Iron Pier Beer in Cans; A Chore to Sample!

OK, not really a chore, more like a 'calling' 😉 but I had these 3 cans of beers from Iron Pier Brewery in Kent (website) to report back on. Silly me, I forgot to take photographs with them in a glass or three, but sensible enough to keep the empty cans (photograph above).😏

Even though I have no images of these beers in a glass to share, I do have fond memories of drinking a couple of dark 'barrel aged' ales from Iron Pier Brewery in the past, up at The Tower pub above St Leonards in Bohemia, for example this 9.0% Speyside Whisky barrel aged Imperial Stout (blog), which was absolutely gorgeous, cheers Louisa!😁

But back to the cans, and a wee bit less luxurious stout, their Cast Iron Stout (4.7%), based on a Victorian recipe, and brewed with 7 different malts. The roasted malts producing chocolate and hints of coffee in the taste, slightly sweet to start with, but with a dry finish. The colour is very dark and the beer opaque, but to me this was what a stout should be like, plenty of body, smooth and warm, with roasted malt taste, very nice; see this blog explaining my thoughts on stout.👌

Second, their Rosherville Red (4.8%), a "hoppy red rye" ale brewed with Citra, Ekuanot, Bullion and Mosaic hops, and malted barley, wheat and rye. This is like a 'souped up' red APA, but with a more packed fruitiness including, not just grapefruit and citrus, but forest fruits and dark red fruits too, no doubt heavily influenced by the Bullion hops! A big fruity aroma and taste, with the red fruits dominating at the end, indeed, not bad at all.👍

And, knowing my preferences in taste, I was looking forward to the pale hoppy one, their 4.2% Session IPA, brewed with Citra, Denali (Sultana), Columbus and Amarillo hops, producing what you would expect... An abundance of citrus and forest fruits in the aroma and taste, an American style IPA, indeed, an APA, with a dry fruity finish too, again, not bad at all, cheers! 👍

For more information about hops, see the hopslist website.

The Tower Ale & Cider Festival 2020 Review

"You took your time!" I hear you say? Well, yes, I was at the 3rd Annual Ale & Cider Festival at The Tower, 251 London Road, Hastings & St Leonards TN37 6NB, all 3 days of last weekend, obviously just as a volunteer serving up ale by gravity, straight from the casks. I also did taste quite a few of the ales, with just a sip here and there, of course... 😉

I shall start off with the ales with less strength, and served from the bar (below) from which I (and other volunteers) was dispensing for a couple of hours each day:

Dancing Duck (website) Waitangi (4.0%) is brewed with New Zealand hops, indeed, Waitangi Day (6th February) is the National Day of New Zealand (the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown on 6th February 1840). A very pale, dry crisp bitter with hints of citrus, not a bad start;

Purple Moose (website) Cwrw Ysgowen (4.0%) is the Welsh brewer's Elderflower Ale, pale and slightly fruity, easy to drink;

Crouch Vale (website) G.I. Joe (4.1%), with its cocktail of hopes from the USA, wasn't as citrus as I expected, but was actually a very good bitter, liked it indeed;

Wylam (website) Cascade (4.1%) unsurprisingly brewed with Cascade hops and, unsurprisingly, with a huge citrus aroma, lemon and grapefruit. Wonderful aroma, but a wee bit disappointed that the taste wasn't so big, pale and bitter with a dry finish, I would be happy to drink any day;

Stroud (website) Twinkle (4.2%) produced by this organic brewer, with New Zealand hops (Nelson and Taiheke) and Cascade hops from the USA. A pale golden bitter with hints of citrus and exotic fruit, again, easy to drink;

The Festival Bar

Intrepid (facebook) O'ir (4.3%), the name meaning 'gold.' A pale golden ale from a microbrewery in Sheffield, quite refreshing, and I noted 'pretty good' which means I liked it quite a bit;

Ampersand (website) On The Wing (4.7%) unfined and unfiltered (consequently hazy), and brewed with oats and Pilgrim, Amarillo, Citra, Ekuanot and El Dorado hops. Gentle citrus to the taste, and not bad at all;

Parkway (website) Mad Dog (5.0%), my first dark beer of the festival, well, at least my first from the festival bar. Very dark, with an aroma like toasted bread, slightly sweet and malty taste at first, nutty and a dark roasted barley taste, I liked this;

Salopian (website) PURR (5.0%), another unfiltered and unfined ale, but clear this one (which shows it can be done!). With hints of citrus and tropical fruits, I wrote that this ale was "pretty good" and that's good from me, but a reliable brewery too;

Cairngorm (website) Wildcat (5.1%), a deeper amber colour, tasting more like a traditional special bitter, with malt and darker fruit flavours from the more traditional British Challenger and Fuggles hops, not bad at all;

Black Lodge (website) Order of Magnitude (5.3%) brewed with Amarillo, Citra and Simcoe hops, also hazy, so presumably unfined too.With those hops you wouldn't be surprised to get a big citrus aroma and taste, and you wouldn't be wrong, pretty good;

Three Legs (website) South East IPA (5.7%) brewed with 'modern English hops' giving it a more tropical fruit aroma and flavour, and, yet again, unfined and hazy and not bad at all.

Salopian PURR

You will guess from the image immediately above that of the ales at the festival bar, the Salopian PURR was my favourite, but now I ventured over to the main bar itself, on finishing serving, and to watch the rugby too, where I tasted the stronger, mostly darker side:

Gun (website) 'Pimped' Parabellum (4.4% I think, sorry, I didn't make a note of the strength, and they have brewed it at 4.1 and 4.4%, tasted stronger anyway) which is usually a 'milk stout' but this version had added chilli! OK, very dark, with hints of chocolate and chilli, and I liked it a lot;

Downlands (website) Muntjac 'mocha stout' (5.8%), brewed with Eureka hops, very dark and smooth, with hints of liquorice, coffee and chocolate, not bad at all; 

Bedlam (website) Stollen (6.5%), and yes, it does what it says on the label! Deep red colour with a hint of dark fruit and almonds in the flavour, and I do love almonds and marzipan, so I liked this, though I wouldn't be able to drink too many pints of it.

Okay, I missed a few of the festival ales, and all of the 9 ciders, but I couldn't drink everything and I did my best! But, as I hinted at in my blog the other week, I did find my favourite ale of the festival to be the 9.0% Iron Pier (website) Speyside BA Imperial Stout, that is, aged in Speyside whisky barrels, and matured for another few months in Louisa's cellar, gorgeous, and frankly, excellent! Well that's what I wrote in my notes and in the earlier blog, plus with a "big dark fruity aroma with hints of roasted barley and whisky, tasting like a stout should, big flavour and body, sweet to start with, but drying out into a bitter finish." QUALITY. 

There you go, I enjoyed myself and cheers to Louisa!

1st Day of the Tower Beer & Cider Festival in Hastings

I got to the Tower, 251 London Road TN37 6NB, early for the festival (21st to 23rd February) because I was to help set up the separate festival bar, and above you can see the bar on my arrival with a dozen ales extra to those served from the handpumps on the main bar, looked more professional, obviously, once I got to it... 😉 

I've updated my previous blog a wee bit, mainly correcting errors in my original (OK, I own up, I do make errors now and then, but it was just fine tuning!); also, above you can see a list of the ciders available this weekend, in addition to the ales detailed previously.

I shall be writing a more detailed report of the fine ales available at the festival after the next few days, but I had to mention a 'stand out' beer today, a half of which I drank before leaving earlier, and following Louisa's giving me a taster earlier, so it had to be done. The Kent brewery Iron Pier (website) and their wonderful 9% Speyside BA Imperial Stout, that is, aged in Speyside whisky barrels, and matured for another few months in Louisa's cellar, gorgeous! Well that's what I wrote in my notes, and, with a "big dark fruity aroma with hints of roasted barley and whisky, tasting like a stout should, big flavour and body, sweet to start with, but drying out into a bitter finish." I already know it will be my favourite ale of the festival, but you never know...