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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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Monday, 18 July 2011
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Brewing in the Face of Adversity
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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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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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Friday, 15 July 2011
Fantastic Foreign Legion at GBBF
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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)
Murray's Craft Brewing (Australia)
Bernard (Czech Republic)
Keesmann (Germany)
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 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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Thursday, 14 July 2011
It's Pure Awesome - IPA at BrewDog
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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.
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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.
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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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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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Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Caveat Emptor - BrewDog's Equity for Punks
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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
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
Monday, 11 July 2011
Fyne Ales, Dark Star and The Three Judges
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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
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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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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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Thursday, 7 July 2011
Folk 'n' Ale
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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 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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Tuesday, 5 July 2011
The Future of Beer is Safe in their Hands
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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
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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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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