Staveley Beer

The day started well - a perfectly fried slab of square steak sausage served with a soft disc of hot black pudding presented in a beautifully crisp roll -  and went uphill after that. The 'roll of honour' from Glasgow's finest purveyor of fried breakfast food would stand me in good stead for the journey that was to follow.

It was a simple journey that I’d done many times before but one that always elicited a special form of anticipatory excitement, knowing that a good beer day lay, almost certainly, ahead.


My point of departure was Glasgow Central Station. My destination was Staveley in Cumbria. For a village of just over 1200 inhabitants, Staveley is supremely well served for beer. A historic village pub and the brewery tap of one of the UK’s most consistent and praiseworthy breweries means that it attracts many beer tourists drawn to the opportunity for a short alcoholiday.

With over an hour to kill between connecting trains at Oxenholme, we were faced with a choice: hang around a train platform and endure an icy wind that could cut steel in two or hop on a bus to Kendall and seek warmth, comfort and a pint in a pub close to the station. It was an easy choice.

The Castle Inn, Kendall

Arriving in Kendall with twenty five minutes to spare before our train to Staveley, we found The Castle Inn. It was busy, given that it had just gone midday, and seemed to be doing a brisk lunchtime trade in pub grub as we settled down with our pints. Four ales were available (Spitfire, Loweswater Gold, Doom Bar and Hawkshead Bitter) and all poured via a sparkler. Well, we’re in the North. What else did you expect?

Perfect Lacing

I opted for the Hawkshead Bitter. It’s an often overlooked and undervalued beer from Hawkshead’s core range. I’m a big fan of it. It is a classic, traditional English Bitter, except for the use of Styrian  over East Kent Goldings, that has a crisp pepper hop spiciness beautifully balanced by a sweet malt backbone and gentle lingering bitterness. It’s a delightful beer, up there with the likes of Bathams Best Bitter and Acorn’s Barnsley Bitter.

Staveley

The dry stone walls and slate roofs signify our arrival into Staveley. It’s a picturesque, pretty little village that sits in a valley overlooked by the rolling Reston Scar, Piked Howe and Lily Fell hills that are sprinkled along their gentle inclines with the white dots of the hardy Swaledale and Herdwick sheep varieties so common to this part of Cumbria.

A short amble from the station finds us at The Eagle and Child. It’s the historic village inn of Staveley, dating back to the 18^th Century with a George Birkett being the first recorded licensee in 1742. The pub’s name comes from the legend of how a local Aristocrat and dastardly fellow, Sir Thomas Lathom, impregnated a village girl and convinced his wife that the infant she ‘stumbled upon’, whilst out walking, had been dropped there by an eagle and was therefore a gift from heaven and should be adopted by them immediately. What a Cad!

The Eagle and Child

Aristocratic infidelities and male mendacity aside, The Eagle and Child is warm, welcoming and a nice place to have a pint. Two real log fires provide the warmth and the locals provide the welcome with a friendly greeting when we walk through the doors.

Despite bustling with diners enjoying the locally sourced menu, we found a table and took in our surroundings. The walls were busy, some would say cluttered, with various pieces of beer ephemera, enamel advertising signs, horse brasses and even a random, gnarling three foot wooden shark. At this rate, they’re going to need a bigger pub.

Like the food menu, the beers available were, mostly, locally sourced with Barngates, Coniston and Corby being available from the five hand pumps. The Barngates Pale was a perfectly serviceable, decent enough Golden Ale with a big fresh hop nose and mouthblast. If it wasn’t dry hopped, it certainly tasted like it. The malt was lost among the hoppiness and, if I’m being picky, the beer was a touch on the thin side. Just a touch, though. Overall, a very enjoyable session beer.
On the subject of very enjoyable session beers, my mind wandered to thoughts of my first beer at Hawkshead’s Beer Hall, our next stop and main event on our Staveley sojourn. It was time for some Windermere Pale and the best place to try it was its Brewery Tap.

Leaving the Eagle and Child, we pass Staveley’s other pub, The Duke William. Like Sir Thomas Lathom’s male offspring, it is often regarded as the bastard child that is best kept in the Staveley beer attic. No one tends to talk about it, or even acknowledge its existence. It’s not that it’s a bad pub. It is not. I stuck my head walking by to discover that it had a couple of solid Lancaster beers on. It’s just that it sits between two of the best beer drinking establishments in the Lakes and often gets overlooked.

The Mill Yard at Staveley has been in existence since the early 19^th Century, firstly used in cotton production during the Industrial Revolution and latterly in the production of wooden bobbins servicing the textile industry. Today, it is home to a myriad of different small businesses including bakers, wine merchants, jewellers and various handicrafts.

Beer Sentries

At the back of the Mill Yard, overlooking the entire yard, sits the spectacular glass frontage of the Hawkshead Brewery and Beer Hall. It’s an impressive sight. Just inside the brewery is the even more impressive sight of two 8 metre high stainless steel fermenting tanks, standing upright, guarding the brews like proud beer sentries.

Greeting us inside the Beer Hall were 16 cask lines and 7 keg lines dispensing Hawkshead’s greatest hits; NZPA, Cumbrian 5 Hop, Windermere Pale, Dry Stone Stout, Brodie’s Prime and the magnificent Lakeland Lager.

Starting with Windermere Pale, a beer I’m very familiar with. It should be called WonderMore Pale because every time I have a pint, I wonder more and more how Head Brewer, Matt Clarke and his brewery team manage to squeeze so much intense flavour into a 3.5% beer that drinks much bigger than its humble ABV.

Windy City

Citra hops that assault your taste buds and gives you a hop kicking that leaves you reeling and wondering if you’ve just been subject to either ABH (Amazing Beer Heaven) or GBH (Glorious Beer Heaven). Either way, I wasn’t complaining.


Between the various pints of Windermere Pale and the Beer Tapas, we managed to catch a taste of The Illusionist. A collaboration involving Hawkshead and Magic Rock. It’s a 3.5% dark coloured beer that wants to call itself a Black Pale Ale (BPA) but daren’t in case the Beer Style Police hear about it and, in a dawn raid, drag it kicking and screaming to the beer gibbet. I really liked it. It had a strong nose of grapefruit, lemon and pine which follows into the initial taste. Some roast and dried fruit that briefly holds its own before dissipating to reveal a long dry and bitter hop finish. Alas, I had to savour it as it was the last cask at the brewery and when it’s gone, it’ll be gone. Now you see it, now you don't.

Beer Tapas and The Illusionist

Head Brewer, Matt Clarke and his team had just finished their shift and joined us for a couple of beers and in between discussions of hop harvests and the consistency of new start up breweries, he revealed that he is working on NZPA’s little brother, Iti. It’ll be a 3.5% Pale using hops from his New Zealand homeland. Iti is the Maori word for small and he hopes to be showcasing this beer at the Summer Beer Festival at the Hawkshead Brewery in July.

Thoughts turn to home and just before making our way to the station, I pick up a couple of bottles of Windermere Pale. 
It’ll remind me of a day spent drinking good beer in the company of good people.
Beer people.

Golden Pints Awards 2013

It's that time of the year again when we spend some time looking back and reflecting on a year in beer. Like many have already commented, it has been an excellent year for British breweries and British beers and each year choosing a definitive beer or brewery for each category gets just that little bit harder. However, I'd rather be spoiled for choice and face the difficult decision of what to leave out as that, to me, is a happy barometer reading of just how good the British beer and brewing scene has been in 2013.

With some categories, it has been nigh on impossible to select just one beer or brewery and I've allowed myself some indulgence in listing more than one. I'm sure that you'll allow me a little bit of latitude in doing so.

Best UK Cask

I'm a simple city boy with simple city tastes and, in 2013, I've been a creature of simple habits. A beer hunter on a lupulin safari with one kind of prey firmly in my sights;  hoppy citrussy beers. The kind of beer that tickles your tastebuds, pleases your palate and sends you in the immediate direction of the bar wanting more of the same. Boomerang beers that make you want to return to them time after time after time. I've bagged a few beer beasts this year but none have given me more satisfaction than the following trio of terrific tinctures.

1. Oakham Citra
2. Marble Pint (the new recipe has added an extra hop dimension and is bang on the money)
3. Hawkshead Windermere Pale


Best UK Keg

1. Kernel Biere de Table
2. Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack


Best UK Bottled/Can Beer

In 2013, my bottled pleasures were usually German and more often than not Franconian bottled beers. But, I did seek the company of a few good British bottled beers throughout the year and these three were the most memorable.

1. Marks and Spencer's Greenwich Hospital Porter. Brewed by Meantime to a recipe dating back to 1790. Barrel aged in Islay whisky casks, it was an absolute delight.
1. Camden Hells. Described by Pete Brown as the world's best lager. I wouldn't go that far but, out of a cold tactile can, it is a satisfying beer. Clean and crisp malt giving way to a hop dryness and a deep dimension of flavour from a beer that has been properly lagered.
1. Marks and Spencer's Single Variety Hop Citra IPA. Made by Oakham for M and S. It's been tweaked a wee bit from Oakham's own recipe for their Citra beer and it is a cracking beer full of tropical fruit and citrus.


Best Collaboration Beer



Summer 2013 was the season of Sours and Saisons and one beer, for me, captured the endless hot July and August hazy, lazy days superbly. Indeed, I would go as far to say that this collaboration brew was the perfect beer for a perfect summer. It was the zeitgeist beer of the summer.  Well done to Greg and Andy for creating such a stunning beer.

Elusive Brewing/Weird Beard Brewing - Nelson Saison

Best Overseas Draught Beer

In 2013, I spent more time in Bamberg brewery taps than I did in some of my local Glasgow pubs. I was fortunate enough to experience Annafest in the Kellerwald at Forchheim and to be present when Mahr's Brau tapped their Bock in October. So it is no surprise that my favourite overseas draught beers of 2013 are all Franconian.

1. Mahrs Bräu Kellerbier Ungespundet Hefetrüb -  Floral hops and smooth malt. It never disappoints.
2. Greifenklau Kellerbier - Drink it as nature intended; from a Seidla in the Greifenklau Biergarten.
3. Zehendner Brauerei Ungespundet Lagerbier, Monschsambach.

 

 

 

Best Overseas Bottled Beer

1. Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus                                     
2. Cantillon Lambic Bio Gueuze
3. Pyraser Landbrauerei - Weinachts Festbier 2013


Best Overall Beer

1. Oakham Citra
2. Marble Pint
3. Mahrs Bräu Kellerbier Ungespundet Hefetrüb


Best Brewery Branding/Label/Pumpclip

Another difficult category to whittle it down to just one single entry. The two breweries that I thought stood out the most prominently whenever in a pub having a beer or in a bottle shop looking for a few take-me-homes were  Tiny Rebel Brewery and Partizan Brewing. Eye catching, quirky and didn't take themselves too seriously.

 

 

Best UK Brewery

Woe is me. Not another difficult category that's impossible to pin down to a single brewery. It also wouldn't be fair as there are so many great breweries producing quality beer that zing with flavour and scream consistency. So, no best UK brewery choice. Instead, breweries of note that deserve praise, recognition and kudos for their craft, skill and knowledge in creating consistently good beers. I give you, The Magnificent Seven.

1. Oakham
1. Marble
1. Hawkshead
1. Tyne Bank
1. Fyne Ales
1. Cromarty
1. Buxton

Best Overseas Brewery

1. Cantillon
2. Boon
3. Mahr's Brauerei


Pub / Bar of the Year

In Glasgow, The State Bar has done what many pubs don't do; they asked their punters what beers they would like to see on the State's beer board. They listened, acted and delivered with some of the best beers and breweries in the UK becoming regular staples in the Pub. It also knows how to keep and maintain the beers. Their cellar skills are second to none. The best pint in Glasgow. Easy. Well deserved winners.

Over in the East Coast, Staggs Bar in Musselburgh excels itself with the choice and quality of their beers and in England, The Marble Arch in Manchester is quite simply, sublime.

I can't decide which is best. So, the pub / bar of the year is shared between the three pubs.


Best City in UK for Beer

1. Manchester
2. Edinburgh
3. York

Best Beer Fest

Paisley Beer Festival floats my boat every year but that's because I thoroughly enjoy helping out in the Foreign Bar, so, I'm not going to count Paisley as I'm the other side of the bar. It has to be Annafest on the outskirts of Forchheim. What's there not to like? Twenty three bierkellers in a forest in Franconia serving 6% festbier in litre krugs to 300,000 thirsty Lederhosen Herren and Dirndl Damen. That'll do.







Best Supermarket

Marks and Spencer have upped their game and now carry an impressive range of own brand beers made by some solid and consistent breweries such as Oakham and Meantime.


Independent Retailer

There has been a marked improvement in the range, quality and choice of beers in Glasgow with credit for this upturn in beer fortunes being laid firmly at the door of Hippo Beer and Valhalla's Goat. So equal first prize to Hippo Beer and Valhalla's Goat.


Online Retailer

With exceptional service and an ever growing choice of tasty beer, it has to be Alesela.


Best Book

I've bought quite a few beer books this year but the three that stand out are:

1. Amber, Black and Gold - The History of Britain's Great Beers. Martyn Cornell
2. Brewing Britain - The Quest for the Perfect Pint. Andy Hamilton
3. Frankens Brauereien und Brauereigaststätten. Markus Raupach


Beer App

I use Untappd for checking in beers that I'm drinking and Brew Pal for my Home Brew recipes. One has a practical purpose, the other serves no purpose at all but you get nice badges every time you reach a new level of beer vanity.

Website

Simon Johnson Award for Beer Twitterer

Only one winner. Simon Johnson himself.
I have enjoyed @broadfordbrewer's tweets too but no one could ever hold a candle to Simon's level of surreal inanity. Sadly missed.

Best Beer Blog

Again, no clear winner but notable mentions for the great and good. Firstly, I tip my hat in the specific direction of the Legendary Richard Taylor of the Beer Cast. Edinburgh's beer scene is in very rude health and brilliant shape. That is, partly, down to the role that Richard has played in charting and chronicling Edinburgh Beer. His energy is tireless, his modesty impressive but credit where credit's due. The British Guild of Beer Writer's award to the Beer Cast is much deserved recognition for the impact that The Beer Cast has had in not only shaping Edinburgh's beer climate but also his wider impact on the Scottish beer scene. Legendary.

Plaudits too for Adam Shafi's Walking and Crawling blog. Adam is our very own Beer Grylls. Follow his hazardous countryside escapades as he searches through bracken and bramble for Scotland's best pints and pubs. He does these things, so we don't have to. An excellent blog.

Kudos also for two blogs that I have gravitated increasingly towards in 2013. These are shut up about Barclay Perkins and Zythophile. Two meticulously researched blogs that are always a pleasure to read.


That concludes the results of the Norwegian jury.
All the very best of beer in 2014.
Prost!

A Year In Beer - Part 1

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At the dying embers of 2011, it's time to not only look forward to the New Year ahead of us but also to pause and take a few moments to reflect on the year that's coming to a close.

As someone who enjoys beer and writing the odd blogpost about the stuff, 2011 has been a fine vintage that's delivered a feast aplenty of great beer, new breweries and the wider choice and opportunity to experience and enjoy, what I believe is, the world's greatest beverage.

So, on the last day of the year, let me review the year in beer as witnessed from not just my own personal experience but also through the eyes of other beer bloggers.

January

January started the way December had finished; in some pub or other having a beer. This time, I was in The Bon Accord in Glasgow for the cask launch of two BrewDog beers; their Alice Porter and their new 'improved' 5.4% abv Punk IPA. It was the last time that I was to have BrewDog cask. Haven't seen it since, won't see it again as they have announced that it is cask no more from the Fraserburgh brewing upstarts turned 'national treasures'. Which is a shame as they used to make such nice beers.

What ever happened to BrewDog?

Are they still on the go?

In other news, two thirds of a pint beer glasses, known as schooners, become legal for use in British pubs. In a tasteless PR stunt, BrewDog (remember them?) stick a four foot five inch dwarf in safety pinned combats and a mohawk outside the Houses of Parliament and try and claim some, belated, credit for the law change.

Elsewhere, Mr RabidBarfly kept a note of his daily intake of booze during the month of January. It made for excruciatingly painful reading. Here's hoping he doesn't repeat it again in 2012.

February

There's nothing quite like a trip on the train in the pursuit of lovely pints of well made beer to banish the mid winter blues. So when February offered up the opportunity of a trip to York to meet thirty other like minded beery souls for a Twissup, I jumped at the chance. York is a wonderful place for a beer weekend. It's got charm, history and antiquity in equal measure and some fantastic pubs too. Highly recommended.

Elsewhere in the beer world, Molson Coors spend a Sharp £20 million buying some Cornish beer. It seems to have paid off judging by this article. InBev and Stella  attempt to enter the fermented apple market by launching Cidre just as Cider sales take a nose dive. And this blogger has a pop at 'Kevin' from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) while the debates over Keg versus Cask and the use of the words 'Craft Beer' rolls on and on.......

March

March was Budget time and brewers, landlords and beer drinkers felt a hammer blow as a 7.2% rise in beer duty was announced by the Chancellor. Also introduced was a new additional duty on any beer over 7.5%. The pubs industry were up in arms citing that these increases could lead to 10,000 jobs being lost and would increase the rate of pub closures across the UK. The increase meant that beer duty in the UK is 8 times higher than France and 12 times higher than Germany.

Yet again, the Chancellor chose to see beer drinkers and the price of a pint as easy targets and convenient cash cows. You would have expected brewers, publicans and drinkers to be fundamentally opposed to this increase. They were. With one exception.

BrewDog, "wholeheartedly" backed the Chancellor's proposals saying they were "a blessing for Craft Beer" and that "increases in duty can only help to get more people to drink better quality beer". With beer friends like these, who needs enemies.

April

The month begins with a flurry of April Foolery as spoof beer blogs appear that chuckle and amuse. This hilarity is shortlived when a heavily hyperbolic and passionate blog post fires off a clusterfuck of anti-Camra invective that fanned the flames of a debate that burned bright but not necessarily with much heat.

The Tories in power, record levels of unemployment, recession, angry and disaffected youth on the streets and an increased sense of hopelessness and disillussionment across the country can only mean one thing;

a Royal wedding and an extra day off work. I spent my day off work arranging the tables, sorting out the bunting and making cheese, pineapple and pickled onion hedgehogs for our much anticipated street party.

No. I. Didn't.

I spent it at The Paisley Beer Festival, pulling pints and helping the punters drink the foreign bar dry. Many saw the day off as an excuse for an extra days drinking, away from the deferential sychophancy fest that was the blanket TV coverage on Royal Wedding Friday. Paisley Beer Festival was Camra's Big Society in action and hats off to Alesela for saving the day.

May

It all goes a bit 'radio rental' in May when Camra chairman, Colin Valentine, in a keynote speech at the organisation's AGM, has a pop at the beer 'bloggerati' for having the cheek and temerity of talking up beer and encouraging others to try something new and different.

Unfortunately for Colin, someone records it and posts it on YouTube.

The comments go down like a pork pie buffet at a vegan convention and a few people get all twisty knickered over it.

Remember Beerleaks?? The website set up to expose the dodgy dealings and beer myths of the brewing multinationals and get you drinking more 'craft' beer', only to disappear a couple of days after it launched when it was pointed out that a certain Fraserburgh brewer had previously used clear glass bottles. Half cocked, kneekerk, clueless and ultimately, very embarassing for all involved.

In other parts of the beer world, Reluctant Scooper sings us a song, Pete Brown vents his spleen and Mr RabidBarfly goes to Manchester.

June

With summer just around the corner, my thoughts turn to lovely, golden hoppy beers and June was the month that I first came in to contact with a brewery that makes superbly hoppy and flavour packed beers, The Tempest Brewing Co. My first pint of Tempest was in June at The Scottish Real Ale Festival when I had a pint or two of their Rye PA. I was to later immerse myself in a night of nothing but Tempest at their Tap Takeover event at Edinburgh's Bow Bar.

Finally, to finish off Part One of A Year in Beer, I'll leave you with a nice little parody of 'Craft' brewing.

Part two tomorrow.

I Must Be Dreaming.......of Beer

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Last month I wrote about the plans for a new pub in the west end of Glasgow, which will occupy the premises vacated by the The Millhouse at the bottom end of Byres Road, just at Partick Cross. Since writing the article, things having been moving very quickly.

On Sunday, the Millhouse poured it's last pint and the following day the builders moved in to begin the process of turning an ugly ale duckling into a beautiful beer swan.

The new lease holders, Fuller Thomson, have a creditable track record on the east coast of the country for establishments that serve a solidly eclectic range of cask and keg beer. In Edinburgh, they have Holyrood 9a and the Red Squirrel as well as Dukes Corner and Drouthy Neebors in Dundee.

Now, they have ventured westwards into Glasgow with the opening of Bruadar on the 19th of December. The name 'Bruadar' means dream and for many west coast quaffers, it certainly is one come true, particularly, when you look at the list of beers that they have lined up for the opening and beyond.

The Black Isle Beer Company, yesterday, wrote about their beers that Bruadar will be carrying as regular and rotational choices. Black Isle's Glasgow beer profile is certainly going to be enhanced with the arrival of Bruadar as their Blonde, Goldeneye and Porter will regularly be available on keg as well as cask choice of two porters, Chilli and Molly's Vanilla porter.

But that, my beery friends, is only the tip of the iceberg as Bruadar will have 20 draught taps that will dispense a variety of delicious keg and cask.

I've had a look at the opening night beer list as well as the plans for the next few months and, to be honest, it's nothing short of stunning and very exciting.

Whoever put the Bruadar's beer list together should, if there is any justice in the world, receive a gong or three in the New Beers Honours List.

For the opening night expect a great range including,

On Keg -

Tempest Red Eye Porter
Magic Rock Cannonball
The Keg launch of William's Bros Profanity Stout
Lovibonds 69IPA
BrewDog Punk
Black Isle's Goldeneye, Blonde and Porter

On Cask -

Durham White Stout
Magic Rock Rapture
Tempest Emanation Pale
Black Isle Molly's Vanilla Porter

Following the opening night, expect:

The full Lovibonds range
8 new Summer Wine beers inc, Diablo
Williams Bros Cask Profanity Stout
14 Belgian kegs, including, Duchess de Borgogne and Westmalle Dubbel
12 US kegs to begin with......more to come

There will be rotating U.S. and Belgian lines plus a designated Scottish keg line as well as rotating cask.

Phew.

Christmas has, indeed, come early for Glasgow Beer drinkers.

Bruadar or BrewDog?

I know where I'll be on the evening of  Monday the 19th of December.

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Profanity Stout? I'll Swear By It.

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Yesterday (27th Sept) saw the end of Sainsburys Great British Beer Hunt. I've made progress on ploughing through the bottles I picked up and if there's any justice in the beer world, then there can only be one winner as far as I'm concerned.

One beer sticks out as head and shoulders above the rest of the other beers participating in the competition. That beer is Williams Brothers Profanity Stout.

I say Williams Bros but that's not quite the full story.

It may be brewed and bottled by Williams Brothers but it's not their beer. The beer is actually made by Heriot Watt students as part of their brewing course studies. The students in question are Peter and Craig - the 'Balls to the Wall' brewing duo who have managed to create one of the nicest stouts that I have tasted in a very long time.

The Profanity Stout is the first beer in a range made by Williams Brothers called the 'Chapeau' series. An interesting approach to beer making in which Williams Brothers "celebrate the skills of amateur brewers whose beers we think are exceptional and should be made available to a wider audience".

I'm not the first to write about it. Others have already (here, here and here) thrown their tuppence worth in and it seems to have been well received. I found it really rather nice.

It pours thick and dark with a Caramac coloured head that gives off a fairly bold nose that zips with fruity aromas and a slight touch of schooldays carbolic soap. It had a thinner mouthfeel than I expected but this didn't prevent the delicious roasted coffee and licquorice, dipped delicately in dark chocolate flavours coming through strongly in this beer that drinks dangerously less than it's 7% ABV fighting weight.

Here's hoping the positive reviews about it translate to hard sales at Sainsburys checkouts and this beer becomes one of the Sainsbury Great Beer Hunt winners. That way, the Profanity Stout would become a  welcome and regular addition to their beer selection.

Profanity Stout?

It's fcuking lovely!

Update No1
Boo! There is no justice in the beer world. This guy has just informed me that it didn't make the final eight. It seems a gorgeous 7% stout was just too adventurous for Sainsbury's drinkers beer tastes. Boo!

Update No2
Yay! Mr Guest Beer Guide has just informed me that Sainsburys are selling their beer hunt beers at 20% off original price. that means you can pick up Profanity Stout for £1.51 while stocks last. Get on it, Folks. Yay!


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Same Beer. Four Different Pints.

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I've recently been out and about doing some 'investigative research' and enjoying a few nice beer in some of Glasgow's better bars.

One beer that I've 'researched' more than others recently is a new offering from one of my favourite Scottish breweries, Fyne Ales. It's their West Highland Black IPA (WHBIPA) and for the past few weeks it's been making an appearance in The Three Judges, The Bon Accord, The State Bar and The Laurieston.

As you'd expect from Fyne Ales, it's a well made, tasty beer from a brewery with a reputation for crafting well made, tasty beers. However, what has struck me, imbibing this beer in four different establishments in just over a week, is that how much of a difference cellarmanship and correctly looking after the beer once it has hit the pub can make to the taste, aroma, flavour and overall enjoyment of the beer.

Some of WHBIPA I've sampled has been simply out of this world. The State Bar, for example, presented a stunning and well looked after, fantastic example of this beer. It was full of intense hop nose and creamy roast malt served at a temperature that allowed each of the flavours in the beer to be savoured and enjoyed in a beautifully balanced pint.

In another pub, the beer was served too warm and from the condition of the beer, I got the impression that it had not been cellared long enough for the beer to settle. In context, it was the first pint of the day poured in this pub and it may have not been pulled through the line thoroughly enough. In another, it was too cold and this masked some of the more subtle flavours of the beer.

It got me thinking.

How many times has beer left breweries in great nick only for it to be let down at the final hurdle in the pub due to it not sitting long enough, being poorly conditioned, badly poured or served as if it was a cold lager or tepid mug of bovril?

My favourite drink is getting too expensive these days to be playing beery Russian Roulette with my next pint not knowing whether it will be in awesome, awful or just alright condition. I know the Cask Marque system of accreditation exists as an indicator of a pub that serves well kept beer and the nature of beer as a living product means that it will change in the cask but sometimes there's no excuse for sloppy cellarcraft in some pubs.

Is it too much to ask that if pubs are selling Real Ale they concentrate on getting the basics right first?
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De Molen Vuur & Vlam

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You generally can't go wrong with De Molen beers.

They make quite exceptional beers that have a complex depth of taste and flavour underscored by an adventurous and experimental streak that not only borrows from the past but also, potentially, sets the standard for the future.

Their closest UK comparison is, in my view, The Kernel Brewery.  I say that because both produce a wide variety of short production one off  beers that don't shirk in terms of experimenting with a variety of styles with diverse and interesting hop and malt flavours. Not only that but they, like The Kernel, don't shy away from recreating and replicating historic and long forgotten beers recipes.

So, it's with considerable pleasure and a grin on my face that I sit, on a Friday night, with an empty glass and a 750ml bottle of De Molen's Vuur & Vlam in front of me that are both crying out to be joined in beery matrimony. It's a big old beast weighing in at 6.2% ABV that comes in a rather attractive corked and caged 750 ml bottle.

No time to waste, I unite the beer with the glass as it spurts aggressively into the glass with a lively gaseous splurge of golden orange liquid with a head so big it would make John Merrick green with bitter envy. The over carbonation may be down to this beer being both top and bottom fermented. Whatever the reason, it's a frothy headed gusher of a beer.

It smelled fresh with an aromatic nose of warm spice pepperyness that carried through into the mouth and beautifully collided with the piney, citrus and kiwi fruit essence from the Chinook, Cascade, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. The Galena hops give a rounded bitterness that stood it's ground very well against the fairly robust caramel sweet malt spine.

The pepper notes are fairly constant throughout and even lingers through into the dry and substantive bitter finish.

De Molen's Vuur & Vlam translates as 'Fire and Flames' and it's appropriately monikered.

There's a very elegant spicy pepper edge to the beer that sits very well against the body of a punchy, well hopped IPA.

It's not half bad.
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and the winner is......

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The entries have been scrutinised and the results are finally in. Last month, I ran a caption competition to accompany a truly godawful beer advert from a Romanian brewer.

The best caption to Ursus', possibly the worst, beer advert in the world has been chosen and I can reveal the winner of four pretty special bottles of beer from my secret beer cupboard.

The winning caption was....

Ursus: a perineal favourite

The winning entrant was Dan Brown.

If Dan can contact me at thebeermonk3y@gmail.com then I can get those beers to him.

Many thanks to those that entered (teehee).

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London Pubs: The Craft Beer Co

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Whilst down in that there London for the Great British Beer Festival, I thought I'd use the time and opportunity wisely to visit some of London's pubs that have been making great hop filled waves in the London beer scene. Some, I've spent many a long night in before while others were new to me and had to be sought out and experienced for the first time.

The searing London August heat and a tube journey so painfully humid that it's final destination could have been Hades itself had left me extremely parched and in need of some liquid refreshment as I headed up from the bowels of the Underground oven and into the city centre sunshine.

I wanted beer and The Craft Beer Co, in Clerkenwell, as my first port of call in my mini London pub tour was going to provide it.. Much has been written about it (Mr Dredge , Mr Tandleman and Mr Ghost Drinker cover it well) since it opened a couple of months ago. It's the sister pub of the Cask Pub and Kitchen in Pimlico and in it's short time trading, Craft Beer Co has managed to attract a keen following drawn to it's huge and eclectic collection of home grown and international cask and keg beer.

The handpumps stretch the entire length of the bar and provide the opportunity to gawp, open mouthed, at the choice of 37 different beers with 16 cask and 21 keg on offer. It's also got over a hundred bottles, including Artisanal Norwegian water that is, I presume, made with passion. But don't let the wankiness of the water put you off. It's a great pub.

Welcome to the Craft Water Revolution

Oh, and their house lager comes from Mikkeller, which is a bit of a coup.


It wasn't the only Mikkeller on as I had stumbled in to what can only be described as Mikkeller madness. Over a dozen of the Danish beers were on and picking the first beer among the throng to quench my thirst was a very difficult decision.

Beer.....as far as the eye can see

Spoilt for choice is an understatement. My eyes darted from pumpclip to pumpclip, left, right, left, right and back again struggling to take in the beery options available in front of me. Like a glutton in a pie shop, I just couldn't make my mind up what I wanted first but that's a happy problem to have and it's probably one that most visitors to Craft experience. I wasn't complaining as the selection in front of me was truly exceptional.

A Myriad of Mikkeller

It's a cracking pub and proof positive that the explosion in the London beer scene is not just the stuff of twitterous rumour but it is happening and happening very quickly. That's great news for the growing number of beer drinkers who want to try new and different beers from a wide range of beers from home and abroad.

The cask available when I was in included Thornbridge, Dark Star, Magic Rock, Camden Town and Redemption and their commitment by Craft to recognise the value and importance of cask beer and support fledgling, young breweries can only be applauded.

With the combination of cask and keg available it's clear that the bottom line for Craft is that good beer is good beer regardless of method of dispense. Given the popularity of Craft since it opened, it's a philosophy that appears to be working.

The Craft Beer Co works not only because of the range of beers available but because it meets the tastes and sates the beery appetites of an ever evolving beer market filled with drinkers who want their next beer to be their best beer and who aren't afraid to stretch their beer horizons.

With pubs like Craft around, it's a great time to be a beer drinker.


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Camden Town Pale Ale

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I'm a big fan of Camden Town beers, particularly their Pompous Red, Inner City Green and Camden Town Pale Ale. The Camden Town Pale Ale is their take on an American Pale and whenever I've tried it, in either Keg or Cask, it has always been a tasty top notch beer. So, when I saw on Ales by Mail website that the Pale Ale was now available in bottles, I thought I'd put my hands in my pocket and buy a couple. I'm glad that I did because the bottled version is a lovely, tasty, refreshing beer.


It poured an opaque, golden colour and had a very pleasant aromatic nose of light peach, grassy citrus and the slightest hint of malt. It was in the taste department that this beer really came into it's own with it's fruit basket of flavours.


It had a light, subtle carbonation and a slight fizz that complemented very nicely the sweet citrus taste of lemon, grapefruit and more peach. There was even hints of some kiwi and gooseberry. These fruity notes were balanced very well by the breadiness of the malts that continued through to a lingering bitter-ish finish that left your thirst quenched and wanting more than just the one bottle of this lovely beverage.


Camden Town have managed to create a very nice beer that translates extremely well to bottles and one that I will be looking out for an any future trips to that there London. If they Camden can do it with the Pale ale, then I look forward to seeing some of their other beery offerings in bottle too at some point in the near future.

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Camra's BrewDog GBBF Own Goal?

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I gather from this article that BrewDog are fairly miffed to have had their booking for a bar at the Great British Beer Festival cancelled by Camra despite contracts being signed and  BrewDog paying the final deposit.

It seems, according to BrewDog, that the size of the kegs used by the company were no longer acceptable despite being previously agreed. BrewDog's, James Watt also states that Camra "reneged from our original agreement and insisted we take cask beer".

I'm only going on what James Watt and the BrewDog spin machine are saying but if it is correct, then it seems a very poor show by Camra.

Why enter into a contractual agreement in which both parties are clearly content with what's been decided if you are going to move the goalposts once the ink has dried and the cash has been paid?

I would like to hear what Camra Chair Colin Valentine has to say by way of justification. He was very quick to criticise the 'bloggerati' at the Camra AGM. Will he be as quick to explain, to Camra members like myself, why the organisation has decided to pull the plug on BrewDog?

In my view, this decision, if true, smacks of petty narrow minded beer fundamentalism with Camra more content to score some cheap points against BrewDog rather than honour the terms and conditions of the original contract. BrewDog and Camra have previous and each like nothing better than to rile and rub each other up the wrong way. So, it's not exactly a surprise that this has happened.

However, the manner in which BrewDog describe it as happening, post contract and exchange of deposit, draws me to the conclusion that this is could be an own goal by Camra that will end up hurting the Real Ale organisation more that it will hurt BrewDog.

Perhaps, Camra Chair, Colin Valentine and GBBF organiser, Marc Holmes would like to explain the decision. I'd like to hear Camra's version of events.


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Footnote - Since writing this blog, Marc Holmes, The GBBF organiser for Camra has responded to James Watt's Blogpost on the BrewDog website.
Here's his response -

"James,

The reason Brewdog are not coming is that you didn’t pay the outstanding balance, as per the terms of the contract.

- The contract stated payment for the bar was due by May 27th. Giving you until July was very generous, nearly 7 weeks.

- The ultimatum was Thursday 12pm, you kept arguing and didn't agree until Friday 11am. Too late, we had programme deadlines to meet.

But to answer some of your other points:

- Right from the very start we said your beer must be supplied in large containers. We were happy with 50L kegs (as long as the beer contained live yeast) but you persisted in wanting to use 30L keykegs. Thornbridge did use 9G casks last year but it didn't work - they will be using 18G casks this year. We were looking at ordering in excess of 60 kils (equivalent) of beer, which is just not practical in 30L keykegs.

- You were the one that offered to supply cask beer in 18G casks.

Happy to start talking about GBBF 2012, and feel free to pop in this year to see how it works. I’ll even send you some tickets.

Cheers,
Marc Holmes
GBBF Organiser."

So BrewDog say they paid their final deposit, whereas Camra say that BrewDog didn't pay the outstanding amount and pulled the plug because of this.

Who is telling the truth? You can make up your own mind.

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Beer and the Media

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My local real ale pub, The Three Judges is currently staging a mini beer festival that got me thinking.


The mini-fest is called the 'Media Beer Festival' and features beers that have taken their inspiration from Films, TV or the written word. Included in the beer list are beers such as Thornbridge Kipling, Kelham Easy Rider, Church End Shakes Beer, Summer Wine Gambit, Hadrian Gladiator, Caledonian Rebus, some Titanic beers as well as Fyne Ales' Vital Spark and Highlander among others.


It's not a bad wee line up and it got me thinking about what beers I would include that referenced films, TV and books. The best I could come up with was Redemption Brewery's Alexei's Ale.


Can you think of any others?


There might be a beery prize for the best answer.


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BrewDog Bottle Out Of Scottish Beer Festival

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Not another beer festival.


My wallet and liver can't take much more.


It's only the start of June, yet it seems that for the past two months it's been beer festival after beer festival.


Not that I'm complaining.


Beer festivals are great. I love them. The perfect storm of great beers and good friends together in one place having a blast is a fine old feeling and we get the chance to do it all again with the Scottish Real Ale Festival (SRAF) which takes place between the 16th and 18th of June at Adam House on Chambers Street in Edinburgh.


It hasn't even started yet but already tongues have been wagging about BrewDog's decison to renege on their beer order for the festival and instead the Fraserburgh upstarts have decided to stage their own 'craft' beer coming together in their Cowgate bar at the same time as the SRAF have their jamboree.


Ho hum. This is disappointing because the word on the street was that BrewDog were planning to use the SRAF to launch their new beer called 'Laughing Stock'. The beer is unique in that it doesn't contain 'fish guts' but instead uses hot air, to add some bitterness and extra carbonation, generated by the bellowing, bilious lungs of the current Camra chairman, Colin Valentine. The beer was to be dispensed from a specially commissioned dark green glass cask.


Instead, BrewDog will be using their alternative event to launch another 'awesome' new beer into the market. It's called 'Cheap Opportunism' which is a dobbel urbock saison DIIPA radler stout, quadruple dry hopped with generous lashings of passion, petulance and posturing. 


It is also believed that 'Jump the Shark', a follow up beer to Sink the Bismarck, will be launched at BrewDog, Edinburgh to coincide with the SRAF event.


The snub by them to the SRAF has led to some people saying that BrewDog should stick their beers up their faux Yank arses, but others point out that they have already done this with their roadkill beer, The End of  History.


Despite BrewDog's 'toys out of the pram' act, the Scottish Real Ale Festival is shaping up to be a great beer event with a lot of excellent beers and breweries showcasing the best of their wares. Included in the line up are breweries such as Tempest, Fyne Ales, Black Isle Brewery, Tryst, Highland and Orkney.


With breweries like those, who needs BrewDog?


See you there.

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Welcome to the Crafty Beer Revolution

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I see from this BBC story that a pricing error at Tesco led to a stampede for cheap lager and cider that even resulted in police being called.


Tesco in Scotland were doing a deal which allowed customers to buy three boxes of beer or cider for £20 instead of the usual £31, a saving of £11. But, when customers went to pay for their beer they discovered that they were charged only £11 instead of the actual promo price of £20. Customers were therefore able to buy 45 bottles of lager or 36 cans for just over a tenner.


Well, word quickly spread and before you could say 'See you, Jimmy' Tesco stores across the land were inundated with thirsty drinkers trying to grab a cheeky bargain on the the sly. Police were even called to a store in Greenock to deal with traffic congestion.


You have got to admire us Scots, not content to conform to one national stereotype but  being bold enough to bag a brace - frugality and alcoholism in the one go.


Well done, my fellow countrymen and women.


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ShortList Magazine's Top 20 Beers

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You may have seen ShortList magazine on your travels. It is a free weekly magazine that's usually thrust into your hand at the entrance of mainline train stations as you scuttle busily to and from work. Failing that, you are more than likely to find a discarded copy on the train as it fights for floor and seat space with another free sheet, the Metro Daily newspaper.


In essence it's a lifestyle magazine that is 'For men with more than one thing on their minds'. The adverts that ShortList carries tell you all about it's target audience - There are usually ads for high performance cars, upmarket men's grooming products, smart phones, trendy designer labels and  high end shops like Selfridges.


What has all this to do with beer?, I hear you ask.


Well, the 12th May edition of ShortList contains a feature entitled '20 Beers you probably haven't met yet' that contains the selection of five people who are pretty much in the loop when it comes to beery knowledge and taste. The five are Pete Brown (author of Hops and Glory), Jon Howard (organiser of the Great British Beer Festival), Tony Lennon of the Euston Tap, Charlie McVeigh owner of the Draft House pubs and Head beer buyer for Waitrose, Pierpaolo Petrassi. It is perhaps indicative of the growing popularity of Real Ale and 'Craft' Beer that a lifestyle magazine such as this should run a feature and compile a best of beer list in their publication.


For me, it also indicates the near seismic shift in how beer is now being perceived and how it is now, dare I say it in a hushed whisper, becoming rather trendy and fashionable. Beer is being accepted, enjoyed and loved by growing number of people.


Witness the expansion of craft beer pubs that are popping up all over the UK and doing spectacular business - The Southampton Arms, The Jolly Butchers, The Grove, Dean Swift, Port Street Beer House, The growing BrewDog Bar empire, Pivni, Mason Taylor, The Rake and the Sheffield and Euston taps among many, many others. And lets not forget the Real Ale pubs dishing up an exciting array of well made and beautifully kept cask beers.  A change in tastes and preferences is clearly taking place and it is all rather exciting.


This list is numbered but I don't think that it is in order of preference. It is as follows -


Hophead by Dark Star

Badger Golden Champion by Hall and Woodhouse

Budvar Yeast

Bernard Unfiltered by Bernard

London Pale Ale by Meantime

Texas Ranger Barrel Aged by Mikkeller

Ola Dubh 40 by Harviestoun

Camden Pale Ale by Camden Town Brewery

Hooky Dark by Hook Norton

Crop Circle by Hop Back

Organic Best Bitter by St Peter's

Old Ruby Ale by Duchy Originals

India Pale Ale by Goose Island

Kipling by Thornbridge

Abbot Ale by Greene King

Manchester Bitter by Marble

Artisan Gold by Bowland Brewery

Hefeweizen by West Brewery

Doppelmalz by Schremser

Punk IPA by BrewDog


As you can see it is a pretty eclectic list of UK and Foreign, Cask, Keg and Bottled beer and underscores the great choice and variety available out there. You can't argue with the vast majority of it, Abbot Ale aside. Some I haven't tried and can't pass comment but the good thing is that it is only the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of other beers out there to try and enjoy.

It's a great time to be a beer drinker.





You can read the article in shortlist
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Open It! Sierra Nevada Special

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The idea behind Open It! is a good one. You dig out from the back of your beer cupboard those bottles that you have put away for a very special beer time and instead of letting them sit there, you get them out, pop them open and get them poured down your throat. What's the point of beer if it's not to be consumed.


I haven't taken part before but I thought I would get involved this time. So, over the course of a few posts I shall be blogging about which beers I have dug out of the dark recesses of my special beer cupboard and opened.


The first two are big, old American beers from the same brewery, Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum and their 30th Anniversary beer called Charlie, Fred and Ken's Imperial Helles Bock.


The Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Ale is produced in collaboration with home brewers and highly regarded U.S. 'craft' beer writers, Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhardt. It is an 8.3% Imperial Helles Bock and comes in a rather elegant 660 ml cork and caged bottle.


It pours a glorious golden orange colour with a lovely soft white head. It's aroma is light malt with some grassy, grapefruit and pine poking through. It had a lively effervescent carbonation that wasn't too oppressive in the mouthfeel.


It had, initially, quite a punchy alcohol hit which gave way to solid flavours of sweet orange, caramel and toffee apple notes. It ends with a crisp, clean and refreshing finish that lingered with a slight bready dryness.  It was, for it's ABV, a very drinkable beer that was maybe just a little too sweet for my taste.


Next up was the 10.4% Sierra Nevada Hoptimum, which is described as a Whole-Cone Imperial IPA. I was expecting this to be a big, bold beer bursting full of juicy hop goodness.

Sierra Nevada claims their Hoptimum beer "Pushes the boundaries of whole-cone hopped brewing: a 100 IBU beer, aggressively dry hopped with new varieties of hops to create ultra intense flavours and aromas."


Boy, they weren't wrong.


It pours an amber orange with a thicky foamy white head that momentarily distracts you before you are delightfully mugged by the awesome aromas of loads of oily pine resin and citrus hops notes that fight each other before taking turns in assaulting my nostrils. This was like taking a walk through a Scandanavian pine forest as someone squirts orange, grapefruit and tangerine zest at you.


It tasted lovely too. Hops, hops and even more hops in the mouth that gave you a citrus and tropical fruit rainbow of delicious tastes and flavours. Present were sticky, waxed orange peel, lemon mango, lychee, floral notes, pineapple, pear and bubblegum. And a tease of sweet caramel too.


The hop loveliness gave way to a  belightfully hoppy, dry but not too bitter a finish that you sometimes get with beers such as DIPA's.


Overall, this is simply a stunning beer and my favourite of the two.


I'm very glad that I opened the Hoptimum when I did as a beer like this benefits from being drunk early whilst the full on hop assault is at it's best.







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My Beer of the Month

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March has been a magic month for beer at monkey mansions. I've tasted some quality cask and bottles and picking out a stand out beer from each category has been no mean feat. The quality and range of beers that I've had has been superb, particularly those beers that formed part of The Three Judges Mild, Stout and Porter Festival.


There were some stunning examples of each style on show and during the past couple of weeks I've paid more than a few visits to the 'Judges to indulge myself in some serious research of some beautiful beer. The best beer from cask I've had this month is a tight one to choose. The pint of Summer Wine Brewery's Apache I had in the Bow Bar in Edinburgh had a powerfully punchy and delightful hop profile which went down a treat. Bank Top's Port O Call was another beautifully made and superbly conditioned beer and the Big City Jamaica Stout (which is part of Wetherspoons' latest beer fest) is a great example of a lovely beer being made by a surrogate brewery that ticked all the right boxes.


However, the pint which I kept wanting more of was Summer Wine Brewery's Resistance Mild. It was a terrific example of a tasty and satisfying Mild. It had some chocolate, fruity hops and some roast on the nose and was followed through by subtle chocolate notes and traces of roast caramel in the mouth. It finished fairly dry with a lingering bitterness. Summer Wine Brewery is a brewery that I'm seeing more and more of when I'm out and I've been impressed by the punchy flavours and tastes of their beers. They clearly are on a roll at the moment and if you catch sight of one of their beers, give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

10 out of 10 for the 10

My bottled beer of the month was an easy choice. It is Danish brewers Mikkeller and their beer 10. I was simply blown away from the first mouthfull to the last drop. It takes it's name from the 10 hops that are used in the making of this beer and each of them have already appeared in Mikkellers range of single hopped beer. There are Warrior, Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade, Chinook, Amarillo, Nelson Sauvin, Nugget, Tomahawk and East Kent Golding hops in this beer along with three different malts (Pilsner, Cara-Crystal and Munich). With so many flavoursome and full bodied hops in the mix, this could have easily turned into a hop bomb mess but Mikkeller's skill shines through and this is quite simply, an absolute stonker of a beer. It's big, bold but beautifully balanced and destined for inclusion in my 'best of' list at the end of the year. If you haven't tried it, do what you can to get your hands and mouth on it. It really is that good.




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