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/

Taddington Moravka Lager

The Jeruselum Tavern, a St Peters owned pub just a stones throw from my office recently put on a new lager to much fanfare from other bloggers. Well anyway I needed to meet up with a fellow partner in crime so we decided to check it out. Moravka Lager (4.4% abv) is a flavoursome pilsner style lager which has a heavy Czech influence. Whilst not as bitter or buttery (ie diacetyl) as your usual Czech pils, this beer certainly does hit the spot, and is one of the best lagers I have necked this year! I think it may be unpasteurized as it remains quite fresh, and rich in both hop bitterness and that classic Saaz grassy aroma.

The Taddington Brewery is located in the Peak District. It is a relative newcomer to the scene and started brewing in 2007.

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

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.