By the end of my stay, I did come across four beers that were vaguely local (if you count North Yorkshire and Tyne & Weir as well as County Durham itself: I haven't looked up and measured to see if these truly qualify as CAMRA LocAle in that part of the country):
- We found Jarrow Brewery's Rivet Catcher on the first night, which was a bright, amber-gold colored ale with quite a coarse, gritty aroma and a bitter, fruity taste with a good balance of hops. A little tart on the finish, but overall a pretty satisfying quaff; one to come back to. (tweeted here)
- Later I had a couple of pints of Stable's Silver Buckles IPA, which was a light-colored ale with a sweet odor, and a very mild first taste; honey, hops and malt were present in perfect balance, and there was a hint of herbs on the swallow. Beautiful. (tweeted)
- I was only able to manage one pint of Hambleton's Nightmare, described as an Extra Stout Porter, which was a really interesting blend of two dark beer styles. Not quite black in color, with red and brown light coming through when you hold up the glass, but quite a sharp smoky aroma, suggesting the coarseness of a stout. On first taste, however, it's fruity and slightly tart, but then disappointingly watery; it has a very smoky bitter finish. Not bad, but not a keeper. (tweeted)
- In a popular town-center pub on the last night, we had a pint of Consett Ale Works's Red Dust (served chilled, to my dismay). This was a dull, dark russet in color, with a creamy head and very little odor; I'm not convinced it wasn't from a hydro-keg, to be honest. There was some subtle sweetness in the first sip, a cloying hint of overripe fruit, and some berry on the swallow. It's unfair to judge this beer given how badly it was served, but I wasn't impressed. (tweeted)
I must remember to take notes as it all becomes a bit of a blur after a while! I had the pleasure of accompanying the author to several pubs in the Durham area; some were quaint and others were just a bit odd. If you visit, remember, almost all pubs stop serving food at 19:00.
ReplyDeleteFrom memory: I enjoyed both the Rivet Catcher (as it was the first pint I tasted there) and the Silver Buckles IPA (the latter particularly as someone else was paying). As I recall, there were also a few sweet blonds but alas their names escape me.
hmmm, from the dim memory of two weeks past, I seem to remember having numbers 2 (Silver Buckles IPA) and 3 (the Nightmare Porter), and I have to concur with Gabby's judgement. It was fun having the opportunity to try a porter from the tap, but the Silver Buckles was definitely the best beer I had over that weekend. Light, refreshing and yet with a satisfyingly full bodied taste - I confess that I had more than one...
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