Dark Beers Part 2

Starting off round 2 of 'dark beers' with another belter from Yorkshire, this time from 11 years old North Riding Brewery (website), who I know more for their single hopped pale ales (Citra and Mosaic for example), but this is their 4.5% Butterscotch Porter. The brewery hasn't made much public about this version of their porter, which is usually brewed with 6 different types of malt, very likely chocolate malt one of those used in this case. They typically use Columbus hops in their porters, and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case for this, certainly similar if not Columbus (hopslist). I wish I'd made more specific notes, but I did note "Does what it says, and chocolate, luxurious, not as sweet as I expected as it has a dry finish" (I now expect a hop influence there), hint of toffee and plenty of chocolate; my notes ended "nice one!"

Next, from Bristol, or 'Brizzle' if said with a West Country accent, 13 years old Wiper and True brewery (website), their 5.6% Milk Shake, which surprised me immensely as it was not quite what I expected from the name of this milk stout. Why? Well, it was much more refreshing to drink than I expected, I got the lactose, but not so much, probably the inclusion of English hops influential in that, Phoenix hops I do believe (hopslist). Cacao and vanilla are additions to the brew, and very noticeable in the aroma and taste, anyway, my notes say "Not as sweet as I was expecting, got the roasted barley taste I associate with stout ales, not overly though, with hints of chocolate and vanilla. Surprisingly refreshing to drink, cheers!" I've just now discovered that I drank a pint of this ale cask conditioned 9 years ago (blog), and I liked it then too! 😁

The third one here is very much a big hitter, from 10 years old Fierce Beer of Aberdeen in Scotland (website), their Very Big Moose (12.0%), from their imperial stout series, which are aged in whisky barrels. Brewed with added cacao and vanilla, and Summit hops (hopslist), providing a hint of dark chocolate and lightly toasted barley in the aroma. Much more subtle chocolate flavour than I expected, I wrote also, quoting notes: "rich roasted malt and a hint of liquorice in the taste. A dry finish, another excellent beer, cheers m'dears! 😁"

My final beer here is from another Brizzle based brewery, 9 years old Left Handed Giant (website). Interesting that these 4 breweries were all set up within 4 years of each other, which suggests much about the development of U.S. style craft breweries in Britain in the last 15 years or so. Anyway, I've had many excellent ales from Left Handed Giant of differing styles indeed, and they've never disappointed me, but this was their 6.9% milk stout Woodland Creatures, with 'Cinder Toffee added hot' and 'Pistachio added cold' to the brew. I can't discover the hops used, as they tend to concentrate more on advertising the malts and adjuncts.

So, to my notes, "a milk stout with pistachio and honeycomb. Hint of marzipan/almond in the aroma. Sweetness, nuts, butterscotch and a hint of chocolate in the taste, surprisingly dry finish (so I'm guessing hops like Columbus, Phoenix or Summit as used by the others). Complex stout from a very good brewery, despite sweetness, a dry, even bitter finish, nice one. 😁"

I may blog about something else before the third Dark Ale blog, cheers m'dears! 👋

May Whisky of the Month

Since 1897, the year Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, and the year their distillery was purpose built there, water has been drawn for their whiskies from the adjacent Granty Burn by Speyburn (website). This May's 'Whisky of the Month' being their Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (40.0%), aged for 10 years in a combination of sherry casks and bourbon oak casks. If you've read my blogs before about whiskeys/whiskies you will realise I prefer smooth non-peaty ones, mostly from Ireland, but also the Speyside whiskies of Scotland.

Speyburn suggest this single malt whisky has "notes of fresh fruit, creamy toffee and citrus." My notes say that there is a very gentle 'whisky' aroma with hints of vanilla, toffee and cinnamon, but predominantly butterscotch. Indeed, for me, butterscotch is the dominant flavour too, but not too sweet, smooth, and warming delightfully as it goes down, very good too, sláinte! 😁

Dark Beers Part 1

I keep returning to darker beers when fine pale cask ales are not available and, sadly, I do not have room for cask ales at home! 😉 So, where shall I start? I like this photograph of a beer having flowed over the side, looks nice and fresh, so I shall start with this...

From Tartarus Beers of Leeds (website) Snow Wasset, a 5.5% Maple Pecan Hot Chocolate Stout. First of all, the name, the Snow Wasset is a mythical creature from the around the Great Lakes in North America that is similar to a very large wolf, and which loses its short legs in the winter so that it may burrow even further north through snow drifts! ⛄ Brewed with Olicana hops (British Hop Association) providing a gentle hint of tropical fruits in the aroma and taste. But with maple and pecan flavouring added to the brew more dominant, I detected toffee and molasses in the aroma, with hints of nuts in the taste, and yes, chocolate too, from the chocolate malt used in the grist. My notes say "not as sweet as I expected with a really dry finish, bloody good!" 😁

Second, from Dundee in Scotland, Holy Goat Brewing (website) Sabra Cadabra Volume II, a 5.3% Single Origin Tanzanian Vanilla Stout. Brewed with Sabro hops (Yakima Valley Hops), adding plum and raisin flavours to the chocolate malt in the grist, and fermented on vanilla beans harvested in Tanzania's Kilimanjaro region, which produces a 'magical' beer. I detected a big chocolate aroma with hints of coffee, and predominantly a chocolate stout flavour, not overly sweet, but with a dry finish though, and another exceedingly good dark beer. 👍

Next, from Baron Brewing of Hertfordshire (website), their 4.7% Bring That Beat Back, a straightforward 4.7% stout, which they insist has had no adjuncts added to the brew, and which I can attest to. My notes are quite succinct, I wrote "surprisingly light for such a dark ale. Slight aroma of toast, a wee bit sweet, a session stout." It's a very good stout!

From East Sussex Burning Sky's brewery (website) Is This Real?, a smooth 5.2% stout. Brewed with Chinook (hopslist) and Perle (hopslist) hops, presumably chocolate malt in the grist, although only subtle dark chocolate in the aroma, with a hint of toast and spices too.  A lovely dry finish, again not sweet, and Mr Tranter continues to stand out whatever he brews!

I named this Dark Beers Part 1 because I keep drinking other dark beers I want to share the experience of, so yes, many more to come, cheers! 😁

Hastings Jack in the Green Ales!

I very recently drank 3 local ales brewed especially for the Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green May Day events (website). In brewery alphabetical order, from Brewing Brothers (website) 4.0% Ol' Jack Pale Ale, brewed with Citra (hopslist), Mosaic (hopslist) and Strata (Indie Hops) hops, and imbibed at the Jenny Lind (website) and Dolphin Inn (website). Looking at the name and those hops will give you a clue, and you'd not be surprised, this is a pale ale, tropical and citrus fruit aroma and taste, pale and dry, and very refreshing, nice one!

Second, from FILO Brewing Company (website), and imbibed at their own pub the First In Last Out (website), their 4.1% Thirst of May - Green Man Ale, brewed with English hops, Olicana (British Hop Association), Celeia (hopslist) and Pioneer (hopslist). Consequently the more bitter of these 3 ales, quite pale, but slightly darker than the other two. More body, and certainly a more traditional style English ale, but with subtle tropical and citrus fruit flavours, another nice one!

Finally, from a little further away just over the border in West Sussex, and Only With Love (website) 4.2% Jack's Back Spring Ale, and another brewery that has discovered you can brew vegan friendly ale that is clear, yay! 👍 Imbibed at The Crown (website), but they don't advertise the hops used, however, from their past brews, and strength of this ale, I'm guessing Harlequin hops (British Hop Association), but I have got in touch with them and will correct if they advise me otherwise (still waiting). Whatever, a very easy pale ale to drink, quite gentle hop wise, and not very bitter. And yet another very decent ale indeed, cheers m'dears! 😁

Passport to Pimlico?

I could have called this blog just Pimlico, but I had to get the film pun in, not hilarious I know, but that's me folks. 😉 Anyway, very close to our port of entry to London, Victoria Railway Station, again we first visited the Victoria Taps, 27 Gillingham Street SW1V 1HP (website), for breakfast and a couple of pints, and the friendly Spanish manager is a welcoming senorita/senora! 👍 Built in 1828 and originally called the Warwick Arms, it was enlarged towards the end of the 19th century, and changed its name to the Victoria Taps earlier this century. Open from 10.00 every day of the week, although you can't buy alcohol before 12.00 on Sundays, but where we usually start drinking if we're in the area for the another obvious reason...

Not too expensive for beer, and a great value brunch, the above costing just £9.00. That's not for just the 2 fried eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 hash browns, flat mushroom, baked beans, tomato and a slice of toast, as there is a deal where you can get a pint too, making it £9.00 instead of £7.50 (price of the Full English Breakfast). Paul ate the 'Boss Benedict' seen in the background, costing  £6.50 (so just £8.00 with drink), and a souped up Eggs Benedict, which I had on my previous visit, also superb value and quality!

We each started with a pint of St Austell Tribute, a 4.2% pale slightly bitter ale (website), brewed with Fuggles (hopslist), Celeia (hopslist), and Willamette (hopslist) hops; Willamette is a hop I used to be very familiar brewing with in my days working at the old Kelham Island Brewery. Tribute was first brewed after the solar eclipse of 1999 and was called 'Daylight Robbery' at its inception. Because of the English and U.S. hop mix, it's not 'traditional' as such, but a slightly darker version of modern pale ales, gentle citrus, and very easy to drink. Inch's Cider (website) was in the choice of £1.50 add on drinks, including lager and pale ale (not cask), and wine and soft drinks. So, suitably satiated, we ventured on towards Pimlico. 😋

On reaching the Grade II Listed White Ferry House, 1A Sutherland Street SW1V 4LD (publove), we were surprised at the number of youngsters from abroad hovering around, I'd forgotten it is a hostel with 74 beds, as well as a hostelry! 😂 First licensed in 1832, and re-built in 1894, the pub offered hotel accommodation, probably from when, and possibly why, it was rebuilt (CAMRA).

Only 1 cask ale served at a time here, I believe usually ales brewed in London, and there was on offer, from Sambrook's Brewery, now situated in the site of the old Young's Ram Brewery, at 1 Bellwether Lane SW18 1UD (website), their 4.5% Junction. This is a 'Premium Bitter' brewed with Challenger (hopslist), East Kent Golding (hopslist), and Bramling Cross (hopslist) hops, and named after the famous Clapham Junction Station, nearby in Battersea. Junction is an amber ale, with a malty, nutty and fruity hop aroma, and a big malty flavour, slightly sweet to start, but a nutty and strong bitter aftertaste. This is a very traditional English bitter, nice one! 👍

Getting closer to Pimlico tube station is the Cask Pub & Kitchen, 6 Charlwood Street (corner with Tachbrook Street) SW1V 2EE, which has been trading here since 2009, being "London's first craft beer focussed pub" (website). The building is Grade II Listed, I kid you not, but as part of the Thorndike House Lillington Gardens Estate (Historic England). If you want to know anymore about the history of the Cask Pub & Kitchen have a read of London Drinker. 

From among 10 cask ales, from near and far, and we were offered tasters too, cracking service many thanks, I drank Waves Away, a 4.6% Pale Ale produced in East Sussex by Burning Sky Brewery (website); NB think Mark Tranter finessing Dark Star Hophead, but now with his own brewery. 👌 This is an American Pale Ale (APA) style ale, brewed with Citra (hopslist) and Mosaic (hopslist) hops, producing a big bodied pale ale bursting with tropical and citrus fruit aromas and taste, with a lovely dry bitter finish. After such a good version of a completely different style of beer at the previous pub, this was an outstanding version of an APA, Mr Tranter certainly knows his hops. Sadly we ran out of time for more ale... 😣

So, onwards to Pimlico tube station and the Victoria Line, cheers m'dears! 😁

The Bricklayer's Arms, Putney

I very recently drank in this old favourite pub of mine with my brother, and enjoyed an excellent ale, and it's great to see 200 years old The Bricklayer's Arm's, 32 Waterman Street, Putney, London SW15 1DD (website) well back to form. 👍 I have only just realised, as I'm writing this, that I hadn't visited for 3 years (blog), and I used to visit regularly pre-Covid, where does the time go!?! Opening times are 14.00-23.00 Monday-Thursday, 12.00-23.00 Fridays and Weekends.

Originally opened as 'The Waterman's Arms' in 1826, on the site of an old coaching inn, to provide refreshment to shipbuilders in Putney, changing its name towards the end of the 19th century to The Bricklayer's Arms. This was probably related to the amount of construction locally due to the extension of the District Line (overground/underground line, not just a Womble joke 😉) to Wimbledon in the 1880s. Closed for a while during the Covid Lockdowns, it was saved by Chris Walsh and his family in 2020, it is a genuine family run pub, cheers Chris!   

So, 9 ales from handpumps, including 3 ales from the excellent Mallinson's Brewing Company of Huddersfield in Yorkshire (website), 2 from Timothy Taylor's Brewery of Keighley in Yorkshire (website), 5 Yorkshire ales (!), and 2 from East London's The Five Points Brewing Company (website). Limited for time, we drank just the one pint, I should have had more, but...

We had the consistent and dependable Five Points XPA, a 4.0% American Pale Ale style ale, brewed with Citra (hopslist), Galaxy (hopslist) and Sabro (Hop Breeding Co) hops. This produces a pale beer with plenty of citrus and forest fruits in the aroma and taste, particularly grapefruit, a gentle bitterness with a refreshing dry finish, quite excellent, cheers! 😁

In addition, as you can see from the photograph in the centre of this blog, they had an ale from Hobsons Brewery of Shropshire (website), and immediately above, their own 'house ale' a 3.7% Session Pale., brewed by another of my favourite's Kent Brewery (website); it looks like they have different styles of 'house ales' from various breweries in different seasons. I've had Session Pale before, it's light and pale, of course, sorry, no idea what hops are used, but definitely from the USA, citrussy, dry and bitter, refreshing, I have said "I could drink this all day" before! 😉

A somewhat artistic image above from when the pub's garden was a bit larger, over 6 years ago.

On that note I shall say, until next time, cheers m'dears! 🍻

April Whiskey of the Month

This month's whiskey is the 40.0% Paddy Irish Whiskey or Paddy's (website), with a history dating back to 1779, which was originally produced by the Cork Distilleries Company, but now is distilled at the new Midleton Distillery in County Cork. The whiskey started being called Paddy in the early 20th century, after their legendary salesman Patrick J. O'Flaherty (Paddy), who sold what became his namesake whiskey for over 40 years, and was known for his generosity buying "rounds and making friends wherever he went" the length and breadth of Ireland. 😁

Paddy's is a blend of triple distilled malt, grain and pot-stilled whiskeys, aged in "three types of" oak casks, and producing a very easy to drink whiskey indeed! It is difficult to describe the aroma as it is very light, with subtle alcohol, vanilla and honey in the aroma. Similarly, great subtlety in the taste too, honey and butterscotch immediately come to mind, with hints of toasted bread, tropical fruits and grapefruit, and with a slightly nutty dry aftertaste. Smooth and, as I said, "very easy to drink" and at an affordable price that won't break the bank either, sláinte! 👍