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

A couple of weekends ago I was lucky enough to enjoy not one but two classic cases. On the Friday night I went out for a few jars and a chin-wag with my mate Andy. We started off down the Knott Bar, where I sampled a Titanic Port & Starboard (a 4.2% deep red-coloured ale with a rich malty main-flavour and a hoppy after-taste), followed by an Acorn Barnsley Bitter (3.8%, light, dry and hoppy). After that we wandered off to the Rising Sun, where we had a Leeds Best Bitter (4.3%, perfectly pleasant if not hugely remarkable) and then we nipped in for one more at the City Arms, where I had a Batemans G.H.A. Pale (another 4.2% hoppy and drinkable if not exactly amazing beer).

End result: after a couple of hours of chat and four pints each, we decided to call it a night. Personally I was feeling fine and dandy and nowhere near the worse for wear in the morning despite the 8-unit-or-so (technical) binge drinking session I'd indulged in the night before. So on Saturday I had no problem whatsoever heading out with Jo for date night at The Angel. The place is under new management and they've recently opened an upstairs dining room, which is where we sat to enjoy a particularly fine meal (red grouse for me and baked gurnard for Jo, both of which were delicious and are highly recommendable), accompanied by a couple more session bitters.

First up was Williams Bros Fraoch Heather Ale, which I'd only encountered in bottles before (a few years ago) and which turned out to be very good indeed on draught. Quite malty and slightly sweet, with a pleasant, light bitterness on the after-taste, it went down very easily indeed. Jo liked it so much she stuck with it for the rest of the evening, but I'd spotted a couple of others I wanted to try, so I switched to Redemption Urban Dusk, from a relatively new addition to the London brewery scene. This one was a 3.8%ABV dark bitter with a strong burnt-sugar flavour and plenty of malt. A very tasty dark beer that I wouldn't mind trying again some time.

After that, I decided I was in the mood for something a bit more experimental, so I opted for a half of Hornbeam Lemon Blossom, a 3.7% pale ale that promised lemony freshness and turned out to taste like mildly alcoholic lemon curd; there was lemon zest in there, definitely, but the whole thing was carried along on a slightly stilton tang. Not entirely unpleasant, but not one I'd rush back to, either. And then I'm afraid I fell off the session wagon, because I'd spotted the big, boozy (6.6% ABV) Wensleydale Porter on draught at the very start of the evening and I'd been itching to try it ever since. Delicious it was, too: a big whack of roasty malt flavours, shot through with blackcurrant and fruitcake, with a nicely dry finish by way of contrast. A pint and a half of that one (Jo had the other half, having been tempted herself) and we called it a damn good night.

Related posts:

1. Quick catch-up #1: 2008 Holiday Beers
2. Tasting Notes: Beers of Shropshire #1
3. Tasting Notes: Titanic Quarter

Saving the best ‘til last.

Brentwood Hope & Glory

The Brentwood Brewery Company may only have started operating in July 2006 but already they have 7 regular beers in production and a further 7 seasonal ones. Hope & Glory is a 4.5% dark reddish-brown bitter, and gives off a light caramel malt aroma. The maltiness carries through in the flavour, providing some sweetish toffee character offset with a mild bitter tang from the fruity hop, nicely mixed to give an appealing flavour.

Burton Bridge Burton Porter

Burton Bridge really needs no introduction and of the 13 beers in the box this was the one I was most looking forward to. A 4.5% porter, the first thing that struck me on opening the bottle was a quite unexpected aroma, very floral and herby, with a hint of cloves. And that sets it up perfectly for the subsequent tasting, which was a very interesting experience. Things are more normal at the start, with malty hints of liquorice, chocolate and coffee but there’s more of the herby element (possibly a mix of sage, basil and coriander?) mixed in there. As far as I can see none of these are actually added so I'm presuming it's a by-product of the brewing process. It’s by no means detrimental, and adds a intriguing element to the taste. Overall, not too bitter, not too sweet, not too dry, a fine porter. I really enjoyed this one.

Tring Death Or Glory

Another beer bathed in Glory, this one takes its name from the motto of the Queen’s Royal Lancers, and is brewed each year on the 25th October to commemorate the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade. You can read more interesting stuff about the beer here. It’s a red tinted brown colour, with a complex and delightful aroma – I picked up on biscuity malt, plums and bubblegum. Considering the 7.2% strength it tastes quite tame, still packed full of flavour but very easy drinking. Malt, toffee, liquorice, vanilla, pear, raisins, brown sugar; there’s more but that was what I could readily identify. After all that the finish is a bit thin, but it’s still a fine beer and well worth seeking out.

Related posts:

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

They had the 750ml version of Innis & Gunn Original at 2 for £5 as well.

Related posts:

1. Bargainwatch: Meantime IPA and London Porter on offer at Sainsbury’s
2. Tasting Notes: Meantime London Stout
3. Tasting Notes: Adnams East Green

Slightly odd synchronicity moment: a few weeks ago I spotted an old advertisement for a beer called 'Tally-Ho Old Strong Ale', brewed by Adnams. I'd never heard of it before, despite being reasonably familiar with the range of Adnams bottled ales, so I assumed it was a long-dead vintage from a bygone era, presumably the 1950s.

Then, a couple of weeks later I nipped along to the sorting office to pick up a missed parcel and opened it to discover a bottle of 2009 vintage Tally-Ho, courtesy of Sean Clark at Adnams. As far as I can work out, it seems that Adnams have been brewing small-cask runs of Tally-Ho every year since 1880, but this year is the first time that they've produced a bottled (limited edition and bottle-conditioned) version of this strong, barley-wine style, winter ale. Well, it's the first bottled run for a good while, at least; 'in cask and bottle' is printed on the aforementioned ad poster, so it has been bottled at some point before now.

Anyhow, a very handsome, 330ml bottle it is, too, elegantly lettered and with a subtle, red-jacketed huntsman motif. The ale itself poured a lovely dark chestnut colour with ruby highlights and a thinnish head. No trouble with sediment, despite the bottle conditioning. Dried fruit aromas wafted from bottle and glass alike and the flavours were all about warming yourself in front of an open fire on a crisp winter's day: rich, smoky chocolate, spiked with spicy, peppery notes, all carried on a marvellously creamy mouth-feel; it put me in mind of a rich, dark-chocolate mousse (you know, one of those Gü ones that cost twice as much as anything else but are definitely worth the extra...)

So, in conclusion: I'd say that Tally-Ho is an extremely palatable, eminently sippable and quite delicious strong winter ale that's just my sort of thing. I'll be keeping an eye out for this one and although a 24-pack at £35.75 might be a little rich for my current beer-budget, if I can find an outlet selling singles then I'll definitely be in there for a half-dozen.

Thank you very much indeed to the folks at Adnams for sending this one along for me to try.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Adnams Explorer Chilled
2. Tasting Notes: Adnams Lighthouse
3. Tasting Notes: Adnams East Green

First up was Ridgeway Foreign Export Stout, weighing in at a hefty 8% ABV. Ridgeway beers are brewed by Peter Scholey, formerly the head brewer at Brakspear, mainly for the US export market (as far as I can tell) although I picked this one up in my pre-Xmas trip to Beer Ritz in Leeds.

It poured an almost opaque black and thanks to its bottle-conditioning was slightly effervescent, resulting in a big frothy head, although it didn't hang around for long. Flavour-wise is was all big, burnt sugars cut through with treacle, liquorice and cough syrup. Which seemed appropriate under the circumstances. After a while, the sugars settled down and a more stewed-fruit character began to come through: I eventually decided it was like scraping the sticky bits from the edge of a blackcurrant crumble dish (and everyone knows that those bits are the best bits, right?) Very, very nice indeed and one I'd be happy to go back to (once I have a nose that actually works... it didn't miraculously cure my cold).

After that I brought out the big guns: De Struise / De Molen Black Damnation, a blend of De Struise Black Albert and De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis ("Hell and Damnation"). Two bottles of this 13% ABV Low Countries stout have been lurking menacingly in the cupboard since I bought them as part of a BeerMerchants.com rare continentals case back in the summer, so the one I opened had benefited from an extra six months' bottle maturation (although the best before date is given as March 2014, so that's probably when I'll be opening the other one).

Pouring a thick, thick black with a big tan-coloured head, Black Damnation was all about the big, big flavours again: mocha coffee, dark sugar and toasted hazelnuts, with a generous measure of charcoal and peat-smoke mixed in for good measure - Jo said it distinctly reminded her of Laphroaig single malt - and a bit of a tang of charred orange peel (imagine you left some orange peel on the barbecue after the flames had died down, that sort of thing). All of that delivered by a lasciviously viscous mouth-feel: wonderful stuff, quite wonderful.

And after that one... well, I happily forgot that I had a cold for a while, I can tell you. But it was still lingering on Sunday morning and my sinuses are still on fire as I type this. But hey, you know what they say about a cold: "treat it and it will last for two weeks, don't treat it and it will last for a fortnight". By that reckoning I've got another week or so to go, so I might just try another strong-stout treatment at the weekend, on the off-chance that the next one works. You never know, eh?

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Sierra Nevada Stout
2. Tasting Notes: Red Rat Crazy Dog Stout
3. Tasting Notes: the Beer Swap three [#beerswap]

Into the second half of the box I delve.

Penpont Roughtor
Situated on the northern edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, the Penpont Brewery has only been operating since December 2008 and has three beers on offer, of which this 4.7% amber ale (pronounced Row-tor and named after the second tallest hill in Cornwall) was the second to be produced. It’s dark amber in colour with a floral hoppy aroma and some grassy notes. Flavour is quite citrusy but not overly so, with some grapefruit and lemon character, and a nicely balanced bitterness providing a very pleasant zingy attack down the sides of the tongue, leading into some sweet malt on the dryish finish. There’s quite a chewy texture which makes it a bit heavier than I’ve come to expect from my, admittedly limited, experience of amber ales. An interesting one all in, well worth sampling.

Saffron Blonde
The Saffron Brewery set up operations in May 2006 near Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire and has 8 beers to choose from. Saffron Blonde is 4.3% and with a name like that, it’s an expected rich mid gold colour. The aroma is light and fruity, with nothing really standing out as a dominant smell. That light, fruity nature comes through in the taste as well, with an added warm malty finish. The second half of the bottle lets more caramel malt come through, the bitterness develops a bit more and the dry character falls back. Overall, it’s perhaps a bit thin in body but that makes it easy drinking and refreshing, which is really what I want from a summer ale. Not outstanding, but does the job.

Wooden Hand Cornish Buccaneer
We’ve sampled beer from Cornwall’s Wooden hand Brewery here before and found them reliable so I was interested in seeing how this offering would fare. Cornish Buccaneer is 4.3% and a slightly cloudy, mid-amber colour, with a light fruity aroma with a touch of earthiness. Flavour is very much of hoppy fruitiness to the fore, with some malt hiding in the background, but there was an underlying dry grassy element adding some harshness that I felt unbalanced the overall flavour, to its detriment.

Related posts:

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

The current '2 for £3' offer includes Marston's Old Empire, Fuller's ESB, Robinson's Old Tom and that perennial favourite fall-back session beer Wychwood Hobgoblin, among others.

They've also got a 3 for £5 on Theakston's Old Peculier and I spotted a 2 for £5 on the 750ml versions of both Leffe Brun and Blonde, if that's more your thing. Well worth a visit to the beer aisle next time you're in.

Related posts:

1. Bargainwatch: Meantime London Stout, Purity Ubu & more at Sainsbury’s
2. Bargainwatch: Meantime IPA and London Porter on offer at Sainsbury’s

After a Saturday afternoon mooching around Manchester City Centre, Jo and I decided that food followed by a couple of pints was definitely in order. First we swung by the Micro Bar in the Arndale Market, looking for a few bottles of Dunham Massey Stout to take home with us, but struck out (although I did pick up a bottle of BrewDog Physics and a 2009 Dark Star Imperial Stout for the special cupboard), and seeing as they had their Boggart Rum Porter on draught we thought we'd give that a go. I tried the bottled version a while ago and whilst the carbonation I'd noticed back then wasn't a problem with the draught version - which had a lovely, creamy mouth-feel - it was probably just a bit too tiramisu-sugary-sweet. I downed my half happily enough, but Jo couldn't bring herself to finish hers (so I did the gentlemanly thing and helped out, as you do). After that we queued for Far Eastern Fusion food in Tampopo and then headed off in search of a post-Nasi Goreng / Pad Thai pint.

We tried the Wellington - which was showing some definite promise, with Sharp's Doom Bar on draught - but it was absolutely hammered with post-match Manchester United fans celebrating their 3-0 victory over Burnley and as I was lugging a couple of fairly hefty bags around, we thought we'd better try again. So we aimed for the Crown & Kettle at the top end of Oldham Street, but it was packed out as well; Manchester City fans this time, watching their team getting beaten 2-0 by Everton. [Oh, just for the record I'm a neutral there: I support Bury FC and we'd already recorded a 2-1 win away at Bournemouth, so I was already quite happy, thank you very much.]

This put us up in Marble Arch territory, but we weren't sure if we'd get somewhere to sit and stow our bags on a Saturday afternoon, so we thought we'd give the under-new-management Angel a go instead. And we were very glad we did, because nestled in amongst a selection of four pale and / or golden ales was one highly likely-looking winter warmer: Howard Town Dark Peak. Jo and I both tried it and we both thought it was bloody marvellous.

You know how, every so often, you try a new brew and there's that moment when with the very first sip your tastebuds scream "yes!" and you just know you're going to be enjoying this one right down to the bottom of the glass? Dark Peak was one of those ales. It poured a beautiful dark ruby chestnut with a healthy head and was packed with flavour: rich, dark berries, chewy raisins, just a hint of toffee and burnt sugar. Sweet but not too sweet. Easy-drinking but not a quaffer; Jo and I were both aware we were drinking a 6.4% strong ale - the alcohol content was noticeable by its warmth, but was by no means harsh or intrusive - so we sipped accordingly. Although to be honest it wasn't one we would have wanted to rush anyway. Howard Town Dark Peak is definitely an ale to savour and enjoy at leisure (and the same again afterwards, thank you very much, and have one for yourself as well). Lovely stuff. Highly recommended.

[A note for any Manchester-locals wondering whether the new Angel is worth a visit: they've got Williams Bros Midnight Sun due in next weekend, as well as a selection of brews from Simpson & Simpson (Brown Cow?) in Selby. And the new food menu looks very interesting - a selection of game-birds (whole mallard, anyone?) and assorted traditional English dishes, with portion-sizes that didn't look too stingy at all. Could be well worth a visit at the weekend...]

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Dark Hare
2. Tasting Notes: Bateman’s Dark Lord
3. Tasting Notes: Budweiser Budvar Dark

When it comes to New Year's Eve, Jo and I generally like to nip out early doors for some food, then have a couple of beers, then get ourselves home well before all the midnight-related nonsense kicks off. This year (last year?) we went to our favourite curry house for part one and then hopped on the tram up to Bury for part two, at the Trackside.

Glancing along the pump-clips I spotted Northern Two-Tone Special, which turned out to be a 5.0% ABV chocolate stout. Jo and I both partook and we were both pleased with the result: a drinkable, enjoyable stout with a hit of coffee up front, lots of roast malt and then some lingering chocolatey flavours to finish. Not as downright delicious as Marble Chocolate or Outstanding Stout, but still a fine, dark brew from a brewer whose beers I hadn't encountered before.

Jo had a couple of halves (with some sort of vaguely Xmas-themed brew in-between, which she wasn't so keen on) and I had a couple of pints, with a Breconshire Cribyn (Ed sampled the bottled version recently) to finish with as a bit of a palate-refresher. After that it was time for part three, although we diverted round to the next-door-but-one neighbours for a spot of first-footing, a go at their port-finish Balvenie and something involving hot apple juice and brandy. All in all, a very pleasant evening indeed.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Outstanding Stout
2. Tasting Notes: Rambler’s Ruin
3. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 1

On a pre-Xmas trip to the Trackside in search of a lunchtime winter warmer I was lucky enough to strike gold in the form of Phoenix Humbug.

This 7.0% ABV strong ale is packed full of huge malt, caramel, toffee and burnt sugar flavours with plenty of seasonal spices - noticeably ginger and nutmeg - on the after-taste.

The alcohol level compliments rather than dominates the flavours, resulting in an incredibly satisfying slow-sipper that's guaranteed to chase the winter blues away. Absolutely gorgeous.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Dunham Massey Winter Warmer
2. Tasting Notes: Robinson’s Ginger Tom
3. Tasting Notes: Innis & Gunn Canadian Cask

Here are a few slightly odder ones that I found on a quick trawl of the search results (click the images for larger versions):

In the Old Days they pretended to give the fox a sporting chance by getting properly pissed-up pre-hunt.	That explains what happened to the pretzel guy and the balloon seller, but whose hat is that..?
Recyclying? What's that, then..?	Bud and MEAT - making Americans hefty since the 1950s
The slogan apparently reads: 'The Beer from the Spring Hops Has Arrived, The Enemy is Surrendering'	Just what the world needed back in the '50s: an in-car beer dispenser! Spoof or genuine, I wonder?

Plenty more where these came from: www.vintageadbrowser.com

Related posts:

1. Stocking up on some Scottish Beer
2. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2007
3. Bathing in beer

The continuing adventures of one man’s journey through a case of free beer.

Quantock Sunraker
The Quantock Brewery is based in Somerset, England and has only been operating since December 2007, but has already picked up an award for this, the 4.2% Sunraker. It’s a light golden colour with a sweet fruity aroma, like fruit salad chews, and a bit of pear in the background. There’s more of that fruit in the taste, with citrusy notes of lemon, grapefruit, orange and lime all vying for attention. The bitterness edges a bit too close to the sour end of the scale at times, and the dryish finish stops the beer being as fully satisfying as I think a summer ale should be, but the interesting hoppy flavour certainly makes it worth sampling.

Empire Victory Ale
The Empire Brewery in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, (not to be confused with the Empire Brewing Company of New York), is the only one to have two offerings in the case. According to the sheet in the box one of them was meant to be Golden Warrior, but it must have sold out as instead I got Victory Ale. This must be a new release as there’s no mention of it on any of the sources I looked at, and that includes the MyBreweryTap site. It’s 4.2%, a cloudy amber/brown colour and with quite an odd aroma of peanuts, brown vinegar and tar. The taste has a nutty maltiness, but a strange, and very unpleasant, bitterness ruins everything. Maybe it's a bad bottle, maybe it's a failed experiment - either way, I can find nothing to recommend this, one of the worst beers I've ever had.

Empire Strikes Back
The second offering from the Empire gang is a much better affair. A 4.0% pale gold ale, Strikes Back has a quite light citrusy aroma of grapefruit and lime. The flavour is also light and hoppy, with more of that citrusy grapefruit and lime, and a touch of orange, but it quickly falls apart with a short –lived and slightly dry finish. The second half of the bottle shows a marked improvement, and it's certainly a pleasant and refreshing beer, just not a must-try one.

Related posts:

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

Back in November I posted about receiving a mixed case of beer from the generous folks over at MyBreweryTap.com and it’s really about time I covered what I thought about the individual beers in the box.

Breconshire Cribyn
I decided to start off with one from a brewery I’m quite familiar with, having already covered several of their beers and being, for the most part, impressed - the Breconshire Brewery from Powys in Wales. Cribyn is their 4.5% Best Bitter, brewed with Bramling Cross, Northdown and Challenger hops. It’s a pale straw colour with a light fruity aroma, and a doughy undertone. Taste is very much of zesty hops, a nicely controlled bitterness giving a very refreshing mouthfeel, and some malty notes in the background. Another fine ale from Breconshire and a pleasant start to the case.

Slater’s Ales Top Totty
Slater’s Ales was originally known as the Eccleshall Brewery, and has been based in Stafford, England since 2004. Top Totty is an award winning 4.0% blonde ale, so unsurprisingly is a pale straw colour with a light hoppy aroma. Flavour is of more zesty hops with a citrusy bitterness, and some malt pushing through on the finish, much better than the naff name and label would imply. Mouthfeel is a bit thin but it’s easy drinking and a couple of these would be quite refreshing on a warm summer’s day.

Old Bear Original
The Old Bear Brewery can be found in Keighley, West Yorkshire and have been in operation since 1993, with seven regular beers on offer. As well as making beer they also operate a bottle reclamation service, collecting bottles for re-use from pubs and clubs across West Yorkshire. Old Bear Original is 3.9%, is a dark toffee colour (or brown bear-ish) with a malty aroma of toffee, biscuit and toast. The flavour I must admit to finding a bit odd. There’s some caramel maltiness and some bitter orange/lemon hops, but there was an over-riding acetic quality which I found very off-putting and felt unbalanced the whole flavour. It may have been a bad bottle but I don’t see me seeking out another to find out.

Related posts:

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

Then I remembered something that Reluctant Scooper said ages ago, about making a DIY cocktail during a visit to the Marble Arch... I realised that we actually had all the necessary ingredients in the beer cupboard already, so Jo and I rolled up our bar-sleeves and got to work.

Here's how we did it:

Step 1: Gather the ingredients

For this recipe, you will need the following (see fig. 1):

fig. 1 - Assemble the Ingredients

1. A bottle of Marble Chocolate (a rather superb 5.5%ABV "stout(ish)" dark ale)
2. A bottle of Marble Ginger (we used the 6%ABV variety - a.k.a. "Big Ginger")
3. A suitable cocktail glass (or "pint pot" as they're more commonly known)

Step 2: Pour half the Marble Chocolate into your cocktail glass (see fig. 2):

fig. 2 - Pour the Marble Chocolate...

WARNING! At this stage you will be sorely tempted to guzzle the delicious, chocolatey liquid, spurred on by those fabulous cocoa-aromas and the sight of all that gorgeous dark beer sitting there, calling out to you... but you must resist! Or at least, you must resist unless you're only planning on making one measure of delicious cocktail mixture, in which case you can sup half of each bottle au naturel if you prefer. But bear with us, we promise the end result is well worth it...

Step 3: Pour (carefully!) half the Marble Ginger into the same glass (see fig 3):

fig. 3 - Merge the Marble Ginger...

Jo was obviously the glamorous hand-model for this stage of the process (hers are frankly much lovelier hands than mine - nobody needs to see my gnarled and keyboard-scarred digits interrupting the visual delights of Marble Chocoginge).

Step 4: The end result

fig. 1 - The finished article... Cheers!

I believe the phrase we're looking for is: "Ta-daaaa!"

Assuming you haven't already supped the remaining beer, you can then prepare a second measure for your glamorous hand-model, before she kicksyouinnanuts and steals yours.

Tasting Notes: Delicious! Marvellous! Gorgeous! Fabulous! All that warm, spicy ginger dances on your tongue, and then a bitter-sweet wave of chocolatey goodness rolls along behind it: flavour, flavour, flavour all the way to your tonsils. Seriously, what could be more Xmas-y than the combination of chocolate and ginger, all wrapped up in a 5.75%ABV (averaging the two, that is) beer-based liquid delivery system? Eggnog? Bailey's? Advocaat? Bah, humbug! Grab yourself a couple of bottles of Marble's finest, apply them to a pint pot and you'll be well on your way to an extremely merry Yuletide indeed, I promise you.

Big thanks to Reluctant Scooper for the inspiration and to the Marble Brewery for the fantastic ingredients!

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Marble Pint, Marble Dobber, Marble Summer
2. Tasting Notes: Robinson’s Ginger Tom
3. Tasting Notes: Robinson’s Chocolate Tom

I was up in Bury town centre on Saturday lunchtime and wandered into Malt in search of a pint. But all the tables had been taken over by overspill food customers from Automatic and the selection of beers on offer was less than impressive anyhow, so I headed round the corner to the Trackside instead. A bit of a calculated risk on a Saturday lunchtime - air redolent of cooking fat and a high probability of children underfoot, especially just before Christmas - but luckily the table in the corner was free and my gamble was rewarded with a pint of Dunham Massey Winter Warmer.

A lovely chestnut brown with a thick, frothy head, Winter Warmer tasted even better than it looked: rich, malty and spicy, with ginger and nutmeg, pepper and cloves all swirling around a base of dried fruit and candied citrus peel. Lovely, lovely stuff: Yuletide in a pint glass!

I could have happily stayed for a couple more, definitely, but the aroma of burger and chips from the next table (it smelled a lot more appetising than it looked - the Trackside may be brilliant for beer, but the grub in there is a bit on the basic side) sent me forth in search of lunch. You know, think the Microbar in the Arndale Market sells Dunham Massey beers in bottles though, so I might have to find an excuse to swing by and check for Winter Warmer; it's well worth tracking down.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Phoenix Humbug
2. Tasting Notes: Howard Town Dark Peak
3. Tasting Notes: Kelham Island Easy Rider

The shop was easy to locate and although there's not much around there in the way of parking in the immediate vicinity, we managed to find a spot not too far away. Grabbing assorted wine carriers from the boot of the car, we headed inside. Beer Ritz turned out to be a small, former corner-shop, with a fine-looking selection of superior wines and rare whiskies as soon as you walk in and then a raised section at the back of the shop; a horseshoe-shaped Aladdin's cave of beery wonders.

Honestly, I could've just asked for one of everything and been 95% certain of being able to dip into the resulting selection and end up trying something new. Although I recognised a few of the more interesting bottles I've been lucky enough to sample over the past 18 months or so, my attention was still being constantly grabbed by new and interesting beers I'd either only heard of or seen mentioned on other beer blogs before then. I had a chat with the chap behind the counter (not Zak, he was down in London for the British Guild of Beer Writers do) and ended up with a fair few recommendations to think about.

In the end, Jo and I left the store with two dozen bottles of incredibly interesting-looking beer and left a good two-dozen more on the shelf that we could have grabbed but decided to leave for next time. Here's what we came away with:

Big British Beers

First up, just a few of the many Great British beers that caught my eye, all of them fairly high ABV, slow sippers rather than session brews:

• Sam Smith's Winter Welcome - a 6.0% ABV full-bodied ale from a Yorkshire brewery steeped in tradition. They say: "When orange peel and cinnamon are added, you have an authentic wassail". Think I might end up maturing this one for a couple of years alongside the bottle fo Stingo I bought back in the summer.
• Harvey's Elizabethan Ale - an 8.1% ABV barleywine first brewed for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 and "comparable in strength to the beer produced by Tudor brewers during the reign of Elizabeth I". One to savour...
• BrewDog Movember BrewDog's recent charity brew, rumoured to be a cross between Punk IPA and Trashy Blonde, very good indeed by all accounts (okay, not as big as some, but still definitely British).
• Thornbridge Alliance Madeira Reserve 2007 - an 11% ABV barleywine matured for 18 months, finished in madeira wine casks and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast; the result of a collaboration between Thornbridge and Brooklyn Brewery.
• Wensleydale Beater's Winter Ale - 8.0% ABV and jam-packed full of sweet fruity flavours if the Wensleydale Brewery website is anything to go by.
• Wensleydale Porter - No info on the Wensleydale website, but the label tells me it's a 6.6% ABV traditional-style porter "brimming with roasted malt, raisins and molasses".
• J. W. Lees Harvest Ale 08 (sorry, you have to feck about with Lees' Flash-based website for more info) - an 11.5% ABV barleywine, served in a 250ml bottle. Tandleman has rhapsodised about this one on a couple of occasions.
• Ridgeway Foreign Export Stout - an 8% stout produced by former Brakspear head brewer Peter Scholey and sold under his Ridgeway label

Intriguing Imports

And then a few from further afield that I particularly wanted to try:

• Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale 2006 - at 7.5% ABV this one's probably not as "extra strong" as Coopers think it is, but it still sounds like a tasty brew.
• Schloss Eggenberg Urbock 23° - a 9.6% ABV Austrian doppelbock, should be an interesting experience. Might save this one for the summer months and give it a bit of a chilling.
• Anchor Old Foghorn Barleywine Ale - all the way from San Francisco, Anchor's Old Foghorn is a highly-hopped 8.2% ABV brew that should be good to sip on a hot summer's day. So, here's hoping we get one next year...
• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - this US import, bourbon barrell-aged, 13% ABV monster-stout comes from Chicago and carries the weight of the proud boast: "one sip has more flavor than your average case of beer". I'll see their sip and raise a 330ml bottle...
• Coopers Best Extra Stout - a 6.6% ABV Aussie stout. This one will turn out to be the anti-XXXX, with any luck.

Jo's selection

Not to be out-done, Jo grabbed a few likely-looking candidates for her own corner of the beer cupboard:

• Wensleydale Black Dub Oat Stout - Malted oats are added to this 4.4% ABV stout for a rich malty finish.
• Burton Bridge Bramble Stout - a 5.0% ABV stout, "blackberry juiced, bottle conditioned".
• Isle of Skye Black Cuillin - a 4.5% ABV dark ale brewed with roast rolled oats and heather honey.
• Orkney Dragonhead Stout - only 4.0% ABV but packed full of "chocolate, toast and nut flavours, with a satisfying spicy hop finish".
• Williams Bros Black - a dark ale, rather than a stout, weighing in at 4.2% ABV
• Ossett Treacle Stout (sorry, another dose of crappy website navigation) - "A rich stout with powerful liquorice and chocolate malt flavour." 5.0% ABV

The Festive Five

Finally, what with it being the season to be merry and all, we thought we'd grab a few Xmas-themed beers:

• Hepworth & Co Vintage Christmas Ale - A 7.5% bottle conditioned strong ale.
• Burton Bridge Santa's Christmas Porter - A 4.0% ABV "very dark brown but not black" fruity porter (Jo will be supping this one, most likely)
• Gouden Carolus Christmas - A 10.5% Belgian brewed with three different hops and six herbs and spices. One for the Xmas-pud stage of the proceedings?
• Ridgeway Very Bad Elf - a 7.5% ABV winter warmer, one of six seasonal beers produced mainly for the US export trade
• RCH Brewery Ale Mary - again, no info on the website there, but the label tells me it's 6.0% ABV and brewed with coriander seed oil, apparently. Should be interesting.

A fantastic selection of great beers there, I'm sure you'll agree. I'm looking forward to sampling and talking about those in a few tasting notes posts to come. And Jo has already tried a few of hers. Unfortunately, the Isle of Skye Black Cuillin had gone off in the bottle (it was very sour, surely not right for a honeyed beer) but the Orkney Dragonhead and Williams Bros Black were both very nice indeed. They were quite similar; with strong coffee and roast malt flavours, although the Dragonhead was the more pronounced of the two. Jo declared them both a huge success anyhow, so that's the main thing.

Related posts:

1. New Arrivals: Bank Top, Wold Top, Leyden, Holt’s & J. W. Lees
2. More New Arrivals… New Arrivals Galore
3. New Arrivals: BrewDogs and Daas Organics

So it's huge and thoroughly deserved congratulations to all the winners and runners-up of this years British Guild of Beer Writers Awards, particularly Mark Dredge and Woolpack Dave in the New Media category and Pete Brown, whose incredibly entertaining (yet still mildly educational) Hops and Glory netted him the Beer Writer of the Year prize, which he celebrated with another deleted scene from the book. The Thornbridge brewer's blog has a report from the Awards Dinner with food and beer tasting notes that are guaranteed to make you drool all over your keyboard (or is it just me who needs a keyboard-mop?) and the BGBW's own Adrian Tierney-Jones has posted details of the menu as well.

Meanwhile, back at the beer-blogging coal-face: Mark Dredge muses on Extreme Beer: what is it, what does a beer have to be / do / go through to qualify as 'extreme'? Tandleman has been talking evolution and innovation again, with another very interesting post that's provoked a lot of discussion in the comments section. And Adrian Tierney-Jones weighs in with thoughts on both those issues, with a focus on the great work being done down at Fuller's. All well worth a read.

Brewery news: Roger Protz informs us that Greenwich-based brewery Meantime are expanding, having signed the lease on a new brewery premises that will allow them to double and eventually quadruple their current output. BrewDog have secured planning permission for their proposed state-of-the-art brewery. And the folks at the Otter Brewery have been awarded the Sustainable Devon accolade for their environmentally friendly approach to brewing.

Pete Brown reports from the opening of The Tap, a brand new pub on Sheffield station. That serves a range of Thornbridge brews on tap. Sounds like a trip to South Yorkshire is on the cards.

Beer = Poetry. So says Carol Ann Duffy, as quoted by Zythophile.

Jeff Evans lets us into the secrets of brewing a strong Christmas Ale, whilst Tandleman bemoans the lack of imagination that most brewers seem to apply to the concept (for some reason my eye was drawn to this comment, and I believe I may have uttered the phrase "OMFG, I am so there!")

Tyson reports on the fate of 41,472 bottles of Becks lager seized by HM Customs for failure to pay excise duty, which will not be re-cycled and used to produce electricity.

The Pub Curmudgeon has posted an interesting and thoughtful piece on beer advertising and the inherent snobbery of a small sub-set of the real ale enthusiast crowd. And he's crunched the numbers on the latest stealth rise in beer duty revealed by Alistair Darling's latest pre-budget announcements.

The Reluctant Scooper has also been crunching the numbers, this time on alcohol units and looking at the whole concept of recommended unit limits. He's also been helping to expand our linguistic horizons with Jaipur: new definitions.

And finally: has been experimenting with beer floats (that's an ice-cream + beer combo, in case you were wondering) and concludes that a good dollop of hops works wonders. I have to confess, I'm still not entirely convinced; I'm just not much of one for messing around with cocktails. Then again, I saw a port and stout mull-it being made on last Sunday's 'Something For the Weekend' and I might actually be tempted...

Related posts:

1. Around the Beerblogosphere #4
2. Around the Beerblogosphere #1
3. Around the Beerblogosphere #3

This Tuesday I didn't really have time for a Bree Louise detour on the way back to Euston station, so I decided to try the Doric Arch (Head of Steam) instead. I hadn't realised that the place was actually there until that morning, when I left Euston on foot for a change and happened to wander past. A sign in the window boasted that Fuller's London Porter was available on keg and as this is a beer I've been wanting to sample for quite some time now I happily called in on the way back in the evening.

I was very glad I did. London Porter poured a lovely dark ebony brown with ruby highlights and a decent head. The first taste was full of liquorice and dried berry fruits, with a freshly ground coffee and fruit cake following on. There was a hint of smoke in there as well and a dollop of treacle for good measure. It was rich, sweet, smooth and went down extremely nicely indeed. If I'd left more time before the train I'd have sunk another one, definitely (although they had Kelham Island Pale Rider on offer as well, so I was sorely tempted to try that one instead). I have a sneaky suspicion that I'll be back before too long, though.

My new mission is to get hold of some Fuller's London Porter in bottles. Partly for comparison purposes, partly because I quite fancy trying the London Porter stew recipe on their website. Hey, Sainsbury's Head Beer Buyer! How about it?

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Meantime London Porter
2. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s London Pride, Fuller’s ESB
3. Bargainwatch: Meantime IPA and London Porter on offer at Sainsbury’s

I made the trip to the Bree Louise again a couple of weeks ago and was rewarded for my detour with a pint of Sambrook's Junction.

At 4.5% ABV it's still well within session range and whilst it's a little more substantial than it's slighter sibling, Sambrook's Wandle it's no less refreshing. Junction does makes more of its malt flavours; there's a big hit up front backed up with a spicy, nutty flavour that makes for an extremely easy-drinking, very pleasant pint indeed. Definitely one I'd be happy to drink all evening, if the opportunity arose.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Sambrook’s Wandle
2. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s London Porter
3. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s Chiswick Bitter

First up was Ascot Ales Alligator Ale, a golden ale brewed with single-varietal (US cascade) hops. I was expecting something light and refreshing, but this 4.6% ABV ended up punching well above its expected weight. It poured a slightly cloudy (although that may have been my fault, I might not have been as careful with the sediment as I should have been, distracted as I was by watching the World Cup draw) dark gold colour, with a very thin head. The first sip delivered a big hit of rich malt, which took on a chocolatey character as the beer warmed up. The hop finish was sneaky: it crept up and slugged my taste buds when I wasn't looking, but hung around for ages afterwards in the lingering, dry finish. There was a hint of citrus sourness in there as well; a mix of bitter orange and acid drops. Very little in the way of sweetness, but with plenty of character and flavour, I definitely enjoyed my first Alligator encounter.

Second round: Dark Star Imperial Stout. I had a strong suspicion that I'd get on with this one very well indeed, Imperial Stout being pretty much my all-time favourite beer style, and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. This 2008 vintage, 10.5% ABV roast-malt monster poured a lovely opaque black, with no head whatsoever. The first sip released a cascade of big, big flavours: rich, dark chocolate, sour cherries, port wine were the first three I scribbled down as tears of pure joy leaked from the corners of my eyes. After that I noted treacle, liquorice and then a definite vanilla, toasted almond, marzipan-esque semi-sweetness began to creep through. The sweeter flavours became more pronounced as I sipped my way down the glass, but at no point did they take over or become cloying; that bitter-sour note was ever-present, keeping the whole thing in quite wonderful balance. Delicious. Absolutely delicious. I'd happily drink a bottle of Dark Star Imperial Stout any day of the week.

And so to round three: Harvey's Imperial Extra Double Stout. Not just Imperial. Not even just Imperial Extra. No, this one's Imperial Extra Double Stout... so I was expecting something that was going to be nothing less than absolutely incredible. Bottled in 2003, this beer had already been maturing for six years when I cracked it open on Friday evening. I have no idea what it tasted like when it was young, but aged for 60 months or so, it was... well... I started off with 'smells like christmas cake' (when it was still in the bottle) and moved on to 'looks like used engine oil', this second observation provided by Jo, after the pour. And it tasted like... rubber. And burnt coffee. And red wine vinegar. And... okay, you know how the phrase 'a bit of a Marmite beer' is usually used metaphorically? in the case of Harvey's IEDS it's quite literal, too. Individually, there's not a flavour there that should have endeared me to Harvey's ober-stout, but slam them all together and you get something that really works. In an oddly savoury, distinctly medicinal, weirdly masochistic way, it all just works. I managed to finish the bottle, anyhow (which surprised me almost as much as it did Jo) and, although I wouldn't rush back to it, I'd still give it another go. I think. Tell you what, offer me another one and we'll see what happens...

Huge, huge thanks to Beer Viking crew member Simon B for sending me this eclectic, interesting and extremely generous selection. Some genuinely remarkable (and surprising) flavours, there. I'm very happy indeed that I took part in the first round of the Beer Swap project, and I'll be glad to volunteer for the next one.

Related posts:

1. My Beer Swap Beers are Here! [#beerswap]
2. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Rake Raspberry Imperial Stout
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Tokyo*

The package from Simon contained the following:

      

Alligator Ale from Ascot Ales. A single-varietal (US Cascade) hop golden ale made in small batches of 4 barrels at a time.

Imperial Stout from Dark Star, 2008 vintage. A 10.5% ABV uber-stout in the Baltic export tradition. (I owe Simon a pint for sending me this one, definitely.)

Imperial Extra Double Stout from Harveys, 2003 vintage. 9% ABV and sanctioned by A. Le Coa and Tartu Brewery in Estonia. (If the last one earned Simon a pint, then for this one I probably owe him a hogshead...)

Now, anyone involved in the Beer Swap project will have spotted that I've only mentioned three bottles there, rather than the four that Beer Swap participants were asked to send. Simon did send a fourth - a bottle of Dark Star Sunburst - but alas, it didn't survive the journey intact. So, whilst I'm truly impressed with Simon's generosity and dedication to the Beer Swap cause, I can't say the same for the efficiency of service or customer care demonstrated by Collect+. They were, frankly, a bit crap. Not only did they take ten days to ship the parcel from Marple (just South of Manchester) to Prestwich (just North of Manchester) - which is a journey of "19.2 mi – about 35 mins" according to Google Maps - but they also managed to break the bottle of Sunburst, despite the copious amount of newspaper packing that Simon had included in the box and the 'Fragile' tape he'd used to seal it up with.

So when I picked up the parcel I was greeted with one end of a box reduced to a mass of soggy cardboard and the pungent (yet still oddly enticing) whiff of stale beer, handed to me by an apologetic shopkeeper who assured me that this what it had looked like when he received it:

I mentioned the damaged parcel to Collect+ (pointing out that the broken bottle had been removed, so I couldn't see whether it had been crushed in transit or had just cracked under its own pressure) and asked them to refund Simon his sending fee. They flatly refused. Instead, they apologised for the damage, but in the same email quoted chunks of their terms & conditions stating that they don't carry liquids or glass except by prior arrangement.

Which, of course, they're perfectly entitled to do. Fair's fair, terms and conditions are agreed to in advance and all that. But to me, that sort of approach ("oh, sorry... not our problem though") still smacks of an opportunity lost on their part; an opportunity to impress a first-time customer with their dedication to providing an above-and-beyond standard of service. Their loss: I won't be using them again in future. Terms and conditions aside, Collect+ still managed to break a beer bottle that was perfectly well-packaged in a box clearly marked 'fragile', which suggests their drivers or depot staff are nowhere near as careful with other people's property as they should be.

Anyhow, today is actually the last day for posting a Beer Swap write-up, according to the original schedule. Thanks to Collect+'s amazing ability to turn a 35 minute journey into a 10-day delay, I'm going to be cutting it fine if I'm going to make the deadline... Sunday seems like a much more likely prospect than this evening, but I'll do my best. Depends on how much recorded TV we end up watching. Or rather, if I'm honest about it, how engrossed I get in Football Manager 2010... :)

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: the Beer Swap three [#beerswap]
2. Getting my Beer Swap in gear

They also have a whole selection of bottled real ales at 2-for-£3 or 3-for-2 or something, but they've been running this sort offer all year as far as I can tell. The Meantime one is new. And both those beers are rather special. You'd be mad not to.

Related posts:

1. Bargainwatch: Meantime London Stout, Purity Ubu & more at Sainsbury’s
2. Tasting Notes: Meantime London Porter
3. Special Offer alert: Sainsbury’s 3 for £4

Talk about a tricky decision when I got to the bar. The Trackside is usually a good bet for a dark beer or two, but last Saturday there was a choice of four, plus assorted bitters and pale ales. I started off (possibly a little rashly) with a pint of Acorn Gorlovka Imperial Stout; a gorgeous, coffee-rich, smoky stout that weighs in at a session-hefty 6% ABV. I sampled this one a few weeks ago at the Marble Arch, in a more cautious half measure. Possibly I should have saved that one for later and stuck to the halves as well, but I think I must have had a rush of blood to the head and besides, the night was still (fairly) young. That one went down very nicely indeed (although probably far faster than it should have) and so it was back to the bar, this time for a swift half of Rossendale Pitch Porter. Not quite as robust as the Gorlovka, although still a respectable 5% ABV, it was another very pleasant roast-malt experience and definitely one I'd be happy to repeat.

After that I made my first tactical error of the evening: instead of joining Jo on the Dunham Dark - a smooth, slightly sweet mild with a light touch and only 3.8%% ABV, I instead opted for a bottle of Robinson's Chocolate Tom that I spotted in the fridge. I've tried both the Old Tom and Ginger Tom before, and I'd always promised myself I'd have a go at the Chocolate version, after Ed gave it a write-up a while back. This was clearly the opportunity I'd been waiting for, so I went for it. Bad move. I'm not sure whether it was because the bottle had been chilled, or the beer was too young, but in any case it was far, far too sweet for even my sweet tooth to enjoy. If Marble Chocolate is Green & Black's in a glass then this was Dairy Milk by comparison and I'm afraid there was little else to notice or to recommend it. If I ever see a bottle on sale I might grab it and put it away for a while to see if it ages at all well, but I'll be definitely steering clear of drinking it out of a fridge again.

My second tactical error of the night involved sending Andy to the bar for a half of Dunham Milk Stout. I should have known better: Andy doesn't really do beer by demi-measures and came back to the table with a large half (two halves in a single glass, if you catch my drift). Which was a bit of a shame, because I'd already sampled some when Jo got a half in an earlier round and whilst I was interested enough to give it a decent go, I didn't really want to invest in a full draught. It was... okay. Considering Dunham's beers usually rate 'damned good' to 'excellent', I was a bit surprised at how ordinary this one tasted. A bit thin, nothing in the way of defining characteristics or stand-out flavours. I'm no milk stout expert, I admit, so maybe it's actually a cracking example of the style, but if you ask me their Dunham Porter and Dunham Stout are much, much better. By this stage Andy was back on the bitter instead of the stouts and I had a glug of whatever he was drinking (it might have been Dark Star Sunburst, that rings a bell) and very tasty it was, too. Ah, well.

So, there you go: another great selection of beers at the Trackside, which is pretty much par for the course for those guys. We'll be back, and it won't be too long before we are, either.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes from the Altrincham Bottle and Cask Festival 2009
2. Tasting Notes: Meantime Chocolate
3. Tasting Notes: Dunham Massey Winter Warmer

Another double-dose of Congrats - this time to BrewDog on their Hardcore IPA winning the Best Artisan Beer category in this year's Independent Food and Drink Awards and to Burnley-based Moorhouse's for taking the We're Backing Business Award at the Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards.

Staying with BrewDog, remember when they launched the Zeitgeist blog, back when they launched the Zeitgeist black lager? The idea was that anyone who bought a Zeitgeist could then log into the blog and demonstrate their unbridled creativity by posting stuff. Seems they might have over-estimated the demand for that sort of service, as they've announced that the Zeitgeist blog is now open to all. I just hope they're taking someone on full time to delete the inevitable flood of spam...

Although of course, the really big BrewDog news was their launch of the "World's Strongest Beer": Tactical Nuclear Penguin. A 32%ABV (yup, thirty-two) uber-imperial stout, prices at £30 £39 £35 y'say? Pah, in a few weeks that'll be a whole 8% below the World's Strongest Beer, according to Barry M. Veteran beer writer Roger Protz was publicly unimpressed with BrewDog (not for the first time), questioning both TNP's ingredients andt he timing of the release, although his piece prompted howls of outrage by commenters which resulted in a subsequent clarification of his position from Mr P. Say one thing for the BrewDog boys: say they know how to get a debate going...

Meanwhile, Thornbridge have launched the first of a new range of beers brewed specifically to go well with traditional British food and endorsed by celebrity chefs. First up is 'Brian Turner Amber Ale'.

Roger Protz and Pete Brown brought us some great news from Burton: Coors have announced plans to (re-)open the The National Brewery Centre - the new name for the former Bass Museum / Coors Visitor Centre - by Easter 2010 and open a new 30-barrel craft brewery as well. Mind you, Zythophile did rather take issue with the suggestion that Burton was the first place in the world to brew pale ales and provided a lengthy explanation as to why.

A few days later, Pete Brown wasn't quite so happy with a truly atrocious Daily Mail article on alcohol consumption (and who can blame him?) although judging by how phis piece ends, it looks like he may have been instrumental in getting the article neatly neutered. Power to the beery people!

Marston's-owned Jennings' brewery was badly hit by the floods in Cockermouth last month, but the Publican reports they're due to re-open in the new year, with production moving to other Marston's sites in the meantime. Tandleman worries that this might have an adverse impact on flavour and quality and possibly set a dangerous set of wheels turning in the minds of the Marston's decision-makers.

Also via Tandleman, news that love-em or hate-em pub chain Wetherspoon's is planning to open another 250 pubs in the next 10 years, creating 10,000 jobs in the process. They can open one in my neck of the woods, definitely. I've got nothing against Holt's you understand, but some choice within walking distance of home would be welcome...

So, you think you're a bit of a scooper? You think you've got a tick or two in your notebook? Dale Van Wieren might just have the edge. Mind you it sounds like Mark Dredge was having a pretty good go at catching up, what with his visit to the 2 Kents beer festival and then the utterly awesome-sounding stout night.

The smoking ban continues to be a contentious issue. The Pub Curmudgeon kicked things off and Tandleman lit up a firestorm of debate (check out the comments thread). Woolpack Dave provided a publican's-eye view of the issue and I think Mark Dredge rounded things up quite neatly. For the record, I said my piece in a comment on Dave's blog.

Continuing a theme developed in Around the Beerblogosphere #3, it sounds like Boak and Bailey's Christmas Pud will be a bit special this year as well. As usual, we'll be having a supermarket gluten-free special and lumping it... <sigh>

Something we'll all be familiar with, I'm sure: author Michael Marshall Smith shares a few painfully-crafted thoughts on the general inadvisability of hangovers.

Another couple of top-notch-sounding brews for the wishlist: Adnams Innovation, as recommended by Andy Mogg over at beerreviews.co.uk and Castle Rock Harvest Pale, highly praised by Paul Garrard on realaleblog. Plus, Jeff Evans recommends 10 great beers for Christmas (just in time for my planned shopping trip to Beer Ritz on Saturday, which is nice...)

Finally, I couldn't pass up on the latest health research (which I'm sure you've all heard about by now): Alcohol protects mens' hearts says the BBC. I'm sure Shane MacGowan's liver will be delighted to hear that its sacrifice hasn't been for nothing...

Related posts:

1. Around the Beerblogosphere #5
2. Around the Beerblogosphere #3
3. Around the Beerblogosphere #2

A few weeks ago, the up-shot of a short Twitter conversation with Hopdaemon's @PeteBrissenden was that Pete very kindly offered to send me a few samples of his beers, seeing as I was unlikely to be able to find them on sale anywhere in Manchester. A box containing three bottles of Hopdaemon's finest duly arrived and I got stuck in last Friday evening.

I started with Hopdaemon Green Daemon, a bottle conditioned helles bier (which, Wikipedia tells us, simply means 'pale lager') and frankly it turned out to be one of the very best lagers (pale or otherwise) that I've ever had the pleasure to encounter. Things started off rather well with a lovely, fruity-caramel aroma as soon as the bottle was opened. The beer poured a dark amber-gold colour with almost no head and the first taste released a cascade of rich, sweet fruit flavours: most noticeably cantaloupe melon, with a touch of peach and papaya. There was a bit of toasted-almond in there as well and coupled with a lingering dryness to the after-taste that helped to keep the fruit in check, providing a good balance to the whole. Great flavours, carried along on a silky-syrupy mouth-feel. Quite a distance from my mental picture of a typical pale lager - if I didn't know better I'd have said this one was more of a Belgian-style beer - but I'll take Pete's word for it. Definitely worth seeking out.

Bottle number two was Skrimshander IPA. I first tried Skrimshander a few years ago, when some friends of ours hosted a barbecue party and some of their Kent-based relatives made the trip with a case or two in the boot. I remember enjoying it immensely - that's why I'd gotten in touch with Pete in the first place, to see if he could recommend a sales outlet Up North (alas. no, Hopdaemon generally only supplies retailers Down South) - and I was very glad of the opportunity to re-acquaint myself. Weighing in at 4.5% ABV, Skrimshander might not be as strong as a we've come to expect an IPA to be, but it certainly doesn't disappoint in the big hop flavours department. Again, a very pleasant mouth-feel conveys a dry, crisp, hop-heaviness with a lingering bitter finish that sneaks up on you a couple of seconds after you've swallowed. There's a faint nuttiness, hardly any fruit and an almost whisky-like character to the malt notes. Very, very nice indeed.

Going for the hat-trick, I cracked open the Leviathan, anticipating the biggest and boldest beer of the evening from this 6% ABV ale. It was a pleasure to behold as it poured; a rich ruby-chestnut body with a thick, frothy head. Flavour-wise it was all rich malt, with hints of treacly smoke and another long, dry finish. Not as sweet as I thought it was going to be; everything kept nicely in balance. Another damn fine beer, which I enjoyed immensely.

So: three damn fine beers from Hopdaemon there. If I had written down the one I though I would enjoy most before I started, I would have predicted Leviathan, but on reflection I think I'd actually pick the Green Daemon as the best beer on the night, if only because it was so much better than I was expecting it to be. Skrimshander is a very good example of a relatively low-alcohol IPA and Leviathan is an extremely tasty strong dark ale. But for a helles lager, Green Daemon really stands out from the others I've tried recently, kicking even BrewDog's very fine 77 Lager into touch.

And now of course, I have a problem: I've run out of Hopdaemon and it's not generally on sale up north. Time to start scouring the online retailers, I reckon. Please do let me know if you do spot it on sale anywhere in Manchester though, and if so be sure to grab a few bottles for your own beer cupboard. You won't be disappointed.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Adnams East Green
2. Tasting Notes: Three more from the Brooklyn Brewery

The video was certainly very entertaining, and informative, and you can view it here. And there's more on the beer itself over on the BrewDog blog.

Related posts:

1. BrewDog Comes To Belfast

My first impression of My Brewery Tap was very positive, a very competitive £9.99 p&p for up to 36 bottles, albeit all from the same brewery. But the Beer Club was what I was interested in and by way of an incentive, Ed and Richard very generously sent me over one of their mixed cases, which I believe pretty much mimics the contents of the current Beer Club selection. I could be wrong but based on most of the conversations I've had with people here, the idea of beer by mail is not something they would consider. Apart from the aforementioned increased delivery costs, they express concerns about the bottles getting broken. Well, if Laithwaites and their like can send wine over every day, why should beer bottles be any different, but I can see where they're coming from. Richard from My Brewery Tap admits mine is the first case they've sent over here, and it arrived today via Home Delivery Network, who also operate the Collect+ service the Beer Swap guys are using.

For the benefit of Ed and Richard, here's the opened box showing the contents all safe and sound -

And here's the beery contents -

Tasting notes will follow in due course, there's definitely a few in there I'm looking forward to sampling.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 1
2. New Arrivals from Brewdog
3. Three new arrivals: from Acorn, Hambleton and Rudgate

Another one from the notebook archive sweep here. I picked up a bottle of Dent T'owd Tup as part of a batch that I ended up with when Jo and I nipped in to Watershed Mill to kill half an hour on the way through Settle a while back and I drank it back in the Spring.

T'Owd Tup (Champion Winter Beer of Britain back in 1999 and clearly still going strong) is named for an old ram or an ancient sheep or something, hence the woolly beast on the label. It poured a very dark black-brown with chestnut highlights and gave off a lovely, chocolatey aroma. The chocolate was prevalent in the flavour as well, along with some coffee notes and just a hint of vanilla and ginger, or nutmeg? Something spicy, anyhow. Even thought it's quite strong for a stout the alcohol wasn't too up-front and in-yer-face either. Nicely balanced. Smooth.

A very nice drop indeed and an excellent choice for a winter warmer, I'd say. Do try some if you see it, especially on draught. I'd imagine that would be a beer experience worth seeking out.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Dunham Massey Winter Warmer
2. Tasting Notes: Phoenix Humbug
3. Stocking up the beer cupboard

A bottle of Hopback Entire Stout was included in a Dark Side mixed case that I ordered from BeerVentures.co.uk a few months ago (I'm going through my notebook, checking for tasting notes I should really have posted by now...)

According to my notes, the bottle opened to release a slightly odd, eggy whiff (something to do with the bottle conditioning?) although the beer turned out to be absolutely fine. No, make that mighty fine: Hopback Entire Stout was a smooth, full-bodied (albeit slightly carbonated) stout with distinct coffee and sweet caramel notes (think Starbuck's caramel macchiato, if you've ever punished your teeth with such a beverage).

I have to admit it didn't blow me away, but I'd definitely re-visit given half a chance, and would love the opportunity to try it on draught. It strikes me as one of those beers that would benefit hugely from a proper hand-pump delivery.

[The image on this post was shamelessly nicked from the BeerVentures.co.uk product page]

Hopback Entire Stout elsewhere in the beerblogosphere

• Alan MacLeod declared it a contender for "the greatest stout I have ever had" over at A Good Beer Blog.
• The stuff inspires some serious musing over at A Philosopher on Tap.
• And if you want to brew 5 gallons of the stuff yourself, they apparently have the recipe over at hopandgrain.com.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Red Rat Crazy Dog Stout
2. Tasting Notes: Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout
3. Tasting Notes: O’Hanlons Original Port Stout

Congratulations to Stewart Ross and Chris Ives of the Ilkley Brewery Company who, SIBA tells us, have won their first beer award after only six months in business: gold medal in the bitters and pale ales (under 4.0 per cent ABV) category at the Society of Independent Brewers Northern beer competition.

And congrats also to Sam Moss and Michael Brothwell of Leeds Brewery on their Yorkshire Young Achievers Award for Achievement in Management and Enterprise [via @realalereviews].

Over at the Thornbridge Brewers' Blog they're showcasing their Christmas 2009 beer and explaining the brewing process as well. No mention of a bottled variant though... here's hoping the Trackside or Marble Arch will have some in on draught this Yuletide, it sounds like one I'd definitely like to try.

BrewDog have doubled their production capacity with the arrival of their New 40HL Brew-House, presumably an interim step on the road to their brand new, state-of-the-art eco-brewery, once they've raised the required £23million from their Equity For Punks scheme?

Incidentally, in amongst all the hoo-hah over Brewdog's recent Portman Group complaint stunt, did anyone else notice that they've also launched their new novelty-labelling service over at www.punkdog.com? Or did no-one really care enough to mention it..? Meanwhile: BrewDog shown in positive light during mainstream media coverage? What's the world coming to?

Jeff Evans talks up Harviestoun's expanded range of Ola Dubh expressions over at his Inside Beer blog. All five are available from Harviestoun direct and I'm sorely tempted...

Sounds like Liz and Pete Brown's Christmas Pud is going to be a bit special this year. And Pete has unearthed some rather interesting hop history as well (sounds like a trip to a National Trust gift shop might be in order at some point).

Over at Barm, Tandleman and Mark Dredge all have interesting things to say about the kerfuffle caused by Oliver Thring's CAMRA vs Lager article on the Guardian website.

And finally: things are hotting up on the Beerswap front as Collect+ depots up and down the land frantically shift the millions okay, dozens of lovingly bubble-wrapped four-packs of craft ale in time for folks to drink the stuff and then meet their December 4th write-up deadline. Follow the action on Twitter via #beerswap. The package I sent has been received in good order by Mark Dredge, who posted the evidence to Twitpic.

Related posts:

1. Around the Beerblogosphere #4
2. Around the Beerblogosphere #5
3. Around the Beerblogosphere #1

I finally got my hands on a copy of this year's Good Beer Guide a couple of weeks ago - in the end I cancelled my Amazon order and followed Ed's tip, re-ordering from The Book Depository - so now I have the full list of 25 Greater Manchester breweries at my fingertips, and they are:

• 3 Rivers
• All Gates
• Bank Top
• Bazens'
• Boggart Hole Clough
• Cellar Rat [no website]
• Danetown [no longer brewing - see comments]
• Dunham Massey
• Green Mill
• Greenfield
• Holt's
• Hornbeam
• Hydes
• J.W. Lee's
• Leyden [no website]
• Marble
• Mayflower
• Millstone
• Outstanding
• Phoenix [no website]
• Pictish
• Prospect
• Robinson's
• Saddleworth [no website]
• Shaw's [no website]

A cursory scan shows that I've definitely sampled beers from a just under half of the list to-date: 3 Rivers, Boggart Hole Clough, Dunham Massey, Holt's, Hyde's, Lee's, Marble, Outstanding, Phoenix and Robinson's are all in the bag and I've got rough tasting notes for a few more somewhere in my notebook, I'm sure. Thanks to last week's shed research) there are a couple from Bank Top and Leyden waiting for me in the beer cupboard as well.

It shouldn't be too tricky to track down beers from most of the remaining breweries; they're bound to turn up from time to time at places like the Marble Arch (they had a Millstone beer on the other week, but I didn't have the list with me so I didn't realise it was one I was keeping an eye out for), the City Arms or the Trackside.

That just leaves the slightly trickier ones: Cellar Rat beers are brewed using spare capacity at 3 Rivers in Stockport and tend to just turn up in local beer festivals. The Dane Town brewery is apparently on hiatus whilst the brewing operation at the Lowes Arms in Denton is re-established, unless they're contract brewing via Hornbeam again. [Update: Tandleman and John Clarke tell me that Danetown is officially defunct now - see comments]

[Incidental note to the editors: is there any chance that next year, you could actually put the list of Greater Manchester's Independent Breweries in the breweries section, as well as the Greater Manchester recommended beers section>? That would seem a more logical place to stick it, surely?]

Related posts:

1. The Greater Manchester 25: mission control
2. Tasting Notes: Boggart Chocolat Noir
3. National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester this week

Alas, things went badly wrong from the moment I cracked open the first bottle and got a whiff of the sour, over-ripe smell that generally signals Beer Gone Bad (Flemish Reds being the notable exception). I tired a couple of cautious sips and my worst suspicions were confirmed by the unpleasantly vinegary, metallic taste. The beer in question was a dark mild that I'd sampled when I bought the three-pack in question at a farmer's market type affair back in the Summer, so I knew it really shouldn't taste like that. Straight down the sink. Strike one.

Bottle number two - a pale ale with a pleasant malt / hop balance - was entirely drinkable, so no problem there.

But then I opened bottle #3 - a 4.7% red-brown ale that I'd also sampled at the time of purchase and rather enjoyed - and the stuff literally oozed from the bottle. Seriously, it was positively gelatinous, with a distinctly unpleasant-looking patchy scum floating on the surface. That one went down the sink with half a kettle of boiling water as a chaser. Strike two and out.

So here's my first question: can someone more familiar with the perils and pitfalls of the brewing process suggest what was wrong with beer #3? I'm guessing beer #1 was oxidised (?) but I have no idea what would cause the other effect. Is this what's alluded to when someone says a beer has "gone septic"? Or is it some other side-effect of the yeast used in the bottle conditioning? Or was it a case of a few harmless floaties that I could have safely ignored? Incidentally, all three beers were well within their best-by dates, at four, six and three months, respectively.

And my second question: do you think that I should tell the brewery in question? I'm not going to go around demand a refund or anything; I'm well aware that when it comes to RAIB you pays your money, you takes your chance and the occasional bad bottle is one of the risks of drinking real ale at home (and one obvious advantage of pub drinking over home drinking is that you can take a bad one back to the bar). But if there's a problem with the brewer's bottling process, or the yeast strain used in the bottle conditioning, or something technical, then the brewer in question would want t know, right?

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Tesco Finest Bottle Conditioned

I've previously covered Brooklyn Lager and Black Chocolate Stout, and being impressed with those two I reckon it's a good idea to try any of their other beers when I see them. So let's see how their takes on Brown Ale, Wheat Beer and an IPA fare.

First up is the 5.6% Brown Ale, a  rich reddish brown with a malty aroma of toffee and a bit of chocolate, along with a hint of fruit in the background. Malt is very much to the fore in the taste, there are six different malt varieties used after all, with caramel, hazelnut, earthiness and roastiness all present, along with a touch of coffee and a very slight hop bitterness towards the end. Brown Ale is not a particular favourite of mine, but then neither is lager and they did a good job of that, but to be honest I thought this didn't really stand out. It's still a decent enough beer, but not one I'll be seeking out again.

Next is a 5.1 % wheat beer, Brooklyner Weisse. This is brewed very much in the German style,with German malts and hops used to give it some authenticity. And it certainly ticks the wheat beer boxes. Amber in colour, clear rather than cloudy (but that could be my pouring), and with a characteristic, and quite spicy, wheat beer aroma. Taste is again what I would have expected, with notes of banana, bread and spices through to the dry finish. Overall, a reasonable rendition of the style, not as dry as some I've had, and not as full-flavoured as it could be, but still a decent drop.

Finally, and I saved the best of the three to last, is the 6.8% East India Pale Ale. Made with East Anglian malts and five different hop varieties, its mid amber in colour and all those hops ensure a fresh citrus fruit aroma. The flavour is unsurprisingly on the hoppy side of things as well, very zesty, with grapefruit and lemon and a warm, slightly spicy, element. Malt pushes through as well, taking some of the edge off the bitterness and the alcohol content isn't too noticable either. For me, this is another winner from Brooklyn, and one I can see me revisiting when I next see it.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Brooklyn Lager
2. Tasting Notes: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
3. Tasting Notes: Meantime Wheat & Wheat Grand Cru

I was in London on Tuesday for one of my regular visits to my employers' mother-ship and on the way back via Euston station I got the opportunity to follow up on a couple of recent blog-leads that I'd made note of. A couple of weeks ago Boak and Bailey talked about the Bree Louise, by the sounds of things a half-decent real ale pub in the immediate vicinity of Euston, so I thought I'd swing by for a swift one. And when I got there, they had Sambrook's Wandle on at the bar, a beer from a new London-based brewery championed by Jeff Evans and The Beer Justice, among others.

I ordered a pint (taking advantage of the 50p CAMRA discount it was only £2.50, which is almost Up-North prices) and wandered off to find somewhere to stand (even at 6.00 p.m. on a Tuesday the place was very busy indeed) and sup. Sambrook's Wandle is a very pale golden ale with a light, hoppy aroma. There's an initial malt-burst carried along on a creamy mouth-feel, with a lingering hoppy freshness and a dry finish that creeps up on you after a couple of seconds. All in all, a very nice drop indeed, an excellent palate-refresher before a two-hour train ride and one I wouldn't hesitate to try again.

Sambrook's describe it as "a well balanced thirst quenching session ale" and I think they've pretty much hit the nail on the head there; this really is one of those beers you could happily drink all night; there's definitely enough flavour there to keep it interesting, but with none of the astringent harshness that some beers of a similar strength think will make up for a lack of character. (If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's been a bit of a discussion about session beers and 'ordinary', smoothflow bitters, over at Tandleman's blog in the last day or so).

As for the Bree Louise itself, I thought it was a cracking little boozer. Great selection of ales (although I didn't spot anything I would have been desperate to try, aside from being keen to give the Wandle a go, and perhaps it's bigger sibling Junction as well) and I'll definitely be swinging by again as and when I have time to kill on the way back to the train. Only slightly spoiled by the faint whiff of disinfectant from the loos, which are right off the main room, but I'm sure that's something I'll get used to after a few visits, eh?

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Sambrook’s Junction
2. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s London Porter
3. Tasting Notes: a few session beers (Acorn, Titanic, Redemption & more)

So, whilst we didn't come away from Summerseat with a new shed, we did end up with a ceramic strawberry planter and bottles of the following:

• Bank Top Port O' Call - A 'dark and mysterious' ale with added ruby port.
• Bank Top Dark Mild - A full-bodied mild 'with hints of liquorice and roast barley'.
• Wold Top 5 Wold Rings - An amber beer that's described as 'festive' on the label... we'll see about that at Xmas, then.
• Wold Top Cracker Black - A 6% ABV Strong, dark Xmas ale, so another one to save for Dec 25th.
• Copper Dragon Black Gold - A Dark beer brewed to a traditional C19th recipe.
• Holt's Manchester Brown Ale - With 'a hint of molasses' and a 'smooth, burnt palate', hopefully more interesting than Newcastle Tadcaster Brown.
• J. W. Lees Moonraker - A 7.5% ABV ale from local brewery John Willies? Had to be done.
• Leyden Forever Bury - A 4.6% ABV ale brewed by local brewery Leyden to support my team, Bury FC. About bloody time I bought a bottle or two of this one then, eh?

...so it wasn't an entirely wasted journey, although I was deeply traumatised by the sheer volume of Christmas tat. It may take me some time (and about eight bottles of beer) to recover.

Incidentally, Wold Top brewery are working to raise £10,000 to support the Candlelighters childrens' cancer charity. You can support them by buying a bottle (or six) of their Candlelight Ale, available from the brewery or various fairs and farmers' markets around Driffield in the run-up to Christmas.

Related posts:

1. The Greater Manchester 25: Initial Research
2. New Arrivals: via our First Ever Trip to Beer Ritz
3. More New Arrivals… New Arrivals Galore

Oh, incidentally, the big buzz while I was away was obviously all around the launch of Brewdog's Equity For Punks share scheme, but I'm hoping to round that one up in a separate post as there's a tonne of material to digest and I think it rather deserves a stand-alone.

Right then, without further ado...

We'll start with more good news from Tyson's Beer Blog: this year's Bury Beer Festival is back on at The Met / Malt Bar! That's our evening out for Friday November 20th sorted, then. And I have to say I'm deeply intrigued by mention of "an emphasis on live music throughout both days" given that The Met is one of my absolute favourite venues and a key node on the UK folk circuit...

Boak and Bailey have been on their travels again and spent an evening in Malaga sampling a few Spanish premium beers (absolutely none of which are anywhere to be found in the Canary Islands, in my experience at least). Back in the UK, Boak and Bailey also report on the first in a new range of experimental brews from Suffolk-based Adnams, which will be on sale in selected London pubs this month.

Impy Malting highlighted some new "beer is good for you" research. Low calories, b-vitamins, lower risk of hypertension and heart disease, plus sedative, anti-anxiety properties from the hops? Adrian Tierney-Jones provided corroborating additional material as well. Someone call the head buyer at Holland & Barrett...

The decision by Scottish & Newcastle Heineken UK to relocate production of Newcastle Brown from Gateshead to Tadcaster had Jeffo musing on the importance of provenance. It's a topic that Pete Brown got quite grumpy about as well.

Pete Brown wasn't happy with mainstream media reporting on the issue of binge-drinking, either. Meanwhile, he posted a very interesting piece on beer marketing: how to sell barley wine. He's absolutely right, you know, it's all about the story. And speaking of stories, Pete has also posted a 'lost chapter' that was edited out of his book Hops and Glory prior to publication.

More great beer-pics from Beer Lens: giant bottles of beer, and a couple more likely-looking candidates for my list of London pubs to visit in the shape of the White Horse on Parson's Green and The Old Doctor Butler's Head in The City.

Quite a few bloggers seem to have had nothing but good things to say about mybrewerytap.com's first 52 Week Beer Club selection. I think our very own Ed has been signed up as well, so he'll be bringing you the low-down in due course.

Zythophile's posts are generally rather fascinating, and speaking as something of a medieval history geek, I thought his post on how to brew like an Anglo-Norman Knight was just top-notch and I enjoyed his beer-history debunking piece - beer: NOT the oldest drink in the world - and Kieve, Tierce and Bub post as well.

Woolpack Dave reports from the presentation of the International Beer Challenge 2009 awards, but wasn't all that impressed with the overall winner: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier.

Dave also mused on the question of just how small does a brewery have to be to be a microbrewery?

Steve Williams, a.k.a. The Beer Justice, reckons he's found his perfect pub - The Old Poet's Corner (and after reading the piece, I think we might have to move to Ashover).

Steve was also asked to judge the Beer category at The National Honey Show and had a damn good time in the process by the sounds of things.

Tandleman informs us that the Punch Bowl - the Yorkshire pub bought by Neil Morrissey and Richard Fox and immortalised in the Channel Four series Neil Morrissey's Risky Business - has gone out of business. According to The Publican the two entrepreneurs are now looking for another freehouse in the Yorkshire area (and, at a guess, a follow-up series with Channel Four..?)

One of the many contributors to The BeerCast has taste-tested a couple of canned beers from the US and has come to the conclusion that "canned beer is absolutely no different to its glass-dwelling cousins" as a result.

Barm sings the praises of 5 Great Organic Breweries, including Manchester's own Marble, over at I Might Have a Glass of Beer.

Zythophile again, this time with a few thoughts on the mystery of sessionability. And Woolpack Dave also speaks out on the subject, declaring himself to be firmly in favour of session beer. And Tandleman reminds us that ordinary beer is what the majority of the pub-going public want and that breweries would be mad not to give it to them. (For the record: I agree, nothing wrong with a nice session ale - or even a smoothflow if that's genuinely what you prefer. I just wish more 'real ale' pubs would offer something stronger / more interesting alongside their core session range, rather than just a selection of identikit session pale ales and bitters, is all.)

Various beer-blogging types are supporting the Movember mens' health campaign: BrewDog have released a Movember brew with a portion of the price going to the campaign, whilst The Reluctant Scooper and Ms Impy Malting are going the whole, mo-growing, hairy-faced hog. Mark Dredge is definitely with them all in spirit, if not in 'tache.

Mark Dredge has also declared: Beer Blogging is Cool. And who am I to disagree?

And to finish off, a few more reviews / tasting notes of superb-sounding beers for the 'must-try' wishlist: St Austell's Smuggler's Ale (via The BeerCast), new brewery Steel City Brewing's Hop Manifesto (via The Reluctant Scooper) and Fuller's 2009 Vintage Ale, one to keep and mature for a few years, (via The Beer Justice).

Right, that's your lot for this instalment. I'll try to get the next round-up out in much better time. This one has been exhausting... I don't know about you, but I could do with a pint.

Related posts:

1. Around the Beerblogosphere #1
2. Around the Beerblogosphere #4
3. Around the Beerblogosphere #5

BEER TASTING - THURSDAY 26TH NOVEMBER: Join Richard McLelland from the UK's leading independent brewery to taste & discuss their unique & individual range. A must for all beer lovers! Bored of the industrially brewed lagers and stuffy ales that dominate the UK market, they decided the best way to fix this undesirable predicament was to brew their own beers. Consequently in April 2007 BrewDog was born. Having now taken the World's Beer Market by storm, they are dedicated to making cool, contemporary and progressive beers showcasing some of the world’s classic beer styles, but all with an innovative twist and customary BrewDog bite! LIMITED SPACES

The venue is The Garrick Bar, Chichester Street, Belfast, only a couple of minutes walk from the City Hall. Start time is 8pm, tickets are £5 and you can register here. I've my name down already, not that I need any introduction to the wonderful world of BrewDog.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Whitewater Belfast Black
2. BrewDog launches Zeitgeist Black Lager
3. Tasting Notes: Belfast Blonde

Tandleman was commenting on an interview with James Watt, Head of Stuff at BrewDog, posted by US-based craft beer 'zine TheFullPint.com. Tandleman picked up on Watt's comments about CAMRA and the impact of the campaign on innovation in brewing, to whit: "I blame CAMRA for single-handedly holding back innovation in British brewing by focusing too much emphasis on too few beer styles" and made the point that BrewDog and CAMRA a) have never really gotten on all that well and b) aren't actually preaching to the same choirs, with CAMRA members being mainly pub-going, cask-ale drinkers, whereas BrewDog are primarily a bottled-beer focused brewery. Although there have been an increasing number of sightings of cask BrewDog in the wild in recent months, if the beerblogosphere is to be believed.

Tandleman then finds himself in agreement with James Watt, when he in turn says: "Going back to innovation, British brewers by and large are the most staid and conservative bunch you could ever meet - with of course, honourable exceptions" and it's this point that's got me thinking: who are the leading examples of Tandleman's honourable exception? When it comes to the UK brewing industry, in whose hallowed mash tuns and fermentation vessels does the genuine spirit of innovation reside?

In my own (still novice) opinion, some good suggestions might be:

BrewDog - The media darlings / demons of the UK brewing industry are obvious contenders for the 'most innovative' label. With the likes of their strongest-beer-in-Britain Tokyo* Imperial Stout (second edition), smoked Paradox Stout (in various whisky-cask finishes, including Rake Raspberry), insanely uber-hopped How to Disappear Completely Imperial Mild (and the frankly rather poor piss-take that is Nanny State), their Dogma (formerly 'Speedball') poppy-guarana brew, numerous takes on historic IPA-styles including Hardcore IPA, Punk IPA, Chaos Theory and the limited editions Atlantic IPA and Zephyr, as well as many more, they're surely the last brewer in Britain you could accuse of churning out boring session bitters.

Thornbridge - Whilst not so attention-hungry as BrewDog, Thornbridge have been steadily and confidently pushing the quality-innovation curve in new and interesting directions and have been garnering praise, accolades and awards at an impressive rate as a result. I haven't tried anywhere near as many Thornbridge brews as I'd like to, but multi award-winning Jaipur, Halycon and Ashford (a session-strength bitter but one that's far from dull or ordinary) were all excellent, and I'm desperate to get my hands (and taste buds) on some of their Bracia stout. But then - playing devil's advocate for a moment - hasn't the majority of Thornbridge's quite considerable brewing talent actually been imported from overseas? New Zealand, Italy, places like that? So although Thornbridge are clearly one of the best brewers in Britain, bar none, can they truly be said to be 'British' innovators, if their knowledge and passion comes from abroad?

Marble - One of Manchester's very finest, with some superb beers in their roster, from their Pint and JP Best session beers through to the tonsil-tingling Big Ginger, sublime Chocolate and punch-packing Dobber. But then again... can they be considered a truly innovative brewer? Marble brew a wide range of superb beers that I'd happily drink all evening, any evening, but aren't they mainly variations on existing, classic beer styles: IPA, stout, pale ale, best bitter?

Outstanding - One of my favourite local breweries, based up the road in Bury who once again produce some truly stellar brews - Outstanding Stout has to be one of my very favourite session stouts and the like of their Pushing Out (an excellent IPA in all but name) and Outstanding Blonde are truly excellent as well - but once again, does brewing high-quality versions of common beer styles count as being innovative per se or would Outstanding have to go further than that to be considered true innovators?

All of which raises another couple of questions: firstly, what does constitute 'innovation', anyhow? Is it enough to call yourself 'innovative' if you brew a beer that stands head-and-shoulders above similar examples of the style, or do you have to really push the weird ingredient / unusual flavour envelope? In which case, does Badger's River Cottage Stinger (brewed with Dorset stinging nettles) count as an innovative beer? Or Sharps Chalky's Bite, a strong, Belgian-style beer that's delicately flavoured with wild English fennel? Or Fraoch Scottish Heather Ale from Williams Bros? What about Innis & Gunn Rum Cask oak-aged? Or Boggart Hole Clough's Rum Porter? Does chucking in another, strongly-flavoured spirit, or maturing in a liquor cask count as 'innovative' or is it just, again, a case of varying an established theme?

And is it actually important to be an innovator? Or is a traditional approach to brewing, coupled with a passion for maximising quality, a more sure key to long-term success?

Me, I'm something of a self-confessed variety-junkie, always on the look-out for the more interesting, extreme beers, but I'm genuinely interested to hear what everyone else thinks. So, I'd like to throw the following questions open to the floor:

1. How important is 'innovation' to you as a beer drinker? In general - bearing in mind that this is always going to be a subjective, mood-related question - would you rather try something new and interesting, stick to an old favourite, or a new version of a preferred style?
2. What exactly constitutes 'innovation' in brewing anyway? What does a brewer have to do to qualify as 'innovative' in your book?
3. Which UK brewers or breweries do you think are the most innovative and why?

Answers on a comment-shaped postcard, if you please:

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Outstanding Stout
2. BrewDog – brewing up a beer revolution
3. Around the Beerblogosphere #5

The 30th Anniversary Wetherspoons Real Festival kicked off on Wednesday, so I popped in to see what the Belfast branch had to offer. And as I expected it was a predictable not much. With only 4 ale pumps (even though there are nearly 30 others dedicated to the usual lagers, cider and Guinness) I didn't expect too many of the 50 featured festival beers to be present, but 2 is just not trying. Surely for the duration of the festival they could have ditched the other two more regular ales, which are currently Ruddle's Best and Hobgoblin.

I didn't fancy the Greene King Boss Hogg, a 4.1% best bitter brewed specially for the festival, and one of 31 bitter beer styles featured. So instead I went for the Moorhouse's Black Panther, another one brewed for the event. At 4.8%, this is basically their award winning Black Cat, only stronger. Pouring black, with a slightly fruity chocolatey aroma, it certainly starts off very enticing. And it follows through in the taste as well. Dark chocolate at the start, with touches of dried fruit, plums, raisins and liquorice also present, a bit toasty, and a lingering slightly dry finish. Very nice indeed. I would quite happily have had another of these, but getting back to work unfortunately had to get in the way.

Related posts:

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

I was delighted for more than one reason as well. Firstly, because it's always great to see a local pub saved from closure, particularly through this sort of proactive community effort. And secondly, because I've been trying to remember the name and location of this particular pub for going on fifteen years now.

The first, last and only time Jo and I visited The Star Inn was back in our student days. We went along with an acquaintance of ours for a chess and folk music night. It was a Tuesday evening (if I remember correctly) and although I hadn't played chess seriously for years (not since my school days) and wasn't actually into folk music at the time (I was more a goth / heavy metal / industrial noise type back then) I had a fantastic time.

I remember: sitting down with a bunch of complete strangers (all friendly and welcoming, even though we were obviously pesky students), enjoying good beer (Robinson's Best, I think), playing a game of chess or two (I lost, I'm sure) and listening to live music (it was an open mic night and I vividly remember one girl who played and sang a cover of Joan Osborne's 'One Of Us' quite beautifully) was all something I wasn't really used to at the time (The Banhsee and Rock World in Manchester being more my scene), but these days I'd be happy to do all evening, every evening, given half the chance.

I also remember that the beer engine they used to pour the Robinson's was a strange, steampunk-esque device with some sort of horizontal, glass vacuum tube that at the touch of a button drew the beer up from the barrel and then pumped it into the glass . I'd never seen one before and I've never seen one since. Quite fascinating.

Anyway, back in the day, Jo and I both forgot the name of the pub and even whereabouts it was; we knew it was up the road from our flat, but we had no real idea how far as we took a taxi up there. So we've never gone back, even though I've thought about the place from time to time ever since, with an increasing sense of nostalgic fondness.

But now, thanks to Tyson, we'll definitely be heading back to The Star again one of these days, now we know where it is and what it's called. I wonder if they still have a chess & folk night on a Tuesday? I wonder if they'll still use that weird beer engine, or even still serve Robinson's? I wonder if the locals will still be friendly? I'm looking forward to finding out.

Related posts:

1. A Night at The Crescent, Salford

I must admit I've never been all that keen on wheat beer and these days I usually avoid it as much as possible (I have a wheat intolerance) but every so often I make an exception, just on the off-chance I've developed a taste for the stuff. So when the folks at Daas sent a couple of bottles of their organic Belgian artisan beers along for sampling and one of them turned out to be a wheat beer, I thought it would be rude not give it a go.

Daas Witte poured a cloudy golden colour with a thin white head and had a distinctly bread-like aroma. It was quite fizzy out of the bottle, although it settled down to a background effervescence before too long. Flavour-wise it was quite sharp and tangy, with a hoppy dryness, a hint of vanilla and something of a doughy after-taste. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The last wheat beer I tried was BrewDog's Pixie prototype (as far as I know it never went into production) which was packed full of juniper and lemon zest, so it had a bit more going for it in the flavour department. But still, Daas Witte was, if not a beer I hugely enjoyed, one that was more pleasant than I remember Hoegaarden being, back in the day. I'm afraid you'd need to ask someone who actually appreciates and enjoys the style to give you a more meaningful comparison than that, though.

I cracked open the Daas Blonde immediately after finishing the Witte. This one poured a classic golden colour, with (again) a very thin head (I thought Belgians were meant to be... frothier? Perhaps I was using the wrong-shaped glass?) At 6.5%, I was expecting Blond to have a bit more substance to it than Witte and I wasn't disappointed; the mouth-feel was noticeably thicker for a start. Flavour-wise, a honeyed sweetness dominated with a noticeably herbal after-taste. All in all it reminded me of cough sweets and not in a bad way at all (I'm quite partial to a nice lozenge, frankly).

Daas Blond is very drinkable indeed, as long as you've got a bit of a sweet tooth. I'd certainly be happy to try this one again, although I think next time I might chill it a little before serving. I think it's one of those beers that could deliver a pretty good back-of-the-throat hit if it was taken down a few degrees and the lower temperature might help dial down that sweetness, which did verge on the syrupy.

Many thanks indeed to the folks at Daas for sending these two along for me to sample! If you're interested in tracking down a bottle or two yourself, I believe they're on sale in Waitrose, and you could try some of the online retailers. Or, if you're not in a particular rush and are feeling lucky, Daas are running a competition with a monthly draw to win a 24-case of Blond or Witte:

[Click the image to see the full-size version]

Daas Organics around the beerblogsphere:

• FletchtheMonkey was quite impressed and said so over at Real Ale Reviews
• Roger Protz gave the Blond a three-point-five star rating.
• The Beer Nut concludes there's more style than substance to Daas's approach to brewing and marketing their beer.

Related posts:

1. New Arrivals: BrewDogs and Daas Organics
2. Tasting Notes: St Peter’s Organic Ale
3. Tasting Notes: Meantime Wheat & Wheat Grand Cru

Due to a spot of post-holiday chaos and catching-up, I'm the last to get my details to the organisers and I'm now eagerly awaiting an email to tell me who I've been paired up with. I have the four beers I'd like to send in mind, so now it's just a question of getting hold of them and getting them sent out to the lucky recipient. Whoever they are, they're in for a treat, if all goes according to plan.

Intrigued by Beerswap? Check out Mark Dredge's latest post on the subject, follow @beerswap on Twitter or monitor the #beerswap hashtag.

Related posts:

1. My Beer Swap Beers are Here! [#beerswap]
2. Tasting Notes: the Beer Swap three [#beerswap]

(I didn't have to drink lager, of course. There was quite a lot of John Smith's Extra Smooth around, but I wasn't that desperate. Besides it was bloody hot and under those sorts of conditions, that cerveza stuff really does hit the spot...)

Anyhow, there's clearly been plenty of activity in and around the beerblogosphere while I've been away. I was hoping to do another link round-up before I went but I ran out of time, so I'll be sifting through my RSS feeds over the next few days and will post a round-up (or two) before too long, all being well. Adios for now.

Related posts:

1. Bebiendo cerveza en las Islas Canarias
2. Scouting for Beers
3. You Show Me Yours… (or: The Beer Cupboard, redux)

Taking their name from a local mountain, An Teallach is a small 5-barrel croft-based brewery in operation since 2003, located in the Highlands of Scotland. Considering the small scale of the operation it's no surprise I hadn't heard of the brewery before seeing bottles of the three beers I'm covering here, and there's seems to be very little presence from them on the web too.

An Teallach Ale is 4.2%, dark reddish brown in colour and with a light malty chocolate aroma. Taste is very much malt based, with chocolate and caramel leading to a dry, slightly nutty, finish. While not outstanding, it's perfectably acceptable and inoffensive, just not very memorable.

Beinn Dearg, meaning Red Mountain, is 3.8%, copper coloured and gives off a light and fresh malty aroma. Taste is again on the malty side of things with some caramel and bready character. I picked up on some fruit notes hiding in the background, pear, apricot and apple. Quite subtle, but not bland, the flavour is just a little too restrained but it does make the beer easy drinking. Some hops push through with the caramel on the finish, which also has that dry, slightly nutty, element of the An Teallach.

Crofter's Pale Ale is 4.2%, coloured mid gold, and with another mainly malty aroma, which to be honest seemed a bit stale and so didn't bode well for the tasting. Smells can be deceptive though, as it tasted fine. At the start I got malt, biscuit, bread and peanuts, with some caramel in the second half. There's also some very random fruit notes, not always apparent in every sup. For me this is the best of three. It's not a great beer, far from it, but it has a degree of charm.

I've read a few comments on the beers from An Teallach being stale and undrinkable, possibly down to poor storage or bottling. I have to say I got none of that so maybe the brewery have improved things in that department. Three beers, one alright, two not bad, that I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to source but if you happen to see them it might be worth picking up a bottle for sampling.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: MyBreweryTap Mixed Case part 1
2. Tasting Notes: Traquair House and Jacobite Ales
3. Tasting Notes: Wainwright

Regular visitors to the beerblogosphere will most likely be familiar with the story of this beer's creation, but in case you missed it: BrewDog were taken to task by the Portman Group and much of the mainstream media over the strength of their (exquisite, superb) Tokyo* Imperial Stout. In response, they announced the creation of Nanny State, an "Imperial Mild", weighing in at a mere 1.1% abv but uber-hopped up to an incredible 225 theoretical IBUs (International Bitterness Units - 20-40 or so being the usual for a bitter ale). A gesture of defiance, a deliberate slap in the face of the over-bearing, over-ignorant, over-reactive powers-that-be and a beer that - in its current, young, green state at least - I'm sorry to have to report I thought was unpleasant to the point of being pretty much undrinkable.

There, I've said it. An undrinkable beer from Brewdog - not a phrase I ever expected to type on this blog, I have to admit. Largely as a result of BrewDog's sterling efforts (Hardcore IPA, Punk IPA, Chaos Theory IPA) I've learned to love big, hoppy beers; a style I wasn't anywhere near as keen on this time last year. I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I opened my bottle of Nanny State, but based on the last Imperial Mild that BrewDog released - the challengingly bitter but still quite suppable How to Disappear Completely - I think I was expecting a beer I could likewise learn to love after a bottle or two, however viciously ascerbic it might turn out to be.

A faintly rank odour emanated from the bottle when I opened it - not the best omen, but understandable considering the top-heavy hop content - and although the beer poured a pleasantly deep red-brown, my first sip dispelled any notions that this would be one I could even finish, never mind drink again. It was thin to the point of being watery and the flavour was dominated by a vegetative sourness that had more to do with stewed grass clippings than a clean, hoppy-freshness. The overall impression was one of cold coffee. And not 'cold coffee' as in "Extra shot mocha frappacino, hold the whipped cream, please", either. More like "How long has this cup of supermarket own-brand instant been sitting here? Three days? Oh, well, I'm sure it won't hurt..."

Seriously. It was really, really unpleasant, to the point of being downright nasty. I struggled manfully on for another couple of sips, then headed for the kitchen sink...

Caveat time: this one could have gone off in the bottle, of course. Plus, as I mentioned, it is still a very young beer, and based on Pete Brown's description (in Hops and Glory) of the way changes in hop-profiles can affect the flavour of beer over time, I'm planning on saving my second bottle (I bought two, just in case) for at least six months, and then I'll re-sample and re-visit. I have no idea if a 1.1% abv beer will survive six months intact, but it can't get much more undrinkable than it currently is, so I'm willing to give it a go.

But something about the whole situation is still bugging me and I have questions.
Assuming the bottle I opened hadn't actually gone off, is Nanny State supposed to taste this bad? And if so, is that a gag too far? I'm a huge fan of BrewDog's brewing and I enjoy their hugely tongue-in-cheek philosophy. I cheer every time they send a two-fingered salute in the direction of the hypocritically ineffective Portman Group and all the other engines of Nanny State-ism, because it's fun to see them take the piss out of self-righteous, pompous kill-joys. But surely they shouldn't also be taking the piss out of their paying customers as well?

By all means, show the Nanny Staters that you can easily brew a small beer that still tastes great (you just choose not to). And yes, if you want to, have a laugh at their expense by brewing something weak but undrinkable just for the publicity of it and then send them all free samples. But in the latter case, where's the sense in flogging it at £2.50 a shot to your loyal fans and customers at the same time? Has the Punk attitude gone so far that BrewDog have decided they don't need loyal fans and customers any more?

Brewdog's own take, back when they first announced the beer, was:

"Nanny State is an extraordinary little beer. It contains more hops than any other beer we have ever brewed. There is over 60 kilos used in our tiny 20HL batch. It contains more hops than any other beer ever brewed in the UK. It has a theoretical IBU of 225. It is jam packed with our favourite hops and already tastes amazing."

Okay, I guess I'm wrong about the deliberate nastiness. Ah well, chalk it up to my novice palate, perhaps. And anyhow, one bad experience with Nanny State isn't going to be enough to turn me against BrewDog or their beers - I have half a beer cupboard full of BrewDogs and I'm looking forward to all of them - but I will admit I'm a little less enamoured of them than I was before I opened my bottle of Nanny State. And I'll be taking their next gimmick-beer with a much bigger pinch of salt.

Nanny State around the Beerblogosphere

• Barm had better luck with it than me, over at I Might Have a Glass of Beer
• Mark Dredge came to pretty much the same conclusion as me and says so over at Pencil and Spoon ("...it's just too bitter to be drinkable and the whole point of a 1.1% beer is for it to be drinkable").
• Gunmakers landlord Jeffo wasn't at all impressed either: "It was dark brown and flat as a witch's tit. It tastes harsh and astringent. It wasn't too thin - a surprise - but there wasn't much else but that unpleasant hop flavour ... So, in short, I think this is rubbish."

Anyone else tried it yet? Please do comment...

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Rake Raspberry Imperial Stout
2. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Tokyo*
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog How to Disappear Completely

If you're from round these parts then you might scoff at my casual handing out of the 'best pub...' accolade; I'm sure you'll have your own favourite and I'm not intending to denigrate any of our city's other very fine watering holes. But honestly, if there is a better pub than the Marble Arch around these parts then I haven't found it yet (and please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments if you think you might have).

My friend (also called Darren) and I got there around four in the afternoon, and a serendipitous table vacancy opened up just as we were arriving, so we settled ourselves in for a few pints and a good catch-up. I went up to the bar and came back with two pints of golden, crystal-clear Marble Pint, one of the tastiest, freshest pale ales you're ever likely to meet. We started talking - setting the world to rights, as you do - and soon finished off the pint of Pint and decided to move on to Marble J.P. Best; a classic best-bitter that's not quite as hoppy as the Pint, slightly stronger on the malt and still extremely refreshing. It definitely went down a treat.

T'other Darren is a big Belgian beer fan and haunts a few of London's Belgian brasseries when he can, so he perused the Marble's beer menu with an expert eye, picking out a beer he'd heard of but not yet encountered down south. I forget the name now, as they were unfortunately out of stock. Instead, my eye was caught by the Phoenix Thirsty Moon, so we opted for a couple of those instead. Again, it was another quite delicious bitter, but in this one the malt had been turned up a noticeable notch; it was rich, sweet and pleasantly warming.

By now we were feeling distinctly sociable - chatting to the folks on the next table about the demonstrations in the city centre - and we decided that before Jo joined us and we ordered food, we'd have one more go at the Belgian section of the menu. Darren picked out a St Feuillien Tripel and it turned out to be a delicious and extremely drinkable golden Belgian with very rich malt flavours that weren't at all over-powered by its 8.5% abv.

Jo arrived mid-way through our goblets and we quickly ordered food (Cornish gurnard for Jo, venison for me and the Marble burger and chips for Darren - all absolutely delicious) and then we ordered another round. The time had come for a stout and so we opted for the Marble Chocolate; a rich, warming, dark-cocoa laced beer with a great body and a gorgeous mouth-feel. It's dangerously more-ish, too at 5.5% abv. Beautiful.

By this point Darren was declaring himself full and happy, but I'd seen one more beer I really wanted to try. Having enjoyed Acorn's Old Moor Porter recently, I just had to have a drop of their Gorlovka Imperial Stout. It was quite different to the Marble Chocolate, with a much more pronounced coffee and liquorice flavour, but once again it was dangerously drinkable, even at 6% abv. Probably a good job I just had a half, all things considered.

As we departed the Marble Arch I cast a longing over-the-shoulder glance at the Marble Dobber pump, but I'd sampled its ample delights before and - even though it had taken the top prize the Manchester Beer Festival the day before - I knew our paths would cross again, so I was content to let it lie.

The evening wasn't quite over yet. We headed back to our place and I cracked open one of my precious stash of BrewDog Tokyo and poured it (ever so responsibly) into two glasses. Darren made all the right appreciative noises about this truly terrific beer and then we finished off with a wee dram of cask strength Edradour, just to send us nicely on our way.

The next morning, we (I say 'we', I mean 'Jo' - I was in no fit state) drove Darren back to Piccadilly station (this time sans riot police thronging the streets), chatting about the previous evening's beers on the way. Darren's favourite had been the Phoenix Thirsty Moon. Mine (Tokyo aside) was probably honours even between the Marble Pint, the Thirsty Moon and the Marble Chocolate, although frankly, they were all rather excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to re-visit any of them.

So, there you go. A pretty much perfect session at the best pub in Manchester? In my opinion, yes. Can't wait to get back to the Marble Arch for another.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Marble Pint, Marble Dobber, Marble Summer
2. Introducing the Only Xmas Cocktail You’ll Ever Need – the Marble Chocoginge!
3. Tasting Notes: Thornbridge Ashford

They say a picture tells a thousand words, don't they? So let's take a look at the picture of what is presumably a representative sample from the haul of "more than 200 bottles of booze ... seized from youths as young as 13 on the streets of Radcliffe".

Okay... I can see Strongbow, Fosters, Carling, Budweiser and wife-beater Stella Artois, plus assorted bottles of dodgy spirits including Taboo, Southern Comfort, Bacardi Breezer and some blue stuff that has to be either WKD or a WKD-substitute.

But where are the bottles of BrewDog Tokyo? Surely someone's made a mistake..?

Related posts:

1. Vintage Beer ads, anyone?
2. BrewDog comes to Ireland
3. Tasting Notes: BrewDog Tokyo*

Whitewater Brewery must be doing something right. Not only do they produce quality beer but they've also managed to get their up-to-now 3 bottled beers widely available throughout Northern Ireland in off-licences, both independents and chains, and in the local branches of the major national supermaket chains.  Not bad for a micro-brewery.

It's been a while since they launched a new bottled beer so I was looking forward to trying this one. Belfast Black is billed as a dry stout, and is so new it hasn't been added to their website yet. Black in colour (well, I wasn't expecting it to be anything else), there's a lovely chocolately coffee aroma, not too overpowering. Taste is predominantly of more chocolate and coffee maltiness, with some dry hoppy bitterness coming through later, and a texture edging towards the slightly oily. It's not an overly strongly flavoured stout but a nicely balanced one, and a fine addition to the Whitewater collection. Worth checking out. 

One further point I will make. When it comes to "chill or not to chill" beer I tend to follow the brewery's recommendation on the grounds they should know best. With Belfast Black the label says "best served chilled", which I did. However, personally I think this robs the beer of some depth of flavour and it comes across more like a black lager until it warms up again (and it seems I may not be the only one who thought so, see the link below). It's still perfectly fine chilled, but much better when not.

Elsewhere in the Beerblogosphere -

The Beer Nut says of Belfast Black - From the keg it's an absolutely rock-solid chocolate malt dominated Irish plain stout, very much on the sweeter side of the spectrum.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Belfast Blonde
2. Tasting Notes: Molly’s Chocolate Stout
3. Tasting Notes: Wychwood Black Wych