Penguin??

First it was Burgess Merideth then Danny DeVito but it seems the Penguin is still at large. Will Batman catch him?? Or will BrewDog finally realise that the Penguin was a lame super hero, Tactical Nuclear or not. The Sea Lion shits all over Penguins in the Animal Kingdom, how long till someone brews something stronger and calls it a Sea Lion??

I guess it depends how long the tickers keep buying into the hype. First it was extreme beers, then cask conditioning. Is Freeze distillation the latest craze?? Stay tuned and take total blessed care.

Brooklyn Brewery

On our second day we awoke to weather that would be better fitting to London than NYC. It was pissing down. For the missus, that means shopping! First though we had breakfast American style. This took the form of a 'Lumber Jack' which is pancakes with bacon and eggs at the uber hip venue "Good Enough to Eat". Stuffed to the gullet, I erected my umbrella and braved the weather managing to dodge the nutters while navigating from Gap to Banana Republic via Abercrombie and Finch and just about every other US high street brand you can think of! We arrived at the new Whole Foods at Columbus Circle and I decided to check the beer section out. Plenty of good beers on offer, actually an even better selection that Whole Foods in London which I have raved about before. Anyhow at this stage we decided to brave the subway and head over to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This trip was eventful with one colourful nutter working himself into a rage pacing the aisle, frothing at the mouth and then pulling a knife out. The train couldn't pull into the platform fast enough and the whole carriage surged towards the doors like a bunch of teenage girls outside Primark at the start of the Christmas sales.

We walked the three blocks to the Brooklyn Brewery in one piece but slightly shaken and I was carded once more upon arrival! Yes, apparently I look underage in the USA. We actually arrived just as a tour was starting and we joined the throng of punters into the main brewery room passing big sacks of malt, hops and empty kegs. The Brooklyn setup is quite small (about 500L or 0.5 5hL) as all of their 12 oz. bottles are brewed under licence somewhere in upstate New York. Only their seasonal kegs, one offs and cork bottled beers are brewed at the Brooklyn site. The tour was a bit token and I was a little bit disappointed that Garrett Oliver was not there, but the beer was still good. First up I had a pint of Intensified Coffee Stout (8.5% abv) which was rich and roasty with an almost over the top coffee taste. Being quite thirsty after being dragged around shopping all morning I drank it a little bit too quickly! I followed this up with a pint of the Brooklyn Winter Ale (6% abv) which was good, but nothing to really jump up and down about. This is apparently a Scottish style ale, but in reality it is a pretty robust porter. They actually had it on special and you could buy a case of it (24 bottles) for $15 - bargain. The missus had, had enough buy this stage so we left to find ourselves some massive NYC pizza.

I really like the setup they have going on at Brooklyn Brewery. Basically they have an informal 'tasting room' where you can bring board games and your own food and just sit around drinking and hanging out with your mates. A cool alternative to a pub, and I wish the licensing laws were flexible enough to allow such a venue in Australia.

Conclusion: Brooklyn Brewery make some damn fine examples of Proper Real Keg. Sausage would like it there. And no, I didn't complain about the size of the head on my Winter Ale. No need to 'Take it to the Top'...

Hook Norton Double Stout

Before I plonked myself down in front of the TV to watch Australia defeat England 28-14 on Sat evening, I rumbled through my ale selection and found a suitable beverage.

Hook Norton Double Stout (4.8% abv) is a tasty and well balanced stout that really went down a treat. Even though Australia did not put in their best performance, made 156 tackles to England's 60 odd, had one third of the possession and still managed to walk away with a win was all I could have asked for. Has this skewed my actual account of the beer for the better, but I still think this beer hit the mark a lot better than a pint of nitrokeg Caffrey's would have!

Out of all the winter ales that I have enjoyed recently, this is simply five star. Even up there with draught Fullers London Porter (which I still have not sampled yet this season - despite a mission out to Richmond where my dead certainty failed me).

Anyhow the Hook Norton Brewery is located somewhere in Oxfordshire. They make good beer. I like good beer! http://www.hooknortonbrewery.co.uk/

Marston's Oyster Stout

I did a quick trip to Morrison's to get some milk last week and ended up buying a few beers while I was there. I think I will start sourcing my bottled beer there as they have a pretty decent selection, although I don't tend to drink at home that often. (BTW - I regularly drink in pubs rather than at home. I usually just have whatever cask bitter is on but, I only post about the session beers that I have not had before otherwise this blog would get a bit repetitive!)

Anyhow Marston's Oyster Stout (4.5% abv) is an unusual beer. Its rather sour for a stout and has a sharp acidity and a relatively thin body. Not quite what I was expecting. Contrary to the beers name, there are no Oyster's present in this stout and the name mearly refers to the golden age of porters in London when a Porter and some oysters were considered as good hearty food.

Fast Facts
- Best bottled Stout 1998 Brewing Industry International Gold Medal Winner
- Champion Bottled Beer as voted by CAMRA

I have yet to be impressed with any beers from Marston's. They always seem to get good write ups but fail to deliver when I taste them. I challenge someone from Marston's to prove me wrong and send me bottles to help change my mind. Website

Super Bock Stout

A while ago, (ok a long whole ago) I found some Super Bock, a high gravity corn laden lager which is one step below tramp juice. Low and behold the stuff is rampant throughout the Algarve and my mission was to avoid it at all costs! (something which I failed to do...). Rather than bore you with tales about a beer which makes Carling seem like a complex and interesting beer, I am going to talk about Super Bock Stout (4.8% abv), the 'dark side' . Contrary to the regular Super Bock, the stout version is actually half decent. The beer is chocolate roasty and robust, but has a little residual caramel sweetness which works rather well. As far as stouts go, it's more interesting than any of the usual Irish mega-swills as it has a dominant chocolate flavour whilst still being stout. Ok, not strictly to style but still a very nice beer. I suspect that the beer is actually brewed with a lager yeast - so its like a roasty Schwartzbier if you get my drift.

Overall an interesting beer: Website

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

As I have stated a few times recently, my parents have been in town visiting. After eating in nearly all the restaurants and pubs near us I took them down to my old local - The Brook Green hotel. Now its not that I have anything against the Brook green, its just that since the renovations after the smoking ban the place has become a bit pretentious. OK not just a bit pretentious, very pretentious! First of all, they insist on table service... It's a Young's tied pub for crying out loud! They have also become quite expensive and the ale is usually not kept very well.

Anyhow rant over - I opted for a Double Chocolate stout (5.2% abv), a bottled ale (so it will be in OK condition) and a fair whack cheaper than a pint of draught (£2.60 as opposed to £3.40).

The beer delivers what Meantime Chocolate attempts - and fails to do. A strong intense chocolate flavour and aroma, chocolaty bitterness and a smooth mellow lingering bitter aftertaste. The beer is also quite thick and oily, which I am assuming comes from the chocolate used in brewing. For some reason, I think Young's may have discontinued this beer - and my thoughts were suspiciously confirmed when I failed to find any mention of the beer on the Young's website.

Beamish Stout

After a leaving the Blarney area we decided to head into Cork to have a look around. Putting it bluntly, Cork is a little bit dull, very grey and not worth getting out of the car for! we headed down for the coast then and pulled into a little town with nothing but a caravan park and a pub called The Speckled Door. A quick glance over the taps at the bar showed all the usual suspects and one I had yet to come across - Beamish Stout. The initial taste is a dry, but hop laden stout - more in tune with a London porter than other Irish dry stouts and the beer is also more 'real' and not so 'creamy' even though the beer was dispensed through a nitrokeg system. Overall it is probably one of my favourite Irish stouts as it has a fresh, roasty, but still hoppy taste.

Beamish has been brewed in County Cork since 1792 and has produced their stout ever since. The brewery was acquired by Scottish and Newcastle earlier this year, and now produces Beamish Red, Fosters, Miller and Kronenbourg in addition to its flagship stout. Website: http://www.beamish.ie

Murphy's Stout

Whilst in Ireland visiting the relatives, I made a short trip south to County Cork to visit Blarney Castle and kiss the stone. It was hoped that some of the eloquence would rub off in the entries in this blog but so far that has yet to be seen! Anyhow, no trip to Blarney would be complete without sampling some of the traditional Irish fare at the Maskerry Arms. Since we were in Co. Cork, I decided to go for the local Corkonian option which is Murphy's Irish Stout (4% abv). Murphy's stout departs Guinness from the first sip. The beer is slightly sweet, similar in taste and texture to a milk stout rather than a dry stout. The beer is darker too. Guinness tends to pour a deep ruby colour which you can see when you hold the pint glass up to the light. Murphy's on the other hand is black, and I mean pitch black. The pour as with all Stouts in Ireland is now from a nitro keg system, so the usual creamy head is present. Also worthy to note is that the beer seems to have absolutely no carbonation at all. Guinness itself may appear flat, but there is some carbonation present which can be demostrated when you gently rock the glass. Murphy's however, does not display any observable carbonation. Overall, I think this beer is roughly on par with Guinness and one thing it has going for it is its price. In my local Tesco it is always a fair bit cheaper than Guinness which may influence some drinkers whilst shopping.
Anyhow, Murphy's stout is one to keep an eye out for and is a good example of the subtle differences between different Irish stouts. Website: www.murphys.com

McConnell's Irish Stout

McConnell's Irish Stout (4.6% abv) is an interesting beer, as it is brewed in Jarrow which is actually in North Yorkshire, UK and the beer has nothing Irish about it except for the name.

The Jarrow brewery was formed in 2002 by real ale lovers Jess and Alison McConnell with the intent of creating unique and flavoursome ales. The brewery is tied to the Robin Hood Inn, at Primrose Hill in Jarrow and the beers are brewed on the premises. Brewing capacity has expanded to 100 Barrels per week with a second site at the Maltings. The brewery has enjoyed moderate success and has been awarded several accolades from CAMRA including a Silver Medal at the GBBF.

The Irish Stout was a bit of a let down. I was expecting a thick, dry and robust Irish stout, but what I received was thin almost tasteless except for mild liquorce notes which were extremely subtle. Again compared to Meantime Stout or even Guinness, this beer was overly average.
You can find more information on their website: www.jarrowbrewery.co.uk

Meantime London Stout

Whilst recently searching the Real Ale section at my local Tesco I noticed a new addition to their lineup - Meantime London Stout (abv 4.5%) and I also successfully convinced my wife that I needed to get a bottle! This stout is a throwback to Porter style stouts and is a very good interpretation of what traditional stout porters would have been like. The beer is balanced towards the roasty licorice end of the stout spectrum and whilst not completely dry, has a nice molasses like sweetness, that does'nt protract from the dry roastiness, but certainly seperates the beer from an Irish style dry stout. I think this is an excellent example of a brewery doing the research to identify a product that the market needs and then producing a product and actually trying to meet the requirements identified. This is definetely one of the best beers I have had this year to date.

Dragon Stout

A Tesco pickup! At last I have cleared the beers from my trip to Australia and I only have about a months worth of regular drinking to catch up on.....

Dragon Stout (7.5% abv) is a strong stout from Jamaica. It is a product of the Red Stripe brewery and a favourite around London during the Notting Hill Carnival during the August bank holiday weekend.

Rather than the dry Irish stouts, Dragon is very sweet and leaves a heavy lacing down the side of your glass. However, the beer seems to be increadibly thin for a beer of this high an initial gravity. Overall, my impressions are its a fun, strong beer that is widely available. Its a little too sweet for my taste, but it does the job.

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!

Extra Stout (Sam Smith's)

While I was out at Richmond I also got into a bit of Sam Smith's Extra Stout (4.5% abv). SS Extra Stout is served from nitro-keg and is very similar to Guinness. I would go as far to say that it is an excellent clone, although it does have marginally more flavour and has a nice coffee tang that modern Guinness tends to lack (although it did ten years ago?). The beer was ok, but in general I despise nitro-kegs. There is something slightly dissatisfying about having a beer with a head the consistancy of shaving cream! Also generally as a rule: Nitro-kegs tend to be cellered alongside the lager collection and as such come from the tap at about 2 degrees! Who wants icy cold stout? Not me...

Guinness 3

Yeah I know, I am drinking to much Guinness! My wife bought me a 4 pack as a gift from a Tesco local whilst picking up some bread and milk. The can is an excellent long club like shape for wife-beating if you so desire and it also has a cool wavy effect around the top of the can! The beer was tasty, and I am pleased to note that it is now brewed in Dublin! I will have some hand pumped Guinness this year!

Guinness - 2

Whilst at the Kings Arms I was also persuaded to have a pint of Guinness. This was the regular variety and not the Extra Cold variation. Once again I was satisfied with this beer, but it didn’t inspire me? I think living in London I get spoiled with such great examples of porters and ales that sometimes style defining beers get left by the wayside for more ‘crafted’ brews? Anyhow I reviewed Guinness a couple of weeks ago; I even found a cool little I like to watch video. You can read about it here.

St Peters Cream Stout

Last Friday evening my mate Rich and I embarked on a quick pub-crawl around the Smithfield’s market area. Our first stop was the Jerusalem, a shop front that has been turned into a St Peters brewery tied house that is quite popular on a Friday evening. The beer here is served from small Firkins from behind the bar so you get the beer literally straight from the barrel. We decided that we would keep in with the winter season and opted for the St Peters Cream Stout which is delicious stout with strong chocolate and coffee notes. Surprisingly this stout didn’t whack a strong alcoholic taste considering its 6.5% abv. I highly recommend trying this beer draught, and I assume that it is just as good in the bottled variety. I am also looking forward to getting back to the Jerusalem tavern on a less busy night so I can have a yarn with the locals.

Guinness Extra Cold

I just slipped out for a lunchtime pint with a mate of mine Chris who has just arrived back in London after some adventures in New York. After examining the lack of anything decent at the local Goose (chain pub), I decided to order a pint of Guinness as it was the most offensive beer on offering. Guinness Extra Cold (4.2% abv) is a chilled version of the classic Irish dry stout Guinness. The beer is brewed at the James Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland and would be a great pint if it was served at normal ale temperature of around 8-12 degrees. Needless to say, even if the beer was too cold, it was still quite quaffable in the limited 20 minutes I had to consume it! I’m really looking forward to getting over to Ireland sometime soon and tasting some hand pumped Guinness in an authentic Dublin Boozer. That will be magic….

Anyhow, watch the following video. Not quite as good as the real thing, but not a bad effort.