Beer of the Week (w/e 2nd April 2017)

[ROBCamra]

Wittenden: Westerham Viceroy IPA
Mobyduck: Howling Hops Pale Ale No2
Aqualung: Brinkburn Street House Of The Rising Sun
hondo: Oakham Green Devil
Real Ale Ray: Big Bog Stog Milk Stout
Spinko: Redwillow Weightless
Bucking Fastard: Timothy Taylor Landlord
Thuck Phat: Timothy Taylor Landlord
aleandhearty: Pig & Porter Red Spider
Komakino: Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild
ROBCamra: Country Life Shore Break

[Wittenden]

Kent. A rare midweek evening outing,followed up by a Saturday afforded me my first sightings of Westerham's Viceroy IPA (5%abv).Urgent resinous hops, gooseberries.A longtime favourite in bottled form. My BOTW.

[Mobyduck]

Maybe not as good as last weeks haul, but not bad.
Purity Pure Gold*
Robinsons Dizzy Blonde
Robinsons Magnum IPA
Oakham Citra*
Triple fff Hunky Dory
Downton Elderquad
By The Horns Stiff Upper Lip
Gales Spring Sprinter
Youngs Hummingbird
Twickenham Spring Ale
Gorgeous Geek Hunter
Castle Rock Harvest Pale
Dark Star APA
Cottage E-Type
Brixton Effra Ale
Arbour Lime In The Coconut*
ELB Orchid*
Howling Hops Pale Ale No 2* ( Ella, Galaxy, Chinook)
Howling Hops Riding Ale* (Columbus,Cascade,Galena Nugget)
Flack Manor Double Drop

Botw should go to Oakham Citra enjoyed all Saturday afternoon in my local (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/59679/), it passed the 9 pint test :nishelypished:
But both Howling Hops beers in The Southampton Arms (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/23788/) today were exceptional, the winner is Howling Hops Pale Ale No2

[Aqualung]

This week saw a rampage around Tyne & Wear and Northumberland and a day out in Congleton yesterday.
This gave a rather high ABV list :-


Black Flag Fang 4.0%
Beartown Ginger Bear 4.0%
Oakham Enough Rope 4.3%
Everards Midland Red 4.5%
Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay Red IPA 4.5%
Titanic Cappuccino 4.5%
Allendale Tar Bar'l 4.5%
Salopian Lemon Dream 4.5%
Welbeck Abbey Watermeadows 4.7%
Cullercoats Minstrel 4.8%
Mauldon's Blackberry Porter 4.8%
Hilden Pale Oat Ale 4.8%
Titanic Plum Porter 4.9%
Mordue Centennial 5.0%
Banks's Brazilian Burton Pale Ale 5.0%
Flipside Dusty Penny 5.0%
Titanic Captain Smith 5.2%
Conwy San Francisco IPA 5.5%
Bridgehouse Holy Cow 5.6%
Wychwood King Goblin 6.0%
Oakham Green Devil (Bottle) 6.0%
Errant Jungle Simcoe 6.0%
Shepherd Neame St Louis Continental IPA 6.5%
Greene King Abbot's Confession 6.5%
Brinkburn Street House Of The Rising Sun 7.2%

The winner is the Brinkburn Street House Of The Rising Sun, a brewery I'd never even heard of let alone tried. It was a discounted £3.69 in the Newcastle Box Social and is a raspberry flavoured strong porter. It was run very close by the Black Flag Fang, a low ABV golden beer from Cornwall with a great taste. Other much larger Cornwall brewers might want to take note. This one was £3.20 in the Congleton Barley Hop.


BOTW Brinkburn Street House Of The Rising Sun

[hondo]

oakham - green devil bottle

[Real Ale Ray]

Big Bog - Stog Milk Stout in Butcher's (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/83799/) - never had a milk stout before, thought I'd give it a go, as Old Boots mentioned he had one a few weeks back - have to say it was sublime. Ena Sharples would be proud!

[Spinko]

Red Willow - Weightless, in BeerDock Crewe

[Bucking Fastard]

Some great sessions but not much ale choice in many of the pubs visited while boating through Northants and into Leicestershire.

Brew Dog -- Elvis Juice * (bottle)
Brew Dog -- Mr Presedent * (bottle)
Mc Mullens -- Country Bitter
McMullens -- AK
Timothy Taylor -- Landlord * (>3PT on two occassions)
Lerwig -- Farmhouse IPA (keg)
Wiper & True -- Milk Shake (bottle)
Oakham -- Citra *(>3PT)
Adnams -- Ghost Ship * (3PT)
Blue Monkey -- Bonobo *

BOTW goes to Timothy Taylor Landlord served proper northern style in The Bell,Gumley and a reminder of what a great session ale it can be when well kept.

Next week looks very quiet.

[Thuck Phat]

Not bad:

TT Landlord*
Lervig Farmhouse IPA (keg)
Oakham Citra *
Adnams Ghost Ship*
Oakham Bishops Farewell*
Equipure Session IPA (keg)
Northern Monk Mocha Porter (keg)*

Some good beers there but I'm following Mr F with BOTW TT Landlord. A top session ale when kept well.

[aleandhearty]

Reasonable week for me.

Rudgate - Hermione.
Fernandes - Great Northern.*
Saltaire - South Island Pale.
North Riding - IPA.
Bingley - Tri-State.
Rat - Black Rat.
Pig & Porter - Red Spider.*
Empire - Moon Rakers.
Summer Wine - Stateside.*
Empire - Rongo.
Firestone - IPA v5.* (keg)
Ilkley - White Chocolate Stout.* (keg)
James & Kirkman - Stallion.
Chin Chin - Little Boy Lost.*
Acorn - Zeus IPA.

A solid list, but with nothing really outstanding. Unfortunately, the North Riding was very barrel end-ish, but I got enough out of it to recognise it would have been very good and probably the BOTW, if fresh. Red Spider is a red ale made with rye malt, plus Centennial and Columbus hops. I'm sure it would have passed the three pint test, if time had allowed.

[Komakino]

Oxfordshire, Leyton Orient for the football, Kidlington and pre-gig beers in EC1:

Swannay Light Munro Citra (3.0%)*
Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild (3.7%)*
Rebellion IPA (3.7%)
Flying Monk Elmers (3.8%)*
Marston's 61 Deep (3.8%)
Reunion Opening Gambit (3.8%)
Harvey's Sussex Best (4.0%)
Pressure Drop Pale Fire (4.8%) (keg)
Adnam's Jack Brand Dry Hopped Lager (4.2%) (keg)
Rebellion Smuggler (4.2%)
Oakham Scarlet Macaw (4.4%)*
Revolutions Switch #2 (4.5%)
Shotover Scholar (4.5%)*
Wychwood Hobgoblin (4.5%)
Wychwood Pinhead (4.6%)*
Fourpure Flat Iron Red Ale (4.7%) (keg)
Oakham Scarlet Macaw (4.4%)*
Ilkley Hanging Stone (5.0%)
London Beer Factory Paxton IPA (5.0%)
Tiny Rebel Stay Puft (5.2%) (keg)*
Tiny Rebel Peaches & Cream IPA (5.5%) (keg)
BrewDog Punk IPA (5.6%) (keg)
Wylam Lakeland IPA (6.3%)*
Leffe Blonde (6.6%) (keg)

After a couple of weeks where the selection wasn't even worth mentioning, the heralding of Spring and the first trips to London of the year brought out the good stuff. The dark beers were still doing it for me, and the winner was at one of the best clubs in country - Leyton Orient Supporters Club (https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/76384/) - and their house beer Oscar Wilde Mild. A superb, drinkable mild, a steal at £3.20 a pint, and we won the match to boot.

BOTW: Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde Mild

[ROBCamra]

Country Life Shore Break. A pleasant, easy drinking 4.4% er, tried several times in The Baum. :cheers: