Beer of the Week (w/e 2nd October 2016)

[ROBCamra]

Spinko: Oakham Citra
Mobyduck: Dark Star Hophead
Aqualung: Joule's Kolkata
Wittenden: Whitstable East India Pale Ale
Thuck Phat: Blue Monkey Ape Ale
aleandhearty: Weird Beard Mariana Trench
Bucking Fastard: Lagunitas New Dog Town Pale Ale
Komakino: Goffs Fallen Knight
hondo: Anarchy Citra Star
Real Ale Ray: Bowland Buster IPA
ROBCamra: Shiny Happy People
oldboots: Salopian Hop Twister

[Spinko]

Oakham - Citra, in the Ship&Castle Aberystwyth.

[Mobyduck]

Quiet week with only the local visited, albeit multiple times, and all beers were good.
Dark Star Hophead*
DarkStar APA*
Red Cat Prowler Pale*
Siren Undercurrent*

After a year or so being disillusioned with Hophead , due to recipie tinkering(denied by the brewery) it was back to its very best in my local , The Waggon & Horses (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/59679/), lets hope it will continue, Dark Star Hophead is BOTW.

[Aqualung]

A busy week for me with a tour of several W Yorkshire Spoons (and a couple of others) plus a day in the rain in Burton ending fairly shambolically at the Derby Dynamic Duo. At least I won't have to bother with Leeds City Centre again.
Most of these had some merit so there are no asterisks :-

Bootleg Black Market 3.2%
Timothy Taylor Golden Best 3.5%
Brunswick Triple Hop 4.0%
Elland Beyond The Pale 4.2%
Greyhawk Honeycomber 4.5%
Sadler's Peaky Blinder 4.6%
Boot Tuffers Old 4.6%
Tower Gone For A Burton 4.6%
Adnam's Cashmere IPA 4.7%
ELB Cowcatcher 4.8%
Saltaire Blackberry Cascade 4.8%
Saltaire Cascadian Black 4.8%
Leeds Midnight Bell 4.8%
Peakstones Rock Black Hole 4.8%
Kinver Half Centurion 5.0%
Joule's Kolkata 5.0%
Burton Bridge Stairway To Heaven 5.0%
Chapter 7 Russian Rare-Bit 5.0%
Three Sods Belgian Bugger 5.0%
Acorn Epic IPA 5.0%
Rudgate Volsun 5.0%
Ilkley Crossroads IPA 5.4%
Summerskill's First Light 5.5%
Dukeries Gunsmoke 5.5%
Saltaire Kardinal 5.7%
Acorn Gorlovka Imperial Stout 6.0%
Brunswick Black Sabbath 6.0%
Elland 1872 Porter 6.5%

I'm going for the Joule's Kolkata as tried in the magnificent Coopers Tavern (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/34227/) (I still can't understand how I'd missed this one). It's the brewery's second beer using New World hops but I think they've done a great job. It's understated compared to the likes of Dark Star, Blue Monkey and others but I really enjoyed it and it may be more accessible to those wary of this type of beer. There's just too many for honourable mentions.

BOTW Joule's Kolkata

[Wittenden]

Kent:still no Kent Green Hop beer yet.
Whitstable-East India Pale Ale 4.1%abv .Barley straw.Zingy lemon grassy hops.On gravity dispense.
Whitstable-Oyster Stout 4.5%abv. On keg dispense.Dark, rich,roasty.
My BOTW : Whitstable East India Pale Ale.

[Thuck Phat]

BOTW Blue Monkey Ape Ale

Refused to stay in the glass.:drinkup:

[aleandhearty]

Fairly quiet week, but managed to pick up four new breweries (to me).

Bowness Bay - Waterbird Wheat.
Flying Monk - Birdman.
Peakstones Rock - Oblivion.*
Marble - Pint.*
Summer Wine - Resistance Mild.*
Blackjack - Summer.
Weird Beard - Mariana Trench.

A tight call, but the Mariana just shades it.

[aleandhearty]

At least I won't have to bother with Leeds City Centre again.

Is that from a 'spoons point of view, or just in general?

[Bucking Fastard]

Hertford then the Big Apple.

Adnams -- Ghost Ship *
Castle Rock -- Elsie Mo
Liberation -- English Pale Ale
Ommegang -- Nirvana IPA * (keg)
Lagunitas -- New Dog Town Pale Ale * (keg)
Anheuser Busch -- Budweiser (keg)
Ommegang -- Great Beyond Double IPA (keg)
Bronx -- Pale Ale (keg)
Shock Top -- Belgian White (keg)

BOTW goes to Lagunitas New Dog Town Pale Ale, 6.2% with big flavours and plenty of hops taken on draught in Cask Bar & Kitchen,East 33rd Street (at 3rd Avenue )

Very quiet week ahead.

[Aqualung]

Is that from a 'spoons point of view, or just in general?

Quite honestly it's in general. The place is like a mini Central London, overpriced, overcrowded and manic. I'm not a fan of city centres although recently Newcastle, Bradford and others have seemed OK. I much prefer smaller towns to big cities like London, Leeds, Manchester & Bristol.
In Spoons terms the Old Unicorn at Bramley is listed as Leeds in their directory and I thought it was a top Spoons but to me it's not in Leeds. The one at Brighouse was even better.

[Komakino]

BOTW

Goffs Fallen Knight. A bitter that sits somewhere between 'session' and 'premium' with a lovely sweetish aftertaste, enjoyed in Culham's The Railway Inn (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/57929/) during an Abingdon surrounds crawl to fill in some Oxfordshire review and photo blanks for PuG.

[hondo]

Anarchy Brew Co - Citra Star

[aleandhearty]

Quite honestly it's in general. The place is like a mini Central London, overpriced, overcrowded and manic. I'm not a fan of city centres although recently Newcastle, Bradford and others have seemed OK. I much prefer smaller towns to big cities like London, Leeds, Manchester & Bristol.
In Spoons terms the Old Unicorn at Bramley is listed as Leeds in their directory and I thought it was a top Spoons but to me it's not in Leeds. The one at Brighouse was even better.

Agreed that Leeds can be expensive from a drinking point of view, but apart from the square bounded by the Headrow, Albion Street, Boar Lane and Briggate it's really not that busy. Certainly not compared to London. Just think it's a shame you're missing out on some fantastic old pubs such as The Victoria, Grove, Whitelocks and Templar to name but four. Have to agree with you about Bramley, though.

[Aqualung]

Agreed that Leeds can be expensive from a drinking point of view, but apart from the square bounded by the Headrow, Albion Street, Boar Lane and Briggate it's really not that busy. Certainly not compared to London. Just think it's a shame you're missing out on some fantastic old pubs such as The Victoria, Grove, Whitelocks and Templar to name but four. Have to agree with you about Bramley, though.
I've been to the Whitlocks years ago when I think it was S & N. I'm more interested in a reasonably priced good selection of quality beer rather than an interior. What bugs me most is that like Manchester (I think) the centre has become trendy which would have been ridiculed twenty or thirty years ago. I'm not aware of any other Northern cities that have dramatically gone this way.
I think my favourite is still Liverpool, it's probably a Beatles thing.

[Real Ale Ray]

Bowland - Buster IPA

[ROBCamra]

Shiny Happy People, an outstanding 4.2% session beer from Pedro at Shiny.

Tried a lot in The Baum. :cheers:

[oldboots]

Salopian Hop Twister