Beer of the Week (w/e 15th November 2015)

[ROBCamra]

Mobyduck: Siren Craft Blue Sky Blue Sea
aleandhearty: Roosters Nectar
Real Ale Ray: Peak Ales Chatsworth Gold
Bucking Fastard: Shiny Affinity
london calling: Siren Pompellocello
Aqualung: Old Dairy Snow Top
Wittenden: Old Dairy Red Top
oldboots: Elland 1872 Porter
Thuck Phat: Blue Monkey Infinity +1
ROBCamra: Magpie Thieving Rogue

[Mobyduck]

I didn't have a single beer until Friday but have had some really good stuff from then till now,
Darkstar Hophead*
Frensham Rambler
Frensham Forager
SVB Best of Both Worlds
Siren Craft Blue Sky Blue Sea*(Bottle)
Indiginous Frisky Mare
Wild Weather Wild Stalyns*
Binghams Wood Smoked Porter*
Burning Sky Plateau*
Fixed Wheel Chain Reaction
King Northern Lights*
ELB Orchid*
Siren Craft Broken Dream*
LBC Chelsea Blonde*
Brewhouse And Kitchen Chaplin IPA*
Roosters Nectar*
One Mile End Dockers Delight*
Siren Craft Soundwave*
Twickenham Yakima Valley ABA*
Hackney Simcoe Palisade*
Kew Petersham Porter*
Oakham Citra*
Oakham Inferno

There are two or three more drank in the Nags Head Friday, not recorded and now beyond recall, some really top notch beers this weekend but for the second week in a row a bottle takes the prize, Siren Craft (undoubtedly going to be my brewery of the year) Blue Sky Blue Sea (http://www.sirencraftbrew.com/blue-sky-blue-sea/), Brewed with two varients of seaweed along with cloudberrys,It totally blew me away, much enjoyed in the Castle Tap (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/1669/).

[aleandhearty]

Having dropped out of Derby, it was always going to be a quiet week.

Cloudwater - Pale.
Roosters- Nectar.
Fernandes - Murderers Yard.

[Real Ale Ray]

Peak Ales - Chatsworth Gold great beer from one of my favourite breweries.

An honourable mention to Derby Brewing Co. - Business As Usual

[Bucking Fastard]

Long list mainly from Derby.

Hall & Woodhouse -- Badger First Call
Great Oakley -- Wots Occurring
Brunswick -- Triple Hop
Oakham -- Citra *
Dancing Duck -- Dark Drake *
Stancill -- Barnsley Bitter
Great Heck -- The Great Alphonso
Shiny -- Affinity *
Peak Ales -- Chatsworth Gold*
Mr Grundy's -- No Mans Land
Derby Brewing -- Business as Usual *
Titanic -- Plum Porter *
Black Iris -- Bleeding Heart
Sharps -- Atlantic
Titan -- Gingerbread Brown
Jennings -- Cumberland Ale
Mc Mullens -- Country Bitter

Several contenders on a good crawl with BOTW Shiny Affinity taken from where it is brewed at The Furnace,Derby

Next week a couple of unvisited pubs in Northampton and an old favourite in Leighton Buzzard should produce some fine ale.

[london calling]

bearhug -slow loris ipa (keg ) was very good
fyne -hop patch (cask) was very very good)
siren -baby wheel (cask )was very very good
but Botw was
siren -pompellocello 6.0 (keg) at the new Craft beer co outlet
incredible beer.Best beer of the year as yet.

[Aqualung]

Only a small list this week and apart from the 5 Hop which I've nominated before nothing outstanding, although they were all perfectly drinkable:-

Triple fff Apache Rose Peacock 4.2%
Rockin' Robin Peacemaker 4.4%
Rockin' Robin Blizzard of Oz 4.5%
Wantsum Chinook 4.5%
Everard's Sudwerk Inbetween 4.8%
Adnam's Wild Hop 4.8%
Hawkshead Cumbrian Five Hop 5.0%*
Jenning's Sneck Lifter 5.1%
Old Dairy Snow Top 6.0%

When in doubt go for the strongest so it's the Old Dairy Snow Top as tried for £2.15 in the Rochester Spoons the Golden Lion. It's an old school winter ale that isn't sweet and cloying and I enjoyed it enough to stay for a second.

BOTW Old Dairy Snow Top

[Wittenden]

Kent
Whitstable-Single Hop Styrian Goldings 4.4%abv. Rather lacklustre.Perhaps the rather wishy washy golden ale base not the best showcase for this continental Fuggle.
Old Dairy-Red Top 3.8% abv.Reliable session bitter.Soil in the soul. My BOTW.

[oldboots]

A dark beer week, in the main, at Derby followed by Newcastle on Saturday,

Acorn Old Moor Porter
Fat Cat Mild
Whim Arbor Light
Dancing Duck Mild
Shiny Abyss
Newby Wyke Orsino
Shiny Sorachi Dark
Boggart Rum Porter
Mr Grundys Mild
Derby Pennys Porter
Titan Titan Ruby
Raw Anubis Porter
Marstons Draught Bass
York Centurions Ghost
Dark Star Expresso
Big Lamp Prince Bishops Ale
Elland 1872 Porter
Titanic Plum Porter
Tyne Bank Dark Brown Ale
Wylam Collingwood
Box Social Centennial Mild
Fyne Gt Eastern Hop Patch
Two Birds Sunset Ale
Tyne Bank Single Blonde
Fyne Pipers Gold
Rudgate Ruby Mild

Actually an easy winner Elland 1872 Porter from the wood

[Thuck Phat]

The choice:

Great Oakley Wot's Occuring*
Oakham Bishops Farewell*
Blue Monkey Infinity +1*

BOTW Blue Monkey Infinity +1. Exactly as it says, Infinity at 5.6% rather than 4.6%. Easily passes the 3 pint test. Very dangerous and very, very drinkable.

[aleandhearty]

BOTW Shiny Affinity taken from where it is brewed at The Furnace,Derby

Visiting The Furnace was going to be one of the highlights of the Derby trip for me. I've been rather impressed with the 3-4 beers of theirs I've tried previously.

[trainman]

at the new Craft beer co outlet
incredible beer.Best beer of the year as yet.
Was that at St Mary Axe? I hadn't heard of this, and their website doesn't mention it being open yet...

[Pubsignman]

Was that at St Mary Axe? I hadn't heard of this, and their website doesn't mention it being open yet...

It opened on 11th November. I popped in on Friday night as a consolation on missing out on Derby - thought it was a pretty decent set up and thankfully not too packed. Lots of lovely Fyne Ales and Burning Sky beers on.

The website is a bit vague about it actually being open now, but the twitter feed at the bottom does mention that the pub is up and running.

https://thecraftbeerco.com/pubs/stmaryaxe/

[london calling]

Details as posted by Pubsignman but check address as its not in St Marys axe but a little side st.Confused quite a few people on my visit.

[rpadam]

Details as posted by Pubsignman but check address as its not in St Marys axe but a little side st.Confused quite a few people on my visit.
Yes, it's the former Trident on Mitre Street.

[ROBCamra]

As I ordered all 78 beers for the Rochdale Beer Festival I'd better choose one as my BOTW. :evilgrin:

Runners Up (for me) were Blue Bee Comet Pale & North Riding Mosaic.

The winner is going to be Magpie Thieving Rogue a 4.5% hoppy, golden ale with a long lasting bitter finish
(as I wrote for the programme tasting notes.) :p

I've ordered some for the Baum in a couple of weeks as well.

The Beer Of The Festival was voted as Pictish Bullion, so that's a trip to the brewery sorted to award the certificate.

All the way to a unit on an industrial estate in Rochdale that I've been to several times before.;)

They should have voted for a North Riding beer so I could have gone up to Scarborough
to visit Stuart & Karen again at the pub and get a trip round his new brewery. :cheers:

[trainman]

They should have voted for a North Riding beer so I could have gone up to Scarborough
to visit Stuart & Karen again at the pub and get a trip round his new brewery. :cheers:

Sounds like a lack of advice/pressure at the voting boxes! Who'd a' thought those Lancs folk wouldn't have put their pin in your preferred yorkie away-day? Pah!

[Mobyduck]

As I ordered all 78 beers for the Rochdale Beer Festival I'd better choose one as my BOTW. :evilgrin:
So you tried them all. :drinkup::whistle::nishelypished:

[ROBCamra]

So you tried them all. :drinkup::whistle::nishelypished:

There were quite a few I'd had before of course, but out of the ones I hadn't had I didn't try 6. :bemerry: