Brooklyn Mine-Mine

If you’re not familiar with the TV show – Brooklyn Nine-Nine, then the above pun may be lost on you. Anyway, I digress…

A recent trip to our local Weatherspoons had me perusing the drinks menu once again. You may remember before that I missed out on a chance to try the Brooklyn Lager in my local, as they were out of stock. Here, at the Spoons, I had another chance to get my hands on a bottle of this American brew. Success! They had a good supply of them!

As I proudly stood my lager on the table, some of my real ale drinking buddies were a little derisive that I would pick up a bottled lager by choice. In fact, shortly before this, they had poked fun at a Heineken drinker who felt our real ale was a bit “tasteless!”

I tried to explain that lager, as they knew it, was mostly watery, light and tasteless, but I knew this Brooklyn Lager would be different. If, in your mind, lager means Becks, Bud or Carling, then you are missing out on true beers and especially what true lager can be. Brooklyn Lager is worlds apart from these aforementioned lagers, and is certainly not watery or tasteless!

About the beer

Brooklyn Lager by the Brooklyn Brewery – classed as a Vienna beer

Brooklyn Lager is a great beer. It is full of flavour and would please any a real ale drinker I’d wager. Vienna style beers have been popular in Brooklyn for a long time, but this has a slight twist on the usual Vienna style. According to Brooklyn Brewery’s own web site, they “dry hop” the beer to create an American original. This dry hopping (explained later) gives the beer a great floral aroma. The beer is amber-gold in colour, balancing a strong malt flavour with a firm bitterness.

Alcohol: 5.2%

My rating: 7/10

 

Dry hopping is a technique where you add fresh or dried hops to a batch of fermented beer, leaving it to steep for several days. This gives the beer a fresh hoppy aroma, and depending on the hops you use, can really alter the scent coming off the beverage. Many breweries use this technique to lift their beers, but it’s a great thing to do at home (when using kit brews) as it can bring the ale to life.

As I said above, Brooklyn Lager can be found in Weatherspoons pubs but also other non-Spoons establishments. I understand it’s also available in Waitrose, and likely other supermarkets as well, so I hope you can get your hands on some.

If not, you could always hop across the Pond to the Big Apple and get it from the source!

Norfolk Nog

Believe it or not, I’ve been to the pub twice this week! It is slightly unusual, as I often don’t get time to go but I managed to get there.

Earlier in the week, I met a friend for a chat over a pint. Actually, it was just me who had the pint as he’s staying dry for the moment. He popped to the bar and came back with a pint of Old Speckled Hen for me, which was darn decent of him I thought. It may not be my favourite beer but it’s better than some and pickings were slim on the pumps that evening.

Anyway, whilst waiting on him to come back from the bar, I started perusing the drinks menu. White wine, red wine, pink wine and the usual, and a whole page of various gins. Who knew that one of my locals offered a selection like that! I then turned over to find a “Craft Beer” page! Fantastic! I looked with interest to see what they had on offer, and low and behold, two of the 300 list were on there!

Looking somewhat disappointedly at my pint of Old Hen, I thought I’d missed a golden opportunity. Round two shortly followed and I skipped eagerly to the bar looking for either one of the Goose Island IPA or a Brooklyn Lager. Sadly, double disappointment was to follow as the barman shook his head to say they had neither on offer tonight. Like a child told they weren’t allowed any sweets, I returned to my seat with a second Old Speckled.

I shared my disappointment with my companion and we discussed whether the barman had even heard of the two beers on the list I had asked for. He did seem a little confused when asked about them, and certainly didn’t go looking. Could it be that no one had asked for these beers before?

Later that same week, some work colleagues and I went to our local Weatherspoon’s. I know, some don’t like the Weatherspoon’s’ way of doing things, but often they have a good offering of real ales. The other appeal is the price. The average cost of a pint in our non-Weatherspoon’s’ local is £3.25 which is often a pound a pint more. I know that Weatherspoon’s charge less because they buy in bulk, they buy beers nearer the end of their shelf life (because they can shift them) and sometimes don’t look after their beers so well. Anyway, perhaps we’ll pick up this subject another day – but for now, we were in there!

Our first round was a no brainer. A quick glance along the pumps and we saw the wonderful Norfolk Nog by Woodforde’s. This is a tremendous dark beer and slips down way too easily. I didn’t have the 300 list with me at the time, but would have bet good money that Nog was on there. As it turns out, it is not. Woodfordes do have two beers on the list; Wherry and Nip, but not Nog sadly.

About Woodforde’s Nog

Nog is a smooth and rich beer, quite black but with a hint of ruby red (according to Woodfordes) and is like velvet in a glass. Woodfordes suggest it’s a great match for game or venison, but a beer that stands on its own for sure. It has a good balance between sweetness and bitterness and is in the “Old Ale” class.

Alcohol: 4.6%

My rating: 9/10

I do rate this highly, as it’s a delicious beer. If you don’t like dark beers or beers in this style, of course you won’t be a fan. It’s a very different beast to the multiplicity of golden ales out there these days, but for me is hard to beat.

If you can’t find Nog in your local, then you can buy it in various forms from Woodfordes directly. For homebrewers, you can even buy a Nog kit to make at your leisure.

After the double disappointment of missing out on ticking off two of the 300, a couple of pints of Nog really made up for it. Get yourself one and see what you think!

Empire Strikes Back

Burton Bridge Empire pale ale is an IPA. In case you have ever wondered, IPA stands for India Pale Ale. It doesn’t originate from India, and is not Indian Pale Ale but I believe has its roots in sending British beers overseas. To endure the journey, they were brewed stronger than your average beer, and that should still be the same today.

You see a lot of beers boasting the title “IPA” these days but I’m not always convinced they are true IPAs. In my book, two things are true about a proper IPA. 1) They are pale and 2) they are brewed strong (perhaps to the 6%+ range but certainly 5.5%). You see plenty of examples in the supermarkets and elsewhere of ale that are dark and weak, and yet still claim to be IPAs. Not so in my humble opinion!

The Burton Bridge Empire pale ale is both strong and pale, and an excellent example of what I think of when I hear the term “IPA”.

About the beer

Burton Bridge Empire pale ale – my fourth beer on the 300 list and is classed as an IPA – you may have guessed.

It is pale and golden, and if I had to sum it up in one single word, that would be “rich”. This is truly a “rich” beer, and its sumptuous taste doesn’t disappear as soon as you swallow it. You don’t get punched with bitterness, as some IPAs can, but rather the richness of the malt and hops fades leaving a lingering bitterness on the tongue. It really is a splendid beer!

Referring to my previous post about not wasting your units; this is furthest from doing so. A pint or bottle of this beer could last you a fair while if you savour it. At a hefty ABV too, you won’t need too many before you reach the recommended daily alcohol limit!

Alcohol: 7.5% (that’s 3.75 units for the 500ml bottle and above the daily intake recommended by the new guidelines)

My rating: 7/10

 

This is a great beer, and one I’ve not had before. If you get a chance to try it, I’d recommend you do so. It’s brewed by Burton Bridge brewery, in Burton-on-Trent and if you can get to their brewery tap and try it, you won’t regret it. For those of us who don’t live in the area, you may find it harder to come by.

Where did I get mine? Believe it or not, I bought it from Amazon! They don’t just stock CDs, books and the like these days, and actually have a fair few brews to choose from. You have to watch the delivery prices, as they can really sting you if you’re not careful, but a pack of six Empire ales was a little more than £20 delivered. That may seem quite expensive, but don’t forget how strong this beer is and you won’t find it on 4 bottles for a fiver in your local Asda!

More on where to get your beer in a future blog I suspect!

A final word about bottle-conditioned beers. Empire ale is an example of a beer that is bottle-conditioned and what this means is that there is live yeast in the bottle and it will therefore have sediment in it. If you don’t pour it carefully, you will get a cloudy beer. This is worsened by buying online, as it will only get shaken up and disturbed on route to your home.

Again, more on bottle conditioning in a future blog. But for now, if you procure one, just make sure you pour it slowly and carefully, and where you can see the beer clearly. Stop pouring if you see the sediment coming out! It won’t hurt you, but could affect the taste of your beer.

Pedigree Yum

Sincere apologies to Marston’s for in any way associating their beer with a popular dog food… but it was literally the best I could do!

We return to our 300 beer challenge and hit the third beer so far – Marston’s Pedigree – in case you hadn’t figured that out. Pedigree is a pale ale, and like some IPAs, really isn’t all that pale. Looking again at the definition of a pale ale, I realise I need to reassess what I think of as “pale”. This is a beer you can see through, but it’s not light or golden, which is what I associate with a “pale” ale. In all honesty, this is my own misapprehension, and pale doesn’t mean golden or straw coloured as I imagine inside my skull.

Perhaps I should have said up front, but I like dark beers. I don’t mean that I like them to the exclusion of paler beers, but I guess I do prefer a dark brown or black hue to my beverage. While the market for craft and real ale continues to grow, there does seem to be a lot more golden ales around than dark. Perhaps that’s just my impression, but the major supermarkets seem to stock a lot of the golden beers in all shapes and sizes.

Pedigree is a pale ale – as I’ve mentioned. And this is not to be confused with a bitter. Had you asked me beforehand, I might have made the mistake of thinking that it was a bitter – as I’m not well versed in Marston’s beer (yet). The label on the bottle however is very clear, and if that wasn’t enough, one taste should tell you it’s not a bitter.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not criticising at all, it’s not meant to be a bitter and therefore shouldn’t taste like one. It is, very proudly, a good example of a pale ale.

About the beer

Marston’s Pedigree is a pale ale and is not bitter – I emphasise. You don’t get a huge wallop of hops when you drink this, and I know there are many who don’t favour these “hop bomb” beers that seem to be around nowadays. Instead, Pedigree is subtle and malty, and therefore almost sweet on the palette. It’s not flavourless by any means, but won’t hit you round the face like some beers might.

Alcohol: 4.5%

My rating: 6/10

I rate this beer a six, not because it’s somehow lacking, but rather because it’s not the sort of beer I would drink regularly. It’s a great example of its class, and does taste really good. If you find bitters too, well, bitter, then you might prefer this sort of brew. The good thing about a challenge like this is that you can try lots of different types of beer and see which you like, and which you don’t.

A friend of mine often says “I don’t like red wine…” To me, that a bit like saying “I don’t like music.” You may not like some, or even most, types of music, but there’s bound to be something out there you do like. The same is true for wine, and indeed, beer. So get out there and see what you can find!

A nice Lidl surprise!

OK, I know it should be pronounced “lee-dl” but I couldn’t resist a little pun! Taking a slight detour from the 300 beers list this time, I’ve sampled my first Hatherwood Craft beer – the Green Gecko IPA.

While the big supermarkets have branched out and not only sell their own branded beers, as well as an ever growing range of real ales, the smaller supermarkets have done too. Aldi have won medals for their wines and here we have an example of a beer produced by Lidl. I wouldn’t have thought to go into Lidl looking for beer, but the good people over at BrewUK.co.uk pointed me in their direction.

Just before Christmas, I went to our nearby Lidl and found that they offer a number of their own craft beers. I picked up a Golden Goose, Purple Panther (a porter) and a Spiced Winter ale (which I had in the run up to the festive season). I was particularly interested in trying the Green Gecko IPA, as I’d heard good things. As an aside, they also sell a few other craft beers including a lager.

About the beer

This does not appear on the 300 beers list, but don’t let that put you off!

The beer is fairly pale (when compared to a porter say) but is more brown than gold. It packs a good strong bitterness, as you would expect from an IPA and was, on the whole, very enjoyable. I wasn’t bowled over with the scent of hops, as you sometimes are these days, but it wasn’t lacking in flavour. I felt it lacked a little “mouth feel” or body, but often bottled beers do when compared with their draught equivalents.

Alcohol: 5%

My rating: 6/10

When you compare this beer to some of the mammoth beers you’ll find on the 300 list, it probably won’t stand up against them. This isn’t meant as a criticism though, as the Green Gecko and its siblings is not trying to be a world beater. It comes in at a reasonable £1.25 (or thereabouts) which is pretty darn cheap. As the saying goes, you tend to get what you pay for, but this is a very reasonable pint for not much more than a pound.

If you have a Lidl near you, why not take a punt? Or a pint, if you prefer!

If the other beers in the range are good, I’ll be sure to write about them also. I’m particularly looking forward to sampling the Purple Panther porter, but then, I’m a sucker for a dark beer!