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!    

On the way... to Sheffield via London...

On the way to Sheffield, I had stayed the previous night at Dan the Routemeister's residence in Putney, ie with my brother and niece, and, before tea/dinner/supper (depending on your social or territorial grouping), we walked along the Surrey bank to Hammersmith Bridge, crossing to reach the excellent Fullers pub, The Dove, Upper Mall, W6 9TA.  

The Dove (website) was built in the early 18th century in rural, yes rural at that time, Hammersmith, overlooking the river; indeed, its balcony at the back of the pub is a pleasure to sit on, when not too busy, and warmer. On this day, however, we sat near the fire, which is in the main bar that you walk into when entering the pub. If you decide to go through the door to your right when you immediately enter The Dove, you will enter the "smallest bar room in Britain" (Guinness Book of Records) at 33 sq ft in area. If you had ignored the pub and walked further on, you would  have soon reached Kelmscott House, that was the home of William Morris and is now the site of the William Morris Society and museum (website). Indeed, The Dove has had an impressive number of historic and literary figures visiting over the centuries! 

The Dove has been a Fullers pub since 1845, serving good food as well as good ales, and you can't get much more locally sourced! You'll usually find their Chiswick Bitter (3.5%) and London Pride (4.1%) as regular ales, and the stronger and full-bodied ESB (5.5%) is often available too as one of the 2 guests, as it was this day; the fourth ale was the seasonal Jack Frost (4.5%). Dan hadn't tried the Chiswick before, so, as it is quite hard to find, even in Fullers pubs, we went for it; this having been the favourite ale of the famous beer writer, Michael Jackson, RIP. A lot of people may knock the Chiswick, and, if you've drunk something with lots of hops, or lots of flavour like ESB beforehand, you may find it lacks a bit. However, as the first drink of the day, and if you carry on drinking it, it is superb, consequently, Michael's love of the beer! A lovely bitterness comes through a nutty flavour, with a hoppy dry aftertaste, the result of, I believe, each cask being dry hopped before sealing, nice one!  

We then came back along the Middlesex bank and crossed Putney Bridge, and visited another excellent pub, The Bricklayers Arms, Waterman Street SW15 1DD, a freehouse, much visited and written about by me. The Bricklayers (website) is a regular CAMRA (and other) award winner, and has up to a dozen real ales on sale. I've gone on about this many times, as Dan reckons it's MY local in Putney, but they tend to bring in many ales from a specific brewery, this time from the local Twickenham Fine Ales, including the excellent Naked Ladies (4.4%), which I've written about quite a bit before, Redhead (4.1%), Sundancer (3.7%), and the seasonal Winter Cheer (4.4%). 

I drank the Sundancer first, pale and dry, with a nutty flavour coming through, and nice and bitter, yes, nice one. Then I finished off our pub drinking with a half of the Winter Cheer, a darker chestnut coloured ale, a bit thinner than I'd expected, nutty, with a hint of spices and a roasted malt finish, and quite bitter, not bad at all! 

We then wandered back to Dan's having luckily missed a shower, cheers!