price, the same backwards outlook prevailed, except now the new tenants were at least restricted to a brewery with a range of styles. Easily a better deal for punters, but still a monopoly. You can have too much of a good thing, after all.
It seems the terms at the Cross Scythes (visits - 1 Guests - 1, promising...) are a bit more relaxed, and clearly the trading arrangements at the Sheffield Tap are radically different because Thornbridge only supply the beer, rather than own or lease the pub from a Pubco. DAda, one assumes, along with the Bath Hotel, basically continues what ever arrangements were in place already as well, its just that they are far better in terms of choice.
Alas, no clarification was forthcoming about whether these arrangements applied to Keykeg as well....
Other news now, and it turns out that moving up in the reaching the Top ten stakes for my favourite breweries of 2012 is Hop Studio, most recently at Shakespeares on Shalesmoor.
I remember being underwhelmed by their ironically hopless offerings earlier in the year but they seem to be getting better. Last night I enjoyed a pint of their Spooks (or Sparks!?) , a finely balanced stout with a pleasing smoothness that tasted stronger than its ABV suggested. Also on last night was their Blonde.
This is a 3.5% (unsurprisingly) blond coloured beer with a fantastic dry hoppy bitterness. Incredibly easy to drink but packing in as much hops as a much stronger beer that I would drink later on, this was a session beer at its best. I "only" had three pints, but it was, once again, a beer at Shakespeares that I could happily have drank until I fell asleep. Wonderful.
Meanwhile, one of Octobers star beers for me was the Abbeydale Abbey Ale, dry hopped and weighing in at 5.5%. Having tried it at Archer Road Beer Stop at the end of September I have spotted it in quite a few other pubs including twice recently at DAda. Dave's shop kept version was virtually unbeatable but the DAda offering was up there with that in terms of juicy citrussy bite. An incredibly well balanced dry hopped, but not dry tasting, fruity pale ale.
Talking of DAda for a change, and unfortunately it has been decided that the bar will not open during the day, likely opening at 16.00 but potentially still opening all day Friday and Saturday. This caveat laden reporting reflects the fact that I only found out last night and it doesn't seem like the finer points have been agreed. My suggestion would be to retain the current arrangements until after Christmas, then change them in January when far less people are likely to visit, thereby maximising the potential of the Christmas party season. But what do I know...
Recent, albeit evening or night visits, have provided an unrivalled range of Dark Star and Abbeydale and Marble brewery beers, including the amazing Dobber, as well as current Thornbridge favourites Evenlode and Halcyon. All have been on impeccable form of late.
That's all I have for now, more beer and pub news coming soon.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
I have discovered a few snippets of info about Thornbridge over the last week which I thought I might share.
Their seemingly odd and sometimes risible policy of no guest beers is not all arrogance and fear of competition it seems. A man, who is male, and works in a Thornbridge pub, informs me that certainly in the case of the Greystones and Hallamshire House, its the terms of the lease with pub ruiners Enterprise, Punch or (add unlikeable behemoth) whoever. It seems the deals, which were fairly revolutionary at the time, only included Thornbridge beers, and none of that frightening outsiders stuff.
Broadly, if the restrictive terms of the original agreement meant licensees/tenants could only buy guff like Burton brewed Stones or Tetleys at twice its market price, the same backwards outlook prevailed, except now the new tenants were at least restricted to a brewery with a range of styles. Easily a better deal for punters, but still a monopoly. You can have too much of a good thing, after all.
It seems the terms at the Cross Scythes (visits - 1 Guests - 1, promising...) are a bit more relaxed, and clearly the trading arrangements at the Sheffield Tap are radically different because Thornbridge only supply the beer, rather than own or lease the pub from a Pubco. DAda, one assumes, along with the Bath Hotel, basically continues what ever arrangements were in place already as well, its just that they are far better in terms of choice.
Alas, no clarification was forthcoming about whether these arrangements applied to Keykeg as well....
Other news now, and it turns out that moving up in the reaching the Top ten stakes for my favourite breweries of 2012 is Hop Studio, most recently at Shakespeares on Shalesmoor.
I remember being underwhelmed by their ironically hopless offerings earlier in the year but they seem to be getting better. Last night I enjoyed a pint of their Spooks (or Sparks!?) , a finely balanced stout with a pleasing smoothness that tasted stronger than its ABV suggested. Also on last night was their Blonde.
This is a 3.5% (unsurprisingly) blond coloured beer with a fantastic dry hoppy bitterness. Incredibly easy to drink but packing in as much hops as a much stronger beer that I would drink later on, this was a session beer at its best. I "only" had three pints, but it was, once again, a beer at Shakespeares that I could happily have drank until I fell asleep. Wonderful.
Meanwhile, one of Octobers star beers for me was the Abbeydale Abbey Ale, dry hopped and weighing in at 5.5%. Having tried it at Archer Road Beer Stop at the end of September I have spotted it in quite a few other pubs including twice recently at DAda. Dave's shop kept version was virtually unbeatable but the DAda offering was up there with that in terms of juicy citrussy bite. An incredibly well balanced dry hopped, but not dry tasting, fruity pale ale.
Talking of DAda for a change, and unfortunately it has been decided that the bar will not open during the day, likely opening at 16.00 but potentially still opening all day Friday and Saturday. This caveat laden reporting reflects the fact that I only found out last night and it doesn't seem like the finer points have been agreed. My suggestion would be to retain the current arrangements until after Christmas, then change them in January when far less people are likely to visit, thereby maximising the potential of the Christmas party season. But what do I know...
Recent, albeit evening or night visits, have provided an unrivalled range of Dark Star and Abbeydale and Marble brewery beers, including the amazing Dobber, as well as current Thornbridge favourites Evenlode and Halcyon. All have been on impeccable form of late.
That's all I have for now, more beer and pub news coming soon.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy.
Friday, 7 September 2012
Wee Beefy's Sheffield beer bites.
Evenin,
I have been out and about a few times since I came home from the other side of the world and intend to tell you what beery delights I have found.
On Wednesday I was meeting Christingpher, from the world of illustration, in the Bath Hotel. It was to be my first pint of delicious UK real ale in over 9 days and I was looking forward to it. So much so that I arrived early, and had a quick chat with the barman, as well as ordering a pint.
Thornbridge wise there was Kipling, Brother Rabbit, and St Petersburg, with Puja, Versa and Tsara on Keykeg. Guests included Saltaire Cascadian Black and Harbour brewing co Light, plus Sheffield Blanco Blonde. I had heard good things about Harbour beers but was worried that my first foray back into British real ale might supply me with more malt and less hops than the Craft Pilsner what with the brewery's Cornish origins. So I opted for a taste. As it turned out it was 3.6%, with some malt but a pleasant dry bitterness in the finish, so I had a pint. A perfect starter.
Christingpher meanwhile turned up to set out his stall early on - he had a pint of St Petersburg. I tried some of his and now know for certain that it really isn't the beer that Thornbridge started out with - its all a bit modern hoppy stout rather than traditional Russian dreadnought, and its lost some of the balance of the flag bearer original. Shame.
Next I tried the Cascadian Balck which I had enjoyed at Magna but it was poor, and I also, by way of comparison, tasted the Thornbridge Kipling, and Brother Rabbit. Largely underwhelmed by the tide of safe tired flavours that morphed rather than mingled in the Rabbit, I was even more despondent about ex hoppy beer Kipling. Now, like Jaipur, it seems destined to be a malty golden ale with no citrus hops. Jesus wept.
A pint of Versa saved the day, being as it was brilliant, and Christingpher sensibly opted for half of water after finishing his hoppy stout. My third choice, having dismissed all of the real ale options, and not fancying Puja, was a bottle of Halcyon. Thats right. A bottle. Even this was hazy, perhaps evidence of too much hop debris, but where Kipling, Jaipur and others fail, Halcyon continues to impress. That a bottle was the best beer on offer was a shame, although the Harbour Light was pleasant enough.
Thursday found me in the 3 Cranes Queen Street prior to a business meeting at Shakespeares. Lustin for stout from Blue Bee tempted me as always, but as soon as someone mentioned Cavendish it was settled - a pint of Welbeck Abbey brewery's finest in a handled glass followed.
I enjoyed this brew talking to regulars Leighton and Gareth, along with London based Paul who was filling in 3 hours awaiting his train, on subjects as diverse as diabetes glassware and Stones bitter. Another excellent visit was capped off with a half of Proper Ansome from Clearwater Brewery in, erm, well is it Devon or Cornwall?. Either way, it was, although pleasant, decidedly Cornish in style, and despite its descriptor, not exactly dark. Nae mind.
At Shakesperares Fluffy joined me for important talks and we had a couple of beers from a decent range, although one or two too many Osset offerings were proffered. I had a pint of Abbeydale Deception to start and an excellent pint of Ascot Ales Anastasia stout. This is the weaker 5.0% version but lacked some of the rounded sweeter malt of the one I tried at the Kelham Island Tavern, but it was still a nice drop.
Dada next, Jamie and Emily were in residence, but another cask ale disappointment prevailed. I spotted a McConnells Irish stout pumpclip, one of my least often tried but favourite Thornbridge beers, but that went off, and the Brother Rabbit and Lord Marples were too depressing to contemplate, so me and Fluff defaulted to the rather more expensive option of pints of Schlenkerla Rauchbier, which was excellent.
In the mood for dark real ale we headed to Henry's next, as usual Bass and the house beer were on offer along with about 7 guests. We found two good pints, me a Great Heck Heckstra Pale Ale, which was very good, and Fluff the Wood Street Brewery Golden Larch at 4.5%. Both beers were in good nick, and sensibly priced at £2.80 a pint, but we really craved dark beer.
The Rutland proved our saviour in this respect, offering two fine choices, including Dark Star Hophead, but crucially Lustin for stout from Blue Bee and a rather less commendable chilli stout from the Brew Company, which was really hard to drink. Two pints of Lustin were devoured whilst the quiz finished, with serial winner Geoff and the rest of his team scooping the prize for the 470th time this year. Luckily Geoff and Sarah very kindly offered me a lift, so I was back in time to fall asleep creating a snack. Which was nice.
Finally, today I went to a pub for lunch, like what respectable folks do. Said venue was the University Arms, now sporting its own logo and half refurbished loos, as well as new upstairs seating. The menu is greatly enlarged since my regular visits in 2009 and 2010, a little more pricey but the fare much better.
My beef lasagna came with a huge pile of perfectly crispy thick chips, salad and garlic bread, which I slowly ploughed my way through with a pint of Nook Brewhouse Summer Bitter, which had a refreshing lemon hoppy edge. I followed this with their deliciously smooth oat malt stout, which was simply divine.
All in all a good reintroduction to real ale then, if you overlook some puzzlingly poor Thornbridge performances, and a good catch up with friends, making this an enjoyable return home.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
I have been out and about a few times since I came home from the other side of the world and intend to tell you what beery delights I have found.
On Wednesday I was meeting Christingpher, from the world of illustration, in the Bath Hotel. It was to be my first pint of delicious UK real ale in over 9 days and I was looking forward to it. So much so that I arrived early, and had a quick chat with the barman, as well as ordering a pint.
Thornbridge wise there was Kipling, Brother Rabbit, and St Petersburg, with Puja, Versa and Tsara on Keykeg. Guests included Saltaire Cascadian Black and Harbour brewing co Light, plus Sheffield Blanco Blonde. I had heard good things about Harbour beers but was worried that my first foray back into British real ale might supply me with more malt and less hops than the Craft Pilsner what with the brewery's Cornish origins. So I opted for a taste. As it turned out it was 3.6%, with some malt but a pleasant dry bitterness in the finish, so I had a pint. A perfect starter.
Christingpher meanwhile turned up to set out his stall early on - he had a pint of St Petersburg. I tried some of his and now know for certain that it really isn't the beer that Thornbridge started out with - its all a bit modern hoppy stout rather than traditional Russian dreadnought, and its lost some of the balance of the flag bearer original. Shame.
Next I tried the Cascadian Balck which I had enjoyed at Magna but it was poor, and I also, by way of comparison, tasted the Thornbridge Kipling, and Brother Rabbit. Largely underwhelmed by the tide of safe tired flavours that morphed rather than mingled in the Rabbit, I was even more despondent about ex hoppy beer Kipling. Now, like Jaipur, it seems destined to be a malty golden ale with no citrus hops. Jesus wept.
A pint of Versa saved the day, being as it was brilliant, and Christingpher sensibly opted for half of water after finishing his hoppy stout. My third choice, having dismissed all of the real ale options, and not fancying Puja, was a bottle of Halcyon. Thats right. A bottle. Even this was hazy, perhaps evidence of too much hop debris, but where Kipling, Jaipur and others fail, Halcyon continues to impress. That a bottle was the best beer on offer was a shame, although the Harbour Light was pleasant enough.
Thursday found me in the 3 Cranes Queen Street prior to a business meeting at Shakespeares. Lustin for stout from Blue Bee tempted me as always, but as soon as someone mentioned Cavendish it was settled - a pint of Welbeck Abbey brewery's finest in a handled glass followed.
I enjoyed this brew talking to regulars Leighton and Gareth, along with London based Paul who was filling in 3 hours awaiting his train, on subjects as diverse as diabetes glassware and Stones bitter. Another excellent visit was capped off with a half of Proper Ansome from Clearwater Brewery in, erm, well is it Devon or Cornwall?. Either way, it was, although pleasant, decidedly Cornish in style, and despite its descriptor, not exactly dark. Nae mind.
At Shakesperares Fluffy joined me for important talks and we had a couple of beers from a decent range, although one or two too many Osset offerings were proffered. I had a pint of Abbeydale Deception to start and an excellent pint of Ascot Ales Anastasia stout. This is the weaker 5.0% version but lacked some of the rounded sweeter malt of the one I tried at the Kelham Island Tavern, but it was still a nice drop.
Dada next, Jamie and Emily were in residence, but another cask ale disappointment prevailed. I spotted a McConnells Irish stout pumpclip, one of my least often tried but favourite Thornbridge beers, but that went off, and the Brother Rabbit and Lord Marples were too depressing to contemplate, so me and Fluff defaulted to the rather more expensive option of pints of Schlenkerla Rauchbier, which was excellent.
In the mood for dark real ale we headed to Henry's next, as usual Bass and the house beer were on offer along with about 7 guests. We found two good pints, me a Great Heck Heckstra Pale Ale, which was very good, and Fluff the Wood Street Brewery Golden Larch at 4.5%. Both beers were in good nick, and sensibly priced at £2.80 a pint, but we really craved dark beer.
The Rutland proved our saviour in this respect, offering two fine choices, including Dark Star Hophead, but crucially Lustin for stout from Blue Bee and a rather less commendable chilli stout from the Brew Company, which was really hard to drink. Two pints of Lustin were devoured whilst the quiz finished, with serial winner Geoff and the rest of his team scooping the prize for the 470th time this year. Luckily Geoff and Sarah very kindly offered me a lift, so I was back in time to fall asleep creating a snack. Which was nice.
Finally, today I went to a pub for lunch, like what respectable folks do. Said venue was the University Arms, now sporting its own logo and half refurbished loos, as well as new upstairs seating. The menu is greatly enlarged since my regular visits in 2009 and 2010, a little more pricey but the fare much better.
My beef lasagna came with a huge pile of perfectly crispy thick chips, salad and garlic bread, which I slowly ploughed my way through with a pint of Nook Brewhouse Summer Bitter, which had a refreshing lemon hoppy edge. I followed this with their deliciously smooth oat malt stout, which was simply divine.
All in all a good reintroduction to real ale then, if you overlook some puzzlingly poor Thornbridge performances, and a good catch up with friends, making this an enjoyable return home.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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