The Daily Mail song

I couldn’t resist posting this video, and not just for the line about ‘English ale’. ‘The Daily Mail song’ sums up nicely why everything that you read in the beer community’s favourite paper is of course, completely and utterly true*.

Enjoy!

*Not. ‘The Daily Mail song’ can be found on YouTube and the chaps performing are Dan & Dan

Funny how one mention of something and suddenly it’s everywhere. A quick flick through the later chapters of Hops & Glory (to settle an argument in my head over the ownership of some beer brands) and you can’t scan a page without mention of Bass, that famous brewery and brand associated with British beer across the world. Then on Sunday, I drive past a pub in the Halewood area of Liverpool with huge Bass signage, that famous cursive typeface set into the old stonework. Just my luck I find it on Google Streetview and there’s scaffolding around it impairing the view!

Later on the way back across the M62 I spot a second Bass-signed pub somewhere in a village on the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire. “Like buses these Bass pubs” I tell myself. Nice to see the logo still peeping into modern life despite it’s fall from grace.

And then we nip to our local Toby Carvery (and my interesting first pint for Cask Ale Week) the only place in our area you can rely on (semi-decent at best) food on a Sunday evening. As we leave to retire to a re-run of Desperate Housewives and an early night, I somehow can’t miss the framed beer pictures in the entrance hall. Bass, naturally, albeit less fancy type face, but plenty of that brand-building triangular logo.

Bet I won’t see or here another Bass reference for months now…

You might have to change your pronunciation to get it...

Read the rest of this entry »

Madness is getting up on a Sunday morning at 7am, having dieted and trained for 6 weeks previously, before putting yourself into a 12 foot wide track with 5,500 other similarly disturbed people and running for 21,097.5 meters, or 13^7?64 miles. It’s more commonly known as a half marathon, the little brother of the distance made famous by the whims of the British Royal Family in 1908.

Runners head off at the start of the Liverpool Half Marathon

Luckily having completed one marathon and a couple of halves previously, I was let off running another one this weekend (The Liverpool Half Marathon 2010) through a combination of my own incompetency and a bit of bad luck due to higher than expected demand (who are all these mentalists who applied so quickly they closed applications early?!) Still, I went along for the weekend to Liverpool for a friend’s birthday meal the night before (not much drinking achieved) and to watch my usual jogger in crime partner complete his first race of that length (which he did in terrific fashion).

After spending 1 hour 55 minutes on your feet (walking around Liverpool whilst your mates put their legs through a hellish feat of endurance) what do you do for refreshment? You hit the pub, fill up your empty belly and craving muscles, and top up your water levels with a few halves of cask ale (because you’re driving the mad runners home once they’ve suitably recovered from their valiant efforts).

Courage Directors was about as drinkable as bitter comes, and much smoother than the slightly sour Pedigree that followed. Both were poured with absolute precision by the highly experienced barman. One pull for a half, two for a pint, poured at a snail’s pace using all the pressure of the beer engine to pull the amber liquids forth to each glass. Each was superior to the pint of Black Sheep that materialised from thin air at the local Toby Carvery back in South Leeds later that evening. The first pint poured from the tap was entirely transparent much to the amazement of the chap on the bar and the embarrassment of the bar manager behind him “That’s my fault, that” he said cheerily, before scurrying off to do whatever it was he needed to do to whisk a surprisingly clear pint of ale from out of a hat.

It’s Cask Ale Week is this week, so get down the boozer and sample some British ales (we’re pretty unique in the world for cask ale, you know). Walk if you can or get a lift/public transport (I’d avoid running if I were you!) It’s better for the environment and you don’t have to worry about drinking a pint or two then. Preaching over. Enjoy!

It's Cask ale Week. It looks like this and it's good!

The last two posts started life as simple beer reviews. I’d just got paid and I headed to the beer aisle for something that I could drink without worrying about. And I was concious that the widely available supermarket beers hadn’t had much coverage recently.

Badger Golden Glory is apparently, absolutely glorious

Somewhere along the line, in the middle of chopping mushrooms for a curry, my ‘I’m not going to think about this one’ beer (Badger Golden Glory) became something different. And led to a little experiment.

I reckon everyone serves their off-trade beers differently. Some sup from a conical pint glass (adorned with a beer festival logo gradually being eroded by alkalescent dishwasher tablets anyone?!), others straight from the bottle and some from a favourite handled pewter amongst other weird and wonderful vessels.

Me, I mix and match, and I been wonder how this effects my tasting notes, and thus perceptions of beers. I’ll happily pour expensive beers into a rounded red wine glass but chuck pilsner into my stolen Urquell glass or stout into a chunky Ikea pint tankard. Invariably the more I care the greater chance of decent and appropriate glassware.

So, here’s a few of my scribbled tasting notes of two beers, each one tasted using three fairly typical serving methods for me: in a handled half pint glass; straight from the bottle; and swilled from a hugely oversized and rotund wine glass. Read the rest of this entry »

Badger Golden Glory is one of the beers that got me into this beer blogging malarkey. Back way when, bored of the canned lagers largely devoid of taste and with a little more disposable income than my university days, me and then house mate Alan were keen to drink something with a bit more taste. We sampled everything the supermarkets had to offer, from local ales to the array of continental lagers.

Somewhere along the way Golden Glory (and Badgers other similar beer Golden Champion) soon became a favourite. It was sweeter with a more palatable taste than most of the beers and was always on form, which made it an easy purchase decision. I’d often pick up a handful of new beers to try and then a risk-free Badger and maybe a St Peters.

Coming back to it now feels a bit full circle. And the good thing is that Golden Glory is still great.

Badger Golden Glory: soft fruit, sweet and bitter

Peaches and melon dominant the nose, you could easily call cherry blossom, kiwis and candy too without fear of sounding pretentious. There’s a bit of an alcohol sting to the first sip, a touch of spice and a bitter finish. Above all this beer is sweet,all floral and fruit overlaid rather than intertwined with a very subtle caramel flavour and a bitter finish.

This is easy to drink from glass or bottle, there’s a zingy kick to it which gives it that little bit more oomph (or umpf?!) over some of it’s competitors on the supermarket shelves. If you like your beer to have aroma and punch then as English ales go you can’t do much worse than this fruity number. Serve slightly chilled for a bit more kick and refreshment on a hot day (you might be waiting a while though!)

Hopback Summer Lightning: a bit of a legend in Beerland

Some beers have a pedestal. Sometimes it’s deserved because they are truly great beers, technically and taste-wise. Some are headliners, built by a cheeky PR campaign or an elaborate story. And some are deserved winners of awards and a place within beery folklore.

Summer Lightning by Hopback falls in the latter category. Back when I was enjoying my third year on this planet and coming to terms with the fact I would soon have a baby brother stealing all of the attention in the Fletcher household, John Gilbert of the newly formed Hopback Brewery was quietly supplying his local beer festival with a special beer for their annual event. He answered their brief not with an amber bitter or a dark mild, but with a golden well-hopped beer. Read the rest of this entry »

Burton Porter and some mussels on the hob

Smelling this beer from Burton Bridge brewery as I wait for a plate of mussels and pasta, I think to myself I’ve made a mistake. Not about Burton Porter (it’s excellent) but on this pairing). It smells of treacle – sweet and sticky – and compared to Sarah’s white wine seems too thick and dominant for the creamy seafood dish. A quick taste an there’s chocolate, with a hint of fruit, perhaps from hops.

But on tasting I change my mind, it might just work. A long, hefty sip leaves me wanting more, it is dark in colour and flavour but not to the detriment of drinkability. This isn’t smooth like Guinness but it might as well be, the ease is such as it glides own your throat.

It isn’t as sweet to taste as it first smelt, it’s different, tobacco, charcoal and smoke coming to the fore. It’s heavy with the mussels, but I love dark stouts with this particular meal, it changes it from something light and fresh to something rich and earthy. Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of months ago during one of the 30+ hours I spend online each week , a little pop-up window asked me if I’d like to take part in a survey. I knew straight away it was advertising related and, working in the business of developing online advertising strategy, I’m always intrigued to take these surveys and gain a little insight into how other companies are tracking the branding effects of their digital marketing activities.

This one just so happened to be beer related therefore being of interest to more than just the day job. Specifically it was about lager brands, and asked my thoughts on five of the leading names and their recent advertising.

Lager Advertising Survey from RealAleReviews on Vimeo. Read the rest of this entry »

Just got back from an ear-pounded evening at The Cockpit in Leeds. The main attraction was to see Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip who introduced us to their new album and a host of old favourites in the infamous ear-destroying arches of one of Leeds’ most popular music venues.

Norman Bar, or Norman's as it's more commonly known. Pic (c) Briggate.com

Before the gig we headed to Norman’s for tea. Norman Bar is often overlooked as an establishment to enjoy fancy beer but its elitist and trendy weekend image belies it’s self-proclaimed internationally stocked beer fridges. Goose Island IPA, Anchor Steam, Modelo Negra, Black Sheep and Pilsner Urquell are complimented by a draught line up including Duvel Green, Lindeboom and Addlestone’s cider. It’s also set in a contemporary and atmospheric space, lit with shades of purple and blue that fall just the right side of pretension. The oriental menu serving Japanese noodles and Thai red and green curries are dishes to be reckoned with and at £5.50 for a pint and a spicy filler are great value on a midweek lunch Read the rest of this entry »

Leeds Beer, Cider and Perry Festival. Image copyright of Leeds CAMRA

It nearly sneaked past us again this year, but Leeds Beer, Cider & Perry Festival starts today and is well worth a visit. It doesn’t seem to get much in the way of promotion and it’s not located in the city centre, but the festival is showcasing a whopping range of beer this year.

Beer lovers can fight their way through 150 real ales ‘from Yorkshire and beyond’ and the ‘best range in the North’ for cider and perry. There’s also a beer cum ice cream parlour to get us in a summery mood despite the bitter wind still encircling Bridgewater Place and a Global Beer Bar stocked to the rafters with fancy bottles from all four corners of the globe Read the rest of this entry »