Brewery: Marble
Location: Manchester, England
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 5.0%
Version: Draught
Source: The Marble Arch, Manchester

A new Marble brew on the bar at the Marble Arch? Had to be done. Brew 1734 is (as I understand things) part of an ongoing series of experimental try-outs which have included the rather excellent Marble Brew 1691 strong ruby mild that I enjoyed so much a few months back.

Brew 1734 poured a deep red-brown with ruby highlights and delivered plenty of rich chocolate malt flavours, with hints of red wine & whisky and a slightly sour bitter-orange after-taste. It all started out rather nicely balanced and pleasantly drinkable, but I have to admit that by the end of the pint it had started to get a bit too sticky and cloying for my taste. So whilst I enjoyed most of my first pint of Brew 1734, I didn’t rush back for another, switching to a palate-cleansing pint of Marble Pint for my next one.

Maybe this one rolled out of the lab just a few months too soon? Because if they cranked up the ABV to something like 7% and stuck a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg in as well, I reckon Marble would have a cracking Xmas brew on their hands; a proper, spicy winter-warmer that would sit alongside the likes of Gouden Carlous Christmas without being at all abashed. What do you reckon to “Marble Cracker”? Quite a nice ring to it, I reckon.

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Location: New York, USA
ABV: see text
Version: 355ml bottles

I’ve previously covered Brooklyn Lager and Black Chocolate Stout, and being impressed with those two I reckon it’s a good idea to try any of their other beers when I see them. So let’s see how their takes on Brown Ale, Wheat Beer and an IPA fare.

First up is the 5.6% Brown Ale, a  rich reddish brown with a malty aroma of toffee and a bit of chocolate, along with a hint of fruit in the background. Malt is very much to the fore in the taste, there are six different malt varieties used after all, with caramel, hazelnut, earthiness and roastiness all present, along with a touch of coffee and a very slight hop bitterness towards the end. Brown Ale is not a particular favourite of mine, but then neither is lager and they did a good job of that, but to be honest I thought this didn’t really stand out. It’s still a decent enough beer, but not one I’ll be seeking out again.

Next is a 5.1 % wheat beer, Brooklyner Weisse. This is brewed very much in the German style,with German malts and hops used to give it some authenticity. And it certainly ticks the wheat beer boxes. Amber in colour, clear rather than cloudy (but that could be my pouring), and with a characteristic, and quite spicy, wheat beer aroma. Taste is again what I would have expected, with notes of banana, bread and spices through to the dry finish. Overall, a reasonable rendition of the style, not as dry as some I’ve had, and not as full-flavoured as it could be, but still a decent drop.

Finally, and I saved the best of the three to last, is the 6.8% East India Pale Ale. Made with East Anglian malts and five different hop varieties, its mid amber in colour and all those hops ensure a fresh citrus fruit aroma. The flavour is unsurprisingly on the hoppy side of things as well, very zesty, with grapefruit and lemon and a warm, slightly spicy, element. Malt pushes through as well, taking some of the edge off the bitterness and the alcohol content isn’t too noticable either. For me, this is another winner from Brooklyn, and one I can see me revisiting when I next see it.

Back in January I declared my intention to steer clear of average, bog-standard bitters and pale ales as far as I possibly could. When it comes to the buying of bottled beers I’ve done pretty well. Purchases of a pretty superb stout selection from BeerVentures.co.uk, a case of rare and rather exquisite Belgians from BeerMerchants.com and a couple of excellent BrewDog orders have helped to keep the quality averages consistently high and I’ve been exercising my willpower when it comes to supermarket purchases: only the most interesting-looking new stuff for me.

Inevitably though, there have been a few that in spite of their apparent promise haven’t turned out to be quite as remarkable as I’d hoped. And seeing as there are only so many times that your humble beer blogger can stretch “bitter ale, malty, some hoppiness” (or vica-versa as applicable) to a full Tasting Notes write-up, here’s another quick catch-up piece to clear the backlog from the notebook:

Shepherd Neame Late Red (bottled, 4.5% abv)
A very deep-ruby red bitter brewed with late-season hops. Not sure if the seasonality of the hops adds anything in particular to the flavour profile, but the brew was distinctly hoppy and bitter, although at the same time a bit on the flat side and without much else to distinguish it. Not bad, but not great either.

Jennings Golden Host (bottled, 4.3% abv)
A golden amber pale ale with a very hoppy nose that somehow doesn’t carry through into the flavour, which was quite mild and if anything, had a honey-sweetness rather than a hop-bitterness. With a touch of citrus as well, this would make for a pleasant summer quaffer, but isn’t one I’ll be looking out for in future myself.

Thwaites Liberation (bottled, 4.8% abv)
A smooth-drinking, but with barely a distinguishing characteristic to report back on – a touch of sweetness but hardly any bitterness to balance it out. I would have expected more from Thwaites, who usually know how to put out a decent brew and at 4.8% it should really have had a bit more bite, surely?

Black Sheep Yorkshire Square (bottled, 5.0% ABV)
A dark amber bitter with a hoppy, fresh-tasting flavour, good bitterness and hints of citrus to make things interesting. Nice. But not remarkably nice… (Ed wasn’t blown away either).

Orval Trappist Ale (bottled, 6.2% ABV)
I picked up a bottle of Orval in Tesco during my recent Belgian-familiarisation drive. It poured with a big head and a big aroma and turned out to be slightly cloudy, slightly effervescent and slightly sour. Not a hint of sweetness anywhere and a rather odd after-taste, too. I know this one’s meant be a taste that’s worth acquiring, but I don’t know… I’m unlikely to be going back any time soon, I think.

Wood’s Shropshire Lad (bottled, 5.0% ABV)
I’m pretty sure this one must have gone off in the bottle. Or at least, I hope that explains the cloyingly sweet, marsh-mallow, unpleasantly yoghurty flavour that saw the bulk of it dumped down the sink. I’ll give it another go sometime – if only on the grounds that my brother-in-law swears it’s actually a decent drop – but honestly, this particular bottle was just undrinkable.

Badger Golden Champion (bottled, 5.0% ABV)
I was highly impressed by Badger’s Golden Glory a while back, but this one didn’t quite hit the same high-notes. It was pleasant and drinkable enough: a rich, golden ale with a light, hoppy flavour and some definite citrus notes. But again, I’d expect more from a 5% ABV beer. And from a marketing perspective, I’m just not sure why Badger would want to have two such similarly-named ales in its range when they have such distinct characteristics? Anyhow, my advice: stick to Golden Glory for a much more interesting flavour experience.

Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA (bottled, 5.3% ABV)
Along with a few others in this round-up, I rather think this is a beer that would perform much better on draught than it did in the bottle. A golden-amber ale that actually had a much more malty profile than it’s claim to IPA-status would suggest, with the hops not really kicking in until the after-taste rather than being up-front and central as you’d expect. With hints of honey-biscuit and a pink-grapefruit citrus tang it’s not unpleasant by any means, but it’s not remarkable either.

Maxim Double Maxim Premium Brown Ale (bottled, 4.7% ABV)
This resurrected recipe has been lovingly restored by the Double Maxim beer company; it was first brewed in Sunderland in 1901 to celebrate the return of the Maxim Gun detachment from the Boer War. The beer is a deep chestnut colour with a slightly vegetative aroma in-bottle. Hoppy and sharp with an underlying marzipan sweetness that develops into a definite almond flavour as the beer goes on. Pleasant enough, not so impressive that I leapt to try the draught version when I saw it a few weeks later; although who knows, maybe that was an opportunity missed..?

Cairngorm Trade Winds (bottled, 4.3% abv)
This one was left over from the selection I picked up in last year’s Sainsbury’s summer Real Ale promotion. A pale golden ale with a rich, fruity flavour and a lingering bitterness that became more noticeable as the pint went on, backed up by a smooth, satisfying mouth-feel. Would probably try this one again, especially if I found it on draught (Ed was a bit more impressed than I was).

Marston Oyster Stout (bottled, 4.5% abv)
For a stout, this one was remarkably thin, fizzy and generally a bit limp: a hint of coffee and chocolate, but barely anything to distinguish it from bottled Guinness. I’ve had porters with a lot more body and bitters with a lot more flavour and a great many stouts that were superior on both fronts. Not one I’ll be rushing back to in a hurry.

Wychwood Dirty Tackle (draught, 4.0% abv)
Tried a pint of this one at the Bull’s Head in Manchester at the end of a session. A pleasant, rich-chestnut coloured bitter with a well-balanced blend of malt and hops and dry, bitter finish. Pleasantly drinkable, but not all that remarkable. No sign of it on the Wychwood website, either; I’m guessing it was a seasonal brew for the Five Nations or something like that.

That’ll do for this time around. Got a few more in the notebook, so I’ll post another round-up later on in the year.

Brewery: Hobson’s
Location: Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, England
ABV: 4.8% / 5.2%
Version: Bottled
Source: Tanner’s, Bridgnorth

I’ve had the pleasure of sampling both these beers on draught in the King’s Head in Bridgnorth a while back (my brother-in-law swears by the Postman’s Knock and rarely sups anything else when it’s on offer) and the last time I was down there (visiting the in-laws) I picked up a couple of bottles when I was in Tanner’s wine merchants.

Opening the Postman’s Knock releases a rich chocolatey aroma and the beer pours a very dark ruby-red-brown with a fairly thing head. It’s a very rich, malty beer with lots of roast coffee flavours and more than a hint of dark chocolate. It’s extremely tasty, if a little thin in the texture department, but generally went down very well indeed. Definitely worth picking up if you see it.

By contrast, Old Henry is a noticeably lighter, amber-ruby ale. Flavour-wise, it’s quite dry, with distinct hoppy notes and a honey-and-orange tang that’s quite pleasant, carried along on a rich, satisfying mouth-feel. Again, it’s very pleasant, very drinkable and well worth sampling if you’re in the area; I’ve not seen Hobson’s elsewhere before now.

Old Henry is the slightly stronger of the two beers so I was expecting it to have a more complex flavour. But although it does get more interesting as it warms, I think on balance, I preferred the Postman’s Knock. Slightly richer, maltier, warmer; it just about has the edge on its hoppier sibling, at least as far as my taste-buds are concerned.

All in all though, a fine pair of beers.

Brewery: Purity Brewing
Location: Gt Alne, Warwickshire, England
ABV: 4.8%
Version: Bottled
Source: Tesco

The Purity Brewing Co have produced Farmer’s Harvest ale to mark the centenary of the National Farmer’s Union and it’s still on sale via branches of Tesco (it’s in stock in our local branch, anyhow). It’s only available in bottles and is the first beverage in the UK to be awarded the red tractor quality mark.

Taste-wise, Farmers’ Harvest is similar to Purity’s Pure Ubu Amber Ale but with a slightly more noticeable caramel / toffee sweetness to it. There’s a nuttier character in there, too – almond or pecan – but all in all it’s a similarly drinkable and agreeably tasty brown ale. Not a huge amount to separate the two, but I think Farmers’ Harvest might just edge it. I’ll have to give the two a go in one session and see if I can separate them (I know, I know… any excuse).

Well worth checking your nearest Tesco to see if they’ve got any in stock.

Brewery: Thornbridge
Location: Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire, England
ABV: 4.2%
Version: Draught
Source: Marble Arch, Manchester

After heading to The Angel to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary with a meal and a couple of pints of their (pale, hoppy, fresh and orangey) Angel Bitter, Jo and I headed up the road to the Marble Arch to see what delights they were offering. Perusing the pumps, I spotted and made a bee-line for Thornbridge’s Ashford New World Brown Ale.

I was extremely glad that I did, too. Thornbridge Ashford is a hugely drinkable nut brown ale with big, chocolate and faint coffee flavours and an extremely smooth, satisfying finish. Weighing in at 4.2% it makes for an ideal session beer and that’s pretty much (with the exception of a quick segue onto Brampton Wasp Nest for the penultimate pint of the evening) what I did.

Definitely not a boring, bog-standard bitter, Ashford is one I’d recommend without hesitation and one I’d happily go back to in future. No idea how it compares to the legendary Thornbridge Jaipur, as I still haven’t managed to find that one on draught just yet, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to rectify that in a couple of weeks and will report back if and when I do…

Brewery: Freeminer
Location: Forest of Dean, England
ABV: 4.8%
Version: Bottled
Source: The Co-operative

The other week my missus came back from the Co-op with a couple of examples of their own-label bottled ale for me to try (in lieu of a birthday card, as it happens, thereby demonstrating just how well she knows me after all these years) and I’m drinking the first of them as I type this…

The Forest of Dean’s Freeminer makes Harvest Ale for the Co-op with a combination of barley grown on The Co-op’s own farms and Worcestershire Sovereign hops grown especially for the brewery, or so we’re informed by the back label. The bottle opens to release a wonderfully rich, toffee-malt aroma and the beer pours a deep, attractive chestnut brown with a thin head. Flavour-wise, it’s heavy on the malt (as promised on the label) but with a hoppy after-bite that cuts through the sweetness and there’s a nutty character that makes the overall taste experience a very pleasant one indeed.

I’d say Harvest Ale lies midway between Newcastle Brown and Wychwood Hobgoblin on the brown ale scale. Easy-drinking but definitely a winner, taste-wise, which makes it a good session beer candidate as well. I reckon I might be getting a few more of these for the cupboard next time I’m anywhere near a Co-op food store.

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 …

The Wetherspoon‘s mega-chain is currently running their 2008 Real Ale Festival and so last Friday evening, Jo and I thought we’d nip along and see what they had to offer.

The branch we went along to was the Waterhouse on Princess Street in Manchester City Centre – a former solicitors’ office (if I remember correctly) which has retained most of its internal dividing walls, making for a more intimate and secluded venue than its cross-city partner The Moon Under Water. The latter was previously a cinema and is now a cavernous, riotous open space, usually packed to the rafters on a weekend night and extremely noisy.

Of course, the smaller venue has a smaller number of pumps / taps and so the range of festival ales on offer was limited to a rather narrow selection from the 50 in the full festival range. Mind you, I don’t think it helped that last Friday was Hallowe’en, because they still had a couple of spooky-themed beers on, along with a couple more that, whilst displayed with Festival clips on the taps, weren’t actually part of the Festival… unless they’re allowed a couple of local additions to the range? Anyhow, just a case of poor timing on our part, I guess. Next weekend might have been a better bet.

All of which meant that I didn’t get the chance to try (or reacquaint myself with) a number of beers from the Festival brochure that I really would have liked to have a go at, such as: Triple FFF Alton’s Pride (CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain 2008, no less), Hilden Molly’s Stout, Caledonian Smokey Pete, Exmoor Wild Cat, Banks’s Winter Ale, St Austell Proper Job, Harviestoun Thistle Do, Woodforde’s Norfolk Nog, Baron’s Black Wattle Original Ale, Meantime Coffee Porter (enjoyed the bottled version, would have loved to been able to sample the draught), Robinson’s Old Tom Chocolate Ale, Titanic Iron Curtain Russian Stout and York Centurion’s Ghost (any excuse to drink one of my all-time favourites…)

In the end, Jo and I managed to sample six beers – Festival or otherwise and all in half pint sampler-sizes – between the two of us us and then, having pretty much exhausted the possibilities, we went next door to the City Arms for a couple more, so I suppose I shouldn’t grumble. And those beers were:

Yo-Ho Yona Yona – A new beer brewed especially for the Festival by Japanese brewer Toshi Ishii at Banks’s brewery in Wolverhampton, Yona Yona Real Ale is a 5% American-style pale ale that poured a dark amber colour with a light head. It was quite hoppy, with a distinct grapefruit flavour that became more and more pronounced as the glass went on. In fact, I’d say it was probably a bit too pronounced for my taste, with the sourness and acidity over-powering the sweeter, maltier notes to the point where I wasn’t actually enjoying it all that much by the end. Which was a shame, because it seems as though the rest of the Yo-Ho range is meant to be somewhat legendary, by all accounts…

Moorhouses Black Witch – Part of the Moorhouses seasonal range, Jo decided to try a half and ended up having a couple more. It’s a 4.2%, dark, chestnut-brown ale with a nutty, coffee-toned flavour and a chocolately after-taste. Quite sweet, very easy-drinking. Not one of the Festival ales but probably the most enjoyable beer we sampled on the evening. So there you go.

George Wright Skeleton – I think this has to be one of the most aptly-named beers I’ve encountered to-date, because this 4.1% light ale had almost no body and very little meat on its bones at all. Almost devoid of any sort of flavour or even a notable leaning towards either dryness or sweetness, it was bland and watery throughout. Caveat emptor.

Outlaw Wrangler – I think this is brewed by Knaresborough-based Roosters under their Outlaw Brewing Co label, but it wasn’t an official Festival beer and I couldn’t get close enough to the cask-clip to double-check (it was a Friday night and two or three deep at that part of the bar…) Anyhow, Wrangler is a very pale ale with a frothy, bubbly head, which I assume has been brewed American-style, seeing as it was very dry with lots of hops. Quite pleasant and refreshing, just not the sort of style I usually make a point of seeking out.

Hydes Mumbo Jumbo – This locally-brewed, 4.9% Hydes seasonal ale is an interesting little number. Pouring a deep, stout-black with just a hint of chestnut, the impression I got on first tasting was a tannin-rich, wine-like character, backed up with coffee and chicory and then raisins, with lots of malt throughout. It was pleasant enough, but let down slightly by its mouth-feel, which just wasn’t as rich and thick as the rest of its characteristics would seem to suggest it ought to be.

Stateside IPA – Again, I failed in my research and couldn’t get close enough to make out the name of the brewery, but I’m going to assume this was Mikkeller‘s Stateside IPA that I was drinking [Edit 08.11.08 - maieb tells me it was actually from the Saltaire Brewery and Paul from Saltaire has confirmed that this is indeed the case - see the comments]. At 6% on draught this one delivered a real alcoholic whack to the taste-buds and was backed up with hops upon hops upon hops… very dry, very American, does exactly what it says on the label. Again, not usually my first-choice style so I’m not sure I’d survive full a session on this one, but it was good to try a half.

Thwaite’s Nutty Black – By this point Jo and I had de-camped to the City Arms, where we actually found one of Wetherspoon’s Festival beers that Wetherspoon’s didn’t have. Nutty Black (formerly “dark mild”) has been named CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain more than once, and made for a very pleasant counter-point to the previous uber-hopped monster IPA. Mild, slightly sweet, weighing in at a slight 3.3% and, yes, quite nutty, this is the sort of session easy-drinker you could easily keep going on all-night long, which probably would have been a good idea, seeing as I was back on full pints by this point…

Everards Original – …but instead, I decided to stray and for my last pint of the night I went for the strongest beer on the blackboard (one of those 10.45 p.m. decisions that you pay for with a fuzzy head all the next day). Everard’s Original poured a lovely mid-brown colour with a creamy head. I found it quite sweet, with a hint of cinder toffee and a definite almond tang (as Jo suggested: strong hints of bakewell tart) and I think if I’d been drinking it earlier in the night I would have enjoyed it more than I ended up doing… in the end it was just a bit much on top of everything else I’d sampled.

But still, a good night out – Jo and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and if we weren’t booked up next Friday and Saturday then we’d probably be back down to the ‘Spoons again for another stab at the Festival selection. But I guess those missed beers will just have to be added to the ever-growing wish-list, for now…

Brewery: Breconshire
Location: Powys, Wales
ABV: 5.0%
Version: 500ml bottle

Launched in April 2007 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Brecon Beacons National Park, this beer is also available in cask form as Beacon 50 and is based on an old recipe from the area.

The beer pours a lovely dark brown colour with a bit of head and has a rich malty aroma with a hint of smoke. That maltiness follows through in the taste, with a well controlled sweetness, thinning out to a slight bitterness. I didn’t detect much of the smoke coming through in the flavour, more a sense of toast with a touch of chocolate. The finish also seemed a bit on the thin side for a dark ale but it’s still a pleasurable drop.