IPA Day Ale, cheers!

My IPA Day ale of choice yesterday evening (blog) was enjoyed at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website), and was brewed by Yorkshire brewery Rooster's Brewing Co (website), whose excellent ales I have been drinking since the late 1990s. The ale, from this very reliable brewery, who brew 'vegan friendly' ales that always turn out totally clear, was their 4.3% Old Faithful Pale Ale. Brewed with 3 hops: Bramling Cross from England (hopslist); Cluster from the USA (hopslist); and Pacific Gem from New Zealand (hopslist). Consequently producing a pale clear ale with citrus, lemon and grapefruit, and just a hint of darker fruits in the taste, and with a lovely dry bitter finish, nice one! 

Happy International IPA Day, plus one, cheers! 😁

Paler Beers in Hastings

I've written about Britain's first Trappist ale before (blog), and now Tynt Meadow (website) are brewing a 5.0% Blond Ale, again in a Trappist style, but with an English 'twist' adding English hops and yeast to the malt produced from English barley. A deep golden blonde colour, a wee haze (bottle conditioned), and a little sweetness with a hint of caramel, vanilla, spice and fruity mandarin, completed with a dry slightly bitter finish, nice one, and unique!

Next is from Sussex brewery Burning Sky (website), and Plateau, full of flavour and only 3.5%, very much a session ale! Plateau is the brainchild of Mark Tranter, legendary fine tuner of Dark Star Hophead when he worked there, and is very similar to the original Hophead from when it was brewed in Brighton. However, it is a little weaker in alcoholic strength, but the flavour is more pronounced than the current Hophead, thanks to the hops added. Mark says it is "hopped at different stages of the brew with a mix bag of US and NZ hops..." and, of course, influenced by his experience and finesse. A pale golden bitter, very easy to drink, with grapefruit noticeable in the aroma and taste, and very refreshing and decent indeed.

From another Sussex brewery, indeed, from the Hastings based FILO Brewing Company (website) and imbibed in their own pub, the 4.0% Hop Cat, which pretty much does what it says on the label. Indeed, this is a light pale ale, with plenty of citrus fruit in the aroma and taste, very easy to drink with a nice subtle bitter finish, and refreshing, oh yes!

The next 2 beers are both from Bristol Beer Factory (website) over in the West Country, the first being their 4.2% Launch Approval, brewed with U.S. Loral (Yakima Valley Hops) and German Mandarina Bavaria (hopslist) hops. A pale ale, with floral and peppery hints in the aroma and taste, and citrus, notably orange, in the flavour. Another excellent session ale from this very dependable brewery, refreshing with a light dry bitter finish, nice one.

Dune Twist, is a more substantial 5.0% IPA from Bristol Beer Factory, and is also brewed with hops from 2 different countries, this time with N.Z. Nelson Sauvin (hopslist) and U.S. El Dorado (hopslist). Plenty of body and flavour, as you would expect, with tropical and citrus fruits in the aroma and taste, very smooth, but with a nice crisp dry bitter finish, quality!

Starting to prepare for Oktoberfest 😉 2 German beers, first is a Helles style lager from one of the older breweries in Germany, having brewed beers for nearly 700 years since its foundation in 1328! Augustiner Brau (website) Lagerbier Hell (5.2%), from Munich, is brewed with Bavarian malt and hops. This has a hint of wheat in the aroma and is a pale straw colour, indeed, 'a very tasty beer' was the first thing I noted, with a hint of citrus in the taste, mildly hoppy and slightly sweet, but refreshing and certainly not too bitter. A secondary fermentation ensures this beer has a lively sparkle, finishing off with a nice dry crispness, pretty good!

The final beer here, and the second from Germany, is brewed by Badische Staatsbrauerie Rothaus (website) in the southwest German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, in the Black Forest Mountain Range. Although the brewery was founded in 1791 by the Benedictine monastery of St. Blasien, it is now owned by the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. Anyway, to their 5.1% Rothaus Pils which is, unsurprisingly, a Pilsner style lager, consequently hoppier than the Helles, although not significantly so. Brewed with malt from locally grown barley, and local spring water from the Black Forest, and Tettnanger (hopslist) and Hallertau (hopslist) hops, producing a slightly floral and spicy aroma and taste. Another refreshing beer, with hints of wheat in the taste and a crisp slightly bitter finish, very nice indeed, cheers! 😁

The first and last 2 beers were bought in the Eel & Bear (blog), the Plateau was imbibed at the Prince Albert (blog), the Hop Cat was from the First In Last Out (blog), and the 2 Bristol Beer Factory ales were enjoyed in the Dolphin Inn, which I have written about many times (eg blog).

McMullen & Sons Brewery - Update...

The other week I visited a McMullen's pub for the first time, the White Swan in Pimlico, London (blog) and in that blog I suggested I'd never heard of McMullen & Sons before... Well, I was in my local, the Dolphin Inn in Hastings (website) a couple of days ago, a pub I have written about many times (eg blog) and was chatting to (landlord) Mark about drinking Mac's IPA at the White Swan, and he said, go and have a look round the other end of the pub, and what should appear?!? Yes, up on the wall is the above framed award to McMullen & Sons Ltd for 'bottled ale' at the Brewers' Exhibition in London in 1930, where 800 beers were entered in total!

And I remembered this Diploma so well, and no idea why the brewer's name had slipped my memory, indeed, they've had this up on a wall in the Dolphin since before I first visited the pub over 14 years ago, until a few years ago it was up on the wall around the other end of the pub where I mostly frequent, doh! 😕 So, maybe I should write about the Brewery...

Incidentally, McMullen's, or informally, Mac's, do post on social media (eg facebook), but what about their history, I hear you ask!?! Well, they've been brewing since 1827 when it all started with Peter McMullen, they have had a number of different breweries in Hertford since then, with the present modern brewery set up in 2006, but their water supply, or liquor, has been sourced from the same chalk aquifer since 1891 (website). The brewery is still in the McMullen family (6th generation), and I do like a real family run brewery! In 1827 they were one of a dozen breweries in Hertford, but, nearly 200 years later, they are the sole survivor, quality Mac's. 👍

If you would like to know more, go to their website, cheers folks! 🍻

Comparative Analysis of an Imperial Stout and a Pilsner!

OK, I'm being unfair saying this is a 'comparative analysis' because the beers in question are so different in styles, and despite the fact that one of the collaborators in this Imperial Stout, Gravity Well, does mostly brew paler beers, and even dry hopped pilsners! But, it's because I'd been given the opportunity to try the pilsner below (in can and from the keg gratis, many thanks to Mark and Mo of the Dolphin Inn, Hastings), and last night I just had to try the seriously stronger stout at the Jolly Fisherman in Hastings, cheers Oliver! 👍

So, to this collaboration between Gravity Well Brewing (website) and the Low Key Barrel Project (facebook), the 10.2% You Are Here Imperial Stout, described as Chocolate, Coconut, Tonka and Vanilla Brownie! Before you ask, Tonka isn't a metal toy, but a bean/spice with a vanilla flavour and hints of almond, marzipan, cinnamon and cloves (Spice Mountain). I'd only recently looked this up relating to another beer, but it does what it says on the label, rich, smooth and luxurious, and dangerously strong, yummy! 😁

And the unfair comparison is with Harvey's Brewery (website) 4.0% Pilsner, see, I said it isn't fair. 😂 They describe this as 'Prussian hopped' with Lubelski hops grown in Poland; also known as Lubelska, this is a hop variety originally developed from Saaz hops (hopslist) in the Czech Republic, it is now a 'mainstay of Polish breweries' (hopslist). Again, quite a session beer, and I'm not really a lager drinker, but I did enjoy the stronger beers I drank during the Hastings Oktoberfest at the Prince Albert last year (blog), but I was surprised as it's quite drinkable, despite the lack of strength. 😉 Indeed, quite crisp, dry and slightly bitter, and refreshing with a hint of citrus and cinnamon in the aroma and taste, not bad, cheers! 🍺

Christmas Day Ale, and it's CRACKIN'

Merry Christmas by the way 😉this is my only cask ale today, from Derby pub/brewery Brunswick (website), which I didn't visit on my most recent trip to Derby (blog), but I have visited many times in the past, despite never blogging about the pub/brewery! Anyway, at the Dolphin Inn, Hastings earlier today (website), which I admit to leaving early (not too fond of very busy pubs, and it got busy!), but lovely to see owners' family members, and other friends, however, I wanted to write this blog, then eat and drink too much, Seasons Greetings! 😁

So Brunswick's Pick 'N' Mix (5.0%), a pale bitter brewed with 5 stonking hops always, but not sure if it was this version #10, or not (image from UNTAPPD), as the pump clip never arrived at the Dolphin, but #10 is the latest I can find out about on the internet! 😏 Whatever, it was pale, fruity++ and with a dry bitter finish, and those hops would do it, loved it, cheers!

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).

2 Excellent Pale Ales, Spoilt for Choice!

Indeed, yesterday I was in The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website), and was spoilt for choice, not just the 3 regular ales, Dark Star Hophead, Harvey's Sussex Best and 360 Degrees Bluebell Sussex Best, but Harvey's Old as one of their regular winter guest ales, and 2 spectacular pale hoppy guest ales! And regular readers will be well aware of my love of pale dry bitters, and first I shall  refer to the ale in the photograph above.

From Derby based Shiny Brewery (website), whose goal is to create excellent hoppy beers, but also to make people happy (REM + Kate Pierson of the B52s - YouTube), their 4.6% Affinity. This is a vegan friendly and gluten free golden ale, consequently slightly hazy, although dropped out more for today, so much clearer on the third day after placing on stillage. A big fruity aroma hits you as soon as it's poured, and it stays there in your nose, plenty of body, and apparently with Citra hops used (Hopslist), thus explaining the citrus, particularly grapefruit, and forest fruits in the taste and aroma, and finished with a refreshing dryness, excellent!

For comparative research purposes, obviously, I also drank the more local, from Kent Brewery (website), and a similar strength at 4.5% Pilgrim, #37 in their single-hopped series, and very different from Affinity. Pilgrim hops (hopslist) were developed in England and released for sale in the year 2000, and produce a much more subtle fruitiness than the US developed Citra, but still with grapefruit and pear taste and a hint of berries. This dries out much more than the Affinity to a dry bitterness, I'd advise, if you were to try both, start first with the paler golden Pilgrim, yet another excellent ale from Kent Brewery, and a tad more refreshing than Affinity, nice one!

What can I say in comparison, I'd be happy to drink either in any session, cheers!

I Celebrated Beer Day Britain, Cheers!

, 

So, I had to celebrate Beer Day Britain yesterday (blog), obviously, and partook of my ales at my local, The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website). I mostly drank, from Sheffield based Blue Bee Brewery (website), their 5.0% Citra Azacca, and quite a big ale too. Golden, with the 2 types of hops used, obviously, Citra and Azacca. The Citra hop (USA) has a complex lineage, including Hallertau Mittelfruh, Tettnanger, Brewers Gold and East Kent Golding, and provides 'citrus, grapefruit, lime, and tropical fruits' flavours (hopslist).

The Azacca hop (USA) lineage includes Toyomidori, Summit and Northern Brewer, and produces citrus and tropical fruits aroma, and 'mango, pineapple, tangerine and pine' flavours (hopslist). This is an APA style beer, a fair amount of body, big fruity aroma and drying bitter finish. I noted mango with the forest fruit aroma and flavour, and very much citrus in aroma and flavour. Nice brew Peter (Blue Bee), cheers mate! 👍

The Dolphin has 6 cask ales available from handpumps, 3 regulars, Harvey's Sussex Best, Young's Special and Dark Star Hophead, and 3 guests, which yesterday included the Blue Bee Citra Azacca, Marston's Pedigree, and from Kent Brewery (website), their 4.5% single-hopped Hallertau Blanc. The Hallertau Blanc hop (Germany) lineage is Cascade, and was established in the Hallertau region of Germany early this century, with 'cassis, elderflower, grapes, grapefruit and lemongrass' in the aroma, and white wine and gooseberry in the taste (hopslist). I'm not a great aficionado when it comes to tasting, but 'hit the nail on the head' this time as my notes suggest similar to a dry white wine, and it is pale and dry, with a bitter finish, not the enormous fruit aroma and flavours of the Citra Azacca, but much more subtle, as hopslist suggests, and the pumpclip, wine-like qualities 'similar to Sauvignon Blanc.' Another very nice one, cheers! 😁

#BeerDayBritain 

2 Pale Beers + 3 Very Different!

The 2 very decent pale ales I have drunk recently are, unsurprisingly, both from Kent Brewery (website). Their single-hopped Centennial (4.5%) is described as 'citrusy, lemon and floral' although I noted grapefruit rather than lemon. The Centennial hop was developed in the 1970s from Brewer's Gold, Fuggle, East Kent Golding and Bavarian hops (hopslist), and described as "earthy and floral with an element of citrus." It's a lovely pale golden colour, and I got grapefruit rather than lemon, but hey, they're both citrus! Oh yes, and a lovely dry bitter finish.

By the way, I had both of the Kent beers at The Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website). The second one was Kent Maia (5.0%), basically an APA as well, labelled a 'springtime IPA' and packed with hops, but I haven't been able to discover which hops yet, although certainly from the USA. Anyway, it's seasonal and named after Maia (pronounced the same as Maya), one of the Pleiades, and the mother of Hermes in Greek mythology, and you can easily guess Zeus was the other parent, as he certainly was the Johnson of his day. 😉 Indeed, it is believed that the month of May was named after Maia. Again, pale golden colour, I noticed citrus, and with a dry bitter finish, just as I like, excellent ale indeed!

Where I had the 'very different' drinks yesterday was at The Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street, Hastings TN34 3AR (website). I'll first mention my final drink of the visit, and cheers to Oliver, the landlord, for this delight from a collaboration between Sussex based breweries Burning Sky (website) and Abyss (website). Dark to the Core is a 9.5% Imperial Stout and comes from dark chocolate malts and Munich, Marris Otter and Cara malts, and with Chinook hops in the boil. Chinook is a cross between Petham Golding and a USDA male, and features pine spicy aroma and grapefruit flavour, and is regularly used for porters and stouts (hopslist). Does what it says on the tin, delightful!

Then the 2 extra-different drinks, first, another collaboration, this time from Sheffield based Steel City Brewing (facebook) and Lost Industry Brewing (facebook), and Sofia based Alchemik, although James was originally from Manchester (website). Imperial Yellowcake is a 8.5% Sour, with lemon zest and vanilla in the brew to produce a lemon meringue cheesecake 'sour' and certainly not too sweet and not too sour for me, strangely delightful too, cheers to Dave Unpronounceable and his collaborators! 👍

Finally, not a beer, but a mead from Belgium, De Meaderie (website), Experimead #15, 15.0% whisky barrel aged for 17 months, with maple syrup, I told you it was different! Look at it above, crystal clear and pale, which surprised me, and nowhere near as sweet as I thought it would be, in fact, incredibly light and easy to drink considering. If you see it anywhere, drink it, well worth it, believe me, and cheers to Oliver as well for providing beers you don't see very often!

 

Spring Ale, a Chocolate Ale too, plus...

Well, last week heralded the beginning of Astronomical Spring (Met Office), and Stonehenge Ales (website) have again brewed their seasonal ale Sign of Spring (blog). As you can see above, this is a pale ale which they label a 'Premium Bitter' but it has a touch of green (food dye presumably) about it 😉 and it's a jolly good 4.6% pale dry bitter indeed! There's a general fruitiness, with a nice dry bitter, slightly nutty, finish, please can I have another? 👍

And then I had this totally different ale from Saltaire Brewery (website) up in Skipton, West Yorkshire... their 4.8% Triple Choc, an ale I last remember drinking in December 2019 (blog), and my opinion of it hasn't changed at all. With chocolate and a hint of liquorice in the aroma, it's proclaimed as an 'Indulgent Chocolate Stout' and who could argue with that, unless I wanted to suggest it's a porter, not a stout, but see my blog which discusses the difference between stouts and porters. So, whichever style we call it, Triple Choc is brewed with Fuggles hops, and is a very deep red colour, and very rich ale, tasting of chocolate indeed, but incredibly easy to drink, though I probably wouldn't drink too many pints in the same session 😉

And then a pale hoppy ale that isn't green. The Kent Brewery (website) 4.5% Loral, a single hopped very pale ale with a hint of citrus, not too overpowering for those who don't like citrus flavoured ales, slightly spicy and with a crackin' dry bitter finish, very refreshing. This is an ale that I have had quite recently too, before yesterday, but my notes were included in my last destroyed note book 😞 so I quickly included this ale in this blog, I would hate to mess up again 😏 Kent Brewery is my favourite local brewer, and they do brew very excellent ales of all styles. Anyway, to the Loral hop, which has forbears from the USA, that is Glacier and Nugget, and Tardif de Bourgogne from France (Yakima Valley Hops), billed as 'floral, herbal and citrus' but I didn't pick up the 'floral' myself, but a very decent ale indeed, cheers!

I enjoyed the above ales this week, imbibing at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3DW (website), until the next time, cheers! 😁

Seasons Greetings!

OK, I admit to mostly copying this from my other blog, but appropriate here too.

Things are certainly better than for the previous 2 Christmases, despite the dreaded COVID-19 still hanging around, vaccinations appear to have done the trick, fingers crossed! But please let us all have a good and happy season and enjoy ourselves as much as we can, remembering others too. 

I give thanks to all those who have helped us to survive these last two years, too many to mention individually, but including all the keyworkers, the drivers and carers, those working in the emergency services, the police, fire fighters, ambulance staff and paramedics, the NHS, doctors, nurses, other health professionals and ancillary staff, the brave crews and volunteers of the RNLI lifeboat service, and not forgetting the scientists who helped develop the vaccines to rid us of the cause of distress and illness caused by the pandemic... Respect!

Finally, I wish to share my best wishes with you, and peace and goodwill to all, whatever one's beliefs, let's continue to work together folks. 👌

And cheers!

Stacey Marie (facebook page) sends her regards too! 😉

Be Prepared for Cost of Beer to Rise AND...

We've likely all been thinking similar, and I didn't really want to mention it, but the price of beer is going to rise substantially soon, and even more pubs are going to go out of business sadly. The Cost of Living Crisis, which is becoming another crisis, no two ways about it, means spiralling costs are already putting pressure on brewers. This article (Peterborough Telegraph) was what stimulated this blog, as one of my favourite breweries, Oakham Ales, is calling for Government action to help ease the effects of inflation and swiftly soaring energy costs, which are driving up the cost to brewers "of raw materials, production and distribution" and no doubt soon to be followed by the need for higher wages for employees! 

For me, the local public house isn't just a place to go and drink, it's a social hub, often a social service for more vulnerable locals, and they also raise significant money for charities, for example my local, the Dolphin Inn in Hastings recently gave £1,379.50 to the RNLI Lifeboat Station from their collection box (Steve on Hastings). It isn't just the brewers that are looking at problems related to rising prices, and wages, but public houses too, energy costs particularly, as the cost of heating and lighting throughout opening times go metaphorically through the roof. And not to forget that the loss of pubs would mean the loss of places to buy real ales, worrying indeed!

2 Cracking IPAs, cheers to the Beer Wench!

When I celebrated IPA Day a couple of weeks ago, I gave thanks to Ashley Routson, the creator of that celebratory day, and said I had ordered a copy of her book (blog). I'm halfway through reading her book now, and she says an IPA started her "obsession with hops" and I had a couple of excellent IPAs today, so I thought I should share the experience! The first being from Kent Brewery (website), another single hopped ale from them, their 4.5% Huell Melon.

Huell Melon is a German hop which came out 10 years ago and is descended from Cascade, "noted to be intensely fruity with flavours and aromas of honeydew melon and strawberry" (Hopslist), and it's pretty damn good, if you like pale dry bitter ales as I do. On drinking the ale, I expected more to the aroma, however, I didn't really notice that much fruit, and it was subtle to the taste too, but a pale golden ale with a very dry and bitter finish, I loved it!

The second is a stronger IPA from East Sussex Three Acre Brewery (website), and their 5.0% India Pale Ale, which they state is "packed full of New World hops" and the aroma and taste are testament to that claim! This is another pale golden ale, but this time with a big fruity aroma and tropical and citrus fruits to the taste, plenty of body with a dry bitter finish, quality, although I admit to the Kent ale having the slight edge for me personally, both excellent ales though!

Now, before anyone accuses me of sexism because of the title of this blog, Ms Ashley Routson, who hails from the U.S. of A., calls herself "The" Beer Wench, that is, her book is called The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer, subtitled An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer, Quarto Publishing Group, 2015. "Wench" a term I only heard before when I lived in the West Country. Although only halfway through her book so far, her taste in beers, and knowledge, and some of her language for that matter (despite being from the other side of The Pond), have convinced me that we'd likely be good friends if we met, only good friends though, unless I was 20-30 years younger! 😉

Anyway, I look forward to reading the rest of her book, cheers to Ashley!

The ales I drank above were imbibed at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3DW (website).

3 Crackin' Guest Ales on at the same time!

In addition to the very decent regular ales (Hophead, Special and Sussex Best), the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock a Nore Road, Hastings TN34 3DW (website), when I was there the other day had the 3 excellent guest ales (below) from far and nearer, what a great local for lucky me!

To begin with, from way up in Argyll in Scotland, from Fyne Ales Farm Brewery (website), their very fine 4.5% Avalanche, and I'll have to be careful not to include too many superlatives and puns in this blog! 😉 Fyne Ales began brewing with a 1,600 litre brewing kit in 2001 in a former dairy building, then a former grain store became a 'brewery tap' powered by solar energy in 2012, and a couple of years later a larger 6,500 litre kit was installed in a converted sheep shed, where the brewery now resides. The original brewhouse has been kept on as the Origins Brewing project, testing and experimenting with newer recipes.

Brewed with Cascade and Liberty hops grown in the USA, this is a lovely pale refreshing bitter with plenty of body and depth for its strength. Cascade hops were originally developed from the 1950s, when English Fuggles and Russian Serebrianka hops were cross-pollinated, and named after the Cascade mountain range in the West of the country, released in 1972, and now representing about 10% of hops grown in the USA. Liberty hops are related to Mount Hood, Ultra and Crystal hops, descended from the German Hallertau Mittelfruher hop, and were released in 1983. First brewed in 2007, Avalanche continues to delight, with a clean citrus flavour drying out to bitterness, nice one!

Now we go way across to the south-west and Cornwall, and to St Austell Brewery (website), a much older brewery that dates back to when Walter Hicks bought the Seven Stars Inn up East Hill, St Austell, in 1863, where Hicks began to brew his own ales. As demand outstripped supply, in 1893 he moved the brewery to a site in Tregonissey Lane, where the brewery remains. When I lived and worked in Cornwall in the late 1980s/early 90s, I only remember 2 ales from this brewery, and there wasn't much else around from anyone else! One was a rather bland bitter, as I recall, 3.7% Tinners (I called it Thinners), which I did drink quite a lot of though 😁 and a more robust 5.0% Hicks Special Draught (HSD), a tasty ruby strong ale, which is still brewed.

But to the 4.5% Proper Job (5.5% in bottles, and a superb bottle-conditioned ale it is too! Blog), which I still don't believe is as good as the bottle-conditioned version, but I found it very agreeable with my more recent tasting, despite being disappointed a while ago, but very happy the time before that, what can I say? Oh yes, this was the brainchild of Roger Ryman, who sadly died 2 years ago R.I.P. (blog), when he joined and transformed the brewery as Head Brewer in 1999. Proper Job is brewed with Willamette, Cascade and Chinook hops, all from the USA. Willamette was also developed from the English Fuggles hop in the late 1960s, indeed, was bred to replace Fuggles for growth in the USA! Cascade hops I've discussed above, and Chinook hops, which began life in 1985, were developed from Petham Golding hops. Proper Job is a pale golden ale, citrus fruit aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish, and very refreshing when quaffed during warm summer days, well, quaffed anytime really! 😉

Now to a brewery much closer to the Dolphin and, indeed, where you can regularly find their ales on the 'guest list' - Kent Brewery (website), unsurprisingly, is based in Kent, and first brewed in 2010 using the brewing plant of Larkins Brewery (website), before Kent Brewery had its own kit installed at Birling Place Farm (Birling, near-ish to Maidstone) in April 2011, and where they now brew their excellent ales.

Like the 2 ales already discussed, the 4.9% Kent Brewery Tropic Ale is in the style of an American Pale Ale (APA), so presumably using hops from the USA, as they regularly do. But they do not advertise what hops they use for their regular ales, except when they brew a single hop ale, which then becomes obvious, and occasionally for others, for example their Brewers Reserve, (Columbus hops). So I don't know what hops are used in the Tropic Ale, I apologise, but you can be sure it will be hops easily recognised as from the USA; I'm guessing they don't like to say any particular hops as it may depend on what is on the market, anyway, what's it like? I have written about this before as I do like the Tropic Ale, it has citrus and tropical fruit aroma and flavours, but quite subtle and refreshing with a nice dry bitter finish, I do like this! 👍

Yes I do like my APAs, cheers! 

Peterborough and Oakham Ales Postscript...

Indeed, further to my last blog about my recent visit to Peterborough, which included visiting 2 of the 4 Oakham Ales hostelries run by their sister company, The Oaka Group; I always thought that the Bartons Arms in Birmingham was one of their pubs, which I've visited a few times and written about before (blog), but Helen at Oakham has informed me that it is 'leased' out, shame. However, I have visited the Mansion House in Kennington a few times. eg blog, and their fourth business is actually the East Restaurant on the upper deck of Charters in Peterborough (blog).

Anyway, the postscript is that, although I was too sensible to drink the 6% Oakham Green Devil whilst in Peterborough, I had a couple of pints yesterday at my local, the Dolphin Inn in Hastings, a pub that I have written about before, obviously, eg blog. Anyway! Green Devil is the "big brother" of the 'session ale' at 4.2% Oakham Citra, also a few more hops used, not just significantly stronger, but 'doubled hopped' and twice 'World Champion' ale (website).

They describe the taste on the Green Devil pump clip as being "powerful, tropical fruit" and it certainly has a deeper more full taste than Citra, but I detect some grapefruit as well as tropical fruit flavours, we're all different. Indeed, it's an excellent pale golden bitter, with Wheat Malt used, as well as the usual Maris Otter, my notes say plenty of body, dry finish, and very good!

Looking forward to my next pint shortly, cheers! 

Peterborough - A New City (for me) Visited...

A trip to Peterborough and dreams of Oakham Ales (website, and more later), base of one of my 2 favourite breweries, real ale bars, and maybe a point or three at football, fingers crossed... I had been looking forward to this day for ages! My first port of call was the Bumble Inn (website), close by the railway station at 46 Westgate, PE1 1RE, which opens at 12.00.

At the Bumble Inn I met three friendly Peterborough lads, 2 brothers and a son/nephew, who each had their own pub in their gardens, I kid you not, I was shown photographs... dead impressive and useful during the lockdowns no doubt! Anyway, this micropub sells 5 ever-changing real ales, 2 of which were from that excellent Yorkshire brewery, from Huddersfield, Mallinsons (website), and they, apparently, as I didn't partake, sell home-made pork pies, 'jumbo' sausage rolls and/or scotch eggs; 'pop-up' food events held on the third Thursday of the month.

I had a pint each of the 2 Mallinsons ales, both pale and hoppy, both 4.0%, their Denimes Denimes, and, my favourite of the two, the single hopped Kohatu (New Zealand hops), quite bitter with a dry crisp finish, not bad at all. As we decided, I press-ganged them really, I went along with the lads to my next port of call, the Oakham bar on a barge, Charters (website).

Charters Bar was packed, as was the bankside area next to it, which provides a huge outside area which must have been very useful during the first phase of returning to 'normal' last year. As usual at a bar near a football ground on match day, it emptied out between 2.30 and 3.00 pm, but not before we shared a few pints each, me of the excellent Oakham Citra (4.2%), a wonderful session pale bitter, like me, pale, dry and bitter, great company. Great ale at just £3 a pint ('special' regular deals), and 5 friends of mine (including my ex-wife) turned up here just before 2.30 (Noel and Ian in the photograph above, just as we were leaving to go to the ground).

After the match, sadly an upsetting last 10 minutes for me, but not for my new mates from Peterborough I imagine, 5 of us met up at The (Oakham) Brewery Tap (website), which is just a few minutes walk from the railway station in Westgate...

Here I drank, again at a bargain price, 2 or 3 pints of Oakham Inferno (4.0%), brewed with Sterling, Amarillo, Centennial, Cascade and Chinook hops, those who know me well will appreciate I approve of brewers using these hops from the USA 😉 - And again, great ale, again, pale, dry, refreshing and bitter, great company, and another decently priced ale too, thank you very much Oakham! The journey home was a wee bit rowdy, but not due to me guv...

And, just because I didn't take a photograph of a beer I was drinking, here's one I took earlier, last week at the Dolphin Inn in Hastings (website), my local, cheers!