What's New?

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!

In the mean time Daisy and I have finally launched our joint blog Drinks We've Known (see what we did there?!) with a post on whisky cocktails. 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, @drinksweveknown. 

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 )

My Mezcalendar...thanks Daisy!

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 mezcalendar* 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 here.

So until my next post here; see you around!

Mezcalendar. Genius. Someone buy that man a pint. https://t.co/WguARn38uP

— Master Of Malt (@MasterOfMalt) November 8, 2015

*Apparently I'm the first person to use the term but have graciously allowed Master of Malt to use it ;)

Tokyoing

I enjoy whisky barrel-aged beers (there, I said it!); so when Brewdog announced the release of Tokyo which had been aged in respectively a Highland and Lowland cask ("Tokyo Rising Sun") my interests were piqued and in the interests of science *ahem* purchased them* to report back.

I also decided to compare the beers to a representative whisky from each of the regions to see if I could discern any of the flavours transferred. I'd also have liked to compare to original Tokyo, but this has long since sold out and fresh (now 18%) Tokyo* will have to suffice.

Lowland up first then (only one cask of this). Pours unctuous pitch black with a temporary cola head and steady stream of effervescence. Caramel, molasses, tobacco, chocolate, cocoa, whiff of peat. Thick in the mouth, some definite tcp and smoke, sweet malt, apple cigars, cold hearth. Sweet in the finish, almost distracting from the stout richness.

Medium golden Glenkinchie in comparison smells very one-dimensional and quite grainy. Taste wise there's grass, beechwood and a fairly fiery finish. I'm not sure this was the cask used, though there's only a few lowland distilleries so the probability is quite high!

Highland Tokyo Rising Sun pours oily black with a fluffy cola head that soon collapses to a lacing. Oily legs and big aroma of peat bogs, sour cherries, campfires and mead. Slightly more carbonation in the mouth and a lot more charred wood and cranberry than the lowland. A touch of cola, less residual sweetness soon leaves the tongue but long finish around the mouth and down fruit. Warming but not noticably alcoholic. I’d say people may find this a bit more of a struggle to drink.

Dalwhinnie** this time and with a mouth full of smoky beer the woodsmoke notes overpower the honey nose i usually get from this. It almost smells like new make spirit. Its extremely sweet in the mouth with pineapple up front, vanilla and some applewood smoke. Very fiery again, something the beer seems capable of accentuating in the whisky.

To finish things off nicely I've a bottle of Tokyo*. This 18% beast is a souped up version of those aged above but should still be an interesting comparison. Last time I tried it however I wasn't too impressed, it was a tad oxidised with an unpleasant acetic nose. Dark Brown with fluffy tan head, cranberries and chocolate malt on the nose but still a touch acetic. Thick body, rich, tart cranberry, chocolate, coffee, caramel, vanilla. This is much better than the previous bottle! Long sweet and boozy finish with a touch of roast barley and malt astringency. Jasmine comes in late with more malt sweetness.


I preferred the Lowland aged Tokyo to the highland aged one, by some way, but both are good beers in their own right and up there with the best Paradox brews. If someone offers you to share a bottle, I'd accept! But in terms of buying for yourself you're better of with getting the Tokyo* and drinking a glass of whisky alongside, its just not worth £25.

*Although aided by my 20% shareholder discount, they're still among the most expensive beers I've purchased. I can understand why though, the base beer wasn't exactly cheap with cranberries and jasmine added, then there's the purchase of the whisky casks, 3-4 years storage time, limited label run and of course beer geek tax.

**Yes, I am aware of the irony of picking two Diageo owned brands of whisky. For those of you who aren't see #DiageoGate.

Wake up and smell the...

Coffee is probably my favourite non-alcoholic beverage. So when married with my favourite alcoholic beverage a match in heaven is formed (in my view, of course, to some coffee beer is akin to marmite). What's more the combination of beer and caffeine seems to work immediately, rather than a few hours later as with regular coffee.

A slew of brewers have been including coffee in their brews recently...or at least aging it over beans.I've reviewed a couple before...Hardknott Vitesse Noir and Summer Wine Barista.

There's always room for more coffee beers in my mind and with the creme de la creme of craft brewers indulging us I thought I may as well partake.

De Molen Kopi Luewak is dark brown-black with fizzy cola head. Rich and fruity nose with plenty of rich coffee flavour and a long fruity coffee finish. the high ABV (11.2%) is well hidden.

Kernel Coffee IPAs -In a world of stouts with coffee its refreshing to try a pale ale brewed with coffee, the fruity flavours pair well with those found in new world hops. I was lucky enough to try both batches. The first had tangerine and sherbert on the nose and an initial tart gooseberry followed by plenty of roast coffee and a pithy citrus/bitter coffee finish. Good mouthfeel, not to oily. Batch 2: Darker Amber with coffee much more to the fore on the nose. At first tangerine and a bitter sweet malt with long coffee finish. Well balanced this one. Mark Dredge's thoughts on this beer are here and Mark Beer.Birra.Bier here.

De Struise Black Damnation II - Mocha Bomb is another dark coffee beer, with a rich and fruity nose andh rich coffee flavours. Theres a roasted barley astringency to the finish. Some hints of vanilla appear further down the glass.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel (slightly disturbing video there) has a near cult status as it uses coffee reclaimed from the poo of the civet, supposedly the freshest you can get. Rich and viscous black pour with temporary teak head. Subtle smoky coffee on the nose. Coffee fills the mouth and coats every surface with underlying chocolate and a ling roasty and astringent finish. Alcohol tingle but otherwise very well balanced.

As for my favourite? Well at the time of drinking I rated Hardknott Vitesse Noire the highest, with the De Molen Coming in right behind.

So get some ocffee beers in your life if you haven't done so already! With at least one more coffee stout planned in the near future (Summer Wine KopiKat) 2012 looks set to be as caffeine fueled as 2011.

Is York best beer city outside London?

I spent a few nights in York after Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed myself, so much so that I'm heading back before EBBC next year (see you there?). 

Why do I think its a contender?

The pubs for a start, there are (allegedly) 365 of them, but its not the quantity that matters but the quality. As well as the new York Tap there are;

Pivni -(The original Pivovar venue) is tucked away in the shambles. Somehow they managed to cram a load of casks and kegs in (you can see the casks stillaged behind the bar) and on my visit it was standing room only. (Twitter)

House of Trembling Madness (also a magnificent bottled beer shop) - I didn't get a chance here but did peruse the shop. Its amazing, a good thing I didn't bring my wallet as I'm sure I would have struggled to carry home my purchases! (Twitter)

Brigantes - Spent a lunchtime here, fairly upmarket looking inside, but prices are good. I liked how the handpumps were split into light and dark beers, with prices clearly displayed on the blackboard. There's a fair bottle selection and my burger was excellent. (Twitter)

The Maltings- A true street corner local, with bare wood floors, old notices adorning the walls and a bar counter made out of reclaimed doors. Simple but tasty grub. Look out for the rude clock! (Twitter)

The Punch Bowl - the best of the 4 Nicholson's pubs in York. Just a small front bar for drinking as the rest of the pub is set up for diners but an interesting range of beers (outside of the usual Christmas specials you might expect) plus mulled wine and cider. Just the thing when its cold and wet outside. (No Twitter)

The Volunteer Arms- a backstreet local, you wouldn't expect to find much in the way of beer here but they have 4 handpumps and real cider, all in good nick, friendly staff, no noisy background music and comfy seats. Spent a pleasant hour here on my final evening in York.(Twitter)

There's the York Beer and Wine shop (resplendent with cheese counter) that's been there for 26 years.

There's even a brewery within York city walls. (Twitter)

Outside of beer there are a host of tasty eateries, cultural and historical attractions (York Dungeon, Jorvik, The Walls, Art Gallery, Museums) and plenty of decent independent shops, tea rooms and other miscellanea tucked in all over the city.

With the high density of bloggers in Leeds it seems York doesn't get as much coverage in the blogosphere as perhaps it should. It is only 20 minutes away by train after all.  If you've not been for a while or even ever then do yourself a favour and head along. I'd recommend booking a  room though as there's too much to do in a single day!

Best of 2011: One blogger's opinion (Golden Pints)

I've no doubt there will be a proliferation of similar posts but wanted to get my thoughts down in any case. I love lists; so this will take the form of some top threes. I was right! I started drafting this at the end of November and since then Beer Reviews announced the golden pint awards; which I'll pop my nominations up for scavenging from my original rankings.

Best UK Draught (Cask or Keg) Beer

Cask: Bristol Beer Factory Saison (@Euston Tap and Factoberfest)

Keg: Magic Rock - Dark Arts (@Craft beer co and Port Street Beer House )

Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer

1. Buxton Axe Edge

2. Hardknott Vitesse Noir

3. Bristol Beer Factory Indian Ink

 

Best Overseas Draught Beer

Cask: Flying Dog Oak Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter  (@ White Horse) see my post here

Keg: Mikkelelr Black (@ CASK )

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer

Mikkeller Monk's Elixir

Runner Up: Struise Pannepot

 

Best Overall Beer

Going by ratebeer and memory it has to be Buxton Axe Edge

Best Pumpclip or Label

There are so many good designs out there as highlighted by The Beercast recently, but for me it has to be Bristol Beer Factory with their bold colours and instantly recognisable logo.

Best UK Brewery

Buxton-Great flavoursome beers and a mix of new and old styles.

Bristol Beer Factory - from not being on my radar to trying most of their beers this year. If you haven't yet tried them, go get yourself a mixed case. I reviewed their stouts here.

Summer Wine-I've managed to try three of their beers so far and have been impressed

Hardknott catering for both extremophiles and regular pub goers with some tasty special releases.

Kernel who could fail to be impressed with the proliferation of great beers from these guys.Magic Rock created some impressive beers with great results with first brews.

Best US Brewery

This is limited by the fact that finding American beers in Northern Ireland is nigh on impossible!

1.Flying Dog. I can still taste that oak-aged Gonzo.

2. Southern Tier have enjoyed the few beers I've managed to get hold of this year and look forward to finding even more in 2012.

3. Odell from the core range to the mor experimental brews Doug and team make some excellent beers. The artwork is ace too.

4. Great Divide- tasty IPAs  and Yeti-range

5.Left Hand- good solid range including black jack porter and milk stout.

Best Other Brewery

Has to be Mikkeller as I've been continually impressed by the range of innovative brews pumped out by essentially one crazy guy! Honourable mention to Revelation Cat, whose New Zealand Pale Ale was glorious.

Pub/Bar of the Year

Another toughie, and I've not really been in all that many this year! A last minute winner pits the cask in pimlico to the post... the recently opened York Tap. Visited twice within the list few days and loved it. More when I get back in front of a pc!

l

Beer Festival of the Year

 Having only been to GBBF, Hilden and Belfast Beer Festival I'm going to have to pick Belfast as I had a chance to try some great beers and didn't have to use trains to get there each day!

Supermarket of the Year

The state of Northern Ireland beer is pretty dire and the best of a bad bunch supermarket wise has to be M&S who actually have a good range of own branded beers made at a range of different breweris.

Independent Retailer of the Year

This is a tricky one, having frequented a few establishments this year. Discovery of the year has to be The Vineyard, Belfast who have perhaps the best selection of bottled beers in Northern Ireland. Another off-licence I love and deserves a mention as it hasn't much in the way of online presence is Bitter Virtue, Southampton, well worth a visit if you're in that neck of the woods (bring reinforced bags...)

Online Retailer of the Year

Another toughie this, though for me it has to be Ales by Mail because both Paul and Karen are very friendly and I had beers reserevd for me for two months beforeI got around to paying for them!

Best Beer Book or Magazine

Another toughie as I only started buying beer books this year. Its got to be Pete Brown's Trilogy as they're what turned me on to beer blogging in the first place. Very much looking forward to the fourth (and fifth!). I got some other beery books for Christmas though; so they could take top spot next year!

Best Beer Blog or Website

1.Boak and Bailey

2. Mark Dredge-Pencil and Spoon

3. Martyn Cornell- Zythophile

Best Beer Twitterer

Has to be Dave @broadfordbrewer for his friendliness and retweeting skills. Honourable mention to Mike Crowbourne @okellsales as he has a knack of finding interesting beery news articles. But there's a whole host of friendly tweeps out there I could have mentioned!

Best Online Brewery presence

There's a big number of brewers embracing social media, but for me it has to be Hardknott who have the whole team, including mischievous Sooty tweeting and are quick to answer anything you may ask of them. They're friendly peolel too, having met them on #Twissup.

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year

Something I need to do more of in 2012 but my best cheese and beer pairing was the Bristol Beer Factory Hefe and Ragstone Goats cheese at Cheese School because it was so unexpectedly delicious.

In 2012 I’d Most Like To…

See my "New Beers Resolutions" post on Sunday!

Open Category: You Choose: Top 3 ones to Watch in 2012

In addition to the above there are some breweries that continue to innovate and impress.

1.Thornbridge through changes in brewer line up beer innovation and quality remains consistent, expect more from this great brewery next year.

2.BrewDog with funds successfully raised for their new brewery and plans to keep the old kit as a trial plant expect even more weird and wonderful ideas along with outre marketing tactics from these boys in 2012. Looking forward to seeing the other bars emerging too.

3. Ards only recently started out but I very much enjoyed their stout and look forward to what else may be forthcoming

Collabeeration

Something that I very much like within the beer world is how brewers share ideas, expertise and even ingredients amongst one another like one big family. Rather than trying to out-compete each other, many brewers are happy to help each other improve.

Sometimes the help is more basic, but nonetheless valuable like the sharing of yeast (Dark Star gave Saioson yeast to Bristol Beer Factory) or expertise, often done through Twitter, when homebrew enthusiasts can chip in too. In fact there have been home brew beers brewed in breweries, not to mention home brewers starting up full-scale.

One area that is becoming more popular is collaboration brewing. Over the last few years there have been a slew of beer writer brewery collaborations (Otley Thai-Bo, hedgerO and O'Roger; Brewdog Avery Brown Dredge to name but a few) and also brewery-brewery collaborations (not necessarily limited to just two!) with recent efforts from  Magic Rock+Dark Star & Brewdog+Lost Abbey springing to mind, not to mention the Wetherspoon organised trans-Atlantic collaborations for their beer festivals. 

I'm going to review a few of these here.

Looks and tastes good.

Bristol Beer Factory/ Arbor Ales/ Zero Degrees -Collaboration Tripel (6.8%)

This one has been sat in my parents garage for 6 months since I picked it up at Westcountry Ales before heading to Glastonbury Festival earlier this year. A very clear amber-brown with bubbly white head and gentle carbonation. Plenty of yeasty esters on the nose with noticable pineapple, but also some melon. In the mouth its a typical triple, without the cloying sweetness sometimes found in the style, there's a balance bitterness from the addition of new world hops, though their flavour has long since faded. A lovely beer, which I suspect would have been even tastier fresh.

A "quick one" in Sheffield Tap
Burton Ale in the middle

Thornbridge/ Kernel Burton Ale (7.2%)
There's a slew of these historical recreations coming up, with Fulelrs making their Past Masters and Kernel themselves brewing old London Recipes and this can only be a positive thing. This is a historic style of ale recreated from historical research. I was lucky enough to find it available in the Sheffield Tap. Ruby amber with thin white head. Ripe cranberries and washed rind cheese aroma. Initially sweet and Fruity with dry bitterness and long dried fruit finish. Would love to try this with a washed rind hceese such as Aardharan or Stinking Bishop.

Black Tokyo Horizon

Brewdog/ Mikkeller/ NogneO - Black Tokyo Horizon (17.2%)
I was prompted to open this for stout day, but never actually reviewed it. Have tried Mikkeller Black and loved it, wasn’t so keen on Brewdog Tokyo* but need to get hold of Horizon! Pours viscous and dark brown with an instantaneous cola coloured head that soon disappears. Slightly acetic rich chocolate and alcoholic nose. Initial burst of milk chocolate and shortbread. Very sweet and rich in flavour. Hint of alcohol and long finish. Probably the most expensive beer I've ever bought, but definitely worth it.

At 17.2% ABV I'd recommend sharing though!

Brewdog/ Three Floyds - Bitch Please (11.5%)
A lighter beer than I’d anticipated, chestnut brown with cream coloured head and a light level of carbonation. Fantastically complex nose, I can detect toffee, hops and smoked malt with some oak wood character. Smoky/peaty flavour certainly to the fore on the first taste with noticeable alcohol presence and a fruity sweetness that reminds me of toffos. Finishes with unmistakable sugar butteriness of shortcake an alcoholic warmth and the ghost of the wood. A good solid beer.

Brewdog/ Mikkeller- Divine Rebel (2010)(13.8%)
Ruby brown beer with fruitcake aroma, fairly sweet with plenty of noticable booze in aroma and in body. A sticky texture with robust malt and alcohol burn, though otherwise a bit disappointing. Very little hop character, the whisky takes the fore here. Much prefer Fulelrs Brewer's Reserve.

Actually much redder

The Kernel/ Redemption/ Dark Star/ Zero Degrees/ Brodies/ Brew Wharf- Big Brick Red Rye (8.9%)

The Kernel look set to challenge Brewdog for their collaboration supremacy, and with their prolific brew releases it may not be long for this 2011 BGBW Brewer of the Year. Pouring a hazy amber-red with fluffy cream head the noticable aroma is pine resin. Tasting fairly pithy up front the flavour becomes resinous and quite boozy but with a very smooth body and fruit flavours with a long bitter finish.


2011 has indeed been an excellent year for beer and long may it continue. I'd like to see more collaborations like this in 2012 because everybody benefits!

Addendum: Got a chance to try the Magic Rock/ Dark Star at the York Tap and it is a lovely beer.

Stale Superlatives

Everyone hates to see bland and non-descriptive beer descriptions such as "hoppy" or "malty" (see Mark's post here for a great analysis) but there is sometimes a danger it can go the other way. Superlative descriptors and elaborate adjectives seem to do the rounds, I don't blame people for using them...maybe they've seen it used somewhere else and decide to shoe horn it into their descriptions or perhaps tehy've always used them but only recently become noticable. Here are my top 10 to avoid:

1. Unctuous: used in reviews to describe something moreish and silky, a better description would be to go for texture.

2. Hop Sack (dusty or otherwise): used by Zak Avery in his 500 beers book, how many regular beer drinkers know what a hop sack smells like? Is it just a slightly musty fresh hop smell, or  amixture of hops and hessian? Or do they use plastic sacks these days?

3. Funky (to describe a Brett fermented beer): funky means a bad smell, perhaps some people find the aroma unpleasant but surely if the descriptions of horse-blanket and mouth-puckering sour weren't enough to put people off then this would? Or is it a conspiracy to keep lambics for beer-geeks?

4. "In my top # beers" be honest, you don't have a fixed x number of beers that are your favourite, let the review speak for itself and leave the summing up for the end of the year

5. ...

I failed in my task to find a top ten, perhaps there aren't as many words as I'd thought, or maybe I haven't been remembering well enough! I open up the floor to other contributions and please leave the clichés and flowery language to the world of wine!


Of course it would be remiss of me to not include a disclaimer, as I'm sure I may have been (or possibly will be) guilty of using any and all of these at some point. Blame the beer.