Is it really that long since I posted here? Oops... Inasmuch as there's anything to blame beyond my own slackitude, it's work, plus the winter weather and the bugs it brings. Specifically a foul cold which has dulled my palate to the point where I can just about tell that a beer is beer, but that's pretty much all.
It was especially annoying over the weekend - presented with a traditional German yuletide dinner of Sauerbraten with red cabbage and Knödel (dumplings), I pulled out my remaining crate of German beer for our guests, and realised I could barely tell the difference between Brauerei Simon Spezial, Riedenburger Historisches Emmer Bier and Andechser Doppelbock. Sigh.
Ah well - here's hoping it will have cleared by the time the festivities start...
*This is a beef joint marinated in red wine, vinegar, herbs & spices, and chopped onion and carrot, roasted and served with a sweet and sour sauce, and it's delicious - if you can taste it.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Monday, 7 November 2011
Plastic fantastic?
I've been meaning to write about this year's London Brewers Showcase at Vinopolis for a couple of weeks now, but other things kept intervening - most notably the Twickenham Beer Festival.... (Congratulation, by the way, to Hammerpot for winning Beer of the Festival for its truly excellent Bottle Wreck Porter.)
The first thing you noticed at Vinopolis was just how many breweries London now has. It may even be up to 20. Most are members of the London Brewers Alliance, but the main LBA website is woefully in need of updating as it is missing a bunch of them: East London Brewing, By The Horns, London Brewing (=The Bull brewpub), London Fields Brewery, and my local Botanist Brewery, to name but five. (There is a decent-ish list in this article though.)
The second thing that caught my attention though was just how many were using plastic casks. These have been around for a a few years, but I wasn't aware of them being very successful. Their advantages are low weight and low cost, plus of course they don't get nicked and melted down by metal-thieving scumbags, but they had a reputation for being more fragile and likely to split.
"Plastic casks are a lot more reliable now - all the recent London start-ups are going for them," said Alex Bull of By the Horns.
Fullers head brewer Derek Prentice agreed, but added that bigger brewers will most likely stay with metal for now - if only because if he tried running plastics down an automated filling line, their light weight would probably have them bouncing off and careening around the hall...
One other reason why they work for the smaller brewers could be that their beers are not so widely distributed - even if a cask leaves the brewpub, in many cases it stays within that company's small pub estate. That means less heaving casks in and out of lorries and dropping them on pavements.
Other problems remain though, most notably that the other bits and bobs involved - the shive and keystone - were originally designed for use on metal casks, not plastic, and of course how the materials bind together will vary. This was demonstrated at Twickenham where we lost one plastic cask due to the keystone blowing out overnight and another was withdrawn by the brewer because the shive was no longer airtight. So, more work still needed, eh?
The first thing you noticed at Vinopolis was just how many breweries London now has. It may even be up to 20. Most are members of the London Brewers Alliance, but the main LBA website is woefully in need of updating as it is missing a bunch of them: East London Brewing, By The Horns, London Brewing (=The Bull brewpub), London Fields Brewery, and my local Botanist Brewery, to name but five. (There is a decent-ish list in this article though.)
The second thing that caught my attention though was just how many were using plastic casks. These have been around for a a few years, but I wasn't aware of them being very successful. Their advantages are low weight and low cost, plus of course they don't get nicked and melted down by metal-thieving scumbags, but they had a reputation for being more fragile and likely to split.
"Plastic casks are a lot more reliable now - all the recent London start-ups are going for them," said Alex Bull of By the Horns.
Fullers head brewer Derek Prentice agreed, but added that bigger brewers will most likely stay with metal for now - if only because if he tried running plastics down an automated filling line, their light weight would probably have them bouncing off and careening around the hall...
One other reason why they work for the smaller brewers could be that their beers are not so widely distributed - even if a cask leaves the brewpub, in many cases it stays within that company's small pub estate. That means less heaving casks in and out of lorries and dropping them on pavements.
Other problems remain though, most notably that the other bits and bobs involved - the shive and keystone - were originally designed for use on metal casks, not plastic, and of course how the materials bind together will vary. This was demonstrated at Twickenham where we lost one plastic cask due to the keystone blowing out overnight and another was withdrawn by the brewer because the shive was no longer airtight. So, more work still needed, eh?
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Happy birthday CAMRA!
An excellent afternoon out yesterday at the London CAMRA 40th birthday party. We took over the Counting House - the Fullers one on Cornhill, in the Square Mile, not the JDW - for a superb range of beers from a variety of London brewers, plus a few speeches, and pub quiz where all the questions (pretty much) were about the history of CAMRA and yours truly's team didn't even feature in the top 6...
The Fullers beers on offer included the brand new Black Cab Stout, which was launched last week. On Twitter, John Keeling said, "Many people are surprised we have made a stout considering we already make a porter.We are a London brewery by the way." Yes indeed, and don't forget the Double Stout...
Anyway, Black Cab is a lovely stout, black with brown hints and a beige head, then roast malt, milk chocolate and a hint of red fruit on the nose, and a roasty dry yet sweetish body with burnt fruit, plus hints of fruitcake and toffee. Perhaps a little sweeter than I normally go for, but I'll definitely be trying it again!
Others on offer, according to my failing memory, included Brodies American Brown (which is quite excellent), Twickenham Sundancer, Sambrooks Powerhouse Porter, and Redemption Trinity. (There was also one from London Brewing, AKA the Bull Highgate's pub brewery, but I forget the name and the Bull's website appears rather broken...)
Hmm. You won't see that sort of range in a Fullers pub very often, methinks.
As well as speeches from various CAMRA folk, including one by regional director Kim Martin who ably summarised the London branches' desire to see the Campaign embrace craft beer rather than rejecting it, our host Richard Fuller gave a good summary of the history of Fullers and its relationship with CAMRA from 1971.
All in all, an excellent event, and I wish I could have stayed longer!
The Fullers beers on offer included the brand new Black Cab Stout, which was launched last week. On Twitter, John Keeling said, "Many people are surprised we have made a stout considering we already make a porter.We are a London brewery by the way." Yes indeed, and don't forget the Double Stout...
Anyway, Black Cab is a lovely stout, black with brown hints and a beige head, then roast malt, milk chocolate and a hint of red fruit on the nose, and a roasty dry yet sweetish body with burnt fruit, plus hints of fruitcake and toffee. Perhaps a little sweeter than I normally go for, but I'll definitely be trying it again!
Others on offer, according to my failing memory, included Brodies American Brown (which is quite excellent), Twickenham Sundancer, Sambrooks Powerhouse Porter, and Redemption Trinity. (There was also one from London Brewing, AKA the Bull Highgate's pub brewery, but I forget the name and the Bull's website appears rather broken...)
Hmm. You won't see that sort of range in a Fullers pub very often, methinks.
As well as speeches from various CAMRA folk, including one by regional director Kim Martin who ably summarised the London branches' desire to see the Campaign embrace craft beer rather than rejecting it, our host Richard Fuller gave a good summary of the history of Fullers and its relationship with CAMRA from 1971.
All in all, an excellent event, and I wish I could have stayed longer!
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Splitting the Atom
It's been a low-key launch, but Fullers has joined the growing group of brewers taking advantage of the government's new tax break for sub-2.9% beers. Its offering is Mighty Atom, which is gradually making its way through the pub estate, and is currently in the Princess Royal in Brentford, among others.
I had a pint today and rather nice it was too, if it little light-bodied as you'd expect. The landlord said he expects it to go down well with the football crowd, especially those who drive over but still fancy a pint or two. Damn, yet more furriners nicking our parking spaces every other Saturday!
Monday, 31 October 2011
Whew, what a week...
With the restored Twickenham Beer Festival now over - wow, that was a long week! And that's even after I had to work Monday & Tuesday instead of helping with set-up right from the start.
Into the beer festival on Wednesday morning - I was the bar manager for the main ale bar - to discover they already had all the casks up on the stillage. Hurrah! We set up the bars, customer seating and what have you. At least that wasn't too late a finish.
Then Thursday morning in again around 9, completed the set-up and as the day went on I started briefing the bar staff and sorting out stuff for later in the week, such as going to meet the estimable Tom Madeiros of the nearby Twickenham brewery who'd agreed to let us have samples of hops and malt for the planned introductory beer tasting session on Saturday. The beer manager and his crew had done a brilliant job of getting the beer ready in plenty of time, and once the labels were all up we were ready to open at 5pm.
It's three years since the last Twickenham beer festival, so in a way it's like a new event and it was a bit slow getting started. We had also been given an almost absurdly low fire limit by the council H&S people, so the organisers hadn't promoted it as heavily as in the past. Nonetheless, by 7pm it was humming - the bars were busy and everyone was having a good time, volunteers and customers alike. As bar manager, one of my more important jobs is to make sure the volunteers take breaks whenever possible and practical, as it's easy to overdo it and burn yourself out when you're enthusiastic.
During the evening quite a few local publicans were around as our guests, along with the brewer from the new Botanist Brewery in Kew. The branch's new Pub of the Year was announced, with the Prince of Wales in Twickenham just pipping runners-up the Magpie & Crown (Brentford) and the Roebuck (Hampton Hill).
Come closing time at 10.30pm, I thanked the bar staff and headed straight home, as I knew the alarm would have to be set for 5.30am to get Helma and Roric to Heathrow for their flight to Germany. We were up and they were checked in mostly on time, and after walking the dog I cycled back to Twickenham for Friday which was to be the first full day's opening.
It was getting harder now, and then when during the afternoon I cycled home again to give the dog his afternoon run my energy was really running low. Still, it was back to the fray, and our fears on the festival fire limit were realised when around 6-7pm the hall was nominally full - though in fact there was still spare room - and we had 40-50 people queuing outside waiting for others to leave so they could get in.
Fortunately, the council folk saw sense - they acknowledged that the space available to us was sufficient for another 10%, and that pretty much instantly cleared the queue. At the bar we were thoroughly busy all of a sudden, but the volunteers were brilliant. In fact, I don't think anyone will have had to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes all festival, and most were served within a minute.
Come Saturday morning, I have to confess I found it difficult to get there even by opening time. The tickers and a few other keen types were in early, but it took a while to get busy. By lunchtime though it was pretty lively, especially with Harlequins rugby fans in ahead of their game. It quietened down once they went off to the match, then picked up once more around 5-6pm. The afternoon tasting session went very well, with some good interest and plenty of relevant questions from the participants.
By now beers were running out all the time, but we still had plenty left, and come 9.30pm we decided to cut prices and start pushing takeouts, which shifted a few extra gallons. On the one hand, by closing time we still had a good choice of beers left - festival-goers often complain about festivals running out before the close - but on the other hand, by closing time we still had quite a bit of beer left...
In again Sunday to help take everything apart and clear the venue - we had to be out at midday. By rooting around for all the plastic bottles I could find, I managed to salvage a few beers for later. Unfortunately one of the wretched bottles then leaked in the car onto the carpet, the smell of which will not help if I'm stopped by the cops...
A day later, I've finally managed to catch up on some sleep, but it's still hard to get back into work mode!
Then Thursday morning in again around 9, completed the set-up and as the day went on I started briefing the bar staff and sorting out stuff for later in the week, such as going to meet the estimable Tom Madeiros of the nearby Twickenham brewery who'd agreed to let us have samples of hops and malt for the planned introductory beer tasting session on Saturday. The beer manager and his crew had done a brilliant job of getting the beer ready in plenty of time, and once the labels were all up we were ready to open at 5pm.
It's three years since the last Twickenham beer festival, so in a way it's like a new event and it was a bit slow getting started. We had also been given an almost absurdly low fire limit by the council H&S people, so the organisers hadn't promoted it as heavily as in the past. Nonetheless, by 7pm it was humming - the bars were busy and everyone was having a good time, volunteers and customers alike. As bar manager, one of my more important jobs is to make sure the volunteers take breaks whenever possible and practical, as it's easy to overdo it and burn yourself out when you're enthusiastic.
During the evening quite a few local publicans were around as our guests, along with the brewer from the new Botanist Brewery in Kew. The branch's new Pub of the Year was announced, with the Prince of Wales in Twickenham just pipping runners-up the Magpie & Crown (Brentford) and the Roebuck (Hampton Hill).
Come closing time at 10.30pm, I thanked the bar staff and headed straight home, as I knew the alarm would have to be set for 5.30am to get Helma and Roric to Heathrow for their flight to Germany. We were up and they were checked in mostly on time, and after walking the dog I cycled back to Twickenham for Friday which was to be the first full day's opening.
It was getting harder now, and then when during the afternoon I cycled home again to give the dog his afternoon run my energy was really running low. Still, it was back to the fray, and our fears on the festival fire limit were realised when around 6-7pm the hall was nominally full - though in fact there was still spare room - and we had 40-50 people queuing outside waiting for others to leave so they could get in.
Fortunately, the council folk saw sense - they acknowledged that the space available to us was sufficient for another 10%, and that pretty much instantly cleared the queue. At the bar we were thoroughly busy all of a sudden, but the volunteers were brilliant. In fact, I don't think anyone will have had to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes all festival, and most were served within a minute.
Come Saturday morning, I have to confess I found it difficult to get there even by opening time. The tickers and a few other keen types were in early, but it took a while to get busy. By lunchtime though it was pretty lively, especially with Harlequins rugby fans in ahead of their game. It quietened down once they went off to the match, then picked up once more around 5-6pm. The afternoon tasting session went very well, with some good interest and plenty of relevant questions from the participants.
By now beers were running out all the time, but we still had plenty left, and come 9.30pm we decided to cut prices and start pushing takeouts, which shifted a few extra gallons. On the one hand, by closing time we still had a good choice of beers left - festival-goers often complain about festivals running out before the close - but on the other hand, by closing time we still had quite a bit of beer left...
In again Sunday to help take everything apart and clear the venue - we had to be out at midday. By rooting around for all the plastic bottles I could find, I managed to salvage a few beers for later. Unfortunately one of the wretched bottles then leaked in the car onto the carpet, the smell of which will not help if I'm stopped by the cops...
A day later, I've finally managed to catch up on some sleep, but it's still hard to get back into work mode!
Friday, 5 August 2011
Ale to the Chief!
With over 100 cask beers from 18 different states, plus one from DC-based Capitol City, the Blackwell/W2 bar at GBBF has one of the largest ions of US real ale in the world.
And it's proving a big draw, according to deputy bar manager Jim Laws. "Some people go for the strength, but a lot are going for the hops," he said, noting that while the US is famed for its big hoppy IPAs - and it is International IPA Day today, after all - there are plenty of porters, stouts and others on tap too.
He added that the beers from bar sponsor Sierra Nevada have been going particularly well: "The Sierra Nevada beers have been flying out - we've got three on, the Pale Ale, the Porter and the Torpedo Extra IPA."
There's even been a few that weren't in the programme, due to last minute shipping changes. Lowell Beer Works is the house brewery for a small chain of pubs in Massachusetts, and its tasty 15% Godzilla sold out in just a few hours on Tuesday afternoon. Its smooth Brookline Weizen Bock was still available on Thursday, fortunately.
So how have the US cask beers measured up to the exacting standards of CAMRA's volunteer cellar staff? Overall they have done extremely well, it seems. "One or two gave a few problems," Jim said. "But considering they've had a heck of a journey that's only to be expected."
Around half of the 100 had already run out by late Thursday afternoon, but Jim said there were still several more casks to go up on the stillage - including some more from Sierra Nevada - never mind the ones that had already been tapped and would be ready for sale shortly.
"There should still be a good range by Saturday," he concluded. "You can never tell though, it depends how busy we get tomorrow."
And it's proving a big draw, according to deputy bar manager Jim Laws. "Some people go for the strength, but a lot are going for the hops," he said, noting that while the US is famed for its big hoppy IPAs - and it is International IPA Day today, after all - there are plenty of porters, stouts and others on tap too.
He added that the beers from bar sponsor Sierra Nevada have been going particularly well: "The Sierra Nevada beers have been flying out - we've got three on, the Pale Ale, the Porter and the Torpedo Extra IPA."
There's even been a few that weren't in the programme, due to last minute shipping changes. Lowell Beer Works is the house brewery for a small chain of pubs in Massachusetts, and its tasty 15% Godzilla sold out in just a few hours on Tuesday afternoon. Its smooth Brookline Weizen Bock was still available on Thursday, fortunately.
So how have the US cask beers measured up to the exacting standards of CAMRA's volunteer cellar staff? Overall they have done extremely well, it seems. "One or two gave a few problems," Jim said. "But considering they've had a heck of a journey that's only to be expected."
Around half of the 100 had already run out by late Thursday afternoon, but Jim said there were still several more casks to go up on the stillage - including some more from Sierra Nevada - never mind the ones that had already been tapped and would be ready for sale shortly.
"There should still be a good range by Saturday," he concluded. "You can never tell though, it depends how busy we get tomorrow."
A taste of history comes home to London
Doing good business on the US cask bar (W2) today was something that originated just a few miles from Earls Court: Virginia brewery Devil's Backbone's re-creation of a 1930's London Dark Lager, using a recipe from long-gone Southwark brewer Barclay Perkins.
Lager brewing in London in the 30s? And dark lager at that? Absolutely, according to Ron Pattinson, the brewing historian and writer who suggested the brew to Devil's Backbone.
"I wasn't sure how it would turn out, to be honest!" he said. "A dark Munich style is not what people expect of British lagers in the period. But I've got records from Britain of lager brewing as far back as the 1840s."
He added that any Bavarian brewer would have recognised the techniques used in British lager back then - this was real lager, properly conditioned and quite probably served without additional gas.
The beer itself was delicious, by the way - ruby-black in colour, with coffee and toasted malt aromas and then a smooth body with fruit and malt balanced by a light bitterness and a faint red wine, almost bock-like, character.
Talking to Ron - who was signing copies of his books on the Cogan & Matter stand (S65) - I got the sense that he very much enjoys using the history of brewing to overturn modern assumptions and expectations about beer, and about the past.
Indeed, if anyone reading this has an old pub going spare, he said he has another pet project you might be interested in.
"I'd like someone to get an alehouse and brew Edwardian ales," he explained. "I want to give an impression of what it used to be like and how different it was, when you didn't have anything weaker than 4.5%."
Who knows, it might even make a reality TV series - we've seen it done with country houses and farms, now how about 'The Edwardian Pub'?
Lager brewing in London in the 30s? And dark lager at that? Absolutely, according to Ron Pattinson, the brewing historian and writer who suggested the brew to Devil's Backbone.
"I wasn't sure how it would turn out, to be honest!" he said. "A dark Munich style is not what people expect of British lagers in the period. But I've got records from Britain of lager brewing as far back as the 1840s."
He added that any Bavarian brewer would have recognised the techniques used in British lager back then - this was real lager, properly conditioned and quite probably served without additional gas.
The beer itself was delicious, by the way - ruby-black in colour, with coffee and toasted malt aromas and then a smooth body with fruit and malt balanced by a light bitterness and a faint red wine, almost bock-like, character.
Talking to Ron - who was signing copies of his books on the Cogan & Matter stand (S65) - I got the sense that he very much enjoys using the history of brewing to overturn modern assumptions and expectations about beer, and about the past.
Indeed, if anyone reading this has an old pub going spare, he said he has another pet project you might be interested in.
"I'd like someone to get an alehouse and brew Edwardian ales," he explained. "I want to give an impression of what it used to be like and how different it was, when you didn't have anything weaker than 4.5%."
Who knows, it might even make a reality TV series - we've seen it done with country houses and farms, now how about 'The Edwardian Pub'?
Beer for all seasons
Given the general soggyness of this grey day, it wouldn't be too surprising to find that sales of darker and stronger beers were picking up today as visitors veered away from the golden ales and summer bitters that went down so well yesterday- and the GBBF Twitter feed was bearing that out.
Amber's medal-winning Chocolate Orange Stout (B5) was the choice of chMKUK, while kmflett was on the US cask bar (W2) enjoying the cask re-creation of Barclays London Dark Lager, brewed by Devils Backbone in the US in co-operation with beer historian and blogger Ron Pattinson.
Hermanoprimero reckoned that the Goacher's Real Mild (P4) "tastes like smoky bacon" - was that a compliment or a criticism? Titanic's Chocolate & Vanilla Stout (W5) won more fans too, with unclewilco calling it "very drinkable" and with a "stunning aroma".
However, it is also International IPA Day today. I'm not quite sure who organised this - do let us know in the comments if you know - but quite a few festival visitors are taking advantage of the range of IPAs available to celebrate it to the full. AndrewBowden recommended the Windsor & Eton Conqueror (B2) and Megfdavies the Thornbridge Raven (B1), two great examples of the new category of Black IPAs - look out for more of these around GBBF.
Thornbridge's regular IPA, Jaipur, was the tipple of choice of Ahnlak, while SamSWalker tried the Potton Shannon IPA (B3) and Ilkleybrewery cheekily recommended the Ilkley Lotus IPA (B2).
The US is noted for its IPAs of course, and the GBBF US bars have several great examples. Beer_Talk reported enjoying "a lovely Everybodys Brewing Country Boy IPA" for one, while festival sponsor AlesByMail sampled both that and the Il Vicino Wet Mountain IPA.
For now, #GBBF is off to see if there is any of that Barclays Dark Lager left. Happy IPA Day, everyone!
Amber's medal-winning Chocolate Orange Stout (B5) was the choice of chMKUK, while kmflett was on the US cask bar (W2) enjoying the cask re-creation of Barclays London Dark Lager, brewed by Devils Backbone in the US in co-operation with beer historian and blogger Ron Pattinson.
Hermanoprimero reckoned that the Goacher's Real Mild (P4) "tastes like smoky bacon" - was that a compliment or a criticism? Titanic's Chocolate & Vanilla Stout (W5) won more fans too, with unclewilco calling it "very drinkable" and with a "stunning aroma".
However, it is also International IPA Day today. I'm not quite sure who organised this - do let us know in the comments if you know - but quite a few festival visitors are taking advantage of the range of IPAs available to celebrate it to the full. AndrewBowden recommended the Windsor & Eton Conqueror (B2) and Megfdavies the Thornbridge Raven (B1), two great examples of the new category of Black IPAs - look out for more of these around GBBF.
Thornbridge's regular IPA, Jaipur, was the tipple of choice of Ahnlak, while SamSWalker tried the Potton Shannon IPA (B3) and Ilkleybrewery cheekily recommended the Ilkley Lotus IPA (B2).
The US is noted for its IPAs of course, and the GBBF US bars have several great examples. Beer_Talk reported enjoying "a lovely Everybodys Brewing Country Boy IPA" for one, while festival sponsor AlesByMail sampled both that and the Il Vicino Wet Mountain IPA.
For now, #GBBF is off to see if there is any of that Barclays Dark Lager left. Happy IPA Day, everyone!
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Real ale sets the Twittersphere abuzz
With well over 400 British cask ales to choose from at GBBF*, how do you decide where to start - or indeed where to finish? The high-tech option is to ask Twitter, and sure enough, the festival's Twitter feed (@gbbf) and hashtag (#gbbf) has been buzzing with recommendations since we opened at midday on Tuesday.
Nethergate Old Growler (P2) is a lovely well balanced porter, says Pete_Tinley, and having had it in my local recently, I can say he's absolutely right. He's now waiting for the Champion Beer of Britain, Oscar Wilde Mild (P2) to come back on - incidentally, I overheard one of the barstaff from the Vane/P2 bar saying they'd already sold three of the four casks at the festival, the fourth was going on this afternoon - but stay hopeful, because more is on order from Mighty Oak.
There's a vote for Harveys Lewes Castle brown ale (B7) from kathrynpiquette, "A bitter edge with treacle undertones - or overtones?" she says. "Fab either way!" Meanwhile, De_Mote says Thwaites Nutty Black is "Mmm..."
Among the stout fans are PhilPriston who recommends Hook Norton Double Stout (W4), _gmh_ who says Raw's Dark Peat Stout (B2) is "veery drinkable", and Nikonvscanon who recommends the Titanic Chocolate & Vanilla Stout (W5). There's votes too for the Irving Admiral Stout (P4) and several tweets praising B&T's Edwin Taylor's Extra Stout (B3).
The golden beers are getting plenty of attention at the bars too. Axatl says Country Life Golden Pig (B7) has just overtaken Salamander's Golden Salamander (W7) as his festival favourite, while Nottingham Rock Ale Bitter (W4) and Arkell's Wiltshire Gold (W7) are also winning fans.
Fortunately, whatever style you prefer - and most of us like several styles, if not all of them! - it is almost certainly here somewhere. And if you can't find your first choice, well, my reaction is usually just to try something else - and I'm usually very pleasantly surprised.
*Not all of them at the same time, sadly
Nethergate Old Growler (P2) is a lovely well balanced porter, says Pete_Tinley, and having had it in my local recently, I can say he's absolutely right. He's now waiting for the Champion Beer of Britain, Oscar Wilde Mild (P2) to come back on - incidentally, I overheard one of the barstaff from the Vane/P2 bar saying they'd already sold three of the four casks at the festival, the fourth was going on this afternoon - but stay hopeful, because more is on order from Mighty Oak.
There's a vote for Harveys Lewes Castle brown ale (B7) from kathrynpiquette, "A bitter edge with treacle undertones - or overtones?" she says. "Fab either way!" Meanwhile, De_Mote says Thwaites Nutty Black is "Mmm..."
Among the stout fans are PhilPriston who recommends Hook Norton Double Stout (W4), _gmh_ who says Raw's Dark Peat Stout (B2) is "veery drinkable", and Nikonvscanon who recommends the Titanic Chocolate & Vanilla Stout (W5). There's votes too for the Irving Admiral Stout (P4) and several tweets praising B&T's Edwin Taylor's Extra Stout (B3).
The golden beers are getting plenty of attention at the bars too. Axatl says Country Life Golden Pig (B7) has just overtaken Salamander's Golden Salamander (W7) as his festival favourite, while Nottingham Rock Ale Bitter (W4) and Arkell's Wiltshire Gold (W7) are also winning fans.
Fortunately, whatever style you prefer - and most of us like several styles, if not all of them! - it is almost certainly here somewhere. And if you can't find your first choice, well, my reaction is usually just to try something else - and I'm usually very pleasantly surprised.
*Not all of them at the same time, sadly
First love: real ale
One of the joys of GBBF is introducing people to ale for the first time. (Although can you introduce someone for the second time? Never mind...) Yesterday it was a friendly and very interested TV crew from Japan, here to film the festival, interview CAMRA chief exec Mike Benner and then cover the CBOB announcement.
One thing I didn't have time to give them a tour of though was the Japanese beers. Yes, we have Japanese beers - 10 of them, on the New World bar (Urbani/W3) alongside other Pacific Rim brews from Australia and New Zealand.
Slightly confusingly, this part of Bieres Sans Frontieres is also where you will find the Scandinavians, which this year mostly means the Danes, although there are one or two Norwegians as well.
Also here are the stunning beers of Danish microbrewer Mikkeller, although as the eponymous Mikkel doesn't have his own brewery - instead co-operating with other breweries around Denmark and the world to use their facilities - he is listed as a 'gypsy brewer', which may not be politically correct but is apparently one of the terms he prefers.
One thing I didn't have time to give them a tour of though was the Japanese beers. Yes, we have Japanese beers - 10 of them, on the New World bar (Urbani/W3) alongside other Pacific Rim brews from Australia and New Zealand.
Slightly confusingly, this part of Bieres Sans Frontieres is also where you will find the Scandinavians, which this year mostly means the Danes, although there are one or two Norwegians as well.
Also here are the stunning beers of Danish microbrewer Mikkeller, although as the eponymous Mikkel doesn't have his own brewery - instead co-operating with other breweries around Denmark and the world to use their facilities - he is listed as a 'gypsy brewer', which may not be politically correct but is apparently one of the terms he prefers.
Wood you believe it...
Wooden casks are sadly something of a rarity at GBBF these days - but this year we have three huge examples in use, and just to confuse you, they are not on one of the British ale bars but on the Belgian and Dutch bar, Vesalius/P5.
Their arrival earlier in the week from Dutch brewry De Molen caused great excitement, not just because of their size - 225 litres, or around 50 gallons - but also because of their contents. They have been cask-maturing Hot & Spicy, a smoked Imperial stout with chillies, the faintly lactic Hout & Hop, and Tsarina Esra Reserve, a full-flavoured strong porter.
If they've run out - though hopefully with casks those size, they won't have! - there's plenty more Low Countries beers on offer, including half a dozen more on draught, plus bottled Trappists, lambics, fruit and honey beers, stouts and more. And if all that gives you a taste for the subject, you could tap it at its source - bar sponsor Eurolines runs buses to beer festivals in both Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as many more beery places around Europe.
Their arrival earlier in the week from Dutch brewry De Molen caused great excitement, not just because of their size - 225 litres, or around 50 gallons - but also because of their contents. They have been cask-maturing Hot & Spicy, a smoked Imperial stout with chillies, the faintly lactic Hout & Hop, and Tsarina Esra Reserve, a full-flavoured strong porter.
If they've run out - though hopefully with casks those size, they won't have! - there's plenty more Low Countries beers on offer, including half a dozen more on draught, plus bottled Trappists, lambics, fruit and honey beers, stouts and more. And if all that gives you a taste for the subject, you could tap it at its source - bar sponsor Eurolines runs buses to beer festivals in both Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as many more beery places around Europe.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
A brewer's caution over Brewers Reserve
Fullers bar came under siege on Tuesday afternoon, as the first cask of the latest Brewers Reserve No.3 went on sale. Only available in thirds, it is £1.80 and around 9%, and the next cask is due on sale at 6pm on Wednesday.
According to head brewer John Keeling, it's Golden Pride that has been matured in Auchentoshan casks for over 800 days, blended down to a saleable strength using ESB. The Fullers brewers have done several experiments with cask-ageing beer, discovering quite early on that the result could be a tad harsh, and that the answer was to blend it with fresh beer. John said that the two ales used for No.3 are the same ones that went into Brewers Reserve No.2, although in that case the Golden Pride was matured in cognac casks. "We found that this combination worked best," he explained.
Blending with fresh beer is also aimed at solving the grogging problem. Basically, when you age spirits in a wooden barrel some of the alcohol seeps into the wood - whisky distillers call this The Angels' Share, and it accounts for about 2% ABV per year. If you then put another liquid into the barrel - even water - some of that alcohol will seep back out. This is called grogging and it was made illegal by the Finance Act of 1898, as it was a known scam in Victorian times. It still counts as evasion of excise duty and it will have HMRC after you.
The idea was therefore to blend the aged ale back from its barrel-enhanced 12-14% to nearer its original beery strength, thus ensuring that Fullers achieved only a flavour advantage from the barrel and not an ABV one. John said Fullers still has people working with HMRC on the technicalities of this - "We thought we had the grogging problem solved, but apparently not," he sighed.
Fortunately for us, the beer is still on sale. It is rich, and not surprisingly has a lot of whisky and grassy character, along with honey notes and that classic Fullers tang of dark orange marmalade. It is drinking well despite its youth, but will undoubtedly get better still with bottle ageing. "It'll be good for 15 years," John predicted.
According to head brewer John Keeling, it's Golden Pride that has been matured in Auchentoshan casks for over 800 days, blended down to a saleable strength using ESB. The Fullers brewers have done several experiments with cask-ageing beer, discovering quite early on that the result could be a tad harsh, and that the answer was to blend it with fresh beer. John said that the two ales used for No.3 are the same ones that went into Brewers Reserve No.2, although in that case the Golden Pride was matured in cognac casks. "We found that this combination worked best," he explained.
Blending with fresh beer is also aimed at solving the grogging problem. Basically, when you age spirits in a wooden barrel some of the alcohol seeps into the wood - whisky distillers call this The Angels' Share, and it accounts for about 2% ABV per year. If you then put another liquid into the barrel - even water - some of that alcohol will seep back out. This is called grogging and it was made illegal by the Finance Act of 1898, as it was a known scam in Victorian times. It still counts as evasion of excise duty and it will have HMRC after you.
The idea was therefore to blend the aged ale back from its barrel-enhanced 12-14% to nearer its original beery strength, thus ensuring that Fullers achieved only a flavour advantage from the barrel and not an ABV one. John said Fullers still has people working with HMRC on the technicalities of this - "We thought we had the grogging problem solved, but apparently not," he sighed.
Fortunately for us, the beer is still on sale. It is rich, and not surprisingly has a lot of whisky and grassy character, along with honey notes and that classic Fullers tang of dark orange marmalade. It is drinking well despite its youth, but will undoubtedly get better still with bottle ageing. "It'll be good for 15 years," John predicted.
Festival Freebies at GBBF
If you're coming to GBBF this week, you could walk away as a winner - and not just from the famous CAMRA tombola... Several of the brewery stands are running competitions and give-aways, and so is GBBF itself - if you check-in at the festival on Facebook or Foursquare, find the Festival Organiser and show him your check-in, you'll get a free beer!
For those who prefer clothing, Brains has t-shirts on offer for anyone showing the relevant tweet at the bar. There's only a limited number available, but there's also a free Brains dragon tail for every pint bought at GBBF today, so you shouldn't go away empty-handed - or should that be empty-tailed?
If Bombardier is your tipple, then come on Thursday dressed as your hero and a free pint is yours from the Bombardier double-decker. In the meantime, get yourself snapped with the bus and you could win a year's supply of ale.
Greene King will have cake today to celebrate CAMRA's 40th birthday, then once the public sessions start later on there will be a competition running to win not one but two cases of Hen.
If you're a Fullers fan - and if not, why not? - you can sign up at the bar for the brewery's Fine Ale Club. With occasional members' freebies and events around the country, that's a prize in itself. They also have key rings, just go up to the bar and ask!
And lastly, for anyone who has the munchies on their way out, Pipers Crisps has 40,000 packets to give away to departing festival-goes who are taking their glasses with them.
For those who prefer clothing, Brains has t-shirts on offer for anyone showing the relevant tweet at the bar. There's only a limited number available, but there's also a free Brains dragon tail for every pint bought at GBBF today, so you shouldn't go away empty-handed - or should that be empty-tailed?
If Bombardier is your tipple, then come on Thursday dressed as your hero and a free pint is yours from the Bombardier double-decker. In the meantime, get yourself snapped with the bus and you could win a year's supply of ale.
Greene King will have cake today to celebrate CAMRA's 40th birthday, then once the public sessions start later on there will be a competition running to win not one but two cases of Hen.
If you're a Fullers fan - and if not, why not? - you can sign up at the bar for the brewery's Fine Ale Club. With occasional members' freebies and events around the country, that's a prize in itself. They also have key rings, just go up to the bar and ask!
And lastly, for anyone who has the munchies on their way out, Pipers Crisps has 40,000 packets to give away to departing festival-goes who are taking their glasses with them.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Ready for take-off
If you've been watching our live webcam you'll know we are pretty much there now. The bars are all up and ready to go, and the food stalls and other stands are just adding their final touches.
I stopped by the Edwards bar (B8) to check out the range of bottled real ale, which is bigger this year than ever. Bar manager Hannah Pettifer says it widens every year, with the whole variety of ales now being bottled as 'real', not just the traditional strong ales and barley wines - although there are plenty of those on sale here too.
"We do have one expensive one, at just over £10 - Thornbridge Bracia at 10%," Hannah says, "but apart from that they are all £2 to £4."
She adds that if there is a theme emerging this year, it is ginger, with several spicy ales among the 80-plus on offer, including a Ginger Stout from bar sponsor Hop Back.
* All the bars this year are named after medical pioneers - this one is named for the British co-developer of IVF, Dr Robert Edwards. You might be amused to know that this even extends to the staff bars, which are named for Doctors Frankenstein and Jekyll...
I stopped by the Edwards bar (B8) to check out the range of bottled real ale, which is bigger this year than ever. Bar manager Hannah Pettifer says it widens every year, with the whole variety of ales now being bottled as 'real', not just the traditional strong ales and barley wines - although there are plenty of those on sale here too.
"We do have one expensive one, at just over £10 - Thornbridge Bracia at 10%," Hannah says, "but apart from that they are all £2 to £4."
She adds that if there is a theme emerging this year, it is ginger, with several spicy ales among the 80-plus on offer, including a Ginger Stout from bar sponsor Hop Back.
* All the bars this year are named after medical pioneers - this one is named for the British co-developer of IVF, Dr Robert Edwards. You might be amused to know that this even extends to the staff bars, which are named for Doctors Frankenstein and Jekyll...
More than just a breakfast drink
My contact with beer started even before I reached GBBF this morning. It wasn't quite bitter for breakfast - though in hindsight that might have been nice - but while cycling to Earls Court the delicious aroma of brewing wafted under my nose, carried by a kind breeze from Fullers. Perhaps it helped in getting the journey time down from yesterday's 30 minutes to around 25 minutes today, but more likely it was just the practice.
Here at GBBF, it may be early but there are already glasses of beer out. Not for yours truly, but for the Champion Beer of Britain Judges who have a hard morning's tasting ahead of them before we hear the results of their deliberations at around 3 this afternoon. And it is a hard job, albeit also a very enjoyable one - remembering the first beer you tasted once you've got to number six or seven requires a fair bit of focus and concentration, especially if they are of varying strengths and bitterness levels. It's even more of a challenge for the final panel who must fairly compare beers of quite different characters - golden ales with stouts, for example.
The first round of judging is about to start, and the second round panellists are gradually arriving, ready for their turn later this morning. I can't tell you who the judges are yet - the full list is still super-secret, I'm told it is known only to two people in the GBBF hierarchy, and of course they are closeted in with the judges!
For those of you who can't get to GBBF this afternoon - we open at noon for the trade session and the beery press - there will be a live audio feed of the CBOB announcement from the stage at Earls Court. Stay tuned to our Twitter & Facebook feed for details.
For this evening's public session we hope to have full printed results available on the CAMRA Membership Stand, and of course we will have it on the GBBF website here - beware though that this link won't go live until after the announcement.
We also have some news on beer pricing at this year's festival. Beers start from £2 a pint, while the majority of our 430 British cask ales are under £3 a pint. Our beers range in strength from 3% to 9.5% ABV, and if you're looking to sample lots of ales, we have 121 cask ales under the 4% ABV mark. If you missed the National Winter Ales festival, some of the champion beers are showcased at the festival too - oh and 8 of our beers are over 7%. If you're a vegetarian, vegan or coeliac, there are beers available for you too - ask for details at the Membership and Information stand in the centre of the hall.
Here at GBBF, it may be early but there are already glasses of beer out. Not for yours truly, but for the Champion Beer of Britain Judges who have a hard morning's tasting ahead of them before we hear the results of their deliberations at around 3 this afternoon. And it is a hard job, albeit also a very enjoyable one - remembering the first beer you tasted once you've got to number six or seven requires a fair bit of focus and concentration, especially if they are of varying strengths and bitterness levels. It's even more of a challenge for the final panel who must fairly compare beers of quite different characters - golden ales with stouts, for example.
The first round of judging is about to start, and the second round panellists are gradually arriving, ready for their turn later this morning. I can't tell you who the judges are yet - the full list is still super-secret, I'm told it is known only to two people in the GBBF hierarchy, and of course they are closeted in with the judges!
For those of you who can't get to GBBF this afternoon - we open at noon for the trade session and the beery press - there will be a live audio feed of the CBOB announcement from the stage at Earls Court. Stay tuned to our Twitter & Facebook feed for details.
For this evening's public session we hope to have full printed results available on the CAMRA Membership Stand, and of course we will have it on the GBBF website here - beware though that this link won't go live until after the announcement.
We also have some news on beer pricing at this year's festival. Beers start from £2 a pint, while the majority of our 430 British cask ales are under £3 a pint. Our beers range in strength from 3% to 9.5% ABV, and if you're looking to sample lots of ales, we have 121 cask ales under the 4% ABV mark. If you missed the National Winter Ales festival, some of the champion beers are showcased at the festival too - oh and 8 of our beers are over 7%. If you're a vegetarian, vegan or coeliac, there are beers available for you too - ask for details at the Membership and Information stand in the centre of the hall.
Monday, 1 August 2011
Have you got the bottle?
So today is the judging for the 2011 Champion Bottled Beer of Britain (CBBOB). I can't tell you the result yet of course, partly because the judging hasn't finished yet and partly because it's a blind tasting and the organisers won't even tell the judges which beers were which!
It's a very interesting competition though - the real ale CBOB competition gets the attention, yet as organiser Christine Cryne pointed out, in many ways CBBOB has greater reach. After all, you might see both winners in your local pub, but the CBBOB winner could also be in your local supermarket, and indeed in your living room.
CAMRA's Real Ale In a Bottle (RAIB) campaign is also striking chords with hotels and restaurants which cannot - yet - justify serving cask. Among the CBBOB judges were guests from this year's sponsor Hotel du Vin, and from past sponsor Travelodge, both of which see the best of British beer as a powerful addition to their menus.
This year's CBBOB candidates include some excellent golden bitters and ales, some stunning porters and stouts, and at least one wonderful "brown bitter" - and all will be on sale on Bar 8/Edwards.
The results - along with the CBOB results - will be out tomorrow at 3pm or thereabouts. Stay tuned...
It's a very interesting competition though - the real ale CBOB competition gets the attention, yet as organiser Christine Cryne pointed out, in many ways CBBOB has greater reach. After all, you might see both winners in your local pub, but the CBBOB winner could also be in your local supermarket, and indeed in your living room.
CAMRA's Real Ale In a Bottle (RAIB) campaign is also striking chords with hotels and restaurants which cannot - yet - justify serving cask. Among the CBBOB judges were guests from this year's sponsor Hotel du Vin, and from past sponsor Travelodge, both of which see the best of British beer as a powerful addition to their menus.
This year's CBBOB candidates include some excellent golden bitters and ales, some stunning porters and stouts, and at least one wonderful "brown bitter" - and all will be on sale on Bar 8/Edwards.
The results - along with the CBOB results - will be out tomorrow at 3pm or thereabouts. Stay tuned...
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Fullers Past Masters no.2 - Double Stout
Fullers recently launched the second in its series of beers from the archives: Past Masters Double Stout. Organised by the Fullers Fine Ale Club, the launch took place at the brewery shop, where John Keeling introduced the beer to a packed audience, and beer writer Melissa Cole then led a tasting of both Double Stout and the previous brew, Past Masters XX.
Based on a recipe brewed on 4th August 1893 and weighing in at 7.4%, the Double Stout is already gorgeous – it poured a deep red-black with a head like a fine espresso crema, and I detected cocoa, a little coffee and hints of tart red fruit on the nose. Others commented on tasting molasses, a slight salty dryness, and an almost savoury liquorice note.
It will improve with age, and may also increase in ABV, John said. He added: "This beer will age – they designed it to age in 1893." The XX (an 1891 recipe) is already mellowing well after nine months in bottle – the fresh gingery notes have eased off, with hints of honey and orange juice emerging, plus perhaps a slight earthiness.
John added that he had just returned from an enjoyable trip to Marble Brewery in Manchester, where he collaborated on a 6.8% Marble-Fullers tawny ale. "If it's successful, we might bring the Marble brewers here and do a Fullers-Marble beer," he said.
All of this fits in with Fullers interest in trying new things, which John said is older than we might think. "People think American hops are new to this country," he said. "Our brewing book shows we were using them in 1891." He added that his brewers are also doing more barrel-aging experiments – "We have put some XX in cask and are waiting to see how it turns out."
And he said that the next Past Masters recipe is one that's especially dear to his heart – an Old Burton Extra, as brewed in 1956 on the day that he was born, and aimed for release on his birthday this coming September.
(This entry is based on a story I wrote for the upcoming London Drinker magazine. Click through to the big photo if you want to read the bottle notes...)
Monday, 27 June 2011
Can I say "earthy"?
I just bottled my first ever attempt at home-made fruit wine - I've made plenty of meads and melomels, but never a fruit wine before - and it's drinkable but a little, ah, dry. OK, it's rough. And a tad musty...
I'm hoping that, as with mead, it will smooth out with keeping, but can anyone suggest ways to help along the way. please? I'm wondering about adding a little non-fermentable sugar, for instance.
I'm hoping that, as with mead, it will smooth out with keeping, but can anyone suggest ways to help along the way. please? I'm wondering about adding a little non-fermentable sugar, for instance.