Beer E-News Archive 2005

     

From Issue 14 (December 05)

1) Website report
Having said there wouldn't be another newsletter this side of Christmas I just had to let you know of a few updates to the website.  You might like to sit in front of your PC, reading about beer, while nibbling a mince pie (try a strong dark beer with it - sweetish or spiced ales would work very well!)
 
We went to WJ Kings' Open Day at the beginning of the month and there's a two-page report with pictures at
 
If, like me, you have an urge to call out "Ho there, mine host, a pottle of your best ale!" when you're in the local, but would like to know what it means first, have a look at our new page about pints, barrels, firkins and more
 
Bookmark the page about the trip to Belgium scheduled for Friday 24th - Monday 27th February 2006 and check it regularly for updates.
We've also provided more information about the hotel we shall use as our base for the tour
as well as the secret history of the hotel
and some tips on West Flanders

From Issue 13 (November 05)

1) From Virtual to Real-world Travels
The course 'Around the World in 18 Beers' proved to be very successful and was made very enjoyable for us by the great group of people who attended.  They clearly enjoyed their beer, and were able to discuss it seriously but also enjoyed a good laugh in the process - just the way we like it!  It also emerged that there was strong interest in a field trip to Belgium to taste Belgian beers on their home territory.  We have been able to start making arrangements and the trip has been scheduled for Friday 24th - Monday 27th February 2006.  Be sure to book those dates in your diary and then look at our website where you'll find up to date information on http://www.simpson.uk.com/beers/Belgium/BeerTastingInBelgium.htm 
 
2) Preparing for Christmas? Pop into your Co-op shop . . .
We happened to look into our local branch of the Co-op in Shoreham High Street and (of course) checked out their stock of beers.  The first we noticed was Thwaites Strong Ale (5.0% ABV)   http://www.thwaites.co.uk and felt duty bound to try it.  It's brewed specially for the Co-op but we suspect it has a family resemblance to Thwaites cask beer Daniel's Hammer (5.0% ABV) .  Hammer is a seasonal brew with an initial smooth slightly sweet taste finished off with a subtle dry malty finish although it is a light amber colour.  The Co-op Strong Ale shows a similar taste but also has caramel flavouring, which has the effect of darkening the colour.  It's very easy to drink, and good for this time of year as it brings to mind Christmas pudding.  Worth a try! 
Also on the shelves we found Shepherd Neame's Christmas Ale 2005 vintage 6% ABV.    http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/   Prior to 2000, Shepherd Neame added a different ingredient each year. 1999 had almonds, 1998 had cherry brandy and 1997 had cinnamon. In 2000 and 2001 the beer was 6.7%, but had no additional ingredients. From 2002 the abv dropped to 6.1%, and the 2005 version was 6.0%.  In spite of this it didn't seem as strong as the Thwaites Strong Ale 5% we had just tried!  The aroma was fruity, the taste started sweet and finished bitter but did not linger, and it lacked body.  We were left feeling rather disappointed - it was not unpleasant, but we expected more from a Christmas Ale.
 
3)  . .  or try Waitrose? 
Having been thwarted in our attempts to find a Christmas Ale, we went looking for Fullers Vintage 2005 (8.5% ABV) http://www.fullers.co.uk and found it in Waitrose.  It's £2.99 a bottle but you're looking at a limited edition (95,000 bottles, and all numbered individually), which is beautifully packed, with a reverential message from the Head Brewer on the box.  So does it live up to expectations? 
The colour is a clear chestnut and the aroma is of malt and caramel, which also come through in the taste, along with a hint of hop bitterness and the strength of all that alcohol, leaving a warming aftertaste.  The brewery has to state a 'best before date' of 2008 but suggests that it can be kept (in suitable cellar conditions) for much longer.  It is definitely a beer to be sipped and savoured slowly, but it is likely that if it is kept for a year or two the alcohol strength, at present slightly raw, will mellow and more complex flavours will develop.  So while it's still available, get several bottles - try one this Christmas, and keep your tasting notes with the remaining bottles; then try one each successive Christmas and see how it matures. 
Waitrose also had some 3 packs of mixed British beers.  One version had mainly summer style beers but the other pack was more suitable for winter.  It contained one beer from Devon's Otter brewery http://www.otterbrewery.com/ but we haven't tried that yet.  The others were Cotleigh Brewery's Red Nose Reindeer Xmas Ale (5% ABV) http://www.cotleighbrewery.co.uk From a Somerset brewery, in the throes of changing their website, this has a very pale brown head over a dark mahogany body.  The aroma is malty, and the most prominent feature of the taste is a dry stouty flavour.  The label promises chocolate, toffee and fruit, none of which was obvious.  There is a lingering, slightly smoky, bitter aftertaste and there is a hint of fruit (citrus?) in it.  Still quite a pleasant drink even if not up to expectations. 
Perhaps because we tend to expect more strength in a winter ale we found Woods Christmas Cracker (6% ABV)  http://www.woodbrewery.co.uk/ preferable.  This offering from a Shropshire brewery had a shortlived cream head and a dark brown body.  The aroma was fruity and the taste slightly dry, with fruits and a hint of ginger, and the overall impression was good. 
So our overall preference for a UK Christmas drink has to be Fullers Vintage.  But we do still have available our stock of Swiss/Austrian Samichlaus (14% ABV) and, from Belgium, Westvleteren St Sixtus Trappist 10 (10.2%) and St Bernardus Abt 12 (10.5% ABV) and Rochefort 10 (11.3% ABV) to keep us warm this winter . . . 
 
4)  'Sussex Drinker'
You may have noticed that the better real ale pubs often have (free) copies of the 'Sussex Drinker' lying around.  Do grab one when you see it, because it is packed with local information and is also a very entertaining read (and I'm not just saying that because they gave a very nice write-up to our latest course!)  But if you don't see it around, you can still get a copy of it in pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format via the Brighton CAMRA website http://www.brightoncamra.org.uk/  so book mark it now and be sure to look at the current (Winter) edition.

From Issue 12 (November 05)

1) Historical Journey
Without moving out of your armchair you can undertake a short journey through the history of beer, courtesy of Harveys, our great local brewery which doesn't get as much publicity as it deserves for its work in re-creating traditional beers.
Start with a bottle of their Bicentenary Stout 8% (brewed to celebrate the Trafalgar anniversary).  Pour it out and appreciate its dense black colour, with a short-lived head.  Now sniff the aroma and see if you get molasses.  Take a good mouthful.  The first thing you notice is the fulness of body, with a rich, almost oily mouthfeel, then the flavours start to hit you.  The intense dryness is prominent, then you spot the taste of molasses with a hint of tar, and finally the dryness lingers in the aftertaste.  If Nelson's sailors enjoyed such brews it's no wonder the French didn't stand a chance!
Back to the Jacobeans with the taste of Harveys Quatercentenary 8% (to celebrate the Gunpowder Plot).  This is a clear chestnut brown with a rich fruity aroma.  It copies the October ales brewed on the great estates in the 17th century when they used strong malts, with heavy hopping to produce a high alcohol content that would keep well.  The flavour is rich, with bittersweet burnt toffee tastes and it imparts a satisfying warmth.
Now let's move forward again to the early 1900's when Britain was famous for exporting a powerful stout to the court of the Czar.  This is commemorated in Harveys Imperial Extra Double Stout 9% of which we tried the 2001 vintage, but the strength means that you could lay it down for a few more years to let the flavours develop even further.  You know you're in for something special when we remove the foil and see that you need a corkscrew to open this.  Pouring it out with due reverence, enjoy the dark colour and head, on a full, almost oily body.  Sniff the vinous aroma with hints of liquorice, both of which come through in your first sip, along with other extremely complex flavours.  Take your time with this one - it needs sipping and savouring - but while you're lost in the joys of this very special brew just make sure that somebody doesn't start a revolution . . .
These, and many other excellent bottled beers, can be obtained from Harveys' shop, just by the river bridge in Lewes and next to the brewery, or see their website at
http://www.harveys.org.uk/
 
2) Virtual Travels
We have been working hard on the research for 'Around the World in 18 Beers' which will take place on the morning of Saturday 26 November 10.00-13.00 at Steyning Grammar School - full details on
We think we have managed to put together a varied and interesting syllabus of beers which most people will have not previously met.  The list includes what are alleged to be 'the world's strongest beer' and also 'the world's best beer'.  You'd think that would be a hard act to follow, but we have several others which score almost as highly!  There are 18 as promised to make up the 'world tour' but as usual we shall be taking along half a dozen extra 'optional excursions' for those who are not suffering from jetlag (?) by that stage!
 
3) It's in the genes
When Jeannette and I first met, as students, Jeannette's parents had an off-licence in Wimbledon, and, since we helped out in the shop, it was a standing joke that we had to become familiar with the stock in order to advise customers correctly.  Imagine the merriment when our initial family history research turned up the fact that Jeannette's paternal (Cousens) ancestors had kept a pub in a Cornish village from 1845-1906.  Some further work on the maternal (Harris) side quickly established that they had been cider-makers in Hereford and led to more jokes about alcohol in the blood.  But the best was still to come, when we unearthed the records of the Stokenham manor courts in Tudor times, where on several occasions it was recorded that members of the Cousens family had been fined for illegal ale brewing!  So our beer tastings are firmly rooted in ancestral tradition - although we endeavour to keep them on the right side of the law!
In more recent years, resources which have become available on the Internet enabled us to make a break-through in my own Simpson research - and have given Jeannette the last laugh!  First we found new information showing that the Simpsons had been hotel keepers in both Birmingham (The Kings Head - swept away in the re-building around New Street station) and Yorkshire (The Golden Lion in Duke Street, Settle - still going strong - and the Ashfield Hotel in Duke Street.  The latter, no longer operating, was a temperance hotel!  But this was clearly just a temporary aberration, the exception which proves the rule!) 
Our genealogical trip to Yorkshire this October took us up to Ingleton, where my paternal grandmother's family (Gill) originated.  We found that their first farm in that area had been an old coaching inn (though not by the time they owned it) but members of the family had at different times run the Bridge Inn, Ingleton (still in business) and also the Wheatsheaf, High Street Ingleton.  Strangely, we had booked accommodation in the latter, enjoyed their excellent menu and ales (Black Sheep Special recommended) before we found out about the family connection!  Then a living relative in the area showed us an old newspaper article which told how the Gills had run the Golden Fleece Inn at Kendal (still functioning) in the 1890's.   A recent TV programme explained a new theory whereby we inherit much more than DNA - they now think that the experiences of our ancestors can also be locked into the genes and affect the way we develop.  We hope that none of those boffins get a copy of this newsletter or we're likely to find ourselves under the microscope as perfect cases to prove their theories!

From Supplement 2 to Issue 11 (October 05)

WORTHING BEER FESTIVAL REPORT
 
Once again your reporters have been working tirelessly on your behalf, getting up to attend the 9th Worthing Beer Festival at the crack of 11.30 a.m.  We were impressed by the relaxed atmosphere and superb selection of beers.  Although we did our best, we only managed 11 out of the 46 on offer, but they were so good that they merit a trip to Worthing if you can possibly get there tonight (Friday) or tomorrow (Saturday).
 
Being somewhat prejudiced by our excellent experience of the products of the Oakleaf brewery, we had already decided that Oakleaf's Blakes Gosport Bitter (5.2% ABV) would win 'Best of Show' and we weren't disappointed.  We awarded this 5 stars and used it as a yardstick to measure the other beers by, on a scale of 1-5.  The lowest score we awarded was 3.5, which represents a beer well worth seeking out, so you will get an idea of the high standard from that.
 
Here are the others we tried:
 
O'Hanlon's - Double Champion Wheat (4.0%) A deliciously citrus-tinted beer with a hint of spice.  It has received wide acclaim (hence Double Champion) and is slightly cloudy.  Freshness and fragrance come first to the palate, followed by the distinctive citrus crackle that stays crisp and tangy down to the last drop.  Even that write-up doesn't do it full justice - it is a competent wheat beer, but with added character.  Well deserves 4 stars.
 
Titanic - Stout (4.5%) Jet black hue with a light brown head.  Strong pronounced coffee nose with toasted malts.  Fantastic complex tastes with coffee roasted malts and caramel hints.  A Great stout.  In bottled form a winner at GBBF 2004 and runner up 2005.  To which we can only add - 4 stars.
 
Summerskills - Tamar (4.3%) A mid brown bitter with a fine crystal malt and hops character, a full malt flavour in the mouth and aromas of rich malts, nuts and hops.  A secondary hopped version of their Best Bitter, giving it a more pronounced hop taste and aroma - and raising it to a higher plane which merited 4 stars
 

Arundel - Old Knucker (5.5%) A dark old ale with a malt and fruit aroma.  Malt dominates the taste with a bitter-sweet coffee and some slightly lemony hops to finish.  This was so good we agonised over whether to rate it jointly with Oakleaf, but in the end gave it 4.5 stars  In less stellar company this would have been a winner.

 
Cheriton - Village Elder (3.8%) A wonderful ale from Cheriton with the elderflowers underpinning the hops in a ways that is quite remarkable.  Great spice and aroma.  A multi-award winning beer - with good reason.  We discovered the Cheriton brew pub recently and were impressed by their offerings.  This one maintains their excellent reputation and we had no difficulty in awarding it 4 stars.
 
Enville - Old Porter (4.5%)  A traditional style porter, dark in appearance, and offering a complex mix of roast malt and fruit flavours with a degree of sweetness giving way to a dry finish.  4 stars
 
Harvey's - Old (4.3%)  Reminiscent of the mild ales produced during the early part of last century it is brewed to an original gravity of 1040-1044 using a high percentage of crystal malt and black sugars.  The result is a soft full beer with a nutty palate.  We consider ourselves very lucky to be within reach of Harvey's brewery tap and shop in Lewes as we think this brewery has something very special to offer with their willingness to experiment and re-create old styles.  (Try their Trafalgar and Gunpowder Plot, for examples of superb Georgian and Jacobean styles.)  Once again they have produced a brew full of character which easily merits 4 stars
 
Hammerpot - Red Hunter (4.3%) A deep mahogany to ruby red bitter.  A full bodied rich and slightly vinous malt character soundly balanced with finest English hops.  This brewery, quite close to Worthing, was only commissioned in August 2005 and this is its second beer making its debut at the Festival.  If Hammerpot can continue to produce beers of this quality they will be a force to be reckoned with.  3.5 stars
 
Ryburn - Best Mild (3.3%)  This very dark if not black beer has a lovely roasty chocolate aroma and a pronounced roastiness to the taste too.  An excellent beer which packs such flavour for its low ABV.  This one produced murmurs of astonishment all round - 'It's more like a stout!' - and it faintly reminded us of some of the smoked beers we recently met in Bavaria.  Regardless of what the brewers call it, it is a beer of great character and worth trying.  We gave it 3.5 stars at the time and have been wondering whether we should have awarded the extra half.
 
Cairngorm - Black Gold (4.4%) provided an ideal finish.  Champion Beer of Scotland 2005, a Scottish stout with a rich dark colour, traditional smooth sweetness (ideal as a digestif) with underlying roast barley hints.  We had to give this 4.5 stars
 
In any such gathering of beers we would have expected to have rated beers all along the scale from 1 (OK but wouldn't bother to try it again) through 3 (worth travelling to try it) to 5 (superb specimen of the brewer's art).  The fact that all our choices rated so highly speaks volumes for the members of the Festival Committee who selected the beers.  It is also interesting to note that the majority of those present, like ourselves, were opting mainly for the darker beers.  This partly reflects seizing the opportunity to try styles which are not commonly seen in local pubs but also the sheer quality and character of these offerings.  In conclusion we felt it was time well spent, and if you're within reach of Worthing we would urge you to go and try for yourself.

From Issue 10 (September 05)

STOP PRESS Report on Oakleaf Brewing Co Ltd  www.oakleafbrewing.co.uk
 
A brief reminder of our our favourite beer from the recent Buckingham Arms Beer Festival - the front runner from a very good field!
 
"Our top choice - which wouldn't be everyone's favourite - was Oakleaf Brewing's Eichenblatt Bitte 5.4%.  This is a smoked wheat beer, which beats many of the German wheat beers and is up there with the best German smoked beers.  However most of the other customers were giving us very strange looks as we tried it!  The reason is that it looks just like a glass of pineapple juice - very cloudy, with a brown/yellow colour.  It has a very clean slightly sharp taste, and the smokey flavour appears in the aftertaste and builds up gradually.  We saw the landlord give a taster to a customer at the bar, who immediately shook his head - but then he was drinking Carling lager when 30 real ales were available so what could you expect!  We congratulated the landlord for trying something that unusual, and promised to take the rest of the barrel off his hands if the regulars wouldn't touch it!  If you've tried any Belgian or German wheat beers, it shouldn't come as too much of a shock, and if you like wheat beers, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one. "
 
It so happened that just after writing this report, and e-mailing Oakleaf to congratulate them, we were due to visit Gosport.  To our great surprise and delight our Gosport friend Trevor had contacted Oakleaf to arrange a tour for Jeannette and myself, Trevor and his wife Tessa.  Oakleaf had agreed to fit us in on what was otherwise a busy day but then generously allowed us far more than our allotted tour time.
 
The brewery is housed in a small unit on an industrial estate and they have to take some of their gear out into the car park in order to have room to work, then take it all back when they close up at the end of the day. They are planning some building work to provide extra working space;  nevertheless, out of this little acorn of a building come some mighty Oakleaf beers!
 
As some of the beers are seasonal we could not try every beer they produce but all the ones we tried were without exception fine specimens of their type and most would rate as outstanding.  For a brewery which only started in March 2000 they have an impressive wall display of awards, and our experience showed they were well deserved.
 
Our tour was conducted by Dave Pickersgill, the Managing Director, after we had been welcomed at Reception by Dave's daughter, Sarah.  Apart from the thorough explanation of the brewing techniques, what came through very clearly was pride in having built up such a thriving concern.  Later we met Ed Anderson, Dave's son-in-law, Director, and head brewer, and were again impressed by his enthusiasm for his work.  He joined us in an Eichenblatt Bitte, which confirmed our previous top rating for this beer.  We had previously enjoyed a Nuptu'Ale, a very refreshing 4.2% pale ale, and then topped that with Blakes Gosport Bitter, a dark malty 5.2% brew, which was something special.
 
In the interests of research we took away several bottled beers, and worked through them over the weekend.  Hole Hearted, 4.7%, the champion beer of several festivals, is brewed with 100% Cascade hops.  In the brewery we had been given handfuls of this hop to roll in our palms to release the oils and allow us to sniff its intense aroma.  When you try the beer that is exactly the aroma and taste you get - I've never known a beer to be so true to its hops!  Definitely one to try.  The boxed set of 4 bottles also includes Oakleaf Bitter (at 3.8% a very easy drinking ale), Heart of Oak 4.5%, (brewed to commemorate Trafalgar, a traditional ale with chocolate overtones) and the excellent Blakes Gosport Bitter mentioned above.
 
Any brewery would be proud to have a line-up of such excellent beers, and for a brewery only four years old it is an amazing achievement.  I can't wait to try some of their seasonal ales and I'm sure that with Dave and Ed's enthusiasm being given free rein we shall see some more classics coming from the Oakleaf Brewing Company Ltd.
 
This report has been added to the UK section of the World of Beers website, where you can also see some photographs of the brewery and staff - click on the link below
 
  http://www.simpson.uk.com/beers/UK/Oakleaf.htm
 

From Issue 9 (August 05)

STOP PRESS Report on Buckingham Arms Beer Festival Shoreham Friday 26th - Monday 29th August

There are some 30 beers available for the Festival but even with the help of a couple of jacket potatoes we only managed to try 10!  However we were very impressed with what we found.  The Buck's landlord is normally good at picking interesting items but this time he's excelled himself.
 
Our top choice - which wouldn't be everyone's favourite - was Oakleaf Brewery's Eichenblatte Bitte 5.4%.  This is a smoked wheat beer, which beats many of the German wheat beers and is up there with the best German smoked beers.  However most of the other customers were giving us very strange looks as we tried it!  The reason is that it looks just like a glass of pineapple juice - very cloudy, with a brown/yellow colour.  It has a very clean slightly sharp taste, and the smokey flavour appears in the aftertaste and builds up gradually.  We saw the landlord give a taster to a customer at the bar, who immediately shook his head - but then he was drinking Carlings lager  when 30 real ales were available so what could you expect!  We congratulated the landlord for trying something that unusual, and promised to take the rest of the barrel off his hands if the regulars wouldn't touch it!  If you've tried any Belgian or German wheat beers, it shouldn't come as too much of a shock, and if you like wheat beers, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one.  At least one of our readers will be proud to learn that the Oakleaf Brewery is in his home town of Gosport - for more details of this and other prizewinning beers see their website www.oakleafbrewing.co.uk
 
Other delights included a chance to try the Orkney brewery's Dark Island 4.6%  The tasting notes describe it as 'rich and well-balanced, generally a sweetish roast malt taste'.  We agreed with the comment, finding not quite as much body as we expected, but this made it refreshing.  Is there a hint of peat in the taste? www.orkneybrewery.co.uk is supposed to be their website but the link wasn't working when I tried it.
 
We both liked Captain Smiths 5.2% by Titanic  www.titanicbrewery.co.uk/ from Stoke on Trent.  Described as 'A full-bodied dark red/brown beer, hoppy and bitter with malt and roast malt flavours'.  We'd agree with that and just add that we were more aware of the bitterness when trying it with food. 
 
Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild 6.0% The Sarah Hughes is a pub and brewery in Dudley, named after a lady who owned it in the mid 20th century and now run by her grandson.  This is also a prizewinning beer described as 'A famous rich dark strong mild' and has good body with a sweetish taste.
 
The Hogs Back Brewery's contribution is Legend 4.0% of which the tasting notes say 'Complex and drinkable, golden coloured and has a dry, malty and bitter taste that lingers.'  We found it to be a nice summer refresher whose creamy mouthfeel takes the edge off the bitterness.  www.hogsback.co.uk/  is their website where you'll learn that they are also producers of T.E.A (Traditional English Ale 4.2%).  If you can't get to the Buck to try Legend, you might well find T.E.A. in bottle-conditioned form at your supermarket.  (But don't go up to an assistant and ask if they sell TEA - you may end up with a considerably less alcoholic beverage!)
 
The five beers above all received our top score.  The other five we tried were all beers that we would be pleased to drink at any time, but the top-scorers were ones which we felt were worth searching out.

From Issue 8 (August 05)

Interesting Scottish beers
While we were touring the UK last month we were favourably impressed by several Scottish beers we encountered.  We had already met Fraoch, Heather Ale, (5%) which you can sometimes get in supermarkets, and enjoyed it as a light, refreshing drink with a taste that's a bit different.  The background is that, prior to the introduction of hops into the brewing process, all sorts of things were used to help clear and preserve the ale.  In Scotland they used heather, and this brewer has recreated the ancient recipe.  They have also experimented with other historical ingredients - including seaweed in their Kelpie (4.4%)  Read the whole story at http://www.fraoch.com/
 
Westvleteren Beer Story
A lot of newspapers in many countries picked up the story that beer from St. Sixtus Abbey at Westvleteren, Belgium, had been rated the top beer in the world.  As a result, there was a run on it and all supplies were sold out.  The monks said they brewed beer as part of their monastic life, solely to help support the abbey, and would not turn it into a commercial undertaking, so were not going to increase production - hence media hysteria!
You will rarely get sensible beer stories in the mainstream press (or on any other subject, come to think of it!)  The Belgian beer discussion group  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/belgianbeer/     contains more down to earth information on the topic.  Contributors point out that the ratings come from a website (www.ratebeer.com) which, though useful, has no control over the voting - anyone can go to it and click to rate beers they've never even seen.  It's likely to be a 5 minute wonder in the press, and St Sixtus often runs out of beer for sale but there's always enough produced later to resume supply, and existing supplies are diverted to their onsite beer cafe 'In De Vrede', which doesn't run dry.  With the proviso 'one of the top beers' I would agree that St Sixtus is a top world beer and Tim Web's book (mentioned in May issue, details on www.booksaboutbeer.com ) which is sparing with its ratings gives all St Sixtus products top marks.  Officially, you can only buy it at the abbey, but it's certainly worth making a pilgrimage while you're in Flanders.  See their websites at  www.sintsixtus.be  for info on the abbey and  www.indevrede.be for details of the cafe, which also has a retail shop where you can buy small quantities of the beer, abbey cheese and pate, and other souvenir items.  Best value for the beer is at the drive-in shop opposite, where you can only buy by the crate BUT - (i) this shop regularly sells out (ii) it only stocks the version (blonde 5.8%, Extra 8 strong dark dubbel - 8% and Abt 12 barley wine - 10.8%) which has just been brewed (iii) the narrow road to the shop  is often clogged with a tail back of eager locals!  SO phone them on 057 40 10 57 while you're in Belgium to find out when they're open and what's available.  And don't worry about having to buy a whole crate - the 8 and 10 beers can be laid down like fine wines for 10 years or more and improve with age.

 

College beer tastings
In the coming academic year (starting September) we're offering a Saturday (10.00-13.00) Belgian beer tasting on 15 October 2005.  It will show the main styles of Belgian beer but will contain different representatives of each type, so even those who have been on both previous Belgian courses will get a new range to experience. 
There will be another Saturday course, on 20 May 2006, this time on German beers.  We hope to introduce you to those areas of the German brewing industry which have not been taken over by the large bland fizz producers and show where quality and character still survives. 
We are also trying a new format with a new theme.  Called 'Around the World in 18 Beers' this will be on one evening per week over six weeks.  On each evening we shall taste 3 beers from a different area of the world, and look at how locally available ingredients, environment and history have shaped brewing in that region.  It will run from 7.30-9.00 pm on Wednesday evenings, starting on 25 January 2006, with the last session on 8 March 2006 as there will be a half-term break in the middle. 

From Issue 7 (July 05)

Somerset and Hampshire
We recently made a short trip to Somerset and came across the products of  the Butcombe brewery in several locations.  Butcombe Bitter (4.0%) is very pleasant but I was particularly taken with Butcombe Gold (4.7% abv).  I found it in bottled form (and brought a few home) but it is also available on draught.  Apparently Wetherspoons take a load every week but I don't know how well it would be presented there, and am concerned they might not do it justice.  The brewers notes are as follows:   "NOSE: Citrus hops and fruit.  PALATE: Rounded malt in the mouth, with a fresh vitality, balanced by the full bittersweet finish of English Fuggle hops.  COMMENTS: Yellow gold in colour…hence the name! Made with 100% English malt and only English Fuggles hops.  HISTORY: Launched in 1999, becoming instantly popular."  Try it if you find it. 
On the way home we were passing through Hampshire just as lunch time was looming, so we consulted the Good Beer Guide and found that the map of Hampshire is very thickly covered with recommended pubs - ideas for a beer tour holiday in the future? - and that we were very close to Cheriton (just north of the A272 between Winchester and Petersfield), where you can find 'Flower Pots', which seems to bring together everything a traditional pub should be.  This is the home of the Cheriton Brewhouse, and you can smell the malt from the day's brew as you park your car.  The pub is a Victorian building, privately owned by the same family for the last 37 years.  Wisely they have resisted the temptation to 'age' the building by adding fake 'Tudor' beams - as a result the pub shows it's real age proudly and its interesting bar layout, with a well visible in the floor, needs no further embellishment.  The food is excellent at very good prices - lamb hotpot with home-made crusty bread, jacket potato with mushrooms and quarter-inch thick slices of local bacon, plus 'Judes' local ice-creams to start your mouth watering - but the star is the beer.  You know you're in for something good when you realise that the frames covering one wall are all CAMRA 'Best in Festival' certificates going back to 1993 and you're not disappointed.  Jeannette enjoyed the Cheriton Best Bitter at 4.2% but I reserved the main accolade for Diggers Gold 4.6%.  With the pub offering accommodation it's tempting to make an extended session of it!
 
German beers 
The continuing saga of our efforts to find out where the great beers of Germany are hiding took an unexpected twist this month.  Our trip to Somerset took in the village of Corton Denham (another location with family history connections - it's near Sherborne but you'll need a large map to find it!) and we checked out the 'Queens Arms there.  To our surprise they stocked quite a range of Belgian beers - Wynne immediately selected her favourite Rodenbach and we were pleased to see the Grand Cru version, not that common even in Belgium.  But best of all they had a famous German beer from the Heller brewery in Bamberg - 'Aecht Schenkerla Rauchbier'.  This is a smoked beer and if you've ever tried German smoked cheese or sausage, that's just what it smells like.  It's a dark Maerzen beer (5.1%) and once you get used to the strange smokiness which comes through in the taste you'll find it's very pleasant and leaves a wonderful aftertaste.  At last a German beer with real character!  I can't wait to try it with a good smoked wurst.  And coincidentally it comes from one of the traditional brewing heartlands - around Nuremberg and Bamberg - where we're heading in a couple of day's time.  All at once I'm filled with hope that we can find some distinctive beers which can help repair Germany's reputation - in recent years it seems to have become the home of bland fizzy lagers brewed by accountants and marketing men!  Watch this space . . .
 
From Issue 6 (May 05)
An essential item for your bookshelf
The Good Beer Guide to Belgium - 5th edition was due out on Friday 27th May.  You can order it from Tim Webb on www.booksaboutbeer.com - Individual sales are available at cover price (UKP 12.99) signed by the author and delivered direct to your home. Previous editions, which included Holland, were a must-have, but this new edition concentrates on Belgium only. This means it can pack more in - this is what the write-up promises:
 "It gives details of all 120 breweries, over 800 beers and more than 500 specialist beer cafés.  And just in case you think that sells you short, it tells you all the ways to get to Belgium, how to get around and gives tips on where to stay and what to look out for on the menu. This edition for the first time lists all the regular beer festivals, all the beer-related tourist attractions, which breweries allow you to visit and where you can buy beer to take home. The section on Belgian beer in the UK is also expanded to include nearly fifty top outlets. Written with attitude, researched with care. A serious annoyance to those companies that thought they could take the world of beer for their own. Like the craft breweries whose products it extols, this is a book that has survived against all the odds, to make life just a little bit more fun. Don’t bother to compare. You will not find another guide like it."
 
Essential websites to visit
Tthe Belgian Beer forum which you can find/join (free) at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/belgianbeer/   When you get to that page, be sure to click on the small link to the Belgian Beer Anthem - or use this one http://users.pandora.be/filip.geerts/potverdekke.mp3  and make sure that your PC's speakers are on.  It's a catchy tune and the words are obviously written by someone very familiar with Belgium and fond of its people (and beer!).  The title 'Potverdekke' is a polite version of the Flemish for God damn, rather like our 'Gordon Bennet' or exclaiming 'sugar' instead of sh . . . omething else.  The group is run by Filip Geerts whose own - very idiosyncratic! - website is at http://users.pandora.be/filip.geerts/index6.htm It has lots of useful info, even if the music isn't always great!  He has also started the Belgian Beer Card scheme (also free) to help cafe owners in Belgium to encourage people to try the more interesting beers by money-off or two-for-one promotions - get the card at  http://www.belgianbeercard.com/  Another essential site linked to Filip's is the Belgian Beer Pub map at http://www.beerpubmap.be/ 
 
German beers 
Continuing our efforts to find out where the great beers of Germany are hiding we went to Barcelona last month!  That's not as daft as it sounds - the Spanish have become more beer-oriented recently and we found a surprising number of German beers.  Sadly they mainly conformed to the fizzy, bland formula which seems to be trying to turn all German beers into B@#!w~*ser (sorry, we don't mention that word in discerning company!) Here's what we tried:
 
Franziskaner Hefeweizen - rather like Hoegaarden without the spices.  Came across rather watery, and not what I would have expected from an ancient and well-known brewery.
Warburger - very clear golden colour, not too fizzy, rounded after taste, better than the above - is it significant that it's a smaller brewer?
Bitburger Premium - 4.8% clear golden colour, more bite to the taste, not much head.
Erdinger Weissbier - wheat beer 5.3%, frothy white head, fairly watery taste.
Frankenheim Alt (Privat Brauerei) - 4.8%, initially raised expectations as it is a dark beer, tasted sweetish and rounded but not a very strong flavour.

Spatenbräu (draft) - clear, gold, fizzy, not much flavour, fits the marketing man or accountants formula.

 

All in all, very disappointing.
 

Spanish beers 
I confess, I started with the prejudice that Spanish beers wouldn't be up to much but felt we should try them while we were in Barcelona.  The following comments may have been influenced by comparison with the disappointing German beers above, or the fact that Spanish beers seem right for the climate and situation while you're there, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised overall.  Here's what we found:
San Miguel - I would turn my nose up at this as served in English pubs, but on draft in Catalonia (ask for a canya) it's a very good thirst quencher.
Mahou - 5.5% bottled, good flavour with bitter aftertaste and very refreshing.
Estrella Damm - found both draft and canned, this is another good thirst quencher with more flavour than the German beers listed above.
Voll Damm Doble Malta - bottled 7.2%.  Although this is labelled Das originale Märzenbier it is a product of the Spanish Damm brewery, trying to give it a foreign cachet.  This was fairly bitter, dark beer, with more body.  The strength came through in the taste which appealed to me though Jeannette wasn't so keen.
Coronita - bottled 4.6% - very light with a pleasant flavour but you have to wonder why they should import this from Mexico as a speciality when the home-grown products are just as good.
 
Innis & Gunn
We found that Waitrose were doing a promotion of 3 bottles of Innis and Gunn for £4.  As the bottles are just 330ml it's a bit pricey at full RRP, so here's a good chance to stock up.  It's an Edinburgh ale, of golden brown hue, aged in old malt whiskycasks, and has a rich, slightly sweetish taste - a bit like whisky flavoured liqueur chocolates.  It comes across as stronger than its 6.6% and is warming and soothing.  We sometimes share one of these bottles late at night - it serves a good two wine glasses - and it's much better than cocoa for helping you sleep! 

Gales
Recently  some kind friends gave us a selection pack from their local brewery, Gales of Horndean.  As I've only had limited experience of Gales in local pubs, where I suspect it may not be too well kept, I was delighted to be able to try the products direct from the brewery, and it was quite a revelation.  I'd heard that the bottle-conditioned versions of the beers were better than the drafts which are often poorly served (although the drafts may fare better in Gales own pubs) and this certainly proved to be the case.
GB - Gales Bitter 4.5% (which in a local pub was undrinkable fizz) turned out to be an excellent, refreshing bitter.
HSB - 4.8% usually survives better in non-Gales pubs, but the bottle-conditioned version was several orders of magnitude better.
Festival - 4.8% was a rare treat, as it's not easy to find a bottle-conditioned mild, and this was a delicious specimen.
All the above are in 500ml bottles, but the fourth in the pack, Prize Old Ale 9%, comes in a 275ml bottle, stoppered with a cork and sealed like a wine.  And that's exactly how you should approach this fine specimen of the brewer's art - sip it slowly and marvel at the range of subtle flavours which are too complex for my feeble powers of description - you'll just have to try it!
If you can get down to Horndean you can do the brewery tour and/or visit the shop - see http://www.galesales.co.uk/ - but if you want to make your trip into a short break in a very pleasant area the website suggests accommodation (in Gales inns, naturally!)

From Issue 5 (Mar 05)
 
A couple from Sainsburys
 
Sainsburys have added a couple of interesting new beers to their range:

Meantime Brewing do some flavoured beers and Jeannette persuaded me to try their 'Coffee Meantime Beer' (4.0% ABV) - "Fairtrade Rwandan coffee and British dark malts are brewed in unison to bring you a rich combination of coffee freshness and balancing malt sweetness".  The coffee aroma is very clear and the coffee flavours are reminiscent of some stouts, although it lacks the body and head of a stout.  It won't become one of my regular tipples but it might be something to wean a non-beer drinker towards the proper stuff, and it could work as an after-dinner drink.  (Although they are supposed to have a website at www.meantimebrewing.co.uk it wasn't working when I tried it but a Google search produced information on the brewery).

As a complete contrast to the above try Batemans "Spring Breeze" pale ale (ABV 4.2%) "Brewed & dry hopped with floral and citrus style hops, combined with prime Maris Otter malt, producing a golden,malty, crisp pale ale with a delightful flowery aroma" says the brewer's tasting notes, and I wouldn't disagree with any of it.  BUT it's only produced in March and April so look out for it now! See their website http://www.bateman.co.uk/ for more information - and beer recipes too!
 
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