The Beer Bear

Goose Island Night Stalker

2011-08-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

I opened another Goose Island beer this weekend that has been knocking around my beer cupboard for a while, this time it was Night Stalker. It's nice big imperial stout at 11.7% that is unmercifully hopped with Mt Hood and Simcoe, producing a nice strong 60 IBU. It also has an identical malt profile to Bourbon County Brand Stout and its variations (2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, Debittered Black). Additionally, instead of aging it in bourbon barrels as the Bourbon County Brand Stout is, this is dry hopped to within an inch of its life, creating a quite different beer.

The bottle I'm drinking was bottled on 6th March 2010, so it has had a good year to mature.

It's thick and viscous, as you would expect from an imperial stout, with a striking deep black colour, and a substantial fluffy tan head. Quite a hoppy smell, maybe some passion fruit, but mainly a rich earthy stout aroma, lots of dark chocolate and coffee, along with a mild nuttiness. The taste is an assault of bitterness with strong espresso coffee, and a potent hoppiness. It finishes with a lingering bitter aftertaste but with a slightly fruity edge, like grapefruit. The alcohol is quite prominent in the taste also. It's a creamy thick full-bodied stout, and feels quite lightly carbonated but it's just about right.

This is definitely an American Imperial Stout, and one for the hop heads. I prefer my stouts with a little less of a homicidal bitterness to them but this is still a great beer and worth getting your hands on. It is interesting just how much more bitter this tastes compared to the Bourbon County Brand Stouts, considering the identical 60 IBU. I guess it's all in the hops.

Stella...Black?

2011-07-31T04:15:00.000-07:00

Spotted Stella Black in a local pub on Friday night, and again couldn't stop myself from trying it. It has been knocking around for about a year now, and I wanted it to be good, I wanted it to be a legitimate attempt to make a better, premium beer (unlike Fosters Gold in my previous post), which was a cut above the standard Stella lager that supermarkets and pubs are a wash with.

So, if you don't already know about Stella Black, it's a 4.9% lager brewed exclusively at the Leuven brewery in Belgium and imported to the UK and elsewhere. It's brewed with Saaz hops, orange peel and coriander seeds. Interestingly, A-B InBev stated that it intended to keep it as a more exclusive beer and only distribute to a few hand-selected outlets. And most importantly, even though it is called Stella Black, it is a normal golden lager, and not black, as the name would suggest.

The glasses are sleek and stylish, as is pretty much everything to do with the presentation and advertising of the beer, unfortunately the beer itself does not follow suit. The best way I can describe it is empty, it lacked any sort of substance or body, it felt like there was the potential to be more but the taste was just out of reach. There was some very light citrusy flavours along with a mild spiciness but this never manages to materialise into anything more than a passing hint, while a bread-like maltiness hovered in the background throughout. It's cold, it's drinkable, and in the end it is just another run of the mill commercial lager but you have to appreciate that the intention to do something different was almost there. Would be interesting to see how it stands up to some spicy food though, it may compliment and bring out the flavours in the beer more but I don't think a curry house beer is the image that A-B InBev were shooting for here but then again I don't really think they knew what they wanted.

As I said before, I wanted it to be good, and although it wasn't horrific, it wasn't anything that I would buy again. In just over a year, as far as I can see, it hasn't managed to establish itself in an already overpopulated sector of the beer market, of which the Stella brand have two beers anyway, and no amount of marketing or fancy names is going to change that. The poor choice of target market and misleading name is discussed with much more elegance and depth in one of Pete Brown's old blogs here, and Melissa Cole's blog here.

I know it has been around for a while now but last Friday was the first time I've actually seen it at a pub or anywhere for that matter. Thankfully though, Moor's brilliant Northern Star was on as well as Camden's Inner City Green, so I managed to survive the evening.

I will endeavor to not bitch about crap beer in my next post, I promise.

Fosters Gold: Your New Trusty Wingman

2011-07-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately for me, my overactive curiosity didn't allow me to walk past a new beer in my local Sainsbury's this weekend, which resulted in me buying a six pack of Fosters Gold. I knew it was going to be shit, there was no other way it could possibly turn out but I just couldn't stop myself. I paid £5 for six bottle in a sleekly designed and branded little carry pack, which the American market heavily favour but we, in my opinion, don't use enough over here.

The most exciting thing is clearly going to be the multi-squillion pound marketing campaign that the European distributors Heineken are poised to ram down our necks over the next few months, which will feature none other than ex-neighbours pop flop Holly Valance who has rumoured to have been signed up for a series of ads also featuring Brad and Dan, from the recent "good call" Fosters ads that have been in some cases quite funny.

My favourite of all the quotes I found about Gold so far is "It's a pulling partner. It's saying, 'I'm not cheap, and I'm not a lager lout'.", from Richard Buchanan of branding agency The Clearing. So, basically Fosters Gold has been released to make lads look classy and help them pull at BBQ's. Awesome!

Anyway, most importantly, what about the beer itself? Well it's 4.8%, so it's stronger than your regular Fosters, which is 4%. Does this extra kick of alcohol help it taste a bit more like beer than its predecessor? Does it bollocks. The beer is your typical watery fizzy lager, with literally no aroma at all, and a slightly sweet syrupy taste, followed by a weak attempt at bitterness towards the end. All in all there isn't much to it apart from the cool carry case and the fact that it will guarantee you hot action with some classy ladies.

Then I figured to fully appreciate the beer I should taste it alongside regular fosters, so I nipped back to the shop and got myself a lovely four-pack of regular Fosters. First thing I noticed is that the Gold is a little lighter than the original in colour, and the head is lighter too. The aroma from the original fosters is actually stronger than the new Gold, with a noticeable malty presence that you don't get in its "classy" sibling, which is relatively mute when it comes to the smell. The taste in the original is very similar to the gold but just cranked up a notch, leaving me to conclude that Fosters Gold is more watery in the taste than normal Fosters lager, even with the extra alcohol content. Carbonation seems slightly finer in the Gold and head retention is slightly better but I'm not entirely sure whether this is down to the beer or the whole bottle vs can debate. So, I'd probably rate it below the original, and cheaper Fosters. Crikey! (sorry).

The reason behind the release of this beer is apparently to help make good impressions at social occasions, where cans of fosters would be seen as a bit loutish. This is all well and good, and they may have spent millions on creating a "classy" brand, with a slick clear embossed bottle, but ultimately Fosters have still urinated into these elegant bottles and you will have to drink it when you get to your mates BBQ. So, you will basically be paying to see Brad and Dan perving over Holly Valance in what will clearly be a grossly over exposed advert (albeit, probably quite funny), and possibly some witty billboards following the same lines created by some overpaid marketing bellend. What you are definitely not paying for is a better beer.

Probably the most painful thing about this whole Gold crap, is the fact that it will likely end up selling really well and people will drink it in their masses. Marketing is the devil!

Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

2011-07-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight I decided I would finally open a beer that I have been holding for a while now, that beer being Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout. In the past I have had their original Bourbon County Brand Stout and the vanilla version, and loved them both. So, I expected something special from their coffee brewed variation.

The version I am drinking is the 2010 release which is brewed with Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso, from Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, which is situated right next door to the brewery in Chicago, and I gather is pretty kick ass in its own right. Interestingly, the 2011 release is brewed with Intelligentsia Los Inmortales Beans, so I'd love to get my hands on one of these to see the difference. Anyway, the beer is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, weighing in a 13% and an IBU of 60. It's brewed with Williamette hops and a whole host of different malts (2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, Debittered Black).

Mine was bottled on 26th March 2010, which means it's about a year and a quarter old, so has had plenty of time to mature, although they do claim it develops for up to five years in the bottle (mine has probably had less than perfect cellaring conditions though).

It pours a thick black, with a good half inch creamy mocha head, however this fades quickly to leave a slight ring. It looks pretty well carbonated and lively, with a constant stream of fine bubbles. The first thing that hit me was the bourbon, the smell is strong boozy bourbon with lots of woody vanilla. I got a bit of that roasted coffee bean smell but it is much more subtle than I was expecting. The first taste was a bitter dark chocolate, with the same heavily booze bourbon that was on the nose. Towards the end the coffee begins to assert itself with a fairly mellow medium bitter taste. There is definitely some vanilla sweetness in there and a slight toffee flavour. It produces a nice warming whisky-like alcohol finish, which I find the best part of all the Bourbon County Brand Stouts.

For a 13% beer it is very drinkable, and hides the alcohol well in the flavours. Will certainly be looking to get my hands on the 2011 release, as well as their Bourbon County Rare, which as the name suggests is incredibly hard to get hold of, and I believe is aged for two years in 23-year old Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrels.

I'm Back!!!

2011-07-14T04:37:00.001-07:00

After a prolonged absence, I am back to blogging about beer. Going to be using this website for the time being, while I work on bringing my .com site back to life.

I'm no longer in Cardiff, and after much soul searching, I'm no longer toiling away at a PhD.

Most importantly, I'm now in London, and working at an awesome beer bar! So, in theory I should have plenty to write about. Although I haven't blog in an age, it doesn't mean I have been away from beer. My beer collection has grown to a slightly epic proportion (half of it is in Lincoln at my parents house because my flat isn't big enough, and my girlfriend put her foot down), and I was lucky enough to get over to San Diego last November and almost exploded at the sheer beeriness of the whole trip.

Anyway, on an unbeer related note, this is what has been taking up my free time during my absence and PhD hell: http://www.youtube.com/user/drunkenjitsu

Oh yeah, and I'm back on twitter @The_Beer_Bear

Bye.

Brand New Site!

2010-02-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

I have a brand new site for my blog, so this blogspot blog won't but updated again. All my new posts and beer review will be on the new site at http://www.thebeerbear.com, that's http://www.thebeerbear.com, that's right, http://www.thebeerbear.com.

It's a much nicer layout and there is a massive sections for all my beery pictures.

In case you missed it, the new site is http://www.thebeerbear.com

Thanks,
The Beer Bear
http://www.thebeerbear.com

The Lost Abbey Angel's Share 2008

2010-01-02T04:01:00.000-08:00

I've been holding this bottle for a few months now and trying to find a good enough reason to open it up, so, I made the decision that New Year's eve was as good a time as any.

The Lost Abbey release both a brandy and a bourbon barrel aged Angel's Share in almost identical bottles, the only difference is a single word hidden in the printed description on the back of the label, unsurprisingly either brandy or bourbon. The one I've got is the brandy barrel aged 2008 release, which, at 12.5% is the biggest alcohol content so far.

They describe Angel's Share as an English-style barley wine and both releases were selected in RateBeers best beers of the United States 2009.

As soon as the bottle was open I was hit by a massive port-like alcohol smell, with a sweet edge. It pours as a thick and oily dark brown with a few big tan bubbles but apart from that it has very little carbonation. The aroma starts quite vinegary, with light grapes, and clean alcohol but as it warms and opens up with vanilla, banana, and a woody scent. The taste is layered with heady alcohol and grapes upfront and sweeter caramel malts with vanilla bean flavours hiding behind.

The last few releases have been criticised quite heavily for the lack of carbonation, which is justified to a degree but I don't think it completely ruins the beer like many people seem to suggest. It's a big complex beer and well worth getting hold of.

My Golden Pint Nominations

2009-12-26T12:27:00.000-08:00

Best UK Draught Beer: Otley OG (runner up: Thornbridge Jaipur)

Best UK Bottled Beer: Thornbridge Halcyon (runner up: BrewDog & Stone Bashah)

Best Overseas Draught Beer: Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale (runner up: Duvel Green)

Best Overseas Bottled Beer: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (runner up: Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel). I was never a big fan of the massively hoppy American IPAs until I tried 90 Minute but now thanks to the DFH geniuses, I'm hooked!

Best Overall Beer: Old Chimney Good King Henry Special Reserve 2007 Vintage. Hard to believe that an imperial stout can be better than this, so, my challenge for 2010 is to try and find one.

Best Bottle Label or Pump Clip: BrewDog Atlantic IPA. I love Johanna Basford's stuff, she is fantastic, and Atlantic IPA has a damn good looking label!

Best UK Brewery: BrewDog. They have received a lot of stick this year for various publicity stunts and feuds but all that matters is the beer. Over the past 12 months they have given us Tokyo*, Bashah, and the outrageous Tactical Nuclear Penguin, amongst others. However, by far and away their most genius master stroke of the year was dressing Bracken up like a penguin!

Best Overseas Brewery: Mikkeller. I love these guys! I would give them this just on the back of Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, which most people will agree is incredible. They have a fantastic range of beers and just keep innovating.

Pub/Bar of the Year: The Rake

Beer Festival of the Year: GBBF

Supermarket of the Year: Booths. Unfortunately, it's just Northern, however, any supermarket that sells Thomas Hardy ale, Ola Dubh Special 12 Reserve, and J. W. Lees Harvest ale within a year has to win.

Independent Retailer of the Year: BeerRitz, Leeds. Not only do you get a superb range of beer but you also get an even more impressive beer guide in Zak Avery...and his beard.

Online Retailer of the Year: BeerMerchants.com. They have excelled themselves this year with awesome American beers from the likes of Southern Tier, Lost Abbey, Port Brewing, Founders, the list goes on. They have also championed some superb British brewers like Ramsgate and Moor, as well as keeping all our beer cupboards full of Mikkeller.

Best Beer Book: Good Bottled Beer Guide (7^th Edition) by Jeff Evans. This little book has pointed me towards some of the best beers in Britain, and helped me discover lots of cracking little breweries.

Best Beer Blog: Pencil and Spoon. I think most of us are in agreement that Mr Pencil-Spoon writes some lovely beer waffle (ummm beer waffle, sounds tasty), and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this year. I wait with baited breath and an overwhelming sense of envy to hear about his forthcoming beer adventures in America.

Best Beer Twitterer: @BrackenBrewDog. Probably the most educated dog in the world with beer credentials that are second to none.

Best Online Interactive Brewery: Brewdog. They have become the masters of multimedia publicity, and are the obvious choice for this.

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year: Southern Tier Mokah and Carte Dor caramel and cinnamon ice-cream.

Next Year I’d Most Like To...touch Zak Avery's beard.

More talk of Christmas beer

2009-12-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas seems to be the time of year that beer geeks dig out the special beers they have shown great restrain not to open throughout the year, all to celebrate the birth of Santa. So over the next week or so the main topic of discussion amongst beer bloggers will be 'what are you drinking on Christmas day?'. Not to be left out, I figured I would disclose my choices...well, my choices as I write this, they seem to change pretty much every day.

I have bought a few beers over the last couple of months specifically to drink over Christmas. Here is a list of what I have set aside in my recently created “Christmas Beers Cupboard”.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast
Port Brewing Santa's Little Helper 2008
Goose Island Christmas Ale 2009
Anchor Christmas Ale 2009
Yulesmith Holiday Ale
Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale
Ridgeway Insanely Bad Elf 2009
Shepherds Neame Christmas Ale 2009
Otley O-Ho-Ho
Delirium Christmas
Harvey's Imperial Extra Double Stout 2003
Old Chimney Good King Henry Vintage 2007
Samichlaus 2008
Tactical Nuclear Penguin
Flying Dog Wild Dog Schwarz
Fraoch Heather Ale 20th Anniversary Ale

Having written it all down, I've realised that there is an awful lot I'm wanting to drink and in all likelihood I won't drink everything and if I do, I damn sure won't remember doing so.

OK, so, what to have on Santa day? I'm going with Beer Geek Breakfast for, well, breakfast. Not had it before, I've had Weasel and loved it but figured as I don't intend to be too late up, breakfast was more appropriate. In the evening I will definitely be opening a bottle of Old Chimney's Good King Henry. It's a beer I have been wanting to try for a long time and having recently got my hands on a few bottles (see previous post), Christmas seems like as good a time as ever.

These are the only two I am sure about so far, mainly because I don't have to think too hard about intricate food pairings. I'm completely open to suggestions for the rest, specifically, when are you allowed to drink Samichlaus? Has to be Christmas day, right?

A Bloody Good Little Brewery

2009-12-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

As with most of my little trips, this started with a single-minded obsession to get hold of a certain beer. The beer in question this time being Good King Henry Special Reserve, an 11% oak aged imperial stout from a little brewery somewhere in East Anglia. I tracked down the address and convinced my girlfriend that a nice scenic trip across the country was in fact a lovely idea, especially given all the wonderful snow!

The Old Chimney brewery is situated on a small farm in a little village near Diss...that's kinda near Norwich or Ipswich or...somewhere East Angular (sounds so much better than East Anglian, right?). It is only marked by a small, hard to read sandwich board outside the farm gate, and don't expect your sat nav to help you, as the post code will dump you in the middle of a residential cul-de-sac half a mile down the road.

The brewery consists of a small two roomed, one-story farm building, with one room housing the brewing equipment and the other room being the brewery shop. Basically, it's ruddy bloody tiny!

I was pretty shocked a brewery that produces one of the most highly rated beers in the country is such a small operation but it really is what real brewing should be about; small runs of perfectly crafted beer with painstaking attention to detail and a contagious passion for what you're creating.

The place was set up by Master brewer Alan Thompson in 1995. I found him a lovely fella, very welcoming, and more than happy to talk about the beers and the brewery. He even gave us a couple of free half pint of Scarlet Tiger, a full bodied malty ale, which my girlfriend insisted we buy a bottle of.

It is blindingly obvious that it is not about the money for Alan, as with the quality of the products he could have grown Old Chimney into a beer leviathan by now. He clearly loves what he does and his small scale production allows him to brew some of the best beer in the country.

If you are ever in Diss (I'm sure people do actually go there for some reason or another) or paying a visit to Beers of Europe, which is conveniently only an hour away in Kings Lynn, drop by the brewery, if only to get hold of a bottle of their revered Good King Henry Special Reserve, which is ranked as the top beer in England on ratebeer.com.

Oh, and also, if you buy 12 bottles or more you get a 10% discount!

Beer Swap: This is how it was for me.

2009-11-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

So, by now most people reading this will be familiar with Beer Swap, and most will probably have been involved. For those who don't know, Beer Swap was a concept thought up by Andy of Beerreviews.co.uk, and Mark of real-ale-reviews.com fame respectively – this was later further operationalised by Mr Pencil-Spoon I think. The idea was to get beer bloggers from all over the country (would have been international but for the postage charge) to send four bottles of the best local beer in their area to another blogger, so they can drink and blog accordingly. Genius, huh?

Anyway, I had the privilege of receiving my beers from one of the original brains behind the whole thing, the chilli growing, hill walking, real ale drinking, food loving, web developing, northerner, Andy (He's very informative on his twitter bio). So, as you can imagine, I had very high hope for the prospective beers I would receive, and was not disappointed (two of the breweries had beers in the Sainsburys beer festival competition this year, and one of them actually won it).

After a quick check on AA route planner, I discovered that the closest I am to any of the breweries that my beers originated is 251.5 miles, which kinda emphasises the point of beer swap.

Great Shunner by the Yorkshire Dales Brewing Co (274.3 miles away), is a 4.2% dark golden ale. Massive creamy yet slightly foamy head, that doesn't want to fade, and a dark chestnut/amber body. Quite a malt driven nose, with subtle sweet biscuit in the taste that ends with a powerful clingy bitterness. A tad lighter in body than I was expecting. Wonderfully drinkable beer, with a really nice balance of flavours.

Rocket by the Wylam Brewery (319.6 miles away), a best bitter at 5%. Pours a pale golden colour with a foamy white head, and it's very active in the carbonic department. There is an aroma of nutty malts and a light caramel. Fruity, lightly floral, and mild smooth toffee flavours. Another beer that is easy drinking, with enjoyable flavours, and an active feel.

Mars Magic by Wold Top Brewery (261.7 miles away), is a 4.6% dark bitter. Dark amber in colour with a smallish creamy off-white head. Heavy dark roasted aromas with hints of coffee, and very earthy. There are lots of hefty roasted malts in the flavours, with an almost smokiness and an abundance of dark fruits possibly raisins, and figs. Much heaver than the previous two beers, with much richer flavours – definitely recommended.

The last beer is Nick Stafford's Hambleton Ales (251.5 miles away, and winners of the Sainsburys beer comp 2009 with their brilliant Taylor's Tipple) Nightmare, a 5% stout. Pours with a thick black body and slightly foamy tan head. Lots of coffee and chocolate in the aroma with an underlying sweetness, and a touch a liquorish . It tastes very similar to how it smells, strong espresso, bitter dark chocolate, oak, and a thick creamy feel. Brilliant stout, one of the most flavoursome I have had at the ABV, and my favourite of the four beers. I will certainly be seeking out the rest of the breweries beers.

I can't wait for the next chapter of beer swap, it's a brilliant concept and looks to be even better next time around. It would be superb if it could be made an international endeavour in the future with local beers flying back and forth all over the globe. So, if anyone can think of a clever way of getting round the huge shipping charges, be sure to make it known.

Beer Bear does Old Bear

2009-10-17T14:53:00.001-07:00

I stumbled across this brewery by accident...well sort of accident anyway. It started when I was thinking about how there are hardly any double IPAs brewed in Britian, with the notable exceptions of BrewDog's Hardcore IPA and Moor's JJJ IPA of course (you could add BrewDog's Zephyr, however bottles of this are so hard to come by now, there has been a notable rise in gun crimes at major beer festivals, with last months GABF seeing over 200 wounded and 14 unsuccessful hostage situations...apparently it's quite a good beer). Then I had a look on ratebeer.com and came across the oddly named Duke Of Bronte Capstan F.S. from the Old Bear Brewery in Yorkshire, a potent 12.5% double IPA.

Not being able to find a bottle of Duke anywhere, I contacted the brewery and bought it from them direct, with a few others from their interesting range. Their website has a shop but you can only buy cases of the beers online (and Duke isn't on there at all), however, if you talk to them they are more than happy to send any beers in whatever amount you desire. You can also get them from Hi-spirits, and I am reliably informed that you can get their stuff on cask at the Foresters Arms in Grassington, and the Thornhill Arms in Stanningley.

Ok, so the brewery is based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, the same town as the awesome Timothy Taylor, and has been knocking out beer since 1993. I could spend a few paragraphs taking you through the history of the brewery but their website says it all and I want to get onto the beer!

I'll start with Estivator, a 3.8% light golden ale, that looks suspiciously like a pint of lemon juice when the head has subsided. It has quite a light wheaty nose, with lots of citrus, and the faint aroma of yeast. There is an unexpected smokiness to the flavours, like the peaty taste in a single malt whisky (I know, it's an odd characteristic for a light golden ale but it really does taste peaty), sitting alongside a light hoppy lemon. All in all it is a nice light summer beer, with a unique and strangely enjoyable taste.

Hibernator is a strong bitter, which weighs in at 5%, and pours almost as dark as a stout, and sports a similar slight tan head. It has a massively malty nose, with chocolates and coffees, and again, lots of smoke. The flavours are bitter and similar to the nose in the chocolate and coffee stakes, with an added sweet nuttiness. This is a brilliant beer, I recommend it highly.

Next, Black Mari'a is 4.2%, and is a headless pitch black, flat-coke-looking, stout with split personality disorder. It has some amazing aromas, lots of roasted malts, burnt liquorish, nuts, and a massive hit of espresso. However, the taste is not what you would expect; it has a sharp sour citric lemon flavour, very small hints of wood, and the aftertaste has a barely noticeable coffee note but the flavours are predominantly lemony. The aroma and the taste feel like they come from completely different beers, very very weird.

Finally, the one that started it, Duke Of Bronte Capstan F.S., pours with a deep amber colour, and a creamy off-white head. There are lots of sharp fruits, and rich barley, alongside a slightly resiny bitter hoppiness on the nose. The taste is sweet at first with barley and lots of fruit (apple and peach), a slight cinnamon spiciness and a clean hit of yeast. The finish begins to offer up the bitterness, and hops I was expecting. This is not a double IPA as I know them, it is more like a hybrid between a rich fruity barley wine and a double IPA at the weaker end of the IBU. One thing is for sure though, this is a scarily complex beer with more going on than I am capable of describing, so, my advice is to watch the always entertaining Zak Avery's V-blog on the beer (he describes it as an English triple), or alternatively get your hands on a bottle for yourself.

All in all, Old Bear are kicking out some really good beers, particularly Hibernator and Duke, so lets hope they manage to reach beyond the realms of Yorkshire and others get to experience them.

Three-Way IPA

2009-09-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of people, I have been developing a taste for super hoppy beers lately, the sort of taste that is only satisfied by beers that have been hopped to within an inch of their lives during the brewing process. Now, this is arguably the contribution of the Americans to the beer world but other countries have started to jump aboard the bandwagon, and help fuel this growing addiction.

I thought I would take a look at three American-style IPA's from three different countries, in the higher end of the ABV bracket, all residing within the 7-8% range (verging on double or imperial IPA but that is a somewhat hazy line).

It would seem that the goal of an American-style IPA is to produce an astronomically high IBU (International Bitterness Units), thus rendering the brew just one massive bitter hopfest. The IBU is supposed to stop at 100 (well, that's what I have been led to believe by the internet, and he's usually right), however, some brewers are kicking out IPA's that they claim surpass this magical number. So, here is where the beers start...

The first comes from the home of the style, and from one of the more "fashionable" microbreweries stateside. Stone Ruination (7.7%), uses Columbus and Centennial hops, and claims to have an IBU that is in excess of 100. It settles amber in colour, with a half inch white head, which shows good retention. The carbonation is very lively. The aromas are fruity hops, grapefruit, hints of apple, and a subtle malty caramel base. The bitterness in the taste is monumental, however, it only really hits you after a swift but firm taste of toffee malts up front, after which you are assaulted by a floral bitterness, and perfumy grapefruit. The sustained bitterness of the aftertaste is impressive, and I have the feeling I will be tasting it for the rest of the week.

Next, we have the British offering, Thornbridge Halcyon (7.7%), brewed with Fuggles and Target hops. I can't find a definite IBU rating for this but from what I can gather from various sources, it's almost 90 IBU. It's a hazy muted amber in colour, with a substantial head, and persistent lively carbonation. Hints of cut grass in the aroma, along with pine, and limes. There is an unexpected light smokiness at the top, followed by fruity citrus flavours of oranges and limes, with traces of fresh mint, all held together by honey undertones from the malts. The bitterness is apparent towards the end, and lingers in the aftertaste. There is a much more even balance between the hops and the malts here than the hoptacular Ruination.

Finally, from the Danes, i've got a bottle of Mikkeller Stateside IPA (7%), which is brewed with Chinook, Cascade and Amarillo hops, and much to my dismay, I am unable to find a IBU rating for this beer (I may be wrong but I get the feeling that IBU ratings are pretty much a pissing contest between American brewers, to see who has the most powerful stream of hops). Anyway, pours clear copper in colour, with a thin head, and heavy carbonation. Clear grapefruit from the cascade hops, along with sharp lemon, pineapple, and the sweetness of caramel in the background. The taste is sweet at the front, with the nutty flavour of praline persisting until the hops deliver a dry bitterness towards the end. The malts are more prominent in this IPA than the others.

All three are fantastic beers but they offer very different interpretations of the style, with the Americans hell bent on hopping the drinker to death, Thornbridge's is more of a bittersweet balancing act, whereas the Mikkeller's Stateside IPA is edging towards sweetness.

So, the overall message is...hops are bitter, the Stone brewery have access to a ridiculous amount of hops, and the concept of IBU is stupid.

Gadds’ Black Pearl Oyster Stout (6.2%)

2009-09-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

I had been hearing good things about the Ramsgate Brewery in Kent recently, and was eager to try something by them. There has been some very positive reviews written about Gadds’ No.3, so, I decided to not get that…and get something that I hadn’t heard much about.

Managed to get my hands on a bottle of Gadds’ Black Pearl Oyster Stout from BeerMerchants. According to Gadd’s, it is brewed with Pale malt, and roasted barley, as well as Fuggle hops to provide some bitterness. It comes in at 6.2%, which is a tad heavy for a style that rarely tops 5%.

Pours with an almost pitch black body, and a small creamy tan head. The aromas are big, roasted malts, milk chocolate, espresso, burnt raisins, and a hint of blackcurrant. The taste is heavy on the malts, with hints of chocolate. There is bitter black coffee that flairs up midway through, and lasts until the end, providing a lingering aftertaste with a slight trace of tobacco alongside bitter dark chocolate. It feels full and velvety in the mouth, and offers that mild warming feel of alcohol towards the end.

The flavours are interesting and sublimely well balanced. Certainly lives up to the gradually growing hype surrounding this brewery. Now my eyes turn to their Dogbolter Porter, if their stouts are this good, I’m sure their porter will be something pretty special.

The Real King of London Porters

2009-09-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

The porter style of beer is known to have originated in London, and today there are two classic London Porter that pay homage to that very fact.

Firstly, representing West London, we have Fuller’s London Porter. This is a multiple award winning beer, and is stated by the brewers to be ‘The World’s Finest’. It’s brewed with Pale, crystal, brown, and chocolate malts, along with Fuggle Hops, and is widely available throughout the UK, and well, the rest of the world too.

The contender to this well respected champions crown is brewed by West London’s Meantime. Only established in 1999, the Meantime brewery has gained great respect within the beer community over the past 10 years. Its London Porter is made with 6 different malts (Pale, pale crystal, Munich, brown, chocolate, and black) and Fuggle hops, and is regarded as one of the breweries best beers.

Anyway, the question is whether Fuller’s London Porter really is the best Porter originating from the capital or whether the Meantime boys have finally produced a world-beater. Meantime Vs Fuller’s, East Vs West, and Youth Vs Experience.

Appearance

Meantime: Dark chestnut brown in colour, with reddish tints. Thick creamy head, tan in colour. Carbonation is quite lively for a porter, with fine bubbles.

Fuller’s: Dark reddish brown, almost black in colour. The head is a shade darker than tan, and quite heavy. Medium carbonation.

Head-to-head: Fuller’s is noticeably darker in the body and head. The head of the Meantime is much creamier, and showed better retention.

Winner – Meantime

Aroma

Meantime: Dense roasted malts, milk chocolate, and caramel. There are dark fruits, definite grape, which gives it a wine-like aroma.

Fuller’s: Dark malts, liquorish, and honey. There is also an slightly astringent iron-like metallic aroma.

Head-to-head: The Meantime is more aromatic, with less sweetness on the nose, and doesn’t have the astringent metallic notes that the Fuller’s does.

Winner – Meantime

Taste

Meantime: A rich maltiness up front providing a subtle sweetness of caramel, and milk chocolate, followed by bitter roasted coffee flavours. There are noticeable fruity undertones, of grapes, and possibly a hint of cherry. The finish is bitter with a slight hoppiness but short lived.

Fuller’s: Quite bitter from the start, with espresso coffee, dark chocolate, and I also get a taste a bit like burnt toast. The aftertaste is woody and smoked, and dominated by roasted malts.

Head-to-head: The Meantime is sweeter up front, but lacks the warming bitterness of the Fuller’s possesses throughout. The flavours of the Fuller’s are bolder and heavier, which is an achievement, given the lower alcohol content.

Winner - Fuller’s

Feel

Meantime: Quite light considering it’s a porter, creamy, and slightly fizzy. The lightness gives it a watery feel at times, which seems to mute the flavours to a degree.

Fuller’s: Medium bodied, smooth, and a touch oily in the texture, which gives it a clingy quality. The carbonation is light.

Head-to-head: The Fuller’s has the heavier feel, and a smoother texture.

Winner - Fuller’s

Overall Impression

Meantime: An incredibly aromatic porter, with a bittersweet taste. It is clear to see why Meantime have become such a respected brewery in such a short space of time. Very drinkable given the alcohol content, and even though it is sold in a large 750ml bottle, sometimes, even that doesn't feel big enough.

Fuller’s: An understandable classic. The taste and the feel of this porter are world class, and the potency and fullness of the flavours at just 5.4% ABV are phenomenal. The ease in which it goes down is a worry, like most good beers are.

Head-to-head: The Meantime porter has the edge in looks and dominates with its aromatic quality but the flavours and feel are just not up to the stratospheric standards of the legendary Fuller’s London Porter.

Winner – Fuller’s

Overall Winner – Fuller’s London Porter

Both these porters are superb, and are a true tribute to the style and to London itself.

I Wish I Hadn’t…Or do I?

2009-09-04T06:31:00.001-07:00

I have always been interested in decent beers, always checking the beer isle at supermarkets for something a bit different but it wasn’t until I bought Michael Jackson’s ‘Great Beer Guide: 500 Classic Brews’ that it started to become somewhat of an obsession.

After flicking through the pages of this great book I decided it would be a good idea to tick off the beers that I’d already had. Now, in hindsight this was not the cleverest thing to do, given my predisposition to slightly obsessive behaviour, and I’m sure you can imagine where I went from there.

I currently stand at 146 out of 500, (although I have another five in my possession that I haven’t drunk yet) which is respectable given that I have only had the book for eight months. Thankfully though I have been able to get past the stage where the most important thing was the tick, and I have reached the even more dangerous stage where I am developing my own opinion about the beer. I still get an incredible buzz when I get my hand on something that the late, great MJ recommended but my beer shop hauls no longer consist of just these beers.

I’d like to think that I am not the only one who has suffered from the obsession of the tick.

So, what are the benefits of this obsession?

If you don’t have a vast knowledge of beer, it is a good place to start, as it can introduce you to a great many styles you probably didn’t know existed, and also some of the best breweries.
When you stumble across a beer from the book in an unexpected place, it’s beyond exciting. This does happen quite a lot with me, as I have read through it so many time that I know almost every bloody beer in there!
You get to know the best places to buy good beer as well as rare beer.

And, what are the drawbacks?

You can overlook good beer just because it doesn’t earn you a tick.
Discontinued beers. You’ll find that some of the beers are impossible to get your hands on because they are no longer brewed. This is infuriating, and every time you find one it makes the whole ticking enterprise more and more futile. A good example of this is the Imperial Russian Stout brewed by Courage. Also, Pitfield’s 1850 Shoreditch Porter. Oh, and not forgetting Okocim Porter (no longer brewed but I’m reliably informed that there are still bottles floating around in America). In fact there should be a law that prohibits breweries from discontinuing beers that are featured in books by respected beer writers, as it’s cruel to flaunt these mega beers in our faces saying how great they are and then taking them away again. Anyway, you get the idea.
You may annoy your girlfriend and her family by insisting on driving to the Beacon Hotel in Dudley after a family funeral, just so you can try Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby. Well, we were in Birmingham anyway. Luckily I have an understanding girlfriend.

Probably not an exhaustive list of pros and cons, so feel free to add more. Anyway, I seem to have gone off track a bit with the overall flow of this entry. The point I wanted to make was that the book turned me into a genuine beer lover, and for that I thank you Michael Jackson.

Italian Restaurant Beer

2009-09-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I was recently at an Italian restaurant in Chester, and noticed Peroni Grand Riserva on the menu. It would appear that most of the mid-level Italian restaurants (Pizza Express, Zizzis, etc) are now offering Grand Riserva along side the usual Peroni Nastro Azzurro. This is a good thing, and people need to start choosing it over Nastro, so they don’t snatch it away again.

Grand Riserva was introduced in 1996 to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Peroni. It’s brewed from Pilsner malts and Saaz hops, and provides a hefty 6.6% ABV.

It’s golden in colour with a slight reddish tint, and a creamy white head. The aroma is hoppy with a sweet caramel maltiness coming through. The flavours have sweet biscuity malts at the front, with a subtle nuttiness; a hoppy finish, providing a dry and bitter sting.

Maybe Peroni Grand Riserva isn’t the best way to start a blog about beer but it’s underrated and deserves the airtime.

Anyway, I will be comparing Imperial IPAs pretty soon…well as soon as my Beers of Europe and BeerMerchants orders are delivered. Is there a British Imperial IPA that can offer competition to the overwhelming choice of quality provided by America? Maybe just...