tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21806413714866803252024-02-07T10:09:52.066-07:00Science for Thirsty PeopleNotes on real ales, pubs, beer festivals, brewing and other drink-related reviews and observations.Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-81331610606637657722015-09-28T08:00:00.000-06:002015-09-28T08:00:01.730-06:00Summer tasting: old bottlesMost of the bottles were picked up from Realale.com, the local store on the road from Twickenham to Richmond, and I suspect a few of them had been at the back of my pantry for a little too long. No complete disasters though…<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJfvN4MoZI-zyTJ61tbReI-uRmys_frxlT9GJDSQP5fzNMKavAxdQiR1PcEDuGo3hJ8fDpptejdSOqkCMYVmP0S5vq3ebNV8ZLW_6MkjBBwmcUrm9FLCZ_n2D_pg0MziUXXODSy3NzWY/s1600/celt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJfvN4MoZI-zyTJ61tbReI-uRmys_frxlT9GJDSQP5fzNMKavAxdQiR1PcEDuGo3hJ8fDpptejdSOqkCMYVmP0S5vq3ebNV8ZLW_6MkjBBwmcUrm9FLCZ_n2D_pg0MziUXXODSy3NzWY/s320/celt.jpg" width="163" /></a><b>Celt Experience Brewey, Silures Crafted Ale:</b> this Welsh ale is a light copper colour with a small head and slight fizz, a little bit cloudy as it came out of the bottle. A refreshing green, dewy aroma of the forest in spring; then a tangy first taste with the slight mustiness of ripe berries, perhaps just a touch fungal. In the mouth a hint of candy sweetness, like over-aged wheat beer, but satisfying and lingering orange zest bitterness. This bottle was a little old, but the beer was still very nice. (***)<br />
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<b>The Wild Beer Co., Bliss:</b> the label on this bottle of Somerset ale is pretty, with an abstract stag-head in orange against the dark glass; apparently it's brewed with wild yeasts, leading to unpredictable and sometimes volatile results. The beer came out of the bottle very frothy, perhaps a little bit aged, as I'd had it in the pantry for a while, and a dark, cloudy orange colour. It had a sour, earthy smell, with apricots, yeast and even potato; the first taste is intensely sour and smoky, combined with malty sweetness that is cloying and chewy. An unpleasantly syrupy swallow drowns out the light bitterness and smoky grittiness, but neither really lingers. I applaud this sort of experimental, unreliable effort, but this one didn't work for me. (**)<br />
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<b>Buxton, Jaw Gate American Pale Ale:</b> the label of this bottle comes with cute skulls, a bit more kitsch than you'd normally expect to sell a serious beer, but fun. The beer is a dull light orange or tan in colour, with a yeasty, apple-cider odor that confidently predicts the tangy, tart and cidery first taste. Thi leads to a vry sharp orange-pit bitterness in the mouth, and then a watery peach and orange engame, which is coarse on the swallow, but only lingering in a nondescript, generically pithy way. Perfectly quaffable, but a bit bland. (**)<br />
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<b>The Kernel, Pale Ale:</b> a minimalist look from this east London brewery’s pale ale made with citra and chinook hops. The light, hazy orange beer has a lively head and appetizing aroma of sweet, fruity hops, perhaps orange and apricot. It’s very bitter in the mouth, with lingering crushed pits and pithy citrus, and a slightly smoky chocolate aftertaste which is very nice. This beer is perhaps a little too dark and clingy for a session ale, but I'd still like to try some more. (***)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-86808995578865866162015-09-25T08:31:00.000-06:002015-09-25T08:31:00.201-06:00Tasting notes: European importsWhenever we or friends and colleagues go overseas, we try to bring back a few bottles of unusual or local beers from various places, and I try to keep up with tasting notes here on the blog. Here are a few I've noted down over the last few months; I'll try to add more as we get through them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuTGJC1AtAiLR90VsISCjxHXIwLZI1zfMfmlZBikyY_uAJBi7f3bLjjouI9HOaRFX7oV31aBVlX8w53irHiECl481EQIndtXmFmt3MRsqKlKRzyE475H5u3duXRGUe7pj2-xXLRSzXE0g/s1600/lurisia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuTGJC1AtAiLR90VsISCjxHXIwLZI1zfMfmlZBikyY_uAJBi7f3bLjjouI9HOaRFX7oV31aBVlX8w53irHiECl481EQIndtXmFmt3MRsqKlKRzyE475H5u3duXRGUe7pj2-xXLRSzXE0g/s1600/lurisia.jpg" /></a><b>Lurisia, Otto:</b> a pretty, artisanal beer from the northwest of Italy, made with pure water from an Alpine spring some 16km from the French border, Otto comes in an attractive, unique bottle, and is a cloudy, earthy colour, with sweet smell slightly reminiscent of a musty granary. On the tip of the tongue it is candy-sweet, with apple peel, apricot, malty bread and dried berries; in the mouth there are notes of biscuit and sprouted rye. It’s more mellow in the swallow, but there’s a hint of lingering yeast, and a hit of sweet cherry right at the end. A bit strange, this one, but not unpleasant. (***)<br />
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<b>Sinebrychoff Porter:</b> this Finnish bottled beer is pitch black, almost oily, with a small head, and a coffee and treacle aroma. It starts sweet, smoothing out to a bready maltiness in the mouth, but then leading to a dark, smoky finish, like a cigar over earthy whiskey. There is a lingering sweetness, and a hint of bitter chocolate, that polishes it off nicely; not really a session ale though, except perhaps on a Finnish winter night, when it's 2pm, dark, and the warmth of the lunchtime sauna has worn off already. (**)<br />
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<b>Pöhjala, Rukkirääk Rye Ale:</b> named for the Baltic corn crake, this memorable Estonian ale is a dark copper colour, with a warm and malty aroma, some dried date and cherry , but a sparkly, tangy, and disconcertingly sweet first taste. It’s fruity and orange-zesty in the mouth, leading to a dark and yeasty aftertaste that clings to the mouth for quite a while. Given that, this is a surprisingly quaffable pint, and I’d be interested to try a few more. (***)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-31542627873245093522015-09-23T07:34:00.000-06:002015-09-23T07:34:00.095-06:00Bottled American beer tastingsSince my occasional American house-guests and other visitors are very generous and always bring over a few bottles or cans of beer with them, I try to keep tasting notes of the less usual pints we have at their expense! Presented here in no particular order (and with more to come…).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Hj3NrrLRe6iIg_RkLXuxj6GBCbG_gVYOy-dSALzC7LodeT35Lq9F1yR4LNT19ePIAXlqpDpHGZMadhHcwq1J5v_KHH5CggIg78GIyEiQEyJtvqnas9HUJMOqGhMhd3DiOlumskESgYM/s1600/sculpin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Hj3NrrLRe6iIg_RkLXuxj6GBCbG_gVYOy-dSALzC7LodeT35Lq9F1yR4LNT19ePIAXlqpDpHGZMadhHcwq1J5v_KHH5CggIg78GIyEiQEyJtvqnas9HUJMOqGhMhd3DiOlumskESgYM/s1600/sculpin.jpg" /></a><b>Ballast Point, Sculpin IPA:</b> a nice San Diego-brewed blond and foamy ale, with lime zesty hoppiness in the nose, and green fruit sweetness that quickly tarts up to a pithy bitterness that lingers quite nicely. This one went down well. (****)<br />
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<b>Sierra Nevada, Harvest:</b> this single hop IPA from California is a very light, orange/yellow beer, almost the exact colour of a pint of wifebeater, with a light head (bit a bit excitable if not chilled enough, again reminiscent of “classy” lagers). There’s a very faint fruity hop aroma, but surprisingly odorless for an IPA; the first taste is sweet orange on the tip of the tongue, very quickly washing over with a brutally bitter follow-on in the mouth before you can say much more about it, like taking a huge mouthful of pith and tart juice. The bitterness is what dominates throughout thereafter, sappy, like a bitter bark tea. Breathing in over the aftertaste I got a bit of yeasty fruit and pits, malty with hints of burnt raisin, but also a very intense green-wood tangy sweetness. The hoppy bitterness dominates so overwhelmingly that it drowns out anything else you might taste in there, or enjoy. Perfectly drinkable, but a bit disappointing. (**)<br />
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<b>Alaskan Brewing Co., Jalapeño Imperial IPA:</b> cheeky amber in colour, with a fruity, hoppy aroma, somewhere between juniper honey and unripe cranberry (Silke said it reminded her of a hair product: when pressed she said only, “It would be a nice perfume for a shampoo, anyway.”) A nice peppery first taste, hints of paprika, tart but not spicy, sweet and zesty like tropical fruit in the mouth; there's a faint coconut or pineapple aftertaste, with pleasant but not especially lingering capsaicin notes in the piny finish. A bit gimmicky, but not at all bad. (***)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJrgaE6xCRb_I5dG-Md1oEhnbhp7ctsr90WOkxYGqlMN5Jzb83_5I0mMUr_Z14HgESlq5mwj_fda6-J0FzG7rx6Te6u53a8m4KmmY8lHsEiGUUJR6pBJjBTOC1ag5calBU1PEHVC4-_s/s1600/kneedeep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJrgaE6xCRb_I5dG-Md1oEhnbhp7ctsr90WOkxYGqlMN5Jzb83_5I0mMUr_Z14HgESlq5mwj_fda6-J0FzG7rx6Te6u53a8m4KmmY8lHsEiGUUJR6pBJjBTOC1ag5calBU1PEHVC4-_s/s1600/kneedeep.jpg" /></a><b>Knee Deep, Citra Extra Pale Ale:</b> another strong California ale, with a cloudy caramel colour (it may not have settled properly before we opened it), a tart smell of lemon and almond, and a sweet, tropical fruit first taste with some apricot. There are notes of lemon zest and pits in the mouth, with an intense cakey, molasses and lemon skin bitterness. The heavy yeast gives a lovely kick to this very nicely balanced beer. It's a little bit monolithic, on our judgement, but still a very good drop. (****)<br />
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<b>Avery, Maharaja Imperial IPA:</b> this is a barleywine-strength super-IPA from the enthusiastic Avery brewery in Boulder, Colorado, which comes in a highly (if somewhat appropriatively) decorated 20 oz bottle, festooned with a rather annoyed-looking Indian monarch in full regalia. The beer itself is red-amber in color, only slightly foamy, with an odor of yeast and poached apple; very tart, with honey and bark in the first taste, expanding to crushed lime kernels in the mouth, smoky and intensely yeasty on the swallow, although the sparkly and dark taste lingers better on the tongue than the bitterness does in the throat. Overall this beer is warm and spicy, good with hearty, savory food, but at 10.2% is a little too intense for my tastes. (***)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-72725707937695332922015-09-21T08:40:00.000-06:002015-09-21T08:40:09.932-06:00Kanaal Craft Beer Bar, Sofia, Bulgaria<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1-_VO-4wOrifY_laUlSY_ClrTVULOX3OnJbFSFmZZJWhovYkG_j481e2a2Ii1GzkrPSGCUfz4RhXoSM0groDke4AG3MOrKCseFQwPTJsrDtefqAL3Bg1tTl8VRILNjq02PYUF18knyc/s1600/kanaal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1-_VO-4wOrifY_laUlSY_ClrTVULOX3OnJbFSFmZZJWhovYkG_j481e2a2Ii1GzkrPSGCUfz4RhXoSM0groDke4AG3MOrKCseFQwPTJsrDtefqAL3Bg1tTl8VRILNjq02PYUF18knyc/s320/kanaal.jpg" width="320" /></a>This was an unassuming bar that you’d hardly find if you didn't know it was there (see the closed street door, shown in the photo), with a wide range of bottled beers available behind the bar, and knowledgeable staff who are able to recommend beers or ales in English (in fact, I suspect this is something of a haunt among English/American residents and visitors to Sofia). It’s a comfortable joint, too, and I’m a bit sorry I was only able to go there once on this visit.<br />
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<b>White Stork, Original:</b> a beer made by local Bulgarian brewery White Stork (Бял Щърк), this one is an orange-amber colour and slightly cloudy; the nose is full of ripe fruit, honey and flowers, and it’s peachy and pithy from the get-go on the tongue. There’s some indefinable hoppiness that kicks you in the face a bit, heavy like cough syrup, but not too strong or bitter. A gentle hint of synthetic candy in the swallow doesn’t linger very much. Promising start, but disappointing finish. (**)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjAbCzSyX0t9ZJZoqyhEZxyPWRhG7C7ZFnDKsJvdFd0zPhbKQ74VBfoBuzrTXNWDNfSbw3M71E-9LkyKX35qWdQ4bwwoIH5XP_iCtdYYomul0e4an-S713dVzi0rR543bmfb1oaTkKQE/s1600/divo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjAbCzSyX0t9ZJZoqyhEZxyPWRhG7C7ZFnDKsJvdFd0zPhbKQ74VBfoBuzrTXNWDNfSbw3M71E-9LkyKX35qWdQ4bwwoIH5XP_iCtdYYomul0e4an-S713dVzi0rR543bmfb1oaTkKQE/s320/divo.jpg" width="135" /></a><b>Divo Pivo/Диво Пиво:</b> another local beer brewed here in Sofia, the bar opened the bottle from the fridge, swirled it around, and poured every drop, yeasty sediment and all, into a straight glass, which in my opinioned ruined an otherwise very promising pint. It came out cloudy, medium amber, with brown-stained foam, and had a sweet malty raisin smell. Cold and sparkly, with apple-blossom and marmite-on-toast in the first first taste that led to crusty bread and lime zest in the mouth. A subtly charcoaly swallow was almost overwhelmed by swirling yeast. I'm sure this would be really nice if served more carefully, or from a settled cask, but even shaken like this it was still more or less quaffable. (**) (But probably deserves better; I'm guessing a **** if well-handled.)<br />
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<b>Kabinet:</b> this clear, light amber, Belgian style ale from Serbia has a fruity, floury odor. There is a sweet, strong cherry first taste, but then it becomes intensely pithy in the mouth, and has a coarse finish that lingers very nicely indeed. Good choice! (****)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MYhVD8Ty_vom9Zi46Dlwzk0_fgPoDnE353t2nVhn9f1JIaHemdLBms0cjsU5KFhNssPElX_UuPZ9tFjolIgGYUWYt1vtCgzBj1lQzEFakVysDe_nJx-SV_oC3BAfyoZdn9QpSHZqzlc/s1600/glarus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MYhVD8Ty_vom9Zi46Dlwzk0_fgPoDnE353t2nVhn9f1JIaHemdLBms0cjsU5KFhNssPElX_UuPZ9tFjolIgGYUWYt1vtCgzBj1lQzEFakVysDe_nJx-SV_oC3BAfyoZdn9QpSHZqzlc/s320/glarus.jpg" width="191" /></a><b>Glarus, “English ale”:</b> this one shipped from the coastal city of Varna, is copper-coloured, still and very clear. The nose is slightly sweaty, but fresh, with hints of old vine fruit, and the first taste has soft, dry caramelized cane sugar and orange pith. A musty sense of flightly off fruit hits in the mouth, lingering yeastily and crustily on the swallow. Quite quaffable, but not terribly memorable. To reassure my Bulgarian friends who asked: yes, it's a perfectly respectable English ale. (***)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-36700348775178539982014-10-16T05:08:00.000-06:002014-10-16T05:21:03.761-06:00Seminar: Making and Marketing of Roman Wine<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Dominic Rathbone: The making and marketing of Roman wine</b> </div>
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18:00 Wednesday November 19, 2014.<br />
<a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=WC1A+1LH" target="_blank">The Plough</a>, 27 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LH
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Roman_amphorae.jpg/640px-Roman_amphorae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Roman_amphorae.jpg/640px-Roman_amphorae.jpg" height="205" width="400" /></a></div>
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What was Roman wine like? How was it produced and distributed? Through an illustrated survey of some of the evidence, especially the archaeological evidence, for wine-making in Roman Italy and the marketing of Italian wine, I try to reconstruct and explain the major changes that occurred in the period 200 BC to AD 100. First, we see the rise and fall of large wineries, aimed at large-scale production of a standardised product, which was exported in massive quantities in an new ‘Italian’ form of amphora. <br />
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Later, Italian wine is marketed in much smaller quantities but throughout the Roman world in an adapted Greek-style amphora, and literary sources start praising the distinct wines of regions and even estates. This suggests a perhaps surprisingly ‘modern’ correlation for Roman wine between production strategies (quantity or quality?), changing markets and consumer tastes, and product packaging.<br />
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(Dominic Rathbone, King's College London)</div>
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ALL WELCOME</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">This seminar is part of the <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/HDtP" target="_blank">History Down the Pub</a> series, organized by Gabriel Bodard and Lorna Richardson. We have an open <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/call-for-papers-history-down-pub.html" target="_blank">Call for Papers</a> for the coming year. Contact the organizers with any suggestions or questions.</span></div>
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Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-22041484413110311952014-10-06T09:55:00.000-06:002014-10-16T05:18:33.812-06:00Seminar: Great London Beer Flood<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>HISTORY DOWN THE PUB</b></div>
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<b>Martyn Cornell: Remembering the Great London Beer Flood</b><br />
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18:00 Thursday October 16, 2014.<br />
<a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=WC1A+1LH" target="_blank">The Plough</a>, 27 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LH </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabTCXUt2L4mi7MKdgZ9s8xl0AoiVqsNlxjAIpSaB9gWo8daQrxfzp5ngxQj0C8K79j2bfZFjWVsxlsCeX1AGFizem6raP8pevJCw1ugUQEKd9DrJP4bFmWBjZNhgTUKK0PMsZyAVu2_4/s1600/beerflood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabTCXUt2L4mi7MKdgZ9s8xl0AoiVqsNlxjAIpSaB9gWo8daQrxfzp5ngxQj0C8K79j2bfZFjWVsxlsCeX1AGFizem6raP8pevJCw1ugUQEKd9DrJP4bFmWBjZNhgTUKK0PMsZyAVu2_4/s1600/beerflood.jpg" height="284" width="320" /></a></div>
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Two hundred years ago this month, a tsunami of beer weighing hundreds of tons crashed through crowded streets just off Tottenham Court Road, bringing death and destruction. Historian Martyn Cornell will discuss the sources for this event, and how we need to read them in order to reliably describe how and why it happened. Contemporary newspaper reports give a very different story to the ones that appeared in accounts of the event in the 20th century, with a great story accruing all sorts of falsehoods and exaggerations.</div>
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ALL WELCOME </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This seminar is part of the <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/HDtP" target="_blank">History Down the Pub</a> series, organized by Gabriel Bodard and Lorna Richardson. We have an open <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/call-for-papers-history-down-pub.html" target="_blank">Call for Papers</a> for the coming year. Contact the organizers with any suggestions or questions.</span></div>
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Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-81593826117694889812014-09-18T07:53:00.001-06:002014-10-14T05:14:42.447-06:00Call for Papers: History Down the Pub<div style="text-align: justified;">
History Down the Pub is an academic seminar series, held in a Central London pub, discussing the history and archaeology of beer, brewing, pubs, drinking and other alcohol-related matters. We attempt to take a methodological perspective to the history of drinking, with speakers addressing as much <u>how</u> we know, the nature of our sources and the historical/archaeological methods applied to them, as <u>what</u> we know about our ancestors’ drinking habits.<br />
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We invite speakers for the 2014-15 seminar season on any aspect of this subject, from the archaeology of ancient brewing or wine-making and trade, or modern English (or other) brewing and pub history, and all topics in between. We shall attempt to alternate between ancient and modern topics throughout the year.<br />
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The first seminar, Harvey Quamen’s “Using Digital Humanities Techniques to Study the History of Beer and Brewing” was held in The Plough in August 2013. Further details of the series can be found at <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/HDtP">http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/HDtP</a><br />
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To offer a paper, please send a 300-500 word abstract to both Gabriel Bodard (<a href="mailto:gabriel.bodard@kcl.ac.uk">gabriel.bodard@kcl.ac.uk</a>) and Lorna Richardson (<a href="mailto:l.richardson@ucl.ac.uk">l.richardson@ucl.ac.uk</a>), or feel free to enquire informally to the same addresses.</div>
Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-63820793070023695682014-08-16T06:39:00.000-06:002014-09-18T13:47:05.972-06:00Great British Beer Festival 2014, Kensington OlympiaWe attended the <a href="http://www.gbbf.org.uk/" target="_blank">Great British Beer Festival</a> in Kensington Olympia on the Wednesday night. I think going earlier in the week has proved to be a win: although busy, it wasn't as crushingly overcrowded as Friday or Saturday, beers were still in plentiful supply (even many of the popular ones, although this year and last year's medallists ran out before I could get to them) and the atmosphere was generally relaxed, staff in a good mood, etc. There were fewer tables scatted around the whole venue than we've seen before, but a large seating area off in the side room catered for pretty much everybody who wanted to sit down for the evening—we only had to lurk for five minutes before spotting a half-table opening that we gradually colonized.<br />
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I didn't take full tasting notes of everything I drank this evening, but a few highlights are below:<br />
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<li>I couldn't resist opening the evening with a tall glass of <b>Brains, Dark</b>, an old favorite that I still associate with chocolate and bacon, although the intense, bitter smokiness is also redolent of strong, boiled coffee. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span>/5</li>
<li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpb4A57IbfYxq10lOwuu80O2Uktyrm5XXBOARPLGGviM9Bi9qTG0Bgt4QMSXKjaEpY7Ju76jNOu7oopOuWNAE8Va-tEl-mLpb28Fv6F_CwchBMTOzXeu9d9AoPEzsQo5zTcj_0693YpwA/s1600/s_tracknfield_hero.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpb4A57IbfYxq10lOwuu80O2Uktyrm5XXBOARPLGGviM9Bi9qTG0Bgt4QMSXKjaEpY7Ju76jNOu7oopOuWNAE8Va-tEl-mLpb28Fv6F_CwchBMTOzXeu9d9AoPEzsQo5zTcj_0693YpwA/s1600/s_tracknfield_hero.png" height="320" width="259" /></a><b>Harviestoun, Track n Field</b>, a pale ale I hadn't come across before from one of the more interesting Scottish breweries (I presume this was a tribute beer for the recent Glasgow Commonwealth Games?), is very tart and hoppy. Starting with a zesty aroma and citrus sweetness, it then offers spicy, pithy bitterness that lingers, with a bit of a wince-making aftertaste. Delicious, although I don't know how I'd feel about three pints of this intensely bitter beer. (I imagine I could be persuaded…) <span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;">****</span>/5</li>
<li>We were excited to spot <b>Stringers, Plan B</b>, a gluten-free ale: very pale to look at, with a farmyard smell of damp straw. Tangy first taste with iron and early fruit; then a bit musty and dungy in the mouth, with watery but pleasant mild fruity hop finish. There's not much by way of lingering aftertaste, but a lovely hit of grapefruit zest hovers just after the swallow. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>***</b></span>/5</li>
<li>Another old favorite that I just could resist was <b>Cairngorm's Trade Winds</b> (dubbed by a picky Belgian drinker as "even better than the Belgian beer!"): sweet, hoppy, lingering grapefruit and elderflower. Gorgeous. Has a floury, European aftertaste. <span courier="" font-family:="" monospace="" new="" ourier="" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;"><b>*****</b></span>/5</li>
<li><b>Orkney, Dark Island</b>: What can I say—I couldn't help myself! <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;">*****</span>/5</li>
<li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNideSytaVBGSgozQU-zPSBrwt5-nxUVCyxvyC0QaDDPoaj82PDFQiFXF8KxYB3a7o0Qf8rHyT7sSHaO2CdPkLe1tsPv7b4vSZWoCxGY2X-SQwjvaflBDysxdBodlQnG5DV8dITqwyJiM/s1600/scapa_special.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1.5em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNideSytaVBGSgozQU-zPSBrwt5-nxUVCyxvyC0QaDDPoaj82PDFQiFXF8KxYB3a7o0Qf8rHyT7sSHaO2CdPkLe1tsPv7b4vSZWoCxGY2X-SQwjvaflBDysxdBodlQnG5DV8dITqwyJiM/s1600/scapa_special.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a><b>Highlands, Scapa Special</b>: a rich gold color, with ripe hay-bale odor, dry and peppery first taste, but sparkly and woody in the mouth, just a bit chewy. There's fruit pith and lime-zest in the swallow, leading to a dull bitterness, but robust and satisfying aftertaste. Good. Not counting old favorites, one of the top beers of the night! <span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;">****</span>/5</li>
<li><b>White Horse, Camarillo</b>: serves cloudy but clears to pure gold. Summer grass or parsley aroma; sweet, ripe tree-fruit on the tip of the tongue, tangy and earthy/loamy in the mouth. Bitterly tart on the swallow, lingering with cyanide nuttiness. Felt dirty, but in a good way. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span>/5</li>
<li><b>Leatherbritches, Bitter</b>: a clear gold ale, with a slightly sweaty aroma; sparkly apple and cherry in the first taste, then some honey and a bit sickly in the swallow, followed by a tart bitterness that sticks but isn't at all bad. I'd drink more of this, if it weren't already 11pm when I had this glass. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>***</b></span>/5</li>
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Beers of the night (not counting Trade Winds or Dark Island, which wouldn't be a fair competition) were <a href="http://harviestoun.com/our-beers/track-n-field">Harviestoun's Track n Field</a> (from Clackmannanshire), and <a href="http://www.highlandbrewingcompany.co.uk/beers/scapa_special/">Highlands Scapa Special</a> (from the Swannay Brewery on Orkney). I'll keep a close eye out for them in future!Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-34280739805644963152014-07-19T11:03:00.000-06:002014-08-16T06:40:16.708-06:00Drinking in SwitzerlandA bunch of us attended a conference in French-speaking Switzerland last week, and knowing of breweries like Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes and Docteur Gab's, I was looking forward to tasting more craft beers of that ilk while in town for nearly a week. Switzerland has a tradition of craft brewing, both German-style lagers and the more Belgian/British-style ales, but in the small town we were stuck in there were very few bars or restaurants, and almost all those we found served only cheap lager; at best there might be one <i>brune</i> on offer (and Swiss taste in <i>brune</i> seems to run to the yeasty and chewy, rather than any of the quality or flavour you might expect from French or Belgian styles). Where better quality beer was available, it was in the form of a white or wheat beer in the German or sometimes Belgian style, very crisp, dry, subtle—actually pretty nice on a hot day (although it was raining non-stop the mid-July week we were there!) and lacking the gummy, chewy, spoiled sweetness that some English wheat beers suffer from.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmp7_7g5Y5hnneGYqq039HbwTV3vPgtZ0hQ_n2H48RLzzfkD3uWE_junl1N8eA8nZsN-SwYd5fE9Bg2buVBTBUb11cqUV1RYcGChyPuPHqrMGg_3qL4I6odnaxWuM-cHhjP5wsMHnliE/s1600/Cardinal_brunette.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmp7_7g5Y5hnneGYqq039HbwTV3vPgtZ0hQ_n2H48RLzzfkD3uWE_junl1N8eA8nZsN-SwYd5fE9Bg2buVBTBUb11cqUV1RYcGChyPuPHqrMGg_3qL4I6odnaxWuM-cHhjP5wsMHnliE/s1600/Cardinal_brunette.png" height="320" width="195" /></a>The first decent beer I got to taste was in a tradition bar/brasserie next door to the train station. This was after a rather nice meal with some exquisite local red wine made with unusual, rather antiquated "Humagne" grapes, so I only had one beer, the local <i>brune</i>, <b>Cardinal, Brunette</b> (above). Pleasantly tan-colored, with a subtle malty head that promised of flavorsome beer, this was served chilled and a bit more bubbly than I would have hoped; nevertheless there was a woodiness in the mouth that suggested good cask origin, and live yeast dominated the swallow. This may sound like a somewhat meh review, but after the first two days of refrigerated soda-stream piss, this was a very welcome brew!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsE_oANfmbduTT1wYcy9Q7MajRh26bQc2OkKTpnt-sS8BFuWuwh5RAy3CMBcQCEXzMChZ-S6oemuXZo4DQC8lEU_7ZcfIU1Y-xwOXtWz3Vyx2WuuAti5Kd3lU2jcA4E-KsVZ2sq8EjjM/s1600/San-Martino_La-Rossa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsE_oANfmbduTT1wYcy9Q7MajRh26bQc2OkKTpnt-sS8BFuWuwh5RAy3CMBcQCEXzMChZ-S6oemuXZo4DQC8lEU_7ZcfIU1Y-xwOXtWz3Vyx2WuuAti5Kd3lU2jcA4E-KsVZ2sq8EjjM/s1600/San-Martino_La-Rossa.png" height="320" width="200" /></a>On the last morning we spent some time in the old town, visiting the cathedral that overlooks the whole of this hilly town, and the "castle" (which is not much bigger than my house, but has nice, hanging corner turrets), and had lunch in a lovely little side-street restaurant that served locally brewed beers. Again I only had time for one, but <b>San Martino, La Rossa</b> was a lovely amber ale, strong but more cheekily fruity than most of the malty-yeasty local offerings, with a crisp finish and a sappy aftertaste that I could have happily gotten used to. I was very tempted to buy a couple of bottles of this to take home with me, but we were in a rush.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUoUaxV-mnVyEKkwDJMdI6ye8AK5OMXje7tUmZoZ6N2glV-fSRuT4sHqx7PNo-EqUuAvb6oBDGEZzn1IgGv8lDFrF2axOzzFGUZmobe4-4P76g24U8FmdD998MqAGz4NKrxv-UvV6ANw/s1600/l'IPA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUoUaxV-mnVyEKkwDJMdI6ye8AK5OMXje7tUmZoZ6N2glV-fSRuT4sHqx7PNo-EqUuAvb6oBDGEZzn1IgGv8lDFrF2axOzzFGUZmobe4-4P76g24U8FmdD998MqAGz4NKrxv-UvV6ANw/s1600/l'IPA.png" height="320" width="209" /></a>Finally, in Genève waiting for our flight home, we stopped in a large, warehouse-sized and touristy bar opposite the train station called <b>Les Brasseurs</b>, and had a couple of Belgian style beers in their collection, including "<b>L'India Pale Ale</b>", brewed by their own brasseur. This was a disappointing way to end the trip, because—despite some citrusy hop notes in the mouth—this wasn't much more than a brown lager, really; fizzy and yeasty in the swallow, more musty than pithy, and with no lingering aftertaste that you wouldn't get from a malty blonde. I guess you can't account for taste, even in an establishment that prides itself on its local brewing…Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-47160775813777659202014-06-22T14:31:00.000-06:002014-07-19T11:04:11.170-06:00Gluten-free Real AleOne of the SFTP reviewers was diagnosed with Coeliac disease a few months ago, which at first led to much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair that she was never going to be able to drink real ale again. The challenge raised, we gathered together and have now sourced half a dozen brewers in the UK who produce at least one gluten-free real ale, plus myriad others in the USA and around the world. The landscape looks pretty promising, so far (but we'd appreciate more suggestions or comments in <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dQ1wkF0x5m1bctJg1OoPkMDPTBdaJa_gtD1J25J_zSo" target="_blank">this GoogleDoc</a>).<br />
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Last night we had a tasting of the first few beers we've been able to track down, and our notes and comments follow below.<br />
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<b>Dogfish Head, Tweason'ale:</b> It seems a bit odd to me that this impressive, dependable Delaware craft brewer would choose to make their first foray into gluten-free ale (catering for an audience who already have a very small range available to them) such a niche style, but that's just what Dogfish Head have done with Tweason'ale, a candy-sweet strawberry and honey beer. Hard to see many people turning to this in delight when they thought they'd had to give up IPAs and bitters and stouts, really. It comes in a very pretty bottle, with a charming (others said "silly") half-bee/half-strawberry character, representing the two dominant flavors in this fruity-style ale. A very light, sparkly and cloudy orange beer, that smells like dry fruit-candy, a little dusty with a strong alcoholic head. The very tart first taste, sweaty like slightly stale red fruit, more aggressive in the mouth, with some cherry liqueur in the swallow, but no bitterness or hops detectable. We were more or less evenly split between people who like <i>fruitbier</i> and those who never touch the stuff, but pretty much everyone was agreed that we wouldn't come back to Tweason'ale voluntarily under any circumstances. <b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">*</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxCdfB7mX4WNjGmGmV-l2PF7nVZE557DY4pj6kbBIZPVfLcrqQmvDmijZv0mIPjprp55wWe2OYshlMKtfsjK3P2y7X14263GO47RaByP3eGatkfQh2fBFllma-ZSmzXDYEGtwycWI_OM/s1600/night-mission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxCdfB7mX4WNjGmGmV-l2PF7nVZE557DY4pj6kbBIZPVfLcrqQmvDmijZv0mIPjprp55wWe2OYshlMKtfsjK3P2y7X14263GO47RaByP3eGatkfQh2fBFllma-ZSmzXDYEGtwycWI_OM/s1600/night-mission.jpg" height="320" width="156" /></a><b>Glebe Farm, Night Mission:</b> Glebe Farm in Cambridgeshire specialises in gluten-free products, from cereals and breads, to snacks and baking ingredients, and recently branched out into brewing as well. Their ethos seems to be that you shouldn't be able to taste the absence of wheat or gluten in their products, and that has certainly worked out in their first real ale offering, which was one of the favorites of the night. A light, cloudy yellow beer with cheeky bubbles, the first smell of the head of this one is wildflower honey and heather. It's a bit sharp and sparkly on the tip of the tongue, followed by a tidal wave of honey all through the mouth, but beautifully bitter and sappy on the swallow. Hints of bay or lime leaf and green wood linger, with a little rusty iron; quite complex, not especially hoppy, but really lovely. This was both Charlotte's and Valeria's favorite beer. I'm going to get a few more of these in. <b><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">****</span></b>+<br />
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<b>New Planet, Amber Ale:</b> When we moved on to the first of the five beers from the New Planet brewery in Colorado recently brought over from a craft ale store in the eastern US (thanks, Dr J!), we were looking forward to the variety of styles, all gluten-free, that this brewer produces. Just one store in rural Virginia boasted blonde ale, pale ale, amber ale, brown ale and raspberry ale (the website tells me that they also make a "Belgian ale"). The variation between these beers (at least the three that we tried so far) isn't as wide as you might hope, and the style on the whole not one we were much into, but I'll try to be fair in these reviews. The Amber is a beautiful, very deep but light amber color, cloudy and slightly sparkly, and smells like a strong, dessert rosé wine, with hints of cut grass, but also a bit vinegary. There is sparkly, peppery, orange-honey on the first taste, but it's sickeningly sweet in the mouth, although more robustly tart on the swallow. The lingering tart and yeasty aftertaste of fluoridated water or off beer doesn't do it any favors. I found this just about drinkable, but the consensus from the rest of the crew was a much less forgiving <b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">*</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FPVMZ0cyxUboURx0LFkhwkb0GVDAgcc946Fze7MHk5aN3WqZxyQZqGxP9HOuWvwKCEo5fPWcSg0QId-qcpGToYWh1Vhlt6WpE74rCaxS47cZRN4je-lG1BMjLu0p4sk-CheghYKhZXI/s1600/st-peters-gfree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FPVMZ0cyxUboURx0LFkhwkb0GVDAgcc946Fze7MHk5aN3WqZxyQZqGxP9HOuWvwKCEo5fPWcSg0QId-qcpGToYWh1Vhlt6WpE74rCaxS47cZRN4je-lG1BMjLu0p4sk-CheghYKhZXI/s1600/st-peters-gfree.jpg" height="320" width="155" /></a><b>St Peter's, G-Free:</b> Suffolk craft brewers St Peter's produce a phenomenal range of beers, with consistently high quality and so many beer styles on offer, as well as organic ales and the unmistakable lovely classic bottle. We had high hopes of this one (which Charlotte had tasted before and liked). A very clear orangey-yellow pint with a light head and fizz that dissipates fast, a smell of pollen, young corn, summer fields and caramel. The first taste is very sweet, almost cloying with honey and bitter fruits, followed by chewy green wood in the mouth, and an intensely bitter swallow, with lovely red-grapefruit pith and zest both lingering in a sweet, comforting and complex finish. Jacques found this much less impressive than the Night Mission, but most of us still loved it. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0nFYxw0Z3u-d53EeNMwqStzVmJFfnpDoAmPbvm5JdDaoJ7gAE7q04dEpsKLAtZIuI5eeNTAmkH1FBZJlVA-HqbpyNwxIJa1QlAsfbTEAj7sg56Iwr9TNlsWprjNbkNStkySx3pyFTjc/s1600/crop-circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0nFYxw0Z3u-d53EeNMwqStzVmJFfnpDoAmPbvm5JdDaoJ7gAE7q04dEpsKLAtZIuI5eeNTAmkH1FBZJlVA-HqbpyNwxIJa1QlAsfbTEAj7sg56Iwr9TNlsWprjNbkNStkySx3pyFTjc/s1600/crop-circle.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a><b>Hop Back, Crop Circle:</b> The easiest gluten-free real ale to find, at least in London, this Reading-brewed offering is served in riverside pubs in summer and most people never know that it's anything other than a regular golden ale. In the bottle this is live, and I'm afraid we shook it up a little so are reviewing a more yeasty version than usual. It's a very pale yellow, quite cloudy with a light head, and a bready, even sweaty aroma. A bit of sour apple, sparkly on the tip of the tongue, with more mellow tartness in the mouth, not much bitterness in the swallow, but a chewy, grainy corn and fudge aftertaste that keeps it from being too boring. Valeria's glass was too yeasty, as she had the lees, but Charlotte and Jacques really liked this. Average rating: <b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span></b>+<br />
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<b>New Planet, Brown Ale:</b> At this point in the evening we realised we'd been drinking light and golden ales all the way, and since gluten-free beers have the reputation of being a bit light and tasteless, thought we'd see if a dark ale could prove that wrong. The second New Planet offering we uncapped is a dark, reddish amber, not all that brown at all; it has a by-now-familiar smell of sour wine, but a first taste of fruity sweetness with a hint of rhubarb and custard, turning vinegary further back in the mouth. It's coarse and yeasty in the swallow, a bit like an old ale, more sour than usual. This is not my kind of beer, but it's by no means terrible; the others wondered a bit of the New Planet batch had been spoiled in transit, given how sour and yeasty both those we've tried so far were, but I don't think this is more vinegary than, for instance, a Wadworths 6X, or many American "Belgian style" beers. Still, not a favorite. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>**</b></span><br />
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<b>New Planet, Pale Ale:</b> giving New Planet one last chance, we popped open the pale ale, on the assumption that this at least would be more like what we expected from an American pale ale: super-hoppy, built to last any journey, hard to get wrong. The beer is a surprisingly dark orangey-brown, however, and has a yeasty but fruity aroma, powerfully sweet cherry first taste, and is juicy and tart on the tongue, like a citrus liqueur, bitter orange curaçao served with lashings of Irn Bru. There is some hoppiness on the swallow, but any hope of it lingering is crushed by the overwrought sourness and yeast. So much for that. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>**</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr01uKqbnvBgNUZiE6nwHEYqiGHQPkQLLE2bVGGa_G3741d-92z0LLivY5IAR9FauPSqsMNdMAJE8LetRho64pVgMCC8UY4j3AC1rXv3CLsTmHlGpJfbpwEJpvMLdVzu6Sx_iMIESHw8Q/s1600/masquerade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr01uKqbnvBgNUZiE6nwHEYqiGHQPkQLLE2bVGGa_G3741d-92z0LLivY5IAR9FauPSqsMNdMAJE8LetRho64pVgMCC8UY4j3AC1rXv3CLsTmHlGpJfbpwEJpvMLdVzu6Sx_iMIESHw8Q/s1600/masquerade.jpg" height="320" width="168" /></a><b>Monty's, Masquerade:</b> so next we played it safe: I've had the Masquerade <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/reading-beerfest-2014.html" target="_blank">at a festival</a> before, and wanted to make sure we didn't leave this on the sidelines tonight. Monty's is a rare woman-run brewery in Montgomery, Mid-Wales, and I've tried a few of their rather reliable offerings quite happily. This one is a golden, lager-colored beer with a good head, a dry wheaty smell, and gentle orange and caramel on the tip of the tongue. It's chewy and bitter further back in the mouth, with lingering, complex, green vegetables and raw peel in the aftertaste. Throughout the experience, the lovely creaminess that lasted all the way from sweet to bitter was very satisfying. This ale is well-named: nothing in the drinking to suggest it's anything but a complex, well-balanced summer ale; exactly what you're looking for in a gluten-free that you can't tell is gluten free! This was both Silke and Jacques's top pick of the night, and it's had my vote since the festival. <span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span>+<br />
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<b>St Peter's, Dark G-Free:</b> finally we tried the other fancy-bottled ale from Suffolk, this one a dark, glowing ruby color that shimmers promisingly in the light. The odor is somewhere between treacle and those roasted-grain coffee substitutes, and the first taste is of powerful sour fruit and sweet liquorice. It's smokier in the mouth, with the lingering bitterness of a strong, yeasty stout, with hints of smoked chicory and flaking, black bark. Very nice, if not quite as impressive as their regular G-Free. <b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span></b>+<br />
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(Still in our stock, but not yet tasted, are: New Planet, Blonde; New Planet, Raspberry; Altiplano, Bierre au quinoa. I haven't yet tracked down a supplier for Wold Top's Against the Grain, but I'd like to add that to our repertoire. And of course, anyone visiting from the US any time soon will be asked to look out for anything by Glutenberg or De Proef and smuggle them back for us...)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-78756678130452326352014-06-05T16:26:00.000-06:002014-06-22T14:32:40.407-06:00An Estonian perspective on Impossible Love<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">My first contact with Estonian beers is a lunch time conversation in Tallinn. One of the local colleagues comments that “British beers are boring, compared to Estonian ones”. That’s an intriguing statement! I start imagining exotic flavours and unexpected combinations. So, when someone suggests a pub night I accept without even thinking.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The appointment is at the door of a lovely brick building. Then my Estonian host enters a code on a small keyboard and the door opens. I wondered if this is what they mean with “less boring”. Aside from the bizarre means of access, the pub is nice and quiet. But the beer offering comes as a little disappointment. Basically, you can only choose between two versions of the popular (and omnipresent) Saku beer: Classic (a pilsner style), and Dark (Tume, in Estonian).</span><br />
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Not very much interested in the pilsner, I go for the dark one. I am expecting something like a dark lager, but when we open the bottle a very nice roasted barley aroma comes out of it. Saku Dark turns out to be a not too bad one. It is dark brown coloured, and tastes of cane sugar, malt and caramel. On the swallow, it has something of the slightly sour but very tasty brown bread they bake in Tallinn. It could be a porter style ale, if it wasn’t for the fizziness, which is a bit off putting at the beginning. But after few minutes I get used to it (or it goes away, I cannot say). Actually, I don’t mind it at all, and I happily order another bottle.<br />
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<span class="s1">Sadly, my relationship with Saku Dark is doomed to be a one night stand. </span>My Estonian hosts are amazing in their hospitality. Before the meals even start, someone has already ordered a beer for me. A Saku Classic.<br />
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<span class="s1">Each time I am at the bar saying “Can I have a...” someone puts a glass in my hand before I can finish the sentence. A Saku Classic, obviously. </span>I have to give up. </div>
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<span class="s1">As it is impossible to have another glass of Saku Dark during our official meetings, I keep asking for some later beer tastings, until a kind colleague agrees to take us to a place that, according to the hype, offers about 400 different beers.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">It is very late and, to be honest, I already had quite a few beers (all Saku Classic, no need to say). I can’t have more. But I like the place, and I don’t want to look ungrateful. Moreover, the other friends are actually quite happy to try Estonian beers and talk about them. So we conquer the only available spot. Unfortunately, it is just in front of the kitchen’s entrance. We agree a nonverbal code with the barmaid: each time she looks at us with hate and contempt, we clear the way for her. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">But that corner is actually a privileged spot to look at the many bottles the pub proudly exhibits on the shelves. My attention is caught by a collection of four. Brown glass, with white monochrome graphic, 19th-century-book-like style but with a dark, grotesque or surreal twist. I can’t read the retro lettering, so, I ask my Estonian friend to translate it for me. They belong to the same Estonian brewery and they all have funny names. My favourite is the last one: “Mad as a cow”, showing a half anatomical, half butchery-ish image of a dissected cow. How adorable! It looks almost engraved. I pass my finger on the bottle and enjoy the feeling, smiling approvingly. The barmaid looks at me with a mix of pity and disgust. And I’m also in her way.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I look at the bottle with genuine affection. I should definitely try it. Honestly, I don’t care about the beer, I just want the bottle. But I really, really can’t have any more drinks. </span>“I’ll be back”, I promise silently to my precious little friend. “I’ll be back and I’ll take you with me to London”. I try to share my admiration with my mates, who reacts quite tepidly. Well, not everyone understands beauty...</div>
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<span class="s1">Hearing people talking in English, one of the man at the bar joins our group. So we are now completely obstructing the kitchen entrance. I haven’t noticed before how muscular the barmaid is... </span>The guy has just finished a bottle of an imported ale and kindly suggests to try it. [note to myself: when a stranger approaches you in a pub and talks about ales, asking enthusiastically “can I smell it?” might not be the most appropriate thing to do]. </div>
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<span class="s1">It is an Icelandic ale that, I discover, are quite popular in Estonia. The beer seems interesting, but it is a brand that it’s not that difficult to find in London, so I’m not really eager to buy one. The same person suggests a visit to the biggest ale shop in Tallinn, a place called (not too imaginatively) the <i>Drink Shop</i>. I take note and thank him.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Before leaving I ask permission to take a few shots of the place. The barmaid, who either doesn’t speak English or, more likely, doesn’t want to talk with me, gives me a look that I interpret as “I couldn’t be less interested in what you do”. I take it as a yes. Then I leave, not before having whispered, “Wait for me!” to my Princess Bottle.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The day after is suddenly summer in Tallinn. Perfect weather for beer shopping! <i>The Drink Shop</i> (which has a quite popular pub attached to it) is not that big, but still offers a lot of choice. I ask the shop assistant, a nice young lady who speaks good English, for more information about the Estonian ales, but, oddly enough, she doesn’t seem to be very much into beers. I pick two or three local ones, two Icelandics, and an Austrian one (mostly for the adorable sea monster on the label). </span>Too many bottles, though. I need to leave room for the special one I’m going to pick up later in the night. </div>
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<span class="s1">The only sensible solution is to drink one right away. I choose </span><span class="s2">Gæðingur Tumi Humall</span><span class="s1"> IPA that I have actually selected because of the purple label with a very cute skeleton riding a horse. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We go sitting on some steps in the sun, and open our beers.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">I can’t really smell much of mine, probably because of the bottle. Also, can’t really say anything about the colour. The beer is rather bitter at a first taste, but in a pleasant way. It is an American style IPA, with a very strong grapefruit peel tone (which I like). The bitterness gets more intense on the swallow and reminds more of herbs, roots and freshly cut grass. It is very refreshing in such a hot day. However, it is very, very bitter, even by IPA standards, and maybe not everyone would enjoy it. It has a little earthiness in the aftertaste and the bitterness is very persistent. Maybe it’s because I drunk it from the bottle, but it remains on my lips for quite a while, as if I had spent my time sucking at some bitter leaves in a green field. Not a bad feeling.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That night we go to the <i>Hell Hunt</i>, the oldest pub in Tallinn. It is a large, English style pub with some modern touches. On draft they have their own brewed beers. I go for the one that is generically called «ale». The colour is dark amber, with red shades, and has very little head. It smells quite fruity and I expect Belgian style beer. On the first sip, it tastes like cane sugar and very ripe (almost fermenting) plum and grape. It is quite yeasty and sour. It has a certain fizziness tickling the throat in the swallow and an unexpected delicate cocoa hint. It has a not too bad fruit tart sweet aftertaste, but, all in all, I’m not particularly impressed.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">After a couple of pints, I convince my companions to go back to the previous day’s pub. I go straight towards the bar. The barmaid is not happy to see me again. With a big smile and a very happy voice, I point at the bottle of <i>Mad as a cow</i> (I am not able to pronounce the actual Estonian name) and ask for two. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">“One to drink, and one to take away.” I specify. </span>She frowns. I keep smiling. She talks with her colleague then disappears in the back of the bar. She comes back with two dark bottles. I start thanking her enthusiastically. She is clearly annoyed. I should stop. Then I notice that the bottles are nothing like I was expecting. They are just plain dark glass with a word scribbled on them with a white marker. Hang on a minute! There is something deeply wrong going on there. I try to stop her while she is opening the first one.<br />
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<span class="s1">“It’s not the same bottle!” I say, pointing at the one on the shelf. She looks at me wondering what’s wrong with me.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“It’s the same beer” she says, “in another bottle,” like she was explaining it to a very slow child.</span><br />
<span class="s1">“I know,” I say in my head, “that’s exactly the point”. She cannot understand my broken heart. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">“I don’t want it anymore” I say childishly. She has already opened one and looks at me interrogatively.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“Ok, I take that one, but I don’t need the second one.”</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“What do you want?” asks the lady, already out of patience. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">“I don’t know. I don’t care anymore. All the others are the same to me.”</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“Wait.” She says laconically, and comes back with another dark bottle, the label in Estonian. “This is a good Estonian one.” </span></div>
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<span class="s1">“Whatever...”</span><br />
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<span class="s1">She tries to open it, but I stop her again. I want to bring it to London. If she could have made me disappear with a look I wouldn’t be here writing now. I leave the bar with a glass of <i>Mad as a cow</i>, that I give to one of my mates, and a closed bottle. What an anticlimax...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">“Do you want to try it?” My friend asks, trying to cheer me up. I wipe a tear away from the corner of my eye, and take the glass. It is thick and dark, like a rich stout. So dense that the light can barely pass through. I put my nose in the glass and a lovely smell of chocolate and molasses with just a touch of liquorice greets me. I try it. It’s delicious. It is one of the most harmonic and drinkable stout I’ve ever had. Not so much coffee that you could mistake it for a Starbucks takeaway. Not so strong that you couldn’t handle an entire pint. Impressively balanced, dangerously easy to drink. It is difficult to distinguish the flavours as they cleanly melt into each other. The fact that it has almost no aftertaste is more a compulsion to drink again than a disappointment. It makes me think of all the good things you can find in a farm. And dark chocolate on top of it.</span><br />
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Oh, <i>Mad as a cow</i>, you’re not just a pretty face...</div>
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<span class="s1">My friend is awkwardly waiting to have his glass back. I think for a moment to pretend not to have noticed. Then I decide that they have put up with me enough in the past days. I give a better look at the bottle I have purchased at the bar: Estonian dark IPA. I don’t even like dark IPAs...</span></div>
Valeria Vitalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07575266222361802997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-53866257763192498302014-05-18T07:48:00.000-06:002014-06-05T16:26:58.106-06:00The Bull, Highgate<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8ynIqZGh9ooB2FcArM-M3yKYKYYoSTddiCStAqzklKs3UkqZwPKms5RWexerOJFI9dS672QeNyMXa6YnYUitKU_c9cNpY4qTKZ6jY5YE5pRd6DjEztTPDuge75QCw9oStHxe984IECI/s1600/BULL.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8ynIqZGh9ooB2FcArM-M3yKYKYYoSTddiCStAqzklKs3UkqZwPKms5RWexerOJFI9dS672QeNyMXa6YnYUitKU_c9cNpY4qTKZ6jY5YE5pRd6DjEztTPDuge75QCw9oStHxe984IECI/s1600/BULL.JPG" height="264" width="320" /></a>In Highgate to see a band play the other night, we turned out to be in a very nice little brewpub, home of the London Brewing Company microbrewery. It was relatively quiet when we arrived, and service was pleasant and professional, but felt a bit all-hands-to-the-pump already, with three different table waiters and several bar staff milling around frantically serving about two people total. Hard to imagine what a busy night would look like! The menu looks really great, with high-end gastropub food, although the prices are equally high-end, and there was nothing appetizing in the vegetarian selection. (There is a surprisingly wide range of gluten-free offering, though.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQsvR1dDtmtmW3HHVPdR5nORGmyykOBuWEXCPzS_bac0gyfXnoxhqfgZPm7PIXIl9WxPlPFSP-7tAPA2MBg_1C9WrBNOJ7wEWzPiNqRy7yOR8miLegqnjA4PTuwwA8wZdJ3rj9CyLydY/s1600/GARCONS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQsvR1dDtmtmW3HHVPdR5nORGmyykOBuWEXCPzS_bac0gyfXnoxhqfgZPm7PIXIl9WxPlPFSP-7tAPA2MBg_1C9WrBNOJ7wEWzPiNqRy7yOR8miLegqnjA4PTuwwA8wZdJ3rj9CyLydY/s1600/GARCONS.JPG" height="252" width="320" /></a>The band playing ("The Swinging Garçons") were a lot of fun, highly skilled but relaxed swing jazz with a side-serving of virtuoso steel drum. They play in the Bull every Thursday night, with variations to the line-up. (Disclosure: one of our SfTP reviewers is a regular member of the band.)<br />
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We also tasted the three London Brewing Co ales that were on tap (alongside a wide range of domestic and imported bottled beers). All were very nice. Notes below:<br />
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<b>Waterlow Gold</b>: a light orange ale with a cheeky sparkle, a fruity aroma of zest and berry, and a floury and pithy first taste, just a bit tart. It's not very bitter on the swallow, but satisfying flavours of green wood and grapefruit pit linger. The individual parts were all nice, if not outstanding in themselves, but the overall impression is a very nice and lively pint that went down like a beauty. If I weren't planning to review the others, I'd have stuck with this one all night. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">****</span><br />
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<b>Beer Street, Best Bitter</b>: a beautiful, burnt sienna pint, which glows like copper against the light. The dry malty aroma leads to a yeasty, tart apple and lime first taste, and then to a chewy, spicy mouthtaste, with hints of cardamon. It's darker and smokier on the swallow, with a hint of hickory and lingering walnut bark. A bit dark and musty for my taste, but very interesting and complex. A couple of these would make me perfectly happy over an evening. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Ie9ywtm5haT1Dxd-5cyfyJtFvUvw0gSFYCNUyrKTcV5DjY_OjkTO9MF-9FGxy3NKELd4tqAj4oqjw-4lJWKkLaSxgsz2LLCQdnNRuYi-B7Ne7ZG8G1svLG6T8lQ3r7x5IveKGx-wyT4/s1600/Vistadryhoppedred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Ie9ywtm5haT1Dxd-5cyfyJtFvUvw0gSFYCNUyrKTcV5DjY_OjkTO9MF-9FGxy3NKELd4tqAj4oqjw-4lJWKkLaSxgsz2LLCQdnNRuYi-B7Ne7ZG8G1svLG6T8lQ3r7x5IveKGx-wyT4/s1600/Vistadryhoppedred.jpg" height="200" width="147" /></a><b>Vista dry-hopped red ale</b>: a lovely, bright chestnut red with big-bubbled foam, and a startling tangerine and lime aroma. There's tart pineapple on the tip of the tongue, incredibly sweet but eye wateringly sharp, and then green orange and kumquat scrapping in the mouth, with a hint of rusty iron and fresh holly. Bright berries and zesty lime bring life to the swallow, with a sweet sappy aftertaste that lingers like a slice of a tropical beast's heart dripping on the roof of your mouth. Mmmmmm! I shall come for this one again... <span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span>Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-14407733696510774772014-05-12T16:41:00.000-06:002014-05-18T07:52:11.479-06:00Bricklayer's Arms, PutneyA late addition to our Top 25 pubs tour, <a href="http://www.bricklayers-arms.co.uk/">the Bricklayer's Arms</a> in Putney was quiet on a Sunday night: literally the kind of atmosphere were the locals look up at you and go quiet when you walk in. Which for a multiple award-winning, often recommended pub that must get a lot of visitors, is kind of strange, no?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVwKseg8Om7HcQDuf8IDGM3nDEUEn8cC9Ajv-ybvypPXU0-Yg50Ck1loMti0PpC31DxaUHz7PM7LWjPO6EHXY2lminS9rCU5r3wm2c9hV2789OuXQMOWW57K2yQyd_Socpqq0jD9T5J9Y/s1600/nutcrackermild.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVwKseg8Om7HcQDuf8IDGM3nDEUEn8cC9Ajv-ybvypPXU0-Yg50Ck1loMti0PpC31DxaUHz7PM7LWjPO6EHXY2lminS9rCU5r3wm2c9hV2789OuXQMOWW57K2yQyd_Socpqq0jD9T5J9Y/s1600/nutcrackermild.png" height="320" width="256" /></a>They don't seem to serve food, and only two ales appeared to be on offer at the bar. (But a dozen pumps, the rest of them empty, may be promising for a better selection on busier nights?) The bar itself is not very comfortable, but classic, dry wood-floored pub style, with vintage but not terribly imaginative decor. They don't take credit card, or make much effort at friendly service (again, maybe unless you're a local?), and I kind of get the feeling it will be busy, too loud and understaffed on a Friday night. I hope the normal beer selection is what caused Des De Moor to rate this so highly.<br />
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(There's a vintage Baths and Recreation Management rules sign framed on the wall which brings back memories of swimming baths in the 70s and 80s. Quaint.)<br />
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The beers, all from the Somerset brewery Cotleigh:<br />
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<b>Cotleigh, Nutcracker Mild</b>: dusky, still ale, glowing when held up to the light like a very dark red gemstone. Woody and smoky, it smells a bit like a chicory coffee syrup, but has a slightly watery and sour first taste with a bit of apple pit, leading to slightly more musty, malty brown in the mouth. The aftertaste of hops, coffee and yeast doesn't linger, which is a bit disappointing, but the pint is not bad overall. (***)<br />
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<b>Cotleigh, Honey Buzzard Premium Beer</b>: a caramel/red-brown beer, with lots of flower honey in the head; flat, with cane sugar sweetness leading to a grapefruit bitterness, and a pithy swallow that doesn't really linger. Nice, quaffable, and more interesting than the mild, but a bit too flat to be really satisfying. (Review by VV.) (**)<br />
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(There was a third beer on tap, but the label was turned the wrong way so you had no way of knowing unless you asked.)<br />
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<b>Cotleigh, Buzzard Dark Ale</b>: a dark dusty red ale, more mahogany than ruby, with a sweet, smoky molasses aroma. A slightly yeasty ovaltine first taste, becomes more chocolaty and chewy in the mouth. The fruity and slightly rancid swallow leads to lingering smoke that becomes yeasty a whole after it goes down, so it's more pleasant if you keep drinking and don't give it a chance to go stale in your throat. Quite a good balance overall, an interesting mix of sensations and flavours, but the Nutcracker is more quaffable. (***)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-33653081643333202652014-05-03T08:22:00.002-06:002014-05-12T16:42:37.927-06:00Reading Beerfest 2014We visited the <a href="http://www.readingbeerfestival.org.uk/">Reading Beer and Cider Festival</a> again this year, after being very impressed by the organization, scale and quality <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/reading-beer-festival-may-2013.html">in 2013</a>. Again, this is a huge and attractive festival, with a wonderful range of real ales, ciders and perries, wines, snacks and hot food, and even games and live music. The significantly cooler weather this year did rather highlight the drawback of holding a festival outdoor/in a pavilion in British spring, as by evening it was almost intolerable to be sitting about even in outdoor coats. (Can't blame the organizers for the weather though!) The food queues were also long and not terribly well-organized, but it would be invidious to complain about catering that was better than almost any other festival I've ever been to. And as always, there was an excellent range of beer to be had. Some highlights:<br />
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<b>Black Iris, Intergalactic IPA</b> (mislabeled as "Aussie IPA", and listed in the programme both under its correct name <i>and</i> "Black Flag, Aussie IPA"): this bright orange, clear pale ale from Derbyshire has a lovely orangy hop odor, and a tart and zesty first taste, leading to smoky and yeasty mouth-taste, a hint of orange with the pits chewed up in it. The lingering bitterness is more chewy and woody, not as satisfying as I hoped from the start. Okay though. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span><br />
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<b>W.J. King, Working Class Hero</b>: a dark amber with light and airy head, but an aroma a bit like cider vinegar. The first taste is fruity and acid, but otherwise a little weak and watery. More robust citrus bitterness is evident in the mouth, and a traditional easy finish that barely lingers beyond the swallow. Not terrible, on its own terms, but I couldn't get over the cidery smell, and so didn't bother finishing the half-pint. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">*</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAC3POg1DXxWL6fCfWXy2SWHjsrcKAfLe3qP9NpHthDkAx74w84jvo3ZiF2bRLk08Hl1Af1hi_bMv2G45reR8G66QxUsh7KER3kXfDLZfUIk41QRufATDkTUEVHvTeTF-z-iuqppp5rss/s1600/orkney_blast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAC3POg1DXxWL6fCfWXy2SWHjsrcKAfLe3qP9NpHthDkAx74w84jvo3ZiF2bRLk08Hl1Af1hi_bMv2G45reR8G66QxUsh7KER3kXfDLZfUIk41QRufATDkTUEVHvTeTF-z-iuqppp5rss/s1600/orkney_blast.jpg" /></a><b>Highland, Orkney Blast</b>: a bright gold ale, looks almost still in the glass, but has a deeeeelicious fruity hop aroma. The spicy citrus fruit punch first taste, leads to a chewy hop in the mouth, yeasty and grainy, with floury and elder notes. A pithy swallow with lingering zesty grapefruit is absolutely gorgeous overall. Probably the highlight of the festival. <span style="color: magenta; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span><br />
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<b>Williams Bros, Fraoch</b>: a very pale, still beer with not much of a smell, perhaps a little orange pollen. The gently tart first taste is more zesty than sweet, then a little bit of cloying yeast in the mouth. A fruity swallow doesn't leave much of an impression, but not particularly unpleasant. Drinkable, but certainly won't stick in my memory. ***<br />
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<b>Twickenham, Wolf in the Woods</b>: a slightly cloudy light amber, with pollen and pine sap aroma. A first taste of green bark with no sweetness at all leads to a fairly traditional bitter tone in the mouth, and then a bit yeasty on the swallow, with a lingering woody aftertaste. Hm. I wondered if this one was maybe at the bottom of the barrel? <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">**</span><br />
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<b>Kissingate, Gardenia Mild</b> (reviewed by Valeria): a golden amber/orange; aroma of flowers and ripe (or stewed) tree-fruit. Refreshing first taste of bitter lemon peel, leading to a whole pine forest of sappy mouthtaste; nice balance of elderflower, resin and forest-fruit sweetness, with a pleasant bitterness that gently lingers, not overwhelming but lovely. Nice but unusual; I'd have one of these if I ever find it in a pub, but it's a bit too strange to drink all night. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuJLf1rC1rS16OIZgORw49aiAnoUZVUOrJKvyvyZCtUONbC3eNq1gVAz6oxb6TSsJnezObFfkfIw7rTXatmSI8nqMq-F5JsJLK-rBeaNDGPV5MTgwc_1swxixeRaoE_jLJDO-9zzf37w/s1600/montys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuJLf1rC1rS16OIZgORw49aiAnoUZVUOrJKvyvyZCtUONbC3eNq1gVAz6oxb6TSsJnezObFfkfIw7rTXatmSI8nqMq-F5JsJLK-rBeaNDGPV5MTgwc_1swxixeRaoE_jLJDO-9zzf37w/s1600/montys.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a><b>Monty's, Masquerade</b> (gluten-free): a cloudy but light beer with sweet orange smell, and a little tart first taste, but pleasantly tangy, leading to a coarse, slightly chewy but mild hoppiness. Refreshingly fruity on the swallow, with hoppy bitterness that dissolves rapidly; an aftertaste of wood and yeast is very pleasant. Nothing unusual or exciting about this ale, but it is extremely quaffable. Noted. <span style="color: magenta; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>****</b></span><br />
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<b>Highland, Sneaky Wee Orkney Stout</b> (reviewed by Simona): a black, opaque ale, with little brown foam. Subtle roasted malt smell, a heavily roasted palate, and smoky bitterness at the back of the tongue. The subtle taste of old forest berry jam, lingers, along with wood-smoke in the aftertaste. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span><br />
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<b>Force, Thunderball Stout</b>: pitch black with a hint of mahogany against the light; scent of smoky chocolate and lime zest, like the breath of a belching dragon who's just eaten a Spanish orchard. Very tart and juicy on the tip of my tongue, which leads to a charcoal tanginess with yeasty and malty tones. The gravelly stout really hits in the swallow, hoppy enough to satisfy, but not lingering enough to be sickly. Not bad at all at the end, leaving an impression of intense bitterness. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">***</span>Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-33555572441904278202014-04-25T15:36:00.001-06:002014-05-03T06:43:00.962-06:00St George's Beerfest, Old MitreYe Olde Mitre, near Chancery Lane (which <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/ye-olde-mitre-holborn.html">we visited a couple years ago</a> as part of the 25 London pubs tour), held a St George's Day beer festival this week, serving up at least half a dozen patriotically themed ales for the occasion. By the time we attended on Thursday night, there were only three beers left, but we dutifully tried them all. (Unfortunately, a table for four in the already-crowded upstairs bar had been booked for a party of 30+ city shirts, so after our beers we moved on to a more pleasant environment.)<br />
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<b>Everards, Ascalon</b>: a dark amber/fruity brown ale, which was pretty much odorless (although the smell of burning bread from the cheese toasties which are the Mitre's only food offering made it pretty hard to smell anything). On the tip of the tongue it was watery, almost bready, and only slightly more smoky and malty in the mouth; maybe a hint of overripe fruit (apple or pine rather than citrus). Then it was woody, yeasty, maybe almost a hint of mushroom earthiness and loam in the swallow. The aftertaste barely lingered, but maybe held a little spice, liquorice and soy. Overall this was more interesting than the insipid first taste suggested, but still meh. (**/5)<br />
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<b>St George</b> (I missed the brewery name): a light orange beer, with malty, grape jelly or tart satsuma aroma, a very intense first taste, sweet and tangy, a bit chemical, but not astringent; and smokier in the mouth, more malt than coffee, but pleasantly harsh. Finally it has a nice woody swallow, with lingering yeasty and citrusy aftertaste, all of which sticks around very nicely. Sadly this beer ran out after our first round, because I'd have happily had another otherwise. (****/5)<br />
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<b>The Nottingham Brewery, Legend</b>: a slightly darker, almost red beer with a good choppy foam. The fresh fruity smell led to a robust sweet and hazelnutty first taste, then built to a chocolatey, malty/almond in the mouth, and tangy cranberry and pomegranate in the swallow. It has quite a nice hoppy, barky aftertaste, but doesn't stick around for very long at all. (I had to taste it 4 times before I remembered enough to write it down!) An okay pint, but not amazing in anyone's book. (***/5)Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-50993620742831540082014-03-29T17:31:00.000-06:002014-05-24T07:16:46.229-06:00Wandsworth Common Beerfest, La Gothique, March 27-29, 2014We went to the Wandsworth Common beerfest in <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/wandsworth-beerfest.html">summer last year</a>, and found it very charming, a pleasant venue, excellent beer range and all-round lovely day (the weather and company obviously helped!). The spring beerfest they hold in March is less sparkling (although the company was just as great), as it's not yet warm enough to sit outdoors all evening, and the venue is less well-equipped than we remember it being in July. No food trucks out back; no seating on the grass; the beer ran out more quickly on the Saturday afternoon. It was still a good fun day out, and I'm sure we'll come again some time.<br />
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Quick note re my beer notes: I've given each ale a star rating, roughly speaking, (1*) = so terrible I couldn't even finish the glass; (2*) not bad, but I'd rather not drink this in future if there's anything else on offer; (3*) pretty good, I could drink a few pints of this if it was on in my local one night; (4*) very good indeed, I enjoyed this very much and might seek it out; (5*) this is such a great beer, it's on my list of all-time favorite ales and I'll actively seek it out from here on in. There were no 1s or 5s tonight, but I've highlighted a couple of 4s below with <b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(****)</span></b> as they are the standouts of the festival for me.<br />
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I started the afternoon with a glass of <b>Foxfield, Sand Cascade</b>: a very pale, slightly cloudy straw-colored beer, smelling of caramel and a hint of lager malts, leading to sweet orange on the tip of the tongue. It was then zesty and tangy in the mouth, with a little charcoal and yeast (perhaps the barrel was hazed?); a plain crusty bitterness lingers, but is not very memorable. (**)<br />
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<b>Wold Top, Spring Fling</b> is a slightly cloudy blonde/gold ale, with a bit of a musty/composty scent, zesty sweetness that is lemony and pithy in the mouth, and final bitterness overwhelmed with tart yeast and a slightly earthy aftertaste. Although this may seem like a lukewarm review at best, the whole is better than the sum of its parts, and is quite quaffable. (***)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DOycpTTC0NoN9Aeh3xwEyvDpw6fsYxF9tGodIkJWivRBtmmzmLX8G5k_ZaziAfVXGJhZHk16DYjOymbWiuntHm5MxRxFrbVL4CDUfs-iWCh9WjiNegNOOziDE8BBlqYij2dgG94z9gc/s1600/redwillow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DOycpTTC0NoN9Aeh3xwEyvDpw6fsYxF9tGodIkJWivRBtmmzmLX8G5k_ZaziAfVXGJhZHk16DYjOymbWiuntHm5MxRxFrbVL4CDUfs-iWCh9WjiNegNOOziDE8BBlqYij2dgG94z9gc/s1600/redwillow.png" /></a>The first stand-out, for me, was <b>Red Willow, Ageless</b>: very bright pale orange ale with a rich aroma of toasted wheat flakes and orange blossom honey; tart and zesty orange on the first taste, with pithy tangerine in the mouth, pretty intense and complex citrus notes, and beautiful fruity mouthfuls of flavour. A smoky, coarse swallow and zesty aftertaste lingers for a short time, but the sweetness also echoes on the tongue. It's very bitter, but still doesn't taste nearly as strong as it is. <b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(****)</span></b><br />
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Very nice indeed, but not in any sense a session ale was <b>Sarah Hughes, Snowflake</b>: a very deep honey-amber color, with sweet, slightly acerbic smell of enamel paint or a field of lemons. The first taste is honey-sweet with toasted hazelnut, vanilla and caramel; smooth maltcake and molasses grows in the mouth with a bit of harsh burnt sugar bitterness, not too malty but with crystals of processed sugar. The hint of coconut in the swallow becomes slightly artificial, and the lingering flavour is chemical rather than fruit, like the hit coming off the refuse site of a sugar factory. Not bad at all, truly; but you couldn't drink this all night. (***)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2a5-F0muqznpl-Sp2xuPzgmGTfyVP-Aig5X7ExSFltgOoJDqsLcJMgQsGIWD2X5blg2StRbK6e0H3frU2pZFBNykIvifyZh7NTxp1erggf9bX22O528q-9ZMzqeZl0MOXAR_7tvVSV0/s1600/settle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2a5-F0muqznpl-Sp2xuPzgmGTfyVP-Aig5X7ExSFltgOoJDqsLcJMgQsGIWD2X5blg2StRbK6e0H3frU2pZFBNykIvifyZh7NTxp1erggf9bX22O528q-9ZMzqeZl0MOXAR_7tvVSV0/s1600/settle.png" /></a><b>Settle, Signal Main Line</b> was another lovely one: a light clear copper ale with a gentle bready aroma, like a rye sourdough with dried fruit peel; sour orange first taste, very nicely tangy, but more watery further back, leading to very tart bitterness, spicy and fruity at the same time. I wasn't convinced after the first couple sips, but it grew on me. A happy combination at the end. <b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(****)</span></b></div>
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<b>Dent, T'owd Tup</b> is black as a Tory's soul, completely opaque and almost still; there's sweet coffee and old tar in the aroma, and a very gentle burnt sugar first taste. It's fruity but understated in the mouth, leading to a slightly cloying, dessert before bedtime, chewy finish; coffee on the swallow and a charcoal aftertaste, but neither really lingering. Perfectly pleasant, but not much to write home about. (***)<br />
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<b>Mallinson's, Amarillo</b> is a very pale gold-blonde with a frisky but thin head, lovely green citrus zest odor, and flattish, tangy, slightly numbing sweetness, growing to more lime zest in the mouth. The swallow has notes of orange pits or unripe almonds, lingering IPA hops and lemon pith, with quite a satisfying finish. (***)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXEmpdEEtgmOpo-lMj3fCkoxbiINMiBPZHjn8WKUG7fteMi5zrdxMQC_ZnEFXciyIhdRNxYgo7fBGK_UC5ITqnNrCl-42EEdV9JQW62599JE0t0HQbtvQncwnYRwnKJay_YuBf_D6uY0/s1600/hawkshead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXEmpdEEtgmOpo-lMj3fCkoxbiINMiBPZHjn8WKUG7fteMi5zrdxMQC_ZnEFXciyIhdRNxYgo7fBGK_UC5ITqnNrCl-42EEdV9JQW62599JE0t0HQbtvQncwnYRwnKJay_YuBf_D6uY0/s1600/hawkshead.jpg" /></a>And finally, happily, we had <b>Hawkshead, Brodie's Prime</b>: a very dark beer with mild coffeebean and caramel aroma, sweet walnut maltyness in the first taste, plenty of nuts and sweet cereal in the mouth, but quite the lovely balanced bitterness in the swallow offsets what would otherwise be overwhelming sweetness, with smoky molasses and woody liquorice in the aftertaste. Worked very well, even late in the evening. Recommended. <b><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(****)</span></b>Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-21025473872302201582014-03-15T10:45:00.002-06:002014-03-29T17:32:42.913-06:00London Drinker beer festival, Camden, March 14Our second visit to the London Drinker beer festival in the Camden Centre on Bidborough Street, a stone's throw from the British Library. As before we were pleased by the size of the venue, with a huge main hall and several smaller sections where food and imported beer were served, and the not-terribly-comfortable but quieter balconies. As we attended on the last day of the festival a lot of beer was starting to run short: at the beginning of the evening about half the titles in the programme were gone; by 9PM only a handful of British beers remained, but we'd had a chance to try a good few by then. Staffing was as usual amateurish but friendly, with many of the familiar faces from CAMRA beerfests all over London showing up at the bars. (The only sour notes being the sarcastic steward trying to get us to use the cloakroom "for charity!", and the pushy chap from the Save Our Pub campaign who tried to get us to buy £50 shares in the Antwerp Arms, gave incorrect information about dividends—that we hadn't asked for—and dumped a hug pile of coasters on me that both contained errors in the site URL, <b>and</b> a site where their own project seemed not to be listed yet! Laugh or cry.)<br />
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The beers:<br />
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<li>I started the night with a <b>Hop Stuff, Saison</b>, a very pale, slightly cloudy pint, with a savoury tang of barley grass, bitter honey, green onion and grapefruit zest. On the tip of the tongue there's a tart taste of rocket and dandelion, but it's a little more tangy in the mouth, with green wood and coriander. A coarse peppery finish leaves memories of ginger and cardamon, but only a faint hint of wilted flowers longer longer that a few seconds, and then it's all gone. A bit of a one-kick pony, really.</li>
<li>Much more promising was the <b>Kelburn, Carte Blanche</b>, which was a still, very deep light gold, beautiful to look at, and gave off an intense aroma of golden syrup or candy floss. Disappointingly watery sweetness in the first taste, slightly musty but very mellow, with sour hops throughout. No appreciable bitterness, just a faint hoppiness that's gone before it's really started... only a little honey lingers after the swallow.</li>
<li><b>Twickenham Ales, Grandstand</b> was a more traditional pint, a completely clear dark gold, with a little sweaty, grassy smell; grain corn-syrup sweetness with a hint of honey and chaff leads to a nice robust bitterness in the mouth. Nothing special in the aftertaste, but a reassuringly quaffable pint nevertheless.</li>
<li>More interesting perhaps, <b>Whitstable, One Hop Challenge</b> is a very light, clear ale with the slightly medicinal smell of fresh-cut grass and wet bark. Gentle honey and a hint of tangerine flesh in the blandly sweet first taste leads to a dominance of wild flower honey in the mouth, slightly smoky with a hint of caramel and roast seeds on a synthetic fruit base. There's a yeasty hit in the syrupy bitterness, like coffee left to go cold and rinsed down with almost-fermented white grape, which lingers but not in a terribly pleasant way. (I think I may have had the end of the barrel; everything was starting to run out at this point...)</li>
<li><b>Great Oakley, Wot's Occuring</b> is a very light amber with a quickly fading head and a barley-husk and honey odor. A biscuity first taste, followed by mellow, malty darkness in the mouth, and a pretty intense yeasty and burnt raisin swallow, but the aftertaste is more a peppery biscuit. A little sourness echoes after the fact, but savory ginger and pastry is the memory that remains. I'd like to wash down a cheese and onion pie with a pint of this, but otherwise it wasn't terribly memorable.</li>
<li><b>Salopian, Darwin's Origin</b> is another very light brown ale, with a pithy hop aroma and a sweet orangey first followed by a zesty hit; allium and spinach in the mouth. A green but mellow swallow lingers with a peppery note, but gentle and subtle. Ultimately pleasing and satisfying once in the belly, even if it was nothing to write home about while drinking.</li>
<li>Finally, almost all the casks of British ale being spent, we had a last visit to the important beers section, which was disappointingly small, with only a few Belgian, Dutch and German bottles on offer. Nonetheless I picked up a <b>Brasserie de la Senne, Stouterik</b>, which is a pitch-black Belgian with brown foam, smoky like a stout but much more tart. Heavy in the mouth, with roast vegetable and yeast notes, a bit floury, but more sweet that dusty, and an aftertaste of burnt veg and grilled sausage. This bitter and savory and satisfying beer is like a cross between an old and a stout, aged to the limit of endurance, more interesting that a typical Belgian dark beer. I'm not sure I'd make a habit of drinking this, but I' was not at all unhappy with the choice.</li>
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Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-77770109918102233692014-03-04T12:19:00.000-07:002014-03-15T10:46:44.258-06:00Black lagers in Slovenia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsyhv_Hmjs1-aYtiCqTqS4uyt71QCt-Dj8GZNSSQ9cxcJyLwfguEDFKVPU8X28nEcakhJ3Ep4GRfOcUTy9P-tnJqv6QeDbevtQEKz6uwSINepuRQVqICCRErMrfOFr99HMZfEZZLVrnM/s1600/parliament.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsyhv_Hmjs1-aYtiCqTqS4uyt71QCt-Dj8GZNSSQ9cxcJyLwfguEDFKVPU8X28nEcakhJ3Ep4GRfOcUTy9P-tnJqv6QeDbevtQEKz6uwSINepuRQVqICCRErMrfOFr99HMZfEZZLVrnM/s1600/parliament.jpg" height="200" width="151" /></a>While teaching at a European-funded workshop in Ljubljana in late February (the surprisingly frisky façade of the Slovenian House of Parliament shown right), I was generally less than impressed by the ability of that city to cater for any food tastes other than sausages and creamy steaks, but made up for it by trying a handful of the local dark lagers. I didn't take detailed tasting notes of any of them (I had enough to keep in mind with the half-dozen project ideas that were flying around), but some of my impressions and comparisons of the main drinks remain, and were mostly positive.<br />
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The apparently more classy (or at least expensive) of the local beers I tried was Laško, which comes both in regular (blonde) and "temno" (dark) varieties on most bar menus. I of course opted for several half-liters of the <b>Laško Temno</b> (shown in bottle, left, and glass, below right). This was much more flavoursome than the typical black Czech or Japanese lager you can find here (but not as brutally coffee-caramel-chewy as the Stolichno Bock I tried in Sofia last year!), a bit smoky and with a hint of savory herbs, perhaps cumin or some mellow alium vegetable stewed with a touch of balsamic vinegar to get it nice and crunchy. There must have been a fair bit of unfermented sugar, and perhaps a hint of methylic alcohol, in here too, considering the jackhammer of a hangover even a small amount was capable of delivering!<br />
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Although a dedicated real ale drinker, part of me is very happy to find more traditional, lagered beer styles in Eastern Europe, especially the parts historically influenced by Germany and Austria, where brewing under the constraints of Bavarian-style purity laws led to creative blends of hop and yeast, sharp, clean favours with enough variety to keep even a fruit-loving Belgian happy. Laško provided a lovely example of this practice in Slovenia; the blonde variety was as tasty as some of the best Czech pilsners, and the Temno both looked, smelled and tasted good enough to keep me from missing British-style ales for a few days.<br />
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The other local beer that we sampled on another evening (but I didn't think to photograph), was the <b>Union Temno</b>, a slightly cheaper but still pleasant black lager served in an "English pub" down by the river. Union is much smokier than the Laško (or indeed than the almost insipid-in-comparison Urquell Black that I had midway through the evening), almost like a roasted barley frappé sweetened with molasses, dark and chewy while being cold and refreshing. There's nothing like the weight or bitterness of a stout, and even though it's as sweet as a winter porter, it's unmistakably a chilled, fizzy lager. Even on a cold night, it was very pleasant to drink a handful of large glasses of this beer in a noisy bar while debating the qualities of Balkan and Thracian scripts on ancient inscriptions. If I could figure out how to get something more interesting to eat than grilled vegetables, I could get used to drinking Slovenian beers.Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-82476441150009359452014-02-27T17:42:00.000-07:002014-03-15T10:46:20.417-06:00Return to the German Real AleBack in Germany for a flying visit last month, I had the chance to try one of the beers I left behind <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/german-real-ales.html">last time</a>, and another bottle, the gift of a generous friend from Berlin. My tasting notes follow:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpOPgpiWM_GfGupKJmcvI0i4btG3RkEibAGzKlHmfKQXofcDwBEVQeTW7xbBhZOC6BJ3xGzVMDmesgt7-uhqMWTMQN_hQAPbIuFQkIGMRiFlooxWV5_nIgQRbXOiL0JJKvkCNKlCDDhg/s1600/hopfenstopfer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpOPgpiWM_GfGupKJmcvI0i4btG3RkEibAGzKlHmfKQXofcDwBEVQeTW7xbBhZOC6BJ3xGzVMDmesgt7-uhqMWTMQN_hQAPbIuFQkIGMRiFlooxWV5_nIgQRbXOiL0JJKvkCNKlCDDhg/s1600/hopfenstopfer.jpg" height="185" width="200" /></a><b>Hopfenstopfer, Citra</b>: You can smell the fruit a mile away in this light, almost colorless but cloudy pale ale, brewed in Bad Rappenau, which pours with a frisky but ephemeral head. The aroma may be of lime and tangerine, the sweet rather than tangy fruit, but the first taste is surprisingly tart. Thereafter it's mildly sweet, almost to the extent of being watery. Ripe and bland orange leads to a brief pithy bitterness, but it doesn't really stick around or leave much of an impression. (I may be being unfair, because we were eating very spicy food when we tasted this.) Even if there was nothing to write home about on the evidence of this glass, the beer does have a delightful smell, and it would be a perfectly pleasant session ale if we discovered it in a pub in Baden-Württemberg one night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iHlm6PlJi-kLRPueSzaO_M33lDDRNkhkT47uMqsfNdutCxpCjJ605zzsXKS2StHF33s2xl-kbG3ieKw1NthrUc6t6QkPPNcQIrkljCuUkZD5tPVdabjMsSFBRGyfTXOQuaYxAT3QLVw/s1600/fritzipa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iHlm6PlJi-kLRPueSzaO_M33lDDRNkhkT47uMqsfNdutCxpCjJ605zzsXKS2StHF33s2xl-kbG3ieKw1NthrUc6t6QkPPNcQIrkljCuUkZD5tPVdabjMsSFBRGyfTXOQuaYxAT3QLVw/s1600/fritzipa.jpg" height="200" width="161" /></a><b>Fritz Ale, IPA</b> (5.8%): This real ale brewed in Bonn is a dull amber, cloudy drink with a buttery head with slight yellowish tinge. It's an unfiltered beer, and we drank it without really giving it time to settle, so full disclosure I may not be doing it justice in this report. Grapefruit, honey and elderflower are all evident in a very strong aroma, and while a cheeky sparkle overwhelms the light citrus in the first taste, a lovely pithy bitterness and zesty orange hit hard in the mouth, and a deceptively gentle grapefruit pith lingers on the swallow. The beer washes down relatively smoothly, despite a hint of crushed pits and lemon-flesh that doesn't go away. As served this is a 4* India pale ale; I suspect that if we'd let it settle properly we'd be looking at a keeper. I'll look out for and try this one again.Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-4937034047332175862014-02-16T16:58:00.000-07:002014-03-01T17:07:49.629-07:00Clown Shoes, Crunkle SamThe last of the gift bottles of American craft ale, which I didn't drink during my tasting marathon over the vacation, because I was a bit scared and wanted someone to share it with. I'm not sure 22oz of barley wine in one sitting is a good idea for anyone! The following review includes the input of my co-conspirators/co-revelers.<br />
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<b>Clown Shoes, Crunkle Sam Barley Wine</b> (11% ABV): this potent ale from Ipswich, Massachusetts is somewhere between a ripe red and a dark amber (there was a bit of argument within the group over whether there was any red in there at all; others preferred to say it was just brown), with a creamy foam and a rich smell of cherry and dried fruit. On the tip of the tongue the beer is sickly sweet, with orange zest, burnt toffee and stewed currant; a lovely blend of hops combines with harsh sweetness further back in the mouth, making it hard to swallow in any quantity, but somehow comforting a sip at a time. There's a subtle but not particularly long-lasting aftertaste of citrus, sand and fruity yeast. It was really not bad at all, less brutal than some barley wines, but still far too sweet for my taste. Nobody was especially scathing about it, but I don't remember any great enthusiasm either (even among the cider drinkers who presumably don't mind cloying, fructose-filled drinks!).Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-37343990377102370912014-01-11T17:51:00.000-07:002014-03-01T17:00:05.313-07:00The rest of the American craft beersFollowing from my <a href="http://scienceforthirstypeople.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/looking-gift-beers-in-mouth.html">last post</a> about bottled American craft beers, brought to me as gifts by Scott, Elli and Hugh last year, here (without further elaboration or digression) are my tasting notes:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFH_egageMKDdIev6w_ZA715ki9sX_XzuhLx2YIM361APSukRNQr00gKF8CFyCh4i4MF8OZgcXPqsb0bb9JytqbybeJPhyphenhyphenURTN_2dcTsHVhirQ0ixc6d5ZKSGeCW_aBBhQWYUVWQ8shk/s1600/duganA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFH_egageMKDdIev6w_ZA715ki9sX_XzuhLx2YIM361APSukRNQr00gKF8CFyCh4i4MF8OZgcXPqsb0bb9JytqbybeJPhyphenhyphenURTN_2dcTsHVhirQ0ixc6d5ZKSGeCW_aBBhQWYUVWQ8shk/s320/duganA.jpg" height="320" width="184" /></a><b>Avery Brewing Co., duganA IPA:</b> this powerful pale ale from Boulder, Colorado, modest at 8.5% abv, is a slightly cloudy orange color with a lively but thin head of foam (recurring enthusiastically if you swirl the glass a little) and a biscuity aroma of both fruit and caramel. It's tangy with a berry flavor on the tip of the tongue, then rapidly spreading sour pith, like unripe orange or kumquat; a lovely mix of citrus notes sizzles all the way back in the mouth—some lime flesh, grapefruit pith and unwashed zest, with crushed pits in the back for that wince-making intense bitterness. Overall this beer comes with hints of buttered yeasty bread, malt cake or ovaltine, but all washed a bit to the rear by the rich, raw hoppiness, blended and complex to give the subtle IPA tones, plus that little something extra for the undiluted American double-drop intensity. A lingering wood-smoked meatiness in detectable in the aftertaste. Nice, though, and while too strong for a session ale, if you drink it at the pace of wine with something light to eat like omelette or stir-fry, it would go down very nicely of an evening. Clearly a lot of thought went into the production and presentation of this beer; it's just a shame that the label had to be so fetishistically objectifying and exoticizing, because otherwise it would have been worth keep as a monument to a fine drink.<br />
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<b>Natty Greene's, Red Nose Winter Ale</b>: a relatively gentle American ale at 6.8%, this North Carolina brew is a dark, dull red-brown with very little head. It offers a ripe smell of fallen fruit, forest berries and malty bread, and the sweetness is that of cider, fortified wine, turned apple, or honey-glazed game—slightly sickly, but not unpleasant in its savoriness. It becomes strangely watery in the mouth, with some yeast, some tart liqueur, but nothing very strong. The bitterness comes with another hit of dry cherry spirit and burnt fruits, like a raisin-cake set afire at the table. The yeast lingers more than the berries, settling to a fairly traditional old ale aftertaste. Overall this is a perfectly drinkable pint, not too strong or brutal tasting (some might consider it weak for a winter ale, but that suits me fine).<br />
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<b>Bear Republic, Red Rocket Ale</b>: this Californian "Scotch style" red ale, heavily hopped at 6.8% ABV, comes out of the bottle a dark ruby, almost burgundy in a clear light, with a thin, sparkly foam. The aroma is of sweet, pithy lime and red berries, just slightly smoky. It has a sickly sweet liqueur or Irish coffee first taste, and the mouth-feel is almost grainy, intensely yeasty, with a hit of late hops like crushed lemon pits. Not very bitter on the swallow though, but has a lingering aftertaste like cough syrup or those mountain-flower herby spirits; it's smoky, more chicory than coffee, like green barley gently roasted but then served unsweetened. Aside from the excessive hit of yeast (which might have been this bottle, especially), this isn't particularly strong or powerful in any department. Drinkable, for sure, but not really a keeper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCK33mC9QeyCva8SgHn1Hre3lsWafaFz49t3ektf9D-ef3Rnem1gphILg-vK3dcxI-2g6JQOvRBsVpAH0VEuZwaJguP1KTkOU2CH5FIl7vHj8n108fDHiegJ8_seruIwPXjjmnQhwk00/s1600/hangar24x2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCK33mC9QeyCva8SgHn1Hre3lsWafaFz49t3ektf9D-ef3Rnem1gphILg-vK3dcxI-2g6JQOvRBsVpAH0VEuZwaJguP1KTkOU2CH5FIl7vHj8n108fDHiegJ8_seruIwPXjjmnQhwk00/s320/hangar24x2.jpg" height="320" width="307" /></a><b>Hangar 24, Double IPA</b>: one of the stronger IPAs in my cache, this Californian checks in at 9.0% and is a very light, cloudy apricot color with foam that soon settles down to little more than a meniscus around the rim of the glass. The aroma is of tropical grapefruit and mango, pithy and even a little earthy, like fruit collapsing fizzily on itself with ripeness; the first taste keeps those pithy tropical fruit tones, very slightly sweet, but an almost numbing quantity of raw hops bouncing all over it. In the mouth there's a better balance, both sweet fruit and honey, and the intense hit of hoppy citrus, like biting into a ripe orange without peeling it, chewing the peel, pits and all. The swallow is unsurprisingly brutal, with a lot of hops dominating, but also flowery, like inhaling pollen and swallowing the flecks that end up on your tongue; it lingers on your teeth as well as your tongue; after a hefty swig you can almost feel the pithy hop-flowers breeding in your lungs. You get the picture: this is potent. It's really nice. It's really strong. I'd drink it all evening (in fact, at a 22oz bottle of 9% abv beer, I may yet do!), but it's not a session ale in any realistic sense. Still a lovely pint, and one I'll look out for if I ever see it in a pub.<br />
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<b>Coronado, Idiot IPA</b>: this relatively strong (8.5%) Californian is a beautifully orange-amber beer, with a fruity, biscuity aroma, something like orange shortbread. There is a very ripe and sweet first taste, almost of chocolate orange, with a hint of sour berry and bitter pith behind it. A fruity and sparkly mouth-taste retains the sweetness and the red fruit overtones, but with less glaring contrast, and leads to a slightly medicinal bitterness, which is pithy rather than zesty, perhaps redolent of red grapefruit, lingering and poignant, interesting without being too intense. Overall, this pint was sweeter than usual for an IPA, leading to some gentle complexity; not especially life-changing, but a lovely drop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4jUyoxWan_Jseyu0Rf3qJtapN9LZmk1MPuA4d8g90yGxFson9yTA4NiGpod3hd7JfW8Xt93M-8mjut86MnrPpSZJm1P6C_H2UIDNEiqDEKN7pM4paH-zxYB6MyKtq8mbJUp2qok-H7k/s1600/Seeingdouble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy4jUyoxWan_Jseyu0Rf3qJtapN9LZmk1MPuA4d8g90yGxFson9yTA4NiGpod3hd7JfW8Xt93M-8mjut86MnrPpSZJm1P6C_H2UIDNEiqDEKN7pM4paH-zxYB6MyKtq8mbJUp2qok-H7k/s1600/Seeingdouble.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a><b>Foothills, Seeing Double IPA</b>: this is another powerful, 9.5% ABV, double-dropped North Carolinan IPA, which is honey-gold in color, cloudy toward the bottom of the bottle, and pours with almost no foam. Orange pith and a flowery honey odor precede a zest and sparkly first taste with some sweet, artificial orange and fresh grass. In the mouth are pith, hops and a hint of kale, a slight bitterness of burnt crust or popper black raisin; but the aftertaste doesn't linger very long for a beer of this strength. After several swallows, I have noted a lot of yeast (I'd gotten to the cloudy part at the bottom of the glass), extremely sour, green nuts, or bitter orange. Despite the range and intensity of flavors, this doesn't feel like a nearly 10% beer, but it is a little too bitter and harsh to be a session ale. It's very nice for a taster, though, and I'd try it again if it turned up in a pub.Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-35873602015655530192013-12-31T10:30:00.000-07:002013-12-31T10:30:01.240-07:00Bières suisses de la montagne<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpE9XSnuqs8rSTKRNUFHojOPjeNvu6LKDzOiWxGn6Yvt4rbRNCCKu98eupu62Ij037rCWTbAEi4m4GJO944uOhmBmsmZGtGYmVM21e0nYcFdO5LDhQSFRGbdFn74KycVNpOZJ6UwVgrg/s1600/bfm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpE9XSnuqs8rSTKRNUFHojOPjeNvu6LKDzOiWxGn6Yvt4rbRNCCKu98eupu62Ij037rCWTbAEi4m4GJO944uOhmBmsmZGtGYmVM21e0nYcFdO5LDhQSFRGbdFn74KycVNpOZJ6UwVgrg/s320/bfm.jpg" width="320" /></a>I could swear we've reviewed beers from the <a href="http://www.brasseriebfm.ch/">Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes</a> before—I've certainly drunk several of them over the years, since I was first introduced to the brand in 2006—but I don't see any reference to them here. It's a shame that all I had in for this tasting was two of their lightest, most <i>French</i>-tasting bottles; there are some great real ales in their range as well. I'll have to look out for more of these next time I'm in Switzerland, and keep better notes next time!<br />
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<b>Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes, La Salamandre</b>: this is a clear, light gold, fizzy beer with a gentle head, which has a lagery malt smell with a hint of orange and maybe even cider vinegar. On the tip of the tongue it's sweet and zesty, rather fruity, a little tart but more pithy than soured. It's a bit more lagery in the mouth, with classic Belgian malt but not much flavour; the swallow is better, with some peppery notes and lingering soft fruit: pear, maybe apple-blossom and even coriander. It's not bitter, but memorable, certainly not the generic lager or Weissbier it looked like coming out of the bottle.<br />
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<b>Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes, La Meule</b>: a watery yellow beer, again with a lagery fizz and brief foam; the odor is subtle, with candyfloss and vanilla, overlaid with bread flour and some savory herbs (maybe a seasonal sage and parsley stuffing?). Sparkling fruitiness in the first taste, with a cheeky zestiness behind the pert lager foreground, persists in the mouth, giving both orange and lemon. The tastes of zest and pith overcome a dull wheatiness, and lead to a herby finish without much bitterness but somehow leaving me with a lasting impression of well-seasoned steak. I probably wouldn't chose this blonde beer very often, but it wasn't bad at all, for its kind.Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-44943042616635992592013-12-28T10:50:00.000-07:002014-01-04T05:25:45.457-07:00Looking Gift Beers in the MouthIn one week in November, I received three different visitors from the USA, who between them brought me over a dozen bottles of American craft real ale. I promised I'd share my notes on them, and here are the first few. (I don't remember who gave me which bottle, now, but needless to say it was <i style="font-weight: bold;">all</i> massively appreciated, even the ones I may be snarky about below.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-Jq6yN9NB3uTFimXDo1Tpm_lMdYgPxZ56TRuvm21kf583Mr7mwLtyeJvDJqaEXwIuSE3zxlafKLkbrDMSW1RhjqaIF8wYCAq6HGuTVcwPQBcqSTKvAp5hy7OITb_hCyKwFLx9GEdrek/s1600/cosmonaut.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-Jq6yN9NB3uTFimXDo1Tpm_lMdYgPxZ56TRuvm21kf583Mr7mwLtyeJvDJqaEXwIuSE3zxlafKLkbrDMSW1RhjqaIF8wYCAq6HGuTVcwPQBcqSTKvAp5hy7OITb_hCyKwFLx9GEdrek/s320/cosmonaut.jpeg" width="255" /></a><b>Cosmic Ales, Cosmonaut California Blonde Ale</b> (5%): this bottle has an absolutely adorable label with a way-over-the-top cartoon space scene, which always goes down well around here. It's a slightly cloudy golden beer with an ephemeral head of froth, and a cheeky aroma of orange, pollen and spring berries. A first taste of light fruit and flour is a bit sparkly, turning sour quite quickly in the mouth, but with a lovely sweet/hops balance. In fact it's very smooth all the way down; the pithy bitterness isn't very complex or lingering, but it was a very pleasant pint for a Fall evening.<br />
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<b>People's BBL Aged Porter</b> (5.8%): this North Carolinan ale, aged in old bourbon barrels, is an almost black, ruby dark ale with a frisky foam that collapses fast like a French lager. You can smell the bourbon right off, as well as berries and leather. It's tart and sparkly, with peppercorns and apple-flesh on the tip of the tongue; then smoky, chocolate fruitcake, date paste or the most delicious soft wood (yes!) in the mouth; and an intense, sappy coffee or barley-drink further back. This beer is far too in-yer-face to drink with food (although it was great with chocolate!). There's a hint of whiskey in the aftertaste, lingering peat, but the smoother bourbon flavour predominates. This is not a session ale, obviously, but it's not too strong to enjoy a large glass of, and it is very nice.<br />
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<b>Lagunitas, Wilco Tango Foxtrot</b> (7.9%): the joke name on this Californian dark ale doesn't really tell you very much about the beer, unless they really were trying to express "WTF?", in which case they're not doing it any favours. Very dark red verging on clear brown with a thin, creamy head, this ale has a strong, malty smell like sweet break, yeasty and fruity. First red cheery effervesces on your tongue, then cognac and strawberry liqueur develops, almost sickeningly sweet, but intensely bitter at the same time, robust on the tongue, burning in the throat. Lingering aftertastes of cassis and radicchio stay warm all the way down. Someone who liked spirits would probably enjoy this beer more than I did, but I found it harder work; there are some very good individual parts, but they add over to an overwhelming, over-sweet, and ultimately unsatisfying whole.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJve2iKkoDl1aF8wqwAvrpE3tnFrO_csd0_-PeAL72xJHDHXcU0z9N8xwqA0zU21TDFhACK1kaAHKHoAH_mKyO9-hMZ1EHgkPUaTeHdWTA7BkLhCUcYig052ueVGv-C0TfhsHfRo_Mvqc/s1600/ranger.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJve2iKkoDl1aF8wqwAvrpE3tnFrO_csd0_-PeAL72xJHDHXcU0z9N8xwqA0zU21TDFhACK1kaAHKHoAH_mKyO9-hMZ1EHgkPUaTeHdWTA7BkLhCUcYig052ueVGv-C0TfhsHfRo_Mvqc/s1600/ranger.gif" /></a><b>New Belgium, Ranger IPA</b> (6.5%): from the internationally famous Fort Collins brewer, this ale is the colour of very pale straw, with the faintest meniscus of a head. The smell has hints of wheat, and orange-flower honey; the sparkly and sappy first taste is faintly reminiscent of mango or pineapple. In the mouth there is grapefruit pith and zesty lime, with a sourness overwhelms and obscures a much more subtle aftertaste of fruit peel and crushed pits that lingers, almondy and citrusy, for a long time. I could drink a lot of this—luckily it comes in a small bottle! Gets my seal of approval.<br />
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<b>Speakeasy, Payback Porter</b> (7.5%): a very dark, olive-brown ale with dusky froth, a smoky treacle aroma with a hint of red fruit. A sweet and smooth first taste, with slightly gritty caramel sugar, buttery fudge leading to creamy coffee further in the mouth. A bitter, powdery chocolate accompanies the traditional hoppy swallow, and the aftertaste has a mature, winter ale feel to it. This beer has everything I ought to like in a strong porter, and most importantly it doesn't have the cloying, sweet brandy yeastiness that often lingers in a beer this intense and dark, so it's certainly drinkable, yet somehow it didn't blow my head off. I'd really like to taste it with cheese some time; I think it might come into its own then.<br />
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<b>Strand, White Sand Imperial IPA</b> (8.5%): this is a lovely, smooth-pouring red/amber ale with light brown foam, and a rich lime zest aroma with notes of fresh-cut green saplings. The powerful first taste has fruit pith and elderflower, with sweetness and kick in equal measure. The beer is a bit sparkly, with sour notes dominating in the mouth, both live yeast and a range of hops combining strongly to lose any remnant of sugary flavour. The bitter is less intense in the swallow, but coarse, smoky and satisfying, lingering with more zesty fruit and crushed orange pit. A hefty bitterness, in the end, but not as overwhelming as some double or triple dropped Imperial IPAs; it doesn't really taste as strong as it is. A very interesting beer—the subtle hints of pine and caramelized sappiness keep it lively, and the flavour noticeably changes over time; it became more malty and tasty ten or fifteen minutes after opening the bottle. Overall quite a heavy beer, but it's delicate enough to really take your time and enjoy, as well as just be impressed by.<br />
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<b>Harpoon, Saison Various</b> (6.1%): as the bottle announces, this is a blended ale, a mix of four saison-styled beers each crafted by a different Harpoon brewer in their Boston Mass. or Windsor Vt. sites. It is a golden, slightly cloudy beer with a big mad head like a badly poured panaché; the froth fades quickly to naught but a hint of bubbles around the rim of the glass, though. The odor is floury, with a bouquet of apply and wildflower honey. The beer is sparkly, tart and almost peppery on the tip of the tongue, plenty of evidence of hops and yeast but none of the promised sweetness. I caught a hint of grilled lemon-flesh in the mouth, with a hint of of the acrid smokiness of burnt peel. But it was not very bitter; strangely the swallow is where hints of zesty orange, breakfast grapefruit and crystalized honey come through again, still very sour, and leaving an impression of a beer a lot stronger than the ABV listed on the label. A little bit of green wood and spice linger in the aftertaste, but on the whole this is a less complex swallow than its vaunted blended origin would suggest. (The four white boys pictured on the back of the label don't show much variety either, so maybe I'm disingenuous to be surprised.) The whole has a smell of Belgian beer about it—or rather the variety of that style favoured by American brewers: slightly hoppier, less fruity, less umami or marinated herbs, less references to mental illness in the marketing. It's a pretty good beer, with nice and strong flavours, not one to drink quickly or from a straight glass, but rewarding a leisurely sip (and very good with sausages!). If what you were after was an adventurous, unusual, experimental or exotic offering, however, you'll be disappointed. This would be the least surprising ale you could drink in a Boston pub.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08jf3WOr0NKqiAQVYPGLEMeddq4ngt2Tvs92OlWsI1kzaGvAw3A_5TpQyq0rViC8Lj6CUQ0dtncBia4Rm_Zqx_gxLt5FYaCG-U-k1fgvVnarK8qfHKU57ekpSmy1dwho2LjtvxnlIaOk/s1600/vampireslayer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08jf3WOr0NKqiAQVYPGLEMeddq4ngt2Tvs92OlWsI1kzaGvAw3A_5TpQyq0rViC8Lj6CUQ0dtncBia4Rm_Zqx_gxLt5FYaCG-U-k1fgvVnarK8qfHKU57ekpSmy1dwho2LjtvxnlIaOk/s320/vampireslayer.png" width="212" /></a><b>Clown Shoes, Vampire Slayer American Imperial Stout</b> (10%): brewed by Mercury Brewing Co. in Ipswich Mass. I have to confess that it was with some trepidation that I opened this bottle: almost like opening a bottle of wine in the knowledge that you're going to drink it all yourself. As I've pointed out before, my tastes lean toward session ales; one of my criteria when judging a beer is, "Would I drink three pints of this if I found it in my local pub one evening?" I explain this by way of frank disclosure, before starting what is as always a very subjective review. A syrupy thick, opaque treacle-coloured beer, almost still with very little head (an ephemeral brown meniscus effervesced around the rim as the beer settled in the glass), which has a faint buttery caramel aroma, just a hint of smoky oak more promising of blended malt whiskeys than of ale. The first taste is sweet, yeasty and raisiny, like biting into a fruit loaf that was aged for three days before baking in a very hot oven. Further in the mouth there's more of the traditional old ale notes of syrupy yeast, brandied red fruit and fresh-roasted black coffee, more charcoal than hops in the bitterness of the swallow. The aftertaste doesn't linger very long at all, but what there is mixes chocolate and coffee liqueur and makes me want to break into another bag of crystalized ginger to wash it down with. Although strong and cloying and quite hard to finish a 20oz bottle of without feeling a little bit queasy, Vampire Slayer (which I'm sure doesn't *really* contain holy water, <i>pace</i> the label) is an excellent example of its style. Contrary to all expectation, gets my thumbs-up.Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-56818080241687149412013-12-13T15:31:00.000-07:002013-12-28T10:53:13.321-07:00German Real AlesFor the last few months some of us have been pissing and whining about the lack of real ales, or beer with much flavour or hops, in Germany. This is only slightly paradoxical: yes, Germany is the ancestral home of good, clean lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, Schwarzbier, and the like, but as a result it's very hard to track down any craft ales of the kind popular in Belgium or Britain anywhere in the Fatherland. It may seem parochial to lust after your local beverages when you're visiting a land with great drinking traditions of its own, and I can enjoy a Franziskaner or a Köstritzer while travelling, or happily experiment with a Bock or a Göse, but for our friends recently moved to Germany, it's a bit harder.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOHKKqYdaTT8tjfpUl0F7lEEXWa7xHmkdvAd1jw3gMxpmnk8XpJYPa4AKLWLmuhmoRHytC-aahtSelCSoUM7so0wFk4hqrect8VM5bOpoVED2j1FD2CchqN9HhV13J9vGvO5owGcTsx8/s1600/bbs-card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOHKKqYdaTT8tjfpUl0F7lEEXWa7xHmkdvAd1jw3gMxpmnk8XpJYPa4AKLWLmuhmoRHytC-aahtSelCSoUM7so0wFk4hqrect8VM5bOpoVED2j1FD2CchqN9HhV13J9vGvO5owGcTsx8/s1600/bbs-card.jpg" width="320" /></a>Luckily, we recently tracked down the <a href="http://www.berlinbiershop.com/">Berlin Bier Shop</a> run by Rainer Wallisser, on Kirchstrasse near Bellevue station (business card to right). An unassuming little shop, I forgot to take a photo even though I planned to blog about it, but you can't see much from outside anyway: shutters on the street and a sign that we missed three times while passing in the car. There is a generous section (pretty much a whole wall) of British beers, a large fridge full of American ales, a respectable Belgian section, and stacks of specialist wines, traditional German regional brews, and other drinks in racks and cases around the store.<br />
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The thing I was looking for, though, is a small rack to be found just to the left of the main counter: the section displaying German-manufactured microbrews; IPAs, stouts and other real ale staples, made by and for the German market. The tastes are slightly different (like the Americans they tend toward IPAs, but in contrast the German brews are someone under-hopped), which is what you'd expect for a different market; these are not just carbon copies of US and UK brews (which are just as easy to import as to duplicate locally). I wouldn't <i>want</i> to see these "modern styles" supplant the traditional German lagers, but I'm personally very happy that a wider range of tastes is catered for with specialist importers and collectors like Rainer. Please support this store if you possibly can: I want it still to be there next time I visit Berlin!<br />
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I bought six bottles on my first visit, and can report directly on my tasting of three of them:<br />
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I inadvertently bought one beer that was not locally brewed: <b>Heather Ale Ltd's ALBA Scots Pine Ale</b>, brewed by Williams Brothers Brewing near Stirling in Scotland, imported to the US and thence to Berlin. This is the kind of beer that Americans call "Scottish", and clearly brewed for the tastes of that export market. It's an orangey-amber with a fair, lagery head, sweet pithy aroma with both pine and fresh-cut grass, and a nice floury first taste, like a tangy Belgian. It's a bit fruity, with apply and chewy sour cherry sweetness in the mouth, with a much more tart swallow but not much lingering bitterness. This is okay, but it's obviously targeted at the American market, and doesn't add to my experience of German local brewing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtvaA5OHb-6AtAZFSqDpCnkSpG8j_oCpgXB9UsGGAjDEG-ausUjF5sMVJUXhRSFVVTK_RxppwBbxEmd_7h4NdpdKIFW-E0zowZygPaNkD4_3mLr3NJUR5ee0aYEDUQSchgExwaj9pK_Nk/s1600/kunstkeller.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtvaA5OHb-6AtAZFSqDpCnkSpG8j_oCpgXB9UsGGAjDEG-ausUjF5sMVJUXhRSFVVTK_RxppwBbxEmd_7h4NdpdKIFW-E0zowZygPaNkD4_3mLr3NJUR5ee0aYEDUQSchgExwaj9pK_Nk/s1600/kunstkeller.png" width="211" /></a>More interestingly, <b>BrauKunstkeller's Pale Ale</b>, brewed in Odenwald with German and Austrian malts and American-style hops, is a cloudy light amber beer with a frothy head, and a smell like a forest after rain, hints of pine and peat. The first touch is fresh, zesty and tart on the tip of the tongue; there's wheat, apple and yeast further back in the mouth. An intense swallow brings almost lambic levels of sourness, with lingering cold lime and grapefruit pith hanging around long after the beer has gone down. A really lovely balance of flavours, complex and subtle, with quite a satisfactory kick by any standards. A German winner.<br />
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Also impressive is the <b>Phoebe Caulfield Rye Imperial Stout</b>, brewed by <b>Freigeist Bierkultur</b>, a Göller brewery in Zeil am Main. A strong ale, at 8% ABV, this utterly pitch black beer has a light lagery foam that dissipates quickly, and a bubbly aroma of light hops with deeper roasted malt underlying. Sweet and fruity on the tip of the tongue, with ripe berries fresh from the forest, and a sour and cloying mouth-feel that any winter ale could be proud of. The syrupy smokiness of strong Turkish coffee and maple hit on the swallow, with a texture of gritty charcoal. It's very coarse and intense as it goes down, with an almost brandy-strength aftertaste. It was a bit too heavy-going to go with food, but it might finish off an evening by the fire very nicely.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNubcWpUE3fPzbOI1EOZ7Esn7XBvpdHkMice0x1hds6EtxOzTvoK95ByL7UPK0FLqAfrOp2a4xqjJB0TikED3-bN3j48MciscdWfiwzUlUx7UDcbQ_SGUtR2hjguosG1tadjGhjaycgw/s1600/eipiai.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNubcWpUE3fPzbOI1EOZ7Esn7XBvpdHkMice0x1hds6EtxOzTvoK95ByL7UPK0FLqAfrOp2a4xqjJB0TikED3-bN3j48MciscdWfiwzUlUx7UDcbQ_SGUtR2hjguosG1tadjGhjaycgw/s1600/eipiai.png" width="53" /></a>The other three bottles I gave away, and I'll post reviews here when and if I receive them:<br />
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<li><b>Camba Bavaria, Ei Pi Ai</b> (I'm a sucker for an polyglot pun!). </li>
<li><b>Hopfenstopfer, Citra Ale</b> (brewed in Bad Rappenau).</li>
<li><b>Schönramer, Imperial Stout</b> (brewed in the Bavarian border area between Munich and Salzburg).</li>
</ul>
Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180641371486680325.post-8420468081284927622013-10-19T11:19:00.000-06:002013-12-13T14:12:11.979-07:00Twickenham Beerfest 2013As is becoming something of a tradition, we attended the Twickenham Beer Festival on the Friday night this year, and tasted a few old favourites and a few unusual new ales. As usual, this small festival is not terribly well provisioned: there was no shortage of beers, and the usual couple of dozen ciders and perries in a side bar, but apart from one CAMRA merchandise stall, that was about it. No bottled ale, disappointingly (I'm not sure why, when the fine Realale.com is only up the road and sponsors the festival). The food was low-end canteen fare, and began to run out pretty early in the evening. The festival wasn't even that busy by Friday night standards (in former years there would be a line 45 minutes long outside York House by about 8 o'clock), which might have something to do with the fact that there was no signage of any kind visible from the road; but even so there was painfully inadequate seating available (I saw people with sticks and walking frames popping themselves against the bar to stay upright, while queues built up around them).<br />
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Not the finest venue and organization, then. What about the beers? First some good ones:<br />
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<li>I started the night appropriately with a pint of <b>Twickenham, Strange Brew</b>, which I've always enjoyed in the past: a dark gold ale with a very thin, crisp head, a somewhat sweaty aroma, and a sweet, complex fruity start. A hint of spice accompanies the more chewy bitterness further back, and an intensely bitter kernel finish satisfies. This wasn't quite as good as I remembered it from other festivals, but still a very nice pint.</li>
<li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpTdKrx29NXZWahyYoADrfRs1Byjh760GyUb3h25KB6d8wv7ECbVuWdHAEYEkvDtvgpv0b7No5j0uWtU3pnDwFIWBTLwRlWCmmohQ46g1HdlaNm0jz_rsehFrbFEHxiFgDVmlfo0arRQ/s1600/BeyondthePale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpTdKrx29NXZWahyYoADrfRs1Byjh760GyUb3h25KB6d8wv7ECbVuWdHAEYEkvDtvgpv0b7No5j0uWtU3pnDwFIWBTLwRlWCmmohQ46g1HdlaNm0jz_rsehFrbFEHxiFgDVmlfo0arRQ/s320/BeyondthePale.jpg" height="320" width="196" /></a>I didn't try the <b>Hop Back, Heracles</b>, but Richard tells me that this clear gold beer had a pretty faint odor, but was full-flavored (especially for the low alcohol content, 2.8%) with notes of barley and fresh-milled flour leading to gentle hops and a smoothly bitter aftertaste. It wasn't the most tasty beer in the world, and he didn't detect any of the spices or orange zest promised in the blurb, but it didn't feel like a low-alcohol brew either, and was one of his favourites of the night.</li>
<li><b>Elland, Beyond the Pale</b>: a very pale pint with a fresh bread smell and some tangy orange in the first touch; creamy, gently hoppy in the mouth, it lingers with a coarse pithy aftertaste. It may not sound spectacular, but it was a very good example of its style, and certainly one we'd come back to for more if it was on tap in a pub.</li>
<li><b>Roosters, YPA</b> (Yorkshire Pale Ale): a light gold beer with good chunky head, a lovely thistle smell and tongue-taste of fresh cut greens. Further back in the mouth there are hints of thyme and broccoli, and finally an ephemeral wild honey and herb finish. Unusual and quite nice all round, but flatlining a little at the end.</li>
<li><b>Amber, Chocolate Orange Stout</b>: I always find chocolate orange to be a very variable style, ranging from excellent to terrible, so was interested to try this pitch black beer with brown-tinted foam. It had a promising strong smoky odor with just a whiff of tangerine; there was intense, chocolatey cappuccino in the first touch, leading to steadily more coarse bitterness further back. Sadly there was no more orange or citrus to be discerned in this one, all the way back to the disappointing finish. Not a bad stout, but not the best example of this cheeky style.</li>
<li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNJ1v3bGsDcNR6Bm5hC6lyP74pdOrB_eGe_htPujKRTS5IbVYrTsvO0qgdDY1KftXmdiEpg-iI4dC5Zq_j-wTWxljx1HOUFiAJ1zjdFYPcSUsyrDx-dRzQdVWGqz6FL2_Gh-r1LxDS31c/s1600/elderquad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNJ1v3bGsDcNR6Bm5hC6lyP74pdOrB_eGe_htPujKRTS5IbVYrTsvO0qgdDY1KftXmdiEpg-iI4dC5Zq_j-wTWxljx1HOUFiAJ1zjdFYPcSUsyrDx-dRzQdVWGqz6FL2_Gh-r1LxDS31c/s1600/elderquad.jpg" /></a><b>Downton, Elderquad</b>: a rather pale yellow pint with an earthy smell, like an urban garden after a good rain; sweet, tart berries in the first taste, then some lime zest in the mouth, and ending with a deep bitterness like a crushed lemon pip, which sadly lingers only briefly. Not bad at all, but underwhelming on the swallow.</li>
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And some of the less successful tasters of the night:<br />
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<li><b>Growler, Gladness</b>: apparently sponsored by the British band Madness, this clear light amber beer has a strong toasty smell of freshly baked crusty bread, and taut sour grains on the tip of the tongue. Then it becomes a bit sweeter, the lager hops with which it's brewed very evident in the mouth-taste, and a surprisingly mellow swallow. This really didn't do it for me. Sorry, Sugs.</li>
<li>Another <b>Twickenham</b> beer<b>, Yakima Valley ABA</b> (American Brown Ale) was an opaque brown pint, with an odor of yeast reminiscent of a slight sick person's body sweat. There's malty bread in the first taste, followed by the vert bitter, cloyingly dense green wood finish. I have to be honest: I didn't even drink half a pint of this one.</li>
<li><b>Kelburn, Red Smiddy</b>: a dark amber ale with plasticky/doughy odor, glazed fruit and yeasty tartness on the tongue, and bubblegum and sweet Apple in the finish. I couldn't help thinking of that sticky gum designed to blow huge bubbles with that you could then tie off and last for hours? Horrible stuff. Yeah. No.</li>
<li><b>RCH, PG Steam</b>: a cloudy pale beer with a bit of a swimming pool smell (chlorine? children's piss in the water? damp towels left out for too long?). The first taste is of musty fruit, then a bit more promisingly bitter in the mouth, but unbearably yeasty on the swallow. I suspect this was a bit off, I'm afraid.</li>
<li><b>Buffy's Norwich Terrier</b>: this beer is a very watery brown to look at, with musty fruit on the tongue, a harsh sparkly sap further back in the mouth; the pithy bitterness lingers a little, but not long enough to make this pint very interesting. It seems a bit unfair to include this in the "failures" list, but it certainly wasn't a "winner".</li>
</ul>
Gabriel Bodardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16894233240118343826noreply@blogger.com0