Beer of the Week (w/e 6th July 2014)

[ROBCamra]

Thuck Phat: Oakham Bishops Farewell
Mobyduck: St Austell Proper Job
Aqualung: Kissingate Extreme Stout
london calling: Clouded Minds Dolce Vita
Real Ale Ray: Peerless Slider Gold
hondo: Geeves Fully Laden
Wittenden: Old Dairy Red Top
aleandhearty: Star Astral
oldboots: Mallinsons Nelson Sauvin
Bucking Fastard: Great Heck Simcoe
ROBCamra: Wold Top Hello Velo

[Thuck Phat]

Oakham Bishops Farewell

[Mobyduck]

Darkstar - Hophead, American Pale Ale and Hylder Blonde
St Austell -Proper Job
Otter-Otter Bitter
Ascot Ales - Monsters in the Dark
Annams- Ghostship
Burning Sky- Plateau
360 degrees -West Coast IPA
Long Man - Long Blonde
Laines - Copa
Brewdog - 5AM Saint (bottle)
Brewdog -Punk IPA (bottle)
West Berks - IPAnema

The Hophead was spot on this week, but beer of the week goes to the first offering of the week, St Austell Proper Job, It was the Proper Job.

[Aqualung]

With a visit to the Dark Star brewery tap I fully expected one of their beers to provide this week's winner but it wasn't to be :-

Hall & Woodhouse Sussex Bitter 3.5%
Dark Star Hophead 3.8%
Kingbeer Horsham Best 3.8%
Dark Star Partridge Best 4.0%
Portobello Pale 4.0%
Brain's SA Gold 4.3%
Brentwood Summer Virgin 4.5%
Firebird Brewing Old Ale XXXX 4.5%
Dark Star American Pale Ale 4.7%
Banks's Independence 4.7%
Hall & Woodhouse Tanglefoot 4.9%
Dark Star Trial Brew (Citrus & Wheat) 5.2%
Firebird Brewing Paleface APA 5.2%
Hopcraft Citraic 5.5%
Dark Star Le IPA 5.6%
Kissingate Extreme Stout 6.0%
Clouded Minds Dolce Vita IPA 6.2%

The Le IPA (a Tour De France beer) and the Trial Brew were the nearest contenders and with freshly cleaned lines would have been winners but the most impressive one turned out to be Kissingate Extreme Stout at £2.70 in the Lynd Cross in Horsham where earlier on I had the worst pint of the week!
This is really more of a stronger porter than a Stout but washed down the Spoons Cod and Chips really well.

BOTW Kissingate Extreme Stout


EDIT: I've just discovered that Le IPA is a collaboration with Saltaire Brewery (I thought the clip looked different!), not a brewery that I'm familiar with but I'm sure I've seen those from Oop North praising them. This makes my theory that the lines needed cleaning in the Partridge an even bigger disappointment. I'm almost tempted to nip down in the morning to the Harp who have a barrel just for comparison's sake!

[london calling]

Two nights out this week so plenty of choice and the beers were mostly above average.
brains -golden mane
siren -biere de gottiere
arbor -mortueka
wadsworth -ipenema v good
hackney -nz pale ale v good
tintagel -arthurs ale
tintagel -harbour special
gyle 59-ipa v good
Twickenham -maracana
everards -Xingu v good

but like Auqalung a few weeks ago the top beer was
clouded minds-dolca vite 6.2 but was superbly drinkable.

[Real Ale Ray]

Peerless - Slider Gold 4.4%

[Aqualung]

Two nights out this week so plenty of choice and the beers were mostly above average.
brains -golden mane
siren -biere de gottiere
arbor -mortueka
wadsworth -ipenema v good
hackney -nz pale ale v good
tintagel -arthurs ale
tintagel -harbour special
gyle 59-ipa v good
Twickenham -maracana
everards -Xingu v good

but like Aqualung a few weeks ago the top beer was
clouded minds-dolca vite 6.2 but was superbly drinkable.

By coincidence they have a different barrel of it in the William this week and it's nowhere near as good. They are still on a learning curve!

[hondo]

Geeves Brewery - Fully Laden

[Wittenden]

Getting beyond a joke.
Two good beers on Friday night-rare for me to go out then, both £3.85 in a village pub, well gastropub in rural Kent.

Tonbridge Brewery-Coppernob 3.8% abv-brisk.
Old Dairy Brewery-Red Top 3.8%abv- a decent take on a session bitter,toffee and blackcurrants.My BOTW

[aleandhearty]

Reasonable week for me, after last week's drought. However, if BOTW was based on volume alone, then this week's easy winner would be keg Bombardier, drunk in industrial amounts at a friend's wedding. It was as grim as it sounds. A classic wedding venue beer.

Itchen Valley - Blackcurrant MILD.*
Adnams - Explorer.*
Acorn - Gorlovka.*
Kirkstall - Dissolution IPA. *
Acorn - Sticklebract.
Roosters - Wild Mule.
Great Newsome - Frothingham Best.
Brunswick - Father Mike's Dark Ruby MILD.*
Lytham - Stout.
Bobs - Chardonnayle.
Leeds - Pale.
Wells & Young's - Bombardier.
Milestone - Shine On.
Star Brewing Co - Astral.*

Normally, the Dissolution would have won, but the pale, hoppy Astral, on in the bar of the pub we were staying in, was a life saver after the Bombardier.

[oldboots]

A bumper week helped along by a few days in Liverpool

Copper Dragon - Golden Pippin
Theakstons - Tour de Wot?
Gt Newsome - Mailot Jaune
Rudgate - Balkys Best Bitter
Saltaire-Dark Star Le IPA
Hambleton - Saddlesore
Devils Backbone - Independance Ale
Darkstar - Hophead
Rudgate - Ruby Mild
Robinsons - Dizzy Blonde
Mordue - Northumbrian Blonde
Wapping - Summer Ale
Borough Brewery - Summer Dark
Phoenix - Hopsack
Brimstage - Trappers Hat
Tring - Ridgeway
Liverpool Craft - Love Lane Pale
Brass Castle - Bad Kitty
Keltic - Magik
Rat - Black Rat
Red Willow - Seamless
Liverpool Organic - 24 Caret Gold
George Wright - Drunken Duck
Sandstone - Racing Dragon
George Wright - Lion Returns
Cwrw Ial - Kia Kaha
Marstons - Draught Bass
Becks - pilsner
Liverpool One - Three Graces
Lancaster Brewery - Strawberry Tipple
M&B - Mild
Banks's - Mild
Melwood - Love Light Ale
Mallinsons - Nelson Sauvin
Blue Monkey - Marmoset
Wiehenstephen - Hefe-Weisse
Moorhouses - Pride of Pendle
Liverpool Craft - Icon
Amstel - Pilsner
George Wright - Pipe Dream
Melwood - Substitute
Greene King - XX Mild




Not as hard a choice as you may think, Mallinsons - Nelson Sauvin as drunk in the revamped Fly in the Loaf

[aleandhearty]

Saltaire Brewery...not a brewery that I'm familiar with but I'm sure I've seen those from Oop North praising them.

Definitely worth keeping an eye out for. They very rarely brew a duff beer. A particular favourite is South Island Pale, brewed with New Zealand hops and I was recently impressed with the Dark Matter MILD. Quinno was very taken with the Elderflower Blonde, on his last journey north.

[oldboots]

The only problem noted with Saltaire is with the fruit flavoured beers especially Raspberry Blonde, the fruit essences used seem to taint the lines fairly quickly and it's very hard to get rid of. I drank some Taylors Le Champion recently and thought it was Saltaire Raspberry Blonde as did my companion who runs a well respected free house in the area. It turned out to be a tainted line, and that's not the first time I've noted this raspberry edge. Some places have stopped selling Raspberry Blonde for this reason.

Most of their beers are excellent though.

[aleandhearty]

The only problem noted with Saltaire is with the fruit flavoured beers especially Raspberry Blonde, the fruit essences used seem to taint the lines fairly quickly and it's very hard to get rid of. I drank some Taylors Le Champion recently and thought it was Saltaire Raspberry Blonde as did my companion who runs a well respected free house in the area. It turned out to be a tainted line, and that's not the first time I've noted this raspberry edge. Some places have stopped selling Raspberry Blonde for this reason.

Fascinating. Never heard of this before, so will have to bow to your superior knowledge here. I wonder why line cleaner doesn't sort it out?

[Bucking Fastard]

Late submission from me,just arrived back from an extended ale tour of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester (Plus a bit of Lancashire namely Rochdale). This week was from the Yorkshire side,apart from the first two.

Sharps -- Doom Bar
Sambrooks -- Lavender Hill
Magic Rock -- High Wire
Hand Drawn Monkey -- Z Beer
Rat -- White Rat
Great Heck -- Porter
Rat -- Rat Attack
Mallinsons -- On Yer Bike
Marble -- Pint
Blackjack -- 4 of a Kind
Fernandes -- Good Night Vienna
Great Heck -- Golden Bull
Great Heck -- Simcoe
Five Towns -- HB
Saltaire -- Raspberry Blonde
Rooster -- Stars and Stripes
Titanic -- Cappuccino
Oakham -- Improbability
Mallinsons -- Mount Pleasant Mild


BOTW goes to Great Heck Simcoe very quaffable,distinctly bitter and in top form in The Bull and Fairhouse,Wakefield.

[ROBCamra]

Wold Top Hello Velo. A light easy drinking beer and at 4.2% a perfect beer to have a few of in The Baum. So I did. :p

[trainman]

Twickenham Summer Sun, got the ball rolling rather too rapidly at Saturday's first pub - Croydon's George.