Real Ale Reviews

Chimay Red

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This 7% Trappist beer was the initial choice for making my Potted Cheese recipe but, after a couple of taste tests, I reverted to Orval. As I find with most of the Trappist beers, this was quite lively in the bottle and the carbonisation was a lot of small bubbles which fill the mouth with a silky smoothness. The appearance of the beer in the glass is dark and cloudy.

The initial taste has the fruity undertones of a good wheat beer but the darker malts push through as a bitter taste develops in the mouth. This bitterness lingers in the mouth along with the distinctive taste of alcohol, a reflection of the 7% content. The combination brings to mind a reminiscence of the smell left in the glass by a good whiskey.

In an attempt to be somehow faithful to the medieval tradition of the Trappist brewers I cooed this bottle outside by parents back door, just perfect for preserving fridge space in this cold spell.

Tags: 7%. Cheese, Chimay, Chimay Red, Trappist

The end of a decade…?

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Both Fletch and myself are big fans of the American TV show The West Wing, highbrow TV covering a range of international issues and actually really funny in a QI rather than Little Britain kind of way. During an episode leading up to the end of 1999 two of the show’s characters, Sam Seabourne and Toby Zeigler, can be heard arguing about the turn of the new millennium. Sam argues with the more senior Toby that, rather than being the turn of the new millennium, the 1st of January 2000 was actually the start of the last year of the old millennium, with the new millennium beginning in 2001. This is due to the fact that there is actually no year zero in the Gregorian Calendar. Real Ale Reviews (or at least this part of it) is therefore looking forward to this ‘last opportunity’ to make a mark on what is becoming dubbed the noughties.

The last week has been something of a fresh start for me Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apple iPhone, Beer and Cheese, Beer Ritz, Leeds Corn Exchange, Meadowhall, New Year, Piazza Cheese and Ham Shop, Sam Smith's Imperial Stout, The Noughties, The West Wing, Timmermans

Festive frolics

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This Christmas was destined to be a beery one. A long year has come to an end with lots of new things happening: my girlfriend Sarah moved up to Leeds and into our new home, I started this blog and had my first few months as a season ticket holder at Elland Road.

I stayed with my parents in Oxfordshire for most of the time, whilst stopping in at Sarah’s folks in Nottingham on the way down and back up, all of which involved careful transportation of a couple of boxes of beers up and down the M1. I couldn’t see any of the lanes on the motorway on the journey home thanks to the mini-blizzard that hit the UK on Christmas Eve Eve and woke up to a white blanket covering the view out my bedroom window the next morning.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: christmas beers

Beer and cheese suggestions?

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On Sunday a bunch of friends in Leeds are having Christmas dinner. We’ll all be going our separate ways for the festive period so it’s a chance to catch up, eat and drink together, play some board games and enjoying finally admitting that we’re adults with houses now and not students still.

I’m in charge of beer and cheese, after picking some fancy samples at Lincoln Christmas Market earlier this month.

So I’m basically just looking for suggestions, as tomorrow I’m off to Beer Ritz to purchase the beers and on the way back stopping at Leeds Markets for the cheese.

Cheeses I have so far:

White Stilton Strawberries and cream – I’m thinking a strawberry Belgian beer

Yorkshire Black - a local Yorkshire beer?

Maplewood Smoked (just like Applewood smoked really) – a smoky porter or Rauchbier

Lancashire Apple, Raisin and Cinnamon – I’m stumped on this one!

I also have a bottle of aged Orval, but I’m greedily undecided as to whether I’m willing to share this with anyone!

Tags: beer, beer with food, black, cheese, christmas, Food, lancashire, maplewood, smoked, stilton, yorkshire

A Harvey’s Night In

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After a hectic day out on Saturday in the bustling streets of York complete with Christmas Market, I needed to relax with good food and beer when I got home. I’d been eyeing up three Harvey’s beers in my cupboard for a week or so and had been planning to drink them all together. Saturday night seemed perfect, with the promise of a hot curry and Christmassy afters.

Harvey’s Blue label

The first of three Harvey’s beers, I was hoping this would nicely wash down a Thai green chicken curry. It’s a coppery pale ale and poured with next to no head. I was expecting something lively from this diminutive bottle, but it was generally flat and a bit watery. Having heard lots about Harvey’s beers my first impressions were a little underwhelming.

It had a really nice, subtle aroma of lemons and limes, and there was a limey tang in the taste. It was super drinkable being soft on the palate with a smooth mouth feel. It wasn’t very bitter (the bottle says a ‘delicate bitterness’ which is an understatement) as you might expect from a beer weighing in at just 3.6% ABV. There was a sweet maltiness in the finish. I believe this beer is dry hopped which may explain some of its character

This did actually live up the bill, kind of accidentally, as it did wash down the green curry well in taste and texture, but I’m not sure this could become a favourite, and I’m not sure I’ve had the best bottle of it. One to give another go… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Ale, Barley wine, blue label, Elizabethan, harveys, india pale ale, IPA, pale, sussex

Currying Favour with Beer Lovers!!

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As The Monkey very kindly built up in his earlier Tweet, I have a question to ask people on Curry, more specifically Curry and Ale (obviously).

Rupert Ponsonby’s comments in Tuesday’s Metro got me to thinking about curry. I have posted a few recipes on here now, I’m not sure how many people have tried them or whether anyone has liked them but I guess curry must be a sure fire winner. The problem is that I am not really a big curry eater. The solution is Jack (who is something of a curry hound) and  anyone kind enough to help me out on here.

Basically what I would like to do is ask anyone who has a minute to tell me their favourite Beer and Curry combo. Using your help, Jack and myself will go off to the depths of our cooking knowledge (Google!!!) and come up with what we believe is the perfect ‘Real Ale’ Curry. I will post the recipe, some pictures and some (hopefully positive) feedback from the people who attend my curry night. I can guarantee in advance that the recipe will be simple, although there is likely to be some supermarket hunting required as, unless you make curry often, you probably won’t have a lot of the ingredients for the curry paste (which will be the hardest bit but can be made in bulk and frozen for future use).

So I guess my question is………….

What is Your favourite Curry/Beer combo?