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).

Autumnal Sheffield Day 2

After a morning walk, and before heading off for lunch, I visited 2 pubs where I used to be sure I would meet someone I knew, staff and customers, the KitCat that is. First the Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street S3 8RW (website). Built in the 1830s, the Kit was a derelict building when Trevor and Lewis took it over, refurbished it, and reopened it in 2002, and it became the 'best real ale pub' in the country. Indeed, they won the National CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2008 and 2009, and have won many other awards before and since! Although now retired, I believe Trevor still owns the property, but now managed by others, and still winning awards.

I wasn't that surprised not to know any of the regulars present when I walked in, nor the barman, as it's been a few years since I lived in Sheffield.  Anyway, I was there for a pint, so had a great ale from the local Blue Bee Brewery (website), their Triple Hop (4.3%), brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Ekuanot hops. It was hoppy, with a citrus aroma and taste, pale golden, with a very dry and bitter finish, great stuff! Indeed, when I was here earlier this year (blog) I had their American 5 Hop Version 53 (4.3%), hard to go wrong with Blue Bee Brewery! 

Just around the corner, and the second pub was the Cat, or The Fat Cat (website), 23 Alma Street S3 8SA. The pub was an original in Sheffield when it was bought as the Alma in 1981 by Dave Wicket and his business partner Bruce to provide an alternative to the big brewers, providing an outlet for independent brewers. After separating their business interests, Dave continued with the pub and set up a microbrewery in a shed behind the pub in 1990, Kelham Island Brewery (see my blog from yesterday). I didn't see anyone I know there either, not staff or customer, though I believe Di still works there and looks after the cellar.

However, I did have a good chat with the barmaid, a very friendly young woman from Ukraine, good English, and probably happy to improve her spoken English and expand her vocabulary too. Anyway, no Kelham Island ales here yet, so I had a pint from a small Sheffield microbrewer, Grizzly Grains (facebook), their 4.0% Pacifica, a New Zealand Pale Ale, yes, using Pacifica hops (also called Pacifica Hallertau), did what it says, I imagine, but I wasn't too impressed, and was too busy chatting to make any notes, sorry! 😕

I did then eat at Mama's & Leonies again (see my last blog), with the same staff make-up and excellent warm chicken and bacon salad, before meeting up with a couple of great mates, Jeff Macdonut and Lindsay, at the newish Perch Brewhouse, 44 Garden Street SE1 4BJ (facebook). Plenty of blether, of course, and ale too, oh yes, and they have an impressive selection of Belgian beers in one of their fridges. But to their ales, and their brewery is called the Dead Parrot Brew Company, 2 of whose ales I had a pint of:

I had a pint of their very easy to drink Clement, a 3.9% session Blonde ale, brewed with Aurora and Simcoe hops, not bad at all. But their 4.8% Ashen was something else, pretty damn good! Unsurprisingly, with more body and flavour from the hops used, Aurora again, but with Centennial hops too, I must return for more of this when next in Sheffield.

The 3 of us then walked up to meet Will at The Bath Hotel (whatpub - couldn't find a website), 66-68 Victoria Street S3 7QL, my second visit in 2 days and another great welcome from Brian. Obviously more friendly discourse was shared, and more Thornbridge (website) Jaipur (5.9%) imbibed by me, Chinook, Centennial, Ahtanum, Simcoe, Columbus and Cascade. I'm rarely disappointed by this pale, dry, hoppy bitter, quality!

We parted ways with Jeff and Lindsay, and Will, who is more into traditional bitters, not so much pale hoppy bitters, then suggested we visit 2 more pubs to his liking, and 2 pubs that I did used to visit when I lived in Sheffield, notably to watch football on tv. Anyway, the first one was The Grapes, 80 Trippet Lane S1 4EN (website). I didn't make notes of my drinking at either of these 2 pubs, both well known for Guinness, so I obviously knocked back an easy drinking traditional bitter of some sort, cheers Will! 

The second pub Will and I visited was the nearby Dog & Partridge, 56 Trippet Lane S1 4EL (facebook), where we drank beer of some sort. 😉 Afterwards I returned to my temporary abode at The Crow Inn (see previous blog), where, coincidentally, Dave Szwejkowski, aka Dave Unpronounceable (guest blog), was drinking at the bar, small world, good night and cheers!

Incidentally, The Crow Inn is the Sheffield CAMRA Pub of the Month for October, and had been nominated by Dave Szwejkowski, great stuff, congratulations!

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! 👌

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!