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!
A blog describing the delights of drinking British Real Ale. In the 80's when I started drinking the choices were frankly poor, but now with over 750 breweries to choose from, we couldn't be luckier. I've sampled but a few of the thousands of beers, but hope to pass on some valuable knowledge, and look forward to the process too!
Monday, 16 July 2012
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.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Shepherd Neame - Spitfire
Was in the Two Brewers saturday (near Selhurst BR station) and had a couple of fine pints of Spitfire. I had intended asking for a Late Red which I had recently had in a bottle, a very fine pint that was too. However, I guess I must have been a couple of weeks too late for that!
Still Spitfire is a fine pint, clear in colour and sharp in flavour. Very distinctive too. I was quite surprised to see they've only been brewing it since 1990!
Goering Goering Gone!
http://www.spitfireale.co.uk/spitfire-adverts/
Still Spitfire is a fine pint, clear in colour and sharp in flavour. Very distinctive too. I was quite surprised to see they've only been brewing it since 1990!
Goering Goering Gone!
http://www.spitfireale.co.uk/spitfire-adverts/
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