GBBF 2012 — Great Beer

Posted on by

Now, I’d be lying if I claimed all beer at GBBF was “great” — there certainly are a lot of rather dull beers. The fact that Greene King IPA is even allowed in the room makes me sad. Then again, there are people who like the stuff — does that justify it? Sorry, I’m going to say “no” and that I think these people are wrong & broken. Just as I think people who like McDonald’s are broken, and the list can go on.  May as well let Molson Coors run a Carling bar in the festival. I had a handful of “dull” beers, but only one that I thought was “broken” — rotten egg gas & TCP just doesn’t belong in a 3.8% light brown English bitter. That’s all I’ll say about not-great beer, on with the great!

I did my best to “untappd” all my beers at the festival, though did end up having to catch-up a few the following days. The great advantage of this is I have a good record of what I drank and even the occasional note if there was something distinctive about it. One clear fact is that this year GBBF was actually a “real ale” festival for me, with a peppering of foreigners sneaking in. This resulted from the combination of the company I was keeping for most of the festival, and a current “research” interest in the cask ales — I’m buying for the Letchworth Beer Festival this year (as I did last year). This “research” was productive, I ended up dumping a couple of beers from the list because I thought they just weren’t up to scratch, and adding a couple because they really did stand out (or I met the brewer — it helps!)

My notable beers of the festival, in order of imbibance, were:

Sandstone, Edge

My first Sandstone beer. After following the ever critical & acerbic James B on twitter for some time I’m glad I’ve finally had a chance to try his beer, and that it was good! I do hope I get a chance to try some more sometime. I’ve tried to find a source for our beer festivals but no luck, so far… short of driving it myself. (I like Wales, so it is definitely an option.)

Sandstone Edge

Sandstone Edge

Strands, T’ Errmmm-inator

A beer and a memory! On my Hardknott beer collection trips to Cumbria I normally stop up there for a couple of days of hillwalking. One March (last year I think) we camped at Wasdale Head and did a great Scafell loop. However the night was too cold, it hit -7C, too cold for me even (need better sleeping bags). Thus we spent the next two nights in Nether Wasdale, at the Strands Inn. Home of the T’Errmmm-inator. It was a great place. Hearty food of excellent quality and a great range of beer brewed on-site. The owners and the brewer, especially, were good for a chat too. I liked it so much I blogged it.

The beer was as good as the memory. A rich & unctuous stout.

Stone, Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

I now think of this as Pete-beer. Nothing sets in the memory like the landlord of one of your favourite pubs rubbing your freshly shaved head.

This was on cask, and to be honest I don’t think it was better off for it. Thick, rich, sticky – it needed to be colder, and possibly fizzier.

Still a bloody fantastic beer though. If I didn’t know it in its usual form I’d not be complaining at all.

Daniel Thwaites Brewery, 13 Guns

Hey, the big(ger) guys are catching on… maybe it is just because Punk IPA is being brewed at the brewery, or perhaps it is just the sands of time. This is a really good IPA offering. Fresh and hoppy, and crisp in what I’m thinking of as the “UKIPA” style.

I tried this both with and without sparkler and in my opinion the sparkler did it no good at all. The beer felt and tasted kind of “squashed”.

Thwaites, 13 Guns

Thwaites, 13 Guns

Project Venus, Sugar And Spice

A “research beer” as I have it on my Letchworth Beer Festival list. Overall I recall ginger being dominant, and the beer being a little “rough around the edges”. But I think that given another month and a half it might smooth out. I certainly look forward to finding out. Enjoyable ale and firmly staying on my list.

I’ve been following the Project Venus beers since the start. I haven’t managed to try all of them, but I’ve had most. I ensured we had two previous ones at our festivals but I think my favourite has been the Venus Jade which I found in a local pub.

Stone & Wood, Pacific Ale

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Well, I just had to try something from “home” (even if it is the wrong side of the country). Came through very pineapple-y and a tad thin. I took a bottle home and it was much better (less thin) in isolation, but still tasted a bit like those pineapple sweets.

Stone & Wood, Pacific Ale

Stone & Wood, Pacific Ale

Ska Brewing, Decadent Imperial IPA

I was chatting to the brewer… so I just had to, didn’t I. Pity it was a 650ml bomber and I had to drink the lot! (Me being “between friends” at that stage, and the Ska Brewing dude being well stocked already.)

This is, in my limited experience, your typical US-DIPA — loads of caramel “balanced” (countered?) with loads of hops. It works. This is a great example of it working. However, I expect that I, with my not-really-at-all-sweet-tooth, will just never appreciate heavy use of crystal malt.

I find the strong UK-IPAs coming out at the moment are generally avoiding this heavy caramel. We’re seeing more crisp, dry, and sometimes even white-wine vinous finishes to strong IPAs here. Personally I think we’re better off for it.

Ilkley Brewery Co., Siberia Rhubarb Saison

Cask! Finally! I first tried this at Melissa Cole & Mark Poynton’s beer-and-food matched degaustation at Alimentum in Cambridge. I loved it on the night and promptly ordered 12 bottled from Beer Ritz. The bottles were a little disappointing, but only due to them having far too much condition. We’ve enjoyed them regardless and even used a few for a very tasty beer-and-beetroot punch!

On cask at GBBF this beer was at its best. A word: sublime.

Ilkley, Siberia

Ilkley, Siberia

Brains, Barry Island IPA

Another larger brewery (albeit their new “craft” brewery) with a UKIPA! And another good one too. Nothing in your face, very well balanced. I’ve not really rated Brains as being of much interested until now… but I’ll be looking out for their “craft” productions in future. This particular ale is highly repeatable (perhaps a little too repeatable for the ABV).

This was another for the sparkler challenge. In this case the beer was better WITH the sparkler.

Gasthaus-Brauerei Braustelle, Cedarwood Alt

Close your eyes. Conjure up a scent — the scent of sawing through a pine sleeper. That is the dominant flavour in this beer. It is incredibly odd, yet intriguing. I’d probably not be able to handle more than a pint, but I can see some amazing uses for something like this in food pairings!

Brouwerij De Molen, Rasputin Speyside Oak Aged

OMG! Always a favourite. This is MY style of beer. Imperial Stout in Wood.

Rasputin in Wood!

Rasputin in Wood!

Brains, Weiss Weiss Baby

Most memorable name of the festival? Alas the beer didn’t work well either with or without sparkler. The girl who served me said it was really designed to be on keg. Yes, I think this is what the beer needed. Otherwise it was just kind of flat and thick. I want to find it on keg now.

The Durham Brewery, White Stout

If a stout can be a black IPA then an IPA can be a white stout!

This seems to be a pretty decent example of what I think of as a UK-IPA/Brit-IPA. The rave reviews I’ve heard are not far wrong, it is a good beer. Rich and far more hop-forward on cask than the bottle I had a couple of months ago. I found the bottled version I’ve had just a tad on the cloying side.

Bierbrouwerij Emelisse, Imperial Russian Stout

A fitting end to GBBF! I just wish I’d not missed the whisky cask versions.

Beer, Beer, Beer!

 

 

 

GBBF 2012 — Great People

Posted on by
Don't forget the horses!

Don’t forget the horses!

Great Beer & Great People: complimentary ingredients. There is nothing more sad than drinking a beer alone, and nothing more dull than a gathering of people sans beer. Hyperbole aside, GBBF is generally a very friendly and happy festival I find, compared to some others I know well. I’m not sure what the magic ingredient is — perhaps the sheer size of the thing is important? Anyway, here’s a run–down of some great “people” moments at GBBF 2012.

Cheers!

Every time a glass is dropped a great cheer goes up. It’s a beer festival classic.

Accomplices

The people you go to the beer festival with. They’re half the motivation for going all the way to London. The prospect of hanging around the festival is much more pleasant if you know you’ll have friends present. Alas this year Kat was unwell… but my fellow North Herts CAMRA committee cronies were going to be in attendance — sorted! Attending the festival as a CAMRA group isn’t as dreadful some folk would think. We’re not talking the “beardy weirdy” stereotypes.

On Tuesday I attended with one fellow committee member who’s a multinational engineering wheeler-dealer in the telco — Andy has run the North Herts festivals for years now, and is also the proprietor of one of the branch’s best pubs (the Our Mutual Friend in Stevenage). On Wednesday Matt Williams (another “young” 30ish committee member like myself, current festivals organiser) and a friend were my core company — and we bumped into a couple of other North Herts friends from time to time as well. Not a single beard between us… though some may rightly consider my festive mohican haircut quite weird.

Winners

It’s always great talking to brewers about their winning beers. Whether or not they’re CAMRA fans I find brewers are always appreciative of a bit of public recognition for their hard work.

A GBBF 2012 highlight for me was chatting to Bob from Son of Sid brewery — who was bubbling over with joy at having won bronze in the mild category for Muck Cart Mild. A great chap who’s genuinely enthusiastic about beer and brewing. Modern punk-type beer snobs knock milds, and anything even vaguely traditional… I feel sorry for them. Despite the none too alluring name, Muck Cart is excellent and I’ll make a point of trying to get hold of some for our next beer festival.

Brewers

I was lucky enough to bump into “Hardknott Alex” — the new(ish) face at one of my favourite breweries (Hardknott… duh). We met supping foreign beers at the German / Eastern Europe bar. Heathens! A long, twisty, and fun conversation about brewing, CAMRA (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and beer ensured.

Alex introduced me to his accomplice MattAdam (oops!) from the Derby Arms (nowhere near Derby, but conveniently en-route to Hardknott). It sounds like a right brilliant pub and I think I’ll be staying there on one of my fairly regular trips to the area. See, GBBF: constructive, not just a drink-a-thon.

Landlords

Drinking with Pete — landlord from the Live & Let Live in Cambridge. He’s a “Black IPA” fiend, blacker & more hops seems to be his mantra when it comes to beer. In his pub you’ll usually find some of Oakham’s best beers – be it Green Devil or a darker form of the  IPA art. Pete was kind of smashed… no surprise, he’d been drinking pints of Stone’s Sublimely Self Righteous black IPA — weighing in at 8.7%. I duly had a half-pint myself, beautiful stuff. I think it’d have been better in keg format though. I tend to find the cask US beers are just a bit too cloying and work better (for me) to be served at a cooler temperature, probably with a little more fizz.

US Imports

Free Beer!

Free Beer!

Meeting the brewer from Ska Brewery. Brilliant brewery name! Terrible flash/noisy website. I’ve forgotten the dude’s name alas, but it was good chatting with him about the differences between British and US IPAs. He’s keen to sell his beers to the UK market — I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing them over here a bit. From all the good reports I’ve heard about his visit & reception in London on the grapevine I expect there may be some interest. I kind of accidentally ended up with a whole pint of his 10% Imperial IPA – Decadent. Ah well… beaut stuff though. Just a tad too much caramel for me, as is my usual complaint for strong US IPAs. I picked up some bottles of Ska Brewery beers to take-home the next day… tucking into one right now!

Before heading on his way he handed me a few beer tokens :) Can’t complain!

New & Old Twitter Acquaintences

Tapping a dude on the shoulder to ask where he got his t–shirt. It was a Weird Beard Brew Co shirt, of interest to me as I’ve been following Bryan Spooner on twitter ever since meeting him at the 1st Brewdog AGM. Bryan & another bloke called Greg Irwin are working on getting a new craft brewery going in London. The chap I tapped on the shoulder was Greg. I sat with Bryan, Greg, and Andy Parker (and their respective GBBF accomplices) for the remainder of the evening. Buggered if I can remember much of the conversation though, I think the strong American brews were getting to my head! (Good thing my hotel was 50 meters from the entrance.)

Bumping into Tony – another 1st-wave BrewDog shareholder who I’d not seen since that first AGM. He’s a fellow techie who used to work up Glasgow way but has now moved to London. So hope to catch up again sometime — probably in a “craft beer” establishment! :) [We did in fact, not long after at Brodie’s #witterfest!]

Bar Staff

An eclectic collection of folk work behind the GBBF bars; from festival organisers, through CAMRA volunteers, to brewery employees. They’re all doing a great job. Some get a bit grumpy, but what would a beer festival be without a grumpy volunteer or two. They’re not being paid to be there so I try to cut them some slack.

I tend to find the brewery bar staff the most interesting, most of them will have brewers present from time to time and all are happy to talk about their beer (and listen to polite criticism!) I found the Thwaites and Brains bars particularly friendly and helpful this year (they also had the best brewery-bar beer IMO).

One of the bars this year was tweeting, this definitely added some character to the GBBF twitter presence! The bloke running it, Ben, was wearing some sort of weird drag outfit… I never did find out what the story behind that was (assuming there is one!)

The Rest

If I’ve left someone out then it is through befuddled memory! So many excellent folk, such a mixed crowd, and a super-friendly atmosphere. It was grand!

Even the live music was excellent!
(No, not the bloody Skinner’s band…)

#OpenTheRhetoric – Twitter & Beer Geerkey

Posted on by

@HardknottDave is a beer geek who also happens to be a brewer of some quite awesome beers. As with many small breweries the geekery doesn’t stop at the beer – Twitter[1] seems to have become a bit of a beer community phenomenon. I can keep tabs on the majority of the interesting UK beer scene by following a small knot of the UK beer hardcore, a collection of both brewers and drinkers. This is an incredibly useful research tool, the topic of research being “what beer should I buy/drink next?” Weighty and important stuff.

Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri - European Southern Observatory (ESO)

This Twitter “miniverse” is a loose-knit network of like-minded folk. If I were to visualise it it would be sort of like Omega Centauri. A dense highly connected core in the middle, folk constantly chatting about beer at a personal level. Here we find the @HardknottDaves (brewer), @MellissaColes (beer evangelist), @BeerReviewsAndys (beer blogger & beery IT), and @simonhjohnsons (enthusiastic drinker?) of the scene. These people generate the constant core thread of UK beer talk. As you get out towards the edges you pass through a dense zone of popular but less personally involved entities – accounts acting under the persona of a brewery/retailer/organisation – followed by many but interacting with few or none. Some, more centrally, take on a persona and interact 1:1 with many followers – such as @BrewDog – but have the kind of tinny hollow impersonal feeling of marketing. Others really are just one-way-spews of marketing announcements – though nevertheless of some interest. Finally as you gradually move out to the darkness of empty space you pass by the wider community of people who simply like beer and have the occasional interaction with the core. These folk dip in and out the the thread, a reply here and there, a retweet from time to time. Maybe once, maybe a couple of times a day.

This interesting and diverse community has given rise to a new class of “distributed event” – such as Twitter beer tastings. I’ve seen it done a few times, sometimes based around a whole selection of beers sold in a box for a Twitter “beer festival”, others a varied set of beers for a Twitter/blogger #OpenIt event. There are always a lot of interesting beers being consumed out there!

All this is beside the point in the title: #OpenTheRhetoric – a Twitter event for a Hardknott brewery special release. Rhetoric Ed.I – the first in a series of special beery one-offs by the brewery. This beer is described as “Star Anise Infused Quasi-Bombastic Belgique Quad” – if that doesn’t raise an eyebrow & pique your interest then you’re dead inside. An empty shell I tell you. Dave, Ann, and Alex at Hardknott distributed a small selection of Rhetoric to various beer bloggers and geeks prior to the official release, the beer wasn’t quite ready at the time (needed a little more bottle conditioning time) and we had to promise to not open it until the Hardknott beer-signal had been issued. I was lucky enough to get my mitts on a bottle when passing by the brewery to drop off empties from the Hitchin beer festival.

This sort of “one off” beer series isn’t a new idea. You could say it goes back a very long way in some respects – in the “old days” of brewing many beer batches would have been different from time to time, season to season. I can picture ye olde beerwives tossing something interesting into the brew, some warm spices in Christmas perhaps, a dead rat for a favoured cousin – then again I may be over-romanticising the past. Anyway, In more recent times real ale breweries in the UK often have a slot for a rotating “brewer playing around a little ale” (usually very conservative “playing”), sometimes such a brew works so well it becomes a permanent offering. Regardless of the format, releasing such varied beers is a great idea and an excellent service to those beer geeks like myself who’re more interested in change & difference than the tried and true & old and reliable. BrewDog are well known for this sort of thing in the form of their Abstrakt brand – so far I’ve religiously bought a few of every release (and still have at least 2 bottles of all of them). I’ve also recently noticed Arbor Ales doing a similar thing called “Freestyle Friday” – the 2012 Black IPA was particularly tasty, though a little over my bitterness threshold!

It especially tickles my interest when the beers are strong and have cellaring potential – full of hope we buy them and put them somewhere stable and once a year, say, we pop one open and enjoy the liquor within while radiating a self-satisfied smugness. Sometimes after a couple of years these beers taste like shoe polish & vinegar – with a small sob in remembrance of better times they’re interred in the u-bend of the sink.

Back to the beer that is, sadly, no longer at hand! You can read the original Rhetoric rhetoric here on Dave’s blog and you can read another blogger’s notes on the beer & event too. There are also, of course, a fair few comments lingering on Twitter, though they’ll vapourise in a short time. I see one RateBeer ticker got hold of it as well – it is also on Untappd thanks to myself.

I sampled Rhetoric Ed.I with about 8 other people, so I only had a few sips. It was also at the tail end of a day-long house-warming party. Thus I’m not going to offer any detailed thoughts on tasting notes and not make any attempt to give it any “rating” – I suspect we’re talking a 4, but maybe a 5, on Untappd from me. The aniseed was distinct, surely, but it wasn’t sickly & medicinal, Rhetoric came across as definitely beer not an alcopop oddity. I enjoyed the beer immensely – pleasingly everyone else who had a little enjoyed it too (to varying degrees). This includes a couple of folk who really aren’t keen on aniseed flavours at all, and another who really isn’t keen on beer full-stop. He also enjoyed the Hardknott Colonial Mayhem – there seems to be some strong beery evangelism built into Hardknott beer and I expect the conversions haven’t stopped at Hardknott Ann.

I’ll be buying some bottles of Rhetoric Ed.I – and so can you, while stocks last, just follow this link to the Hardknott shop!

[1] I’m not sure if there is any sort of similar projection of the community into Facebook – I don’t touch Facebook because it isn’t open, it isn’t friendly, it “farms” users much like dodgy food industries farm battery hens. I suspect Twitter may simply work better for the beer community due to its simplicity and openness.

Beer Matching with Melissa Cole @ Alimentum

Posted on by

Time filters the memory. Hopefully in the weeks since this beer matching dinner at Alimentum not too much of the detail has been filtered out of mine. As the afternoon progressed on the 16th of May I noted a tweet by @MelissaCole to say there were still a couple of spaces available at the Beer and Food Matching Dinner at Alimentum in Cambridge. I work in Cambridge but had held off from booking, as a scan over the web-page when I first heard of it left me feeling uninspired. In hindsight I’m not really sure why – I think the beer selection failed to tickle my fancy and I was terribly distracted with house-moving at the time. On the spur of the moment, with the other half in London for the evening, I thought “eh, why not give it a go!” A tweet and a phone-call later I was booked in for the evening.

A window through to the kitchen gives a sneek-peek at our 1st course being prepared – windows a double glazed, so you can’t hear all the swearing I presume!

Despite me being in my work “uniform” of shorts and t-shirt the staff at Alimentum were welcoming and led me to the function room. (I had forewarned that I’d not exactly be wearing a first-class-restaurant quality of dress!) Along with Melissa – there were about 6 other people present, and over the next few minutes the rest of the seats gradually filled to make up an audience of 16, including 3 women – quite lopsided, and I expect the balance at a wine-tasting evening would have been more even. Generally the folk present were probably older than me, and on asking indicated that food and beer matching was an unfamiliar concept. I gathered that they were probably interested Alimentum customers, as opposed to myself being a beer geek visiting Alimentum for the first time. Beer and food matching is not new to me – I’ve encountered it via BrewDog of course – but, going back, the concept isn’t entirely uncommon in Australia. In Sydney for example there was always a hint of it at the James Squire place (now King Street Brewhouse), and even more so at Red Oak. We also had the Belgian Beer Cafés which were a celebration of beer & food with hardly a glass of wine in site. (I’m thinking 7 years ago – there is a much higher level of “craft beer” geekery in Sydney, and Australia in general, these days.)

My interest in this sort of thing comes from another direction as well – growing up in a restaurant with chefs for parents has given me a strong appreciation for good & interesting food. I’ve tried my hand at beer matching myself several times – with varied, but mostly positive, results. Christmas 2010 for example, and the odd thing here and there, I did a great vegetarian feast for 2011 too – alas I haven’t had time to document it! (Hm, feeling inspired now.)

So – enough gasbagging – on with the subject. We were greeted with glasses of Oakham’s JHB (4.2%) – a beer I’m generally indifferent to on cask, not hoppy enough & lacking body. However this was a particularly fine & zesty example – a recent bottling perhaps. It’s also an extra 0.4% on the ABV scale – so a bit of a different beer really. With its fresh zingy hop notes it did a good job of freshening the palate after a day in the office.

Course 1
English Asparagus, pickled morels and crab
1st course: English asparagus, pickled morels, and crab– with –
Grain Brewery, Blonde Ash, 4.0%

“Easy drinking, fresh and fun, this is a delightfully delicate delight that’s perfect to usher in the Spring with its fresh grassy aromas and tinkly lime-like end.”

1st Beer: Grain's Blonde AshA celebration of asparagus! We had a variety of different forms of this luscious summer shoot – steamed, grilled, fresh pickled (I think), and puréed. There were even very thin crispy slices of asparagus very reminiscent of bamboo-shoots. The rich crab rounded things out, the morel added zing & body.

I’m a fan of Grain ales and this one is no exception. It has a real taste of summer to it, with its distinctive wheat-beer notes. In this course the beer led on flavour, with the asparagus providing texture and a complementary fresh, green, and earthy backbone.

Course 2
Chicken Ballotine, livers on toast, nuts and seeds
2nd course: Chicken ballotine, livers on toast, nuts and seeds– with –
Elgood’s, Black Dog, 3.6%

“This is a classic mild from a brewery local to the restaurant. Full of rich toasted coffee and chocolate aromas and flavours it punches far above its ABV with its full flavours.”

2nd beer: Elgood's, Black Dog Mild, 3.6%A mild? Really… I was surprised to find this on the menu. I’m no mild-basher, I actually really like the style, especially in this typical form of dark & low-ABV.

The dish was an intense little morsel of rich flavours – the gravy incredibly rich and creamy. Was there a hint some chocolate in there perhaps? I’d have this for breakfast every day and never get bored of it. Livers are a favourite, and this is like the toast you put with a roasted bird with the seared liver – sometimes the best part of the dish by far. In fact I’d be perfectly happy with all liver & no chicken in this case! Nothing at all wrong with the ballotine, it provided some good meaty texture – but I’d not have missed it I think.

How did the mild stand up to this? Surprisingly well… Black Dog is fairly full-flavoured as milds go and stood up to the intensity of the food. It is light enough to be a refreshing chaser to the bold flavours – but has complimentary flavour notes so as to not be too jarring. A lack of bitterness also helps here as I think a more bitter style of beer may bring out bitterness in the liver.

Course 3
Maple glazed duck breast, turnip and pistachio
3rd course: Maple glazed duck breast, turnip, and pistachio– with –
Ilkley Brewery, Siberia, 5.8%

“Brewed with rhubarb, grains of paradise, vanilla and orange peel this funky, dry and extremely fruity little number will stimulate even the most jaded of pallets with its riot of flavour.”

3rd beer: Ilkley Brewery, Siberia, 5.8%Probably the least memorable dish in terms of the food for me – I certainly recall enjoying it but I’m very hazy on the details. A chunk of tasty duck with some sweet young blanched turnips and thin slices of radish.

The beer however was more stand-out. This is one that Melissa Cole helped devise on a visit to Ilkley brewery – light, refreshing, and incredibly moreish. I found the vanilla notes very forthright in the flavour. This is one of those smooth and approachable saisons –  Melissa said this beer could do with a bit more time in the bottle – I’ll be looking out for it. In fact I’m looking now… you can buy Ilkley beers individually from BeerRitz or by the box at MyBreweryTap. (I’ve just ordered myself 12 bottles.)

I can’t honestly remember how it went down with the food. It seems more likely than not that it was a good match.

Course 4
Smoked pork belly, sweetcorn, celery and onion salad
4th course: Smoked pork belly, sweetcorn, celery and onion salad – with –
Fuller’s, Past Masters XX, 7.5%

“Pulled from Fuller’s historic brewing books XX is a strong complex ale with rich caramelised orange, warming ginger and soft brown sugar notes, with just the right amount of pithy bitterness at the finish.”

4th beer: Fuller's, Past Masters XX, 7.5%*pow* The smoked pork belly with the sweetcorn purée was outstanding. Charred spring onions were an excellent counter. Unctuous is the appropriate word here.

In fact the poor old XX was a bit beaten down by the food in this course, a reasonable accompaniment but it just wasn’t really possible to appreciate the XX once the pork had been sampled.

What could have fared better against such a full-on morsel? Perhaps a more vinous barleywine style of ale, or something along the lines of a strong “English IPA” (rich bitter and hoppy, definitely above 6.0%, and using peppery/earthy hops – not floral/citrusy).

Course 5
Cambridge blue, Waldorf textures
5th course: Cambridge Blue, Waldorf textures – with –
Woodforde’s, Head Cracker, 7.0%

“A deceptively pale beer this is not for the faint hearted, full of rich caramelised orange and candied grapefruit aromas, it has an added layer of stewed apricots in the middle before ending on a sweetish note that is almost like burnt sugar.”

5th Beer, Woodforde's, Head Cracker, 7.0%Stand. Out. Course. So simple, yet every element perfectly formed and matched. The “Waldorf textures” concept is adorable, the flavours exciting both individually and in combination. Apple in the form of a sorbet. A drizzle of walnut oil. All alongside an excellent cheese served at the right temperature (not frigid).

The beer? Another great match – fruity esters compliment, while the Sauternes-like depth is a perfect offset to the Cambridge Blue.

I can relive this course in my mind with some clarity – memorable.

Dessert
Dark chocolate, whiskey, toasted oats and raspberry
Dessert: Dark chocolate, whisky, toasted oats, and raspberries – with –
Harviestoun, Ola Dubh 16 year old, 8%

“Aged in Highland Park whisky barrels, Ola Dubh is an unctuous beast of a beer. Actually meaning black oil is slinks out of the bottle bring with it aromas of soy, marmite, chocolate, whisky and so much more. Intensely complex, dangerously drinkable and best served in a brandy baloon or large red wine glass to enjoy its aroma.”

Dessert beer: Harviestoun, Ola Dubh 16 year old, 8%I’m not really a dessert sort of person. When I do have desserts I prefer them on the savoury side, and often find myself more tempted by the cheese selection. This dessert was just too sweet for me. Make the mousse more dark and bitter and I’d be OK I think. It all tasted great, and the fresh tangy raspberries worked hard to bring up the balance a bit. The whisky gel was an excellent acompanyment and went some way to marrying the dessert with the beer. Toasted oats – my kind of flavour. Just too sweet!

The beer on the other hand is exactly my sort of thing – I have a huge “sweet tooth” for big, rich imperial stouts. Aged in whisky barrels? Even better! The sweetness of the dessert did really change the nature of the beer though, normally quite deep and characterful it seemed a lot lighter and drier by comparison – and thus far too easy to drink at 8.0%! The match worked fairly well – but again the dessert was too cloying for me, remove some sugar and it would have been perfect. The combination of flavours was just right. I’d very happily drink this beer with just a bowl of fresh raspberries and a block of 85% dark chocolate!

– EPITAPH TO THE EVENING –

It really was an excellent night and I’d love to see a repeat performance. I’ll definitely be re-visiting Alimentum, beer or no beer. (The usual beer selection isn’t very inspiring, and in normal circumstances I’d be drinking wine given the choices available. Perhaps after this event they will put some more thought into the beer list… but are there there enough Customers in Cambridge who will appreciate that?) After the meal we got to sit and chat a bit with Melissa and Mark Poynton (the driving force behind Alimentum) – discussing beer, food, and the paring of the two. Mark stated that beer is easier to work with than wine – one of the reasons being that wine is more sensitive to temperature. Personally I also think beer presents more flavour dimensions, more easily accessible, and thus gives a broader spectrum to play with.

The other attendees were impressed with how well beer can work in such a haute cuisine context. The consensus was that given the opportunity they’d do it again, some may even try beer matching at home. Great to hear, a bit of “spreading the word” to help make your average punter more appreciative of beer as a high quality and versatile beverage.

Congratulations to both Mark Poynton & Melissa Cole for running a successful and enjoyable evening. It was a pleasure to meet them too, people earnest & passionate about two of my favourite things: great beer and great food.

Y-Brew 0x01 – Cooper’s Lager – Up-hopped

Posted on by
Brew done...

Brew done... and trying some hop-tea: hoppy & quite bitter.

Well, here we go – my first homebrew… finger’s crossed it isn’t a dud first experience! I’ve followed the kit instructions pretty closely with a minor, I think, tweak in the hop department. I bought the kit, plus some other bits and pieces including extra hops and a St Peter’s IPA kit from http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/ – prompt delivery with a tracking code and everything intact except for the very flimsy Cooper’s DIY Beer DVD, which was cracked! No worries, as the video is also online along with many other instructional videos from other folk on YouTube.

I started with a Cooper’s Original Series Lager Kit… and did some research online. It isn’t quite a lager, for starters, it comes with an ale yeast so is really a light ale. Quite a few reports of using this kit with extra hops (in various ways) can be found on the popular homebrew forums too.

In a more general sense, there were various things said about water treatment, with the primary concern being to get rid of chlorine. There was some talk about boiling water to achieve both de-chlorination and to remove some hardness.

On Saturday I boiled 25l of finest Cambridshire tap-water and popped it into a 5 gallon plastic barrel I’d included in the order. This sat for about 24hrs to cool, with the lid off (covered with a teatowel). This plus a little Brita filtered water from the fridge was my brew water. Used with a little reservation as it did taste a little “odd” – not bad odd, just different from the tap water.

Come Sunday evening, I sanitised all equipment as best as possible and started my brew!

I made up 20 litres as per the kit instructions. I.e. dissolve the Brew Enhancer 1 in hot water, mix in the hopped malt extract, top up with water to 20 litres.

Boiling Saaz in Wort

Boiling 20g of Saaz in 2l of Wort

This is where I went off-plan. I took off 2 litres of wort and brought this to boiling point in a large saucepan. I then added 10g of Saaz hops, then after 6 mins I added another 10g, then boiled 6 more minutes. I added this extra-hopped wort to the fermenter through a strainer.

Pitching Temperature

Pitching Temperature - A Little High @ 28C

After mixing this in the temperature was up at about 30C, so I added 2lt of chilled water from the fridge – through the hops in the strainer – then topped up with room temp water to just a little over the 23lt mark. This left the temp a little high at 28C.

I sprinkled the packet of yeast and moved the fermenter to the warmest room in the house – the study. I’m currently a little concerned that there doesn’t seem to be much activity in the brew, though there is some. Perhaps I should have followed the frequently seen instruction to toss the kit yeast and buy some brewing yeast separately. Well, time will tell.

I also just tasted my OG sample and… hmm… it’s a bit bitter. At room temperature mind you. I thought I was being conservative with the 2x 10g hopping with the Saaz, which is only 3.1% alpha acid. I’d seen forum posts where people popped in 2 x 30g and then another 30g dry-hops post-ferment. I do intend to add some dry-hops too, I have some Sorachi Ace for this!

Original Gravity - About 1034

Original gravity - About 1034

The OG was a seemingly low 1034 – though this looked more like 1033 after it had been sitting for a couple of hours.

Well, for the timebeing, here’s live Y-Brew-Cam: Hm, light’s not so great for beer, isn’t it? Brew-Cam cloaked… here’s an older pic:

Y-Brew 0x01 - Live!

Y-Brew 0x01 - Live!

 

The notes I’ve written down on my Cooper’s brew-sheet are:

  • Brew Kit: Lager
  • Adjuncts: Brew Enhancer 1 – 4099110704
  • Hops: Boiled in 2lt wort – 10g Saaz at boil, 10g more Saaz after 6 min, 6 more min boiling.
  • Yeast: Coopers – 7g – 31111
  • Date: 2012-06-17 @ ~21:00
  • OG: 1034 (1033 after 2 hours)

One review comment on the coopers kit: why on earth does it come with a non-permanent marker that wipes off the shiny brew-sheet provided?

I finished with a cup of tea made by steeping the spent hops. It was quite bitter, but tasty. Was drinkable with a teaspoon of light brown sugar added. :)