Travelogue Ireland, July 2011 – Days Three and Four: Good Times with Good Friends

Or… Part Three: “We think you two will like Balloo House…”

Newgrange and Knowth – two Neolithic burial / temple complexes in the Boyne valley that are accessed via the same visitor centre – are interesting enough for a visit, but probably not more than once, unless you’re an archaeologist with special privileges. Our advice: get their early. Access to the sites is by tour-guide only, the tours fill up fast and are strictly limited. And don’t expect a spiritually enlightening experience; not unless being crammed into a small stone-walled chamber with another 23 people for all of five minutes, with the highlight being the guide turning off the main lights and flicking on a 40-watt bulb to simulate the midwinter solstice sunrise, is your idea of enlightenment.*

After our dose of historical heritage, we carried on towards our next destination: the tiny village of Ballyhornan on the east coast of County Down in Northern Ireland, home to our very good friends Paul and Marie. On arrival we were greeted with hearty bear-hugs and then plied with a platter snacks and some beery refreshments; starting off with a bottle of Shepherd Neame Spitfire, which hit the spot quite nicely.

After that we settled in to a weekend of chat, cheer and general catching up, suitably lubricated, of course. Paul had made an astonishingly good lamb rogan josh for Friday night’s supper and I’d brought along a few bottles in anticipation. We started with a Sharp’s Monsieur Rock, which was just perfect with the curry. Paul’s reaction on sampling it was something along the lines of “Sweet Jesus Christ, that’s good…” and Marie was suitably impressed as well: so much so that she went and nicked the second half of Paul’s bottle.

After that we worked our way through a few more bottles that I’d brought over for the occasion: mainly Hook Norton Hooky Gold and Thornbridge Jaipur, as well as a couple of Smithwick’s Red (courtesy of Paul) and then I offered Paul a go-halves on the bottle of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA as a post-prandial digestif, but he demurred (the mad fool had been on the Magners as well and was starting to feel the affects) so I supped it myself. Selfish of me, I know, but I did insist he had a nip to sample the stuff and he seemed suitably impressed.

The next day dawned bright and early (earlier for some than for others), with the sun making a brief appearance and turning a broad swathe of the coast to burnished gold. Which was nice. Once we’d all come round we headed on out to the Mount Pleasant country estate for a drizzly but still-pleasant wander around the gardens.

After our meander we travelled around the top end of Strangford Lough and down to Balloo House at Balloo for a truly memorable meal. The place looks like it was originally a large country inn that’s been further expanded and extended; a Michelin-mentioned restaurant upstairs offers evening meals for the discerning gastronomes (or just the better-off who don’t want to mingle with the hoi-polloi) whilst the Bistro on the ground floor – where we ate – does a range of high-quality pub grub at what I reckon were pretty reasonable prices.

You’ll have to excuse me if I start drooling on the keyboard as I recall the food we had: I started with a little something from the specials board: queen scallops on summer veg risotto with crispy leeks, which was quite delightful. I followed that with loin of pork stuffed with black pudding on buttered cabbage (no, that was the Porterhouse a couple of nights later, cheers Jo!) roast belly pork with boulangerie potatoes on roasted veg (I think) with caramelised apple, which was likewise delicious.

Unfortunately I can’t quite say the same for the beer I’d selected for us all to have with the meal: the Whitewater Copperhead is described on the brewery website as having a “very intense flavour”, but to my mind it was maybe just a shade too sour, perhaps only just the right side of drinkable.** I soldiered on and got through the pint (as did everyone else, very politely humouring the beer geek) but then switched to Smithwick’s Draught for my second pint, which was… beery. Not bad, just not hugely distinctive or particularly impressive. The bottled version the night before was more flavourful and had a less gassy mouth-feel, so I definitely preferred that one.

Then, dessert: and I had a chocolate tort that was quite genuinely to die for. Honestly, it was so dense, so rich and so quite obviously calorie-potent I thought my arteries were going to shut down in protest as soon as I put the first spoonful in my mouth. I ate the lot though and got a way with just a titanic sugar rush and a few mild heart palpitations. Absolutely excellent stuff and I can thoroughly recommend the place.

After that huuuge lunch we headed back to Paul and Marie’s for a bit of a sit down, before wiling away a pleasant evening with one or two more of the above beers, plus a few nibbles. Jo and I had a great time, we always love catching up with these particular friends of ours and we’re already looking forward to the next time we can bring them over to Manchester. Paul and Marie have been over here before now and have experienced The Marble Arch, but they’ve not yet eaten at The Angel or visited the Port Street Beer House, so they’ve still got all that to look forward to. Lucky them.

Previously on Travelogue Ireland, July 2011: Day One: North Wales and Day Two: Drogheda.
Next up: Days Four and Five: Dublin.

* Sorry, that probably sounded more cynical than it was intended to be. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both interesting, significant sites and worth seeing, but unless you enter and win the solstice lottery (or are happy to put your name down on the booking list then wait the 9 or 10 years for a regular slot to become available) then you’re just going to be one more tourist among many being driven like sheep im and out of the chamber within the allotted time-slot.
** I thought about sending it back, but a combination of my lack of familiarity with the brew (red ale is meant to be slightly sour, right?) and not wanting to be the Fecking English Eejit Who’s Just Taking the Piss made me stick with it.

Once Around the Northern Quarter, Manchester 25.06.11

Saturday night, time to hit the town. First up: a visit to the new Korean place on Shude Hill to take on solid sustenance. Baekdu has a slightly stark look, but the chairs are comfortable, the clientèle mostly Korean students (always a good sign when a restaurant is frequented by a lot of people who really know the cuisine in question, I reckon) and the food is very good indeed. Well, actually, the salmon salad I had as a starter was a bit of a let-down; I was expecting something Korean and interesting, but instead I got mostly iceberg lettuce and a few lumps of salmon sushi, garnished with… salad cream. But Jo’s chicken skewers were very tasty and the main courses – beef bibimbab for Jo and spicy, stir-fried, thin-sliced pork for me – were excellent. Food done, it was time for a beer or four.

First stop, the Marble Arch. One of my three very favourite Manchester pubs and a regular session-starting location. We timed it just right, hitting the early evening lull, and managed to get a seat. Up to the bar, and there was no question whatsoever what we were both going to have: Marble Ginger Stout. I was moved to tweet at the time that it was **bloody gorgeous** and I stand by that. A deep, rich mouth-feel, with semi-sweet, dark chocolate & vanilla-cream flavours to begin with; then a lingering, dry-sharp root ginger finish. The bastard offspring of a dark chocolate brownie and a ginger nut biscuit, in a glass. Also the best draught stout I’ve had in quite a while, bar none. One slight snag: I thought the pump-clip said 4.2% but on closer examination that turned out to be 6.7%. So, not a session-swigger. But still, I could happily have supped a few more of those over the course of the evening… before sliding slowly under the table with a stupid grin plastered all over my face.

Instead, we erred on the side of caution and upped-sticks to The Angel, favourite Manchester pub #2. Marble Ginger Stout was always going to be a tough act to follow, but to be fair the Bowland Black Dragon Porter had a good go. An ebony body with ruby highlights and a tight white head was promising. Dry, biscuity malt flavours with a raisin and chocolate finish was a result. Very drinkable, quite sessionable at 4.5%. Jo went for a Pictish Ginger (I think that’s what it was called). She’s very particular about her ginger beers is Jo. She’s sampled many, disliking the ones that are basically fermented ginger pop (too sweet) or anything with too strong a clove flavour (sorry, Marble Ginger and Big Ginger as well) and she declared this one a good ‘un. Again, we could’ve stayed for a couple more at The Angel (there was an IPA that looked interesting), but we had a stagger-plan, so onward we went…

…to The Castle Hotel, on Oldham Road. This place has a decent rep as a bit of a node on the Manchester real-ale scene, but for some reason we’d never been in for a pint; maybe because the last couple of times we’ve been past on a weekend night it had been hammered. Saturday wasn’t so bad; we managed to find a seat and then I sidled up to the bar to peruse the range of mainly Robinson’s beers on offer. I got Jo a Hatter’s Dark Mild (pleasant enough, if not exactly amazing) and I was going to have a half of Old Tom, but instead I opted for a pint of the Robinson’s Crusoe. A seasonal beer, apparently it’s a “double-hopped” golden ale, but it I’m afraid it wasn’t particularly hoppy, or particularly malty, or for that matter particularly good. I ended up wishing I’d stuck to my original plan, but there you go. You live and learn. The pub itself was nice enough, although far too warm. We’ll probably come back and give it a fresh go another time, maybe on a Friday afternoon or some other quieter time.

Onwards again, and this time to favourite Manchester pub #3 (the order changes, by the way, depending on which one I’m sitting in and what’s in the glass in front of me) – The Port Street Beer House. The usual bewildering array of cask and keg ales and draught beers to choose from. Jo went in search of seats and I got her a Dark Star Festival; a deep chestnut coloured ale that was very pleasant indeed. I took a little longer choosing my own and, after consultation with the bar-fella, eschewed the cask Thornbridge Jaipur (which took some willpower) and eventually decided on a half each of Odell IPA and Hardknott Queboid.

The former was very nice indeed, even better than the bottled version that I sampled a while back, with a big, orange-citrus hop aroma and a smooth, clementine hop-blast leading the flavour-charge. It was cool and refreshing, just the right drop for an increasingly-muggy Saturday night. Alas, I think the Queboid had turned. When I sampled it on Tuesday it was beautifully fresh but by Saturday it was a very different beast; sour on the tongue and with a faint whiff of Stilton about it (and not in a good way). I reluctantly took it back to the bar and the bar-fella graciously swapped it for a half of cask Jaipur* with nary a quibble. The Jaipur was as Jaipur pretty much always is: a hoppy blast of liquid sunshine and a pure joy to end the evening on.

* It occurred to me afterwards that they actually had keg Jaipur as well as cask, so I could’ve done one of those taste-comparison thingies. But to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered. It was the end of the night, and I only had room for a half after all of the above (Korean food is surprisingly filling, especially when you’ve finished off your wife’s bibimbab for her). Maybe next time, eh?

Magic Rock Launch Night @ The Grove, Huddersfield 21.06.11

Last Tuesday night, I dragged my mate Andy over to Huddersfield for the Magic Rock Brewing launch at The Grove [warning: their website is decidedly Not Safe For Eyes at the moment]. It was just a half hour on the train from Manchester Piccadilly (with a tinnie of Punk IPA for company) then a short stroll through Huddersfield town centre to the pub.

We got there about five past seven; the place was already hammered and stayed that way until we left about 8 o’clock. In the meantime we chatted to South Manchester CAMRA’s John Clarke and sampled three of Magic Rock’s beers between us: Rapture (a dry, hoppy, 4.6% red ale), High Wire (a dry, hoppy, 5.5% pale ale) and Cannonball (a full-on 7.4% IPA that was sweet and not insanely over-hopped). Plenty to like in all three; definitely worth trying them all if you see them, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for their Dark Arts “surreal stout” in future.

We also spotted cask Thornbridge Jaipur down the end of the bar, so that just had to be done. But after an hour of rising heat and with the bar not getting any less busy we left The Grove – great pub by the way, about a dozen hand-pumps plus keg taps and bottle-fridges, we’ll definitely be back another time – we headed back to the station and called in at The Head of Steam for a refresher or two; Black Sheep Bitter for Andy and a mild from Phoenix for me (can’t actually remember the name of it – Black Magic, something like that? It was tasty, though.)

Suitably refreshed, we hopped on the 9.27 train and my plan was then to head home and get some kip, but Andy had another idea: the Port Street Beer House. I tired hard to stick to my guns, but he played the ‘it’s my 40th birthday at the weekend, we’re celebrating’ card and I was left powerless to resist. I’m quietly glad I did, because they had Hardknott Queboid on tap and it was lovely. A US-style double IPA weighing in at 8% ABV (I only had a half…) it was packed with rich, full, sweet-herbal flavours, but not too heavy on the hop-burn. I’ll definitely be trying that one again if I get the chance.

See the Magic Rock blog for an official report on the launch, as well as a detailed write-up from Neil at Eating Isn’t Cheating.

You sometimes find great beer in the most surprising places.

A couple of weeks ago, Jo and I went out to a 40th birthday meal for one of her colleagues, which was held at Eden on Canal Street, in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village. I did my research and checked out the Eden website beforehand, but when I clicked on the ‘Drink’ tab, it just linked through to a short wine list, so as a result I had rather low beverage-expectations of the place: a couple of lagers maybe, the usual sort of ‘wine bar’ offering, I assumed. So plan ‘A’ was: get in, do the sociable thing, then get out as soon as politely feasible and go find a decent pub.

Which is why I was also particularly keen to get into town and get to a decent pub before we hit the restaurant. As luck would have it we caught an Altrincham service, which meant that The Bank on Moseley Street was a much closer prospect than the Bull’s Head up in Piccadilly. There I encountered the first Good Thing of the night: draught Thornbridge Jaipur. Beautifully kept it was and as good as I’ve ever found it, and so, suitably fortified against the rest of the evening’s anticipated disappointments, I let Jo drag me off to Eden.

On arrival, I went straight over to the bar and yes, as I’d predicted, there was just a couple of generic lager pumps on show (not even a creamflow bitter). But then, more in hope than anticipation, I glanced at the fridge behind the bar… and that’s when I spotted, nestled snugly in amongst the fruit juices and other chilled stuff I wouldn’t normally give a second glance to, a veritable cornucopia of quite fantastic-looking Australian imports. Result!

First up was Cooper’s Best Extra Stout; a delicious moccacino monster of a sipping beer that weighed in at a respectable 5.9% ABV that (particularly after a Jaipur) set me up quite nicely for the rest of the evening, thank you very much.

Next: a beer that has been unreservedly recommended to me on more than one occasion by @thenashmeister (another Darren, this one an Australian mate of mine from work): James Boag‘s Premium Lager; a rich, malty brew that’s low on gassiness, high on flavour and about as far from the usual UK mass-produced and massacred version of Aussie lager as you could hope to get without moving to the Antipodes.

And then came Little Creatures Pale Ale. Easily the (post-Jaipur) Beer of the Night; extremely well-balanced, light, sweet and malty in the main part, but delivering a delightfully hoppy after-bite to the back of the throat as well. Very, very good indeed, which is why I had another one of those (by this point we were well into plan ‘B’ and besides, I was in a round with and chatting away to a top bloke who turned out to be an ex-Royal Marine, so I wasn’t going to argue when he suggested we have another, was I?), although as a result I missed out a beer from James Squires, as well as another couple of interesting looking Aussies… but they were just going to have to wait for another session.

For alas, by that stage we’d all finished eating (the food was excellent as well, btw, especially as they were catering for quite a large group at the time) and the birthday girl had hit on the notion to head across to O’Shea’s Irish Bar, where the only remotely decent beer they had was Guinness Original. On reflection, I probably shouldn’t have had three pints of that stuff to round off the evening. I blame the live music; singing along always gives me a thirst.

So there you go: great beer in a most surprising place. And I’ve learned my lesson. From now on, I’ll always check the beer fridge behind the bar, whatever the taps on top may be dispensing. Always.

Go on then, what’s the most surprising place that you’ve discovered great beer? Comment away!

Time for another quick wander down the highways, byways, lanes and back-alleys of the beerier reaches of the blogosphere, the Big News of the Week of course being the results of the British Guild of Beer Writers Awards…

(more…)

Jo and I made the trek down to Altrincham on Sunday afternoon for the Altrincham Bottle & Cask Festival. We hadn’t been to a beer festival for ages, and although the normally straight-forward trip across the city was stymied by the tram re-fit in Manchester city centre, we thought we’d make the effort and give it a go.

This was the debut year for the festival, which was organised by Le Trappiste Belgian Café Bar. As a result, there was a big range of interesting-looking bottled Belgian beers on offer, alongside a wide range of traditional ales from a number of local mainly local breweries. It was held in Altrincham’s market district, in a covered area that was half full of market stalls and half full of kegs and tables. By the time we turned up at about 3.00 p.m. the venue was already heaving, and things didn’t seem to get any less crowded as the day went on. Undaunted, we paid our £4.50 entrance ticket (10% CAMRA discount, there), picked up our commemorative pint glass, invested in a tenner’s worth of tokens and headed for the beer.

We’d both checked out the guest list in advance and so we both made a b-line for our particular first-choice beers. For Jo, that was Bollington Oat Mill Stout, which turned out to be a rich, smooth, coffee-flavoured stout that was deceptively easy-drinking for its 5% abv. Very tasty indeed. Meanwhile, I’d legged it round to the top end of the other aisle in search of the holy grail: Thornbridge Jaipur. I’ve been hoping to encounter Jaipur for a long time now, especially as I’ve apparently narrowly missed it on a couple of occasions, so this was a pretty big moment for me and I went for a full pint to make the moment last. How would it shape up? Would it be worth the wait?

It certainly was. Even with the slightly flat gravity-pour, the first mouthful still unleashed an explosion of fresh flavours, with huge hops leading the way, with a rich malt backing it up and a slight honey-tone on the finish. Jaipur reminded me very strongly indeed of the Marble Dobber that I tried on Friday (and which was also on offer in Altrincham). They’re both big, bold, beautiful beers though, but where Dobber is distinctly citrus-sharp, Jaipur is a little smoother on the after-taste. But yes, I was very glad indeed to have tracked Jaipur down at last and I’ll be re-visiting as often as possible.

But variety was the name of the game yesterday and there were plenty of now beers to try, so Jo and I moved on. Next up we decided to double-team a couple of milds. Jo picked the Dunham Dark, whilst I opted for Phoenix Monkey Town Mild. Dunham Dark turned out to be a pleasant enough, slightly sour mild. Bit thin on the mouth-feel but otherwise quite drinkable. I preferred the Monkey Town myself: it had a slightly odd, burnt-match aroma and again it was a bit on the thin side, but there was a pleasant nuttiness to the after-taste. Again: quite pleasant and drinkable, but I’m not sure I’d rush back to either of those.

Next up we both went for the Dunham Porter, after a glowing recommendation from local photographer and beer enthusiast Adam Bruderer (@doncaosdelanada on Twitter) who was volunteering behind the bar. It was a damn good call as well – a smooth, rich mouth-feel carried a delicious blend of mocha flavours, with a very slight smoky-sweetness on the after-taste. Jo declared it to be liquid tiramisu and I reckon she hit the nail right on the head there. Lovely stuff, cheers Adam!

Jo took a breather for the next one (or did she go back to the Oat Mill stout? Details a little hazy…) while I decided to give another Phoenix beer a try, so I opted for a half of Arizona. This one was a pleasant, drinkable pale ale, but it didn’t really seem all that remarkable. Maybe one that would be better sampled on draught? Jo was back in the rotation for the next one and wanted to try something lighter so she sent me round to the Bazens section, where I picked up half a Pacific Bitter and half an Argent Pale Ale. The Pacific was dry, smoky, lightly hopped, bitter and quite refreshing. I only had a taster of the Argent – which has been brewed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Opening Times, the Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA branch newsletter – before Jo drank the rest. From what I remember, that one seemed like another fairly typical, easy-drinking, slightly anonymous pale ale. Probably a good session beer, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

By now we were getting close to about 6.00 or so – curry time – so we said farewell to Graham and Steph, a lovely couple from Altrincham who we’d never met before but had been quite happily chatting away with for the past couple of hours. They gave us the benefit of their local knowledge and steered us in the direction of a couple of good curry houses, but first we had a last half-pint voucher to spend. A swift re-visit to the Dunham Porter? We thought that sounded like the best option…

All in all then, a rather fantastic afternoon’s drinking and chatting and above all, an excellent selection of beers. Beer of the festival? On a joint verdict we’d have to go for the Dunham Porter – a truly delicious beer that I’ll be keeping an eye out for in future (and I think they might sell in bottled form in the Manchester Market micro-bar). Of course, the Thornbridge Jaipur was a very close second and if I’d been drinking that one from a full draught setup then it would probably have edged out the Porter. But then, who knows? Maybe one glorious night they’ll have both of them on in the Trackside (with Outstanding Stout and Marble Dobber alongside) and I’ll be able to test my theory.

Very well done indeed to the organisers from Le Trappiste and the relevant CAMRA branch(es). Jo and I had a great time and will definitely aim to come back next year. Although, if anyone who’s likely to be involved in setting up next year’s event is reading though, could I offer a quick suggestion? A bit more elbow-room and some indoor seating really wouldn’t have gone amiss. Looked like the landlords were only letting you use half the market hall, but if you could prevail on them to allow a bit more breathing space next time, that would be grand!