Festive cheer

A number of breweries release Christmas specials at this time of year. At worse they are rebadged versions of regular brews,* at best they are an entirely different beer or regular seasonal with a good Christmas kick. In between this are the regular beers that have been adapted to some extent, as with Brewdog' Christmas porter (see Reuben's blog for a review). But this post isn't about that. This post is about making your own Christmas cheer in beer form. This post is about mulled beer!

I got a home brew kit for my Birthday...Woodforde's Wherry. Its a nice enough beer but I'm certainly not able to get through 40pints by myself! I've decided to mull up a few litres of it. I've previously mulled cider and perry; so this is just a continuation on that theme. You need a fairly malty beer, hoppy and bitter beers become a bit unpleasant once heated up.

Per 1.5 litres

2xcinamon sticks

4 x black peppercorns

4xcloves

2xstar anise**

sliced root ginger (optional)
blade mace (optional)

sugar (to taste)

Pop it all into a pan (with a lid on or your booze will evaporate!) and bring to just below boiling. Keep simmering for a few minutes then switch off heat and allow to steep (usually the longer the better). Taste it to see if its spicy enough and adjust as necessary. You can add fruit to it if that's your bag. I prefer mine with a tot of whisky (blended stuff mind you, single malts is sacrilidge!)

Serve to the assembled throngs on its own or with nibbly bits and bask in the shared joy.

*See the Wetherspoon Christmas guest list...
** I had run out of star anise so used a pinch of fennel seed.

Black Isle Small Batch

I recently ordered a pick n' mix case from Black Isle Brewery in North-East Scotland. I drank a few of their beers at the weekend (review here). In addition to their core range they release special "one-off" brews, three of which I managed to get hold of.

Export Scotch Small batch is a souped up version of their regular export scotch (reviewed at the weekend) Its pretty challenging but enjoyable all the more for it. Dark brown.Dry and spicy, hint of rum, hedgerow fruits, treacle, liquorice. At first quite dry and fruity, wood, sultanas, tobacco, leather, smoke, molasses and kola in the long finish. That 7.9% ABV is very well hidden so beware! Quite sticky but also prickly carbonation. Would happily drink this again.

Red Hot Chili Bock was brewed by Tim Anderson (2010 Masterchef winner, yes he gets around a lot!) for a food and beer pairing dinner.Fluffy tan head on a ruby tinged black beer. Sweet aroma with golden syrup, a bit of smoke and black pepper. Sweet malt followed by an oily chilli with milk chocolate, a hint of coffee and mustard with an escalating chili warmth in the finish. A bit overcarbonated and thin in body, surprising for a 7%-er. I reckon that this could be tweaked to make a great beer.

Black Isle Black Islay is the brewery's stout aged in Bruichladdah casks. Bruichladdah being the dram that made me realise I enjoy Islay whiskys after all I've been pretty keen to try this one. Coming in at a whopping 8.3% and in a  750ml bottle this is definitely one for sharing! Except I neglected to listen to my own advice and have polished off the best part of a bottle in short shrift as its so enjoyable! Dark ruby brown bordering on black with big fluffy cola head and iodine/seaweed/briney/fruity aroma. Very smooth, vanilla, moderate carbonation, smoke. Long complex finish, a bit more vanilla, dried fruit, that seaweed. If you get your hands on any Black Isle beer I'd recommend this one. Its made me want to try the base stout too!

I also had one final "core range" bottle (it didn't fit into my rainbow) Heather Honey beer. Pale honey amber coloured with brief fluffy white head. Slightly dusty sweet honey and butterscotch nose. Light palate with gentle floral notes, vanilla and a sweet shortcake finish. Like a kolsch/helles in some ways, refreshing and probably a match for chicken or white fish.