Pints & Prose on Culture Vultures

...If, like many of us, you enjoy a beer in a quiet pub with a good read rather than a mobile phone, do head over to Culture Vultures and check out a piece I've just posted there in collaboration with Jess Haigh.

Do let us know what you think by way of a comment in the discussion, and let us know you're out there. By the way, Tavern Tales is the page I edit for CV, and is primarily interested in the social and historical aspects of Pubs in Yorkshire. Do let me know if you'd like to get involved by contributing.

Durham Something Blue

Ok, it's a little early for a 'Royal Wedding' beer review, but given that I'm going to be in Liverpool on a stag do all weekend, I may indeed miss the chance. Although I'm not interested at all in 'Royal Wedding Specials', Durham's caught the eye for a number of reasons.

Firstly; a 10%abv Barley Wine is not your average re-badged, pun-titled offering. Neither does it have an awful label (I'm looking at you, Castle Rock). In fact, you wouldn't even know it's a 'Royal Wedding Beer' unless you bought it and read the tiny note on the label. So - What's it like? Well, if I had to boil it down to one word it's this: Powerful. Hopped entirely with Fuggles - which is interesting enough - this is an absolute bruiser. Dark Amber in colour, there's a massive alcohol nose, some faint citrus, and a little spice; more akin to a Christmas cake cinnamon/clove sort of vibe than serious heat. On the sip, it's tongue-coating and sweet; rounded enough but quite heavy. There's more of that cakiness, but the finish has a strong undercurrent of Orange and Tangerine. Finally, that alcohol smacks you in the mouth at the end.

It's not a bad beer at all; but it's big, big, big and one for sipping, for sure. However, I take my hat off to Durham for not cashing in using all the typical hooks, and brewing a beer that would sit alongside their core range to celebrate the nuptuals.

More Bang For Your Buxton: Buxton Brewery Pt2

Ok, ok, enough with the puns. Time to crack on with more Buxton appreciation. Axe Edge (6.8%abv) is now an award winner - it picked up 'Best Strong Ale' in this years Bradford Beer Festival, which goes some in way in boosting the image of tastes of us Northern Folk. To be honest, it would only have been a matter of time before it did scoop a plaudit, simply because it's a great beer. The hop profile tells you all you need to know; it's like a great big tropical fruit juice party in the top of the glass courtesy of loads of Amarillo, Citra and Nelson Sauvin. Lychee, Mango, Strawberry, Grapefruit and sweet Orange dominate the nose, and yet despite it's heft in terms of abv, the sip is deceptively light, with only a slight warming alchohol note coming through late on. It's well balanced and fruity, refreshing and substantial; a great beer simply. The bottle I tried contained some really fresh beer too - the best aroma on a beer I've tried since these.

Axe Edge's little brother, Moor Top (3.6%abv) is a corker too. Again, the boundaries of 'Pale Ale' lead you to believe you've tried them all, but along comes another one that just knocks you over and makes you appreciate simple, yet tasty beers. Straw pale in colour, the nose is pure Grapefruit, as you'd expect for a Chinook-hopped beer. The body is smooth and light, although it finishes crisp and with a surprisingly high, late, Grapefruit/Lemon bitterness. As with the other pales, Moor Top is a long, long beer and I could happily drink about 6 of them in the sun. Gimme More.

This is my first set of Buxton Ales, and they've really been a pleasure to drink. As a person, I like the juxtapostition of complex flavours, but carried out well so that each element stands out; Buxton certainly tick that box. Easy drinking, light beers with complex noses are the way to go with Pale Ale, and Axe Edge and Moor Top will probably go on to do great things. Buxton's latest Beer, Black Rocks, is garnering interest too (as you can see from the comments in Part 1 below), and the lads are brewing at full capacity, which is always good to see. Keep an eye out.

The Buxton Stops Here: Buxton Brewery

This weekend I've been enjoying beers from Buxton Brewery. Although still a relatively young outfit, they are brewing at capacity and quickly collecting plaudits and awards as they go. Head Brewer James Kemp used to brew for Thornbridge, and he's clearly shown himself as a brewer with one eye on tradition, and the other on progression. What you end up with is a really strong core range of beers, with some gentle twists along the way. That's a quality I really like in brewing.

First up was Kinder Sunset (5.0% abv), named after the Kinder area of the Peaks. Red-Mahogany in colour, there's a complex aroma going on; slight hints of almond-cakiness topped off with a note of Pine. That Pine aspect carries on to the taste - Kinder Sunset has a digestive-biscuit body that suggests sweetness but actually finishes grassy, Piney and with an almost minty, herbal note. There's a tart, sour-cherry notes just running under everything that makes Kinder Sunset a much more complex, refreshing beer than the 'Traditional ale' tag it has on the label. Lovely.

SPA (Special Pale Ale) features hop du jour Citra entirely; and in many ways you know what you're going to get. Perfect for this kind of weather, SPA (4.1%abv) is uber-pale, with a much thinner mouthfeel that the Kinder Sunset. All that Citra gives you sharp, pithy tartness with a strong Lemon and Tangerine aroma and taste. It's surprisingly bitter for it's strength, too - the high bitterness hits the back of the tongue and and makes you want another sip. A long, long pale ale that hit the spot perfectly as we ate in the sun this weekend.

Stay tuned for some more Buxton madness over the next couple of days. If you want to keep up to date, you can follow Buxton on Twitter and Facebook; jump over to their blog for more details.

Ossett Treacle Stout

I love this stuff, I really do. It's got tonnes of latte-like coffee creaminess on the nose, which is followed by a more intense coffee hit. Within the deceptively rounded body there's that sweet milk-chocolate note, which ends up super-sweet, courtesy of the treacle -and a slight hint of liquourice lurking in the background. You really can taste the bonfire-toffee treacle in there, but the red-fruity, slightly dry finish stops it being too cloying. If you're after a fantastic stout - one that packs a lot of flavour into a modest 5.0% abv, this beer is for you. Lovely.

Say Goodbye To Tetley's With Leeds

Leeds Brewery will be saying goodbye to Tetley's by holding a Festival at their flagship pub, The Midnight Bell, on the 10th-12th of June. As well as food and music, Leeds will be brewing some one-off beers for the event -including one that can be named by you before the festival. Not only that, but Leeds will be holding a beer trail through the city on the 3rd-10th June where you can pick up a card, wind your way through the pubs of Leeds drinking their wares, and enter into a prize draw.

You can keep updated with Leeds's plans as they prepare for life after Tetley's (big plans, I'm sure) here. Tickets for the festival will be available from the Brewery's pubs (The Bell, PIN, The Garden Gate & The Brewery Tap). Whilst on Leeds, the kit at The Brewery Tap seems to be firing up again, and there are currently a range of single-hopped beers coming through for your tasting pleasure at the aforementioned bar. Do try.

Smutty Saturday

I had a Smutty saturday yesterday. I've been curious about Smuttynose for ages - ever since I saw their label in 'Beer' by Michael Jackson years ago. There's something quintessentially American about that cute little Seal-and-Mountain device that just makes me smile. So, imagine my joy when their wares showed up on these shores. I think the labels are brilliant - simple to the point of absurdity, and almost Lynchian in the way they depict small-town Americana.

The Beer? Oh yeah. The Beer. Well, first up was their famous Old Brown Dog (6.5%abv). It pours a lovely shade of Auburn, and there's a familiar plummy aroma that turns out to be the first thing you taste on the sip. The body is full and rounded, with some cinnamon-cakiness (yes, that's an official term), raisin, and an ever-so-slight touch of smoke hanging around in the background. The hop attack is only gentle and noble at that, which is good because OBD has a light, lovely balance between sweet and dry. It's a lovely, lovely beer and fans of sweeter English browns such as Worthington's Celebration or Theakston's Old Peculiar should give this a go.

South Island Single (5.8%) really hit the spot with the sun streaming down as it did yesterday. Belgian - Pale Hybrids are an idea that I really like, and this one is different to the sweeter ones I've had in the past, but successful. There's distinctly Hefe notes on the nose; coriander seed, lemon zest and an estery note that you'd want to be there. The aroma actually builds the beer up to much more complex than it actually is; what you get on the sip is a refreshing blonde with a dry finish and that lightness that seems to be a Smutty trademark. Good job too; I could probably drink quite a few of these.

The Final beer in this trio is pure and simple IPA (6.9%abv). Light amber in colour, there's lemon and lychee on the nose, finishing with a hit of Pine - as you'd expect from a Simcoe-hopped beer. The body is certainly big and sweet; juicy malt to balance the hops. Again, even a little Pine comes through in the taste, as the bitterness builds up to a fresh, clean, citrus finish. In many ways the IPA is personification of what I perceive the Smutty style to be - big on flavour but surprisingly light and drinkable on the sip. The two guys on the label, chilling on their lawn with some beer, is an apt image to use.

Crack Out The Pales!

I've been decorating during the last few weeks; a truly, truly heinous job that I genuinely loathe. Even worse is when the sun decides to come out as it has done in the last few weeks. The only thing that gets me through evenings of painting ceilings and glossing skirting is the thought of a throat-cooling Pale Ale chilling in the fridge to revive a flagging soul. Here's the pick of a bunch that I've been enjoying.

First up, Theakston's Lightfoot. Named after a Brewery in Masham that the family took over in 1919 (rather than Gordon), Lightfoot (4.1%abv) is sunshine in a bottle. Straw in colour and pleasingly smooth due to a good dollop of wheat in the Grain Bill, this Blonde has cereal and digestive biscuits in the body before mellowing out to a sweet, lemon-tinged finish. Lightfoot is stupidly easy drinking and a welcome departure for Theakston's. It's good to see one of Yorkshire's larger breweries bringing out new wares (it should start appearing on bars fairly soon, I am told) and I start the vote now for Lightfoot to remain a permanent brew. Try it.

Plumbing similar furrows is Wye Valley's HPA (Hereford Pale Ale). At 4%abv this is even easier-going that the Theakston's, and uses only Styrian Goldings. Lemon sherbert and a touch of tangerine round off the nose, but the body is as light as a feather. I really rued not saving this one for some Calamari or Barbecued Chicken - this is a perfect pale for subtle, sunshiny foods.

Titanic's Iceberg (4.1%abv) is advertised as a Wheat beer; although as with the other two, it's not Wheat as you'd expect. Pale Ale with a hefty touch of Wheat is much more accurate, but what sets Iceberg apart is the hoppiness - it's a bitter beer, no doubt about it. A smooth, vaguely almond-laced body just rises and rises with citrussy bitterness that gives it a long finish. It actually seems a great deal more aggressive than it's draught counterpart - but that could just be me. Clear glass being used in bottles is not something I like to see, though.

It's not all bottled action, though. Last week I got to try a good few of Liverpool Organic's beers. Again, perfect for this time of year, Rakau displayed a clean, firm body and a sweet, graperfuit/melon finish. Shipwreck IPA (6.5%abv) was golden in colour, with a lasting head, and masses of sweet malt in the body which offset the generous hop attack at the end of the sip - slightly peppery, slightly spicy, then finishing off with the familiar tropical fruit flavours. I really enjoyed this, and highly recommend it.

Don't Fear The Smoke

The Fear. We all have it; we all get it - something, often nondescript, that just sets our arm-hairs on edge. Spiders. Fox News. Grant Holt. Yes, they all rank up there, but for me, Smoked Beer was the daddy.

When 2011 came to be, I decided that this was all utter nonsense - some beers I'm capable of just not getting, of course, but there's all the signs were that I should love Smoked Beer. I love smoke; mostly on meat, or cheese - and especially fish - I'll take it, please. There's something about the depth of flavour that smoke adds that has always appealed. So I bit the bullet: bought one of the big daddies -Schlenkerla Rauchbier - and got stuck in.

Ok, I cheated. I bought it to use in a recipe, some Smoked Pulled Pork, but I couldn't let it pass me by. My palate has changed since that ill-fated day circa 2005 when I tried a swig of a friend's pint and declared it 'tasted like bacon.' So I used the beer in the recipe, and drank the other half of it whilst cooking. Guess what? I liked it. Really, I did.

Schlenkerla Rauchbier (5.1%abv) has got a whole lot more going on that that lovely, familiar Gothic label. It pours a lush, deep amber with a majestic Tan-hued head. Obviously the nose is powerful - layers upon layers of woodsmoke; underpinned by a sweet-oak sort of note that gives you a clue as to what the body of the beer will taste like. The beer itself is as sweet a Marzen as you're likely to taste, but flipped round so that heavy smokiness sits under the grain, rather than on top of it. For a 5.1% abv beer it drinks nowhere near, and I have to say I enjoyed it a great deal. I've drunk a couple more since, and I can't beleive I've let it go so long ruled by past prejudices.

Of course, this led me to trying to get my hands on more Smoked Beers. Bierbrouwerij Grand-Café Emelisse Rauchbier is a whole different beast to Schlenkerla. Where Schlenkerla is muscled and powerful, Emelisse Rauch is sinewy and lean. At 6.5%abv it's stronger, yet again hides that abv below loads of flavour. That familiar, sweet smoke is there on the nose, but this time there's a hint of wildness, of almost sour malt. The taste is again unexpectedly light, and with an unusual int of pine on the finish. There's a slight echo of Goudenband in the Flemish, rangy sourness that runs through the beer, but the smokiness really works and you end with an interesting beer.

I really wish I'd not been so slavishly following my previous prejudices all these years. Palates evolve, and if I have one moral to this story it's this; try everything. Again and again and again and again and...

You can see my recipe for Bamberg Pulled Pork over at Beer Reviews, curated as always by Andy Mogg. He may support a godawful football team, but he's one of the good guys and does some great things with food and beer. My recipe didn't win, but the one that did made mine look like Neanderthal fumblings; so it's all good. Please do hop on over there, forthwith.

Brewing Cuckoo (pt 2)

Dann Paquette and his wife Martha are the creative force behind Pretty Things – a cuckoo brewing pair who refer to PT as a ‘Project.’ Inspired as much by Yorkshire (where Martha hails from) as their USA homeland, Dan certainly feels that – for the time being, anyway - there’s only one way they can brew; Cuckoo. ‘One great thing about this sort of brewing is that you can fold shop up neatly and move on with your life if you want to. There are no tanks to sell, no debt. Not that we’d want to! But that is a thought we've had at the back of our heads throughout this business - we can fail and walk away not having lost anything. That allows us to be out on a limb like we are.’

Dann’s clearly passionate about Pretty Things’ interesting, rustic beers but tempers that passion with solid, almost-obvious clarity. ‘I'd much rather have my own brewery. But we started this business for $9,000. You can't build a brewery on any scale for that.’ When I asked whether he would recommend it as a choice, the reply was firm: ‘No. I would recommend the traditional route which allows you to be completely in control. At the end of the day we're guests in someone else's brewery and only have limited influence on how that brewery works. A brewer's nature is to want to be in control.’

Despite that, PT seems very much a ‘family’ operation; albeit one without a permanent home. ‘Martha and I brew and oversee fermentation. We also have all of our own relationships and purchase raw materials. Lastly, we draw all of our labels ourselves. The host brewery lets us use their brewhouse and they package the beer for us.’ Cuckoo Brewing seems just as hard a task as regular brewing; but some still seek out the Cuckoo way regardless of the toil.

Mikeller’s Mikkel Borg Biergso has been cuckooing since 2007 – in fact, it would be hard to imagine Mikeller doing things any other way; Cuckooing is very much Mikkeller’s trademark. Mikkel says the secret of his success is simply hard work. ‘It’s a lot of logistics. I work A LOT and I work with good people. But it’s hard sometimes to make everyone happy.’ So, I asked, why not get a permanent home?’ It’s not as much fun.’ Mikkel replied. He refers to his trade as ‘Gypsy’ – a term which I actually prefer; simply due to the implied romance of it. Implied or not, the romantic view clearly dissipates once it becomes clear how difficult it is to keep a lid on the operation. Despite it’s hardships – and bear in mind the size of Mikeller’s operation – Cuckoo Brewing is still the only way to go for Mikkell, and behind those experimental gems we’ve come to expect form Mikkeller sits sheer hard work and a level-headed resolve to make sure all the ends meet, the planets align and the Beer ends up in your glass. ‘I like the freedom. With the loads of work my life is very different than my brewing. I really have to stay focused to work it all out.’

So what does the future hold for our brewers? For Steel City - more brewing, and perhaps a departure from the style that’s made them infamous. ‘We want to try some more styles; we're looking at an Alt and a Kolsch in the summer, and maybe a Weissbeer in the Autumn. Although we're known for our pale hoppy beers, our stouts actually get better feedback than our pales! We're building up a solid base of repeat customers, and we're looking at palletised deliveries to London in a couple of months. We've also bought some keykegs to export our beer to Italy and eventually USA. Our mini-kit (basically a 10-gal boiler and fermenter) means we can brew single firkins, so we can brew more extreme styles without worrying about selling a whole brewlength - so far we've done an 8% imperial stout, and are currently brewing a series of single-hop IPAs.’ In fact, a Black IPA brewed in collaboration with Otley should be being brewed as you read this.

As for Revolutions, their 2011 should hopefully see a permanent home; and along with that expansion in beers, distribution and a (if you ask me) a growing reputation. Ditto for Pretty Things; although they will remain Cuckoo for the time being. ‘We're trying to keep up with demand and keep it fun at the same time. Lots of great seasonals are coming back like Fluffy White Rabbits, Babayaga and American Darling. We've also got a really interesting historical beer in our "Once Upon A Time" series coming out in May.’

Steel City, Mikkeller, Pretty Things and Revolutions are planning ahead, there’s no slow-down here despite not brewing in the traditional way. Perhaps therein lies the beauty of this way of working: whether Full-Time brewer, Cuckoo Brewer, or even Homebrewer – that buzz, that tingle of pride as someone enjoys your beer, is the true spirit of brewing.

Pretty Things Picture courtesy of Carolyn Fong. Dann & Martha will be pouring thier beer at The Cornshed in Sexhow on July 8th & 9th. Keep an eye on their website for details.

Brewing Cuckoo (Pt 1)

Cuck-oo: A grayish European bird (Cuculus canorus) that has a characteristic two-note call and lays its eggs in the nests of birds of other species.

Cuckoo Brewing has always interested me; there’s something about the cuckoo way, throwing such minor shackles such as, well - not having your own kit - aside and brewing just for the hell of it. It’s like Beat poetry; without form, practised by free spirits and producing one-off, off-centre beers. Or is it? My own view seems overly romantic. After all, Brewing is hard work – and once you throw in the business side of things, you’ve got a company like any other. So I decided to ask around and see what made people brew the Cuckoo way.

Andy Helm and Mark Seaman of Revolutions Brewing Company weren’t planning on Cuckooing. Their hand was forced due to simple economic spanners being thrown into their works; put simply, their kit took longer than expected to be available. Regardless, the pair decided to forge ahead. ‘The concept of cuckoo-brewing was unknown to us until circumstances led us to look for a way we could put our ideas into action and get our product to market as early as possible.’, says Andy. ‘We made the decision to set up a micro-brewery in August 2010. We quickly decided to buy a new (rather than second hand) brew plant and our initial discussions with the brewing consultant revealed a 7 month lead time for fabrication and installation. Once we knew we wouldn't have our plant until June-11 we saw an opportunity to turn this potential setback into an opportunity to test our ideas, expand our knowledge and hopefully earn some revenue.’

Using another brewery as a testing board seems like an excellent idea. Luckily, other brewers in the area seem to agree, and were happy to let Revolutions hijack their gear for a little while to get their hands dirty. ‘We eventually found Richard Billington, one of the co-owners of The Brass Monkey Brewery in Sowerby Bridge. Richard was very accommodating and encouraged us to try a couple of brews in November to tap into the Christmas market. Our original intention had been to start in January. He even allowed us to use some spare casks which meant that we didn’t have to purchase our own for a few months.’

For me, this is a perfect example of the willingness to help that seems to pervade the independent brewing industry as a whole. Is it a surprise that the concept of Cuckoo exists in Brewing, but isn’t prevalent in many other industries? Is it too romantic to say that The Beer is King, and even helping others make unique, new brews and get established brings reward other than financial? Maybe.

Andy outlines their basic arrangement. ‘For us it's a great way to make our beer and get it out to market without having the overheads of rent and rates. We pay our share of water and electricity as well as all the cleaning chemicals so the cost per brew is a reasonably good reflection of the marginal brew costs we will face under our own steam. As we make a little profit on each of the brews we can reinvest in new casks and things we will need for our own brewery. Over a period of 6-7 months of cuckooing we can reduce by about 10-15% the total amount we need to put into the business to buy the plant, cask washers etc. and fit out the unit.We are brewing fortnightly at Brass Monkey. This fits in with their current spare brewing capacity and is about as much as we could do without hitting issues of storage space for casks. We have 100 of our own casks which, if we manage them tightly, are just about enough for a fortnightly brew length of 25-26 casks. Cuckooing does have its natural limits unless your host has ample storage space for casks. We are lucky that Brass Monkey is in a large old mill. Other hosts might not have the space.’

The simple logistics of it all has also been a barrier, as Andy outlines, for Gaz Prescott and Dave Szwejkowski of Steel City Brewing. Steel City was born out of Dave and Gaz simply wanting to brew beer how they like it – Pale and super-hoppy. It’s a niche that has worked well for them, and the majority of people who drink their refreshing wares are pretty impressed. In fact, Ben McFarland recently deemed them worthy of inclusion in the ‘Breweries to watch in 2011’ alongside such forward-thinking outfits as Thornbridge, Kernel, Marble and Gadd’s. ‘When we started out 18 months ago, it really was a case of doing it to simply brew the beer we like, because no other bugger would do it!’ Dave and Gaz state proudly. ‘Since then there's been a real growth in our sort of beer - not that we're taking the credit - from the likes of Brewdog, Summer Wine and Mallinsons along with some more established names such as Pictish. However, we only brew once a month, so there's no way we could cover the cost of our own premises and kit’.

However, it took a little moving around before our intrepid hop-heads could find a permanent home. ‘After 2 test brews at The Brew Company, we've set up long term at Little Ale Cart. This worked out well, as LAC could offer us weekend brewing which The Brew Company couldn’t do due to increasing demand for their beer. The first couple of times at LAC, Gee (Resident brewer) was on hand to help and show how things work - but now we just get on with it. We find Cuckoo is a lot less hassle in the main. No maintenance issues; we pay one monthly brewery hire fee which includes kit, electricity, gas, peripherals (finings, cleaning fluids, etc). The only downside is that obviously we don't have exclusive access; but that’s only been an issue once, when we couldn't brew because 'our' fermenter was in use. Our current arrangement works well - Little Ale Cart brew during the week, we go in on a Saturday’.

For me, that’s one of the key points about Cuckoo Brewing that Dave makes; the arrangement works well. You don’t even have to suffer too much when the inevitable occupational hazard occurs. When I asked Dave whether he thought all this hassle was worth it, he replied ‘Of course, there's times you just feel like giving up and going home - last month we had about 20% of our brew wasted because for some reason they were popping their shives, and that wiped out the profit for the brew. At the same time we managed to break an expensive hydrometer, so there’s more money down the drain. But that can also happen with your own kit, it's not exclusive to cuckoo brewing - and when it's your livelihood it's even more frustrating! But, 95% of the time, it's fun. We don't brew often enough for it to become 'just a job', a chore, and there's a real satisfaction to seeing your beer on the bar, seeing people enjoy it, seeing people actively seeking it out’.

Dave’s brewing partner, Gaz Prescott, also points out that the freedom – at this level – to brew what you want is liberating. ‘Our beer is never what you'd call "market friendly" and, I think, is some of the most extreme in the UK but in a good way! It's not really our mission to make undrinkable beer - and definitely not stupid beer for a cliquey few. But we do want to explore the mish-mash of UK and foreign cultures by mixing it up a bit and seeing what comes out.’ He also reinforces the point made earlier about having people on hand to help out and, if needs be, pinch ingredients from. ‘One good thing is that there's always someone else we can ring for advice, help or to borrow something like a kilo of roast barley or some hops! Other brewers can do this with neighbouring brewers but we can do it with the two other in-house teams!’

In the next part, we’ll get another side of the Story from some Cuckoos from across the Pond. You can catch Revolutions Brewing Co at The Hop in Leeds on Sunday night (27th). A Meet the Brewer event will run from 14.00-17.00 and will be followed by music from Sarandon and others.

'Spoon Fest; Ballast Point Love

...I've just got in from a quick (and I mean quick) peruse around the latest Wetherspoon's Beer Festival. As usual, there's a few beers of note, and one that's worth tracking down for sure. First up, Feral Brewing Company's The Runt; a beer that promised a lot but ultimately was let down. I do, however, feel this was due to the dispense method; warm stillage in a crowded room doesn't do this citrussy pale any good at all. There's a touch of promise in here; light, and with a nice dose of Citra hops, but the dispense method let it down. Hedley Verity; take note for next time.

The same can't be said of Ballast Point's Calico Amber; despite the crap dispense method this great beer shone through; a dry, biscuity body with a touch of brown sugar and coffee lingering, and a grapefruity, unmistakeably 'US' style finish, courtesy of the hop-cocktail of Galena, Cascade, Centennial, Fuggle and Perle. It's like a cousin of BrewDog's 5AM Saint, so if you like that, get on this.

I'd also keep an eye out for Leeds's Doubting Tom; an intruiging-sounding Pale hopped with Citra and Sorachi Ace, Hyde's Plum Treat, Nethergate's Saison Blonde, and Shepherd Neame's EIPA. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Worthy Worthington's

Via the magic of Twitter, I was lucky enough to land myself a mixed case of Worthington's beers recently. Given my oft-stated love for White Shield, this excited me immensely. This was exceeded, however, when I opened the case to find some real gems.

First up - Red Shield (4.2abv). White Shield's younger, fresher, cousin is a Blonde at heart; Pale Straw in colour, with tonnes of Lemon on the nose. There's that touch of Orange peel that I swear I can get with really on-form White Shield lying underneath all that, leaving you in no doubt that this is a light, lively beer that made me crave more sunshine and beer gardens. The bitterness is gentle, and the finish soft. The bottle did get a little flat towards the end, but this really is a minor quibble.

Celebration Ale is a whole different beast. This was the one that piqued my interest in the first place, and I wasn't disappointed. Brewed to celebrate their new premises, Celebration (8%abv) is nudging towards Barley Wine town; dark, burnt Amber in colour, with bonfire toffee and boiled sweets on the nose. It's a smooth, juicy beer - very drinkable for it's strength - with that aforementioned Orange/Lemon pith levelling the fairly sweet body. The body carries a little more complexity than just sugars, though - with Almond, a touch of Raisin and Digestive Biscuit making an appearance. Strong - yes; Sweet - yes. However, the beer is balanced, and in a Barley Wine, that's all you can ask for. I could drink a whole lot more of this.

Finally, the big Daddy; P2 (8%abv). A lot's been said about this beer in the past year or so; and rightly so. It's immense. Both in terms of quality, taste and balance. Birthed using the original recipe that was shipped to the Czar's Imperial Court, I'd have to commend the Russian's taste. Smoothness is the keyword here; there's a lot going on but all wrapped up in Velvet. On the nose, there's phenols, Dundee cake and a touch of Bonfire Smoke. All these flavours come through on the taste, however the smoke drops into the background and a molasses-like note pops up, backing up sweet raisin, plum, and a full, port-like finish. It's not dry at all, but is remarkably light for all the flavours coming through. A wonderful, consummate Imperial Stout, this is another beer I really wish I hadn't have left it so long without tasting. If you've not - then track some down immediately.

SummerWine Take Over The Free Trade Inn

The Free Trade Inn in Newcastle is being taken over by Yorkshire's very own Hop-scented upstarts SummerWine Brewery next week (25th-27th). If you're yet to try James & Andy's wares and are up that way then do drop by - now's your chance. My personal recommendation would be Diablo IPA, which has fast become - in my humble opinion - their Flagship beer. However, such treats as Barista, Nerotype and their new Valencia ales will be on offer. In addition, there will be plenty of US-
inspired bottle action and a Meet The Brewer night on the 24th. So, if you're in Newcastle, you really have no excuse to catch up with one of the country's most promising brewing outfit. You can follow the Free Trade Inn on Twitter through @TheFreeTradeInn.



Back in Leeds, North have announced their annual Belgian Bier Fest will be kicking off on the 7th April. Expect the usual mind-boggling array of Belgian beauties, along with plenty of cheese and bread (one hopes). North's festivals are always worth dropping in on.


Finally, as if anyone in Leeds needs reminding - CAMRA's Leeds Beer Festival is taking place now. If its tips you're after, I can wholeheartedly recommend Hopstar's Smokey Joe Black Beer and Thornbridge's Chiron. Leeds's Gyle 479 was sitting in wooden glory amongst the rows of plastic and steel, and the beer was excellent; with a much more pungent, rum/whisky-esque nose than the plummy delights of the bottled version. I understand this has now run out, but I think there are still some bottles kicking around.

Beeritz: Thanks, Lads

When I heard that Beeritz was no more this morning as I sat down to work, I was genuinely gobsmacked. Of course, such sudden news is bound to do that, but it also felt very personal. Given that blogs are for this sort of thing, I thought I'd string a few words together this evening. I've supported Beeritz since I began drinking beer in 2005-ish, and that only ramped up since I started blogging about it in 2007. It's no hyperbole when I echo the sentiments of many Leeds beer fiends that without them, TGS would be nothing.

I'll illustrate this with a simple tale. Last Saturday, I had been stuck in the house for two days straight. My Border Terrier, Wilson, had been neutered and I was getting pretty bored of house-sitting an equally-bored, doped-up, tired and frustrated puppy. I decided on Friday night that this simply would not do, and resolved to go to Beeritz on Saturday.
I was actually excited - not only to be leaving the house, but to be indulging in my hobby with the old credit card primed and ready for action. The clock ticked down to 12; and off I was, dog-sitter arranged, in the car and riding the ten minute journey to Headingley.
When there I was greeted by Ghostie and Tom, and we spent the next half-hour chewing the fat: Dogs, Beer, Homebrewing, Marketing Strategy, and finally Beer Label Art. I left the shop much later, £50 worth of sweet ales clinking away in the boot of the car.

So although I can go online and buy beer now - in fact, I'll have to - it's this connection with the shop and the staff that I'll miss the most. Beeritz was much more than a shop - it was a hub,
simple as that. What's more, the loss of it is massive for Leeds; a real black hole.

So I'll take this opportunity to say Thanks Zak, Ghostie (Can we reveal your name, yet, mate?) and Tom - and all previous staff. God knows I owe you all a few pints. Best of luck to all of you for the future - and I really mean that.

Ilkley Brewery Launch

It's hard to believe Ilkley's Stewart Ross when he tells me it's almost two years to the week that the idea of Ilkley Brewing Co. was formed to this day; when a spanking new 20 barrel brewery is formally opened.

That just goes to show the incredible leaps Ilkley have made since then. By brewing a strong core range of traditional, yet tasty beers supplemented by popular seasonals, Ilkley have somehow managed to become part of the Yorkshire beer scenery - but in a good way. The new brewery is pretty much like every new brewery around these days; functional and modern, clean and efficient; but based on the conversations I've had this morning it's the vision of the brewers that maketh the beer. As we chewed the fat over a half of Ilkley Best, Black Summit, a Dark IPA in very much the modern style, sits glowering in the end fermenter.

The launch was a successful one; a few speeches by the Mayor and Chris Ives, and then onto the beer, conversation and awesome Pork Pies supplied by that Ilkley institution, Lishman's Butchers (one was not enough, let me say...). You know, you can't go much wrong with a pint of Best and a just-warm Pork Pie...

..Anyway, I digress. Looking across the bar, it's easy to say Ilkley brew straight-ahead drinkers; be it the Cascade-laced, multi-award-winning Mary Jane, or the malt-driven but well-bittered Best. However, that's to do the term a disservice; fact is, Ilkley's beers are full of flavour and more often than not, hop-led (although not in the US style). Ilkley Pale is coming on strong; straw-hued, lemony on the nose and dry in the finish; . The sort of Blonde that makes one wish the onset of spring would hurry the hell up. Ilkley Black remains a Dark Mild in the truest sense; rich and moreish without being too heavy on the palate.

I'm sure Ilkley will expand further; their beers have already reached pretty much every part of the land - and given that my conversation with Stewart encompassed drinking in Cask, The Rake, the qualities of Nelson Sauvin and Kernel's beers, I really don't think that 'levelling out' is in Ilkley's vocabulary. Regardless of whether you view Ilkley Brewery as a 'traditional' brewer or not, I can safely predict you'll find at least one beer of theirs that you'll like in 2011.

Ilkley will be holding various 'Meet The Brewer' events throughout April in Wetherspoons, Foley's and Market Town Taverns. Do pop along. And it was also a pleasure to chat with Spike of The Narrow Boat, and The Ilkley Beer Fest chaps. Until next time...

BrewDog IPA Is Dead

I missed the launch of these little gems a few weeks back, but luckily the lads at BeerRitz swung to the rescue and ensured I had a tasty fourpack hidden away - like they always do, to be honest. So, Saturday's decorating was offset by the fact that I knew I had the beers slightly chillingin the fridge, and let me tell you that it's a comforting thought. So - onwards and upwards. The proof is in the tasting, however, so a pizza was duly ordered, glasses shined and the beers cracked.

First up - Citra. Well, the name says it all really. Citra's making appearances a lot recently, and with Kernel's Citra IPA still remaining the high water mark for me, BrewDog's effort gave a little more Tangerine/Orange edge on the usual Lemon/Lime profile. Simple, yet effective, Citra seems made for IPA's, and I'm sure we haven't seen the last of it.

Nelson Sauvin is probably one of my favourite hops - it's the goodness behind many, many great beers - so again, I sort of knew what to expect. There's the familiar Grapefruit and slight hint of cattiness, rounded off with more Lime pith. You can't go far wrong with it in pale beers, and this one disappeared way quicker than is healthy.

The ace in the pack is Sorachi Ace (pun entirely intended). I'd actually tried this on keg at Foley's during the week, and was left scratching my head. People offered their opinions on what it tasted and smelt of; anywhere between Thai Green Curry to Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum to Green Tea seemed to be the consensus. Having it in front of me at home gave me more time to deal with this arcane hop. I will tie my colours to the mast with this: sticky pine Resin and Mint. Together. With a bit of Strawberry sweetness on top. There's an amazing herbal note that makes the hop massively clean and fresh, but not in a bad way. It's an odd hop, without doubt,and I'd probably need a few more of these before entirely making up my mind about it. I'd say if you pick up one beer from this range, make it this one, just for shits and giggles.

Finally, onto my favourite - Bramling X (or Cross, whatever you like). Some may think it's an odd choice for an IPA but I loved this; a deep, woody Blackberry aroma and full-bodied taste that made it as individual as the Sorachi Ace IPA but in an entirely different way. I could drink this all day, and it's the one I've craved the most since finishing it off. All the beers were obviously sweet enough to balance the hops, but I was quite surprised at how different the Hops made the base beer. The Citra and Nelson Sauvin seemed much drier than the BX or Sorachi - when in reality they probably weren't.

Judging from comments on my previous post, IPAID seemed to have divided people ; or at least generate discussion. One of the biggest themes was lack of originality - Single Hopped beers are actually 'Old Hat' and nothing special. Well, yes, I agree. We know BD are great at marketing, but I don't think wool has been pulled over anyone's eyes at all. These are simply four very good, interesting IPA's with great balance that drink nowhere near their 7.5% abv. That's it. That really is it.

In fact - the main thing I enjoyed about these was the point I alluded at the start of the post - the four pack is a tasting platter in your own home - even if you miss the beers on cask. The cheeky foursome, hanging around menacingly in the fridge like day-glo clad Chavs on a street corner - beg to be shared and compared. I hope they stick around.

For a different slant on tasting this range, check out Ghostie's truly blind tasting. Cracking stuff.

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

...And we round off the weekend with a ridiculously-named offering from perennial favourites Sierra Nevada. Although SN can't do much wrong in my eyes, Hoptimum's (10.4%bv) a puzzling one. Awesome label artwork aside (Reminiscent of Kevin O'Neill's artwork), the name of the beer precedes it; you know what's coming. Hops - and lots of them. Pouring that usual cracking SN shade of Amber, you bring Hoptimum to your nose and get....well, not a lot. A touch of Pine, some florals and that all-too-familiar Grapefruity fruity note. Oh well. Then the sip - Bang! A smack of hops, coming stealthily after some smooth, sweet caramel notes, but it's the massive, high bitterness that catches you off - guard with this one; high, green and bitter. Really Bitter.

Don't get me wrong - I like the concept of Hoptimum. The US market, and in some ways the UK, demand more hops these days - but there's something about Hoptimum that doesn't sit right. It's a smooth beer - and as sweet as you'd expect, having to outweigh that formidable hop attack - but the finish is all jumbled up, and I can't really pick out one hop aspect above all other. Simcoe, perhaps - as it's Piney as hell -but aside from that, it's just really, really bitter.

Maybe the size of the bottle helps this overwhelming feeling - a half, perhaps, served in good nick, would reduce Hoptimum to 'An interesting Drop'. But when I look at the depth of hop freshness SN achieve with their Harvest series, I wonder whether Hoptimum is just a little too much. And to stress the O'Neill artwork link, Hoptimum, for me remains much like Alan Moore's excellent comics - a strange Curio.

Thornbridge Italia

Thornbridge's Italia was a beer that I'd been waiting for with particular interest; I'm a big fan of Lager - when done right, good Lager can be so good. But we don't get a lot of that good stuff over here. Italia (4.8%abv) is the result of a collaboration with Maurizio Folli of Birrificio Italiano; properly lagered, and is loaded with Hallertau Northern Brewer, Perle and Spalter Select hops.

But is it any good? I bought this the same weekend as Sharp's Monsieur Rock, but held off drinking them both in the same session - I feared they would be too alike. I was quite wrong - Italia is unashamedly Lager; Uber-Pale, good carbonation, and meant to be served chilled. There's the malty, biscuity backbone that I was hoping for; a creamy, malted-milk heart. On top of that there's Lime and Lemon, and I actually thought the Lime-zest nose got more intense as the pint wore on. It's citrus all the way, but not too sweet. I liked it a lot, but I don't think I could drink a lot of it - it's not a session beer; the flavours are too big. But that's not a bad thing.

In fact, it formed part of a very enjoyable meal - chunks of Coley, dredged in flour, paprika and pepper, deep fried until golden and served with a Garlic and Lime mayo. Perfect finger-food, and accompanied by a great, sharp, citrussy beer. Hang on - Lager. Watch out for it on keg at various pubs around the country.

Founder's Red's Rye PA

I'd been hearing a great deal of talk about this beer over Christmas and finally popped my bottle open a while back. I still get excited when I get to try something from a brewery for the first time - given how much beer us bloggers get through, we can sometimes take that for granted. Even better, I'm a big fan of Rye in beer so was curious as to how Michigan-based Founder's take on it stood up.

I needn't have worried; it's a delicious beer. Red's Rye PA (6.6%abv), mahogany in colour, ploughs a similar furrow to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - with rounded, sweet hardcandy and boiled-sweet flavours -but undercut with a little breadiness and spice coming through at the end of the sip, presumably courtesy of the rye. There’s Pine and atouch of Grapefruit on the nose, backed up with a little more pepperiness, but balanced, bitter end is more than balanced out by the sweet body.It’s very easy-drinking for its strength and chills nicely too. All in all; A balanced, tasty beer.