Nearly all caught up with the beer reviews now! Sadly, a rather full curriculum meant that I didn't get to ponder on many bottled beers over the Summer this year - hence a depleted and combined article for both July and August. That said, there are still ten beers that are going under tastebud and olfactory interrogation for the purposes of your education. So, we'll plough straight into those beers; all were available at bottle shops and supermarkets in the Merseyside region.
The finish is sharp, bitter and very reminiscent of US west coast style IPAs with plenty of wood and pine notes with a big hit of acidity. A little more fruit in the finish would have made this wonderfully balanced, but it is still highly enjoyable as is. [Sourced from Booths Supermarket, Burscough, West Lancashire]
And that is your lot for this month - a straightforward review with September's beers following at some point soon too. Until then, there will be some other beery words coming your way, so stay tuned to the Twitter feed and you'll be given a few more tasty morsels for reading soon enough! Pedro.
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Spring has sprung and we are now about (or have just been - depending on when you read this and when I get round to publishing it!!) to be treated to some seasonally influenced brews like quite a number of blood orange IPAs which are making waves for people, not to mention some of the bigger double/triple and even quad strength IPAs which are making their way into our bottle shops. For the purposes of this review however, we'll keep things broad and slightly easier to procure (depending on where you are!). In other news, Liverpool has seen the arrival at the end of March/start of April of two new beacons of beer, with Sanctuary opening on Lime Street, possibly on the same spot of former computer games lovers paradise, Liversoft (for those of use who remember Saturday afternoons browsing local shops for new software!) and also a new establishment on the former Moparts premises on Smithdown Road in the form of CRAFT Taproom. Both these newcomers have different remits, with Sanctuary looking to appeal to CAMRA members and those who prefer a cask-dispense (boasting six lines, along with a few keg) and CRAFT catering for keg-dispense only. Though both places offer a significant line in bottles and cans to broaden their appeal to the city's drinkers. A piece on CRAFT Taproom has been written and will be published soon! For now... on with the reviews:
And that's your lot for the March Beers - until next time! Pedro. So February has been and gone (so has March!), with many pubs not suffering quite as badly as expected from the early year lull in footfall (anecdotally at least!), we can now look forward to a full programme in spring and early summer with things ramping up across the UK. Not least here in Liverpool, where early March has seen a charity beer festival which raised £500 for Royal Trinity Hospice took place at the Black Lodge and things are pushing on with Meet the Brewers and one eye is now on the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo in June and then onto Manchester Beer Week. We have also had the brewer's lectures recently, which sadly I was unable to attend, but many contacts have said how much I would have enjoyed and benefitted from them. I suppose a trip next year would be in order if possible! In other news, we have also seen Deva Brewery take over from Kash Taps and install their own stamp on the location near to Chester train station; there will be a piece written on this fairly soon, but suffice to say, it is worth making a trip to if you are nearby and worth grabbing some of the wares from the kitchen. I will of course, elaborate further when I have written my thoughts into a coherent piece! Time for your eight beers for this month's review...
As ever, that is your lot for this month! Take it easy and keep drinking good beer!
Pedro. So, 2017 is now three months in and things are ramping up in the world of beer and brewing. As I am writing up and putting the final touches to this article, I am letting the news sink in that Hawkshead Brewery is the latest name to be bought out by a big firm, though on this occasion it's not Diageo, AB or Heineken, it's a firm local to where I am based. Halewood International, the company that has managed brands such as Crabbies and Lambrini (and more recently acquired the Liverpool Gin brand) has taken a majority stake in Hawkshead. The noises are all positivity from both camps - that Halewood will plough funds in to allow increased scale for Hawkshead and expansion to a bigger brewery whilst affording those in charge of Hawkshead to continue their day-to-day business, whilst this is the first foray into beer for Halewood International so strictly speaking, unknown territory for them. The whole thing has been dressed up as an investment deal, rather than a take-over. Time will tell whether anything will change with the Hawkshead brews, but it is likely that with the expansion, their cans, clips and bottles will become a lot more visible to people at some point in the next couple of years. Anyway, moving along briskly, here are the beers I managed to find time to assess during the first month of this year...
And that is about your lot for the first foray of 2017! As ever, hopefully you enjoyed the read, if you would be so kind to give a share or a retweet on your way out, it would be gratefully appreciated!! Take it easy and I'll be writing to you again soon. Pedro. Having to go near enough a month without being able to really review, or even enjoy a decent beer was pretty tough. Throw into the mix the fact that I had to give Indy Man Beer Con a miss and it was a bit of a wash-out of a month. Though I am still not quite right, I managed to knuckle down and hit November with a vengeance, partially to give me something to do, but also to try and make some space for getting some beers in ready for Christmas. As ever, there are a number of styles and throw into the mix a trip back north of the border to check out the bottle shops in Edinburgh (no to mention getting over to Andrew Usher and Sons for a Mad Hatter Brewing Co tap takeover which was serendipitously taking place), then we have some really good things to discuss this month. Special shouts out again to Great Grog and especially to the guys at Bottle Baron, which I visited to the first time and was made to feel very welcome. I'll be reviewing a bit more of what I picked up from Scotland in next months blog, but there are a large number already making their way into this month's selection. So what of the beers? Read on...
And that's about your lot from this burgeoning round up! Hopefully this will give you some good ideas for Christmas beers wherever you are going to pick them up from.
Happy hunting! Pedro. It’s been a pretty hectic year so far for The Dead Crafty Beer Company and indeed, Liverpool in general as it seeks to push forward its reputation as a city mentioned in the same breath as some others when it comes to beer and brewing. One such organisation with this promotion and development at the forefront of what they are driving to do, is the Liverpool Beer Collective. Now for a quick disclaimer; I am part of this collective in so much that I really want to make a positive contribution to a scene which was for so many years, desperately barren and devoid of diversity, so I won’t wax lyrical too much on how positive I think this initiative is (I wouldn’t be involved if I didn’t think that). The Liverpool Beer Collective has been running a pretty visible social media campaign for a while now and is dedicated to promoting a number of breweries, bars and bottle shops across the region in order to provide some joined up thinking and provide for a healthy, vibrant and diverse scene in the city. Things are looking quite fertile in Liverpool at the moment; there are no fewer than another five breweries popping up lately in addition to the five or six covered around this time last year (Neptune, Parker, Red Star, Rock the Boat and 3 Potts – Black Lodge also opened up around this time, also followed by Southport’s The Craft Brewery). There have been a few extra micropubs (Beer Station, CASK, The Alehouse, Grasshopper and Skew Bridge to name a few) and bars (Hard Times and Misery, plus Dead Crafty only opened its doors in March 2016) popping up across the region with the remit to sell cask and craft beers (and small batch spirits) giving people an even more diverse number of establishments to spend their time. Back to Dead Crafty and on the weekend of the 9th until the 11th September, a local tap takeover was held – half the keg lines in the bar were stocked with beers from Liverpool Beer Collective partner breweries and there was the introduction of a loyalty card for prizes donated by members of the Beer Collective along with a tasty 10% discount in the Crosby Beer Bottle Shop for completed cards (think like those coffee cards you get at places around the city). Judging by the turnouts, the event was pretty successful. Both Dead Crafty and the Ship and Mitre shifted kegs and casks of local beers quite quickly (one firkin of a Connoisseur Ales’ Pale lasted no more than 7 hours from being tapped), with plenty of enthusiasm on the day for the takeover event from visitors. The enthusiasm spilled over for the tasting and meet the brewer events that took place as part of the weekend too, with Connoisseur Ales kicking things off on Friday evening in the Ship and Mitre, followed by new kids on the block Top Rope Brewing and Moonsugar Brewing. The events section was rounded off by Mad Hatter Brewing presenting tasters of their coffee IPA and the Wild Night Out (Elderflower) on Sunday afternoon. The talks from Top Rope and Moonsugar were particularly noteworthy, as both breweries are yet to formally release anything officially. There have been tastings at brewing clubs, but nothing to the general public on this scale and both breweries did themselves proud – the quality of their beers was nothing short of astonishing. If they can replicate what they presented at this event in future via keg, cask or bottle, they should be absolutely fine. Top Rope presented the following beers; Orange Soda Gose, Overkill IPA (a tip of the hat to the late Lemmy from Motorhead), Ryecentennial Brown and 8-Bit Pale Ale. A nice rounded and diverse portfolio, with the Gose being a very refreshing and interesting take on the style and the Ryecentennial being a very fine brown ale with tonnes of character. Moonsugar brought along their IPA, Stout and notably, some rather excellent Mead, which is definitely setting them apart from other outfits in the region. Both talks were informative and bode well for two potentially brilliant additions to the Liverpool scene and with any luck, the beers, braggot and mead will filter out from the city and find the rest of the UK (and hopefully beyond). Going forward there is the possibility of more events along the same template as this tap takeover, but the best way to find out is to keep an eye on the Twitter and Facebook feeds which have both been very well managed (so not by me, then).
What would you like to see from the Liverpool Beer Collective and Liverpool’s bars, brewers and bottle shops over the coming months? Cheers, Pedro. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liverpool Beer Collective Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/LivBeerCo Facebook: www.facebook.com/liverpoolbeercollective 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'. 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. Greetings one and all!! Welcome to the first beer review of the year (although I do appreciate it is somewhat late being February and all... I hope you enjoyed the last blog with the review of the excellent wines and food pairing at The Monro in Liverpool, but this month we are back on track with a beer review for the beers experienced in January. It’s quite a spread this time once again, but we are having another bottle shop review in the form of the Crosby Bottle Beer shop on College road in Crosby, North Liverpool. For those who have some experience of all things beer, the shop was indeed once known as (the legendary) Lancashire Heroes; selling all manner of continental and best of British ales to the public, bringing people from miles around to source stuff that simply wasn’t available anywhere else – the supermarkets were still in the throes of mid-nineties infatuation with Stella Artois and just about getting their heads around stocking wheat beer, such as the fairly ubiquitous Hoegaarden. This bottle shop has undergone a bit of revamp once again at the end of 2015, going from stocking a great range of continental lagers, dubbels, wit and lambics along with British ales from Cumbria, the local area and beyond, to getting hold of some of the more recognisable craft brewers such as Arbor, Buxton, Brooklyn, Wild Beer, Thornbridge along with Neptune, 3 Potts, Siren Craft, Wiper and True, Gigantic and Firebrand Brewing Company. I spoke to the Bottle Shops' Jamie Greer about their revamp, which has recently been bolstered by the sounds of it.... "We decided last autumn that we didn't just want to be shop that sold craft beer, we want to be an EXPERIENCE for beer lovers. Every week we get new beers in to keep things interesting and allow our customers to always have new things to try - and we do this on large scale. Very recently we've had to use more shelving and now have around 607 beers at the last count. This will continue. Also, we genuinely cater for all tastes, having traditional bitters and milds to massively hoppy IPAs, stouts and barley wines from breweries making strides in the industry. We have have a large can section (about 45 at last count) and loads of sours now to address that trend. Lastly, we are soon going to launch bottle tasting nights once a month so honestly its all about the experience not just buying a few beers." This increase in range has lifted the reasons to visit up to a new level, not least because the pricing structure is actually very reasonable for most of the stock. The shop doesn’t open on a Monday sadly, but opens most days from 1pm up until 7 or 8pm. And now… for the beers!
That’s the lot for January everyone, but thanks again for reading and if you have anything you would like to add about any of the beers from this month’s review, please just post below the line. Don’t forget to share on Twitter and Facebook too if you enjoyed the blog and feel as though someone you know would enjoy the read! Also, don’t forget to pop along to Crosby and poke your nose in through the door if you’re in the area; you’re unlikely to leave empty handed! Next time we’ll have a review of some beers from a brewery that has recently undergone a rebranding exercise and has sent some of their wares across for comment. We also have the February review nearly ready (as I am a little behind on things!) along with plenty of other good things for 2016. Cheers for now! Pedro. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crosby Bottle Beer Shop 59 College Road Crosby Merseyside L23 0RL Tel: 0151 949 1834 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crosbybeershop/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/crosbybeershop |
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