Happy International Beer Day 2022!

Indeed, like the number 37 bus, these celebratory days never turn up alone! 😂 Apparently, the first Thursday in August every year since 2011 has been IPA Day (blog yesterday), and the first Friday in August since 2013 has been International Beer Day; previously, from 2007, it had been on August the 5th until 2012, well, it's the 5th again this year! Another 'day' created by an American, Jesse Avshalomov, at his local bar in Santa Cruz in California in 2007, you have to love those Yanks for suggesting I celebrate beer regularly!

The purpose of the day is to gather with others and enjoy a few beers, indeed, to celebrate the variety of beers, and to celebrate those who brew, manage, and serve beer to us, not to forget the wonderful pubs and bars where we drink. As Simon Difford suggests, let's raise a glass "to Beer, a drink that brings the world together." (diffordsguide)

I'll have to pop out for a few pints too, cheers! 😄

Happy IPA Day 2022!

Yes, today is IPA Day 2022 (zeebiz), celebrating India Pale Ales on the first Thursday of August every year, and how they have been influenced by craft brewers, and hops, from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed to be transported by boat on the long trip to India from Britain in the 18th century, thus had plenty of strength and with hops as a preservative, to survive the journey. The idea to have an IPA day began 11 years ago in 2011, and is the brain child of American beer enthusiast and author, Ashley Routson, to whom I have to thank for making me also take advantage of this day over here in Britain, cheers!

To celebrate I had 2 ales, one from South Yorkshire, the other from Kent. From up int' North of England, just around the corner from where I used to live in Sheffield, and Little Critters Brewing (website), their #3 Session IPA (4.5%), brewed with Galaxy and Sabro hops, a true international mix! Galaxy hops are descended from a German variety, Perle, and is an Australian hop noted for 'citrus, peach and passion fruit aromas' (Hopslist). Sabro hops, meanwhile, are from the Yakima Valley in the USA, the result of a "cross-pollination of a female neomexicanus hop" with "tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas" (Yakima Valley Hops). I have to admit I didn't get anywhere near the amount of fruit suggested in the aroma, the #3 Session IPA is a pale golden IPA, very dry and bitter aftertaste, and not bad at all!

From Kent Brewery (website), back down in the South East of England, and their #4 in their single hopped pale series Simcoe (also 4.5%), and, unsurprisingly, brewed with Simcoe hops. Simcoe hops are another hop variety from the Yakima Valley in the USA, with bright "citrus flavours with earthy undertones, aromas of grapefruit, pine and herbs" (Hopslist). Out of the two I prefer this ale, though they are both very decent, again a pale golden bitter, with a hint of the fruit aromas suggested, and a hint in the taste too, nice dry bitter finish, and very good indeed!

Anyway, Happy IPA Day, and cheers Ashley, I've ordered a copy of your book! 🍺

2 Brewery's Ales during Visit London Visit & USA link too!

This was actually the second ale I drank over the last few days from a brewery I'd never drank a beer from before. I'm discussing it first because I preferred it, it was significantly stronger, and it cost less! 👍 This ale was from a quite new brewery with a great history too, thanks to the American lad who has been the creator of Forest Road Brewing Company (website) with not a little help from family, friends and others; see Pete Brown's blog The Road to Forest Road, which I shall give a very brief summary of, but the whole blog is well worth the read.

Pete started out brewing at home with brewkits in a flat in Queens, New York, in 2008. He then moved to Denver in 2010 and worked behind a bar for 6 months before convincing Eric Erman of Wynkoop Brewing Company (website) to help them brew once a week. In 2012 he sold his car and moved across the Atlantic, then getting experience working for London Fields Brewery, which has since been bought out with a joint purchase by the Carlsberg Group and Brooklyn Brewery. 8 months later he moved to Camden Town Brewery (website), which was taken over by AB InBev in 2015; and whilst there Pete completed 2 brewing diplomas at the University of Westminster. That year he decided to set up his own brewery.

Pete moved into a house in Forest Road, East London, where he convinced his housemates to start up a brewery, and the first brew devised was Work a 'malty low bitter IPA' 60 litres brewed in the garden. They became a 'cuckoo' brewery, including using the facilities of a Belgian brewery, then Forest Road Brewing Company was formed in 2016. Again, read Pete's blog for more detail, I cannot do justice to the story here, but in 2019 they ended up buying a 4-vessel brewkit from Russian River Brewing in California (website), shipping it through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean to London in 2020! They now have a brewery and taproom in South Bermondsey (2020/21 - website) as well as the taproom in Hackney (since 2016 - website), and I haven't even mentioned the money raising, and tactics used during the pandemic!

To the ale... I recently wrote about the 'C' hops and American beers (eg blog and blog), well, the Forest Road Work India Pale Ale (5.4%), the brewery's 'flagship' ale, has Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Columbus hops in the brew. This is a pale amber brew with hints of malt and citrus and tropical fruits in the taste, quite subtle, with a bitter aftertaste, not bad at all, and costing a relatively cheap £5.20 a pint in a well known London pub...

We drank this in an old favourite pub that we hadn't visited for quite a while, but glad we did on Friday! The Market Porter (above - website), 9 Stoney Street SE1 9AA, which is positioned opposite Borough Market (website), a wholesale fruit and veg market early doors and a popular trendy market for various cuisine later in the day. A pub has been on the site for at least 400 years, previously called the Harrow until the 1890s, and has sold food and drink early doors to market porters knocking off from their jobs, now between 6.00 and 9.00 am, when it closes until lunchtime. Great interior, we enjoyed the non-intrusive music too, and well worth a visit!

The other ale from a brewery I'd never drank a beer from before was from Wimbledon Brewery (website), which is situated in nearby Colliers Wood, on the site of Merton Priory, where beer was brewed throughout the Middle Ages, until the priory was demolished in 1538, thanks to Henry VIII. The logo of the brewery includes a phoenix emerging from an image of the tower of the former Wimbledon Brewery that was destroyed by fire in 1889, nice touch. The latest Wimbledon Brewery was set up in 2015 with a 30 Brewers Barrel plant.

The ale we drank here was the Wimbledon Brewery SW19 (4.0%), a Blonde Summer Ale, brewed with Waimea, Rakau and Cascade hops grown in New Zealand and English Fuggle and Goldings hops. For those who don't know, SW19 is the postcode for Wimbledon. The SW19 Blonde Ale has quite a pale colour, with a subtle malt and citrus flavour, very easy to drink, but didn't leave too much of an impression on me; costing £5.65 a pint didn't help!

Oh yes, where was here? Well, drinking in Wimbledon probably influenced the price, that is, at The Crooked Billet (website), 15 Crooked Billet SW19 4RQ. The Crooked Billet was built in the early 18th century, becoming a pub in the 1850s, the name coming from the pub sign that was a crooked piece of wood broken from a tree, I think, but there are many interpretations! Anyway, apparently, the name of this small local part of Wimbledon Common, and the road, was taken from the name of the pub; so not a chicken or egg situation 😉 It's a pub I have visited off and on for many years, as also is the nearby Hand in Hand (website), where I first drank Ruddles County whilst Ruddles Brewery was still an independent brewery, many years ago...

Anyway, bye for now folks, and cheers!

24 hours banishment from facebook!

And I'm pronouncing 'banished' in true Shakespearian manner in my head, and what has this got to do with beer anyway? Well, I couldn't share my latest blog on my Steve the Beermeister facebook page! I can look at facebook, but not touch until this afternoon, it appears! And what was my heinous crime to stimulate the castigation? Here's what I wrote on a friend's post when she visited a restaurant/bar (facebook page) that I used to walk past in between home and school many years ago, years before it opened, it offended their 'community standards' 😏

Quote: Interesting that when I looked on the page and the map it showed me how to drive there from Hastings  See, IT isn't all that clever really, I was born and bred in Wandsworth, didn't know that, eh?!? Of course I know how to get to Ye Olde Yorke Road  I walked that way to secondary school and back 5 days a week during term time!  Maybe a few too many emojis? But it looks decent, that area has certainly gone upmarket since my yoof!
 

Maybe they didn't like me joking about information technology, but hardly offensive!

Anyway, I hope to be back on my Steve the Beermeister facebook page soon, cheers!

Bonus Belgian Beer and another 'Musical' Hop too!

Further to my recent Musical Hops blog, when I suggested there may be a second bonus Belgian ale review coming, and yes, I did purchase a few bottles of the beer above, another quality beer brewed by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat (website), their 9.5% Duvel Tripel Hop Cashmere 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 it's one of my recent discoveries, the Cashmere hop. In addition, the beer is dry-hopped, and this year, of course, with the eponymous Cashmere hop! 

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*

So, what's it like? Well, unsurprisingly, this bottle-conditioned ale is a bit similar to the Tripel Hop Citra.  Indeed, another refreshing golden ale with a citrus fruity aroma again, and again a hint of sweetness at first taste, but not so much grapefruit to the taste this time, and ending with a very dry bitter finish. I shall take another bottle out of my fridge later today, cheers! 😉

* Thanks again to the excellent hopslist website.

Letter from America - Guest Blog and the Brown Dog

Guest Blog by Stacey: 

If, like me, the first things that come to mind are Alistair Cooke's radio programme that my brother used to regularly listen to (BBC), or a certain Scottish band's song (YouTube), but no, I really have received a missive (electronic) from America, many thanks to Stacey! 

The missive was about The Brown Dog, 215 St Joe Plaza Drive, Palm Coast, Florida, US, FL 32164 (website), which has been running for a little over 7 years, and was very recently bought by 2 friends; they also have a facebook page. Opening times are 4.00pm to 9.30pm Tuesdays to Thursdays, 4.00pm to 10.30pm Fridays and Saturdays, and closed on Sundays and Mondays.  I will comment about beers and hops later, but the blog is Stacey's, cheers. 👌

The Brown Dog is a clean and bright bar (ed: see above), with a friendly atmosphere, keeping a casual vibe, and the new owners, having worked here for years, have retained their many amazing regulars. Food-wise they are renowned for their creative burgers and their wings; the kitchen closes 1 hour before the bar closes. Just this week they have installed a new beer line, increasing the number of beer 'taps' from 16 to 17. They keep many Florida beers on tap, and typically run 3 IPAs, 3 stouts and/or porters, with a whole range of beer styles in between.

They are working with some new distributors to increase their selection of beers, with the bar's locals getting excited about the thought of new beers! They are also planning to expand the selection of beers available in bottles and cans, and are bringing back previously popular Tap Nights. On these nights they will be 'tapping' several beers from a brewery, whose reps will come and talk about their beers, often bringing with them 'give aways' and/or raffle items. Currently my favourite beer on tap is Oh-J Double IPA from Lone Pine Brewery, a 'New England' style.

Many thanks again Stacey! 👍

Ed: Well, I had to look up Stacey's recent 'favourite' IPA and can see why she likes it so much! It's brewed by Lone Pine Brewery (website), and the Oh-J Double IPA, at 8.1% and packed with hops, provides depth and big fruit flavours. The hops used are listed as Amarillo, which provide orange citrus flavour; Centennial, developed from 'inter-marrying' Brewer's Gold, Fuggles, East Kent Goldings and Bavarian hops; and Falconer's Flight. Now, I had never heard of Falconer's Flight before, but looked to good old hopslist for help, and many thanks to them, to find out that Falconer's Flight is a blend of Pacific Northwest hops, including the following seven Cs: Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Cluster, Columbus and Crystal, many of which I've recently written (eg blog), PLUS other experimental hop varieties... no wonder Oh-J Double IPA is packed with flavour, cheers Stacey! 

Oh, and to prove I have just a wee bit of knowledge about beers from the USA, I noticed The Brown Dog has recently had Goose Island IPA available, which is from a Chicago brewpub I visited many years ago, although it's moved on a bit since then... I have written about Goose Island a couple of times, including in this homage to the Beer Hunter (blog). However, I do need to find and drink many more of the more adventurous American brews, cheers!

Mini Pub Crawl around Hastings Old Town

I walked to the Old Town from Hastings Town Centre, and started at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road TN34 3DW (website), because it's open by 11.00. This pub is in the heart of the Hastings Fishing Industry, with a balcony facing the famous tall black net huts. The Dolphin has returned to having 3 regular ales, 2 brewed in Sussex, Harvey's Sussex Best and Dark Star Hophead, and Young's Special, now brewed in Bedford, and I refuse to call it what they've re-badged it as 'London Special' as it's not been brewed in London for years now! Anyway, this recent visit saw 3 quite local guest ales too, that is, 2 from Sussex brewers, Lakedown (website), their 4.2% Pale, and Gun (website), Project Babylon, a 4.6%  American Pale Ale. I drank the third guest ale, from Kent Brewery (website), their rather easy to drink 4.2% The Quiet American, a light refreshing APA style with subtle flavours, noticeably grapefruit, nice one. 

I walked out of the pub to the right, and turned first right and walked up to the Crown, 64-66 All Saints Street TN34 3BN (website), which also opens at 11.00. Since the Covid-19 lockdowns they have reduced the number of their cask ales to 2. On this visit they had 1 from a Sussex brewery, that is Battle (website), and their 4.5% One Hop Wonder, not sure which hop, but a quite subtle APA, and not bad at all. The other ale was from Kent brewer Pig & Porter (website), their Slave to the Money, a 4.1% bitter, using Bramling Cross hops. They also have a regular keg stout from Sussex brewery Only with Love (website), their 4.9% Halland Oatmeal Stout, which uses Columbus, Magnum and Willamette hops.

If you go straight down Courthouse Street opposite the pub, cross The Bourne main road, continue up Courthouse Street and it leads you to the Jenny Lind Inn dead opposite (website), 69 High Street TN34 3EW. The Jenny Lind was built on the site of a much older pub that dated back to the early 17th century, The Bell, but with a gap whilst not a pub of 200 years, before the Jenny Lind started trading in the 1850s. It's named after the Swedish Nightingale, the famous opera singer who, under the wing of the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, became widely followed throughout Europe, including by Queen Victoria; she moved to England in 1855, where she lived until her death in 1887.

The Jenny Lind, which opens at 12.00, usually has 6 ales available, but with room and handpumps available for quite a few more ales for special events. Their 2 regular ales are from Sussex brewery Long Man (Best Bitter - website) and Greene King (Abbot Ale - website). They had 4 guest ales including 2 from Sussex brewery Only with Love (one was their Halland Oatmeal Stout cask-conditioned and Grizzly RYE IPA - website). Also 2 from Kent breweries Pig & Porter Skylarking, a 4.0% Session IPA, and the one I drank, from Kent Brewery (website), their 4.8% The New Black, a Black APA, an oxymoron perhaps? I have written about Black IPA/APAs for my older blog, where I briefly explain how 'Black' IPA/APAs are brewed. Anyway, The New Black really is, surprisingly maybe, light and citrusy, and very tasty indeed!

Then, I continued down the High Street to the seafront and turned left to reach the Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street TN34 3AR (website), which opens 14.00 weekends, 16.00 weekdays). They had 2 ales available, a 5.0% milk stout from Pentrich Brewing (website) Glass Half Empty, and the ale I drank, from Verdant Brewing (website), their 4.4% Where Can I Find Friday, a collaboration with Fyne Ales (website). Brewed with Mosaic and Strata hops, this was a very drinkable golden bitter. There was also a keg stout from Kent brewer Time & Tide (website), and they have 6-8 real ciders and perry available, usually including a couple from local cider makers, on this day, from Nightingale Cider Co (website), their 6.0% Discovery.

I then walked back westwards towards Hastings town centre, soon reaching the Albion, 33 George Street TN34 3EA (website), but with an entrance on Marine Parade opposite the seafront too, and which opens at 12.30. They had 4 cask ales available, all from Sussex breweries, Harvey's Sussex Best (website) is their regular, and there is usually an ale from Bedlam too (website), which, on this day, was their Phoenix, a 3.9% APA. Labelled an Extra American Pale Ale, and brewed using hops (Cascade, Citra and Amarillo) and a yeast from the USA, indeed, a nice refreshing bitter. Also, there was Yacht Rock, a 3.8% 'extra pale ale' from Only with Love (website) and the 4.2% Pale Ale from Lakedown Brewing (website). Please note that you do need to pay electronically here as they do not take cash.

If you are inspired by this blog and decide to visit Hastings soon, cheers! 🍺