Here right now.
First half Snowdonia Ale from Purple Moose. A very pleasant start!
Friday, 10 August 2012
Great British Beer Festival
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Admirals Ale
Just enjoying this bottle conditioned ale. Rather pleasant, quite a smooth flavour, if a little fizzier than a draught
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
St Austell Brewery tour
Whilst in cornwall on hols I went on the St Austell Brewery tour. Have to say they have a fine selection of beers.
The tour itself was excellent, compared with others I been on they seem to show more of the process. At the end we had samples from four of their specialist bottles:
Admiral Ale: 5% ABV - good bottled beer
Smugglers: 6% ABV - liked this one, full flavoured and rich
Strawberry Blonde: 4% ABV not sure about this, for me this didn't seem to have the class of say a Belgium fruit beer
Clouded Yellow: 4.8% ABV - this is apparently great with curries and I can see why, have bought a couple of bottles to test out that theory ;-)
Then two tokens for two halves or a pint.
The two halves I had were Tribute and Proper Job, both of which I thoroughly enjoy but with very different flavours.
Tribute(4.5 ABV) is a great session beer and Proper Job (4.2% ABV) has just the right hint of citrus without it overpowering the bitter taste.
Some people may remember a beer called Tinners well this is being phased out and replaced by Trelawny, slightly weaker, but a great taste none-the-less, had a couple of these on with a meal out whilst away too!
http://www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/
Once again the west country comes up trumps!!
The tour itself was excellent, compared with others I been on they seem to show more of the process. At the end we had samples from four of their specialist bottles:
Admiral Ale: 5% ABV - good bottled beer
Smugglers: 6% ABV - liked this one, full flavoured and rich
Strawberry Blonde: 4% ABV not sure about this, for me this didn't seem to have the class of say a Belgium fruit beer
Clouded Yellow: 4.8% ABV - this is apparently great with curries and I can see why, have bought a couple of bottles to test out that theory ;-)
Then two tokens for two halves or a pint.
The two halves I had were Tribute and Proper Job, both of which I thoroughly enjoy but with very different flavours.
Tribute(4.5 ABV) is a great session beer and Proper Job (4.2% ABV) has just the right hint of citrus without it overpowering the bitter taste.
Some people may remember a beer called Tinners well this is being phased out and replaced by Trelawny, slightly weaker, but a great taste none-the-less, had a couple of these on with a meal out whilst away too!
http://www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/
Once again the west country comes up trumps!!
Monday, 16 July 2012
Oxted and Limpsfield Beer Festival
Plug for my nearest beer festival, only realised it was on recently and sadly I'll be on holiday!
http://www.oxtedlimpsfieldbeerfestival.co.uk/
One thing I can guarantee, if its a nice day you couldn't ask for a better location, overlooking a cricket field with old English church in the background, what could be better. (BR station only 5 minutes walk away!)
I just hope its the start of an annual thing.
Some nice beers on offer too!
http://www.oxtedlimpsfieldbeerfestival.co.uk/
One thing I can guarantee, if its a nice day you couldn't ask for a better location, overlooking a cricket field with old English church in the background, what could be better. (BR station only 5 minutes walk away!)
I just hope its the start of an annual thing.
Some nice beers on offer too!
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Garlic Beer
When in the Isle of Wight this year I bought a bottle of Garlic Beer, from, not surprisingly, The Garlic Farm. (Which incidentally do some fantastic relishes!)
Rather naively I thought it'd be a beer with a hint of garlic.
Initially, on opening the bottle I made the mistake of not checking that it was bottled conditioned, however I not sure that really mattered, as the beer wasn't really pouring that well out of the neck due to the whole garlic plugging its exit!!
Now I like garlic, garlic bread, Boursin cheese spread, pizza .... can I add garlic beer to that ... no.
Can I re-iterate that, no, no, no and no.
To be honest I barely took a sip, I didn't have to.
Does anyone repeat buy, other than just repeat!
Rather naively I thought it'd be a beer with a hint of garlic.
Initially, on opening the bottle I made the mistake of not checking that it was bottled conditioned, however I not sure that really mattered, as the beer wasn't really pouring that well out of the neck due to the whole garlic plugging its exit!!
Now I like garlic, garlic bread, Boursin cheese spread, pizza .... can I add garlic beer to that ... no.
Can I re-iterate that, no, no, no and no.
To be honest I barely took a sip, I didn't have to.
Does anyone repeat buy, other than just repeat!
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Crystal Palace 2nd Beer Festival
Thoroughly enjoyed this event and was very impressed with the organisation was also impressed by the variety and quality of beers on offer.
The event was done on a voucher basis which sped up serving and meant I knew exactly how many I'd had a the end of the day (having cleared my £19 worth of vouchers)
I'll admit I didn't tick off all the beers I had and had to do a little guess work the next day to cross of the last few, but of the ones I marked my favourites were:
Blue Monkey - BG Sips
http://www.bluemonkeybrewery.com/
Bristol Beer Factory - No7
http://www.bristolbeerfactory.co.uk/
Cross Bay - Nightfall
http://www.crossbaybrewery.co.uk/Cross_Bay_Brewery/Home.html
All of the above I would describe as good session beers, with great flavour and easily quaffable!
I had the Rev James on draft but not sure if it came out quite right - it certainly didn't appeal as much as i'd hoped it would.
I definitely had the Kent Cobnut - which was a bit too roasted for my tastes.
After which I believe I had:
East London Brewery - Nightwatchman
Itchen Valley - Godfathers
St Austell - Tribute
and
Rebellion IPA
To my shame I didn't comment on these but if they'd been horrendous I would've remembered! I'm almost certain I enjoyed the Itchen Valley as much as the ones above!! I've had Tribute many times before and liked it - in fact I'd like to think I might do a brewery tour at St Austell this year!!
Still when you are handed your festival glass this way - whose to complain!! You certainly don't get that at the GBBF!
The event was done on a voucher basis which sped up serving and meant I knew exactly how many I'd had a the end of the day (having cleared my £19 worth of vouchers)
I'll admit I didn't tick off all the beers I had and had to do a little guess work the next day to cross of the last few, but of the ones I marked my favourites were:
Blue Monkey - BG Sips
http://www.bluemonkeybrewery.com/
Bristol Beer Factory - No7
http://www.bristolbeerfactory.co.uk/
Cross Bay - Nightfall
http://www.crossbaybrewery.co.uk/Cross_Bay_Brewery/Home.html
All of the above I would describe as good session beers, with great flavour and easily quaffable!
I had the Rev James on draft but not sure if it came out quite right - it certainly didn't appeal as much as i'd hoped it would.
I definitely had the Kent Cobnut - which was a bit too roasted for my tastes.
After which I believe I had:
East London Brewery - Nightwatchman
Itchen Valley - Godfathers
St Austell - Tribute
and
Rebellion IPA
To my shame I didn't comment on these but if they'd been horrendous I would've remembered! I'm almost certain I enjoyed the Itchen Valley as much as the ones above!! I've had Tribute many times before and liked it - in fact I'd like to think I might do a brewery tour at St Austell this year!!
Still when you are handed your festival glass this way - whose to complain!! You certainly don't get that at the GBBF!
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Brains Brewery
The Rev James (Bottled variety)
4.5 ABV
A really tasty beer, fruity and spicy in the same gulp. Rich in flavour.
http://www.sabrain.com/beers/take-home/the-rev-james
This was on offer at Morrisons as part of their 4 for £5 deal, (which appears these days to be at the better end of the supermarkets promotions prices! Sadly.).
On the bottle it says "The Rev. James is brewed to a traditional recipe and has been described as having a flavour not commonly available these days." and i can't quite put my tastebuds on it but I'd tend to agree. Am I getting liquorice, it certainly has depth!
However, this is a beer to enjoy one or two of and probably not a session beer, for that, if you want to stick with Brains, I'd go for the SA
4.5 ABV
A really tasty beer, fruity and spicy in the same gulp. Rich in flavour.
http://www.sabrain.com/beers/take-home/the-rev-james
This was on offer at Morrisons as part of their 4 for £5 deal, (which appears these days to be at the better end of the supermarkets promotions prices! Sadly.).
On the bottle it says "The Rev. James is brewed to a traditional recipe and has been described as having a flavour not commonly available these days." and i can't quite put my tastebuds on it but I'd tend to agree. Am I getting liquorice, it certainly has depth!
However, this is a beer to enjoy one or two of and probably not a session beer, for that, if you want to stick with Brains, I'd go for the SA
Friday, 27 January 2012
Recommended reading
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Walks-Into-Pub-Sociable/dp/0330412205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327700694&sr=1-1
Very good read. Moved along at a good pace from the start of brewing right up to the present day.
Informative without being to heavy.
Found out a good deal about breweries and pubs, and why our beer was/is comparatively weak compared to the continent ... surprise surprise ... government interferance.
Very good read. Moved along at a good pace from the start of brewing right up to the present day.
Informative without being to heavy.
Found out a good deal about breweries and pubs, and why our beer was/is comparatively weak compared to the continent ... surprise surprise ... government interferance.
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