Sounds like Vault City specialise in sours.I had a very pleasant strawberry sour in here but the take out bottle of their Pineapple & Habernero Sour just didn't work out with my hot curry takeaway after a crawl around Stratford.
Sounds like Vault City specialise in sours.I had a very pleasant strawberry sour in here but the take out bottle of their Pineapple & Habernero Sour just didn't work out with my hot curry takeaway after a crawl around Stratford.
"Good people drink good beer" Hunter S Thompson
Yes, shame, I only really knew his work with Toots & The Maytals though.
On a slightly different note.
I played Bob Dylan's Jokerman last night which features Mark Knopfler.
What I was surprised to notice is that Sly & Robbie were the rhythm section on it. I didn't know that.
No wonder it sounds reggae ish.
You learn something new every day.
Last edited by ROBCamra; 20-02-2021 at 10:22.
A pub is for life not just for Christmas
Currently drinking Moor Smoked Lager.jpg going splendidly well with my Cajun Chicken, only a kiddie can, I now wish I'd got a couple more . (Pun intended). 7.5/10
Last edited by Mobyduck; 20-02-2021 at 19:21.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
And now, The Kernel Export India Porter.jpg, 330 ml bottle, pours jet black with little or no head, but a small head forms 20 seconds or so later. There is some roast coffee and chocolate base flavour but not overly strong and then there is a pleasant (to me) piney citrus hop flavour, enough to notice but not in your face. Apparently the ABV and hops change per batch, I don't know what the hops here are but the ABV on this one is 6.1% and its so very,very good. 9.5/10
Last edited by Mobyduck; 20-02-2021 at 19:21.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields
Whilst in Dundee in the summer I met 2 brewers from 71 brewery who shared the brewery with Vault.One produced a bottle from his bag and offered me it.It was a Vault sour which I polititly declined as I had had one of there beers at a Brewdog pub. Once bitten twice shy.
North Riding Brewery Toffee Porter 4.5%. This 50cl bottle cost £3.45 from Beer Central. It poured with a big fluffy head and the smell of bonfire toffee. Initial flavour was dominated by chocolate but the subtle toffee soon came through. I didn't see the words "Bottle Conditioned" in very small letters on the label until long after I had finished pouring, but the beer seemed to thrive on this rather slap-dash approach, and I didn't notice any sediment. Described by the brewery as follows: "Big robust porter using a double mash technique and demerara sugar, using six malts and English hops. Full bodied with a toffee aftertaste." A very good beer, one of the best I've had in recent weeks.
Coniston Old Man Ale 4.8%. Described as a "classic ale", whatever that means - is it a premium bitter? Another one with "Bottle Conditioned" in very small letters on the label, but something seemed to have gone wrong with the secondary fermentation, as there was not much in the way of head retention and the beer was a bit too gassy. The label also helpfully advises "Best served at 58°F in a straight pint glass at the Black Bull Inn, Coniston, Cumbria". I've had this beer a few times in that and similar circumstances, but this bottled version was nothing like. It wasn't off, or cloudy, but the flavour was hidden by the carbon dioxide as far as I was concerned. Maybe it was a little warm, though in my opinion 58°F (just below 15°C) is maybe a little warm anyway. This one cost me £1.75 from Booths supermarket in Settle last time I was in the Yorkshire Dales. (The label identifies the bottling plant as being Beer Counter Ltd in Oxfordshire, and it should have been imported to the USA by Shelton Brothers, Belchertown, MA. Best before date was April 2022.)
Third beer last night was Fullers ESB 5.9%. I've long been a fan of Fullers 1845, which I don't think I've ever seen on a hand pump; the bottled version is excellent. But this was ESB, which is not bottle conditioned, though it might have been better if it had been. I'll sometimes drink ESB when in a Fullers pub, but I can't remember having it previously in bottled form. On hand pump it's 5.5%, and the last time I had one in the Parcel Yard at Kings Cross Station it cost over £5 for a pint; the bottled version is 5.9% and cost £1.50 from Waitrose (in a "buy five mixed beers for £7.50" deal before Christmas). Unfortunately it tasted like it was cheap and substandard. The blurb gives me to understand that the "unique blend of Northdown, Challenger, Target and Goldings hops balances the rich, malty notes for a smooth, full bodied beer bursting with marmalade fruitiness throughout". Hops? Marmalade? I was only getting a slightly sweet cardboardy flavour, dominated by the fizziness of the CO2. Maybe I've got Covid-19.
Come On You Hatters!
Re the ESB , try nos 7 on this list.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer."
-W.C.Fields