Beer, Brown and Big Brother Go West

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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.

Fun in the Sun at Hawkshead

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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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