London Beer Flood 1814

The London Beer Flood was a tragic event that happened close to what is now the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, in London's West End, and occurred on the 17th of October 1814; some reports record this tragedy to have happened the day before, but the evidence to support the 17th as the anniversary looks to be stronger.

In those days, London's beer drinkers were supplied by dozens of competing breweries, and some breweries built enormous vats in which to ferment and condition their ales. Indeed, the enormous porter vat of Maux & Company had a capacity of over a million pints! At about 6pm, on the 17th of October 1814, one of the steel restraining bands that encircled that gigantic vat broke and released its contents. Together with the million plus pints of porter released from this vat, other vessels in the brewery were also damaged, consequently releasing even more beer into the flood. The resulting deluge damaged the brewery and a nearby pub, the Tavistock Arms and, sadly, flooded the basements of nearby homes...

Depending on which reports you read, between 7 and 9 people died as a direct result of the flood, most of them drowning in their own basements, and many more were seriously injured, including some of those who came to help rescue survivors... 

R.I.P. to those who sadly died in their own homes. 😢

First image, with thanks to www.history.info; I cannot find the original source for the photograph of Maux & Company Brewery, indeed, not even on Google, my apologies to that source! 

Hastings 'Tap Takeover' Day 3 (I missed Day 2)

As I hinted in my previous blog, I would missed day 2 of Hastings Tap Takeover 2023 (website), but on day 3 I visited the Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street TN34 3AR (website), where I met up with a few friends, and Oliver (landlord) behind the bar, dishing out good beer and playing decent music as ever! Not many cask ales here, but all his beers were from Nottingham brewer Neon Raptor (website), consequently, my review is dominated by 'crafty keg' beers.

My first drink was my only pint, the rest were imbibed in two-thirds or halves, and the only cask ale I could drink here, as only the one left, Neon Raptor Filament (5.0%), an IPA brewed with Cashmere and Ekuanot hops. This was a very fruity, slightly hazy beer, tasting of citrus and tropical fruit flavours, I got melon particularly, drying out bitterness in the finish.

I then drank the wheat beer, their 4.7% Breakfast Club, with bananas and strawberries added. Sounds a bit too much fruit? But quite subtle in the taste, different...

Next was their 6.5% keg IPA No No Noise, a 'New England' IPA, dry hopped with Idaho 7, El Dorado and Citra hops, producing a big fruity aroma and taste, pale and hazy, with grapefruit and orange, and a dry finish. I then moved on to the 'dark side...'

These next 4 crafty keg beers were certainly on the 'dark side' with, well, I'll go into them in more detail, starting with the 5.2% Clusters, a peanut and chocolate stout, which I particularly enjoyed. The peanut I found to be quite subtle, but I got the chocolate much more in the aroma and taste, quite rich, but with a dry finish, stood out for me, nice one! 👍

Moving on up, next was the 7.4% (you get why I moved onto smaller glasses now) Total Eclipse, described as a 'Jaffa Cake Milk Stout' which does what it says on the tin! Brewed with cacao shells and mandarin oranges added, I detected a very strange addition to the aroma and taste, which no-one else got, maybe it was the garlic biltong I'd eaten. 😉 But certainly a subtleness from the fruit and chocolate in the taste, not as in your face as I expected.

Then to 2 of their self-named Crimes Against Brewing series, first the 8.0% Coffee, Caramel & Almond Double Pastry Stout, there's a mouthful, indeed! Maybe a wee bit too sweet for me, and I got a hint of chocolate in the taste too, probably from the malt used, coffee in the aroma, and in the taste throughout, and the almond was quite subtle, very interesting!

I finished my visit with the second from their Crimes Against Brewing series, the 10.0% Carrot and Walnut Cake Imperial Pastry Stout, what can I say?!? Had to be done 😏and I thoroughly enjoyed drinking/experiencing this. My notes aren't the easiest to read at this stage, but I wrote: Dark, sweet and nutty, plenty of body (surprise surprise), rich, chocolatey, and I gave it 3 ticks, which means I liked it, a lot... Well, that was an experience!

Sorry I couldn't make it to more venues oh well...

Here's looking froward to next years Tap Takeover, and cheers!

Hastings 'Tap Takeover' Day 1

On the first day of the Hastings Tap Takeover 2023 (website), which was part of the opening weekend of Hastings Week 2023 (blog), I visited the Prince Albert, 28 Cornwallis Street TN34 1SS. However, the 'festival' was held in 16 different venues in Hastings & St Leonards, with a different brewery featured at each venue, subsequently, on the final day, I visited the Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street TN34 3AR. I was elsewhere in-between, so did not make all venues, just the two, but I know people who did go to all; I prefer one at a time for thorough research. 😉 Consequently, my next blog will be about my visit to the Jolly Fisherman.

Indeed, at the Prince Albert they featured ales and lagers from Edinburgh brewery Newbarns (website), with 3 cask conditioned ales (above), 2 of which they had keg versions of, and another 8 keg beers too, taking up all their taps! I started with their cask ales, with the friendly and knowledgeable Imogen pouring a pint of Newbarns Sparkling Ale for me, a 3.8% pale ale, doing what it says on the label, though not actually sparkling. A refreshing, easy to drink, session pale, slightly sweet to start off with, but drying out at the finish.

I then moved up to the 4.8% Pale Ale, which was more complex and had much more body, and a big fruity aroma and taste, which I believe comes from the use of Citra, El Dorado and Cashmere hops. No wonder there was a predominantly tropical fruit flavour overlaying the citrus fruits, before the ale drying out with bitterness...

My third cask ale was the 5.5% Kynoch IPA, named after the brewer's grandfather, and brewed using Citra and Cashmere hops too. As you would expect, even more body, but not the same fruit 'punch' as the Pale. Surprisingly, despite it being a very pale beer, I detected a hint of toast in the taste, certainly a much more complex ale.

Before moving on to the lager beers I drank, yes, I do drink lager sometimes, notably at beer festivals like this one, I shall mention their Stout Beer, a 5.0% very dark 'dry stout' with plenty of body. Rich, full-bodied, hints of toast (as I expect in a stout), caramel and chocolate, and strangely it was quite light for such a full bodied beer! Oh yes, and for the keg beers I was now drinking two-thirds of a pint, in case you were concerned. 😉

Lagers then, of which I drank 3, first their 4.8% Haná, a German styled Helles lager (craftbeer), brewed with a Czech malt variety grown in Norwich. A pale lager, slightly sweet to taste, quite light with little hop character, easy drinking.

Then I drank their 5.0% 12 Plato Pils, similar to the previous beer, with the Czech malt variety used, indeed, apparently inspired by a trip to Bohemia, and a Czech style pilsner. However, the additional use of plenty of Tettnang and Saaz hops providing a much more complicated beer, which I found very pleasant. A light and refreshing lager that I did enjoy drinking!

The third lager I drank was their 5.7% Oktoberfest lager, Festival Bier, brewed using a blend of 10 different malted barleys, and a German style golden lager ensues. My notes say "interesting" and I found it slightly bitter and easy to drink for its strength.

I met Ben and Della here for the first time, amongst many other people that I already knew, cheers to you all! 🍻