Guest Blog #11 - Danny Gazzi on Spring 52wbc

10. Oakham Ales, Citra

I’d been looking forward to this one, because Oakham’s JHB had been my favourite beer in the 52WBC so far. On the label, Oakham claim to have been the first in the UK to use Citra hops, way back in 2009.

It pours light golden, with little head but some lacing down the sides of the glass. Good, fruity aroma. At first sip it has a lemony aftertaste. Very smooth and well-balanced with a refreshing bitterness.

The glass was empty before I could finish making mental notes – always a sign that I enjoyed it. 4.5/5.

I must try the rest of their range. It’s a pity that more of them aren’t available as a Pick & Mix.

11.Stroud Brewery, Budding Organic Pale Ale

Pours light brown with a small white head. Pleasant, fruity aroma.

It starts off quite sweet, but then becomes more well-balanced. I’d call it pleasant and inoffensive. 3/5.

And now on to the two bottle conditioned beers in the case. Normally I would keep BC beers in the cellar longer than this before drinking them, up to their best before date, or even beyond, as I think that they develop more flavour with time. In fact I haven’t yet touched most of the BC beers from my three previous 52WBC cases. However, I realise that many of you are logging on daily, anxious to read my latest review, so I can’t keep you in suspense any longer.

12. Breconshire Brewery, Rescue Brew

Pours mid brown. I poured it very carefully, so as not to disturb the sediment and get a clear beer; perhaps too carefully, as it’s now got no head. The bottle has broad shoulders to help retain the sediment. An appetizing, yeasty aroma that couldn’t be mistaken for a pasteurised beer.

With the first taste, bitterness grasps your tongue. Then a maltiness follows, and these seem to alternate in grabbing your attention. Very enjoyable.

I always used to leave the sediment in BC beers, but the Belgians usually drink theirs “for the vitamins”. Now I usually pour even British sediment into the glass after I’ve drunk most of it. It doesn’t taste any better than the clear beer, but it’s not bad, and waste not, want not. 4.5/5.

The Breconshire brewery was put up for sale earlier this year. Whatever its fate, I hope that they keep up the quality of beers like this.

13. Three Castles Brewery, Longbarrow

Pours dark brown with some brownish head. A yeasty and fruity aroma. It tastes richer than I was expecting, and stronger than its 4.5%. There’s also quite a strong spice in there that I can’t place (possibly nutmeg?), but not unpleasant.

So, a brown ale rather than a bitter. 4/5.

That’s the end of my reviews of this case. Thanks again to Richard for providing it and for running the 52WBC. It’s all down to opinions, and if you enjoy a particular beer, don’t worry what anyone else says. If you look at http://www.theormskirkbaron.com/ you’ll see that he and I have some very different opinions about this case. In fact, the only one that we appear to really agree about is the Oakham Citra, which was my particular favourite from this case.

A big thanks to Danny for his excellent reviews... If you'd like to guest blog one of our 52wbc mixed cases in future please get in touch: richard@mybrewerytap.com

You can sign up to the 52 Week Beer Club here, we still have a number of mixed cases of the same selection available here.

Guest Blog #10 - Danny Gazzi on Spring 52wbc

Here’s Part 2 of Danny Gazzi's review of the spring 52WBC case.

5. Fynes Ales, Jarl

Jarl arrives with a very high reputation.

It pours very pale gold, practically a lager colour, with a large, white head. Pleasant, hoppy aroma. A clean, bitter taste, it’s very similar to the Stringers in Part 1. Apart from the colour, I’m not sure I could tell them apart. On paper, they’re very different though, the Stringers being a 5.5% IPA made with Amarillo hops, and this being 3.8% and described as a golden/blond ale made with Citra. Baron Orm says he can taste loads of marmalade in the Stringers, which I couldn’t. I haven’t retried that one yet, but I did drink my second bottle of Jarl to see if I could detect the claimed “full-on citrus experience”, but I still failed to do so. Maybe my taste buds aren’t up to this beer reviewing. Nobody tell Richard, please. 4/5

6. York Brewery, Centurions Ghost Ale

This was the only beer I’d had before, but on draught. I remember it as being quite rich and malty, and good.

It pours very dark indeed, with little head. A malty aroma, with some roasted barley.

The taste is similar, with also a hint of liquorice.

I feel that strong, dark beers usually do better in bottle than others, and this is no exception. Tasty and enjoyable. It could do with a touch more bitterness to stop it becoming a bit cloying. 3.5/5

7. Brentwood Brewery, Gold

Pours golden brown, with a small head which soon vanishes.

A sweetish, fruity aroma. Tastes of boiled sweets (acetates?).

Golden ales aren’t my favourite beer style, as they usually have less flavour than a bitter or an IPA, but this one isn’t my thing at all. The brewer’s notes describe it as “heavily hopped with fruity Cascade hops which come through at the end to provide a great finish”. Whoever wrote that must have a very sweet tooth.

Another organic beer that disappoints. 1.5/5

8. Tring Brewery, Side Pocket For A Toad

Pours mid brown, with a small head which soon vanishes. My wife, Maggie, informs me that the presence of protein would be one cause of a larger head and longer head retention. I have noticed that beers with a bigger head are normally higher quality, and perhaps more protein is the reason.

A floral/malty aroma, and the taste is quite similar. It’s well-balanced, although I can detect that bottle, pasteurised taste coming through with the bitter finish.

According to the list of ingredients it contains wheat as well as barley. 2.5/5

9. Bays Brewery, Gold

I chose this to drink next because I’ve just come back from a few days in the West Country, and it’s from Torbay.

Pours pale gold with practically no head. As I mentioned above, I’m beginning to see this as a bad sign. A faint, slightly fruity aroma, and a neutral taste. Few golden ales excite me, and this is no exception. 2/5

Thanks again to Danny for more honest unbiased reviews, more to follow... If you'd like to guest blog one of our 52wbc mixed cases in future please get in touch: richard@mybrewerytap.com

You can sign up to the 52 Week Beer Club here, we still have a number of mixed cases of the same selection available here.

Pick and Mix Functionality Now Live!

Its taken a little while longer than we would have liked but we're happy to announce some important functionality additions to myBrewerytap.com.

Firstly we're pleased to announce that individual Pick and Mix functionality is now live on the site. You can now select up to 16 individual bottles per case from the beers we hold in physical stock.

The pick and mix section of the site contains many rarer UK beers and imports from the US craft brewing scene which we enjoy sourcing and drinking ourselves, have a look here to see if there are any beers you've been wanting to get hold off. The section will expand and be ever changing as exciting new beers become available to us so please keep checking back to see what stock we have in.

Secondly we are now able to offer Multi-Case Shipping Discount on orders of more than one case from the same brewery (or Pick and Mix). Our standard shipping rate is £5.99 per case, but subsequent cases will now be charged at the lower rate of £3.20 per case.

Lastly we are now able to offer International Shipping to the EU countries listed below.

Channel Islands / Scilly Isles, Southern Ireland
Belgium, Luxembourg & Netherlands
Denmark, France, Germany & Monaco
Corsica
Italy
Spain
Greece & Portugal
Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden & Switzerland
Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Romania & Turkey
Bulgaria, Canary Islands & Gibraltar

A full list of areas and rates is displayed here.

Unfortunately due to different US State legislation we are still unable to post to the US for the time being. We are however investigating the possibility of adding more international destinations including the US to the site in future.

We hope you'll agree that these changes are a welcome addition to the functionality of the site, we're constantly looking for ways to improve the shopping experience for customers and are always happy to receive feedback. If you have any comments good or bad, please let us know: sales@myBrewerytap.com

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