Slogging through snow, ice and who knows what else, the intrepid delivery bloke made it to my front door yesterday, bearing a Big Box of Beer: the second instalment in the US 52 Week Beer Club saga from MyBreweryTap.com.

• Anchor Humming Ale – 5.9% ABV
• Anchor Christmas Ale 2010 – 5.5% ABV
• Odell Isolation Ale – 6.0% ABV
• Odell IPA – 7.0% ABV
• Sierra Nevada Porter – 5.6% ABV
• Sierra Nevada Celebration – 6.8% ABV

• Goose Island Harvest Ale – 5.7% ABV
• Mild Winter – 5.6% ABV
• Stone IPA – 6.9% ABV
• Levitation – 4.4% ABV
• Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale – 5.0% ABV
• Brooklyn Winter Ale – 6.0% ABV
• Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter – % ABV

I’m happy to say that most of those are entirely new to me, with the honourable exceptions of Sierra Nevada Porter and old favourite Gonzo Imperial Porter, which is always welcome (and harder to get hold of these days, since Tesco stopped selling it a few months back).

I’m looking forward to sampling a few of those over the next couple of weeks. Mind you, I think I’ll stick the Anchor Christmas 2010 in the special cupboard and let that mature for a while. Twelve months or so should do it. Likewise the Sierra Nevada Celebration, I reckon.

Yesterday I made my last work-related London trip of 2010 and took full advantage of one more opportunity to visit The Euston Tap.

But first a very important end-of-year review-type meeting with my boss who, being a bloody good bloke, was more than happy for us to hold said meeting over the road from our office at the Black Friar (see Travels With Beer for a photo gallery of the rather magnificent interior) and he got the beers in as well.

The Black Friar being a Nicholson’s pub, you’ve usually got a good chance of finding something half-decent on the pubs, but I was particularly delighted to spot a Thornbridge pump-clip and one I’d not seen before, to boot: Wild Holly. I’m guessing this is a new Thornbridge beer for winter 2010 (guessing because there’s no info on the Thornbridge website yet).

Wild Holly was dark and should have been delicious – plenty of dark brown sugar flavours, with hints of cherry and spices, all very pleasant indeed – but the mouth-feel was desperately thin, particularly for a 5% ABV winter ale, which rather spoiled the overall effect. If ever there was a beer that was screaming out for a sparkler, this was it. I’d definitely want to try this one again, but not unless the pub in question was likely to serve it up in better condition.

So, on to the Northern Line and up to the Euston Tap. Wandering in, I spotted and occupied a spot at the end of the bar and got cracking on my two target-beers for my quick visit. The first of these was the Thornbridge / Dark Star collaboration, Thornstar.

This one is a 4.7% ABV Black IPA – a style I’m becoming very fond of – brewed with a CaraFa roast malt base and several varieties of New Zealand hops: Pacifica, Southern Cross and Nelson Sauvin. It poured (via sparkler!) dark and beautifully full-bodied, with a creamy white head. Rich malt flavours gave an impression of gentle sweetness, with hints of dried fruit & chicory. This sweetness gave way to a drier, hoppier finish and stronger coffee flavours came into play towards the end of the half. Lovely stuff.

Next up: a half of Anchor Christmas 2010. This is the thirty-sixth annual Christmas brew from the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco. It’s rare to find Anchor beers on draught over here, so I was particularly keen to give this one a go.

The beer poured with an almost opaque dark body and faint ruby highlights, with a thin head and not much aroma. This 5.9% ABV beer had plenty of rich roast-malt flavours, and was subtly cinnamon-spiced with a dry-sharp, gingery after-burn. Bizarrely though, the dominant flavour seemed to be Coca-Cola, which threw me a bit, I have to admit (I’m not mad keen and haven’t drunk the stuff for years). It wasn’t unpleasant but I think I was expecting something fruitier and richer. I definitely preferred both the Thornstar and my last swift half of the evening: Matuška Black Rocket.

This Czech import – another black IPA, it must have been my lucky night – had a gorgeous mouth-feel, with a sweet, malty base delivering hints of sherry and coffee on the after-taste A very smooth-tasting beer with a lovely roast-malt, dry-hop balance. One of those beers I could happily drink all evening, but at 6.8% ABV probably shouldn’t.

Apologies if the notes were a little sparse on that last one, but by this point Jeff, the legendary landlord of the Gunmakers in Clerkenwell had wandered over, having spotted me down the end of the bar and recognised me from the last time Jo and I were down in London. He introduced me to Yan, landlord of the Tap, and I’d already started nattering to the bloke next to me at the bar – a local CAMRA stalwart by the name of Errol – so the four of us had a good old natter about beers, pubs and all sorts of stuff (that’s one of the things about the Euston Tap: it’s very easy to strike up a conversation with pretty much anyone in there). Couldn’t really make notes on my phone halfway through, would have been unforgivably rude of me…

So, that’s my last visit to London for this year, and my last visit to what is rapidly becoming one of my very favourite pubs. I’ll definitely be back next year. Often.

My grey and rainy Friday has been considerably brightened by the arrival of the first consignment of US 52 Week Beer Club beers from MyBreweryTap (@MyBreweryTap).

I could go on (probably at length) about how much I’m looking forward to sampling these little beauties, but I’ll save all that for the (eventual) Tasting Notes.

In the meantime, snapshots:

• Flying Dog – Raging Bitch 8.0% ABV
• Flying Dog – Old Scratch Lager 5.3% ABV [TN]
• Odell – St Lupulin 7.0% ABV
• Odell – Cutthroat Porter 4.8% ABV

• Victory – Hop Wallop 8.5% ABV
• Sierra Nevada – Torpedo IPA 7.2% ABV
• Anchor – Liberty Ale 5.9% ABV
• Brooklyn – East India IPA 6.8% ABV

• Goose Island – 312 Urban Wheat 4.2% ABV
• Goose Island – IPA 5.9% ABV
• Victory / Dogfish Head / Stone – Saison Du Buff 6.8% ABV
• Dogfish Head – 90min IPA 9.0% ABV
• Dogfish Head – India Brown Ale 7.2% ABV

Any suggestions as to whether any of the above should be consumed while they’re still young and zingy and / or which of them could stand a little cellaring would be gratefully received…

I seem to have become increasingly interested in US craft beer recently. As per my recent new arrivals post, my last couple of specialist beer shop hauls have been largely US-themed. I’ve also been slowly but steadily working my way through Andy Crouch’s Great American Craft Beer (Book Notes to follow in due course) and I think that’s helped opened my eyes to the sheer size of the US craft scene and the vast amount of choice that’s on offer… if you can get hold of it.

Which is why when Richard Burhouse of MyBreweryTap (@MyBreweryTap) announced the launch of the US 52 Week Beer Club yesterday, it didn’t take me long to decide to sign up.

I did the sums first of course: with the initial delivery charge taking the price to £125.98, it works out at around £2.42 a bottle over the year. Which is slightly more that you would expect to pay for the two or three US imports currently on offer in Tesco, but perhaps slightly less than the independent retailers tend to charge, especially for some of the more interesting brews on their shelves.

And the first quarter’s selection looks pretty darn interesting to me:

• Anchor – Liberty Ale ABV 5.9%
• Brooklyn – East India IPA ABV 6.8%
• Flying Dog – Raging Bitch ABV 8.0%
• Flying Dog – Old Scratch Lager ABV 5.3% [TN]
• Odell – St Lupulin ABV 7.0%
• Odell – Cutthroat Porter ABV 4.8%
• Sierra Nevada – Torpedo IPA ABV 7.2%
• Goose Island – IPA ABV 5.9%
• Goose Island – 312 Urban Wheat ABV 4.2%
• Dogfish Head – 90min IPA ABV 9.0%
• Dogfish Head – India Brown Ale ABV 7.2%
• Victory – Hop Wallop ABV 8.5%
• Victory / Dogfish Head / Stone – Saison Du Buff ABV 6.8%

There’s only one on that list I’ve sampled before, and just the two that I’ve already got in the Beer Cupboard already. A few candidates for cellaring and maturing, but most of those look like they can be enjoyed young, so I’m definitely looking forward to getting stuck in when that first consignment arrives.

If you want to join the US 52 Week Beer Club you’ll have to be quick: MyBreweryTap are limiting the club to 50 subscriptions in order to guarantee supplies of the more interesting and/or limited brews and I know for a fact that there’s a maximum of 49 available as of 20 minutes ago…

York could very easily stake a solid claim to the title ‘beer capital of the North’ (if such a thing were ever up for grabs). The whole city centre is pretty much one great big historical tourist trap and ‘traditional pub’ seems to be one of the most commonly deployed weapons in the York tourist board’s arsenal. This, I firmly believe, is a Very Good Thing Indeed.

Jo and I have been to York a few times in the past couple of years but always on a weekend – so the historical sites we’ve actually wanted to visit have usually been closed to the public due to weddings. To get around this problem we nipped over on the train last Thursday. Arriving round about lunchtime, we headed in search of sustenance at the one York Brewery pub that we hadn’t visited on previous occasions: the Three Legged Mare.

I was Jonesing for a pint of light, hoppy Terrier and a baked spud (or something like that), but alas the only food on offer was sandwiches (not much good to us wheat-intolerant types) so plan A fell at the first hurdle. Turning around, I spotted a Marston’s pub – the Hole in the Wall – just down the road. Worth a gamble?

As it turned out: yes, it was well worth a visit. Inside it was a case of low ceilings, exposed beams, plaques on the wall proclaiming its historical associations with the nearby Minster and four hand-pumps on the bar. The Hobgoblin must have finished a the precise moment we walked in the door, so we opted for Mansfield Bitter, which turned out to be well-balanced hop/malt combo and an ideal lunchtime pint at a genteel 3.9% ABV. We also ate heartily: a well-portioned plate of pork steaks and black pudding served on a big dollop of creamy mashed spud with apple gravy (recommended!) for me and an equally generous helping of pan-fried white fish in a crayfish sauce with new potatoes. If that’s standard Marston’s fayre then I might seek them out more often…

Nicely refuelled by our dinner-sized lunch we then headed off to do some tourist-stuff – namely have a shufty around Barley Hall, a medieval residence just off Stonegate – and then Jo very kindly let me wander back around the corner to The Bottle, a specialist beer retailer that just had to be done. After perusing the US imports section (once again: more on the results of that in a future New Arrivals post) we chatted to the owner, who mentioned that he’d opened a bar upstairs earlier in the year. We reckoned it was probably about time for a pit-stop and frankly it would have been rude not to, so Jo and I climbed the stairs to The House of Trembling Madness, a former tea-room that also happens to be the oldest medieval hall in York and looks a little like this:

We opted for draught Anchor Steam Beer, which was served well-chilled but was still very flavourful, with a big malty base and a pleasantly sharp, hoppy after-bite. The rest of HoTM’s draught beer selection was interesting – Kwak, La Trappe Dubbel and Timmermans Kriek – and the fridge was stocked with a good selection of bottles from downstairs. About the only thing missing was a session bitter, but then there are plenty of other session-bitter filled public houses in town after all. A bit of a hidden gem that’s worth seeking out, the House of Trembling Madness has a lot to offer if you’re feeling slightly more adventurous.

Time was ticking on and we’d missed the chance to spend a decent amount of it looking round the Merchant Venturer’s Hall (which sounded very much like a good excuse for another trip to York at a later date) so we set off to stroll around the city walls and enjoy the sunshine for a while instead. That done, we then wandered back through the city centre and headed south of the river towards The Old Siam; a rather good Thai restaurant on Mickelgate that we’ve eaten at three or four times in the past. And as we were a little early even for early-doors, we stopped off at The Ackhorne on the way.

The Ackhorne is a proper drinking pub. Situated a couple of hundred yards up narrow, cobbled St Martin’s Lane, it’s far enough off the main Mickelgate drag to be out of sight to passing gangs of revellers, which means you’ve got a decent chance of enjoying a quiet pint. Mind you, The Ackhorne really does seem to specialise in session bitter – the selection last Thursday comprised London Pride, Greene King IPA, Marston’s Pedigree and Deuchars IPA, with a tempting-looking Rooster’s Yankee tucked in between them. Good choice: a 4.3% golden ale with a a big hit of malt and tangy, caramelised orange flavours, it was very drinkable indeed.

After a very tasty Thai meal Jo and I decided we had time (and room) for one more pint before heading back to the station, so we nipped three doors down to one of our favourite York pubs, Brigantes. It’s part of the Market Town Taverns mini-chain of 10 pubs (all in Yorkshire) but manages to maintain a Free House feel with a range of eight to ten real ales on tap, a couple of real ciders and a good bottled beer list.

The friendly barlass explained that the three Kelham Island pumps were left over from the ‘meet the brewer’ event they’d hosted the night before. Jo and I thought we’d help them reduce their surplus stock; I fancied something big and flavourful to end the evening on so I went for a pint of Pale Rider. This 5.2% pale ale was rich and hoppy and, because it was poured via sparkler, I do have to say much better presented, with a much better mouthfeel than the sparkler-free pint of the same that I’d had at The Gunmakers earlier in the week (memo to self: remember to ask them to stick a sparkler on the pump next time you’re in The Gunmakers, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind).

Jo opted for a pint of American Stars and Bars, a 4.5% US-inspired pale ale brewed using a trio of American hops. Once again, it was light, fresh, hoppy and very tasty.

We’d ideally have liked to stay for a couple more before staggering off to a guest house, possibly via the York Brewery Tap around the corner (can you believe it – a whole day in York and not a single York Brewery ale passed my lips, never mind a Rudgate brew or two… something of a missed opportunity there, surely?) but the timetable suggested we should make our way to the station if we were to be home at a decent hour. Passing through both Dewsbury and Huddersfield on the way back to Manchester meant that we were forced to resist further temptation as well. Maybe next time we should factor in an overnight stay and a couple of stopovers on the way back, eh? Now there’s a thought.

Jo and I spent the weekend just gone on a tourist jaunt to London. Which went something like this:

Saturday

Morning: Virgin Pendolino from Manchester Piccadilly, tube across town to base-camp: Fuller’s Mad Hatter, Blackfriars.

Afternoon: Quick stroll down to Borough Market. Alas, The Rake was hammered, hadn’t read Mark Dredge’s review of Brew Wharf yet, so passed that one by. Dodged a rain shower by nipping into The Wheatsheaf, situated in the cellars of the old Hop Exchange. Perfectly pleasant pint of Phoenix Arizona (I know, all the way to London to drink beer from up the road in Rochdale, eh? You can take us Northerners out of the North…)

Also wandered into Utobeer, brilliant little place (about the same size as Beer Ritz), cracking selection of fantastic beers (more on that in next New Arrivals post). They should open a branch in Manchester, definitely.

Evening: Train out to Bromley, visiting good friends Sam and Chris. Takeaway from Tamasha – ordered something that turned out to be rabbit in creamy, lightly-spiced sauce – accompanied by a couple of bottles of Westerham‘s Little Scotney Pale Ale – red-brown, deliciously malty – then a more-than generous measure of Laphroig Quarter Cask (cheers, Chris!) Got back about midnight, extremely full and happy but too late for the hotel bar. Never mind.

Sunday

Morning / Afternoon: Weekend Tourist Destination #1: Hampton Court Palace. Good few hours mooching through medieval / baroque palaces; peering into display cases, suitably impressed by the architecture, generally soaking up the culture. Almost tempted by King’s Table Ale at lunch’ but £3.50 for 4% bottled session bitter helped decide against (bit early in the day and hot weather to boot). Had ice-cream instead. Two scoops. Also almost temped by leather tankard; which smelled great, looked pretty nifty. Flipped the thing over, saw £40.00 price tag (£5 cheaper online, apparently). Sanity quickly restored.

(Also, I spotted this fella in the courtyard, perched on top of so-called “wine fountain”… but I reckon I know a happy ale-drinker when I see one:)

Evening: Train back to town, quick tube ride up to Covent Garden. Dropped in on The Porterhouse for steak dinner (served with mountain of straw chips and rather pleasant bernaise sauce). Few pints of probably the best stouts to be found in London (well, outside of Greenwich, that being Meantime territory, obviously). Jo went for Plain Porter, I sampled Oyster Stout, switched to the Wrasslers XXXX for number two, stuck with that for the duration. Thought about Brain Blasta (strong ale, 7% ABV or so), decided to remain coherent instead.

(Incidentally, the Porterhouse has the best interior decor in the world. If you’ve been there, you’ll know exactly what I mean: floor-to-ceiling cabinets filled with the most fascinating selection of bottled beers you’re likely to see in your life. Here’s a quick snapshot, which I hope I’ve been able to capture okay, given the suitable atmospheric conditions:

Love the place. Absolutely love it. They should also open a branch in Manchester, most definitely.)

Back to Mad Hatter for quick night-cap. Choice of several Fuller’s ales, went for London Pride (I fancied something with more bite than Seafarer’s Ale looked like it might deliver and I’d been disappointed by Chiswick bitter on a couple of occasions. The Pride was okay, but nothing special – honestly it really could’ve done with a sparkler to liven it up a bit, it was flat as the proverbial witch’s what-not – but perhaps I should have gone for the ESB. I’ll know better next time.)

Monday

Morning / Afternoon: Dropped suddenly-rather-heavy bags (again: next New Arrivals piece…) at Euston Left Luggage. Wandered round to Euston Square, jumped back on tube, headed down to Weekend Tourist Destination #2: Tower of London. Before joining heaving throng of tourists, headed across London bridge to Butler’s Wharf in search of food. Passed site of Anchor Brewhouse; original Courage brewery, converted to apartment block (inevitably). (There was a plaque on the wall, which I duly snapped; click for a larger, more readable version:)

Next: The Tower. Apparently 2,400,000 visitors a year. Most seemed to turned up on same day as us. Can’t blame them, weather was lovely, but queue for Crown Jewels (“royal bling” as Yeoman Warder Tour Guide put it) was quite ridiculous, likewise queue for ‘Torture in the Tower’ exhibition. Skipped those; did the medieval bits, checked out display of Royal Arms and Armour (well worth a look if you’re a bit of a medieval military buff, although the £17.00 Tower entry ticket might be understandably off-putting), stuck our heads around gift shop door, checked out tourist tat. Once again, King’s Table Ale and leather tankard both called. Once again, their allure was easily resisted.

Evening: En-route back to Euston, Jo suggested stopping at that Gunmaker’s place that I keep going on about (I was only too happy to oblige). Wandered in, eyes drawn magnetically to chalk-board menu. Curses! Food plans foiled: kitchen not open until 18.30 (apparently they allow their chef time to rest, the mad, compassionate fools). Have to get back to Euston for 20.00 train (reserved single tickets, no choice). Too close to risk it.

Consolatory pint of Woodforde’s Wherry – a pleasant golden session beer with light, hoppy profile – then, half-way through pint of Kelham Island Pale Rider – stronger, slightly darker, much more pronounced hop-bite – legendary landlord Jeff appears from upper rooms, proceeds to win uber-Landlord Award. (He did this by catching sight of us out of the corner of his eye, stopping in mid-stride with an impressive double-take and then proceeding to remember not only the last time he spoke to me – which was just over a year ago – but also my name – which, to a bear of very little brain and even less useful memory like me, is pretty darn impressive, I can tell you. I introduced Jo, we chatted for a bit and then Jeff headed off to entertain his regulars, leaving us feeling thoroughly welcome and absolutely determined to head on back there the next time we’re in town. We’ll make damn sure we’re there when the kitchen is open, too.)

Definitely needed food before two-hour train journey home. Aforementioned regular helpfully suggested The Bree Louise. Bloody good idea. Back on the tube, off again at Euston Square, round corner to Bree Louise. Ordered 2x New Yorker chicken (fried breast fillet covered in bacon and cheese, pile of chips, just the ticket) washed down with utterly underwhelming pint of gravity-dispensed Nethergate Umbel Magna (I’ve had both gravity beers at the Bree Louise and Umbel Magna elsewhere and they’ve both been much better, but so it goes…) followed by pint of Rebellion Mild – smooth, nutty, dark, quite pleasant – for the road.

Train. Taxi. Home. Bed. Pretty much exhausted, but extremely happy.

(We’re already planning our next London jaunt: Brew Wharf, The Rake, Utobeer again, definitely The Gunmaker’s, definitely The Porterhouse, maybe a trip over to Greenwich… oh, and perhaps some more tourist stuff as well. But no leather tankards for me. Not at £40 bloody quid a pop…)

Brewery: Anchor Brewing
Location: San Francisco, USA
ABV: 8.2%
Version: Bottled
Source: Beer Ritz, Leeds

Inspired by The Beer Nut‘s recent exhortation to get stuck in to your stash from time to time – rather than watching all those lovely bottles of strong ale slowly mature towards some nebulous and tricky-to-accurately-judge nirvana of agèd perfection – I decided last weekend to bring my sole bottle of Anchor Old Foghorn ale out of the beer cupboard, a mere four months after putting it away on the top shelf, with the rest of the Good Stuff. And I’m extremely glad I did, because now I know to pick up a good half dozen or so bottles of this rather magnificent ale the very next time I see it on offer.

Anchor Old Foghorn pours a lovely dark chestnut colour and from the first sip releases a cacophony of rich, sensuous flavours: toffee and coconut predominate in a sweet and heady swirl, with developing red wine and sour cherry notes on the after-taste, which help to take the edge off the sugariness and stop it becoming too cloying or sickly. The alcohol hit is noticeable yet quietly under-stated and the mouth-feel is smooth and chewy, all of which makes for a glorious, slow-sipper that’s quite, quite delicious… particularly once that initial sweetness settles down a bit and the flavours begin to merge and mellow into something that’s a real joy to sample.

Definitely the sort of ale I’d like to become much better acquainted with. I have a feeling my next trip to Beer Ritz is going to be an expensive one…

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Location: San Francisco, USA
ABV: 5.6%
Version 355ml bottle

Anchor Porter was launched in the early 1970s and is made with only natural ingredients, including a generous helping of fresh whole hops. It gets off to a good start with its pitch black colour and decent head, along with initially loads of bubbles from the natural carbonation which soon settle down. The smell is as expected, that lovely aroma of all good porters, combining malt, chocolate and coffee with some biscuit and a touch of liquorice. First taste is of a delightful chocolate maltiness, with those aforementioned hops quickly coming through to add a little bit of zing to the proceedings, with just enough added to keep the flavour on the right side of pleasant. There’s also a touch of smokiness from the roasted malt hiding in the background. Mouthfeel is a bit thinner than I like from a porter, and the finish is a bit short-lived, but it’s still very drinkable and worth sampling.

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Location: San Francisco, USA
ABV: 5.5%
Version: 355ml bottle
Source: Gap Wines

Okay, so Christmas is over but as this ale’s full name is “Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2008″ I can justify posting this. That and I only got the bottle yesterday.

Anchor have been brewing their Christmas Ale since 1975, and each year they change the label and the recipe. The former features a different tree each time (the current one is a Jeffrey Pine, according to the Pint Log) while the latter remains a secret. This is my first year sampling this so I’m no position to compare it with previous incarnations.

Enough preamble, on with the pouring and tasting. Anchor suggest on their website that this be refridgerated if being stored for any length of time but there’s no mention on the label of serving chilled, so at I did so at room temperature (plus it seems strange to me to serve a winter beer chilled, although maybe not so in California). It’s a very dark, virtually opaque, brown with just a hint of red when held up to the light. The aroma is at first malty, with some caramel biscuity qualities and a touch of light fruit. All very complex and a bit of a mystery - maybe pine to match the label? The taste is just as interesting a mix. Malt comes through straight away, with some chocolate and fresh herbs (some of those secret ingredients) and I’m fairly sure I detected a touch of butterscotch in there too. All very smooth, but with a slight bitterness coming through to add a little bit of bite to the finish. Lovely stuff.