Here we go with another round-up of beery blog posts and news items that have caught my eye in the last couple of weeks:

Another double-dose of Congrats – this time to BrewDog on their Hardcore IPA winning the Best Artisan Beer category in this year’s Independent Food and Drink Awards and to Burnley-based Moorhouse’s for taking the We’re Backing Business Award at the Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards.

Staying with BrewDog, remember when they launched the Zeitgeist blog, back when they launched the Zeitgeist black lager? The idea was that anyone who bought a Zeitgeist could then log into the blog and demonstrate their unbridled creativity by posting stuff. Seems they might have over-estimated the demand for that sort of service, as they’ve announced that the Zeitgeist blog is now open to all. I just hope they’re taking someone on full time to delete the inevitable flood of spam…

Although of course, the really big BrewDog news was their launch of the “World’s Strongest Beer”: Tactical Nuclear Penguin. A 32%ABV (yup, thirty-two) uber-imperial stout, prices at £30 £39 £35 y’say? Pah, in a few weeks that’ll be a whole 8% below the World’s Strongest Beer, according to Barry M. Veteran beer writer Roger Protz was publicly unimpressed with BrewDog (not for the first time), questioning both TNP’s ingredients andt he timing of the release, although his piece prompted howls of outrage by commenters which resulted in a subsequent clarification of his position from Mr P. Say one thing for the BrewDog boys: say they know how to get a debate going…

Meanwhile, Thornbridge have launched the first of a new range of beers brewed specifically to go well with traditional British food and endorsed by celebrity chefs. First up is ‘Brian Turner Amber Ale’.

Roger Protz and Pete Brown brought us some great news from Burton: Coors have announced plans to (re-)open the The National Brewery Centre – the new name for the former Bass Museum / Coors Visitor Centre – by Easter 2010 and open a new 30-barrel craft brewery as well. Mind you, Zythophile did rather take issue with the suggestion that Burton was the first place in the world to brew pale ales and provided a lengthy explanation as to why.

A few days later, Pete Brown wasn’t quite so happy with a truly atrocious Daily Mail article on alcohol consumption (and who can blame him?) although judging by how phis piece ends, it looks like he may have been instrumental in getting the article neatly neutered. Power to the beery people!

Marston’s-owned Jennings’ brewery was badly hit by the floods in Cockermouth last month, but the Publican reports they’re due to re-open in the new year, with production moving to other Marston’s sites in the meantime. Tandleman worries that this might have an adverse impact on flavour and quality and possibly set a dangerous set of wheels turning in the minds of the Marston’s decision-makers.

Also via Tandleman, news that love-em or hate-em pub chain Wetherspoon’s is planning to open another 250 pubs in the next 10 years, creating 10,000 jobs in the process. They can open one in my neck of the woods, definitely. I’ve got nothing against Holt’s you understand, but some choice within walking distance of home would be welcome…

So, you think you’re a bit of a scooper? You think you’ve got a tick or two in your notebook? Dale Van Wieren might just have the edge. Mind you it sounds like Mark Dredge was having a pretty good go at catching up, what with his visit to the 2 Kents beer festival and then the utterly awesome-sounding stout night.

The smoking ban continues to be a contentious issue. The Pub Curmudgeon kicked things off and Tandleman lit up a firestorm of debate (check out the comments thread). Woolpack Dave provided a publican’s-eye view of the issue and I think Mark Dredge rounded things up quite neatly. For the record, I said my piece in a comment on Dave’s blog.

Continuing a theme developed in Around the Beerblogosphere #3, it sounds like Boak and Bailey’s Christmas Pud will be a bit special this year as well. As usual, we’ll be having a supermarket gluten-free special and lumping it… <sigh>

Something we’ll all be familiar with, I’m sure: author Michael Marshall Smith shares a few painfully-crafted thoughts on the general inadvisability of hangovers.

Another couple of top-notch-sounding brews for the wishlist: Adnams Innovation, as recommended by Andy Mogg over at beerreviews.co.uk and Castle Rock Harvest Pale, highly praised by Paul Garrard on realaleblog. Plus, Jeff Evans recommends 10 great beers for Christmas (just in time for my planned shopping trip to Beer Ritz on Saturday, which is nice…)

Finally, I couldn’t pass up on the latest health research (which I’m sure you’ve all heard about by now): Alcohol protects mens’ hearts says the BBC. I’m sure Shane MacGowan’s liver will be delighted to hear that its sacrifice hasn’t been for nothing…

Xmas / New Year 2008. A week and a half off work and a chance to hit the beer cupboard and see what falls out. I kicked off at lunchtime on Xmas Day with a bottle of Wychwood Plum Duff (5.0% abv), a seasonal number from the brewers of one of my all-time favourites, Hobgoblin. Quite spicy, with a sweet & sour character, I thought Plum Duff had perhaps just a little too much fruitiness for my palate, but the mellow, warming after-taste made it drinkable. Not a bad start…

Xmas dinner was accompanied by a drop of Innis & Gunn Triple Matured which Ed sampled back in November and I pretty much concur with his conclusions on this one: toffee, vanilla, a little oak, generally smooth with a pleasantly bitter-sweet finish. I also cracked open a bottle of Meantime Winter Time, which I wrote up during my Meantime series last year. Unfortunately, I was too busy tucking into my grub to pay much more attention than last time, so I’ll have to come back to that one for a third attempt at some point.

Next up was a bottle of Greene King Abbott Reserve (6.5% abv) which turned out to be incredibly tasty; much more so that I’d expected, I have to admit. Another smooth, strong beer with a pleasant citrusy tang (I detected orange zest and nutmeg without any help from accompanying a mince pie). Quite sweet but with a bitter under-current that stopped it tasting too sugary. Definitely one I’d go back to again.

Boxing Day was spent driving to and from family in Leeds, so I only had time for a couple of beers when I got back home: first up was William Worthington’s White Shield (5.6% abv, bottle conditioned). At 5.6% it’s not as strong as you might expect an IPA to be and it poured with more fizz and a lot more sweetness than I thought you should expect from the style. Not horrible, per se, but far from the best I tasted last year.

After that one I went for a bottle of Williams Bros Midnight Sun (5.6% abv). This porter seemed to be a fairly classic example of the style: a slightly sour whiff in the bottle, a very dark ebony with a tan head, a spicy, faintly smoky, sweet coffee flavour that was smooth and very drinkable. Another good contender for a regular slot in the beer cupboard.

The weekend brought another driving stint up and down the country to the in-laws’ and by the time Jo and I had spent at least half of the (unusually long at four hours) journey to Bridgnorth stuck in a standing-wave tailback on the M6, I definitely needed a couple of beers and I was hoping that another strong ale from Greene King – this time Old Crafty Hen (6.5% abv) – would hit the spot quite nicely. It turned out to have a hoppy nose, citrusy flavours and a surprisingly deft touch for such a strong beer. Alas, that deft touch meant that whilst it was decidedly drinkable, it lacked much in the way of character and was rather un-memorable as a result. A symptom of larger brewery mass-production, perhaps? Or maybe it’s just one of those beers that’s much better on draught. I preferred the Abbot Reserve, definitely.

I opened a bottle of Hall and Woodhouse Badger Pickled Partridge (4.5% abv) next and alas it was another fairly indistinct one, albeit quite pleasant and quite drinkable again. Very malty, with light spice notes and a lingering bitterness to the after-taste. Not much else to write home about. I’ve had a much better Badger beer recently, which I’ll be writing up before too long (all being well).

The next day produced much better results. Jo’s folks live not too far at all from The Bull’s Head at Chelmarsh, which – following a change of management a couple of years back – is a great food and ale pub, well worth checking out if you’re down that way. I nipped down after Sunday lunch for a pint with brother-in-law Richard and opted for a drop of Dorothy Goodebody’s Christmas Stocking (4.2% abv? -ish?), a seasonal ale from Wye Valley. Extremely nice it was, too, with distinct cinnamon and nutmeg spices; very easy-drinking indeed and neither too heavy nor too sweet. More enjoyable than the Plum Duff, certainly.

I was back down the pub in the evening, with Jo and her folks, for an Irish folk session laid on by landlord John and some of his mates. This time I decided to try another draught Wye Valley brew, their Hereford Pale Ale. At 4% abv it was a light, highly quaffable, golden pale ale that made for a great session beer – I stayed with that one for the next couple of pints as well – with a fresh, faintly citrus flavour and a very dry, hoppy finish. Good stuff!

But the scooper in me was sorely tempted by a third draught ale from Wye Valley: Dorothy Goodbody’s Golden Ale and so I switched to that one for my final pint of the evening. I’m glad to say that I wasn’t at all disappointed. Very similar to the HPA, but with less strident hop notes and a maltier finish. Altogether a very pleasant end to a very good evening (the music was more than half-decent, too). If only they’d had Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout on as well… but that’s one to keep an eye out for another time.

I finished the seasonal Bridgnorth run with a visit to the town’s specialist wine merchant, Tanner’s, and picked up a selection of local brews that are now awaiting their turn in the beer cupboard. More on those in due course.

And there you have it. Not the entire Holiday beer session, I have to admit. There are a few others that I will be writing up separately, but that’s the bulk of my last ten days’ beer sampling. Mostly good, one or two indifferent, none bad enough to pour down the sink. Not a bad result at all.