Horses and Hops

I had a couple of decent beers the other evening. One I picked up recently from the newly opened Flipping Good Beer Shop, and another I'd had stashed in the cellar for a few months and came across it while I was having a bit of a sort out (if you horde beer/wine/whisky like I do you know exactly what I mean.)

First up was the Sadler's Hop Bomb. I probably served it a bit cold, because there wasn't much on the nose at first, maybe a touch of elderflower but if I'm really honest, it didn't hang around long enough to warm up and allow me to savour the aromas - it's far too quaffable for that! It's 5% abv; strong I suppose, if you like your beer at a more 'sessionable' strength, but quite low for a modern IPA and I thought it was all the better for that; it's less about the sweet tropical fruit than vibrant fresh apricot and white grape flavours, all leading to a gentle sherbet finish rather than harsh bitterness.

5% abv. £2.65 (33cl) from The Flipping Good Beer Shop.

The other was the Welbeck Abbey Brewery Dark Horse, not one that is part of their core range - I think I'm right in saying it's a seasonal/experimental brew from earlier in the year.

There's lots of well-done toast on the nose along with a touch of red and dark fruit. On the palate it is plummy and rich, but keeps its balance rather than descending into a heaviness that its 4.8% abv couldn't support. There's marmite flavours and a lovely sweet hint that comes through on the finish. It would be a hard one to put into a style category - is it a dark ale, a hoppy mild or a lighter Black IPA? When it tastes this good, I for one don't really care!

4.8% abv. £2.60 (50cl) from Hops in a Bottle.

Turn To Red

Red beers seem to me to have a bit of an identity crisis. Rightly or wrongly the drinking public associate colour with flavour. When I worked in a bar in Australia the Guinness was viewed with suspicion by some, and it was suggested that it 'did strange things to you' despite it being 1% abv lower than the XXXX that was the 'standard' beer. In the minds of some, a dark beer is something warming and wintry; beer to ward of the chill, and pale beer is the summer or warm weather alternative; beer for the garden. It's an easy stereotype even if the preconceptions aren't always backed up in reality, a little like the 'brown is boring' tag. IPA and other big hop-hit beers are the darlings of the 'craft beer scene', praises being sung from rooftops here and across the Atlantic, so where does this leave red ale - ignored and lonely?


Anyway, to beer. Since we seem to have skipped summer in favour of a second, slightly warmer, winter, I wondered if a few red beers might be seasonally appropriate. I had Buxton 'Kinder Sunset', Great Newsome 'Pricky Back Otchan' and Welbeck Abbey 'Red Feather' kicking about so, with a nod to  Killing Joke's debut EP, I thought I'd compare them.

I have had beers from Buxton before and always enjoyed them, although apart from the Moor Top that I had on my way up to the Thornbridge Brewery the other week I can't remember what they are. I'll never make a ticker, it's a good job I've got Untappd to keep an eye on me. The Kinder Sunset pours a deep ruby red, and it has sweet cherry fruit on the nose and flavours like the toffee off a toffee apple. I found the soapy hops a bit off putting, it's one of those things I like in a beer in small doses but sometimes it's too much. (5% abv, Slurp sell it for £2.75 for a 50cl bottle.)

Given the reputation that Buxton have I was pleasantly surprised that I preferred the Great Newsome 'Pricky Back Otchan'. The hops were less soapy, and there's a delicious minerality to it, an almost metallic dry bite that I really enjoyed. It's a bit less red-coloured than the Buxton, possibly veering away from the red theme, but it's as close as I had. Again there's plenty of malty, biscuity aroma. (4.2% abv, £20 for a case of 12 50cl bottles if you can pick it up from the brewery.)



Last up was Red Feather from the Welbeck Brewery. A tasty brew, enough body despite its relatively low alcohol to give it some structure. This one is definitely all about the malt, there's lots of sweet biscuity flavour and a touch of spice, all backed up with chocolate and caramel. (3.9% abv, £2.70 for a 50cl bottle from Hops in a Bottle.)

Red beer; difficult to pin down to a style maybe? Given it seems we have a love of getting everything labelled and neatly compartmentalised - placed into a genre - maybe that's why it's a bit tricky. It's a bit like reggae-dub-punk-metal-industrial-gothic-synthpop bands I suppose...

Hiatus and Return

I've had a brief break from blogging, mainly because I've had a lot on, and much of my time has been spent reading about spirits - not something I'd imagine most readers of beer blogs are interested in.

Today, it's budget day. Tax on beer will go up. A tiny number of people have signed the petition against beer duty escalation, and Camra have come under criticism for not urging their members to sign it. In a way this is understandable - their members, I think, should be urged to sign it. In the end though it's a large and (as far as I can see) democratic organisation, and by its very nature is therefore unlikely to do something quickly enough to be effective. Still, maybe a pointer towards the fact that it is there, suggesting to members that they make up their own mind about whether the government should be supported in doing this? I'd suggest silence from beer's largest consumer group on the issue could be construed as tacit consent.

Locally, BrewDog Nottingham seem to be going strong, presumably because it is 'The only destination for real beer in Nottingham!' which means the pint I had in the Lincolnshire Poacher the other night must have been a figment of my imagination. Bastards. £2.60 for a glorified dream. BrewDog are going ahead with Totem 'Red Indian' Pale Ale. I was rather surprised a company who go so far as to use 'flavor' on their website and 'draft' on their chalkboards are so clueless about culture across the pond that they don't know 'Red Indian' isn't exactly politically correct. Maybe we should be glad it's not a dark beer they're releasing with an accompanying racial slur as a name. Nottingham's criminal reputation doesn't need any enhancement from scenester-induced race rioting after all.

Anyway, proper blog to return very soon. I'm off to check out Hops in a Bottle in Mansfield today before the prices go up, and hopefully get to write about some nice beer!

* Website not up and running yet but they're on Twitter.

Good News?

News from Christopher Leslie, my MP, 3/4/12:

NOTTINGHAM

As we approach the Chancellor’s Budget on 21st March, the eyes of many in the brewing trade will be focused on what happens to beer duty. We are fortunate to have a very successful regional brewery at Castle Rock near the station, which I took the opportunity to visit this week (see picture below with Managing Director Colin Wilde looking at their ‘copper’ boiler). They produce a fine range of regular beers, from dark to pale and at different strengths – and it was fascinating to see the process from start to finish. The beer trade has evolved enormously in recent decades, and there is now a growing market for high quality local beers, although the supermarket cheap end still undercuts on the basis of price and quantity. We need to keep an eye on how the beer duty system is structured, so that it does not advantage the mass production end over the bespoke and higher quality smaller brewers who we need to support as much as possible.

All sounds like good news, although at time of writing he has yet to sign the Early Day Motion that Andrew Griffiths has put forward. Have a look at it, and have a look if your MP has signed. If they haven't, drop them an email or a letter. In my experience MPs are usually happy to hear from constituents, and for the sake of a few minutes of your time, you can get them to make a difference. If you, or anyone else you know, needs more convincing, you should read Pete Brown's blog post on the subject. Signing the e-petition is a good thing, but I think letting your MP know about how you feel on this is a lot more powerful.

PS. I should probably have mentioned Find Your MP, in case you're not sure of who to write to.

Good Beer, A Valuable Thing?

Value is a tricky thing. The opening of a brand new, and relatively expensive bar in Nottingham has drawn attention to this via that medium-for-the-indignant; Twitter.

"£3.50 for a half pint?! WTF? This won't be my usual place, I guarantee!! [closely followed by, my emphasis] Gone to a real pub - picked up copy of Nottm Drinker. Article about @BrewDogNotts. Quotes from them are so pretentious!"*

c/o BrewDog Notts Twitter feed

It was only the opinion of one Camra member, and shouldn't be held up as representative of the group, but the first tweet was re-tweeted by Nottingham branch, and as far as I am concerned that represents a certain level of agreement if not outright approval of the sentiment. It's a statement that assumes all beer is equal, hardly what you'd expect to be endorsed by Camra. From the 'draft' list they put up on Twitter yesterday I'm struggling to see which one it was that was £3.50 for a half, but I'm guessing it may have been an imported beer and so not on this particular board. So why did I put the pic up? Well, it shows the paradox (pun intended). The Paradox Jura is an equivalent price of £3.50/pint for a 5% beer, but I would defy anyone to find a beer that is that complex for that kind of price. Or, drawing away from mucking around with the alcohol equivalents, how good a wine are you going to get for £3.50 in a pub? You'd be lucky to get a glass of the wine world's equivalent of Budweiser - well made, but hardly exciting.

Not for £3.50 you aren't...

I'm not a member of Camra, and from an outsider's perspective it seems there is a lot of emphasis placed on the price of a pint. Membership discounts, discounts in discount pubs, all that kind of stuff. It's all wrapped up in championing the rights of the consumer. All well and good. But is cheap beer really that good for us as beer drinkers? Campaigning for cheap beer surely plays into the hands of those who make lots of the stuff doesn't it? Those whose volume of sales makes up for lack of profit per pint. I'm not talking about allowing ourselves to be ripped off at will, or paying way over the odds, but maybe it's worth thinking about it before having a rant about prices. A pint doesn't have an intrinsic worth. In a capital based economy and society, it's worth what people are prepared to pay for it - as are most things. Once again I find myself on the side of good beer rather than cheap beer. Can I afford to drink Paradox Jura, or even any of the other great beers on that list,  all the time? No, but I'm glad it's there, and on the rare occasions I get to go out and challenge my palate it's great to think there is something different around, something that does just that. If it means that I don't get to drink as much when I'm out, then that's fine.

The competitive nature of the system has an somewhat unfortunate side-effect of encouraging lowest common denominator products. So much of 'business management' is about profit through marketing and driving costs down rather than producing something that has its own merits. Every little doesn't really help.

How can you buck this trend? Ironically enough there are brewers that have designed their beers specifically to win Camra awards, and then shoved their prices right up. I'd like to think, however, that there are people who just want to brew the best beer they can, and hope to turn a profit at the other end - almost like a horse drawing a cart, or is that too revolutionary a concept. Still, maybe there's an upside of all of this? Maybe there'll be more Hardknott beers and the like to go round for those of us who like beer as a treat? And if any of this makes me sound like a beer snob, then maybe I am. You'll certainly not see me at the bar in Wetherspoons asking for my Camra discount.


*Link to Nottingham drinker is here if you want to judge the merits of that second tweet for yourself.

BrewDog Nottingham Launch

Well, it had been open nearly a week at the time, but I suppose you don't get a chance to have an opening week more than once, so I don't blame them for making the most of it. The 'press lauch' event was Tuesday night, and it was great to meet some of the people I've been chatting to on Twitter; Simon, Matt & Rick from Notts Brew, Ian and Marverine.

BrewDog types... (Max & Johnny)

So on to the bar. Well, I'd go for the beer, ignoring all the hype and everything else surrounding it. The fact of the matter is that whatever criticisms that are levelled at BrewDog, very few of them centre on the beer they make. Yes, their PR can grate a bit, but then if you are a beer geek, it's not you the PR is aimed at, it's aimed at the yet-to-be-converted, the ones that don't spend a lot of their free time immersed in Untappd, Ratebeer and ahem... Beer blogs. I only had BrewDog draft* (sic) since that's what my wrist band got me.

Blitz, 2.8%: I kicked off with this one. Good malty/liquorice flavour but the lack of body means it came across as a bit watery as I got through it. Good for such a low strength but at £3.60/pint I can't see them shifting huge amounts!

Big Dog (Broad Street's giant)

Punk IPA, 5.4%, £2.95 for 2/3 of a pint: I've not had this since they started dry-hopping it, but it is really very good, as you'd expect from what, I suppose, is their flagship beer. Bursting with passion fruit and mango flavours and a grassy note from the Nelson Sauvin. Nicely counterpointed by a bitter finish.

5am Saint, 5%, £2.95 for 2/3 of a pint: Fruity, particularly red fruit. Raspberry notes. More bitterness than the Punk. This was the first one where I thought, 'it needs to be on cask.' Being a bit more subtle than the Punk, I thought the aromas just didn't come out at you until it had warmed up a bit.

Prototype 17.6, 4.1%, £3.95/pint: Speaking of raspberries, this ones flavoured with them. Pleasant enough, although I'd suggest it's more of a summer beer than one for February. Fresh, perfumed and clean and with a good, tart finish. Reminded me a little of Williams brothers Roisin rather than a more overt fruit beer. The 17.6 is because it's the 6th batch of prototype 17.

Hops Kill Robin Hood, 7.8&%, £2.95/half pint: The one that's definitely not a Robin Hood beer, you know, it's ironic? Moving on... It's really very good. Still got massive hop flavour, but not quite as candied as the Punk, and I think all the better for it.

Hardcore IPA 9.2%, £3.20/half pint: Pithy citrus; grapefruit and orange on the nose. Sweetness and slightly syrupy on the palate.

Alice Porter, 6.2%, £1.85/half: My friend Nik was waxing lyrical about the kerosene aromas of this one, and he was right, there's an air of jet-fuel about it. If that sounds foul, it isn't, it really works.

What event is not improved by the addition of a knitted beard?

Paradox Jura, 15%, £3.50/third of a pint: Imperial stout aged in Jura whisky barrels. Cutting to the chase, this is one of the most amazing beers I've ever tried. Lots of coffee and chocolate on the nose, the vanilla/bourbon flavours coming through on the palate giving way to a PX sherry finish. Velvet-smooth and luxuriously sweet. It's a big beer, one to dwell on. I'm sure it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea (another friend described it as being like post-mix syrup, but it didn't stop him drinking it!) but I loved it!

Are there any criticisms? Well, if it were me I'd go for a more informative bar lay out, they're trying to sell beers that many people have never heard of before, and since many people don't know what they want before they get to the bar, having labels on the fonts might help. I suppose the argument runs that the staff will keep you informed about the beer, and help you make a choice, but that can't always happen when they're busy. Other things like terrible queue management can be put down to opening week inexperience amongst the staff. If this seems a bit picky then I apologise, don't let it make you think I didn't like the bar!

It will be interesting to see how things work out once the novelty factor has worn off. Will people in Nottingham be prepared to carry on spending the kind of prices they're being asked to pay? It's not London, and you don't have to be an economic analyst to know that there's less money knocking about up here. They also need to get wi-fi in there.

Good luck to BrewDog Nottingham, and thanks for a cracking evening.


* How cool can you get? American spelling and everything, that's why they're next to a movie theater! Look at that, nearly managed to finish without taking the...

Local Feathers to be Ruffled

Cryptic I know, but BrewDog, who are quietly and subtly going about opening a new bar in Nottingham,* are apparently releasing a new beer to coincide with the opening. Apparently it is:

"A brand new beer brewed just for the bar that should ruffle some of the local's feathers..."

Disclaimer: *If you are likely to get touchy about Nottingham please close your browser.*

Still here? OK, you were warned... So I'm prepared to go along with the hype, and just for fun, inviting speculation about exactly whose feathers they are intending to ruffle, and in what way. I'm not from Nottingham, and although I am proud of my adopted home, I'm not averse to poking fun at it (it's a sign of affection don't you know).

• Nottingham CAMRA? General target, or them representing CAMRA as a whole. I kind of hope not, potentially be a bit lame. Entertainment value if it backfires though, are people really going to stop going to Castle Rock pubs? There's only one BrewDog bar round here, and lots of VERY good Castle Rock pubs.
• Nottingham myths and legends? Robin Hood's from Yorkshire kind of gig. That'd get them some press... Robin Hood's Doncaster Pale Ale anyone?
• Football? Well, Forest at any rate. My personal favourite. Rarely do folk round here get so stuck in a groove as when they start saying their team BELONGS in the Champions League. Although they don't have football in Scotland do they, so it's probably not a goer this one.
• Of course it might just be a beer, and the feather ruffling is just because it isn't Harvest Pale. But this is BrewDog of course. 

I also have to be quite nice to them between now and Tuesday in case I don't get through the door and have to rely on my spy network.

*Yeah, right.

Nottingham 'Robin Hood' Beer Festival 2011

I went to the Nottingham Beer Festival last night, a Nottingham Camra organised festival - and a very well organised one at that. £12.50 gets you in, ten beer tokens (3 of which get you a half, 2 for a third of a pint) and a glass to put the beer in. There is a massive range (over 900) of beers, more than enough to keep you busy for the whole weekend should you feel so inclined.

What I think set this festival apart from, for example, Camra's Great British Beer Festival was the focus on it really being a Nottingham festival - local brewers and local bands providing a focal point, and a real festival feel rather than it being about beer geekery and nothing else. Small criticisms but I did think it wasn't that easy to find a specific beer if you were looking for it (although it might just have been me chatting rather than trying that hard), and if Camra are trying in any way to lose their image that they are often maintaining on numerous blogs is so outdated then that T-shirt stand should go - it's embarrassing.

Despite my rather scatter-gun approach to tasting the beers on offer I didn't have any that I didn't enjoy. I was looking for a couple in particular, the Brass Castle 'Bad Kitty' and the Magic Rock 'High Wire' but apart from that I tended to go for the ones I thought would have enough of a flavour punch to keep me interested - hops away!

Black Iris 'Intergalactic IPA' - The fledgling brewery's new brew, and a very good one too. Pale with a delicious hoppy bite. 6%
Brass Castle 'Bad Kitty' Porter - Excellent vanilla porter, like a vanilla and dark chocolate milkshake but without any cloying sweetness. Rich and satisfying. 5.5%
Empire Brewery 'Bedlam' - tucked away in the back of the entertainment tent, pale golden ale. 5.9%
Magic Rock 'High Wire' - American IPA style beer, great finish, long on the hops! 5.5%
Maypole 'Kiwi' IPA - One of the local brews but with Sauvin hops from Nelson, NZ. Really floral and with a citrus finish. 5%
Nottingham 'Knight's T'Ale' - A new one from the Nottingham Brewery, a traditional coppery bitter. 3.9%
Raw Pacific Ghost IPA - Another big, citrussy American style IPA, but made with NZ hops. 5.9%
Severn Vale 'Seven Sins' - Since we were waiting for Seven Little Sisters to come while chatting to Nigel who was engineering the sound this seemed the natural choice. Lovely dry stout - marked contrast to most of the big hoppy beers I went for but possibly all the more pleasant because of that. A  SIBA champion. 5.2%
Springhead 'Roaring Meg' - Although I'd tried this before I wanted to have a beer that was pulled through a sparkler (Northerners eh?). A more traditional style pale ale, not so much of a hop monster, and rather mellow for a 5.5% brew.

Had I had more time I'd have sought out Thornbridge, Dark Star and Blue Monkey beers, but there's only so much you can get through, so maybe next time.

Cheers to Nottingham Camra!