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!

Another Brew for Ukraine Ale in Sheffield!

A few months ago I published a blog mainly written by Dave Szwejkowski, aka Dave Unpronounceable, founder member of Steel City Brewing (facebook), about his visit to Ukraine earlier this year. It also reported that, at this important time for Ukraine, Steel City Brewing are supporting Brew for Ukraine (website), for which they brewed a mighty Ukrainian Imperial Stout at 11.8%, Vlad the Invader (below), the brewery's profits from the ale went to the Brew for Ukraine Crisis Relief Project. I since wrote that £800 was donated to the project (blog).

Vlad the Invader

More recently, Steel City Brewing brewed a collaborative ale with Weird Bear Brew Co (website) to support Brew for Ukraine (website). This time it's a mighty 9.5% DIPA called Russian Warship, Go F*ck Yourself (my asterisk, and top image above) with the brewery profit again going to the Brew for Ukraine Crisis Relief Project. 

I believe that this is in cans too, and Weird Beard may have some available, but casks of this ale were supplied to 3 Sheffield pubs, you lucky drinkers in Sheffield! That is, The Crow Inn, 33 Scotland Street S3 7BS (website) and Shakespeare's, 146-148 Gibraltar Street S3 8UB (facebook), both written about in this blog from April, and to The Rutland Arms, 86 Brown Street S1 2BS (website), written about in this blog from April.

Still on at The Rutland Arms yesterday, presumably some left for today, and soon to appear at The Crow Inn and Shakespeare's...

Great stuff, and oh to be in Sheffield this weekend! 😋

Budmo Dave! 

 

Hastings Beer & Music Festival 2022 now on!

I nearly missed this, yet it's in my diary for this weekend, but it began yesterday apparently, oops! The 2022 Hastings Beer and Music Festival (29 June to 2 July - website) is being held at The Oval, Bohemia Road TN34 1EU (Hastings Borough Council website), and tickets can be bought from this page of the website, however, they state it is sold out for this evening (Thursday). The Festival is organised by Hastings Round Table, thus all profits go to charity, indeed, "Film, DJs and Live Music all raising money for local good causes."

The Oval

The Festival has been running since 1981, when it was situated in Alexandra Park, but as it grew in size it had to move to a larger venue, hence from 2017 it has been held at The Oval. It is entirely staffed by volunteers, which means more money going to charities. Oh yes, BEER! They have a large Real Ale Tent supplied by many local breweries, also local ciders and wines, lagers, and 'high quality' local food...

What more do you want? oh yes, and live music! Their facebook page appears to be the best place to find out what's on at the Festival, enjoy!

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! 

Pub Pride 2022 Today!

And don't forget, today is Pub Pride 2022, with many events going on all round the country, go to their website for details of events. Pub Pride, run by the charity Ask for Clive, gives everyone in the trade the opportunity to promote inclusiveness, and for pubs to welcome everyone into their establishments in safety, good stuff, cheers!

Belgian Bonus Ale!

As I suggested in my last blog there may be a bonus Belgian ale review coming, and here it is, another one from Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat (website), their 9.5% Duvel Tripel Hop Citra Belgian IPA. Since 2007, the brewers at Duvel have been creating a unique Tripel Hop each Spring, with a different third hop added to the regular Saaz-Saaz and Styrian Golding hops, this time, you'll realise, one of my favourite hops from the Wakima Valley in the USA, that is Citra. In addition, the beer is dry-hopped, and this year, of course, with those magical Citra hops!

So, is it any good? Of course it is, indeed, it is quite a refreshing golden ale and, despite the strength, quite easy to drink too. There is a fruity aroma to invite you in, and, a hint of sweetness at first taste, but with much grapefruit, citrus and tropical tastes washing round your mouth, ending with a dry slightly bitter finish. I wrote "pretty good!" in my notes and gave this version of Duvel 8.5 out of 10 in my Belgian 'Festival' system of marking, yes, it is that good, cheers!

Belgian Ales Part 2

So, Part 2 of my personal mini 'Belgian Beer Festival' and blogs (Part 1) with the 7th to 12th Belgian ales, all contained in the box in the photograph above, and reviewed here [there may just be one more 'bonus' ale to come, again, for comparative reasons]. Interestingly, I have just discovered as I research for/write this that the 3 different breweries' 2 ales each are all brewed by just the ONE brewery, that is Brouwerij Van Steenberge! I shall explain further as I go through the ales, again, all bottle-conditioned, and brewed at the over 200 years old Brouwerij Van Steenberge (website), no doubt how Lidl could offer the deal at such a reasonable price... 😉

The Bornem abbey ales (above and below) have been brewed by Van Steenberge since 1971, but remain linked to the roots of the Sint-Bernardus Abbey in Burnem, which was closed in the 18th century, but then re-established in 1844. The Dubbel (above) is the only example of a Dubbel in my dozen beers featured in these 2 blogs. Dubbels are like the strong dark milds of Belgian ales, not as strong as Tripels, but this one still weighs in at 7.2%, so, not to be sniffed at! This is a very dark brown/ruby ale, fruity, rich, smooth and sweet to taste, not bad at all, despite my preference for the more bitter and pale golden Tripel style; I gave it 6 out of 10.

The Bornem Tripel is much more to my taste, pale golden in colour, and at 9.0%, a tad more to it! The aroma gives a hint of a darker fruity ale, but the flavour is more complex, a touch of sweetness, but with a lovely dry bitter finish to each mouthful. My notes say "very good" which is reflected in my score of 8 out of 10.

And the last 4 ales are all a whopping 10.5% in strength!

The name of Gulden Draak (Golden or Gilded Dragon) comes from the legend of the Gulden Draak that originally adorned the bow of an early 12th century Viking Ship, then was atop a dome in Constantinople, from where it was brought to Flanders by Flemish Count Boudewijn in the 13th century ending up in Bruges; and from where it was finally removed as a spoil of war by the victorious Ghent forces following the Battle of Beverhoutsveld in 1382. It has since remained at the Ghent Belfry, guarding the people of Ghent and symbolising freedom and power (visitgent).

The importance to the Brouwerij Van Steenberge of the history behind the Gulden Draak beers, their Titans, has seen the brewery create their own dedicated website. The first Gulden Draak I tasted, and I admit to having drunk this in Brussels towards the end of the last millennium, when I called it a "Christmas Pudding of a Beer" - a description my brother (who lived in Belgium at the time) liked enough to use himself. So, to the Gulden Draak Classic, as I intimated above, a majestic 10.5%, and which remains a Christmas pudding of a Beer! The brewery state this is a Tripel, but not a pale golden one, but a dark ruby red in colour, rich, full bodied and full of flavour. Indeed, the brewery liken it to a barley wine, which ages and develops well with time due to the secondary fermentation in the bottle following the addition of wine yeast; they recommend keeping 75cl bottles for many years to mature! Unsurprisingly, it scored 9 out of 10.

Similar to the Gulden Draak Classic, the Gulden Draak 9000 quadruple is 10.5% in strength, and the secondary fermentation in the bottle is created by adding wine yeast. It has very complex flavours, but is dissimilar in that this is paler in colour, more of a dark amber/blonde beer with a hint of red, and having a big fruity aroma and a much fruitier flavour; so not quite the same impact, but it's very good still, and scored 8 out of 10. 

Following the success of Gulden Draak, Brouwerij Van Steenberge created Piraat in 1988, again 10.5% in strength, but a blond ale. Piraat is slightly sweet and spicy at first taste, but with a much more bitter finish. Similar to Gulden Draak they add wine yeast to create the secondary fermentation in the bottle. I certainly liked this, and gave it a score of 8.5 out of 10.

The Piraat Tripel Hop (10.5%) set me a conundrum, do I prefer this to the Westmalle Tripel reviewed in my last blog?!? 😕 Well, it's likened by the brewery to the American Pale Ales that were influenced by hoppy craft beers first created in the USA, and that have become popular in Britain and, indeed, which I do like a lot, as regular readers of this blog will realise! It's a golden ale with 4 different hops added to the original Piraat, and unsurprisingly has a big hoppy fruity aroma, a hint of citrus in the taste, and a lovely bitter finish. I rated it "very good" in my notes but couldn't give it the same score as Westmalle Tripel, so I gave it just 9.25 out of 10, but who knows, if I get to taste it again... I shall have to keep my eye out for more! 😄

I hope you have enjoyed these 2 Belgian Ale blogs, look out for a bonus 😉 Cheers!