As you're reading this, I take it you know about how 'natural' real ales are; unless other natural substances are added, eg spices, herbs and fruit, ales are brewed using just 4 natural ingredients. First, malted grain is used to provide sugars to ferment, as well as provide flavour, this is usually barley, but can include other grain, eg wheat and oats, and un-malted roasted barley can be used for flavour, particularly for stouts. The second ingredient is water, called 'liquor' by brewers, hot liquor is used when converting the starch in malt to more simple sugar, stimulated by enzymes in the malt; this liquid, now termed 'wort', is boiled in the kettle or 'copper'. At different times during the boil, the third ingredient, hops, are added for preservation, but also to add flavour and bitterness. The final natural additive is yeast, which converts the sugars in the cooled solution into alcohol. OK, it's a wee bit more complicated than that, but that's the basic art of brewing...
So, with all the potential flavours and types of ales, why is it that we have preferences for one over another? People who know me well, or who have read a few of these blogs, will know I prefer pale bitters, the more pale, dry and bitter, the better. I can love ales that are just bitter, or some that have fruity flavours added by hops, eg typical of many hops coming from the USA, like Citra, Cascade or Amarillo, which provide citrus-like flavours. But, I also can enjoy good ales of all types, eg winter warmers, stouts and porters, but I'm not really into beers that are just 'malty', or lack hops, though others happily enjoy such ales, that I find boring or too malty. Such is life when considering real ales, there really is something to suit most people's tastes, or to go with different types of food, very similar to wines, but with even more variety.
Now, I do like Dark Star's paler and hoppy ales, indeed I like ultra hoppy ales brewed elsewhere, eg by Steel City, Oakham, Crouch Vale, Saltaire, I could go on... However, there is a 'new kid on the block', well, not that new, as he had been brewing at Dark Star for a while previously, and had devised the recipe for Hophead, a pale hoppy bitter I first tasted in Sheffield many years ago. Indeed, I have already commented on Burning Sky's 3.5% Plateau "Pale Ale" previously, which I even prefer to Hophead! Burning Sky also brew a stronger ale regularly too, the 5.6% Aurora, and what a lovely ale I savoured at The Tower, London Road, Hastings St Leonards very recently, after searching it out for quite a while now. The Aurora is subtitled "Strong Pale Ale",, which belies the flavours and substance of the ale: this has grapefruit aroma smacking you across the cheeks as it wafts up your nostrils, it's tastes fruity, it has loadsa body, it finishes off dry, it is very delicious indeed!
But it's not just Dark Star and Burning Sky ales offered down in East Sussex, many more hoppy ales are provided from near and afar. At The Tower I have also enjoyed drinking Wild Cat, from The Fat Cat brewery attached to the Norwich version of a Fat Cat very recently. This is a 5% bitter subtitled "An ultra-pale hop monster", though not as 'ultra hoppy' as Steel City, and not too much aroma, this is still a very good dry pale bitter, nice and easy to drink, and liked by me very much! There has been all manner of other lovely ales at The Tower recently too, of course from Dark Star, eg Hophead and American Pale Ale, the Burning Sky Plateau again, and now an apparently regular beer from Hastings Brewery, their No5 Hop Forward Pale Ale. Excellent stuff, reported on many times, cheers Louisa!
But we are blessed with other very good providers of lovely ales in East Sussex too. For example, from the First in Last Out (FILO), High Street, Hastings 'old town', who do not only provide 5 of their very own brews from 7 or 8 regular and seasonal beers, eg FILO Gold "Premium Ale" (4.8%), Churches "Pale Ale" (4.2%), the very good session bitter Crofters "Best Bitter" (3.8%), and the excellent full-flavoured and full-bodied Cardinal "Sussex Porter" (4.6%), but guest ales too. Sadly, for me, they've run out of their, far too easily, very drinkable seasonal Our Auld Ale (6.5%), reported on before, but are considering brewing this again before next Christmas. I don't want to wish my life away, so I shall be patient, but I'm looking forward to it again Tony...
As I said, they don't only provide their own crackin' ales, they also provide a couple of guest ales from other breweries too, in recent times, for example, the Oakleaf Brewery's Quercus Folium (4%), which we accurately translated in the bar, from the latin, as "Oakleaf". The Oakleaf Oakleaf, or Quercus Folium is what I call a 'traditional' bitter colour, ie, how I remember bitters from when I first started drinking, and before I experienced a 'pale' bitter, even 'pale ales' in those days were a darker colour than they are favoured to be now! This had a slight caramel flavour, with a nice bitter aftertaste. More recently, they had the Essex-based Crouch Vale Yakima Gold (4.2%), which I have recently commented on when I drank it at the Dolphin, together with a note on it's Native American name. Indeed, it is still a refreshing pale bitter with a fruity grapefruit and peach aftertaste, very nice again, cheers Mike and Adam!
Meanwhile, further down in the 'old town' of Hastings, opposite the fishing beach and huts, is the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, the reigning local CAMRA Pub of the Year. As ever, the 3 regular ales are Dark Star Hophead, Harveys Sussex Best, and Young's Special, all reported on previously numerous times. They also provide 3 guest ales, rumoured to be increasing by one to a total of 7 ales overall later this year, variety indeed!
Guest ales recently have included, from near and far, from Swindon, Arkell's Moonlight, a 4.5% dark golden bitter, with a slight caramel flavour and nice bitter aftertaste; from the newish local venture Brighton Bier, Underdog, a 4.2% bitter with a nutty aftertaste, a bit like the flavour of the inside of a hazelnut, and very nice indeed; and from Scotland, Cairngorm Trade Winds, a 4.3% pale, slightly sweet bitter. In addition, also from the West Country, the excellent Salopian Hop Twister, a 4.5% pale dry bitter, with a hint of citrus and grapefruit aroma, cheers Mark!
Finally, for this blog, I have recently visited The Albatross Club (RAFA) a couple of times, the local CAMRA Club of the Year, where you need to be signed in by a member; CAMRA members being very welcome. It's a good 10 mile walk (round trip) for me along the coast to Bexhill-on-Sea, a wee bit tiring in the strong winds and rain recently, but it had to be done! The welcome here is always very friendly, and the 4 ales on offer are regularly changing, so do not expect to drink the same ale 2 trips running, unless you visit daily, but even then... What has been available recently?
I loved it, of course, the 3.5% Burning Sky Plateau, with a grapefruit aroma, grapefruit in the taste, pale, dry and bitter, delicious! Other local ales have included Rother Valley Exit (5.7%) and Isfield Flapjack (5.3%). Also, a collaboration between the local Dark Star Brewery and Yorkshire based Saltaire Brewery, Bock, a dark 'rusty' brown coloured 5.6% bitter with full body and roasted flavour. From much further afield have come Just a Minute Time Tunnel, a 4.1% dark golden bitter, and Summer Wine Espresso (4.8%), you can guess what flavour that has, and Zenith, a 4% pale refreshing dry bitter, very nice too. Also, from the dependable Essex brewer again, Crouch Vale Amarillo, a 5% pale hoppy ale, grapefruit flavour, dry and bitter, it hit the spot, cheers Geoff, another nice one!
Cheers folks!!
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