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Tasting Notes: M&S (Cropton) Yorkshire Winter Ale

Darren Turpin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:58:05 +0000

Brewery: Cropton Brewery
Location: Cropton, North Yorkshire, England
Style: Spiced Winter Ale
ABV: 6.2%
Version: Bottled
Source: Marks & Spencer

M&S Yorkshire Winter Ale – brewed for them by Cropton Brewery in North Yorkshire – is the second of three new winter ales that I picked up at the main M&S branch in Manchester recently, along with their Wiltshire Rum Beer and Southwold Winter IPA.

Popping the cap releases a flood of spicy aromas and pouring the dark brown ale results in a second wave. Those spices are up-front and centre in the flavour-profile as well: the label suggests I can taste a melange of clove, cassia (I had to look that one up, turns out it’s basically cinnamon), star anis and nutmeg; can’t find much to argue with there. And this mini-mountain of spices is balanced on a deep chocolate-malt base with a decent alcohol-hit and strident orange-citrus notes running throughout.

I recently suggested that it can be tricky to find a good Xmas ale that strikes the right balance between seasonal high-spirits and lacklustre re-labelling. Cropton have really pushed the boat outg and one hell-for-leather on option a) with Yorkshire Winter Ale: the overall effect here is pretty much molten Xmas in a glass (or chocolate orange dipped in Yuletide pot-pourri, if you’re feeling a bit more bah-humbug about the whole seasonal ales thing). Bit of an acquired taste perhaps, but I’d say it’s one I’d be willing to work on.

I bought two of this one to make up the numbers on a ‘buy five, get one free’ deal and I know just what to do with my second bottle; I reckon it’s crying out for a damned good mulling. I’ll research a couple of mulled-beer recipes (here’s one, via Boak and Bailey) then give it a go and – assuming it all turns out reasonably well – I’ll let you know how I get on.

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Festivity

Darren Turpin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:21:22 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Brewery: Bath Ales [@bathales]
Location: Warmley, Bristol, England
Style: Seasonal Porter
ABV: 5.0%
Version: Bottled
Source: Bath Ales

It’s that time of year again; when breweries up and down the country blow the dust off their holiday-season ale recipes and take a good, hard run the Xmas Beer market. Festivity is the seasonal offering from Bath Ales and is available in bottle, micro-cask and 36-pint box, as well as on draught. I got hold of the bottled version and decided to crack it open a few weeks early rather than hang on until December (and why not?)

Bath Ales Festivity is billed as an old-style porter and promises hints of coffee, vanilla and rum. It certainly delivers on the first of the trio, with a smooth, dry-coffee character and there are definite vanilla notes as well. The rum is a little more elusive; it’s not as up-front as in something like Boggart Rum Porter or Innis & Gunn Rum Cask, but comes in subtly on the after-taste. I far preferred the not-so in-yer-face approach, having found both the Boggart and the Innis & Gunn a touch too sweet. And of course, all the flavours become steadily more strident once the beer has been allowed to stand and warm for a while (it was bloody cold in the beer cupboard last Friday night). Having a sip of Jo’s Hawkshead Organic Stout (which is very dry and coffee-led) then going back to the Festivity also helped to emphasise the latter’s spicier notes.

Seasonal Beers are tricky things to get right. Some breweries don’t seem to make much of an effort – stick some holly leaves on the best-bitter pump-clip, pick a vaguely Xmas-themed pun for the name and away they go – and others seem to go over-the-top, drenching the beer in strong spices or syrupy sweetness. I think Bath Ales have got the balance just right with Festivity: the flavours are suitably seasonal without trying too hard, and the underlying porter-base would be tasty enough in its own right to make it a success all year round, I’m sure. And I’ll definitely be trying a pint of the draught Festivity if I get the chance, knowing how much better the condition and mouth-feel is likely to be, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one over the next few weeks, just in case it turns up this far north. Or maybe the next time I’m at The Euston Tap, who knows?

Five Favourite Bottled Session Ales

Darren Turpin — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:21:21 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Session ales – defined quite neatly by beer writer Andy Crouch in his book Great American Craft Beer as: “[a] beer with a relatively low alcohol-level, usually 3 to 4 percent alcohol by volume, that allows the drinker to enjoy several pints in one sitting without becoming intoxicated” – is one of the great strengths of the UK & Irish brewing scene (Andy Crouch again: “Many English-style ales set the standard for such beers” and I’m not going to argue.)

I’ve said it before a few times, and I’ll say it again: over the past couple of years I’ve come to the definite conclusion that the very best way to enjoy a session on the session ales is in a pub, with a few good friends and plenty of good conversation (pork scratchings optional). Of course not all session ales are created equal and a lot of them seem to be just… average – which I realise probably has more to do with the keeping, conditioning and serving of the beer than the actual brewing – so if like me you enjoy sampling a few different brews over the course of an evening, it can be a bit of a lottery.

Then again, if you’re really lucky, you might discover a truly amazing session ale; one that manages to pull off the trick of marrying sublime flavours with a not-so-punishing ABV. The sort of beer you can happily roll around your palate all night long, as opposed to the thin, flat, slightly sour stuff that can put you right off – something Impy Malting has talked about recently as well. I can remember a few magical times when I’ve stumbled onto an amazingly good draught session ale: Wye Valley Butty Bach is the one that springs most readily to mind. Ahhhh, I love a good pub session, me.

Having said that, I also love a good bottled beer – supped at home in front of the telly with a bowl of salt & pepper cashews to-hand – almost as much (and I’ve talked about a fair few of those). It’s much, much trickier to find a truly excellent session beer in a bottle though. There’s generally a marked difference between draught and bottled versions of the same ale, with the draught version usually winning hands-down. But occasionally, if you’re lucky, you’ll hit on a bottled session beer that really does taste very good indeed; holding its own against its draught counterpart, or just in its own right.

So, in honour of those rare auld times, here are five of my favourite bottled session beers, plus a few honourable mentions. I’ve stretched the definition slightly to “beers that I’d be happy to drink a few of in a session” which means the upper-limit strength-wise is around about 4.5% ABV or so. And it is an entirely subjective selection, obviously… please feel free to suggest your own amendments or additions via the comments.

Hook Norton – Hooky Gold

I’ve been drinking quite a bit of this one recently; it was in a couple of rounds of Sainsbury’s rolling 2-for-£3 price-promo. A very fresh, zesty, hoppy golden ale with a very pleasant, balancing malt base.

Tasting Notes: Hook Norton Hooky Gold

Purity – Pure Ubu Amber Ale

As the name suggests, this one is a slightly darker ale with a ruddy hue and a maltier flavour-profile. An easy-drinking, palate-warming ale that seems to be generally available in Sainsbury’s.

Tasting Notes: Purity Pure Ubu Amber Ale

Black Sheep – Black Sheep Ale

One of those seemingly-ubiquitous beers that’s easy to overlook, but actually a very tasty drop indeed. A robust, chestnut-brown, malt-rich ale that can even be chilled down to go rather well with a curry.

Tasting Notes: Black Sheep Ale

Bath Ales – Barnstormer

Barnstormer is dark, malty, nutty and sweet (but not overly-sweet) ale that goes great with hearty winter food. It won the Sainsbury’s real ale competition back in 2008 and it’s still stocked by them on a regular basis.

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Barnstormer (notes by Tim Lebbon)

Williams Bros – Fraoch Heather Ale

I love a drop of Fraoch – when I can get my hands on a bottle without Jo drinking it – and once again, this is a case of the bottled version being almost as good as the draught. Light and malty with a very mellow bitterness from the heather.

Tasting Notes: Williams Bros Fraoch Heather Ale (notes by Joe Gordon)

A few Honourable Mentions

I would happily drink a drop or two of the following on a regular basis, if only I could get hold of them:

Hopdaemon Skrimshander – only available by mail order, never seen it for sale this far north :(
Meantime London Pale Ale – used to be all over the place but Sainsbury’s seem to have stopped stocking it recently…
Fyne Ales Avalanche – Incredibly refreshing and packed full of citrus hop flavours; really almost as good as its draught cousin. Just can’t seem to find the stuff in the supermarkets.

So, there you go. What are your bottled session ale recommendations?

Pub Notes: First Impressions of The Euston Tap

Darren Turpin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:37:56 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

I called in at the already-legendary Euston Tap for the first time yesterday evening, on the way back to my home-bound train. It’s a rather tiny place, with an excellent range of beers, much like The Rake in Borough Market. It wasn’t too busy when I arrived at around 17.45 (but got considerably busier shortly after 18.00) so I plonked myself and my luggage down at a bar-side seat and fired up my decision-making engine.

No easy task, that: I took a good couple of minutes to peruse the beer-blackboard which, with its choice of eight cask ales and a further nineteen draft beers, took some time to sort and digest (and that was without even glancing at the two large and exceedingly well-stocked beer fridges on the back wall). I spotted Brewdog Paradox right away, but decided that starting with that one might be… unwise. Instead, after a quick chat to Australian Barman about dark & malty options, I went for a half of Bristol Beer Factory Bristol Stout.

A classic black and white stout configuration, it’s a deceptive little beggar, this one. There really wasn’t much flavour up front, instead everything was saved for the follow-through; a dab of chocolate and a subtly pleasant milk-coffee dryness on the finish. Turns out (according to the BBF website) that this one’s an oat stout, which could explain the overall mildness of the flavours (I’ve noticed that oat stouts or oatmeal stouts tend to be quite mellow in comparison to drier, coffee stouts and not as sweet as chocolate or milk stouts). Anyhow, I enjoyed my half and have made a mental note to introduce Jo to this one if the opportunity ever arises, as I think it would be right up her street.

Next up, I asked Australian Barman for another two halves, please (and keep the change). The first of these was Bath Ales Barnstormer. I’m quite familiar with this one in bottled form – it’s a definite go-to beer when it turns up in the supermarket special offers – so I was interested in trying the draught version. It poured a rich chestnut-brown, with a thick, creamy head and was very, very smooth indeed. I have to admit I had trouble picking out any particularly unique flavours. It was pleasant malty and nutty but in a rather generic way; nothing that really threatened to grab hold of my taste-buds and gave them a good work-out. Nonetheless, a good, solid easy-drinker and one I could happily sup all evening if I was in the mood for sessioning rather than sampling.

The other half was of the aforementioned BrewDog Paradox. I’ve had a couple of bottles of this rather excellent imperial stout in my time – Smokehead and Longrow – and I’ve got various varieties (or do they call them ‘expressions’, whisky-style?) stashed away in the special cupboard. It’s one of my all-time favourite beers, so I couldn’t possibly pass up on an opportunity to try the draught version, even though there were plenty of other great options on offer (including Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, which I was extremely tempted by).

What can I say? It was absolutely gorgeous. The same rich blend of dark chocolate, bitter coffee, heady port-wine sweetness and light, wood-smokiness as the bottled version, only more so. The difference was in the mouth-feel, which just took the velvety smoothness up that extra notch. By this point I was chatting away to a couple of gents in the immediate vicinity (one of whom is in charge of staffing at next year’s London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival, which looks well worth a visit) and I could feel myself settling down quite nicely. But I had one of those pesky trains to catch, so I had to bid them a good evening and head on over to the station, the taste of Paradox lingering long.

All in all: a great little pub, highly recommended, although I can imagine it could be a big of a nightmare at peak drinking times; if you can get there for lunchtime, or mid-afternoon, you might have a better chance of getting in the door. I’m in London fairly regularly and nearly always on a day-trip basis, so I can see myself becoming a lot more familiar with the Euston Tap in the months to come.

Edit 17.11.10: There are some photos of the interior – including those beer fridges – over at Alan P’s East London Drinker blog.

The Euston Tap:

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Bargainwatch: New 2 for £3 at Sainsbury's. Plus: New Ales at Tesco

Darren Turpin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:01:30 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Our local Sainsbury’s has rotated it’s standard 2 for £3 offering again.

Highlights of the current selection include:

Bath Ales Barnstormer [TN]
Bath Ales Golden Hare
Marston’s Old Empire
Black Sheep Ale [TN]
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord
Theakston’s XB

I also noticed a few new ales on the shelves last time I was in Tesco, two or three weeks back. They weren’t actually on offer, but it’s good to see Tesco rotating their range, which they seem to do a bit more often than Sainsbury’s.

The new offerings I spotted were:

Ridley’s Old Bob
Greene King Very Special IPA
Daleside Old Leg Over
Robinson’s Unicorn
Tolly Cobbold Phoenix
Jenning’s Sneck Lifter
Hawkshead Lakeland Gold
Fuller’s ESB

The only one of those I picked up at the time was the Greene King Very Speical IPA. More on that later. The Old Bob and the Phoenix are Greene King beers as well, by the way.

Bargainwatch: new selection of 3 for £5 ales at Sainsburys

Darren Turpin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:13:25 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Nipped in to the local Sainsbury’s last night to do the weekly shop and noticed that they’ve rotated their selection of 3 for £5 bottled ales. Potential highlights this time around include:

You can also get a quid off a 750ml bottle of either Leffe Brun or Leffe Blonde (making them £2.69 apiece in our local) and they’ve got promotional four-packs of Old Speckled Hen for £4 a go.

Just in time for the World Cup kicking off tonight…

Sainsbury's Real Ale Promo 2009 – now in stock

Darren Turpin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:42:03 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Sainsbury’s have kicked off this year’s Real Ale promo and have the full range in stock at our local store, which made last night’s mid-week top-up shopping trip about twice as expensive, twice as heavy and ten times as interesting as it usually is.

I grabbed pretty much one of everything they had, which means I’m now the proud owner of a bottle of each of the following all-new (to me) beers:

Allgates Brewery Porteresque – “classic style porter”, 4.4%
Bath Ales Golden Hare – “full-flavoured light ale”, 4.4% abv
Bays Brewery Bays Breaker – “award-winning ale with a chestnut colour and fruity taste”, 4.7% abv
Greene King Bretwalda – “spicy and fruity ale”, 4.1%
Hambleton Ales Taylor’s Tipple – “chestnut coloured ale with an uplifting citrus and berry aroma”, 4.5%
Williams Bros 80/- Ale – “traditional Scottish ale brewed with an emphasis on the malt characteristics”, 4.2%
Williams Bros Birds n’ Bees – “golden summer ale … brewed with a late infusion of elderflowers and lemon zest”, 5%
Williams Bros Ceilidh – “crisp, citrusy lager”, 4.7%
Williams Bros Williams IPA – “Aggressively hopped … an unusual blend of Bramling X and Amarillo”, 5%
Wolf Brewery Woild Moild – “rich, fruity mild”, 4.8%
Wolf Brewery Wolf Whistle – “lightly hopped reddish ale” 4.7%
Wood’s Brewery Shropshire Lass – “a delectable blonde”, 4.1%

I picked up top-up bottles of BrewDog’s Chaos Theory, Dogma and Hardcore IPA as well, all of which I’m already quite familiar with and fairly stocked-up on already… but it would have been rude not to, eh? Prices ranged from about £1.59 to £1.89 per bottle, but with the ’4 for 3, cheapest free’ offer that dragged the averages down into bargain territory, particularly for those BrewDog brews.

Compared to last year’s selection there seems to be a smaller group of participating breweries this time around – whether this is down to their having stormed the taste-tests or for logistical reasons I don’t know – but still a reasonably broad range of beer styles. Nice to see a mild and a porter included, as well as a craft lager and, of course, BrewDog’s two hop-monsters and their rather delicious Dogma.

I think I’m most looking forward (BrewDogs aside, as I’ve already tried all of those) to the Allgates Porteresque, Williams 80/-and Wolf Woild Moild. I have a sneaky suspicion that the Greene King Bretwalda will be the dud of the bunch, but that might be my inherent ‘Greene King = kinda average’ bias creeping in. We shall see.

Update 28.08.09 Reluctant Scooper has posted a tasting round-up of the four Williams Bros beers.

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Gem

Darren Turpin — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:26:31 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Brewery: Bath Ales
Location: Bristol, England
ABV: 4.8%
Version: Bottled
Source: Courtesy of BeerMerchants.com

Our highly esteemed and most learned BoB.com colleague Tim is a big fan of Bath Ales (he’s covered Dark Hare and Barnstormer already) so I was delighted to receive a bottle of Bath Ales Gem from Phil at BeerMerchants.com as part of the sample case that I’ve been steadily working my way through just recently (memo to self: must sort out a round-up post for the whole batch).

Bath Ales Gem is billed on the Bath Ales website as their premium best bitter and “a quintessential English beer”. I honestly can’t argue with that; it really is a particularly fine example of the breed. Pouring a lovely dark amber colour (actually a fair bit darker than the glowing golden colour shown on the website), Gem gives off a lovely, rich malty aroma that carries over to the flavour as well. There are hints of honey-sweetness as well, but it’s nicely undercut by a hoppy sharpness and a lingering bitter after-taste. Smooth mouth-feel, good balance of flavours, entirely palatable. At 4.8% it would make for a good session beer, and I’d be willing to wager that this is another example of a brew that tastes just fine in the bottle but would be even better fresh from the cask.

So, another big thank you to Phil at BeerMerchants.com for sending this one along! (Incidentally, if there are any other UK beer retailers who want to get in on the whole sending-beer-to-us-in-return-for-a-thank-you advertising / product-placement type deal, then please do drop me a line and I’ll happily let you have the relevant details…)

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Barnstormer

Tim Lebbon — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:30:01 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Brewery: Bath Ales
Location: Warmley, Bristol
ABV: 4.5%
Version: Bottled
Source: Sainsbury’s

My burgeoning love affair with Bath Ales continues with this cracking dark ale. I picked it up on a run through Sainsbury’s late one Saturday afternoon, along with a couple of bottles of Meantime (ready for an evening watching Vic Mackey kick butt on The Shield). After enjoying their Dark Hare so much, I was really looking forward to this.

It poured with a smooth head, releasing a hint of chocolate scent. Interesting, I thought. Hope it’s not too cloying. I needn’t have worried. The chocolate is there, a soft background hint, but it’s also fruity and rich, not heavy but very complex: the chocolate remains, fading to a sweet fruity hint late on (though not too fruity). A lovely ale, whose tastes settled towards the end of the pint making it a pleasure to drink.

Vic Mackey did indeed kick butt, and so do Bath Ales. And they’re only an hour from home …

Tasting Notes: Bath Ales Dark Hare

Tim Lebbon — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:18:25 +0000

Posted in The Blogobeer Archive

Brewer: Bath Ales
Location: Warmley, Bristol
ABV: 4.0%
Version: bottled
Source: a cafe in Bradford On Avon

I was visiting Bradford for a day’s work on a screenplay project with a good mate of mine. We hit the cafe for lunch (fantastic food … forget the old greasy spoon image), and they had a fine selection of Bath Ales at very reasonable prices. It would have been rude not to. Leaving Bradford that evening I’d had a parking ticket (even though I parked ten feet beyond the end of double yellow lines in a place where there were no ‘no parking’ signs grumble spit …), so I was thinking, This beer better be bloody good to make up for that.

I needn’t have worried. Dark Hare is labelled as ‘deliciously wholesome stout’, and delicious it most certainly is. It pours a gorgeous chocolate brown, and the aroma echos that appearance. It’s taste is smooth and light, yet rich with defined tastes of chocolate, burnt toffee and roasted barley. If anything the taste improved as the glass emptied, and I sat there thinking of where the traffic warden was that evening … and hoping that he or she was at home somewhere drinking cooking lager, pleased with a job well done.

This stout is thoroughly recommended, and I’d also point you towards Bath Ales’ Website where you can buy their products for very reasonable prices. Top notch.