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Last week I was away briefly in the Lake District and near Hadrian's wall. None of the beers were particularly memorable except for Keswick Dark 4.0%, drunk in their brewery tap on Tuesday. A dark bitter with a dry finish, it was brewed to celebrate the opening of the Fox Tap.
Friday in Leeds at the Cardigan Arms prior to watching Leeds Rhinos get hammered 26-0 at home to St Helens, but the beer was superb. Kirkstall Brewery have revived some old recipes from their namesake, the original Kirkstall Brewery. I had the Bitter a few weeks ago, but tonight I had a chance to drink the Mild. It's not a dark mild, as most of this style tend to be nowadays, and it's not golden like Timothy Taylor's Golden Best, it's a sort of mid-brown but with maybe a tinge of orange about it. Nothing orange about the taste, but this isn't one of your modern 3.2% milds, it's 5.0% and full of flavour. Very good.
Saturday before going to watch Hallam FC clinch the championship of Northern Counties East League Division 1 at the oldest football ground in the world I went to the Sheffield Tap and had time for a pint and a half of RedWillow Extra Special Bitter 5.3%. (Actually I had time for three or four pints, as my bus didn't turn up for an hour and I missed the first 15 minutes of the game.) This is a superbly balanced beer, not overly dominated by alcohol, and the malt and hops working together to make something incredibly more-ish. I promise I really didn't have four pints.
Today at the Blake Hotel a beer with New Zealand hops that the barman offered me a taster of, saying that he thought it was really good. Milestone Fletchers 5.2% is again well balanced with the alcohol not prominent in the flavour, which is not perfumy as so many beers made with NZ hops can be, but in the English style of a strong bitter.
Can't decide between these for beer of the week - I'd be delighted to drink any of them again.
Surrey, Hants, London
Vibrant Forest Pupa*
Marble Hindmarsh*
Mad Squirrel Shamrock*
Mad Squirrel Cosmic
Oakham Citra
Salopian Oracle
Northern Monk Eternal
St Peters Cream Stout*
Redemption Trinity*
Stewart Ekuanot*
Stewart Radical Road Reverse
Thornbridge Pica Pica*
Red Cat Mr Ms Porter
Elusive Overdrive
Mallisons Citra
Neptune Mosaic*
Elgoods Plum Porter*
Ascot Midnight Rider
Hogs Back TEA
A good range of different beers, for BOTW I'm going for the weakest strength beer at only 3.0% Redemption Trinity on cask in superb condition in the Farringdon Tap, not only was it good it was the cheapest pint of the day at £4.30, my previous pint in The Castle setting me back £6.00.
BOTW Affligem. The best of a cold and fizzy bunch.
Hertford,first time out after a bout of Covid which put paid to a lot of drinking plans.
Marston's -- 61 Deep
and therefore by default BOTW goes to "Youngs" London Stout *(keg) which passed the three pint test in The Old Barge .A very enjoyable stout,keg dispence didn't impact on the enjoyment.
Next week footie and a trip out to Benington.
Got out and about a bit locally last week:
Chiltern Nut Brown Mild (3.9%)
Sharp's Doom Bar (4.0%)
Chiltern Colombian Coffee Porter (4.1%)
Kent Cobnut (4.1%)
Loddon Hullabaloo (4.2%)
XT 3 (4.2%)
Portobello Star (4.3%)
Portobello Hedgerow Pale Ale (4.5%)
Animal (XT) Goat (4.6%)
Tiny Rebel Just HAZE (4.8%) (c)
Brew York Rhubarbra Streisand (5.5%) (c)
Tiny Rebel Young Hearts (5.8%) (c)
Thornbridge Jaipur (5.9%) (b)
My taste buds are craving bitters at the moment, and I encountered a couple in the list above, but winner for me, taken here:
BOTW: Portobello Star
An excellent week, without recourse to any keg options:
Bradfield Brewery - Farmer's Best
ELB - Nightwatchman *½
Five Points - Best **½
Five Points - Homage IPA **
Harvey's - Dark Mild **
Harvey's - Old Ale **¼
Harvey's - Royal Oak IPA ½
Harvey's - Sussex Best *
Hammerton - N1 *
Howling Hops - Tadpole Jacket *½
Marble - Mild ***
Marsden - 61 Deep **
Newbarns - Dry Stout **
Redemption - Trinity **½
Redemption - Urban Dusk **
Rose - Amber House Ale (?) *
St. Austell - Proper Job **
Siren - Jiggery Pokery **
Three Sods - Boho Bitter *¾
Thirst Class Ale - Green Bullet ***
Tiny Rebel - Cwtch :sick:
Torrside Brewing - Trespasser **
Wantsum - Talus ½
Runner up goes to:
Five Points - Railway Porter ***½ pipped to the post by the next half ordered:
BOTW goes to Bristol Beer Factory - Milk Stout ***¾ at The Southampton Arms.
Elgoods -cherry porter
London beer lab- monkey bus stout
Five points -pale
Brewdog-vanilla milk stout
Brewdog -planet pale
Brewdog -puppet.master
W+ Eton- uprising
Botw
London beer lab -tip top citra
I think this was the first beer they brewed about 8 years ago and still tasting great.
One of my rare encounters deserving of a BOTW - Downlands 1984 Stout. I hadn't heard of them before but will try and seek them out if this is anything to go by.
Kent,London,Lancashire:
Harvey's- Sussex Best Bitter:4%abv.
Bedlam-Phoenix PA:3.9%abv.Thin, a bit tired.
Goacher's-Best Dark Ale:4.1%abv.Lovely peppery farmyard ethos.
Arbor Ales-Blue Sky Drinking:4.4%abv.Solid malty fare.
Five Points-Best:4.1%abv.Peppery,grassy.
Box Steam-Soul Train:4%abv.Tasty grainy PA.
Ossett-Butterley:3.8%abv.Crisp Yorkshire Bitter.
Saltaire-DDH Citra:4.2%abv.Grassy APA.Yum.
Bowland-Buster:4.5%abv.Malt driven PA.
Ossett-Yorkshire Blonde:3.9%abv.Willowy Hops.Crisp.
My BOTW:Saltaire DDH Citra, taken at The Thatched House
[QUOTE=sheffield hatter
...but I really like the way this one sounds, from your description. Not enough farmyard beers in South Yorkshire![/QUOTE]
I've often wondered about this-is it something to do with the use of sparklers?(Prepares body armour.)
I come across farmyard funk mainly in the south,especially in beer from Goachers, Tonbridge and to an extent Larkins.Exposure to Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger hops?
I used to ask for sparklers to be taken off, but when the bar staff are used to the swan necks, they still put the nozzle right at the bottom of the glass, and they get puzzled when no head appears! In normal southern dispense - like I see when I go to Luton, for example - the short spout pours the beer into the top of the glass, producing a loose head.
When I think back to what Boddingtons and Tetleys were like - and to some extent Landlord, too - I remember an exciting, bitter and somehow dirty or earthy taste experience, possibly as much to do with yeast as with malt or hops. Now in my experience most northern bitters are more like Stones - especially Abbeydale brewery's beers, most of which are pale with gentle, perfumy citrus flavours. The nearest I get to your "farmyard funky" beers is when I go to the Bricklayers Arms in Luton, where they nearly always have something from Nethergate brewery; some of the Tring beers are also good for an earthy maltiness.
Perhaps I need to treat myself to a holiday in Kent.