One year on from the endeavours that brought live brewing, some excellent kegged beers and a number of prominent up-and-comers from the brewing fraternity to Liverpool and the Liverpool Beer Expo continued to bring a great atmosphere and some exciting beers to the Baltic Triangle. The Camp and Furnace has played host to some great gastronomical events over the last twelve months; indeed, I have written two separate reviews for the standard kitchen and for Steven Burgess’ one-off Tree Hugger Banquet. This latest event swapped the furnace venue for the other major component of the Greenland Street events space, along with the provision of the Gold Room for additional presentations by visiting breweries. The event was well run and tempered by the exceptionally enthused volunteers throughout the weekend of the Expo, with Paul Seiffert from the Liverpool Craft Brewery taking over the reins exclusively from co-conspirator Terry to drive the event. There was evidence of lessons learnt from the previous year’s event, with the programme being although still on the slightly cumbersome side, being much easier to handle than the 2013 broadsheet, along with an actual itinerary, stating beers, brewer, style, location and abv. Although sadly, some beers were held back throughout the weekend, what was on offer was at times, staggeringly good. Some highlights came from breweries such as the ever quality conscious Wild Beer Company, with two great efforts in the ‘Sourdough’ wheat beer and the ‘Cool as a Cucumber’ Pale. The former was the first beer quaffed of my opening session, carrying a very sharp flavour, nicely balanced acidity and a very palate cleansing quality, meaning it would be very versatile with lighter foods and seafood. The collaboratively brewed (with Fyne Ales) cucumber beer was a wonderfully savoury beer, with a herbal hit from a hint of mint which was refreshing for a summer drink and would work well as an aperitif. On the Thursday evening, Ilkley Brewery were present to give a talk on their efforts along with giving tasters of some of the beers they have been brewing. Working from lighter to heavier hopped efforts, the beers were all drinkable, but with one or two stand outs from some less exciting drinks. The ‘Dinner Ale’ is a light bodied beer with a jab at 3.3% strength, however, this belies the packed cereal and biscuity notes present, along with a light touch of fruit on the nose reminiscent of a good Champagne or Cremant. As the name would suggest, it would work wonderfully well with a lot of foods, although anything robust like a hearty stew might prove overpowering for this beer. ‘Mary Jane’ is another pale beer, close to a kolsch beer in body and at only 3.5% abv, again is deceptive in its make up. ‘Mary Jane’ is a crisp, clean and very balanced ale which has a citrus edge to the flavour and nose, derived from the use of American hops. From the tasting session presented by Luke Raven from Ilkely, ‘The Chief’ (so-called due to its American heritage) and the ‘Ilkley Best’ were less exciting efforts compared to the two discussed above. Another interesting beer from the Ilkley Brewery was presented in the form of the divisive ‘De Passie’. This beer is a white IPA brewed with passion fruit and is a collaborative beer made in conjunction with two dutch breweries; Oersoep and Rooie Dop. ‘De Passie’ imparted a tart, floral and tropical fruit aroma with an excellent dry mouthfeel and very low residual sweetness. This is another great beer from Ilkley Brewery, which is begging to be paired with food. Saturday afternoon saw a presentation given by the Celt Experience in the Gold Room, upstairs from the main event. With two of their beers on offer and some pleasing anecdotal tales from setting up following splintering from other established breweries and a penchant for providing beers to pair with food, the session was informative and entertaining. The two beers on offer were the ‘Année 614’ (A Rye Chocolate Porter; a highly competent collaboration with Paris’ Brasserie St. Germain) and the ‘Ogham Willow’ IPA. The 614 is a wonderfully rich porter with a residual chocolate flavour and is brewed with 30% rye, imparting a pleasing dryness and body to the beer. The ‘Ogham Willow’ was a less pleasing beer, although packing a punch as a double IPA, compared to say, the ‘La Tène’ also on offer at the Expo, which is a much lighter bodied beer (also in strength at 3.3% as opposed to 8.8% for the Willow) but feels generally less overbearing with a low IBU value somehow carrying more flavour than would be expected. The Liverpool Craft Brewing Company themselves had some very exciting beers on offer at their own bespoke bar, tucked into the corner of the Camp. Notably the brute of the Expo coming in at a headsplitting 12% abv and with a name to match, the ‘Zombie Apocalypse Emergency Plan’ is a double IPA which has been double mashed and hopped beyond its life (or un-life) providing a layered and intense beer, which is filthily opaque and has what feels like a cacophony of flavour. Upon taking time to experience each mouthful of this beer, there are a number of flavours, which will reveal themselves; you just have to get past the bracing and amygdala blasting strength! The ‘Hell’s Porter’ and nod to Burgundy ‘Bad Choice Milk Stout’ are both great darker beers, the first providing a fiery punch above smokey layers and the latter being much easier going, with sweet flavours to temper the rich mouthfeel. From a personal point of view, it was great to meet so many enthusiastic people about the brewing craft, from brewers, distributors, fellow writers and other attendees. Despite some negativity from some quarters who (astoundingly) cannot understand the additional dimension given to beers by kegging due to their preoccupation with cask, this event was a wonderful showcase of both cask and keg and broadly supported by the participating breweries in a warming manner. Roll on #LivCraftBeerExpo2015.
Hasta luego amigos!! Pedro.
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The Camp and Furnace has been acquiring further accolades since the last visit at the Tree Hugger’s Banquet, the powers that be decided to undertake a live-screen cooking exercise in the form of the Electric Kitchen, where dishes are prepared in the Camp venue on the large screen for all and sundry to see. A dynamic camera following the kitchen action with a live DJ is a different way to dine, certainly a more interesting ambience than piped music and candles; which is a usual setting in more conventional and indeed, subdued. Camp and Furnace has also recently received an accolade of being officially the second-coolest place to dine in the UK according to the Times top 20 coolest restaurants to eat: [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/food/restaurants/article3914145.ece]. The Quarter also made this list, which is pleasing for them, given their efforts to evolve their space over the last decade. I would hardly concur with some of Abigail Radnor’s observations in the piece, (I wouldn’t say the Baltic Triangle is really a ‘meat-packing district’ for a start), but the recognition speaks volumes in itself. The food itself was in keeping with the usual Camp and Furnace fayre, small tapas or starters with a selected mains list means that you are not inundated with too much choice and get to focus your attention on some very competent dishes. Alas the event has been discontinued for the foreseeable future to concentrate on the Foodslam Fridays and the usual kitchen output, which is no bad thing considering the overall value is, as usual for the Camp and Furnace of a good standard. Thankfully for the standard dining conditions, taking a few extra guinea pigs with me provided an exposure to a good cross-section of the menu. There is provision for vegetarians as well as meat and of course, fish lovers alike on the menu, two vegetarian options and usually 2-3 fish with 3 meat dishes all cooked with a consistent care and attention. The overall feel of the menu is a simplistic one; playful touches here and there, with a care and focus on presentation that is evident as each dish lands in front of you on the benched seating arrangements. It is almost reminiscent of a strange street party, but indoors… with trees, lights and a strangely comforting industrial ambience. The Halloumi salad was quite pleasing on the eye, but alas a couple of individual components left threads in the dish to pull at, not enough to unravel much, just enough to fray at the edges. The pomegranate that bejewelled the plate was a touch sour and the smears of harissa lacking the distinctive north-African chilli punch it is synonymous with. The cured salmon was a very aesthetically pleasing offering; the salmon bright and tender embraced within coriander, apple shard and chicory micro salad. This was then resting above a horseradish potato salad, which was sadly the one weak link in the dish. The horseradish sadly proceeded to punch heavily above the weight of the other components, meaning a lack of harmony in the dish as a whole. Finally with the small dishes, the chicken tacos, which were generous to say the least, but succulently put together with a subtly acidic salsa, crisp and succulent sweetcorn within a sturdy fresh-snapping taco shell. Thankfully, there was no need to apply a small rainforest’s worth of napkins to clean up any residual mess - as is usually the case when tacos appear on a ‘dirty’ food menu. The main dishes continued along the same honest vein as the starters, simply named and expertly presented dishes made to provide sustenance with broad but controlled brush strokes. The veal ragû was presented with papardelle wide enough to accommodate the sweet and perfectly balanced ragû sauce, tender baby basil and the light textured, delicately sweet veal. A light dusting of umami-rich Parmesan provided an excellent shot in the arm to the pasta dish. The ‘shoulder’ lamb was already stripped down, saving one the pleasure of allowing the soft shards to fall away from the bone, served with fondant potato, peashoots and an intensely savoury jus, alas these were all overpowered by the addition of blue cheese which was strictly speaking, massively out of place (imagine a cacophony of a lone cello playing out of harmony with a string quartet) with the rest of the dish, the presentation was good but drew few gasps of delight. The celebration of ham was indeed just that, a glazed ham hock dressed with honey and mustard and presented on a wide wooden board flanked with pickled gherkins and red cabbage. This dish was also presented on the Electric Kitchen event, proving a popular dish, however on both occasions, there felt like there was something missing by way of a starchy accompaniment within the dish itself to provide a foil and contrast to the sharp acidity of the cabbage and pickles, and indeed with the rich fatty succulence of the ham. The meat itself was cooked perfectly though, falling apart through retained moisture and a generous cooking time. The Chestnut and pecorino cheese papardelle was met with a mixed response from our party, with some finding it rich, creamy and pretty deep with plenty of flavour, the other opinion was that it was too one-dimensional with all the flavours mingled leaving very little by way of definition between ingredients. From experience though, this was by far a more satisfying take on vegetarian food than previously (and no doubt subsequently) experienced. As ever, the value is impeccable at the Camp and Furnace, which continues to make pace ahead of most other establishments in Liverpool. A few more subtle touches to the dishes might not go amiss to retain a consistent march and avoid a stumble. Pedro. ------------------------------------------ The Camp and Furnace 67 Greenland Street, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool. L1 0BY Twitter: https://twitter.com/CampandFurnace Contact: [email protected] Tel: 0151 7082890 Something has been rumbling for a little while now in the Baltic Triangle area of Liverpool, located just a stone’s throw or three from Liverpool One the Camp and Furnace has gone modestly about garnering Liverpool with an impressive creativity. The creativity has seen the arrival of the Threshold Festival, Food Slam Events with new venues and ventures adding to the buzz including the Baltic Bakehouse, Unit 51 and Siren amongst others. It would possibly take another five articles or more to break the surface on each of the interesting aspects of the happenings at the end of Jamaica Street. Over the August Bank Holiday, the Camp and Furnace played host to the Summercamp event; a music and street food extravaganza featuring some pretty good bands and providing a contrast to the more mainstream pop on display down the road at the Pier Head and down at Sefton Park. Within the Summercamp itself, there were several pop up banquets alongside the music, cocktails, Craft Beers and street food vendors. These banquets have been orchestrated by the Camp and Furnace's very own Steven Burgess. Chef Steven Burgess has been heavily industrious of late, cultivating a reputation for inventiveness and impressive fastidious culinary skills. There have been a few events to date where Burgess has put forth banquets of his own for conceptual evenings both in praise of meat and vegetarian diets, so much so, the Treehugger's Banquet at August’s Summercamp event was to be followed by a visit by the yummy brummie himself, Glynn Purnell. The Treehugger's Banquet was a 10-course showcase of some relatively simple ingredients with touches of panache and the aforementioned inventiveness. Recently Marina O’Loughlin writing in the Guardian mused that anything beyond 11 was stretching not only the waistband a little too much, but also the attention span and capacity for enjoyment – more can be seen here on this interesting piece: [http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/aug/26/restaurant-pet-hates-ruin-my-appetite]. Thankfully, the ten courses fell below this bracket, although had it been more, I would have had no problem sitting for just a little longer to be both entertained and stimulated by flavour, excellent use of colour and presentation. The opening gambit of the banquet was a homemade cracker and cream cheese combination, decorated with fresh herbal sprigs and nasturtium flowers in a gentle and effective manner. Delicate flavours were paired with a sharp and grassy Sauvignon Blanc, with the dish itself balanced with great contrasts of texture. The second dish paired an egg yolk with potato cooked as a mousse and as small but crisply delicate puffs, punching in a surprisingly citrus flourish alongside a rich and creamy base to the dish. Possibly the most triumphant dish in the menu followed the potatoes, the use of a slow roasted garlic, duck egg and goat’s curd was magnificent. The heavy tang was frittered away from the garlic, leaving sweetness and a light pungency to sit with the rich duck egg and excellently accompanying curd. Here is where Burgess has and should continue to capitalise, simple and elegant flavours teased from excellently sourced produce. The Adobe Chardonnay accompanying the roasted garlic also paired well going forward into polenta, juicy gordal green olives and smoked tomatoes, allowing all the elements of the dish to work together giving a smoked sweet verdancy in the mouth. The Cauliflower dish was well thought-out, but possibly needed a stronger cheese in the flavour of the pannacotta to break up the velouté and caramelised cauliflower. The viognier wine pairing worked perfectly bridging the cauliflower dish and the course of sweet carrot, caraway and cumin dukkah; which gave an excellently worked earthiness under the sweet tones of the carrot and apricot. Tempting and competently baked beetroot macarons followed; deliciously crisp, creamy, sweet, earthy and chewy, they ticked all the boxes of expectation which precipitate from presentation of a macaron. The Rosé was possibly the weakest of the wines on display, yet it still found a suitable pairing with its dishes and paved the way for a Lancashire Cheese roller, rather heavier on flavour and texture than I would have expected, but not totally out of place. The ascorbic sweet and sour of the apple sherbet was a welcome touch on a doughy focal point and worked surprisingly well with a touch of the Branston pickle, secreted by the roller. Finally, the sorbet gave one last flourish from the banquet; resting atop a honey parfait, with the honey produced by local bees no less. The contrast in textures again, was well worked along with relatively safer flavours; safe possibly in context, but no less rewarding. The standard has now been set high by Burgess at the Camp and Furnace, with excellent diligence and competency from the front of house, the bar has been set refreshingly high in the most unusual of settings.
Venture to the Baltic Triangle while you can, the talent on display here has brought Simon Rimmer and Glynn Purnell and will no doubt please you. I know it has pleased me. Pedro. ----------------------- Thanks to Lian Challis for the post-dinner tour and insights. Special thanks to Jon Young for the excellent Photographic contribution. Occasional Supper clubs and Food Slam Fridays (usually on every Friday evening at the Camp and Furnace) More information on the Camp and Furnace can be found here: http://www.campandfurnace.com/ To follow Steven Burgess on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rhub_custard To follow Camp and Furnace on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CampandFurnace Let’s dispense with the usual Beer Festival anecdotes about them being frequented by Gandalf-a-likes from Lord of the Rings and those dressed like Steampunk enthusiasts, but also steer clear of references to more contemporary groups that begin with the letter ‘H’. There was more than a healthy spread of the UK’s demographic present at the Camp and Furnace over the third weekend in June, all of whom seemed happy, enthused and remarkably positive about yet another shot in the arm for the City of Liverpool in its own ongoing gastronomic proliferation. The usual pattern was followed by my companion and I, upon entering an event such as this – retrieve glass and programme, wander about like a lost soul for ten minutes, find a shady spot to call our own for the duration of said event and then finally wander off to find our first victim. That is, our beverage of choice (if you thought anything else, you’re weird). The first beer went down a little slower than is usually to be expected, primarily a courtesy of the reveries from the evening before, but thankfully things were able to gather pace after that. Pace, just in time for my pencil to decide to give up on me (a retractable in case you’re wondering), robbing me of an ability to note any of the hazy observations about the beverages on offer and make succinct tasting notes. However, that was never really going to be the raison d’etre for this piece, so there is no real huge loss. The usual system of tokens was in place; a crisp £10 got you a card of 20 tokens with the beer prices coming in at around the 3-6 token mark generally speaking. The beers were served both from keg and cask across a number of bars spread around the periphery of the Furnace. Aside from smaller blackboards, pump clips at the bars and a larger ‘masterboard’ (which was often inaccurate) at the door into the Furnace, there was little way of deciding what your next beverage would be. A minor failing in the whole process for such an event was not to put any tasting notes or comprehensive list of the beers on offer in the actual event programme. This therefore failed to mitigate the trying of a beer which may have initially sounded enticing, but turned out to be a rather dull brown offering or a bog standard mild with a very misleading name (I hasten to add that this wasn’t exactly the case – but on more than one occasion I was stuck with half a pint of something not exactly pleasant to my palate). This failing was in part dealt with by many bartenders offering small tasters of a beer prior to taking away the half pint, which was a very welcome facet to proceedings. There were a number of beers pushing the envelope with regards strength, usually the 6 token beers, which had ABVs in excess of 8-9% and I do think I spotted something at over 11% which is Saison Dupont Rochefort 10 territory – offering very deep and complex beers with figgy and dried fruit characters to rival some wines. The only problem at a beer festival is being rather picky about which of these stronger beers you go for without ending up a bit of a mess by the end of the session! Some of the ales on offer were more standard offerings of citra and cascade hopped beers nestling alongside some excellent IPAs and a number of complex stout ales. There has been mention in national press (the Guardian no less, at least, prior to the event slipped into an article about the ‘rise of craft beer’ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jun/13/craft-beer-guide-beginners]) of the endeavours undertaken by the Expo Liverpool Echo posted this piece about the Expo: [http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/review-liverpool-craft-beer-festival-4325877]. There is even some footage posted right here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3kZxuiq6i0] with a nice panoramic shot of the Furnace for all to see. There was even some blogging (shock horror) on the event, although I’ve not had a chance to trawl them all, Allgates Brewery did post this: [http://allgatesbrewery.com/allgates-brewery-blog/2013/06/liverpool-craft-beer-festival/]. Pricewise, it was in keeping with usual goings on at the Camp and Furnace, with the burgers hitting the £6 mark, similar to those installed at the Food Slam events that take place on a Friday in the venue (which, all things considered are pretty steep). The flavoured popcorn is always a good accompaniment as a bar snack, as were the rather large bags of crisps, something to help soak up the beers and thus appreciate the convivial atmosphere always goes down well. The chance to watch some live brewing was also a welcome and interesting touch, with the likes of Beavertown, Camden and the hosts, Liverpool Craft Brewery all displaying their talents.
An education, an experience and most certainly, overall, a pleasure; here’s to the next one! Pedro. x ------ Many thanks to Jon Young for his photography skills on the afternoon. You can follow Liverpool Craft Beer Expo on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Livcraftbeerexp And Liverpool Craft Beer here: https://twitter.com/Craft_Beers |
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