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).

Sheffield Revisited, 9 Months Later!

Although I didn't actually visit until the day I left, waiting for my train (and I was drinking Monday to Wednesday this visit, not necessarily in this order, but this is a reasonably logical circular walk), I visited the Sheffield Tap (website), which I have written about in more detail before (blog). This bar, and 4 Brewers-Barrel sized microbrewery (Tapped Brew Company), is situated on platform 1 of Sheffield Railway Station in an old tastefully refurbished Dining Room.

I had enough time for a pint of Tapped Brew Electric Works (4.2%), an 'extra pale ale' brewed with extra pale malt, and Mosaic (hopslist) and HBC 431 hops (Yakima Valley Hops), and with hops like those used, you would expect plenty of citrus and tropical fruit flavours... And you wouldn't be wrong! Packed with fruity aroma and taste, nice and clear and very pale, and a nice dry bitter finish, one of my favourite ales of the trip, at the death! 😁

Although it was the next day I visited, as it's closed on Mondays, but Mama's and Leonies, 111-115 Norfolk Street S1 2JE (website) is my favourite place to eat at in Sheffield; I've been eating here since the 1990s! Plus I always see friendly faces, Tracey's smile as I came through the door and friendly discourse, updates really, chatting with Kath and John (proprietors) and chatting with Jason, the head chef, who knew exactly what I wanted to eat, indeed, what I eat here 99% of the time, a Warm Chicken & Bacon Salad, quality! Nice to be remembered 👍

So, heading to the Kelham Island area, and The Fat Cat, 23 Alma Street S3 8SA (website), in front of what used to be Kelham Island Brewery, where I worked quite a bit when I was a postgraduate student in Sheffield. Here I met another familiar face, Dianne, who only works here a couple of days a week now, so lucky for me, nice blether. Oh yes, and I've written about the re-birth of Pale Rider recently (blog), so I was very excited to drink the latest version, but I was a bit disappointed... OK, it's drinkable, but nothing like the ale that I have brewed personally in the past, unsurprisingly really, as different hops are used now (blog), and it was cloudy! Now it's become a bit trendy to not use finings for vegan friendly beers, but I think it's a wee bit lazy, perfectly clear vegan ales can be brewed easily enough, more later... I was disappointed.

Just around the corner is the Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street S3 8RW (website), another pub I know very well, which has been CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2 years running in the past, and I have written about visits here quite often, and which sells a dozen or so ales of various types, plus crafty kegs galore! The proprietor Josh, is also the man behind Blue Bee Brewery (website), more below when I spent a few hours touring and drinking with his colleague, and an old friend of mine, Pete, who I first met well before his brewing career began. Whilst at the KIT also met, completely coincidentally, with long-term friends Bob and Marie, lovely surprise!

So, to Blue Bee American Five Hop #63, their 63rd version of this ale, which I seem to remember Pete telling me the constant in the 5 hops used is Columbus (also known as Tomahawk - hopslist), and this version including Vista (Yakima Valley Hops), Chinook (hopslist), Simcoe (hopslist) and Citra (hopslist). I've had a few versions of this 4.3% ale now, and haven't had anything but excellent pale, crystal clear, and citrusy ales with a great dry bitter finish, and this was no exception, nice one, cheers!

Oh yes, and the very local Blue Bee Brewery (website) has a 10 Brewers-Barrell kit (360 gallons), and we had a great chat about their beers. Always crystal clear and vegan friendly too, due to not using isinglass finings (what vegans don't like), but using Finings Adjunct (Murphy & Son), which is usually used together with isinglass, but alone, is vegan friendly. I wish that many other brewers took note, not everyone is a trendy thick 'soup style' beer drinker!

Then, not too far away, indeed, across a main road and around another corner, and you reach Shakespeare's, 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB (facebook), again, with plenty of cask ales available. Of which we went for the promising sounding U.S. Triple Hop (4.0%) from Stockport based Chadkirk Brew Co (website), brewed, in this instance, with Centennial (hopslist), El Dorado (hopslist) and Simcoe hops (hopslist). I was surprised that there wasn't more flavour, pale dry finish, a bit thin, but I have seen online that they also brew many versions with different 3 hops used, it would be interesting to try another version.

We ended our 'crawl' on Monday at The Wellington, 1 Henry Street S3 7EQ (facebook), at nearby Shalesmoor, which has its own local microbrewery Neepsend Brew Co (website). Of course I had to try their 'American Pale Ale' Rougarou (5.2%), brewed with El Dorado (hopslist), Citra (hopslist) and Mosaic hops (hopslist). I enjoyed it, as I should with the hops used, it is what has become a traditional style of APA, but I wrote no notes, 'twas late! 😉

Pete and I actually met at The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street S3 7BS (website), which is across the road from Shakespeares, and at the top of a side street, a little closer to the city centre, and where I stayed for the two nights. I had a few different ales here, the first when I met Pete, and a couple later on the second night, on my return from my wandering. This first one was brewed by Bristol Beer Factory (BBF - website), their 4.6% Independence 'US Pale' brewed with Citra (hopslist), Mosaic (hopslist) and Amarillo hops (hopslist). I was again disappointed with a drink that had a consistency similar to orange juice 'with bits' but with plenty of fruity aroma and taste.

The second night I also had 2 very good beers at the Crow, the first one from Abbeydale Brewery (website), which I seem to remember is now the biggest brewer in Sheffield, although I can't find out the size of its kit, but it has to be at least 30 Brewers Barrels. Anyway, and I've had it before, a nice pale dry and bitter 4.1% ale, brewed with hops from the USA, called Heathen. It is very pleasant. But I finished the night with a very interesting darker beer from Atom Beers of Hull (website), their 5.8% raspberry porter Positive Charge. Fruity, but not as much as I had expected, indeed, I got rich dark flavours, including liquorice and chocolate too, nice and smooth, with plenty of body as you'd expect, and pretty damn good!

The second day, and this is still following a circular-ish walk, slightly closer to the city centre, I met up with Jeff (sadly, Lindsay had dental issues that prevented his arrival this time) at the Perch Brewhouse, 44 Garden Street S1 4BJ (facebook), which opened at 16.00. I had a couple of their own beers; Dead Parrot Beer Company (twitter), first their 4.0% pale ale Sketch, brewed with Aurora (hopslist) and Citra hops (hopslist). This was very pale, dry and bitter, almost sour, and cloudy, yet another vegan brewer unhappy to brew clear ale. The second one was obviously cloudy too, their 4.2% blonde beer Aspect, brewed with Simcoe (hopslist) and Challenger hops (hopslist). After the first, this tasted quite sweet and fruity, drinkable.

We then headed into the city centre to The Bath Hotel, 66-68 Victoria Street S3 7QL, with the return of Brian as licensee following a few years of Thornbridge running the pub. Brian is always great company, and we'd arranged to meet Will too. Plenty of banter shared, and a few pints, including from Derbyshire brewer Thornbridge (website) their Jaipur (5.9%). Strong American style IPA (APA), plenty of hops, the last time I discovered the 6 hops used (blog) they included Ahtanum (hopslist), Cascade (hopslist), Centennial (hopslist), Chinook (hopslist), Columbus (hopslist) and Simcoe hops (hopslist). Always plenty of flavour, as you'd expect with the strength and hops used, easy to get carried away when imbibing, in more ways than one! 😉

OK, returning here for me was on the third day, on my way back to the railway station, indeed, I again popped into Mama's and Leonies (website) where I had my breakfast, a rather substantial Hot Breakfast Ciabatta, and a couple of coffees. Virtually the same people I talked to yesterday, excepting John, and then back to the railway station, a Sheffield Circular Route completed.

See above for details of my final pint in Sheffield, but I'll be back, cheers! 😁

PS. I'm concerned about this trend to not use finings... 😒

Pale Rider Update.

I  wrote about Pale Rider (5.2%) being available again in a blog late last year, because I have a great fondness for the brewery, as I used to work at Kelham Island Brewery (new company's website) when I was a postgrad student studying and living in Sheffield in the late 1990s and into this millennium. I have brewed, delivered and drunk quite a few pints of Pale Rider, and other Kelham Island ales, overall I lived in Sheffield for 16 years and still return regularly, at least once or twice a year! So it is a big thing to me, and for many others no doubt, that Pale Rider (5.2%) returned to life under the stewardship of its new custodians. 👍

One of the reasons I am writing this update is that they replied to a question I added to a tweet they had posted on twitter, and advised me the hops they now use for this award winning ale. When I worked at the brewery I only remember using one variety of hop for Pale Rider, that was Willamette from the USA, although when I chatted to the brewer a little over a year ago (blog) he told me hops used over the years had changed on a number of occasions. Anyway, Willamette hops are used again in Pale Rider's production, Willamette being developed from English Fuggle hops way back in the 1960s and "feature complex spiciness characterised by herbal, floral and fruity notes" (hopslist).

3 other hop varieties from the USA are also used for Pale Rider now, Cascade, Chinook and Crystal. I believe this fine pale ale is now brewed at the Thornbridge Brewery site (website), but by a completely separate business; although I also remember that my old boss at Kelham Island Brewery, Dave Wickett (R.I.P.) had provided some advice when Thornbridge was first set up nearly 20 years ago. Cascade was "developed through open pollination" of English Fuggle and Russian Serebrianka hops in the 1950s at Oregan State University, and "when brewed exudes a spicy citrus aroma with hints of grapefruit" (hopslist).

The Chinook hop was released in 1985 and is a "cross between Petham Golding and a USDA male, and features a pine-like, spicy bouquet with robust grapefruit flavour" (hopslist). Crystal is another hop bred in the early 1980s and has a lineage "extending back to Hallertau, Cascade, Brewer's Gold and Early Green" hops. "It's woodsy, green, floral and fruity, with herb and spice notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper" (hopslist).

From all the above, you can bet that Pale Rider has a great combination of flavours, and I'm looking forward to my next visit to Sheffield, cheers!

Images reproduced, with thanks, from Kelham Island Brewery's twitter account and Thornbridge Brewery's website.

Pale Rider back at the Fat Cat very soon!

OK, I have been going on about this quite a bit lately, but no surprise really, I was in Sheffield last week, used to work at Kelham Island Brewery (website) when I was a postgrad student studying and living in Sheffield, have brewed, delivered and drunk Pale Rider, indeed I lived in Sheffield for 16 years and still return regularly! So it is a big thing to me, and for many others no doubt, that Pale Rider (5.2%) will be on sale again from next Wednesday the 19th of October 2022 at The Fat Cat, 23 Alma Street, Sheffield S3 8SA (KIB facebook), nice one, cheers! 🍺

Autumnal Sheffield Day 1 PLUS Kelham Island Update

Whenever I visit Sheffield I visit Mama's and Leonies (website), 111/115 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JE (0114 272 0490), just down the road from the famous, for snooker fans particularly, Crucible Theatre, and around the corner from the Winter Gardens. Again, many familiar friendly faces working there (Kath & John, Tracey, and chefs Jason and James) and pleasant discourse shared of course. Foodwise? Had to have my favourite Warm Chicken & Bacon Salad and a half carafe of red wine of course. Always excellent, plenty of healthy stuff in there, and never fails to please me, well sated, many thanks! Then to...

My abode for 2 nights, The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street S3 7BS (website), within walking distance so not far away. The Crow Inn reopened over 3 years ago after quite a few years closure, and has 7 refurbished en suite bedrooms. It also sells quite a few interesting ales. As when I last was here (blog) I had a pint from Abbeydale Brewery (website), a beer originally brewed to be dispensed as a keg beer 6 years ago. I drank cask conditioned ale of course, their Heathen American Pale Ale (4.1%), a very drinkable ale of its style, and just £3.50 a pint.

I returned there at the end of the evening, as one would if one was staying there, like me, and sampled another ale for my nightcap, from the Newcastle brewery Almasty (website). This was their 3.9% Amarillo & Blanc (Amarillo and Hallertau Blanc hops) at £4.20 a pint, pale, fruity and cloudy, presumably for vegans. "Not bad" was how I noted it, but then, I'm not particularly fond of un-fined ales, though many people rave over them.

Anyway, after my early pint there I wandered up into the city centre to meet up with Brigitte, Ian and Noel at The Beehive, 240 West Street S1 4EU (facebook), which used to be a 'Firkin' pub in the late 1990s, then renowned for its excellent milds. stouts and porters. But here I drank ale from the Barnsley brewer Acorn (website), their 4.0% Blonde, which does what it says on the label, well balanced pale and refreshing, I liked it, after that pint we moved on to...

Heading towards Brammall Lane, we popped into The Washington, somewhere it's been a while since I've visited, and once co-owned by the Pulp drummer Nick Banks, 79 Fitzwilliam Street S1 4JP (website). I think I may have had a pint of Abbeydale Moonshine at £3.90 a pint, but don't hold me to that, maybe a guest ale, as I didn't take notes, silly me! 😁

Anyway, after the match, Ian and I walked back up to The Bath Hotel (whatpub - couldn't find a website), 66-68 Victoria Street S3 7QL, now back in the warm custodianship of the great man himself, Brian. Indeed, one of my favourite regular haunts when I lived in Sheffield, and I was greeted by the smiling face of Brian and warm handshakes galore, great that he's back! Obviously warm discourse was shared, live folk music listened to, and a couple of excellent pints drunk too. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I drank the quality ale that is Thornbridge (website) Jaipur (5.9%), packed with hops, ie Chinook, Centennial, Ahtanum, Simcoe, Columbus and Cascade. I wasn't disappointed, pale, dry, hoppy and strong, quality!

Oh yes, and Kelham Island Brewery (website), of which which I recently wrote about it's being saved from oblivion (blog), and I did promise an update when I had more information. Well, they got back in touch with me and explained that the brewery building wasn't included in the deal with the local consortium that is now Kelham Island Brewery, but they will be brewing their ales at Thornbridge Brewery, and, I believe, Pale Rider is already being/been brewed. So look out for it, you lucky Sheffield people you, cheers! 👌

Visit to Sheffield - Part 2

OK, for me it's an institution now that, whenever I visit Sheffield, I visit Mama's and Leonies at least once (website), which is situated at 111/115 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JE (0114 272 0490), just down the road from the famous, for snooker fans particularly, Crucible Theatre, and around the corner from the Winter Gardens. I've been eating at Mama's since the last millennium, so I can see no reason why I should change that 'institution' now. Anyway, again, many familiar friendly faces working there and pleasant discourse shared, it's great to be remembered, and my favourite Warm Chick & Bacon Salad, without the croutons, and a large glass of red wine of course (it's been over 30 months since my last meal here!), always excellent, plenty of healthy stuff in there, and never fails to please me, sated, many thanks!

Quality Salad & Wine

Anyway, that was a late breakfast (I had a coffee first, and after) cum lunch, then I re-visited the Fat Cat and Kelham Island Brewery, as I said in my last blog, before returning to The Crow Inn (for address and other details see my last blog as well) for a wee bit of respite from my research, it's a difficult task, but someone has to do it! 😉 Before I left, well I had to have another pint, it would have been rude not to, so I had a pint of Bristolian brewers, Arbor Ales (website) Zero-Zero, a 4.3% "New England IPA." Brewed with the wonderful Citra and Mosaic hops, I couldn't resist! Another 'vegan friendly' beer, so, sadly for me, hazy, but a big aroma and taste of fruit, not bad at all, I'd love to try a nice clear pint of this, oh well, unlikely to happen...

I then walked up to the University of Sheffield and the Student Union's Bar One (website and, incidentally, where I worked a few shifts when I was a postgrad student, 'twas manic, hence just a few shifts 😉), Glossop Road S10 2GE, to meet up with Brigitte, Tom and Noel, for early drinks before going to Bramall Lane for the football match I was also in Sheffield to watch; see I wasn't just here for the food and drinks! Before I carry on, notes taken were fewer, and I must apologise for the blurred images that do appear, but I do have an injury to my right hand... The 3 of them were already there, Tom and Brigitte with grub soon to arrive, I just had a couple of beers.

First I tried the Sheffield based Abbeydale Brewery (website) Reverie (4.2%), dry hopped with Citra and Cascade. Surprisingly, considering I love these 2 hops, I wasn't impressed by it, but I have suspicions that it may have been near the end of the barrel as my notes only say "OK" 👌 I also I had a pint of Thornbridge AM:PM (4.5%), brewed with the addition of Ella, Citra, Nelson Sauvin and Amarillo, a mixture of US and New Zealand hops. Billed as a 'Session IPA' and amber in colour, tropical and citrus fruit to the taste, it wasn't bad! Oh yes, and Tom reminded me that they are having the Sheffield University Student Union Beer Festival (facebook page) over the Mayday weekend, looks interesting...

We four then walked across to The Bath Hotel (website), 66-68 Victoria Street S3 7QL, currently run by Thornbridge Brewery (website), who are giving up the lease on Saturday 23rd April, I have been informed... This was one of my favourite regular haunts when I lived in Sheffield and the pub was being run by the ever friendly Brian (who, I believe still owns the pub, but leases it to Thornbridge), 'twas a quality establishment! Back to this visit and I had a pint of their Astryd (3.8%), a bit hazy for vegans, and perhaps a little too subtle with the hops, presumably from the USA and predominantly Mosaic, I do believe.

But then, to the match, and afterwards to...

... The Rutland Arms (website), 86 Brown Street S1 2BS, built in the 1930s and with a very interesting exterior and interior, hints of art deco, and an attractive faience frontage. Again, sorry, but the image of the bar above is a wee bit fuzzy, but you can see they have plenty of real ales and crafty keg beers from 20 taps; the bar steward appears to be a bit suspicious of my photography, probably why it's fuzzy! 😉 I remember having an ale, a few of them were fuzzy too, definitely wasn't Blue Bee, sadly, and a crafty keg beer from The Kernel (website), which was dark and fizzy, but not bad at all! It's always worth visiting this pub when in Sheffield.

Of course I went back to my 'lodgings' but went up to bed as heading back home the next morning, reasonably early. Whatever, it was great to be back in Sheffield, I trust you enjoyed what I shared too, hopefully there will be many more visits in the years to come, cheers!

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!

Another Hastings Micropub - Twelve Hundred Postcards

Hastings newest micropub very recently opened at 80 Queens Road TN34 1RL (opposite Morrisons petrol station), so I had to visit, obviously...

... and very happy I was too when I got there (above), well I was already quite happy, but pleased with how Twelve Hundred Postcards is shaping (the story behind the name is described in great detail on their website, so I suggest you have a look there if you want to know more), and I got to meet up with a couple of friends there I hadn't seen for quite some time too, nice one! 

On entering I was impressed with the bright decor, and how far back the bar room goes, consequently providing plenty of seating (I calculate room for 30-40 seated, and plenty of room for standing), as you can see from the photograph above.

The man in charge using modern technology to aid his efficiency, and the cooled beer storage area behind him, pretty much an enormous fridge that you can see into.

To the 4 cask conditioned ales available (above, what was available yesterday evening 3rd November, but no regular ales, I believe, so these will regularly change as they run out, and I also believe there are ales to come very soon from quality local Sussex brewers Franklins - website - and from Burning Sky - website).

I have to admit the ales available yesterday (3rd November) included 2 of my longstanding favourites, from Peterborough brewers Oakham Ales (website), their excellent 4.2% Citra, a pale golden bitter brewed with the eponymous Citra hop, producing a gorgeous citrus aroma and grapefruit flavour, refreshing and gorgeous! Plus, from Derbyshire brewers Thornbridge (website), and also excellent, their 5.9% Jaipur, another ale with citrus aroma and flavour, but with much more body, not quite a supping ale, though quality indeed!

Looking back towards the front

So what else is available? In addition to the ales there are 3 ciders available and a crafty keg beer, plus numerous bottles and cans in a fridge behind me when I took this photograph, including some Belgian beers, 2 red and 2 white wines, and a variety of crisps to snack on. As I said above, Twelve Hundred Postcards is bright, clean and roomy, to which I can add, very friendly too, so well worth a visit, or many visits for that matter, cheers! Oh yes, opening times: 

Sunday, 12-4 pm

Monday, not open

Tuesday, 5-9 pm

Wed/Thursday, 12-2 and 5-9 pm
Fri/Saturday, 12-9.30 pm

More Excellent Pale Hoppy Bitters!

I've had so many very good pale hoppy ales already this year, and a look at my previous, now redundant, Beermeister blog will describe many of these regulars, if not all! OK, among them Salopian Hop Twister, imbibed in more than one bar this year (hence my using this image!); Oakham Scarlet Macaw, Asylum and Bishops Farewell; Dark Star Hophead and American Pale Ale (APA); and a particular favourite of mine, Twickenham Naked Ladies... 

In addition, have been these excellent, totally new, ales to me, including East London Brewing Company (website) Cowcatcher (4.8%), an 'American Pale Ale' style pale golden ale. This has a fruity aroma, as you'd expect from American hops, with citrus and passion fruit in the taste, and a dry bitter finish... I wrote "gorgeous" in my notes, so I obviously enjoyed drinking it!

The next ale is from Stourbridge-based Green Duck Brewery Company (website currently under construction), whose Dynamite Lady (5%) is described on the pump clip as a "powerful hoppy ale", and they aren't wrong! With a strong citrus aroma and flavour, it made me write 'marmalade' in my notes, full bodied, with a dry bitter finish, this is the type of ale I love to knock back, and I gave it a +++ in honour of its quality, lovely jubbly!

I'm still gobsmacked that I've tasted so many excellent ales this year already, and this more local, to me, being based in Sussex, Franklins Brewing Company (website), with one of the ex-Dark Star brewers in the hot seat, adds Resurrection 'Extra Pale Ale' (4.4%) to my list... I described it as very pale, hoppy, dry and bitter, and, once again gave this a +++ rating, loved it!

Hertfordshire-based Tring Brewery (website) provided my next great discovery with their Pale Four (4.6%), unafraid to brag about the hops used, they are Amarillo, Cascade, Simcoe, and Citra, and dry-hopped to boot! These provide a now typical 'America Pale Ale' style, big citrus aroma, very fruity, with grapefruit and tangerine in the flavour, and an amber dry bitter too, another +++, It's the way I score them, and, quite frankly, all these ales mentioned in this specific blog meet this high level of quality. 

I was going to make this the last ale mentioned in this blog, but an experience earlier today made that not happen, but from the Panda Frog Project, the "experimental arm" of Mordue Brewery (website) came my favourite of all these new ales, if I was asked to name one, the 5% Allelic Drift; we looked it up, and it's something to do with genetics, lost me a bit! Anyhow, it's a pale golden ale with a great fruity aroma, peach and grapefruit in the taste, and a very dry and bitter finish, loved it too!

Then, today, I had a few pints of the excellent Salopian (website) Freeze Frame (4.8%) at the Royal Air Force Association bar in Bexhill-on-Sea, the Albatross Club; don't bother trying to drink this at that venue, it will have sold out, but... don't be disappointed if you live in the area, because they'll have replaced it with the wonderful Thornbridge Jaipur by tomorrow! Anyway, I had to add this to my list, well, because it was pretty damn good. Another pale bitter, generous fruity aroma with grapefruit ++ in the taste and a dry finish, and I still walked the 5 miles home along the seafront, in a very pleasant mood indeed, cheers!