Let's Play Musical Hops!

I drank an ale called Cashmere recently, a single hopped ale from the excellent Kent Brewery (website), and, when I shared it on facebook, a friend immediately did what I did, and linked it to a song by Led Zeppelin (YouTube). I'd thought the same, but had been thinking this Musical Hops idea for a while. However, that song is Kashmir, spelt differently. Anyway, I'm not giving up on this as I'm adding another 5 hops to this blog that start with the letter 'C' - bear with me!

The Cashmere hop was developed by Washington State University and released in 2013, being a 'marriage' of Cascade and Northern Brewer hops. Cashmere has flavours of lemon, lime and melon, exhibiting a smooth bitterness, mildly aromatic with a subtle herbal bouquet* - I certainly don't remember much aroma, but have lost my previous notebook, sadly. So I didn't use an image from that ale, but the image above is of this year's Duvel Tripel Hop Cashmere, and I have recently written about their previous  Tripel Hop (blog), a bottle of which I happen to have in my fridge 😉 and, just now I ordered a few bottles of the Cashmere pictured above!

My second "C" hop is Calypso, which was one of the 3 hops used by the, also excellent, Yorkshire brewer Mallinsons (website) in their 'Tropical Blonde' (above - and blog). This tune is haunting, frankly beautiful, and sung by Suzanne Vega, and Calypso was one of the 2 hops that gave me the idea for this blog well before I'd even heard of Cashmere, so Calypso (YouTube).

The Calypso hop was bred in the Yakima Valley of Washington State, with Hopsteiner lineage. It features crisp, fruity aromas and flavours, and is complex* with hints of stone fruits, apple, pear and lime. For the Tropical Blonde I got citrus and tropical fruit in the taste, noticeably mango and pineapple in the aroma, but then there were 2 other hops involved as well! 😉

My third hop, and another of the earliest influences for this blog is Cascade, one of the 3 hops used by the American brewer Sierra Nevada (website), and you'll likely have noticed these "C" hops are mostly from the U.S. of A. The beers I mention in this blog are of the, highly influenced by the craft brewers over the Pond, and mostly labelled American Pale Ales. So, to the music for this one, and Cascade by Siouxsie and the Banshees (YouTube), quality!

The Cascade hop was pioneered at Oregon State University in the 1950s and is widely used, indeed Cascade hops have been grown in England since 2002, after development at Wye College (website). However, Cascade was originally developed from the English Fuggle hop and the Russian Serebrianka hop and released in 1972. Cascade provides spicy citrus flavours, particularly grapefruit.* Indeed, the Sierra Nevada (blog), certainly has grapefruit in the taste.

So to my fourth hop, and, for the music I had to dig deeper, it wasn't as automatic for the next 3, and so a wee bit eclectic! Anyway, the Crystal hop, which is one of the FIVE hop varieties used in the eponymous Revelation, which is a revelation, and is brewed in Sussex by Dark Star (website). Music is Crystal by New Order (YouTube), never heard of it before, but not bad.

The Crystal hop was developed from Hallertau, Cascade, Brewer's Gold and Early Green hops, with floral, fruity and spicy flavours, notably cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper.* I'm sorry, but the Revelation has so much going for it (blog), that I couldn't guess how much Crystal hops influence the flavour, but influence they must, cheers! 😄

OK, I'm slipping in a couple of 'googlies' here, first although used in many pale hoppy ales (and other styles!), the Challenger hop is actually English, but certainly can be included as a "C" hop! And my second googly is the music, I said eclectic earlier, and a wee bit space agey... Challenger by Creo (YouTube). Oh yes, and Challenger hops are one of 2 hops used by another excellent brewery, Oakham Ales (website), in their session ale JHB.

The Challenger hop, as I said, was developed in England, at Wye College, and is the result of marrying Northern Brewer and German Zattler hops, and was released to the public in 1972; also know as Wye Challenger. Challenger provides floral, citrus and spicy undertones, and is good for bittering ales.* JHB certainly has the citrus flavours expected, as noted in this blog.

My final hop for this blog is Chinook, one of the 3 hops used in Proper Job, which is brewed by the Cornish brewer, St Austell (website). The music is again a wee bit electronic, and bowls us yet another googly, Chinook by Julian Jordan (YouTube), likely more about the wind than hops. 😉

Chinook hops were released in 1985, a cross between a USDA male and Petham Golding hops, and has a spicy pine bouquet and definite grapefruit flavouring. They are widely used in APAs.* I regularly drink Proper Job, whether cask-conditioned, bottle-conditioned (my favourite!), or even from a can (blog), which has forest and citrus fruit flavours, notably grapefruit, nice one!

*If you're surprised by my wealth of knowledge about hops, don't be, I've used the excellent hopslist website as a source of much of the relevant content, many thanks to them.

I do hope you've enjoyed this blog, and some of the music too, cheers!

January Pale Bitters

Since the New Year I've had 6 very good pale bitters, 2 newer favourites, 2 older favourites, and 2 completely new (to me) excellent ales! First 'newer favourite' is Cowcatcher (4.8%) from the East London Brewing Company (ELB, website), an "American Pale Ale" (APA) that I continue to call "gorgeous!" I do like it... With a big fruity aroma and citrus fruits and passion fruit in the taste and a dry bitter finish, just as I like my ales... The second 'newer favourite' is another APA, Prohibition (also 4.8%) from Kent Brewery (website), and also a pale golden bitter, with plenty of citrus aroma and taste, another excellent bitter, indeed, both surpass the 'older favourites!"

The two 'older favourites' include Naked Ladies (4.4%) from Twickenham Fine Ales (website), named after statues in York House gardens, Twickenham, another pale bitter with less obvious citrus fruit in the taste provided by Herkules, Celeia and Chinook hops. Indeed, this is more like a straightforward pale bitter than the fruit extravaganzas of the earlier two APAs mentioned. The second is Jeffrey Hudson Bitter (JHB , 3.8%) from Oakham Ales (website), with Challenger and Mount Hood hops offering a light refreshing pale bitter with a more subtle fruit to the taste and a dry finish. OK, these come behind the 'newer favourites' probably because of the strengths, and also because, well, I do love the bigger citrus aromas and flavours!

To the newbies, for me that is... First Eye-Opener (4.5%) from Stonehenge Ales (website), a pale golden bitter with a BIG citrus orange fruit aroma, no hints from the brewers of the hops used, but I'm making an informed guess they're from the USA. Also, citrus in the flavour with a dry bitter finish, I've noted "refreshing and gorgeous" so there you have it, gorgeous!

My second newbie, and last reviewed for today, is Some Might Say (get it? Song title! Oh yes, and 4.4%) from the Manchester Brewing Company (website), subtitled a Session IPA. Plenty of Simcoe hops from the USA used here, consequently plenty of aroma and flavour, with a BIG fruity aroma of peach and exotic fruits and similar in the taste, pale golden colour with a dry bitter finish. Some might say it was pretty gorgeous too, in fact I shall say it, gorgeous, lucky me!

I'll soon be publishing a guest blog from the Isle of Wight, can't wait, cheers!

Visit to West/South West London

So what were we doing drinking in a Wetherspoons pub? Well, historically, as in the last few years, I've considered the Bricklayers to be my pub of choice in Putney, sadly, they've gradually descended into the abyss, it's freezing out of the summer season, I've been there and they've had no beers at all, recently very few ales available, and on our last visit we were served up a very poor pint from the usually reliable Twickenham Ales, and at £4.40 a pint... I've given up! So, to The Rocket, Putney Wharf Tower, Brewhouse Lane, Putney SW15 2JQ (website), it has a great view of the bridge and down the river (Thames), and is next door but one to St Mary's Church (website), who's 15th century tower is visible, and the church where the Putney Debates were held by the Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War, proper historic!

Also, as I'm a member of CAMRA I get another 50p off a pint of real ale there with a voucher, and during my recent visit, that was off an already low £2.29 a pint, so just £1.79 each for a few very different decent ales, instead of £4.40 a pint plus for poorly conditioned/dead ale, no competition, and there's not much else in Putney for real ale these days either! My brother Dan, really liked the 4.9% Romsey brewery Flack Manor (website) Hedge  Hop, a traditionally copper coloured bitter, slightly sweet biscuit flavour, with hints of fruit and spice the result of the use of Cascade, Pilot and Challenger hops, not bad and Dan kept returning to it...

But I prefered, from the much more local Wandsworth brewer, Sambrook's (website) Powerhouse Porter (also 4.9%). I have to admit I wasn't too impressed with Sambrook's in their early days, but their ales seem to get better every time I try them, and this one is a gorgeous example of a Porter! Brewed using a variety of malts, and producing a smooth deep dark red ale with plenty of body, and a hint of chocolate in the taste, very nice, cheers!

The next day we walked a circuitous 18 mile route to Richmond and back, via Wimbledon Common, Richmond Park, and the Thames footpath (mostly Middlesex side). In Richmond we visited The Victoria Inn, 78 Hill Rise TW10 6UB, our new 'favourite' pub there, with excellent service from the Cornish 'maid' (oops! My history of living in Devon and Cornwall coming out there, sorry, all women down there are called 'maid' and all men are called 'boy', so 'young boy' or 'old boy' etc!). Anyway, here we both drank the Suffolk brewer Adnams (website) Ghost Ship (4.5%), more expensive, oh well, you can't be paying £1.79 a pint everywhere, sadly... This is a pale sharp refreshing ale, with a slight citrus flavour from the Citra hops used (and other unspecified hops from the USA) and a dry bitter finish, their best ale, I believe.

When we got back to Putney we dropped down in strength at The Rocket, but what a great brewery to find an ale from, Oakham of Peterborough (website), and again at £1.79 for CAMRA members, still great value at £2.29 though for others! Jeffrey Hudson Bitter (JHB, 3.8%) is a wonderful pale golden ale, with citrus in the aroma and flavour provided by the Challenger and Mount Hood hops used, quite sharp and refreshing, with a dry bitter finish and, indeed, one of the best session ales brewed!

I usually prefer to drink at smaller local ale houses, but the manager/cellar manager appears to be keeping their ales in very good condition, and, although quite a busy pub, The Rocket has an appropriate number of staff working to keep the drinks flowing and the till ticking, cheers!

Update on ales imbibed during April...

OK, it was a wee bit late for St Patrick's Day, but, what the heck, For the Craic (4.8%), brewed by Box Steam Brewery of Wiltshire (website) is an excellent choice to start this blog with. It is labelled a "Bold Fruity IPA", though not as pale as you would expect from US influenced IPAs these days, being a darker amber colour, but certainly "fruity!" This had a strong citrus aroma with a citrus and mango flavour provided by the Azacca hops used, from the USA. Nice, dry and bitter, I liked this very much... Sláinte!

A more local brewer to me supplied my next choice at the Jenny Lind in Hastings Old Town's High Street (website). Friendly service, and a choice of 10 ales on offer, 6 of which come from local brewers. I chose the Franklins Brewing Company Resurrection (4.2%, website), in excellent form, so much so, I had to have a second pint to make sure it was so good! Pale and hoppy, with grapefruit in the taste, and a lovely refreshing dry finish, another excellent ale, presumably brewed with hops from the USA.

My penultimate ale for this blog was enjoyed at the Dolphin Inn, as was the For the Craic, opposite the fishermen's huts in old town Rock-a-Nore Road. From Kent Brewery (website) Prohibition (4.8%), described as an 'American Pale Ale', which is obviously its type! You've guessed it, hops from the USA are used, though they don't disclose which, but I'd bet at least one has a name starting with 'C', maybe Citra, Centennial, or Cascade? Anyway plenty of citrus in the aroma and flavour, a lovely pale golden bitter, and pretty damn good!

Finally, a very old favourite session ale of mine, from a long-favoured brewer, Oakham Ales (website) and in a 'tick' pub; originally Oakham started brewing in 1993 in Rutland, moving to Peterborough in 1998. They now have a 75 barrel brewing plant, with additional capacity at their central Peterborough brew-pub, the Brewery Tap (website). Anyway, sitting opposite the graveyard where Spike Milligan is buried ("I told you I was ill"), we visited the family owned and run New Inn, Winchelsea (website) and enjoyed 1 of the 5 ales on offer, Oakham JHB (Jeffrey Hudson Bitter, 3.8%), an excellent ale, plenty of citrus aroma and flavour from the Challenger and Mount Hood hops used, with a refreshing dry bitter finish, cheers!