Chelmsford City Beer & Cider Festival 15-19 July

I welcome a good friend, John Stack, who is guest blogger of the day, but first must apologise, I still haven't worked out how to cut & paste without altering the appearance of the blog, so apologies for being a neo-Luddite, but a great read, and quite a few ales I've not reported on before, and photographs from him too, cheers John! Oh yes, and he didn't have a pint of all of them, allegedly...

The venue was Admirals Park in Chelmsford, and the entrance was free before 5 pm with a £3 deposit for a special festival glass, which was refundable should you already have too many glasses! The setting was a large park on the outskirts of town.  

The set-up was straightforward, involving some huge tents covering the dispensers of over 300 varieties of ale, 100 real ciders, perries and ‘pyders’, and a large selection of international beers from around the world.

There was plenty of room on arrival (Friday) but, by the end of the evening, it was chock a block with several thousand people all enjoying the drink, music and food that was on offer (chips, burgers, hog roast, Cornish pasties and German sausage) - your usual beer festival fayre.

There were approximately 110 breweries represented over the festival and several took the opportunity to display a large selection of their ales for the punter to try.  Breweries included: Woodfordes, Wibblers, Stonehenge, Roosters, Otter, Oakham, Mumbles, Lochness, Felstar, Camerons, Brains and Abbeydale.

After walking around for about 10 minutes I decided it was time to get sampling, I have not put these in any particular order but over the evening I sampled the following.  Here are brief descriptions of drinks with my personal view of each, but do remember, different people have different tastes...

Abbeydale Moonshine 4.3% Sheffield - This is a drink I use to drink many moons ago when I lived in Sheffield and I have not seen it for a few years.  This is a very easy to drink pale Golden ale which has a slightly citrus taste.  Really do rate this drink. 9/10

Bishop Nick Heresy 4.0% Essex - This is from one of the many Essex breweries that were here today.  This is a golden beer which had a bitter taste about it but not too strong, it seemed to be very popular the time I was purchasing this and would not hesitate to buy more of this, but with me on ‘special duties’ I declined some more of this drink.  7/10

Butcombe Gold 4.4% Bristol - This was a Golden ale which I had not tried before.  The various elements that hit your taste buds when drinking this make Gold a very enjoyable drink.  What surprised me with the heat of the day is that the pint actually felt slightly chilled which was a pleasant surprise. 8/10

Camerons Gold Bullion  4.3% Hartlepool - This is one of the few breweries I hear about a lot but have never actually got round to trying one of their brews. This drink was also golden with a good hoppy flavour which was easy to drink and also had a nice citrus flavour about it. 6/10

Felstar Hoppy Hen  5% Essex - This is another local brewery which is only a few miles outside of Chelmsford.  They had 3 ales to choose from but I picked Hoppy Hen. This is a premium Old Ale. Have to admit I found this drink was very hoppy indeed.  Anyone looking for a strong hoppy flavour then this is one you should look out for.  I personally did not enjoy this but everyone enjoys different things about ales, this one did not do it for me.  5/10

Mighty Oak Kings 4.2% - Yet another Essex Brewery, told you there were a lot of them here! This drink had a description of a golden beer brewed with Citra hops.  I have to say that there was quite an acidic/citrus taste off this one, which was pretty powerful. If you enjoy citrus flavour then this would be one for you but unfortunately was a bit strong in taste for me 5/10

Woodfordes Bure Gold 4.3% Norfolk - Woodfordes always have a good variety at Chelmsford Beer festival.  This year was no different as they even had their own pumps. I went for Bure Gold. This was a golden ale which apparently used American and Slovenian hops in order to get the flavours. Have to admit I found it easy to drink and would have drunk more. 7/10

Oakham Gangster 4.9% Peterborough - Oakham are one of the bigger breweries from Peterborough and I have always enjoyed drinking their ales.  This year at Chelmsford they had their own bar and quite a large selection to choose from.  I went for Gangster. This was a ‘golden ale’ with a deep copper colour.  This was very enjoyable and had a fairly dry hoppy taste to it.  Would liked to have tried some of the others on show but needed to try some other breweries tastes.  7/10

Stonehenge Danish Dynamite 5% Wiltshire - Have to admit, along with Abbeydale, this was my favourite drink of the day.  This was golden ale which was strong but that had well balanced flavours that make it an enjoyable drink.  Would highly recommend this to any person who enjoys different flavours bouncing off your palate making for a flavoursome drink.  Very good 9.5/10

Wibblers Cherry Blonde 4.3% Essex - Wibblers is another Essex brewery and had several ales on offer.  I went for Cherry Blonde which came under the description of a fruit/spice ale.  This drink had a lovely hint of cherry when it hit the palate.  Was a very nice drink which I enjoyed. 7/10

Just before the end of my tasting spree I decided to finish the night with something different so I went to the Cider/Perry section of the festival.  There were so many to choose from but I decided to go for Abrahalls Thundering Molly 5.2% Worcestershire - Have to admit I drank 1½ pints of this, it was a lovely Medium cider that had a lovely aroma around it.  It was not too strong but was very refreshing after the heat of the evening and all of my other tasting which I enjoyed.

Hope you enjoyed the summary! 

From me now, thanks again to John, and I can understand his liking for the Danish Dynamite, a crackin' ale, indeed. I have to admit I'd have loved to have tried the ales from Mighty Oak and Oakham, in particular, great breweries both, but many more lovely ales too, only jealous, a lot, cheers!

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!    

Tenterden in the Kent Weald, and ales of course!

I met up with 3 friends from my late teenage years yesterday, 2 who now live in Ashford, and the other who has lived in Florida for nearly 20 years, and is over visiting family and friends. She decided she should visit the other 3 of us, so Tenterden provided a reasonably easy meeting place for us all, and I had never been there before. You would expect Shepherd Neame to be dominant here, and 2 of the 4 public houses on the main road are pubs of Kent, indeed, and the provider of my favourite ale of the day, at the last pub I visited! 

However, the Woolpack Hotel (website), affectionately called the "Woolly" by locals, apparently,  is situated right in the middle of this busy small town High Street, with the tower of the Norman Church, St Mildred's, peeping over the top in my photograph, and is run by Enterprise Inns. This 15th century inn now comprises a pub, hotel and restaurant, has open fires and wooden beams, and recently has undergone a major refurbishment. Consequently, like all these old pubs in the town actually, has quite an open bright atmosphere. 

Similarly, the barman had a bright personality too, and was very welcoming and friendly, even happy to serve one of our group with a pot of tea for one, such is the modern hostelry. All these pubs serve food, as expected, and there were 3 real ales on offer here. From nearby Sussex was Harveys Sussex Best, regular readers will know my opinion of that ale, so nothing to be said here today, and also Timothy Taylor Landlord was on offer, another ale that can be very good, but not quite my cup of tea really! Oh yes, and the one I had a pint of, the ever reliable, Hopback Summer Lightning, enjoyable as always, even if a wee bit too strong for this time of the day. Consequently, the ales provided were all very well-known and easily available everywhere, not surprising for the ever-careful Enterprise Inns. 

The William Caxton (website), a little further down the High Street at West Cross, is a Shepherd Neame pub, and is a hotel and restaurant, and 15th century too. The pub is named after some lad who had something to do with the printing press, and maybe had been born in Tenterden, though this is supposition, as no-one really knows where he was born, but they happily go along with the idea the pub should be named after him, as are other place and building names around the town! The other 3 all ate in the William Caxton, and apparently enjoyed their decent value food, but I had already eaten a fair sized meal before I traveled, so can only take their word for it, but the ham, in particular, appeared to get a firm nod of appreciation. 

All ales were provided by Shepherd Neame, of course, who have certainly expanded the range of ales they brew; looking at their website, they now brew over 20 ales! There was the familiar Whitstable Bay and Master Brew, and I had their Goldings Ale (4.1% and subtitled Summer Solstice, so a seasonal summer ale). The Goldings is a golden ale, bitter, with a slightly sweet fruit-flavoured contrast, though I didn't get the mango and bananas suggested in the tasting notes, not bad though. I had a chat with the lass behind the bar, as you do, and found that this seasonal ale will soon be replaced by their American collaboration I recently reported on, the 4.5% Samuel Adams Blonde Ambition, so locals have a very good ale to look forward to there too! 

Back up the High Street, we also visited, twice, the merely 16th century coaching inn, the White Lion Hotel (website), sorry, my mobile phone was getting very tired, and would not agree to take a photograph of the building, despite many attempts (I really do need to bring my camera with me these days), but if you link to their website, you'll see a large picture of the hotel, plus a few other images! Inglenook fireplaces, wooden beams, hotel, pub and restaurant etc etc... and, again, bright and airy. This is a Marstons/Ringwood hostelry, so quite a few of their ales, plus a local guest brewery.

From Ringwood are 2 old dependable ales, their Forty Niner (4.9%), reported on before, and a nice darker full-flavoured bitter, and Best Bitter (3.8%), an easy drinking best bitter, it does what it says on the tin, not bad. From Marstons their Old Empire (5.7%), which I have had before, a very decent full-flavoured darker bitter, and, I believe it is brewed by them, but have had trouble checking up, the label gave no hint, and the lass behind the bar hadn't a clue either, Lion Heart (4.5%), which Martin appeared to enjoy, another darker bitter. From their guest Kent brewer, Old Dairy, was their regular Gold Top (4.3%) and the seasonal Sun Top (3.6%), a very pale bitter with a slight malty biscuit taste. So 6 ales, from quite dark to pale bitters, provided quite a variation in style for the buying public.  

The final pub, which I visited alone, having said goodbye to the others, and opposite where I would catch a bus to take me back to Sussex, was the relative baby of the bunch, a mere Victorian child by comparison to the rest, the 19th century The Vine Inn (website), and the second Shepherd Neame pub of the day. Bright and airy, blah dee blah, serving food, but I don't believe accommodation is available here, so I'm guessing that staff live upstairs because it is quite large, as you can see from the photograph. If they live here or not, the staff were exceedingly enthusiastic and friendly, all keen to serve, none more so than the bubbly Jazz, who served up my pint after offering a taster, which, well, I'll tell you about that in my ale analysis below. 

Ales? All from Shepherd Neame again, as expected, Master Brew, Whitstable Bay and the Goldings I had already tried at the William Caxton, so, please see above, but also a gem from the brewery's 'pilot brewery', where I've reported in the past that the 2 sisters from the Hastings Arms have brewed before. Drum roll... one from the No 18 Yard Brewhouse (more ales to add to the 20+ Sheps ales already alluded to!), The Classic 442 or 4-4-2, named after the football formation, thus seasonal regarding the World Cup. As soon as I sampled this beer I felt a rush of hops up my nose, it was hard to explain, but also I thought wheat and barley, but I was wrong about that, as I found out following a bit more research, back to the website!

The effect I got of a wheat ale must have come from the hops, because wheat or lager malt was not used in the grist, so maybe from one of the 3 German hops, Halletau Hersbrucker, Herkules, or Halletau Mittelfruh, or perhaps from the Czech hops used, Saaz? Or maybe, even one of the SIX hops used from Kent made an impact?!? Yes, 10 hops in all were used for this impact ale, the Kent grown hops being Goldings, Fuggles, Admiral, First Gold, Challenger, and Cascade; so the Yanks getting their foot in the door too! Whatever, if you see this ale, have a try, and feel free to pass on your opinion. Cheers to Jazz for her professional and friendly manner, for offering a taster, and for putting up with this blogger... 

Cheers to you all!    

Wetherspoons open pub in Dublin!

So, Wetherspoons encroach the pub trade in Dublin, next week (Tuesday 8th) opening The Three Tun Tavern (not much on it yet, but here's the link to their website page, which no doubt will gather more information soon) in Blackrock, in the premises previously known as Tonic Bar.

So what is being offered here, at prices that should undercut other bars in the area, when considering Wetherspoons record in the UK? Well, decent value food all day, of course, and they have 12 handpumps for cask ales. They are looking at supplies from microbreweries in Ireland, as well as importing ales from Britain; Adnams ales being mentioned already. 

What they won't be serving is Guinness as they cannot get a satisfactory price, consequently, not being able to undercut other bars' prices, I presume... But they will be serving up Murphy's and Beamish at 5 cents under 4 Euros a pint, which should be competitive, from what I've heard recently! 

So there you go, drinking in Ireland will suddenly become less expensive.. Good luck to The Three Tun Tavern and cheers to Wetherspoons!

FOR FOX SAKE GET ME A FIRKIN PINT!

Bruces Brewery and the Firkin chain of pubs came into existence in 1979, when David Bruce started brewing at his own 'brewpub', the Goose and Firkin, in one of my old stomping grounds, Southwark, London SE1.

I first contracted the Firkin 'bug' when I worked at Lewisham Hospital in the 1980s, and discovered the Fox and Firkin, which was either the second or third Firkin pub; I like to remember it as the second. As at the Goose and Firkin, the Fox and Firkin had its own brewing equipment and brewed its own ales on the premises. Indeed, when Bruce sold off his 11 Firkin pubs to Midsummer Leisure in 1988, eight of them brewed their own ales, the other three having their ales provided by a nearby brewpub in the chain.

Sadly, Punch Taverns wound up the Firkin chain in 2001, after buying the pubs in 1999. In the years since 1988, Firkin pubs had emerged all over the country, usually in 3 pub clusters, with only one brewpub in the cluster providing ales for them all. For example, the Felis and Firkin in Kenilworth had its ales supplied from one of the Derby Firkins, I believe it was the Flamingo and Firkin.

Interestingly, when I carried out some research at the Modern Records Centre at Warwick University, I stayed in a B&B in Kenilworth (1996/7), and there were 4 or 5  Kenilworth pubs in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, whilst the Felis and Firkin had not yet made the cut. However, the Firkin ales were by far superior to anything served up at any of the other pubs, in fact, the Felis appeared to have kept its beer very much better than any of the others, so you can guess where I ended up drinking!?! 

Anyway, I had previously drank quite frequently at the Fox and Firkin in the 1980s and, though they did brew other ales too, I have no memory of them, I can only remember drinking Bruce's famous 6% full-bodied Dogbolter, a better strong bitter would be difficult to find, certainly in those days!

The pub itself was quite basic, but certainly well attended, and I used to love watching the brewing process whenever possible. I certainly enjoyed the aromas, despite detesting similar smells when I was a young child and went on school swimming trips. The smell coming over the road from Youngs Brewery, blended with the heavy chlorine of Wandsworth Swimming Baths, was awful, I seem to remember (the brewery buildings still exist, but are now unused, and the baths were pulled down and built over years ago). Whatever, I now quite enjoy the aromas of the brewing process and, having worked for a brewery up in Sheffield, I can link each individual smell within the brewing sequence.  

I couldn't find any photographs of the Fox and Firkin from the 1980s, but this is what it looks like now, not too much different really. Though it is not a brewpub anymore, it appears to be thriving as an alternative music venue as well as a pub, just round the corner from Ladywell, at 316 Lewisham High Street. "For Fox Sake get me a Firkin Pint", yep, I own up, I did own a t-shirt from the Fox and Firkin with this 'motto' emblazoned on the chest, around an image of a fox and a firkin of ale, strangely enough. I wish I still had the shirt, which would have been nice, but occasionally I do still wear a Fitzooth and Firkin t-shirt acquired when I lived in Sheffield!

 

As I said earlier, Dogbolter was the ale of choice, always really, so I must have been challenged, merry or drunk, quite regularly after leaving work at Lewisham Hospital, and on days off too no doubt, but the good new is...

 

DOGBOLTER HAS RETURNED! 

David Bruce (above) is now Chairman of West Berkshire Brewery (website), the head brewer of which, Will Twomey, has very recently reproduced Dogbolter from the original recipe, quality...

I so need to get to a pub that sells Dogbolter very soon, cheers David and Will!

 

Beer Festival @ Red Lion, Snargate, 20-22 June

From tomorrow for 3 days is this years beer festival at the Red Lion in Snargate, Kent TN29 9UQ, with music on Saturday afternoon and evening! 

The weather is going to be gorgeous, meaning the garden with crackin' views will be well used, and the ales will be gorgeous too! Sadly, I cannot make this years event, but see my previous reviews for my opinion of this real family-run public house, if you're nearby, it will be a worthwhile visit to make.

Enjoy the festival, you lucky peeps, cheers! 

Battle to Hastings...

The Routemeister and I walked along the 1066 Country Walk (mostly): caught the bus to Battle, then from there to Westfield, where we stopped at The Plough (website). 

This is a new pub for me, so good to 'tick' a pub this day, and is situated at the south-eastern edge of Westfield at The Moor, and I think it is on Rock Lane, at least that is what I believe the road is called. A nice old building, haven't been able to find out about its history, sadly, that includes a large restaurant area (40+ covers), plus bare wooden boarded floor throughout the bar area, wooden panelled bar, and wooden panels up to waist high throughout. There are also 2 games tables, including pool, and television, for the conversationally challenged. Some excellent music nights too, including the local band Cushty booked for Christmas Eve night, so there's good entertainment for the locals that night then! 

The service was warm and friendly, and the barmaid was an excellent model for barmaids, she had a very husky voice too, apparently always as she wasn't suffering from a cold! 4 handpumps, though only 2 were used on this visit. Being a Shepherd Neame pub, mostly their own ales are served up, of course, though their website suggests guest ales are sometimes available. This day had their better pale bitter offering, Whitstable Bay (3.9%), featured before on this blog, and a new ale for me, Samuel Adams Blonde Ambition (4.5%). The Blonde Ambition is a collaboration with the Boston (USA) brewer, Samuel Adams, and described as an "American Craft Ale". This is a nice dry pale golden bitter, with that hint of walnut dust dryness in the aftertaste, pretty damned decent actually!  

We returned to the 1066 Country Walk (See website) and carried on to Icklesham, where we dropped into the Robin Hood on the Main Road (to the west), a 17th century inn that has been in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide for quite a few years now. I have discussed the Robin Hood before, it serves food, has a pool table etc, but also, it has an excellent very large outside area at the back, with a great view across the valley towards Hastings Country Park. Real ciders, and up to 7 real ales are served. On this day we had Potbelly Pigs Do Fly, a 4.4% golden bitter with a hint of caramel, it was OK, but the view was better!  

From Icklesham, we wandered down into the valley, and back up to Hastings Country Park, coming down into Hastings 'old town' from the East Hill. We were a trifle tired, and had little time before we ate dinner, so only popped in for one pint, this time at the First Inn Last Out (FILO) in the High Street. I am going to write a bit more about the FILO very soon, so shall just say we had a pint of their own Gold (4.8%), and it was excellent, cheers!