Covent Garden Pubs 2

Further to my recent Covent Garden blog, really a wee pub crawl from Charing Cross to Tottenham Court Road/Oxford Street, where we obviously missed quite a few pubs, we decided to go to some of those pubs missed. But we did start again at The Harp, 47 Chandos Place WC2N 4HS (website) as, quite frankly, it is an excellent pub, can't be missed if in the area, although it does get very busy at times,  but we were there early, so no problem! 

As ever at The Harp, an excellent range of ales to chose from including, from Huddersfield brewery Mallinsons (website), Belma, a 4.0% single hopped ale, yes you've guessed it right, brewed with Belma hops (hopslist). 😉 Anyway, this was excellent, pale golden colour and, they say "blonde with notes of citrus, pineapple and strawberry" - whilst I say, yes, quite fruity, but very subtle, I got grapefruit, maybe tangerine too, but again, very subtle, with a lovely dry bitter finish. I already knew this would be my favourite ale of this trip, but then, Mallinsons consistently brew excellent pale ales, and I wasn't disappointed, great stuff, cheers! 😁

Once again, we turned left out of The Harp, then left again up Bedfordbury, walked to the end and turned right, this time missing The White Swan, instead virtually opposite that pub is The Round House, 1 Garrick Street WC2E 9BF (website). The Round House was built in the 1860s, catering for theatre goers and market traders, and originally traded as Petters Hotel until the name was changed to The Round House in 1943.

Here, we drank Fuller's Grand Slam, a 3.4% pale golden seasonal ale, celebrating the Rugby Union Six Nations Tournament, Fuller's (now Asahi) Griffin brewery (website) not being a million miles away from Twickenham Stadium, the home of England Rugby Union (website). Anyway, they say "citrus and pine" flavour, but I cannot find which hopes are used, although Amarillo, Cascade and Citra are among the likely choices. Whatever, this is a fruity, crisp, dry, and easy drinking pale ale with a gentle bitterness at the finish. 👍

We could see our next pub from the window of The Round House, a pub I've not been to for years! Anyway, we exited the Roundhouse, left onto Garrick Street and turned immediately first right, and straight in front of us, the Lamb & Flag, 33 Rose Street WC2E 9EB (website). A pub is first recorded here in 1772, with the 18th century building constructed on the same site of a house known to have been built by 1638, perhaps 10 years or so earlier when the street itself was built. This timber-framed, and Grade II Listed pub, was originally called the Cooper's Arms until the name was changed to the Lamb & Flag in 1833.

Here we drank an ale from Devon based Salcombe Brewery (website), their 4.2% Shingle Bay, a golden ale that I believe is brewed with New Zealand Pacific Gem hops (hopslist). They say "fruity aroma of blackberry and spiced fruit" which is again, very subtle, but suggested by the hops used. I found it to have a gentle citrus aroma and flavour, with a peppery dry bitter finish, and another easy drinking ale to quaff. 🍺

From the Lamb & Flag, we turned back on ourselves and right onto Garrick Street, shortly along to a 6 road junction, taking the third left/opposite Great Newport Street to Charing Cross Road and we turned right onto the main road. We carried along roughly northwards to Shaftesbury Avenue, where we turned left, and then first right onto Greek Street where we reached The Coach & Horses, 29 Greek Street, W1D 5DH (website). This Grade II Listed building dates back to 1840, and is claimed to be "Soho's Most Famous Pub" and historically a drinking establishment for writers, artists and poets; indeed, a friend reminded me soon after I posted this photograph on social media, that it was where folk from the satirical magazine Private Eye had their famous fortnightly lunches, cheers Stephen! 🍷🍸🍻

Here we drank, from Bermondsey in South East London, The Kernel Brewery (website) and their 4.0% Small Pale Ale, this one brewed with Columbus hops (hopslist); apparently they brew a variety of changing 'session' Small Pale Ales with different hops used, and different strengths. Anyway, the Columbus hop helps produce big citrus flavoured brews, and despite this being a bit trendy hazy, the hops did their job to ensure it was a pleasant ale indeed. 👌

I didn't realise it in the planning, but these 4 pubs all had something in common, in that they are all Fuller's pubs, indeed, I hadn't realised before how much Fuller's has encroached into the centre of London from their origins in West London. Also, rather surprisingly, I discovered that there was a 10% discount for CAMRA members at all 4 pubs, nice one, cheers folks! 😄

Sheffield: 5 Kelham Island and Shalesmoor Pubs

My abode for my latest Sheffield visit, during this week, was again The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street S3 7BS (website), which reopened 5 years ago after quite a few years closure, and has 7 en suite bedrooms. Sadly, no breakfast provided, but there are some very interesting bar snacks. Importantly, it also sells quite a few interesting ales and crafty keg beers! Open Mon-Wednesday 3pm to 12 midnight; Thurs-Saturday 12 noon to 1am; Sunday 12 noon to 11pm.

Before I go any further I have to own up to not being a great note taker in my wee book this visit, but I did add notes to photographs I shared on facebook, trust it's adequate. 😉

The first ale I drank here was from Manchester based Marble Brewery (website), their 4.1% Persephone, a pale golden summer ale, brewed with Ariana, Huell Melon, Lemondrop and Mosaic hops. Very crisp, pale clear vegan friendly ale, with a dry bitter finish, very decent indeed.

Because Michael behind the bar said it was nearing its end, and I didn't want to miss it, I had a quick half of North London based Hammerton Brewery (website) City of Cake, a 5.5% 'Choc Fudge Cake Stout.' It pretty much does what it says on its label, hints of coffee and caramel, big chocolate aroma and taste, with fudge indeed, sweetish (DUH!) and very luxurious. 👍

I also had a pint the next day of Sheffield based Abbeydale Brewery (website) Heathen (4.1%), an APA style ale, brewed with Mosaic hops, and dry hopped with Mosaic to make sure you appreciate the taste and aroma! As you'd expect from the hops, notably forest fruits and citrus, providing a bitter dry finish. Another clear pale vegan friendly ale, and on regularly at The Crow, so virtually its 'house ale' and deservedly so, nice one! 

Again, both days I visited Shakespeare's (facebook), 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB, which, as you can see from the photograph above, used to be a Ward's pub when I lived in Sheffield in the 1990s. This Georgian pub was closed for 18 months from early 2010 (previously, Jeff, Lindsay and I had helped them finish off their array of rums!), refurbished, and reopened in July 2011, and since winning CAMRA awards too. They sell up to 9 real ales, many from local brewers, over 50 bottled beers, and a fair few crafty keg beers. I drank here with Peter, who works at Blue Bee Brewery (website), and a friend for many years, the first visit, then with long time friends Jeff and Lindsay again the next day; we followed a similar route. 😁

The first day I drank, from Sheffield based Fuggle Bunny Brew House (website), their 4.0% Cotton Tail. This is a pale ale with citrus aroma and taste, they say with lychees in the aroma, but I wouldn't know about that 😉 and apparently brewed with 5 varieties of hop, which they keep to themselves, but probably includes Citra hops, I'm guessing, because of the lychee. Easy to drink, sweetish, with a slightly bitter finish.

Then I drank, from nearby Little Critters Brewing Company (website), a brewery from which I've drunk excellent ales from as far south as Hastings, their 4.4% Luna's Peach Pale Ale. Indeed, plenty of peach, so I'm guessing peach extract, fruits, or flavouring of some sort involved, the website suggests orange zest added too, but definitely states Centennial and Amarillo are the hops used. I have to admit that the peach was a bit too much for me, I should have had a half, but Little Critters do brew excellent pale bitter ales, looking forward to my next one...

I met Jeff and Lindsay here on my second day, and I drank 2 pints of Abbeydale Brewery (website) Deception (4.1%). This 'New Zealand Pale Ale' is primarily hopped with Nelson Sauvin, but Amarillo, Chinook, Galaxy and Columbus hops are added too. An excellent pale ale, with citrus, grape and gooseberry  in the flavour, refreshing, with a dry bitter finish. 👌

On both days, we wandered around to Kelham Island (Jeff and Lindsay in the photograph above), to the Kelham Island Tavern, or KIT, many of us still use the term KitCat when going to drink at the Fat Cat (below) as well as the KIT. 😉 Anyway, the Kelham Island Tavern, 62 Russell Street S3 8RW (website). Built in the 1830s, it was a derelict building when Trevor and Lewis took it over, refurbished it, reopening 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 the licencee is Josh, I believe, and still winning awards.

Because it's new to me, and a bit exciting I found out, and Peter and Josh (from pub and brewery!) brew it, I had to go for the locally based Blue Bee Brewery (website) their dual hopped Citra Nectaron IPA (6.0%). And a BIG fruity extravaganza it is! Citrus from the Citra hops, goes without saying, tropical fruit from the New Zealand Nectaron hops, including a hint of pineapple, and forest fruits from both. Together with the strength, this made it a pretty special ale indeed, plenty of body, full of aroma and taste, and dry bitter finish, quality!

On both days I drank the Blue Bee Brewery (website) American 5 Hop Version 70 (4.3%), that is the 70th version, this time using El Dorado, Mosaic, Columbus, Simcoe and Chinook hops from the USA! What would you expect me to say? 😁 Very hoppy, big citrus aroma and taste, pale golden, with a dry bitter finish, just as I like my session bitters, very good indeed! 

Anyone would think the Kelham Island Tavern is the Blue Bee brewery tap. 😉

On the first day Peter and I wandered around the corner to The Fat Cat (website), 23 Alma Street S3 8SA, and people familiar with this blog, or who know me personally, will know that when I was a post-grad student I worked at the associated brewery (just beyond and to the right in the photograph above), Kelham Island Brewery. The pub was an original in Sheffield, virtually throughout the country for that matter, when it was bought as the Alma in 1981 by Dave Wickett and his colleague Bruce to provide an alternative to the big brewers, and providing an outlet for independent brewers. After separating their business interests, Dave continued with the pub and set up the microbrewery, in a shed behind the pub at that time (now bigger, and seen above), in 1990. Now the brewery is no longer in use, but more recently, a group of lads bought the name and are brewing separately at Thornbridge Brewery (website).

I didn't take any notes here, but was a bit disappointed with the ale, so will leave my review of The Fat Cat for now, until my next visit. Worth a visit though! 👍

On the second day, Jeff, Lindsay and I continued on to Shalesmoor, and just after the tram stop is The Wellington (facebook), 1 Henry Street S3 7EQ. Originally built in the 1830s, it became run down during the 20th century, and was refurbished and reopened as a free house in 1993 renamed the Cask & Cutler (as I first remember it, although also called the "Bottom Welly" - the "Top Welly" was at the other end of Infirmary Road). Anyway, it changed hands in 2006 and returned its name to The Wellington, or Cask & Welly as we used to call it. In 2016, the pub was bought by the friendly Canadian, James B (another ex-brewer at the Kelham Island Brewery from quite a few years ago!), who has his own brewery now, Neepsend Brew Co (website). 

The Neepsend ales are very good, but I do particularly like Huddersfield based Mallinsons Brewing Company (website), indeed, they are among my top favourite brewers in the country. Anyway, I had a couple of pints of their 4.0% Town of Surfside, an American Pale Ale in style, although I can't find out which hops were used, I won't even guess which variety because they use many different varieties of hop from the USA in their ales! Whatever, I enjoyed it immensely, thus the 2 pints, pale,dry and bitter! 👍

Apologies for not photographing the Welly on this occasion.

OK, for me it's an institution that, whenever I visit Sheffield, I visit Mama's and Leonies at least once, twice this time (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 1990s, so I can see no reason why I should change that 'institution' now. Anyway, still many familiar friendly faces working there and pleasant discourse shared with Tracy and others, it's great to be remembered, and my favourite Warm Chick & Bacon Salad, without the croutons, and a half carafe of red wine of course. Always excellent, plenty of healthy stuff on the plate, mucho salad, and never fails to please me, well sated, nice one Kath, John and team, cheers m'dears!

For more information on hops mentioned please go to hopslist.

Let's Play Musical Hops!

I drank an ale called Cashmere recently, a single hopped ale from the excellent Kent Brewery (website), and, when I shared it on facebook, a friend immediately did what I did, and linked it to a song by Led Zeppelin (YouTube). I'd thought the same, but had been thinking this Musical Hops idea for a while. However, that song is Kashmir, spelt differently. Anyway, I'm not giving up on this as I'm adding another 5 hops to this blog that start with the letter 'C' - bear with me!

The Cashmere hop was developed by Washington State University and released in 2013, being a 'marriage' of Cascade and Northern Brewer hops. Cashmere has flavours of lemon, lime and melon, exhibiting a smooth bitterness, mildly aromatic with a subtle herbal bouquet* - I certainly don't remember much aroma, but have lost my previous notebook, sadly. So I didn't use an image from that ale, but the image above is of this year's Duvel Tripel Hop Cashmere, and I have recently written about their previous  Tripel Hop (blog), a bottle of which I happen to have in my fridge 😉 and, just now I ordered a few bottles of the Cashmere pictured above!

My second "C" hop is Calypso, which was one of the 3 hops used by the, also excellent, Yorkshire brewer Mallinsons (website) in their 'Tropical Blonde' (above - and blog). This tune is haunting, frankly beautiful, and sung by Suzanne Vega, and Calypso was one of the 2 hops that gave me the idea for this blog well before I'd even heard of Cashmere, so Calypso (YouTube).

The Calypso hop was bred in the Yakima Valley of Washington State, with Hopsteiner lineage. It features crisp, fruity aromas and flavours, and is complex* with hints of stone fruits, apple, pear and lime. For the Tropical Blonde I got citrus and tropical fruit in the taste, noticeably mango and pineapple in the aroma, but then there were 2 other hops involved as well! 😉

My third hop, and another of the earliest influences for this blog is Cascade, one of the 3 hops used by the American brewer Sierra Nevada (website), and you'll likely have noticed these "C" hops are mostly from the U.S. of A. The beers I mention in this blog are of the, highly influenced by the craft brewers over the Pond, and mostly labelled American Pale Ales. So, to the music for this one, and Cascade by Siouxsie and the Banshees (YouTube), quality!

The Cascade hop was pioneered at Oregon State University in the 1950s and is widely used, indeed Cascade hops have been grown in England since 2002, after development at Wye College (website). However, Cascade was originally developed from the English Fuggle hop and the Russian Serebrianka hop and released in 1972. Cascade provides spicy citrus flavours, particularly grapefruit.* Indeed, the Sierra Nevada (blog), certainly has grapefruit in the taste.

So to my fourth hop, and, for the music I had to dig deeper, it wasn't as automatic for the next 3, and so a wee bit eclectic! Anyway, the Crystal hop, which is one of the FIVE hop varieties used in the eponymous Revelation, which is a revelation, and is brewed in Sussex by Dark Star (website). Music is Crystal by New Order (YouTube), never heard of it before, but not bad.

The Crystal hop was developed from Hallertau, Cascade, Brewer's Gold and Early Green hops, with floral, fruity and spicy flavours, notably cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper.* I'm sorry, but the Revelation has so much going for it (blog), that I couldn't guess how much Crystal hops influence the flavour, but influence they must, cheers! 😄

OK, I'm slipping in a couple of 'googlies' here, first although used in many pale hoppy ales (and other styles!), the Challenger hop is actually English, but certainly can be included as a "C" hop! And my second googly is the music, I said eclectic earlier, and a wee bit space agey... Challenger by Creo (YouTube). Oh yes, and Challenger hops are one of 2 hops used by another excellent brewery, Oakham Ales (website), in their session ale JHB.

The Challenger hop, as I said, was developed in England, at Wye College, and is the result of marrying Northern Brewer and German Zattler hops, and was released to the public in 1972; also know as Wye Challenger. Challenger provides floral, citrus and spicy undertones, and is good for bittering ales.* JHB certainly has the citrus flavours expected, as noted in this blog.

My final hop for this blog is Chinook, one of the 3 hops used in Proper Job, which is brewed by the Cornish brewer, St Austell (website). The music is again a wee bit electronic, and bowls us yet another googly, Chinook by Julian Jordan (YouTube), likely more about the wind than hops. 😉

Chinook hops were released in 1985, a cross between a USDA male and Petham Golding hops, and has a spicy pine bouquet and definite grapefruit flavouring. They are widely used in APAs.* I regularly drink Proper Job, whether cask-conditioned, bottle-conditioned (my favourite!), or even from a can (blog), which has forest and citrus fruit flavours, notably grapefruit, nice one!

*If you're surprised by my wealth of knowledge about hops, don't be, I've used the excellent hopslist website as a source of much of the relevant content, many thanks to them.

I do hope you've enjoyed this blog, and some of the music too, 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! 

Mallinson's Calypso delivered to my Door!

I recently wrote a blog about a couple of excellent ales I had delivered to me and enjoyed drinking immensely. Well, I couldn't resist the cask conditioned ale they provided this week either, from another excellent Yorkshire brewery, Mallinson's Brewing Company (website), and their 3.9% single hopped Calypso. Again, I was very pleased yesterday to receive a visit from the same jolly crew from The Jolly Fisherman (website) Alfred, Becky and Oliver, with respectful social distancing maintained at delivery, and it's always a pleasure to see this family; indeed, I'm looking forward to drinking at their micropub in the reasonably near future, fingers crossed...

The Calypso hop is another of my favourite hops bred and grown in the Yakima Valley in the US of A, and Mallinson's Calypso is a pale golden light refreshing ale, and so easy to drink. There is an amazingly complex fruity aroma and taste, with pears, apples, citrus and tropical fruits, and a wonderful dry bitter finish with grapefruit to the taste. It's pretty damn good, cheers!

And I can't get Suzanne Vega's Calypso (YouTube) out of my mind, which is not a bad thing. 👌

And a reminder, if you live in Hastings, or close by, and you want something delivered from The Jolly Fisherman; deliveries are made most afternoons/early evenings, with a new cask ale each week for the Friday delivery, plus they sell keg and bottled beers, ciders, wine, etc etc... Do have a look at their website for more details and to place an order.

If you don't live down here, check in your own locality for suppliers, or I provided ideas in an older blog; the links appear to work still. Good searching and drinking, and cheers! 👍

Favourite Ales of the Crisis, so far!

By now regular readers will be aware that my favourite ales are very much like me, pale, dry and very bitter, but in other years I would include some darker ales in a blog such as this, because I do enjoy a good porter or stout. Since March 2020, it hasn't been so easy, first, months without ales as many pubs were shut for much of the year, and when open, limited, often by supply, plus my regular local was selling Harvey's Old Ale under Tier 2, which I find too sweet for my taste, sorry. So this blog is about wonderful pale 'APA' style bitters mostly, many from Kent Brewery (website), as close by where I live, and regularly sold at my local, when open, including...

Two of my favourite ales from Kent, their Tropic Ale (4.9%) and Prohibition (4.8%) were particularly enjoyed, and if I could only ever have 1 ale if marooned on a desert island, I would be happy with either but, if given a choice, I would say the Prohibition edges it, just. And at the end of the first 'lockdown' in July, this was the first ale I drank in a pub and, as I said in the relevant blog, it was GORGEOUS! A variety of hops from the USA make this very much an American Pale Ale (APA) and gives it a big citrus fruity nose and taste, particularly grapefruit flavour, but such a pleasant refreshing pale bitter with a dry and bitter finish, quality.

Their Tropic Ale is also a dry bitter ale, but with a difference, whereas the Prohibition has a predominantly citrus flavour, the Tropic Ale also has tropical fruit flavours to add to the citrus, making it a wee bit more complex. Tropic Ale has a very nice dry bitter finish too, also refreshing, and gives Prohibition a run for its money. Both are very easy to drink, and because of their strength alcohol-wise, easy to get merry by, if only one of them had been available to me over Christmas... 😉 Further down I will discuss quite a few other excellent Kent ales too.

Also from Kent, Angels & Demons (website), who I'm guessing aren't brewing, for now anyway, as their facebook page is unavailable. Anyway, I had a newer ale from them, another great brewer that likes to use plenty of hops, their Evil Thieves (5.1%). Billed as an IPA, really another APA, although you never know these days, American hops are now being cultivated in Britain too, but I'm guessing hops from the USA were used for this ale. A big citrus aroma, and tropical and citrus fruit in the flavour, a pale golden bitter, very nice indeed. I just hope they get brewing again when the COVID-19 Crisis is under control, fingers crossed. I would miss their wonderful I Spy Dragon Fly and A.D.H.ME, and particularly miss Goldilocks is Dead... 😢 

Also from close to me down here in East Sussex, Gun Brewery (website) who brew mostly 'vegan' beers, and many gluten-free beers too, and I did enjoy their rather tasty strong-ish Zamzama (6.5%) back in July during my second pub visit post-lockdown (blog). A 'Vegan IPA'  although more like an APA again, I'm pretty sure hops from the USA used, a big fruity aroma, plenty of body and flavour, with citrus and tropical fruits, very drinkable, very nice!

The only pub I visited away from home in a year now was in August (blog), so you can see my predicament trying to write about different ales from around the country. On that visit to London I very much was brought back to life by drinking a couple of lovely, refreshing, if expensive, pints of St Austell Proper Job (4.5%) after walking for an hour in 37 degrees! Pale golden colour, citrus fruit, dry, bitter and very refreshing, just what the resus doctor ordered, phew... 😷 

St Austell Brewery has been much remembered over the past year, not just for being the only local brewery surviving from when I lived in Cornwall back in the early 1990s, but particularly because of the sad death of the brewer who rejuvenated the brewery after I moved away, Roger Ryman (blog), and the appointment of Georgina Young as his replacement (blog). Also, the lockdowns have meant that their local representative to us has not been able to visit in December, when she was bringing a very nice Proper Job polo shirt for me, missing you Linda!

From further afield, from way up int' North, in Huddersfield, I had 3 excellent ales brewed by Mallinsons Brewing Company (website), though imbibed down here in Hastings. Tropical Blonde (4.3%) does what it says on the label, it really tastes like 'sunshine in a glass' - well, sort of 😉 Brewed with Calypso, Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops that produce citrus and tropical fruit flavours, and with mango and pineapple in a big fruity aroma. A very easy drinking, pale dry bitter, I did like this, but then, Mallinsons is another excellent brewery.

Also, I had their single hopped Amarillo (4.2%), yes, brewed with Amarillo hops from the USA, unsurprisingly, but surprisingly with a bitter orange in the flavour! A very dry bitter finish, and I definitely liked this, but it is a hop I do enjoy. And Shift (4.3%), what can I say? Brewed with Ekuanot and Centennial hops that produce peach, citrus and tropical fruit flavours, and Mandarina Bavaria hops, a reasonably new variant bred in Germany, released in 2012, and a 'daughter' of the Cascade hop, and which adds a tangerine flavour to the mix! Refreshing and very easy to drink, with a nice dry bitter finish, as I said, another excellent brewery.

Anyway, Mallinsons hasn't been the only Yorkshire brewery whose ales I have enjoyed since the first lockdown, for example, Ilkley Brewery (website) and their 4.2% Pale or All Day Pale. This is a nice refreshing pale bitter, as you'd expect, brewed using Nelson Sauvin, Chinook, Centennial and Hallertau Blanc hops, including dry hopping, and which provide plenty of fruity aroma and flavours, and a lovely dry bitter finish... I liked it! 

Sadly, no Kelham Island of Sheffield ales in 2020, hopefully that will change in 2021, but other excellent Yorkshire ales did get down here, including two 4.3% lovelies from the always reliable Rooster's Brewing Company (website), Cogburn and Union Gap. The Cogburn is an ale I've drunk many times over the years, regularly when I was living in Yorkshire, and the name is a homage to the character played by the actor John Wayne in a couple of films. It is pale and dry, with a subtle citrus fruity aroma and flavour, nice one. 

The Union Gap I recorded as even better! Presumably named after the 1960s band that brought out a single that would be very questionable nowadays, labeled a 'West Coast Pale Ale' and appropriately brewed with Chinook, Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe hops. With these hops you unsurprisingly get a mixture of citrus flavours and aroma, tangerine and lemon particularly. Refreshing, pale dry and bitter, yes it hit the spot, thank you very much!

Coming further down the country, we reach Peterborough and I shall mention 3 of the ales from one of my very favourite brewers, the excellent Oakham Ales (website), including their single-hopped 4.2% 'Session IPA' Citra. Their Citra is, as you would expect from that hop, zesty and with a hint of citrus in the aroma and taste, very pale, and a great dry bitter finish. Another ale I love and could include in my luxury ale on my desert island, along with a cooling system. 😉

The other 2 Oakham ales I particularly enjoyed were the Citra on steroids Green Devil IPA (6.0%), plenty of body, pale, dry and bitter. Also a single-hopped ale with Citra hops, but less subtle, packing a punch with grapefruit and tropical fruit flavours, which could replace the Citra Session IPA on my desert island, and I wouldn't need as much of it! Oh yes, and Bishops Farewell (4.6%), a smoother golden ale brewed with Cascade and Challenger hops, plenty of body and subtle citrus and tropical fruitiness, dry and bitter, also excellent, as are all the wonderful ales in the Oakham range, and I've never had a bad seasonal beer from them either!

I managed to get in this excellent 'green-hopped' ale before Tiers 3 and 4 kicked in, just, not to mention Lockdown Mark 3! This one, Dark Star (website) Green Hopped IPA, a very decent annual arrival for my hopmonster palate, and with a full bodied experience, as you would expect from this 6.5% pale bitter. If you aren't aware, green-hopped ales are brewed using fresh hops, ideally picked on the day and thus seasonal, and this brew used Warrior, Simcoe and Ernest hops. The end result was an amber, subtle fruity bitter with a dry finish, and very good indeed!

I've already mentioned the excellent Kent Brewery above (website), a brewery that competes very well with Oakham Ales and their pale bitter beers, honest, I never thought I'd be that lucky to have another reasonably local brewer so good, and we have some other very fine brewers down here in Kent and East Sussex to compete with them too! But, comparable with their Prohibition and Tropic Ale described above, I'll specifically mention the Brewers Reserve (5.0%). This has a big fruity citrus aroma and taste, with a dry bitter finish, quality!

Quite frankly, I could sing my praises of many of their ales, but will just mention here a few more that I have specifically enjoyed during these upsetting 10 months, and I could add even more, but want to publish this blog today! So, other Kent Brewery ales that helped me cope with the COVID-19 crisis include Mayflower 400 (4.2%, and brewed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the departure of the Mayflower to the New World), the two 4.5% single hopped ales Citra and Mandarina, and the 4.2% 'session APA' The Quiet American, after recent antics in the USA, surely an oxymoron, but a very easy drinking beer indeed... 😉

Well, I hope this was a reasonably fun read, and here's to the reopening of public houses this year, hopefully sooner rather than later, cheers m'dears! 🍻

Paler ales sampled since last blog...

Sorry for not writing for a while, but...

My prefered ales for this July, and I sampled (just 😉) a few more than just these seven, start and finish with ales from my old employer up in Sheffield, Kelham Island Brewery (website), and deservedly so! Indeed, most of these ales were brewed in Yorkshire, which suggests a lot about what styles of ale I prefer, and nearly all brewers are favourites of mine too, they can hardly brew anything but decent ale!

My favourite was Kelham Island's Tiger Cub (4.7%), of which I can find little information, but I know what I like, and my own brief tasting notes will have to suffice... This is described, in the couple of other reviews I managed to find, as an American Pale Ale style of ale. Certainly it is a pale golden colour, hints of US hops in the very gentle citrus flavour, but the bitterness of the Tiger Cub was in no way subtle. I found this 'very bitter' and 'very nice' too, indeed, excellent!

My next review is of a regular seasonal ale from the ever-dependent, though getting quite expensive (to the landlord) brewery, Oakham Ales (website). Their Asylum (4.5%) is a pale amber bitter, with 3 of my favourite hops used, Amarillo, Cascade and Chinook, consequently, plenty of bitterness and fruit in the aroma and taste, notably grapefruit. This is dry and bitter, and I noted, very good indeed!

My third choice is from a brewery I can't remember experiencing before, from way up in Newcastle, Brinkburn St Brewery (website); having had advice from the excellent Marble and Magic Rock breweries, they've been brewing for nearly 2 years now. Great advisers, and using Cascade, Citra, Chinook and Waimea hops, indeed, dry hopped with Waimea pellets, means that their Fools Gold Remastered (5% and, from the name you may guess, this is a 'remastered' version of the ale they first brewed, Fools Gold) is very much to my taste! I got hints of citrus and exotic fruits in the aroma and taste, but, more importantly for me, this pale golden ale is very bitter, with a dry bitter finish, and quoting my notes, this is "very good!"

Next was the excellent, yes, yet another excellent ale from another very fine brewery, Twickenham Fine Ales (website), always quality ales from them too! Their 4.4% seasonal ale, Summer Sun, didn't let me down, and comes a very close second to Tiger Cub. An extra pale golden ale, with hints of fruit, grapefruit and mango, provided by the use of Citra and Delta hops, lovely jubbly, with a dry and bitter finish!

Back up to Yorkshire, ie Huddersfield, for the last 3 ales chosen, starting again with Mallinsons (website) Daniella (4.5%), another pale golden ale, the pump clip says 'fruity', but I only detected a hint of orange citrus flavour. Centennial and Ella hops used, which helped to make this a very bitter ale, fermented ot into a very dry finish too.

From York itself, and Rudgate (website) comes their 5% Grease Monkey, a wee bit different, the pump clip says brewed with barley (malted surely?) and wheat malt, and dry hopped with Galaxy. This was slightly hazy, presumably because of the choice of malts, a deep golden ale with a fruity aroma and tasting of peach and mango, and nice dry bitter finish, not bad at all!

My final chosen ale of the month, again from Kelham Island in Sheffield, was a wee bit different, and pretty interesting too! Apparently, not brewed with their usual yeast, but with a German lager yeast, and hops from the USA and Germany too, though I can't discover which hops. Another deep golden ale, pretty bitter with plenty of body and a dry finish...

Cheers!