A Local Beauty

 The Whitewater brewery is a small micro-brewery situated deep in the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. It employs less than 5 people and is relatively anonymous outside of the Emerald Isle, but bloody hell, it produces some good beer!
   Their flagship brand, Clotworthy Dobbin, is a 5.0% rich porter, brewed to an original recipe concocted by Mr. Dobbin himself in the 1800's. The brewery still use yeast from the old Belfast brewery in order to achieve the most accurate reproduction of the original beer.
   This beer is a dark ruby in colour, with a smoky appearance and a thick, brownish head. It holds fantastic smoked oak and burnt sugar aromas, giving it a lot of body and depth. A significant amount of fruit is apparent both on the nose and on taste, giving it that little sweet edge, and adding an extra dimension to the beer. The finish is short and dry with some bitterness.
   Altogether, this beer makes for a great drink, whether as a session beer or with food. It left me dying for another, but instead, I decided to go for another of the Whitewater brands, this time, it was the lesser known Belfast Ale.
   This is a 4.5% amber ale, again brewed to an old recipe, originating in the old Belfast brewery.
  On first taste, the typical 'ale' tastes were immediately apparent. The beer had distinct sharpness with some hop and malt. As I took a few more sips, more fruity tones along with some sweet caramel aromas came along, eventually culminating in an obvious oaky taste and a long, bitter finish.
   Now, although not nearly as good as the old Clot, this beer is still something special. Another fantastic brew from a group of local heros, re-inventing the craft beer scene in Northern Ireland.
    Both these beers are truly wonderful and no matter where you are over the next few days, I encourage you to do your best to get your hands on either one of them, and enjoy an alternative Irish beer this St. Patricks Day.

Švyturys

When we think about beer, Lithuania is not a country that immediately springs to mind. Germany, Belgium and even the likes of Poland are all big beer capitals, but Lithuania?

   Well, think again. Švyturys Ekstra is a great beer, brewed in Klaipėda, Lithuania, and is fast becoming a big name on both the local and international stage. The brand is owned by the Carlsberg group, and is part of the Baltic Beverages Holding company.

  The beer itself is a 5.2% lager. It pours a typical golden colour and has a thick, lasting head. On first taste, some mild ale-like tones are apparent, as it has a reasonably strong aroma with some maltiness and some floral scents on the nose. There are some mild toffee notes with a hoppy undertone, giving a little kick. The finish is bitter but quite quick.

  Altogether I thought this beer was quite enjoyable, and went well with a delicious plate of beef stroganoff. I know that the brewery produce a number of great beers and I will be keeping my eyes peeled for any beers under the Švyturys brand.

March 2011

March's 'Beer of the month' is...'Pilsner Urquell'! Why? Because people that like lager should see where it all started. The original Pilsner. Try it this month!
      

Bitte, Ein Bit

 Germany. Some would call it the home of beer, but it is most certainly the home of one of the world's most famous continental lagers, BitBurger.
    'Bit' is instantly recognisable. It tastes like real lager should taste, pure. The Brewery opened in 1817, so was brewed under the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot (still a precondition of German Unity from 1871 right up to 1988, when it was lifted after over 500 years). This meant, and to some extent, still does mean, that the beer was just pure beer, no additives, no extras.
      This is apparent upon first sight. The beer is a wonderful golden colour with very little cloudiness and virtually no visible impurities. On taste it holds a delicious maltyness with fresh bread and biscuit aromas, along with some mild fruity tones. This all makes for a very quaffable pint, and in fact, this is one of the most drinkable beers I have ever tasted (excluding the macro- brewed American 'lagers' which thrive upon tasteless drinkability), yet I did want to drink it slowly. There were so many flavours on the nose and pallate that I just had to take it one sip at a time. I will concede, the beer is brewed for drinking and not over-analysing, but there is so much there that I just had to really examine the bouquet of flavours that it held.
    A truly underestimated force in the beer world, nochmal Bit, bitte.

Marston's

  The Marstons brand is a familiar sight in any pub across the UK. Their 'Pedigree' ale is one of the top selling ales in Britain and their many other brands are becoming increasingly popular, and there is a reason for that. Character.
  Now, I probably use the term 'character' far too often with regards to beer, but there is no other way to describe the beer coming out of the Burton-on-Trent brewery. Marston's plc. does own many beer brands, such as Wychwood, Brakespear and Jennings', but Marstons branded beer has something special.
       Their flagship brand, Pedigree, is made in a unique way, using the oak Burton Union System (allowing it to ferment in wooden casks, rather than steel or alloy ones). The result is a pale, amber coloured ale with sweet, toffee-like aromas along with some grassy notes. In the mouth it holds a crisp, dry flavour, with some sweetness and biscuity malt. The beer is brewed using the ever-popular hop varieties, Fuggles and Goldings, giving an earthy flavour and plenty of aroma. This is a very drinkable beer, and has an abv of 5%.
     A slightly less common beer under the Marstons brand is their strong ale, Owd Roger. A 7.3% dark ale, with quite a lot of flavour.
          The toffee and oak notes are immediately apparent and some aromas of burnt sugar and liquorice do appear once you have started to drink. The flavour is sweet but with a bitter finish. It is very smooth on the pallate and is suprisingly quaffable for such a full-bodied ale.
    Both these beers are full of body and character, and are a welcome addition to any meal  or just an evening in the pub. I know that Marston's have many more brands out there, and I look forward to trying them all!

Re-united with an old friend

 This month I re-discovered an old favourite of mine. Peroni's extra special 'Gran Riserva'. This Italian beauty is one of the nicest, most flavourful continental lagers on the market. A 6.6% abv doppio malto, this is not a weak beer. The hoppy flavours are immediately apparent, creating a refreshingly bitter bite, whilst retaining the depth of flavour that Peroni is famous for. It was dark gold in colour with a small white head. My only criticism of the beer was the slightly watery taste that it left at the back of the mouth, but one could argue that this made the beer somewhat more drinkable and refreshing.  The beer went perfectly with the small portion of Bruschetta that I was enjoying, but would work equally well with any Italian cuisine. It was one of the few beers which genuinely left me feeling happy afterwards. It combined character, depth and drinkability, working together to create one of the most well rounded beers of its type in the world.

  On a side note, the beer is quite hard to get in the UK, and, as far as I know, is not stocked by any of the major supermarkets. I had my most recent bottle in a ‘Pizza Express’ restaurant, where I know it is often available at a reasonable price. If anybody reading this knows where the beer is available, please do leave a comment.

The Commercial Crisis

 The beer world is in a state of crisis. It's public image is being weakened constantly by a vast deluge of sub-standard 'commercial' lagers. Beers such as 'Coors Light' and 'Miller' are controlling the worldwide beer market, giving the general public the idea that all beer is just urine-coloured (and some would say urine flavoured) water. Coors is a particular pet hate for me. It lacks any sort of flavour, texture or character, and is, quite frankly, disgusting. The sad thing is, this is what people are drinking. these beers would not be as common as they are if nobody actually drank it. Even some of my favourite breweries are succumbing to this phenomenon. Italy's 'Peroni' now distributes 'Nastro Azzuro' right across Europe and further afield. This beer is a far cry from the original 'Peroni'. It is, although infintely better than any of the commercial American beers, unbearably watery. This is truly worrying. I love beer, not alcoholic water.
    So where is the future for beer? Ales and German Wheat beers are still popular across Europe, but how long until the ominous giant that is popular western culture consumes them, producing more brands of characterless muck?
    My advice to you...Don't conform to this damaging and degrading culture. Stand up for the craft brewers, and the micro-breweries, and the ales, the stouts, the wheat beers, the truly original creations! It's time to start a beer revolution!

February 2011

So, January is over, and I hope you had a good one, but now we must concentrate on the month ahead. In February I will continue to write regularly (a new review every Monday), and will keep you up to date on what is happening in the beer world. I hope to add a few new features to the blog, as it is currently very early in its life. But, for now, as I plan to do every month, I will suggest one beer which you should try before the end of  February, and that beer is...Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer. Available at most Asda stores and many other off-licences or supermarkets, this beer will open your eyes to a new world of flavour. So have fun!

Wychcraft and Wizardry

The Wychwood brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire is probably most famous for their dark ale, Hobgoblin. The beer has been very successful right across the UK and even further afield. However, they have other beers. Most recently I came across a bottle of a 4.5% blonde beer called 'Wychcraft'. The label, in true Wychwood fashion, was intricately designed, with various symbols and mottos, and the beer itself was equally complex.
         As it poured, I noticed the vibrant amber colour of the beer, now this is not usual in a 'blonde' beer, as they are generally...well...blonde in colour, but I'll let this go, as the smell of the beer was exquisite. Prominent fruity, floral tones complimented the weaker hoppyness, giving it a rich, garden scent. On the tongue, it was even more flavoufull. The hoppy maltyness really came to the fore, giving it a slight bitterness, leaving the sweet, fruity tastes to the finish, giving a truly multi-layered flavour.
   My ony criticism of the beer is the fact that it never really has a kick. With a beer of this sort of flavour, one would expect a bit of a bite, making the beer more refreshing, but the sweetness overpowered this, leaving a slightly watery texture, however, this is just a nominal criticism, as the beer was excellent. Well done to Wychwood for showing that they are not a one beer brewery.
                                                             SP

A South American Gem

OK, so, this weeks beer is, as the title would suggest, a 'South American Gem'. Straight from Brazil, Brahma is quite a beer. It is a wonderfully pure looking beer, with a pale gold colour and a water-like clarity. At 4.3%abv this beer is perfect for drinking on a hot summers day, straight out of the bottle.
    First tastes are of citrus, most notably lime. This is, in some respects, quite similar to Corona, but so much nicer. This citrusy taste is followed up by mild, sweet notes, which accompanies a faint maltyness. The beer is very drinkable when served ice cold, but isn't great at higher temperatures, when it has a weaker flavour and a watery texture. On the nose, the beer is undoubtedly very summery, with light floral and herbal notes. This combination of tastes and smells help to give the beer a very refreshing, thirst quenching character, and will leave you dying for another.
    This beer is, although quite simple, very satisfying, and is a perfect beer for just relaxing. It tastes best when you just want to have a beer and not over-analyse it. An absolute must have for summer.

Shepherd Neame

Shepherd Neame Brewery is what epitomises Kentish ale. It produces numerous varieties of flavourful, character filled ales, and is, in my opinion, one of Britain's best breweries. So, this week I tried two of their perhaps lesser known ales, and was able to compare.
     The first beer I tried was their 'Master Brew'. This particular ale is widely available across the Kent area, but outside England, is relatively unheard of.
   When poured, the beer exudes cut grass and floral scents. It pours a light amber colour with a creamy off-white head. On the first taste, the garden aromas are unmistakable. The beer has a real spring-time feel to it. Soon the taste settles down into a nice, drinkable smooth ale, with light hoppy notes, and perhaps even some mushroom flavours in the mix. It is not as full bodied an ale as some of it's competitors, and lacks the maltyness that provides some flavour, but this ale does make up for it, particularly in it's refreshing drinkability. (4%)
          
     The second Shepherd Neame beer I had was a Whitstable Bay Organic Ale. This was something of an education for me, having never had an ale labelled 'organic'. The beer pours a very orange colour, something akin to Lucozade, rather than ale, and the quickly fading head did not instill much confidence, but on first taste my doubts were quickly forgotten. It holds the same floral scents which impressed me about Master Brew, but held an unmistakably sweet toffee aroma. It was a very malty beer, but still managed to hold a crisp bitterness right throughout. On the tongue, sweet notes with some hop. The finish was slightly disappointing, however, as it was quite watery, but apart from that, this was a wonderful ale, and deserves praise.
(4.5%)

New Year, New Beer!

OK, so 2011 is ten days old and I feel it's about time I got blogging! So, new beers for the new year. I started off the year still in a rather festive mood. The tree was still up and the corny Christmas TV schedule was still in full flow, so I decided to treat myself to a 'Christmas Ale'. This an effort at a festive beer from Newmans Brewery in Caerphilly, South Wales. The beer was availiable from my local supermarket at a reasonable price so, at the right time of year, is easy enough to get your hands on.
    The first thing that caught my eye was the packaging. The beer was sold in a 330ml bottle, which in turn, was inside a cardboard tube, quite like some bottles of wine. This was obviously quite interesting, and certainly stood out among the usual collection of dull, brown bottles that make up the 'ales' section, so I grabbed one.
  Well, what can I say about the beer? When I opened the bottle, I was instantly hit with aromas of cinnamon and plum pudding. It was definitely a seasonal beer, and not one for a hot summers afternoon, but it felt perfect for the occasion. When I finally got around to drinking the beer, my hopes were perhaps not completely fulfilled. Do not get me wrong, it was a wonderful, full bodied ale with a distinct Christmassy twist, but it didn't hold the warmth and 'mulled wine-like' flavour that the aromas had so assuredly promised. I was impressed by the ever changing tastes on the palate ranging from a bitter, hoppy taste to a warm, spicy, seasonal flavour, and even more-so once I had finished the beer, as it left me with a magical cinnamon aftertaste, and an appetite for more. Therefore, despite it's perhaps misleading introduction, this beer did impress and I must commend Newmans for their sterling effort. 

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone. 2011 is going to mark the official start of the beer blog, but first, I need followers, so, if you stumble across this page...SIGN UP! Or, if you're not interested, tell any friends who you think might want to subscribe. So, subscribe and have a great 2011!
                                                                SP