the beer monkey

Ho Hum....

2012-01-09T22:29:00.004Z

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I've just caught sight of the pumpclip for a beer made exclusively for Wetherspoons by Bateman's brewery of Lincolnshire to commemorate and 'celebrate' David Cameron's use of the veto in defiance of the European Union. The pumpclip has Cameron at his Churchillian best giving two fingers to Johnny Foreigner.

The beer is called 'Veto Ale' and is made with 100% British ingredients, including Bramling Cross and Challenger hops.

Of the beer, Wetherspoons Chairman Tim Martin, said "Veto Ale is a traditional English bitter and a perfect example of a great beer style that you can drink and feel proud to be British,”

“I believe that David Cameron has taken the right decision on the Euro and that customers in our pubs will salute this with a pint of this excellent beer.”

The beer will be available in all of the Wetherspoons pubs.

I really can't be arsed with the jingoistic, flag waving nature of some brewers and pubs.

I think i'll be giving Wetherspoons a swerve for a while.

The Session #59 - I Love Coffee

2012-01-08T21:32:00.004Z

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A new year welcomes in a new The Session Beer Blogging Friday post. This time it's being hosted by Brewed For Thought and is on the topic of what do beer drinkers drink when not drinking beer.

For me it's an easy and obvious, but relatively recent, choice.

When not drinking beer, you will find me with my head in a bag of freshly ground inhaling deeply the gorgeously rich coffee aromas.

I went from and instant drinker to a fully fledged coffee geek quicker than you could say, "Monsoon Malabar". And, I love it.

I love everything about making a freshly prepared cup of real coffee; roasting and grinding the beans, the aroma as it permeates the kitchen and the rest of the flat. I particularly love the garbled gargle sound of the espresso machine, like the noise James Watt's cat makes when trying to clear a pubic hair from the back of it's little kitty throat, as it fires in to action.

I also love the way coffee has also enhanced my enjoyment of darker beers, particularly stouts and porters, as it's helped refine and retune my palete to appreciate further the dark and roasty tastes and flavours of these styles of beer.

I love coffee. It's what I drink when I'm not drinking beer.

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A Year in Beer - Part 2

2012-01-06T14:50:00.004Z

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Welcome to Part Two of A Year In Beer which looks back and reflects upon the year just past as witnessed from not just my own personal experience but also through the eyes of other beer bloggers. We've already had January to June in Part One, so let's now look at 2001 from July through to December. Hang on to your hats. Here goes.

July

The beer festival season is in full swing by July and not wanting to miss out, I take myself to Staveley in Cumbria for the Hawkshead Summer Beer Festival. Three days of glorious sunshine, over 70 beers and one of the most chilled out and enjoyable beer festivals that I was to attend all year. The cream of British beers and British breweries were on show and I got my first taste, as did many others, of beers by the new kid on the brewery block, The Magic Rock Brewing Company.

They showcased four of their beers at Hawkshead (Human Cannonball, Curious, High Wire and Rature) and were fantastically received by the hot and thirsty scoopers who drank the Magic Rock beers dry by early on the second day of the festival. For Magic Rock, it set the tone for the rest of their year in beer. They have gone from strength to strength since their inception in May of 2011 and have picked up praise and plaudits not only for their excellent beers but also for their use of social media as a vehicle to raise the profile of the brewery and increase the customer base for their beers. Despite the circus themed pumpclips and beer labels, 2011 has shown that Magic Rock Brewing Company are no clowns.

In other news, Molson Coors announce the launch of their 'female friendly' beer range, Animee.

It's beer that tastes of other things such as crisp rosé and zesty lemon.
According to Molson Coors, Animee is an "exciting opportunity to break down the barriers between women and beer" with a brand plan and product design that are "feminine and sophisticated without being patronising.”

The arrival of Animee results in various bloggers questioning whether women really need their own beer.

Meanwhile, Melissa Cole alerts us to another 'female friendly' beer.

In more beer news, this guy has an IPA every day in July, some students make evolutionary beer, Ghostie fights the IPA wars so we don't have to and BrewDog and Camra fall out.........again.

August

Yay! It's finally arrived. August is a great month to be a British beer drinker; the largest amount of pork scrathings assembled in the world, a tombola, the crack and tinkle of glass and then the cheer as someone drops their pint pot on the concrete floor and some beers to keep you occupied for a few hours can only mean one thing - The Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court. For me, the foreign bars dominated as I drifted between them lingering longer each time at the Czech beer bar.

It would appear that everyone had a grand old time even if some people weren't happy about a perfectly serviceable and rather nice pint of Mild winning the Champion Beer of Britain.

Elsewhere in the beer world, the popular beat combo, The Elbow brew a beer which makes this man very happy, a lively debate takes place when one beer drinker visits a new Glasgow pub and doesn't like what he sees and Cookie looks into his crystal balls. And, Dave from Hardknott brewery makes a video.

September

Sainsbury's launch their Great British Beer Hunt and many beer bloggers, myself included, swore by and got all hot under their collars over a beer thought up by students and cuckoo brewed at Williams Bros brewery. The beer was Profanity Stout and it was rather nice. It still didn't win, though with that honour going to Ridgeway Bad King John. A Williams Bros beer, Caesar Augustus was second.

In other beer news, some American Evangelist tries to convert me when I pop out to the shops, I ponder the importance of good cellarmanship, Boak and Bailey goes beyond the grave in their search for beer and Ghost Drinker hires an Assassin.

October

October the First sees the introduction of some laws the will see drinkers paying more for their beer. In Scotland, new laws are introduced including minimum pricing per unit of alcohol. Some supermarkets attempt to get round some of the legislation by moving their warehousing operations south of the border where the legislation does not apply. In a move echoing this, BrewDog move their operations south too.

Also introduced, this time by Westminster, is a UK wide increase in the beer duty on beers over 7.5% ABV. This coincides with the decrease of beers which are less than 2.8% ABV. Naturally, a few bloggers had something to say about these new pieces of legislation. One even went an entire month drinking only beers over 7.5% ABV beers until his liver turned to pate in protest.

In other news, a book about beer was published that some described as a 'dreadful disaster', others as "essential", Maltworms finds stainless steel sexy, The Tap East opens, Ghost Drinker has a threesome and I make history at the Wetherspoons Beer Festival.

November

November means Toon Twissup in Newcastle as over 30 beer bloggers and twitterers turn up at the Tyne for a great days beery fun. A few beers in Bacchus, followed by a tour of Tyne Bank brewery and then on to the excellent Free Trade Inn at Ouseburn. It was a grand day out which got blurrier as things progressed, especially after some of Hardknott's Vitesse Noir.

International Stout Day came and went without me remembering that it was on, but these guys remembered.

In other news, Simon Johnson has a beery confession, Boak and Bailey try to spot a craft brewery and Tandleman goes to Glasgow.

December

December is usually a good month for new arrivals, just ask Mary and Joseph, and this year was no different. December brought the arrival of a new, much anticipated, bar to Glasgow in the shape of Bruadar bar in the West end.

An Aberdeenshire brewery and pub chain expanded further into the tied pub game with the arrival of their new bar in London's Camden which brought out the Capital's beer mafia on opening night to give it the once over and say 'Awesome!'.

In other news, Police and Cats Protection League officers wish to question an Aberdeenshire beer entrepreneur for alleged over affection towards felines. Simon Johnson writes my favourite review of the year, Neil joins the Circus and Dave from Hardknott wishes goodwill to all brewers.

On reflection, I guess it wasn't a bad year to be a beer drinker.

Right. That's me done. Can I go for a nice beer now?

Cheers

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Golden Pints Awards 2011 - The Votes Have Been Counted.

2012-01-03T10:40:00.038Z

Mr Rick Furzer, over on the Gastroturf blog, has painstakingly collated all the nomination entries for the 2011 Golden Pints Awards. Hats off to Rick, as there were 49 entries in total and it must have been a right pain in the arse to locate, list and link all of them.

Being the curious sort that I am, I thought that I would go through them all and tally up the various nominations in each categories. So that is what I have done. It makes for interesting reading most notably how quickly new breweries and their beers have managed to win recognition, kudos and establish themselves in the collective conscience of beer bloggers and beer drinkers.

The range of entries, in terms of the number of beer styles and breweries nominated indicates that there is a diversity of choice and tastes available not just from UK breweries but also internationally.

When putting this overall summative list together, I counted only those nominations that were listed as first or joint first on people's submissions. I haven't counted the runners up. One person changed their mind from their original Golden Pints Awards blogpost and updated on a later blog. In this instance, I have included both nominations. If the person (that's you, Tandleman) wishes me to remove one of his entries then I will do that. It makes no difference to the overall result, though. I have left out the random self selected category.

The prefered system of voting was First Past The Post.

Can we now have the votes from the Norwegian Jury, please?

So here goes. The 2011 Golden Pints Awards in full are as follows.

Best UK Draught (Cask/Keg)

Twenty seven different beers were nominated for this category and the top three in terms of votes cast are as follows.

1. Magic Rock High Wire - 6 Votes
2. Hawkshead Windermere Pale - 3 Votes
3 = Magic Rock Dark Arts, Magic Rock Human Cannonball, Summer Wine Diablo, Grain Redwood - 2 Votes

Best UK Bottle / Canned Beer

Again, almost 30 different beers were nominated with the Kernel polling strongly with 7 of their beers being nominated in this category. Fullers were next highest with three of their beers present on the final list. The top three were -

1. Kernel Imperial Brown Stout - 6 Votes
2. Buxton Axe Edge - 4 Votes
3. Roosters Baby Faced Assassin - 3 Votes.

Best Overseas Draught Beer

Beers from the U.S. were well represented in the nominations. Out of the 30 seperate beers mentioned, over 60 % were American. Mikkeller held it's own with 3 of their beers nominated. However, only three beers in this category were nominated more than once. These were;

1. Odell IPA - 6 Votes
2. Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard. De Molen Hot and Spicy - 2 Votes

Best Overseas Bottle/Can

Again, loads of single entries with only three beers being nominated more than once. These were;

1. Orval - 3 Votes
2 = Stone Sublimely Self Righteous, Uinta Detour Double IPA - 2 Votes

Best Overall Beer

Loads of single entries again with Magic Rock, The Kernel and Summer Wine well represented. There was no outright winner in this category as six beers were tied for first place;

1. = Buxton Axe Edge, Kernel IPA 100 Centennial, Magic Rock Human Cannonball, Magic Rock High Wire, Orval, Hawkshead Windermere Pale - 2 Votes each

Best Pumpclip/Label

Sixteen nominations in this category but a clear winner emerged early on and was never going to be caught.

1. Magic Rock - 16 Votes
2. Uinta Crooked Line Detour DIPA - 2 Votes

Best UK Brewery

This was a very close run thing with 3 breweries in the reckoning right down to the wire. Overall, fourteen breweries were nominated but the final five were as follows;

1. The Kernel Brewery - 15 Votes
2 = Magic Rock - 8 Votes
3. Summer Wine - 7 Votes
4. Buxton - 4 Votes
5. = Marble, Hawkshead, Fullers - 2 Votes

Best Overseas Brewery

1. Stone Brewing - 8 Votes
2. De Molen, Mikkeller - 4 Votes
3. = Odell, Orval, 1516 of Vienna - 2 Votes

Pub Of The Year

This was a very close run category with pubs from across the country being represented. In the end it was shared between a Newcastle pub that won many admirers at the Toon Twissup in November and a new addition to London's beer scene that arrived this year and has clearly made a huge impression..

1. = The Free Trade Inn, Newcastle. The Craft Beer Co, London - 6 Votes
2. = The Southampton Arms, London. Mr Foley's, Leeds - 4 Votes
3. Port Street, Manchester, Euston Tap, London - 3 Votes

Beer Festival/Event of the Year

From Alloa to The Great American Beer festival, people were out and about enjoying sone great beery times. The top three events for beer were;

1. Great British Beer Festival - 7 Votes
2. = European Beer Bloggers Conference, Toon Twissup - 2 Votes

Best Supermarket for Beer

1. Waitrose - 10 Votes
2. Booths - 6 Votes
3. =Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer - 4 Votes

Independent Beer Retailer

The Leeds Blogeratti are greatly impressed by their local offie. As are a lot more others. It swept the board, this year, and blew every other beer shop right out of the water.

1. Beer Ritz - 15 Votes
2. Bottle, Canterbury - 4 Votes

Online Beer Retailer

Again, only one winner here;

1. My Brewery Tap - 19 Votes
2. Beermerchants - 4 Votes
3. BrewDog - 3 Votes

Best Beer Book

1. Oxford Companion to Beer - 5Votes
2. Beer Quarterly (Camra) - 4 Votes
3. = Melissa Cole's Let me tell you about beer, Hopaganda - 3 Votes

Best Beer Blog/Website

1. Ghost Drinker - 10 Votes
2. Boak and Bailey - 6 Votes
3. Pencil and Spoon - 4 Votes
4. Called To The Bar, The Good Stuff, Reluctant Scooper - 2 Votes

Twitter Beer Person

1. Simon Johnson - 16 Votes
2. Broadford Brewer - 6 Votes
3 Zak Avery - 3 Votes

Online Brewery Presence

Again a fairly close run thing between two new breweries that have used social media to fantastic benefit in raising their profile and getting greater public recognition of their brewery and beers.

1. Magic Rock - 11 Votes
2. Summer Wine - 8 Votes
3. Hardknott, BrewDog - 3 Votes

So, concludes the results of the Norwegian Jury.

Have a good year in beer and hope that 2012 is as good as the year just passed for well made, tasty and refreshing beer.

Cheers.

A Year In Beer - Part 1

2011-12-31T14:13:00.007Z

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At the dying embers of 2011, it's time to not only look forward to the New Year ahead of us but also to pause and take a few moments to reflect on the year that's coming to a close.

As someone who enjoys beer and writing the odd blogpost about the stuff, 2011 has been a fine vintage that's delivered a feast aplenty of great beer, new breweries and the wider choice and opportunity to experience and enjoy, what I believe is, the world's greatest beverage.

So, on the last day of the year, let me review the year in beer as witnessed from not just my own personal experience but also through the eyes of other beer bloggers.

January

January started the way December had finished; in some pub or other having a beer. This time, I was in The Bon Accord in Glasgow for the cask launch of two BrewDog beers; their Alice Porter and their new 'improved' 5.4% abv Punk IPA. It was the last time that I was to have BrewDog cask. Haven't seen it since, won't see it again as they have announced that it is cask no more from the Fraserburgh brewing upstarts turned 'national treasures'. Which is a shame as they used to make such nice beers.

What ever happened to BrewDog?

Are they still on the go?

In other news, two thirds of a pint beer glasses, known as schooners, become legal for use in British pubs. In a tasteless PR stunt, BrewDog (remember them?) stick a four foot five inch dwarf in safety pinned combats and a mohawk outside the Houses of Parliament and try and claim some, belated, credit for the law change.

Elsewhere, Mr RabidBarfly kept a note of his daily intake of booze during the month of January. It made for excruciatingly painful reading. Here's hoping he doesn't repeat it again in 2012.

February

There's nothing quite like a trip on the train in the pursuit of lovely pints of well made beer to banish the mid winter blues. So when February offered up the opportunity of a trip to York to meet thirty other like minded beery souls for a Twissup, I jumped at the chance. York is a wonderful place for a beer weekend. It's got charm, history and antiquity in equal measure and some fantastic pubs too. Highly recommended.

Elsewhere in the beer world, Molson Coors spend a Sharp £20 million buying some Cornish beer. It seems to have paid off judging by this article. InBev and Stella attempt to enter the fermented apple market by launching Cidre just as Cider sales take a nose dive. And this blogger has a pop at 'Kevin' from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) while the debates over Keg versus Cask and the use of the words 'Craft Beer' rolls on and on.......

March

March was Budget time and brewers, landlords and beer drinkers felt a hammer blow as a 7.2% rise in beer duty was announced by the Chancellor. Also introduced was a new additional duty on any beer over 7.5%. The pubs industry were up in arms citing that these increases could lead to 10,000 jobs being lost and would increase the rate of pub closures across the UK. The increase meant that beer duty in the UK is 8 times higher than France and 12 times higher than Germany.

Yet again, the Chancellor chose to see beer drinkers and the price of a pint as easy targets and convenient cash cows. You would have expected brewers, publicans and drinkers to be fundamentally opposed to this increase. They were. With one exception.

BrewDog, "wholeheartedly" backed the Chancellor's proposals saying they were "a blessing for Craft Beer" and that "increases in duty can only help to get more people to drink better quality beer". With beer friends like these, who needs enemies.

April

The month begins with a flurry of April Foolery as spoof beer blogs appear that chuckle and amuse. This hilarity is shortlived when a heavily hyperbolic and passionate blog post fires off a clusterfuck of anti-Camra invective that fanned the flames of a debate that burned bright but not necessarily with much heat.

The Tories in power, record levels of unemployment, recession, angry and disaffected youth on the streets and an increased sense of hopelessness and disillussionment across the country can only mean one thing;

a Royal wedding and an extra day off work. I spent my day off work arranging the tables, sorting out the bunting and making cheese, pineapple and pickled onion hedgehogs for our much anticipated street party.

No. I. Didn't.

I spent it at The Paisley Beer Festival, pulling pints and helping the punters drink the foreign bar dry. Many saw the day off as an excuse for an extra days drinking, away from the deferential sychophancy fest that was the blanket TV coverage on Royal Wedding Friday. Paisley Beer Festival was Camra's Big Society in action and hats off to Alesela for saving the day.

May

It all goes a bit 'radio rental' in May when Camra chairman, Colin Valentine, in a keynote speech at the organisation's AGM, has a pop at the beer 'bloggerati' for having the cheek and temerity of talking up beer and encouraging others to try something new and different.

Unfortunately for Colin, someone records it and posts it on YouTube.

The comments go down like a pork pie buffet at a vegan convention and a few people get all twisty knickered over it.

Remember Beerleaks?? The website set up to expose the dodgy dealings and beer myths of the brewing multinationals and get you drinking more 'craft' beer', only to disappear a couple of days after it launched when it was pointed out that a certain Fraserburgh brewer had previously used clear glass bottles. Half cocked, kneekerk, clueless and ultimately, very embarassing for all involved.

In other parts of the beer world, Reluctant Scooper sings us a song, Pete Brown vents his spleen and Mr RabidBarfly goes to Manchester.

June

With summer just around the corner, my thoughts turn to lovely, golden hoppy beers and June was the month that I first came in to contact with a brewery that makes superbly hoppy and flavour packed beers, The Tempest Brewing Co. My first pint of Tempest was in June at The Scottish Real Ale Festival when I had a pint or two of their Rye PA. I was to later immerse myself in a night of nothing but Tempest at their Tap Takeover event at Edinburgh's Bow Bar.

Finally, to finish off Part One of A Year in Beer, I'll leave you with a nice little parody of 'Craft' brewing.

Part two tomorrow.

One Man's Quest For Beer

2011-12-24T08:30:00.001Z

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It's the festive season and no doubt your thoughts will turn to maximising your beer intake in order to get you through the holidays. But remember, there comes a time in the evening when you know that you have had enough. Take your inability to walk straight and your inability to talk straight as signs that you have had your last beer of the night.

When this happens, you should say your goodbyes and head home. Failing that, you should locate the bundled heap of guest's jackets in the spare room, crawl under them and go to sleep.

What you should never, ever do is convince yourself, like the guy in the video, of the need for one last six pack of beer from the local kwik-e-mart. It will only end in tears.

Have a wonderful Christmas and go easy on the eggnog.

Cheers.

Following The Beer Star To Bruadar

2011-12-23T15:47:00.005Z

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And lo, it appeared in the West, a new beer star; it's brightness burning boldly as a beacon of beervana that offered hope to the hopless, salvation to the stoutless, keg to the converted and some free mini burgers if you were lucky enough to get there early.

Walking down Byres Road, towards Partick Cross, it's hard not to be drawn like a beer moth to an incandescent ale flame of a neon sign that proclaims, 'Cold Beer, Warm Heart' and marks the arrival of Bruadar Bar to the West End of Glasgow.

Fuller Thomson, the people that own Holyrood 9a and The Red Squirrel in Edinburgh as well as Drouthy Neebors in Dundee, have travelled west like modern day Wise Men acquiring, as they go, a 5 year lease on the former site of The Millhouse. You'll know where it is but probably didn't go in when it was the Millhouse as it was a fairly unexceptional place serving dull food and generic beer.

Bruadar Bar aims to be different to what's been before. It has beer. Lots of beer but more about that later. It also sells food with burgers making up most of the menu. A choice of twenty meatily thick 'gourmet' burgers served with thin and elegant crispy shoestring fries that are perfect for picking up and dunking into a dollop of ketchup. Most of them for less than eight quid, which is pretty good value in my book.

Not much has changed in terms of interior from it's previous incarnation save for a fresh lick of paint and the arrival of long tables that produce a conviviality among it's customers that is contagious. The tables, like the food, are made for sharing. The biggest change, however, is the removal of the beer fonts and handpulls from the bar and their relocation to a stainless steel panel attached to the bar's back wall similar to what the Euston Tap has. There are 20 taps serving the most diverse range of keg and cask beers currently available in Glasgow.

To the right hand side of the till sit ten taps that offer a mainstream choice of continental (Staropramen, Peroni, Stella) and home grown (Tennent's, Belhaven and West). The left hand side of the till sit the 10 pumps that showcase the 'cool' beer selection that the hip hopsters crave.

As a statement of Bruadar's beery intent to be at the forefront of a resurgent interest in good beer, opening night was notable for the number of beer 'firsts' that took place.

The first time Lovibonds beers available in Scotland

The first pub appearance north of the border for Magic Rock's excellent beers.

The Glasgow premiere of William's Brothers' Profanity Stout

Keg and cask Tempest beers side by side in a Glasgow debut

Black Isle beginning to make it's presence felt on the west coast.

These weren't mere beer baubles or tannenbaum trinkets brought out for the opening, to tease, entice and attract as headline grabbers only to disappear once the fuss has died down but a window into Bruadar's beer future. They aim to continue as they have started; by offering Glasgow and west coast drinkers a place where some of the best beers from Britain, Belgium and beyond are regularly available. I've seen what's in the cellar and, in terms of breadth of choice and quality of beers, Bruadar will take a lot of beating.

As you would expect from any opening night, there were a few minor hiccups - temperamental tills and bar staff unsure of some of the prices but these are issues that will resolve themselves with experience and some staff training.

I was taken by Bruadar. I liked the choice that Bruadar offers drinkers that want to try different tastes, flavours and styles of beer.

I liked and appreciate the thought that has gone into this pub, particularly the beer range.

I also liked the fact that Bruadar proves that cask and keg beer can co-exist side by side without the beer world imploding. Who would have thunk it?

The arrival of Bruadar means that the west end's quest for Glasgow beer domination moves a step closer. The corner that Bruadar inhabits is also home to one of the best real ale pubs in Glasgow, the Three Judges. BrewDog and the Bon Accord are not far away, either. That, has the makings of a rather fun mini pub crawl.

I've been in Bruadar a couple of times since the opening and it hasn't let me down. I've had a couple of great pints of Tempest's Into the Light and the Lovibonds 69 IPA has impressed me greatly.

On the showing so far, Bruadar's beer light will continue to burn bright for some time to come.

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Don't Booze and Bicycle this Christmas

2011-12-18T21:14:00.002Z

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What follows is a short Czech public information film that serves as a timely reminder of the perils of taking your push bike to the pub and then enjoying a pint or two or three or four of Rosey Nosey this Christmas.

Don't say I haven't warned you.

Have a happy and safe Christmas.

The Golden Pints Awards 2011

2011-12-13T20:28:00.004Z

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It's that time again, folks where we reflect on a year in beer. It's been a cracking year, which made choosing my nominations for some of the categories very, very difficult. There was simply too many nice beers to choose from. So, I've listed, in some categories, the runners up but I could have easily extended it further and made a list as long as my arm.

Best UK Draught Beer

1. Hawkshead Windermere Pale - the perfect session beer
2. Fyne Ales Jarl
3. Tempest Brewing Long White Cloud
4. Millstone Tiger Rut
5. Redemption Brewery Trinity

Best UK Bottled/Canned Beer

1. Magic Rock High Wire
2. Fyne Ales Jarl

Best Overseas Draught Beer

1. Matuska Fastball 9
2. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Best Overseas Bottled/Canned Beer

Caldera Brewing IPA

Best Overall Beer

Hawkshead Windermere Pale

Best Pumpclip/Label

Magic Rock

Best UK Brewery

1. Hawkshead
2. Fyne Ales
3. The Tempest

Best Overseas Brewery

Matuska - Their beers at GBBF blew me away.

Pub/Bar of the Year

1. The Jolly Butcher's, Stoke Newington. Beer and Spurs. Spurs and Beer. Perfect
2. The Beer Hall, Staveley. It's got the lot. Great cask, excellent bottles and superb food.
3. The Southampton Arms, Kentish Town

Best Beer Festival

1. Hawkshead Summer Beer Festival - 2 gloriously sunny days and 70 of the best British beers. Bliss.
2. The Paisley Beer Festival - I put a few shifts in and enjoyed every minute
3. Tempest Tap Takeover at The Bow Bar, Edinburgh

Supermarket of the Year

Booths

Independent Retailer

The Bottle, York

Online Retailer

My Brewery Tap - the addition of their beer pick and mix selection was very welcome.

Best Beer Blog

1. Are You Tasting The Pith?
2. The late lamented Cooking Lager
3. Reluctant Scooper

Best Beer Twitterer

Simon Johnson

Best Online Brewery Presence

Magic Rock

Open Category - New Scottish Blogs To Keep an Eye On

The Three Sheets
Walking and Crawling

It's been a great year for beer. Here's to 2012 being even better.

Cheers.

I Must Be Dreaming.......of Beer

2011-12-08T16:53:00.001Z

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Last month I wrote about the plans for a new pub in the west end of Glasgow, which will occupy the premises vacated by the The Millhouse at the bottom end of Byres Road, just at Partick Cross. Since writing the article, things having been moving very quickly.

On Sunday, the Millhouse poured it's last pint and the following day the builders moved in to begin the process of turning an ugly ale duckling into a beautiful beer swan.

The new lease holders, Fuller Thomson, have a creditable track record on the east coast of the country for establishments that serve a solidly eclectic range of cask and keg beer. In Edinburgh, they have Holyrood 9a and the Red Squirrel as well as Dukes Corner and Drouthy Neebors in Dundee.

Now, they have ventured westwards into Glasgow with the opening of Bruadar on the 19th of December. The name 'Bruadar' means dream and for many west coast quaffers, it certainly is one come true, particularly, when you look at the list of beers that they have lined up for the opening and beyond.

The Black Isle Beer Company, yesterday, wrote about their beers that Bruadar will be carrying as regular and rotational choices. Black Isle's Glasgow beer profile is certainly going to be enhanced with the arrival of Bruadar as their Blonde, Goldeneye and Porter will regularly be available on keg as well as cask choice of two porters, Chilli and Molly's Vanilla porter.

But that, my beery friends, is only the tip of the iceberg as Bruadar will have 20 draught taps that will dispense a variety of delicious keg and cask.

I've had a look at the opening night beer list as well as the plans for the next few months and, to be honest, it's nothing short of stunning and very exciting.

Whoever put the Bruadar's beer list together should, if there is any justice in the world, receive a gong or three in the New Beers Honours List.

For the opening night expect a great range including,

On Keg -

Tempest Red Eye Porter
Magic Rock Cannonball
The Keg launch of William's Bros Profanity Stout
Lovibonds 69IPA
BrewDog Punk
Black Isle's Goldeneye, Blonde and Porter

On Cask -

Durham White Stout
Magic Rock Rapture
Tempest Emanation Pale
Black Isle Molly's Vanilla Porter

Following the opening night, expect:

The full Lovibonds range
8 new Summer Wine beers inc, Diablo
Williams Bros Cask Profanity Stout
14 Belgian kegs, including, Duchess de Borgogne and Westmalle Dubbel
12 US kegs to begin with......more to come

There will be rotating U.S. and Belgian lines plus a designated Scottish keg line as well as rotating cask.

Phew.

Christmas has, indeed, come early for Glasgow Beer drinkers.

Bruadar or BrewDog?

I know where I'll be on the evening of Monday the 19th of December.

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High Hopes and Missed Opportunities?

2011-12-05T21:05:00.003Z

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The arrival of a new pub should be met with expectant cheers, raised glasses and high hopes that it will be something just a wee bit different and out of the ordinary that expands the range and choice available to punters who, like myself, enjoy tasting and trying an eclectic mix and not the same old, same old that you can get just about everywhere else.

So, naturally, I gave a hearty cheer when this guy let me know that a new pub was being planned in the Partick part of Glasgow's west end. Not much was known about what exactly was planned, however, various rumours ricocheted around the city that it was going to be something to look forward to.

The proposed pub is on the site vacated by the Hayburn Vaults and will be called the Deoch an Doris. It takes it's name from a song by professional Scotsman, shortbread salesman and tartan botherer, Sir Harry Lauder. A Deoch an Dorus is Gaelic for a small drop of something alcoholic as a farewell drink.

I took a brisk walk by the pub last night to check on it's progress. I'm not one to dismiss, out of hand, a pub before it has opened or pulled it's first pint but the poster on one of it's windows was enough to convince me that it will probably be a pub that won't be getting much of my business. For a start, how can something that hasn't opened yet, claim to be 'A Tradition of Partick'?

My First Visit to The Deoch and Dorus early 2012

"What are you having, Sir?"

"What have you got?"

"Fancy a pint of cold Tennent's Lager?"

"What else do you have?"

"What about some Caledonia Best?"

"Er........no thanks."

"What about some other Caledonian Guest Ales?"

"Do you have any hot needles for my eyeballs?"

"No. But we have 14 HDTV's showing sports all day?"

"Hmmmm........."

"What about a baked potato or a panini? Pizza?"

"No thanks, mate. I'll try elsewhere."

If the poster is anything to go by, then the DnD could end up a missed opportunity and be just like the countless other pubs out there serving a generic smorgasbord of High St beer, sport, sandwiches and spuds that offers nothing new or unique.

I hope I'm proved wrong.

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The Session - The Twelve Beers of Christmas

2011-12-04T13:02:00.002Z

Apologies for my brief blogging hiatus of late but I've been away pondering such questions as 'Why doesn't your pen drive get heavier when you add data to it?' and 'Do spiders live alone?'.

However, I am now back. Whether I am new and improved, I'll leave that for you to decide.

Anyway, to celebrate the fast approaching winter festival of conspicious spending and ostentatious consumption in which we worship Saint John Lewis and the baby Argos, this month's Session is on the subject of beer and Christmas and is being hosted by Phil from Beersay.

Here's my contribution.

The Twelve Beers of Christmas

On the First day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
A Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Second day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Third day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Fourth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Fifth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Sixth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Seventh day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Seven stouts a supping
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Eighth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Eight pristine porters
Seven stouts a supping
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Ninth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Nine cracking Kernels
Eight pristine porters
Seven stouts a supping
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Tenth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Ten dodgy Deuchars
Nine cracking Kernels
Eight pristine porters
Seven stouts a supping
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Eleventh day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Eleven boozers burping
Ten dodgy Deuchars
Nine cracking Kernels
Eight pristine porters
Seven stouts a supping
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

On the Twelfth day of Christmas, the Landlord gave to me
Twelve punters puking
Eleven boozers burping
Ten dodgy Deuchers
Nine cracking Kernels
Eight pristine porters
Seven stouts a supping
Six Gueuzes gushing
Five Pork Scratchings
Four Furstenbergs
Three Camra beards
Two lager tops
And a Thornbridge Jaipur for free

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A Day in the Life of Newcastle Beer

2011-11-14T23:58:00.001Z

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It felt like an absolute eternity waiting for the next instalment of Twissup to come around since the last one in York. But, boy was it worth it.

For the uninitiated, a Twissup is the coming together of like minded souls who share a duality of interests: drinking lovely beer and using the medium of Twitter to communicate their appreciation of all things hop related. Put Twitter and piss up together and you get Twissup. Put the Twissupers together for a session, one Saturday, in a city serving a sublime smorgasbord of some smashing beer and you get a session that will be difficult to surpass.

How could it be any different?

The city in question hosting the lastest Twissup was to be Newcastle. It had been chosen via an online vote on Andy Mogg's Beer Reviews Blog. I had expected Edinburgh to be a clear winner as host city but was pleasantly surprised when Newcastle was announced as the location for our late Autumn libations. It's easy enough to get to from Glasgow and, with the train snaking parallel to the stunning distraction that is the breathtaking North East English coastline, we were there in no time.

The meet up pub for everyone was to be The Bacchus in the heart of the city centre. It's a strangely enigmatic place. It's won the local Camra Pub of the Year for the last three years but it has a stylish and elegant wine bar ambience rather than traditional pub vibe. It's all about the beers, though, and Bacchus had great beers in abundance. Tall fonts, hand pulls and bottles. Loads of lovely beer.

As soon as the doors opened, thirty thirsty twissheads swarmed round the bar and began to frantically order beer, beer and more beer.

And the beer flowed, as did the conversation as old friendships were renewed and new ones made. Putting faces to twitter names is an enjoyable yet unusual pastime. It normally follows the same routine in which you exchange first names swiftly followed by your twitter moniker or blog name. And then the penny drops. "Ah, that's who you are? Pleased to meet you. What's that you are drinking? Is it nice?"

I was drinking some nice stuff in The Bacchus. I started off with Tempest's Canyonero - as nice as it was the last time I tried it in Edinburgh's Bow Bar. Followed by a Yorkshire Dales beer, Bacchus V Zeus, a very hoppy, zesty pint. Bitter and rather nice.

Next up was a Glastonbury beer called Thriller, a cappuchino porter. It was roasty, smooth and mellow with some slight coffee notes. Bad pumpclip but not a bad beer. The Black Isle Porter also hit the spot but then again Black Isle beers normally do.

I could have stayed in The Bacchus all day but there were other ale escapades to be had elsewhere.

Filtering out into the early afternoon sunshine we made our way to our next destination. It was time for a piss up in a brewery. Not just any brewery, but a brewery that I was very keen to get to know better, Tyne Bank Brewery.

I had met the brewery's acquaintance once before, at the recent Carlisle Beer Festival when I had a taste of their German inspired Alt Bier. It was one of my beers of the festival and one of the best Alt's I've tasted in a long time.

The brewery was a short Twissbus ride away that took us along the banks of the Tyne up to a small nondescript industrial unit in the Byker area of Newcastle. The industrial unit where Tyne Bank brew their beer has some ale pedigree, having previously been home to Hadrian and Border Brewery.

We were welcomed by Mark the brewer, given a glass and pointed in the direction of the five casks of beer proudly lined up and just waiting to be poured. It was my kind of welcome.

Tyne Bank Brewery are Newcastle's newest brewery having been on the go a mere six months. They have a 20 barrel plant and they have increased production, steadily since they opened to it's current level of 10 barrels per week. I got the impression that they are building up a solid and appreciative fan base drawn to their well made and rather lovely beers.

They have a stable of seven beers, with two regulars - Monument Bitter and Newcastle Gold. However, as Brewer Mark explained, they are keen to experiment with new beers and have just bought a 100 litres test kit that will allow Tyne Bank to play around with recipes and try new things.

What I tasted at the brewery, I was mightily impressed with. Their 3.5% Single Blonde packed a lovely bitter punch and a tender, lingering dryness. The Southern Star was packed full of fruity Nelson Sauvin New Zealand hops and was a delightful distant cousin of Hawkhead's NZPA. It was that good.

Time marched on and we quickly did the same, leaving the brewery and briskly making our way the short distance to The Free Trade Inn.

In no time we were indulging ourselves in some elegant slumming in the shabby genteel surroundings of a truly great pub. My head didn't know where to look as it was torn between the stunning view, out the huge glass windows, of the Tyne and the stunning view that greeted me as I scoped the beer selection on the bar.

Summer Wine, Hardknott, Brodies, Durham and on and on. Landlord, Mick has turned the Free Trade into the beating heart of a thriving Geordie beer scene and he knows what hot and what's not as he strives to bring some of the most exciting and innovative beers and brewers to the pub. I made a pretty good effort of trying most of the beers they had on the bar.

The standouts for me were Summer Wine's 'Cohort', a double black Belgian IPA, Hardknott's, Vittesse Noir, a triple imperial vanilla mocha stout and something a bit simpler and less complex, Brodie's London Field's. The bottle selection is top notch too and I picked up a mixed bag of some Summer Wine bottles to take up the road.

Toon Twissup had found it's spiritual home in The Free Trade as we spend several very enjoyable hours in the pub, soaking up the beers and lapping up the beery chat and ale soaked atmosphere.

It was nearly time to head back to the station and catch the train home but there was still time for a final pint or two in a pub not far from The Free Trade. The pub is the Cumberland Arms, and it was a very pleasant surprise; warm and welcoming with dark wood interiors and a decent range of beers. I'd tell you what beers I had at the Cumberland Arms, if I could remember.

I guess it had been a long day.

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read the beer cast's review of toon twissup here

Glasgow Pub of the Year?

2011-11-14T00:25:00.004Z

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Tonight, the Glasgow branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) meets to decide which of the city's drinking establishments will become real ale pub of the year. In the past few years, the award has been won by The Bon Accord a trio of times, Blackfriars a brace and the Three Judges and The State once.

Given this, it is perhaps timely to cast a beady Beer Monkey eye over those Glasgow pubs that I think have been impressively presenting and pulling perfect pints over the past year.

It's been a pretty good year for beer drinking in Scotland's second city. Some pubs have upped their game and have delivered, to thirsty and appreciative drinkers, a great choice of tasty and well conditioned beers served by an increasingly adventurous and knowledgeable beer buyers and bar staff.

I have to first doff my cap to two Mitchells and Butlers bars that have genuinely surprised me with the depth and range of beers available behind their doors this year. Curlers Rest in Glasgow's west end and The Drum and Monkey in the city centre have pleasantly exceeded my expectations. The Drum and Monkey, in particular, has become a byword for consistency, quality and a cracking choice of beers from Scotland and across the rest of the UK. The beers are always well maintained and it is clear that the staff recognise the importance of sound cellarmanship. The sumptious surroundings and the pork scratchings all add to the experience. As does the stunning ceiling.

The accomodating bar staff will even remove the sparkler and pour your pint into a straight non dimpled glass if you ask nicely.

Blackfriars, in the Merchant City is a nice easy going venue to have a beer. It's cask choice is always interesting and the range of hop monster U.S. beers and lovely low country lambics available in the bottle fridges are the best in the city centre.

My award for the best Wetherspoons goes to the much improved Hengler's Circus on SausageRoll St. The improvement is down solely to the pubs real ale guy, Sandy, who has put together some interesting beer weekends including regular tap takeovers from Scottish breweries such as Harviestoun. I'm sure I even got a pint of Fyne Ales' Jarl for £1.60 in Hengler's this year.

Special mention must go to the Laurieston just up from the River Clyde on Bridge St. It's much frequented by Sub Crawl participants and gig goers at the nearby Carling Academy. It's a lovely place to have a pint. Anyway, it's just got better as it now carries two real ales from the Fyne Ales range. Result.

BrewDog also opened in Glasgow this year.

No overview of Glasgow pubs would be complete without tipping a wink, doffing a cap and singing the praises of the two Old Dames of real ale in Glasgow: The Bon Accord and The Three Judges. Both have a reputation as being the first two pubs to visit if you are looking for a wide range of cask. They usually don't disappoint and you can normally find a few good 'uns among their respective ten beer selections. If i was to quibble, I would say that the reliance on using Flyer and Firkin as beer suppliers sometimes means that the Judges and the Bon have one or two of the same beers on at the same time. It's a minor quibble.

The Bon has had a couple of great festivals this year, most notably, their 40th Birthday festival. Stand out event, for me, this year at the Judges was the joint Dark Star and Fyne Ales festival in July. It was a week of superb beers from one of the best breweries in Scotland and one of the best breweries in England. More of the same, please, in 2012.

All in all, it's been a good year to be a beer drinking, pub frequenter in Glasgow.

Who do I think will win the Glasgow Camra real ale Pub of the Year?

I won't be surprised if it's the Drum and Monkey.

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A New Pub for Glasgow?

2011-11-13T22:43:00.001Z

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I've been hearing on the beer breeze that the New Year will bring a shiny new bar to the West End of Glasgow.

It seems that Fuller Thomson, the owners of Holyrood 9a and The Red Squirrel in Edinburgh, have acquired the lease on the premises at Partick Cross currently occupied by self proclaimed 'great pub', The Millhouse.

This is good news.

The Millhouse has always seemed to me a bit of a wasted pub opportunity offering up the same old standard Scottish beers from the likes of Belhaven and Caledonian that can be obtained in countless other generic pubs across the city. In short, it brings nothing new to Glasgow's beer party.

The same can't be said for what will be replacing it.

Predominantly beer and burger establishments, Edinburgh's Fuller Thomson pubs have gained a reputation, in a relatively short space of time, for offering up a wide range of beers, both cask and keg, from British, European and U.S. breweries.

From what I hear, the new Glasgow pub will replicate the Fuller Thomson's Edinburgh pubs template and will carry a decent selection too. It's current west end equivalant would be Curler's Rest rather than the Three Judges.

The Partick Tap it won't be but it does, at least, offer Glasgow beer drinkers a little bit more choice that The Millhouse currently does.

That, in my book, can only be a good thing.

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Saltaire and Saltires

2011-11-11T21:35:00.005Z

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If you are a beer drinker based in Glasgow and it's environs, then November is shaping up to be a decent month for some interesting beer choices. Indeed, there appears to be more than enough beer events, festivals and one offs to appeal to, and whet the whistle of, even the most difficult and hard to please drinker. Some of the beers are rather nice too. Others, well.........

Tonight (Friday 11th Nov) sees the start of The Bon Accord's Winter Beer Festival in which over 60 beers will be showcased on the pub's 10 handpumps until the 27th of the month. The beers are a marvellous mix of new seasonals, old favourites and there's even a couple of new breweries making their Bon Accord debut.

The beer list is extensive but stand outs for me are the trio of tipples from Fyne Ales (Jarl, Hurricane Jack and Avalanche), Highland's Orkney Blast as well as beers from Pictish, Saltaire, York, Dark Star, Thornbridge and Crouch Vale. However, the high point of the beer list is the first Glasgow showing of beers from the rising star of Scotland's microbrewing scene, The Tempest Brewing Co. I've written about them before and I rate them highly, so it's great that thirsty Glaswegians can now get their hands on, and mouths around, something that Edinburgh punters have been enjoying for months: some lovely Tempest beers. Not just one but two Tempest beers will be available during the festival. Hat's off to the Bon's beer man, Russell for getting Tempest's Into the Light blonde and their Citra IPA on to the beer list.

Not to be outdone, the Maclay Inns group that own 26 pubs and inns around Scotland, including in Glasgow, The Three Judges, ~~Drab!~~, sorry Dram! and Clockwork, launch their 'Scottish Craft Ale Festival' (ho hum) involving some Scottish Breweries including Broughton, Caledonian, Houston, Scottish Borders and Williams Bros.

Yeah, I know. With the exception of it's not the most exciting line up of breweries ever assembled in one place. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say these breweries were selected by Maclays not on quality but on price. Get some cheap beers, create a few posters, dress it up as a festival and shift some stock in the process. From what I hear, ~~Drab!~~, sorry Dram! had Caledonian Deuchars as their festival ale. Come on, that beer is as ubiquitous in Glasgow as ginger hair and chips. It's hardly a beer to set the heather (ale) on fire.

I popped into the Judges to see if there was a beer list for the festival but none existed. One hadn't been sent. The only beer that I know that's definately making an appearance is William's Brother's 'Movember Foxtrot Whisky', a red wheat beer.

As Jean Brodie in her prime would say, "For those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like". I've seen the pumpclip and it's got a sketch of a big old bushy moustache on it, so I presume that, going by the name and the etching, it's their contribution to St Movember, the patron Saint of not shaving your top lip and cultivating a Victorian handlebar, Mexican bandit or 1970's porn 'tache.

This smashing selection of beers in the Maclays 'craft festival' can be yours for just £2.75 a pint.

Which is cheap but not as cheap as a pint in everyone's favourite vertical drinking establishment, The Wetherspoons Craft Beer Co. Which is where you will find, over the space of a fortnight, one off beers produced by Scottish Breweries such Kelburn, Houston, Orkney, Caledonian and Harviestoun among others. The beers are being produced to commemorate St Andrews day, the patron Saint of shortbread and The Sunday Post.

The beers all have mock jock traditional names such as "Donald, where's ma deep fried mars bar?', 'Haggis, haggis, who the fuck is haggis?' and 'Och aye, the brew'. I'm certain the pumpclips will be suitably adorned with Saltires. The beers will be available in a Wetherspoons near you from the 17th through to St Andrew's Day on the 30th.

I'll be in the Bon Accord.

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Tempest Brewing Total Tap Takeover

2011-10-29T12:25:00.002+01:00

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For a Glasgow based beer drinker, Tempest Brewing Co and their beers have a near mythical status in my home city. Many have heard of them but very few have actually tried them. Anyone who tells you that they have tried and tasted them inside a Glasgow pub is probably lying. To the best of my recollection, no pubs in Glasgow have poured a single drop of their stuff. Which is a pretty poor showing given that there has been quite a word of mouth beer buzz about this new brewery and their beers north of the border for most of 2011.

Word of mouth is a wonderful thing in the world of beer and the word is that Tempest make some very special beers that aren't afraid to showcase big, bold assertive hop profiles and flavours that tantalise your tastebuds and leave them reeling in pleasure. They make the sort of beers that a certain Aberdeenshire brewery could only dream of.

The first time I tried one of their beers was at Edinburgh's Scottish Real Ale Festival in June. It was their Rye PA and, for me, it was one of the highlights of the festival. I've since been lucky enough to stumble upon a few of their beers when I've been through in Edinburgh. Lucky old Edinburgh drinkers for having the chance of tasting Tempest on a regular basis. It seemed that if I was wanting any more of their beer I would have to haul myself from west to east and it proved to be the case when I heard that one of the city's best pubs, The Bow Bar was planning a Tempest total tap takeover where ten of their beers would be available with eight on cask and a further two on keg.

If Jimmy Saville had done beer'll fixits, then this would have been top of my list.

I just had to go.

My timing was impeccable as I arrived just as the first pints of the tap takeover were being poured.. Within a half hour, a relatively quite boozer had been turned into a thriving hive of beery activity, three deep at the bar with an appreciative ale audience lapping up the range of beers on offer. It was a cracking selection that showcased pale ales to porter, gorgeously subtle to heavily hopped and relatively weak (4.1%) to deceptively strong (7%).

Tap Takeovers are a terrific idea. They are a great way of getting a bigger, more complete picture of a brewery's abilities and talents rather than just seeing one beer every once. I've done not too badly this year with tap takeovers. The Stone night at BrewDog, Glasgow and the Harviestoun event at Hengler's Circus were both great evenings with some lovely beers on show. The Tempest Tap takeover continued in a similar vein.

The beers included Into the Light, Emanation Pale, Long White Cloud, Rye PA, Elemental Porter, Canyonero, Caligula and Brave New World.

The stand out and outstanding beers of the evening for me were Long White Cloud and the Canyonero.

I had heard lots of positive things about the NZ dry hopped Long White Cloud since it's appearance at the Troon Beer Festival and those that tried it there informed me that it was one to look out for. For some, it was their beer of the festival. These reports of it's greatness turned out to be true. I adored the pungent fruit nose, the gloriously lush resinous hop kick and big, bold, crisp zing of the pineapple and passion fruit that's balanced beautifully with a robust malt spine. A solid and lovely drinking 5.6% gem. A wowser of a beer.

The Canyonero is a strange beast of a beer. It's 5.9% oak aged pale ale hopped with the New Zealand varieites Pacific Jade and Wai-iti. There was a slight oakiness to the beer but plenty of peppery spiciness from the hops joined with a touch of treacle toffee and caramel. There was even a cameo appearance from what seemed to be pumpkin. I was quite taken by it.

The Emanation Pale Ale cuts the mustard as a mid strength (4.5%) session beer that is full of crisp, fruity hops, sweet maltiness and lingering dry bitterness that really was rather nice and very moreish. I would say that it's more a bitter than a pale ale but that doesn't really matter. It is still a lovely beer, whatever you call it.

The only fly in the ointment of an otherwise excellent night was the Keg Caligula. It's a 6% Black IPA and I was expecting nice bold hops and some roasted, toasted malt but it was served just too cold for the flavours to come through. The temperature of the beer masked masked most of the taste. All I really got was cold and wet.

That aside, It was a great event and my abiding hope as I left the Bow Bar and headed back home to the west was that some of Glasgow's better pubs get on the phone to their beer suppliers and start ordering some of Tempest Brewing Co's marvellous beers.

You know it makes sense.

Fyne Ales Jarl - Champion Beer of Glasgow

2011-10-25T20:38:00.002+01:00

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Fyne Ales' Jarl beer was originally launched as a seasonal beer to an expectant audience at the brewery's beer festival in June 2010. Since then it has become one of the their biggest selling beers and has gained an ever growing legion of fans won over by the delicious fresh citrus fruitiness and thirst quenching bite in this 3.8% single hopped (citra) golden ale. It is a great beer and one of my tip top favourites.

It's not only myself that has sung it's praises and recognised the quality of this beer. It's won praise and plaudits, awards and acclaim most notably winning SIBA's overall Champion Beer of Scotland at the Scottish Real Ale Festival.

a heaving awards cabinet

The most recent award won by Fyne Ales for Jarl was 'Beer of the Year' as voted by the Glasgow Camra branch and as a member of that branch I headed up to Loch Fyne with 18 other hardy souls, enduring the horrid autumnal rain showers, to present the trophy to Tuggy, Wil and Charlie from the brewery.

It's a brewery I'm very familiar with, having been up there a handful of times before, and they always put on a tidy spread and a good range of beers. On this visit, we were treated to a trio of Fyne tastic beer soaked up with some barbequed beef sausages and burgers from the Fyne Ales estate that had been fattened up with the spent grain from the brewery.

Three beers available on our trip were Maverick, West Highland Black IPA and, of course, Jarl. I was in the mood for a Jarlfest and made this my beer of the day. I did dip my toe, metaphorically, into the other two beers but the thought of Jarl straight from the tap was too much of a temptation to resist.

There is something particularly lovely and pretty special about drinking from the brewery tap surrounded by boxes of hops, dozens of casks and hundreds of bottles of lovely beer. Beer always tastes better straight from the brewery tap. No question.

a glass and a half of class - Fyne Ales Jarl

It was good to have a chat with brewer, Wil and production manager, Charlie. I discovered that plans are coming along well for their shiny new brewery that will triple capacity as Fyne Ales try to keep up with demand for their beers. I was very interested to hear from Wil that he intends 2012 to be a year for IPA's at the brewery with them producing up to a dozen over the coming year. Great news.

Finishing off the day, we made our ritual stop at the nearby Village Inn. More Fyne Ales beers were on, including a beer that I hadn't tried yet. I was about to pop my Fyne Ales Cherry Stout cherry. But, that's for another blog.

Thanks to Tim at Glasgow CAMRA for organising the trip.

Here's what other people think of Jarl, Champion Beer of Glasgow. The Beer Cast , Taste Sensations , The Beer Prole , I Might Have A Glass of Beer

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Making History at the Wetherspoons Beer Festival

2011-10-21T15:24:00.009+01:00

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The Wetherspoons beer festival was in full swing and, being on holiday for a week, it seemed like a good idea when Mr Guest Beer Guide, Al suggested that we should hook up in Glasgow city centre and head to a few of their pubs to sample for ourselves some of the fifty beers on their festival line up.

The plan was simple. Meet up in the Crystal Palace then head to the Counting House before making our way to the Society Rooms and finally on to Hengler's Circus on Sauchiehall St. Hopefully en route we would enjoy a few tasty beverages.

However, on past experience, I've always found Wetherspoons beer festivals a bit like their pubs - inconsistent and fairly hit and miss but hope springs eternal that our luck would be in and we would be dealt a favourable beer hand tonight.

First stop, the Crystal Palace just down from Glasgow Central train station. Despite it huge glass frontage it is, like many Wetherspoons in Glasgow, too dark and dull with the brown carpet and beige walls drawing out any natural light. It's not an attractive place to have a drink and I tend not to linger too long when I'm in.

Tonight was no different.

On offer were Wharfebank's Treacle Toffee Stout, Caledonian's Cossack's Imperial Russian Stout, Bell's Kalamazoo Black Silk and Belhaven's St. Andrew's. I had been told to avoid the Wharfebank and I'm not a fan of Belhaven or Caledonian so it had to be the Kalamazoo by Bell's Brewery. It's one of the five U.S. craft breweries participating in the festival. The U.S. beers aren't imported from the States. Instead, they are cuckoo brewed at British breweries. In this case, one of the Bell's brewers travelled to England's oldest brewery Marston's and used their kit to make it.*

It is a 4% oatmeal porter that I found quite grainy, wet and fairly hollow. There was a slight smokiness to it but not much in way of rich, dark chocolate and fruit that I was expecting. Mr Al had a half of the 6% Caledonian and it's fair to say that he wasn't particularly impressed with his either.

First pub done. Time to move on.

Price of a pint - £2.15

But not to the next 'spoons. Mr Al's twitter feed had informed him that Blackfriars pub has just put on a cask of Swanney Brewery's Highland Best. So we swiftly diverted to this cracking little pub in the Merchant City. Blackfriars is a great wee pub steeped in history. According to the Oxford Compendium of Beer, it dates from the 9th century when it used to act as a staging post for King's Farquhar and Hamish before they headed to Patrick's Market at the Bridge Gate for hog roast and pigeon pie. It was downstairs in Blackfriars where the monks first made a new beer to satisfy the thirst of the porters who worked at Patrick's Market. They called it electric soup porter. The whole of Glasgow was a forest at this time.*

I'm glad we made the diversion to Blackfriars as the Orkney Best was on top form. It was refreshing with aromatic pear drops set against some stiff maltiness. It is a beautifully balanced session beer.

Beer finished, we headed to the Counting House at George Square. It's another dark, old Wetherspoons that could benefit from a few more lightbulbs. There was a lot of pumpclips but most of them were showing as 'coming soon' which is probably the two words you don't want to hear when you are out for a beer. Never mind 'coming soon', we wanted the good beer now.

It was just as well then that Thornbridge's Brother Rabbit was on and available. It's a 4% golden ale hopped with amarillo and cascade. We both wanted a pint of it. Unfortunately, we had to wait a while as it's not normally the most efficient pub in the world for quick service. It also didn't help that the guy in front was constantly changing his mind. After he was served, we still had to wait a bit longer as he then asked for his change to be made up entirely of one and two pence pieces. As Theresa May might say, "And, I'm not making this up". It's true. It did happen.

We finally got our Brother Rabbit and it was worth the wait. It was in tip top condition with an oh so subtle fruit taste of light grapefruit and peach with a super smooth mouthfeel that was refreshing and cleansing. It was a slurper of a pint with some stubborn malt and a lingering bitter tingle that rounded off the beer very nicely.

Price of a pint - £2.20

Onwards to our next stop, The Society Rooms or as it's known in Glasgow, The Jaipur Social Club. According to the Oxford Compendium of Beer, this pub stands on the site of where the first hops in Scotland were grown. The peat hops were then added to the Scotch Ale and exported to Jaipur in India. To commemorate this momentous happening, Thornbridge's Jaipur is on sale all day, every day for less than two Scottish pounds. This has gone down a storm with the 'Post Meridian Ale Moths', that strange species of older men that tend to be found lingering round the bar of most Wetherspoons most afternoons. Incidentally, the Society Rooms is officially the darkest pub in Glasgow having won the award every year since records began. *

The ubiquitous Jaipur was on but as it was not part of the festival, we went for some Rooster's Last Stand. It's rumoured to be Roosters' final ever beer as they are packing up and moving on. I've been known to quite like some of their beers but I didn't think that the Last Stand was up to their usual standards. There was a lot going on in it, usually at the same time. Mr Al, on the other hand, thought it was rather lovely. But what does he know? He supports Motherwell.

Price of a pint - £1.75

Home straight now as we head to Glasgow's most improved Wetherspoons, Hengler's Circus. According to the Oxford Compendium of Beer, Hengler's Circus was a Russian juggling and acrobatic troupe who first toured Scotland in the 1760's. They brought with them a beer called Imperial Stout which was big in their homeland at that time. They used to sell this Imperial Stout at the interval of their show along with the strawberry Mivvi's and choc ices. A certain Mr Arthur Guinness happened to be at their show one night and bought a couple of bottles to take home. The rest, as they say, is history.*

Anyway, back to the future. I opted for a couple of half pints at the Hengler's. One was Woodforde's Kett's Rebellion, the other a crafty U.S. number, Odell's 90 Shilling made by Caledonian.

I'd like to tell you that both were lovely and were the high point of the evening. I'd like to tell you that, but it would be a big fat WMD of a lie. Both were not nice. The Woodforde's was a 'hide behind the plant pot' beer. Watery, oversweet and not pleasant.

The Odell beer was, alas, 90% Caledonian and only 10% Odell. It was a foul malt bomb of candied apples and burnt sugar. It was in nice condition. Which is a bit like complimenting a tramp for having nice shoes.

Price of a pint - £1.55

Why the big swings in prices in pubs in the same chain no more than 15 minutes apart?

Mission accomplished but it wasn't quite the success that we had both been hoping for. As we headed out of Hengler's Circus, we sought a final beer of the night. We could only think of one place to head next. The Bon Accord. We had heard that they had some Fyne Ales' Cherry Stout on. But that's for another blog.

Cheers.

*This blog may contain historical inaccuracies.

Book Review - The Oxford Companion to Beer

2011-10-19T14:35:00.002+01:00

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I've been pre-occupying myself in the last week or so with beer. Nothing new there, other than I've not been drinking the stuff. Instead, I've been reading about it. It's science and history, the brewing processes involved, the culture and customs and much more beside.

The source of this knowledge and information is The Oxford Companion to Beer and it boldly claims to be the 'most comprehensive reference book ever published about the popular and diverse fermented beverage in the world today'.

It certainly is comprehensive. Within it's 900 plus pages there are over 1,100 entries from in excess of 160 contributors. From Abbey Beers to Zymurgy, it covers a vast range of beer related topics including the biology and chemistry of beer, breweries, beer styles and on and on and on. There are 30 entries on types of barley and even over 100 entries on hops that cover geneological lineages, growing habits and flavours. As Tom Collichio says in it's foreword, the aim of this book is "to provide an exhaustive account of not only beers history but it's science and art".

It does that and the rest.

It does have it's faults, though. The disproportionate coverage of, and the importance that it puts on, American brewing, breweries and the U.S. craft beer scene is disappointing but not unexpected given that the editor, Garrett Oliver and the majority of the contributors are from the U.S. It's clearly a book that has been made with the American market in mind which would also explain the transatlantic spellings of 'flavour' and 'colour' and also no entry in the Oxford Companion for that peculiarly British of things, a 'session beer'.

As a mere beer drinker with not much knowledge of the science of brewing, having a resource of this type at your fingertips is invaluable. Every day is now a learning day as I play the random page game with my Oxford Companion. Pick a number between 1 and 900, go to that page and learn heaps of new stuff about beer.

Want a Game?

Page 66. 'Arthur Guinness and Sons' entry. Did you know that the "7.5% Foreign Extra Stout Guinness accounts for 40% of their current global sales"?

Another?

Page 689. 'real ale' entry. Did you know that ''CAMRA's influential 'Good Beer Guide' persists in "excommunicating" pubs that protect their beers with cask breather systems. Their beer rendered unreal by this judgment, a country pub can easily fade from view and finally fail, diminishing the overall beer culture"?

One more?

Page 257. 'color' entry. Did you know that "Color is an integral and important part of our experience of food and drink, and beer is no exception. When beer is poured in to a clear glass, the color is the first thing the prospective beer drinker will notice."?

Last one?

Page 739. 'Snakebite' entry. Did you know that "Snakebite is a mixture of lager and alcoholic cider that is sometimes euphamistically referred to as a 'beer cocktail"?

Some of the new stuff I've learnt is interesting. Some of it is opinion dressed up as fact. Some of it is a bit obvious and some, a bit banal.

A bit like the book.

But, despite my nit picking, I'm quite taken by the Oxford Companion. It's my new boomerang book. One that I will keep returning to in order to broaden and deepen my knowledge and understanding of my favourite pastime, Beer.

It is a worthwhile, much needed resource and one to be welcomed.

Review copy of the book provided by Oxford University Press.

The Carlisle Beer Festival - A Review

2011-10-16T14:07:00.002+01:00

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Last weekend, I was faced with a rather nice beery choice to make. I could jump on the train and head to the Ayrshire coast for the Troon Beer Festival or I could go further south, across the border, to Solway CAMRA's Carlisle Beer Festival.

Decisions, decisions.

I had a quick look at the respective beer lists and while Troon's had merit and some great beers on show, Carlisle's list just swung it for me due to there being a number of beers and breweries that I hadn't had yet and the temptation of trying something new was just too hard to resist.

Carlisle, It was then.

It's only just over an hour from Glasgow on train which meant I could finish work, get the train and be at Carlisle just in time for the start of the Friday evening session. I didn't have to travel very far when hitting Carlisle as the venue was the Landmark Hotel right next to the station. Result.

This is the twenty first time the event has been held and it appears to be going from strength to strength. Last year's was drunk dry early on the Saturday night and in anticipation of increased demand this year, the organisers have upped the beers available from 35 to 50.

The beers are mostly from Cumbria, the Scottish Borders and North East England and there is an eclectic mix of styles available encompassing standard bitters, milds, pale ales, heavily hopped red ales and even some German style pilsners, dunkels and alts.

Vouchers bought and friends met, I settled down to have a look at the programme and choose my first beer.

I opted for a beer from a rather elusive brewery. Abraham Thompson's Brewery from Barrow-in-Furness. Founded in 2004, John Mulholland brews only occassionally from his half barrelled plant and always dark and roasty beers. Their 3.8% Lickerish Stout is available at the festival and my friends, who arrived before me and have tried the stout already, are raving about it and twist my arm to make it my first beer.

a very generous half pint of Abraham Thompson

I'm glad that they did because it is a well made and very enjoyable beer. It drinks well above it's ABV with a full bodied mouthfeel well balanced with heavy roast flavours and a bitter bite. The liqourice is subtle and fairly well hidden but brings a nice level of sweetness to the beer. I like it and make a mental note to locate and try more of Abraham Thompson's beers.

I like Hardknott beers. They make some great beers, particularly Aether Blaec, Infra Red and Dark Energy, and I've been impressed by Mr Hardknott, Dave Bailey's crusade to increase the profile of beer in the media, particularly cookery shows, as a perfect match for food.

there is always one cider drinker

I hadn't tried their Cool Fusion beer before and I was looking forward to it. It's described as having a 'hint of sweet ginger' with a 'thirst quenching gentle finish' that's 'perfect with sushi'. In for a penny in for a pound, I asked the CAMRA volunteers if any sushi was available. Alas, it had all been sold and was instead offered some hand massaged Kobe beef but I declined and instead settled for a half of Hardknott's Cool Fusion.

It had a gorgeous, aromatic nose that profiled the ginger notes of the beer superbly well. The smell promised so much but the rest of the beer failed to deliver on the expectations created by the great aroma. It was thin, hollow and not much else other than a slight ginger taste and some alcohol burn at the back of the throat. It was inoffensive, disappointing and quite bland. I didn't finish it. I remain unconvinced and unconverted by ginger beer or should that be beer with ginger? The only beer in this style that has floated my boat has been Marble Brewery's Ginger.

Time for pale and hoppy.

Of which, there were many at the festival. I particularly liked Hawkshead's Windermere Pale. It's hoptastic and beautifully balanced beer with loads of lively, zingy citrus fruits that refresh and slide down effortlessly. It's a perfect 3.5% session beer that's not unlike one of my all times fave beers, Fyne Ales' fantastic Jarl. Incidentally, both of Hawkshead's two brews on show at the festival, the Windermere and their NZPA, were among the first to be finished at festival. Clearly, the punters have got very good taste as these are both superb beers.

Another pale and hoppy that was on great form was North Riding Brew Pub's, Neilson Sauvin. As the name suggests, it's got lovely Nelson Sauvin hops that give it a lovely fresh gooseberry and floral notes and a big, bold bitterness that lingers long after the last drops of the beer have been drained from the glass.

Stringers Beer's, Big Clock was also noteworthy. It's a seasonal beer from the Ulverston brewery and it was full of easy drinking goodness that marries delicate floral flavours and a biscuity backbone to create a lovely, little beer.

It was nearing time for my train back north and with three tokens left, I had some difficult decisions to make. What was to be my final trio of beers?

I settled on Oakwell Brewery's, Barnsley Bitter, Steel City Brewing's, Sheffield Hop Infusion Team and Tyne Bank Brewery's, Alt Bier.

I was very impressed by the Barnsley Bitter. It was beautifully conditioned and had a super smooth and sweet malt mouthfeel and a good level of bitterness from the Fuggles and Goldings hops. It's on a par with Acorn Brewery's Barnsley Bitter. It also had the prettiest pumpclip of the festival. If pretty pumpclips are your thing.

a pretty pump clip

Tyne Bank's, Alt Bier was rather nice too. It was full of rich, resinous fruit on the nose and some caramel and chocolate in the mouth. It's been lagered for two months and this has created a smooth, superb beer. It tasted the way a proper brown ale should. Lovely.

a not so pretty yet informative pump clip

Last beer before home was Steel City Brewing's, Sheffield Hop Infusion Team. It's a big old beer. A 5.7% aromatic hop cocktail of Galena, Chinook, Simcoe and Nelson Sauvin. It was similar to a robust, aggressive American IPA but without the crackle of crystal malt. It was a very fine beer indeed.

I would have liked to have stayed a bit longer and tried more of Steel City's S.H.I.T. beer but time waits for no one and I had a train to catch to take me home.

Good beers, Good festival, Good night.

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The End of a Beera

2011-10-05T20:37:00.003+01:00

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I really like The Jolly Butchers. It's one of my favourite pubs in London. It is a happy, friendly and welcoming place where some fantastic beer is served.

It's become my 'local' when I'm down watching Spurs and have enjoyed every minute I spend there.

It's only been open for a couple of years and this relatively short space of time it's managed to secure heaps of awards, it's most recent being the Beard Friendly Pub of the Year from Keith Flett's, Beard Liberation Front. It's also gained a substantial reputation and an affectionate place in the beery hearts of drinkers from North London and beyond.

Did I mention the beers?

The beer choice never fails to disappoint and The Jolly Butchers has done it's bit to showcase and promote the best London's thriving microbreweries have got to offer and it's played an important role in attracting a lot of new drinkers to the wonderful world of gorgeous, well made and very tasty beer.

Many things have made this pub the success that it is but, undoubtedly, much credit must go to the person that has been at epicentre of overseeing operations, sourcing the great beers and sating the beery wishes of it's thirsty customers. The person I'm referring to is Emma Cole, bar manager of The Jolly Butchers.

She's been running the Butchers for a bit now and her knowledge and enthusiasm for beer has made the pub what it is - a hub for excellent beer and all round cracking pub.

However, all good things must come to an end and Emma is leaves The Jolly Butchers today for pastures new and a fresh, exciting challenge. She's taking up residency and will be working her beery magic in one of Brighton's oldest pubs, The Spotted Dog. The pub which dates back to 1790, formerly known as the Hop Poles, has just reopened under it's original name and Emma has been given a free hand to choose some fantastic beers for the pub. Brighton's drinkers are in for a treat.

It's the end of a beera for The Jolly Butchers but the start of a great adventure for Emma. Her farewell shindig takes place at the Butchers tonight and it says a lot for the regard that Emma is held in by London's Brewers that several of them have produced one off beers for Emma's big send off. One, appropriately enough, is called the 'Queen of Stoke Newington'.

I wish Emma all the very best in her new role.

The Jolly Butchers loss is The Spotted Dog's substantial gain.

Good Luck, Emma.
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Profanity Stout? I'll Swear By It.

2011-09-28T18:33:00.004+01:00

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Yesterday (27th Sept) saw the end of Sainsburys Great British Beer Hunt. I've made progress on ploughing through the bottles I picked up and if there's any justice in the beer world, then there can only be one winner as far as I'm concerned.

One beer sticks out as head and shoulders above the rest of the other beers participating in the competition. That beer is Williams Brothers Profanity Stout.

I say Williams Bros but that's not quite the full story.

It may be brewed and bottled by Williams Brothers but it's not their beer. The beer is actually made by Heriot Watt students as part of their brewing course studies. The students in question are Peter and Craig - the 'Balls to the Wall' brewing duo who have managed to create one of the nicest stouts that I have tasted in a very long time.

The Profanity Stout is the first beer in a range made by Williams Brothers called the 'Chapeau' series. An interesting approach to beer making in which Williams Brothers "celebrate the skills of amateur brewers whose beers we think are exceptional and should be made available to a wider audience".

I'm not the first to write about it. Others have already (here, here and here) thrown their tuppence worth in and it seems to have been well received. I found it really rather nice.

It pours thick and dark with a Caramac coloured head that gives off a fairly bold nose that zips with fruity aromas and a slight touch of schooldays carbolic soap. It had a thinner mouthfeel than I expected but this didn't prevent the delicious roasted coffee and licquorice, dipped delicately in dark chocolate flavours coming through strongly in this beer that drinks dangerously less than it's 7% ABV fighting weight.

Here's hoping the positive reviews about it translate to hard sales at Sainsburys checkouts and this beer becomes one of the Sainsbury Great Beer Hunt winners. That way, the Profanity Stout would become a welcome and regular addition to their beer selection.

Profanity Stout?

It's fcuking lovely!

Update No1
Boo! There is no justice in the beer world. This guy has just informed me that it didn't make the final eight. It seems a gorgeous 7% stout was just too adventurous for Sainsbury's drinkers beer tastes. Boo!

Update No2
Yay! Mr Guest Beer Guide has just informed me that Sainsburys are selling their beer hunt beers at 20% off original price. that means you can pick up Profanity Stout for £1.51 while stocks last. Get on it, Folks. Yay!

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The Past is a Foreign Country

2011-09-26T11:58:00.002+01:00

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There used to be a time when beer was viewed and revered as a valuable source of nourishing vitamins and minerals. The health giving properties of beer were promoted and positively emphasised in the adverts of the time and it wasn't uncommon to see mother and baby enjoying an imbibication or nursey dispensing beer as a medicinal tonic for the convalescing infirm. As the adverts below show, beer was the tincture to cure most ills.

Beer for baby and essential to give mummy a healthy glow and keep her breasts perky instead of an anaemic and listless Kathy Burke looky likey.

An alcoholic Werthers Originals moment to help you 'Cultivate the Rainier Beer habit' with the Grandchildren. Beer for the young and not so young.

Beer for the infirm. Usually dispensed by nurse or matron to reinforce it's health giving and restorative properties.

Beer to immunise against the health privations of a cruel British winter.

Beer as a regular source of nutrition for 'invalids'.

However, the past is a foreign country and the perception of beer as a pick-me-up and a source of healthy goodness has gone and been replaced by 'public information campaigns' like the one below designed to instill guilt and self loathing in the minds of those that like a beer.

Drinking Beer makes your glass bigger

There's a charming naivete and endearing innocence about those beer adverts from times past. Try 'cultivating a beer habit' with your 10 year old granddaughter these days and the chances of you getting a visit from the Social Work department and your face in the local paper would be, I imagine, very high. Which is probably just as well.

These adverts speak of a different time.

A time before the Portman Group, the Advertising Standards Agency, Trading Standards and a powerful health lobby existed.

Beer is still good for you. It hasn't changed. Drinking beer in moderate quantities can be beneficial to your health.

Just don't give it to the grandchildren.

Tell them to get their own.

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Beer, Brown and Big Brother Go West

2011-09-23T13:02:00.007+01:00

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I find myself in the stunning surroundings of West Brewing in Glasgow's East End for what sounds like a rather interesting, innovative and unique beer event that is taking place here as part of the Social Media Week Glasgow.

The event which draws me here is a Social Beer Tasting involving four beers, four brewers, a room full of people twittering their views (#SMWbeer) about the beers and countless others watching and participating via the live stream link up. The proceedings were chaired by 'Britain's most prolific and influential beer writer', Pete Brown.

The Brewing Overlord

He may have been chairing the event but overseeing it was the 'massive headed brewing Overlords' from Magic Rock Brewing, Rich and Stu who were linked up via Skype to the event from their Huddersfield base and cast an imposing yet benign Orwellian shadow by dint of their huge faces being projected on to the screen behind the assembled panel. It provided much mirth and merriment for those watching it on the live feed and tracking it on twitter.

Beer's Big Brother was watching us and by the looks of things, he was having a jolly old time.

Pete Brown's in fine form and having a jolly old time too as he gave us some advice on how to taste and appreciate beer prior to our first glass of the evening being poured.

"Neck the beer" was his first piece of advice. "Beer drinker swallow, don't spit" was his second as jugs of our first beer, West Brewery's Hefeweizen were placed on our tables. I've had this beer many times before and it rarely disappoints. Tonight it was on top form. A beery banoffee pie of a brew made with 80% wheat. It thought it was lovely and, judging by the tweets, others did too as it was described as having a "complex aroma but light refreshing flavour".

Petra from West explained the brewing process behind the hefeweizen and also spoke about the success of her Brewery and showed considerable pride in it's achievements not only in terms of growing the business (they have plans for a shiny new brewery twenty times larger than current capacity) but for also bringing manufacturing back to the East End of Glasgow.

The second beer was another long standing favourite of mine. It's Harviestoun's Schiehallion and as Pete Brown said in introducing the beer, "It proves that lager can be just as good as an ale". Some discussion followed as to whether it is a lager or a pale ale. It's a lager due to it's method of production but it ultimately doesn't matter. You can call it what you want. I call it a bloody nice beer.

Kelburn's Cart Blanche was next. It's another local beer made just outside Glasgow. A small family micro-brewery turning out 30 barrels a week of consistent, well made tasty beer. It's fairly malty with a delicate and lovely hop balance. I've had it on better form but taking into account that it was being taken from the cask, decanted into jugs and then carried across the brewery to our tables it was still an enjoyable beer.

raising a toast to Social Media Week

The last beer on was the one that I had been especially waiting for. It had been chosen by Pete Brown because he believes that this fledgling brewery represents a perfect example of a company that has used social media superbly well.

You can see why Pete asked Magic Rock Brewing to participate. They are a social media success story in the making. They have only been up and running since the start of the summer but they have managed to built up a phenomonal social media profile and legions of supportive and appreciative followers. The fact that they make really great beers also help but getting the branding right and connecting with their audience through Twitter and Facebook has helped them grow the company. As Magic Rock Rich said, "We wouldn't exist without social media".

Rich and Stu were in Huddersfield but they had sent up some of their Human Cannonball up for us to try. It's a big old beast weighing in at 9.2%ABV. It's Double IPA which means that it's had the hop volume turned up to Spinal Tap levels. And it's very drinkable. Very drinkable. It's chock full of loads of North American hops and has a sweet kick to it and a strong, pungent aroma that reminds some of cat piss. Others, such as Brown, of "damp dishcloths". For some in the room, it was their first experience of such a big beer. It was interesting watching peoples reactions. Some were instantly taken by it. Others, slowly won over by it.

It certainly made an impact and an impression. As did the Magic Rock Brewing Overlords Rich and Stu, whose irreverence and good humour endeared them to those in the room and others watching at home.

I liked the Human Cannonball. It reminded me of a sweeter, fruitier, better balanced and easier drinking Hardcore IPA.

As the beer flowed the discussion continued with a range of beery topics flying about - the ethos of craft beer, the importance of branding, BrewDog, beers next big thing and others beside.

It was a stonking social media evening and excellent tutored tasting. Many thanks to the Organisers for puting it all together, Pete Brown for holding it all together, the brewers for their beers and to the Massive Headed Magic Rock Brewing Overlords for keeping us entertained.

Cheers.

The Ayrshire Real Ale Festival

2011-09-22T16:47:00.003+01:00

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The Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Ayrshire Beer Festival returns to Troon Concert Hall on Thursday, 6th October.

The event, which has been going for twelve years, will feature around 125 real ales and a selection of cider, perry and even some wine. Half of the beers will be from Scottish Brewers with the rest coming from other parts of the UK. Included in the line up are local brews from the likes of Arran Brewery and the Ayr Brewing Company as well as this year's CAMRA Champion Beer of Scotland, Cuillin Beast from the Isle of Skye and the 2011 Champion Beer of Britain, Essex brewery Mighty Oak's, Oscar Wilde. A rather nice Mild that I quite enjoyed at this year's Great British Beer Festival.

The festival opens to the public at 5pm on Thursday the 6th and continues until the Saturday. The admission cost has been held at £4 and visitors to the festival pay only once for the entire weekend and will use their souvenir beer glass as a ticket for re-entry after their first visit. Not a bad deal at all.

As Graeme Watt of CAMRA's Ayrshire and Wigtownshire branch says,

"The festival has come a long way since it began all those years ago. This year we expect to have around 3,000 people come through the door to enjoy the very best of British beer. The Ayrshire Real Ale Festival is a superb day or night out and a great chance to try beers that are not easily found in pubs or shops in the West of Scotland. Everyone who enjoys a beer should come along and experience just how fantastic good beer can be."

Can't say fairer than that.

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Stone Brewing at BrewDog, Glasgow

2011-09-21T21:06:00.010+01:00

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And so it came to pass.

Mrs Monkey wanted toasted cheese and a nice cuppa tea. With provisions running low, I was dispatched to the Kwik-e-Mart to pick up some thick white and semi skimmed.

Whilst out on my mission to feed the hungry, I thought I would reward myself for such a good deed by popping in to my local for a quick pint.

My luck was in as some Fyne Ales' Hurricane Jack was on the board. Result, I thought as I settled down to enjoy my reward pint of some lovely, refreshing beer.

No sooner had I scooped the first mouthful down my eager, receptive throat that I received a text from a mate asking me why I wasn't at BrewDog's Glasgow Bar and informing me that I was missing a seriously good night of beer action involving one of my favourite U.S. craft beer brands, the Stone Brewing Company. Not only would loads of lovely Stone beers be available on tap but also in attendance would be Stone's Main Man and Craft Beer's Spiritual Leader and Hop Guru, Greg Koch. BrewDog had previously held a Stone beer evening at their Edinburgh bar a while back but, to my regret, I couldn't make it.

It looked like Mrs Monkey's toasted cheese would have to wait.....

I arrived at BrewDog to find that it was standing room only with a throng three deep at the bar with thirsty punters eager to get their hands on some superb Stone beers. My default setting when hitting a bar is for my eyes to locate and lock on to the beer selection available. The guest beer board was firmly in my sights and as I scoped it, my eyes lit up as I focused on the beers available. A mighty fine selection of Stone were on.

Yowser! Wowser!

Smoked Porter
Cali Belgique
Stone IPA
Ruination IPA
Sublimely Self Righteous Stout
Russian Imperial Stout
Old Guardian Barley Wine
Arrogant Bastard
Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard
Double Bastard

Friends met and first beer bought, I settled down to enjoy some lovely beer in a great bar. I really like the BrewDog Glasgow bar. It's a great place to try some fantastic and exciting beers from some of the best craft brewers from around the globe. It also knows how to put on some cracking nights.

From the corner of my eye, I caught glimpse of a tall figure climbing on to the bar, steadying himself and with hands held aloft and haloed by the light he motioned to the crowd to quieten them down to an observant silence.

It was Greg Koch, Mr Stone Brewing and the chief cheerleader for the 'Craft Beer Revolution'. This guy doesn't lack confidence or will ever be described as an introverted wall flower. Wearing a T-shirt with his face printed on it and each hand stamped in black ink adorned with the same image, if this guy was chocolate he would be minus an arm and a half chewed elbow.

Greg Koch

Hell Yeah!

He was on a mission. An evangelical mission, from the great beer God, to convert as many unbelievers and IPA infidels to the cause of the Craft Beer Revolution. Judging from the amount of 'Yeahs', 'Hell Yeahs' , 'Awesomes' and even the odd 'Hallelujahs' among the punters it appeared that he was rallying the faithful and addressing his disciples.

Awesome!

Part old school 1980's tele-evangelist, part craft beer cult leader he had the drinkers slurping out the palms of his stamped hands with his boundless enthusiasm for beer that's as contagious as winter flu in an old folk's home.

His words wafted over me in a hyperbolic haze of hops and glory. "Craft Beer Revolution", "Awesome", "Radical". It was all a bit craft beer bingo and over the top but good fun nonetheless.

I warmed to Greg Koch. I liked him. His West Coast American positivity and puppy dog enthusiasm were infectious and charming.

But that's not important. What's important is the beer and Stone make great beer. I had their IPA, the Sublimely Self Righteous and a taste of the Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard. They were as I expected. Fantastic.

Greg Koch is not the Messiah. But his beers taste like heaven.

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Same Beer. Four Different Pints.

2011-09-20T18:12:00.002+01:00

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I've recently been out and about doing some 'investigative research' and enjoying a few nice beer in some of Glasgow's better bars.

One beer that I've 'researched' more than others recently is a new offering from one of my favourite Scottish breweries, Fyne Ales. It's their West Highland Black IPA (WHBIPA) and for the past few weeks it's been making an appearance in The Three Judges, The Bon Accord, The State Bar and The Laurieston.

As you'd expect from Fyne Ales, it's a well made, tasty beer from a brewery with a reputation for crafting well made, tasty beers. However, what has struck me, imbibing this beer in four different establishments in just over a week, is that how much of a difference cellarmanship and correctly looking after the beer once it has hit the pub can make to the taste, aroma, flavour and overall enjoyment of the beer.

Some of WHBIPA I've sampled has been simply out of this world. The State Bar, for example, presented a stunning and well looked after, fantastic example of this beer. It was full of intense hop nose and creamy roast malt served at a temperature that allowed each of the flavours in the beer to be savoured and enjoyed in a beautifully balanced pint.

In another pub, the beer was served too warm and from the condition of the beer, I got the impression that it had not been cellared long enough for the beer to settle. In context, it was the first pint of the day poured in this pub and it may have not been pulled through the line thoroughly enough. In another, it was too cold and this masked some of the more subtle flavours of the beer.

It got me thinking.

How many times has beer left breweries in great nick only for it to be let down at the final hurdle in the pub due to it not sitting long enough, being poorly conditioned, badly poured or served as if it was a cold lager or tepid mug of bovril?

My favourite drink is getting too expensive these days to be playing beery Russian Roulette with my next pint not knowing whether it will be in awesome, awful or just alright condition. I know the Cask Marque system of accreditation exists as an indicator of a pub that serves well kept beer and the nature of beer as a living product means that it will change in the cask but sometimes there's no excuse for sloppy cellarcraft in some pubs.

Is it too much to ask that if pubs are selling Real Ale they concentrate on getting the basics right first?
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The Great British Beer Hunt Part 2

2011-09-18T22:36:00.002+01:00

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As reported in a previous blog, the Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt is in full swing and it's only right that I should do my bit to participate in the proceedings by making a start on some of the bottles I picked up from their store last week.

My first couple of choices were beased on the recommendations of some pals who had beaten me to trying them first. Two beers kept being mentioned in despatches as really nice beers and well worth trying. These were Harviestoun's Wild Hop IPA and Wye Valley Brewery's Wye Not.

One brewery I was familiar with, the other my knowledge of them was limited. That, perhaps, is one of the reasons why the Great British Beer Hunt is such a good idea. It gives drinkers the opportunity to try some beers from other parts of the country that you wouldn't ordinarily see in your local supermarket and at 3 for a fiver, there's not much financial risk involved if they turn out rank and not up to the job.

The first beer into my glass was fromWye Valley. My knowledge of this Herefordshire brewery is limited to their Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout which I've always found to be most agreeable on the few ocassions that I've had it. So, I was quite looking forward to trying Wye Not, a 4.5% bottle conditioned golden ale made with pale malt as well as Target and Celeia hops.

The glug from the bottle to glass revealed a paleish, golden amber coloured beer that had a fairly soft but lively carbonation that resulted in a inch thick loose white head at the top of the glass. It had a slightly bready nose with just a hint of grassy, citrus hops. These hints of hops intensify and become more apparent from aroma to taste as the citrus spice fill my mouth. There's also a trace of sweet floral honey that is very pleasant. Sugar and spice and all things nice.

The beer finishes with a crisp, satisfyingly bitter finish. Overall, it was a refreshing and very drinkable beer and one that I can see myself having again.

Harviestoun's Wild Hop IPA was next. Harviestoun are a Scottish brewery who have a solid reputation for turning out consistently tasty and well made beers. Their Ola Dubh series of whisky cask aged beers are sought after and well regarded and their range of cask beers usually tick all the boxes for me. Their range of beers just gets better and better with this summer's American IPA being a great addition.

The Wild Hop IPA was originally showcased in cask form at last October's Wetherspoons Real Ale festival. It's a very well hopped golden ale that thinks it's an IPA. It uses a variety of U.S. and U.K. hops and it's an interesting and aggressive beast that screams with coarse orange and grapefruit bitterness that carries through to a slightly abrasive finish. I found it a beer that lacked balance. It was tasty and fairly refreshing beer but I found that it lacked balance. There was too much hop action going on that it overwhelmed what malt backbone there was. Others have really enjoyed this beer because of the big hop profile and normally this would be something that I would be looking for too but with this beer it doesn't quite pull it off.

Wye Not or Wild Hop?

Wye Not for me.
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The Great British Beer Hunt Part 1

2011-09-15T23:35:00.002+01:00

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Sainsburys have just launched their annual Great British Beer Hunt in which 16 beers compete for the much coveted honour of winning some Sainsbury shelf space and becoming a regular fixture in the beer aisles of Sainsbury's 500 plus supermarkets.

For the winners, it's a pretty substantial prize that could take their beer and their business to a whole new level and market. The competition is open until the 27th of September.

The 16 finalists were selected by Sainsbury customers and there are some pretty nifty beers from some pretty nifty breweries in the final sixteen. As well as the Caledonian Brewery Co. Can't have everything, I suppose.

The 16 beers in the running to win the competition are:

Wild Hop IPA, Harviestoun Brewery
Caesar Augustus, Williams Brothers
Profanity Stout, Williams Brothers
Flying Dutchman Wit Bier, Caledonian Brewing Co
Ivanhoe, Ridgeway Brewing,
Bad King John, Ridgeway Brewing,
Stronghart, McMullen's
Bishop’s Farewell, Oakham Ales
Wye Not, Wye Valley Brewery
Churchill Ale, Oxfordshire Ales
Golden Seahawk, Cotleigh Brewery
Full Bore, Hunter's Brewery,
Two Hoots Golden Ale, Holt's
Golden Summe, Wold Top Brewery,
Frederic’s Great British Ginger Beer, Frederic Robinson,
Worcester Sorcerer, Sadler's Ales.

The top four in terms of sales at the end of September will go forward to the final and the winner chosen shortly afterwards.

It's a good bit of fun and a great excuse and opportunity to pick up some rather nice beers youy wouldn't normally see in the supermarket shelves. At three bottles for a fiver, you can't really go wrong.

I popped in to my local Sainsburys today and picked up a dozen of the sixteen on the shortlist and over the next week or so i'll be blogging my opinions on each of the beers.

I'll be tasting, reviewing and hopefully enjoying them until you get bored, I get bored or my liver phones for a taxi.

First up, tomorrow, will be a couple of IPA's - Harviestoun's Wild Hop IPA and Oxfordshire Ales' Churchill IPA.

You can read more about Sainsburys Great British Beer Hunt here, here and here.

De Molen Vuur & Vlam

2011-09-10T01:03:00.004+01:00

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You generally can't go wrong with De Molen beers.

They make quite exceptional beers that have a complex depth of taste and flavour underscored by an adventurous and experimental streak that not only borrows from the past but also, potentially, sets the standard for the future.

Their closest UK comparison is, in my view, The Kernel Brewery. I say that because both produce a wide variety of short production one off beers that don't shirk in terms of experimenting with a variety of styles with diverse and interesting hop and malt flavours. Not only that but they, like The Kernel, don't shy away from recreating and replicating historic and long forgotten beers recipes.

So, it's with considerable pleasure and a grin on my face that I sit, on a Friday night, with an empty glass and a 750ml bottle of De Molen's Vuur & Vlam in front of me that are both crying out to be joined in beery matrimony. It's a big old beast weighing in at 6.2% ABV that comes in a rather attractive corked and caged 750 ml bottle.

No time to waste, I unite the beer with the glass as it spurts aggressively into the glass with a lively gaseous splurge of golden orange liquid with a head so big it would make John Merrick green with bitter envy. The over carbonation may be down to this beer being both top and bottom fermented. Whatever the reason, it's a frothy headed gusher of a beer.

It smelled fresh with an aromatic nose of warm spice pepperyness that carried through into the mouth and beautifully collided with the piney, citrus and kiwi fruit essence from the Chinook, Cascade, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. The Galena hops give a rounded bitterness that stood it's ground very well against the fairly robust caramel sweet malt spine.

The pepper notes are fairly constant throughout and even lingers through into the dry and substantive bitter finish.

De Molen's Vuur & Vlam translates as 'Fire and Flames' and it's appropriately monikered.

There's a very elegant spicy pepper edge to the beer that sits very well against the body of a punchy, well hopped IPA.

It's not half bad.
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BrewDog Jumps the Shark.....Again

2011-09-08T17:07:00.009+01:00

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At first glance, I thought it was a neat self deprecating pisstake in which Fraserburgh's self appointed beer punks, BrewDog, attempt a rather nice slice of self parody. But it turns out to be 100% genuine, above board and for real.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about BrewDog's latest ~~gimmick~~ venture in which they have created, what they claim is, the world's strongest fermented beer. It's a 28% ABV blonde ale that's been aged in all sorts of 'ground breaking' and 'amazing' places - Gaddafi's Tripoli tent, Anne Widdecombe's thong and Stephen Hawkins' football boots among others.*

It's called Ghost Deer and will be served from the head of a proper real live deer that's dead. There must have been a bit of a sale on at the taxidermist's when they were picking up the squirrels and stoat for End of History.

Don't these folks know that beers served from animals is so last year?

BrewDog describe the beer as a 'beautiful' 'masterpiece' and a 'schizophrenic delusional screw up of a drink'. They say that it's a concept that has 'torn up convention', 'blurred distinctions' and 'challenged perceptions' in a 'defiant' and 'irreverent' fashion.

Clearly, hollow hyperbole is an art form just north of Aberdeen.

So, what's next for our brewing Burke and Hare? A cadaver that dispenses different beers from each rotting orifice? A Bangkok dancer than fires Imperial Porter filled ping pong balls from her poonanny into the open mouths of exhilarated BrewDog lovers? A hefeweizen dry hopped with hubris?

I'm sure it's meant as a bit of fun and a way of getting some cheap publicity but, boy, it's getting a bit tedious now.

Enough already.

*not sure about this bit. I might have been lied to.

Get Brewing.

2011-09-05T07:07:00.002+01:00

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Word reaches me of a very interesting and exciting competition for those of us that like to indulge in some nice home brewing every now and again.

Those that don't know their sparging from their supping, please look away now.

Pub chain Nicholsons and top brewery Thornbridge have got together to launch the Great British Home Brew Challenge 2011 with an aim to find the best home brewed beer in the UK.

The competition, which began on the 1st of September, will provide 'home brewers with an opportunity to match their beers against those of other enthusiasts, and have them tasted by a panel of expert beer judges'.

The winning home brewer will see their beer recipe professionally produced at Thornbridge's Brewery and distributed and on sale in Nicholsons 100 pubs across the UK.

It sounds like a fun competition with not only a great prize for the lucky winner but also an emphasis on creating exciting beers made with innovation, tradition and a modicum of modernity.

A bit like Thornbridge, themselves.

As Thornbridge's, Simon Webster says "the Challenge will be a celebration of the British tradition of brewing..and for people to embrace many of the new flavours in beers from across the world. We will look for Passion, Innovation and Knowledge as key factors in the judging".

So, if you are a keen home brewer that thinks your beer is good enough and quite like the idea of it being made by one of the best breweries in the country and available in over a hundred pubs, the best thing you could do is enter the competition.

Get Brewing, folks.

You can find out more information about the competition here

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and the winner is......

2011-09-04T21:55:00.001+01:00

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The entries have been scrutinised and the results are finally in. Last month, I ran a caption competition to accompany a truly godawful beer advert from a Romanian brewer.

The best caption to Ursus', possibly the worst, beer advert in the world has been chosen and I can reveal the winner of four pretty special bottles of beer from my secret beer cupboard.

The winning caption was....

Ursus: a perineal favourite

The winning entrant was Dan Brown.

If Dan can contact me at thebeermonk3y@gmail.com then I can get those beers to him.

Many thanks to those that entered (teehee).

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Is this the Worst Beer Advert Ever?

2011-08-30T21:46:00.004+01:00

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I've just come across this beer advert.

Stop sniggering at the back.

It's for Ursus beer from Bucharest and it's supposedly one of the best selling beers in it's native country. Indeed, it brands itself as 'The King of Romanian Beers'.

The lack of a caption leaves me confused as to what message it's trying to convey about the beer or the people that drink it.

That's where you come in. I said "Stop sniggering at the back!"

I'll give four lovely bottles from my special beer cupboard for the best/funniest/smuttiest caption to accompany the Ursus beer advert.

Leave your caption in the comments section below.

I'll decide the winner this Sunday.

Over 18 and UK entrants only.

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Some Good Beer Blogs

2011-08-26T22:28:00.003+01:00

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I write about beer. I enjoy writing about beer. Others do too and there are some very good bloggers out there who manage to communicate and articulate their opinions and ideas about the wonderful world of beer in a manner that engages, involves and helps you appreciate beer and it's beautiful subculture just a little bit more.

So, what follows are some of this month's beer blogs that I have particularly appreciated and enjoyed.

First up,

- Neil from Eating isn't Cheating blog puts forward his opinions on the question of unfined beer and asks whether "Britain is ready for Cloudy Beer"? It prompted quite a healthy debate.

- Mr Al, from Guest Beer Guide tends to write only once in a while but when he does it can be a rip roaring snortfest in which he posts the best of his Twitter feed from the previous month. A lot of it is West of Scotland beer scene related nonsense but don't let that stop you from enjoying the kneejerk, humourous comment from some of Glasgow's most sclerotic drunks.

- Alistair from Fuggled, in response to this and this, gives us his balanced view on BrewDog and their knack of being able to polarise opinion. The marmite of the beer world.

- You generally can't go wrong with Pete Brown's writings. He usually cuts through the beer bullshit and gets to the heart of the matter in an erudite and articulate fashion. In this blog, Pete introduces the August episode and final instalment of a dozen video blogs about British beer that he's been working on for the past year. It takes place at this year's Great British Beer Festival and well worth the watch.

- The last blog recommendation is easy reading in that it's not the most the word heavy blog in the world but it does contain some really lovely pictures of pubs in Glasgow. The blog Glasgow Bars and a Crane manages to take the most sumptious and attractive images of Glasgow pubs that capture the, often overlooked, beauty of these establishments. It's a lush blog and well worth checking out.

Did I say last blog recommendation?

Sod it. One more.

- While I'm on the subject of great pictoral blogs that capture the essence of a pub or beery moment, you can't do much wrong by having a look at the Beer Lens' blog for some stunning photographs of this year's Great British Beer Festival.

Enjoy.

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London Pubs: The Craft Beer Co

2011-08-25T07:07:00.003+01:00

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Whilst down in that there London for the Great British Beer Festival, I thought I'd use the time and opportunity wisely to visit some of London's pubs that have been making great hop filled waves in the London beer scene. Some, I've spent many a long night in before while others were new to me and had to be sought out and experienced for the first time.

The searing London August heat and a tube journey so painfully humid that it's final destination could have been Hades itself had left me extremely parched and in need of some liquid refreshment as I headed up from the bowels of the Underground oven and into the city centre sunshine.

I wanted beer and The Craft Beer Co, in Clerkenwell, as my first port of call in my mini London pub tour was going to provide it.. Much has been written about it (Mr Dredge , Mr Tandleman and Mr Ghost Drinker cover it well) since it opened a couple of months ago. It's the sister pub of the Cask Pub and Kitchen in Pimlico and in it's short time trading, Craft Beer Co has managed to attract a keen following drawn to it's huge and eclectic collection of home grown and international cask and keg beer.

The handpumps stretch the entire length of the bar and provide the opportunity to gawp, open mouthed, at the choice of 37 different beers with 16 cask and 21 keg on offer. It's also got over a hundred bottles, including Artisanal Norwegian water that is, I presume, made with passion. But don't let the wankiness of the water put you off. It's a great pub.

Welcome to the Craft Water Revolution

Oh, and their house lager comes from Mikkeller, which is a bit of a coup.

It wasn't the only Mikkeller on as I had stumbled in to what can only be described as Mikkeller madness. Over a dozen of the Danish beers were on and picking the first beer among the throng to quench my thirst was a very difficult decision.

Beer.....as far as the eye can see

Spoilt for choice is an understatement. My eyes darted from pumpclip to pumpclip, left, right, left, right and back again struggling to take in the beery options available in front of me. Like a glutton in a pie shop, I just couldn't make my mind up what I wanted first but that's a happy problem to have and it's probably one that most visitors to Craft experience. I wasn't complaining as the selection in front of me was truly exceptional.

A Myriad of Mikkeller

It's a cracking pub and proof positive that the explosion in the London beer scene is not just the stuff of twitterous rumour but it is happening and happening very quickly. That's great news for the growing number of beer drinkers who want to try new and different beers from a wide range of beers from home and abroad.

The cask available when I was in included Thornbridge, Dark Star, Magic Rock, Camden Town and Redemption and their commitment by Craft to recognise the value and importance of cask beer and support fledgling, young breweries can only be applauded.

With the combination of cask and keg available it's clear that the bottom line for Craft is that good beer is good beer regardless of method of dispense. Given the popularity of Craft since it opened, it's a philosophy that appears to be working.

The Craft Beer Co works not only because of the range of beers available but because it meets the tastes and sates the beery appetites of an ever evolving beer market filled with drinkers who want their next beer to be their best beer and who aren't afraid to stretch their beer horizons.

With pubs like Craft around, it's a great time to be a beer drinker.

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Cumbrian Pubs - The Eagle and Child

2011-08-24T07:17:00.001+01:00

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Having had an absolute blast at the fantastic Hawkshead Beer Festival, Mrs Monkey and myself decided to stick the tent in the car and head back to the Cumbrian Lakes a few weeks later to appreciate further some of the lovely pubs that can be found in that part of the world.

One such pub can be found in Staveley. It's called the Eagle and Child and it was easy to see why it has won various awards for it's beers and hospitality including Cumbrian Camra Pub of the Year in 2007 and runner up in The Guardian's Best Pub Garden.

It is a welcoming, warming and rather nice place, full of hidden nooks, bay windowed corners and walls strewn with various beer ephemera, memorabilia and bric a brac from ale times gone by. It's avery homely and pleasant environment to waste away a drizzly Cumbrian late afternoon and evening.

It is a very popular place with both locals and visitors clearly drawn to the excellent locally sourced food and the superb beer range that come from many of the Cumbrian breweries nearby.

The five handpumps were doing a roaring trade when we were in serving some beautifully kept beers from the likes of Dent, Kirkby Lonsdale, Tirril, Ulverston, Coniston and Hawkshead with the standout being Staveley's own Hawkshead Windermere Pale. A 3.5% light session summer ale that picked up a brace of Silver medals at this year's Brewing Industry Awards and from SIBA. The Windermere Pale was Citra-tastic and very reminiscent of a slightly less bitter Fyne Ales Jarl. It was a lovely pint in a lovely pub.

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Jocktoberfest

2011-08-23T07:11:00.003+01:00

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I've done not bad this spring/summer when it comes to beer festivals.

The Paisley Beer Festival kicked things off in April quickly followed by the festivals at Fyne Ales, Hawkshead, The Scottish Real Ale Festival and the Great British Beer Festival. I even managed to squeeze in Rabid Barfly Glyn's London Beer Week shindig at The Rake.

So, all in all, I've done pretty well.

However, as this year's summer festival season approaches it's twilight, there's one more beer event to tick off my list before I trim my beard, polish my pewter and put my sandals away for another year. To bring the season to an end I'll be heading up to the Black Isle Brewery, just north of Inverness, on the 9th and 10th of September for their Jocktoberfest beer jamboree.

The event is being put together by Black Isle Brewery and they've created an intriguing concept that sees the cream of Scottish brewing putting 'their own innovative twist and signature flavours on their favourite German beer styles'.

Beers announced, so far, include Tryst's version of a hopped up wheat beer, Tempest Brewing's take on a German smoked Alt and Fyne Ales' New World Lager hybrid. Highland Brewery are also participating but haven't announced what their brew will be. Black Isle will also be showcasing their new German wheat beer at the event.

There's also enough food in the form of whole hog roast and bratwurst to keep a Munich beer hall munching til morning.

Entry to the event is free and there's also camping available in a nearby farm.

All you have to do is visit the Jocktoberfest website and register.

It should be a great couple of and a perfect end to a lovely summer of beer.

Prost!

Iron Brews Are Good For You.

2011-08-21T14:46:00.002+01:00

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Those men and women in white coats have been busy again proving something that we've all suspected for ages, namely, that drinking beer is good for you.

In this case, researchers from the University of Valladolid in Spain have discovered that dark beers such as stouts and porters are richer in iron than lighter, paler beers and are therefore more beneficial to your health.

Iron is a dietary essential as it helps carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles and other organs. Low iron intake can often leave you feeling tired, sluggish and irritable.

The research project, which was published in The Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture, analysed 40 brands of beer from around the world. Their study examined 17 Spanish and 23 beers from other countries, with 28 pale, six dark and six non-alcoholic beers. Dark beers had more than 30 percent more iron content on average than pale beers. Beers with the most iron were a dark Spanish beer (165 parts per billion) and a dark Mexican beer (130 ppb). Beers with the lowest levels of iron were from The Netherlands (41ppb) and Ireland (47 ppb).

Which is something I've always suspected. My gran used to swear by the recuperative properties of the bottles of Sweetheart stout she used to keep by her bed in the 1970's. I even remember her taking a bottle to hospital when visiting a sick relative. Turns out granny was right after all.

Which is good news for the people organising International Stout Day on the 3rd of November.

So, get yourself out and get drinking the dark stuff safe in the knowledge that moderate consumption of it is good for you.

Cheers.
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Guest Blog - Why BrewDog Matters to Me

2011-08-16T16:57:00.004+01:00

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In response to Martin Doherty's guest blog, BrewDog shareholder and blogger, Ian Prise tells us why the beer world is a far better place for having BrewDog around.

"I don’t actually remember how my love affair with BrewDog started. I wasn’t in there right when they started. I don’t remember ever seeing James and Martin selling beer at the farmer’s market, but then I used to work almost every Saturday, or if I had been off, I would have been out on the Friday Night. I must have read something in the press about them, I “liked” them on Facebook and I started reading their blog. I liked their style. I liked their sense of humour. I bought a few bottles of their beer from the supermarket, chilled them in the fridge, drank them, and liked them. I liked them a lot.

Equity for Punks was announced in late 2009. I’d been toying with the idea of buying BrewDog shares for a while, but with the cost of Christmas I didn’t really have the cash. A combination of a Gas bill rebate, and the extension of the deadline for buying shares solved this problem.

In October 2009 they bought a Bar in Aberdeen and hoped to have it open by February.

In Early 2010 I became an Equity punk.

The problem was that I couldn’t at this point find any pubs in Aberdeen selling BrewDog. I was still drinking the mass market keg beers I’d been drinking for years, and had never really liked.

The Pub they had bought was in a lot poorer condition, than they had anticipated. With planning, licensing and all the work needed February came and went without a grand opening of the Aberdeen bar. I only drank it at home, or if we were celebrating, we occasionally ate out in Musa, which at the time was about the place in town selling Brewdog.

Finally in October BrewDog Bar Aberdeen opened. I was introduced to an exciting new world of craft beer.

On probably my first visit, James, who I recognised from the press and the blog, came in to the bar with his girlfriend. We were sitting at one end of one of the tables, a group of three other people were sitting at the other end. James and Johanna squeezed into the space in between. One of the people on the other end of the table obviously, didn’t have “the taste or sophistication, to appreciate the depth, character and quality of his premium craft brewed beer”. When he left, I said to James I think he’s gone back to drinking “mass marketed, bland, cheaply made watered down lager” We got talking, we said we were shareholders, that we liked the beer, we liked the pub. James went to the bar and came back with a 4 glasses and a bottle of Bashah Imperial and Tayberry reserve. I was blown away. This was beer in a different class. I was hooked.

So here is why I think BrewDog matters.

They Brew Great Craft Keg Beer

I like my beer cold. Brewdog beers are mostly designed to be served cold. Granted with some styles like stouts and porters, the flavour develops as you let it warm up a little. Hops, did someone say hops? These guys use a lot of hops, and not just any old hops either. Bucket loads of aromatic hops from around the world. Not just in the kettle either. Some beers are dry hopped too. That’s why the beer tastes and smells as good as it does. Lets not forget malt. Unless it says wheat beer on the label, it’s all malted barley in there. Ok so they do use some types of sugar in some of the higher strength beers. They don’t want the yeast to starve to death and die. The longer the yeast lives and eats the more alcohol it excretes. Additives, preservatives, and isinglass finings are not used in the making of a Brewdog beer. Their beers are suitable for vegetarians. They do lightly filter, but they don’t pasteurise. They want to leave the flavour in the beer.

The Bars

BrewDog craft beer bars are great places to drink. In my local, BrewDog Aberdeen, most of the BrewDog core range is usually available on keg. Alice Porter and Tokyo* are on keg fairly frequently too. Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismark are available in 25ml measures, allowing people to try them without having to spend serious money on a whole bottle.

We usually see the special beers on keg when they are released, even the Abstrakts. The Guest board changes regularly. Mikkeller, Stone, Flying Dog, and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey are only a few of the great names that have featured on the guest boards. I’m looking forward to seeing some beers from some of the other British Craft keg brewers in the near future There is even a customer tap. If you buy the beer on this tap, you get to vote for one beer from a choice of three. When the keg finishes the beer with the most votes goes on next.

The range of rare and unusual bottled beers is extensive. Some of these beers have travelled a long way to be here. Others are made in small quantities, but because BrewDog has a good relationship with the brewer, and I’m thinking about Mikkeller here, they can get these beers behind their bars. Perhaps some are a little pricey, but still cost less than the price of a round if you share a larger bottle between four friends. £10-15 may seem like a lot of cash for a bottle of beer, but it is a pretty fair price when compared with what most people spend on a bottle of wine with a comparable ABV.

The bars also host some special meet the brewer nights, when all the taps are given over to the visiting guest brewers’ beers. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Mikkeller/Nogne O, and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey nights in Aberdeen and The Stone Total Tap Takeover in Edinburgh.

We have also had some of the BrewDog brewers coming down from Fraserburgh to do a shift in the Aberdeen bar. It’s great being able to talk to these guys about the beer, and have some of the finer points about brewing, hops and how they filter explained to you. The Brewers I met are all really approachable (despite in some cases looking a bit scary), guys who are passionate about what they do.

The Aberdeen Bar also sold a Beer/cheese tasting deal on Groupon. What a great way to introduce people to craft beer. They sold 601 in a day. I bought one, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours in the company of “Inappropriate Dan” tasting various beers, having hopping and dry hopping explained, and totally failing to identify Nanny State. I thought it was like Hardcore without the mouthfeel.

The bars are well run venues. I have seen very little trouble in the Aberdeen bar, and what trouble there was, was dealt with firmly and swiftly. The bars are safe places to drink. A lot of this is down to the very sensible policy of limiting the serving size of higher ABV beers.

I’m lucky that I live in Aberdeen only a short bus journey from the original and best Brewdog bar. As the bar empire expands more people will be able to enjoy these beers in the way I do.

The Bar Staff

The enthusiasm of the bar staff for Craft beer starts right at the top with Bruce. Bruce is the former Aberdeen Bar Manager and now Area Manger of all the bars. This guy is passionate about great craft beer. His passion is infectious and I have tried styles I probably wouldn’t have on his recommendation.

Brewdog educate their Bar staff in the product they are selling. Part of the training programme involves spending time working at the brewery, learning about the entire brewing process.

If you are new to craft beer, visit a bar and talk to the staff. They know about the beer. They care about the beer. They are enthusiastic about the beer. They will pour you a few free samples. They will help you choose a beer you will like.

Special Beers/Collaborations

Abstrakt series, high abv freeze distilled beers, Nanny State, numerous collaborations, with other craft brewers, barrel aged beers, visiting Gypsy Brewers.

The Craft Beer industry (American Definition) seems to be unlike any other industry, in that the different players get together now and again and collaborate. Some of the best Craft brewers in the world, have visited Brewdog, and brewed beer there. Stone came and brewed Bashah, Three Floyds came and brewed Bitch Please. Lost Abbey came and brewed Lost Dog, which is still ageing in a rum cask.

BrewDog seem to spend a lot of time and effort brewing some pretty unusual and special beers. These guys are not content to sit back and churn out nothing but their core range. They like to experiment. Brewdog in common with many other craft brewers, like to mix up styles, use unusual flavourings, “turn everything up to eleven” and brew some spectacular beers as a result.

Equity for Punks

“Like the beer, own part of the brewery”.

“Drink your beer in your bar”

Selling shares in the company directly to the people who like the beer. OK, they needed the money to grow the business. They could have gone to the bank, but banks need to be paid back with interest, and then want to run your business for you.

So far, at the time of writing, they have raised from both issues £1.7 million. So what do you get for your money. Well admittedly right now a share of the company that is worth only a fraction of what you paid for it. You do how ever get discounts in the online shop, discounts in the bars, when they issue, the shareholder ID card, first dibs on the special beers, and an invitation to the “Soon to be Legendary AGM”. I’ve been to all three AGMs, yes three inside of eight months. The first one was in early December last year, and consisted of a business talk, lunch in Musa, some free beer, a beer and music pairing in the Aberdeen bar, a trip to the brewery with some more free beer, and a party back in the bar at night.

The second AGM was the shareholder brewday in May, when the 60 or so of us who could be there made “Equity For Punks 2011”, tasted loads of free beer, had an update on the business side of things, ate some tasty burgers, put Lost Dog into rum casks, and generally had a good time.

This was followed by a School Dinners themed beer dinner at Musa and some pretty special beers being on in the Aberdeen bar.

The most recent AGM was held in the Edinburgh bar, and was a required formality to do with the existing shareholders agreeing to some legal stuff concerning the new share issue. Again some free beers to taste, and pizza.

At all the shareholder events I do get the impression that James and Martin, genuinely appreciate our investment in Brewdog, and what our money and faith in them has allowed them to achieve.

I have met people with a shared interest in beer and have made new friends by becoming an equity punk, and the web based forum is a great place to ask questions, share information, or just bitch about when things go wrong.

Some have speculated that BrewDog will sell out to a multi-national brewer in the future, and I met a guy in the bar this week, who bought shares across the bar, in the hope of just this happening. I would like to think that there is more chance of Bracken being sold to a Korean butcher, than this ever happening. These guys have worked hard to get where they are, and I don’t think retiring to a Carribean island is on their personal agendas just yet. I hope Brewdog become The Baxters of Speyside of the brewing world. Baxters have rejected somewhere in the region of 200 takeover bids.

Online Shop and Punkdog.com

Admittedly the standard of service from the online shop isn’t what it should be, and with the poor standard of service from Parcelforce only adding to the problems, things need to improve. At the Edinburgh AGM, James apologised for this. Measures are being put into place to improve this, and the online shop is in the process if being outsourced, which should hopefully improve standards.

But hey, when it works the way it is supposed to, it’s a great thing. quality craft beer, delivered right to your door, and not just Brewdog’s own beer either. They also sell some of the bottles they stock in the bars.

Punkdog.com This is a website that allows you to design your own personalised labels for beer bottles, with photographs and text. I’ve used it twice for gifts. It’s easy to use, and comes with a choice of Trashy Blonde, 77 Lager, or Punk IPA in the bottles.

Supermarket listings/Craft Beer in Cans/ Growlers

Unlike Real Ale which is more or less confined to the pub or a beer festival, Brewdog beers can be enjoyed everywhere.

Their beers are available in most supermarkets. Some have accused them of selling out on their “Punk Ethos” because of this. Wake up and smell the hops. They are in the business of brewing and selling beer. They are Capitalists. They are in it to make money and grow the business, and maybe even pay the shareholders a dividend in the future.

Craft beer in a can, or as I like to call them nanokegs. Lighter, cheaper and easier to transport than a bottle. Perfect for festivals and camping trips. They take much less energy to recycle, and the beer tastes just as good. (I have heard that, there have been some pretty manky cans of Punk on the go and I hope this is just a minor blip.) They also take up less space in your fridge which means it can hold more.

Growlers have been introduced recently. An idea imported from the U.S. Buy a growler, take it to your nearest Brewdog bar and have it filled with the draught beer of your choice to take home and enjoy.

Craft Beer and Food

BrewDog are active in the movement in the UK, to raise the profile of beer and its relationship with food. They have produced a guide to beer and food matching, and have along with many others in the beer world, raised the profile of beer within the restaurant industry.

They hold regular themed beer dinners in Musa Aberdeen, which sell out very quickly. People are interested in drinking good beer, with good food. The vast array of beer styles, mean that there is a beer that goes well with any dish.

I ate in a branch of Byron Hamburger, in London recently. They have Punk IPA, on their drinks menu, along with some other great craft beers, thanks to beer blogger and writer Mark Dredge, who was asked to come up with a choice of beers for them. The Gaucho restaurant, I ate in, had 3 Meantime beers on the menu and the restaurant in the Tate Modern sells Trashy Blonde as well as a range of Kernel beers.

The Proposed Carbon Neutral Brewery

Let’s face it. Beer is a luxury item. It along with other alcoholic beverages is something we could all survive (unhappily) without. Millions of acres worldwide are planted with crops grown just to feed our love of an alcoholic beverage. This land would probably be better put to use to feed the starving. It’s a compelling argument, and radical vegans will trot out a similar argument, about how wasteful it is to feed grain to livestock to produce meat, eggs and dairy products. I love beer and I love meat. I’m selfish that way. Such arguments don’t sway me one bit, but despite this I do give a shit about the planet I live on and realise that some things could be done in a better way.

A carbon neutral brewery is an innovative step forward. A brewery that produces all of its own energy. deals with all of its waste onsite and doesn’t pollute the environment, sounds good to me.

Of course this comes with an increased initial cost, but if it’s done right it will work. It will be a showcase for a better way to brew beer, as well as an example of how any manufacturing industry can do things in a better way for the environment.

Beer tourism

BrewDog bars are a destination in themselves. I have met several Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch visitors, who have visited Aberdeen, specifically to visit the Brewdog Bar. A short break, spent drinking quality beers, but with the added economic advantages that come with what they are also spending on hotels, meals, and travel. You could add the Equity Punks, who visit the Aberdeen area for the AGMs, into this category as well. They could just have easily spent the money they pay for travel and accommodation, on a short break to Dublin or Paris.

The visitor facilities proposed for the new brewery site, will be yet another good reason to visit the Aberdeen area.

The Craft Beer Revolution

What is the Craft Beer Revolution? Is it marketing? I choose to drink better tasting more interesting flavoured beers brewed in a variety of styles.

We are all susceptible to advertising and marketing. Choices we make in our daily lives are constantly being influenced by marketing and advertising in all its forms. It is rammed down our throats we cannot escape from it, it is everywhere.

BrewDog are just as guilty as any other brewer large or small in using marketing to sell its product. I as a consumer am just as guilty for falling for the hype. I first bought the beers because I saw the name somewhere and wondered what the hype was all about. Turns out I liked them. However they are sometimes just a little bit more clever about how they go about this. Remember no publicity is bad publicity. Whatever you think about the disputes with the Portman Group, the high abv beers, the text on the bottle labels, the taxidermy, their facebook page, multiple twitter accounts, the Brewdog Blog, the hilarious/purile/informative video blogs and the CAMRA baiting it has got the BrewDog name out there.

They are prodigious users of social networking to reach their target audience. This also allows interaction and debate.

They have the beer to back it all up as well. Any brewery, which can sell more beer than it can brew, despite contract brewing elsewhere, must be doing something right.

My only hope is that the negative marketing tactics are consigned to the backseat in the future. They have achieved their aim. It’s time to start concentrating on what is good about Brewdog. I don’t want to hear that Stella is shit, and real ale is boring anymore. Tell us what is great about your beer.

BrewDog have also opened/kicked in the door for other breweries in the UK brewing quality craft keg beers. I recently met James and Andy from the Summer Wine Brewery. They are also brewing some Keg beers with huge amounts of American and New Zealand hops. They have taken their inspiration from Brewdog, just as BrewDog took theirs from the likes of Stone Brewing in America. These guys are just as passionate about great tasting beer as BrewDog are and I’m looking forward to trying their beer.

Brewdog arrived in 2007. In 4 short years what started as two young men, a dog and some big ideas has grown to become Scotland’s largest independent brewery. They are opening successful Craft Beer Bars at a time when the pub industry is suffering unprecedented decline.

They are one of the most exciting and innovative young breweries in the

today. They brew beer for flavour first and foremost. They have achieved much in a short space of time and have the potential to achieve so much more.

I am proud to be an Equity Punk.

Vive le Revolution."

Guest Blog - BrewDog, Glasgow. Never Mind...it's Bollocks

2011-08-13T11:12:00.015+01:00

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In a wee change from my own musings on the blog, I've given over some space to a couple of guests who, over the course of two articles, will share with us their opinions of Scottish 'craft' brewers, BrewDog.

Coming soon, BrewDog shareholder, Ian Prise will be telling us 'Why BrewDog Matters' but first, Renfrewshire Camra member, Martin Doherty gives us his reflections on his visit to BrewDog's new Glasgow Bar.

"Whilst in the West End of Glasgow on Saturday, sitting in the Three Judges enjoying a delicious pint of Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack, talk turned to the newly opened BrewDog Bar further along Dumbarton Road. My friend Ross wished to give it a try and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Another friend, who lives in the Granite City, has been waxing lyrical about how great the BrewDog Aberdeen bar is and what wonderful beers they have both on tap and in bottles. I am not averse to the odd bottle of Punk IPA or 5am Saint, and I have in the past enjoyed their Trashy Blonde in Cask form.

So off we popped for the five minute stroll to their newly opened premises directly opposite the Kelvin Hall Museum and Art Gallery. The premises themselves are in a good location and the interior has a trendy feel about it, with what BrewDog claim to be salvaged or second hand furnishings. It was 4pm on a Saturday and the place was mobbed. We didn't have to wait to get served which is always good and there was an extensive selection of BrewDog beers and a couple of guest beers on tap which were written up on the chalkboard for your perusal. All the beers on tap were from keg as this seems to be BrewDog's favoured vessel of choice for their beers.

We both plumped for a pint of Punk IPA at £3.50, the first thing that struck me was how cold and fizzy the beer was. It tasted........ fine, that was it though just fine, not out of this world or lipsmackingly good, just fine. Sure, it tasted very hoppy but for me it lacked some depth. BrewDog believe in serving their beers at 6 degrees celsius and let the drinker experience the beer as it's temperature changes. As far as I'm concerned the warmer the beer became, the gassier it seemed and the taste became less pleasant.

Whilst drinking my mediocre pint I surveyed the beer list which had tasting notes and prices. I was astounded to see that they are selling 25ml measures of their Tactical Nuclear Penguin 32% abv and their Sink The Bismarck 41% for a fiver a pop! Yes a fiver! Perhaps I'd be happy to pay that for a nice 25 year old whisky buy not a beer, I don't particularly agree with beers being "sipped like a whisky", beers should be enjoyed in measures far greater than 25ml!. Given that a 330ml bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin retails at £35, a return of £65 from selling measures of it behind the bar from said bottle seems a bit greedy to me.

The Dog's Bollocks?

Behind the bar there are a number of fridges rammed with interesting looking bottles with unfamiliar labels. That beer labels were unfamiliar to me and was a pleasant surprise as I have certainly sank a fair number and i'm always on the lookout for beers to try whether it be from specialist shops to online mail order. I asked if they had a beer list for the non BrewDog bottled beers with percentages and pricing only to be told they didn't have one, not a lot to ask really is it? So unfortunately I'm still no wiser as to what bottled beers they actually stock.

I quite fancied a dark beer and therefore asked the 'knowledgeable' bar staff if they had any Russian Imperial Stout, after consultation with another member of staff the barmaid stated that they did have an Imperial Stout "but it's not from Russia it's brewed in the States". I asked to see the bottle to give the label a once over, I also enquired how much it was, and to my horror, it was the princely sum of £10 for a 500ml bottle (so if you were on the minimum wage you'd need to work for 1 hour 45 minutes for the pleasure). At this I left the bar. Ten quid for a bottle of beer? Hardly in keeping with BrewDog's slogan of "Equity for Punks". I can't see many students spending their grant money in this particular establishment, which given it's location in Glasgow's sprawling student land must surely have been where a majority of the projected clientele were to be coming from.

Only time will tell.

They even have the cheek of selling BrewDog glasses at £5 for a pint glass and £7 for a half pint glass. Though I'm sure any punk worth his salt would probably just 'half inch' the glass after finishing their drink. Will I be back? I doubt it. Would I recommend it? Yes.... but only for the spectacle of watching other drinkers trying to smuggle the glasses out!

BrewDog have had an almost unbelievable rise to the forefront of British brewing since their inception in 2007 to become the biggest independent brewer in Scotland. At first I was curious and bought a couple of their bottles that was available from the supermarkets at the time.I found them tasty and welcomed them as an alternative to other bottled beers that I regularly bought. More recently though I have started to tire of the BrewDog shock tactic marketing machine. The End of History beers which were housed inside dead stoats and squirrels seemed to me to be in very bad taste and a cheap way of getting mass media coverage, not to mention hiring a dwarf to stand with a placard outside the Houses of Parliament for a week to campaign for selling beer in smaller measures.

In fact, more often than not, recent media coverage has been borne out of comments made by BrewDog managing director James Watt. Comments such as the one published in Spectrum magazine. In it James Watt states "Camra are single handedly responsible for holding back innovation in British beer in the last 40 years. With an overbearing emphasis on such a narrow and boring spectrum of beers, Camra think beer has got to be served by cask, somewhere between a 3.2% mild and a 4.5 % bitter. Camra is staid, it's tacky, it's conservative, it's old fashioned, it would put your grandparents to sleep. I'd gladly line up the whole lot of them and fire cans of punk off their heads"

Quite a scathing attack and being a member of Camra I was quite shocked to read such comments. Firstly, it shouldn't really have been a shock that Mr Watt made such comments as he seems to have history in regards to offending people and I'm willing to bet this petulant outburst is directly related to Camra cancelling BrewDog's stall at this years Great British Beer Festival for failure to pay on time. Secondly any Camra beer festival I've been to has plenty beers outwith the alcohol percentage that he is quoting, this year at Paisley Beer Festival there were 17 Scottish beers from cask that had a higher abv than 4.5% and a total of 33 English beers in cask above 4.5%. In the UK alone there are more than 2500 real ales available from more than 500 breweries with styles such as Porters, Stouts, Golden Ales, Old Ale as well as the aforementioned Milds and Bitters. Hardly a narrow spectrum is it?

The biggest point is that Camra have not held back brewing innovation but have single handedly saved British brewing with their continued support of both iconic British brewers and small independent breweries alike, their continued campaigning to save local pubs, keep beer duty down and to keep real ale in any discernible drinkers thoughts.

BrewDog say they are against "bland, soulless, industrially produced beers". This coming from the brewery who produce 660,000 gallons of beer a year and are currently raising capital by way of a share offer to move to a new larger brewery on the outskirts of Aberdeen which will enable them to produce up to five times more (a staggering 3.3 million gallons). One wonders at what point does beer become "industrially produced". I believe that BrewDog is quickly morphing into everything that they claim to be rebelling against. They use the term "craft beer", which to me conjures up beer brewed in small batches with a good level of consistency, but with production set to quintuple I'm sure they will find it hard to keep consistency in the taste, something which they have had problems with in the past and blamed on "hop shortages" and difference in each years "hop characteristics".

All things considered, BrewDog is not really my cup of tea.... or in fact my pint of too fizzy,too cold, mass produced craft beer. A man who knows a thing or two about taste is Flavor Flav and he once said "Don't Believe The Hype". I couldn't have put it much better myself. BrewDog in my eyes are currently becoming my Public Enemy No1!"

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The Session - Whisky Sour at the GBBF

2011-08-05T12:02:00.001+01:00

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This month's session is being hosted by the The Brew Site and is on the subject of Sour Beer so I thought I'd share a recent experience I had at this year's Great British Beer Festival involving some three year old Lambic.

Whilst studying the beer list at the festival, my eyes were drawn to a beer that struck me as an interesting concept and one that I definately needed to try.

The beer in question was from Italian brewers Revelation Cat and was a three year old lambic that had been aged in Laphraoig Malt Whisky casks.

It was a strange yet interesting beast. It had a bold and robust whisky nose that leapt out of the glass that carried through into the initial mouthful. It had strong peat, wood and smoky notes that gave way to a really smooth, round and very well balanced sour apple taste.

It was unusual, to say the least, with seemingly contradictory elements on paper complementing each other in practise.

I would have liked to have tried their Marsala Lambic that was available too but when I went back to the bar it had just finished.

I suppose, that beer is for another day.

GBBF 2011 - A Review.

2011-08-05T09:53:00.002+01:00

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The Great British Beer Festival has now finished for me. I've been, gone and come back again relatively intact and unscathed.

I had an absolute blast and will take with me many fantastic memories that will linger a lot longer than the beer stains on my jeans.

You'd think that a festival for beer would be all about the beer.

About trying new ones and returning to old favourites.

But it's more than that.

Much, much more.

It's about the spontaneous happenings, the chance encounters, the making of new friends, the renewing of old acquaintances and the often surreal experiences that make this event such a great success. And the beer.

The beer provides the backdrop to, and the catalyst for, these social interactions that makes this event so special.

And it was a special event.

Tens of thousands of people, over 700 beers, five days and one common purpose - an appreciation of beer.

BrewDog's James Watt arrives incognito at GBBF

The beer I had were, generally, very good. As planned, I spent most of Tuesday at GBBF trying the beers from the International bars. Bars being plural as the Bieres sans Frontieres had been, this year, split and seperated over four bars which were situated apart from each other rather than being centrally located as in previous years. I had been originally sceptical of this change but, in all fairness, I have to say that I think it worked very well. Not only did it mean that the queues for these bars were dimished, it also meant that a wider and more diverse selection of foreign beers could be showcased. Particularly, a vast selection of excellent Czech beers.

Czech-ing out the beer

The range of the Czech's were superb and the choice and quality of these beers were one of the festival's highlights. I particularly enjoyed the Matuska Fastball 9 - a superb 3.8% hoppy, citrussy unfiltered beer with bready malt notes and lots of U.S. hops, Matuska Golden Rocket IPA 7%, and Broumov's Pepper Kvasnicak Nefiltrovane and Coriander Kvasnicak Nefiltrovane. The Broumov's were really interesting beers. Both had the same 5% unfiltered Czech lager base but one was enhanced by pepper and the other coriander. The coriander beer was one of my boomerang beers of the festival - one that I returned to quite a few times over the event.

However, one beer that I wont't be returning to any time soon was Ballast Point's Habanero Sculpin IPA, a spiced up version of their award winning IPA with added Habanero Chilli. This was an extreme beer that kicked like an angry eight legged donkey and had a roasting, rasping sandpaper burn that left my throat raw and me looking for Greek yoghurt to kill the sting.

Beer

Credit to the barman, though. I had asked for a third of the Habanero Sculpin but the barman insisted that I dry a drop of it first before to see if I really wanted more of it. I'm glad that he did because one taste was enough of this toxic brew for me to realise the error of my ways. I doubt if I would have lasted the third of a pint.

More Beer

My second boomerang beer was the two year old Cantillon. It was lovely. Sharp, sour but above all beautifully balanced and very smooth. Another Lambic also floated my beer boat this year. It was Revelation Cat's three year old Lambic that had been aged in a Laphraoig whisky cask. An oak aged Lambic! A strange concept but one that worked for me.

It had a very powerful, instant whisky nose. Pungent malt whisky that dissipates enough to reveal a sourish, slightly dry but well rounded Lambic.

and the winner is........Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde

So, a Mild won Champion Beer of Britain. No great surprise in that. I had a taste of the winning beer, the Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde, a 3.7% Mild and I have to say that it was nice. It is a well put together roasty, toasty beer that was pleasant to drink. Whether it was the best beer there, that is for the judges, and not me, to decide. Some people were talking and tweeting about the result as if it was the end of civilisation that a mild had won but that was just hysterical and hyperbolic kneejerk nonsense.

Tory MP and Camra Chair, Colin Valentine

I stumbled upon a meeting of the Parliamentary Camra group in which I did something I've never done before in my life - I applauded a speech by a Conservative MP. The speech was on the impact on communities of pubs closing and I clapped when he promised a full inquiry into restrictive pub practises that limit consumer choice and hinder the growth of micro-breweries. He also said that the Coalition Government were determined to act to enhance the value that pubs bring to the community.

As Nigel Evans, MP, who was also in attendance, said "When the pub closes in a community, it's heart dies". Camra Chair, Colin Valentine welcomed the Government's support by stating that it's "great that politicians are listening" and pledged to continue the work that Camra does in bending their ear and providing an evidence based approach that hopefully influences the parliamentary decision makers to give the British brewing industry all the support it needs. It could start by creating parity between the duty charged on beers and spirits. That would be a very good beginning.

The evening ended to the gorgeous strains of a string quartet that played beautiful blissfilled music that was the perfect melodic icing on a beautiful, beer filled cake.

Wednesday continued in a similar vein to Tuesday. More Czech beer, more lovely Lambics and some exceptional UK cask. The Dark Star Hylder Blonde - a delicate, palate cleansing beer that danced delightfully like an elderflower angel on my tongue was divine. Two other elderflower beers were rather nice too - Thornbridge's Craven Silk and Liverpool Organic's Josephine Butler Elderflower Ale. The Salopian Shropshire Gold was a nice drop also.

So many beers, so little time. I stopped taking notes and kicked back and enjoyed the festival. My GBBF balance sheet was well in the black. The only time it strayed into the red was due to the, sometimes, oppressive and stifling heat in Earl's Court and trying to get some drinking water to cool me down and rehydrate. Despite this it was a fantastic couple of days and I'm already looking forward to next year's at Olympia.

Many thanks to organiser, Marc Holmes and the Campaign for Real Ale for putting on a fantastic festival that exceeded every one of my expectations.

Beer and Beer People - You've got to just love them.

Until next year.

Cheers.

The Kernel at Cask Pub and Kitchen

2011-08-04T22:14:00.001+01:00

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'Twas the night before the start of the Great British Beer Festival, and scores of hopheads from London and much farther afield have gathered at the Cask Pub and Kitchen in Pimlico to celebrate the exceptional beers from an exceptional brewery.

The event that drawns them here like hungry yeast to fermentable sugars is a 'Meet the Brewer' night with the ale alchemists from The Kernel Brewery who have the rather consistent knack of turning water, malt, hops and yeast into liquid gold.

However, it's more than just your usual, run of the mill brewer event where you roll up to the pub, shake hands, shoot the breeze and sample one or, if you are lucky, a couple of the Brewer's Fayre. This, instead, is an off the scale, extra special event where a dozen of the taps at the Cask have been taken over by a gorgeous infestation of lovely keg and cask beers from one of the most exciting breweries in the UK at the moment.

A Cornucopia of Kernels

The Kernel make great beers. Big, bold beers that generally fall into two categories. 'Pale and hoppy', that capture and characterise the essence of the single and mixed hops used and 'dark and roasty', that tip their hat to, and borrow from, the brewing history and tradition of London's dark beers. As the flyer for the event says, "The Kernel are all about upfront hops, lingering bitterness, warming alcohols and bodies of malt."

On the bar were 4 cask and 8 keg beers - a veritable cornucopia of Kernel - showcasing some of the best that brewer Evin and the Kernel team make. The event had attracted beer lovers and tickers from as far flung places as Sweden, Norway and the United States as well as from closer to home to indulge in some Kernel standards as well as a taste of some of their newer beers.

The list was impressive.

CASK

Nelson Sauvin Pale Ale    5.1%
Citra and Nelson IPA    7.1%
Export Stout    7.8%
The Kernel and Brew Wharf Collaboration Brew   4.5%

KEG

Export India Porter   6.5%
Imperial Brown Stout   10.1%
Nelson Sauvin IPA    6.8%
Nelson Sauvin Pale   4.7%
Saison    7%
Black IPA    7%
Citra IPA    7.2%
Mt. Hood Pale Ale 5.3%

Anticipating overwhelming demand for, and limited supply of, the beers the pub had rationed them to half pint measures only and by the time I got there, thirsty drinkers had spilled from the pub and occupied the road and pavement outside. Inside, the bar was three deep as people jostled to sample as many beers as possible before they ran out. This was a full forty five minutes before the official start time of the event. I was glad I got there early.

I managed to catch the eye of one of the bar staff. I threw it back at him and out of appreciation, he poured me a half of Citra IPA that popped and zinged with fruity citrus freshness which immediately hit the spot on a muggy and humid August evening. Having located my beer buddies for the night, we settled in the sunshine to enjoy some beautifully made and very, very tasty Kernel beers.

Next up was The Kernel and Brew Wharf Collaboration made with a trio of super alpha, pacific jade and sorachi ace hops. I liked it but some felt that the sorachi overwhelmed the other two hops.

And so the evening continued. Glasses were passed, beers were tasted and opinions shared as the relative merits of each beer and hop variety were disected and discussed. It was a delightful evening.

The Kernel's, Evin

All the beers were exemplary but two must be given special mention as the stand out beers of the evening. The Kernel Saison was an outstanding representation of this style of beer with a big, big nose full of fresh, sweet summer citrus notes of oranges, tangerines, clementines and lemon zest with Belgian yeasty breadiness, super smooth mouthfeel and a dryish fruity finish. It was lovely. I hear the bottle version is even better than the keg. I made a point of picking up a couple of bottles of the Saison to check out that theory. I look forward to letting you know.

The Mt. Hood Pale Ale was extremely nice too. It was a light and crisp pale ale with subtle hop notes and a sweet citrus edge that let you know that it was there in a very gentle and unobstrusive way. I detected some very light peachy/nectarine notes. It was very pleasant and the common consensus was that it was a most agreeable beer.

The Kernel at the Cask and Kitchen was a great night and I felt very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to enjoy one of London's best breweries firing on all cylinders with a truly exceptional range of beers.

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Is this really the Best of British Beer?

2011-08-01T15:45:00.001+01:00

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I've just had a thorough look through this year's GBBF beer list and a couple of things stand out and require comment.

Firstly, as I've stated earlier in a previous blogpost, the range and choice of the international beers is simply fantastic. From New Zealand via Belgium, Japan and the USA is not only out of this world but it represents the best examples of beer from the four corners of the globe. Credit must go to the person in charge of choosing the international beers. Hats off and glass raised in appreciation.

However, having spent some time going through the UK cask beer list, I find myself asking, "Is this really the very best of British beer at this moment?"

It goes without saying that there are some super UK cask beers on the list and available at the GBBF this week and that this list is extensive and offers beer drinkers a diverse variety and choice this but it struck me that some of the best British beers from some of the best British brewers are conspicuous by their absence at the GBBF.

Take, for example, Fyne Ales. They produce some of the best light, hoppy and golden beers currently available in the UK. Their Avalanche, Hurricane Jack and Jarl beers are absolutely superb yet absent from the list. Fyne Ales' Jarl has blown the socks off nearly everyone that has tried it and has earned rave reviews from all over the country since it was launched last summer. This 3.8% Citra based session beer regularly sells out in under a handful of hours when it appears in pubs and it was recently awarded the SIBA overall champion beer of Scotland. I'm mystified as to why this beer and others from the Fyne canon are not available at the festival. Instead, the only beer from Fyne at the GBBF is their Highlander, which is a relatively nice heavy style beer but it's not what I would have picked from their stable for the GBBF.

Take also, for example Camden Town brewery which have only bottles and no cask available. Likewise, The Kernel which have, again, no cask and only bottles. For Manchester Brewery, Marble, they fare a bit better with a cask version of their chocolate stout available but not their better known beers such as Dobber and Marble Pint. Some breweries don't even figure at all at the fest, such as Hardknott Brewing from Cumbria.

Maybe, I'm splitting hairs but if you hold a beer event and call it the Great British Beer Festival then you should, surely, go to the effort to ensure that you carry the best of British beer.

Can someone explain the beer selection process for the GBBF beer list as I can't work out why some cracking cask has been left off the menu?

Despite this, there are more than enough different beers and beer styles to go round and I'm sure that everyone will have a blast.

Cheers!!

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Camden Town Pale Ale

2011-07-31T15:21:00.001+01:00

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I'm a big fan of Camden Town beers, particularly their Pompous Red, Inner City Green and Camden Town Pale Ale. The Camden Town Pale Ale is their take on an American Pale and whenever I've tried it, in either Keg or Cask, it has always been a tasty top notch beer. So, when I saw on Ales by Mail website that the Pale Ale was now available in bottles, I thought I'd put my hands in my pocket and buy a couple. I'm glad that I did because the bottled version is a lovely, tasty, refreshing beer.

It poured an opaque, golden colour and had a very pleasant aromatic nose of light peach, grassy citrus and the slightest hint of malt. It was in the taste department that this beer really came into it's own with it's fruit basket of flavours.

It had a light, subtle carbonation and a slight fizz that complemented very nicely the sweet citrus taste of lemon, grapefruit and more peach. There was even hints of some kiwi and gooseberry. These fruity notes were balanced very well by the breadiness of the malts that continued through to a lingering bitter-ish finish that left your thirst quenched and wanting more than just the one bottle of this lovely beverage.

Camden Town have managed to create a very nice beer that translates extremely well to bottles and one that I will be looking out for an any future trips to that there London. If they Camden can do it with the Pale ale, then I look forward to seeing some of their other beery offerings in bottle too at some point in the near future.

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Fun in the Sun at Hawkshead

2011-07-26T11:44:00.014+01:00

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You will have to look very hard to find something as elementally satisfying than having a pint of well made and gorgeously tasty beer whilst sitting bathed in glorious sunshine. It is a perfect combination. Summer and al fresco beer drinking are such perfect partners that
you'd think that they were made specially for each other.

Add to that partnership the glorious location of the Lake District, over 70 lovely beers, great people and four days of fun celebrating the oh so very best of the current British beer scene and you have the gloriously heady beer cocktail that was the 2011 Hawkshead Summer Beer Festival.

mmmm........hops

It is an impressive sight when you turn the corner and glimpse the brewery for the first time. Set in the Cumbrian village of Staveley, the Hawkshead Brewery Beer Hall is a modern affair full of gleaming glass and shiny stainless steel, straight from the box, brewing equipment. To call it just a brewery is an understatement. It is much more than that. The Beer Hall is home to not just the brewery but also the brewery tap, sampling rooms, visitor centre, specialist international beer shop, conference and visitor rooms as well as The Beer Kitchen that provides some very tasty 'beer tapas' to sate your appetite and and soak up the beer. The Main Bar is dominated by the focal point of the two storey tall stainless steel fermenting tanks that allow you to see the beers being made while you enjoy a pint. There are also
over forty handpumps. It's an impressive place.

It is a leisure, or should that be pleasure, centre for beer drinkers that was to be our second home for a couple of days while we indulged in some of the best beer Britain has to offer.

got any black sheep, mate?

We arrived on the Friday evening and, after pitching our tent, we tooking the half hour walk from the campsite to the festival through fields of curious sheep and big arsed cows. We had certainly worked up a thirst by our arrival but what to have first?

The beer list was an Alladin's Cave of ales. Represented at the festival were breweries such as Thornbridge, Marble, Trinity, Fyne Ales, Oakham, Redemption, Dark Star, Magic Rock and Hawkshead.

Choices, choices. Decisions, decisions.

My mind was made up for me a few days before the festival when I first set eyes on the beer list. The
first beer I was homing in on was from new brewing company, Magic Rock and their 9.2% Human Cannonball IPA. A lot of positive things have been written about the company since it's inception a few months back and I intend to cover their beers more fully in a future blog. Needless to say, my timing on this occasion was less than brilliant. I had arrived just as the pumpclip was being turned round. Clearly signifying that the beer had just finished. It seems that many other festival goers had had the same idea as myself. It was the very first beer to be drunk dry.

Not to worry, there was still 70 beers left to try.

I might as well stay with Magic Rock, so I went for a pint of their Curious Pale Ale. It's a 3.8% beer that is laden with loads of U.S. hops that punches above it's ABV weight. It has strong malt spine that is beautifully counterposed by an immensely intense hop aroma and an intensely immense citrus flavour. As a first beer, it was a much needed thirst quencher. It was very, very nice.

The first beer swiftly despatched, I was clearly in the mood for more lovely light, hoppy and refres

hing beer. And so the night continued in the way that it had started. Friday evening became a night of the lights with various pale, golden hoppy beers being drunk as we took in the entertainment from a highly enjoyable Anglo Irish Folk band that got toes tapping and bodies dancing. Notable beers of our Friday drinking included - Dark Star's American Pale Ale, Pictish Brewer's Gold, Fyne Ales' Jarl and Hurricane Jack and Oakham Citra.

Special mention must go to Tottenham's Redemption Brewery for their Trinity and Magic Rock for High Wire. Trinity has got three varieties of hops, three varieties of malt and comes in at 3% ABV. It's a threemendous beer that has you shaking your head in wonder at how they can manage to create so much flavour and body in a beer of such low strength. I also wonder why they call it a mild when it's clearly a pale ale.

beer tapas at hawkshead beer kitchen

The High Wire was our last beer of Friday evening and it didn't disappoint. I presume it's called High Wire because the beer walks a delicate balancing act between the hop citrus shards, the malt base and crisp, bitter finish. It works very well and was a nice end to a lovely evening.

And so to bed.......

Saturday morning arrived and we were in the mood for more of the same. More beer, more sunshine
and plenty of time to enjoy both. A lot of beer must have been drunk on the Friday as by the time we got to The Beer Hall on the Saturday lunchtime, many of the beers had been scored out. The first brewery to be wiped out was, unsurprisingly enough, Magic Rock. All four of their beers had been drunk dry with the last drop being poured an hour after Saturday's opening. That's very good going for a brewing company that's not even out of nappies yet.

going, going, gone......magic rock wipeout

Despite some beers being finished, there was still an ample range left to satisfy even the most picky of drinkers. Thornbridge Wild Swan started my Saturday before I moved on to a pint that near blew my socks off by it's beery beauty. Sambrooks' Wandle is an exceptional beer. It was the colour of sunshine and tasted like nectar. It was clean, crisp yet sticky sweet with a fruit salad nose and a heavenly hop bitterness that lingered longer than a saddle sniffer at a cyclist's convention. It was that good.

Also excellent were two of Hawkshead's own beers, Cumbrian 5 Hop (aka Citrilla) and a new brew being showcased at the festival for the first time, the NZPA. The beer contains 100% New Zealand hops and has been made by their resident Kiwi brewer Matt Clarke to celebrate and commemorate Hawkshead's 1000th brew. It's a 6% pale and hoppy ale that is bursting full of peach, kiwi fruit and mango flavours.
The sun shone down in the courtyard as I held my pint of NZPA and I reflected on the weekend. It had been one of the best beery experiences that I had had for a long time. Great beers, great people, great weather and a great brewery that knows how to throw a party are the perfect ingredients for fun in the sun.

Thank you, Hawkshead.
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Beer Evolution - The Launch of Finch Beer.

2011-07-22T10:36:00.006+01:00

I find myself in Edinburgh for the launch of an exciting beer project by four final year brewing students from Heriot Watt University. You can read more background on the project here and here. They have chosen to launch their one off beer at the Guildford Arms and I thought I'd show my support by turning up and trying a couple.

A Charm of Finches

However, I'm a wee bit early and decide to pop in to the Bow Bar to get a look at what they have on. It's a fortuitous move on my behalf as I'm just in time to catch the start of their Summer Beer Festival. It's a fairly extensive festival with over 40 breweries participating, including Hawkshead, Fyne, Dark Star, Tryst, Highland, Bristol Beer Factory and Tempest.

While I was in I indulged in a couple of halves of York Citra, Ossett Santiam and the 9% Highland Orkney Porter. The Citra was the best beer of the three. It was light, citrussy and thoroughly refreshing. I've had better Citra hopped beers but this was still a very flavourful and drinkable 4% light session beer. The Orkney Porter is one that you tend not to see in cask very often, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm a big fan of this beer's rich, dark chocolate booziness but today's cask offering wasn't as rounded and balanced as I had hoped. It was nice but just a little too harsh in the booze department for my gentle tastebuds.

Beers finished, I wandered down to the Guildford Arms for the launch of Natural Selection's, Finch.
The student brewers' aim was to create a beer that married traditional Scottish beer with the innovation and craft of the American beer scene. What they created was an Imperial Red Ale called Finch. It is a 6.5% beer that uses Chinook hops for bittering and Amarillo for flavour and aroma with a Maris Otter malt base with additional Crystal and Caramalt.

Lovely Pump Clip

How was it?

I had been expecting it to have a more upfront hop profile in the nose and taste. In the battle between malt and hops, the malt won. It was very reminiscent of a Scotch Ale or a hoppier 80 Shillings with a full, thick, creamy mouthfeel and sweetish malt that hid the 6.5% ABV very well. I was expecting a bit more bitterness and more hop flavour. Overall, It was a nice enough beer and credit to the students' brewing skills but could have benefitted by turning the hop volume up a notch or two.

Mr Beer Cast and the Black Isle Beer Boy enjoy some Finch

The beer will now be available for a very limited time in some of Edinburgh's pubs. It even makes an appearance aa part of the Bow Bar's Summer Beer Festival. A limited number of bottles are also available from Appellation Wines in Edinburgh's Dalry Rd.

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You can read Rich from the Beer Cast's review of the night here

Camra's BrewDog GBBF Own Goal?

2011-07-19T12:15:00.013+01:00

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I gather from this article that BrewDog are fairly miffed to have had their booking for a bar at the Great British Beer Festival cancelled by Camra despite contracts being signed and BrewDog paying the final deposit.

It seems, according to BrewDog, that the size of the kegs used by the company were no longer acceptable despite being previously agreed. BrewDog's, James Watt also states that Camra "reneged from our original agreement and insisted we take cask beer".

I'm only going on what James Watt and the BrewDog spin machine are saying but if it is correct, then it seems a very poor show by Camra.

Why enter into a contractual agreement in which both parties are clearly content with what's been decided if you are going to move the goalposts once the ink has dried and the cash has been paid?

I would like to hear what Camra Chair Colin Valentine has to say by way of justification. He was very quick to criticise the 'bloggerati' at the Camra AGM. Will he be as quick to explain, to Camra members like myself, why the organisation has decided to pull the plug on BrewDog?

In my view, this decision, if true, smacks of petty narrow minded beer fundamentalism with Camra more content to score some cheap points against BrewDog rather than honour the terms and conditions of the original contract. BrewDog and Camra have previous and each like nothing better than to rile and rub each other up the wrong way. So, it's not exactly a surprise that this has happened.

However, the manner in which BrewDog describe it as happening, post contract and exchange of deposit, draws me to the conclusion that this is could be an own goal by Camra that will end up hurting the Real Ale organisation more that it will hurt BrewDog.

Perhaps, Camra Chair, Colin Valentine and GBBF organiser, Marc Holmes would like to explain the decision. I'd like to hear Camra's version of events.

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Footnote - Since writing this blog, Marc Holmes, The GBBF organiser for Camra has responded to James Watt's Blogpost on the BrewDog website.
Here's his response -

"James,

The reason Brewdog are not coming is that you didn’t pay the outstanding balance, as per the terms of the contract.

- The contract stated payment for the bar was due by May 27th. Giving you until July was very generous, nearly 7 weeks.

- The ultimatum was Thursday 12pm, you kept arguing and didn't agree until Friday 11am. Too late, we had programme deadlines to meet.

But to answer some of your other points:

- Right from the very start we said your beer must be supplied in large containers. We were happy with 50L kegs (as long as the beer contained live yeast) but you persisted in wanting to use 30L keykegs. Thornbridge did use 9G casks last year but it didn't work - they will be using 18G casks this year. We were looking at ordering in excess of 60 kils (equivalent) of beer, which is just not practical in 30L keykegs.

- You were the one that offered to supply cask beer in 18G casks.

Happy to start talking about GBBF 2012, and feel free to pop in this year to see how it works. I’ll even send you some tickets.

Cheers,
Marc Holmes
GBBF Organiser."

So BrewDog say they paid their final deposit, whereas Camra say that BrewDog didn't pay the outstanding amount and pulled the plug because of this.

Who is telling the truth? You can make up your own mind.

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Heading to Hawkshead

2011-07-19T00:06:00.002+01:00

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I've been in two minds this week.

There's a couple of excellent beery options available to me this weekend that both have merit.

I could stay in Glasgow and head to the opening of BrewDog's shiny new bar in the city's West End.

Or, I could pack up the tent and camping stuff, stick it into the boot of the car and head to the Hawkshead Beer Festival in the Lake District for a couple of days of fun drinking beer made by some of the best breweries currently in the UK.

The beer list is a goldmine and contains many of the SIBA 2011 Gold medal winners as well as a finest selection of the brewers' favourites.

Beers available include Hawkshead's own Cumbrian 5 Hop and their new brew, New Zealand Pale Ale. I'm also really keen to get my first taste of a new brewery that seem to have set the twitter tongues wagging recently. The brewery in question is Magic Rock Brewing Co and despite being in their infancy, they seem to have caught the eye with their hoptastic beers such as their 9.2 % Human Cannonball and their High Wire and Rapture. Here's hoping they live up to what others are saying about them.

Many parts of the UK are represented at the festival. From Fyne Ales in Scotland, Marble Brewery in Manchester and Derbyshire's Thornbridge the cream of British beer is here. The South East is particularly well represented with Dark Star, Redemption, Sambrooks and Windsor and Eton all on the extensive beer menu. It really does look an cracking celebration of the best of British brewing.

That's it.

I think I've just talked myself into it.

BrewDog Glasgow can wait.

This weekend, it has to be Hawkshead.

The Hawkshead Festival runs from Thursday 21st July to Sun 24th. More information and the beer list can be found here
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All Beer is Female Friendly

2011-07-18T15:15:00.002+01:00

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I see from this article here that brewing behemoths, Molson Coors and Carlsberg are to launch a range of 'female friendly' beers aimed, surprisingly enough, at women.

The beers Eve, Animee are desribed as being lighter, less carbonated and 'bloat resistant'.

Kristy McCready of Molson Coors told the Mail on Sunday: “The perception is that beer is a laddish drink so Animee will be more sophisticated and playful.”

The beer will come in smaller bottles (275ml) and will come in three varieties - Standard, Rose and Citrus.

No doubt, these beers will be launched will a mega cash rich media budget behind them as they try to tap in to a growing sector of the market - the female beer drinker.

We should view this for what it is. A cynical move by these multinationals to tap in to one of the fastest growing market sectors. It is not about getting more people into pubs drinking beer. It is about shifting units of these 'female friendly' beers from the supermarket shelf.

Don't these huge multinationals get it?

Are they seriously saying that the 700+ British breweries are currently making beer that is female unfriendly?

That is, clearly, utter tosh. More and more women are drinking and enjoying beer made by UK micro-breweries. They are clearly happy with the product.
Perhaps, these brewing multinationals should put the cash set aside for the marketing, publicity and market research of these beers and, instead, use it to improve their own core beers.

Maybe then, they will get more drinkers, men and women consuming their product.

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Brewing in the Face of Adversity

2011-07-17T12:25:00.003+01:00

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Some brewers and breweries often face huge challenges, barriers and obstacles and have to go to great lengths to ensure that their products get to market and sate the appetites and quench the thirsts of their customers.

Some of these barriers are economic. Others, geographical and in some extreme cases the barriers to progress can be political.

Often, these barriers are insurmountable and can cause breweries to fail and go to the wall. However, special mention must be given to those breweries that have risen to the challenges in front of them and have managed to survive despite the odds being stacked against them.

One such brewery is the unique and remarkable Taybeh Brewing Co, based in the West Bank village of the same name in the Palestinian Territories. The name Taybeh incidentally means 'tasty' or 'delicious'. It is unique in that it is the only Palestinian brewery and remarkable that it has managed to grow and expand despite the cultural, religious, legal and political restrictions placed upon it.

Since the brewery opened in 1994 it has overcome curfews, checkpoints, forced temporary closures and has to operate within a society that bans all forms of alcohol advertisement. However, the company has succeeded and flourished. It produces 600,000 litres each year of their four different beer styles - Golden, Light, Amber and Dark - with 60% of the sales being within the West Bank, 30% to Israel and 10% exported to countries such as Japan and Sweden. The brewery even holds an annual Oktoberfest event that is attended by over 10,000 Palestinians, Israelis and tourists all united in the common purpose of enjoying good beer.

Despite being based in the West Bank, Taybeh Brewing Co is truly an international affair: The hops come from Bavaria and the Czech Republic, the yeast from London and the malted barley from Belgium and France. The brewing equipment is a mishmash of second hand French and Belgian kit and even the brewing process conforms to the German beer purity law, the Reinheitsgebot.

They now intend to expand their business further into Europe and intend to broaden their beer making by brewing under license in Belgium and Germany. So, there is now a strong possibility of seeing beers by Taybeh in fridges and on the shelves of bars and off sales around the country.

If you see them, do give them a try.

After everything Taybeh Brewing Co has been through, It's the least we can do.

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Fantastic Foreign Legion at GBBF

2011-07-15T13:57:00.004+01:00

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It's just over two weeks to go to the Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court and things seem to be hotting up. I'm particularly looking forward to tasting some lovely beer from the four corners of the globe. So, my ears pricked up when I heard via this guy's blog that the beer list for the festival's foreign bar, Bieres Sans Frontieres, had just been released.

I've spent the past few hours having an absorbing perusal of the list and it looks a very exciting selection of bottles and cask beers from countries such as Italy, Japan, The States, Belgium, Holland and New Zealand. The bottle list is good but the cask list of beers is really rather mouth wateringly magnificent.

The foreign bar is split into four geographical sections -

Vesalias - Belgian and Dutch
Bilroth - German and Czech
Urbani - New World Bar
Blackwell - USA Cask Ale Bar

I'm not sure of the significance of the names given to each bar, perhaps someone can enlighten me further?

I'm not much of a beer ticker but in a unguarded moment of self indulgence, I've made a little list of ten of the international beers that I intend to seek, hunt down and enjoy the moment the door opens on Tuesday 2nd August.

Here it is. The tasting notes are not my own and are instead taken from the Camra GBBF website.

Epic (New Zealand)

Mayhem (6.2% ABV)

This beer's fresh earthy aromas and rich flavours taste like they have more in common with darker beers than this golden coloured brew. It's big on green fresh hoppy flavours with an interesting bitter twist at the very finish stretching out the taste to a lingering conclusion.

Hitachino Nest (Japan)

Nipponia (6.5% ABV)

Brewed using two Japanese original materials; Kaneko Golden, the Japanese ancient barley, and Sorachi Ace, the hop which once was bred in Japan. Enjoy the citrus flavour, golden colour and the complex taste.

Murray's Craft Brewing (Australia)

Nirvana Pale Ale (4.5% ABV)

Nirvana Pale Ale is a hybrid of an American Pale Ale combined with the classic English Pale Ale style to produce a New World Pale Ale. A brilliant golden colour, it has a fresh citrusy/spicy aroma and flavour, balanced with biscuity/toffee flavours from the malt and finishes full-bodied with a complex character and bitterness.

Bernard (Czech Republic)

Kvasnicový (5% ABV)

Unfiltered and unpasteurised this beer has been lagered for 12 weeks. Almost like a really tasty hefeweizen in a pilsener sense.

Keesmann (Germany)

Herren Pils (4.6% ABV)

Pale golden with creamy head. Dryish with superbly rounded, chewy maltiness. Mild with lightly grassy finish with just a hint of bitterness.

Klašterni Pivovar Strahov (Czech Republic)

16° IPA (6.3% ABV)

Top-fermented beer brewed from Czech ingredients and two kinds of American hops ( Amarillo and Cascade). It combines full malt body with high hop bitterness and hoppy aroma.

Tegernsee (Germany)

Spezial (5.7% ABV)

Very pale, with light delicate malt flavours and a dry finish.

Oskar Blues (USA)

Dale's Pale Ale (6.5% ABV)

A huge hopped mutha with a hoppy nose and assertive-but-balanced flavours of pale malts and hops from start to finish. This special batch has a little twist however - Dry-hopped with Centennial.

Ska (USA)

Modus Hoperandi (American IPA) (6.8% ABV)

A mix of citrus and pine that will remind you of that time you went on a vision quest with your Native American cousin and woke up in a pine grove of grapefruit trees.

De Molen (Netherlands)

Tsarina Esra Reserva (11% ABV)

Dark brown in colour with an aroma of caramel, chocolate, dried fruit and liquorice. The taste is more dark chocolate with a light peat smokiness, tobacco and a warming sweetness. This version has undergone extra maturation in a huge wooden barrel from which it will be directly served.

Some of these beers I've had before and look forward to revisiting them like an old friend. The others are hopefully friends I haven't yet met.

What beer friends, old and new, are you hoping to meet up with at this year's Great British Beer Festival?

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It's Pure Awesome - IPA at BrewDog

2011-07-14T12:03:00.001+01:00

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Say what you want about BrewDog but one thing you can't accuse them of is not knowing how to put on a great night. From beer and food evenings with Masterchef champions through to brilliant beer launches and terrific tap takeovers, you can pretty much guarantee an enjoyable evening that keeps their beer punters very hoppy and very happy at any of their events.

So, on a gloriously hot summer's night, I find myself in the dark and industrial setting of BrewDog's Edinburgh bar with fellow Scottish beer bloggers, Mr Beer Cast and Mr Garvie and twitter beer comrade @AdamSh. We are here, like many others, to get a taste of some of the extremely hoppy and very tasty IPA's that BrewDog Edinburgh have sourced from far and wide for this IPA evening.

The beer choice was spread over three menus that are available at different times through the evening. Over 20 IPA's were available from Breweies such as Southern Tier, Stone, Port Brewing, Mikkeller, 8 Wired, Flying Dog, Evil Twin and, of course, BrewDog.

All the beers served were keg, but so what? They were all in tip top condition and tasted on top form. Of the beers that I tried, some were outstanding and deserve special mention.

The Mikkeller Koppi IPA was my stand out beer of the evening. It had a lovely earthy hop taste that gave way to reveal a creamy mouthfeel that coated your tongue in a deliciously roast coffee flavour. I've had it from the bottle before and it was good but from the keg, it was superb.

The Mikkeller 10 IPA was exactly how I remembered it. Fresh, lively and bursting full of juicy citrus hop delights. Port Brewing Co's Hop 15 reminded me of Mikkeller's 10 but had a slightly more tart grapefruit and tangerine notes and a much more pronounced lingering hop bitterness.

Hop 15's lingering bitterness was nothing compared to one of my final beers of the evening - Mikkeller's 1000 IBU IPA Light. I had waited to the last to try this as the chances of being able to taste anything else after this was going to be pretty slim. I was surprised by the first mouthful of this beer. It has an initial gentle toffee and caramel malt flavour to it but this soon withdrew to allow the extreme bitterness to come in and do it's stuff. And boy, does it do it's stuff. It is really bitter. So bitter, in fact, that it felt like my cheeks were being drawn together. The extreme bitterness was what I had expected but nothing on this scale.

All in all, it was a great night and I hope BrewDog repeat the event when they open their new Glasgow Bar at the end of this month.

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Caveat Emptor - BrewDog's Equity for Punks

2011-07-13T10:45:00.013+01:00

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Fraserburgh's self appointed beer upstarts, BrewDog, have just announced the second stage of their Equity For Punks share offering which they hope will raise over £2.2 million. This cash will be used to reinvest in a bigger brewery that will allow them to keep pace with the demand for their beers. BrewDog have released 90,000 shares in the company at a price of £23.75 per share. However, the minimum purchase is four shares or an investment of £95.

These figures mean that BrewDog value their company at over £26 million, which seems a bit top heavy given that their projected turnover for 2011 is around £7million. As I type these numbers, I hear the booming voice in my head of Dragon's Den's, Duncan Bannatyne stating "Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity". This hasn't, however, stopped various broadsheet financial journalists and City analysts saying that investing in BrewDog could be a nice little bet.

The share offering only went live this morning and already the twittersphere is bubbling full of BrewDog fanboys and girls who have already opened the chequebook and parted with their cash. What do they get for their £95 minimum investment?

Apart from the four shares, they will also receive the following

- Lifetime 5% discount in all BrewDog bars
- 10% discount on beers and merchandise from their website
- First options on special and limited edition BrewDog beers
- Entry into the 'AGM'
- The thrill of owning part of BrewDog (albeit a very, very small part)
- Your very own BrewDog I.D.
- Potential financial return but not for the next two years as no dividend will be paid until at least 2013

There is also a sliding scale of greater discounts on their products up to a 20% discount on beer and merchandise from their website for any investment over £285.

What do I think of it?

I think that a great many people will put their hands in their pockets and buy some shares. Not for the lure of some potential financial return on their investment at possibly some point in the future but for the thrill of being part of the journey of this remarkable brewery. The bells, whistles and added trinkets of the beer and pub discount, access to limited editions, entry to the AGM and, no doubt for some people, having your own BrewDog I.D. will swing it for quite a fair few.

They have no doubt done the calculations and worked out that they could recoup their initial investment by buying £1000 worth of beer off the BrewDog website, or two grands worth over the counter in their bars. For some, that will look quite an attractive proposition. Indeed, I know one of the original shareholders who parted with £230 in the first Equity share release just under two years ago and he has recouped his original investment in discount obtained from purchases off the website. He had to keep buying, though, but he says that he would have bought the beers anyway.

I still haven't decided whether I will be taking BrewDog up on their offer. But, if I do, it won't be because I think that this will make me fantastically rich. It won't. Buying four shares would give me 0.00036% ownership of the company.

If I do stump up £95 for BrewDog's Equity for Punks, it'll be solely for entertainment purposes and for the thrill of the ride.

Nothing More. Nothing Less.

ps, remember, kiddies. your investment can go up as well as down

Fyne Ales, Dark Star and The Three Judges

2011-07-11T17:32:00.003+01:00

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Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Three of my favourite beery things will be coming together in a perfect storm of beery loveliness in Glasgow at the end of this month. The Three Judges in Glasgow's Partick will be giving their entire eight hand pumps over to a premium selection of beers from currently two of Britain's best breweries - Fyne Ales and Dark Star.

The Fyne Star festival at the Judges begins on Thursday 28th July and will continue until all 18 casks have been quaffed. And going on previous experience, that shouldn't be long. The last cask of Fyne Ales' Fiddler's Gold to hit the Judges lasted just over three hours.

Available over the weekend will be such stunning beers such -

Dark Star's

Hophead
American Pale Ale
Sunburst
Espresso Stout
Saison
Festival
Dark Star Original
Partridge
Over The Moon

FyneAles

Jarl
Fiddler's Gold
Avalanche
Hurricane Jack
Highlander
Vital Spark
Maverick
Sublime Stout

It's great to see such a smashing selection of beers available in the one place and it shows that the Three Judges are more than capable of rising to the challenge of the new Bratdog Glasgow bar that opens the week before just along from the Judges.

Regardless, these are exciting times to be a beer drinker in Glasgow.

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Folk 'n' Ale

2011-07-07T09:04:00.001+01:00

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The Folk 'n' Ale festival. It's a great name for a beer festival, isn't it? Say it out loud really quickly and you will, hopefully, hear and get what I mean.

Geddit, now?

The festival in question is the Dumfries Folk 'n' Ale Festival which takes place this year on the 15th and 16th of July. It's not just a great name for a festival, it's also a concept for a beer festival so devilish that you could put some horns on it and call it Belzebub.

You see, most beer festivals either take place in the one pub or in the local town hall that has been hired out for the purpose of the event. Most beer festivals have their beer all in the one place and the punters stream in, drink the beer then go home. This one is a bit more unconventional in that the festival is planned round the eleven pubs participating in the event and the punters have to haul their ample arses round the Ale Trail map sampling the different beers in each pub they visit.

Don't worry, though. The pubs are all either contained within the town centre or a short walk from it and therefore does not require much traversing between the venues. Less walking equals more drinking.

There will be over forty different beers available during the festival. The list is being finalised at the moment but given that last years list contained beers from the likes of Fyne Ales, Thornbridge, Harviestoun, Broughton, Arran and Sulwath, I've no doubt that those responsible for this year's beer will be pulling the stops out to deliver some great beer.

The festival, organised by Dumfries Camra, is now in it's third year and it is apparant that the organisers want to involve as many people as possible from the local community in the event. Many of the events, such as the busking competition, take place in Dumfries High St and in participating pubs, drinkers are encouraged to bring musical instruments along for impromptu jamming sessions. And, for those that like songs about someone's sheep being stolen 300 years ago, various Folk bands are playing over the weekend.

The pubs in Dumfries, and the town, will be absolutely buzzing the weekend of the festival and it is shaping up to be one of the best beery events of the summer.

It might be worth a punt if you are doing not doing anything that weekend.

You can find out more about the festival and have a look at the festival programme here

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The Future of Beer is Safe in their Hands

2011-07-05T19:04:00.010+01:00

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Press releases are usually full of self-promoting garbage in which various people often called Jenny try to pimp their latest beery wares onto what they perceive as gullible and easily bought beer bloggers. However, once in a while a press release pops into your inbox that actually means something to the person who created it.

Today, I got one such email from some final year students on the MSc course in brewing at Heriot Watt University. I could quote and paraphrase it but I'm not going to bother. Instead, I'm going to publish it as I received it.

I wish these guys well in their dissertation project and hope that the finished product mirrors their degree award. Hopefully, First Class.

Here it is -

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Edinburgh taste buds to inform the future of brewing

A new beer is being developed specially for Edinburgh drinkers, but they’ll have to step up to the bar smart-ish if they want to taste it. Finch beer is being developed by a group of students at Heriot-Watt’s International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) to try and find out if Edinburgh drinker’s tastes are moving from traditional Scottish malty beers to more hoppy beers, like those popular in America.

The beer, which is being produced in conjunction with Edinburgh’s Stewart Brewing, is described as a ‘robust red ale’ and will be produced as a limited edition. It will be distributed through bars and beer merchants over the Festival period, with the launch being held on, Thursday the 21st of July at the Guildford Arms public house at 8pm.

The ICBD team behind the beer’s development, four postgraduate students from Scotland, Canada and the USA, say they hope the project will help to educate those who drink it about different options for beer tastes, while the headlines of which they will make available to the brewing industry.

They hope that, as a natural product with no additives or preservatives, it will appeal to beer drinkers willing to try new tastes. Team member Steven Kersley said. “Our initial research shows that, far from being stuck in their ways, many drinkers are prepared to try seven to ten new beers a month and we are hoping they’ll be prepared to give Finch a try and let us know what they think.

“Most people know what they like, but they may not know why a particular flavour appeals. We hope that knowing that the new beer is more hoppy, and giving us their feedback on how they feel about that, will both help drinkers inform their own choices and provide valuable feedback to the industry on how tastes in all age groups may be developing.

“Along the way we’re gaining valuable practical experience of developing, producing and marketing a new beer, working in conjunction with a commercial producer, which is bound to stand us in good stead when we move into the industry ourselves.”

Steve Stewart, founder of Edinburgh’s Stewart Brewing worked closely with Dr David Quain a professor at the ICBD to create the project; both are graduates of Heriot-Watt’s ICBD. Steve Stewart said, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to support the ICBD students by brewing this novel and interesting beer for them. They are a very talented group, and

having the opportunity to put theory into practice, to develop a beer from scratch through to seeing it on the bar and drinking it with your friends is a great learning experience. The depth of talent and passion among the brewing students at Heriot-Watt is immense, and with the interest in the craft brewing sector really heating up, it’s great to get new people with new ideas and new beers into the industry,”

Good luck to them. The 6.5% Finch beer will be available not only in the Guildford but also in Holyrood 9A, Jenny Ha's, Beehive and Doctor's. The students intend to make enough of the beer to fill 3000 bottles and 15 nine gallon casks. The scale of the task is huge. As Steven Kersley says, "It's never been done before, student's ...launching a beer from scratch...and selling the beer to the pub".

I wish them every success and it's good to see the level of enthusuaism and dedication that these students clearly possess by the beer barrel load.

I look forward to seeing how the project develops.
Ps. You can also keep track of the lads' progress by following them here on Twitter. The lovely pumpclip was created by Claire Odecki from Vancouver, Canada.

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Hats off to Hengler's

2011-07-05T09:39:00.001+01:00

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Wetherspoons, the UK pub chain, is often seen by some beer drinkers as a place to avoid due to the 'vertical drinking factory' nature of some of their establishments, their reliance (in some pubs) on the Greene King/Ruddles/Caledonian end of the market and the length of time it often takes to be served by what appears to be bored and disinterested staff.

I think the criticism can be justified in some Wetherspoons establishments some of their pubs are trying hard to, in terms of beer, keep things very interesting and exciting for drinkers.

One such Wetherspoons pub in Glasgow which has upped their beer game recently is Hengler's Circus on Sauchiehall Street. I was in over the weekend and was mightily impressed when I walked in and discovered that all eight handpumps had been taken over by fab Scottish Brewery Harviestoun which showcased, excellently, the full range of their beers on offer. For a full four days there was nothing but lovely, tasty Harviestoun beer served from the pub's pumps.

I'm a fan of Harviestoun beers and was delighted by the choice and quality of the beers on offer. The usual suspects of Bitter and Twisted and Schiehallion were available along with a 4.5% abv cask version of the porter Old Engine Oil, Black Watch IPA, their black lager Shenanigans, a new mild from them and their latest summer offering, Natural Blonde - a 4% light beer. All for £1.59 a pint.

The stand out beer for me was the Natural Blonde. It was a lovely light and refreshing beer made from lager and wheat malts and a generous addition of five hop varieties - Pilot, Styrian Goldings, Cascade, Glacier and Citra. As you would expect with these hops kicking around the beer, it is a golden, gorgeous and very delicious drop that delivers a solid citrus hop zing and flavour with a lovely level of clean, dry bitterness. There are crisp shards of grapefruit and lemon accompanied by light, lingering peppery notes. It is an outstanding beer. Your mission this summer should be to seek out and sup this superb beer from Harviestoun.

The tap takeover was the idea of Sandy Williamson, who has just taken over the running and selection of the beers at the pub. His intention is to do more of these mini festivals at the end of each month with the focus being on highlighting the beer range of a different Scottish microbrewery each month. It is a great idea. The Harviestoun tap takeover appeared to be a success and I wish Sandy and Hengler's Circus all the best in their endeavour to support and bring the best of a resurgent Scottish Microbrewing sector to a thirsty and appreciative Glaswegian beer crowd.

I look forward to, hopefully, seeing a pub full of people drinking and enjoying some smashing beers from the likes of Fyne Ales, Black Isle Brewery and Tempest Brewing over the next few months.

Hats off to Hengler's.

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My Thursday Beer Rant

2011-06-23T20:45:00.001+01:00

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The popularity of cask beer seems to be going from strength to strength. If you need evidence of this look to the recent acquisition by beer behemoth Molson Coors of Cornwall's Sharps Brewery. Witness also Calrberg's sniffing around Tetley's with fiscal predatory intent. And, if further proof were needed then look no further than the latest attempt by Heineken UK to capitalise on the growing interest in well made, cask conditioned beers.

Heineken UK have just announced that, from June to August, they will be offering to it's freetrade customers the opportunity to stock over 40 popular regional and seasonal beers from UK brewers.

The event, if you can call it that, is labelled Cask Orders and will be running alongside 17 national and regional champion ales that are currently available in their pubs throughout the year. To coincide with Cask Orders, Heineken UK will will installing hand pumps and interchangeable pumpclips.

So far, so good.

However, they haven't released which beers are going to be part of Cask Orders. Perhaps, some marvellous Mallinsons, some heavenly Hard Knott, or maybe some tremendous Tempest? I'd like to think that whoever has put the beer list together has done so with a bit of imagination and flair and uses this as an opportunity to get a wide range of tasty beers into their pubs. But, I reckon, I shouldn't hold my breath.

You see, Heineken UK happen to own Edinburgh's Caledonian Brewery. Which is, in my opinion, one of the dullest and least exciting breweries in Scotland. I think they produce yawn inducing, underwhelmingly boring beers. What's the betting that Cask Orders will be a vehicle for Heineken to inflict on the public such bollocks beers as Caledonian's Idleweiss, Lipsmacker and my worst beer of all time, their Mexican Bandit?

It's great that more people are drinking cask conditioned beer but I'd rather their entry point into the wonderful world of beer was something more tasty than boring, bland generic beer such as Caledonian.

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I am a craft brewer

2011-06-22T19:20:00.001+01:00

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I'm not sure if this has been posted elsewhere.

If it has, it doesn't matter because it's pretty funny.

I am a craft brewer.