Busy Bee

I have been pretty busy of late and have no time for blogging. This also means that I have had no time for drinking either! Today marks a significant unloading of projects for me which should hopefully see me back on track again next week. I also have an important announcement which (fingers crossed) I should be able to make some time next week. (I'll give you a hint, it's exciting and will change the shape of this blog, well the content anyway!)

I would also like to add that my local Tesco now stocks Anchor Steam. Yesterday I made the most of my stuck at home/tube strike situation and picked up a few bottles of Punk IPA, SNPA and Anchor Steam. I plan to drink these tonight.

Tim vs the Goliath

Now, I have not been fantasising about starring in biblical stories - but I have been drinking Wychwoods Goliath (4.2% abv). In typical Wychwood fashion the beer is covered with Dungeons and Dragons/Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings type imagery that gives real ale geeks a negative stereotype and the beer itself is rather bland. But then what would I know? I don't work in marketing and my mates in the trade say that Hobgoblin sells rather well. Goliath is not necessarily a bad beer though, it's more like your boring second cousin who you only see at Christmas - it would never really concern you if you never saw them again. A tall order? The only thing big about the beer is the Goliath sized 660mL bottle! Really if you have had the misfortune of buying a bottle of Goliath, I think it would be honest to say that you won't make the same mistake again....... http://www.wychwood.co.uk/

Ribs

For those few who actually take interest in what I have to say will now that I am pretty fond of pork products. Sausages, ribs and Pork Knuckle are a prominent and regular feature here at The Beer Diary. These two photos chronicle the preparation of the delicacy that is known as BBQ Ribs. Basically I coated the precut ribs (just the ones you get from Tesco, I wanted a whole rack but they only had precut ones) in a BBQ spice rub and left them in the fridge to marinade for a couple of hours. They then looked like this;

I then baked them at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes and viola they came out like this.

I should let you know that they went down a treat as well.

Is Lager Expensive?

I recently blogged about how some of CAMRA's marketing towarsd lager was factually misleading. I think it was;

"lager is weak in flavour and usually overpriced"

When I saw this display in Tesco recently I couldn't help myself. Compared to nearly £2 a bottle for 'premium bottled ale', I consider a crate of 24 Stella tins (9L in total) a steal. Please note that I did not take Tesco up on their offer...

St Germain and the 'JT'

We have been having a series of all day departmental meetings at work recently. To celebrate the conclusion of these we let off some steam at St Germain pseudo French restaurant near Farringdon Station. Now these sorts of venues are the ones I aim to avoid - usually at all costs. As it was an all expenses paid affair, it would have been rude not to attend.

The beer list included the usual Belgian suspects - no surprises there. An inclusion that I had not seen before however was Vedett (5.2%abv). This beer is brewed by the masters that also produce Duvel and it comes in a similar style bottle. This is where the similarities to Duvel end. The beer is thin and dry and really, really bland in the Dortmunder export style. It tastes exactly the same as Carlton Cold - hardly a complement. Best avoided.

To refresh my taste buds and actually deliver something worthy, I scanned the beer menu. CAMRA activists would be most disappointed at the lager dominated selection with Chimey, Duvel and Hoegaarden rounding out a token ale selection.

I made a bold decision and ordered Brooklyn Lager (5.2% abv) for my team members. This beer is a nice Vienna style lager that I could easily spend a long time raving and waffling on about, so I won't. I will recommend that everyone tries this beer, even if you are a CAMRA activist. Once upon a time you could source it in Tesco, but those days are gone and you need to refine your search a little now, but it's still out there.

The food was ok, but hardly worth raving about, I also had some wine which I found rather one dimensional. I won't rant about that too much either.

After dinner a few of us went around the corner for a few more pints at The Jerusalem Tavern. In general this is a nice little pub, but I am continually finding it more and more over-rated and the beer going progressively downhill. I had two pints of the St Peter's: Organic Best Bitter and Ruby Red Ale. Both were rather uninspiring and not well kept. The Organic Best Bitter was a fresh cask and it was flat as a tack and about 15 degrees - way too warm. What happened to cellar temperature?

I am not going to head back to the 'JT' any more, there seem to be better options in the area and I can afford to be fussy. Also, I question how they get their beer up from the cellar? Do they have an electric pump moving it? I am obviously amused by thinking about these simple things.

At least I had some people to drink with though, much more exciting than my previous Friday night!

http://www.vedett.com/

http://www.brooklynbrewery.com/

Golden Glory

My wife picked up this bottle of Golden Glory (4.5% abv) whilst at Tesco a couple of weeks ago. I originally had no intention of posting about it until I was looking it up on the Hall and Woodhouse website today. The beer itself is quite dry with a definite wheat beer like taste, but what intrigued me was the intense fruit aroma that this beer emits. I originally interpreted the aroma to be of passionfruit and thought that it must be hopped with some new whizz bang New Zealand based hop. I was wrong, this beer is actually fortified with peach extract - thats right peach extract. Now why would anybody want to do this, I don't know? I suspect that the original beer was too shit to sell so they have jazzed it up with some fruit extract to make it palatable. When the warmer months roll in I'll consider looking this beer up again but for now I'll maintain my position that fruit extracts have no place in beer.
For those interested the beer was pretty uninspiring, but I guess most of you know that already...

Australia vs the USA

I am pretty busy this week and do not have time to write long witty posts about controversial issues. What I will do though is give a teaser into an upcoming post. At Whole Foods, Kensington on Saturday I bought a couple of bottles of an old favourite of mine - Little Creatures pale ale. I have been told by many people that Little Creatures pale ale (LCPA) is almost identical to Sierra Nevada pale ale (SNPA). I disagree and although similar, I think they are totally different beasts. I plan to pick up a bottle of SNPA from Tesco during my weekly shop this evening so I can reveal the truth. That's right, a side by side comparison of the two beers. Stay tuned.

Pickled Partridge

I seem to have a new favourite pint glass. It's a Badger branded Pickled Partridge pint, and it is a cross between a traditional pint and an oversized wine glass. A happy medium! This particular glass was gifted to me over 12 months ago by Tom and Maura who used to manage The Andover Arms, along with a couple of Fuller's Rugby jerseys and my coveted ESB stemmed glass.

My wife noticed that I had been using the glass (which had been sitting in a box collecting dust) and picked up a bottle of Pickled Partridge (4.5% abv) from Tesco. Overall I like the beer. It's malty and as a special bitter should be and it maintains a cask like taste even though it has been bottled. A decent beer. Website

I should also note that this glass is a 'pint to line' glass, which actually makes the glass slightly larger than a pint. Currently there is plenty of debate over such glasses here and here.

Take Away

On Sunday I was well and truly back on the drinking wagon after giving my liver a two week reprieve. I met up with some friends at my local Young's pub - The Brook Green Hotel to enjoy a typical Sunday meal. I made mine a Burger, and I upscaled and payed the extra pound for bacon and cheese - a worthy investment in my book.

After smashing down three or four pints of Young's brilliant Winter Warmer I needed to relieve myself. I will spare you the details of how I wrestled the massive serpentine that is my manhood and fill you in on the poster I observed at eye level. Now normally in pubs they will display the newspaper (sometimes page 3) or their guest ale list. Not at the Brook Green! Here they advertise their new take away beer service.... That's correct - you can now take your favourite draught ales home with you in a sturdy 2 pint beer hopper. This looks like an over sized milk carton (pictured top left), I spied this specimen on the bar. Anyhow I am intrigued to see whether this concept takes off, especially as there is a giant Tesco supermarket located directly behind the pub which is bound to have a greater selection of ales at cheaper prices.
By the way, I only managed to get one or two strange looks as I took the photo of the poster (which is below). It did not occur to me until a little while later that it must be a strange sight seeing a guy taking photos in the gents - one hand on the camera phone, one hand on his wang.

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Caffrey's

I like steak and ale pie. As I was acquiring the ingredients in Tesco, I was stumped as to which ale to use. Surely a quality microbrewed ale is too good to waste on cooking?

Anyhow, I picked up a four pack of Caffrey's (4.2% abv) nitrocans and decided to drink one when I got home. The beer is creamy and bland. I do not have a lot of other comments!

I was very interested in the little indicator which turns blue when the beer is cold. Surely this is redundant when you can feel the temperature of the can on your hand?

http://www.caffreys.com

Batemans Victory Ale

Another beer that I picked up from either Morrison's or Tesco - Batemans Victory Ale (6.0 % abv) is a beer brewed to celebrate all things Nelson! And no, we are not talking about Major Nelson from 'I dream of Genie' or Nelson Mandela - we are talking about British Hero Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, who led Great Britain to victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar. A man of such legend that it is once claimed that he saw the Spanish Navy off the Sussex coast but insisted on completing his game of crochet (with one arm mind you) before sailing out to claim victory.

Anyhow, the beer is a reflection of the man, a strong aromatic pale ale laced with hop character, A good beer that lives up to its name. Also as a trivial side note the Lord Nelson brewpub in The Rocks, Sydney (named after the great man) also has a beer called Victory Bitter. However their version mostly compared VB, which is somewhat disappointing! Their beer is rather splendid as well.

Website

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA

I picked up this Scottish IPA (6.1% abv) whilst out shopping recently. I cannot recall where I actually got it, but it is most likely Tesco or Morrisons.

This beer is a strong and flavorsome IPA, which is hopped with Challenger and Cascade hops. It tastes quite restrained initially but the bitterness really kicks in with the aftertaste and leaves you wanting more.

Overall a nice beer!

http://www.belhaven.co.uk/

Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale

With all the TV and media hype surrounding this beer in the lead up to the TV show's launch last week, I jumped on the bandwagon to see what the fuss is all about.

Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale (4.2% abv) is a bland and inoffensive pale bitter. Actually I use the term 'bitter' rather loosely! Its actually more like flat Carling with some citrus aroma hops, and then not many of those.

There was an article in one of the Sunday supplements that included a recipe for the beer which I have copied out below. From an initial look over the recipe, I would say that this beer will work out a lot more bitter than the bottled sample I picked up in Tesco and would probably make a nice beer.

I also wonder if the unpasteurized beer that they serve in their pub is substantially different to the bottled version. But then I assume the cask variety is served under a sparkler as well!

UPDATE 12/11/08

This thread is getting plenty of hits through the search engines. While I stand by my original opinions on the bottle I sourced from Tesco, I have a very different opinion on the Cask version. I think that the bottled product is a different beer to the cask version. I think the bottles are probably brewed under licence somewhere else (This was verified by the third episode in the series). I had a pint of this on Saturday night at The Pontifract Castle in W1, and from Cask it is a very different beer. It's has a cascade aroma and is deeply bitter for a blonde ale. Nothing like the bottled version. I would have the cask version again if I came across it. Apparently its a guest beer at Nicolsons pubs at the moment. Worth checking out.

MORRISSEY AND FOXY'S BLONDE ALE
Makes 40 pints
Ingredients
4 kg Golden Promise malt

260g light crystal malt

39g Styrian Golding hops

32g Fuggles hops

10g Irish moss

15g Cascade hops

1 packet fast-acting yeast

Method
Add 23 litres of water heated to 77 degrees centigrade to a mash tun (an insulated brewing container).
Allow temperature to drop to 72 degrees centigrade and add both malts. Stir to form a porridge. Keep temperature between 62 degrees centigrade and 69 degrees centigrade for 90 minutes (by placing the mash tun in a larger vessel topped up with boiling water).
Strain the liquid (called the wort) into a large pan slowly. If it's not clear, return to mash tun and repeat till clear liquid is produced.
Heat to a rolling boil. Add Styrian Golding hops, Fuggles hops and Irish moss. Boil for one hour.
Add Cascade hops and boil for 15 minutes. Cool quickly and transfer liquid only to the fermenting vessel.
Add the yeast, cover and place in a cool room for two days. Siphon off the clear liquid into another fermenting vessel, leaving any flotsam and jetsam.
Ferment for three or four days with an airtight lid. Siphon off clear beer and enjoy.

http://www.morrisseyfox.co.uk/

Hambleton Ales' GFA

I have a few friends who suffer from Coeliacs disease. I always feel sorry for these poor blokes as they are pretty limited when it comes to lifestyle and most importantly alcoholic beverage choices! Hambleton Ales have released a beer called GFA - or Gluten Free Ale (4.8% abv) you guest it, is not made from wheat or other gluten containing grains.

Moving onto the beer! Its a rather real tasting beer. its not a particularly malty beer, but it does have a nice hop taste and is remarkably similar to a hop driven regular bitter. Overall its very drinkable.

But I cannot find any information on how the beer is made! Is it made from malted buckwheat, millet or sorghum? Is it made from the unmalted grains and treated with amylase enzymes? Or it produced with various caramels and sugars and then heavily hopped to drive the flavour profile towards a bitter?

The first commercial all malt Gluten free beer is an Australian Beer called 'Aztec Gold', which was closely followed by O'Brian Lager. These beers were the results of experimentation by Australian brewers Jim Levet and Andrew Laverty who both independently devised the process of malting Millet and Sorghum grains. I am curious to know if the GFA stems from the pioneering brewing of the Australians or if it uses a different process?

Can anybody shed any light on the situation?

Website

Midnight Sun - Williams brothers

Yes - A Tesco pickup again! This beer had been sitting in Fridge for the previous two weeks beckoning me to drink it! It was tempting me with the allure and promise of a delicious velvety porter. hmmm

I opened it up and poured the black magic that is Midnight Sun (5.6% abv), it was a fraction too cold and just tasted like charcoal so I let it warm up. But it still tasted like charcoal. Not a nice roast malt flavour I was expecting - charcoal!

Here is what it is supposed to taste like!

"Midnight Sun is a black porter style beer, created from a blend of malted barley, oats, roasted barley and chocolate malt, balanced with a generous handful of hops and a wee bit of fresh root ginger. We really like it and hope you do too!"

Obviously the Scots messed something up along the line!

November is drawing nearer, that means Fullers London Porter is not very far away!

Thwaites Lancaster Bomber

Another "Tesco Pickup" (Yes it sounds like a bad dating scene), Thwaites Lancaster Bomber (4.4% abv) is a tasty special bitter that delivers on what it promises.

The beer is dark amber in colour and is the standard Thwaites cask offering which competes against the likes of London Pride, Doom Bar, Adnams Bitter, ...you get the picture.

The beer is nice, but its a cricketer's beer, so for this reason and this reason alone I am not going to praise it. If its good for Freddy Flintoff, then I don't want to know about it!

A little about the brewery: Thwaites was founded in 1807 and now has over 450 pubs in the North of England. The brewery is gradually shifting away from cask ales into pasteurised keg beers, especially those powered by nitro.

http://www.thwaites.co.uk/

Jenning's Golden Host

I picked up a bottle of Jenning's Golden Host (4.3% abv) whilst on my weekly pilgrimage to Tesco. Having enjoyed most of Jenning's beers earlier in the year, I was keen to discover what the fuss with this beer is all about. The beer itself is a golden coloured bitter, which is about all that is remarkable about it... Its clean, its a bitter and its hopped with Goldings. besides this its rather pale.

What is worth noting is that thi sbeer is in fact drinkable, which is more than I can say for any other beer which falls under the Marston's family of companies! On a trivial note, the beer is named after a line in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth. It just so happens that old Willie Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth, where the original Jenning's brewery resides. Now, one can't stop and think how the great man would be dissapointed with this beer!

Geez, you would think that there was more to Cumbria than William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter but apparently there is not! Linky

Tesco Select IPA

When the new Tesco beer selection hit the shelves the week before last, one of the new additions was Tesco Select IPA (5% abv). I bought it and gave it a go!

The label does not really carry much information on the beer, so I have no idea who made it, or where it was brewed.

Now the beer, ok it was bitter and had all the tastes an IPA should have, although it did tend to border on a boring interpretation of the style. if it was a great beer I would be raving about it, but when compared to such awesome beers as Brew Dog's Punk IPA, or Sharp's Atlantic IPA it just doesn't stack up. But then again it is better than Tesco Value lager!

Duvel

You can hardly call yourself a beer geek if you don't know or have not had Duvel (8.5% abv). For those uninitiated, Duvel is a Belgian Golden Strong Ale and is available just about everywhere in the world, including my local Tesco!

So Duvel joins Leffe as the mega swill of the Belgian world (Stella excluded), but is it any good? Well in a way yes, its very good. I am the first to admit, that I am not really in love with Belgian beers. They are usually too strong for a session, and too funky for my taste buds, and its for this reason why I have a slight apprehension.

The beer itself is very malty and has a persistent head which leaves lacing down the glass after every sip. The initial taste is like a cheap lager, but as you work your way through the glass it develops into a funky apricot flavour with a high alcohol character.I won't go on as I'm not really a big fan, but for those of you who love your Belgians, you can find out more at the website http://www.duvel.be/.

Brew Dog Punk IPA

Yes, another 'Tesco pick up', the cool looking graphics and alternative anti-marketing on the label of this beer sealed teh deal and it made its way past the disapproving gaze of my wife and into the trolley.

For the uninitiated, Brew Dog are a relatively new brewery located in Fraserburgh on the north east coast of Scotland. They have a few simple rules and basically they brew for taste and flavour rather than to what the market wants, a bold game but one that seems to be paying dividends for them.

Their simple rules;

- To only use the finest fresh natural ingredients.
- To put no preservatives, additives or any other junk in your beer!
- To always make amazing quality premium beers and promote them in a way which makes people smile!
- Not to try and pass off gift tags as ‘special mini Christmas cards’

Punk IPA (6% abv) seems to be their most 'standard' offering. Its pretty much a stock standard American pale ale with strong tropical hop flavours and an intense and lingering bitterness. I really rate this beer so if you come across it in your local Tesco, do yourself a favour and check it out. Even better if you find it on cask!

An awesome beer: website