Hello,
I have to confess that a select few of the Forum bars own brewed real ales have passed my lips but I have had plenty without considering their atecedndce.
I discovered tonight that their latest beers - First Porter and First Blonde have been created by executives and staff from the Broadfield, York and Old House along with the brewing team at Welbeck Abbey Brewery. Hence the signature fruit and hop notes in the beers?
This is good news but also more accurate news (re post on 27th December 2011). But other than having a slightly more ascorbic porter than I might have expected before in the Old House, there seems little difference. Try First Blonde for evidence of brewing changes though....
Seek em out and drink em I say!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label True North Brew Co First Born. Show all posts
Showing posts with label True North Brew Co First Born. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Forum Bars Broadfield Ale House - Reprise
Good afternoon all,
over the last couple of months I have been to the recently reopened Broadfield on Abbeydale Road a few times. Its been a mixed bag of experiences, mostly good but plenty of irritating niggles to contend with that have refused to go away. Earlier last week me and Chala ended up popping in and to my delight many of the annoying failings had been ironed out.
No Broadside for Broady...
Literally,since I doubt the Adnams beer of the same name would feature on the bar, with its emphasis on local brews and breweries production. But a reflection of the fact that I am taking this opportunity to praise the Broady, not pick holes.
First things first, when we came in, there was a board, albeit small, proclaiming real ales that were on. At least, I think it did. Its ironic that I moaned that they hadn't done this, only to find that when they do, its too small for me to read. However sharp eyed folks can, and in case of eyesight problems you could always ask a member of staff to tell you which beers were on sale on the 125 yards of bar that is the hub at the middle of the pub.
In addition to the usual suspects, i.e Bradfield and Kelham and Acorn, there was the excellent Pure Gold, an easy drinking session beer from Partners Brewery in Dewsbury ( see Partners tell you what they brew . Canny readers will recognise some of the beer names from Anglo Dutch brewery. I knew this already but it puts me in an awkward camp here - I liked the Partners porter a lot along with another beer of theirs I had at Cropton beer festival, and I liked this one as well. However, I was expecting more hops. One of my complaints about Anglo Dutch beers was that they were vety samey and lacking any definitive character, apart from the stronger ones. They particularly lacked sharp citrus hop flavours and it made their beer a bit muddy to my mind. I will still try their beers though, and am especially looking forward to trying their porter again.
Anyhoo, I digress, I had the partners beer and Chala had a very large glass containing a very average measure of wine. I am going to suggest this is a letting the drink breathe plan on this one. We've never been blown away by the wine choice here but this Pinot Grigio was remarkably good. Meanwhile, 1 pint turned into 3, and similarly Chala kept up with her wine. We enjoyed these in spacious luxury in one of the booths to the far right hand side.
Crisps were purchased, and we even ventured to try one of their range of gins. This is a weird decision, since, erm, neither of us like gin; but it sounded so damned interesting. Luckily we had the cheerful patience of the lass with the tattoo that served us the first time we both visited so ended up with an interesting if not particularly moreish drink. Since we didn't expect to like it I think that says a lot. By this time crisps seemed a poor choice, so we caved in and got a table to eat at.
Admittedly, there is still the rigmarole of finding one that isn't reserved, but we found one in the far left corner that suited us perfectly. We ordered a bottle of the wine and I a half of the Wentworth Oatmeal Stout. This was in impeccable condition, so I had another half whilst we awaited our food.
Heres where the Broady ramps up brownie points. My £6.95 steak and ale pie with mash peas and gravy was a sensible size and really really tasty. Chala splashed out £8.50 or so on the Ham hock which came with veg and mash and more delicious gravy. And it was absolutely Hyowg. Probably enough for two in terms of the hock, and cooked for about a day it seemed, so tender and succulent as it was. We both finished our meals full to bursting, having had some excellent food and delicious beer and wine along the way. (I eventually ended up with two pints of the fantastic Stout, I couldn't resist)
However, the real winner here is the fact that they have now caught up with the York and particularly the Old House by having a drinks menu, always helpful, and which sparked our gin interest, and a comprehensive whiskey list, which with such a huge range, is arguably essential. Finding these improvements early on put us in a good mood, , as well as finding that the cask ale board idea had been taken on. These three elements were the final cogs which made the whole experience now run smoothly instead of being a jolting stuttering mixture of highs and lows.
One final point, on the right hand bar next to the Partners was the True North First Born beer. Its a shame I didn't opt to try it - what with one of yesterdays posts, it would have been the icing on the cake if I could have sampled it myself as well.
Overall a good showing, which warrants a return.
Wee Beefy
over the last couple of months I have been to the recently reopened Broadfield on Abbeydale Road a few times. Its been a mixed bag of experiences, mostly good but plenty of irritating niggles to contend with that have refused to go away. Earlier last week me and Chala ended up popping in and to my delight many of the annoying failings had been ironed out.
No Broadside for Broady...
Literally,since I doubt the Adnams beer of the same name would feature on the bar, with its emphasis on local brews and breweries production. But a reflection of the fact that I am taking this opportunity to praise the Broady, not pick holes.
First things first, when we came in, there was a board, albeit small, proclaiming real ales that were on. At least, I think it did. Its ironic that I moaned that they hadn't done this, only to find that when they do, its too small for me to read. However sharp eyed folks can, and in case of eyesight problems you could always ask a member of staff to tell you which beers were on sale on the 125 yards of bar that is the hub at the middle of the pub.
In addition to the usual suspects, i.e Bradfield and Kelham and Acorn, there was the excellent Pure Gold, an easy drinking session beer from Partners Brewery in Dewsbury ( see Partners tell you what they brew . Canny readers will recognise some of the beer names from Anglo Dutch brewery. I knew this already but it puts me in an awkward camp here - I liked the Partners porter a lot along with another beer of theirs I had at Cropton beer festival, and I liked this one as well. However, I was expecting more hops. One of my complaints about Anglo Dutch beers was that they were vety samey and lacking any definitive character, apart from the stronger ones. They particularly lacked sharp citrus hop flavours and it made their beer a bit muddy to my mind. I will still try their beers though, and am especially looking forward to trying their porter again.
Anyhoo, I digress, I had the partners beer and Chala had a very large glass containing a very average measure of wine. I am going to suggest this is a letting the drink breathe plan on this one. We've never been blown away by the wine choice here but this Pinot Grigio was remarkably good. Meanwhile, 1 pint turned into 3, and similarly Chala kept up with her wine. We enjoyed these in spacious luxury in one of the booths to the far right hand side.Admittedly, there is still the rigmarole of finding one that isn't reserved, but we found one in the far left corner that suited us perfectly. We ordered a bottle of the wine and I a half of the Wentworth Oatmeal Stout. This was in impeccable condition, so I had another half whilst we awaited our food.
Heres where the Broady ramps up brownie points. My £6.95 steak and ale pie with mash peas and gravy was a sensible size and really really tasty. Chala splashed out £8.50 or so on the Ham hock which came with veg and mash and more delicious gravy. And it was absolutely Hyowg. Probably enough for two in terms of the hock, and cooked for about a day it seemed, so tender and succulent as it was. We both finished our meals full to bursting, having had some excellent food and delicious beer and wine along the way. (I eventually ended up with two pints of the fantastic Stout, I couldn't resist)
However, the real winner here is the fact that they have now caught up with the York and particularly the Old House by having a drinks menu, always helpful, and which sparked our gin interest, and a comprehensive whiskey list, which with such a huge range, is arguably essential. Finding these improvements early on put us in a good mood, , as well as finding that the cask ale board idea had been taken on. These three elements were the final cogs which made the whole experience now run smoothly instead of being a jolting stuttering mixture of highs and lows.
One final point, on the right hand bar next to the Partners was the True North First Born beer. Its a shame I didn't opt to try it - what with one of yesterdays posts, it would have been the icing on the cake if I could have sampled it myself as well.
Overall a good showing, which warrants a return.
Wee Beefy
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Beefy win-wins
Hello again
as an update to my earlier post alluding to the speed of info on the world wide Tinterweb versus the ink that lands on paper, I noted the following.
On reading WF's copy of What's Brewing for February 2012, I noted, to my amusement, the following blob of gen. On page 6, under the title More for "capital" (assumedly a sly dig at sheffield's beer Mecca status?) it said that the Forum cafe bar chain is due to launch a "North Star" branded beer called First born, contract brewed by Brew Company.
Now, I don't want to end up hoist by my own petard, but I think ye'll find that the cuckoo brewery name is True North. I accept that the "theme" may be the North Star, but even so its a bit "guessy".
Anyhoo, the reason for my smug celebration was that, even considering that the February issue may have been printed at the very beginning of February, my post "Forum bars real ale" (see I notice a beer is brewed, and everything.... not only correctly identifies the beer using the pump clip, but crucially....
was posted on December 27th 2011!
So, er, I win.
It also generates more stats than any other mumbling (post). And its correct. Its that childish, honestly.
Wee Beefy
as an update to my earlier post alluding to the speed of info on the world wide Tinterweb versus the ink that lands on paper, I noted the following.
On reading WF's copy of What's Brewing for February 2012, I noted, to my amusement, the following blob of gen. On page 6, under the title More for "capital" (assumedly a sly dig at sheffield's beer Mecca status?) it said that the Forum cafe bar chain is due to launch a "North Star" branded beer called First born, contract brewed by Brew Company.
Now, I don't want to end up hoist by my own petard, but I think ye'll find that the cuckoo brewery name is True North. I accept that the "theme" may be the North Star, but even so its a bit "guessy".
Anyhoo, the reason for my smug celebration was that, even considering that the February issue may have been printed at the very beginning of February, my post "Forum bars real ale" (see I notice a beer is brewed, and everything.... not only correctly identifies the beer using the pump clip, but crucially....
was posted on December 27th 2011!
So, er, I win.
It also generates more stats than any other mumbling (post). And its correct. Its that childish, honestly.
Wee Beefy
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Forum bars own brewed ale.
Afternoon persons,
just a quick update about a beer puzzle that made me scratch my head earlier in the week.
True North Brew Co
I was in regular haunt The Old House on Devonshire Street last week and amongst the beer offerings was, as I put it myself " a reindeer themed beer that looked like it was brewed by Far North" which having not noted down its name, I couldn't find despite utilising several Internet search facilities and beer databases. Intrigued, I assumed this was a new brewery that had just opened and made a note to pop back for another look.
Earlier today I was looking on the Broadfield Ale House Facebook page (and yes, they are open) and noticed the mystery pump clip was the York's profile picture. Close inspection identified the brewery - and from thence the mystery was solved.
The beer in question is Blitzen Beer and the brewery in question is True North Brew Co. Information is still a bit sparse on tinterweb but the clue to the likely physical location and expertise comes in the name - the beers are produced for the Forum Chain, i.e Old House, Forum Cafe Bar, Common Room, York and the Broadfield Ale House, by Pete Roberts of Brew Company - do you see what they did? Brew Co! How clever!
Anyhoo, it appears that more ales are to come and that Blitzen is the second. Although its not exactly awash with details. you may wish to have a look at http://twitter.com/#!/steelcitykitchn/status/150566208452820994/photo/1 for more details. And who knows, their beer may even be on at Tbroadfield when I finally make a visit over the next few days. At least this sorts out my query, and the beer's appearance may in turn discombobulate a ticker or two along the way....they do love a joke, as I recall.
Wee Beefy
just a quick update about a beer puzzle that made me scratch my head earlier in the week.
True North Brew Co
I was in regular haunt The Old House on Devonshire Street last week and amongst the beer offerings was, as I put it myself " a reindeer themed beer that looked like it was brewed by Far North" which having not noted down its name, I couldn't find despite utilising several Internet search facilities and beer databases. Intrigued, I assumed this was a new brewery that had just opened and made a note to pop back for another look.
Earlier today I was looking on the Broadfield Ale House Facebook page (and yes, they are open) and noticed the mystery pump clip was the York's profile picture. Close inspection identified the brewery - and from thence the mystery was solved.
The beer in question is Blitzen Beer and the brewery in question is True North Brew Co. Information is still a bit sparse on tinterweb but the clue to the likely physical location and expertise comes in the name - the beers are produced for the Forum Chain, i.e Old House, Forum Cafe Bar, Common Room, York and the Broadfield Ale House, by Pete Roberts of Brew Company - do you see what they did? Brew Co! How clever!
Anyhoo, it appears that more ales are to come and that Blitzen is the second. Although its not exactly awash with details. you may wish to have a look at http://twitter.com/#!/steelcitykitchn/status/150566208452820994/photo/1 for more details. And who knows, their beer may even be on at Tbroadfield when I finally make a visit over the next few days. At least this sorts out my query, and the beer's appearance may in turn discombobulate a ticker or two along the way....they do love a joke, as I recall.
Wee Beefy
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