St Bernard's Day: 20th August.

2 suggestions for St Bernard's Day (more about at the bottom of this blog), first I decided to go back to the darker English Trappist Ale for today, brewed by Cistercian monks at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire (website), this Tynt Meadow is a 7.4% trappist ale. Dark ruby red/mahogany colour with a big fruity aroma and flavour. Not the citrus fruits I normally enjoy, but rich darker fruits, with a touch of chocolate and malt/toffee in the taste, plenty of body and smooth, and slightly sweet to drink, Tynt Meadow is bottled conditioned, consequently having a long shelf life, so store in a cool place, drink quite chilled, and pour out carefully, unless you enjoy the addition of yeast particles from the lees...

The second suggestion which I have written about very recently (blog), so will precis that information here, is from Brouwerij St Bernadus (website), their St Bernadus ABT 12 (10.0%). Strictly, not a Trappist beer, although they had brewed Trappist ales for the Trappist monks at Westvleteren from 1946 to 1992. In 1998 Hans Depypere bought the business and it has flourished since. The St Bernadus ABT 12 is a very deep dark coloured red Quadrupel, brewed with hops grown in their own hop field. This has a slightly malty/fruity aroma, again, a bit sweet, but with a dry slightly bitter finish. Tasting of dark plum and damson fruits, indeed, a Christmas Pudding of a beer as many Quadrupels tend to be, very rich and tasty!

So, who was St Bernard? Bernard of Clairvaux was a 12th century monk, then Abbot, who was a principle in the foundation of the Knights Templar, and in the creation of the Cistercian Order that broke from the Benedictines. Indeed, the Cistercians are also called Bernardines, after Bernard of Clairvaux, or White Monks, as they dropped the black cowl warn by Benedictines. Unsurprisingly, St Bernard is patron saint of the Cistercians and Knights Templar, and also patron saint of bees, beekeepers, and candle makers/chandlers. There you are. 👍

So, to celebrate, maybe raise a glass of Tynt Meadow or St Bernadus, cheers! 🍺

Clonakilty Whiskey...

Yes, yes, I know, I've already written about a whiskey this month (blog), but I was drinking in the Hastings Jolly Fisherman (blog) yesterday, and Oliver waved a not yet opened bottle in front of me, and tempted me to buy a glass of it. I'm easily tempted, no control! 😉 So there it was, distilled in County Cork by Clonakilty (website), their 46.0% Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, I'll have some of that, thank you very much! 

Clonakilty is quite a new distillery, set up in 2019, and they use only barley grown in Co Cork, the whiskey is triple distilled in copper pot stills, and matured in ex-Bourbon, Oloroso and Amontillado casks. This produces an aroma strongly teasing me with vanilla and hints of citrus and butterscotch, and tasting gently of vanilla with a hint of pear, orange and butterscotch, smooth, but you know the alcohol is there whilst drinking and as it goes down, good stuff, sláinte!

Classic English Hop back after 100 Years!

I saw on the BBC website, that a grandparent of hops around the world, the Farnham White Bine (above image from Hogs Back website - info at Ed's Beer Site), has been resurrected after a hundred years, and is growing in the hop fields of Hogs Back Brewery (website), alongside their Cascade (British Hop Association) and Fuggle (British Hop Association) hops.

I thought, great to hear good news, but they've actually been growing Farnham White Bine hops for 10 years now, so not so new news. Indeed, Hogs Back brewed their first ale with this hop back in 2015/16 (the article I refer to suggests 2015, the brewery suggest 2016 😕), presumably after their first crop, and that was Farnham White, a 4.0% golden bitter (Cask Marque). 

If you want to experience Hog Back's ales brewed with the historic Farnham White Bine hops, watch out for their 'limited edition' ales, notably already mentioned Farnham White (photograph above with thanks to Andy King on UNTAPPD); their latest addition to their seasonal ales Blackwater Plum Porter (4.0%); and Home Harvest Pale (4.0%), brewed with their own Fuggle and Cascade hops in addition, this one for Autumn consumption (Hogs Back website). 

Happy hunting folks, cheers! 😁

August Whiskey of the Month.

"About time!" I hear from some. 😉 I had even surprised myself when I realised I have not reviewed this mainstay of Irish whiskeys! Oh well, it's here now as my August Whiskey of the Month, Jameson whiskey (website) which used to be distilled at their Jameson Distillery, Bow Street, Dublin 7. However, since 1976, when they merged with Powers and Cork Distillers to form Irish Distillers (website), like many other well known Irish whiskey brands, now it is distilled at their Midleton Distillery near Cork (website).

Jameson is a 40.0% triple distilled whiskey, of course, a deep amber coloured blend of grain and single pot still whiskeys, and aged in oak casks for at least 4 years before bottling. It has a slightly oak woody, honey and citrus aroma, and you notice the alcohol very much too, and noticed straight away in the taste. Indeed, it has a warming effect all through the drinking experience from nose, to mouth to stomach, although very smooth! I, as I seem to, noticed butterscotch in the taste predominantly, with hints of vanilla, nuts and cinnamon too, I like it, sláinte! 😉

IPA Day Ale, cheers!

My IPA Day ale of choice yesterday evening (blog) was enjoyed at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website), and was brewed by Yorkshire brewery Rooster's Brewing Co (website), whose excellent ales I have been drinking since the late 1990s. The ale, from this very reliable brewery, who brew 'vegan friendly' ales that always turn out totally clear, was their 4.3% Old Faithful Pale Ale. Brewed with 3 hops: Bramling Cross from England (hopslist); Cluster from the USA (hopslist); and Pacific Gem from New Zealand (hopslist). Consequently producing a pale clear ale with citrus, lemon and grapefruit, and just a hint of darker fruits in the taste, and with a lovely dry bitter finish, nice one! 

Happy International IPA Day, plus one, cheers! 😁

International IPA Day 2025

Today is IPA Day 2025 (daysoftheyear), when we celebrate India Pale Ales, indeed, celebrated on the first Thursday of August every year now, and how IPAs have been influenced by craft brewers, and hops, from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed to be transported by boat on the long trip to India from Britain in the 18th century, thus had plenty of strength and plenty of hops as a preservative, to help survive the long journey. The idea of IPA Day has its origins in 2011, the brain child of American beer enthusiast and author, Ashley Routson*, who I send my thanks to for making me also take advantage of this day every year in Britain too, cheers!

With thanks to Pints and Panels (website) for the image above, the evolution of the IPA, from a slightly darker English hoppy beer transported to India, to the later U.S. craft brewery influenced paler versions, or, as I prefer to call them, APAs. I know where I'm going to imbibe later on, so may just report back on my IPA Day ales sometime very soon, cheers m'dears! 🍺

*Ashley Routson, The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer.

Pink Grapefruit Ale from Kent Brewery!

I have written about Kent Brewery (website) ales many times before, indeed, they are one of my favourite dependable breweries for the quality of their ales, paler ales especially for me. But a recent visit to the Rye Waterworks (blog) saw me drink the slightly hazy 4.9% Kent Pamplemousse, brewed with pink grapefruit and citrusy hops, although I can't discover which hops were used, apologies, but I would be surprised if they were not from the USA. And if you're wondering about the name, 'pamplemousse' equals 'grapefruit' in French. 😁

It may look 'flat' in the photograph above, but it wasn't, indeed, it was just a full pint served to me, and ales are gravity fed at the Waterworks, so only a little head, although it did keep lacing all the way down the glass. OK, Pamplemousse is more orange than pink, but pink grapefruits produce a red juice, so I would describe this as an extra fruity, citrusy American Pale Ale style (APA), and I doubt if I'm wrong about the hops, but what do I know. 😉 So, pale and hoppy, very fruity, with a nice dry bitter finish and refreshing, another nice one Kent Brewery, cheers! 👍

Apologies - International Beer Day 2025 Yesterday!

Sorry I missed this, I had the wrong date marked in my diary. 😕 But Happy International Beer Day for yesterday! 🍺 Which should have been, and probably was elsewhere, a day of global celebration of beer (website). Indeed, the first Friday in August has been International Beer Day since 2013, a celebratory day created by Jesse Avshalomov at his local bar in Santa Cruz in California in 2007 (used to be August the 5th previously), you have to love those drinkers across the North Atlantic who suggest I celebrate drinking beer so regularly! 

The purpose of the day is to gather with others and enjoy a few beers and to celebrate the variety of beers available, and to celebrate those who brew, manage, and serve beer to us, not forgetting the wonderful pubs and bars where we drink. As Simon Difford suggests, let's raise a glass "to Beer, a drink that brings the world together." (diffordsguide) 🍻

But I did have a pint of ale yesterday, from a brewery I had never heard of, at my local 'local' The Prince Albert in central Hastings (blog). The ale, pump clip first image above, was from West Sussex brewery North Garden (website), Peaks (4.5%), an English Pale Ale, so brewed with English hops, which I presume are the same as for its stronger sibling Peaks Extra Pale Ale (4.8%); that is, Olicana (British Hop Association) and Harlequin (British Hop Association).

Or maybe not, on looking at the few reviews I could find, which suggest a paler beer than I drank (likely reviews of the Extra Pale Ale), although English Pale Ales are usually darker than the APAs that have been dominating the IPA name in recent times. The Peaks I drank was quite a deep copper colour, very much like a traditional IPA should be, and was, indeed, a bitter ale, like a traditional IPA would have been at the outset. Also, I didn't get the tropical fruit flavours you would expect with hops used like Olicana and Harlequin, so very likely more traditional English hops were used. However, the brewery's website doesn't help me at all, I can only go by what I was served, which was a bitter traditional English ale. Happy Beer Day Plus One, cheers! 😁