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.

Another New Micropub for me!

I recently visited my fifth micropub, that is, the first micropub in Bexhill on Sea, Brickmaker's Alehouse, 27 Sea Road, Bexhill, East Sussex TN40 1EE (Tel: 01424 602778 - website), opened a couple of months ago by owners Martin and Robin.

The building has earlier incarnations, including a tea-room, restaurant, wholefood shop, and, back in the 1930s the fine mosaic doorstep reminds one it was used by the local Lunsford Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company, which since 1965 has been called Ashdown Brickworks (history - Rotary Club website). Indeed, I received a warm welcome when entering!

The interior has been sympathetically decorated and refurbished making it feel like a comfortable pub, well designed guys. At the end, down there on the left, are the toilets, nice and clean and tidy, and the small bar is to the right just behind me as I took the photograph above.

Oh yes, and beers? The ales and ciders are to the right of you as you enter in a temperature controlled glass-fronted environment (see above photograph), and served by gravity. There are usually 4-6 regularly changing real ales and 4 real ciders, including locally sourced, indeed, on my visit it stretched to 7 real ales as one finished whilst I was there. I started off with the lower alcohol ale from Downlands Brewery in West Sussex (website) Root Thirteen, a 3.6% pale ale brewed with Summit, Cascade and Chinook hops. Hint of malt in the aroma and taste, a pale bitter, easy to drink and not overly hoppy. 

I then tried the Mancunian brewery Marble (website) Pint (3.9%), a session ale brewed with hops from New Zealand and the USA, and labelled 'vegan.'  Now, I first drank their ales when they were still brewing in the pub, The Marble Arch Inn (website) which is well worth a visit when in town, and they were one of the first brewers to produce 'vegan' ales that I was aware of. Indeed the Pint was labelled 'cloudy' but it was clear, vegans really can drink clear bitters! Oh yes, and a very pleasant session bitter for me, indeed.

Then I went for another northern brewery, this time from Yorkshire, Northern Monk (website) Session IPA (4.5%). The Simcoe and Centennial hops producing a tropical fruit aroma, and hints of tropical fruits and citrus in the taste too. Another 'clear' vegan bitter too. This was not quite as pale as some of the other ales today, but had a pale amber colour, and had a dry bitter finish, and an aftertaste that I couldn't quite work out, but not a bad bitter at all.

Next was another vegan beer, I see a pattern here, this time from Bristol based brewery Arbor Ales (website) Blue Sky Drinking (4.4%), which I noted as a traditional best bitter colour and tasting like a 'traditional bitter,' so no surprise that looking at their website it is brewed with English hops, though I didn't grasp the 'delicate citrus notes.' No, I wrote 'slightly sweet at first' (perhaps the delicate citrus?), but a traditional best bitter, and not bad at all.

Oh, and many thanks to Howling Hops (website) for the image above, and a London based brewery new to me, although they appear to have been brewing for getting on for 9 years, and their 4.8% porter New Old London, which was my final and favourite ale of the day. I have written many times about porters, stouts and milds (eg blog) and their differences, or not, this is called a 'porter' and I thought it a stout, very dark with a light brown head, and with a hint of liquorice in aroma and taste, and roasted barley too. Plenty of body, as you would expect, a bitter-sweet taste with a dry finish, and very decent indeed!

Real Ciders too

So, also real ciders (above), some spirits and wines too, tea and coffee, canned Gun lager, more cans and bottles to come, and a facility for 2 pint 'carry outs.' Crisps and nuts as bar snacks, but with plans for more exciting food. Oh yes, and a Battle Brewery (website) 'tap tasting' will be held this Wednesday the 29th January (website).

I'll be back, 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!