tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443720108822415482024-03-14T08:37:18.513+00:00Beers I've Knownbeersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.comBlogger330125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-17619267042446965502017-03-18T15:21:00.000+00:002017-03-18T16:06:14.404+00:00Brewery Speed Dating at Beer NowIts been a full 18 months since I last participated in one of these; so may be a bit rusty. Bear with me; I'll try to repost the blog after each new beer but sometimes can get caught up in the conversation and actual drinking! Follow along pics on <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/110283021944650439137" target="_blank">+Steve Lamond</a> and I'll add them to this post when I get a chance.<br />
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I'm sat on a table with Jim & Laura from <a href="https://twitter.com/MashtunandMeow">Mashtun and Miaow</a>; Adam from <a href="https://twitter.com/thisisbrewbie">Brewbie</a>; <a href="https://twitter.com/tabamatu">Andy Parker</a>, blogger emeritus & homebrewer turned pro brewer; Veteran #EBBC attendees <a href="https://twitter.com/baron_orm">The Baron</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/Christopher_R">Chris </a>& the inimitable Jules of <a href="https://twitter.com/beer_revere">Beer Revere</a>, Hop Hideout & Sheffield Beer Week - great company indeed.<br />
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First Up is James & Alex from Thornbridge part of a 50 strong team from Thornbridge with their nip bottle of Eldon. Roasty, Fruity<br />
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Second is a nice palate cleanser Lost Industry/ Steel City collab, not normally a fan of peach but this one is excellent. peach melba fromage frais with a hint or tartness<br />
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Andrew And Rachel from Sharps Brewery presenting their smoked Boscawen now, only 12 casks made. Familiar Northern Ireland accent from Andrew - not far up the road from me at Limavady. Classic rauchbier aroma, rather sweet amber ale with lovely full body, great mouthfeel and fruity finish.<br />
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"Hi I'm Dan, I'm a cancer, how are you all doing?" good introduction from Abbeydale's sales and marketing director. Heathen IPA from a can - ooh trendy. Had this on keg yesterday actually, fruity mosaic, orange yoghurt and slight sweaty guava notes, clean, moderate bitterness, aggressive hooping. Trial brew #6 originally. First batch to be canned, 3000 canned on Sunday. As a brewery we mustn't forget cask, taht enables us to do all of this fun stuff but its very much our bread and butter. 30BBL brewery, 200bbl sales/ week with capacity for 300, new special every week. 'If we were to present this to the traditional drinker they'd say "its off, its cloudy" we've had a few stand up rows at SIBA this week!'<br />
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Fifth beer is Twisted Barrel Soup Dragon, 50% rauchmalt & 50% pilsner malt in mash, 250g chipotle & hand grated 110 limes for 1kg zest added five mins from end of boil. fermented with saison yeast which alongside a hint of smoke covers the nose. the taste really develops from first to last, sharp lime up first, fruity saison esters, loads of smoke then some warming heat from the chipotle. Unsurprisingly for something with a lot of my favourite flavours in its very enjoyable.<br />
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Alex from sentinel pouring his RRG a rhubarb and rosehip gose now. good as apertif, could make a sorbet from it, tonight tehy're steaming mussels in it. they make a rosehip tea (rosehips from Denmark) Yorkshire rhubarb added 5mins from end of boil, 4kg of each also "dry rhubarbed". Low salt level to avoid impact on drinkability, sits there on tip of tongue but acidity main driver. Took 5 years to find right site and pull money together.<br />
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And finally a familiar brewery for me, Ilkly Lotus. taking the end position at Edinburgh beer bloggers conference a few years ago now, they've gone through a few iterations. First consideration "what hops did we not want to use - no citra, cascade, columbus, etc no amrillo, no mosaic, no summit, no simcoe, no galaxy - to try and push us to use some more progressive hops. So we used eureka, equinox and comet" We stopped it at 5.9 which is about as high as you can go and still drink in quantity without losing your faculties. Matt from Ilkley presenting. really drinkable. Canned in brewdog, centrifuged too to prevent clogging of canning machine - more visually appearing but perhaps lost a bit of itself vs keg but keg doesnt have quite the crispness of it on can.beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-47638881578145474512017-01-01T19:57:00.005+00:002017-01-01T19:57:59.463+00:00Golden Pints 2016<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well its been a while since I blogged, but I figure missing out on my golden pints nominations would be a step too far! Not going to separate out UK & Ireland this year, partly because now Ireland's reaching maturity I think the beers should stand on their own against the best of the rest but also because there's a danger it'll be a rerun of last year. It'll be trickier this year not least because I've not been as active on Ratebeer as usual but also because I've been drinking far and wide including a return to GBBF for the first time since it moved back to Olympia.</div>
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<b><i>Best Cask</i></b> was supped right at the start of the year - at the time I knew it would be in contention and still stands head and shoulders above the competition. That beer was <b>Wiper & True Pink Peppercorn Porter</b></div>
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<b><i>Best Keg</i></b> plenty of stuff sampled this year but the <b>Cloudwater Claussenii </b>Stout Cherry Bourbon Barrel Aged was drunk in copious amounts at ABV; so that takes the crown.</div>
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<b><i>Best bottle</i></b> My top rated beers of 2016 are both from <b>Buxton</b>, but marginally ahead is their AngloBelgique, a magical combination of juicy IPA hopping and fruity Belgian yeast without the stickiness or cheesy esters sometimes associated with the style. The pinnacle of their Belgian series</div>
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<b><i>Best Can</i></b> Vocation smash and grab really impressed as an easy drinking DIPA, but the beer I enjoyed enough to buy the remaining stock in the York Tap Was the <b>Beavertown </b>2016 release of Spresso. Looks like the barrel aged version took best keg last year - I'm nothing if not consistent!</div>
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<b><i>Best Collab</i></b> There's been a few noteworthy efforts this year, including brew by numbers/ de la senne but the <b>Magic Rock/ Cloudwater/ Lees Three's Company</b> is still playing on my mind all these months after drinking it; so that takes the crown</div>
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<b><i>Best Overall </i></b>has to be the Three's Company, which I'd happily drink multiples of. Luckily its been rebrewed and released in cans by Magic Rock as Big Dipper; so hopefully it'll become semi-regular.</div>
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<b>Best Brewery</b> For their excellent work with the Belgian series plus tasty new imperial stouts and IPAs the award this year goes to <b>Buxton</b>. The recent batch of axe edge (pretty much my favourite continuously available UK beer) was particularly delicious! Well done to Colin, Denis and team! Please continue to crank out these excellent beers! Honourable mention to Cloudwater who really made some excellent beers this year, with DIPA v8 being another favourite of mine along with the collaboration and barrel ages stuff mentioned above.</div>
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<b>Best New brewery</b> is a bit harder as I can't think of breweries that specifically opened in 2016. Lost and Grounded have gotten a lot of love, but having only sampled one beer I can't fairly nominate them. So I'm going to pick a couple from 2015 that escaped my notice until this year. The first is <b>Vocation</b>, whose aforementioned smash and grab was a a favourite this year, but their hop utilization across the range is excellent leading to stuff that's far too drinkable for my own good.. Closer to home (though not as the crow flies!) is Simon Lambert and Sons in Wexford, better known as <b>Yellowbelly.</b> With brewer extraordinaire Declan at the helm no style goes unbrewed with solid results across the range and some excellent beers in the sour family of styles, which is where Declan's heart lies <span style="font-size: x-small;">(also checkout his side-project Otterbank for more wild and mixed fermentation beers).</span></div>
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<b><i>Best overseas Draught</i></b> Insufficient supped to make a fair judgement, 2016 has been the year of local on draught for me.</div>
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<b><i>Best overseas bottle/can</i></b> <b>Hoppin' Frog Hop Heathen</b> stands out from the scores as an excellent Black IPA</div>
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<b><i>Best Overseas brewery </i></b>Was kindly sent a selection of <b>Amager</b> in a Rate Beer local swap and was very impressed by pretty much every beer, recommend people seek them out!</div>
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<b><i>Best Overseas bar</i></b> only got to Spain this year; so my experiences more limited than usual but the obvious winner here is <b>Fogg Bar</b> Madrid for my dream concept of a proper cheese and bar bar, all Spanish beers, an excellent bottle selection and cheese/ charceuterie options including a small tapas with every beer. Recommend a visit!</div>
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<b><i>Best new bar </i></b>Southampton has really come along leaps and bounds in beer since I left for the balmier climes of Norn Iron. For my 30th I managed to visit a good number of them and I think the <b>Bookshop Alehouse</b> was my favourite. Previously an antiquarian bookshop, there's a selection available for sale/ browsing, great range of cask, keg and bottles and a chalkboard pointing the direction to nearest food establishments with patrons encouraged to bring their own food in. This would have been my local whilst in Southampton and provides a much needed watering hole between St Denys and Bevois Valley. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">I'll hopefully get a blog up on Southampton scene if I ever pull my finger out!)</span></div>
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<b><i>Best bar overall </i></b>is tough, revisited a number of old favourites this year, York Tap and Small Bar are both strong contenders, but this year it goes to <b>Marble Arch</b> with an excellent range of well kept beers in many styles on cask and keg and of course the DIY cheeseboards always win bonus points!</div>
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<b><i>Best Festival</i></b> again didn't get to as many as I would have liked this year, very much enjoyed the winter cask fest at Franciscan Well, but just pipping it in breadth of beers, choice of food and general party atmosphere was <b>Killarney</b>.</div>
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<b><i>Best branding </i></b>another fierce battleground this year, with Beavertown knocking out enough awesome can labels to completely plaster my chromebook and Cloudwater's guest program churning out all manner of eyecatching and unexpected designs but for me the <b>Boundary</b> branding has really come into its own this year now more specials and series have been released - not many breweries can boast an in house artist's studio!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Just realised I gave them runner up last year too!</b></span></div>
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<b><i>Best book/ magazine</i></b> We're pretty lucky now with plenty of decent beverage magazines available now, almost too many as I'm in perpetual backlog! This year's award goes to Beer 52's <b>Ferment </b>for the quality of writing, look and feel, breadth of topics and managing to stick to a monthly publication schedule. Well worth subscribing to but please guys do some proper editing, far too many typos!</div>
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<b><i>Online retailer</i></b> goes to <b>Eebria</b> again this year, almost by default as I've not really ordered from many others - largely because they've not had enough of interest in stock to justify the shipping costs.</div>
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<b><i>Independent retailer</i></b> that most impressed was <b>Beer Moth</b>. If it wasn't for limited drinking time/ luggage space my wallet would have been considerably lighter on exit! Fantastic selection from far and wide at very fair prices.</div>
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<b><i>Best Blogger</i></b> is another tough one this year, a lot of my favourites have fallen silent and I'm yet to find any that really click with me. Matt Curtis has written some great pieces across multiple platforms this year, but as ever its <b>Boak and Bailey</b> I always read off the bat rather than pocketing for later with their regular blogoshire roundup posts always turning up some gems which would otherwise have been missed. Cheers guys!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Just noticed they also won last year, must be doing something right or else I'm just boring* </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>*not mutually exclusive</b></span></div>
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<b><i>Simon Johnson Award for best beer Tweeter</i></b> this year is going to <b>Yvan Seth</b> for his honest and sometimes brutal insider view of beer wholesale - though admittedly this is mostly on facebook. Keep at it sir, you're leading a sea change.</div>
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Thanks everyone for reading here's to a beery 2017 <span style="font-size: x-small;">(with hopefully a return to semi-regular posting from me...we shall see...)</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-91846217211299941042016-02-06T15:55:00.000+00:002017-01-03T20:56:37.757+00:00Popping down to Cork<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last weekend saw the annual winter cask beer festival hosted by <a href="http://www.franciscanwellbrewery.com/"><span id="goog_1274191455"></span>Franciscan Well<span id="goog_1274191456"></span></a> in Cork. I travelled down to judge the beers for the inaugural <a href="http://www.beoir.org/">Beoir </a>Cask award with some fellow Beoirites. More on that later.
Cork is a fairly compact bi-rivered city, a lough away from the South Coast of Ireland. Until recently it could justifiably lay claim to being the beer capital of Ireland, with four brew-pubs alongside a larger Heineken establishment - but Dublin is now catching up. There are plenty of places to get your beer-on however, with numerous bars and offlicences for whistle-wetting activities. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="https://twitter.com/thebeernut">John</a> did a great <a href="http://issuu.com/beoirorg/docs/beoirmag3">write-up for the Beoir mag</a> recently)</span>.
On my last visit I didn't make it much beyond the festival environs; so decided to remedy that this time. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzNuqa_9ZWTHXVcWSdh2EJUxUip0hd-iw16Qoa1VOF4GbwCD86mtgg83h3iArvuIKYXVJuCSMiprDDXgkb-P1ulhOorzQj98VssI-fAOlimFqBdxXWoi-pp06vDsNwFncp9VtwdXKOuy4/s1600/IMAG5377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzNuqa_9ZWTHXVcWSdh2EJUxUip0hd-iw16Qoa1VOF4GbwCD86mtgg83h3iArvuIKYXVJuCSMiprDDXgkb-P1ulhOorzQj98VssI-fAOlimFqBdxXWoi-pp06vDsNwFncp9VtwdXKOuy4/s200/IMAG5377.jpg" width="200" /></a>My first stop was <a href="http://www.marketlane.ie/">Market Lane</a>, a reasonably priced gastro-pub come restaurant just a stones throw from the bus station. I tucked in to a belly-pork brioche with home-made fries and Aioli and plumped for the sample tray of four of their beers (€10, brewed next-door by <a href="http://elbowlane.ie/">Elbow Lane</a>). All of their beers were competent, free from defects though all a bit under-egged, the lager the surprising pick of the bunch. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemd0aRVBUc3dVkVe9pkZKw3kQmUdK-cqTj8hR28DP4qUu4F1U-mb-BxWsZMmDhHGKU6WxK0mM7dWAZG2WJuLUAOZqnB9fnt2Ad2HXeqsA8g1bDm0aF24zArRlsXzCubeZi0Wwf7oCBEcZ/s1600/IMAG5378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemd0aRVBUc3dVkVe9pkZKw3kQmUdK-cqTj8hR28DP4qUu4F1U-mb-BxWsZMmDhHGKU6WxK0mM7dWAZG2WJuLUAOZqnB9fnt2Ad2HXeqsA8g1bDm0aF24zArRlsXzCubeZi0Wwf7oCBEcZ/s320/IMAG5378.jpg" width="181" /></a> From there a short stroll took me to <a href="http://www.risingsonsbrewery.com/">Rising Sons </a>brewpub. This had only just opened this time last year; and brewer Shane kindly showed us around. On a Friday lunchtime it was rather quiet; so I had a chance to chat to barman Dave about how things were going (very-well) and a recommendation for somewhere to eat. With a number of seasonal beers available on tap I got my ticking-cap on; and was particularly pleased to find the son of their Belgian Ale (D'vil A Bit) on draught as Little D'Vil. Still quite pokey at 6.2% (v the originals 7.1%) with characteristic Chouffe floral yeast esters and a clean but hearty body to allow them to shine. </div>
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A quick nip round the corner to the well-stocked <a href="http://www.bradleysofflicence.ie/about-us/">Bradley's</a> off-licence before checking in to my hostel, the handily located <a href="http://www.booking.com/hotel/ie/kinlay-house-cork">Kinlay House</a>, roughly midway betwixt two revered beer destinations, the <a href="http://thebierhauscork.com/">Bierhaus</a> and <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/p/the-abbots-ale-house-shop-cork/10016/">Abbot's Ale House</a>. I'd gone for the saver value option of a shared dorm, but after gassing with the friendly staff about why I was in Cork was unexpectedly bumped up to ensuite FoC (much appreciated, thank-you) meaning I got a much better night's sleep than I'd anticipated. </div>
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After an afternoon trip to the festival, I visited the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thefriarycork/">Friary</a>, a short distance from the Well with a small but well-chosen selection of beer on draught and in bottle. I had a half of something (which I can't recall) and had a chat to the barkeep about the DJ set he had-on the next night. A quick visit to the Bierhaus and I was ready for bed. The Bierhaus has perhaps the widest selection on draught in Cork, well supplemented my a range of bottles (perhaps on the pricey side) and a very-well kept of cask (Trouble Brewing's Deception, dry hopped with mosaic on my visit) with a generous discount for Beoir members which I of course I availed of - well it would be rude not to! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhranA_tbIHyovPOFV7-e0l7XWiqMvc7K7UxJDlMT3NYqh2KjYJ7VH0QcrjCvEDf4ly2lrIA444pjISf-lhcN062wGObKFeXpFhoTEdCuCIpNTBIX7a_acpl5mxKN2W9Gin1wSGtzg8wrTi/s1600/IMAG5396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhranA_tbIHyovPOFV7-e0l7XWiqMvc7K7UxJDlMT3NYqh2KjYJ7VH0QcrjCvEDf4ly2lrIA444pjISf-lhcN062wGObKFeXpFhoTEdCuCIpNTBIX7a_acpl5mxKN2W9Gin1wSGtzg8wrTi/s320/IMAG5396.jpg" width="320" /></a> Lunch on Saturday was perhaps the highlight of my trip. Rocking up at 11:30 I was a little early for food; so ravenous I dove across the road to the recently opened <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Harleys-Coffee-House-1635851056680876/?fref=ts">Harley's Coffee House</a> for a salmon bagel and tasty espresso. Temporarily sated I was back across the street to Dave's recommendation from the previous day - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/White-Rabbit-Bar-BBQ-1511852912428875/">White Rabbit BBQ.</a> A long bar with seating to both sides; I chose to sit on a stool and get acquainted with the beer range and co-owner Steve. Coming up to their one year anniversary (they opened St Patrick's Day 2015) the business is doing a steady trade, growing by word-of-mouth without need for advertising. Steve has worked in hospitality for a number of years but wanted his own place. The location was scouted in advance, but not available right away, it finally became free just before Steve's wedding and luckily was still available on his return from honeymoon and everything flowed from there. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyS6QiaupVRwYOsBsRXC5SjPqgkOSaEFgpbyDO7-HlfHeGeQvumHXZZhJeBWq4hZQcP0FU-hlVi7TIvniRyrEkpjO4WSTz9mdNUify5APOk767GhLh5O4xeFK0ZUrx69i0UUBqZhcBbNL/s1600/IMAG5399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyS6QiaupVRwYOsBsRXC5SjPqgkOSaEFgpbyDO7-HlfHeGeQvumHXZZhJeBWq4hZQcP0FU-hlVi7TIvniRyrEkpjO4WSTz9mdNUify5APOk767GhLh5O4xeFK0ZUrx69i0UUBqZhcBbNL/s200/IMAG5399.jpg" width="200" /></a>
They offer a fairly simple menu with a selection of meats to have in a bap or on a tray with two sides. All priced at a recession-beating €7 for baps and €10 for the trays. I had ribs with coleslaw and BBQ beans - the meat just falling off the bones, a crunchy and zingy 'slaw and hearty, juicy beans all washed down with a selection of beers from Rising Sons, with Mi Dzza being particularly suitable plus a few guests. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhOLQaTTHOqmGPYQRDYV6-0LS1rAyf-_TtV-_K3wku_GepIOMBiVzqqyzwLdiVziQwgLE_2vmHCMMtQuXhF2E6roK-NaNHkNUy3JJPHTNfG_iE_VRU_x3xqV7HJrouPQVeCX_uXPf5C_3/s1600/IMAG5397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhOLQaTTHOqmGPYQRDYV6-0LS1rAyf-_TtV-_K3wku_GepIOMBiVzqqyzwLdiVziQwgLE_2vmHCMMtQuXhF2E6roK-NaNHkNUy3JJPHTNfG_iE_VRU_x3xqV7HJrouPQVeCX_uXPf5C_3/s200/IMAG5397.jpg" width="200" /></a>Steve also stocks a good range of American whisky's with some decent ryes available too; so I finished up with a pickleback of rittenhouse 100 and a shot of their house made pickling liquor. As I was departing Steve brought me a bottle of their house BBQ sauce - made with the aforementioned Mi Dazza - definitely recommended. So impressed was I that a return visit for dinner was necessary and the pork-belly bap with tangy gherkins, spicey sauce and creamy slaw really ended the day nicely - make sure you pay Steve and team a visit if you're in the vicinity.<br />
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Pre-festival on Saturday I also called in to Abbots and managed to snaffle a number of Irish beers I hadn't yet come across whilst coveting an excellent range of Belgian and other world beers (with De Struise a particular strength). I would return later to visit the upstairs bar, buzzing and banging with beers aplenty - my kind of joint. My weekend finishing with a delicious Wired oatmeal pale ale from Trouble - they're really nailing the pale n'hoppy at the moment. I unfortunately didn't make it to Cork's fourth brewpub, Cottonball, but will try to remedy that on my next visit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwamLAE-KMCi54-gpXmyfYBtEEHF8lf_cAixMrLxwR0vu4PFaDFI2Fb6jLluLXoq6-RE1IetDec8brrIgF9svSqw6uW4HybF2NVd5mwt0Wgy7AqeHyXRCc3hsM_SUILZt0VnkUduS-KZTJ/s1600/IMAG5381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwamLAE-KMCi54-gpXmyfYBtEEHF8lf_cAixMrLxwR0vu4PFaDFI2Fb6jLluLXoq6-RE1IetDec8brrIgF9svSqw6uW4HybF2NVd5mwt0Wgy7AqeHyXRCc3hsM_SUILZt0VnkUduS-KZTJ/s320/IMAG5381.jpg" width="320" /></a>So what of the festival itself? As with last year it was sedate during the afternoon, growing busier later on. A range of 30-odd beers were seen over the weekend, with 28 available for the judging. Aside from a few ill-conceived ideas the majority of brews were solid, with some excellent contenders. Unfortunately (as is sometimes the case at these events) a number of beers were (to borrow a phrase from <a href="https://twitter.com/tandleman">Tandleman</a>) flat as a witch's tit, either through over-venting or under-priming. Also, by the saturday some of the beers were getting a little tired, having been tapped for three days and many casks near empty. <br />
These criticisms aside we pushed through with the judging and four category winners emerged victorious:</div>
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Best Lager - Yellow Belly Rosehip Schwartz</div>
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Best "Pale" - West Cork Roaring Ruby</div>
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Best Stout - Blacks Worlds End</div>
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Best Speciality - Otterbank Pine Needle Berlinner Weisse (since named "The Vikings are Coming")</div>
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These went through to best in show, with Roaring Ruby emerging victorious with World's End a close second and the berlinner rounding the rankings out in third place. Well done to all involved! Personally I'm not a fan of Irish Red Ales but this one was a particularly good example of the style and fully deserved its award. The Worlds end was far too sweet for my palate - perhaps a product of lack of carbonation but the berlinner was fantastic, perhaps one of the best I've had of the style.</div>
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It was a great weekend, Cork has a lot to offer; but always good to combine with a beer festival. The next event is the Easter Fest, which should be on 25th-26th March, take a dander down there!</div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-55408516967472471182015-12-31T23:59:00.000+00:002016-01-01T00:42:04.352+00:00Golden Pints 2015<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Best Cask</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTWbqswNvyzpHlF89EacbHFNsMNEmCAbjKrk31SzquZpVNQbN1uv4BHCgUyOikoIK3O8PE2p-iXcxbWLMDuKWeY2kn-Ps74IPYqRCX27Z4AL07AqqSOc6gw8DCIvPsqAteoSrbbo-AgB9U/s1600/Moor-Plastic-Pump-Clip-2014_B-Moor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTWbqswNvyzpHlF89EacbHFNsMNEmCAbjKrk31SzquZpVNQbN1uv4BHCgUyOikoIK3O8PE2p-iXcxbWLMDuKWeY2kn-Ps74IPYqRCX27Z4AL07AqqSOc6gw8DCIvPsqAteoSrbbo-AgB9U/s200/Moor-Plastic-Pump-Clip-2014_B-Moor.jpg" width="123" /></a>One of my favourite places to drink this year has been the new <b>Moor</b> tap room. It was here I probably drank most of my cask offerings (not bad considering I'm not often in Bristol!) and it was here I had my favourite cask beer of the year. <a href="http://moorbeer.co.uk/b-moor/"><b>B-Moor</b></a> is punny continuation of their porter Amoor with the distinctive blueberry, jammy notes from mosaic. Delicious and spot on carbonation. Sloe walker on cask also very interesting.</div>
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<i><b>Best Keg</b></i></div>
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Although I try not to list limited beers as winners (how cn others try them if so?) I need to make an exception for <b>Beavertown/Prairie Barrel Aged 'Spresso</b>. On draught at ABV and like drinking a tiramisu, especially with added ice-cream float! </div>
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<i><b>Best Bottle/Can</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5qi1E7cTCohCwYnsS8iWQSM_22EUb9ulQln5txzSHBc7694hl-pI_eUklmdnhm8GRgj7BTCe3HTYeI4vvHBeaIPBqAe-MdaUfTloju60-vdvuAw-7rCjAdC_fg0L3BhGw96jdvtJTWE5/s1600/2014-08-22+11.50.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5qi1E7cTCohCwYnsS8iWQSM_22EUb9ulQln5txzSHBc7694hl-pI_eUklmdnhm8GRgj7BTCe3HTYeI4vvHBeaIPBqAe-MdaUfTloju60-vdvuAw-7rCjAdC_fg0L3BhGw96jdvtJTWE5/s200/2014-08-22+11.50.25.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Hands-down the highest rated new beer this year was <b>Cloudwater DIPA</b>. After a somewhat shaky start they really nailed their beers with the DIPA being the pinnacle, clean malt bill, fresh and juicy hops and barely a hint of its 9% ABV. A recent revisit has confirmed its holding up well. Cloudwater don't intend to rebrew any of their beers, but am hoping they make an exception for this.</div>
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Others worth of mention are <b>Brewdog Born to Die</b> & <b>Beavertown Power of The Voodoo</b>, both of which I hope will continue as occasional brews.</div>
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<i><b>Best Collab</b></i></div>
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I've had a few this year, these by their very nature are usually one offs. I have enjoyed the dinner for.. range from Elusive/Siren and the aforementioned 'Spresso but my favourite has to be <b>Marble Howgate and Kemp</b>. Fantastic news that JK will be commencing as head brewer there from next year.</div>
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<i><b>Best Overall</b></i></div>
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There can only be one winner here, excellent on both keg and bottle, with the November batch being particularly superlative. I make no apologies that my favourite UK beer is still Buxton Axe Edge.</div>
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<i><b>Best Brewery</b></i></div>
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Logic follows that the brewer of my favourite beer would be a shoo in for brewer of the year and indeed <b>Buxton</b> has released a continued range of interesting beers this year (though a few I've not been mad keen on). I'm going to jointly award the crown to <b>Beavertown</b> however as I've not had a bad beer from them this year, and gamma ray/neck oil in cans has been a welcome hoppy reprieve on numerous occasions! Honourable mention to <b>Brew By Numbers</b> for producing excellent beers across all manner of styles <span style="font-size: x-small;">(though was't as keen on their BA iterations of Gyle 100 unfortunately...).</span></div>
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<i><b>Best Oveseas Draught</b></i></div>
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There's a beer I drank four times in three days, each time bringing delight to my mouth. Gorgeous in colour, tart with a heap of raspberries - <b>Girardin Kriekenlambic</b> was that beer. Highly recommended and cheers to Ian for the recommendation of where to find it!(see below). Was also v impressed by Pohjalla on draught at Indyman - ones to watch!</div>
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<i><b>Best Overseas Bottle/ Can</b></i></div>
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My favourite bottle this year was a 2011 vintage of<b> Goose Island Bourbon County Vanilla Stout</b>, but since that's not available any more my winner is instead <b>Ballast Point Dorado</b>. I don't care who owns it, the beer is excellent and I hope it remains so. I'm just disappointed it may be harderto track their stuff down in the UK for a while now Brewdog have ceased importing them. <b>Mikkeller's Nelson Sauvignon</b> also really impressed though value-wise its lower in the ranking.</div>
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<i><b>Best Overseas Brewery</b></i></div>
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I ummed and ahhed about this, there are a few contenders such as <b>Stone </b>and <b>Boon </b>but in terms of consistency across a wide range and drinkability this year's award goes to <b>De La Senne</b>. I was also impressed by the few I tried from Amager; if I'd had a few more they'd certainly be in contention.</div>
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<i><b>Best Overseas Bar</b></i></div>
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To drink my girardin kriekenlambic four times I visited the same bar; belle epoque wall tat, grafittied terrace, various seating areas, free nibbles and a well chosen beer list this award goes to <b>Fleur En Papier Doree</b>. I'll definitely be back.</div>
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<i><b>Best Brewery Opening</b></i></div>
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This ones a little harder my Ireland winner <b>Boundary</b> is definitely a contender as is Manchester buzz-generator <b>Cloudwater </b>but I'm actually giving the crown this year to <b>Left Handed Giant</b> who have gone from strength to strength with a decent core range and some excellent specials. Glad they're now bottling too; will certainly be drinking some this Christmas!</div>
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<i><b>Best pub/Bar</b></i></div>
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Alongside the Moor brewing tap room, the places I've visited most this year are <b>Small Bar</b> the <b>Famous Royal Navy Volunteer</b>. Both have a fantastic range of beer, TFRNV has great food, Small Bar has comfy chairs and a bookshelf. Joint award to these two this year! Bag O'Nails continues to hold a special place in my heart replete with cantankerous landlord & many cats.</div>
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<i><b>Best New pub/bar</b></i></div>
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I enjoy the <b>Moor Brewery Tap</b> but was also really impressed with attention to detail at <b>St Andrews Brewing Co Tap</b>, great guest beers, a fab range of spirits and plenty of care taken on garnishes. Plus good value and filling grub and a bottle fridge rammed full.</div>
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<i><b>Best Food and Beer</b></i></div>
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More best food with tasty beer alongside this year it has to go to<b> Chomp</b> for fantastic burgers and beer from <b>Wiper & True</b>.</div>
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<i><b>Best Festival</b></i></div>
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I didn't make it to as many festivals as I would have liked this year but I did finally make it to IMBC which was enjoyable if hectic and too short. However its the Belfast based festival inspired by it that I most enjoyed (working as bar manager for all 3 sessions). Congrats to Matt, Darren, Felicia and Michael the team behind <b>ABV</b>, best festival in the UK, fab venue, excellent food choices, interesting tastings and fantastic beer range, heres to 2016!</div>
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<i><b>Best Branding</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fnHjDCkQXogmzZDJP7FokhXyH2fUKDYpBvHwRtBOhGc0vSlV-VNa7hEicQcrqBIabWSikUv50MnwMhTcFVbyRLDr_qqRvL0SHNRv0CtxQ4jTtzMGoWJXXSu9MDBqIA4DOOp84zxUyuPT/s1600/IMAG3301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fnHjDCkQXogmzZDJP7FokhXyH2fUKDYpBvHwRtBOhGc0vSlV-VNa7hEicQcrqBIabWSikUv50MnwMhTcFVbyRLDr_qqRvL0SHNRv0CtxQ4jTtzMGoWJXXSu9MDBqIA4DOOp84zxUyuPT/s320/IMAG3301.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As always there are a number of contenders, but for putting the "can" in canvas the award has to go to <b>Beavertown</b>, great work <a href="http://www.nickdwyerillustrations.com/Beavertown-Brewery-Art-Direction">Nick</a>! I particularly liked the shiny stickers on the Phantoms and Bone King which now adorn my chromebook. I also love the <a href="http://www.johnrobinsonart.com/">bespoke paintings</a> inspired by <b>Boundary'</b>s beers; so they're my runner up!</div>
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<i><b>Best Book/ Magazine</b></i></div>
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We've really gotten to a great time for Drinks coverage in print media with Hot Rum Cow, Hops and Barley, Ferment and Beer to name but a few but I think my favourite is informative & enthusiastic whilst remaining current - <b>Original Gravity</b>.</div>
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<i><b>Online retailer</b></i></div>
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I've used fewer retailers this year, but the one that continues to impress is <b>Eebria.</b>.. after all - anyone who can facilitate getting my favourite beer delivered to my door within a few days must be on to a good thing.</div>
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<i><b>Independent Retailer</b></i></div>
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I was really impressed by the depth and breadth of beers in Manchetser's <b>Beer Moth</b> but as I didn't buy any I can't really nominate them! <a href="https://twitter.com/twattybeer">(will have to take a suitcsase to Indyman next year!) </a>One new opening I did really like was the tiny <a href="http://brewbristol.com/"><b>Brew</b></a> off St Nicholas Market in Bristol, select but interesting range, lots of local stuff, decent tunes and a home-brew corner.</div>
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<i><b>Best Blogger(s)</b></i></div>
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I've not added many blogs to my roll this year, with a number of old favourites falling by the wayside. <a href="http://boakandbailey.com/">Boak & Bailey</a> still continue to churn out a variety of interesting stuff but this year the award goes to the (old)newcomer- <b><a href="http://www.stonch.co.uk/">Stonch</a></b> (or more specifically the collective voice behind the blog). I enjoy the travelogues, enjoyment of beer, cantankerousness, digging, weekly round-ups and everything in between. The comments are usually well attended and often spark a slew of spin-off posts. There have been rumours of winding down again - please don't.</div>
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<i><b>Simon Johnson Award</b></i></div>
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Always bang on with the wry humour and dubious puns and featuring on my blog a few times this year this has to go to <b><a href="https://twitter.com/twattybeer">Twatty Beer Doodles</a>.</b></div>
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beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-5838286819044768992015-12-22T12:33:00.002+00:002015-12-23T08:26:10.176+00:00Whats New? 2015 edition<div style="text-align: justify;">
2015 brought us another bumper crop of new breweries<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (<a href="http://www.beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/new-irish-breweries-2014.html">see last years round up here</a>)</span>, though there are a few that have fallen by the wayside <span style="font-size: x-small;">(I had a chance to try most of what I'd missed last year but West Cork still eludes me!)</span>. We hit the major milestone of 100 brewers on the island, with a near doubling of outfits in NI; I've covered the new arrivals below:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2OGJbYtswKrt80ilbx621ZjuOxRQ2bB2IHEW4E3qWtt0IZrdYSRJvimh03EG_CHYsyvnYZ_ruMzSom9TqgAuMc1ohYWzrG-fdUc6rSFeZeZl7PbwUvzkQUklAMqJhj1wB0U5d7RRHvrh/s1600/barrahooleycrest-300x212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2OGJbYtswKrt80ilbx621ZjuOxRQ2bB2IHEW4E3qWtt0IZrdYSRJvimh03EG_CHYsyvnYZ_ruMzSom9TqgAuMc1ohYWzrG-fdUc6rSFeZeZl7PbwUvzkQUklAMqJhj1wB0U5d7RRHvrh/s200/barrahooleycrest-300x212.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://https//www.facebook.com/pages/Barrahooley-Brewery/"><b>Barrahooley</b> </a>have a trio of beers including probably NIs first black IPA, which I found to be rather tasty. Sadly yet to come across their other beers.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBeSUeiY8_malM4Dc8cTrqRZxAkvt7w2pR6fUo5NPAI1-ZtPFPQgCm3nzGQoSNkVnjVK69SnreFr2u2A6c_NWjiPLrHJGK_O3xI4PFndTBIPTp9yIM3V3JhdqEglTxaD9HZbCGOEz3vio/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBeSUeiY8_malM4Dc8cTrqRZxAkvt7w2pR6fUo5NPAI1-ZtPFPQgCm3nzGQoSNkVnjVK69SnreFr2u2A6c_NWjiPLrHJGK_O3xI4PFndTBIPTp9yIM3V3JhdqEglTxaD9HZbCGOEz3vio/s200/index.jpg" width="75" /></a><a href="http://boundarybrewing.coop/"><b>Boundary</b></a>
burst on to the scene after a highly successful crowd funding round
(they're raising money again now). Whilst the core range in general
doesn't quite do it for me its the specials which really excite, with
the excellent Berliner Vice series and recent Filthy Animal chipotle
Porter both ones to try. There's also a series of mid-strength IPAs
(push and pull) that has throw up some interesting results. They rightfully took best new opening in my <a href="http://www.beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/golden-pints-ireland-2016.html">Irish #GoldenPints</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoZd2XGMT2SCYNq-gMxJVfX5C4XL4dOzdOYJARy09RXI8sxVrx6sefm0ncJ1Ba5eMXqh-tY3cVPgXb97lL4gRaxIp8jnnZXB_3NuzR3oOjAvk7QsB3_73WSD1P5zvmdwjtXuT3RXlHnpv/s1600/143260-BrewbotColor-2be907-large-1412093121.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="25" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoZd2XGMT2SCYNq-gMxJVfX5C4XL4dOzdOYJARy09RXI8sxVrx6sefm0ncJ1Ba5eMXqh-tY3cVPgXb97lL4gRaxIp8jnnZXB_3NuzR3oOjAvk7QsB3_73WSD1P5zvmdwjtXuT3RXlHnpv/s320/143260-BrewbotColor-2be907-large-1412093121.png" width="160" /></a><a href="http://www.brewbotbelfast.com/"><b>Brewbot</b></a>
are known for their app controlled nanobrewery kits & delighted the
Belfast beer scene with the launch of their bar; but they also brew
beers of their own. They're occasionally on draught in the bar; but I've
yet to come across any.</div>
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<a href="http://nightcapbeer.co/"><b>Nightcap</b> </a>brew a golden ale which I've not yet found in the shops</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuloT6SwW0HkmxBuB-lLmSUWRoFNV-SX-yXNsFe0nZ-zXuX4R0Qe67hTn8JVx3LssndVhXA4domJ1LK44XwWs0cs6OBvKUtApyRCtNVNI-NIuXJ79CsADFeivQAF3d4AwbM9lSXWuz_o3/s1600/lacada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuloT6SwW0HkmxBuB-lLmSUWRoFNV-SX-yXNsFe0nZ-zXuX4R0Qe67hTn8JVx3LssndVhXA4domJ1LK44XwWs0cs6OBvKUtApyRCtNVNI-NIuXJ79CsADFeivQAF3d4AwbM9lSXWuz_o3/s200/lacada.jpg" width="100" /></a><b><a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/lacada/24834/">Lacada</a> </b>are another co-operative, this tame based in Portrush. They have a core range of a golden ale (needs work) session IPA (lovely when dry hopped on cask) and a porter (excellent - came runner up in my <a href="http://www.beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/golden-pints-ireland-2016.html">Golden Pints</a>). They've only recently launched; so expect to find bottles covering the province in 2016.</div>
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<a href="http://www.whenwearegiants.com/sailortown-beers/"><b>When We Are Giants</b> </a>appear to be a contract operation, making an an irish ale a pale and a lager. The red actually had some leafy hopping and malt complexity to it which made it a cut above many others.</div>
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<a href="http://https//www.facebook.com/O-Connor-Craft-Beer-781479541895087/"><b>O'Connor</b></a> have just a single golden ale so far; decent enough but not exactly filling a gap in the market.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBBZEph6TCOK7Rh2LmJfR5QI9Bc6SM_xdHq6FQRjr6js53pEKHwK53dHYDSrH39fubGXgYBeEm4fOM_TSxWydZsUYAIYpcvzSjget8xybSEl_ihHXal-wSG48iFmTly4mQvlBsZhUPXi9/s1600/QiKQReKI_400x400.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBBZEph6TCOK7Rh2LmJfR5QI9Bc6SM_xdHq6FQRjr6js53pEKHwK53dHYDSrH39fubGXgYBeEm4fOM_TSxWydZsUYAIYpcvzSjget8xybSEl_ihHXal-wSG48iFmTly4mQvlBsZhUPXi9/s200/QiKQReKI_400x400.png" width="100" /></a><a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/mourne-mountains-brewery/23165/"><b>Mourne Mountains</b></a> wheat beer was very promising on keg at ABV but disappointing in bottle, as were the other two core beers. Both seasonals I've had have been enjoyable though, in particular the pumpkin porter which was luxuriant without overdoing the cakey spices. Also really like the thought that's gone in to their logo design.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OMVdb4oKXmrL2j1QLDyLPf0WTnY4ugKI9coLmlEjR4z1iOop4yGjWnrNhriVthLS-tVGII3kk8Ftxl7_DXlTNSAm9615F6KLdv88UAfAZiLXJlfxRC5lEVd1Q0CAQt48tIgcLlheFFjk/s1600/walledcity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OMVdb4oKXmrL2j1QLDyLPf0WTnY4ugKI9coLmlEjR4z1iOop4yGjWnrNhriVthLS-tVGII3kk8Ftxl7_DXlTNSAm9615F6KLdv88UAfAZiLXJlfxRC5lEVd1Q0CAQt48tIgcLlheFFjk/s200/walledcity.jpg" width="100" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/walled-city/24866/"><b>Walled City</b></a> actually arrived in the tail end of 2014; but as they weren't serving until May this year I'll include them here. Last month we popped along to the taproom, which has a tasty menu of tapas and larger plates, but more importantly a number of their own beers on draught. All were solid takes on classic styles with the Boom Derry Pale particularly enjoyable - ones to watch in 2016 for sure.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnASnXg9vmHG8sZ93l7g0Vt3RGGDzvqnYuUGIeqBFV4_U8R4IZ7l7iiLqODt1TtaOeR-k-pyHDYPibm9neAqxAYbHfJyGjfZF1UmvzuiHKxjEthFv8lssofETlCHh-BrWe_ZhBxoZgmjLL/s1600/knockout.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnASnXg9vmHG8sZ93l7g0Vt3RGGDzvqnYuUGIeqBFV4_U8R4IZ7l7iiLqODt1TtaOeR-k-pyHDYPibm9neAqxAYbHfJyGjfZF1UmvzuiHKxjEthFv8lssofETlCHh-BrWe_ZhBxoZgmjLL/s200/knockout.png" width="100" /></a><a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/knockout-brewing/22134/"><b>Knockout</b></a> are another outfit who actually began in the tail end of 2014. A decent core range, the APA is actually hoppier than IPA and my pic of the bunch.</div>
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<b>Edit:</b> <a href="https://twitter.com/themaltmeister"><b>Maltmeister</b></a> have recently launched, taking the NI total to 11. They have a wheat ale and a spiced seasonal ale, keep your eyes peeled!<br />
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If I've counted correctly there were 24 new outfits starting in 2015 in the south (I'm sure <a href="https://twitter.com/BeoirFinder">Andrew</a> will correct me!)</div>
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<a href="http://www.arthurstownbrewingco.com/"><b>Arthurstown</b> </a>brewed two beers in the Kevin Dundon range a standard golden and red ale one-two. Yet to try them but not overly bothered if I don't.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFp6E7-F-b_VkBHOcV60_JiRbFD6n1GFGHQ4_xVzO-BmTN7UPBlqj1YNOgNtcOSAoK50pBBU7wkyYCHI24Ao_7jsw8o5HY2oVO94Nneuiov71Jkm6regEN94e1JXN8lGpwLpfcRBrpUULb/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFp6E7-F-b_VkBHOcV60_JiRbFD6n1GFGHQ4_xVzO-BmTN7UPBlqj1YNOgNtcOSAoK50pBBU7wkyYCHI24Ao_7jsw8o5HY2oVO94Nneuiov71Jkm6regEN94e1JXN8lGpwLpfcRBrpUULb/s200/index.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://www.boynebrewhouse.ie/"><b>Boyne</b></a> currently contract brew at White Gypsy and both the dortmunder and pale went down well at ABV fest; looking forward to trying others.</div>
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<a href="http://bodytonicmusic.com/"><b>Brewtonic</b></a> have contracted a couple of brews with Rascals to stock in their Dublin venues. I've not tried them but <a href="http://thebeernut.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/busy-rascals.html">The Beer Nut has</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://www.connemarabrewery.com/contact/"><b>Connemara</b></a> are a new Mayo outfit, just a golden ale thus far and we've not crossed paths.</div>
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Corrib brew the <b><a href="http://www.wildbatbeer.com/">Wild Bat</a> </b>range and have only recently launched - I'll hopefully come across them in 2016.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfkvM3Gw63UEK2hgGrY6k3RPMudnlP2_rEw-mhSUOqbpqpSPDPyxzxe8O3b3N6-e4vlqR1T2GtQcl9KpKj1VV5866zhwLH8PPmF3wZjFMaeYzCJYYPcZTp9KiuWdSiEU2IqJp_g14gk0u/s1600/index2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfkvM3Gw63UEK2hgGrY6k3RPMudnlP2_rEw-mhSUOqbpqpSPDPyxzxe8O3b3N6-e4vlqR1T2GtQcl9KpKj1VV5866zhwLH8PPmF3wZjFMaeYzCJYYPcZTp9KiuWdSiEU2IqJp_g14gk0u/s200/index2.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://www.craftworks.ie/"><b>Craftworks</b></a> are a "Brew your own" facility but also brew their own range under the Postcard label. Their two lagers did nothing for me but I also have their (pricey) tripel which I'll crack open when I have someone to share it with.</div>
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A Kerry crowd called <a href="http://www.craftydivils.com/"><b>Crafty Divils</b> </a>make an amber ale under the name of King Puck.</div>
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A gluten free outfit called <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/desmond-son-brewing/25272/"><b>Desmond and Son</b></a> has also a trio of beers I've some en route; so stay tuned for an update(if they're any good!)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5oCkNZFF3nPMFmv1n9olnJOqYSWhUK7CiN54Y6LU4iuLQx7K_OMCVF3WdR1qftldKDit5b8wE583Pdxo7HO1hVXoMnhcIxoF4FPAzPKjFrbDxbSR04HBY_yFNqo8D-HjAO8nCLGWRI2MO/s1600/index2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="29" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5oCkNZFF3nPMFmv1n9olnJOqYSWhUK7CiN54Y6LU4iuLQx7K_OMCVF3WdR1qftldKDit5b8wE583Pdxo7HO1hVXoMnhcIxoF4FPAzPKjFrbDxbSR04HBY_yFNqo8D-HjAO8nCLGWRI2MO/s200/index2.png" width="100" /></a>Drew Fox brews the <a href="http://www.cleverman.ie/"><b>Cleverman</b></a> range, fairly standard except for their smoked ale which is rather tasty.</div>
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Comedy? troupe <a href="http://www.hardybucksbeer.com/"><b>Hardy Bucks</b></a> have a lager contract brewed for them at Rye River...its apparently not worth parting with your pennies for though.</div>
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<a href="http://www.hopebeer.ie/"><b>Hope</b> </a>are another Craftworks dwelling outfit, with their initial trio rough round the edges but showing some promise. The exotically spiced saison was rather interesting and would make for a decent pairing with well-spiced dishes particularly a thai green curry.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaefGtOBDai3tCQVzJ2Hclbl6Mn46x_aScRaxO9NzlHL-FaTIGKqtWt8ZXk956t5sFiQOE-I4IeHxpVFeXw9E-K28zl7syL6r7lUtlVgki1i30k7bhx0TWf6fJ_OOYlIebAsSwCSJin7k0/s1600/10923535_428468300641128_5410030351570626919_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaefGtOBDai3tCQVzJ2Hclbl6Mn46x_aScRaxO9NzlHL-FaTIGKqtWt8ZXk956t5sFiQOE-I4IeHxpVFeXw9E-K28zl7syL6r7lUtlVgki1i30k7bhx0TWf6fJ_OOYlIebAsSwCSJin7k0/s200/10923535_428468300641128_5410030351570626919_n.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://www.jamesbrownbrews.com/"><b>James Brown</b></a> has brewed a chocolate Orange Stout and a rhubarb IPA, neither of which have the headline ingredients particularly discernible which is somewhat disappointing. Having said that the stout is decent enough and picked up first best Irish beer at Killarney this year; so worth picking up if you see it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiUWagJqQY844NsaNmZRzXD75mZRi-NfRWzzGL8qsyzJFbKMy8DeqcemuBsKS8v40QZclgHhDOGIvmsNsGbmK-bF_7M0lECRMEIZYTmP0CcSZRbM4x41jI3kRS4V1LgnuY7HZrnnJJziw/s1600/index6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiUWagJqQY844NsaNmZRzXD75mZRi-NfRWzzGL8qsyzJFbKMy8DeqcemuBsKS8v40QZclgHhDOGIvmsNsGbmK-bF_7M0lECRMEIZYTmP0CcSZRbM4x41jI3kRS4V1LgnuY7HZrnnJJziw/s200/index6.jpg" width="100" /></a>We called in to <a href="http://www.killarneybrewing.com/"><b>Killarney</b></a> brew co for an impromptu tour whilst waiting for proceedings to begin at the festival. Its an impressive set up, with obviously no shortage of cash from the outset which will always give a competitive advantage. Of course the best equipment counts for nowt if the brewer isn't up to scratch, but they've done well on that count too, with four decent beers with the (ruby) IPA and helles able to stand their ground against some of the more established players.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAg9K6JtQP0lGrkbzfUg3161NAT8RpHI59DL4vHQSdrEVTBvotb7ycy_MbqU0RWYSx5WtMNgRWta5KU-Pb10PvI3hWR8GhMk1TYXZonGVfuyZLgOUcRtvjxL5kb-HfUFZJKUG8Fo9XxhN/s1600/11889546_709848079147112_2086175459879329599_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAg9K6JtQP0lGrkbzfUg3161NAT8RpHI59DL4vHQSdrEVTBvotb7ycy_MbqU0RWYSx5WtMNgRWta5KU-Pb10PvI3hWR8GhMk1TYXZonGVfuyZLgOUcRtvjxL5kb-HfUFZJKUG8Fo9XxhN/s200/11889546_709848079147112_2086175459879329599_n.jpg" width="82" /></a><span left=""><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ocleirighbrewco"><b>Ó Cléirigh</b></a> in Cavan have been quite quiet thus far with <strike>just a ginger ale to their names. </strike><b>Correction: </b>They produce an APA, IPA, a BestBitter & a Kölsch but I've yet to come across them. Look out for the </span></span><span style="line-height: 28px; text-align: left;">Kölsch on draught in the Beer Market, Dublin.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRGuXjlTkhwU0urkjj_Nrcy3F3yoVbrMy6A6Ocg75VDGtiM8jl6pdB6pE16xK1g7pP9CbTuTxcz9Q3y1Pfe8C1IawTkPqjmZD4HP6T8VH1jrVFxEDkzuwY_a4LG0-nWX0lgkdzA8sOWJv/s1600/index7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRGuXjlTkhwU0urkjj_Nrcy3F3yoVbrMy6A6Ocg75VDGtiM8jl6pdB6pE16xK1g7pP9CbTuTxcz9Q3y1Pfe8C1IawTkPqjmZD4HP6T8VH1jrVFxEDkzuwY_a4LG0-nWX0lgkdzA8sOWJv/s200/index7.jpg" width="75" /></a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/radikalecoork"><b>Radikale</b></a> is a new gypsy outfit brewing left of centre beers with both the rubanesque and hopster somewhat lacking in hops in bottle - disappointing given the reputation of the brewer.</div>
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<a href="http://www.theoldschoolhouse.ie/"><b>Raven Brew</b></a> are based at the Old Schoolhouse in Swords. I hope to make it to the pub next year as there have been good reports on their stout.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyObgKZEo6MOJKbj0jR-qM3p4t4TSvv1dbIdGbL30LrmblR7vxbiGPAGIBifnqb46FD5mGGjMUrY1CW7SavLg3WpDHO6u6JhPWd1jbwDP-bQDOO7kVxXv52f8ynM0AAVWUaV73sGWqM8U/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyObgKZEo6MOJKbj0jR-qM3p4t4TSvv1dbIdGbL30LrmblR7vxbiGPAGIBifnqb46FD5mGGjMUrY1CW7SavLg3WpDHO6u6JhPWd1jbwDP-bQDOO7kVxXv52f8ynM0AAVWUaV73sGWqM8U/s200/index.jpg" width="83" /></a><a href="http://www.risingsonsbrewery.com/">Rising Sons</a> are a brewpub based in Cork, opening at the turn of the year. Its the new home of the excellent Mi Dazza stout formerly brewed at franciscan Well. They brew a core range and regular seasonal specials and their pizzas are pretty special too. If I'd been able to visit more than once they'd have been contender for best new opening </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgMhTXAYZR0bOM80b9xx_OqiXltqzCEa7_m7rzqvLojtnEYkAMx2Yu4_6hCxVLhIi7IS2QCisyKf5rl1mzyvUWCN5CoEbkv0AHYVtlDmuGSOnieihO7E1uEJxY3EkrIP0i1beAN_MbuoK/s1600/index3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgMhTXAYZR0bOM80b9xx_OqiXltqzCEa7_m7rzqvLojtnEYkAMx2Yu4_6hCxVLhIi7IS2QCisyKf5rl1mzyvUWCN5CoEbkv0AHYVtlDmuGSOnieihO7E1uEJxY3EkrIP0i1beAN_MbuoK/s200/index3.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://https//www.facebook.com/simonlambertandsons"><b>Simon Lambert</b></a> and Sons impressed the Beoir cohort with their Yellowbelly on their recent trip, but I'm yet to come across them in the wild. </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Benwiskin-Brewing-Company-1519711621647789/?fref=ts"><b>Benwiskin</b></a> started off at Craftworks with a competent Irish Red Ale and have now moved to Bru and are expanding their range.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysedfKTrkqAROVzBmVNquooTEagijQxiBN7-H2lpM0jmXaFWs8w4_Of89-u3yavtQc2LSmUZRYmHg4HaycQ-0YpxXwJwY-Yo83l8RiQBM8WVCjJjXQFK3W10SmDe_gRFcXUI2ZV3zm3PJ/s1600/11110061_1442276546067081_4547509851846505954_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysedfKTrkqAROVzBmVNquooTEagijQxiBN7-H2lpM0jmXaFWs8w4_Of89-u3yavtQc2LSmUZRYmHg4HaycQ-0YpxXwJwY-Yo83l8RiQBM8WVCjJjXQFK3W10SmDe_gRFcXUI2ZV3zm3PJ/s200/11110061_1442276546067081_4547509851846505954_n.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://thirdcircle.ie/"><b>Third Circle</b></a> are also at craftworks with an Irish Red and a saison. Both have gotten off to an okay start but need dialling in somewhat. I wish that red ales weren't so ubiquitous though!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfnyeDdJkSUqlUvbz276M8wCa6asGvjVxHb74HYVpmFNDllwoDLzXvVNCGseFD86IrY-iSDTmENG0iN5gIfeSnUrGIu7SZFQiEvIzeZkOeoUAkry7birB2ccaI9icwQsS1Qgxji4Dd7JU/s1600/index4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfnyeDdJkSUqlUvbz276M8wCa6asGvjVxHb74HYVpmFNDllwoDLzXvVNCGseFD86IrY-iSDTmENG0iN5gIfeSnUrGIu7SZFQiEvIzeZkOeoUAkry7birB2ccaI9icwQsS1Qgxji4Dd7JU/s200/index4.jpg" width="100" /></a><a href="http://torcbrewing.ie/"><b>Torc</b></a> are another Killarney outfit with a less common core range including a wheat beer and a dark ale (basically a mild) which were both pretty tasty on keg and cask respectively.</div>
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Another Wicklow outfit, bagging the name <b><a href="http://www.wicklowbrewery.ie/">Wicklow Brewery</a> </b>based at Mickey Finn's pub but not tried yet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WYAf5PwVdB1q9XKwa9NxiNUaMPq1CH1iWB2H8PsJ8R6yw1Fh5i1Uw_qRachZwLe97Iy-UgdS55bywz4Eqiz0tTKAu7g-_QA5U4CGvCiTBUapWpan7PgSUKmJ2xpQx2gtuxxI9miMvj9s/s1600/index.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WYAf5PwVdB1q9XKwa9NxiNUaMPq1CH1iWB2H8PsJ8R6yw1Fh5i1Uw_qRachZwLe97Iy-UgdS55bywz4Eqiz0tTKAu7g-_QA5U4CGvCiTBUapWpan7PgSUKmJ2xpQx2gtuxxI9miMvj9s/s200/index.png" width="100" /></a><a href="http://www.woodkeybrewing.ie/"><b>Wood Key</b></a> also began at Craftworks but now brew at Independent. Their red ale the Pilgrim encroaches on porter territory and is thus rather more enjoyable than the majority of reds on these shores. Their IPA is currently sat in a box shortly to be in my possession.</div>
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<b>Edit: </b>As pointed out below <b>Carlingford</b> Brewing have also launched in Louth with a red ale and a pale.<br />
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So that's yer lot for 2015 <span style="font-size: x-small;">(and at a total of<strike> 34</strike> 36<strike>20%</strike> 25%more than last year - though a lot are contracted),</span> I didn't seem to do as well tracking them down this year as last (did have 200-odd all told though!); but that's perhaps a sign that newcomers are focussing on local markets first and are perhaps draught only. It does also suggest that their may now be a fight for space on already crowded independent bottle shops' shelves and this squeeze can only continue in 2016.</div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-50350944793537994032015-12-20T22:31:00.003+00:002015-12-20T22:40:12.938+00:0012 Beers of Xmas<div style="text-align: justify;">
After <a href="https://t.co/96OCSRyBnT">Andy</a> posted his selection of twelve beers I decided it was about time to clear out my cellar a bit; so I'm joining in too <span style="font-size: x-small;">(though may stick to Twitter for the daily beers)</span>. Hosted by the <a href="http://www.beeroclockshow.co.uk/12beers/">Beer O'Clock Show</a> it seems like a good bit of social fun in the run up to Christmas. I picked 12 big beers that I've hung on to for far too long. So without further ado, I plan to work my way through these little beauties</div>
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<b>Twickenham/Alvinne Old Ale</b> has been slumbering for two years in my cellar, having spent a prior two years in a wine barrel. Should be interesting.</div>
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<b>Rebel Mexi-Cocoa</b> is from a small Cornish brewery but has picked up a bit of a cult status, I picked up this bottle to see what the fuss was about.</div>
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<b>Evil Twin Christmas Eve At A New York City Hotel Room</b> the name's a bit of a mouthful and at 10% I'm sure the beer will be too. Felicia at Prohibition brings Evil Twin beers in to NI; so was able to pick this up at my local offie. Have been impressed with some of Jeppe's beers in the past; so lets see what this brings.</div>
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<b>Prairie OK-Si</b> were one of my favourite discoveries last year with big stouts and farmhouse ales alike delighting the senses. This tequila barrel aged beauty falls in to the latter category.</div>
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<b>Old Chimney's Redshank</b> is the 2014 vintage of a barley wine brought to us by the makers of England's top rated beer; so it has good pedigree at least.</div>
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<b>Camba Bavria Imperial Stout</b> not a common style amongst largely traditional German brewers, lets see how they handle it! <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Bottle via my regular trade partner Sabine (McTaps on Ratebeer) cheers!)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg8MO1GA82zszCeLTCGr0zgRJS0vut6GnIMDHlHcczgH9zj7Xk_9nxbQmN5PworLK3rluluTeZ78jO_MFwxUvzcutYMs02W1GhT2s5uRIudnf6VuYer4QHygyAr5FgNAzGOqpNPyk7Rdbd/s1600/2015-12-20+15.51.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg8MO1GA82zszCeLTCGr0zgRJS0vut6GnIMDHlHcczgH9zj7Xk_9nxbQmN5PworLK3rluluTeZ78jO_MFwxUvzcutYMs02W1GhT2s5uRIudnf6VuYer4QHygyAr5FgNAzGOqpNPyk7Rdbd/s640/2015-12-20+15.51.01.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<b>JW Lees</b> <b>Harvest Ale</b> is a well regarded barley wine, this 2012 vintage should be nicely melded now.<br />
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<b>Sambrooks No. 5 Barley Wine</b> is a newer entrant (despite the old-world label). Their core range is solid; so lets see what they can do with a bigger beer.<br />
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<b>Tiny Rebel NP10</b> provides something a little different -a Belgian golden ale from Wales. At 10% its very much a Duvel-a-like lets see if they can pull it off.<br />
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<b>Ilkley Longhorn & World's End </b> are two barrel aged versions of past specials, Speyside and Islay respectively. Sometimes the barrel aging process can be over-done, lets see what it does to these two.<br />
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<b>Swanay <span style="font-size: x-small;">(nee Highland)</span> Old Norway</b>is a 9%-er showing off what Maris Otter can do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8QPzRSVNwnxvjsD5MDCeoFYwPqCT4yQKN3CE2O1ouICXJ5kbBllbfipAOJRBvquDsbOokQVGyBMc7Q9PBkBLwCZYG0GxzEAG9021u2nljXyl7q0hG7U8N0Iyl9j8bIGFzdTpV-5Wfypo/s1600/2015-12-20+15.52.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8QPzRSVNwnxvjsD5MDCeoFYwPqCT4yQKN3CE2O1ouICXJ5kbBllbfipAOJRBvquDsbOokQVGyBMc7Q9PBkBLwCZYG0GxzEAG9021u2nljXyl7q0hG7U8N0Iyl9j8bIGFzdTpV-5Wfypo/s320/2015-12-20+15.52.42.jpg" width="169" /></a>We're actually with family for Christmas week; so may fall behind, but will get all twelve beers blogged when I can. Look forward to reading everyone elses contributions!<br />
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If I get through those twelve I may reward myself with this special duo from Nogne O on New Years Day #1000 and #1001. Stay tuned!</div>
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beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-78587193709476156812015-12-19T15:46:00.000+00:002015-12-19T15:51:42.893+00:00Golden Pints: Ireland 2016<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJBLuOyVOvsQQ4lTuHhYbG0CF3RSywhvgEFfK2eactFVonPSHZTTopBc7281jgKKHAJYjVQ5PBzV-9At0kSE738bTx0q02r1f1L0J1F2A1SnXY8Zy82W_xGi_BajcIOspN4VAt7HUPeGA/s1600/gp2012-146x195.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJBLuOyVOvsQQ4lTuHhYbG0CF3RSywhvgEFfK2eactFVonPSHZTTopBc7281jgKKHAJYjVQ5PBzV-9At0kSE738bTx0q02r1f1L0J1F2A1SnXY8Zy82W_xGi_BajcIOspN4VAt7HUPeGA/s1600/gp2012-146x195.png" /></a><br />
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As per last year, I'd like to put together some nominations from the island of Ireland as this bog is all about highlighting the growing beer scene over here. I'm not going to look back at last years until after this post goes live; so it'll be just on my memory and ratebeer scores rather than being influenced by what went before. The usual provisio applies: I wasn't able to try everything that was released and if any more impress before the end of the year I reserve the right to amend my choices!</div>
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1. <i><b>Best Cask Beer</b></i>
I've not had very much Irish cask this year as I missed the ICBCF, but I was able to attend the Franciscan Well winterfest. However I'm going to "cheat" slightly and nominate the <b>Northbound 08 Kolsch</b> which was on key-cask at the CAMRA beer festival. Clean, fresh, flavourful - I had three pints which is a rarity in these days of halves and thirds.
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Honourable mention: <b>Lacada Stranded Bunny</b> for tasting just as a porter should and filling a real gap amongst the Irish reds and dry stouts. If I'd had a chance to try it with more condition it could have taken the crown </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCEql5R6Nv6I2auE5qIneJtZsM_9y0KZ-W4yzETWhMfOoYeOyaRe0YosfPucDitB-hZam53RweDcyeqMPojBHfX3lVZ7cc-w_X2NxDeFpHbicq3omEE4yLHat8Y2HhWfnbqTeyNVwDBsb/s1600/Eight-Degrees-Brewing-Gasman-Rye-IPA-264x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCEql5R6Nv6I2auE5qIneJtZsM_9y0KZ-W4yzETWhMfOoYeOyaRe0YosfPucDitB-hZam53RweDcyeqMPojBHfX3lVZ7cc-w_X2NxDeFpHbicq3omEE4yLHat8Y2HhWfnbqTeyNVwDBsb/s200/Eight-Degrees-Brewing-Gasman-Rye-IPA-264x300.jpg" width="176" /></a>2. <b><i>Best Keg Beer
</i></b>I've had a lot more of these, though largely what's been imported to the North as I've only been to Dublin a couple of times. The crown has to go to <b>Eight Degrees</b> for <b>Gasman Rye</b> for its sheer drinkability, which it has no right to have at 7.8%, a tropical melange of hops combatting with a robust and spicy body.</div>
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Honourable mention: There are far too many to list really, 2015 has been an excellent beer year but I was really impressed by <b>Killarney Devils Helles</b> a really crisp and nettley doughy pils like beer and the juxtaposition of clean malt and fruity hops that was <b>Trouble Brewing Remix </b>India Pale Lager.</div>
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3. <b><i>Best Bottled/ Canned beer</i></b>
This one is much easier, has to be <b>Galway Bay</b>'s Superlative <b>200 Fathoms</b>. Last year's release was special this year was spot on and one of my highest rated Irish beers altogether.
Honourable mentions <b>Farmageddon Hopburst IPA</b> - these guys had a run of infected bottles but this one showed off how the beer is intended, bright juicy tropical hops on a clean lightly bready malt profile. </div>
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<b>Boundary Filthy Animal</b> a Christmas special which unfortunately sold out before I could get hold of any more bottles a lightly spicy and smoky rich porter, great with cheese or desserts alike.</div>
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4. <b><i>Best Homebrew</i></b> has to go to Shane's <b>Raspberry Turbo</b>, outright winner at Sourfest. Its the kind of beer I'd want to keep a few of in the fridge for its sheer enjoyability. Luckily a version of it is currently slumbering in a wine barrel at Boundary and is certainly a contender for best bottled beer next year!</div>
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5. <b><i>Best Overall Beer </i></b>is a tricky one but I think it has to be the <b>Northbound 08</b> because it just surprised me on draught after having found it ho-hum in bottle. Its a year-round beer rather than a seasonal like the majority of my other picks this year, try it if you find it!</div>
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6.<b><i>Best Brewery</i></b> is becoming harder every year as the ranks of excellent breweries swell almost weekly. I could easily give this to Eight Degrees again, who haven't released a bad beer this year but that would be far too easy. Instead I think there's a brewery this year that's really dialled in its core range and released a raft of interesting specials with a head brewer who's really gotten into his stride. That brewery is of course <b>Galway Bay</b>. I can't claim to have loved everything but Foam and Fury continues to be a world class DIPA, the Voyager US IPA filled a real gap in the market and the sessionable kettle sours are real winners. Congrats Chris and team!</div>
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7. <b><i>Best New Brewery</i></b> -Killarney very much impressed on first outing earlier this summer; but I've not drunk enough to give them the crown. Instead this award goes to a brewery I've drunk monthly from their launch, with a solid core range (though admittedly not all to my taste) and a raft of specials and collaborations it has to be <b>Boundary</b>.<span style="font-size: x-small;">(full disclosure: I am both a co-owner and good friends with Matthew the brewer, but I like to think the beer speaks for itself)</span>. The ethos behind the brewery and the buy in from the local community are the real things that make it stand out.</div>
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8. <b><i>Best Pub/ Bar</i></b> has definitely been earned by <b>The Sunflower</b>. Woodfired pizza oven in the garden, host to Belfast beer Club, well kept beer on cask and a great range of local and international beer in the fridges. Saddened and angry to hear that redevelopment may lead to its demolition - I hope not but in the meantime please support it whilst you can.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDcHIlmEz6Zq8BHkI_3j8bfEmAC9vdZImkuVALsMJydr-4zL6XUzAvyaAKDXnzJkPJ9tsO2q-tN4Dpk0XlfTLsOlL3RlgDeAp8RiqNNAjH66ieuNCsZ_6aF_FmTqg5p-2bBpI-bdQRLuE/s1600/12191518_319918104798462_9018878975454107808_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDcHIlmEz6Zq8BHkI_3j8bfEmAC9vdZImkuVALsMJydr-4zL6XUzAvyaAKDXnzJkPJ9tsO2q-tN4Dpk0XlfTLsOlL3RlgDeAp8RiqNNAjH66ieuNCsZ_6aF_FmTqg5p-2bBpI-bdQRLuE/s320/12191518_319918104798462_9018878975454107808_n.jpg" width="320" /></a> 9. <b><i>Best New Opening</i></b> - I've not been to any new bars down south but there's one that immediately springs to mind in the north. I was a bit of a latecomer but I've now visited on a number of occasions and been impressed each time. 10 guest taps with regular takeovers and the biggest bottle list of perhaps any UK bar, interesting small snack plates and a buzzing atmosphere. The award this year goes to <b>Brewbot</b>.</div>
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10. <b><i>Best Food and Beer Pairing</i></b> I've not eaten out as much this year, but one thing that really does stick in my mind is the fresh, lemony and mouth-filling creaminess of St Tola against the crisp, pithy and brightness of Eight Degrees Full Irish (Cheers to Mike at Fancy Cheese Co. for facilitating this!).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AXgRNlJ60NR_NVSSnljEyZRZZgBo2fGgFF9skBFX1mmZWdKe5uxJqFpKFivyWvY0jDTz6nRHX4urfiJiW-CwvlBQOscum9XCt1xyrwhqhZeo6_ItTxIP2IuZw0IKsy_H6vbQrJX_3lxr/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AXgRNlJ60NR_NVSSnljEyZRZZgBo2fGgFF9skBFX1mmZWdKe5uxJqFpKFivyWvY0jDTz6nRHX4urfiJiW-CwvlBQOscum9XCt1xyrwhqhZeo6_ItTxIP2IuZw0IKsy_H6vbQrJX_3lxr/s1600/download.jpg" /></a> 11. <b><i>Best Festival </i></b>is really getting some real competition now, with some weekends having multiple events, especially during the summer months. I now have to pick and choose which to attend but in my mind there is one true stand out. Fantastic venue, excellent food and world class beer selection. Great feedback from all who attended - amazing considering its in its first year! This award belongs to <b>ABV</b>. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Disclosure time again: I worked the full weekend at the festival and know the organisers)</span></div>
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12. <b><i>Best Independent Retailer </i></b>with a new growler fill station and probably still the best variety of Irish and international beers <b>The</b> <b>Vineyard</b> takes this again.</div>
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Honourable mentions: <b>McHughs </b>have made ammends for an inauspicious first few orders and continue to impress with the number of Irish beers they manage to find room for. I'm also very fortunate to have the <b>Winerack</b> in Stewartstown acting as my local good beer hotspot - though of course its helped that I've been able to advise on what should be stocked!</div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-75787245743000479692015-12-03T14:16:00.000+00:002015-12-03T14:16:18.463+00:00What's New?<div style="text-align: justify;">
A number of posts lined up for December (if I ever get them finished) including the now obligatory Golden Pints and summary of Irish beer for the year. There's also been a number of Christmas specials launched recently and plenty of events happening too so please do check back over coming weeks. My writing hand and drinking arm will certainly be well exercised in coming weeks, 'tis the season after all!</div>
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In the mean time Daisy and I have finally launched our joint blog <b>Drinks We've Known</b> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(see what we did there?!) </span>with <a href="https://drinksweveknown.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/winter-warmers-with-thebar">a post on whisky cocktails</a>. Some of you Eagle-eyed Twitterphiles have been following us since the start of the year; so hopefully your patience is now paying off. Please feel free to follow the blog account (which Daisy will also be tweeting from, <a href="https://twitter.com/DrinksWeveKnown">@drinksweveknown. </a></div>
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The thinking behind the blog is to provide a home for all of our drink escapades, both at home and travelling; think bar & drinks reviews, spirits, attempts to make drinks & probably even coffee. I'll probably move the non beer/cider things from this blog across at some point too (though will continue to promote posts from my own twitter account 'cos that's my perrogative innit ;-p )<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZRX3iWqtnpsTUcCBjEn0MaTfME1RhwGNb7J-_461v4Jaxh8kfpNB-M9pDdu7ZpaVt6Tz4jI9TK5ysLh0rmAe9JSztb0LtKKVVjDIeZgfVgxAZGJHqE7zwStBrhQtpp3PFzYCmD2q1ruz/s1600/CTS4mQPWIAAo-X_.jpg+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZRX3iWqtnpsTUcCBjEn0MaTfME1RhwGNb7J-_461v4Jaxh8kfpNB-M9pDdu7ZpaVt6Tz4jI9TK5ysLh0rmAe9JSztb0LtKKVVjDIeZgfVgxAZGJHqE7zwStBrhQtpp3PFzYCmD2q1ruz/s400/CTS4mQPWIAAo-X_.jpg+large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Mezcalendar...thanks Daisy!</td></tr>
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Daisy also thought of an awesome present for my birthday; an advent calendar with booze in! You've heard of the whisky dram calendar and even ginvent, but I've gotten hold of one with traditional Mexican mezcal... a <a href="https://www.masterofmalt.com/mezcal/drinks-by-the-dram/the-mezcal-advent-calendar/">mezcalendar</a>* if you like! We'll be blogging our thoughts daily in an aim to find a bottle we can order for home cocktailing. The first post is<a href="https://drinksweveknown.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/mezcalendar1"> here</a>.</div>
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So until my next post here; see you around!</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
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Mezcalendar. Genius. Someone buy that man a pint. <a href="https://t.co/WguARn38uP">https://t.co/WguARn38uP</a></div>
— Master Of Malt (@MasterOfMalt) <a href="https://twitter.com/MasterOfMalt/status/663370297882624000">November 8, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Apparently I'm the first person to use the term but have graciously allowed Master of Malt to use it ;)</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-74590676651812072722015-11-20T14:59:00.001+00:002015-11-20T15:00:10.573+00:00ALL the hops<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm a big fan of hop forward beers done well, we've had decent pale ales and IPAs but until recently there was a dearth of the elder siblings the double IPA on these shores, other than the occasional bottle of hardcore IPA or an exotic flying dog appearing there was nowhere to turn for a strong n'hoppy fix. We at Beoir decided to remedy this and concocted a plan to brew the first Irish DIPA at a collaborative brew day with Blacks. Alas (though happily) we were foiled and beaten to market by not one but two double IPAs and with a brace of new entrants the number of DIPAs has reached double figures. I decided to catch up with the brewers to chat about their reasons for brewing DIPAs, the Irish beer market in general and what we can hope for in the future.</div>
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Appearing in March 2013 (and first to market) was <b>Carlow's DIPA</b> Some pineapple and lemon cheesecake on the nose. Overwhelmingly sweet at first, fairly heavy body, low carbonation. As it warms some lemon pith and mango comes through with a touch of balancing bitterness, but very much a bulked up UK style malt led IPA with a US accent and a sipper more than a quaffer. Some people suggest that at 7.5% it sits more in regular IPA territory, but given the regular IPA is 5% this one is certainly punchier! I got a few thoughts from Seamus and the brew team.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vYRhJmRs63OyjweeXUQEPcErT2OFyfVz_csX6h4Lmm57ADjeFrmUjekg6ftdxNyTsc_lFBER5GvZfm49qLAIwshXErFpxUnQ89mPx0av1yIPcGpKvIlpDpQAlx4xZOVaVVFLLif1OEa3/s1600/Double-IPA-glass-bottle-for-DIPA-Page.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vYRhJmRs63OyjweeXUQEPcErT2OFyfVz_csX6h4Lmm57ADjeFrmUjekg6ftdxNyTsc_lFBER5GvZfm49qLAIwshXErFpxUnQ89mPx0av1yIPcGpKvIlpDpQAlx4xZOVaVVFLLif1OEa3/s320/Double-IPA-glass-bottle-for-DIPA-Page.png" width="253" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"DIPA is a real craft beer drinkers beer and a challenge for a brewery to get the balance of such a monster beer right. To make the beer we took the approach of a traditional DIPA in that we made a hoppier, maltier, higher alcohol version of our regular IPA. We scaled everything up so that it would be the bigger version of our own beer, making a full batch from the start.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>From the first test brew we knew it had found its way into our core range immediately. It is always developing more of a following as the Irish consumer develops a pallet for these full flavoured beasts, and as the consumer learns to drink them as they would a 4.3% beer they are learning how to have a better relationship with the strong DIPAs"</b></i></span></div>
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BIK:And what of plans for future releases, how does an established brewery like Carlow stay relevant?</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"There’s always a plethora of beers swirling in our minds, I would expect to see a beer of similar vein come out of our range and it is more a matter of time. Its very exciting to see the growth in the sector. We want to always see ourselves as pioneers in craft beer rather than the old guys so we are constantly adding to our range and staying innovative."</b></i></span></div>
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The most recent release, <b>Millennium</b>, comes from one of my go-to Irish breweries, Eight Degrees; brewed to celebrate their 200th brew. I caught up with co-owner Scott on the phone to chat about it and hoppy beer in general. They're pretty busy at the moment having just taken delivery of a 5-barrel brew system, second hand via Mauritius and their planning permission has finally been granted meaning they can now start assembling everything! They hope that the brewery will be up and running soon.</div>
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<b>Eight Degrees</b> are well known for producing pale n'hoppy numbers & with a Kiwi (Scott) & an Aussie (Cam) at the helm its no surprise that antipodean lupulin features heavily. These hops are becoming increasingly harder to find; so how has a small brewery in Ireland gotten on? <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We recently won a Bronze in the World Beer Cup for Amber Ella</b></i></span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(well deserved! - ed)</span>; <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>resulting in the Australian hop growing association contacting us; we leveraged this to become the second brewery in the world to be able to brew with Enigma hops* and at the same time we've secured hops for the next three years." When pushed on the best hop-growing nation Scott sighed, "as much as it pains me as a New Zealander to say it, the Australian hops are that much more tropical and aromatic than the new Zealand ones...a lot of them (NZ hops) are descended from Saaz and that comes out especially in the aroma whereas Aussie hops are much closer to the US flavours" </b></i></span>Each to their own, NZ hops certainly still do it for me!</div>
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BIK:So how do they go about developing recipes? "<i><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We know what combinations of hops work well by now and often the hop bill comes first with the recipe designed to fit afterwards. We don't generally do trial batches like experimental home cooking we use intuition to come up with something that works. One of our most successful beers Full Irish </span></b></i><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Beoir beer of the year 2014 - ed) </span></span></span><i><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was just a nice combo that we happened to stumble across and thought 'that's fuckin' awesome' and turned it in to a brew. We consciously push ourselves to use new hop varieties" 9 times out of 10 this works in their favour but on the odd occasion something might be "pretty good, but not quite there. We tweak recipes as we re-brew them, which is why Hurricane was rehashed at a lower ABV when it became a core beer."</span></b></i></div>
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BIK:So what about the general Irish brewery aversion to hops? </div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"You need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and brew modern styles. There's a great new-wave of brewers who began as home brewers, who perhaps produced fantastic recipes but just haven't quite worked out to scale up their recipes for commercial kit. Highly hopped ales need to be well balanced to prevent falling one way or the other and there are a lot of technical challenges to overcome with this." </b></i></span></div>
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Aside from variety in hop crops (<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"mosaic a few years ago was fantastic but this season it has a very 'oniony' aspect to it recently"</b></i></span>) there are kit limitations, physical limits on how many hops can be added to the whirlpool, clogging of pipes and pumps with hop sludge - "<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>we've started using whole leaf hops in the kettle, in giant bags", and of course a limit to how high an ABV can be managed with a finite mash tun. "The easiest thing is to cram sugar in, but then you need a more alcohol tolerant yeast strain and need to make sure it doesn't end up to thin by building body with speciality malts. Every time we push the ABV up a few notches it feels like we have a mountain to climb, and then we mange it and think 'Jesus we can't scale another peak like that' but we've always managed it so far. We have something even stronger in the tanks." </b></i></span></div>
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Hopefully we'll see it this side of Christmas alongside some other specials (personally I'm hoping for a re-brew of Gasman A slightly more sensible but still pokey (8.7%) Rye IPA with (according to my rate beer notes) a super fruity tropical melange on nose. mango, passion fruit, tangerines, balanced with fruity malt. Far too sessionable for its strength).</div>
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Of course (as is often the way with stronger beers) most of these were one off specials, but perhaps the best known of them, <b>Galway Bay's Of Foam and Fury</b> (OFAF)is semi-regular and starting to become more widely available with brewery expansions. Its a masterpiece with mango, slight yoghurt notes and orange pith on the nose bring a pithy piney bitterness in taste and seguing to a Robust, bitter, mango peel with a slightly chalky, rich fruity finish. I've heard it compared to Pliny, and whilst the former does have the same clean hopping & is just as easy drinking (thanks to Jay for brining us a sample to try at EBBC!), OFAF is just a bit more robust in body.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuibthiWZvlSyHaRixWZLISiXzl6ueCJfM7UoNhG6ugzfA-Ld2zFJdcsZMieu5_Uez73qpCVcItt9TbmJOPEeeIKvnF9pfoOaUqjJpCX8edm3tY5hSQTHh_hrkegJG9Qc3xGmAjyukZrvf/s1600/2015-10-21+22.18.34.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuibthiWZvlSyHaRixWZLISiXzl6ueCJfM7UoNhG6ugzfA-Ld2zFJdcsZMieu5_Uez73qpCVcItt9TbmJOPEeeIKvnF9pfoOaUqjJpCX8edm3tY5hSQTHh_hrkegJG9Qc3xGmAjyukZrvf/s320/2015-10-21+22.18.34.jpg" width="259" /></a>I emailed Chris Treanor (Galway Bay's head brewer) to find out more.<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"Back then (When OFAF was released - ed), I had a recipe bucket-list (of which I'm still working from) of beers that I not only wanted to brew, but brew the best examples of such in the country. And at the top of that list was a DIPA and subsequently an Imperial Stout. <br /><br />That resulted in many hours of research and preparation to result in two brews brewed within a week of each other (Of Foam and Fury & Two Hundred Fathoms). It was an interesting assignment as I was brewing these, very expensive brews without getting the green light from the bosses to do so!<br /><br />Upon the first iteration of the first brew, little has changed overall aside from scaling the recipe up to our larger tank sizes and trying to get better efficiency out of our ingredients. When the first brew came to fruition, I thought it had finished too sweet, I stressed and had bought a massive amount of dextrose for the second brew. Alas, the first batch went out, and there was a strong following, so little changed. <br /><br />There is a strong place in my heart for those US IPA's that have beautiful delicate nature to, of which this year's Voyager IPA was an homage to."</b></i></span><br />
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BiK: Whilst its completely different to your own, did Carlow getting a DIPA out first annoy you at all? (we certainly wanted to be the first with Beoir #1 but we were far too slow off the marks!)?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b> "It's not an annoyance at all - I find the pissing race to be the first brewer to a style, and the infatuation with cost to the consumer to be more of an annoyance (and hindrance) to the industry here. Honestly, the only true race is quality, if the consumer and brewer realises this, then the Irish brewing industry will push into the next stage and truly find its place in the beer world. Anything less than that, we're getting stuck in a whole pile of nothing and we'll constantly be second best to the UK brewing scene."</b></i></span><br />
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BIK: And how about hop availability?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We're struggling with hops, as I think everyone is in the same boat this year. But I welcome that struggle really. (I love a good complain among brewers). But really, shortages in ingredients will bear many new innovations in the industry and will be a test to the true skill of a brewer."</b></i></span><br />
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BIK: and what else can we look forward to - a black IPA perhaps?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"Yes, one of our brewers has a recipe in the waiting for exactly that but we've been putting it on the back burner until we can be sure of our allocation to not interrupt the brewing of our core ranges. It will only be a matter of time until we tackle the next level being a TIPA, but we're in no rush to get there, but it's tucked neatly in that bucket list. Also, we're about to take the plunge on our new brew-house. Which will truly be a game changer, as we're brewing on some of the most difficult to work with equipment in the industry (considering our output) this will help us dial in on consistency and free us up to focus in more on the nick-picky side of each beer."</b></i></span><br />
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BIK:The use of the second runnings of OFAF for Via Maris is a great use of a potential waste product; what inspired you to do this and how do you go about choosing hops for each batch?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We've actually had to reduce the amount of the Via Maris that we can run the partigyle of as we were skewing our efficiencies; we were finding a diminishing return in the quality of wort we were getting from the runnings of OFAF. We've now been finding better results in tailoring the OFAF to get better runnings for itself and to use an actual mash for the Via Maris. <br /><br />Choosing hops for VM is really an experimental approach, we would do our research and figure out what would work well on paper, then receive the hops and figure out what would work well together when you look at the oil compositions and then finally bring that into the recipe itself."</b></i></span><br />
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BIK:OFAF has been extremely well received in the market, with some observers comparing it to Pliny the Elder and receiving Beoir beer of the year. How do such plaudits make you feel as the brewer?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"It's never really sunk in to be honest. Personally I feel there's a mile in the difference between the two, where Pliny is a truly delicate brew, with OFAF being a little bit more, furious! <br /><br />I welcome the appreciation, using it as a guideline that we're doing something right. But we're way off the goal to be able to say we've done everything we can in terms of quality of DIPA's."</b></i></span><br />
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Following IMBC we chatted a bit more about consumer expectation, beer serving size and where the market could be going in Ireland, I'd heard people were refusing to try OFAF priced at £5 a third. (personally I'd never pay that as I know I can get a bottle for £5 but its a shame people missed out)<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"£15 a pint is steep. But it's not a beer that should be ordered by the pint, whatsoever. And that riles me when that argument of cost comes up. There was no pint glasses in IMBC that I saw. Everyone has their margin to make on a beer, tax is very expensive, especially in the UK for anything over 7.5%. If people can't make a profit on a beer, where does the money come from to continue innovation in new recipes and general progression in the larger scene?<br />The same people who are fighting for pints to be the go-to serving size, complain when that expensive beer (that often goes through 2 stages of people trying to make a profit off of) arrives at an seemingly extortionate price (which in a pub often covers costs that the regular punter doesn't consider). <br />I personally prefer a smaller serving size, I find myself appreciating that beer in question that little more. <br />While the costs of beer is high to the consumer, it's high to the people manufacturing it also. As a producer its a difficult thing to be producing these beers at great expense yet still run a company that's still viable and profitable. </b></i></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b> </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Walking into the Italian pubs in Rome (Ma Che Siete), the ream of highly expensive bars in Copenhagen you're often given whatever the suitable glass is and the suited measure as small as a 1/3 in some cases, I'd never bat an eyelid personally. I appreciate that mentality much more than buying beers by the pint. <br />I know that that may not be a popular opinion by the regular beer drinker we have in Ireland. But if we don't allow some removal from the Pint serving, we will be limited by what the average producer may be able to produce.<br />It's this reason, that up until recently, we have had the most dull and lifeless craft beer scene in the world. <br />I'd like to think we're moving away from that, but there's always something that pops its head up in respect to pricing and volume."</b></i></span> Hear hear, shifting attitudes are something to be celebrated!<br />
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<b>Blacks</b> have made a number of DIPAs, including a crowd-funder special called <b>Gold</b>, a SMASH (single malt and single hop) <b>Topaz DIPA</b> and of course the Beoir collaboration imaginatively called <b>Beoir #1</b>. Another double IPA based on one of Sam's home-brew recipes (<b>High Viz</b>) is now a semi-regular with another batch due to be brewed in January. More recently an Indian Brown Ale Jester Brown has been seen in the wild (debuting at ICBCF15). I got speaking to Sam about his inspirations and how things are working out as they approach their third birthday.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBasIMRz09gomTWJPmR7utqSMoZof3OBeATiomDMuYiN4EeeX3b48AcsL8mEFvG95JgJEHeHdHdEQbPhv7tvFRvnvWErxeJi8wg6EQ7EAz2Fo5dE_KYpXB4KWBGPZlwqrVkckvKGG1_lg/s1600/vizbeertap82mm-300x300.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBasIMRz09gomTWJPmR7utqSMoZof3OBeATiomDMuYiN4EeeX3b48AcsL8mEFvG95JgJEHeHdHdEQbPhv7tvFRvnvWErxeJi8wg6EQ7EAz2Fo5dE_KYpXB4KWBGPZlwqrVkckvKGG1_lg/s200/vizbeertap82mm-300x300.jpg" width="200" /></a>Hi Viz has now been brewed four times, with the hops tweaked each time; the next batch will use new season southern hemisphere hops; so will be a bit different. How has it been sourcing hops?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We've been around a bit longer than a lot of the recent start ups; so we've been able to secure contracts for a few years ahead, we'll have even more varieties next year, 20-something, which means we can really begin to play around. We should be able to spot-by any shortages we need. Some varieties are unavailable, for example the Jester hop we used in our double brown; so we'd need to rethink it if we were to brew it again."</b></i></span><br />
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Sam is fortunate enough to have a pilot kit; which the Indiegogo specials were brewed on & also some of the festival one-offs. This is great for R&D and scaling up of old home-brew recipes.<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"I brewed a lot of double IPAs in the year before starting the brewery, they're a favourite style of mine. Its much harder to dry hop on a commercial scale; you just don't get the same contact with the liquid but we're getting there. US beers are hard to beat </b></i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(a particular favourite of Sam's is Drake's Hopcocalypse -ed)</span></span><i><b> particularly because they just have access to a better quality of hop & more importantly fresher. We don't get to choose which batches our hops come from and need to make adjustments from delivery to delivery for alpha acid and see how the flavour works out. That aside though, Irish breweries can match US brewers on most things and come up with pretty decent results".</b></i></span> And of course we get to drink them much fresher here than the majority of American imports; so I think we're pretty fortunate that we now have some breweries willing to punch the boat out a bit!</div>
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So what of plans for future big beers?<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"Well that double brown was pretty highly hopped, 5kg in just 200l on the pilot system but I'll continue to revisit home-brew recipes that worked well, will certainly look at a double black IPA (fab news! - ed) At the moment we're pretty busy developing our spirits range with the 200 litre still. we've just made a corn mash moonshine which is selling locally and also developing a gin which will see wider release. We have the gin basket and can experiment with botanical in there or in the boiler; so there are a lot of variables to play with! We also have an increasing amount of our KPA going in to cans (currently taking place at C&C in Clonmel) and plenty of demand for bottles which will keep us busy."</b></i></span><br />
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I've got a vested interest in Blacks being one of the initial crowd-funders and it helps of course that they produce great beers (am hoping we get more of their stuff up here!) Sam hinted at a special wood-aged poitin release in 2016; so look out for that! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqrbInXFy1YoUjD1TB-na5C62JOkvEVs52KiMAxjbYfUBRtKQRXgQGeVFU_Nk5lilk1fzilFyRaGMzgs8HamMeUkXSEZ-7r4AnaH0jUI1EnR3USZMsXAnexV0sq6LSIXCuu4pc7Y9X9u6/s1600/HopPriority_Tap-300x276.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqrbInXFy1YoUjD1TB-na5C62JOkvEVs52KiMAxjbYfUBRtKQRXgQGeVFU_Nk5lilk1fzilFyRaGMzgs8HamMeUkXSEZ-7r4AnaH0jUI1EnR3USZMsXAnexV0sq6LSIXCuu4pc7Y9X9u6/s200/HopPriority_Tap-300x276.png" width="200" /></a><b>Trouble Brewing</b> have gone from a more traditional core range to producing a number of hop forward specials culminating in a DIPA, <b>Chasing the Dragon</b> (hazy, pithy, sticky, resinous, full on hop heavy DIPA. Plenty of fruit from some of my favourite hops: Motueka, Amarillo, Mosaic, Simcoe and Citra) and Ireland's First Triple IPA <b>Hop Priorit</b>y (sticky, pithy, fruity, well hidden booze but growing warmth, plenty of body to tackle the bitterness with Mandarina Bavaria, Equinox, Amarillo & Vic Secret hops). I spoke to Mark about the change of focus and plans for the future.<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b></b></i></span>"I'm a big IPA fan so I was keen start brewing some more hop focussed beers. When we started brewing more frequent specials the hop-forward beers would always sell quicker and we were always getting better feedback on those styles. So, we're happy to brew them and people seem happy to drink them! </b></i></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b> </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>There wasn't any one particular beer that inspired me (for chasing the Dragon), I just picked elements that I liked from other beers and from some of the specials we had brewed. I wanted to keep the malt bill as clean as possible so we used only pale ale malt and also used 10% table sugar to get a lower final gravity. I wanted to get as much aroma as possible but also keep the beer balanced, so all the bitterness was achieved by the sheer volume of aroma hops at the end of the boil. It was also then dry hopped 3 times.<br /><br />Hop Priority was brewed to celebrate 5 years of Trouble Brewing. We had already brewed loads of hoppy beers of various strengths and a triple IPA seemed like the the right beer to fit the occasion! We used ~3kg/hL of some of the best hops available from all over the world."</b></i></span><br />
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I managed to draw out some thoughts on Irish beer quality and DIPAs in particular...<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"Overall I think the quality of Irish beers is quite good, there is some really bad beer out there but most of it is decent and the quality is improving all the time. I was particularly impressed with the standard at the recent festival in the RDS and I think the more competition we have in the market the higher that standard is going to be raised. The Irish DIPAs are a mixed bag, some are among the best DIPAs I've ever had (freshness is key!) and there are others that aren't strong enough in ABV or hop character to be classed as DIPAs, though still good beers in their own right." </b></i></span><br />
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Mark has no current plans to re-brew either of these or indeed any "imperial" beers though he did like my suggestion of double oh-yeah (their black IPA)...He does intend to produce some sour styles of beer and perhaps non-traditional ingredients such as fruit, syrups and herbs. Imperial gruit anyone?<br />
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<b>Bo Bristle</b> made a <b>DIPA</b> for the ICBCF in 2014 with more of an East-Coast USA influence, the malt being assertive alongside high herbal+piney hops. Hempy , full bodied bitter IPA with a pithy, herbal and resinous sticky malt taste. Intended to be a one off beer but is now an inspiration for upcoming strong beer range. I spoke to Andy about their influences and recipe development.<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We're huge fans of Hops at Bo Bristle so developing a DIPA was a very enjoyable & rewarding process. The development of the DIPA, as with all of our beers, was using our pilot brewing system, experimenting with recipes on small batch sizes but ludicrous amounts of Hops.<br /><br />Over the past few years we've developed a close working relationship with our hop suppliers, so fortunately getting hold of most of the hops was not a problem.We're big fans of the American brewery Odell's 7% IPA. (technically not an DIPA but lovely). Feedback from our DIPA was terrific & everyone wanted to know when the beer would be available in bottles. ....Answer: 2016, hopefully!"</b></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HAnkiRnmT68TC417qG8Wrkut1pvr7AgZ1Eoc9-hdojP0F1doSD9ekjZazLNbRCuq2EsUSqh3vJCY8q8WiBeOHpvCHhbKWTAZsAfNuNlrsNvnevuYlq4BiQ4h2h6sHcztLEcsRPYlobj5/s1600/12156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HAnkiRnmT68TC417qG8Wrkut1pvr7AgZ1Eoc9-hdojP0F1doSD9ekjZazLNbRCuq2EsUSqh3vJCY8q8WiBeOHpvCHhbKWTAZsAfNuNlrsNvnevuYlq4BiQ4h2h6sHcztLEcsRPYlobj5/s320/12156.jpg" width="85" /></a>North of the border only one brewer has gone north of 7% on a pale n' hoppy beer and That's <b>Hilden</b>, trialling various iterations under the Mill Street name and finally releasing the beer as <b>Buck's Head</b>. I preferred some of the more New-World versions but what they arrived at is also very enjoyable and more in keeping with British IPA. Herbal and slightly earthy with sweet biscuit in the nose. Lively spritzy carbonation full bodied, shortcake, vegetal hops, lemon peel, minerally & finishing fairly sweet. Didn't hear back from Owen on how the recipe was developed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnrHFDyo8Bd-o2qphlXb8p2KdWKRsuJFG8r7e_kULz-r4znkENP2jTaGyaeMfB3D2vVKVGONancO-g4sNhvwY4Vy4Oy4Bw1JicuJQ6DlkHaZfkrdfN71DInpkFreb10zHtpsbPeBv7HZ-/s1600/2015-11-16+16.18.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnrHFDyo8Bd-o2qphlXb8p2KdWKRsuJFG8r7e_kULz-r4znkENP2jTaGyaeMfB3D2vVKVGONancO-g4sNhvwY4Vy4Oy4Bw1JicuJQ6DlkHaZfkrdfN71DInpkFreb10zHtpsbPeBv7HZ-/s320/2015-11-16+16.18.19.jpg" width="171" /></a>Recently<b> O'Brother</b> released <b>Brutus</b> (9.3%) <strike>which I've not yet had a chance to try; so hope it makes it to bottle.</strike> I was kindly sent up a bottle by the brewery as I couldn't make it to the ICBCF this year (busy beering in Belgium!). I spoke to Barry at the brewery:<br />
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BIK: How has Brutus been received and are you likely to re-brew it?</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"It was really well received – as it was its first outing it attracted quite a bit of attention as people wanted to try the new beer. A lot of people had it as their personal beer of the festival – we got a mention for it on the Beer O’Clock Show (one of only 2 beers highlighted – the other being 8 Degrees Millennium coincidentally!), and it is our highest rated beer on Untappd. The Blackrock Cellar had a taste-off with Brutus and Of Foam and Fury and the crowd were split down the middle, so we are delighted with the response we are getting, and to be even mentioned in the same company as OFAF is great considering this is Ireland’s top rated beer!<br /><br />Brutus is a one-off beer, or at least that was the intention – just like Bonita. We don’t have any plans to re-brew it but having said that, never say never. We might make it an annual brew or something like that."</b></i></span><br />
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Having tried it I'm inclined to agree that its very much in the vein of OFAF, though perhaps leaning towards sweeter malts and less aroma hopping. Like Chris at Galway Bay they intended for a West Coast Style of DIPA<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We did quite a bit of reading on beers like Pliny The Elder (though we have never actually had the pleasure of tasting it) Hoptimum etc, and also the East Coast DIPAs like Dogfish 90 and 120 mins. Like everything in brewing (at least in our brewery) it’s coming up with the best of everything within a style, trying to get a recipe to match the concept, and then throwing a bit more at it on brew day!! <br /><br />We brew the beers we love to drink, and pretty much as frequently – so we don’t drink DIPAs all that regularly but we do love them. I think there is a lot more fun to be had in doing the bigger beers and packing more and more flavour in there. We wanted the ABV to be over 9% - we were shooting for 9.2% but ended up with 9.1% as it was tasting pretty damn good and we didn’t want to push it any further."</b></i></span><br />
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As well as tasting decent their labels also stand out; both in the core range and the more colourful "character" range. I asked Barry how these came about:<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>"We work with an incredibly talented artist called Marian Noone, who is from Sligo but based in Belfast. She does work under the tag Friz (www.thisisfriz.com). We basically float the idea to her about the character and she bounces some ideas back and then it very quickly takes shape. More down to her artistic talent to be honest but we do throw in the odd good idea or two, hopefully representing a little bit of what the beer is about – Brutus is a bit of a bruiser, not to be taken lightly!"</b></i></span><br />
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Despite Brutus being intended as a one off its been so well received that I'd be surprised it didn't make a reappearance and they certainly intend to branch out with more big beers in the future, I'm certainly hoping for a double up version of their Black IPA Bonita (see a pattern developing?!)<br />
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Rumours of a <b>Porterhouse </b>DIPA called <b>Hop to F*ck</b> <strike>are as yet unproven</strike>... are now proven with the beer spotted in the wild at a number of Porterhouse establishments; but I'll need to head back to Dublin to drink it...<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*These were featured in a single-hopped pale ale and a recently released Tasmanian IPA named Big River (alongside Ella (formerly stella until a certain behemoth took umbrage at the name)). Superb juicy IPA - look out for it!</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-12385935609905808122015-11-08T11:59:00.002+00:002015-11-08T12:04:53.225+00:00To Stewartstown from Manchester Picadilly<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shiny stainless FVs</td></tr>
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This weekend I've had the pleasure of drinking my favourite UK beer this year (so far) and one of the best I've ever had. It was a special edition Double IPA to mark 1 year of having a brewing premises (most people will know of which brewery I'm talking about now) which we were lucky to be able to secure some bottles of for the local market via Prohibition. The Winerack sold out of their allocation in less than a day. Of the other beers that were delivered, three were amongst the favourites in the tasting session at mine on Friday night. How does a brewery reach such stellar heights in less than a year? Read on to learn more about Cloudwater.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Jones in front of their brewhouse.</td></tr>
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The first point in their favour is of course the team they have. Down to earth, normal people, talented people. The brewery is as much about the team of people as the beers they produce, each brings their own life experiences to contribute to how the brewery moves forward. Take co-owner Paul Jones for example <span style="font-size: x-small;">(an interesting<a href="http://manchester.alenews.uk/2015/01/01/q-paul-jones-manchesters-cloudwater-brew-co/"> interview with him here</a>), </span>he's fascinated by skill and craft wherever it may be found, documenting every stage of the brewhouse kit out on social media. <i>"when the floor was finished I went to the far corner and turned on the tap and just giggled as it ran off perfectly down the building and in to the drain"</i>. The team has doubled in size in this past year. Their long history in the business has enable them to build up a network of contacts to ensure they have a ready audience for their beers around the UK, with a buzz about them before even the first beer had left the premises. Luckily the quality of the beers has generally lived up to the hype and we've been benefitted in the UK as a whole by an addition of a brewery at the top of their game to the mix.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High-tech steam heating plant</td></tr>
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But in addition to that they certainly have plenty of money behind them. A bunch of us writer types were invited to have a look around the brewery (see also <a href="http://thebeercast.com/2015/11/inside-cloudwater-brew-co.html">Rich</a> and <a href="http://www.graphedbeer.com/2015/11/pallet-watch-cloudwater-brew-co.html">Andy's</a> takes), the set-up is above and beyond anything I've ever seen for a new start-up brewery and the team are very fortunate to have such a flexible kit to work with. (Those gadgets though, the brewery sound system can be controlled from a phone!) They also have space for additional tanks as required as demand for their beers continues to grow. They were also able to secure a room for themselves at the recent Indyman festival, pouring a slew of their seasonal range and a slew of barrel aged specials. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's that in FV7?!</td></tr>
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That's an interesting point about their beer range: it changes every season based on what ingredients are available and what takes the brewers' fancy. This pleases the ticker mentality because there's always something new to be going at. I asked if there were any beers they'd like to rebrew - no plans at the moment but of course they'd rebrew something if there was sufficient demand. The idea of really honing a recipe and making it a best in class example does appeal, but the lure of the new is even more powerful.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The brewery already short of space!</td></tr>
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"Is there anything else you'd like to try your hand at brewing?" I enquired of the Paul. <i>"I'd like to try making some proper aged saisons and truly wild beers"</i> Of course these are a la mode in 2015; but when done well can be amongst the best beers in the world. Luckily for Cloudwater and for us they have already located a premises in which to mess around with wild beasties (to prevent them causing havoc in the main brewery) a railway arch nearby in which they hops to showcase all things wild fermentation, pickles, cheeses, yoghurts and of course natural wines and beers. Sounds like a fantastic concept.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the best equipped<br />
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Of course its not all been plain sailing. Their original location choice fell through due to impending network rail improvement works resulting in road closure which would have necessitated hand transport of everything in an out for 9 months! Their current premises is ideal, but overly conservative landlords restrict pretty much all attempts at connecting with the local community, no large brewery tour groups, no on site brewery tap and no music sessions. Being located in the red light district the unfounded fear is that the brewery will become part of a one stop shop, get boozed up there then avail of other "services" nearby...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMZku0nUFq2eDxv5s0-vR7Mj38T_wVEVQPw4lgEX9jtrvznh5wNxmJ8DrFwVNmB8D5FoclsRxV1MuUttOQiDtQkxUUVbYHVop3KiSO5Xgbhw954kHjKvjtNVq1OB9tnoPGjiB3Q_ET3W1/s1600/2015-10-10+11.06.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMZku0nUFq2eDxv5s0-vR7Mj38T_wVEVQPw4lgEX9jtrvznh5wNxmJ8DrFwVNmB8D5FoclsRxV1MuUttOQiDtQkxUUVbYHVop3KiSO5Xgbhw954kHjKvjtNVq1OB9tnoPGjiB3Q_ET3W1/s400/2015-10-10+11.06.54.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The vienna lager spooled up for labelling</td></tr>
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But despite these set backs the brewery is there, its producing fantastic beers and will continue to and we're going to benefit. Their beers are mostly destined for keg and bottle, the latter having striking white labels replete with all the necessary beer geek info <span style="font-size: x-small;">(you can see that most brews are double-brews for e.g. and the different yeasts they employ)</span>. Take those beers I mentioned at the start of the post for example, a lager, a porter a hopfenweisse and a double IPA all top-class examples of their styles. The vienna lager is biscuity, clean and fruity easy drinking and moreish. The porter is rich, chocolaty and smooth a great dessert beer. The hopfenweisse showcases new season antipodean hops in all their tropical glory, full bodied and spicy and that winning <a href="http://cloudwaterbrew.co/blog/double-ipa-day">DIPA</a>, a clean malt bill, well hidden alcohol and a fresh burst of juicy fresh hoppiness, moderately bitter but overall fun and enjoyable to drink. That beer still in FV7 when we visited the brewery a month ago, bottled a week ago and in glasses up and down the country this weekend is a triumph. We need more beers like these in the UK.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuezxizoUqzuUOLRZro0R_vFHpCXnSjviSu4j6xiQi5Gm8jHscl5vWO1jjYZuXKNfFT306cOyDRbVKSfPYX7InytTH3RMnfgA3avJJh-l7N28mizdHhNTUIaxdQ7FsNjoqRFgUO6gCdPJC/s1600/2015-11-08+10.30.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuezxizoUqzuUOLRZro0R_vFHpCXnSjviSu4j6xiQi5Gm8jHscl5vWO1jjYZuXKNfFT306cOyDRbVKSfPYX7InytTH3RMnfgA3avJJh-l7N28mizdHhNTUIaxdQ7FsNjoqRFgUO6gCdPJC/s400/2015-11-08+10.30.13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few beers from the Autumn range</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thankyou to Paul for giving up his Saturday morning on a busy weekend to show us all around and deal with our incessant questions. As always I love visiting breweries as there is always something new to learn about brewing alongside learning what makes the team tick. As I mentioned cloudwater is now available in my local off-licence <a href="https://www.facebook.com/The-Wine-Rack-595782783889270/?fref=ts">Wine Rack in Stewartstown</a> and various other locations in and around the Belfast area. Please do try them if you come across them; you won't be disappointed.</span><br />
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<a href="http://cloudwaterbrew.co/"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cloudwater Brew Co</span></b></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><complete id="goog_1989363615"><a href="https://twitter.com/cloudwaterbrew">@cloudwaterbrew</a></complete></span><br />
<complete><a href="https://www.facebook.com/cloudwaterbrew.co"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Facebook</span></a></complete></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-26697095701735866452015-11-04T10:23:00.002+00:002015-11-04T10:23:38.619+00:00Where's the Cheese & Beer Book You Were Writing?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzMO5Mf1F71G5b_bZyWqC6JWWhhujU-cHG_qqfEm9dqIhJ1XSEVAqtDSu4065Qj-3l6Kz2EA4GussI47ytKyveO87mTCN_mLK0MUDqUBusTodGhyoiaAAK8YN-TOjZkOOLQelc46thvaJ/s1600/tf4mklcgy7akpdbpm796.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzMO5Mf1F71G5b_bZyWqC6JWWhhujU-cHG_qqfEm9dqIhJ1XSEVAqtDSu4065Qj-3l6Kz2EA4GussI47ytKyveO87mTCN_mLK0MUDqUBusTodGhyoiaAAK8YN-TOjZkOOLQelc46thvaJ/s320/tf4mklcgy7akpdbpm796.jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image kindly created by Simon @ <a href="http://www.camrgb.org/">CAMRGB</a></td></tr>
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Its a question I'm often asked and certainly valid, given the number of people I told I would be writing it! Its a difficult topic to write about because it touches on life outside of the beer bubble so take this post outside of my usual sphere of comfort but people deserve some kind of explanation, particularly those brewers who sent me beer samples for potential inclusion and the cheese makers who likewise sent through cheese. Special mention must also be made of Paxton and Whitfield who kindly arranged to sell me cheese at cost; to make it easier for me to afford the project on my own coin. Perhaps a chronological summary would best help explain.</div>
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Things kicked off well in early 2012. The idea was fresh in my mind and I drafted layout of how I envisaged the book to look. Possible pairings were drawn up using previous experience as a guide. I decided early on that I wanted to feature UK breweries and cheeses; to highlight the breadth and quality we have on our own shores. I wanted to challenge the unwritten assumption that the best cheese is French and the best beers are Belgian and US! (I'd very much have liked to included Irish beers and cheeses, and whilst the latter was flourishing Irish brewing was fairly stagnant; an explosion in brewers (and more importantly UK and world class beers emerging) perhaps contributed to what would transpire).</div>
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Anyway, I digress, rough pairings hashed out I went about sourcing the best examples of beers and cheeses within the proposed styles. Once sufficient of each had been accumulated I was able to hold pairing sessions (often ably assisted by my friend Julie), determining whether my envisaged pairings actually worked (luckily the majority did!), taking photographs and notes on all of the pairings. These were all completed by Autumn 2012.</div>
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At the same time I began submitting my proposal to a number of publishers, with some enthusiasm at first. However when they read in to the detail the majority decided that focussing solely on the UK wasn't going to result in many book sales. Unwilling to change the raison d'etre of my book I decided to go down the self-published e-book/print on demand route. This was the start of the procrastination.</div>
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You see, when you don't have a deadline looming over you, or someone to prod you in to action things get put on a back burner. I edited a few photographs, started compiling tasting notes and worked out a rough page order for my pairings. Confidence already knocked by the rejections of publishers it was to suffer further on the release of Vinken & Van Tricht's <a href="http://beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/book-review-beer-cheese.html">Beer & Cheese</a>. Aside from having to think of a new title, the calibre and quality of the book and writing was amazing. How could anything I write,a some-time beer blogger and enthusiast with some technical knowledge compete with the years of expertise of a sommelier and affineur? How could self publishing result in anything to compete with a gorgeous coffee table tome like theirs? My photos look crap in comparison. I knew my book would be unique and certainly more from a beer angle than theirs; so I wasn't completely put off. Then Janet Fletcher came along and took <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1449421849/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1446630934&sr=8-2&keywords=cheese+and+beer">"Cheese & Beer"</a> away as a possible title, I've not even been brave enough to look at that one...</div>
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Yet I was still keen to get the story of British Brewers and Cheesemakers out there to a wider audience (as well as of course opening people's eyes to the fact that beer and not wine is the best liquid to pair with cheese!). I kept the draft notes at the top of my to-do pile, picking them up, leafing through them but never getting anything substantial written.</div>
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The constant realisation I was letting down people who had kindly sent me samples led me further away from getting the writing done, causing me to lie awake at night fretting that I should actually be up and trying to write something...but what was the point anyway because whatever I wrote wouldn't do the beers and cheeses justice and I'd be better off not writing anything and pretend I wasn't writing anything in the first place.*</div>
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Alongside this self-doubt & self-loathing my personal circumstances outside of beer changed. I moved house, my fiancée (now wife) moved in with me and my job changed at work. My in-laws also came to stay for a while; so I decided to regroup for a few months and start afresh in the new year. Now almost three years have passed, I still get occasional pangs of guilt but often manage to ignore those notes calling at me from their pile on my upstairs desk. But then I start to get asked when the book will be coming out. I feel like a fraud, no better than that guy scamming loads of free beer for his non-existent book just to avoid having to pay for anything. At the same time some great UK beer writers began to emerge, all keen on food pairing and the writing began to be featured in more publications...did I even need to write the book any more?</div>
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At the same time new breweries and beers that I would love to include were cropping up all the time, some of the beers I'd written about were no longer in production, cheese companies had closed and our near neighbours in the South had really pulled their fingers out in the good beer stakes. It would be a tough job to revisit all of those pairings again. </div>
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But still the questions about the book continued to come, the "cheese and beer" pairings on my blog business card always garners the most questions, there's still plenty of interest out there for a book. But how to reinvigorate myself to start again? The answer came to me during a cheese and beer pairing session at Killarney Beer festival. My Co-host Caroline Hennessy (co-author of the splendid book <a href="http://edible-ireland.com/2014/09/12/slainte-the-complete-guide-to-irish-craft-beer-and-cider/">Slainte</a>) asked me about the book and I tried my best to explain all of the above. "Never mind," she said, "Why not serialise it on your blog". What's that now?! "Why not write some of the pairings up and blog them, you've done single posts before, it will certainly be easier to tackle one at a time than trying to get everything together at once".</div>
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What a great idea! I can get all the pairings written up as a collection of blog posts then bring it all together as a book when I'm done, tweaking things to use beers that are still available and feature newer breweries, without wasting the work I've done to date. Fantastic idea. So that's what I'm going to do. The long dormant <a href="http://cheeseandbeer.co.uk/">Cheeseandbeer.co.uk </a>will play host to the 50 pairings I had arranged. I'm going to aim for one a week. Please feel free to harass me if I let that slip. That should allow me to pull everything together by the end of summer 2016 with the aim of having something releasable in time for Christmas sales next year. Wish me luck!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*This also impacted on my frequency of writing other non cheese, beer posts helping to explain the often large gaps in between posts. I have plenty of stuff pre-written but I've lost confidence in my writing and end up not publishing with things inevitably going out of date whilst dithering over that "publish" button.</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-58290107407912521942015-10-03T13:11:00.002+01:002015-10-03T13:16:52.134+01:00Sourfest: the results<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuCc3ku6jqLQLSAlcQ3PUgeAre6GDDiRme31T3LUbMRuld6n5Own04Mgyr-8KZQwYe_2PtjG_yVeUnyo1kWhtGjD-yJi_tM4uh8yzG6wGJdK99jhr-Tn-lTWvCHmvHTsVQmGrsh1l2Z-e/s1600/DSC02849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuCc3ku6jqLQLSAlcQ3PUgeAre6GDDiRme31T3LUbMRuld6n5Own04Mgyr-8KZQwYe_2PtjG_yVeUnyo1kWhtGjD-yJi_tM4uh8yzG6wGJdK99jhr-Tn-lTWvCHmvHTsVQmGrsh1l2Z-e/s320/DSC02849.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stand-out beer is picked</td></tr>
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This time last weekend I was in Belfast judging at the Freshman year of <a href="https://twitter.com/sourfest">Sourfest</a>, a competition to find the best sour/wild ale both commercially and from amateur brewers for both the UK & Ireland.</div>
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The beers were judged blind by a panel (myself included), with the top three in each category qualifying for a reassessment for best overall and in category. We were given details on style & additional ingredients, but only after the initial tastings. Entrants remained anonymous until all prizes had been awarded and beers were all judged to the same standard, with feedback forms from all judges* being made available to entrants after the competition.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhC6RWO_vupVfrSm4IgnHoJZsS_6m3aGm99LCNj0wfVtTkX0wd_0n9KQd-C8u0RWhhUDajTdZ56RJUXVseaVWsvgX0j4PG-1kKkR5zLXPSRKh6ws-7NJIW6BMA4LjIa0ygyH6S71HFUs1/s1600/DSC02828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhC6RWO_vupVfrSm4IgnHoJZsS_6m3aGm99LCNj0wfVtTkX0wd_0n9KQd-C8u0RWhhUDajTdZ56RJUXVseaVWsvgX0j4PG-1kKkR5zLXPSRKh6ws-7NJIW6BMA4LjIa0ygyH6S71HFUs1/s320/DSC02828.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm getting sour, is this a sour?</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK_-lNH12kamGo6r68O0gBAwb_evkaNiS_YcP_QZwuh3dQn-hDdjoauQswZoZoXUcw0IoWvJxnUmw3Waa4W_F5vzOucQunUa6t6Oi_gr1ssFUJ3_r6OUmlGgAgwy97n59j6Zl5QuDfnFh/s1600/DSC02818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK_-lNH12kamGo6r68O0gBAwb_evkaNiS_YcP_QZwuh3dQn-hDdjoauQswZoZoXUcw0IoWvJxnUmw3Waa4W_F5vzOucQunUa6t6Oi_gr1ssFUJ3_r6OUmlGgAgwy97n59j6Zl5QuDfnFh/s320/DSC02818.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone wasn't impressed...</td></tr>
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There were some truly impressive beers and perhaps even more encouraging was that the overall standard was extremely high, with all beers deemed drinkable (except perhaps that berlinner weisse smelling of farts and an enteric (faecal) sour brown).The results were as follows:</div>
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<b>Best UK amateur</b></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/DeadEndBrew">Chris Lewis </a>took this with a very impressive attempt at a true spontaneously fermented lambic called Teeth Grinder; with four year-old, three year old and one year old beers blended to produce a gueuze-alike. Of course we did not know what it was at the time, but the quality shone though. Honourable mention here went to Plum Smuggler from <a href="https://twitter.com/Hoplord">Dean Hollingworth</a>.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6O3Coutk8vA8mAaLDmaOcMKQwAgHgdcgBjlPgcubirJPp3I37N3RVXtNl2fXj4zpw9gbNwBDeoFCEAbT0gE9uIZ0SVR4fdTlc7IrE7Pzym-WPEfslv_g2BpMsWzFqimEufkDMVCWcbOC/s1600/DSC02846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6O3Coutk8vA8mAaLDmaOcMKQwAgHgdcgBjlPgcubirJPp3I37N3RVXtNl2fXj4zpw9gbNwBDeoFCEAbT0gE9uIZ0SVR4fdTlc7IrE7Pzym-WPEfslv_g2BpMsWzFqimEufkDMVCWcbOC/s320/DSC02846.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Searching for words to describe</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYaIXAzWnTAPZwsXVlTt4wloQGb5QMdyXe8s7I7617pw8NdtWIPdg6-j5tStaS4uMSU4vUo-x33v7lxJGxOlOkJoJ6aGmmIRmTZaBHlOvPOqqUCBZrARsWq10Nxz1INZqp-JL8DXN4v-E/s1600/DSC02844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYaIXAzWnTAPZwsXVlTt4wloQGb5QMdyXe8s7I7617pw8NdtWIPdg6-j5tStaS4uMSU4vUo-x33v7lxJGxOlOkJoJ6aGmmIRmTZaBHlOvPOqqUCBZrARsWq10Nxz1INZqp-JL8DXN4v-E/s320/DSC02844.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The aroma pleases Giacomo</td></tr>
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<strong>Best Irish amateur</strong></div>
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Awarded to <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaneSmith_">Shane Smith</a> for his Raspberry Turbo which also took overall best in the competition (and my personal favourite).</div>
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Highly commended went to another talented homebrewer, <a href="https://twitter.com/dodge259">Roger Rotheroe</a> for his American Sour Brown Currant Situation.</div>
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Both of these winners will have the opportunity to brew their beers on commercial scale with Boundary brewing. I certainly look forward to trying both of these and fully intend to buy a few cases of each.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hkAvkaLreVeCxFU6m0BMzwM7RlvXl5Aeyimm6KGzK0ko2Z7qkuDSj8MfDvj9AeqGcOLR7xyLOQcAFOBFefNgr3Px98qDuycE4nIuAYLFR9PiNfPV2lkBcPn5fCyMWAL6TxVER7D5-g3A/s1600/DSC02841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_hkAvkaLreVeCxFU6m0BMzwM7RlvXl5Aeyimm6KGzK0ko2Z7qkuDSj8MfDvj9AeqGcOLR7xyLOQcAFOBFefNgr3Px98qDuycE4nIuAYLFR9PiNfPV2lkBcPn5fCyMWAL6TxVER7D5-g3A/s320/DSC02841.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt takes an initial sip</td></tr>
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<b>Best UK Commercial</b></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/ElgoodsBrewery1">Elgoods Coolship Blonde</a> took this one but it was close run thing with <a href="https://twitter.com/alikocho">Ali Kocho Williams'</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/SerenBrewing">Seren</a>) Rum barrel aged sour dark ale. Elgoods overthrew the impression of being a staid family brewer when they put a disused brewery coolship back into use after many years to turn out a beer very similar to Belgian lambics, though of course with a different microflora. You can read more about it in <a href="http://protzonbeer.co.uk/features/2014/04/12/steaming-ahead-a-belgian-style-wild-beer-is-brewed-on-the-edge-of-the-english-fens">Roger Protz's piece here.</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOaE3fDtf4K2mOMX0HrHxkv_ENjwyN5zoYf0G1hUEbIPpgcctDQBW9WIpyXLZwAfBhC7r1zsNHbE9mU1tKTEif6gcbcN4IdAn1lqwxGykSQs1h4Ot7gPoQMNUdxb4rgS8vp8v3ceBkxx83/s1600/2015-09-20+17.45.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOaE3fDtf4K2mOMX0HrHxkv_ENjwyN5zoYf0G1hUEbIPpgcctDQBW9WIpyXLZwAfBhC7r1zsNHbE9mU1tKTEif6gcbcN4IdAn1lqwxGykSQs1h4Ot7gPoQMNUdxb4rgS8vp8v3ceBkxx83/s320/2015-09-20+17.45.18.jpg" width="181" /></a><b>Best Irish Commercial</b></div>
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A recently released beer & one I'd already been lucky enough to try: <a href="https://twitter.com/KinnegarBrewing">Kinnegar</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/BrownPaperBagP">Brown Paper Bag Project</a> Geuzberry <span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="http://beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/sour-and-wild-ales-in-ireland.html">you can read more about it here</a>)</span>. This was also deemed to be best commercial beer overall too.</div>
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Highly commended was another beer recently launched, the sour version of <a href="https://twitter.com/whitehagbrewery">White Hag</a>'s Beann Gulban.</div>
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Congratulations to all of the winners, and well done to all of the entrants; the overall standard was very high and I hope you all enter again next year. What is particularly encouraging is the high standard of the amateur beers; often indistinguishable than the commercial attempts and generally more adventurous. This bodes well for the next generation of breweries, I'd like to see more commercial entrants next year. Everyone who didn't enter: you have a year; so get cracking! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOs314zB12_1rWg_btQcgefFtSos36xYvu8emLFGgnqSVbmGNv-yZmmRQq37FGKdJrhbGVpAclXPuKfiamKfeSumo_LCEoeyaqnTudibRRIqnsOvU2p2xBaHHOgEKD4qRijJXmTT6qC1uo/s1600/DSC02838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOs314zB12_1rWg_btQcgefFtSos36xYvu8emLFGgnqSVbmGNv-yZmmRQq37FGKdJrhbGVpAclXPuKfiamKfeSumo_LCEoeyaqnTudibRRIqnsOvU2p2xBaHHOgEKD4qRijJXmTT6qC1uo/s320/DSC02838.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aromas redolent of red berries</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Congratulations also must go to Shane for a flawless organisation of the competition, thank you for having me as a judge and congratulations again on managing to win your own event ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*If you get a feedback form from me and need help deciphering what I wrote, give me a shout!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos courtesy of <a href="https://plus.google.com/113027639518367591206/posts">Phil Harrison</a></span></div>
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beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-76731070245361446292015-10-01T12:05:00.000+01:002015-10-01T12:05:30.171+01:00A tradition or an old charter or something<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Hat tip to one of my favourite authors Robert Rankin for the borrowed title quote)</span></div>
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The beer scene in Belgium is quite fractured, with no real large grouping to represent all brewers interests. I <a href="http://www.beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-state-of-belgian-beer.html">spoke the other day</a> about the tension between established brewers and brewers sans brewery (gypsy or cuckoo brewers). Taking Brussels as a microcosm I hope to reflect on some of these differences but also point out the obvious common ground.<br />
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<b>Something Old</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGkaLM07Lb4V4d8rGYFOJClWyGvb1h8kt3rd74SbsBpNhcFjv2ddhdTQFxgBmThhC4IUcljfK0oLAh7nliaxhbb3y9HE_IHscwUqaYuUcyw-MProOYNMwgooRSl5WBrvOhRxmx46RJ_rs/s1600/2015-08-24+14.32.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGkaLM07Lb4V4d8rGYFOJClWyGvb1h8kt3rd74SbsBpNhcFjv2ddhdTQFxgBmThhC4IUcljfK0oLAh7nliaxhbb3y9HE_IHscwUqaYuUcyw-MProOYNMwgooRSl5WBrvOhRxmx46RJ_rs/s320/2015-08-24+14.32.38.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This one is easy, <a href="http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1">Cantillon</a> is the obvious contender here at 115 years old. I loved finally being able to visit this hallowed beer mecca where (for the lowly sum of 8Euro) you can get a self-guided tour of what is essentially a working brewery museum and avail yourself of two free pours at the end. The brew kit is the original and is all wood and polished copper, replete with cobwebs in the corners to attract the right microflora into the beer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4Tp30QuQZjjFULZ1C_lYJz8hn1J5hzZWZ9iTNVe0DHDq8Das_UAbRmG3DjCXeNd85gP97uV0CRN_9sZpG3LHxQQj8Xo38HSWiuyKnHDNzU1zP668lxIXyG1SpsL77eol46GULxa34aGq/s1600/2015-08-24+14.42.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4Tp30QuQZjjFULZ1C_lYJz8hn1J5hzZWZ9iTNVe0DHDq8Das_UAbRmG3DjCXeNd85gP97uV0CRN_9sZpG3LHxQQj8Xo38HSWiuyKnHDNzU1zP668lxIXyG1SpsL77eol46GULxa34aGq/s320/2015-08-24+14.42.57.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mash tun with elaborate paddles for turbid mashing</td></tr>
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Tour beers comprise the unblended lambic and then a choice of whichever of the core range beers are available on that day. Then you are of course welcome to stay for more; which I did (also returning a second time) working my way through such beers as Lou Pepe Framboise and Cuvee Florian (last year's Zwanse a cherried version of fresh-hopped Iris), though it was the grassy fresh and zippy hallertau dry-hopped 2y/o lambic, Cuvee Saint-Gilloise, that really stood out for me as well as the sour yet jammy fou foune fresh from the tank.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTfRIFqJQ-dU3hu8NoDRmruQnIegIK7QyGYI5BfjLbkyxdsoBocxDODJZU0oP4XNlylXl-M7ecBiKRUk4qAHjZu6i1uaGptEIJblPrEcLWNL_okrl4TiyU_Co6HY_zQb-QPt2m3glYsgv/s1600/2015-08-24+14.50.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTfRIFqJQ-dU3hu8NoDRmruQnIegIK7QyGYI5BfjLbkyxdsoBocxDODJZU0oP4XNlylXl-M7ecBiKRUk4qAHjZu6i1uaGptEIJblPrEcLWNL_okrl4TiyU_Co6HY_zQb-QPt2m3glYsgv/s320/2015-08-24+14.50.35.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beers silenty slumbering in Cantillon cellars</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX0wTS4x7gGDrSRX-L2h8BAqTwCYUa3dEn7nN-RDqKvbMSKNOj8RCwAZLsC7cENZu-IrypOo8yPtcVwGtpvOpKc4Gq_XcCpJm7TL1cgZEP67_8oFFhSoLuyQYKufZPkYI_LsGqnWKXtj6/s1600/2015-08-29+15.14.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Cantillon is a Brussels institution but until recently they were almost omitted from the plans for Belgium's Beer Temple...to be based in their own city! Cantillon and the other lambic brewers are seen as a bit of an oddity and thus often forgotten about. It seems us non-Belgians care more about their heritage than the natives.</div>
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<b>Something New</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgMJ9lsDg7TeBR6_8IjIZBElrbeXFFOB1aXYwvA0n2dlwFJ3mZ-FpAkJvNc3kRIqvmYs8bMPzY2znu6V5RTrUan0cbqJyA9bbLEAlkFE9Y54ZmBsMBR76iEVMu7D8tcZMUtN-sgY-ybzk/s1600/2015-08-29+15.14.34+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgMJ9lsDg7TeBR6_8IjIZBElrbeXFFOB1aXYwvA0n2dlwFJ3mZ-FpAkJvNc3kRIqvmYs8bMPzY2znu6V5RTrUan0cbqJyA9bbLEAlkFE9Y54ZmBsMBR76iEVMu7D8tcZMUtN-sgY-ybzk/s320/2015-08-29+15.14.34+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a> Two contenders here, but as we shall see later my choice fits nicely here. Traipsing around half a mile from Cantillon back in towards the centre will bring you to <a href="http://enstoemelings.be/">En Stoemlings</a>, the newest brewer in Brussels, note its not quite the newest brewery as explained below. Unfortunately it was closed on our visit (Despite being advertised as open); so I cannot speak for the beers but gazing through the large plate glass windows we're treated to the typical craft-beer bar stainless & bare-brick set-up with a minute hobby-size kit (indeed I've seen many larger home-brew set-ups) taking pride of place along the back wall. Very much a taproom only brewer then, I look forward to a proper visit in the future.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX0wTS4x7gGDrSRX-L2h8BAqTwCYUa3dEn7nN-RDqKvbMSKNOj8RCwAZLsC7cENZu-IrypOo8yPtcVwGtpvOpKc4Gq_XcCpJm7TL1cgZEP67_8oFFhSoLuyQYKufZPkYI_LsGqnWKXtj6/s1600/2015-08-29+15.14.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX0wTS4x7gGDrSRX-L2h8BAqTwCYUa3dEn7nN-RDqKvbMSKNOj8RCwAZLsC7cENZu-IrypOo8yPtcVwGtpvOpKc4Gq_XcCpJm7TL1cgZEP67_8oFFhSoLuyQYKufZPkYI_LsGqnWKXtj6/s320/2015-08-29+15.14.25.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny kit at En Stoemlings</td></tr>
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<b>Something Borrowed</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RZls2x0RNCrWtp4kn7AwmRczYpw1aeB3jDziYrH3kW_dyrfB-2kTke0u84_e97Af2z7ZKx_cHTsfGX4hSeQ_wl9X0mWoEtlCqAQ4Et9d41mR7tqiHpnO0rAMRkFekjyKaF-duVUkXOAY/s1600/2015-08-28+10.28.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RZls2x0RNCrWtp4kn7AwmRczYpw1aeB3jDziYrH3kW_dyrfB-2kTke0u84_e97Af2z7ZKx_cHTsfGX4hSeQ_wl9X0mWoEtlCqAQ4Et9d41mR7tqiHpnO0rAMRkFekjyKaF-duVUkXOAY/s320/2015-08-28+10.28.10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">co-founder Sebastien at Brussels Beer Project</td></tr>
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Actually existing longer as a company but until now no physical brewery is <a href="http://beerproject.be/?lang=en">Brussels Beer Project</a>. Previously solely cuckoo brewing, they have now "borrowed" <span style="font-size: x-small;">(see what I did there)</span> money via kickstarter in order to set up their brewery in the swanky fashion district of Brussels, Dansaert. Co-funder Sebastien kindly showed us around a site 90% of the way to being a brewery (fermenters and bottling lines were due in 3 days and are all in place now). They want to be a brewery for the people, amongst the people, going to great lengths to get the local community on board. It wasn't just funding that was crowd-sourced but also their first core-beer, a pale ale of which four iterations were made with the public choosing the best. This and some other core beers will continue to be produced elsewhere with the the new site for monthly and seasonal specials with an on site taproom pouring their own and friend's beers. They'll open on October 24th and certainly look forward to returning to a fully functioning brewery.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8B21p4eF9jE-94mPWlw4QlWR5X-z2aJQIJb124jwnWuxQJgG5wAdpm3BQXafEtKwOi26lmIo6XvFr7IXhTBC7MPwaAdfCuxX0LACKzBltGzf81J8mJM-24Y-UQL3PAdx4Fg83MZAMRMXL/s1600/2015-08-28+10.59.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8B21p4eF9jE-94mPWlw4QlWR5X-z2aJQIJb124jwnWuxQJgG5wAdpm3BQXafEtKwOi26lmIo6XvFr7IXhTBC7MPwaAdfCuxX0LACKzBltGzf81J8mJM-24Y-UQL3PAdx4Fg83MZAMRMXL/s320/2015-08-28+10.59.59.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They might be new but they still<br />
plan to do some things the old way</td></tr>
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Its not all been plain sailing however, despite a good reception from community and press, other brewers have been frosty at best. Again this stems from the fact that they initially were sans brewery, 'who are these upstarts coming in to shake things up?' I was particularly impressed by their mesopotamian inspired bread beer, doughy with rich ESB like marmaladey hops.</div>
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<b>Something Blue</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51fFvUFr0jFHlgHmPPd3C8gtM8sTADwDODawMJUWh0LctDLKnHziRn2RcYBMB-PJMiMNtcwc_KlBEy4iq6OLVM85lIQM3gJ_mCNMCh_3uaW3tLp1EfA6GXJw82YDBERQahD-S3a893Gt8/s1600/2015-08-26+14.22.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51fFvUFr0jFHlgHmPPd3C8gtM8sTADwDODawMJUWh0LctDLKnHziRn2RcYBMB-PJMiMNtcwc_KlBEy4iq6OLVM85lIQM3gJ_mCNMCh_3uaW3tLp1EfA6GXJw82YDBERQahD-S3a893Gt8/s320/2015-08-26+14.22.35.jpg" width="320" /></a>That leaves us with <a href="http://brasseriedelasenne.be/?lang=en">De La Senne</a> out in the suburbs. They're very well regarded amongst Belgian beer fans and produce good, balanced UK style ales with a Belgian accent and US aspirations. Their tap room was abandoned on our visit but a clanking noise alerted us to the 5-strong team assembling the new bottling line which will be able to knock out 9000 bottles an hour. (This is some expansion for a brewery found throughout Brussels but seldom makes much noise beyond it.) Worried that the taproom would close (its only open 10-3) before I could sample anything I went in search of someone and found Joelle having a smoke before knocking off for the day. He kindly came inside to pour me what was on draught and grabbed a few bottled beers too. I settled in to drink them whilst perusing my copy of <a href="http://www.beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/80-brussels-boozers-and-what-to-drink.html">80 beers</a>, all were solid with Schieve Tabarnak (a collaboration with Le Trou de Diable) really impressing all fresh tropical fruit & black pepper bitter yes but well moderated by the malt body.<span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaRKmwBfUnpFVqTKMjm_EDUVG2_egIswaiVOzGCNzKPIPZozFycfsxcm3zB_4LFsHutRhcGxxRgkQNDNdqmm85KGf1X9oPzV-VqafP8NcMDW0wMjHB4uPUf77mMnhQn4HB55ITX-yCUjL/s1600/2015-08-26+14.22.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaRKmwBfUnpFVqTKMjm_EDUVG2_egIswaiVOzGCNzKPIPZozFycfsxcm3zB_4LFsHutRhcGxxRgkQNDNdqmm85KGf1X9oPzV-VqafP8NcMDW0wMjHB4uPUf77mMnhQn4HB55ITX-yCUjL/s320/2015-08-26+14.22.29.jpg" width="320" /></a>Of course until recently they were the only ale fermentation brewery in Brussels and now have two younger neighbours to potentially compete with. This would of course leave one feeling a bit jaded - more competitors for tap space, people being less inclined to trek out to the suburbs and of course more flexibility with smaller kit. This will only be exacerbated as the number of brewers continue to grow and drinkers look beyond Belgium's borders with flagship beer bars and shops already beginning to stock the best of UK and US beers and Brewdog's (very) recent arrival likely to result in more establishments branching out into "world" beers.</div>
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<b>Sixpence in the shoe</b> </div>
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This perhaps shines a light on to how the Belgian Family Brewers are feeling at the moment. There are an increasing number of beers in a fairly stagnant market, with a number of "brands" appearing with no provenance, poorly developed recipes and dubious quality. However its only by working together as a group (not just Family Brewers or Trappist brewers or lambic brewers, but all brewers, with and without brewery)* to promote the fantastic range of Belgian beers (there's more than just Trappist and lambic!) that they'll be able to grow the market whilst getting native drinkers to turn away from ubiquitous pilsner-inspired lagers to more traditional and yes new Belgian brews. Take that heritage, the focus on quality and provenance, add a twist of innovation and collaboration and the beers will sell themselves. I don't know if anyone is brave enough to attempt such an organisation, but the rewards would be swiftly forthcoming. I'd certainly support them.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Incidentally most of these brewers were invited to attend the beer bloggers' and writers' conference but for various reasons were unable to (largely due to exorbitant fees). That's a topic for another post, however knowing in advance we'd not meet them in the festival; I did my best to get out and see them in situ. All beers were paid for by myself or fellow writers with the exception of four sample bottles from BBP, who also gave me a glass, thank you Sebastien.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Well maybe not that Behemoth in Leuven, that'd just be counterproductive. </span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-55276845428790584132015-09-25T14:44:00.000+01:002015-09-25T15:27:13.758+01:00Sour and Wild ales in Ireland<div style="text-align: justify;">
With sour beers enjoying a renaissance amongst the keener craft brewers and in trendy beer bars its only right that Irish brewers aren't resting on their laurels and attempting some of their own.</div>
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<b>First Out of the Blocks</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/">Galway Bay</a> were perhaps the first (in recent times) to launch soured beers on to the market place. J18 months ago we were treated to a dry hopped berlinner weisse style "Desperate Mile" and more unusually a black sour. (Shane has more details <a href="http://www.irishsourbeers.com/2015/01/galway-sour-beers.html">on his blog here</a>.) Both of these and a more recent collaboration with Begyle were kettle sours, "<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>we have cultured from everything from lab pitches, grain husks and even probiotic pitches from the health food store!"</b></i></span>.<br />
Head brewer Chris Treanor first discovered sour beers whilst backpacking around Belgium, being warned by locals <i><b>"tastes like 'vomit, but it tastes great really!'. Oddly enough, I wasn't perturbed
by this and unknowingly, I did open up a whole world of flavours that I
would be trying to replicate as a career not 5-6 years afterwards".</b></i><br />
He has grander plans however "<i><b>I'm spending this week at the Oslo, restarting the kit there for a sours program". </b></i>For Chris its important to keep this segregation to minimise the very real threat of contamination of other brews.</div>
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The beers have been generally well received, with demands for re-brews; so the expansion should be well received. On designing recipes - <i><b><span style="font-size: small;">"we do tend to err on the side of simplicity. When simplicity leads to complexity, that's when the best beers result."</span></b></i> Chris also plans to go for barrel ageing in a big way, with a number of wine barrels purchased in a job lot with Boundary at the start of the year.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>"tastes like vomit, but it tastes great really!"</b></i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggr5ygxB_XYw3oTJoJ16T0NYCLMY6F87E3VxMYdosmMuNfMRp187VdJ1TTcbZc_JbW3X6qwfq523I9QB4GXKRyrGWH7t8S8i2ulr_qyqbyPmZGuTC2LW_67BodW9lCUl8MJt_yZQfWwCeq/s1600/IMAG3297_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggr5ygxB_XYw3oTJoJ16T0NYCLMY6F87E3VxMYdosmMuNfMRp187VdJ1TTcbZc_JbW3X6qwfq523I9QB4GXKRyrGWH7t8S8i2ulr_qyqbyPmZGuTC2LW_67BodW9lCUl8MJt_yZQfWwCeq/s200/IMAG3297_1.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>Sour in Belfast</b></div>
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Speaking of <a href="http://www.boundarybrewing.coop/">Boundary</a>, Galway Bay have also collaborated with them on a kettle sour, Berliner Vice. This low strength tart wheat beer was the first beer to sell out at the recent smash festival ABV and will be re-brewed to varying strengths. Brewer Matthew Dick explained "<i><b>Its important to think about body with berlinner weisse style ales as they can get quite thin. We're also going to do a series with added fruit; the first is likely to be lemon and coconut"</b></i>.<br />
We also saw a soured table porter "Sour Bake", a very intriguing suggestion of how staled beers could have tasted. Sour bake was brewed from the second runnings of a batch of the export stout with lactic bacteria. The culture was then back-dosed in to a barrel of export stout in a neat full circle and is maturing nicely fr release in a year or so.<br />
<b> </b>Matthew first discovered sour beer on a football trip to Belgium in his mid-teens; <b><i>"we had a whole day to kill before our flight home and a friend took us around a number of what I now suspect to be lambic brewers. I wasn't the biggest fan but the friend described the taste as 'like an angel pissing on your tongue'...I'll probably use that as a beer name." </i></b>After that living in Reno meant regular trips to Russian River to try American Sour beers.</div>
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What else can we look forward to? Well Matthew intends to produce further soured beers, and plans on dosing wild yeast
into some of those aforementioned wine barrels to develop some aged
special "dirty" beers alongside the unaged clean versions, the first of
which will be another Galway Bay collaboration on a wild IPA. <i><b>"I'd love to get a coolship but that's not going to happen any time soon!"</b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">"like an angel pissing on your tongue"</span></b></i></div>
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<b>Keeping it local</b></div>
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New brewers on the scene <a href="http://thewhitehag.com/">White Hag</a> also plan to go for sours in a big way, being big fans of the flavour profile. They're inspired by the Flemish oud red/bruin brewers but also Jolly Pumpkin, a well-regarded American mixed-fermentation brewer. White Hag's first release was a kettle sour Imperial Red whose flavour profile was up there amongst the best Flemish reds. The kettle sour process is beneficial for consistency because according to head brewer Joe Kearns <b><i>"potential off-flavours from other souring agents. Plus, the other main
souring strains of yeast and bacteria need much long contact time to
produce the desired effects." </i></b>Kettle souring also eliminates the risk of cross-contaminating other beers. <i><b>"When souring in the fermenter, the issue of cross-contamination is very
real. Good cleaning processes and complete sterilization, or replacement
of all soft materials (rubber hoses, gaskets, etc.), is vital to
protect your standard beers from 'infection'."</b></i></div>
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They've stepped it up a gear for their new release, Beann Gulban, using wild heather as both a flavouring agent and source of yeast - a spontaneously fermented brew, <i><b>"We wanted to emulate the flavour of a beer produced in the Neolithic times, and at the same time create something completely new"</b></i>. There is also an intriguing hint about use of oak wine barrels...stay tuned for more!<b> </b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>"The idea was to provide a little pH tickle rather than a kick"</b></i></span></div>
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<b>Mixing It Up</b></div>
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Serial gypsy brewers <a href="http://www.brownpaperbagproject.com/">Brown Paper Bag Project</a> have brewed not one but four different sour/wild ales. Digging deep in to the brewing archives they've created four beers in styles not yet seen elsewhere in Ireland, a gose, a grodziskie an oud bruin and a berlinner style. They've all only been brewed once; so if you come across any do grab whilst you can!</div>
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Their gose (a collaboration with Fano) was first up. Brewer Brian somehow got in touch with someone at Fano through online forums whilst researching gose brewing recipes, which resulted in an invite to brew in the remote brewery in Denmark. Launched via a blind twitter tasting it was great to see it was well received, before people had realised it was soured with added seasalt and coriander no less. Colin of Brown Paper Bag Project and L.Mulligan Grocer pub in Dublin said; <i><b>"The great thing about a blind tasting is that you have no precocnieved ideas of the flavour, you're waiting for them to come to you rather than pre-empting and pushing your own opinions on to it"</b></i><br />
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Brown paper bag project Shmoake was next, of the less common Grodziskie (Gratzer) style,a tart, smoked wheat beer. As with the gose, an old recipe was found whilst perusing online forums and an idea of the flavour forms which they try to reflect in the beer.<br />
Perhaps the best received of the sour styles has been Aul Bruin Bagger (an oud Bruin aged on cherries). <i><b>"Its gone down well. some people taste the sweet and tart cherryness and find it amazing and others can't stand it an dthink its disgusting. A polarising beer but lots of good feedback"</b></i></div>
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A star of the show at the Irish Craft Beer and Cider Festival (ICBCF) this year geuzeberry (a collaboration with <a href="http://kinnegarbrewing.ie/">Kinnegar</a>). Brewed with gooseberries and live yoghurt culture, its a fruity, tart and complex kettle sour that stops just short of enamel-stripping. <i><b>"I wanted to brew something with a local provenance, both myself and Rick are from the North-West [of Ireland]; I'm not sure who came up with the idea to use yoghurt but we just ran with it. Brian travelled up there and brewed it over 2 days. The idea was to provide a little pH tickle rather than a kick" </b></i>Colin & Brian hope to produce more collaborations along guezeberry line. "<i><b>Brewers love to make sour beers because they love drinking sour beers, its basically a massively ego-maniacal cycle where the more sour beers that get brewed the more brewers can drink"</b></i>. If that results in more for the rest of us t drink I'm all for it!<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I did send some questions to the team, but have been unable to get responses in time, will update article when I do!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>"Its a vision, I can see the beer in my head, I can taste it...I just need to wait to release it into the world"</b></i></span> </div>
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<b>The Elder statesmen</b></div>
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Cuilan Loughnane at <a href="http://www.whitegypsy.ie/">White Gypsy</a> has always been interested in offering a diverse range of styles as evidenced by the bottle line up of dubbel, doppelbock and Imperial stout. Last year's ICBCF saw the launch of Scarlet, a wood aged sour and pretty much a statement of intent of things to come. Preferring to do things properly, he had some virgin oak barrels made up to his specifications in both American and French oak about four years ago. <i><b>"Each barel has its own character, if you have the wrong type or at the wrong time it can affect the quality of the beer. You need to learn about the beers and develop them through natural progression to the taste you want".</b></i>By feeding the barrels with beer they have been seasoned over time and developed their own micro-flora to allow for the secondary conditioning of beers already fermented.<br />
Obviously these barrels are stored in a separate part of the brewery to avoid cross-contamination. The actual mixed culture Cuilan is keeping close to his chest but he's had discussions with ex Guinness employees and seen papers relating to the past ageing of Guinness with both brettanomyces and lactobacillus mentioned. <i><b>"I was missing a few technical pieces of the jigsaw, which they helped us put it together. There used to be Brett in Guinness but no one would admit that any more"</b></i><br />
Why go to all the effort? Put simply Cuilan believes to get the complexity and balance into a sour/wild beer requires time, premium ingredients and plenty of patience. Premium ingredients like floor malted MMAris Otter for example <i><b>"Those maltings are over 100 years old, they have their own micro-flora, that gets on the malt and comes to the brewery and ends up in the beer, that's important" </b></i>Whilst faster produced sours may be tasty and refreshing in their own right they can't hold a candle to the best in Belgium, Boon Mariage Parfait Oude Gueuze for example, which Cuilan holds as a prime example of blending done well. Blending is about <i><b>"finding a balance between old and new beer. The blending is the art, you need to hold your old stock and use portions from different old barrels in to fresh beer. I found our scarlet a bit much, too sharp a bit curt back in October, but by its second outing (in March at St Patrick's Festival) it had rounded out and tasted beautiful."</b></i><br />
Cuilan's no fool however, he's not just producing soured beer for kicks but knows it will form a flagship brand for the brewery. <i><b>"I've learnt that a) you need to be unique, b) you need a good shelf life c)it needs to taste good and at a good price"</b></i>. On that last point that's obviously important that it can sell for a good price too, given how much has been invested in the wood and a new bottling machine for corked and caged bottles. Soured beers have intrinsically better shelf life, allowing for ageing, storage and most importantly withstanding the rigours of export. <i><b>"Its a vision, I can see the beer in my head, I can taste it...I just need to wait to release it into the world".</b></i><br />
So what is this vision? Well without giving too much away it will be a keeping stout, <i>"</i><b><i>the fantastic Irish stout of old"</i> </b>with a soured component that will taste great on release but only get better as its aged. It should be ready in early 2016. "<i><b>I want to brew something that you can't quite put your finger on it but you know its damn good. The minute you drink it you can tell its ready. I'm not interested in releasing an unbalanced beer. It might have a certain proportion of beer drinkers drooling over it, writing good things about it but the general population will be like 'what the fuck is this?!' I'm not going to release single barrels as specials, this beer needs to be suitable for everybody" </b></i>I think we can all raise a glass to that!<i><b> </b></i></div>
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<b>A Tart Future </b></div>
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Fermanagh brewer Gordy Fallis at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/inishmacsaint">Inishmacsaint</a> has also been experimenting with spontaneous fermentation, producing some test batches that certainly show promise. <a href="http://blacksbrewery.com/">With Blacks </a>also beginning to delve into the sour styles and a <a href="http://www.irishsourbeers.com/2015/08/sour-beer-at-irish-craft-beer-fest.html">good showing at the recent Irish Craft Beer and Cider Festival</a> we'll certainly have plenty to choose from in the coming months and years, long may it continue!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*As an aside Guinness used to age a portion of beer for 9-18months in Russian oak all over Dublin, then blend it back into fresh beer at 2-3%<b>.</b></span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-63003128680714874652015-09-22T10:00:00.004+01:002015-09-22T10:00:54.146+01:00Heading to Manchester<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmONt1VVIeQr0ofeFbR_gahM-8Kf5-y1eywrxz1kTJMBQJcIMQYNPaVqkhpxT8wxXpJjkKBPLe73Mmb3O57pGOp0J5TctWZQ0vy5zEIjUyW16MjxzpOQDAIvAgCrkJeQLV5Huvk0MrtAII/s1600/D5nOI20n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmONt1VVIeQr0ofeFbR_gahM-8Kf5-y1eywrxz1kTJMBQJcIMQYNPaVqkhpxT8wxXpJjkKBPLe73Mmb3O57pGOp0J5TctWZQ0vy5zEIjUyW16MjxzpOQDAIvAgCrkJeQLV5Huvk0MrtAII/s200/D5nOI20n.jpg" width="200" /></a>Most people who are in to decent beer in the UK will have heard of the <a href="http://www.indymanbeercon.co.uk/">Independent Manchester Beer Convention</a> (or Indyman BeerCon for short, or even IMBC if you're feeling particularly lazy) (if not, have you been under a rock?!) but not everyone has had a chance to go. Until this year that is. Yes you lucky people attending the Friday day session will be graced with /annoyed by/indifferent to* my presence.</div>
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Running from the 8th-11th October, the festival (now in its 4th year) is going strong with several sessions selling out mere hours after going on release. Fear not as there are still three sessions available to attend at the moment (including the aforementioned with yours truly). The beer list for each day is yet to be pinned down, but going by the murmurings on Twitter and the list of <a href="http://www.indymanbeercon.co.uk/2015/09/imbc-15-breweries/">brewers in attendance</a> there will be more than enough to be going at.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Festival is held the atmospheric Victoria Baths<br />
(Picture courtesy of <a href="http://www.gbmultimedia.co.uk/">Gary Brown</a>)</td></tr>
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One thing that I like about the festival is that a number of collaborative one-offs are brewed, I've managed to try a few of these elsewhere in the past; so if this years are of similar calibre we're in for an oral treat. To mix things up a bit, they pulled styles and names out of hat and arrived at the following:</div>
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Weird Beard/Lervig with IMBC: Gooseberry Pale</div>
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Northern Monk with IMBC: Quince IPA</div>
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Madhatter with IMBC: Seaweed Gose</div>
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Cromarty with IMBC: Bilberry Saison</div>
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Squawk with IMBC: Fig Stout</div>
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Hanging Bat with IMBC: Sloe Wit</div>
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The idea of a bilberry saison is doing it for me.</div>
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There are also a number of events-within-event with break-out tastings dueing all sessions (many still TBA). One which is likely to be popular is an exclusive meet the brewer and tasting of Mure with Pierre Tilquin, the newest gueuze blender in the Pajottenland (lambic region around Brussels in Belgium). I was fortunate enough to share a bottle of this on my recent trip and highly recommend you try to attend.</div>
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For me visiting the festival is more than just enjoying a few beers (which will of course be a large attraction) but also to experience the archetype event, the grand daddy of the new wave of beer festivals as an experience rather than just a giant pub. Venue, food and entertainment have all been carefully chosen to make the event in to something truly special. A small delegation from Northern Ireland attended last year and as a result set up the <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCIQFjAAahUKEwicpqT43IjIAhXIPRoKHYnEAMw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbeersiveknown.blogspot.com%2F2015%2F04%2Ffinally-getting-decent-beer-in-belfast.html&usg=AFQjCNFh84H5JDRzKGYWECJIZKanmBfYTg&sig2=Fosq3pv1IgLzztcCrj7ONA&bvm=bv.103073922,d.bGQ">ABV fest</a>, which went down stormingly in Belfast back in May. If an event can encourage people to stage something similar in the most barren of beer deserts it much be truly special indeed.</div>
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<a href="http://www.indymanbeercon.co.uk/tickets/">Tickets can be purchased here</a> for the lowly sum of £8.88. Hope to see some of you at The Victoria Baths (or general environs) in a few weeks. Those of you not going are free to live vicariously through my tweetings or likely post-event run-down blog or future in person ravings.<br />
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Even outside of the festival there are a number of fringe events
happening in Manchester and of course there's no shortage of bars
available to be getting at...why not even head to Huddersfield to check
out the new <a href="http://www.magicrockbrewing.com/blog/taproom-now-open/">Magic Rock tap</a>?Cloudwater already in my sites and of course all the usual haunts will be revisited but please let me know if there are other places I should be visiting in the Manchester environs. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">NB I have received a free trade ticket for the session (though I would have paid anyway) and the flight+hostel cost the best part of £100; so not exactly a junket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Delete as appropriate</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-30593561460594569932015-09-14T12:40:00.000+01:002015-09-14T12:40:26.563+01:00The State of Belgian Beer<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There has been a bit of an explosion in both numbers of brewers and creativity within worldwide in recent years (if you hadn't noticed, where have you been?!). One country that has been surprisingly slow in the uptake, given its prominence in the resurgence of interest in decent beer is Belgium. A recent visit to the country (largely to attend the <a href="http://beerbloggersconference.org/europe/agenda/">European beer bloggers' and writers conference</a>) has given me some insight on why this might be.</span></div>
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Belgians are a proud and independent people, this pride is evident when you meet family brewers who talk of which generation of the family they are from (Roman are on their 14th generation of brewers!) Brewers see themselves as custodians of a brewery, "We are not owners we just take care off breweries for the next generation", maintaining and preserving centuries old beer recipes for handing down to future generations. This is a good thing, far too many unique local styles have been lost through consolidation and closure in the brewing industry since the first world war. A downside to this however is that these breweries are more cautious, more risk averse when it comes to serving the market. Indeed the importance of the brewery reputation means it can take years to develop new products for the market. An de Ryck of De Ryck brewery gives an example of the importance of consistency: "People have begged us to make our beers available in keg or on cask but they will inevitably end up disappointed as they find it has declined slightly. We have more control over bottle consistency which is why we stick to bottles only. We have 7 products now and in ten years time they will probably be the same, it can sometimes take years to make the recipe exactly as you want it". She did however acknowledge that sometimes you can be too careful at the expense of progress.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #292f33; line-height: 22px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="font-size: x-large;">"<b><u>Fake</u></b> brewers have slowed down the growth in craft beer because its easier to start up without building a brewery and you're therefore less careful about how you go about business resulting in more bad beers on the market reflecting badly on the whole marketplace" </i><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jean Hummeler</span></b></span></span></div>
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Its perhaps not surprising then that the changes taking place in the brewing industry causes some conflict amongst the more established brewers. Many of the newer entrants to the market do not have breweries of their own, they contract other brewing kits and often other brewers to brew for them. This flexibility allows for more experimentation but the accusation in some quarters is that this leads to a more rushed approach to brewing, with no concern for consistency of product and no real longevity. Jean Hummeler, owner of Moeder lambic is one such critic. He believes such ventures should not be referred to as brewers as he explained in a colourful tirade during a lively conference session on beer marketing: "I checked in the dictionary for the definition of brewery, the definition of brewer and nothing there describes what these "gypsy brewers" are doing. The only way Mikkeller is a brewer is when he gets home at night and brews a cup of tea for himself." This incendiary statement was more of a call for greater critical journalism within beer writing which I fully support (<a href="http://beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/thesession-102-difficult-conversations.html">topic for another post</a>) and he was at pains to point out that he enjoys a number of Mikkeller's beers but it does underline a common opinion amongst the established Belgian beer community. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(My opinion: "Gypsy brewers", "cuckoo brewers", "contract brewers", "beer architects"; who cares about the semantics or who does the physical brewing, if the beer is of good quality and tastes good it can only be a positive. Contract brewing brings benefits for both the contractor and contractee and there is space for this type of operation in the brewing world. )</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/twattybeer">Brewchitects (courtesy of TwattyBeerDoodles)</a></td></tr>
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An De Ryck is of a similar opinion; "Unless you sleep in the brewery, live in the brewer, wake up and smell the mash in the morning you lose your link to the product, you're not a real brewer but a commercial company". Not everyone has the good fortune to be born in to a brewing family however and hiring someone else's kit is a great route to market for those whom the overheads would be prohibitively expensive otherwise. A number of brewers who begin by this route do go on to purchase their own breweries, with Struise being a well-known example.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"For us we work for the beer and not for the brand, we are not showmen...newer craft brewers are rarely original" </i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>An De Ryck</b>. </span></div>
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When asked by an audience member is imitation not the greatest form of flattery An replied; "yes its nice to know you've produced something that others want to copy, but the market is a fixed size and if we are copied and they take our market share because they can spend more time on marketing then we lose out". Its this remark that is most telling about more established brewers' feelings towards <i>brewers sans breweries </i>they are worried they will lose market share, they feel threatened and are perhaps jealous that with lower overheads, contract brewers can focus more on promoting their product and perhaps have a bigger reach than some of the more established brands.</div>
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The other reason for conservatism within the brewing community is perhaps due to the desire to maintain a handful of well-established brands rather than a slew of specials; with fewer beers they need to appeal to a wider group of drinkers to ensure a good chunk of the market can be served. The physical brewery is as important if not more so than the recipes and brewing team. This opinion has perhaps pervaded the Belgian consciousness to keep the actual number of breweries in Belgium to a fairly small number of 150, This perhaps leads to recipes remaining similar, though with the calibre of beers produced there is certainly something to be said for focussing on quality rather than quantity. </div>
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In recent years this number has more than doubled with the addition of contract and rebadged brands and you can begin to see where some of the tension arises. </div>
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Belgian brewers (and some beer drinkers) see what overseas brewers release as "Belgian" beers and despair because they fall a long way from the best native examples, often mono-dimensional due to a pervading "more is better" mentality. As Allain Delaet of Huyghe points out "hops are the spice of brewing they should be in balance with the rest of the brew, you want to be able to taste the meat as well as the spice"</div>
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However its not just imitation as It is amongst these contract brewers we see the most experimentation and whilst a number of brewers do look to the US and UK for inspiration, others are looking back in the history books to revive old recipes or create a confluence of traditional styles using modern techniques. This needs to happen to prevent stagnation and attract new drinkers to Belgian beers - the increase in the number of breweries can only be a good thing for consumers, increasing choice and rousing the more established brewers from their routine to compete for their share of the marketplace. Older established breweries are aware of their weaknesses, but are perhaps not focussing on the right areas; a much touted press conference with the Belgian Family Brewers during the main conference was a little lacklustre looking inwards and aiming to maintain the status quo, peppering their presentation with buzzwords about what they should be doing, with less focus on how they'd go about doing it. <a href="http://chrishallbeer.com/2015/08/28/ebbc15-belgian-family-brewers-and-the-future-of-belgian-beer-culture/">Chris Hall has summarised this well here.</a> It remains to be seen whether there will be much change.</div>
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One thing the established breweries do have going for them is their expertise, years of experience bring with them the knowledge and ability to produce some wonderful beers. They are in a unique position to be able to share this knowledge with each other to develop in new and interesting ways and perhaps this is where they need to focus in the future, rather than griping about losing market share to newer players. Business journalist <a href="https://twitter.com/inaverstl">Ina Verstl</a> has witnessed some change in attitudes over time however "20 years ago you could visit a brewery and never meet a member of brewing staff, they'd be hiding them in the cellars. Now they're wheeling out the brewmasters at every opportunity. The brewers have had to learn a new skill-set"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQGZL_a0iE8xOtinZ1L6MVWjA0GWZuFQBfkZcerIZr5aAHd9XIWbSXYWTV03br-gd6l-PrfBhmaf0b8vTgxyd1ywX5XGPvyTH2M_IxRmJFIKhNxqrA73XVQi5JKPA1_-5UZ_e8bc3K-LZ/s1600/2015-08-27+16.52.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQGZL_a0iE8xOtinZ1L6MVWjA0GWZuFQBfkZcerIZr5aAHd9XIWbSXYWTV03br-gd6l-PrfBhmaf0b8vTgxyd1ywX5XGPvyTH2M_IxRmJFIKhNxqrA73XVQi5JKPA1_-5UZ_e8bc3K-LZ/s200/2015-08-27+16.52.30.jpg" width="115" /></a>The family brewers are at pains to point out that they're not sitting on their laurels and all of the brewers were keen to present to us their more innovative products including Brettanomyces re-fermented ales (Wild Jo from De Koninck, Saison Surfine from Dubuission, Straffe Hendrik Wild from De Halve Maan <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/what-do-you-mean-by-sour-beer.html">... more info here</a></span>) the use of unusual ingredients (pink grapefruit in Pink Killer from Silly and basil in Lindemans' collaboration with Mikkeller). Not all of them work, but the willingness to try new things can only bode well for the country's brewing future. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcagYxa2X1A3Opqy-cZuRRFXadnO0aXvvmR51RZcPKJqCM1fmHC-M9BPPHE6pzg2-mQYLazjfOpWJkbE9W6WV8NduYQN-vHkdq6PbFpcvdjEvCNDq8qqZK5fyrsfd24k2swKYvyy6xCTA/s1600/2015-08-27+20.38.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcagYxa2X1A3Opqy-cZuRRFXadnO0aXvvmR51RZcPKJqCM1fmHC-M9BPPHE6pzg2-mQYLazjfOpWJkbE9W6WV8NduYQN-vHkdq6PbFpcvdjEvCNDq8qqZK5fyrsfd24k2swKYvyy6xCTA/s320/2015-08-27+20.38.39.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Centrifuge at "traditional" farmhouse brewery Dupont</td></tr>
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More so than recipes it is new technologies where the real innovation is happening. Whilst some of it is for cost saving (which is important too, if breweries cannot make a profit they will not continue to exist) others are genuine improvements leading to more consistent and better tasting brews. Take Lindeman's use of stainless steel for lambic maturation for example. Foeders are prohibitively expensive, around ten times the price of the equivalent volume stainless vessel, limiting the rate of growth and given the current demand reducing the availability of the beer. Use of stainless steel with wood chips allows for increased capacity at a fraction of the cost and whilst a tasting of both revealed noticeable differences in flavour after a year, the increase in batches available for blending has led to improved consistency. This innovation and the beginnings of a spirit of collaboration amongst more established players alongside an explosion of newer entrants to the market can only bode well for the future of Belgian brewing and consumer choice but there is still a long way to go.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This post is based on observations prior to, during and after the conference in Brussels last month I received a number of beer samples on a subsidised trip around Belgian family breweries prior to the conference, plus of course many more during though I don't believe these influenced my opinions on the beers. Some were excellent and would happily part with my own money for them. Others were not so enjoyable (and a few downright disgusting!) Yes we were plied with beer with a hope that we would write about them (with a number of brewers following up by email post-conference) and whilst it might be argued that even mentioning the breweries in this post helps to raise the profile of the brewers, I'm not sure criticism of their opinions is what they had in mind. The opinions reflected here are largely of the Belgian Family Brewers, who make up just a small proportion of the 150 breweries in Belgium, but due to their profile do have a more prominent voice than many others. Your mileage may vary, am happy to discuss. </span></div>
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Up next: a focus on the brewing scene in Brussels as a microcosm of Belgian brewing as a whole.</div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-6243172085636895902015-09-12T15:30:00.000+01:002015-09-14T13:49:47.990+01:00What do you mean by sour beer?<div style="text-align: justify;">
My trip to Belgium for #EBBC15 has driven home how eclectic the styles termed "sour" truly are. Aside from the fact that not all non-pure-Saccharomyces fermented beers really are sour, the sour/wild characteristics can be imparted by different methods.</div>
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These beers fall in to the following broad style groupings</div>
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1. Spontaneously fermented (lambic, gueuze etc), e.g. Cantillon</div>
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2. Fermented with cultured "wild" strains e.g. Alvinne Morpheus </div>
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3. Refermented with cultured "wild" strain, e.g. Orval</div>
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4.a)Mixed fermentation including bacteria and matured e.g. Rodenbach</div>
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b) Mixed fementation using lactobacillus and released young, e.g. Berlinner Kindl Weisse, Ritterguts Gose</div>
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5. Pre-soured in the kettle by lactobacillus/lactic acid</div>
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6. Refermented/matured in wood</div>
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7. Unintentional!</div>
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We were fortunate to be able to visit a number of breweries courtesy of both Visit Flanders & the Belgian Family Brewers, plus chat to a lot of the family brewers themselves. I'll use some of these examples to outline the differences, remember if the beers are unpasteurised they can continue to develop over time and can get worse as well as improve! This is not supposed to be an in depth how-to guide on these beers, nor do I want to go too deeply into the science as its pretty complex! <span style="font-size: x-small;">(There are a number of better qualified writers than I on these topics, Including Lars Marius Garshol, with recent posts on <a href="http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/332.html">yeast</a> and <a href="http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/335.html">bacteria</a> being particularly informative.)</span></div>
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1. The first "sour" that usually comes to mind are the Belgian lambics. These are brewed as a normal beer (except with the use of aged hops to reduce bitterness impact) then instead of being pitched with yeast are cooled overnight whilst exposed to native flora usually in a coolship with airflow controlled by vents. A number of breweries previously used coolships for cooling only but the lambic brewers specifically intend for wild yeasts and bacteria to inoculate the beer. A complex primary fermentation ensues, where different species including lactobacillus, Saccharomyces, pediococcus and Brettanomyces take the lead at different times. It is then matured in pre-used wooden casks that also contain a mixed culture and add further complexity to the beer. The beer may be released unblended (as jonge lambic <1yr and oude lambic >2yrs) or more often blended as a mixture of 1,2 & 3 year old lambics to produce gueuze. Lambic may also be aged on fruit to produce kriek (cherry), framboise/frambozen(raspberry) or other fruit lambics.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rgjaegGKS3caJd4Q5jtBjDGg18qdJUKmXlgzOBWKUUeDA4wMUY38rwO_STruj591cy61HtfWRfozis5oiRYqAppHvEMEXh5XJsKhaQC7gn_TO9Lmkz6i_Gio8EaHqC5v40iPM-WG1idI/s1600/2015-08-24+14.46.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rgjaegGKS3caJd4Q5jtBjDGg18qdJUKmXlgzOBWKUUeDA4wMUY38rwO_STruj591cy61HtfWRfozis5oiRYqAppHvEMEXh5XJsKhaQC7gn_TO9Lmkz6i_Gio8EaHqC5v40iPM-WG1idI/s320/2015-08-24+14.46.39.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coolship & open rafters at Cantillon</td></tr>
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<b>Recommended: </b>Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise, Boon Kriek Mariage Parfait, 3 Fonteinen Gueuze, Girardin Oude Lambiek</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lmqkndMtA-aVqBEABQGO3UQL0VhD6u0eNqxpatUZxvUbt-FsTEt7LXNWux5xI5a5d9WRKGay1euWLer9zzhwtHmuIrBiTGY0S5HuRlzxNiaq5-z9curMADQQj7RekSSM7eWXoQdNCi2U/s1600/2015-08-30+17.30.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lmqkndMtA-aVqBEABQGO3UQL0VhD6u0eNqxpatUZxvUbt-FsTEt7LXNWux5xI5a5d9WRKGay1euWLer9zzhwtHmuIrBiTGY0S5HuRlzxNiaq5-z9curMADQQj7RekSSM7eWXoQdNCi2U/s320/2015-08-30+17.30.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sour ales maturing at Struise</td></tr>
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2. Some brewers wish to produce beers with similar character to lambic beers but would like to be able to improve consistency/ repeatability of each batch. They may harvest or acquire a wild yeast(s)/ mixture with bacteria, then use this culture to ferment a beer. Often the cultures are not analysed, though in some cases they have been. They are capable of producing equally complex beers, though as they are not often matured/blended can taste quite different to spontaneously fermented beers.</div>
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<b>Recommended: </b>Alvinne Wild West, To Ol/ Mikkeller Ov-Ral</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM24AdmFNmMizG44hrqRUabC8G049XYMMYa04cd-djWBDXvSeYxWABXmBWoyN7ert0bIj41dVlFlPkxwrHdcO8bFK8ArN8h65EZecwa96g8oO0xRuu8ge_3UmHXw0-vOMlMiwGRaU3QC5S/s1600/2015-08-31+14.13.26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM24AdmFNmMizG44hrqRUabC8G049XYMMYa04cd-djWBDXvSeYxWABXmBWoyN7ert0bIj41dVlFlPkxwrHdcO8bFK8ArN8h65EZecwa96g8oO0xRuu8ge_3UmHXw0-vOMlMiwGRaU3QC5S/s320/2015-08-31+14.13.26.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orval mural at Bruges brewing museum</td></tr>
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3. Similar to #2, these beers undergo a regular Saccharomyces fermentation then undergo a secondary refermentation either in bottle or conditioning tank. As with culturing wild yeast, these beers can gain complexity but in a more controlled way. That said, there is still variation in maturation "After three months people might say 'This beer is stinking' after 9 months however 'its fantastic'" <span style="font-size: x-small;">of Hendrik Wild. </span><br />
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<b>Recommended: </b>Orval, StraffeHendrik Wild, De Koninck Wild Jo</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIsprBL0qIMGTTRiqSsQUAPuI9YZi51Ecntd9EGIfaYmUpWY0psNRhQplm-8wHDjhkDFWJHl8rg0IZSIQtB7o4UB6EW_GkKDudMTH_ZWPzy1zqIQ6QNe4ZKJsWblwG54s1U-zgqOy92SO/s1600/2015-08-30+22.02.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIsprBL0qIMGTTRiqSsQUAPuI9YZi51Ecntd9EGIfaYmUpWY0psNRhQplm-8wHDjhkDFWJHl8rg0IZSIQtB7o4UB6EW_GkKDudMTH_ZWPzy1zqIQ6QNe4ZKJsWblwG54s1U-zgqOy92SO/s320/2015-08-30+22.02.41.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forest of foeders at Rodenbach</td></tr>
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4. a) Known as oud red/ oud bruin in Belgium, these beers obtain their sour character from a lactobacillus fermentation producing lactic acid. Rudi Ghequire at Rodenbach was a fount of knowledge about how their beer is produced. Undergoing initial fermentation it ends up at a pH around 5.5 whereupon it is aged in virgin (unused for other purposes) wood foeders for two years, reaching a pH of 3.2. The aged beer is then blended back with unaged beer to produce beers of different levels of sourness (regular rodenbach 3:1 new: old (pH 3.5) and grand cru 2:1 old:new (pH3.3)). Hops are not usually used as bitterness does not produce a good flavour profile with lactic acid; this can make the beers susceptible to acetobacter oxidation (producing acetic acid> vinegar) so care must be taken with the recipe design to scavenge (reduce) free oxygen and the beer is usually pasteurised prior to packaging. Like lambics, these beers can also be matured on fruit prior to packaging.</div>
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<b>Recommended: </b>Rodenbach foeder beer, Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne, Petrus Aged Pale, Rodenbach Caractere Rouge</div>
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b) Similar to the above beer styles are goses and berlinner weisses, though their pre-fermentation brewing process differs. Both include wheat in the mash, which is mashed at the higher acidity level conducive to the growth of lactobacillus in fermentation. The fermentation is often finished with other yeast strains and beer sare mor elikely to be drunk fersh rather than aged. <a href="http://www.bear-flavored.com/2013/08/which-method-of-brewing-berliner-weisse.html">Some details here.</a></div>
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5. Another method for producing lactic acid sourness without the need for lengthy ageing process is to sour the mash prior to boiling. This is also known as kettle souring. This is often employed by breweries without the space to mature beer and prevent the risk of contaminating equipment with organisms that could cause contamination of non-soured beers (the soured beer is boiled which kills the bacteria). Some breweries may also use food grade lactic acid, which is frowned upon by some as a cost saving measure (but then so is kettle souring).</div>
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<b>Recommended: </b>Galway Bay Heathen, Kernel London Sour</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Az9rAR7lBOTf2Mq-3JPmJdXZvN-2kkQ_8iZAht-7Jkl-s-ThyphenhyphenT3qkxkx2HNdY9DlebEJrwl7G2finKf47IDYFJZLdTmxnsFt3X78S1l_dbpx7A8imeFT0RspgBD8LDp3IeirZbgXbx7V/s1600/2015-08-27+21.38.12+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Az9rAR7lBOTf2Mq-3JPmJdXZvN-2kkQ_8iZAht-7Jkl-s-ThyphenhyphenT3qkxkx2HNdY9DlebEJrwl7G2finKf47IDYFJZLdTmxnsFt3X78S1l_dbpx7A8imeFT0RspgBD8LDp3IeirZbgXbx7V/s200/2015-08-27+21.38.12+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bush de nuits slumbering<br />
in Dubuisson's cellar</td></tr>
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6. The final category is a bit of a catch all, which depending on the previous contents of the wood may or may not have sour character (and may or may not have been intended). The beer may have been fully fermented by one of the above methods prior to entering the barrel or undergo a refermentation in the barrel. Often the beer takes on the character of the wood/ barrels previous contents to a greater or lesser extent dependent upon the length of time in the wood. The use of wood for maturation is a complex topic; which I'll not go in to here.<br />
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7. Beers can also become sour unintentionally and sometimes unscrupulous brewers will release these on the market as intentional sour brews! Usually the result of an infection prior to leaving the brewery, they can also be picked up by poor pub hygiene or improper packaging. I'll not give examples here but sometimes unintentional souring can produce interesting results!</div>
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The diversity in the world of "sour" beers is only just beginning to be (re)explored by British brewers, with the majority of those released to date being of types 5+6. As brewers begin to invest in separate brew-plants to keep potential contaminants separate from their core ranges we will see more sour and wild beers produced in the UK. Already Elgoods have released a range of lambics inoculated using their old rooftop coolship and Wild beer co have produced Somerset Wild, inoculated in the orchards of Somerset. These beers can have a true sense of place, being tied intimately to their environment by their fermentation flora. Burning Sky and Brodies have produced sour red/brown ales and Fullers occasionally continue to produce the wood-matured Gales Prize Old Ale. Recently Redchurch have begun experimenting and Brewdog hope to invest in separate kit after this round of share-selling to boost their wild credentials. Unlike <a href="http://www.boozebeatsbites.com/2015/09/we-need-to-talk-about-sours.html">Nate,</a> I think there is still a long way to go and I'd like to see sour beers more widely available out of the craft beer "geek" bars...of course there should always be a variety available, it is possible to have too much of a good thing! I look forward to seeing how these breweries and others develop in the coming years. </div>
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Northern Ireland is hosting what (I think) is the first of probably many sour beer competitions in the UK: <a href="http://sourfest.beer/">Sourfest</a> is on Saturday 26th September at Boundary Brewing in Belfast. I will be amongst the judges assessing both commercial and home brew efforts.<br />
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Left handed giant in Bristol will be launching their taproom next Sundayat the start of Bristol beer week with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/450469755123966/">a sour beer festival</a>; which has some great beers available, including some one offs; so do head along and check it out.</div>
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Do you know of any other UK breweries producing sour/ wild beers? Let me know in the comments below.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The idea for this post was driven by <a href="http://www.brouwerijdebrabandere.be/home-en">De Brabandere's</a> very good presentation on how they make their <a href="http://petrussourbeer.com/en">Petrus range.</a> Many free samples were provided during the beer bloggers conference, but I also bought plenty of beers.There may be some errors; so please feel free to correct me!</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-68711103055956709722015-09-06T12:05:00.002+01:002015-09-09T13:36:12.555+01:00#TheSession #103: Difficult conversations<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Warning: what follows is little more than a stream of thought outline rather than a cogent post, I may get a chance to cajole it into some semblance of logical thought, then again I'm off to Belgium next week; so I might not!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcKqUbBpUXRSCJ-ZzQ2UhuOPk1jsFLDUYy0E3terzjzxoS3wTKBWZI5vwNWIn1LSyLkYKsrxjeY3wqR5ZjxZKRECVgE-6n-na3nfX_wDXqbs-muKEUdxM0Rm99RC_CrXndM32TVfmEM__/s1600/00-thesession150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcKqUbBpUXRSCJ-ZzQ2UhuOPk1jsFLDUYy0E3terzjzxoS3wTKBWZI5vwNWIn1LSyLkYKsrxjeY3wqR5ZjxZKRECVgE-6n-na3nfX_wDXqbs-muKEUdxM0Rm99RC_CrXndM32TVfmEM__/s200/00-thesession150.jpg" width="200" /></a>The session this month <a href="http://www.metacookbook.com/2015/08/announcing-the-session-the-hard-stuff">asks us to look at the difficult topics </a>that aren't touched upon by beer . Part of me wants to point out that rather than be writing about what needs to be written about <span style="font-size: x-small;">(blogging about blogging?)</span>, people should just get along and do it! Aside from finding the impetus to write something compelling instead of procrastinating^ there are certainly some topics that don't get touched upon by beer bloggers...either by dint of the topic being too difficult or controversial to write about or otherwise just plain boring.</div>
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There is of course a tendency for any stories about beer to be spun in a positive light, to the extent where facts are misrepresented and negative issues to be buried to the extent people even forgot they existed. This is certainly true in reviewing, perhaps doubly so if the beer/bar visit/insert item here is free.</div>
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There are myriad reasons for this. The more cynical amongst us would suggest that the writing of a bad review would lead to the cutting off of the lifeblood of some blogs which survive on free beer alone. The whole #BloggerBlackmail story has shed some light on the murky practice of promising a good review in return for freebies but this must surely be only the odd bad-egg rather than something that is rife. I'd hope that people were able to be fair when reviewing a beer/pub/ whatever regardless of whether they got a freebie or not<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">and whilst its nice to receive the occasional care package</span>*</span> the majority of beer writers and bloggers fork out their own readies on the beers they write about.</div>
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More likely is that most beers aren't astoundingly good or spectacularly bad, just so-so, meh, comme ci comme ca and provoke a feeling of indifference in the writer which doesn't really lead to compelling reading; resulting in only the interesting beers getting through. Believe me for every good beer I write about there are five that are so-so and another few total drain pours.</div>
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Others will be loathe to write off a brewery on the back of a single bad experience, being keen to remind everyone that brewers are just doing a day job, often heavily self-funded and a bad review could cause harm to their business. Whilst this may be true for a small handful of writers, the majority of us just don't have the clout to make that much of an impact.</div>
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Finally taste is subjective, therefore enjoyment of beer is objective. Aside from obvious flaws and off-notes (which sadly are all to prevalent in our resurgent beer scene)¬ who's to say what you're tasting and not enjoying won't float someone else's boat.</div>
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All that said I really enjoy reading well written critiques of beers, especially those which take apart the status quo on "whale" beers and other highly hyped beers. A plea for more of these please!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">^a topic for a whole other blog post</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Fully declared of course...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">¬ability to objectively determine such flaws is few and far between in the pool of all beer bloggers, not excluding myself either</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">+Another potential blog topic...</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-19863006645963117432015-08-27T10:35:00.003+01:002015-08-27T10:35:51.505+01:0080 Brussels Boozers (and what to drink)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://scontent-bru2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11891046_10154206444895550_319884963082985501_n.png?oh=aebb19774da9f013000cb100de9d56ab&oe=567FB02E" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-bru2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11891046_10154206444895550_319884963082985501_n.png?oh=aebb19774da9f013000cb100de9d56ab&oe=567FB02E" width="222" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My title doesn't have quite the same ring to it as that chosen for the book that this post is about. The 80 beer series has returned to where it began with the release of the second eidition of around Brussels in 80 beers. I caught up with author Joe Stange to find out what he's been getting up to:</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: How did you get involved with 80 beers?</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: I was living in Brussels and writing a book on the best places to drink the best beer in Brussels. Then I heard that Tim Webb wanted to publish one akin to Podge and Siobhan's <i>Around Bruges in 80 Beers</i>. And I thought, "Oh, shit. I'd rather not compete with that." So I called Tim. I explained that I was a journalist who was already working on such a book, and might he need someone to write it? So he put me together with Yvan De Baets, and we co-researched and wrote the first edition. My background was news reporting, plus two years of living in Brussels and filling a notebook with beer and pub notes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: How did you find the time to check out so many pubs & bars? I assume there must have been plenty that didn't make the cut too!</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: At this point many years of research have gone into it. I have a working list of nearly 200 cafés, but there are many hundreds more in Brussels. I can't get to them all. I lived in Brussels for four years until 2010, and I've managed to get back two or three times per year since then. Most of that time I spend just walking and tramming around the city, following leads and occasionally finding something new. I follow local Brussels media too, because they occasionally write about new cafés or restaurants. Still, I'm sure there are a few good ones out there that I haven't found. If so, let me know!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: Are you impressed with how much the bar scene in Brussels has moved on in the last 6 years?</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: Yes and no. There are more bars, cafés and shops run by people who are selective about Belgian beer and know what they're doing. So that's great. It was harder to narrow my list down than it was in 2009 for the first edition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand there are also an absurd number of ridiculous trendy "concept" bars that either don't care about beer or are content to relay mainly on the products of one large beer company. Meanwhile Brussels hotel bars are stuck in the 1980s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, Belgian bars are starting to play with international craft beer, which is fine, but unfortunately they come at international craft prices. As in other well established beer countries, the Belgians generally refuse to pay much for beer. I'm cheap and old-fashioned so I like it that way.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8OrYYZAGndurVNqG_mVeA60ly2CEG56S5EZ57Vl_PtXngATkeutmsDVbtlfjyr3CDNKAFd9eTJPhhxLPWn0QNuxgX8NUiN22hApUILh4QCgRnW__Sz-VHVKPKWtQptxrca5LeLo_8aQ2/s1600/2015-08-24+19.17.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8OrYYZAGndurVNqG_mVeA60ly2CEG56S5EZ57Vl_PtXngATkeutmsDVbtlfjyr3CDNKAFd9eTJPhhxLPWn0QNuxgX8NUiN22hApUILh4QCgRnW__Sz-VHVKPKWtQptxrca5LeLo_8aQ2/s320/2015-08-24+19.17.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Corbeau (Raven)</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: What are your thoughts on how Belgian beer as a whole, moving to more modern interpretations of styles whilst some breweries still preserving traditional styles</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: Our cultural borders were always liminal, never hard and fast. What we once learned were "Belgian" beers were also heavily influenced by British ale, German lager and French wine -- and influence has many vectors. But Belgian beer does have a certain identity and common characteristics -- light body, sturdy foam, lively carbonation, expressive yeast, bottle conditioned -- and I get annoyed when lazy brewers chuck all that away in a doomed attempt to imitate a California IPA, for example. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: A topic i think will come up in conference: brewers without breweries (commissioners, gypsy or otherwise). What are your views on these type of breweries and are they overall a good, bad or indifferent thing for Belgium?</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: The chief problem is not hiring a brewery -- it can be a sensible arrangement -- but lack of honesty. People want to know where their food and drink is made. The label should tell them the place of manufacture. Also I have little patience for misuse of the words "brewer" and "brewery." I want to protect the language there. A brewer is someone who physically brews beer. A brewery is a building that houses functioning brewing equipment. If you are not those things, do not use those words. There is no shame in being an excellent marketeer or successful entrepreneur who is sensible enough to hire skilled technicians to make a product. Own it, instead of pretending to be something you're not. It's disrespectful to the people who do the production work.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK If you had time for just a single place in Brussels, which would it be?</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: The Brocante, on Place du Jeu de Balle. Great list of lambics, lots of odd local snacks, interesting bric-a-brac, and a cat or two.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: If there was one bar you'd suggest people visit to get an authentic taste of Brussels history and beer, which would it be?</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: Lots of choices here but I'd single out the Bon Vieux Temps. Dark, ancient and unchanging, a wonderful place to sip a Trappist and talk quietly or admire furnishings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">BIK: If pressed for your favourite Belgian beer, what would you name?</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span><span class="im" style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">JS: Saison Dupont.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A man of good taste obviously, recommending one of my favourite Belgian beers! Joe kindly arranged to get the book posted to me in time for our trip to Brussels to give it a proper road test. Its certainly had that and now appears a few years old, replete with beer stains and foxed cover! We've been to around ten of the eighty outlets so far and found something great to drink at all of them. Joe's writing style is both conversational and observational with plenty of details on the history of the place, some great photos and each page is rounded out with a beer suggestion and some pithy tasting notes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I started out trying to drink the suggested beer in each venue, but as with all transient things a number of the venues no longer stock the suggested beer. No worries though as there are plenty of other belgian beers to choose from!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll probably do a full round up of all the places that we get to over the weekend, but in the meantime I'd recommend Neutnigenuf for great beer cuisine, moder lambic fontinas for beer choice and le Fleur en Papier doree for atmosphere. Don't forget cantillon and de la senne of course!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barrel store at Cantillon</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The book is very reasonably priced at £10.99 and can be brought on line from <a href="http://www.booksaboutbeer.com/">www.booksaboutbeer.com</a>, on Amazon or in many branches of Waterstones/ other reputable bookstores. For those attending the conference there's a Waterstones opposite the Hotel Marivaux and Bier Tempel also holds copies. If you're around next weekend (4th-6th September) then Joe and publisher Tim are around for Brussels beer weekend and launching their book at Delices & Caprices on Saturday at 1pm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy bar hunting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cheers to Joe for taking the time to answer my questions, if anyone wants to catch up with him, share suggestions, jokes or pictures drop him a line at BXL80beers AT gmail DOT com or on Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AroundBrusselsin80Beers?fref=ts">here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">*I always thought the name was "Strange" to the extent I was about to report a typo on the front cover...</span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-10123999303039890802015-08-13T10:08:00.001+01:002015-08-13T10:08:41.247+01:00Tyrone's Turn<a href="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10375110_595784480555767_5642118166118742889_n.jpg?oh=336f1c7790242b660a1e03f2f00dfc65&oe=563CB6C2" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10375110_595784480555767_5642118166118742889_n.jpg?oh=336f1c7790242b660a1e03f2f00dfc65&oe=563CB6C2" width="320" /></a><br />
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For too long the focus on good beer in Northern Ireland has been centred around Belfast. Well not any more: enter the Wine Rack in Stewartstown. Now, as you would guess from the name, wine plays a big role in this shop and you won't find a better advocate of all things vinous than proprietor Michael Mulgrew. But Micky's also a fan of the fruit of the hop and has recently massively expanded his beer selection to become the best in Tyrone<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (if not all of NI, Belfast excluded.)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a small selection<br />
of what's available!</td></tr>
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The new beers are lovingly presented in a fancy dancey new fridge; to ensure all beers are delivered to you in tip-top condition and comprise a range of the best from the island of Ireland, UK and even further afield. Prices are keen and plenty to choose from; so get yourself along there post-haste!</div>
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Alongside increasing the range in his shop, he has formed the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1638692469682920/?fref=ts">Mid-Ulster beer club</a> which has already hold a sold-out tasting of <a href="https://twitter.com/FarmageddonBeer">Farmageddon</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/TheMcGargles">McGargles </a>Beers with more in the offing. I can exclusively reveal the next event will be on Saturday 3rd October 7-10pm and feature not one but two of the best breweries Northern Ireland have to offer; Belfast's flying-run start-up <a href="https://twitter.com/boundarybrewing">Boundary</a> and local favourites <a href="https://twitter.com/PokerTreeBrew">Pokertree</a>. Brewers Matt and Darren both know each other fairly well (having been co-organisers of ABV); so expect a good bit of craic and tall tales as they guide us through their respective beer ranges. If we're lucky we may even get to sample some brand new releases. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(If you want to get ahead of the game Micky keeps a good stock from both brewers in the shop)</span>. To book for the event (tickets cost £12) please call in to the shop or give Micky a ring on the number below.</div>
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Following that tasting we hope to welcome <a href="https://twitter.com/8degreesbrewing">8 Degrees</a> into our midsts as part of their grand tour of the North later this year. Stay tuned for further details. Tastings should be a fairly regular occurrence, probably alternating with wine events, with even more plans for next year. Did someone mention antipodean brewers? ...certainly wasn't me.</div>
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<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wine-Rack/595782783889270?fref=ts">The Wine Rack</a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">36-38 The Square, Stewartstown BT71 5HZ</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">0288773 8092</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/atthewinerack">@atthewinerack</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Full Disclosure: Micky reached out to Beer Ireland for help with improving his range and I responded. After all the shop is mere minutes from my door; so benefits me too! Every county should have a flagship destination like the Wine Rack, which will challenge other local outlets to up their games. Micky has even more things planned but I'll leave those for another day. I have not and will not be receiving payment for my advice, but have of course been given some free beer samples.</span></div>
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beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-82449014793049552612015-07-30T11:37:00.000+01:002015-07-30T11:37:08.615+01:00Carlowboration<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDimhIjD7KOZNIU6YFczSokAjt-IocfgPH2NB5BEOTgCJgVZFU25P0m6cg131rh96pccuxrZabYJVHMdyjk_p9K9oUA0ZHWMvAWlnGDsWdqE2KFgV4VrYm-2WIAzafb6TejuZ-DltptAJs/s1600/2015-07-24+17.12.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDimhIjD7KOZNIU6YFczSokAjt-IocfgPH2NB5BEOTgCJgVZFU25P0m6cg131rh96pccuxrZabYJVHMdyjk_p9K9oUA0ZHWMvAWlnGDsWdqE2KFgV4VrYm-2WIAzafb6TejuZ-DltptAJs/s320/2015-07-24+17.12.38.jpg" width="213" /></a>Its been a while since I've featured Irish beers on this blog; so hopefully this post goes some way to redressing that omission. As I mentioned in my <a href="http://beersiveknown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/first-collaborations.html">post earlier</a> this year, <a href="http://www.carlowbrewing.com/">Carlow</a> were the first brewery in Ireland to collaborate with an international brewer (to my knowledge!) with Lublin to Dublin, an oatmeal stout brewed with <a href="http://www.browarpinta.pl/">Pinta </a>last year <span style="font-size: x-small;">( which was very well received, coming in as <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/country/ireland/100/">4th best Irish beer on RateBeer</a>)</span>. I've just received a bottle of this year's release sticking to similar themes but as a milk stout this time around. Last year Polish hops were used, I'm not sure what they brought to the party this time as it was again brewed at Carlow.</div>
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So how does this years stack up? In my mind it betters even last years excellent release, with a full bodied chocolatey slightly milky mocha taste. This is no sickly sweet dessert beer however, being a proper robust porter first and foremost with the lactose accentuating rather than dominating the flavour profile. <a href="http://thebeernut.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/beers-without-borders.html">Seems the Beer Nut agrees with me</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9VzOCfYTzDeBograhzXPedgEdj5sMQWjjv1PwuDNw0fwgV0XsjS3P4JjrJwieIQlMsThMH7TRw7aiNQeuEzxzZt651GvPbyIq2HMncAkOdcKQYwaK-PzJirsY5e8uL1hmsSmHyq5rFVe/s1600/2015-07-24+16.47.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9VzOCfYTzDeBograhzXPedgEdj5sMQWjjv1PwuDNw0fwgV0XsjS3P4JjrJwieIQlMsThMH7TRw7aiNQeuEzxzZt651GvPbyIq2HMncAkOdcKQYwaK-PzJirsY5e8uL1hmsSmHyq5rFVe/s320/2015-07-24+16.47.21.jpg" width="181" /></a><br />
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Carlow also teamed up with American brewer Starr Hill to brew foreign affair, a red IPA. Of course IPA these days is a catch all term and often the beer is very different from even the modern reinterpretation of India Pale Ales. Colour aside, this one makes a good fist at the style being both hoppy and bitter thanks to the Falconners flight hop blend employed; though perhaps a little excessively due to an ABV on the low side at 4.8%. I'm a big fan of hoppy amber ales and there's much to like however with a decent level of carbonation, Big body for its strength and fresh hoppiness with red berry notes. but there's something in this one that doesn't sit right for me with a savoury almost meaty quality that jars somewhat with a tannic nettley bitterness.</div>
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Carlow also sent me a cider and hop adventure sorachi ace which I'd previously tried with my own coin. The former I found to be an entry level dryish uncomplex affair but rather enjoyed the latter, the malt bill allowing sorachi ace hops to work their magic - but very much an acquired taste. I'm looking forward to seeing more collaborations with from Carlow, particularly the promised Beoir beer. I also hope to hear whether they decided to use blogger input they gleaned from the conference in Dublin last year to inspire any of their beers.</div>
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Thank you to Carlow for sending me the samples, all the beers featured in this post are available bottled from all the usual suspects.<br />
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beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-70279970894753787182015-07-28T20:47:00.000+01:002015-07-28T20:47:17.789+01:00Dear Old Donegal<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2udDrx_UxRRsXSnNp70mA7HMHLjSpjLy0w4OgsgcLUynQa09a3s3bKw2Wqt7GRbTH_He0JE3_eGmRR2HDrM9NWQW2D0JRFTngY95ExrrLMnJtE07xSeitxg4LGx6iwm0eHSJaH_XSJgq/s1600/Wild+Atlantic+Poster+A3_2015.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2udDrx_UxRRsXSnNp70mA7HMHLjSpjLy0w4OgsgcLUynQa09a3s3bKw2Wqt7GRbTH_He0JE3_eGmRR2HDrM9NWQW2D0JRFTngY95ExrrLMnJtE07xSeitxg4LGx6iwm0eHSJaH_XSJgq/s1600/Wild+Atlantic+Poster+A3_2015.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: start;" type="cite">
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By local artist Barry Britton</div>
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This coming weekend sees the sophomore edition of the Wild Atlantic Craft beer festival hosted at <a href="http://www.diceys.com/">Dicey O'Reilly's</a> in Ballyshannon, Donegal (home of <a href="http://www.donegalbrewingcompany.com/">Donegal Brewing)</a>. Last year's event was a roaring success by all accounts with a number of new beers launched and hoards of punters' thirsts satiated. This year should be no different with an expanded programme of meet the brewer events, fresh cooked curries and beers pouring from at least thirteen breweries* including seven beers from the hosts (a new mild amongst them!); with plenty of other beers available in bottled format from the well-stocked Dicey's off-licence.</div>
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Alongside the beer is a packed schedule of live music with styles to suit all tastes and with the Folk Festival happening in town at the same time plenty to maintain your interest if beer isn't enough to drag you out of your living rooms (why not?!)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwybh7xu4veAfaVK9ETzSc0Hs_QivGosqMmjTs4kMrGHP3SbydXs87w4QbV4bvieyaA-41H3-JhwafFg3178ZWC-JUke0d44OxaVQVKcvavlEr1EPySKMXnH8l95IwKRl4bxB96WyUVD_/s1600/Beer+Garden.2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwybh7xu4veAfaVK9ETzSc0Hs_QivGosqMmjTs4kMrGHP3SbydXs87w4QbV4bvieyaA-41H3-JhwafFg3178ZWC-JUke0d44OxaVQVKcvavlEr1EPySKMXnH8l95IwKRl4bxB96WyUVD_/s1600/Beer+Garden.2.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crowds enjoying the sun last August</td></tr>
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Local beer festivals like this are an area where there's massive potential for growth in Ireland, but particularly in these parts, where the beer event calendar is fairly thin on the ground (of course bolstered this year by the ABV fest in Belfast). If you have a licensed premises why not consider running an event of your own? By my reckoning there are at least 48 weekends to choose from!</div>
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If you fancy popping along to the festival doors open 7PM on Friday 31st July and from 2PM Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August. Kick out time is 2AM each day; so plenty of time to sample everything. You can also call in for a tour of the brewery to find out where the beer is made and drink it at source. Brewer Brendan looks forward to seeing you all!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Find out more:</span><br />
<span style="color: #386eff;"><a href="http://www.wildatlanticcraftbeerfestical.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.<wbr></wbr>wildatlanticcraftbeerfestical.<wbr></wbr>com</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/thewildatlanticcraftbeerfestival" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/<wbr></wbr>thewildatlanticcraftbeerfestiv<wbr></wbr>al</a> </span><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/craftyfest" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.twitter.com/<wbr></wbr>craftyfest</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(00353) 086 2836914</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">WHATS ON</span><br />
<div id="E17" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E17" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E18" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E18" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friday 7pm: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E20" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E20" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beerhall</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E22" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E22" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Opens</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E24" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E24" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E25" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E25" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">7pm: The Beer Garden </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E26" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E26" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Folk/</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E27" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E27" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trad</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E28" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E28" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E29" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E29" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Session</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E31" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E31" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 10</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E32" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E32" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">pm: Night Time Trad/Folk Session </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E37" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E37" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E38" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E38" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">2pm: Beer Hall Opens</span></span></div>
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<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E40" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E40" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 4pm: The Early Session</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E42" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E42" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 5pm: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E44" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E44" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chandpur</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E46" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E46" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Indian Food – </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E48" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E48" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beerhall</span></span></div>
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<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E51" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E51" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 5pm Meet The Brewer Session with</span></span></div>
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<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E53" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E53" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Richard from Black Donkey</span></span></div>
<div id="E54" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E54" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E55" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E55" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E56" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E56" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">7pm</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E57" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E57" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E58" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E58" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Tea Time Session </span></span></div>
<div id="E59" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E59" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E60" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E60" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 8pm: Meet the Brewer Session </span></span></div>
<div id="E61" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E61" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E62" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E62" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E64" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E64" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">with</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E66" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E66" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> David from Northbound</span></span></div>
<div id="E67" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E67" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E68" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E68" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 11</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E69" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E69" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">pm: The BIG Saturday Night </span></span></div>
<div id="E70" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E70" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 72pt; padding: 0px; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E71" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E71" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">“Busy Fools”</span></span></div>
<div id="E72" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E72" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E73" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E73" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div>
<div id="E74" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E74" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div id="E75" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E75" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E76" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E76" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday: 2pm: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E78" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E78" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beerhall</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E80" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E80" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> opens</span></span></div>
<div id="E81" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E81" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E82" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E82" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 5pm: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E84" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E84" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chandpur</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E86" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E86" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Indian Food – </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E88" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E88" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beerhall</span></span></div>
<div id="E90" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E90" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E91" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E91" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 5pm: Lazy Afternoon Bluegrass Session</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E92" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E92" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
<div id="E93" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E93" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E94" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E94" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E95" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E95" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">5pm: M</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E96" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E96" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">eet the Brewer S</span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E97" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E97" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">ession with </span></span></div>
<div id="E98" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E98" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E99" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E99" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Gordy from Inismacsaint Brewery </span></span></div>
<div id="E100" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E100" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E101" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E101" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 8pm: The Last Trad Hooley </span></span></div>
<div id="E102" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E102" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E103" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E103" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E104" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E104" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">10pm: </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E105" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E105" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span class="qowt-font3-Helvetica" id="E106" is="qowt-run" qowt-eid="E106" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica !important; white-space: pre-wrap;">Festival Farewell Gig</span></span></div>
<div id="E107" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E107" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Tinos, serif; font-size: 16px; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Current beer list</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Eight Degrees Nelson Saison</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Eight Degrees Full Irish</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Trouble Brewing Simcoe Smash</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Saltaire Kola Black IPA</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">To oL Friends with benefits</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Chimay White</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Wicklow Wolf IPA</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Black Donkey Sheep Stealer</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Brooklyn Lager</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thornbridge Jaipur</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Donegal Porter</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beavertown Neck Oil IPA</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Laguntias Pale Ale</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Metalman Windjammer</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Donegal Session IPA</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Donegal Pale Ale</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Donegal Atlantic Amber</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Donegal Mild Ale</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Donegal Blonde</span>beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-40692015658239557632015-07-10T09:37:00.002+01:002015-07-10T09:37:49.896+01:00What's Lego-ing on?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Far too often beer reviews can be staid an boring (perhaps I've been guilty of that too?); so its always nice to come across and interesting and refreshing take that's a bit more fun too. Pottering around Facebook t'other day I came across a page called Beer Farts. Being a bit puerile I clicked on and found the page to be full of well-taken pictures of beer - but with a twist; every beer is paired with a Lego character. I also like that there's usually a short topical comment linking beer with current affairs in beer and wider world. Being a fan of both Lego and beer I got in touch with the creator to find out a bit more. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Who is behind beer farts and where did the name come from?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Hi, I'm Tom, based in London and I take the photos (and drink the beers<b> </b>!). When brewers etc meet me they always say ‘oh, you’re
not what I was expecting’. They may be expecting some strange guy that plays
with Lego but I am normal. I promise! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I toyed with a few
names but once I landed on Beer Farts it stuck. It seemed to catch people’s eye
and make them laugh. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/11665506_1458346277819705_2989189618407678390_n.jpg?oh=56c2da12dce9297ac332d3710f89c115&oe=561C5D78" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/11665506_1458346277819705_2989189618407678390_n.jpg?oh=56c2da12dce9297ac332d3710f89c115&oe=561C5D78" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Punk IPA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>How did you come up with the idea to use Lego?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I was given
a Lego set as a gift after seeing the Lego movie last year. I was already
posting photos of my favourite beers and decided to include the Lego in one. It
turned out to be quite popular and at all started from there. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>What comes first , the beer or the Lego?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The
beer is
always first. I just then try to work the appropriate Lego in with the
beer.
That can be difficult if I cannot get the Lego man I want. I've had to
hold out for weeks to try a beer because I wanted the right figure for
the photo. A little sad I know. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b> Where did you get such an array of figures; do you
have to carry them all around with you?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I am always buying new
ones from local toy shops, online and even charity shops. Sadly, yes I do carry
some with me almost everywhere. I don’t want to miss a shot! Planning ahead can be tricky though.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10982313_1425984521055881_5485183747326194455_n.jpg?oh=6603ea72e159af3ce7851a4e5accd0ac&oe=561A3E97" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10982313_1425984521055881_5485183747326194455_n.jpg?oh=6603ea72e159af3ce7851a4e5accd0ac&oe=561A3E97" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/29BYzWQRw5/?taken-by=beer_farts">Beavertown Honest Pale</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>What is your favourite Lego set/ character; are there
any that don't exist which you'd like to see?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">My favourite set is the
Back to the Future set. I love the movies so I love this set too. The hotdog
mini figure still makes me laugh though, he is a great one. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">After the success of
The Simpsons two series I’d love Lego to make a Family Guy series. I think that
would work great. I’m also excited for the release of the Big Bang Theory set
that is coming out soon. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>What has been your favourite review?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One of my recent
favourites is the post for Beavertown’s Skull King. Not only is the beer great
but their can designs are always so crazy. I’m always happy when I can make a
character to match those on the can design. The can designs alone make for
great photos.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>What do you enjoy most about using Lego alongside
words to convey your thoughts on beers? </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">It makes
people laugh and beer is meant to be fun after all. Lots of people post photos
of beers; I find the Lego men are a great way of making my posts stand out. I
hope people see the photos and then are interested to read what I’ve said about
the beer.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11182207_1406214823032851_7327936308779621174_n.jpg?oh=4733b453330cfa85ec51c9fa9e0386d0&oe=565CC9A4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11182207_1406214823032851_7327936308779621174_n.jpg?oh=4733b453330cfa85ec51c9fa9e0386d0&oe=565CC9A4" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/1vyzc8QRya/?taken-by=beer_farts">Light Vs Dark</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Do you have a favourite beer style and is there a
beer you'd really like to review using Lego?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">My favourite
style has to be IPA, whether it’s traditional British style or West Coast. I’d
really like to try and review Heady Topper as I hear so many good things about
it. I’m sure I could find a good Lego to go with that!</span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Which beer so far has been most enjoyable</b><b>?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This is almost
impossible to answer. I’ve had so many good ones. Some of my favourites
include; Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA, Camden Town’s IHL, The Kernel’s
IPA, Russian River’s Pliny The Elder, Meantime IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin' and Stone’s
Japanese Green Tea IPA.<b> </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>What character would you choose for the following
"whale" beers: </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-synthesis: weight style; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>Pliny the Elder – I have a Roman Emperor that could play Pliny</span></div>
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</span></span>Three Floyds Dark Lord - A medieval knight would work great here I think. </span></div>
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</span></span>Old Chimneys King Henry – The King from the latest series looks like a
young King Henry VIII. He works very well for any ‘King’ named beer. </span></div>
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</span></span>Cantillon Blaeber – The cowboy would be perfect for this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Thank you to Tom for taking the time to answer my questions, hopefully you check out his work, its good fun!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Beer Farts is on <a href="https://instagram.com/beer_farts/?hl=en">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/beer_farts">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009330404180&fref=ts">Facebook</a> and also <a href="http://beerfartsblog.blogspot.co.uk/">has a few blog posts here</a>. </b></span></div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-22898923590155750292015-05-14T13:43:00.001+01:002015-05-14T13:43:53.214+01:00Whisky cocktails<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BqcFFKaI9FDacxUvXIdrn28g5gpVA6aHPZb0rTlCpKertEr9zXY7wvqDLcR4eNn_Q3s_bVJyEQ9_FQ-YgH80oHhARDGE7MLylteDeT-jaTa5Z8thiL-1BBfXduaVCNrRWuyAA1RI1HX7/s1600/Cutty+33YR+TT+wide+banner+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BqcFFKaI9FDacxUvXIdrn28g5gpVA6aHPZb0rTlCpKertEr9zXY7wvqDLcR4eNn_Q3s_bVJyEQ9_FQ-YgH80oHhARDGE7MLylteDeT-jaTa5Z8thiL-1BBfXduaVCNrRWuyAA1RI1HX7/s200/Cutty+33YR+TT+wide+banner+2.png" width="200" /></a>Its been a while since I've had a chance to participate in one of Steve <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWhiskyWire">@TheWhiskyWire</a>'s organised TweetTastings (and even longer since I've written one up!); so I jumped at the chance when the opportunity arose. Even better was that this time the tasting would include three cocktails by White Lyan (2014 best newcomer cocktail bar in world) which means Daisy would also be able to join in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3O06ttkwYRFEqPkW_vwpzw7JHW5g1wi_5d6JpzaAjV1TsMTUiHsLrWDGJ55JDJhE0iqQzso8nIAXnqVWETa1uknNL_GoCf0H0Qc6oXdNlM2hZuTfgHqpBpbFGcTAoO64hhUkm4hLNczr/s1600/CE58JOUWEAAQ9oP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3O06ttkwYRFEqPkW_vwpzw7JHW5g1wi_5d6JpzaAjV1TsMTUiHsLrWDGJ55JDJhE0iqQzso8nIAXnqVWETa1uknNL_GoCf0H0Qc6oXdNlM2hZuTfgHqpBpbFGcTAoO64hhUkm4hLNczr/s200/CE58JOUWEAAQ9oP.jpg" width="133" /></a>We kicked off with with <a href="http://www.thedrinksreport.com/news/2014/15760-cutty-sark-releases-33yo-art-deco-package.html">Cutty Sark 33y/o </a>blend (a limited whisky available for the princely sum of £650 a bottle). On the nose its a lot of caramel and butterscotch which would be off-putting in a beer (a sign of diacetyl, usually indicating the beer wasn't given long enough in the fermenter) but in a whisky indicates time spent in bourbon barrels. I described it last night as "woody Werthers Originals". Alongside that is obviously lashings of vanilla (another bourbon wood - American Oak - characteristic), the furniture polish that often crops up in a venerable dram like this and an underlying stewed pears sweetness likely from esters in one (or more) of the component parts, of which there are almost 50 from 9 distilleries! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfWEbvDQW_jb_XYbOdPtyfybFMnftsuZNN47qu4U_GzdzVUfyF5gKE7U_RWJ6HFv6_qNcWtmxFyrOb9MFii6TU8-ubscWrO4IRsVRHcffSi_vxKrWh4nZwSBwHy-v8ZnP5jx9boVllfJu/s1600/CE56NI8WEAAE3AA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfWEbvDQW_jb_XYbOdPtyfybFMnftsuZNN47qu4U_GzdzVUfyF5gKE7U_RWJ6HFv6_qNcWtmxFyrOb9MFii6TU8-ubscWrO4IRsVRHcffSi_vxKrWh4nZwSBwHy-v8ZnP5jx9boVllfJu/s200/CE56NI8WEAAE3AA.jpg" width="175" /></a>As it opens up on the nose I got a touch of cola and fruity rosso vermouth, which carries on into the taste quite sweet too, vanilla first and foremost, then caramel and then some whisky warmth. Its truly a lovely blend toasted marshmallow jelly belly bean and butterscotch all appear as it develops in the mouth finishing really smoothly. Even Daisy didn't struggle to drink it, though still to boozy as a neat spirit for her.</div>
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After clearing our palates we moved on to the first of three cocktails produced by White Lyan. White Lyan batch up all of their cocktails themselves, which ensures
consistency and speed of service on busy evenings in the bar, they also
sell some of their most popular tipples through <a href="http://www.selfridges.com/en/mr-lyan/">Selfridge's</a>. We were instructed to chill our glasses but refrain from using ice. They don't use ice in any of their drinks, instead using technical wizardry to get all of their drinks to the correct dilution ratio. Their brief was Art Deco inspired cocktails; so they've dug deep into the recipe books and came out with three drinks, all with White Lyan twist of course!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoe_HdRNjm8IUxM7TAkR3JnhIgeq-piglGw4N270vvyoZNbzuiIhexVRwc4ECVi4jFOKM9npv1mB_PEYzCfNFlBVw0qks60IU3OPS3O1gF2cJF2K91snNAxTsq1W0JJucQYD4sQA_bqjY/s1600/CE6BLu_W8AAlxKr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMoe_HdRNjm8IUxM7TAkR3JnhIgeq-piglGw4N270vvyoZNbzuiIhexVRwc4ECVi4jFOKM9npv1mB_PEYzCfNFlBVw0qks60IU3OPS3O1gF2cJF2K91snNAxTsq1W0JJucQYD4sQA_bqjY/s200/CE6BLu_W8AAlxKr.jpg" width="200" /></a> Our first drink is an <a href="http://punchdrink.com/recipes/artists-special/">Artist's Special</a> made with Olorosso sherry, an interpretation of lemon juice and of course Cutty Sark whisky. It offers up sweet red apple e & caramel on the nose but to drink its all about the sherry, rich fruitcake and raisins a plenty. I'd perhaps have liked the balance more towards the sour side and the sherry dominates over the whisky but its certainly easy drinking finishing with a rich sherried note.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmu3WXcCMuLFwt5qwR8dBa8_tf5eOLoKTQ67fC2UfT5WRBWCyt4dn2rGCyTMshTfyc_3MXvKto4taQKltq49kAN2C0C69ua9VOSpB35koveEyL1JhnD8tKqoamIc6MN5hePzcVpTgVlaiG/s1600/CE6ER_GWAAAgTI8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmu3WXcCMuLFwt5qwR8dBa8_tf5eOLoKTQ67fC2UfT5WRBWCyt4dn2rGCyTMshTfyc_3MXvKto4taQKltq49kAN2C0C69ua9VOSpB35koveEyL1JhnD8tKqoamIc6MN5hePzcVpTgVlaiG/s200/CE6ER_GWAAAgTI8.jpg" width="99" /></a>Cocktail #2 is called <a href="http://imbibemagazine.com/seelbach-cocktail-recipe/">Seelbach</a>, named for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seelbach_Hotel">hotel</a> where it was created in 1917. We had to add our own soda water to a blend of whisky, bitters, distilled champagne and triple sec. I was pretty chuffed to pick up that both Angostura and Peychaud's had been used, though scaled back from the original 7 dashes of each! On the nose there's the rich orangey triple sec plus whisky vanilla notes giving something reminiscent of Campari. Its bubbley, warming and a fruity orange, clove and nutmeg to taste reminiscent of some Caribbean rum punches or even mulled Gluhwein. A refreshing cocktail that I'll certainly look to replicate in the future.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Fe_gu2yhsw7J0IXx01UgBTzblWIq1vHcGDaVwKj4qDMSmGJCm2y9Aui2GG6tUD5egjMRs6p_DorsRjhUWiZh2mIVwO24gpCy10OubeWzhiorKjGNiMw2OHFxWQ19A5PPFPuYZeWXEhg1/s1600/CE6H261WoAAMJzd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Fe_gu2yhsw7J0IXx01UgBTzblWIq1vHcGDaVwKj4qDMSmGJCm2y9Aui2GG6tUD5egjMRs6p_DorsRjhUWiZh2mIVwO24gpCy10OubeWzhiorKjGNiMw2OHFxWQ19A5PPFPuYZeWXEhg1/s200/CE6H261WoAAMJzd.jpg" width="126" /></a>An Old Fashioned is a classic drink that everyone should have in their repertoire, but this being a White Lyan tasting its obviously been mixed around a bit. Instead of simple syrup the whisky is washed through beeswax, picking up some honey sweetness and also removing some of the larger aroma/ flavour compounds smoothing out the edges to give a rich and luxurious finish. They also added gold flakes - just because they can I guess! What we're left with is the obviously named Beeswax Old Fashioned which really does smell of beeswax candles but also hints at cheese rinds. Taste wise its a little on the sweet side but it really does allow the complexity of the whisky to shine through.<br />
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We enjoyed all three cocktails; though the Seelbach was our joint favourite. Would certainly urge you to try recreating these at home! And if you're feeling flush; the whisky is certainly very nice but a little steep for our budget. Its been great to get the opportunity to try these and we're now determined to visit White Lyan on our next trip to London. Massive thanks as usual to <a href="http://t.co/LCmR9nciMT">Steve</a> for organising the whole thing and <a href="https://cutty-sark.com/the-whisky/">Cutty Sark</a> and <a href="http://whitelyan.com/">White Lyan</a> for providing the drinks and tasting company, Slainté!</div>
beersiveknownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293913182389157112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-444372010882241548.post-8220366250916774432015-05-13T09:52:00.000+01:002015-05-13T09:57:44.957+01:00On Unusual Ingredients in Beer<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I<span style="font-size: x-small;">'ve <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">been sitting on thi<span style="font-size: x-small;">s post for far too long, having previously inten<span style="font-size: x-small;">ded to publish it as a #beerylongread but then <a href="http://boakandbailey.com/2014/11/beers-pinch-place/">Boak and Bailey</a> published a very similar <span style="font-size: x-small;">analysis as I was planning. I have promised the lovely N<span style="font-size: x-small;">atalia a write-up<span style="font-size: x-small;">; so its about time I moved this from draft to published...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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The use of "non-beer" ingredients is often frowned upon in some beer circles, particularly those who cite beers conforming to the Reinheitsgebot as the pinnacle of barley beverage perfection. Others deride brewers for bunging in any old ingredient for the sake of it, often ending up with something far removed from beer. Whilst I agree that it does go on (and I've tasted my fair share of poorly-conceived or barely masked poor brews) I think that when done well additional ingredients can enhance a beer and bring something different - and lets face it we all like to experience different flavours. At its best novel ingredients can give lift a beer to new heights or even spawn a whole new style. It can also work well to differentiate a beer from similar competing products and give beer a sense of place by tying it to its region regardless of whether or not the bulk of the ingredients are locally sourced.<br />
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One brewery making good use of indigenous ingredients are Amazon Beer, based in Campia Belem in Brazil (that's in the North of Brazil, just inland from the coast and on the edge of the Amazon rainforest.)They use ingredients from Brazil to enhance the beers they brew and introduce people to Brazilian flavours. A lot of the ingredients are popular within Brazil but largely unknown outside the country; so now they're beginning to export they're raising the profile of Brazilian ingredients around the world. The process for designing the beers varies; sometimes the brewer decides on a certain style then selects an ingredient to complement the style. On other occasions the inverse is true Caio (brewery sommelier) brings a potential ingredient to his father (Armindo)and a beer is designed to bring out the best in it - both methods are valid as far as I'm concerned. They're also happy to work with others to exchange ideas and even produce collaboration brews.<br />
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I (and a few others it seems) was sent some bottles to try (all the way from Brazil). Whilst I'd heard of a few of the ingredients, the majority were new to me; so to keep things interesting I refrained Wkipedia-ing until after I'd tried them!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSenWXUPrQy0eoWuvOz9ReiKLFgWIkgRqFQIvGM8zLK8yCMyZqD568xBq7M_OkxoYzbhuDdS-iryGrKGoNE3aglyv-bJt91r3T8l9CWtEhUA5tCyHA9GW8rCA05wX_9wkZC5Y39IYA_FMu/s1600/2014-11-22+17.31.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSenWXUPrQy0eoWuvOz9ReiKLFgWIkgRqFQIvGM8zLK8yCMyZqD568xBq7M_OkxoYzbhuDdS-iryGrKGoNE3aglyv-bJt91r3T8l9CWtEhUA5tCyHA9GW8rCA05wX_9wkZC5Y39IYA_FMu/s200/2014-11-22+17.31.05.jpg" width="200" /></a><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">First up was Forest <a href="http://flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/fruits-of-brazil-bacuri.html">Bacuri </a>a 3.8% pale golden ale. It had a Koelsch like nose, </span><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">fruity strawberry with a touch of diacetyl, steady stream of
bubbles, pillowy white head collapsing to lacing.In the mouth its more like a helles, fairly clean with Zippy carbonation,
fairly sweet with peach and glucose, ends slightly thin with a touch of
damp cardboard but pleasant enough, akin to a cheaper helles. Not really sure I could detect anything out of the ordinary here but quite enjoyed the beer. Bacuri allegedly is both sweet and sour and I certainly picked up on the sweetness but can't say it really enhanced my drinking experience.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_oC7Eg6ebB7vyIiljcpb5zDUWbtDAeMiyeHN2RYKQlqJ67kmOXdHVmkyUNt4OCVCzmte_61zLjMVv3Xx1oBSHziy57Q_6w26KW5d4SPU7B9igga1e4V5T-EEWmv-AQFK6PJ4PSSkVkDI/s1600/2014-11-22+18.35.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_oC7Eg6ebB7vyIiljcpb5zDUWbtDAeMiyeHN2RYKQlqJ67kmOXdHVmkyUNt4OCVCzmte_61zLjMVv3Xx1oBSHziy57Q_6w26KW5d4SPU7B9igga1e4V5T-EEWmv-AQFK6PJ4PSSkVkDI/s200/2014-11-22+18.35.13.jpg" width="200" /></a><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"> I did however find</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipteryx_odorata"> Cumaru </a>IPA (5.7%) quite <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">intriguing, with preserved lemon and ginger sponge becoming reminiscent of fresh apple strudel
on warming. Full bodied with a gentle carbonation, cinnamon, herbal hops & sultana bagel. It reminded me somewhat of <a href="https://www.webrew.co.uk/main/shop/kohinoor/">Windsor and Eton's Kohinoor IPA</a> with cardamom and jaggery. Turns out Cumaru is another name for the tonka bean, a trendy (and cheaper) alternative to vanilla. Its certainly produced an interesting beer on this occasion and I'd certainly enjoy it again.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcl9sygtQL5ghe7RMQmyj3lK3BVNdiFMjQTpYB0vApXThipEfN-C_PvujZdIha5pK3T5GOb4VWMQsfoKOdvg9aP1O2IP7zLSqz6E0mTqsGNy0LYXxFNWeG95vK63eBVF4YwCAXsNOgxz3/s1600/2014-11-22+18.07.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcl9sygtQL5ghe7RMQmyj3lK3BVNdiFMjQTpYB0vApXThipEfN-C_PvujZdIha5pK3T5GOb4VWMQsfoKOdvg9aP1O2IP7zLSqz6E0mTqsGNy0LYXxFNWeG95vK63eBVF4YwCAXsNOgxz3/s200/2014-11-22+18.07.35.jpg" width="200" /></a><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">The red ale, <a href="https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/food-drinks/alex-atala-explains-priprioca/">Priprioca</a> is a heady 6% and </span></span><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">slightly
hazy chestnut with caramel and red apple on nose and tasting like toffee apple stuck in a sponge cake with a lasting fruitiness. Again, I couldn't really draw distinction between the flavours expected from malt in the style and the added ingredient (apparently a kind of root) but it probably does contribute to the complexity. Its not really the kind of beer I'd buy anyway but quite liked it.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1G2hprh6USoWm4ctnQh6rhsSuU5agQhu8oBClra3ENxFt5gb9AroOVpJVSmRazpHEdQtaFRvqZ-AERyAcu4hixUoOQhDy8VhcDTMBCWKMBFGrixWZsP7iJf-KlRPmsw6OnX7piQWKflF/s1600/2014-11-22+17.46.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1G2hprh6USoWm4ctnQh6rhsSuU5agQhu8oBClra3ENxFt5gb9AroOVpJVSmRazpHEdQtaFRvqZ-AERyAcu4hixUoOQhDy8VhcDTMBCWKMBFGrixWZsP7iJf-KlRPmsw6OnX7piQWKflF/s200/2014-11-22+17.46.08.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUf3XRgocFRNgRNpq761AmUIBAlNT-Mktz01y05UFYCWN7fq1e9n62H14vux_VCqjsYT-tJfZW3JoHXLjnVyfj3xd6NNbsuZ2Z9p02IgZ5xvXLyMDYlRVwUmMyn0lw9fcxQpvoHtxHgMYJ/s1600/2014-12-02+20.01.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUf3XRgocFRNgRNpq761AmUIBAlNT-Mktz01y05UFYCWN7fq1e9n62H14vux_VCqjsYT-tJfZW3JoHXLjnVyfj3xd6NNbsuZ2Z9p02IgZ5xvXLyMDYlRVwUmMyn0lw9fcxQpvoHtxHgMYJ/s200/2014-12-02+20.01.51.jpg" width="200" /></a><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">Both the witbier and a bottle of pilsner <span style="font-size: x-small;">(I bought the latter myself, pleased to find it in my local offy) </span>were disappointing. Whilst the pilsner was a generic lager</span></span></span> with no stand out features or ingredients to recommended it, the former seemed infected </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Oa6KgTIhz2V3HkA56xk0ilc03s4OgL6BnbM2yz5GhHfNK3wuWRlaecQ0kK0D1KBRgF5kCrQzmg7sHmcpRI0C0P-GgB-Wx4eb_-6HJq-q-GQrQ_WcpP6ovOLB-PVCxBqVZu1qq4ncbiy6/s1600/2014-11-22+18.59.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Oa6KgTIhz2V3HkA56xk0ilc03s4OgL6BnbM2yz5GhHfNK3wuWRlaecQ0kK0D1KBRgF5kCrQzmg7sHmcpRI0C0P-GgB-Wx4eb_-6HJq-q-GQrQ_WcpP6ovOLB-PVCxBqVZu1qq4ncbiy6/s200/2014-11-22+18.59.02.jpg" width="200" /></a><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">My favourite of the bunch was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A7a%C3%AD_palm">Acai </a>stout, 7.2% - this really showcases what an added ingredient can bring to a beer. Pouring </span></span></span></span><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Review-aggregate">dark
brown with pale tan head and slightly lactic fruity sultanas and prunes on the nose like an over-aged Christmas cake. To taste its fairly complex with mixed fruits, dry berries and a mint note which helps to tie everything together. Being an ingredient I was familiar with (through its addition in various foodstuffs as a "super ingredient") I'm pretty sure I was able to pick out the Acai berry but it was well integrated and complemented the style well. I'd certainly recommend buying a few bottles of this one if you see it.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr align="left"><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjD25HLpLakZVpIoRabXjdXFWZlBDTwj0WGNgrB7Q03RjlqrrvDUzsYsYjkL229t6l8cD2pf2c8ps_vFfkC-X3KnLT-KUJvIhquQVvYHkTw3-TjTHShARHR13YPAjAQ2SCt9uU77pXGu7/s1600/tapereb%C3%A1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjD25HLpLakZVpIoRabXjdXFWZlBDTwj0WGNgrB7Q03RjlqrrvDUzsYsYjkL229t6l8cD2pf2c8ps_vFfkC-X3KnLT-KUJvIhquQVvYHkTw3-TjTHShARHR13YPAjAQ2SCt9uU77pXGu7/s200/tapereb%C3%A1.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tapreba</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxFaJ7GJV0I6aHHZRiuAJ1Td73-OZGSX8FCeXmLkJTNy4oOQVey-4YDR2YqfberT0vXT2rfwKHtV1H2ZQKHOFERsEP1HUIqnKctN44aLfh9jWkgHsIOSdosS_Xd48CX7YKtxcjoV-MrsF/s1600/priprioca.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxFaJ7GJV0I6aHHZRiuAJ1Td73-OZGSX8FCeXmLkJTNy4oOQVey-4YDR2YqfberT0vXT2rfwKHtV1H2ZQKHOFERsEP1HUIqnKctN44aLfh9jWkgHsIOSdosS_Xd48CX7YKtxcjoV-MrsF/s200/priprioca.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Priprioca</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1dEZBSPG45sX8vvuyMjNP52yD_F1-cX6jC4MJ9XI5XJLaE3Y-8geloe4AltvC_pCKc5K8C1TcJYwiYt5UNpQirqCjtrNurBAWc8OEP3V464DnqJiTsocOo39-9o7WZYrdre_YKfABZ2V/s1600/bacuri.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1dEZBSPG45sX8vvuyMjNP52yD_F1-cX6jC4MJ9XI5XJLaE3Y-8geloe4AltvC_pCKc5K8C1TcJYwiYt5UNpQirqCjtrNurBAWc8OEP3V464DnqJiTsocOo39-9o7WZYrdre_YKfABZ2V/s200/bacuri.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bacuri</b></td></tr>
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<tr align="center"><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8fGrOIselpGhM9d0LfW8ug4SSkKr4z9gMrrmSm5sFiOW4DKNlapG7gXGOfsRuE-_nJW_te9dsVpM7lRxBU5MF7qe3kXob3GokWKzyttxJTiGS5jUHxyEx1yEPjImStgiTgZ_YWV90EJ1/s1600/a%C3%A7a%C3%AD.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8fGrOIselpGhM9d0LfW8ug4SSkKr4z9gMrrmSm5sFiOW4DKNlapG7gXGOfsRuE-_nJW_te9dsVpM7lRxBU5MF7qe3kXob3GokWKzyttxJTiGS5jUHxyEx1yEPjImStgiTgZ_YWV90EJ1/s200/a%C3%A7a%C3%AD.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Acai</b></td></tr>
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So what did we learn here about added ingredients? Nothing profound really, sometimes it can enhance a beer's flavour and others its not really detectable. It can be a fun way to get a beer noticed however and done well produce tasty results. Speaking to Natalia Amazon are currently working on a porter made with cupulate - a chocolate made from Cupuaçu seed which is certainly one I'd be looking out for, being a big fan of porters. A big thank-you for the opportunity to try the beers and being so patient with waiting for my thoughts! I'll certainly continue to try beers with added ingredients as they often do throw up some gems -I'd urge you not to write them off either.<br />
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