Greetings one and all!! As you maye have gathered, things have been a little slow lately due to overriding commitments, so much so that writing time has been very limited. BUT, fear not, there will be a glut of new articles coming along over the next few weeks, a mixture of reviews, interviews, launches and other bits and pieces which are mostly beer flavoured. I'm even quite excited by it all myself if I am being totally honest! Around the UK, there have been a few festivals which have titillated many, judging by conversations I have been having, including another successful session for Craft Beer Rising. Here in Liverpool, things are gearing up nicely for the Craft Beer Expo in June (for which tickets are now on sale and I will hopefully have some preview news I can share with you over the coming weeks), Black Lodge is moving forth with experimental brewing and other events, Higson's rejuvenation is on the cards (though quite in what form remains to be seen), the CAMRA AGM is in town, alongside a beer festival being held at the currently dormant Cain's/Higson's Stanhope Street site and there is also the fanfare surrounding Dead Crafty opening on Liverpool's Dale Street; for which you are best tuning in to their social media and website to keep abreast. There is much to consider. So what's new this month for your dose of ElectroKemistry? Well, we've moved back onto some simple beer bottle blog reviews for now, last month's spread on Crosby Bottle Beer Shop marked the end of that run for the time being; but thanks to all the shops I covered on Merseyside for being amenable to me, my camera and questions. As ever it's another eight beers with tasting notes and pairings where possible that have been presented for your delight. 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 some goodies in store soon!! Cheers for now! Pedro.
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I’m getting used to this now, although the temptation to sit back and drink solely to enjoy these beers is something that is rather easy to slip into. Having to spend a few moments, critically picking out the choicest points about some of the beers I have sunk in the last month is a pretty arduous task when… ahh, who am I kidding. It’s not that difficult to be honest and a pleasure to give you lot something different to read; I know what a thirsty lot you can be, especially on a Friday when I usually publish! Apologies for the tardy delivery though… there have been a few things going on over the last few weeks, weddings and some less happy news punctuating the days. Here are a few of the beers that I have sampled over the last month or so, if you’ve tried any already, as with the previous article in this theme, please feel free to share your experiences below the line! On we go…
That’s your lot for this month, a distinctly more summery theme it was too. Hopefully you’ll get out and be able to try some of these, along with the food pairings where I’ve suggested. Happy drinking! Pedro. 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. Beard, Beard, Beard, Beard’s the word… and everybody’s heard about the word. Well, hopefully by the end of this piece they will have. Weird Beard hail from West London, which has somewhat a dearth of reputable drinking establishments, the White Horse in Parson’s Green aside from what I had experienced from a recent visit (although it should be noted, I only had one day to scan the area and went off recommendations from acquaintances and friends). Following a wealth of experience (and some awards) two brewers by the name of Bryan and Gregg decided to take the plunge and swap their respective small batch kitchen based enterprises and go full on with their brews. The remit of their beers is the use of hops to pack as much into their beers as is possible, whilst wearing rather fetching facial hair. Okay, I did make that last bit up, as I doubt things would grind to a sudden halt should one of them decide to defuzz. Weird Beard started their experiments in February of 2013 and over the course of the following 12 months received the accolade of being in the top 5 or 6 of new brewers in the World. It may not sound like too much of a deal, but when you consider that during this period for nomination, some 2000 new breweries began operations. Remarkable. Weird Beard are apparently at the stage of considering more space to continue their quest to deliver more beers out into the world, they currently have 3 full time personnel on the brewing and are even considering a tap room from which to directly dispense their wares. And so, onward to an early May Monday evening, one of the chief beards, Gregg Irwin is stood in front of a crowd awaiting stories (of which there were many) and some of the fabled Beard brews. Mariana Trench The most popular beer of the Weird Beard stable, an American Pale style using Citra and Pacific Gem hops which started life as a homebrewed beer; this was initially called Mariana’s Trench, with the ‘s dropped due to some rather rude connotations (I’ll leave that to you guys). At 5%, this soft, slightly sour beer has a character with some stone fruit including mango, tropical passion fruit a notably peachy finish, a slight haze and orchard fruit aromas. The name is clearly derived from the geographical reference to use of trans-pacific hops. 5 O’Clock Shadow This American style IPA uses four different hop types; Citra, Apollo, Summit and Colombus. Heavy hops flavour and a ABV of around 7% gives this beer a slight savoury edge with yet more apricot and nectarine aromas, though the presence of these on the nose did not quite convey into the flavour. The beer is dry hopped at 8.5g hops per litre and started life as a darker product. K*ntish Town Beard A very interesting story reared its head in the presentation by Gregg resulting in the current name we have for this beer. It started life as a collaborative beer, brewed in conjunction with the Brewdog bar based down in Camden with a name that made another prominent brewery rather unhappy, although this has now been firmly resolved and the beer is a delicious American style wheat beer. The use of Willamette hops in the initial hopping and then with Centennial in the boil, Centennial and Cascade are finally used in the ferment to great effect. The Willamette provides the woody spiciness often conveyed by Simcoe. This interesting beer comes in at 5.5%. Fade to Black Another Weird Beard beer of homebrew origin, this excellent black IPA weighs in at 7.1% with a low payload of roast for something so dark. The use of three different hops in Sorachi Ace, Citra and Summit give plenty of flavour hit, which has depth and length without issue. Some slight chocolate flavours hum in the background along with a hint of toasted coconut, something which has been played upon with the follow up version of Fade to Black. Fade to Black (coconut) A one-off brew playing on the original beer above, this iteration removes the use of the Sorachi Ace hop and came about through a mistake with a hot liquor tank and the elements remaining on for much longer than anticipated. This beer is almost at a level where you’d classify it as a liquid chocolate bar inundated by toasted coconut, which is testament to the amounts of coconut that was thrown at making this beer, although it did have the unwanted side effect of clogging up lots of equipment with coconut. Fade to Black (coconut) was not dry hopped, retaining some more stout character as opposed to the black IPA and comes up with a strength of around 6.1%. Decadence Stout The use of 10 different grains and predominantly US Chinook and Goldings hops, this 4.8% stout uses no roasted barley and concentrated on the use of less acidic malts to retain a full body and chocolatey flavour with a hint of coffee and pleasant creamy mouthfeel. Boring Brown Beer This rebrew of the first ever beer Weird Beard made, with the possible exception of Hit the Lights, this 8.2% monster is based on the beer ‘Arrogant Bastard’ by Stone Brewery and was brewed with Chinook hops in a Pale ale style. A tinker with the yeast to a specific type helped fine tuning with the brew and a ferment temperation of 29 degree Celsius helped keep some ester compounds (ask an organic chemist, not me… I do know, but it’s the wrong branch of Kemistry, arf arf) to convey a fruity flavourful beer. This ‘Imperial Best’ beer has notes of raisins on the nose and in the flavours and over 100 IBUs, which would do well from aging both in cask and bottle. All in all, a very informative and engaging evening with Weird Beard; great beers, although some not quite to my own taste, the story telling was excellent and will make for a entertaining event.
A special shout should be given to Kusina ni Lola for providing the cooking at this event, four excellent courses to accompany the beers were provided and from the taste (and photos above) they were excellent – you can catch them occasionally at the Foodslam events at the Camp and Furnace, infrequent pop up events or at the Albion Market in Crosby, North Liverpool. Until the next time…. Pedro. x --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weird Beard Brew Co. Unit 5 Boston Business Park, Trumpers Way, Hanwell. W7 2QA Tel: 0203 645 2711 Web: http://www.weirdbeardbrewco.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeirdBeard_Brew Twenty Three Club / Clove Hitch 23 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ Web: http://www.theclovehitch.com/# Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwentyThreeClub or https://twitter.com/theclovehitch Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Tel: 0151 709 6574 Kusina Ni Lola Twitter: https://twitter.com/KusinaNiLola Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kusinanilola It’s been a few months since my visit to go and see a friend living over in the Czech Republic’s second city, but I thought the trip definitely warranted some words for those considering a trip out in that direction for something of a slightly different pace. Flying out from the UK to Brno is an awkward proposition, the easiest route for us from Liverpool John Lennon was to fly into Bratislava, the Slovakian capital and take 3 changes (two trolleybus/trams onto a coach) to get into Brno. The trip was a little more stressful than it needed to be with neither myself or my companion speaking any Slovak; the older generation do seem to be responsive to German however. Nevertheless, we arrived in Brno in one piece with the travel costing us in the region of £7-8 in total from Bratislava airport to the coach station in Brno. The first night, my friend living in Brno collected us from the (very desolate, it has to be said) coach station to drop our bags and then go and find something to eat and drink. Not much after an hour passed before we were sat in ‘STOPKOVA PLZENSKA PIVNICE’ [http://www.kolkovna.cz/index.php?show=hot&place=16]a bar/restaurant supposedly of some renown for serving good beer and pretty authentic Czech dishes. A steak with cream and cranberries was placed in front of me, known locally as svíčková, I was initially bemused by the offering of such things, but any apprehension gave way to hunger. The meat was actually perfectly cooked, the dumplings were excellently seasoned and provide enough stodge to fill me up, although I did try the cream and fruit with the dish, it is not something I was overly fussed on revisiting. My companion was struggling to select something suitable as this part of the world is not exactly known for its vegetarian offerings, but the sight of Cheese on the menu piqued interest; the sight of it being deep fried even more so. This was a definite theme throughout the trip involving cheese, breadcrumbs and vats of oil where food was concerned; however, this first venture into such heavy and decadent food was pleasant. There was no residual trace of oil on the wedges of cheese in a light breadcrumb and it was served with bootlace fries and salad, it therefore provided an excellent companion to the Pilsner Urquell on offer. If you want to eat here, it is best to try and book a table in advance as it does get quite busy of an evening; be wary that places like this do not have a smoking ban either, so you may need to request a non-smoking table. A few bars and many beers later, it was time to rest, the next day we were due to have a wander around the town and then catch up with a few of my friend’s other acquaintances for lunch and a few drinks (it would have been rude not to partake when this country provides amongst the finest pilsner and lager beers in the world). ‘PIVNI OPICE’ (Beer monkey)[http://www.pivniopice.cz/] was our next port of call following a wander around past the Ossuary (bone storage place, macabre yet interesting), castle and cathedral. Pivni Opice is a relatively small basement bar that houses quite a relaxed atmosphere and very reasonably priced selection of food, with the usual czech cuisine augmented by some burgers, ribs and schnitzel dishes. The beer, is as always in this part of the world, very very good and cheaper here than in many other bars around the town. There is plenty of seating during the day and it does get a little busier in the evenings, but the atmosphere remains very relaxed and the service competent. There are a mix of higher tables and standard height dining arrangements, with a warmth to the place given partially by wooden decor and low ceilings. The food was superb value, with the plates of chicken legs and ribs with salads and bread being more than enough for one person, whilst the burgers and portions of the fried cheese are pretty much plentiful for even the most gluttonous of visitors. The quality of the food was nothing mind blowing, but for somewhere to grab a relaxed and cheap (it's under five pounds (UK) for a large burger with bacon, egg and salad with fries and three beers at the time of the visit) bite to eat and a decent beer, you can't go too far wrong with this enjoyable establishment! The city then became a bit of a blur of bars and pubs thanks partly to some overindulgence and partly thanks to a very unusual 24 hour dose of a heavy cold which miraculously cleared up by the end of our second day in Brno. On place that stood out if not on novelty value, but also on the portion sizes on offer, with numerous branches across the Czech republic THE PUB [http://www.thepub.cz/brno/?lng=en] specialises in free pour beer (i.e. you pour your own drinks from a central tap on each table). Although there are other beers on offer, the chance to ‘race’ against other people in the bar and indeed against those drinking in Prague or Ostrava is quite some novelty. The beer itself is massively drinkable and as stated, the food is a good companion to a convivial affair, pizzas, burgers and steaks all cooked well and reasonably priced. Needless to say, with three of us having a go at the pumps, we were quite outgunned by a table in Prague sinking twice as much beer (likely having twice as many people – at least we hope so). A few more beers were taken in along with watching a Davis Cup match (featuring the Czech Republic in the final, which they won) with some locals wrapped in the Czech flag and clearly very proud of their team in a restaurant/Beer Hall called ‘ÁČKO’. Besides the smoky atmosphere, it was pretty loud and an evidently popular place with the locals with various progressive rock band album sleeves scattered around the ledges in the main room at the back of Áčko. The beer was as it was elsewhere on our trip, cheap and very drinkable and pilsner style lager, there were plates of deep fried cheese brought out to us on a couple of occasions, but it was a struggle to stay too long in such a smoke filled room. POTREFENA HUSA [http://www.potrefenahusabrno.cz/] was visited later, sat in a very central location in Brno, this place was a very enjoyable place to visit and eat/drink in. The modern surroundings of the bar and a good atmosphere twinned with the food and drink makes for this to be a place very high on the list worth visiting in Brno. Its location lends itself to making it a good bar to finish a night on, along with beer snacks and food served until fairly late (although not all night - after 10 the kitchen may be closed). The snacks include excellent pickled cheeses (in oil, spring onion and peppers), which to some might not sound too appetising along with a few pints, but you'd be very surprised and pleased with the range of food on offer. It is towards the pricey and of bars in Brno, likely and quite noisy, with a much younger clientele compared to many of the other bars around, but it is still worth popping in for a drink. The return visit to Bratislava was intended to be brief, with only a few hours to kill until the return flights to Liverpool scheduled for 9pm, alas our stay was extended until 1pm the following day – without the ability to experience more of the city’s hospitality. The time that was spent there was used to wander to the Parliament and Castle, gaining excellent (if somewhat fog-hampered) views of the Danube and some good photographs of the interesting architecture on show. One thing that grabbed my companion and I was some of the brilliant graffiti that was hidden away in various parts of the city, the photos I have included are not necessarily in keeping with the main remit of this blog, but are worthy of inclusion from an artistic viewpoint. Only one visit was made for food and yet again, the deep fried cheese was on offer at the SLOVAK PUB [http://www.slovakpub.sk/], who were we to refuse? CLICK ON THE PHOTOS BELOW TO ENLARGE.... Flying into Bratislava airport and planning an onward journey in this part of Europe is relatively easy to handle given a bit of research; Ostrava, Prague, Brno, Budapest and Vienna are all within a few hours by coach, meaning a weekend break could see you take in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria with a single flight. You’ll need 3 sets of currency though!
Until next time, hopefully you enjoyed my little tour.... Pedro x Burgers are currently at the forefront of the recent penetration of ‘dirty’ American-style cuisine to hit the UK restaurant market. They are usually a safe bet; you know what you’re getting (usually) aside from the ‘accessories’ or side dishes that accompany the burger. There are usual one or two minor questions to answer along the way with ordering a burger, for example; how does the establishment handle the bun? Is it a brioche style bun or a soft but toasted sesame seed bun, or is it a bog-standard floury effort? Then there’s the issue of the aforementioned ‘accessories’; is there a cornichon (whole gherkin) present, is salad present nestling above the burger, how about onion rings and relish or sauces? I have sung the simplistic virtues of a burger in a previous article (right here: [http://electrokemistcuisine.weebly.com/1/post/2011/12/the-art-of-making-a-burger.html], funny that you should ask…), where there were very few places that provided decent burger satisfaction, one decent one (NOT Gourmet Burger Kitchen) and many provided frozen ready-made burgers, there are now a number of options. There has now been a proliferation of patties across the city in recent months, with the arrival of many American bistro/diner establishments in the shape of Free State Kitchen, Nolita Cantina and other establishments such as Attic providing solid candidates for ‘best burger’. We should expect another arrival in the coming months if rumours are to be believed, with ‘Almost Famous’ making a tentative march down the M62 from Manchester’s Northern Quarter (maybe). Now Byron Hamburgers [http://www.byronhamburgers.com/] have taken over a unit in Liverpool One just on Paradise Street Near to Jamie’s Italian and John Lewis. Choosing a Saturday evening to test out a new place is not my usual thing, but on this occasion compulsion, hunger and coincidence got the better of me. Byron’s was very busy when we arrived, so the atmosphere was lightly buzzing, albeit with a slightly canteen-style atmosphere. The choice to sit outside was an easy one to make considering the inside was rather clammy and warm and the start to proceedings was not really the best in terms of creating a positive impression. Twenty minutes passed by until we finally attracted the attention of someone to take an order, the speed of service following the initial hiccup was however, quite remarkable if concerningly impressive. You wouldn’t really expect to receive your food within 10 minutes of ordering it, except for the grimiest of fast-food places, but there the burgers were, in front of us…. In ten minutes. To be fair, selling burgers in a burger restaurant must be something easy to conveyor-belt-prepare. The burgers themselves were competent and tasted as would be expected from somewhere specialising in them; deep rich and meaty and with plenty of meat – not too dense from over handling and not too heavy grained to fall apart in the bun. I ordered the Byron Burger and my accomplice ordered the Cheese Burger. The former was very satisfying with cheddar, sauce and maple cured bacon adding layers of salty flavour and sweet piquancy, the latter I was assured equally so with a thick tranche of emmenthal cheese to compliment my friend’s burger cooked to a medium level. The side dishes were unfussy and presented in pristine enamel bowls; the fries, crunchy and fluffy centred with no superfluous grease and the onion rings, deliciously fragile and crisp with a slightly chewy centre. There were 7 burgers in all to choose from along with 7 types of main salad and a number of side salads and other side dishes plus add-ons to the burgers, so the menu is not totally exhaustive. Pricewise it is much of a muchness as one would say in comparison to other establishments. All burgers cost a similar amount to the previously discussed eateries and therefore Byron’s maintains a reasonable status quo in this regard. Special mention should go to the drinks menu here though, with 9 white and 9 red wines on offer and 2 options for pink/fizz, there is enough for those wanting to make more of an occasion whilst visiting. However, the Craft Beer selection is something to get a little excited about, a good selection which is sadly slightly pricey. Thornbridge Jaipur, Brooklyn Lager and Dead Pony Club are all great with a substantial meat patty, whilst Camden Brewery provide Gentlemen’s Wit and a Lager Helles beer to bolster proceedings. Our burgers were washed down gratefully with Jaipur and Wit. The gradual improvement of the service through the evening was a blessing, our waitress was exceptionally polite and friendly, not to mention thorough and helpful. If the joint irons out the initial kinks of keeping front of house in order, the rest is pretty much taken care of – this shouldn’t take too long. Byron’s apparently do take away for those who want to eat on the move or at home…. handy. All said and done, it is another tasty and viable option in the city for a delicious burger. You can’t go too far wrong! Pedro. British Bank Holiday weekends are invariably washed out affairs, much more suited to sitting wistfully on a window ledge staring outside at the rain trickling down the pane. Luckily, the last two Bank Holiday weekends in May of 2013 have been gloriously bright affairs. That type of weather definitely lends itself to sitting out with friends in a Beer garden, having a picnic and a few cold drinks in the park with the family or even better, attending a beer festival. There have been a few of late and there are a few more to come in Liverpool over the next few months. I spent the first May bank holiday at the Eagle and Child beer festival in Bispham Green (near Parbold/Mawdelsey). Typically, this festival experiences excellent dry weather and is generally superbly run and friendly affair. The addition of hand pumps to a few of the cask ales on offer this year is a definite improvement and a step upward from the usual high standards in the grounds of the pub owned by the Ainscoughs (of Racquet Club fame). The most recent Bank Holiday weekend was also spent investigating a slightly smaller scale beer festival, this time by the banks of the River Mersey in Otterspool at the Otter’s Café at Active Adventures. Having ventured down on the Saturday and Sunday, the clientele was mixed to say the least, with a market having brought some people out and the remainder either those wandering along the promenade for a walk and an ice cream or those specifically for the beer festival. There was even room for a Hen do oddly enough! Rather than a pub or association running this event, the crowds were treated to some local brews organised by the Mad Hatter Brewing Company. The Mad Hatters Brewing Company is the newest addition to Liverpool’s ever-increasing craft beer and real ale scene with Head Brewer Gaz and partner in crime Sue, initially taking things a little more seriously in 2007. With the burgeoning interest in Liverpool (as with the rest of the UK) in food and more pertinently, drink, driving the demand for fashionable food and beers with character, there is certainly room. The latter of these demanded items is something that the Mad Hatter is able to provide in abundance. This is more than evident, with some 16 different styles of beer lined up at the brewery, perhaps more once confidence has grown – and a range of brewing techniques not generally used in the UK. Some departure from academia up in Lancaster, I am sure most would agree, but a brave and highly welcome decision for a lot of us. At the festival, there were a few ales on offer from some of the usual suspects on the Liverpool Beer scene in the shape of Liverpool Organic Brewery, Liverpool Craft Brewery, Wapping, Brimstage Brewery from Wirral and another newcomer in the shape of the promising Melwood Brewing Company. The undoubted stars of the show at this festival were the beers on offer from the Mad Hatter Brewery. The unusually potent ales conceived by the Mad Hatter himself were present in fridges, which were stocked full as to be curiouser and curiouser; leporine artwork by Emily Warren of Stealthy Rabbit adorning a variety of exciting bottles promising much. Emily's thoughts are given in a bit more detail than I can divulge right now over on: [http://thestealthyrabbit.blogspot.co.uk/]. Over the course of the weekend, I made it my duty to try and characterise as much of the wonderland made real by the brewery as possible. However, with an ABV of usually over 7%, care must be taken – an easy task it was not!! The brewery was keen to provide something as an alternative to the usual session beers on the market, offering viable alternatives for food pairings to the usual fallback of a bottle of wine. Here are a few of the tasting notes I made whilst I was able to stave off falling down the rabbit hole:
2. Imperial IPA: Using Simcoe hops, the pine notes in this beer are deeply embedded and very obvious, at 7.3% it packs quite a punch and has quite a sharp edge with some good acidity. Very, very hoppy!
That’s your lot for what magnificence I tried on offer at the Beer Festival, but your extra reading after this blog is to go and check out the Mad Hatter Brewing Company website (conveniently located here: [http://madhatbrew.co.uk/] and for more up to date information, search facebook for Mad Hatter Brewing Company, or follow them on twitter, @MadHatBrew] with a run down of their beers and details should you need to contact them. Their beers will be available from the following outlets: Beers are available in Liverpool from: Stamps Too, (CAMRA pub of the year, Liverpool) The Dispensary, Renshaw St The Ship and Mitre And also soon from: 23 Club, below the Clove Hitch Pod, Allerton Road Manchester: Pie & Ale, Northern Quarter, The Port St Beer House, Northern Quarter And also soon from: Joshua Brooks, Oxford Road The Magnet, Stockport (CAMRA pub of the year, Greater Manchester) Unfortunately, you can’t buy from the Brewery direct at the moment, so you’ll have to go hunt down these bad boys from one of the outlets above if you’re feeling impatient!! A tip of the (mad) hat should also go to the guys down at the Otters Café for putting on the mini market and beer festival. They have an aerial assault course in the vein of Go Ape! there alongside a maze and the café and lovely riverside views. The coffee and cakes is pretty good there too! Full details of the venue are just a click away: [http://www.activeadventuresliverpool.co.uk/]. Until next time guys, I’ll see you through the looking glass! Pedro x Take twelve curious (in every sense of the word in some cases) people, contain within a single room and apply a generous dose of various wheat beers from around Europe; you’ll end up with the first live ElectroKemist Cuisine event, with in retrospect, pleasing results. The wheat beers selected for the tasting were (in order) as follows:
A little bit of a synopsis was given at the start for the origins of wheat beer and the German Reinheitsgebot, then a brief description of each beer with a word on each for mouth feel, taste and nose. The tasting panel was then left to cast opinions and invited to write some comments on each beer, giving it a relative rating within the selection of beers available. All the beers were well received apart from two, which were clearly rated below the others, rather surprisingly so too. The two beers that ranked lowest were in my opinion still very pleasant and slightly complex beers, perhaps more so than the other selection. Final standings (2pts – best, 1pt – runner up and -1pt – last place): 8th place – Titanic Iceberg (Titanic Brewery, Staffordshire): -9 points This heavily hopped beer is very light at only 4.1% abv, but this was not to the liking of the bulk of the tasting panel. Common complaints were that it was slightly metallic, dry and too bitter, with the nose being slightly medicinal and almost like cannabis. It was by far the most diverse of the beers on offer, being much dryer compared to the sweet and fruity beers around it. 7th place – Franziskaner (Bavaria, Germany): -1 point The current form of this beer was first brewed in 1974, heavy notes of cloves and bananas with a slightly spiced finish and some vanilla notes proved a little on the heavy side for some of the panel. 6th place – Paulaner (Bavaria, German): 0 points A sweeter brew than many of the others, with yeasty hints proved to be very neutral with the tasting panel, it scored no points negatively or positively. 5th place – Hoegaarden (Hoegaarden, Belgium): 1 point One of the most famous wheat beers in Europe with very floral and citrus notes, mostly coming from the inclusion of orange curacao peel proved to be fairly popular with the panel, but not overwhelmingly so. Many comments were positive, but not enough impact was made to lift it above a single point from a runner up spot. 4th place – Schneider Weisse Tap 7 Unser Original (Bavaria, Germany): 3 points Possibly the heaviest of the beers in terms of colour, having a sepia-brown tinge in the usually yellow brew, fairly heavy also in terms of sweetness and flavour. A very complex wheat beer with spicy notes of clove, nutmeg and ripened banana, which lie over the top of a slightly ‘chewier’ body than the other beers. The panel gave a mostly generous review of this beer noting that it was softer and fruitier on the palette than the colour and body would note. It would be interesting to see how Schneider Aventinus (Tap 9) would have fared here! 3rd place – Erdinger (Bavaria, Germany): 4 points Another very famous brew and available on draft in many pubs these days and in bottles from most supermarkets, it received a single vote as the best of the selection and two runner up spots, placing it high in people’s ranking. A benchmark wheat beer with a balance of spice, dry and sweet notes with citrus notes throughout, Erdinger proved a popular choice with the panel with no negative comments aside from a couple of people noting a neutrality in the beer compared to some of the others, labelling it as ‘inoffensive’. 2nd place Runner up – Weihenstephaner Kristalweiss (Bavaria, Germany): 7 points The filtered wheat beer proved a very popular and well-balanced beer, slightly sweet with an abundance of fruity and crisp notes according to some tasting notes. Generally very positive feedback from the panel on this brew, although the question was asked of them, is it a psychological aspect of the beer being clear which means people are regarding it as lighter considering its relatively strong flavours and spiciness? The yeast would definitely add some body, but the fact remains this was the most frequent runner up and occasional winner for the panel. 1st place Winner – Estrella Inedit (Barcelona, Spain): 16 points The beer brewed by Estrella and developed in tandem with Ferran Adria’s famous El Bulli restaurant (now closed alas) in Barcelona. This proved a winner in most panel member’s eyes, with a complex set of flavours ranging from citrus to liquorice and stages between, the demand following the formal portion of the tasting for this was almost insatiable. Sherbet, bergamot, perfume, rose water and Turkish delight notes were all noted in the tasting comments. This beer was actually developed mindful of pairing with food, but on the evidence of this event, it stood up to be drunk on its own. Many thanks to all those who participated, particularly to Jon for the photography and Luke for venue hire.
There will be more tastings in the pipeline, both for beer and wine, so anyone with an idea or preference, please leave a suggestion below on this blog site, on my Facebook page or on my Twitter feed. Stay tuned folks! Pedro. x |
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