2010 Aspirations: Update

Back in January I wrote a list of aspirations I had for the year ahead, some for the website and some on a more personal level. As its nearly 2011 below is an update on how 2010's aspirations went...

Continue to build the number of breweries listed on our site: In January we had around 40 breweries listed on the site, we now have 120 breweries and over 600 beers but considering there are over 700 micros in the country there's still a lot more work to do here.

Work with breweries to build their range of beers listed including more mixed cases: We've definitely added more breweries products to the site but I still think we need more mixed cases and other brewery products like clothing and gift packs listed.

Find new cost effective ways to market/spread the myBrewerytap word: We've had some success here, joint competitions with Thornbridge and our listing on I Want One Of Those stand out and I've been really happy with response to our fixed membership US 52wbc which I hope to run again in the summer.

Find more interesting ways to 'add value' for our club members, so more glasses, more crisps etc...: Bit of a failure here, we did give away some great extras such as pork scratchings, keyrings and glasses but it soon became apparent that we just couldn't afford to include extra gifts in the club when the margins involved were so tight. We did though add quite a few extra non-beer products to the site including Pieminister pies and T-Shirts from Thornbridge as well as our T-Shirts own which we had designed and made.

Add more features to the site (better events calendar etc...): I'm pretty happy that we satisfied this aspiration by adding a great beer festival calendar (big thanks to Steven at Aletalk!) as well as adding beer and food pairings to many products (big thanks to Alex at Allbeer!). We have lots of new features for the site in the pipeline in the early part of 2011, such as multi case shipping discounts when buying more than one case from a brewery. We also hope to have international shipping integrated and a dedicated pick and mix section for the unusual and or popular beers we hold in stock shortly.

Learn more about brewing /brew some beer: This was a personal aspiration and I've had lots of fun learning more about brewing in 2010. In March myself and two friends enrolled on Brewlabs "start up brewing" course which as well was being a lot of fun, contained lots of practical information on brewing as a career. The course also gave me a lot more confidence in the subject of beer in general with the module on flavour characteristics (bad ones as well as good) particularly helpful . I also enjoyed a couple of brew days at friendly breweries which were great fun.

Start a pilot brewery: Too busy to achieve this in 2010, as for 2011... watch this space!

Visit more breweries/Meet more brewers: I always enjoy visiting breweries (who doesn't) and was lucky enough to visit lots of breweries in 2010 including, Allendale, Bull Lane, Kelham Island, Sheffield Brewery Co, Crown, Great Heck, Wylam, Marble, Moor, Hawkshead and Mallinsons. If you've never been on a brewery tour/visit, make sure you do soon, they really are a lot of fun and I've found without exception brewers to be a very accommodating and friendly group of people. I'm looking forward to visiting more breweries in 2011!

Visit more beer festivals: I went to a few good festivals in 2010, including GBBF, SIBA north and Hawkshead but nowhere near enough.

Drink more (good) beer: Although a completely subjective thing, I think I did this in 2010 although there's always room for more!

Blog more: Hmm not sure I managed this, finding time and/or inspiration continues to prove difficult.

Looking back I've had a fantastic 2010, developing myBrewerytap has been great fun (as well as at times infuriating) but has confirmed that beer is what I want to be involved with going forward. Its such a fascinating and fun subject to be involved in, I've met so many great people and made some great friends in 2010. My only regret is not becoming involved in the industry sooner.

Here's to a great 2011. Happy New Year!

The Golden Pints 2010

The Golden Pints are an online awards initiative started last year, it's your chance to talk about the beers you've enjoyed, beery places you've been and say what you've enjoyed about beer in 2010. As far as I know there are no physical awards but its a nice way to recognise great beer and breweries and hand a bit of credit out where it's due.

Post your winners to the following categories in the replies below.

My Golden Pint winners for 2010 are as below...

Best UK Draught Beer: Marble Manchester Bitter, so much flavour for the ABV I could drink it all day long.
Best UK Bottled Beer: Marble Dobber/BrewDog Hardcore, the new bottled Marble Dobber meant I could have my favourite cask beer at home in a bottle. Delicious grapefruity beer which never fails to satisfy. Brewdogs new Hardcore was a revelation, a genuine US double IPA which beat the yanks at their own game at the 2010 World Beer Cup to take the gold. Try it, its incredible.
Best Overseas Draught Beer: Odell IPA / Jever. Odell's IPA is one of my absolute favourites from probably my favourite style. I drank a lot of IPA's this year, Odells version is so fruity and so easy drinking. I had the draught version recently at the Euston Tap and loved it. Jever was also a lager I'd never had on draught until recently but I love its crisp refreshing dry hoppyness. Great to drink for a break in the middle of a session.
Best Overseas Bottled Beer: Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale. Amazing cross over of two styles, this beer is almost overwhelming in its full on flavour attack. Massive piney, resinousy hops alongside a roasted, malty, chocoloatey body.
Best Overall Beer: Marble Dobber. Grapefuity, tropical, amazing...
Best Pumpclip or Label: Brewdog Bashah reserve. Another beautifully intricate hand drawn label from Johanna Basford.
Best UK Brewery: Marble. Beers which never fail to deliver flavour wise. It doesn't matter what else is on the bar 99 times out of 100 the Marble will have more flavour.
Best Overseas Brewery: Bear Republic. For their beautifully full bodied IPA's 'Racer 5 and Hop Rod Rye" which I had this year, which have more of a caramel malt charachter than many IPA's alongside the obligatory, pungent, piney hops.
Pub/Bar of the Year: The Grove, Huddersfield. 18 Handpulls, 12 Keg and over 230 bottles. Sheffield Tap. Beautiful pub ressurected from the old waiting rooms at Sheffield station, always has a number of Thornbridge beers as well as great guests and loads of bottles. Always look forward to a visit.
Beer Festival of the Year: GBBF, I thought it was rubbish the year before mainly because I wasn't keen on gravity fed beer, enjoyed it so much more this year. So much beer, so many beery people. It all passed in a very enjoyable blur..
Supermarket of the Year: Morrisons. because they sell BrewDog 5am Saint.
Independent Retailer of the Year: Beer Ritz. Because they got me addicted to hops.
Online Retailer of the Year: myBrewerytap
Best Beer Book or Magazine: Ben Mcfarland, Worlds Best Beers. I received this last Christmas day and spent most of that day with my head in it. Really nicely written, laid out and accessible to the layman. Its got great information and beer recommendations, and a section on beer and food matching. Its also particularly good on the US stuff.
Best Beer Blog or Website: Are you tasting the pith/Pencil and Spoon. Zaks blog is always worth a read, informative, interesting and engaging. Likewise Marks prolific blog is always an entertaining and erudite read.
Best Beer Twitterer: @dogmair. Because he's a nice bloke oh and he keeps swapping incredible beer with me.
Best Brewery Online: BrewDog. They do online so much better than anyone else in the UK.
Food and Beer Pairing of the Year: Biltong and anything. Not much of a food and beer matching person.
In 2011 I’d Most Like To…: Sell more beer
Open Category: Best overseas bar visited: Studio Square, Queens, NY. Have a read of my blog on New York here for why..

BrewDog/Stone Bashah 2009 Highland Park and Black Raspberry Reserve ABV 8.7%: Open It!

Tonights Open It! is a bottle of the BrewDog / Stone collaboration Bashah which has been aged in Highland Park Whisky casks which have also had Scottish Black Raspberries added.

I loved the original Bashah, a black IPA fermented with a Belgian yeast strain. I was amazed at the depth and complexity of flavour. Roasty, Hoppy and 'estery' as in giving of fruity/bubblegum aromas and flavours from the strain of Belgian yeast. I've sinced learned that the recipe was very similar to Stones 'Sublimely Self Righteous" albeit with that different yeast strain.

Its worth mentioning what a beautiful label this beer has. The bespoke hand drawn label by Johanna Basford is as nice as I've ever seen.

Here are my tasting notes:

Pour: After a bit of persuasion the cork explodes out of the bottle. Dark black pour with a big off white head, which is mottled with something, yeast? Raspberry residue?
Aroma: Earthy Hops, Raspberry, Whisky, Chocolate, hint of Coffee, Summer Fruits, pleasant bubblegum/estery sweet aroma.
Flavour: Raspberry, Summer Fruits, Chocolate, soft, full mouth feel, fruity esters, very light Whisky, soft carbonation.
Aftertaste: Subtle, warming aftertaste with slight bitter Raspberry and Chocolate.

I loved Bashah and I really loved Stones Sublimely Self Righteous, but this is a different beast all together. Its amazing how much the barrel ageing has changed this beer. Its a while since I had a Bashah but i'm sure it was much more bitter than this. The ageing in the Whisky casks and the Raspberrys have really softened the beer and infused it with fruit flavours which in turn are really complemented by the belgian yeasts, estery flavours.

The alcohol is really hard to detect as well, as is the Whisky but if you think about those flavours and taste the beer, they're there, just in great balance. There are myriad flavours in this but you have to think and taste to pick them out, as with the Founders KBS I drank last night the alcohol is really well disguised.

I really loved this, big thanks to BrewDog's Scottish sales manager Chris Mair for sending it down.

Thanks to Mark and Andy for coming up with the great idea of Open It, there's still the rest of tonight and tomorrow to get involved!

Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout ABV 11.2%: Open It!

My second Open It! beer tonight is one I've been looking forward to for a while: Its a barrel aged US Imperial Stout from Founders brewery of Michigan. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout or 'KBS'. Its Founders Breakfast Stout which has been aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels.

I've had the normal breakfast Stout and it was phenomenally good... rich coffee ,chocolaty, roasty, amazing... the picture on the bottle was very apt, it felt like you could have eaten it with a spoon.

After drinking the normal Breakfast Stout I'd been eagerly wanting to try this special version of the breakfast stout and Open It! seemed like a good time to indulge...

Here's what it says on the bottle: Founders "The Amazing Kozicki's" Highly Acclaimed KBS. A Stout Ale Aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels. DOES NOT GIVE RELIEF FROM: rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame back, lumbago, contracted muscles, toothache, sprains, swellings, and all manner of distress. IS GOOD FOR EVERYTHING A STOUT OUGHT TO BE GOOD FOR" 70 IBU 11.2% ABV

I bought this bottle mail order from Cracked Kettle in Amsterdam.

Here are my tasting notes:

Pour: Thick consistency, decent carbonation, dark brown black colour with a mucky dark coffee head
Aroma: hazlenut, milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla, bourbon
Flavour: Coffee, Chocolate, Hazlenut, lovely thick velvety mouthfeel, soft Bourbon, sweet but incredible balance and drinkability, some citrus hops hiding in there, zero alcohol harshness, soft carbonation.
Aftertaste: Lingering soft bitterness, sweet chocolate, sweet bourbon aftertaste.

This is right up there with the best beers I've ever had, its like a glass of hot chocolate, soft, warming and decadent. Its astonishing that this is 11.2% ABV it drinks like its 5%. A absolutely fantastic beer which deserves its revered status. In short a beery masterpiece.

Thanks to Mark and Andy for coming up with the great idea of Open It, now what to have next?

Thornbridge Alliance Strong Ale Reserve 2007: Open It!

Open It! is all about a reason to open those bottles that you never know quite what to do with, you've earmarked them as for a special occasion, but how many special occasions are there? My saved bottles are usually pretty strong so the times I want to open them are also limited. Open It is the perfect excuse to dig into the back of the beer fridge.

My first 'Open It' bottle, is a Thornbridge Alliance, Strong Ale Reserve 2007 11% ABV. I bought this bottle about a year ago from The Groves excellent bottle list.

Here's what the label says:

The Alliance Strong Ale Collection, During 2007, an alliance based on friendship and love of great beer between Thornbridge's Head Brewer Stefano Cossi and Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver led to the brewing of this refined Strong Ale which has been matured for over 18 months before being bottled. The Collection includes the unoaked Alliance Strong Ale and two finished exclusively in fortified wine casks. Spanish oak Pedro Ximenez Sherry (PX) and American oak Madeira.

My bottle is #258 Unoaked Strong Ale.

Here are my tasting notes:

Pour: Burnished golden/amber colour, good carbonation, off white head
Aroma: Fruity, syrupy, figs, raisins, alcohol
Flavour: Raisins, figs, sherry, maple syrup, fruity hops, some bitterness, smooth, well hidden alcohol, very well rounded.
Aftertaste: Lingering fruity hop flavours, alcohol, cleaning carbonation, some residual bitterness.

I'm not a fan of these type of 'strong/old ale' style beers usually, I just don't go for those complex malty, dried fruit falvours but I enjoyed this, It was very refined and easy drinking despite its high alcohol content, in fact it drank like a 6 or 7% beer rather than the hefty 11% it is.

Thanks to Mark and Andy for coming up with the great idea of Open It, now what to have next?

Cheers!

Marble Specials

We took delivery today of Marbles latest corked and caged 750ml special bottles. One is a US style IPA called "Utility Special 2010" and the other Marbles "Stout Porter Stout" which previously has been bottled in the smaller 500ml standard bottle. I'm always excited to try anything new from Marble, so I thought I'd crack them both and share my thoughts.

Utility Special 2010 IPA ABV 6.5%

Aroma: The cork comes out with little force and a decent 'pop' and the beer pours a lovely golden colour. The beer is slightly hazy with a bright white head. As might be expected the aroma is typical Marble, a big sweet fruity aroma reminiscent of pear drops. Its dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin but smells more of pears than gooseberries to me; pears, grapefruit and maybe some tropical fruits.

Taste: The Nelson Sauvin really comes through as the beer hits your mouth, the flavour and astringency remind of white wine flavours, its slightly thinner than the 7.2% Vuur and Vlam but has a similar smoothness. Its also a bit thinner in mouthfeel than 5.9% Dobber and definitely more bitter than both. The flavour is more grapefruit, gooseberries and a sort of candied pineapple. Its nicely carbonated, less so than US IPA's, but still plenty and it makes it very drinkable.

Aftertaste: I like bitterness in beers and this one doesn't disappoint, and as mentioned above the carbonation is soft so the beer goes down easily. You're left with loads of bitterness at the back of your mouth/tongue which just makes you thirsty for more.

This is another great IPA from Marble. I believe its one they've brewed in the past when experimenting but didn't put it into their regular line up. Maybe tastes have changed? I'd say its not as refined as Vuur and Vlam and its slightly thinner and more bitter than Dobber. To me It's sort of an IPA version of Marbles session beer PINT and a very satisfying hop fix if thats whjat you're after. Another great Marble IPA.

Stouter Port Stout ABV 5.1%

This is a beer I've had before both on draught at the Marble Arch and in the bottle. To be honest though I can't remember exactly what it was like.

Aroma: This cork also leaves the bottle with a satisfying 'pop', the beer pours a thick black/brown colour with a milky coffee coloured head. The first thing I smell is chocolate and then roasted malt. There's a rich plummy smell and a bit of a burnt toast aroma.

Taste: The tastes in primarily bitter chocolate, coffee and a slightly vinous charachter (as you might expect). Once the beer warms up a bit there's a decent velvety mouthfeel. There are lots of hops in there, and lots of roasty malt flavours.

Aftertase: There's a cleaning carbonation on swallowing and the aftertaste is a hoppy bitter astringency to the sides of the tongue rather than the back of the throat.

This is another very tasty beer, which stands out in its strength of flavour for its relatively low ABV. Its very roasty and bitter and very Christmasy. I can see myself tucking into one of these with some cheese or christmas cake over the Christmas holiday.

You can buy Marbles beers including the new specials here. They're also available via our pick and mix list here.

Winter 52 Week Beer Club

Its hard to believe that 2010 is nearly over, and its almost time to start thinking about Christmas.... its also time for another release of our 52 week beer club.

For this winter case we’ve put together a selection of beers which are traditionally enjoyed at this time of year. As the days become shorter and the weather turns colder our minds turn to fuller bodied, maltier, rich and warming beers, such as stouts, porters and black lagers.

There are award winning beers from Hawkshead and Fyne Ales not to mention Dark Star’s delicious ‘Espresso Stout’ which last year was named Worlds Best Speciality Beer at the World Beer Awards. We’ve included contemporary black lager style beers from two mavericks of the British brewing scene, Freedom and BrewDog and also a traditional Scottish 80 shilling beer from the excellent Williams Bros. There are also winter seasonal beers from Three Castles and York breweries, and three tasty full bodied stouts from Wensleydale, Wooden Hand and Acorn (their awesome 6% ‘Gorlovka’).

Also included in this case is a beer with a massive following in the South West which has only just been bottled for the first time; Butcombe ‘Bitter’, and if you need a break from the dark beers at some point there’s a classic pale ale ‘J.H.B’ from the very popular award winning Oakham brewery in Peterborough,.

Don’t forget this case makes a cracking beery present and will be available as an individual mixed case on the website here for just £24.99. We also have fantastic US mixed cases, mBt T shirts and some very special corked and capped Marble bottles on the way some of which will no doubt make it into my stocking on Christmas morning!

You can subscribe to the 52 week beer club here. The case above will shortly be available as an individual mixed case to find out exactly when please follow us on (@myBrewerytap) or 'like' our page on Facebook.

The full case tasting notes are below.

Craft beer in cans?

These crazy 80's designed canned beers from Maui have recently come into my possession and I've been excited all week about drinking them. The thought of decent beer in a can is a bit of a struggle for a lot of people, but after drinking some canned Oskar Blues beers earlier in the year I've been eagerly looking to get my hands on more.

Why cans? I hear you ask, well I suppose some of it is novelty factor, cans are traditionally what crap beer comes in, and as I've still had very little decent beer in can its still a real surprise to crack the top and smell a big hoppy beer or a roasted stout and even more of a surprise to pour something thick in body like a 10% imperial stout out. This is obviously a bit pathetic but my reaction is still 'wow its just like in a bottle', in fact the cans I've had so far have seemed fresher and sharper in flavour than bottles. Lets see what these two are like.

Maui Brewing Co. 'Big Swell IPA' 6.2%
I pull the ring-pull and there's a familiar crack then hiss, and then WOW the hop aroma pours out of the can toward my nose. Poured into my glass its a golden colour and hazy, not much filtration evident here. Its packed full of fruity tinned satsuma flavour and tropical, piny hops. Its has a great mouth feel which again is alien out of a can, its smooth and bitter, but not massively so. Its very drinkable and reminds me of a few other beers I've had in bottles but I can't pin it down... Vuur & Vlam?.. Southern Tier IPA maybe? Whatever, its another superb beer in a can, and all the way from Hawaii in this case.

Maui Brewing Co. 'CoCoNut Porter' 5.7%
This has a roasted, caramel sweet aroma and pours jet black with an off white head. I'm still slightly surprised that its coming out of a can. Its sweet at first but the taste then gives way to fruity chocolaty malt and toasty coconut. As you'd expect from a porter the mouth feel isn't too thick and there's a decent dry mouth cleaning carbonation to it. Moreish beer definitely.

If you think about it, canning beer makes a lot of sense compared to bottling, firstly there's much less risk of the cap seal failing and the beer oxidising, and there is no risk of the beer within being spoiled by daylight and becoming 'light struck'. They're easier to carry, easier to store and quicker to cool. I'm led to believe than aluminium is a much better recycling material than glass, so they're green too. They certainly take up a lot less space when empty (and crushed).

The principal problem with breweries canning beer is the public perception of cans, in that its previously been the packaging method of choice for industrial lager. Discerning beer people associate cans with crap beer which is often overly filtered and carbonated. I'm sure this was just the same in the US though before breweries such as 21st Amendment and Oskar Blues pioneered the canning of craft beers. It took the first taste of one beer to change my mind. There is of course another problem in that canning equipment is expensive and contract canning requires large minimum quantities making it unfeasible for many small UK craft brewers.

Personally I think its only a matter of time before we see canned craft beer in the UK and I think whoever does it first will have a great marketing angle to help the advertising of their beer. No prizes for who's been thinking about canning recently.

A massive thanks to Chris Mair, BrewDog's Scottish sales manager for getting me the beers!

Mark Dredge wrote a great blog on canned craft beer on his Pencil and Spoon blog earlier in the year here.

Raising a glass to Thornbridge(kel)...

I've been saving this bottle for a while now, Its Thornbridges (Caol Ila) barrel aged St Petersburg "The Islay Whisky Reserve" from 2006. I bought it from The Grove about a year ago and its been looking at me ever since, tempting me to indulge.

Beers like this are supposed to benefit from some aging, this bottle has had a very lazy few years and I seem to recall someone tweeting a month or two back that the beer was nearing its best, so as the clocks go forward, the nights draw in and with the weather turning filthy it feels like the right time to open it.

I'm intrigued as I pop the cap on this 4 year old beer, will there be a hiss from the carbonation? what will it smell like? how will it pour? what will the condition of the beer be like in the glass?

Only one way to find out...

Cap off: There is a decent hiss suggesting the beer has held its carbonation over the years, I don't have to get very close to the bottle top at all before I'm hit by the aroma.. a big evocative smell, heady with phenolic (TCP like) and peaty Islay aromas.

Pour: The beer pours a beautiful black, thick and smooth in appearance. Its pretty much opaque as I hold it up to the light but with cola brown edges. The condition looks good, as I tilt the glass away from me bubbles emerge from the deep black liquid, morphing through shades of brown to leave a light browny/white slowly dissipating head,

Taste: Its not quite as thick as I'm expecting but its smooth, very smooth with a skimmed milk consistency. The whisky character is dominant as the aroma precedes the taste but as the beer hits the middle of the tongue it gives way to sweet chocolaty malt, treacle, raisins, figs and an oaky woody flavour that's either phenol confusing my taste buds or coming from the casks the beer was aged in. There's also a distinct but distant saltiness.

Aftertase: Smokiness comes through now, smoke, peat, a touch of tar and loads of alcohol, not biting on the back of the throat burn, but a mellow yet spicy whisky note on the back of the palate. There's a touch of carbonation as the beer goes down, but not a bite, this beer is smooth. You are however left with an amazing lingering phenolic Islay whisky flavour, and the aforementioned oakey woodiness which gives a slight astringency on the sides of the tongue almost like you might get from a nice cigar. Its anaesthetising my palate like you might expect from a good Islay Whisky.

This beer was worth the wait. Its boozy and big, and thankfully I like Islay whisky, because if you didn't this would probably be a bit of a struggle. There is so much whisky character in this beer, its smudged all the way through it from first to last. I wonder if the whisky character has become more prevalent with age? Just as I hoped this beer was a fantastic antidote to the foul weather outside, all I was missing was a roaring hearth. It was yet another great Thornbridge beer for me and a very enjoyably and decadent drink indeed.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Kelly Ryan, Thornbridge's soon to be ex brewery manager every success in what ever he ends up doing back in his native New Zealand. I don't know Kelly particularly well and I don't pretend to be an authority but its obvious to me that he's has been an important part of the current renaissance in British brewing not only in his work as part of the innovative brewing set up at Thornbridge but also in his embracing of social media on behalf of Thornbridge. His tweets and blogs have been an informative and exciting link to Thornbridges happenings over the last year or so I've been reading. Thornbridge along with a few other breweries continue to lead the way in British brewing, and their beers, ideas, and ethos have been a big inspiration to me.

Good luck Kelly, and cheers!

You can buy Thornbridge beers here

Guest Blog #6 - Graeme Hilton on Autumn 52wbc

This is the third and final part of my review of the 52 week beer club autumn case. The last four beers are all at the darker end of the colour spectrum. Judging beer flavour from the colour is a rough and ready way to quickly work out what you want when you get to the bar, but there are some surprises in the mix. Thornbridge brewed a beer named Raven which was a darkly coloured IPA. Blind tasters said it was an IPA, but then were flabbergasted to be shown they were drinking what appeared to be a stout! Thankfully there are no such surprises in the final four bottles in the autumn case, which means I've left the rich, dark beers for when we really need them - when the nights are swiftly drawing in and we want something rich and warming while we watch rubbish television with our WAGs!


RCH Ale Mary
This is a 6.0% bottle conditioned beer that's listed as "Something Different". Pour carefully to avoid the sediment. The aroma on this is quite interesting; it's like you've opened the oven while the Christmas cake is in there. Loads of clove, ginger, cinnamon and other seasonal spices. I'll admit I didn't chill this beer before tasting, but I think this benefits from being a little warmer than usual. The flavours really come out; all plum pudding and brandy butter. This is definitely one for a cold night when you need cheered up. Also, my wife's only comment was "Oo! That's lovely", so I guess I'd better get a few in for consumption over Christmas!


Felinfoel Double Dragon
The 4.2% flagship brew of the Felinfoel Brewery in Wales. This is a deep copper colour and pours with no head. The aroma is a little nutty, as is the initial flavour. Later there are some toffee notes that come through. To be honest I was expecting more from this beer, but it seems to lack depth to me. What do you think?


Hogs Back TEA
Another 4.2% beer, but from Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey. This one is "Brewery Conditioned" which means there is no sediment. On pouring there is no head, but there is a constant stream of bubbles which slowly form a thin head round the rim of the glass. The initial taste is very smooth and there is the hint of grass from the hops in the background. The whole beer is held together with a smooth malty flavour. This is definitely a beer you could drink quite a lot of!


Meantime Chocolate
And finally, the strongest beer in the case at 6.5%. This is a small bottle, 330ml, but worth every millilitre! It pours a deep black, with practically no head, just a thin rim of bubbles around the glass. The aroma is like standing in a Belgian chocolate shop; all heady chocolate and praline. The first taste is like rich dark hot chocolate with a hint of lightly roasted coffee. This is a truly great beer.

So that's the end of my review series on the Autumn case from myBrewerytap. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing the reviews.

A big thank you to Graeme for his great unbiased reviews of this quarters case. We'll have another guest bloggers thoughts on our Winter case as soon as its available. If you'd like a stab at reviewing and guest blogging in exchange for some free beer please get in touch - richard@mybrewerytap.com

You can sign up to the 52 Week Beer club here. The current excellent selection is also available as an individual mixed case here but don't leave it too long as they'll all be gone soon!

Twissup Manchester/Huddersfield

A 'Twissup' for the uninitiated is the name that was devised to describe a piss up organised by and involving the people who blog, write, sell and above all use Twitter to network and discuss all things beer. The inaugural Twissup was held in Sheffield in January 2010 (which I attended), the next one was in Burton on Trent in May 2010 (which I didn't) and Saturdays venue was to be split between the beery delights of Manchester and my home town of Huddersfield.

As I only had to travel from Huddersfield no early starts were necessary and I rolled up to Huddersfield station at about 10:15am to meet Matt and Mark from Hawkshead and James and Andy from Summer Wine breweries. The train journey passed quickly and after a rendezvous with the other Twissup'ers at the front of Piccadilly station, we were guided by Dom (one of the brewers at Marble) on to the first destination of the day, an eagerly awaited visit to the Marble brewery.

I've made no secret of my love of this brewery and its beers, since my first sip of PINT a few years back I've been hooked on their aggressively hopped beers and contemporary branding. The breweries reputation has been growing quickly in recent years, with their beers often discussed at length online and well deserved acclaim coming from further and further afield.

The tour started with us being handed a glass of Dobber, quite a strong beer to start an all day session (5.9%) but one of my favourites so I wasn't going to complain. The group was split up into manageable portions and we were each given a 15 minute talk through the processes and intricacies involved in producing Marbles beers. The Marble brewers James, Dom and Colin were great hosts, they always give an impression of self deprication and of being slightly overawed at the praise heaped on their beers, praise which to me at least is more than justified.

The brewers then led us 100yds up the road to the Marble Arch, the brewery tap which also used to house the original brewery in its depths somewhere. The Twissup is all about socialising and putting a face to a name while enjoying great beer, and there can't be many better pubs in the country to do that in than the Marble Arch. The pub is a beautiful grade 2 city centre Victorian building replete with sloping tiled floors and and mosaic decoration. My first pints were W90 followed by Bitter, both were bitter, fragrant, hoppy and perfect lubrication for the socialising which was in full swing now.

As the Twissup gained momentum we all pushed on to the Angel just down the road where the drinks of choice were Pictish Centenial (another of my favourite breweries) and Harviestoun Ola Dubh (stupidly strong for 1pm drinking). I can remember very little about what I talked to people about but the great thing about Twissup is that you know the people there even if you don't, and there is always another conversation to be had often inevitably about everyones shared passion.

Next stop was Bar Fringe where I have to admit I can't remember what I drank, or talked about although I did talk to Cooking Lager author of the very funny eponymous anti-beer blog, and thoroughly nice bloke. Bar fringe seemed a nice place with a decent selection and one I'll no doubt re-visit. It was getting to around 4pm by this time and time for the group to press on for the Huddersfield leg of the day. After a brief stop at the Staleybridge buffet bar for halves of porter and bowls of black peas we were on our way to my home town of Huddersfield.

Huddersfield has loads to offer beer wise and it was a bit of a shame that by this time there was no way we were going to fit in more than one or two pubs. As it was en-route we called in first to the Kings Head for pints of heavily sparkled perfectly conditioned beers. This pub is a regular haunt for me, either pre-match or first stop on a night out and I have honestly never had a pint in there that wasn't served in perfect condition. The pub itself isn't the most salubrious but the beer more than makes up for it. I would definitely recommend stopping in there for a pint of something light and hoppy (as the beers there generally are).

As I mentioned before I would really liked to have taken everyone to a few more Huddersfield pubs, particularly The Sportsman, The Star and The Rat and Ratchett. All places deserved of a beer lovers time, but as with the Marble Arch in Manchester, the main attraction on this leg of the Twissup was The Grove at Springwood.

The Grove is a beer lovers paradise. 18 hand pulls, 11 draught fonts and over 230 bottled beers. The pub has permanent hand pulls for some of the UK's best breweries including, Thornbridge, Marble, BrewDog, Gadds, Fullers and Dark Star. I've been spending more and more time in this pub in the last 6months and am always very happy to be spoiled for choice beer wise. I have to be honest and say I used to have a bit of an issue with this pub largely around the fact that they didn't use sparklers even though the pub is slap bang in the middle of northern sparkler country. I do think though that the quality of the beer at The Grove has really improved in the last 12 months and great credit has to be given to Ian, Chloe, Brian and the rest of the team at The Grove for attracting beer lovers from far and wide with their excellent selection of beers.

The Grove had promised to look after us at Twissup and we weren't let down, Thornbridge Halcyon, Moor JJJ, De Molen Blood, Sweat and Tears Bruichladdich cask and Stone Levitation were just four of the beers amongst loads of others I can't remember. It was a great destination and final pub stop for Twissup, and everyone got stuck into the beers with varying degrees of commitment and gusto, (bearing in mind we had been going for around 7 hours). Personally by this point I was doing my best to stay on sessionable beer with a view to not disgracing myself on home ground but remember particularly enjoying the Stone Levitation and Jever pilsner.

As the evening moved on everyone's thoughts turned to food and I was happy to send an advance group a few hundred yards to the excellent Kabana in Trinity Street for their famous BBQ platters which we refer endearingly to as "bin lids" (see the picture for why). This is a great Indian restaurant for hungry drunk people, the food is served without cutlery in a very communal way (basically everyone dives in) which really suited the atmosphere of Twissup and was a great end to the day.

After settling the bill and leaving a few coats we made our way back for a swift nightcap at the Kings Head before people caught there Trains on to where they were staying or back home. I'd had a great day, which again enforced my positive opinions on the people who surround and are part of the beer trade. I'd been pretty apprehensive on attending the first Twissup in Sheffield in January, but just 9 months later many of the people I'd met then are starting to feel like old friends.

Big thanks go to Andy Mogg (beerreviews) and Mark Dredge (pencil&spoon) for doing the majority of the organising for this Twissup, and also Dom (& Janine), James and Colin for the Marble tour and Ian, Chloe, Brian and Staff at the Grove for making us feel so welcome. Oh and of course the Kabana for yet again staining my fingers yellow for the next 24 hours.

I also really enjoyed chatting with - Matt and Mark from Hawkshead, James and Andy from Summer Wine, Rob and Matt from Hopzine, Martin, Steven from Aletalk, Zak Avery, Glynn from the Rake, Kelly (and Cat) and Caolan from Thornbridge, Yan from The Sheffield Tap, Baron Orm, Mark from Realalereviews, Mark beerbirrabier, Leigh Goodstuff, Chris McBride, Edwards80, Dave and Anne from Hardknott Brewery, Cooking Lager, Tandleman, Matt and Karen from The Evening Star and anyone else I missed. Roll on the next one! (apologies for only taking 1 picture on the actual day).

You can buy Marbles excellent range of beers here. And like The Groves excellent Facebook page here.

Guest Blog #5 - Graeme Hilton on Autumn 52wbc

I started my last blog entry with a little explanation of how great it is to get free beer, especially beer of this quality. The next step on from receiving beer is giving beer, which is what I was doing last weekend at the inaugural Woolston Beer Festival in Southampton. I was volunteering behind the bar on Friday evenings's sellout session. There was one customer who professed he was a lager drinker and hadn't a clue what to ask for. Great! A chance to demonstrate to someone what good beer is all about! He was duly given a couple of tasters before he decided on a Barbury Castle from Three Castles Brewery . This is a light, hoppy, easy drinking pale ale. Excellent starter at 3.9%. I had hoped the customer would return and say "That was fantastic, what else can I try?", but instead he said "That was fantastic! I'll have a pint of that." He returned to the bar five times and each time had the same beer. Now, I can't criticise because he was drinking and enjoying cask ale instead of his usual Fosters, but I can't help feeling he was missing out on tasting any of the other twenty real ales, three ciders and a perry that were on offer. That's enough from the soap box, on with the beer-tasting!

These five beers are in the mid-range of the autumn selection, going from Summer Ale through Golden Ale to Bitter. These are all slightly darker than the previous ones I've reviewed here.


1. Hawkshead Lakeland Gold
Even while pouring you can smell the enormous fruitiness of this 4.4% golden ale. It starts with a sweetness that soon gives way to a mellow bitterness. You can detect that these are the same hops as used in the Saltaire Cascade as it has the same zesty freshness combined with the fruits.


2. Crouch Vale Brewers Gold
This pours an extremely pale golden colour. The aroma reminds me of the Williams Bros. Good Times. The flavour starts very light with a slight sweetness going on to a gentle bitterness, but tempered by some tropical fruits. An extremely well balanced beer, as noticed by the judges of the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain competition in 2005 and 2006. As with the Lakeland Gold, this is one you won't get tired of.


3. Inveralmond Ossian
The third Scottish brewery that I've tasted in this selection, and probably the least well known of the three. Which is a shame because they produce some excellent ales. Ossian gives off a powerful aroma while you're pouring. On the first sip you notice there's a slight rawness to the flavour which I think comes from the wheat that's included in this recipe. The initial malty sweetness is carried away by a citrus bitterness that also clears quickly. Very drinkable.


4. Marble Manchester Bitter
A small brewery in Manchester which is making some fantastic beers. Manchester Bitter is a light golden colour that pours with a loose head which quickly dissipates. The aroma is chock full of grapefruit. I could happily sit all night just sniffing this, but I suppose I'd better taste it for you. As expected, grapefruits, but I also detect a hint of vanilla which is pleasantly surprising. As this is a bitter, you'd expect it to be, well, bitter, but I didn't think it was overwhelming so, unlike the next beer.


5. Mallinsons Station Best Bitter
This is a bottle-conditioned beer so be careful pouring it, and leave the last 1/2 inch or so in the bottle. Even so, so of the sediment escaped into my glass which is why the picture shows a slightly cloudy pint. With no head, and a cloudy appearance I was a bit worried about this beer. However, it smells and tastes of nothing but citrus. It's not as sweet as grapefruit, but definitely has lemons, possibly limes. At first I thought it was too much tartness, but as the level in the glass went down so did my worries. Stick it out, it's worth it.

Next time I'll have the last four beers from the case, the darker, more autumnal end of the spectrum.

Thanks again to Graeme for a great review, Graeme's thoughts on the remaining beers in the case coming soon!

You can sign up to the 52 Week Beer club here. This selection is also available as an individual mixed case here.

Thornbridge Kipling

This is the fourth bottle to get the new Thornbridge 'treatment', that is the fourth to be prepared using their new bottling procedure and branding, and as no-one seems to have reviewed it yet as far as i know, I'm going to have a bash.

I was probably more excited by the news of the new bottled Kipling than any of the previous newly bottled Thornbridge beers, as its been a favourite of mine since I first tasted it. If you don't know, Thornbridge Kipling is a pale ale (they label it with the appealing title.. "South Pacific Pale Ale") which uses the New Zealand hop Nelson Sauvin . This is a hop that has created a big stir in the UK brewing scene in recent years, and one which I really latched on to.

The first time I tasted a beer which used this hop (Marble's Pint) I was amazed. This hop transforms beer into another realm altogether. The hop imparts an incredible tropical fruit flavour to beer, a fruit juice character which is really surprising and very moreish. Nelson Sauvin judging on the beers I've had seems to work especially well when used as a late and dry hop, ie, used at the last minute (as you might do with Coriander in a curry) to let the flavours and particularly the aromas really sing.

Anyway on to the tasting...

Cap Off, and straight away I get the tropical aromas, Passionfruit and Pineapple, candied sweets. The beer pours a beautiful pale golden colour as you might expect. There's a nice head, but not too much (this is a fairly new bottle so carbonation will probably increase with bottle age).



Taste, you drink beers like this as much with your nose as your mouth, you get the aroma a split second before the beer hits your mouth and the same aromas explode on your tongue, bringing through more assertive bitter fruits now, grapefruit, and kiwi maybe.. Then the malt comes, sweet caramel, enough to let the hops do their thing but no more.

Aftertaste, the malt dissolves into superb biting hop bitterness, which in turn is washed away by the carbonation which is perfect. Not biting but enough to cleanse the pallet and make you want to taste again.

This really is exceptional beer, Jaipur has taken more plaudits generally and deservedly so (although Kipling has taken its fair share of Gold Medals including most recently at the Nottingham beer festival), but Kipling has always been my favourite of the Thornbidge beers, most likely born out of my love of Nelson Sauvin. I keep toying with the idea that I'm tired of its overtly fruity 'in your face charachter' it is brash in some ways, maybe a bit obvious? but its so moreish and flavourseome and it continues to appear in all my favourite beers... Pint, Dobber, Kipling... If you haven't familiarised yourself with Kipling or Nelson Sauvin, I envy you... check it out... ale will never be the same!

You can buy Thornbridge Kipling here and the rest of Thornbridge's fantastic beers here...

Guest Blog #4 - Graeme Hilton on Autumn 52wbc

When Richard asked if anyone would like to review the 52 week beer club case I jumped at the chance to get some free beer! As Cooking Lager so eloquently put it: "Free beer is, I have decided, one of my favourite things in life. [...] People that send you free beer are clearly among the finest examples of humanity on the planet. If there is a heaven, they have their place, secured by the happiness they have created."

Having already sampled a few of these beers before, I was keen to try and capture their flavours on paper. I've divided the Autumn case into three instalments and the first includes the four hoppiest, lightest beers. Hopefully we'll have at least a couple of sunny days to enjoy these!

1. Saltaire Cascade
Cascade by name, cascade by nature. This pale golden ale is bursting with fresh zesty flavours. Best drunk slightly chilled - say 20 minutes in the fridge. The citrus freshness is nicely backed up by a slight sweetness from the malt. And at 4.8% it's a beer you could drink several of in a night!

2.Williams Bros Good Times
I don't know where to start on this beer. Pour carefully and then take a long deep sniff at the glass. Now, do the same again. I know! Good isn't it! The meadowsweet and elderflowers really come through on the nose, but not so much on the palate where the freshness of the hops dominates. There are also oats in this beer which give it a slightly silky mouth feel. Dangerously drinkable.

3. Thornbridge Jaipur
This modern classic starts with a sweetness that fills the mouth, but it swiftly gives way to tropical fruits and then a huge,almost overpowering bitterness which washes through the sweetness. It's difficult to emphasise just how well balanced this IPA is. The huge bitterness might be too much if it wasn't tamed by the juicy tropical fruits. Truly excellent.

4. Brewdog Punk IPA
Apparently based on the same recipe as the Thornbridge Jaipur this 6.0% IPA takes it up a notch. Bursting with huge tropical fruits and a decent backbone of malt this is a beer I keep coming back to. One thing, and as with all highly hopped beers,I would drink this young, and often.

Thanks Graeme! we'll have more of Graeme's thoughts on the current case soon.

You can sign up to the 52 Week Beer club here. This selection is also available as an individual mixed case here.

Beer In New York

I've spent the last 5 days in New York on a holiday break with some friends. I'd been looking forward to the trip and the beer possibilities it presented since we booked last October. The trip wasn't supposed to be about beer but such is my obsession with beer these days and my love of US beer, that for me at least it was going to be a major part.

It seems that the beery gods had decided to shine on me and decide that New York Craft Beer Week would coincide with our trip. Craft beer week comprises of a number of independent events/tastings and beer/food evenings organised by the brewing community and craft beer bars of New York. There's lots going on for the duration of the week including a major cask festival featuring beers from all over the US a number of food evenings featuring beers paired with food by well known chefs and lots of special evenings where bars hand over their taps to a particular breweries offerings. There were are also a number of educational events lined up notably (for me) a historical bicycle tour of Brooklyn pre-prohibition brewery sites and even an amazing sounding sailboat cruise around Manhattan while Garret Oliver discusses the history of IPA.

What it also meant at the very least was that the city's best beer bars would be upping their games to provide an increased number of beer tourists with the widest selection of beers available. As I was travelling with my wife who can't drink beer and two friends who aren't as obsessed as me I was more than happy to settle for this amazing stroke of luck and shoehorn in a visit to the famous Brooklyn brewery home of the aforementioned charismatic Mr Oliver.

Instead of boring you all with in depth reviews of each and every bar we visited and the beers we drunk, I'm gonna list the 5 bars I liked best and the 5 particular beers which stood out...

Bars
1. Studio Square
2. Brooklyn Brewery
3. Blind Tiger Ale house
4. The Ginger Man
5. Rattle 'n' Hum

I have to pick Studio Square in Queens as the favourite place we visited. I loved the communal German biergarten style of the place with everyone sat together outdoors on long tables sharing pitchers of beers in the sun. The main seating area was a nicely laid out courtyard with lots of room, there were also massive indoor areas with lots of seating, perches, and long bars without queues. The bar regulalry features live music although there wasn't any that Saturday afternoon. To be fair compared with the other bars on the list above the beer choice at Studio Square was small but it was still large by your average bars standard and well thought out with a number of sessionable Oktoberfest beers and pale ales. There was also plenty of carb heavy food on offer to soak up the beer which was definitely needed after our chosen pitcher of Racer 5.



I also really enjoyed our visit to Brooklyn Brewery. On Friday nights and Saturday/Sunday afternoons a large part of the brewery is converted into a bar and (by the look of it when we were there) a studenty/local crowd gather to drink and be merry. The Blast which I believe is fairly rare on draught outside the brewery was delicious and I would have gladly stayed all afternoon if with some beer loving friends its a really laid back, fun place. It was however VERY loud and busy, which limited conversation somewhat. As it was so busy we skipped the tour, which we were told is more of a lecture in one of the hot brew rooms and concentrated on the beer.

Of the other well know beer bars we visited I liked The Ginger Man, it was bigger, cooler (temperature wise) and had more seating and food on offer than Rattle 'n' Hum or The Blind Tiger. I'd guess its generally less raucous than the other two in the evening as well. All these three bars had vast beer lists 40+ taps of draft, 100+ bottles and surprisingly for me at least all had cask offerings, either on hand pull or gravity. They may have had more cask offerings because it was beer week, but I thought it was interesting that the Americans are getting into cask whilst the British in some small way are getting into US style decent keg ale. Its worth reporting though that all the cask I tried was too warm. And varied from the disappointing - Great Divide "Wood Aged Anniversery" (which I've had in a bottle and was fantastic) through weird - Cigar Citys, "Guava Grove" (a sour cloudy Belgian made with guava puree) to the fantastic (Bear Republic "Racer 5").

Beers
1. Bear Republic: Racer 5 (cask & keg)
2. Troegs: Dead Reckoning Porter
3. Avery: The Maharja IIPA
4. Brooklyn: Blast IIPA
5. Unibroue: Ephemere

I enjoyed / had the best beer experience of the trip perhaps predictably with Bear Republics Racer 5. This is probably tied up in my particular enjoyment of the hour or two spent at Studio Square. Its just so dangerously drinkable for its ABV, full of pithy orange and grapefruit hops with just the right bitterness to make it very moreish. It was also really great and fuller in flavour on cask in Rattle 'n' Hum but it was dissapointingly slightly too warm. To be honest though, I found it difficult to order anything else when I saw it on and it remains a firm favourite.

Of the others beers I drank Avery's The Maharaja was a brilliantly balanced tropical, citrusy and slightly sweet double IPA. I also really liked Troegs, Dead Reckoning Porter which going on recent debate would please people not only with its flavour but also with its naming. A fantastic roasty, coffee flavoured porter with great mouth feel and loads of pungent hops, I'd have called it a Black IPA.



I did plenty of online research on where I'd like to visit helped in a large part by the 'places' section of Rate Beer and the amazingly useful and new to me beermenus.com a website which provides up to the minute listings for beer bars, restaurants and shops in a growing number of cities in America. Being able to see what was on and what was available in bottles in advance was a great help in planning where I wanted to spend my limited time and where to find the best bottled beers to bring home with me (Whole Foods Bowery and New Beer Distributors).

Obviously the site is only as good/current as the information added but this site appears to have users updating content diligently in an effort to stay with the pack. Most of the decent bars in New York are making use of beermenus.com or updating their own pages and I'd loved to see more of the same in the UK. The Grove in Huddersfield is one pub locally which knows the value of advertising real-time listings of their beers and I'm also aware of a new business over here called yourround.co.uk which is offering a similar service in the UK, good luck to them. Andy at Beerreviews.co.uk has recently done a blog on the importance of the Internet to pubs/breweries and my recent experience in the US confirms his opinions. Check it our here:

I had a great time in New York and in some way was fairly glad that my time in the great bars I visited was limited. There was a distinct lack of sub 5% beers on offer and the temptation to try the stronger offerings was hard for me to resist. I'd recommend a trip to New York wholeheartedly whether for beery reasons or not, I'll definitely be heading back...

Autumn 52 Week Beer Club

Another three months has passed which means its time for another release of our 52 week beer club. We hope you enjoyed last quarters selection of beers, personally speaking I was amazed at how good some of the beers that were previously unknown to me were, Oakleaf “Hole Hearted” in particular.

myBrewerytap will be 1 year old at the end of the month so for this quarter as a celebration of our first year anniversary we’ve pulled out all the stops to give you a case that reads like a who’s who of the UK’s contemporary beer scene.

There's a bottle of the the twice champion beer of Britain 'Brewers Gold' from Crouch Vale, as well as award winners from the excellent Hawkshead and Saltaire breweries not to mention a bottle of the incredible Manchester Bitter from one of our personal favourites Marble Beers. Continuing the award winning theme we have beers from RCH, Meantime, Williams, Hogs Back, Felinfoel, and Mallinsons as well as the 2010 champion golden beer of Scotland from Inveralmond Brewery.

If that wasn't enough we’ve also included two beers from the new ‘rock and roll’ superstars of UK brewing. There’s a bottle of Punk IPA from the inimitable BrewDog and seeing as its our birthday we also made the decision to re-include another of our favourites and a beer that wins festivals on an almost weekly basis Thornbridge Brewery's fantastic (and now re-labelled) Jaipur. Rumour has it that these two beers were born from the same recipe, so feel free to do your own taste tests and let us know what you think!

We intend to run a couple of 'virtual' tasting events on this current case and there will also be some independent guest reviews on the beers going up on the blog so please watch this space.

Can I just remind members who joined the 52wbc before December 09 that your subscription has now expired. We‘d like to thank you wholeheartedly for supporting our young business and for the encouragement you’ve given us in our first trading year. We hope you found the club interesting enjoyable and above all value for money and we hope you'll be re-signing for the next year!

You can subscribe to the 52 week beer club here. The case above will shortly be available as an individual mixed case to find out exactly when please follow us on (@myBrewerytap) or 'like' our page on Facebook.

In the meantime to make way for the new mixed case stock our previous mixed case is available for just £19.99 (+p&p) while stocks last here.

myBrewerytap Beer Geek Pic 'n' Mix

The idea behind myBrewerytap.com is to connect customers to source, the business model is primarily a stock-less one whereby we list products and then arrange the fulfillment when an order is placed.

This is great for breweries as they get an online presence and control of stock and pricing for minimal outlay. Its also great for the site and our customers as it allows us to list a large array of products without the associate risk of carrying large volumes of perishable stock.

As the business has grown and we've tried different things its become necessary for us to hold stocks of some special beers that we really wanted on the website but for one reason or another don't fit our business model (such as US craft beers).

We're very happy to announce that after a few trial runs with friends and family you can now pick and mix selections of your own choosing from the small number of special hard to get beers we hold in physical stock.

Pick and Mix functionality is now live on the site here: Pick and Mix choose up to 16 bottles from the speciality beers we hold in physical stock. The delivery charge is £5.99 per case and £3.20 thereafter per subsequent case.