Peanut's at the Vat and Fiddle!

Yes, literally, a cat called Peanut keeps turning up at a pub and brewery 33 miles away from his home, he loves the ambience and company, apparently... He first turned up there on the 9th of July, after being missing from his home in Lincolnshire for 6 days already, apparently enjoying his first birthday at the pub, the Vat and Fiddle in Nottingham (website). He was reunited with his owners after it was realised that he was 'chipped' but he returned to the pub again within 3 days of going missing a second time (BBC). It is a complete mystery how he travels between the 2 places, but he certainly remembered the way back, don't be surprised if he returns yet again! 

I have a long history with Tynemill and Castle Rock Brewery (website) going back to well before I started blogging, indeed my local pub 25 years ago is one of theirs, the New Barrack Tavern in Sheffield (website), although it wasn't owned by Castle Rock on my first visit there 30 years ago, but acquired since. I got on really well with their manager and his wife, and have a Castle Rock polo shirt given to me by them, without having the necessary points (they run a loyalty scheme). And I first visited the Vat and Fiddle towards the end of the last millennium, before going to a football match at Nottingham Forest with my then wife, where on that occasion we met another friend we've both kept as a friend since, Paul. So, Castle Rock, and I have mentioned their ales before, have made quite an impression on my life, a bit like Peanut's life! 🐱

Castle Rock Brewery do brew some excellent cask ales, including the 2 you are most likely to see around the country, Harvest Pale and Elsie Mo, and I have written about their ales before, for example on my older blog. The Harvest Pale (3.8%) is a very light and very drinkable citrussy session ale, brewed with Centennial (hopslist), Cascade (hopslist) and Chinook (hopslist) hops. The Elsie Mo is a stronger 4.7% golden ale, still very citrussy but more complex, and very drinkable too, and brewed with First Gold (hopslist), Challenger (hopslist), and Slovenian Aurora (hopslist) and Bobek (hopslist) hops. Look out for them, cheers! 😁

Image from the Vat and Fiddle facebook page.

Black Thaw - Another Black IPA

On my older blog, lost to me to edit anymore, thank you Google/Gmail (😒), I had written about Black IPAs before, and it's still available to view, it appears (blog). Anyway, similarly, I shall not waffle about oxymorons, but will paraphrase what I said then about how Black IPAs are brewed, as explained to me by Brett, who used to work at Hastings Brewery (which no longer exists). The way he brewed Black IPAs, he used malt that had been de-husked, allowing some colour, but not to have the roasted malt flavour, then he chucked in a significant amount of hops, for example, Cascade, Columbus and Galaxy, to ensure an APA style flavour.

Well, the hops used for Burnt Mill's (website) Black IPA, their Black Thaw (6.0%) are Centennial (hopslist), Citra (hopslist) and Erebus (hopsteiner). The end result, I felt, was a bit like a cross between a Black IPA and a Porter, there was a hint of liquorice and dark fruits, body more like a Porter (well it is 6.0%!), and a mixture of citrus and dark fruits in the finish, which is a wee bit dry and bitter, not too sweet, not bad at all, cheers! 😁

If you haven't already read it, this blog is my opinion about stouts/porters.

2 Rather Good IPAs and a bit more!

I couldn't believe it when I saw this on sale in Morrisons, but a 500ml bottle conditioned Thornbridge (website) Jaipur (5.9%). This superb version of an IPA with many hops from the USA, that are Chinook (hopslist), Centennial (hopslist), Ahtanum (hopslist), Simcoe (hopslist), Columbus (hopslist) and Cascade (hopslist). This is an excellent pale golden ale, with plenty of tropical fruits, grapefruit and citrus in the aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish. I once had a few pints of a dry hopped cask conditioned version of this at the University Arms in Sheffield, when my old friend Mike Pigeon was the manager there, that was a bit special too, quality! 👍

Easily found at Marks & Spencer is their 4.9% Citra IPA, which is brewed by Oakham Ales (website), in the middle of Oakham's 4.6% bottled Citra and the bigger hitting 6.0% Green Devil, all brewed as single hopped ales, the hop being the excellent Citra, unsurprisingly (hopslist). Anyway, to the 4.9% M&S version, which has a big citrus aroma and taste, and paler than the Jaipur, with a lovely crisp dry bitter finish, very good indeed! Oh yes, and not forgetting... 😉

Have a guess what I was drinking yesterday in the Dolphin Inn in Hastings Old Town, yep, the wonderful session ale that is the  4.2% cask conditioned version of Oakham Citra! Not much to add really, does what it says on the label, and I can't remember it in better form, excellent!  😁

Cheers Ears! 🍻

The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website).

The University Arms, 197 Brook Hill, Sheffield S3 7HG (website).

And beers in a bottle...

3 very decent bottled beers enjoyed by myself very recently, bought in a local off licence, 3 for £5.25 and I've had all 3 cask-conditioned in the past too... But where to start? It has to be the 2 Oakham Ales (website) first, paler, and actually the order in which I did drink them. 😉

So, and straight from the notes I took, with a wee bit added here and there because of my knowledge base, of course, Oakham Inferno (4.4% but usually 4.0% cask conditioned), labelled a 'Blonde Ale' but I wrote "pale golden" which is what I shall retain in my memory; blonde, golden, what's the difference really, just trendiness I suppose! Quality too, Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Sterling are the U.S. hops used. I wrote "very pale golden, citrus in the aroma with a hint of citrus in the taste, but quite subtle (amazingly subtle, considering the hops used! - me added just now) with a lovely dry bitterness, very nice!!" Excellent session ale.

Oakham Citra (4.6% but usually 4.2% cask conditioned) pretty much does what is says on the label, zesty hoppy citrus, a single hopped ale using Citra hops, and I believe it to be the first single hopped Citra ale brewed in Britain. Notes: "Not quite as pale as Inferno, but pale golden with a fruity citrus aroma, bitter orange and grapefruit in the taste, a drier pale golden bitter!!"

Says it all, both great ales indeed, but...

And now for something completely different! That is, Titanic Brewery (website) and their 4.9% Plum Porter! Straight to the notes: "Deep dark red colour, with a big fruity plum aroma, plum flavour and a hint of vanilla, bitter sweet really, with a dry bitter finish. Very good!"

So, hardly surprising that I liked the 2 Oakham ales, a brewery that I love, I can't say I've ever not liked any of their ales, and they brew excellent pale dry bitters, just what friends and regular readers will know that I like. However, I had forgotten just how good the Plum Porter is, the only shame is that I can't drink these 3 beers cask conditioned these days... 😢

Back to beers in a can...

Okay, I tend to prefer beer from bottles than cans (and from cask even more!), it's probably just psychological, but I bought this lot and, probably because both are very hoppy, and because I haven't had a proper cask-conditioned pint for ages, however, I quite enjoyed them both, or all 8, depending on how you look at it... 😉

I'll deal with the Derbyshire brewers Thornbridge (website) and their 5.9% Jaipur first. I came upon this brewery's ales when I was up in Sheffield and they'd just started up, I seem to recall that my old boss at Kelham Island Brewery (Dave Wickett R.I.P.) was involved somehow. Anyway, many stories and anecdotes about this fine ale, including once drinking it, cask-conditioned, at the University Arms in Sheffield, when Mike Pigeon was manager there (I believe he has since worked for Thornbridge as area manager, but haven't seen him for quite a few years), anyhow, the story here is that it was dry-hopped in the cask, and marvelous!

So how did it compare from the can? Well, as I said, it seems like eons since I have been drinking cask ale, and maybe even 2 or 3 months since I've had Jaipur cask-conditioned at The Tower in Hastings/St Leonards/Bohemia, so difficult to really compare to memory, but... well, let's first look at how it is brewed, and the 6 varieties of hops included! Ahtanum, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Columbus and Simcoe is the wonderful group of hops used for this pale golden ale. It has a fair amount of body, as you would expect, a big fruity citrus aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish that makes this an excellent and refreshing beer.

Like Jaipur, the American brewery Lagunitas (website) beer is described as an IPA (India Pale Ale), but not the traditional IPAs that were sent out to the Raj in India, when English hops were used in strong bottled ales, no, both of these use American hops, so really in the more modern APA style ('American Pale Ale'), paler and fruitier, but still usually strong and gorgeous!

I have written about Lagunitas before (eg this blog a couple of years ago), but I've usually only had it in bottles, but it was okay in cans too. It is reckoned that 43 hops are used in the brewing, I'm presuming they pick from 43 different types of hop for each brew length, because the tin only mentioned 5 hops, ie Cascade, Emperor, Eroica, Horizon and Pathetique, and there was plenty of flavour from that lot, I can tell you! A golden IPA, with a big fruity aroma, a nice full body, dominated by a citrus flavour with a hint of malt, starts off slightly sweet, but quickly bringing in bitterness and a lovely crisp dry finish, and another refreshing beer indeed!

Maybe I shouldn't be enjoying drinking beer at home, but I really did enjoy both, cheers!

Old Favourites at The Tower

I've visited The Tower, 251 London Road, Bohemia, Hastings TN37 6NB (tel: 01424 721773) on a few occasions recently, last time a couple of days ago, when I enjoyed drinking a couple of old favourites!  In addition, I enjoyed chatting with the lovely landlady, Louisa, and with a friend, Darren, who's birthday it is today, so Happy Birthday Darren, have an excellent day!

There was a mild and a stout available too, but I'm going to be writing about darker ales very soon, so not in this instance, but, all the way from the beautiful west of Scotland, from Fyne Ales (website), was their refreshing 3.8% session ale Jarl. I've written about this before, and what can I say, it's a dry, pale golden hoppy ale, with citrus flavours, a slightly nutty flavour too, and a fruity aroma. Good old Citra hops are used in the brewing of this ale, and it finishes with a slightly sour bitterness, and at just £3.20 a pint, nice one!

And the ever excellent 5.7%, more than a session ale, indeed a 'revelation', Dark Star (website) Revelation! This is packed with hops, Warrior, Columbus, Crystal, Chinook and Cascade, and dry-hopped too, I seem to remember, so in your face hops! The Revelation is a deep coloured golden ale bursting with flavours with a fruity aroma, tasting of mango, peach and plenty of citrus too, plenty of body with a dry finish, and just £3.50 a pint... Yes, I do love this!

Of course, there are 6 ales in all, plus 5 or 6 real ciders and perry, and the two regular ales are also from the Dark Star Brewing Co. Their 3.8% Hophead, is the regular session ale, brewed with Cascade hops, with more flavours than you would expect for a session ale, indeed, one of my nicknames is 'Hophead Steve' and not just because I'm a 'hophead', but because I regularly drink this pale golden bitter, it is excellent, and costs just £2.90 a pint at The Tower. The other Dark Star ale regularly sold here, at only £3 a pint, excellent value, is their 4.7% American Pale Ale (APA), brewed with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops, obviously with more body than the Hophead, and with a greater variety of citrus and tropical flavours too, and a yeast strain from the USA is also used to create this APA style ale, again, an excellent beer!

Many thanks again to Louisa for keeping and serving up excellent ales, and a Happy Birthday again to Darren, cheers! 😎

International Beer Day Celebrated!

I celebrated International Beer Day 2017 in Hastings, first drinking the Sussex brewer Arundel (website) Maltravers Street: Session IPA at the Jenny Lind pub in the High Street, Hastings 'old town'. This 4.2% pale golden ale had a tremendously fruity aroma and citrus flavours, provided by Mosaic and Simcoe hops, with a very nice dry bitter finish, great stuff!

Down towards the fishermen's beach, Rock-a-Nore Road, and a visit to the Dolphin Inn opposite the net huts, and my second ale was from further afield Yorkshire brewers, Revolutions Brewing Co, whose ales names appear to have a musical influence (website). This was a slightly stronger extra pale ale, the 4.5% Switch #4, not quite as fruity in taste as the Maltravers Street, but still with a strong fruity aroma from the Cascade and Centennial hops used. It took a few days to settle and clear, but it was a lovely well-conditioned, and very refreshing, bitter ale with a slightly dry finish, not bad at all!

So, two great pale ales, with an influence from the USA, notably, from the hops used, a very happy International Beer Day was had, indeed, cheers!

More great ales, oh dear, cheers!

I'll start off with 2 pale bitters, OK, they're all pale bitters, 😉from The Park Brewery in Kingston upon Thames (website), the theme of their ales being Richmond Park, obviously. First, their 4.4% Gallows Gold, brewed with Simcoe and Cascade hops, providing a big fruity aroma with tropical and citrus flavours, with a great dry bitter finish. I liked this a lot, but... 

Spankers IPA (5.4%), like Gallows Gold but with knobs on! Brewed with three of the 'C' hops, Chinook, Columbus and Centennial, you'd expect citrus flavours and aroma, and you wouldn't be wrong, an enormous citrus aroma, and grapefruit ++ in the flavour, loadsa body, pale golden, dry and bitter, I wrote "gorgeous" in my notes, that's how I remember it!

Next, 2 more excellent pale bitters, but this time from East Sussex brewery, Franklins Brewing Company (website). I've already recently discussed their 4.2% Resurrection EPA, a couple of blogs ago, with its wonderful flavours from the Amarillo, Galaxy, Centennial and Citra hops used, and I've had it at 2 further bars since, still excellent! 

Next though, their stronger North Shore IPA (5.5%), another ale I always love to drink. This is brewed with New Zealand hops, Rakau, and another pale golden bitter with plenty of body, plenty of fruit in the aroma and taste too, and, again, noted as "gorgeous!"

I mentioned the Three Sods Trade Union Pale Ale in my last blog, so we'll pass my notes on that one this time, but, another brewery that seems to be consistently putting out great ales is Green Duck Beer Company of the West Midlands (website). Their Duck & Dab IPA (5%) is brewed with Sorachi Ace and Mount Hood hops which provide plenty of citrus on the nose, not just a fruity aroma, but citrus in the flavour too, plenty of body, and finishing off as a very dry bitter, another excellent ale!

Finally-ish, we come to Shiny Brewing of Derbyshire (website), another brewery I keep tasting great ales from! Their 4.6% Affinity, they call an ESB, and do not share the hops used on their website, but it is yet another nice one! You'll have to believe my description, a pale golden ale, with much citrus aroma, I had to think again and again at what fruit is in the flavour, definitely grapefruit, and hints of orange and mango, whatever, finishes off a lovely dry bitter indeed! 

I also drank an ale from the ever reliable Oakham Ales, but you'll have to wait for my next blog, because there's an extra story there, cheers!

The Albatross Club (RAFA), Bexhill on Sea

Yesterday, I visited the Albatross Club (Royal Air Forces Association) at Bexhill on Sea, the 2016 winner of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) National Cub of the Year award, and congratulations to them for winning this, and this years local CAMRA Club of the Year too (the national winner in 2017 is the Cheltenham Motor Club). This a members club (RAFA, which I belong to, but you don't need to have been in the Air Force to join as an Associate Member), but CAMRA members are allowed in too, and sensible people should be able to get a member to sign them in, though a £1 donation to the club would be appreciated. Today, whilst the Ale & Arty Beer and Music Festival is on today at the wonderful nearby De La Warr Pavilion (see the festival website), the Albatross Club is open from 11am for all beer lovers to visit.

Four real ales on sale from handpumps (and blackboard behind showing some of the ales to come on soon!), all at £3.20 a pint, and as you can see, yesterday this included Yorkshire brewery Saltaire New World Red (5.2%), and local brewers Pig & Porter Temporary Truth (4.2%), one of their single hop pale ales (Centennial hops), and Bedlam Benchmark, a 4% copper coloured bitter, with a hint of roasted barley in the flavour.

The fourth ale was an incredibly sumptuous milk stout from Bristol brewery, Wiper and True, (website), their Milk Shake (5.6%). Brewed with chocolate malts, and enriched with vanilla, to present a creamy rich stout with body+++ and liquorice flavour too, sweet for my usual palate, but what an enjoyable pint, cheers! 

For more information about the Albatross Club see their website.