I love it when random chance turns up something a bit special. I placed an order with BeerMerchants.com a few weeks ago, mainly to get hold of a few Moor beers, along with the first couple from Kernel and a couple of Viven brews. By the time I'd added all of those I ended up £1.80 short of making the order a round £50.00 (with p&p). Floreffe Blonde was priced at £1.80... had to be done.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my online chess buddies and I were chatting about Belgian beer, so I thought I'd crack this one open and give it a go. I was very glad I did.

Floreffe Blonde poured a clear gold, with a big, bubbly Belgian head. There was a doughy, bread-ish aroma that carries over into the initial flavour and although it quickly gives way to a smooth, honeyed sweetness, there's still a hint of baked goods hanging on in the background right the way through. It's extremely tasty, very drinkable and dangerously more-ish. Lovely stuff. Enjoyed this one immensely.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Jenlain Blonde
2. Tasting Notes: Blanche De Bruxelles
3. New Arrivals: Kernel, Viven, Moor (and more) from Beermerchants.com

That's because as well as flogging his tankards, David has also posted a couple of interesting articles on Tankard history, and one rather useful piece of advice on how to clean a pewter tankard without completely ruining it. Handy if you've got a grotty old pewter pot hanging around than could do with a bit of care and attention (I thought I had one myself, but I've just flipped the thing over and it says 'stainless steel' on the bottom, so that's going in the dishwasher after all...)

So there you go: a good example of how to use a blog to sell your products without just yelling "buy this!" at every opportunity and hoping for the best.

No related posts.

He persuaded 171 people to part with £500 or more each in return for a 3% dividend paid from the rent on the pub, which was enough to buy the property outright and it reopened in June this year. The George and Dragon is now "once again the focus of village life and its new owner is planning to introduce a shop, internet access, a library and allotments".

Worth a thought if your local boozer is in danger of closing down, eh?

(I'd be happy to link back to the Sunday Times article, but of course it's behind their bloody stupid pay-wall. So I'll point you in the direction of plenty of other free-to-read pieces instead, via this handy Google search.)

Related posts:

1. Axe the Beer Tax! Save the Pub!
2. Caley Brewery to satirise local news in Deuchars campaign
3. Tasting Notes: Red Dragon

Brewed back in 1996 by George Gale & Co (who were acquired by Fuller's back in 2005), this 7.1% ale was brewed with Maris Otter barley and Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger hops.

I'm guessing it's an IPA-style golden ale? Hard to tell through the brown glass, of course. I can't find any information on the CAMRA website and Google isn't turning up anything either.

I'm pretty sure this came into my possession by accident a few years back. I think it was courtesy of Jo's Nan, who had decided to clear out her own drinks cabinet and had found this bottle lurking behind the sweet sherry, Bells whisky and Canada Dry. I said "thank you very much" and brought it home, at which point it disappeared into our drinks cabinet and was forgotten about until a few weeks ago.

The best-before date is given as April 2000, but with its 7.1% ABV and - from the sounds of the label - plenty in the way of hop-content, I suppose there's a chance it might still be drinkable..?

What do the beer congnoscenti among you reckon? Best keep the cap firmly on? Possibly rank, but worth risking? Entirely safe to drink and most likely delicious? Or even, worth saving for CAMRA's 50th anniversary in 2021? I'd love to know what the experts out there think.

Here's a close-up of the label. Click for a larger version if you'd like to see it in a bit more detail:

Related posts:

1. From the Back of the Beer Cupboard #1 – Orcs Black Ale
2. The beer cupboard runneth o’er…
3. Wetherspoons / CAMRA new members’ offer

I picked this up back in 1998 at the first of the British Fantasy Society's annual Fantasycon events that Jo and I had both gone along to. One of the Fantasycon traditions is to hold a banquet (or, as it's come to be known by attendees in recent years, the "rip-off chicken dinner") before the announcing of the British Fantasy Awards.

The banquet that year was sponsored by Millennium Books (who are no longer around as they later merged with Gollancz). Millennium had just published the first book in Stan Nicholls' Orcs series - a fantasy saga about a squad of Orc warriors - so everything at the table was Orc-themed. Instead of going for the more obvious "elf-blood wine" they put complimentary bottles of "Orcs Black Ale" out on the tables and, being a compulsive souvenir-collector, I grabbed one to take home with me. I stuck it away at the back of the drinks cabinet (at the time all we had was a much smaller, much less beer-oriented storage compartment) and it's been there ever since.

I think it's pretty obvious from the bottle-neck which factory-produced, widely exported Irish "black ale" they re-labelled for the occasion. That, plus the lack of best-by date means that there's a racing certainty that this one will remain unopened and unsampled for a great many years to come...

Related posts:

1. From the Back of the Beer Cupboard #2 – CAMRA 25th Anniversary Ale
2. The beer cupboard runneth o’er…
3. You Show Me Yours… (or: The Beer Cupboard, redux)

• 3 for £4 on various beers including Grimbergen Blonde, Grimbergen Dubbel and Innis & Gunn Original Oak Aged Ale [TN].
• 4 for £5 on BrewDog Punk IPA [TN] and a whole raft of Badger ales (England's Gold, Golden Champion, three or four others), plus a few more from other breweries.
• 20% or so off Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter [TN] (£2.58 down to £2.06) and Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale [TN] (£1.76 down to £1.40)
• Leffe Brun 750ml (wine-bottle sized) for £2.00

They were also loading up the shelf with Young's Special London Ale at 94p a bottle. Baron, you want to get yourself on the motorway down to Tesco in Prestwich, mate... :)

Related posts:

1. New Flying Dog, Morrissey Fox and more at Tesco
2. Tasting Notes: Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale
3. Tasting Notes: Flying Dog Old Skratch Amber Lager

There's nothing about the beer on the Potbelly website and only a brief mention on the Bellowhead website news page, but via @Bellowhead on Twitter I found out that Hedonism is a 4.5% golden summer ale.

I'm just hoping they haven't run out by the time Jo and I get to see them at the Waterside Arts Centre in November. Or (even better) that they've come up with a strong, dark, Winter version of Hedonism for those chilly November nights...

Here are a couple of Bellowhead videos to give you a taste of the sheer unbridled joy and manic energy they bring to their live shows:

Plenty more where those came from. And check the tour dates on www.bellowhead.co.uk for a gig near you.

No related posts.

So, if your favourite boozer has been tarted up recently, or you've found a new pub that's a sight for sore eyes and a pure pleasure to drink in, why not give the landlord/lady a nudge in the direction of the online entry form? I'll bet if they win they'll be only too happy to show their beer-flavoured appreciation, eh?

Related posts:

1. CAMRA announces Pub Design Awards 2008
2. Supreme CAMRA Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2009
3. Wetherspoons / CAMRA new members’ offer

Justin told us: "We'd love to make this a kind of 'Virtual Snug'. A place where lovers of real ale and great pubs can celebrate the Great British pub and great conversations." After a quick email exchange, he confirmed that they have plans to organise giveaways and competitions as well as, y'know, plugging Courage ales.

Parent company Wells and Youngs also has Facebook pages for their Wells Bombardier and Youngs Beers brands (if beer-flavoured Facebook updates are your sort of thing...)

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Bombardier Burning Gold

A Parcelforce delivery driver turned up out on my doorstep a few weeks ago, bearing a package that turned out to contain a complimentary bottle of Daas Ambré. This was a nice surprise and made a pleasant change from people trying to sell me gas and electricity (gas and electricity salespeople take note: try handing out free beer instead, you'll win many more friends that way).

I'd already sampled Daas Witte and Dass Blonde last October and enjoyed them both (Blonde more more than Witte) so I was happy to give the Ambré a go. And happily this one turned out to be the best of the three.

Pouring a rich amber-red-brown with a thin head, Daas Ambré delivers a warming, malty flavour with a noticeable alcohol hit, although nothing too over-powering. Orangey citrus flavours abound, along with a dollop of caramel and just a hint of whisky. Smooth, richly-flavoured, gently carbonated, all in all a very satisfying and drinkable Belgian with just enough oomph to be interesting. It's also certified organic; this is generally considered a Good Thing and I concur. Okay, I'm not convinced it makes a massive difference to the overall beer drinking experience, but it's reassuring to know I'm not imbibing too many unnecessary chemicals as part of the process.

This one was sent courtesy of Steve at Daas. Or possibly Steve at UK importer Fabulously Green. Anyway, he's the fella who replied to the 'thank you' email I sent, so: cheers Steve! The Witte and Blonde were complimentary bottles as well, which means I haven't actually bought a Daas beer yet. I'll be rectifying that as soon as I see Daas Ambré on sale.

Daas Ambre around the Beerblogosphere:

• Zak Avery was suitably impressed: thebeerboy.blogspot.com
• Andy Mogg likewise: www.beerreviews.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Daas Organic Witte & Organic Blond
2. New Arrivals: BrewDogs and Daas Organics
3. Tasting Notes: Van Steenberge Breugel Amber Ale

This, we're told, is "Frucool" - a term coined by Gillespie (a director of London and New York based sustainability communications agency Futerra) to promote / explain / encapsulate the concept of achieving coolness through personal frugality.

In short: it's a piece about the core principles behind CAMRA's LocAle campaign. Albeit one that doesn't once mention LocAle, or CAMRA. But still, it's always good to see someone with a national media platform advocating buying beer from local breweries rather than multinational megacorps.

Thanks to Mark Newton for the heads-up.

Related posts:

1. On Reluctant Scooper’s Wishlist Thinking
2. CAMRA announces Pub Design Awards 2008
3. The Greater Manchester 25: mission control

First up:

• Kernel Porter and Pale Ale
• Viven Porter and Ale

The Kernel beers were one of the main reasons for putting the order in, and I'd heard good buzz about the Vivens as well.

Next:

• Moor Old Freddie Walker, JJJ IPA, Peat Porter and Fusion

The other main reason for ordering... heard nothing but great things about these beers, looking forward to trying them.

And finally, to make up the 12-case, a few miscellaneous Belgians:

• Het Anker Gouden Carolus
• De Dolle Special Extra Export Stout
• Van Steenbergen Gulden Draak
• Brasserie Lefebvre Floreffe Blonde

Tasting notes to follow on all of the above in due course!

*Okay, okay, I confess. I hunted around for a bottle priced at £1.80 to make up the round number. Mild numerical OCD strikes again.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Arabier
2. New Arrivals: via our First Ever Trip to Beer Ritz
3. More New Arrivals… New Arrivals Galore

"Goddamn, this stuff's good." Two mouthfuls into my first pint of the Wye Valley Butty Bach and I was already firmly convinced. Jo and I were staying at the Bull's Head in Chelmarsh (just outside the picturesque market town of Bridgnorth in the middle of green-and-leafy Shropshire) and seeing as they've always had a good selection of ales on the bar, it would have been rude not to stop off for one before we set off down the road to the in-laws' place.

Not too strong at 4.5% and boasting a rich, malty body with a delightfully crisp, sharp, hoppy after-bite, Butty Bach was incredibly refreshing and deeply satisfying; a classic English session bitter. That first pint was far from the last of the weekend, either. We were back down the pub again that evening after dinner (no point in turning in too long before last orders; it's an old building and not exactly well sound-proofed) and I didn't see much point in trying anything else.

The next day was Mum-in-Law's 60th birthday and after a slap-up carvery-style binge at the Punchbowl (accompanied by a couple of pints of entirely acceptable Hobson's Town Crier) Mum-in-law declared that she'd like nothing better than to pop up the road to the pub for the evening. Refuse the birthday girl's request? That would have been unforgivably rude.

There was just one snag, though: the Butty Bach had run out (bloody afternoon wedding party). I tried a pint of something else that turned out to be thin, sour and best-forgotten and was contemplating turning to the ample charms of Dorothy Goodbody's Golden Ale, but they put on a fresh cask of Wye Valley Bitter. It was only 3.7% and we were settling in for the evening, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I was very glad I did. Wye Valley Bitter tastes almost exactly the same as Butty Bach; a little lighter, a little less rich in the mouth-feel department, but otherwise: Butty Bach lite and quite lovely with it. Result.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Wye Valley Summer Stinger
2. Tasting Notes: Beers of Shropshire #1
3. Tasting Notes: Golden Valley

I tried The Physics on draught in Edinburgh's Guildford Arms a few weeks ago. At the time I tweeted that I thought it was "...interesting" and despite having sampled the bottled version since then, I have to admit I'm still on the fence.

On paper everything sounds straight-forwardly tasty. There's a pleasant start - a red-brown bitter ale with hints of bitter chocolate - and a nicely hoppy middle section. But then it all ends on a slightly odd note - a sour-sweet grapefruit (or something tropical and fruity at any rate) tang - on the after-taste. The net effect was to leave me wondering whether I'd enjoyed it or not, which isn't usually something I have trouble deciding. I'm trying to imagine someone offering me a pint of the stuff and my mental reaction - a momentary pause, a glance along the imaginary bar to see what else is on, a slightly uncertain "yeah, go on then" - probably sums things up. An unsettling pint of ale? Wouldn't put it past BrewDog to come up with something like that quite deliberately, just for the hell of it.

@BeerReviewsAndy tweeted a response to my message on the night: "I couldn't make my mind up on physics draught so had to have a few pints". Maybe that's the answer to the riddle of the Physics - try, try and try again, because familiarity breeds contentment? Mind you, Andy didn't say whether those few pints managed to convince him or not... I suggest you carry out your own investigations. Feel free to report back with preliminary findings in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: BrewDog The Physics
2. Pub Notes: The Guildford Arms, Edinburgh
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog / Mikkeller Devine Rebel

The Hirt Brewery in Austria has been around in some form since 1270, and insists in making a pure product with no additives or pasteurisation, using untreated water from the local mountain spring, and claim their beer will never be canned. I’ve no idea what a Privat Pils is, or if the notation means anything at all (enlightenment in the comments at the end will be gratefully received).

At £4 for a 500ml bottle (it’s also available in 330ml size) this was a bit of an extravagance. I’m not a huge pilsner fan, and while I’d happily pay that, and more, for other beers I did have to think twice about doing so on this.

First impressions were good. It’s darker than most pilsners I’ve had, not a washed out straw in sight, more a glowing mid gold. Even the aroma was quite good, light and fruity with a hint of malt in the background, nothing outstanding but definitely noticeable. I even liked the taste, oranges and lemon, very smooth texture, almost no fizz but a bit of zest without any bitterness. More depth than the average pilsner, with a lingering moreish finish, it is indeed a very pleasant brew.

Was it worth it? Mmm, not really. I’m glad I sampled it, but I honestly wouldn’t buy it again unless I saw it much cheaper. There’s just as good to be had elsewhere for a lot less.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Atlas Latitude
2. Tasting Notes: Meantime Pilsner
3. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 3

They've sold out already, so if you didn't get a bottle yet you'll need to start calling those specialist beer retailers, see if anyone has a spare.

Unlike Abstrakt:01 I'm not planning to sample this one in its young state - I have a feeling that those hops will need some time to calm down a bit - so I'll be following the recommended cellaring instructions and leaving this one until at least December. But East Lodnon Drinker and Billy Booze Blog have posted notes from the launch at Cask in London if you'd like a preview.

Related posts:

1. New Arrivals: BrewDog Abstrakt:01
2. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Abstrakt:01
3. New Arrivals: BrewDogs and Daas Organics

With the South African World Cup kicking off, Diageo obviously decided the time was right to introduce the Southern African lager in their portfolio to the drinkers of the UK. Hence the four-pack of Windhoek lager that arrived a few weeks ago.

Windhoek is a pils-style light lager, brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot standard - apparently a German Beer Purity Law dating from 1516 that allows only water, hops and barley to be used in the production process (surely there's some yeast in there as well?) and it pours a light golden colour with a thin, frothy head:

Taste-wise - served cold from the fridge (as recommended) or at room temperature; I tried a couple of each as I worked my way through the four-pack - it's light, refreshing and easy-drinking. There's a slight vegetative quality to begin with - the hops asserting themselves up-front, I'd guess - which gives way to a slightly maltier after-taste. It's not too highly carbonated - which I think is the main problem that puts me off the majority of factory lagers - and is generally well-balanced.

In other words: a perfectly pleasant, easy-drinking bottled lager. I wouldn't necessarily pick it as one of my all-time favourite lagers - Hop Dameon Green Daemon, BrewDog 77 Lager and the recently-sampled Meantime Helles are the ones I'd probably go for, or any of the Czech-style black lagers I've had to-date - but if someone offered me a bottle then I'd definitely be happy to drink it to toast their good health.

I haven't seen Windhoek lager in the local supermarkets just yet, but I was up in Bury the other week and passed an enterprising café that was offering a 'South Africa Special': two bottles of Windhoek and biltong pizza for £9.99, so it's definitely over in the UK if you're intrigued enough to seek it out.

Many thanks to Emma for sending along the samples!

Around the BeerBlogosphere:

• The Beer Justice went to the UK launch in London and then posted a collection of Windheok's entertainingly surreal and vaguely sinister TV adverts...

Related posts:

1. New Arrivals: four-packs from Namibia and Northern Ireland
2. Tasting Notes: Xingu Black Lager
3. Tasting Notes: Flying Dog Old Skratch Amber Lager

I've learned a lot in the almost-two-years that I've been expanding my beer horizons and two of the most emphatically driven-home lessons have been:

1) Imperial Stout is my absolute favourite beer style.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good, hoppy IPA, I'm steadily growing partial to a range of interesting Belgian beers and I've even learned to appreciate a good Helles lager. But give me a choice of something to sip and savour and love, then I'll pick a rich-nosed, full-bodied, black-as-the-inside-of-a-cat Imperial Stout any day of the week.

2) Thornbridge brew bloody good beer.

No, scratch that. Thornbridge brew bloody excellent beer. Every one of their brews that I've sampled to-date have genuinely impressed me.

So, combine 1) and 2) in the form of Thornbridge St Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout and it's pretty much a no-brainer.

I've had Thornbridge St Petersburg before, on draught at the Marble Arch, and it was superb. And the bottled version - whilst not quite hitting the same dizzy heights - was still very good indeed. Big hits of chocolate and coffee accompanied by faint vanilla notes; a slight sweetness up-front, with a long, smooth, dry, roast-malty finish to follow. Lovely.

If I'm being perfectly honest I've had bottled Imperial Stouts that I've enjoyed more - Dark Star Imperial Stout and BrewDog Tokyo* spring to mind, as well as BrewDog Paradox - but it's definitely up there with the likes of Acorn Gorlovka and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout; one of those big, bold, flavourful beers that I'll happily come back to time after time.

Another very big thank you to Richard at MyBreweryTap.com for adding this one to my recent order!

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge Halycon 2009
2. Another Rather Excellent Evening at the Marble Arch, Manchester
3. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge Halcyon 2008

Halcyon 2008 was my first Thornbridge beer and it was magnificent. Halcyon 2009 turned up as a bonus item in my recent order from MyBreweryTap.com and it was...

Well, Mark Dredge summed it up quite succinctly (and has linked to a few other folks who pretty much concur). And I know I'm a bit late to the party, so I'm just going to chuck my 4p-worth into the hat with a quick gist of what I got from this incredible beer:

A nose-burst of fresh, grassy hops, cut through with lemon and lime, developing to newly-peeled clementines after the pour; the sticky tang of resinous pine honey, a steadily mellowing sweetness slowly rounding out to vanilla caramel; a light, balance-preserving, hop-bitterness on the after-taste that keeps the sugars nicely in check; above all: half an hour of purest beer-drinking pleasure from another truly memorable Thornbridge brew.

MyBreweryTap.com is offering a 12-case of Halcyon 2009 and Jaipur (the new, bottle-conditioned version) for £37.50 or a 12-pack of Halcyon 2009, Jaipur and St Petersburg Imperial Stout for £38.00 (plus p&p in both cases). Or if you're in the vicinity of a specialist beer retailer then they might have singles bottles available. But however you source it, you really, really should make the effort to track this one down. Very highly recommended indeed. Huge thanks to Richard for sending this one along.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge Halcyon 2008
2. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge St Petersburg
3. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge Ashford

I've sampled this extensively and thoroughly (all four bottles) and will be posting the Tasting Notes shortly.

Package II was another four-pack, this time courtesy of the Strangford Lough Brewing Co in Northern Ireland's County Down - a lovely part of the world, Jo and I have visited friends over there a number of times - which contained one each of their Barelegs Brew red-golden ale and Legbiter golden ale, plus a couple of bottles of St Patrick's Best session bitter:

I expect I shall be cracking at least a couple of those open on Friday evening, as England take on Algeria. Tasting Notes to follow over the weekend, with any luck.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Windhoek Lager
2. BrewDog comes to Ireland
3. Tasting Notes: Northern Two-Tone Special

The outside might not be much to look at just now - the whole building is covered in scaffolding - but inside it's a haven of ornate Victorian / Edwardian splendour. High ceilings, big windows and huge mirrors give the long, narrow saloon bar area a light, airy feel that compliments and off-sets the classic polished brass, stained glass windows and dark wood of a proper drinking establishment.

Jo and I visited the Guildford Arms a couple of times the weekend before last during a trip up to Edinburgh for a wedding, but the place was busy both times, so I didn't feel like getting my phone out to take a snap. There are a couple of pics at www.guildfordarms.com though, with plenty to find on Flickr; well worth taking a quick look.

There's a small restaurant upstairs that serves good quality, reasonably-priced pub food (the grilled haddock was particularly tasty). The ale selection in the downstairs bar is superbly Scottish. When we were there they were offering Fyne Avalanche, Orkney Dark Island, BrewDog The Physics (tasting notes on those three to follow), Stewart Pentland IPA, Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted and three or four other session-strength ales; all from independent Scottish breweries. They also have bottles of Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Ale, if you prefer something stronger.

Highly recommended if you're staying in Edinburgh city-centre overnight, or even if you just have an hour to kill while you wait for a train.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: BrewDog The Physics

• Bath Ales Barnstormer [Tasting Notes]
• Bath Ales Golden Hare
• Fuller's Bengal Lancer [Tasting Notes]
• Adnams Broadside
• Young's Special London Ale
• St Austell Tribute
• Erdinger Weißbräu

You can also get a quid off a 750ml bottle of either Leffe Brun or Leffe Blonde (making them £2.69 apiece in our local) and they've got promotional four-packs of Old Speckled Hen for £4 a go.

Just in time for the World Cup kicking off tonight...

Related posts:

1. Bargainwatch: new selection of 2 for £3 ales at Sainsburys
2. Bargainwatch: Marstons Old Empire, Fuller’s ESB & more at Sainsbury’s
3. Bargainwatch: Flying Dog, BrewDog, Grimbergen and more at Tesco

Here's what turned up just a couple of days later:

Namely (from L to R):

• Box Steam Brewery Cog
• White Brewing Co Heart of Rother
• Green Room Ales Icon
• Country Life Brewery Old Appledore
• Fyne Ales Avalanche
• Bitter End Brewing Co Lakeland IPA

Those being (L to R again):

• Crown Brewery Unpronounceable IPA
• Ole Slewfoot Brewing Co Fox on the Run
• Wincle Beer Co Undertaker
• Grainstore Brewery Rutland Panther
• Williams Bros Ginger
• The Backyard Brewhouse East India Old Authentic IPA
• Thornbridge Jaipur

I've only supped the Jaipur so far (couldn't resist... and even though this non-bottle-conditioned version is a pale imitation of the utterly superb draught pint, it's still a very, very tasty beer indeed) and the other dozen bottles are resting up in the Beer Cupboard. I reckon I'm most looking forward to the Bitter End, Crown and Backyard Brewhouse beers. Could be another IPA Night on the cards before too long.

A very big thank you to Richard from MBT who included a bottle each of Thornbridge Halcyon 2009 and Thornbridge St Petersburg Imperial Stout from his sample stock. I drank those very soon after arrival and the posting notes will be following shortly...

And a quick plug: the next Mixed Brewery Case is on the website and available to order (I think I read on Twitter that it'll be shipping this weekend if you're a 52 Week Beer Club member) and it looks like Richard has put together another rather interesting selection...

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 1
2. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 4
3. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 2

Ed and I both scored ourselves a couple of bottles of BrewDog's Abstrakt:01, the first[*] in their new range of Concept Beers. I ordered mine from the Abstrakt website on its day of release, Ed picked his up from the (rather excellent) Gap Wines in Belfast.

This is what Abstrakt:01 looked like when I poured it:

And here are our joint tasting notes:

Ed Said:

The bottle I sampled was number 1747 of 3200. I don't know if that really means anything, or is any indicator of quality.

Not the easiest bottle to open, that cork was well pushed in. But once I got there I took a whiff from the open bottle and wondered where the aroma had gone, it was almost undetectable. A bit more comes through on pouring but it's still very subtle, hints of vanilla and mango, with a touch of spice.

And the tasting was... actually quite disappointing. Very underwhelming, considering the price. Some subtle fruit flavours of mango and peach at the start, and a dollop of spiciness coming through shortly after, but I didn't notice much sign of the vanilla. Despite the strength I thought the alcohol was well controlled, not impinging on the flavour too much, and the overall texture was very smooth. And it was far too easy to drink - I was hoping it would last me a while, but it was all gone in under 40 minutes. Maybe I've just come to expect more from BrewDog, but this is too tame, not exciting or challenging enough.

Or maybe it's just too young and needs more time to mature and develop complexity. Which is what I plan to find out with the second bottle, number 1743; I'm following Darren's suggestion and have stuffed it at the back of the cupboard for the next year.

As for me, I'm in pretty broad agreement. I picked up a hint of toasted coconut along with the vanilla on the aroma. I thought the mouth-feel was a particular highlight: honey-rich and smooth. And I noted down a stream-of-consciousness list of flavours that occurred to me as I sipped and ended up with: caramel, jam, honey, coconut, almond and overripe banana. It reminded me very strongly indeed of another beer, but for the life of me I couldn't remember exactly which one... something Belgian, probably.

No surprise then that my overall impression was of a beer that's rather too sweet at this (very young) stage of its development. To be fair to BrewDog, they do say (although only on the Abstrakt website, not on the bottle itself) that: "This beer is ideally suited to ageing and we recommend cellaring for 12-24 months."

So that's what I'll be doing with bottles #2 and #3. I'll have a word with Ed and see if we can coordinate another sampling and post up a fresh impression in twelve months' time or so. I hope the sugars will have calmed down by then and more complex flavours developed. If its improvement-with-age is anything like BrewDog / Stone Bashah's then I reckon we'll be in for a treat.

And I'll be in for a bottle or three of Abstrakt:02 as well, with any luck. Triple Dry Hopped Imperial Red Ale, y'say? Sounds intriguing...

Around the Beerblogosphere

• Reluctant Scooper waxes lyrical

Related posts:

1. New Arrivals: BrewDog Abstrakt:01
2. New Arrivals: BrewDog Abstrakt:02
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Rake Raspberry Imperial Stout

It's always a pleasure to walk up to the bar at the Marble Arch (actually, I could stop this sentence right there) and find they've come up with a new draught ale. So it was double the joy on Saturday evening when I spotted not one but two new brews to sample. It was the start of the evening though, so first things first: a couple of pints of Marble Pint, please. It's one of those quintessentially British beers that manages to pack a flavour-punch despite weighing in at only 3.9% ABV, so it makes for an ideal session starter. And - ah, what the heck- a sample-sized half each of Beer 57 and Brew 1691 Mild.

Marble Beer 57 turned out to be a strong (5.7% ABV), full-flavoured pale ale. Not as dry and hoppy as the Pint and slightly darker in colour, it's much closer to Marble Dobber in character, just slightly sweeter. Very pleasant, very palatable, very drinkable. Goes great with food as well (the pan-roast chicken was especially good on Saturday). I'm just not sure how likely it is to become a Marble regular, given that it is so Dobber-like, so if you're interested in sampling this one, it might be worth seeking out now, in case it's not around for long.

Now then, Marble Brew 1691 Mild. A strong (6t.0% ABV) ruby beer that you really should try if you get the chance. Jo and I were both completely blown away. It's a quite lovely shade of burnt umber (my pic was taken at the end of the night so probably doesn't do it justice) with a spicy-sweet aroma. Jo hit the nail on the head when she said it's like eating a tiramisu from the top-down: the first flavour that hits you is a rich, creamy chocolatey digestive-biscuit, with a light dryness to follow, finally giving way to a lingering after-taste of sweetish sherry or semisecco marsala wine. Absolutely gorgeous stuff; definitely one of the tastiest beers I've sampled all year. If strong, sweet beers are to your taste then you should definitely seek it out.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Marble Pint, Marble Dobber, Marble Summer
2. Another Rather Excellent Evening at the Marble Arch, Manchester

Highlights include a few strong 'uns (Marstons Old Empire, Brakspear Triple, Young's Special London), one or two trusty session ales (Wychwood Hobgoblin, Black Sheep Ale) and Fuller's Organic Honey Dew, if you fancy something summery and sweet.

The hardcore Hobgoblin fans in the house might be interested to know that they're also offering two four packs of that one for £8. Quid a bottle? Can't be bad.

(I was in Tesco at the weekend, but their 3 for £4 range wasn't as interesting. All the usual suspects, nothing new. Although I did pick up two bottles of Adnams Broadside for £3, which wasn't too shabby).

Related posts:

1. Bargainwatch: new selection of 3 for £5 ales at Sainsburys
2. Bargainwatch: Marstons Old Empire, Fuller’s ESB & more at Sainsbury’s
3. Tasting Notes: Pumpking Ale

I bought half a dozen bottles of Bashah - a collaborative project between Brewdog and Stone Brewing - back in October last year. I've been drinking them at roughly monthly intervals - I've polished off five so far - and have been hugely impressed with how much Bashah has improved in just half a year.

Some things never change: Bashah is inky-black - dark as the inside of a gargoyle - and pours with a big, frothy white head. The essential flavours, too, remained the same: coffee and treacle, with a hint of charcoal smoke.

But there are noticeable differences as well. Bashah #1 was quite dry with a very strong hop-profile (the IPA side of its heritage predominant) and just a hint of sweetness cutting through (from my notebook: "Odd balance. Needs to mature?").

After six month in the bottle the profile has flipped right over. Bashah #5's dominant flavour turned out to be one of liquorice sweetness, with the smokiness all-but faded and the hop profile much more muted. The mouth-feel had become noticeably richer and smoother as well; a progression I'd noticed on Bashahs #2 through #4 but which really got into its stride on #5.

Beer evolution in action: Bashah #1 was definitely a big-hopped IPA, although obviously much darker than you'd usually expect. Bashah #5 was closer to an imperial stout or strong porter. Pour a Bashah alongside a BrewDog Riptide and I honestly think you might be hard-pushed to spot the difference. It's a lot more Belgian than it was to begin with as well, with the sort of depth and richness of flavour that's associated with the trappist style.

Bashah #1 I wasn't completely sold on. Bashah #5 I absolutely loved. Bashah #6 is going to sit at the back of the beer cupboard and won't be seeing the light of day for another six months, minimum. Longer, if can manage to resist its dusky allure.

My advice: if you see a bottle of Bashah on the shelf, you should grab it, age it, savour it. You certainly won't regret it.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Abstrakt:01
2. BrewDog got me again (again)
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Atlantic IPA

The thing that struck me about Adnams Spindrift - a blonde ale designed to appeal to lager drinkers and a recent addition to the Adnams bottled beer range - is that it's an incredibly elegant beer.

Elegant packaging: bottle-glass a gorgeous shade of deep ocean blue with silver lettering and the artful curl of a breaking wave on the neck. Elegant appearance: a clear copper body with a pure white head and a slight effervescence; just enough to add sparkle, not enough to cross the line into fizz. Elegant aroma: fresh, green hops, bursting out of the bottle. Elegant flavour: crisp, hoppy and refreshing, with a bite full of lemon zest, apple peel, peach, green herbs and fresh grass and very well-balanced by a lingering, dry-biscuit finish (all-butter shortbread, of course). Even the ABV is an elegant 5%; just strong enough to make it interesting, not too strong that you couldn't down a few 330ml bottles of an evening without feeling too much the worse for wear.

All in all: Adnams Spindrift is a rather lovely drop of pure Spring in a glass. All that needs to happen now is for it to appear on the shelves at my local supermarket and I'll be a very happy chap.

Thank you very much indeed to Sean at Adnams for sending this one along!

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Adnams East Green
2. Tasting Notes: Adnams Explorer Chilled
3. Tasting Notes: Adnams Tally-Ho

Red berries and black cherries explode out of the bottle as the cap pops off and carry on through to the flavour. A big, malty, nutty sweetness dominates, with just a faintly hoppy after-taste waving to get your attention, but generally it's jam and marzipan and fruitcake and more jam all the way.

If only I had a few oatcakes and a nutty, crumbly cheshire cheese in the fridge, this would be a slow-sipping marriage made in... well, Sainsbury's, as it happens. The stuff was in a £3 for 4 deal, so I thought I'd give it a go. Thing is, there aren't many Greene King beers that I've been impressed with to-date - they've generally been a bit too factory-bland to be remarkable - but Old Speckled Hen's bigger sibling makes the grade.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Greene King Sun Dance
2. Quick catch-up #1: 2008 Holiday Beers
3. Another visit to The Olde Trip to Jerusalem

"...collectively, our online beer conversation [seems] to have settled into a complacent rut. It's not any one person, but taken as a whole we all seem to be writing about what awesome beers we've had recently, how extreme they are, how rare they are, how hoppy or how aged they are. Beer blogs have become an online beer geek diary, a hi-tec glorified form of ticking. I brewed this beer. I bought this beer. I drank this beer. In this pub."

My reaction to that was: "Ow!" No, sorry: "Fuck, OW!"

Okay, like the man said, the complaint wasn't aimed at a particular blogger or blog, but when you know that 95% of your posts are Tasting Notes (with the occasional Pub Notes piece thrown in for good measure) then it's hard not to take that sort of thing personally, y'know?

As it happens, albeit purely coincidentally, I've been wrestling with questions like "what's the point?" and "why bother?" and have been on the verge of quitting this blog (and, most likely, blogging in general) several times during the past few months. Reading a post like that - one written by someone whose blog I follow avidly and whose writing I enjoy immensely - was almost the final straw.

But then I re-read Pete's piece and pushed on past the "your blog's shit, mate" moment, focusing instead on his Call to Action:

"Write something that scares you. Write something very personal. Write something you don't think any other beer blogger would or could write."

And then I read Impy Malting's 'Why We Blog' piece and Pete's own follow-up post. And then I started thinking about my own reasons for plodding on with blogobeer.com.

You want to see something personal, Mr Brown? Fine. Here goes (with a quick aside, quoting from Impy, if I may: "This is not a plea for inclusion or encouragement, but a searching aloud.")

I've been a blogger, on a variety of subjects, for about 10 years. It's something I just seem to have to do: a habit that's so deeply ingrained that seriously contemplating not blogging threatens to drop me into a deep blue funk. I've also worked in online marketing (currently for one of the largest print publishing houses in the UK) for even longer than I've been blogging. I've read every one of Seth Godin's books and the majority of his blog posts, as well as countless other articles on the dark art and weird science of blogging and being a blogger. All of which means I know quite a lot about the power and benefits of the medium. I have a good idea what makes a good blog tick. I can do blogging. Blogging is what I do...

So why have I been tempted to quit this blog? In short: I've been trying to work out what I can usefully offer the beerblogosphere. What sort of content can I provide that people will want to read? What can I produce that's worth taking the time to write in the first place? Because time is the key for me: I really don't have much to spare. For reasons that are too personal to discuss here (even at Pete B's urging to write about something scary) because they're not just personal to me, I just don't have a lot of free time. Maybe an hour or so a day, a couple more at weekends, tops. I'm not complaining, it's just the way it is and I'm sure anyone who, for example, is a parent to young children will find themselves is a similar boat. But it does mean that if I'm going to dedicate a regular chunk of that precious free time to blogging, I have to know it's a worthwhile exercise.

In which case, why have I chosen to write about a subject that, whilst it's certainly one that I find deeply interesting, I actually know relatively little about? Especially when everything I've read on the subject of successful blogging calls for the blogger to write from a position of expertise? What do I have to offer that the beerblogosphere wants? What can I say that's interesting, valuable, remarkable, unique?

On the face of it, maybe not a lot...

I'm not running a major brewery, nor am I starting out on a new brewing enterprise. I'm not the manager of a beer emporium or an online beer retailer. I'm hardly likely to become the New Media Beer Writer of the Year, never mind the ultimate Beer Writer of the Year, and I certainly won't achieve Legendary Beer Writer status any time soon. I'm not a particularly dedicated drinker, well-travelled pub connoisseur or a local CAMRA champion. Nor do I have a particular axe to grind. I don't have a fascination for facts and figure or an in-depth knowledge of the history of beer and brewing. I'm don't have the time to regularly socialise with fellow beer-bloggers, and I've never organised a special beer night (a great idea, but likely to go on a bit too late to be practical).

If all of the above is an example what I'm not, what does that leave? In beer-blogging terms, what am I?

My conclusion? I'm just a bloke who enjoys great ale. I'm an average, ordinary, beer-drinking, Northern bloke who, a couple of years back, invited a couple of mates to join him in writing a beer blog, to give us all somewhere to swap beer recommendations and chat about real ale. So now I'm an everyman beer-blogger; one of the rank and file, nothing particularly special to say. But I've learned a hell of a lot about the subject in the past couple of years and I'm learning more all the time. And I also (as it turns out) still have a burning desire to share that knowledge and share the joy of great ale and beer with anyone who wants to join in.

That's what I have to offer: an ordinary punter's enthusiasm and passion for great ale, with a side-order of friendly conversation (available on request).

In fact, that's pretty much all I ever set out to achieve with Blogobeer.com. I didn't want to generate Intense Debate on the State of Beer (because intense debate on anything takes reading-time and comments... lots and lots of comments). I didn't want to become any sort of leader or figure-head in the beer-blogging community (luckily there's very little danger of that happening). I didn't even want to produce particularly great writing (although I do thoroughly enjoyed the great writing that other beer bloggers produce on a regular basis). And the one thing I definitely didn't want was for the blog to become a chore, a task, a nagging pain in the arse ("Update me! Update me! It's been days! I'm neglected!").

All I really wanted to do was talk about real ale with my mates. Old mates, new mates. Anyone who stands on the common ground that is the love of great ale. Or great beer. Or great triple-green-hopped Double-Imperial IPAs. Whatever.

So I've decided to stick to my guns and just blog about whatever the hell I want to blog about. Life's too short to make myself miserable worrying over what other beer bloggers might or might not think of my posts. Even if no-one else reads anything I write, then at least I'll have a record of the ales and beers that I've enjoyed; my memory's not what it was and I have a hard time recalling one particular session bitter from among all the other session bitters, so an online record will help me keep the better ones in mind for future reference. If that makes me a techno-ticker, so be it.

Then again, there isn't much point in writing regularly if you don't at least try to improve along the way, so I am going to attempt to make my Tasting Notes a bit more interesting in future. More descriptive, maybe. Pithier, perhaps. Shorter, definitely (why write one long post when you can break it up into a few and cut down on all that "must-post!" angst?) and more to the point. More photography, too; a picture speaks a thousand words and I do have a pretty good camera (even if my snapping skills show definite room for improvement, but that gives me something else to work on, eh?)

I'm also going to try to participate a little more. At the end of last year, Tandleman mused on the state of the beerblogosphere and made the point that:

Comments are needed to encourage bloggers. No comments = no point in a lot of ways. Surely there are enough things on blogs worthy of comment?"

So that's something I'm going to try to do more often as well. If I see that another beer-blogger has posted their own write-up of a beer that I've tried myself, then I'm going to let them know that I agree with them (or not). I'm going to try to engage more of my fellow beer-bloggers in conversation and not just on Twitter (although hey, if that's where the conversation is, then why the hell not?) And I'm going to try to remember to link in to other beer-bloggers' posts a bit more often (that should help them with those seemingly all-important Wikio rankings...)

Tandleman also made the point that beer-bloggers should spend less time showing off their rare bottle collections and get off their keyboards, support their local pubs, that sort of thing:

"Some too, need to get out and about a bit more, particularly to the pub; they need to raise their heads up and look around them"

It's a good point, and although I'll still be doing most of my drinking at home - because I am always going to be subject to those free-time limitations - I do have a plan that might help. I'm lucky enough to work for a company that offers a perk called 'summer hours'. From June through August we all work half an hour longer Monday to Thursday in exchange for Friday afternoons off. As a result, Jo and I are planning a few Summer Pub Expeditions (to places like Sheffield, Leeds, Huddersfield, Stalybridge and Buxton, or maybe just Salford, Manchester and Bury) which will hopefully provide me with a fresh perspective and some fresh inspiration.

I doubt that any of the resulting blog posts will be award-winning, Pulitzer prize material (sorry, Scooper) but I do hope to discover and talk about some great new beers and some great new pubs. (New to me, anyway. If you've discovered them all already and talking about them just bores you, that's fine. It's a big Internet, plenty more to see and read and do. Help yourself.)

And, come to think of it, there's something else I could do. Something that maybe not many other beer-bloggers can do as well as, if not better than, me.

As I said at the top of this piece, I've worked in online marketing for over ten years. I'm an everyman in that field as well; I'm primarily a general website content manager for a wide range of websites, which means that I've learned enough to get by about a wide range of subjects related to online publishing, blogging and online promotion. I'm not an expert in a particular field, but I can just about hold my own when it comes to the essentials: HTML, CSS, RSS, WordPress, Blogger, search engine optimisation, website Analytics, keyword advertising, Twitter, Facebook, Google and the general ideas, concepts and principles of good marketing and effective blogging.

I'm always happy to share what I know, especially if I learn something new in the process. So I could post a few pieces about the areas and subjects I've just mentioned - either in broad, general terms, or how they apply to the beerblogosphere, or to a specific blog (at that blogger's request). Again though, I'll only be able to spend time putting those posts together if there's going to be some interest out there. So, how about this: if anyone has anything they'd specifically like to know, put it in a comment below, or drop me a line and ask me. I'll see if it's a question I can usefully answer and if it is then I'll rattle off a quick post.

In the meantime (mmmm: Meantime...) I'll be the bloke in the corner with the laptop, sipping an imperial stout, trying to decipher the scribbles in my notebook and typing up my Tasting Notes (with the occasional Pub Notes piece thrown in for good measure).

Related posts:

1. Great Beer, Terrible Journalism
2. Around the Beerblogosphere #1
3. Beer news & views via RSS at Alltop.com

I had originally intended to post a round up of the Belgian beers to be found in the major UK supermarket chains but then I popped into Belfast’s fine beer stockist The Vineyard and found another couple of Grimbergens. So instead I decided to compare the four of those I now had – Blonde, Dubbel, Triple and Optimo Bruno.

The abbey at Grimbergen was founded in 1128 by Saint Norbert and became well known over the years for its hospitality to visitors, including offering home-made beer. Destroyed several times by fire and rebuilt, the abbey adopted the phoenix as its emblem, and this prominently adorns the bottle labels. The abbey also has a beer museum. (Source – Google translation of the dedicated French website, also available in Dutch).

So, on with the tastings, and the first two should be readily available in most Tesco stores. The Blonde is a mid gold colour, with a light hoppy, herby aroma and 6.7% alcohol. Taste is quite restrained and tame, in comparison to others of the style I’ve had – fruity hops, bit zesty with an underlying dryness, hint of orange and herbs, but still quite smooth and easy drinking, with a lingering light hoppy finish. It’s just a bit too light for any lasting appeal to me, but it would probably serve as a fine starting point for those just beginning to dip their taste buds in the abbey beer world.

The 6.5% Dubbel is a red tinted dark brown, and gives off a dried fruit aroma, with warm, malty notes. There’s more malt in the flavour, which is still quite restrained, with elements of treacle, dark chocolate and raisins, and a touch of bitterness in the finish. Not up there with the best dubbels, it’s still reasonable, and like the blonde I reckon it would serve as a decent enough intro for newcomers to the style.

Next up, the Triple. Dark gold with an amber glow, there’s loads of bubbles, with an aroma dominated by oranges and sugar, and some floral notes. It tastes like a citrus fruit punch with some bananas, and a load of sugar dumped in, but oddly I didn’t think it was overly sweet, managing to stay on the acceptable side, just about. Considering the 9% strength it’s quite easy going, laid-back but not lazy, but still demands not to be rushed. Much better than the blonde for those, like me, who find that one just a bit too tame.

And so on to the Optimo Bruno, a dark brown 10% monster that means business from the start. Crack open the bottle and first impressions are…not much. Other than cola there’s very little to the aroma, until it’s poured and left to settle. Then I got caramel, dried fruit, plums and cherries. From the first sip it’s clear this is a strong one, with a rush of sugary sweetness quickly followed by spiciness. I got toffee, plums, raisins and liquorice in there as well, before my taste buds were overwhelmed by the syrupy, cloying sweetness. Less of that last bit would make this more to my taste.

So overall, of these four the one I’d most likely go back to is the Triple, which is an unusual choice for me, as based on what I’ve had before it should really be the Dubbel. I can see me getting the occasional Dubbel as it’s so easy to find, and sometimes I just want to be able to shove a few decent beers in the trolley along with the rest of the groceries without the need for a trip to a specialist off-licence. But to be honest, none of them are likely to be regular purchases, there are much better abbey/trappist beers out there.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Maredsous 6 Blonde & 8 Dubbel
2. Bargainwatch: Flying Dog, BrewDog, Grimbergen and more at Tesco
3. Tasting Notes: Maredsous 10 Tripel

Thanks for the mention, guys! And "what kind of fantasy", Erik? This kind... (although actually, I've been lazy and haven't updated my bio for about a year, so I don't specifically work on that imprint any more, but hey, it's all good...)

But guys, if you really want to know more about the UK beer scene then I think you'd do a lot better by reading the likes of Pete Brown, Zak Avery, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Mark Dredge or Roger Protz because those guys really know their ales and have plenty of great contacts with the UK independent brewers as well (future Blog of the Week material? I think so...)

Related posts:

1. National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester this week
2. Welcome to Blog O’ Beer!

It's odd: I must have had a couple of dozen bottles of Black Sheep Ale over the past couple of years - probably more than any other beer variety I've drunk during that time - and yet I don't think I've mentioned it here on Blogobeer at all. I think that's because it's one of those seemingly ubiquitous bottled ales that turn up pretty much wherever bottled ales are sold and maybe that always-available impression makes it seem a little unremarkable. Although of course that ubiquity could just be because the supermarket stock-buyers know a good thing when they taste it.

The reason I've had so many bottles of Black Sheep Ale is because our local and very favourite curry house, the Lime Tree in Prestwich, offers it alongside the more predictable Cobra and Carling lagers. So whenever Jo and I are out for a curry, we get through at least three or four bottles between us (and we usually keep a couple of bottles in the cupboard for session purposes as well). The Lime Tree serves all its beers from the fridge (although I'm sure they'd find a warmer one for me if I asked nicely) and over the course of downing a couple of well-chilled bottles with my Balti Murghi Makhani last Saturday night, I realised something about Black Sheep Ale: it keeps its flavour remarkably well, even when served "too cold".

Predominantly malty with a biscuity, raisin-fruit sweetness chased along by a dry, hoppy finish, Black Sheep Ale is very well balanced indeed. Cooled down, the sweetness takes on a spicier edge and beer also benefits from that ability to hit that back-of-the-throat-sweet-spot just right. Admittedly I'm not going to convert to drinking ale from the fridge, because not every beer would hold up as well, but I don't think I'll be objecting to a Black Sheep with my onion bhaji any time soon.

Have a word with your local and / or very favourite curry house if they don't have a bottled ale on the drinks menu; they should be able to find the stuff without too much difficulty.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Black Sheep Yorkshire Square Ale
2. Tasting Notes: Black Sheep Riggwelter Ale
3. Spoilt for Choice at the Trackside, Bury

A couple of weeks ago, Jo and I went out to a 40th birthday meal for one of her colleagues, which was held at Eden on Canal Street, in the heart of Manchester's Gay Village. I did my research and checked out the Eden website beforehand, but when I clicked on the 'Drink' tab, it just linked through to a short wine list, so as a result I had rather low beverage-expectations of the place: a couple of lagers maybe, the usual sort of 'wine bar' offering, I assumed. So plan 'A' was: get in, do the sociable thing, then get out as soon as politely feasible and go find a decent pub.

Which is why I was also particularly keen to get into town and get to a decent pub before we hit the restaurant. As luck would have it we caught an Altrincham service, which meant that The Bank on Moseley Street was a much closer prospect than the Bull's Head up in Piccadilly. There I encountered the first Good Thing of the night: draught Thornbridge Jaipur. Beautifully kept it was and as good as I've ever found it, and so, suitably fortified against the rest of the evening's anticipated disappointments, I let Jo drag me off to Eden.

On arrival, I went straight over to the bar and yes, as I'd predicted, there was just a couple of generic lager pumps on show (not even a creamflow bitter). But then, more in hope than anticipation, I glanced at the fridge behind the bar... and that's when I spotted, nestled snugly in amongst the fruit juices and other chilled stuff I wouldn't normally give a second glance to, a veritable cornucopia of quite fantastic-looking Australian imports. Result!

First up was Cooper's Best Extra Stout; a delicious moccacino monster of a sipping beer that weighed in at a respectable 5.9% ABV that (particularly after a Jaipur) set me up quite nicely for the rest of the evening, thank you very much.

Next: a beer that has been unreservedly recommended to me on more than one occasion by @thenashmeister (another Darren, this one an Australian mate of mine from work): James Boag's Premium Lager; a rich, malty brew that's low on gassiness, high on flavour and about as far from the usual UK mass-produced and massacred version of Aussie lager as you could hope to get without moving to the Antipodes.

And then came Little Creatures Pale Ale. Easily the (post-Jaipur) Beer of the Night; extremely well-balanced, light, sweet and malty in the main part, but delivering a delightfully hoppy after-bite to the back of the throat as well. Very, very good indeed, which is why I had another one of those (by this point we were well into plan 'B' and besides, I was in a round with and chatting away to a top bloke who turned out to be an ex-Royal Marine, so I wasn't going to argue when he suggested we have another, was I?), although as a result I missed out a beer from James Squires, as well as another couple of interesting looking Aussies... but they were just going to have to wait for another session.

For alas, by that stage we'd all finished eating (the food was excellent as well, btw, especially as they were catering for quite a large group at the time) and the birthday girl had hit on the notion to head across to O'Shea's Irish Bar, where the only remotely decent beer they had was Guinness Original. On reflection, I probably shouldn't have had three pints of that stuff to round off the evening. I blame the live music; singing along always gives me a thirst.

So there you go: great beer in a most surprising place. And I've learned my lesson. From now on, I'll always check the beer fridge behind the bar, whatever the taps on top may be dispensing. Always.

Go on then, what's the most surprising place that you've discovered great beer? Comment away!

Related posts:

1. Great British Beer Festival
2. Tasting notes: Duchess Anne Light Ale
3. Great Beer, Terrible Journalism

Outstanding are one of my very favourite local breweries - they produce the house brew for The Trackside in Bury and their Outstanding Stout is one of the best I've ever tasted on draught. This bottle of Pushing Out - their Belgian-esque strong pale ale - was the second-to-last of a batch that I was lucky enough to pick up late last year. I sent a bottle of Pushing Out down to Mark Dredge for #beerswap #1 last year and he described it in his write-up as "like pick n mix, fruity and sweet, but then beneath this it’s earthy and peppery, minty with the slightest hint of Orval".

I drank one myself at the time and reckoned he'd pretty much hit the nail on the head. But this one had sat in the beer cupboard for another five months and the other week my curiosity overcame my patience and I decided I'd waited long enough to find out how it might have altered in the interim.

The answer: it seemed to have become even sweeter. The hop flavours had smoothed out and mellowed, but the sugars hadn't settled down in the same way, resulting in a beer that was malty and quite syrupy, with a distinctly chewy mouth-feel. There was still a herbal tang in there to give it a bit of bitterness and stopped the sweetness raging out of control, but it was a hard-won fight. I didn't have any trouble finishing it, but then I've always had quite a sweet tooth. Someone with a stronger hop-preference might have struggled.

I've got one more bottle of Pushing Out in the beer cupboard, which I'm going to keep for as long as I dare, just to see what it does next. And I know from e-chatting to Alex at Outstanding that they've been re-designing their bottle labels (which is obviously why I haven't seen any of they up at Bury Met recently) so I look forward to seeing the new designs when they're ready.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Outstanding OSB
2. Tasting Notes: Outstanding Stout
3. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2007

M&S Scottish Ale is brewed by Cairngorm of Aviemore and is one of the regional British beers that make up the majority of the store's current own-label bottled beer range. And I'm guessing - based on the description on the Cairngorm website - that this is either a straight re-labelling or a very close relative of the brewery's Blessed Thistle ale.

M&S Scottish Ale pours a rich, deep, red-brown with a thin head and carries a faint whiff of the sweetness and spices to follow in the taste. It's a rich, slightly sweet malty ale and the addition of dried thistle and dried ginger, along with whole-flower hops, in the brew makes for a pleasantly spicy counter-point to the maltiness. There's a slight hop-dryness but not much in the way of bitterness so you're left with the after-taste of those spices on your palate.

Interesting flavours, well-balanced, easily drinkable and I'd happily do so again. I picked this one up in a branch of M&S in Southwark when Jo and I were down that way a couple of months ago, but I'll be keeping an ye out for it in stores nearer to home in future.

Incidentally, you can pick up a twenty-pack selection of five of the ales in the M&S range: Cornish IPA, Yorkshire Bitter, Norfolk Bitter, Scottish Ale and Sussex Golden Ale, via www.marksandspencer.com, at a price of £39.42 (plus delivery).

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Blessed Thistle
2. Tasting Notes: Cairngorm Nessie’s Monster Mash
3. Tasting Notes: Cairngorm Trade Winds

That's one to drink young (in a couple of weeks' time, most likely), one to mature for 12 months or so and a third to keep for as long as I can stop myself from opening it...

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Abstrakt:01
2. New Arrivals: BrewDog Abstrakt:02
3. New Arrivals from Brewdog

Guinness have had mixed success with experimenting on variations of their famous stout, with probably more misses than hits. With this new 4.5% Black Lager, currently undergoing a trial period in Northern Ireland and Malaysia, they are looking to attract the younger lager drinker to the brand, giving them the flavour without the heaviness. Priced at £1.25 for a 330ml bottle it’s at the lower price bracket for those of us used to paying premium prices for our beer, but to me it still seems a bit on the expensive side for the average lager drinker used to “stack-em-high” supermarket deals. The draught version likely competes better but I’ve not had a chance to sample that version of it yet. And other than write-ups in various newspapers, such as this good one on the Times Online website, there hasn’t exactly been a high profile marketing campaign (or maybe because I don’t read local newspapers or watch much local TV I just haven’t seen any of it).

So how does the product rate? Well, it’s a black lager so it is, unsurprisingly, black in colour with a lot of fizz, and very watery looking with no head. There’s very little aroma as well, some faint coffee and chocolate maltiness lingering in the background, but then the average lager drinker probably doesn’t pay any attention to such things. So not off to a good start so far, and to be honest, the taste is the disappointment I was expecting as well - not much to it, with a very thin and chewy texture, but not in a good way. It’s also very dry, which I could see putting off a lot of their target market. I’m struggling to find anything positive about this beer, it’s below average for a black lager, I see no reason for it’s existence and it fully deserves to go the way of previous failures. But that’s only my opinion, what do I know, it’ll probably go on to be a roaring success. Although a couple of reviewers over at Beer Advocate do seem to agree with me.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Xingu Black Lager
2. Tasting Notes: Whitewater Belfast Black
3. Tasting Notes: Herold Bohemian Black Lager

En-route to a Peter Kay warm-up gig at the Bury Met last night, Jo and I stuck our heads around the door of the Robert Peel to see what the Wetherspoons Festival had to offer. Answer: nothing that really grabbed us (there was one Belgian brew that I would have been happy with, but it would have left Jo on the Guinness draught) so we wandered around the corner to the Trackside, who can always be relied on to have at least one dark ale among their eight or nine pumps.

So, while Jo happily settled down to a very pleasant half of Acorn Darkness (an easy-drinking dark mild with a tight, stout-like head and a smooth, nutty flavour) I decided to go for a pint of Fyne Highlander. This 'strong ale' (is 4.8% really all that strong?) poured a bright, copper colour with a decent head and gave off a lovely whiff of hoppy oranges. Burnt-orange and caramel were the predominant flavours and the beer was quite dry on the after-taste, yet slightly sticky on the mouth-feel; hardly surprising that orange marmalade sprang instantly to mind and stayed there for the duration.

An interesting, tasty beer although not being a huge fan of marmalade myself, I did join Jo on the Acorn Darkness for a second one before we headed off to the gig. But on the strength of Highlander I'd definitely be interested in trying a few more Fyne Ales if I get the chance.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Phoenix Humbug
2. Tasting Notes: Kelham Island Easy Rider
3. Tasting Notes: Outstanding OSB

I see to have been on a bit of an IPA kick recently and last night, inspired by a tweet from @reluctantscoop, I started yesterday evening off with a bottle of Fullers Bengal Lancer IPA. This is a beer I'd tired before at the Doric Arch, London Euston; on draught but sans-sparkler. The bottled version (which was bottle conditioned but very low on sediment) poured a sparkling golden amber with a big frothy head, although that soon disappeared. Flavour-wise it was all about the hop-bitterness on the nose and then the same again on the after-taste, but in the middle there was a lot of warm, malty flavour to get to grips with. Very well balanced, very refreshing and it compared well to the draught version. A very nice drop indeed and available at the moment in Sainsbury's, if our local branch is anything to go by.

Having started off highly-hopped I thought I'd carry on in the same spirit and decided to crack open a bottle of M&S Staffordshire IPA. This one is brewed by Marstons (according to ratebeer it's an alias one called 'India Export') and was first sold as part of M&S's ale range re-vamp last year. Most of the notes I scribbled seem to focus on how it fared in comparison with the Bengal Lancer and although it's still a pleasant drop it really wasn't as impressive: paler in colour, thinner in mouth-feel, slightly sharper on the hop after-taste, but generally just not as satisfying as the Lancer, and definitely not as good as Marstons own Old Empire IPA. In fact, I'd be tempted (again) to question whether it really qualifies as a full IPA, with only 5.5% ABV and much less going for it in the flavour stakes than the style usually promises.

As I was in full hop-head mode by this stage of the evening, I carried on the theme with a BrewDog Punk IPA. This was one of the first big-hop IPAs I tried back when Blogobeer started back in 2008 and I stand by the tasting notes I posted then: big hops, "positively Saharan" dryness but very well balanced, with a rich mouth-feel and extremely drinkable as a result. It's one of my regular favourite and I think I've had at least a couple of bottles of Punk IPA in the beer cupboard ever since I first tried it. Lovely stuff.

Then, to round the evening off, I delved deep into the special stash section of said beer cupboard and brought forth a bottle of De Struise-Mikkeller Ratebeer Special; a "double IIPA of 130 IBU". This was part of a De Struise / Mikkeller / De Molen mixed case that I got from beermerhcants.com last spring. There were two bottles of this one in the case and I drank one of them quite young and I remember it being pretty much all about the bitterness. The beer I tried last night was a completely different beast though. It poured a dark amber with a thick, frothy head and a slightly sweet, biscuity aroma and another year of conditioning in the bottle has produced a much, much richer, mellower, smoother flavour-profile. The big hops were still powerfully present, but they were wonderfully tempered and kept in balance by a newly-developed dark, toffee richness and a pungent red wine character with floral, herbal, grapefruit-citrus highlights. Absolutely fantastic stuff and I was very sorry when I finished the glass; no more of this one left in the beer cupboard and I'm unlikely to see another one anytime soon...

So, of the four IPAs on show here, the Struise-Mikkeller was far and away the best but let's face it, this one was always going to have an unfair advantage. Taking the rare Belgian/Danish brew one out of the picture, I'd have to stick with the Punk as a regular favourite, but I have to say the Bengal Lancer was quite close behind and I'll definitely be stocking up on that one for the summer. The M&S Staffordshire IPA was okay and I wouldn't pass up on another bottle if someone offered me one, but I don't think it can really hold its own against the huge range of fine IPAs (or "IPA-style" beers) on the market today.

Related posts:

1. A Night at The Crescent, Salford
2. Tasting Notes: Mikkeller All Others Pale
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Punk IPA

Innis & Gunn's various oak-aged, cask-matured ales seem to be real marmite beers. Some folks love 'em (I was out for a few beers with a Scottish chap a couple of weeks ago who's a big fan) and some folks seem to hate 'em (I've seen some pretty scathing mentions on other blogs from time to time). I was suitably impressed when I first tried the Original and Blonde variants and have since sampled and enjoyed both the Canadian Cask and Rum Cask versions, so I'm definitely a fan. Which is why I happily grabbed the Innis & Gunn box set when I saw it on the shelf in Sainsbury's back before Xmas.

The pack (which at the time was priced at a very reasonable £8 and was included in the Xmas gift 3-for-2 deal to-boot) contained an Innis & Gunn branded stem/snifter glass (I'm not 100% sure what the technical term is, but it looks like this and in his blog piece Mr Mackney describes it as a 'tulip' glass, which is good enough for me) as well as three of their ales: an Original, a Rum Cask and a new one on me: an Innis & Gunn IPA, weighing in at a respectable 7.7% ABV.

Pouring a pale, golden caramel colour with a thin head, Innis & Gunn IPA was packed full of slightly sweet, toasty, vanilla-tinged biscuity flavours, with a faint smoky-wood note, presumably from the oak ageing process, which made it similar to the Innis & Gunn Blonde and Original variants. It compared well to a few other UK IPA-style strong-ish beers that I've had, such as Marston's Old Empire or Dark Star Six Hop. But what it seemed to be missing was the sharp dryness of a big-hop finish that we've come to expect from big-ABV IPAs courtesy of most of the top American independents, and it's not in the same league as UK brews like Thornbridge Jaipur, BrewDog Punk IPA (or Hardcore IPA, or Chaos Theory, or Atlantic), Worthington White Shield or Marble Dobber, Hopdaemon Skrimshander et. al. So does this mean I'll be off on another "fake IPA!" rant (as per my previous post?)

Well, no. Because as Pete Brown tells us in Hops and Glory and Martyn Cornell mentions in Amber, Gold & Black, the ale that arrived in India used to be very different to the one that left Burton (or, indeed, London, Edinburgh and several other brewing towns). Over the course of a few months at sea, in almost constant motion on board a pitching, rolling East Indiaman, moving through a number of different climate zones and changing temperature along the way, the brew in the barrel would undergo an almost alchemical transformation equivalent to at least a couple of years of cellar ageing. As a result, the over-hopped bitterness of the young brew (Martyn Cornell tells us that most breweries used double the regular volume of hops in their IPAs) would all-but disappear and the other flavours and strength of the ale would shine through.

So whilst Innis & Gunn's latest IPA (the info on their website refers to the 2006 bottling, which was a lower strength 6.4% ABV) probably isn't quite the authentic, finished article, the 55-day maturation that Innis & Gunn IPA undergoes in (presumably static) oak casks means it's a step in the right direction. The sweetness and biscuity-vanilla flavour of the beer would presumably mellow and deepen if they left the stuff in-barrel for another 55 days or so and maybe, you know, sloshed it around a bit? I'd be interested to see what one of these tasted like after a couple of years, although as the beer isn't bottle-conditioned (clear glass, can't have all that sediment lurking at the bottom...) maybe the character of it wouldn't change all that much after all?

Incidentally, the Sunday Times ran a feature in their business section the other week: How I Made It: Dougal Sharp, founder of Innis & Gunn. Interesting bit of background on the founding of the company and the origins of the I&G brew.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Innis & Gunn Canadian Cask
2. Tasting Notes: Innis & Gunn Rum Cask
3. Tasting Notes: Innis & Gunn Blonde

Morrissey Fox Aussie IPA is really rather tasty. It's a palatable, slightly sweet, distinctly malty, fresh-tasting, easy-drinking pale ale. But at only 5% ABV and with that much up-front malt and almost no hop-bite to the finish, it's not really an India pale ale, is it? At least, not in the sense that the style is currently understood: big, hoppy, sharp, dry to the point of ascerbic and noticeably stronger than the vast majority of most session bitters. Or - having read Pete Brown's Hops and Glory - in the sense the style used to be understood, back in its C18th-C19th heyday: rich and smooth, with a much more mellow hop-profile - as a result of several months of secondary fermentation and maturation in the cask en-route to India via the South African Cape - but still packing that serious alcohol-punch.

The over-use and abuse of the IPA label has provoked debate and discussion around the beerblogosphere a few times already (see posts by Mark Dredge and Zak Avery for interesting examples) and whilst I don't really want to kick off another round of "what the hell is an IPA", I have to admit that it does bother me. Why? For the same reason that I don't think you should label a bottle of claret as 'port', or a box of Assam tea as 'Earl Grey': it's just wrong. I think the wording on the label should accurately reflect the style of the beer in the bottle. If what the brewery puts in the bottle is a perfectly good pale ale, then why not call it 'pale ale' (or a 'golden ale' or 'light ale' if you have to be different) and have done with it? Why try to dress it up and pass it off as something it's not?

Also, unless I missed a whole chapter of Hops and Glory, Australia doesn't get much of a look-in, IPA-wise. Although having said that, in the relevant chapter of Amber, Gold & Black - Martyn 'Zythophile' Cornell's excellent and extremely detailed history of British beer styles - I discovered that there were actually some Australian brewers who produced their own take on India Pale Ale as far back as the 1870s. As far as I can tell, though, they were basing their IPAs on the original Burton IPAs, rather than developing a particularly distinctive, Aussie take on the style.

So have Mr Morrissey and Mr Fox combed the archives, seeking out rare combinations of malt and hops that were only ever used in nineteenth-century Australian breweries in an attempt to faithfully re-create a lost local version of the IPA? Or are they cashing in on the growing popularity of US and English 'huge hop' IPAs? Or do they think they've discovered another hybrid style (remember their televised proclamations of stylistic originality when they came up with their first 'Blonde' brew?) The blurb on the back label is no help at all - just some fairly inane waffle on the theme of "G'day Sports!" and "...a fruity finish to tempt the mildest sherry-supping Sheila" - and the relevant page on the Morrissey Fox website hasn't been updated since they released the draught version last August.

All of which leaves me with the nasty suspicion that 'Aussie IPA' has come about through the dreaded 'design-by-committee' process. I could be completely wrong, of course, but to me it just smacks of focus-group thinking ("It's pale, shall we call it an IPA?" | "Been done before." | "What about Aussie IPA?" | "Ooh, ooh! Hats-with-corks!") and if that's the case, then I think it's a bit of a shame, because here Morrissey Fox have come up with another refreshing, tasty, interesting beer with a great flavour profile; one that would go down really well at a barbecue (maybe that's why they've gone for the 'Aussie' schtick?), or with a roast dinner, or pretty much any sort of traditional, savoury food. But how many people will actually take a chance on something as weird-sounding as 'Aussie IPA'?

I bought a bottle because I've enjoyed Morrissey Fox's other brews and wanted to try their new one. But what if I saw 'Aussie IPA' on a label from a brewery I'd never heard of? As a regular beer-buyer I'd probably assume they didn't really know their beer styles, or were trying too hard to cover up a mediocre session bitter. Either way, I'd most likely give it a miss; always better things to spend my beer-money on. And if I wasn't a real ale enthusiast? If I was a passing supermarket punter thinking of trying something a bit different to the usual? How tempted would I be to try something called "Aussie IPA"? Probably not very. 'Aussie IPA'? Bit confusing. Think I'll try a 'Best Bitter' instead. Or here's one called 'Pale Ale', that sounds okay...

So, unless I am completely wrong about the whole thing and there's actually a very genuine reason for calling it an 'Aussie IPA' - in which case, if anyone from Morrissey Fox (or their advertising agency?) happens to read this and can set me straight, please do feel free to leave a comment - I'll conclude with: good beer, dumb name.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale
2. Tasting Notes: Three Tuns Clerics Cure
3. Tasting Notes: Morrissey Fox Proud of Pubs Best Bitter (#proudofpubs)

Ed sampled and wrote about Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout back in October '08 and I've been keeping half an eye out for a bottle ever since. So when Natasha from R&R Teamwork got in touch with a list of bottled beers left over from a tasting event that were going spare, and I saw this one was on it... a polite 'yes, please' email was on the way back about as fast as I could type.

Black Chocolate Stout poured an opaque mahogany colour with a thin head. The nose was all about the chocolate, although the flavours were more mocha. Quite sweet, quite a chewy mouth-feel, smooth tasting and deceptively gentle - not so much of that overpowering alcohol-hit that Ed found off-putting at the start of his bottle - this one also improved noticeably after the beer had been allowed to stand and breathe for a while, even in the narrow tulip glass I was drinking it from. This was the Winter 09-10 vintage, so it was a different batch to Ed's and I was drinking it quite young, which could explain the milder profile. And while it compared well to a few of the other imperial stouts I've sampled recently, there are a few I've had that have been bigger and bolder, but again, I was probably drinking this one before it really had a chance to develop properly.

All in all: quite delicious and one I'd be delighted to encounter again, especially if I could somehow force myself to leave the bottle in the beer cupboard to mature for a couple of years before drinking it. Many thanks indeed to Natasha for sending this one along!

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
2. Tasting Notes: Three more from the Brooklyn Brewery
3. Tasting Notes: Daleside Chocolate Stout

I'll admit my exposure to, and knowledge of, French beer is very limited. I'm fairly sure I could count the number of beers I've had from there on the fingers of one hand, and those were quite some time ago (the beers, not the fingers, although they are getting on a bit too), so I'm not even going to attempt to compare this one with others from the country. Brasserie Duyck don't have an English version of their website as yet, but RateBeer can always be relied on to provide some background info. Basically this is a stronger version of the original Jenlain Blonde, which was previously 6% ABV and is now called Jenlain No 6. No surprises when I say I haven't had that incarnation, so again no comparison will be made.

Despite being called Blonde, this is quite a dark beer, the rich golden colour enhanced with an amber hue. The aroma is much as I was expecting, very similar to a Belgian Blonde, with light fruitiness and a touch of grass and malt. Those fruity notes are present in the taste as well, mainly orange with some pear coming through. It's also quite sweet, a bit too much so for my tastes, but overall it wasn't too bad. While I don't think I'll be getting this particular one again, it certainly hasn't put me off  sampling more French beer. There's bound to be some out there I'm going to like, so suggestions will be gratefully received.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Brasserie Lefebvre Floreffe Blonde
2. Tasting Notes: Maredsous 6 Blonde & 8 Dubbel
3. Tasting Notes: Blanche De Bruxelles

Inspired by The Beer Nut's recent exhortation to get stuck in to your stash from time to time - rather than watching all those lovely bottles of strong ale slowly mature towards some nebulous and tricky-to-accurately-judge nirvana of agèd perfection - I decided last weekend to bring my sole bottle of Anchor Old Foghorn ale out of the beer cupboard, a mere four months after putting it away on the top shelf, with the rest of the Good Stuff. And I'm extremely glad I did, because now I know to pick up a good half dozen or so bottles of this rather magnificent ale the very next time I see it on offer.

Anchor Old Foghorn pours a lovely dark chestnut colour and from the first sip releases a cacophony of rich, sensuous flavours: toffee and coconut predominate in a sweet and heady swirl, with developing red wine and sour cherry notes on the after-taste, which help to take the edge off the sugariness and stop it becoming too cloying or sickly. The alcohol hit is noticeable yet quietly under-stated and the mouth-feel is smooth and chewy, all of which makes for a glorious, slow-sipper that's quite, quite delicious... particularly once that initial sweetness settles down a bit and the flavours begin to merge and mellow into something that's a real joy to sample.

Definitely the sort of ale I'd like to become much better acquainted with. I have a feeling my next trip to Beer Ritz is going to be an expensive one...

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Anchor Christmas Ale 2008
2. Tasting Notes: Anchor Porter
3. Tasting Notes: Schloss Eggenberg Urbock 23°

Shepherd Neame and Tesco have joined forces to launch the first bottled version of the brewery's Canterbury Jack draught ale and have done so in order to raise money and awareness for an extremely worthy cause: Tesco charity of the year CLIC Sargent, which helps children with cancer spend more time at home and less time in hospital.

As I don't live in Shepherd Neame territory I haven't had the opportunity to sample Canterbury Jack on draught myself - although I'm familiar with their better-known bottled beers, particularly Bishop's Finger and Spitfire - so this was my first meeting with Jack (although I met its big brother, Gentleman Jack, in a four-pack of <cough> another supermarket's own-brand ales, thanks to an Xmas present from my sister's kids, bless 'em).

Canterbury Jack's label proclaims it to be a "light, refreshing, contemporary ale bursting with citrus nose and flavour" and it delivers pretty much exactly that. It's a pleasant, light session bitter although I found it quite malty, fruity and slightly sweet - perhaps not so much citrus as cream toffee - with a light hop-touch. It is very refreshing, too, and went well with the pork burger I had for tea last Friday, so I reckon it would be an ideal barbecue beer. Maybe Tesco could repeat the campaign a little later in the year? It ought to fly off the shelves in the summer (assuming we have as summer this year, of course)*.

All in all: a good, tasty, bottled session bitter. If you're looking to stock up the 'share and enjoy' section of your beer cupboard then you could do a lot worse, and you would be supporting a good cause at the same time. The bottle I tried was sent along courtesy of Tesco (cheers, Mary!), but I'll definitely be purchasing up a few more next time I'm shopping at their place.

*Edit: Quick update from Mary @ Tesco: "It will be on shelf all year so will certainly be around for you to max it in the summer with the barbeques, especially if we have the scorching summer that's been promised!"

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Shepherd Neame Christmas Ale 2008
2. Tasting Notes: Late Red
3. Quick catch-up #3: The Rest of 2008, Part II

So instead we ended up chatting to half a dozen complete strangers over the course of the evening (topics of conversation ranging from bondage trousers and Stiff Little Fingers, to the relative acoustic merits of the Bridgewater Hall and the Lowry, via the best way to get to the Palace Theatre by car whilst avoiding the gas-main works that have buggered up the city centre for months) and had a bloody good time doing so.

There was ale involved, of course. And oh, my word, what ale there was...

On arrival, I headed for the bar to get Jo her customary half of Marble Stouter Stout and made a b-line for the Thornbridge Raven, which Rob D had mentioned was on earlier in the day. As it weighs in at 6% ABV I thought I'd just go for a half to start with, so I got myself a pint of Marble Pint at the same time, to ease myself in. But Jo finished up her stout and sent me back to the bar for another (along with our food order) and the Raven was so damn good - a dark, smoky, delicious black IPA with a lingering hop-bite - that I couldn't resist a second. And that pretty much set the tone for the session...

Our food arrived just as we'd both gotten a pint of Marble Chocolate in and we feasted on char-grilled belly pork and black pudding (actually, the best damn black pudding I've ever tasted) with duck's egg for starters, followed by sea bass served with creamed crab meat and spinach for Jo and turbot poached in red wine on creamed polenta with salsify sticks for me, and some lightly steamed greens on the side. Fantastic food, as always in the Marble Arch - we've eaten there a few times now and have never been anything less than blown away by whatever we've ordered - and it all went extremely well with the rich, tasty Marble Chocolate. Perhaps a dark ale or stout might not the obvious choice for a with-food beer, but the bitter-sweetness of the chocolate and roasted malts were very complimentary indeed to the satisfyingly meaty, beautifully cooked fish dishes.

After dinner we ordered dessert: another Marble Chocolate for Jo, whilst I decided to try a pint of Marble Brew 14. This one was a completely new to me (although apparently it went down rather well on the first #twissup pub crawl / blogger outing in Sheffield back in January. Brew 14 turned out to be a feisty session bitter that was all about the bitter oranges and big hops with a long, dry finish. Very, very good indeed and one I'd definitely have again.

At this point, Jo and I were thinking about winding down and heading home, so I opted for a quick half of Marble Dobber for the road. But of course, one half of Dobber is never enough and as I was heading back to the bar for another top-up, I spotted a new pump clip nestled among the array of Marbles: Thornbridge St Petersburg! I've been trying to track down and try this 7.7% ABV Imperial Stout for a while now, so this was just too good an opportunity to miss. And it was delicious: rich, smoky malt, chocolate and coffee, blended to perfection. A top-up of that one was absolutely compulsory, it would have been the very height of rudeness not to.

That really did finish the evening off for us and we weaved our way out the door to find a tram and head home for a nice cup of tea and a kip. Lovely, lovely evening and a fuzzy, fuzzy head the next day, but absolutely, totally worth it. I tell you what, it's a good job we don't live just round the corner from the Marble Arch, we'd never be out of the place.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Marble Pint, Marble Dobber, Marble Summer
2. Tasting Notes: Marble Beer 57 & Marble Brew 1691 Mild
3. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge St Petersburg

I was down in London on business for a couple of days this week and managed to make time for a couple of pub visits which allowed me to re-visit an old favourite or two: Rudgate Ruby Mild (which went down extremely well in the Museum Tavern) and a Fuller's London Porter (a fantastic night-cap at the Doric Arch). Hoping for a successful hat-trick, I decided to nip into the Bree Louise on the way back to catching my train from Euston and see what they had to offer.

The obvious choice, that positively leapt out from among their typically broad selection, was Dark Star Six Hop; a strong pale ale weighing in at 6.5% ABV, it sounded like just my sort of thing. I briefly thought about sticking to a safe half, but decided what the hell - it wasn't like I was going to be driving myself back to Manchester, was it?

Dark Star Six Hop poured a dark golden colour with a decent white head (even sans-sparkler) and gave off a light, slightly floral aroma. The first sip resulted in a big, strong and quite delicious hop-burst of flavour. Hardly surprising, the current Dark Star Tasting Notes sheet reveals that it's brewed with five varieties of hops and then dry-hopped with a sixth (apologies to hop-heads: no further detail on the pdf there and the Dark Star website isn't exactly geared for regular updating).

Despite the massive hop-profile, Six Hop wasn't as drily acerbic as the big US IPAs tend to be. Instead its strength was tempered with a lot more subtlety: there was a distinct sour-sweet citrus note - bitter-orange or grapefruit - and a syrupy sweetness, carried along on a slightly sticky mouth-feel, that became more pronounced as the pint went on.

All in all: a great mix of deep, rich, lingering, sustained flavours. Tongue-tinglingly good; the sort of beer you could happily drink all night, as long as someone else was happy to carry you home at the end of the session...

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Sambrook’s Wandle
2. Tasting Notes: Sambrook’s Junction
3. Tasting Notes: Howard Town Dark Peak

Another acquisition from Beer Ritz back in December, I was intrigued by the look of Schloss Eggenberg Urbock 23° (from the same brewery that produces the annual Samichlaus special) and decided to give it a go on the grounds that I've sampled far too few German / Austrian / Czech beers to-date, and this looked like a pretty interesting one to try.

I didn't know what 'Urbock' signified, but Wikipedia provided the basics, so now I know: a Bock is a strong lager, first brewed centuries ago by German monks and a Doppelbock is a regional (Bavarian) variant of a Bock? And I'm guessing that "Urbock" is more of a branding-based classification, the equivalent of calling a beer a "Double Imperial Stout"? Or the Austrian version of Doppelbock? Something like that (I think I need to spend more time reading The Bitten Bullet - I'm sure Barry could set me straight on the subject...)

Provenance and technicalities aside, on to the beer itself. Urbock 23°, which is matured in cask for nine months before bottling, poured a lovely pale amber colour with a frothy white head and was effervescent to the point of 'sparkling', although the bubbles gradually died down and dispersed as I drained the glass. The flavours were big and bold, as you'd expect from a 9.6% ABV beer, but not overpowering. Quite malty and sweet with distinct herbal and heather honey notes and a faint hoppy bite to stop it tasting too syrupy. There was a noticeable alcohol hit but nothing too harsh and it all rounded out in a long, smooth finish. All in all: very Belgian and very tasty indeed. It also went extremely well with a few pieces of Green & Black's 70% dark chocolate with cherries; the tart sourness and cocoa bitterness complimented the sweetness of the beer rather well.

Urbock 23° is definitely one I'd buy and drink again and it's definitely awakened an interest in seeking out a few more interesting Doppelbocks. Something to keep an eye out for next time I swing by Beer Ritz.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Samichlaus Bier 2008
2. New Arrivals: via our First Ever Trip to Beer Ritz
3. Tasting Notes: Ossett Brewery Treacle Stout

One of the haul of beers I picked up on our pre-Xmas trip to Beer Ritz, Ossett Treacle Stout, from a brewery I'd not encountered before, just looked far too interesting to leave on the shelf.

I sampled it back in January, but I can remember the taste of it even now: a flood of rich, dark, sweet, chewy flavours. Treacle (obviously), liquorice and dark, dark roasted malt. Quite sweet, with very little hop to it at all, but as a winter warmer it performed its job admirably. The only slight disappointment was a thinness to the mouth-feel - I was hoping for something bigger, creamier, a bit more robust - but I expect this is one of those beers you'd really have to sample on draught to get the full benefit.

Still, well worth seeking out if you're a fan of sweet, tasty stouts.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
2. Strong Stout vs the Common Cold
3. Tasting Notes: Three more from the Brooklyn Brewery