Another month, another 8 beers. Hopefully you’ll have all had a go at breaking the barbecue out at some point over the last few months, as we (despite the awful patches in July and August) have had some pretty warm and dry weather – perfect for selecting a few lighter and fruitier beers to wash down some burgers, kebabs or whatever floats your charred boat. As ever, there’s a spread of beers from across the region and a focus on some lighter, more hoppy beers with a slant to picking up on refreshment. We have a couple from Mad Hatter and a decent selection of beers picked up from 23 Club’s basement beer shop. Go forth, seek and indeed, enjoy!
Until next time take it easy - drop me a retweet or a share on Facebook using the buttons below if you enjoyed the read! Cheers!! Pedro. ------------------------------- 02-09-2016 - Article Edited to correct name of Mad Hatter Brewing Beer 'Te Punca' to 'Te Punga'.
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So, it’s been a little sporadic of late with the write ups, this was partially due to demands of work and also agonising and trying to come up with a perfect write up for the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo article, which seems to have done well. We’re back again anyway, with another selection of 8 bottled beers from around the Liverpool/Merseyside region and full notes along with a food pairing are offered up for each (where appropriate). I had a pretty good spread this month and there is some great value out there, both in the supermarkets and in the local bottle shops. Happy reading and then hopefully, hunting and drinking!
Now that is your lot for this month, pay close attention to Twitter or the ElectroKemist Cuisine Facebook page for updates… you’ll have more good reading in store soon, not least the July review blog!!
Cheers for now! Pedro. Yawn, stretch, wipe some sleep from eyes, gently massage temple and blink repeatedly before taking a swig of tea from cup. Repeat and hope for brainwaves or some inspiration to break the cycle. Perhaps trying to write up any coherent and comprehensive thoughts on the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo so soon afterward really is a double-edged sword; great memories and moments are still fresh in the consciousness, but there is a massive sense of fatigue following the event too. It still struggling to make sense of everything that happened and trying to develop a full assessment of the event as it was laid out, the beers that were on offer and whether there are any clear paths for improvement or growth. What an event it was though; there was a clear progression from last years enjoyment with the involvement of many more breweries to serve their own brews to the festival-goers, a pragmatic approach to the serving of cask beers and of course, the usual amicable and relaxed atmosphere the Expo usually fosters (not that Fosters). The presence of the likes of Thornbridge, Wild Beer Co, Five Points, London Beer Factory and Wylam once again shows the growth from the previous year when Beavertown, Fourpure and Camden were amongst the few to have a stall stocking solely those beers and also run by the brewery's own staff. This is a very good touch, when given some thought. The whole point of any Expo is to showcase what is available to punters, marketeers and other potential customers; having people directly on hand who understand what it is they are selling (see my previous article [electrokemistcuisine.weebly.com/blogs/brewery-fandom] - there's a brand at stake here and not just a product) is key to engaging with an increasingly emotional and invested industry. The numbers at the event also seems to be increasing year on year, with the main sessions of Friday evening, Saturday day and evening all sold out prior to the event and people scrabbling around to obtain tickets on social media; the increase in numbers itself is one scale on a barometer as to the health of a scene in Liverpool and across the UK, but the change in the demographic was itself quite stark. A number of people I spoke to on the day remarked about the Expo being 'quite diverse' in terms of age and gender; a much younger crowd than has been seen before and a much greater proportion of female festival goers was evident throughout the sessions, a pleasing fact even if there is a long way to go in breaking down the perception for many than beer festivals are the sole preserve of 'middle aged white dudes'. So, in terms of the nuts and bolts, was the Expo a success? Judging from fallout on social media, speaking to a few people at the event and experiencing many sessions myself, the answer is a resounding 'Yes'. There were a lot of excellent beers on offer, the layout worked very well for access around the site (including a revision of the table layouts to enable easier access inside the building), there were two places to find food on site and Kumar was present once again selling bags of Karkli to augment the beery experience. Kudos should be given once again to the volunteers who were on hand to serve people, as there were two bars (a keg and a cask) present and not manned by breweries. The volunteers were a credit to the event, polite, friendly and all knowledgeable and opinionated on the beers they were serving; making it easier to choose from what was on offer at each bar. I also managed to catch up with a couple of people to grab some extra thoughts on their impression of the Expo and how it went, asking them for the best, worst and also their top three beers of the weekend: Angus Morrison, from Mad Hatter Brewing Company: “My best beers of the Expo? Well I suppose I will start with Gipsy Hill Drifter on the Hop & Barley bar. With advice to store the keg upside down and right it just before serving this had me intrigued. The New England yeast strain used is an integral part of the flavour of the beer & it didn't disappoint. I kept going back for more; super fruity & refreshing. The Brew by Numbers offering on keg bar 1, 11-15 Amarillo Mosaic, this was a go to recovery beer for the first of a new session, a great way to ease yourself back into the myriad beers available. Finally I will go with the Ad Hop 1% Stout from their own bar; Poor Mr. Widow. There was a buzz about this at the start of the festival with good reason. The "can a 1% beer be any good?" question was swiftly answered followed by "How in the hell have they done this?" speaking to Anders & Richard from Ad Hop, they had been given blind guesses by people of the abv ranging from 6 to 10%. I will have to squeeze in some honourable mentions to Anspach & Hobday, their ‘#KevLovesWine’ again on the Hop & Barley bar great barrel aged sour with a nod to the expo legend and also for Mad Hatter Penny Lane Pale on the Mad Hatter bar, as it's a regular beer I sometimes forget how bloody good it is. My only real con for the festival was the size of the glasses/measures being sold; it was quickly apparent that trying to pour a half pint into the glasses was not going to go well, there's a fair amount of wastage with foam over the side to get the beer to the brim and as a result, the presentation of the beer is not as good (even considering this, personally I like a head on my beer, especially keg beer) as well as handing a now sticky glass back to the customer and getting you hands covered in beer yourself. Oversized glasses, lined to the measures being sold and with plenty room for the head on top for next time please! Other gripes were very low key and nothing to do with the beers on offer, just a bit less volume on the music and maybe some alternate food offerings from what was on. The positives for the festival are pretty much everything else! The atmosphere was great, I loved the brewery bar room staffed mainly by the breweries themselves. The beer selection was excellent and the buzz when something special went on rippled through the festival, well done and thanks to all involved!” Elspeth Harris, festival goer: “My top three beers were probably these, firstly Flat White – a white breakfast stout from the Alphabet Brewery which was like having a tirimisu after a great meal. The distinct coffee taste was great and made it stand out for me. And I don't even like coffee that much! Second I’ll have to go with The BrewDog Bourbon Baby was a treacly, dark and laden with bourbon character; I liked the fact I was slightly disappointed at getting 'another drab stout' and then struck rigid when it blew my socks off. One to put hairs on your chest, or maybe to take them off? Finally, my third one is the Himalayan Red Rye from the Big Hug Brewery, which was a complex ruby red with rye (I think). Cool brewery, love the vibe and the outlook. Three and a half, (okay I’m cheating a bit…) was The Neapolitan English Pale from Northern Monk; I enjoyed that this was drank in the same way as a small child eats Neapolitan ice cream – take the flavours you like the most first (before anyone pinches the rest) and I enjoyed every sip, start to finish. Only negative impression from the weekend was that if it really rained, it would have been way too packed inside, though it was just about manageable at the worst of the rain! I liked that people were polite, relaxed and friendly. At first I thought it was annoying that not many of the stalls had descriptions of the ale, but when I realised all the Folks working on the stalls wanted to talk me through the ales and were honest, engaging, passionate and knowledgeable it all became part of what made the event unique and great.” So, thanks to Angus and Elspeth (Family Ness anyone? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaCzbqdFS24), what were the top ten beers that I tried over the course of the weekend? Thankfully, attending quite a few meant a good spread, alas any beers that were put on for the final day slipped under the radar, so you’ll have to forgive me (and my poor liver) for that. Those lovely top ten beers are as follows (in NO particular order): 1. Poor Mr Widow – Ad Hop Lets face it, it’s a daft idea for a beer. Who is going to want a 1% stout? It’ll be lacking in body, thin, dribbly and a bit flat all round. Unless it’s not and it is in fact a very, very clever bit of brewing with a deceptive aroma and even more sneaky structure! This rich bodied stout uses the same grain profile as the Black Widow, but amazingly retains the silky mouthfeel, lots of the rich grain flavour profile and is much less likely to give you a headache. Well done boys. 2. Nomi Sorachi – Wylam Brewery So, this will be divisive. Sorachi Ace for me, is a very distinctive and wonderful hop. Loads of fresh, tropical notes and coconut lumped on top to give a rich profile. The Wylam use of the hop in this pale ale was no exception. Excellent balance throughout drinking and loads of flavour and great use of Sorachi. 3. Ice Cream Pale – Buxton Brewery A humdinger of a pale ale, with loads of vanilla, wonderful silky body and a strangely pleasant refreshing finish with little back-lift. The finish wasn’t aggressively dry, but neither was it too sweet. Goldilocks would have loved this. Supremely balanced piece of brewing with tonnes of flavour and something I could go back to time and time again. 4. Bearded Lady Dessert Edition – Magic Rock One of the big beers that created a buzz at the Expo, along with the ice cream pale and Beavertown’s Bloody Notorious (gone in 45 minutes apparently!), this was one to get in whilst punters were able. A massive Imperial stout (10.5%), which was a hammer of dark and dried fruits, coconut, chocolate, coffee, touches of cinnamon, vanilla and toasted nuts. This was aged in bourbon casks vanilla, cinnamon and cacao nibs to give something stupidly decadent, tough to drink for some, but wonderfully rewarding and warming. 5. 11/15 Amarillo and Mosaic Session IPA – Brew by Numbers A nice orangey, hazy and drinkable IPA with loads of fresh citrus fruit and peachy, white stone fruit punches in the aroma. This was another keg which didn’t last too long on the bar and given the high levels of aroma, flavour and how easy drinking it was in a warm venue, it’s no wonder. The fruity passion fruit and mango in the finish make you want to come back for some more. And more. 6. Nang Tani (Barrel Aged) – Alphabet Brewing A salted caramel and banana imperial stout, which was thick and deep and really inviting with its strong estery and chocolatey aromas. There wasn’t a huge amount of salted caramel that was apparent from the outset of drinking, but it does subtly come in along with the banana notes and provides a nice foil for the tart coffee acidity and chocolate that are present. Solid and enjoyable for its uniqueness – although being rather strong you’d need to be a little cautious around it! 7. Feynman Diagram – Atom Brewing
For those not in the know, Feynman Diagrams are pictorial representations of the mathematical expressions describing the behavior of subatomic particles. It is also the name of a lovely American Pale ale from Atom Brewing, which is a very juicy and guardedly complex beer, which has the appearance of something much simpler. There is plenty of tropical fruit such as mango, passion fruit and some citrus fruit present on the nose and in the flavour, but there is something quite robust about this pale which makes for a very satisfying drink. 8. Planet Simcoe – Fourpure Those who have tried juicebox and got excited, this is of the same vein. This celestial body is an amazing exercise in how to use the Simcoe hop to its tropical perfection. This 5.9% West Coast style pale ale has a wonderfully inviting tropical fruit aroma and a wonderful refreshing acidity and mouthfeel that means just one is probably not going to be enough, though the strength affords extra character, it might prove to be one’s undoing! Perfect balance, wonderfully drinkable. 9. Pilot brew: Galaxy IPA – London Beer Factory Another IPA which has plenty of punch and makes the best of the use of a super hop, this time the use of Australian Galaxy hops gives something which has a robust grain profile, featuring wheaty notes, orange peel and biscuit which give way to the heft of a new world hop kick. Think Australian Chardonnay, with loads of white stone fruit, especially melon, fresh cut grass and some pineapple. All once again, in great balance with a crisp and inoffensive finish to polish off what is a great bit of brewing from a new outfit. TAXI!! 10. Firewitch IPA – The Wall An American-style IPA, with loads of caramel backbone to back up the gradually more influential hop content on tasting. This amber coloured ale was quite herbal, very dry but also very drinkable thanks in part to the mildly chewy body and bitter finish. Alas, just missing out on my top ten were the Gooseberry Grisette from Mad Hatter, Brick Field Brown from Five Points and Snake Charmer IPA from One Mile End, all excellent beers, but I’ll bore you to tears trying to describe any more beers from the Expo. I hope you enjoyed the read as much (or at least a fraction) as I had fun at the Expo. A great event which develops year on year and provides a great focal point in the developing Liverpool scene. Thanks for reading! Pedro. x So, I’ve finally gotten around to writing up what I drank in May, disappointingly it has come a bit late… although the excuse is that things were gearing up so heavily for the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo amongst other things, this pot didn’t get brought to the boil quite so quickly (incidentally, the June review is ready and will follow soon, as will the LCB Expo 2016 round up – so stay twitchy for that one!!). Anyway, I had some excellent beers during May 2016; this is just a round up of a few of them. There are some humdingers in there, alongside some less inspiring choices which you may be warned off following reading of the review, although as ever, I have done my best not to colour your preferences too heavily and just err on the side of being as factual as I can without focusing on too much opinion. Onward... for the beers!
Now that is your lot for this month, pay close attention to Twitter or the ElectroKemist Cuisine Facebook page for updates… you’ll have more good reading in store soon!! Cheers for now! Pedro. |
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