Looking back on 2012, looking forward to 2013

A bit late, I know but I've been out of the country. Last year I made some "resolutions" as to which direction my beery escapades would develop. Time to see how I got on and perhaps set some for this year.

• Get to a CAMRGB event Completely failed on this one I'm afraid, though I did meet up with some CAMRGB members in Birmingham.

• Potentially work GBBF during the craziness that will be the Olympics Another failure due to deciding to get married at the end of the year and having no other holidays left.

• Spend more time drinking in pubs than at home Not really achieved, though the balance has shifted.

• Meet more bloggers around the country and attend Beer bloggers conference This was achieved and a great weekend, am hoping to attend in Edinburgh this year.

• Do some more home brew with a view to full mash later in year didn't happen though I've come up with a name and bought half the gear.

•  Get back to the gym to shed the beer pounds* accrued in 2011 abject failure

So for this year? More of the same. Continue to try drinking new beers and see more of this island I find myself living on, finally get some brewing done, get my cheese and beer book finished and spend more time drinking good beers with good friends than sat at home.

And to prevent this post being entirely about me, here are some great blog posts that were published in my absence (its taken me the best part of a week to get caught up, some people are just too prolific...I'm looking at you Alan).

Rich brings us another humorous look at what he expects from 2013, along with a great list of the ones to watch for the next year.

Adrian gives a wonderful description of how memories of pubs visited can be triggered and transport you straight back there and Leigh looks at that special moment when you find a beer good enough to have another. 

The Beer Nut has been out supping in London (seems I missed him as I was there at the same time) and Des's updates show how far the London beer scene has improved in the few short years since his book was published.

You've probably seen it already, but if not take a look at Martyn's 20 most influential beers list. How many have you tried?

And alongside posting plenty of interesting snippets on the microbrewery scenes of the 70s and 80s Boak and Bailey also take a look at why "silly" beers may be a necessary part of a balanced beer scene.

Normal service will resume with some New Zealand based beer bits once I've had a chance to compose my thoughts.

2012: Beery Roundup

Its golden pints time of year again and as I'm away on honeymoon at the end of the year; I'd better get this typed up now (10th December). As with last year I'll use my rate beer notes plus stuff on this blog to jog my memory, but its not scientific in any way, just things that have made an impression on me.

Best UK Cask Beer

Bristol Beer Factory/ Dark Star Southern Cospiracy


Best UK Keg Beer
Wild Beer Co Epic Saison

Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer

Buxton Imperial Black

bristol beer factory mocha

Best Overseas Draught Beer

Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer

Stone Sublimey Self Righteous

New Glarus Raspberry Tart

Best Overall Beer

Buxton Imperial Black

  

Best Pumpclip or Label

Brewdog International Arms Race

Best UK Brewery

Buxton

Best Overseas Brewery

Stone

Pub/Bar of the Year

York Tap (again!)

Beer Festival of the Year

dublin craft beer fest

Supermarket of the Year

N/A

Independent Retailer of the Year

House of Trembling Madness

Online Retailer of the Year

Drinkstore 

Best Beer Book or Magazine

Shakespeare's Local 

Best Beer Blog or Website

Boak & Bailey

Best Beer Twitterer

Phil Hardy @Filrd

Best Online Brewery Presence

  Magic Rock

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year 

 Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze and Ceviche

In 2012 I’d most like to...

Get back to Belgium


Cheese and beer Pairing of the Year
Marble Saison Special and Stinking Bishop

#12Stouts: Year number the second

Its December again; so that means its time for Bristol Beer Factory's 12 Stouts of Christmas. I really enjoyed last year's efforts; so had to pick them up again. There's 8 new ones this year, including a recipe change on the year-rounder Bristol Stout. I've reviewed the newbies below:

Bristol Stout has been revamped this year and gained 1% ABV in the process. Dark brown with fine bubbles and light tan head. Fruity dark beer with smooth body and lightly smoky blackcurrant. Slight roast barley and coffee in finish. More caramel notes as it warms. Quaffable enough but much better in the modified forms.

Port Stout is a variant of Bristol Stout with an ABV of 5.5% Dark black with fluffy white tan head. Minimal nose on opening, touch of toffee perhaps. Medium carbonation, some warming sugars and higher alcohols. Touch of astringent plum skin and bitter coffee grounds in finish. 

Another variation on the Bristol Stout is smoked chili chipotle Dark brown with pink tinged brown head with red flecks, could that be remaining chili? Rich chocolate enrobed black cherry, smoke, sweet tomato. Initial tongue tingling gives way to milk chocolate followed by a fruity chili hit which warms the tongue and throat on the swallow and a dry ashen roast barley finish with a fiery tingle. This could cope with a higher ABV and would be a great food beer. 

Blackcurrants and Licorice is also a Bristol Stout variation. Grey-brown with fluffy pale tan and subtle earthy spicy blackcurrants and dusty yeast. Medium carbonation, tart blackcurrant, a touch of spearmint perhaps. A spike of anise like licorice before the dry roast barley kicks in for the long finish. It’s subtle but flavourful.

Creme Brulee is an Imperial version of milk stout brewed in collaboration with Melissa Cole (she gets around a bit!) aged in rum casks for two months. Spicy rummy (think rum & rasin) nose on this ruby tinged dark mahogany beer. Lively crema head which soon collapses. Smooth body, gentle carbonation, sweet notes, big burny boozy up front becoming a burnt toast, molasses and tart red fruit melee. Long milky custard finish.

The bourbon cask Imperial Stout (10.5%) is dark tar brown with fluffy tan head that soon collapses. Rich vanilla and coconut nose with an underlying hint of marmite. Gentle carbonation with cola first then tonnes of woody vanilla with some meaty yeast and soft cream cheese notes. Long sticky warming finish.That alcohol is pretty well hidden.

And finally Speyside whisky @10.5% has some peatsmoke and iodine plus plenty of whisky booze. Dark brown with cola head that soon disappears to nothing. That peaty malt is unexpected for a speyside whisky, perhaps an Ardmore. Fair amount if residual malt sweetness and long dry earthy finish. 

Pick of the bunch for me though was the mocha. At only 4.5% (base beer milk stout) its gloriously drinkable and one of the best coffee beers I've had the pleasure of drinking and I've had a lot. Dark brown with fluffy tan head. The coffee is the star here singing out from the aroma as roast beans, red berries and rich barley notes. First flavours out are the sweet lactose milk notes followed by dark chocolate and a long roast coffee finish. With caramel, red berry and vanilla finish. A fantastic improvement on last year's latte.

So are they worth buying? In my opinion they are, I'd happily drink a case of the mocha alone. There may still be some available but I expect you'll struggle to get them delivered in time for christmas. Get them here!

Follow Bristol Beer Factory on Twitter @BrisBeerFactory and Head Brewer Chris Kay @BeerFactoryCK9.

Revelation Cat

Its very unusual that I get a message out of nowhere offering me beer for free. Its even less frequent (read: this is the first time) that the brewer hasn't specifically asked for publicity/ a review in return rather just my opinion shared with him in whatever manner I saw fit. I actually really enjoyed the beers (not a function of them being free); so have decided to let readers of this blog know about them so that they can get hold of them for themselves.

    

Revelation Cat started off as a gypsy brewer along the lines of Mikkeller, though primarily based in Italy. Brewer Alex is also the driving force behind Rome's Brasserie 4:20 one of the premier beer venues in that country. Recently they have been brewing batches of beer in Kent with Eddy Gadd, which has proved successful enough for Alex to invest in brew kit of his own next door. He's sharing the mash tun and kettle but everything post boil including fermentation is done on Revelation Cat's premises. In effect that means we have another new brewer in the UK!

I had a pleasant surprise when the beer arrived, not only were there 7 different beers to try I had received multiple bottles of each! I made my usual review notes on rate beer and from the scores that emerged decided that it was well worth telling you about the beers.

Take My AdWeisse is a US-hopped wheat ale with a gentle satsuma pith nose and part of the "session series". At 4.5% its at the higher end of the scale, but I could certainly happily sink a few pints of this. It becomes more resinous as it warms but retains the thick creamy mouth-feel and wheat spiciness throughout. I found myself craving some weisses banana and clove esters though and would perhaps still opt for a traditional weisse or hoppy pale ale over this. I can certainly see a lot of space in the market for this though.

I wasn't quite so taken with the dry hop Thriller. A hazy pale amber ale with apricot and lemon on the nose. The carbonation and mouthfeel are about right to make this sessionable, but the balance is skewed too much towards the hops leaving a bit too much pithy bitterness and a chalky finish to be truly enjoyable. 

Green-hopped F.R.E.S.H is all about the aroma which is at once soporific and enlivening. Rich resinous hops with underlying ginger, toffee and bergamot. In the mouth its pretty sweet, sticky marmalade and carrot juice but its a pleasing beer, all the more so because its made using indigenous UK and European varieties. Proof that the flavour is already there if the hops are used in the right quantities.

HopAddendum is a proper pale West-Coast IPA in the vein of Stone and Brewdog. Certainly no caramalt here! Complex and intriguing nose of red apple, kiwi and strawberries. The apples arrive first to the tongue, followed by satsuma, resin, pith, bitter hops, long fruity finish. Despite its 6% ABV I'd certainly be happy to stick with this one beer all night and certainly prefer it to Punk IPA (previously a firm favourite).

Following right in behind is California Moonset, a double IPA at 7% ABV. This one pours hazy dark amber with fluffy white head. Pithy citrus with smoother grape flavours beneath. Centennial and Nelson Sauvin perhaps? The bitterness is up front followed by jammy blackcurrant and tangerine. Long dry moreish finish. No tacky crystal here either, another sessionable big hitter. Zak would probably describe it as ruinously drinkable.

The penultimate beer is into silly territory at 13%. I don't know where all that alcohol was hiding though tasting closer to 9%. Hop Animal is a "double double IPA" (think Brewdog Anarchist/ Alchemist for comparison). It reminds me of an US-style barley wine like Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. The malt is fairly robust but the heavy hitting hops are lurking in behind ready to assault your palate. Dark ruby with white lacing with fruity malt loaf and brandy nose with supporting Seville marmalade. Concentrated citrus fruit, tongue tingling mouth watering pithiness with robust toffee underscore. Long citrus refrain. Masterful.

And now for something completely different. Black Knight is very sparse in details from the label, but I can tell from the 14% ABV its going to be a monster. Turns out its an imperial stout, and not barrel aged which means all of that alcohol got there by fermentation. Its pretty heavy going and warming, 500ml is perhaps too big a bottle but I had people to share it with. Dark chocolate, booze soaked raisins, tobacco and molasses on the nose. Pours viscous black with sizeable cola head that becomes a lacing. Starts off sweet and finishes very dry with some woody tannins, coal smoke, a touch of caramel. A complex and evolving beast.It could perhaps afford to be a few percentage points lower in the alcohol stakes, and this would put it on an equal footing with such UK masters as Magic Rock Bearded Lady and Kernel Imperial Brown Stout.

From this showcase I'm certainly excited to find out what else Alex has up his sleeves (UK Brasserie 4:20 anyone?!) and certainly hope to come across some of these in the pub. According to Alex they've had to expand capacity already; so they should certainly be appearing in UK outlets any time now!

Twitter: @RevelationCat

Drinking in Winchester

A place I always enjoyed visiting whilst at University was Winchester, so I jumped at the chance to go and check up on the state of the pubs recently. My partner-in-crime on this occasion was my landlord from my final year , Mark.

As is becoming customary breakfast was partaken in at the Old Gaolhouse. One of the better JD wetherspoon branches in Hampshire I was very happy to find Adnams-brewed Feral IPA still available after the recent beer festival. Breakfast was good despite the wait (IT failure apparently...)

We then proceded to drink our way around the Good Beer Guide hostelries plus a few extras.

      

The Old Vine was a very food-oriented pub but I enjoyed a half of Bowman Swift One. Onwards to the Eclipse, which looks great with its Tudor frontage but always a little unadventurous with the beer choice. A half of Andwells King John had to suffice.

The Wykeham Arms is a fantastic ex-Gales (now Fullers) pub replete with school desks, open fires (roaring) and a Thomas Crapper original installed in the conveniences. Here I enjoyed a roasty porter from the nearby Cheriton. Slight molasses and burnt toast nose, quite a light body with licorice and coffee. Criminally its not been included in the GBG this year but its packed as always.
 

After that it was time to replenish the food reserves; so we opted for a hog roast bap from the nearby continental market. This gave us enough energy to complete the stroll along the river to the Black Boy. Its a characterful pub with all manner of taxidermy, bric-a-brac and breweriana including a working AGA. On this occasion the beer was a littler lacklustre and the refusal to tell us who brews "black boy pilsener" left a sour taste in the mouth.

Another favourite next, the Hyde Tavern. Beer on hand pump and on gravity. It always seems overly quiet when I visit, which explains the price premium. Well worth a trip and good to dry out by the roaring fire. 

The Albion is on the up again, offering Dark Star Revelation on cask and an excellent selection of bottled beers from around the world (including Old Chimney Good King Henry and some of the pricier Mikkellers). We decided to press on to the final two GBG entries however.

The Fulflood Arms is a green-tile exterior back street local, formerly owned by the Winchester Brewery.
Its come full circle and now has a brewery on the premises. The house bitter wasn't anything to write home about nor was it horrible, just okay. Another pub suffering tired beer syndrome.

We finished off in the St James Tavern, a Wadworths house at the top of a steep hill, where I settled for a half of Horizon.
Again a bit foody but any pub that has Neil Gaiman comics as artwork in the toilet is fine by me.


It was then home to Southampton for some real beer in the Guide Dog.

Red in the face

Breweries both north and south of the border here seem to have a core range which consists of three styles, a blonde (read: lager), a (dry) stout and that ubiquitous Irish style: a red ale. I've never really been that taken by them, often being a little too caramel malty and not much else, all very samey.

I decided to put that to the test by doing a comparative tasting of some of the better Irish brewers

Four Shades of Red

Carlow O'Hara's Irish Red (4.3%)
dark auburn with watermelon and green apple.
Acetaldehyde, medium bodied, solvent, caramalt and green apple.
Not nice - tipped it away.

Porterhouse Red (4.4%)

light chestnut with slight white head formation.
Sweet caramel and herbal nose.
Astringent, sweet, thin, medium carbonation, papery.

Dungarvan Copper Coast (4.3%)

Medium bodied, chocolate, caramel, touch of astringency,
cocoa and toffee in finish.

8 Degrees Sunburnt Irish Red (5%)
Spicey cardamom and caramel. Garnet red with minimal lacing.
Very low carbonation, sweet, caramalt.
Promising start but dull finish.

Clanconnel McGraths Irish Red (4.3%)
Alcoholic musty, dried fruits on the nose. Fairly dry with light carbonation, candy sugar, shortcake, custard with astringent yet sweet finish.

As you can see from my tasting notes, they're all pretty dull with some being downright nasty. Why do they persist with something so dull. To all Irish brewers please stop using so much caramalt and be more inventive with your hopping instead. Thanks!

Book Review: The London Cheese & Wine Guide

I saw a review of this book elsewhere on the internet and thought it would fit this blog well and requested a review copy.(yes I know this is primarily a beer blog, but as its my blog I choose what goes).   I was kindly obliged and it arrived today. If I didn't like it then I would say so! As I mentioned to the writers, I probably would have ended up buying one anyway, but this way its more timely given that its just been released in time for the Christmas market I have no doubt.

Its a stylish looking volume, paperback with glossy card cover and full colour throughout. Handily arranged into sections by business type, with cheese given the respect it deserves and coming first*. We're taken through the top specialist shops, delicatessens and even more impressively the cheese stalls at borough market. There's a top 5 given for each section to aid you in your cheesy quest should the choice become overwhelming. I particularly like the full market guide, showing all the London markets and which cheese vendors attend each and when, very useful! This would come in handy for an out of town tourist like myself in deciding which particular market would be best to visit.

I also learnt that I'm a turophile. No that doesn't mean I have an affinity with a certain Cornish town but it means I'm a lover of cheese. Stay tuned for a post on the symptomns of turophilia...

On the wine side of things we're given a selection of wine merchants and wine bars. There's also a selection on retailers which provide both cheese and wine (for all your one-stop cheese and wine party organising needs) and restaurants that have particularly impressive wine lists and cheese boards. Stuffed full of information alongside the essentials such as nearest tube station and contact details we get the owners names and typical pricing, by glass of wine or type of cheese (with brie de meaux, cheddar, parmigano-reggiano and stilton taken as benchmarks).

As is always the case I find there's a pile of cheeses I've not even heard of, let alone tasted but now I know where to find them and roughly what I'll be paying for the privilege too! I found myself adding venues to visit to Google maps as I was flicking through, a sure sign the guide is doing its job. I think a handy addition would have been a basic map of London showing the approximate location of each venue; so those short of time or staying in a particular area can see what's nearby. 

Some useful symbols to find the information you need.

Although the bulk of the book is taken up by the aforementioned listings there are also guides on buying, storing and tasting cheeses and wines and a handy wine styles aroma chart (which if you're a complete wine newbie like myself comes in handy for working out what I might like). There are also a few recipes from featured establishments (with the Deli Downstairs' Pork, Thyme and Tallegio pizza sounding particularly tasty)  and a cheese and wine pairings table with some suggested matches. I'm a little disappointed to find that beer and cider have only been suggested as matches for manchego and cheddar, especially given their favourite pairings include London Porter with Gruyère and cider with a blue cheese! I suppose I should be grateful they even get a mention in what is essentially a monobooze book.

Overall I can happily recommend the book for those looking to seek out some cheesy and wine delights in London's capital, there's certainly enough of them!

The London Cheese & Wine Guide  by Lucy Gregory and Jeffrey Young is available direct from the publishers, Allegra for £11.95+P&P, or as usual on Amazon for a little less. The website also has some good supporting information and offers a subscription service of £5 pa to access the book listings, additional updates and recipes. Follow them on twitter @LCandWG.

Big thanks to Hana Gajdosova for the review copy and the Allegra team for writing such a useful guide.

*I suspect this has more to do with the order in the title, but I'll pretend to please myself.