Saturday 29 June 2013

Strawberries, Cream and English Ale (and Glasto too)

The Weekend's here!
With a weekend of sport (well done Laura Robson – Unlucky Lions) and good music ahead, I decided to head up to Sainsbury's to stock up on a range of English Ale to see me through.

There's a quite a lot of English Ales in "1001 Beers to Try Before You Die" that I'm yet to sample, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to tick a few off the list. As always this was easier said than done.

I REALLY need to start taking the book with me on buying trips. I managed to buy a couple of beers I have already ticked off the list (d'oh – but at least they are good beers!), and a few more I thought where on the list but aren't. This happens me all the time... I reckon if I ever make it through all 1001 beers I'll have sampled at least twice that (actually now I've thought that through maybe its a good thing after all...)

Anyway, here's what I sampled:

From 1001 beers
  • Fuller's ESB. Style: Bitter, ABV: 5.9%.

    Description: Poured with a big, amber head that dissipated quickly. Clear, mid-amber in colour with a decent amount of bubbles that stayed well throughout. A malty bitter, only mildly hopped. The maltyness means that it feels bigger than expected given the colour and clarity.
    Conclusion: I’m not the biggest fan of bitters generally, but I can see that this one is a good example of the style. I definitely buy it again, but I'd guess there would mostly be better, more exciting or new beers to try instead!
    Score: 6.5

  • Theakstons Old Peculiar. Style: Porter, ABV: 5.6%

    Description: Nice head, that lingered for awhile. Toasted malts to taste. Quite thin mouth-feel considering its a porter.
    Conclusion: After IPAs, Porters are probably my favourite style of beers. This one's grand, but a wee bit too thin and light for my taste.
    Score: 6

  • Abbot Ale. Style: Bitter, ABV: 5%
    Description: Quite a light bitter with a carmel taste. Poured with a nice head that hung around till there was no beer left!
    Conclusion: I thought that I wouldn't like this (clear bottles tend to be a bad sign), but actually it was fine. Though I doubt I’ll ever buy it again.
    Score: 5.5

  • Old Empire. Style: IPA, ABV: 5.7%
    Description: Another clear bottle... Poured clear and light amber. Lightly hopped and not much IPA bitterness
    Conclusion: I like my IPAs big and bold (see Hoppelhammer in my last post). Not bad but again there better out there so not one I’d go back to.
    Score: 6


Not on the list
  • Southwold Bitter. Style: Bitter, ABV: 4.1%
    Conclusion: It might have been the few that preceded it but this came across quite well. Really solid bitter.
    Score: 6

  • Old Thumper. Style: Bitter, ABV: 5.6%
    Conclusion: Strange after-taste to start, almost tempted not to finish it. It improved as it was drunk. Perhaps I served it too cold.
    Score: 5

  • Green's Golden Ale. Style: Golden Ale, ABV: 4.1%
    Conclusion: Apparently brewed in Belgium for Greens in England. Wheat and gluten free. Smells like Duvel, but tastes nothing like it. To thin too light, and is actually more amber than blond. Refreshing but no backbone.
    Score: 5
Right I’m off to enjoy the Stones at Glasto.

Cheers

Wednesday 26 June 2013

The Craic's good the beers...

Local Beer for Local People
There is only one Norn Irish beer in "1001 beers to try before you die". That's probably not a shock to many people who have been to pubs and bars across the country. Yes, we have some great bars for a good night out enjoying the craic and talking rubbish. But, until recently, if you liked a beer that wasn't Bud, Carlsberg, Harp, or Tennents, i.e at best insipid pale lager, the choices were basically non-existent.

"Ah, but what about Guinness", I hear you say. Yes, its ubiquitously available, and yes given the right circumstances it can be a good pint. Those circumstances are (a) the bar serves lots of it, i.e. the bar is full and no-one is drinking anything else and (b) it's within sight of the brewery - Guinness travels really badly!

However, in the last few years things have really begun to change. Local brewers, such as Hilden, Whitewater, and Clanconnell deserve praise as they have been producing really decent beer for awhile - but they are now starting to gain traction and are becoming more widely available.

Beers

So here's a quick run down of my favourite local beers:

Whitewater
  • Hoppelhammer. Style: IPA, ABV: 6%. I came across this beer at the CAMRA Belfast Beer Festival in 2012, when it was (quite rightly in my opinion) voted Beer of the Festival. A big beer with a an intensive hoppy bitterness, followed by citrus flavours and a nice alcohol warmth to finish. This is probably the best IPA I've had from a UK or Ireland producer, and I'm glad to see it appearing a more and more bars across the country. Go buy some!
  • Clotworthy Dobbin. Style: Porter, ABV 5%. This is the local beer which features in "1001 beers to try before you die", and deservedly so. A great example of the style, with toffee and sweet fruit overtones. A nice beer to sit down and sip in front of a warm fire.  
  • Whitewater also produce the very tasty Belfast Ale, Belfast Lager, and Belfast Black slightly less adventurous - but they show what can be done with the style when you make beer the with passion and quality ingredients.
  • Barney's Brew. Style: Spiced Wheat, ABV: 5%. Who'd have thought you could get a local wheat beer, spiced with cardamom, coriander, and black pepper. It sounds unusual (and it is!) but it shows what an innovative brewer can produce that you'd never see one of the megabrewers even try. Lovely on an Autumn night!
  • Hilden Halt. Style: Irish Red Ale, ABV: 6.1%. A big malty, red ale with only mild hops. The alcohol content gives it a nice warmth. 
  • Hilden also produce Hilden Ale, Scullion's Ale, and Twisted Hop. All are worth trying out if you can find a bottle or two, and they also deserve credit for some of the best labels in the craft beer scene. Hilden also brew a nice session house ale for the Dirty Duck in Holywood - always worth a visit for the chowder and a tasty pint or 2.
  • McGraths Irish Black. Style: Stout, ABV: 4.3%. I first came across this beer in the back bar in the Garrick  in Belfast. A jet-black, thick (almost tar like but in a good way), stout with big peppery and smoky overtones. Much superior to Guinness but it might be seen as an acquired taste - have a couple of bottles, give it a chance to grow on you, and it could become a favourite.
  • I know Clanconnel produce other beers but I've yet to give them a proper tasting. I'll be sure to update this post when I do.
Where to Buy, in NI
So good local beer is available - along with some great craft beers and real ales from around the UK, Ireland, and the World - you just got to know where to find it.

Off-sales
Some credit has to go to Tesco and Sainsbury's who have now picked up beers from around the world and started making them available. Tesco (strangely availability changes from store to store - the Newtownbreda store seems to have the best selection) is good for world beers, where as Sainsbury's at Forestside is good for English ales.

However, and its a big however, neither can live with the selection, choice and advice you can get in the Vineyard on the Ormeau Road. If your buying beer in Belfast its the place to go. Have a chat with the friendly, knowledgeable staff; if your planning a beer tasting evening it's essential!

Festival
As a mentioned above, each year CAMRA host a beer festival in the Kings Hall. The 14th (see what you've missed so far!) festival is taking place on 21st to 23rd November 2013. Get yourself along for a great day's craic, live music, and plenty of good beers (though save me some of the black IPA if its there).

Bars
I covered this in my first post, but just to reiterate and add to, the following bars are well worth a visit and have a decent selection (and if you'r unlucky you'll see me there):
  • The Garrick
  • The Duke of York
  • The John Hewitt
  • Cuckoo (though its a bit Hipster...)
  • The Errigle 
  • The Dirty Duck
I'm sure there are more bars that have a good selection that I'm missing out on and more local beers I should be trying - let me know in the comments section!

Cheers

Sunday 23 June 2013

The Story So Far

Introduction
As mentioned in my previous post, this blog doesn't begin at the start of my journey with 1001 Beers to Try Before You Die. It is probably more the end of the beginning (though I still have a very long way to go). In this post I thought I'd provide a bit of a summary of where I've got to and what has been good and bad so far.

Statistics
As of today (23 June 2013):

  • I have tried 153 of the beers in the book (just the 848 to go then!).
  • I have scores for a further 34 beers that I have also tried.
  • From the list 40 have been from England, 29 from the USA, 23 from Belgium, 15 from Scotland, 9 from Germany, and the rest from all over the world (including Laos and Peru!).
  • 31 have been amber (red/brown) ales, 23 have been India Pale Ales (IPAs), 13 stouts, 12 porters,  and 12 have been speciality beers (including fruit, sours, aged, etc).
  • Strength (ABV) ranges from 3% to 18.2%(!).
The Best So Far
My scoring system is a tad subjective (but then what else could it be!) with beers scoring between 1 (undrinkable) and 10 (I need more NOW). Because I can be a bit indecisive I have allowed myself 1/2 points. 

3 beers have scored a whopping 9 out of 10. If you seen any of these in your local offy I'd suggesting buying them now and drinking one out of a bag on the way home (but you do so at your own risk and if you get arrested or walk into a lamppost don't come crying to me)! These are:
  • Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest.Style: IPA. ABV: 6.7%. I love IPAs, and would probably be classified as a "hophead". To me this is an almost perfect example of the style - the hops are intense but well balanced by a malty beer and the ABV doesn't overdo it. A really well balanced beer.
  • Ola Dubh (30). Style: Aged porter/old ale. ABV: 8%. This is an imperial porter aged in malt whisky casks that previously held Highland Park 30 Year Old Whisky. Peaty and smoked; a real sipper of a beer.
  • Brooklyn Black Chocolate StoutStyle: Stout. ABV: 10%. This is a big, ballsy, beast of a beer. Dark chocolate, thick, and malty; yet it comes across creamy. You would never guess this is a 10% beer, its very moreish and the temptation to guzzle it is there - try to avoid this or you'll have a very sore head in the morning!
There has also been one beer that rated 8.5:
  • Aventinus (Schneider). Style: Dopplebock. ABV: 8.2%. Unfiltered, cloudy, malty, and quite sweet, yet the alcohol content really carries it through to a well balanced finish. 
Plenty of beers have scored 8, but I don't plan to list them all in this post. I might come back to some of them in the future, but I'll give a special mention to Samuel Smith Brewery. In my opinion this is the best brewery in the UK, and none of their beers have scored below a 7.5 for me. Seriously, go buy Samuel Smith Beer and enjoy (responsibly).

Outside the beers listed in the book another scored a very impressive 9:
  • Mein Hopfeweisse (Schneider)Style: Weizen (wheat beer). ABV: 8.2%. On a summers day there is nothing quite as refreshing as a wheat beer, though sometimes they can be lacking in taste - not this beer. There is a really pleasant hoppyness that cuts beautifully through the crisp wheat beer. Again it hides its 8.2% ABV disturbingly well so be careful!
And the worst
This is just my opinion, but the following beers (and I don't plan to go into any real detail) shouldn't be in the book except maybe for comparison sake. I've tried them, their crap, you don't need too. You have been warned!
  • Scored 3 out of 10 - Deuchers IPA, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Tsingtao, Grolsch, James Boag's, Singha, Chang.
  • 3.5 out of 10 - Havest Pale.
  • 4 out of 10 - 80, SA, Beerlao (though they do provide great glasses!), Budweiser, Castle Lager, Kirin Ichoban, Banana Bread Beer.
Disclaimer - obviously my opinions are subjective. You may love some of the beers above, and that's fine we can agree to disagree and you can tell me why I'm wrong in the comment section below - I'll give any beer a second chance! The main thing is to drink beer you enjoy. 

From now on posts are likely to be shorter and focusing in more detail on the 2 or 3 new beers I've tried since my last post.

Cheers!

The Beginning...

So this may or may not happen as a proper lasting blog; but here we go...

This Christmas (2012) I bought myself a book, "1001 Beers: you must try before you die". Since then I have been meandering my way through many of the beers within.This blog plans to cover my adventures with this book and my views on the beers within. I'll come back to this in the next post. This one is a wee bit of history.

My interest in beer starts way before that. 

An early confession - I was a Bud man. In my defence, this is Northern Ireland. Bud arrived in draught form in my formative beer days at £2 a pint in Hunters (now long gone) on the Lisburn Road. Compared the Harp or Tennents it tasted pretty damn good - and it least it was served cold. After that I can even admit to a period of time when I and friends referred to Coors Light as "Sweet Milk" *shudder*.

However, when I travelled I always liked to try the local lager. Dorada in the Canaries, served in ice cold pint glasses, comes to mind.

Then in 2006 I had 2 trips to the states in quick succession. In New Orleans I found Abita and in Boston I found Sam Adams. Suddenly my opinion of beer changed. Before this, it was all about light, crisp, and frankly flavourless lager. These beers were amber, and malty, and moreish. But they weren't (widely) available in Northern Ireland and I went back to drinking insipid lager.

I was back to America in 2008 for my honeymoon, and I was determined to try new beers. Yuengling in New York, Sierra Nevada in Las Vegas, and Anchor Steam in San Francisco. Even better, we found Jacks at the Cannery in SF. 85 beer on tap and a proper beer menu. My mind was blown.

Since then I have been seeking out and trying every different beer I can find.

I was still steeped in American beers. I should also at this point mention my old boss who really introduced me to proper English and real ales. I'm still not convinced about drinking them warm, but I'm coming round to the concept! Trips to Germany, Australia, and experimentation with Belgian and Czech beers have broadened my mind further.

So - while this post covers my history with beer, this blog doesn't start at the beginning of the "1001 beers to try before you die". I'm 153 beers in and have also now started scoring and cataloguing the beers I try outside those referenced in the book.

In the next post, I'll summarise the best (and worst) I've had to date, from then on I'll probably cover a few beers, and  related stories, in each post.

One point though - while I've enjoyed reading and working my thought the book, but it is by no means definitive. Firstly, it was published in 2010 - as the craft beer revolution was really catching on (at least only catching on here) and therefore it misses many new beers you really should try. Secondly, there are beers in it that simply aren't great, and life's too short to spend your time drinking bad beer. As Hunter S Thompson Said "Good people drink good beer".

A couple of other points - what I like, you might not. I have a soft spot for big hopped American IPAs and dark bitter stouts and porters. I generally prefer ale to lager (though I have recently discovered that lager is much more than pilsner and a few good dopplebocks are trying to persuade me otherwise). 

My overall scoring will be out of 10 (half points allowed), and I'll try to cover most of the tasting points (bouquet, colour, taste, mouth-feel) for new beers but might not cover this for beers I tried awhile ago. I'll also try to give some info about beer styles etc. as we go along.

Finally, if you live in Northern Ireland and want to try good beers I can recommend:

For local beers try anything by Whitewater and Hilden. Clanconnel also have some good stuff.

The next post will get to the beers!

Cheers