Hoppy Leap Day!

No! I didn't say Hoppy Leaf Day...

My Local Pub of the Year update, Hastings

Borrowed, and edited, from a contribution to the Steve on Hastings blog...

The Tower

I recently walked up to the current 2015 South East Sussex CAMRA 'Pub of the Year', the Tower, on the corner of London and Tower Roads in Bohemia (251 London Road TN37 6NB). As ever, it was a pleasure to see Louisa the landlady, to meet up with a few friends I hadn't seen for a while, and drink some excellent ales at good value prices, and I hadn't been up there for a while...  

6 real ales (and 4 ciders, £3.10-3.40 a pint), mostly local to Sussex/Kent too, including 2 excellent regular ales from Dark Star, ie Hophead (£2.80 a pint) and American Pale Ale, (£2.90), both of which I've talked about at length many times before, and a refreshing pale offering from 1648, the 3.7% Hop Pocket (£2.90). Also, 2 dark ales, Titanic Plum Porter (4.5%, £3) and Arundel Smokehouse Porter (6%, £3.20), and a 'red ale', Isfield Ethelred (4.4%, £3 a pint), which was certainly not unready! 

Much more to come soon, cheers!

Scottish Beer Festival in Sheffield this weekend!

From today, until Sunday, the Hillsborough Hotel, Langsett Road, Sheffield, is holding a 'Scottish' Beer Festival. Now, I am well aware that every day in Sheffield is a potential beer festival, with so many excellent real ale houses and local microbreweries, but this is featuring many Scottish ales soon after Burns Night, and no doubt something to do with Tom the landlord too!  

Hillsborough Hotel

There are numerous ales available, including the Swannay Orkney IPA (4.8%), brewed with Styrian Goldings hops, pale, citrus fruity and refreshing (website), also the stronger 'ruby red' Loch Lomond Kessog (5.2%), brewed with Northern Brewer and Willamette hops, (Willamette well used by a certain Sheffield brewer I used to work for as well!) with a dark-red fruity and dark chocolate flavour (website). 

From Fallen Brewing, is their even stronger 5.4% Grapevine (website), amongst others, and brewed with FIVE different hops, Magnum, Pacifica, Galaxy, Kohatu and Citra (one of my favourite hops!), creating a fusion of fruity flavours, grapefruit and tangerine citrus mixed with 'tropical' mango and pineapple, finishing with a nice dry bitterness... 

       

Not finally, but finally from me for now, is the Pilot Beer Blønd (4%, website), brewed with Galaxy and Amarillo hops, citrus flavours with a hint of spice, and deliberately unfined, so naturally a wee bit cloudy... and, of course, many more ales too!

Well, I can't make it there for this festival, sadly, but would be grateful for any feedback, either here, or on my facebook page, concerning the ales available please, from anyone who does visit, cheers, and enjoy!    

I need to return to Chicago!

Excepting quality beers from Goose Island and Sierra Nevada, I hadn't tried an American ale for quite a while, neither had I mentioned 'brewsters', as in, women brewers, rather than the brewery with a woman head brewer called Brewsters! Anyhow, I spotted this delightful IPA in Morrisons, and was very glad I bought it! 

Lagunitas IPA (6.2% - website), and here are my brief notes, written immediately: This is a hop monster, incredibly strong fruity citrus aroma and flavour, with a lovely dry bitter finish. Loved it! Then I've read elsewhere and learnt that it does use hops++ (DER!) and quite a lot of comment about the malt in the flavour, but, believe me, it is very subtle, hops dominate.   

Lagunitas appear to be based in California, and in Chicago... Well, the only place I've visited in the USA is Chicago, so let's go with that end of the business, particularly as their head brewer there is a brewster! The beer is very good, the company appear to be owned by Heineken, though Goose Island of Chicago isn't independent anymore either, and Mary Bauer's love of ale and science is infectious (see video). 

Keep on brewing Mary, I look forward to sampling more, cheers!   

Hoppy New Year!

Have an excellent year with plenty of ale, cheers! 

Christmas Drinking...

Well, I did my drinking at the Dolphin, Rock-a-Nore, Hastings this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and on the 24th, the Dolphin had 5 of its 6 ales from Sussex. There was the ever-present regular Dark Star Hophead (3.8%), my usual drink at the Dolphin, and what I drank on Christmas Eve too, and one of the local guests was Franklins Explorer (4.7%), with a deep amber colour, fruity, a bit sweet at first taste, then drying out...      

Of course, there was the regular Sussex Best from Harveys (4%), and the third regular, Youngs Special (4.5%) from north of the Thames; no need to comment on them!  

The other two guest ales were 1648 Gold Angel (5%), a golden bitter, as you'd expect, with a citrus aroma and flavour, and from the excellent newish Sussex brewery, Downlands, their 5% porter Devils Dyke; a reminder of one school trip in my youth, though I didn't drink porter then, we just visited the Devils Dyke.... 

The Devils Dyke and Gold Angel ran out that day, and were replaced by 2 excellent pale hoppy ales I was spoilt with for my Christmas Day lunchtime session, ie the always excellent Oakham Citra (4.2%), pale, hoppy, citrus, just what the Citra hop does for the ale, and I have to admit, all the Oakham ales I have drunk have never disappointed me, quality always!  

 

Finally, from a Swansea brewery I had never sampled an ale from before, the rather superb Waen Mousse Warning! They describe it as "hellish good beer", and it has Citra, Cascade and Centennial hops, so, like a much more fuller bodied Citra, but with a deeper intensity in the flavour, a bit more dry and bitter too, gorgeous!    

Anyway, if I don't write again before, Happy New Year, cheers!

Merry Winter Ales!

The FILO Our Auld Ale, a whopping 6.5% and secondary fermenting, I'd imagine, is on for the third year at their 'brewery tap', the First In Last Out, High Street, Hastings. What can I say that I haven't said in previous years? It's mighty damn good!    

Also, at the Dolphin Inn, Hastings, I recently drank the Kent brewery, Old Dairy, Snow Top, a mere 6%, another excellent winter ale, tasting like a full bodied heavy old ale, as it should. I have drunk other winter/old ales recently, but these two stand out...    

Anyway, have a merry festive season, cheers!