A Challenge - Where are the Best Beers Brewed?

A friend of mine up int' frozen North put to me a question recently about where the best beer is brewed, which got me to thinking... To consider where the best breweries are means trying to work out what the best beers are, and, sadly, my limited resources don't help me reach that answer, there are many breweries, different styles of beer, many different hops, and we all have different preferences, consequently, how can a case be made that any beer is the 'best'? Whatever, I'm always happy to share my opinion, using memory and notes, and comments made on this blog before, so I may just repeat myself here and there! 

What I'll do is look at different styles in different blogs, and come up with a final conclusion later. Today, I'll start with session bitters, those below 4% in strength, subdivided into pale and not-so-pale ales. Regular readers will know my preference and will expect me to start with paler ales, and I shall, but only because I can't think of many darker ones to extol! Also, 2 brewers in Sheffield, whose ales I would love to discuss in this section, as they both brew excellent pale bitters but don't brew regular ales, Little Ale Cart and Steel City breweries, will have to be given a miss, sadly. 

Oakham (website) are one of my long-favoured breweries who started brewing in 1993 in Rutland, and moved to Peterborough in 1998. They now have a 75 barrel brewing plant, with an additional 6 barrel capacity at their central Peterborough brew-pub, the 'Brewery Tap'. From many great ales brewed there, they provide me with a long-loved pale golden ale, Jeffrey Hudson Bitter (JHB 3.8%), what an excellent ale to start with, plenty of citrus aroma and flavours from the hops, and a lovely dry bitter finish. This sets the standard! 

Copper Dragon (website) of Skipton started brewing in 2002 with a 10 barrel plant, I think... Anyway, they now have a 10 barrel and a 20/30 barrel plant, and, it looks from their website, that the longer term plan is to increase to a 60 barrel capacity. I really got into their ales when I lived and travelled around Yorkshire, and their contribution here is Golden Pippin (3.9%), which is another pale golden ale with citrus aroma (get used to it!), a hint of pale malt biscuit, and a nice dry bitter aftertaste. All of these are good, of course, but this one isn't quite as good as the JHB!  

Nearer to home, down here in East Sussex, at the foot of the South Downs, is Burning Sky (website), a new brewery I have written frequently about, and run by Mark Tranter, formerly of Dark Star. I suppose I could ask the question, but I'm guessing they have a 20 barrel plant, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm on a roll here! For a low 3.5% strength, Plateau in no way lacks flavour or body, it is pale with a lovely refreshing grapefruit aroma and taste, a dry bitter aftertaste, and packed with hops, quality! Winning, so far, in the the pale hoppy category...

But to darker session ales and, I have to admit, the number that excite me are much fewer in number than the pale hoppy variety. I'm not saying that there aren't many very drinkable ales in this category, because there are, and I was going to mention three that I really like... However, the Slaters Bitter (website) I remember doesn't appear to be one they brew now, or it may be one of their others, but I do not remember it being a pale one, which they all seem to be, I remember it having a more traditional colour for a bitter. Sorry, it has to be missed out on here! So, I'm down to 2 darker session bitters I really like, of the many good ones that exist. 

The third beer I am considering is a very traditional looking bitter, is an early memory for me of what a session bitter should look like, and is brewed by Fullers (website), who are based by the River Thames at Chiswick in West London at the Griffin Brewery, where a brewery has existed for over 350 years. Fullers have only been included in the business name since 1845, consequently, one of their stronger beers is called 1845. However, Chiswick Bitter (3.5%) is surprisingly difficult to find even in Fullers' own houses! This has to be my favourite of the type, though not to be sampled following the consumption of anything stronger or it loses the effect of the qualities is has, because it is nice and subtle, definitely not in your face. It is a lovely refreshing bitter with a subtle nutty flavour and dry aftertaste, a nice one, and flavours have to be attributed to using Goldings for dry hopping in the cask.

Dark Star (website), used to brew in the cellar of their pub in Brighton, the Evening Star, but moved to aid expansion into a 45 barrel plant in 2010, to Partridge Green. I've gone on about this ale many times in the past, and The Art of Darkness (3.5%) has surprised many other reviewers too, when comparing the taste to how it presents. Although it is very dark, it is actually a very deep red colour, not as black as it first appears, or is often described as, and has a subtle roasted flavour, but balanced by fruit and spice. This is packed with many flavours due to a whopping amount of hops used! This has to be my favourite darker session bitter, the hops used are Chinook, Cascade, Columbus and Centennial for flavour, and Warrior for bitterness and, as I've said before, it's a session 'Black IPA', an oxymoron, excellent!  

However, apologies to the Sussex brewers whose ales I have already extolled, but I recently had a pale bitter that even more perfectly fits into my ideal session ale... "Is that possible?!?" I hear you exclaim, yes it is, and an ale I first tasted 2 years ago and which, every time I've had it since, in at least 3 different bars in different places down South, it has been as excellent as was my first taste, and this ale comes all the way from Fyne Ales (website) of Argyll, in the beautiful scenic West of Scotland! Fyne Ales have a 10 barrel plant, and been brewing since 2001 using liquor from their own water supply and a yeast with a 200 year old history, originally used by Fountainbridge Brewery, Edinburgh; McEwans, I presume...

Indeed, though, after extolling so strongly the virtues of ales from the Dark Star and Burning Sky breweries, how could I consider an ale from Scotland, hardly renowned for their pale hoppy bitters, as my 'champion' in this class? Here's how, and I'll describe it simply, and pretty much as I did 2 years ago, Fyne Ale Jarl (3.8%) is a crackin' dry, pale golden and hoppy ale, with plenty of citrus flavours, nice and bitter, and very refreshing, and has continued to be so at each tasting! When I looked at their website I saw that they use one of my favourite hops, Citra, which could be a reason why I like the Jarl so much, and, no doubt, because they are an excellent brewer of fine ales (excuse me Fyne Ales, but had to include the obvious pun too!).

Cheers to Fyne Ales and Jarl!    

26 mile pub crawl, Hastings to Rye, and back...

I'm hampered with ankle and lower lumbar injuries at the moment, so time to report on walks, pubs and ales experienced before yesterday. On Tuesday (9th July), the Routemeister, my brother Dan, and I walked a little over 25 miles in a 'figure of 8' route, starting in Hastings, over the cliffs and Hastings Country Park to Pett Level then along the Military Canal to Rye, where we popped into the Queens Head (twitter), where we were treated to the efficient and friendly bar service of the bar manager (I do believe she is), Kate. 

The ales are on sale here for £3.30 a pint, which is a decent deal when considering the strength of most of the ales, especially the one I drank. There were the 4 in the photograph, plus, being served by gravity directly from a barrel on the bar, Long Man Blonde (3.8%), so 4 of the 5 ales are brewed in East Sussex, nice one.  Indeed, there is regularly at least one ale each from Long Man and Franklin's breweries.  The 4 you can see are Franklin's Grumpy Guvnor (4.5%), reported before, all the way from Somerset, Cotleigh Buzzard Dark Ale (4.8%), and the 2 we drank.  Dan enjoyed the Long Man Golden Tipple, a 5% very pale golden bitter with a hint of cider in the flavour, and I had the, favourited many times in the past and excellent, Dark Star Revelation, 5.7%, and in your face hops, delicious, many thanks Kate!  

Anyway, we came back via the Castle Water wildlife sanctuary, and seafront, to Pett Level and the Smuggler Inn, now run by the 2 sisters from the Hastings Arms, Sue and Hazel, this was where we came to the middle of our 'figure of 8', and some more sustenance.  4 ales on, Sharp's Doom Bar (4%), their regular ale, Harveys Sussex Best (4%), a semi-regular, Youngs Bitter ("Ordinary" in Wandsworth terms, and 3.7%) which is soon to be replaced by Youngs Special (4.5%), and the very good Otter Bitter (3.6%) that I drank.  Good to see this fine pub open again, and glad for the sisters, cheers!  

We then walked up to Pett Village, and revisited the Two Sawyers, another fine hostelry.  The ales on this day were Ringwood Fortyniner (4.9%), Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and Youngs Special (4.5%), all regularly seen, and discussed before. There was also Old Dairy Brewery Red Top (3.8%), a darker bitter than my usual, with a dry roasted bitter taste, not bad at all!

We then finished off with a walk back to Hastings and a visit to the Dolphin at Rock-a-Nore, where Jason was working this night, with Mark, the landlord, in attendance too, and fine chat and imbibement was had by us 3... 2 guest ales on, including the Elgoods EP (4.3%), a "rich malty bitter", but we ended up knocking back a few pints of the excellent Dark Star American Pale Ale (4.7%) aka APA. Dark Star are certainly maintaining a decent version of the APA, much more bitter than when I first tasted it.  But I shall be adding more about the Dolphin in a future blog, very soon.

Cheers! 

Wandering Part II

Part II of my research saw me visit the Jenny Lind, High Street, Hastings, and The Stag, All Saints Street, Hastings.  My first stop was at the Jenny Lind, which I hadn't visited since the new ownership, and was suitably impressed.  I received a warm welcome from Sarah behind the bar, who even admitted to reading my blog, nice to be appreciated, many thanks!

So, apart from a lovely barmaid interested in the ales, always a good sign, there were 6 real ales (all having 1p off a pint since the budget, this is a first!) and a real local cider, Laughing Jester (5.5%). The real ales included 2 from Hastings Brewery, Blonde (3.9% and £3.19 a pint) and Pale Ale (4.7%); 2 from Theakstons, Best Bitter (3.8%) and Old Peculiar (5.6%); Courage Directors (£3.49 a pint); and my ale for this visit... 

The 'guest ale' was Wadworth's Bishop's Tipple, 5% and a typical tasting ale from that brewer, pale 'amber' coloured, a bit sweet at first, but actually quite bitter with a nutty aftertaste, a very nice beer that I seemed to remember from my last drinking this many years ago, cheers Sarah.  A friend, Tony, also came in whilst I was drinking there, and I was next going to visit his own pub of choice (a burden of course). 

The Stag is another Shepherd Neame pub in Hastings, this and the Hastings Arms are the best 2 of many, in my opinion.  Of course, they sell their own brewery brands, and there was a 'guest' from Okell's, a nice 3.7% bitter called Bitter, a good choice of name, if unoriginal, which I drank (£3.50 a pint). Their own ales were Kents Best (4.1%), and 2 'seasonal' ales, that I have recently reported on, the pale golden 4.3% Early Bird and the very good Double Stout (4%). I had a good chat with the landlord, Alan, and with another customer (who knew too many people from Sheffield that I do for comfort!), and Tony came in towards the end of my visit.

So, in Hastings 'old' town, the FILO is the leader for the best value ales...

Cheers all!