Guinness - 4

It was St Patricks day and like any good plastic Irishman I had to partake in a national stereotype! As I mentioned way back when, not the first for the year and certainly not the last!

St Peters IPA

The last of my 6 Nations Rugby - St Peters Bonanza! The India Pale Ale (5.5% abv) surely was one IPA that actually fits into the IPA style category! The beer was a nice golden colour with intense bitterness which left my hop starved mouth in a pucker. This beer actually reminded me of somne of my initial home brewing attempts where I 'overdid' the hops a little. I poured the 500ml bottle into my favourite pint glass. The aroma is a very nice pilsener smell spiked with spicy green hops. The flavor is curiously muted from what my expectations from the aroma. It is smooth if you get a good mouthful of head otherwise it’s a bit harsh. It is quite hoppy, just short of an IPA. The flavor is earthy and solid. There is a minute sweetness that adds a bit of class to the otherwise mainly hoppy brew. This beer is medium-bodied but thicker than most beers in the medium colored spectrum. I could go on all day..........ahhh

St Peters Organic Best Bitter

St Peters trying to jump into the trendy organic crowd?? St Peters Organic Best Bitter (4.5% abv) is slightly stronger and more malt driven than the regular Best Bitter. The bitterness does seem to be a little less harsh in this organic variety. But on a whole a very similar tasting beer. I cantreally comment any more than that. I certainly wouldnt pay any extra for this beer for being Organic though. In absence of anything sensible to add, I am going to profess that St Peters Organic Best Bitter is the best organic beer that I have tasted!

St Peters Ruby Red Ale

The second selection from St Peters! Ruby Red Ale (3.7% abv) is a deep red coloured American Style Amber Ale which I think is hopped with Cascade, and more than likely contains Weyermann CaraAroma in the grain bill. Yes I am a beer nerd! Normally beers in this style are hopped with more of a spicy hop such as Willamette rather than a citrusy/piney one, but it seems to work well in this case and I am surprised that more brewers are not making beers in this style. Needless to say, there was nothing left in the pint glass by the time Wales kicked off against France!

St Peters Best Bitter

After spending some time in the St Peters house "The Jeruselum Tavern", my curiousity has been raised in regards to their beers. Whilst on a shopping trip to Waitrose looking for some beers to drink during an afternoon of 6 Nations rugby i stumbled across a selection box containing 4 St Peters Beers. the first cab of the rank, whilst watching the England vs Ireland game (in which England won) was the Best Bitter 3.7% abv. This beer was sensational and probably my favourite of the selection. Whilst all of these St Peters bottled beers taste a little rough around the edges, the Best Bitter was suited to this the most. A nice level of bittering was present through out and just the slightest 'nutty' taste is there as well. A good beer that would have been even more enjoyable if Ireland had won the Rugby!

Kingfisher - 2

Yes, I know another repeat. It was pretty miserable over the weekend and it was the final of the 6 nations Rugby. I had a curry from 'The Raj of India' and a pint of Kingfisher. You can read about it here. Apparently brewed under licence by Shepherd Neame!

Heineken - 2

Another repeat so I will not go into too much detail. This was smashed down at the Bush Bar and grill. After being accosted at the doorway by the Uber Camp Austin powers type we were seated at the bar to enjoy a drink. With the choice of Amstel (which I had last time) or Heineken I chose the later. You can read about that experience here. At least I got a pint glass this time!

Nethergate IPA

This was the last stop from my mini pub crawl last Thursday night and we headed to the Fox and Anchor which is where I have previously enjoyed the Nethergate Umbel Ale. The Fox and Anchor is a nice and cosy pub with inadequate WC facilities and not enough room to move. The top of the bar is solid pewter and the beer is served in pewter tankards in keeping with the theme. The Nethergate IPA is one of the new school ‘weak’ IPA’s weighing in at 3.5% abv. Through the glass bottom of the pewter glass I could ascertain that it’s a rich amber colour, it had a moderate bitterness and was generally ok. Much better than Greene king IPA or Well’s Eagle IPA which also fall into this emerging beer style. Its really just a session bitter and in this role it does the job. Well a lot better than the breweries Umbel Ale anyway!

London Pride - 3

Ok, another one from the pub crawl last week. This one was consumed in the Three Kings in Clerkenwell. I have had this one twice before and you can read my original notes here! Please excuse the small post, but I have a serious backlog and pending international travel. I will be playing catchup for a month!

Brugse Zot

After a rather satisfying pint from The Jeruselum we headed across Clerkenwell Road and nipped into The Dovetail Belgian Cafe where after giving the bar guy a lesson in how to subtract £5.60 from £20 to give us £14.40 change (seriously this guy couldn't count) we settled with two half pints of Brugse Zot ale from De Halve Maan Brewery. Now I profess that I really like this beer. I have been to the brewery in downtown Brugge a couple of times and after listening to annoying USA types asking really stupid and inappropriate questions savoured the deliciousness that is the unfiltered product. The filtered product I had at the dovetaillast night, while not as nice as the fresh unfiltered brew from the brewery was still pretty good. The abv comes in at a smashing 6.1% abv and the taste is bitter with hints of spice (I think its corriander?) and the taste of burnt candy sugar which rather stangely goes well in this beer. The bar itself is not that much to rave about except that it has an extensive beer menu, but the offerings on tap were limited to the Artois family along with Leffe, Hoegaarden and the Zot. One thing that I will be going back to The Dovetail for though is the food. Whilst i didn't eat, everyone else seemed to have a plate food and it looked good with generous portions and garlic mayo for the fries, I mean frittes! Overall: Expensive but worth ticking the box!

St Peters Mild

Last night saw me take a quick treck around the Farringdon and Clerkenwell area after work. Knowing that Stonch and his posse will be at the London Drinker Beer Festival up at King's cross, I decided to hit up his local: The Jeruselum Tavern.

Some of you guys may recall that I have been here previously and enjoyed the lovely cream stout. Last night this was unavailable so I opted for their lovely Mild Ale. The Mild ale was fresh, with moderate bitterness and a nice malty taste. I was surprised at just how malty this beer was for such a low gravity. What was most remarkable about the beer though was the environment in which it was enjoyed. The Jerusleum Tavern is a small quirky kind of boozer that is generally always standing room only, and then not much of that! The crowd is generally office types from the surrounding area, but you dont generally get the full on cashed up toff/city boy crowd due to the mid town location. The beers here come directly from the small firkins behind the bar or from bottles. i did notice some euro lagers on tap but with the ale selection being so good, Who really cares?? One more point to notw was the bar staff were efficient and friendly even when the bar was packed. An added bonus was that the bar man admitted he sometimes stops by and reads my blog. Nice one, and cheers mate. TCB

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (5.6% abv) is a style defineing American Pale Ale from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. The beer was one of the first examples of an American Pale Ale which uses Cascade hops for flavouring. Another point of note is that it is one of the USA's best selling craft beers. The colour of the beer is a deep amber with a medium level of carbonation, intense bitterness with a strong refreshing aromatic citrus taste and aroma. I think that this is among the list of my all time favourite beers and APA has to be one of my favourite beer styles.

And guess what makes this beer even better. All I have to do to get my hands on a bottle is stroll down to my local Tesco and pick it up! The website is here: http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/paleale.html I even managed to find a review online for you to marvel over!

John Smiths Extra Smooth

This was the other beer I picked up for 'British night' and again its a cheap bitter that comes in a nitro widgit can. Its a nice looking beer. It's got that nice golden colour that the great bitters have. The head cascades nicely, clinging to the sides of the glass all the way down. Just enough for me to get my hopes up. It was good. It goes down incredibly smooth. You could drink this fast and you could definitely drink plenty in one sitting. And you might as well drink it quickly because there isn't anything tastewise to keep it from being boring. Slightly bitter, not malty enough. It doesn't suck, but I expected more when I saw it in the glass. The beer falls into the 'Yorkshire' bitter category and is remarkably similar to the Finchley Bitter pilot brew I reviewed not long ago. The brewery is owned by UK giant Scottish and Newcastle. What is interesting and often overlooked trivia is that John Smith was actually Sam Smith's brother and they were once the same brewery until a family fued saw them demutualise and resulting in two breweries in Tadcaster (there may have been more). While Sam Smith's has gone onto bigger things and into the Pub landlord game, John Smith's has gone on to make cheap canned bitters which you can get in just about every pub in England. The brewery has a website here: http://www.johnsmiths.co.uk/ where you can find out some more info. I found this ad which I didn't even bother watching, but you may as well!

Boddingtons Bitter

Boddingtons Bitter is a nitro-widget canned bitter that can be bought quite cheaply here in the UK. I managed to pick up a six pack from 'Sainsburys' (a bit posher than Tesco's!) to take along to a themed dinner party. Since the theme of the party was 'Britsh night' I thought cheap canned bitter was an obvious choice. Boddingtons is originally from Manchester where it was brewed for over 200 years, but brewing giant InBev bought the brand and moved production to South Wales and Glasgow a few years back. Apparently the beer suffered for the worse with the move, although being realistic it probably was still pretty average before the move. The cask ale variety is still made in manchester, so if you happen to see it draught from the hand pump whilst in Manc town, then its probably worth a try. being a completely unqualified beer fan, I managed to find the following video review for your entertainment. Try not laugh at the thick northerner too hard - especially when he claims he can smell wine and sugar!

Kronenbourg 1664

Kronenbourg 1664 (5%) is a continental lager of ambiguous French-German ancestry originating in the Alsace region (originally Germany, now France). I think to show my respect for the French people (aka surrender monkeys); I am going to say that it is a German beer! The 1664 in the name comes from when the first master brewer received his ticket to brew. The beer is a decent lager for one that is brewed in the UK under licence and uses ‘special’ hops from the Alsace region. People keep telling me that Kronenbourg is a very malty beer, but I can’t really taste that much malt, but it is the only widely available ‘standard’ lager here in the UK that you can actually taste the flavouring hops. It is actually rather hoppy for a lager! The beer is reportedly the beverage of choice for the French Foreign Legion where they drink it by the gallon and it even gets a pretty good rap here in the UK considering that its French – ur um German. The brewery even has its own wacky website: http://www.k1664.co.uk/
I enjoyed mine in can form which I picked up from the 7-Up, which is the mother of all off-licences. As a special bonus, I even got an extra 60 mL free of charge, which is very generous seeing as it’s brewed by Scottish and Newcastle. I have never received anything free from a Scot before. Anyhow I will put my prejudices aside for now and focus on drinking some new beers to write about next week!

Dreher Classic

This says enough (sourced):

It's tough being Hungarian. You like tourists, but they keep showing up in armored tank divisions. The last time you were part of an empire, you played second fiddle to a country that's best known for being the setting of a Julie Andrews movie, and the last time your people actually intimidated anyone, your leader was a psycho named Attila. Plus, smart-asses everywhere think your countrymen are nothing but a bunch of swarthy Gypsies, prone to stealing, palm-reading and high-wire circus tricks. And, you're better known for wine then beer, much like the French. So, when you're sitting in your home, dwelling on your inferiority complex, take heart: Hungarians can indeed brew a good beer. While it's not their bread and butter, it's done with the care and quality that is more often seen across the border in the Czech Republic. If lounging in a spa in Budapest, or chilling along the Danube, you can do so with a quality Hungarian beer, Dreher. It's no Czechvar, but when in Hungary, do as the (mad) Hungarians.

Arany Aszok

Yes, this one was a 'super market' pickup! Arany Aszok is a rather nasty and cheap, chemical tasting lager which strangely tastes a lot like Bergenbier! I am going to be bold and assume that it is brewed near the Romanian border? I really do not have much to say about it as it was pretty plain and tasted pretty bad, although it is probably a few notches above the Anna house lager! They do have a wacky website though (http://www.aranyaszok.hu/) and I did manage to find some interesting videos! Enjoy.

Paulaner Premium Pils

Not a supermarket pickup, but a beverage found in a homely Hungarian restaurant: Paulaner Premium Pils was an ideal companion to the pork knuckle I ordered for dinner. The only problem was that they didn't serve me up Pork Knuckle, but bits of sliced pork. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised as it wasn't the first, or last time I got ripped off on the weekend!

Paulaner Pils is what is generally known as a Bavarian Pilsener. The style differes from Bohemium Pilsner in that it is driven more by a malty and low hop profile rather than a bitter, fragrantly hopped profile. All in all it is a cracking beer and did manage to go well with my pork, potato and oil meal! In terms of the style it can be considered a pretty ordinary example and is at the mass production end of the brewing scale, but with things being the way they are it is an excellent lager none the less. Anyhow the mission has been put forward, I need to consume some knuckle!

Dreher Bak

As I often do, I went to a dodgy Hungarian supermarket and bought a bunch of local beers. the first cab off the rank was Dreher Bak (7.3% abv) which is a rich dark dunkel bock style beer. I have to say that this beer was delicious! It is a deep brown colour with delicate chocolate and coffee notes, minimal bitterness and a solid roast character. Breweries take note - this is how dark lager is supposed to taste!

The upside of drinking such a strong beer has also got to be the warming effects of the alcohol which surely did help to dry me out after the terrible weather. The Hungarians are a little behind and I couldnt find a kooky website to go with this one, but I urge you all to seek it out.

Anna Cafe Lager

I was lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) to spend the last weekend in Budapest, Hungary. Whilst the weather was pretty much terrible, I did manage to stumble into a small homely and rather expensive Cafe that had their own house draught beer simply called 'Anna'.

Anna is a pale pilsner style lager that has the green apple taste of lager that has not been er, lagered! I dont really recommend that anybody, including tickers actually try to find this place and have this beer. The other option they had was Heineken, which I now wish I bought!

Hoegaarden Witbier

Firstly I will apologise about the lack of posting lately. I have been a little ill and have had to slow down my consumption in order to recuperate! I did however start to feel a little bit better towards the end of last week and managed to get a pint of Hoegaarden Witbier into my system to accompany a delicious curry from 'Old Parr's Head' which I have now adopted as my local.

Hoegaarden is a witbier or 'white beer' from Belgium and is the iconic representation of the style. Although cloudy, the beer is spritzy and refreshing with an exteremely weak bittering but adequately seasoned by corriander and dried orange peel. As I am pressed for time I will not waffle on too much, Iwill however give a link to an interesting website! I am sure that I will have more than a few of these come summer! Unofficial Website: http://www.hoegaarden.org.uk/