The Good Stuff 2010 Review

Ok, here’s my roundup of what floated my boat in 2010. Personally, I’ve had a pretty cool year. I got married, which was great fun and I can recommend to anyone thinking of popping the question, and I also decided to come out from behind the laptop and meet some of you. I’m glad I did; what a cracking bunch of chaps and chapesses you all turned out to be. You know who you are. Thanks for some great beers and banter.

Ok, here we go -
Overall Beer of the Year – a bottled one this year – BDB/DFH’s’s My Antonia. 2010 was the year I finally got to taste some Italian Craft Beers, and this was one hell of a jumping-off point. Aroma spilling out of the glass, thick with herbals and citrus, this Imperial Pilsner left some mark on my consciousness. Still, and I suspect will be for some time, my favourite BDB beer – albeit a collaboration.

Beers of The Year - Brewdog Edge/5Am Saint. I’ll whisper it; I’d fallen out of love a little with Brewdog in 2010. Too much high-abv, freeze-distilled antics for me; just personal taste. Then just when I’d wrote them off – BANG – Edge appears, being quite possibly tastiest pint for it’s abv I’d had. Masses of red fruit, plummy, malty, refreshing – but all with an abv of 3.8%. Then, my lazy ass picks up 5AM Saint, which must be one of the best aromas I’ve experienced for quite some time – strawberry and lychee all the way, sitting on top a very respectable, sweet Amber ale. Welcome back, BrewDog - I’ve missed ya.


SummerWine Brewery – Project 6 IPA Series. If there’s one think I love in anything – be it writing, comics, music or indeed beer – it’s one-off’s. Exciting little diversions from core ranges, beers to actively seek out and savour. SWB’s P6 IPA’s have been pretty much the beer of my summer; waiting until the next one comes out, and trying hard to pick out the combo of hops in this particular edition. Simply excellent, fragrant, British IPA’s with a sense of adventure. I’d say check them out – but they’ve gone now; and therein lies my point.



Other memorable pints –
Highland’s Orkney Blast – Strong Pale Ale par excellence – woody, earthy but sweet and aggressive English-hopped Strong Pale Ale.
Abbeydale Last Rites – A late entry, Last Rites slipped under the radar a little with its release this month. Super-easy drinking for its 11% abv, this richly golden Barleywine was smoother than Swiss Tony and satisfyingly rich, all without being cloying. Can we have some bottles of this, Abbeydale?
Wharfebank’s CamFell Flame – It’s not all about strong beers, and WB’s Camfell Flame is rightly the most lauded of their range. No-nonsense, it’s a rich, malty, warming pint with a lovely cinder-toffee profile.
Baladin Open – Wow. The stand-out beer of my honeymoon in Italy, and even the better for the fact that my bottle was given to me as a gift from a beer-loving barman in Garda. Again, aroma is what sets Open apart, loaded with Strawberry, Pineapple and Lychee.
Williams Bros Joker IPA – Williams continue to innovate and pleasantly surprise with a clean, refreshing, super-balanced IPA; restrained in hopping and yet all the better for it.
Marble Dobber – A great beer with that grapefruit led nose that I’ve come to expect from Pale Marble beers. This is one more about context; it was the first beer of the day on the Twissup and over it I finally met the likes of Baron Orm, the Hardknotts, Rakebar Glyn, Andy Mogg etc etc...
Ola Dubh 30 – on Cask at The Angel, Manchester, was not only one of the most pleasant surprises of the day (Twissup) but perfectly fit the mood of collaboration; a beer to be savoured and even shared – mouth-coatingly rich, loaded with chocolate and a whisper of whiskey heating everything up. Wow.
Thornbridge 2009 Halcyon. Green. Fresh. Refreshing. Moreish. Wonderful. Thanks, Stefano and the lads.
Crown Brooklyn Heights - IT constantly amazes me how much milage the Pale Ale style has, especially when this strong, sweet and floral Pale Ale hit my lips. Wonderfully hoppy, well-brewed, Pale Ale. Simple as that.

..And as ever with lists, there were so many more – but these are my ones, these are the pumpclips I want to see in my 2010 pub. Speaking of pubs, my pub of the year goes to The Grove in Huddersfield this year. I’d never actually been until 2010 and I rue that fact dearly. Pleasant, informative barstaff, great beer (and lots of it) all in a nice space. The Grove is one of the few pubs I would get on a train specifically for, so Thanks, Brian. Those that know me know I spend a lot of time hanging out with Dean in Foley’s – so I don’t want to over-egg the point for fear of being acused of nepotism – but Dean and crew at Foley’s deserve my thanks for really improving their beer range. In the past few months drinkers in Leeds have been spoiled with offerings from Summer Wine, Crown, Hardknott and Dark Star to name a few, as well as championing newer faces such as Revolutions. So I guess, a ‘Much Improved’ sort of award!



Finally, I just want to mention a couple of blogs. HopZine I love; clean, clever design and - more importantly – ratings I trust. That’s the key. Rob and Matt know their beer and bring the more esoteric beers to my attention, so for that, HopZine go as my blog of the year. They are both bloody nice blokes, too, which helps! I’d also like to throw some kudos out to Beer.Birra.Beer. Mark’s style appeals to me, it's knowledgeable and, more importantly, balanced. Again, another blogger I trust. Keep up the good work, Lads.

Pork & Black Pepper Ragu with Crown Wheat Stout

A few weeks ago I posted about my new-found love for pasta, and this is the first time I have actually formulated a recipe to match a beer. I normally do things the opposite way round; a beer will interest me and then I’ll think about what food will compliment it.

Crown’s Wheat Stout (6.6abv) is wonderful stuff; black, smooth as hell and striking a great balance between sweetness, bitterness and smokiness. The aroma is pure coffee and that tan collar lasts and lasts. It’s got a deeply satisfying, tongue-coating mouthfeel that’s hard to pull off without being cloying – but here Crown pull it off with some aplomb. Anyway, food-wise, here’s what I came up with. Home-made pasta is easy to do, but if you want to use dried, go for a thick ribbon or larger pasta shapes.



Pork and Black Pepper Ragu (Serves 3)
First, make your base: In a large pan, finely chop one large stick of Celery, one large Onion, and a large Carrot, and sweat down in a good slug of Olive Oil. When the veg is soft and translucent, add about 250g of Minced Pork. When this has browned, season with salt and a massive grind of Black Pepper. Next, add two generous spoonfuls of tomato puree, and one small spoonful of pesto. Coat all the meat and veg with it, and just let it simmer for a minute or so to bring out those pesto and tomato puree flavours.

Then, add one tin of chopped tomatoes, and throw in a handful of diced cherry tomatoes too. Stir well and add a little more olive oil. Season again with another good grind of Black Pepper, and chop and add one small chilli pepper and three chopped cloves of Garlic. Stir again, and simmer on a really low heat until the sauce is done. You want the sauce to be thick, and not swimming in Tomato juice.

Meanwhile, make your pasta. Take 200g of plain (preferably Tipo 00) flour, and sift into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Add two beaten eggs and knead softly until it forms a dough. When it’s pliable, take onto a floured surface and knead it for a while. Then cover and let it rest for ten minutes. If it’s too hard then add a touch of lukewarm water – not too much though. When really, roll it out and pass through a pasta machine. If you have an attachment that makes Tagliatelle, use that. If not, cut it into ribbons as thick as you like. Drop into boiling, salted water and it will be done in about a minute or so.


When drained, dump the pasta in your pot and stir into the sauce. Serve with big, fresh slices of Parmagiano Reggiano. It really does have to be this cheese; don't go for cheap 'Parmesan' - it's not the same.The smooth, roasty stout perfectly compliments the dry heat in the Black Pepper and the saltiness of the cheese; whilst that faint hit of chilli just rounds things off with more heat. It’s a seasonal, autumnal mouthful and one that I really recommend you try. Making pasta is easy and the results are so much better than dried, so if you’ve never done it, give that a go, too.