The Friday Pint #17 - Water, water everywhere...

Yet again I'm having a week without an actual Friday Pint. This is though my last day on the current shift pattern of 11 - 11. After the weekend it's all change again, and so next Friday I'll be seeking out somewhere for a pre-work Friday Pint before starting the 1 - 1 shift.

So, what to write about in place of a pint? Well, this week I started reading one of the old books on beer that I'd downloaded from Project Gutenberg, "A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer" by E. Hughes. It's the second edition of the book published in Uxbridge in 1796, and contains advice on all aspects of beer from ingredient choices, to "Some very useful and necessary directions to the Publican who retails Common Brewer's Beer".

I've yet to read to that last section, but of the sections of the book I have read so far, the bit that has stuck in my mind has been the first section on water. Within it, E. Hughes goes over three different types of water, Well water, Spring or River water, and Rain water.

Well Waters, the book says, should only be used when waters of a softer nature cannot be obtained. These being the Spring or River, and Rain Waters. The book claims rain water to be prefered to river and well water, due to it being of a "simple and soft nature".

There is also a paragraph on "Many persons" prefering to use Pond Waters, though it points out that these are generally muddy, and these sediments can have a detrimental effect on the yeast and the beer in general.

Reading this segment of the book got me thinking. We are now used to water being treated for use as liquor in brewing. How much difference would it make if the water wasn't treated. I'd quite like to see a brewer, or perhaps a collaboration of brewers from various parts of the country, using the same ingredients (from the same sources to maintain that the only difference is the water source), brewing the same beer, only with different waters.

It might turn out to be a failure, but it would be fun and interesting nonetheless. 

 

Sadler's Dr. Hardwick's IPA (Plus Black and Tan Experiment #11)

A few weeks ago, Chris Sadler posted this tweet. I was instantly excited, and wanted to try it as soon as possible. On Monday, he posted this tweet, and  by the end of that day I had booked train tickets to and from Birmingham New Street, with enough time in between for trains to and from Lye, and a couple of pints of beer.

I started with a pint of the Dr. Hardwicks, and a pint was more than enough, especially on top of what I'd already had at the Euston Tap beforehand. It's a dangerously drinkable beer, not too far away from how I remember 90 Minute IPA to taste, with perhaps a tad more grapefruit.

As I was there I took the chance to see how well it worked with Mud City Stout as a Black and Tan. I'm pleased to say that this blend works well, with the stout taking off some of the bitterness of the IPA.

I was opening to write more, but I stopped making notes quite early on. I hope that Dr. Hardwick's proves successful. I'm not sure if it will do well on tap, but I think it could find a market in bottles. Here's hoping it has a future.

Black and Tan Experiments #10 - Thornbridge

You'd have thought, with Thornbridge being Thornbridge and all, that this experiment would turn out to be rather good. It turns out that if you thought that way you'd be wrong. At least, you would be in my opinion anyway.

For the tenth installment of this irregular series of blog posts I took a bottle of St. Petersburg, Thornbridge's 7.7% Imperial Russian Stout and a bottle of Halcyon, their 7.4% Imperial IPA.

I'd had St Petersburg before, last February (2011) at the Battersea Beer Festival. It was one of the best beers I had during my session there, and one I've wanted to try again since. As a result I was looking forward to opening this bottle. Another result of this was that I was slightly disappointed that this bottle didn't seem to live up to that first time I tried the beer.

The aroma is a mixture of subtle spicy berries and high cocoa dark chocolate. It has a warming alcohol taste to it, with a burnt toast after taste that coats the mouth and lingers far too long for it's own good. If there was more in the initial taste of the beer I could cope with this, but there's not, and so ultimately, I was disappointed.

The Halcyon was a new beer to me. The aroma was a floral/grassy aroma, rather than the citrusy aromas that are common in Imperial IPAs. It seemed to be much more subtle, and less hoppy than most Imperial IPAs, and as a result, much easier to drink.

This subtleness wasn't a good thing for the mix though. The characteristics of the St. Petersburg dominate, though the harshness of the burnt aftertaste has been lessened by the Halcyon. The good mixtures I've been able to write a fair bit about. This inspired nothing.

 

Sadler's Sprung - The Friday Pint #16

I was unable to connect to the internet on Friday, and so was unable to post this on Friday. What is written below is what I would have posted Friday, and so certain times and facts are inaccurate (I don't have several bottles of Mud City Stout in my suitcase for instance.

This weekend also saw the first Birmingham Twissup, which I joined in on, as I was in the area anyway for the Stourbridge Vs AFC Totton match (which Totton lost, 2-1). It was a good night, with good people, and if its on a weekend I'm off, I'll be doing Twissup 2. The Birmingham Twissup was organised by Danny Brown, who blogs at Mediocre Beer Adventures.

Herein commences this weeks Friday Pint entry...

"Earlier this evening I was at The Windsor Castle in Lye, the home of Sadler's Brewery. I was there with one thing in mind, Mud City Stout. Mud City Stout is one of my favourite beers. I'll be leaving on Sunday with several bottles of it in my suitcase, a number of which have already been claimed by friends and family. Before that though, there was one beer on the bar that I hadn't tried before, and so that was to be this week's Friday Pint.

Called "Sprung" it was a 3.9% pale ale. The recent  changes in weather mean that yet again I find myself unable to smell anything, so if it has any aromas they are not strong enough to get past my blocked nasal passages.

The taste reminded me of the Bitter Lemon drink (can you still get that?) with a bit of grapefruit. It was okay, but the beer coated the mouth with a lingering bitter aftertaste that was rather unpleasant for me. Half way down the pint though, the taste of the beer began to change to a much more pleasant and enjoyable, more fruity and less bitter taste.

Overall I think this is the best of the Sadler's monthly specials I've had so far this year, though it's still not a patch on Mud City Stout.

As an aside, earlier this week I began looking into historical brewing methods, in particular those of the Egyptians and Mesopotanians. I'm hoping that after enough reading I'll be able to replicate some sort of historical style beer. It's either that or I'll be making some cider.I'm sure you'll be hearing more of whatever path I go down, and my reading in the meantime, over the coming weeks."

The Friday Pint #15

Those of you who reguarly read this feature of my blog may have noticed a deviation from the usual format of the post title. That would be because this week, there was no pint.

I was going to head up to Camden Brewery after work, but then I had second thoughts. I finished at around 21:30. By the time I would have got there it would have been 22:30. The bar will shut at 23:00. Is it really worth the effort just for a 30 minute window of drinking?

I like beer. I like trying new beer. I especially like the bar at Camden Brewery, and Unfilitered Hells Lager, and Big Apple Hotdogs. I also like to relax when drinking beer, and not feel as if I have any time constraints. This is one of the many reasons why midweek afternoon drinking appeals to me so much (along with the fact that much of the crowds are at work, and the bars aren't three deep with people trying to get a drink in).

I will be having a beer tonight. I have stuck my second bottle of the Kernel/Brodies collaboration Stella For Breakfast in the fridge, which should be at about the right temperature by the time I finish writing this post.

Next Friday I'll be headed to Birmingham, for another weekend of Football (Stourbridge V Totton) and Beer (Birmingham Twissup amongst other things). I'm hoping that Sadler's new DIPA will be ready for me to try when I visit the Windsor Castle. If it is, that will be next week's Friday Pint. If it's not, I'll be on the Mud City Stout again all evening.

Black and Tan Experiments #9 - Magic Rock.

Magic Rock are generally considered to be one of the best new breweries to have emerged in the last few years. The Brewery was started in 2011 and quickly built up a solid reputation. This afternoon I decided to see how well thier Imperial IPA, Human Canonball, and their Imperial Brown Stout, Bearded Lady, mix as a Black and Tan.

The first thing I notice about the Bearded Lady is the alcohol. It has a rich smell of alcohol with a few hints of chocolate. The alcohol is noticable in the tasting as well. Before the burnt aftertaste that lingers a bit too much there's a warming feeling, similar to that given by drinking a whisky (or whiskey, as is more likely in my case). As I move down the glass the flavour and the aroma of the beer seem to subtley change. More chocolate starts to come through, and on occasions there are very feint hints of cherry.

The first thing I notice about the Human Cannonball is the hops. As soon as I lifted the glass to my nose I was hit by a waft of grassy hop flower aromas. There's a distinct lingering aftertaste, but on a different part of the tongue. In theory, if the beers mix well, I should get the burnt flavours of the Bearded Lady lingering on the front of my tongue, and the bitterness of the Human Cannonball lingering on the back of my tongue.

Human Cannonball is bitter. It stands at a mighty 115 IBUs ("approximately") and as such, it's hard to distinguish any tastes other than that bitterness. That's not to take anything away from it though. Human Cannonball is one of the best beers in this country right now.

Now, for the mix. Aromawise, it's much like a Black IPA, a mixture of strong hop influenced aromas and burnt malt influenced aromas. Tastewise, it's pretty much as I expected, only better. If there's one thing I've discovered after doing just nine of these, it's that strongly hopped IPAs and rich flavoursome Stouts work the best. Here I have two very unique and strong flavoured beers. It would be very easy for one to overpower the other, but instead there is a compliment. Like a couple of previous Black and Tans I have done, there is a lingering bitterness that slowly gives way to a lingering burnt malt taste. This is starting to become a quality that I'm looking for in these experiements.

The Human Cannonball/Bearded Lady Black and Tan is one of the best I've had so far. I'd give it a go too if I were you.

Brodies Superior London Porter - The Friday Pint #14

This weekend is Easter, and with that comes the Brodies Bunny Basher festival at the William IV. As I'm working on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, today was the only chance I had to travel across London and try a few of the beers that had caught my eye from the list.

I started by ordering a pint of Brodies' London Lager, though miscommunication led to this being a half. Seeing as how I'd be drinking quite a few of these I thought I'd stick with it and just pick a half to write about, just like I did with the Odell IPA at Camden Town Brewery two weeks ago.

I had come across to try the Rioja cask Romanov, and to have another glass of Elizabethan. Everything else was a combination of curiosity, or in the case of the Superior London Porter, an old favourite.

I worked my way through the beers that I couldn't remember having before. Sometimes I can see a use in ticking, or rather, having a record of which beers to avoid or try again. Most of the time though I remember that I actually have a life, and a reasonably good memory, and also, I'm very unorganised when it comes to having a pen and notepad in the same place at the same time.

Post Lager, I had Brodies Brick, Winter Saison and Summer Saison, and an Amarilla, before deciding that none of the other beers that appeared to be on really appealled to me, and settled for a pint of Superior London Porter.

I say appeared, as there were a few pumps without pump clips, and two of these contained the two main beers that I had come across for, the Rioja Romanov and the Elizabethan. Both beers were sublime, though were probably not appreciated as much as they would have been had I known they were on earlier. The latter is a beer that feels like a perfect beer for a cold winters night. If only Brodies would bottle some of it so we could do such a thing.

I'm now off to sleep, it's been a fun week, but now my body needs a break.

The Session #62 - What drives Beer Bloggers?

This month, The Session is hosted by the Brewpublic blog and poses the question "What drives Beer Bloggers?"

Now, the first answer that springs to mind for me is "train drivers". Sometimes I'll catch the bus, but mostly I'm headed to pubs, bars, breweries or festivals on a train.

On a more serious note, and actually answering the question as intended, for me its a combination of wanting to improve my writing, or at the very least keep my creative brain active, and keeping some sort of log of my drinking experiences.

In terms of reading other peoples blogs, I look for information, and inspiration. Many blogs have been influential in my decisions whether or not to buy a certain bottle of beer, or in opening bottles I already have.

Blogging has made me want to drink more. Not just more beer, but more varieties of beer. Styles that I've never tried before, in places I've never been. This in turn makes me want to blog more, or on occasion, search out other blogs or articles on those beers. It all makes for a nice little circle of beer drinking and beer appreciation.