And in October Bad King John from Ridgeside Brewing was crowned winner of a six month national listing in 300 Sainsbury’s stores. Bad King John beat beers from around the UK to the throne via four regional heats (120 beers), a three week stint in Sainsbury’s stores (16 beers) and a grand judging final in London (final 8 beers). Spearheading the competition was Caesar Augustus by Williams Bros of Clackmannanshire which clinched a listing across 150 Sainsbury’s stores.

From ginger beer to wild hops...

...to all the great leaders?!

This year’s 16 finalists were:

Flying Dutchman Wit Bier, Caledonian Brewing Co, Alva, Scotland

Orange peel and a herbaceous twist make Flying Dutchman easy to identify. Intriguingly, caramel and liquorice offer something the average wit beer might not, and something syrupy-sweet mops everything up. An interesting start!

Golden Seahawk, Cotleigh Brewery, Somerset

An aroma of freshly cut garden weeds (those sticky buggers that find their way onto the bottom of shoes, gloves, the seat of your pants); flavours of wholesome cereal doused in honey. A nice golden ale.

Frederic’s Great British Ginger Beer, Frederic Robinson, Stockport

Perfect with fish and chips it says. Well I’m late home from work, sore from five a side and soaked through with autumn rain. The (award winning and only nearby late night) chippy was shutting but let me jump the chairs blocking the doorway to pick up fish cakes and scraps. Perhaps any beer would have done but Robinson’s Ginger Beer cut through the sweat of the chips like no other: spicy, tongue tingling and sweet. Still, I couldn’t help feeling I’d rather just have had a Ben Shaws…

Wild Hop IPA, Harviestoun Brewery, Clackmannanshire, Scotland

A beery lemon marmalade on just-golden toast, with a contradictory bitterness – sharp but simultaneously mellow. The hops might be wild but the beer isn’t: its gentile, moreish and gulp-able – beautiful with undercurrents of sex.  In a beery kinda way.

I lust this beer.

Full Bore, Hunter’s Brewery, Devon

A whopper at 8%, it’s a shame Full Bore smashes toffee and not a lot else at me (a left hook of honey perhaps?), thus feeling like an opportunity missed. But drunk after three other Sainsbury’s Beer Hunt beers it feels like I missed the opportunity to give it a fair crack of the whip. Now to find a bottle left on the shelves and give it a fair trial…

Two Hoots Golden Ale, Joseph Holt, Manchester

Through the clear bottles it’s a vibrant golden ale but poured and tasted it’s flat and sun kissed to the point of no return. Crystal malt is about the only flavour discernible behind disintegrated hops. Unfair to pass judgement except on the colour of the glass.

Stronghart, McMullen & Sons, Hertfordshire

Strong and ruby-tinted brown like creosote, Stronghart packs the a bitter punch and a wallop of brandy-seeped raisins. Sweet and tart like opulent plums and just a tad balsamic. Don’t let it knock you out – it’s strong enough to.

Bishop’s Farewell, Oakham Ales, Peterborough

All Oakham’s ales (that I’ve tried) are citrus influenced and this is no different. A decent beer to sup on an evening but nothing makes me want to wax lyrical on the joy on hops like some of Oakham’s ales do.

Churchill Ale, Oxfordshire Ales Ltd, Bicester

Toffee apple aroma introduces a strong malt backbone perfumed with citrus hops. Far from your typical strong IPA this is a gentle and very English pale ale. A soft spot for Churchill (because I used to work not far from them) was enough to make me go back twice for more, but the first bottle remained the best.

Ivanhoe, Ridgeway Brewing, South Oxfordshire

If the label takes you back in time then it’s a warning that pale ale in this context might mean ‘paler ale’ (compared to what was available in the days of Ivanhoe, anyway). Harvest fruits and English malt make for a pleasant beer drinking experience. We’d be lying if we said we bought it, we saved a few pounds by remembering this bottle.

Bad King John, Ridgeway Brewing, South Oxfordshire

Spent cocoa beans and a boozy Bailey’s aroma, perhaps a dash of vanilla. Dark, dry, sweet and roast: a cacophony of intriguing characteristics emerges from the depths of nowhere. Bad King John must have been a complicated fellow. Thick without cloying, the King has soul and a long bitter aftertaste. It’s Ivanhoe’s nemesis and it’s even more memorable.

Worcester Sorcerer, Sadler’s Ales, Stourbridge

Toffee apple and raisin nose, and smells just a little like my Burton Ale home brew. The flavours defy this initial bouquet, revealing a muskier side, molasses and burnt grain. Call it Worcestershire Sauceror and serve with roast dinner. Strangely likeable.

Caesar Augustus, Williams Brothers, Alloa, Scotland

Wowser. Now this is a good beer! Caesar’s honey gold complexion and medicinal Saazy nose tingles nerve endings (perhaps helped by 24 hours in the fridge the first sip hits my front molars with a scintillating pulse!). Caesar Augustus is boundlessly refreshing. An innovative lagered IPA? Come on, the result is a crisp and vibrant pilsner, surely? A joy to behold.

Profanity Stout, Williams Brothers, Alloa, Scotland

A vodka and vanilla nose, followed by reams of bitter Green & Blacks mellowed by a lingering smoked coffee bean dryness. Sophisticated but living on a thin line: its ABV may deceive you.

Golden Summer, Wold Top Brewery, Yorkshire

An old favourite from one of the most consistent brewers in Yorkshire. I tend to buy Wold Top’s beers from the most charming farm shop near Bradford, on the road between Halifax and Keighley, usually alongside strange vegetables and local cheese. Against The Grain was unremarkable to many, but as a gluten-free beers go I think it was a triumph. And Golden Summer is no different, on the face an unremarkable beer but it’s incredibly perfect in too many situations to be called average. As HopZine say, a great bridging beer, and in my mind eminently versatile. You can find grapefruit and lemon if you try, but it’s the cereal backbone that I love. A summer beer that genuinely shines.

Wye Not, Wye Valley Brewery, Herefordshire

…because the other beers are probably more enjoyable. Weighted in the favour of its malt ingredients, it never quite lives up to its biscuit billing. Should malt be your thing though, you could do much worse.

Bad King John, good 'king beer

And if we’d been picking the winner? Well Wold Top’s Golden Summer and Harviestoun’s Wild Hop IPA were stand outs, whilst Bad King John fought the corner of the darker beers and Stronghart offered something a bit different. But for sheer brazen excellence, Caesar Augustus provided the most enjoyment and refreshment. It’s exactly the sort of beer I’d pick up regularly in the supermarket, and for that reason, we’re firmly sold.

Topping a line up of strong leaders, Caesar Augustus

On the opening Friday night of 16th September 2011 the rain slanted down in true Yorkshire style but it didn’t put off hundreds of beer devotees from heading to the small brewery building next to the river Aire.

We showed our tickets and were handed a beer list along with a branded & lined pint glass. Upon first reading I could see a few typos and misplacements on the list, I thought – whoever wrote this up couldn’t organise a piss up in brewery – how wrong I was, literally!

Saltaire Brewery Elderflower Blonde - perfect summer quaffer

Saltaire seem to have designed their brewery around actually enjoying the product, which gives people a real welcoming feel to the place. Plenty of space, and nicely laid out kit, the fermenters and conditioning tanks are housed behind glass partitions to give a modern clean feel in what is an old Victorian electric tram generator building.

Sometimes I reckon it’s nicer to have a smaller selection of breweries providing a larger selection of their wares rather than being festooned with single same olds from a multitude of different brewers. I was therefore happy to see lined up, for a full night of entertainment, beers from Saltaire, Marble, Dark Star, Hardknott, Magic Rock, Kirkstall, Boggart Hole, Buxton, Old Spot, Captain Cook and Sierra Nevada.

Marble Ginger got the party started, as ever spicy and sweet yet with a nice bitter finish – easily drinkable. Onto the hops next with another Marble contribution; the Utility “No.5” IPA, with its gorgeous zesty and sweet citrus hop nose. It beats the aroma of Chanel’s “No.5” any day for me!

Of course I had to delve into the hosts brews, of which I am a fan. A few folks deride Saltaire for their use of syrups as additional flavourings but they must be doing something right judging by the amount of awards dished out by both CAMRA and SIBA.

Saltaire's brewery in a generator shed.

Dark and light at Saltaire Beer Festival

Madagascan Ale and others on the bar

Saltaire's SIBA & CAMRA beer awards

Madagascan Ale, a new one for me, flavoured with guava and lychee yet still quite freshly bitter maybe a little too sweet aftertaste for my liking. Hazelnut Coffee Porter, another one we don’t see much of outside Yorkshire – fabulous deeply roasted darkness, like a spoon full of Nutella washed down with an espresso.

Saltaire’s South Island Pale, easy drinking with full on fresh green citrusness. This one joining the growing batch of heavily hopped yet low ABV beers which are becoming fashionable amongst the higher echelons of craft brewers.

Being a hophead, the marvellous Magic Rock Highwire had to be sampled a few times, the completely normal hop haze in the chilled beer turning the noses of the old school “lift up to the light” CAMRA boys. No worries, it meant more left for the craft brew educated!

I didn’t try any of the ciders on offer, my excuse was that a keg dispensed Kölsch from Sierra Nevada was being served in the cider tent – what a distraction, lightly sweet and hoppy, lovely stuff indeed.

So, decent stand out beers were Old Spot Brewery Spot ‘O’ Bother – a smoky porter, fireplace tarryness with a sharp dry liquorice ending and Magic Rock’s West Coast Pale Ale, Highwire.

As the rain cleared to a bright sunset over the old mill buildings a great night was rounded off with a couple of re-visits to the Marble Utility No.5 IPA – for me the gem amongst the Saltaire Brewery festival’s treasure trove of excellent craft ales.

Saltaire Brewery hold their annual beer festival during the 3rd weekend of September each year. A visit is well recommended not only for the beer, but for the brewery set-up and of course the wider entertainment value of the Saltaire village festival itself.

Saltaire's eclectic beer selection

Although for most of October that’s exactly what Guy Garvey & co of the resurgent band Elbow will be able to do. From tomorrow, pubs across Manchester – and one in Oxfordshire – will be previewing their collaboration brew, a joint venture with Frederic Robinsons Brewery.

Build A Rocket Boys! beer

Build A Rocket Boys! is a real ale named after Elbow’s most recent album and not only that it’s one with a conscience: a significant proportion of all profits will be donated to Oxfam’s East Africa crisis.

The official launch is at Manchester Food & Drink festival (where you can also find mini festivals of real ale, whisky and Oktoberfest!), but if you can get to one of the preview pubs in and around the city between now and then you should be able to find the first casks ready and waiting.

And with such a lot going on at the festival, we’re off to book our train tickets across the Pennines.

See you there!

It’s at Fuller’s Brewery that the oldest wisteria in the UK calmly entwines its way around the Victorian buildings, defiantly taking hold of the old brew masters cottage, never to let go. For 180 years it’s bloomed twice yearly, a bounty of lilac blossom weighing on the strong yet vulnerable web of vines.

Fullers Wisteria: seen more brew days than the average climbing plant

The wisteria are the only twisting vines* that find their way into the brewery complex now that the famous Fuller’s beers are made with pelletised hops rather than full flowers, but boy would you not know that from the taste of the produce.

Perhaps Fuller’s have been inspired by the wisteria in their passion for brewing robust beers that develop, grow and flourish as the months and years slip by. Drink Past Masters XX or Brewer’s Reserve too soon birth and you get a sharp, unsubtle beer. Save for a year, or even ten, and the harsh youthfulness mellows into rich, decadent adulthood, bearing mature fruit and complex flavours.

Past Masters XX can trace its roots to 1891 making it younger than the wisteria. Based on a Victorian recipe for a beer called XXK (XX indicating a doubly strong beer and K meaning simply ‘keep’) it’s a splendid display of malt decadence and hop preservation – boozy, spicy and sweet. Plumage Archer, a long forgotten malt variety (even though it was bred, introduced and retired all within the second decade of the wisterias life) is combined with triple measures of Fuggles and Goldings hops, a combination designed to help the beer withstand the degrading effects of time.

Fullers Vintage, year 2000, is a bit of a stomach burner. Vodka and cardboard nose; prunes and fruit cake washed down with sherry; alcohol-soaked raisins for afters. It’s been 11 years in its bottle, quietly waiting to fulfil its purpose, and boy does it not disappoint – in fact it might be the most splendid bottle of beer of the past 11 years.

Technically Fullers beers have been maturing since 1845; recipes developing, brewing techniques changing, equipment getting shinier and more automated. If anyone knows how to age a beer it’s surely these guys.

After all, even Kew Gardens couldn’t keep their wisteria going for over 180 years. When their plant died, guess who they asked for a cutting…?!

Fuller's Griffin Brewery and their 200 year old wisteria

At the first European Beer Bloggers Conference we were privileged to be invited to Fuller Smith & Turner for Sunday dinner and a session on ageing beer. Thanks to all the team there – if you get the chance to visit the brewery (and eat and drink there) it’s an experience you won’t want to forget!

It has everything: the tourism factor, rural charm, traditional appeal and just a dash (ok, a mighty big dollop) of implied family strife, backstabbing and conspiracy theory.

And there’s no doubt that the Masham Sheep Brewery was never going to have quite the same ring to it, was it?

The birth of the Black Sheep was the best part of 20 years ago and now the brewery stands proudly at the gateway to ancient Yorkshire market town of Masham, where it hides from view it’s Scottish & Newcastle owned rival, Theakston’s, the brewery which still bears the family name of Black Sheep founder Paul, husband of the woman who named his new venture back in the early 90s.

As the car bumps its way along the A1 to Masham, I’m unaware of Mrs Theakston’s role in the birth of Black Sheep’s brand identity, but I’m very aware of Black Sheep. My perception – a charming, rural, traditional brewery that make pleasant but unexciting beers. A brewery that adopts a bit too much humour from their ruminant mammal brand advocates for my liking.

Generally, I just see Black Sheep as a bit, well, sheepish.

I’m mulling over these perceptions and a recent discussion about innovation in beer as we sit down to start a 5 course beer and food pairing meal organised by Black Sheep at their Baar & Bistro, a notably modern and successful concept. 80 people are hunched over Welsh rarebit and Black Sheep Best Bitter, a simple and tasty dish to kick of the evening’s proceedings.

It’s fair to say that Black Sheep Brewery aren’t seen as innovators in the brewing world, but sat in the contemporary surroundings of their visitor centre there’s something of a paradox going on – despite their roots in Yorkshire tradition and simple, honest ales their home is dominated by marketing-led commercial strategies. The shop is filled to the rafters with Black Sheep branded rugby shirts and chutneys; the bistro, reminiscent of a ski chalet, serves contemporary dishes more akin to high street bars like Slug & Lettuce than a local pub. There are real ale baseball caps with sheep for logos. Pete Doherty would not be impressed.

Once the rarebit nibbles are gobbled up it’s a starter of Tempura Prawns, a staple of the high street bars and grills. The pairing with Golden Sheep was obvious but equally successful (in fact later in the evening it’s voted the best beer) and seemed to have particular favour with the female of the species.

Black Sheep beer tasting

Tempura Prawns with Golden Ale

Lamb shank braised in Black Sheep Ale

Chewing the cud with Head Brewer Alan

We tuck in, and perceptions of the brewery are challenged as head brewer Alan Dunn tells us about the imperial Russian stout that is conditioning somewhere beneath our feet in the depths of the brew house. Brewed for the Grand Baltic Adventure, a recreation of the sea journey suffered by stouts back in the 18th and 19th centuries on their way to the courts of the Russian aristocracy, the stout is one of 12 competing to be crowned tsar of stout by judges awaiting in St Petersburg.

An imperial stout is a far cry from Black Sheep’s usual cask ales, and next up in our showcase meal is the famous Black Sheep Ale to wash down melt-in-your-mouth lamb shank braised with the same beer. Arguably the most appropriate beer in the range for this course, but perhaps not the most appropriate beer in the world for it (something with just a bit more of a spicy herb twist or sweet, soft-fleshed fruit punch might have lifted the combination to greater heights). But we shouldn’t complain, as the lamb was magnificent, not in a Michelin-star way, but in a “How-the-hell-did-they-cook-it-that-well-for-so-many-people?!” way.

I’m wondering how Black Sheep brew so much beer for so many people too, with their beers found throughout pubs and supermarkets all over the north of England and beyond and the answer is in the huge brewing kit that populates the rest of the building. The houses not only Black Sheep’s original Yorkshire squares - cuboid fermentation vessels made from sandstone or slate – but also Black Sheep’s 21st century ‘squares’ – stainless steel cylinders that adopt the time honoured yeast trough and rousing technique  from the original designs, but that make it a darn sight easier to clean the equipment after use!

Chocolate tart arrives: it’s March and Ruddy Ram should really accompany the toasting of marshmallows over a winter fire. It’s a a fine friend to a bitter chocolate tart, palpably laced with liquorice and hints of molasses and smoky dairy milk, without quite the voluptuous mouth feel that stronger stouts might demand. Fundamentally, this is still a pub beer to keep regulars warm on those wet and windy walks home in the winter months.

Around the table conversation touches on the facilities at Black Sheep and the consensus is unanimously positive. Tradition, pub drinking and local character seem to form the basis of the brewery’s values and what could be more in tune with those values than a meal ended with local produce to share around a table?

“5.6%!” exclaims the chap sitting opposite me as the trio of Yorkshire cheeses arrives at the tables, accompanied with Riggwelter, Black Sheep’s strong ale. From the Norse-derived Yorkshire term for an upended sheep (“rygg” meaning back, and “velte” = “rigwelted”) the sheer mention of the ABV of Riggwelter almost knocked some drinkers off their chairs. It knocks the socks off the pairings so far too, without ever having to try too hard. Strong beer, strong cheese, voilà. Boozy, rich, yet distinctly Black Sheep. It a kind of  muted, Yorkshire decadence within dry-stone walled boundaries.

And that’s probably a good way to sum up the night, and Black Sheep. Good food, good beer, good company.

It’s not rock ‘n’ roll, it’s not ostentatious, but it’s certainly not what I’d call sheepish.

Black Sheep Brewery, Masham. So far the exterior of the brewery is free of sheep puns and we hope it stays that way...

The Black Sheep dinner was hosted at the brewery in Masham and they plan to put on similar events (we think they make a great surprise present for a real ale lover!) We were lucky enough to be invited by the brewery, and splendid hosts they are, so thank you to all the team. Ands thanks to Beer Reviews and Dave Lozman for saving the day with photos after ours were lost. And a big cheers to Will, Ian and Andy & co for an evening of mildly intoxicated conversation!

Yorkshire village pub by www.graphicalstatus.com

Time flies in the beer houses of Kingston-upon-Hull, where Yorkshiremen plotted against King Charles; studs fly in the grand hotels of Huddersfield where the North plotted against the Rugby Union.

In Halifax they have long memories, just ask The Running Man. In York they never forget, Guy Fawkes will tell you that.

In Sheffield they have an island for their beer, in Swaledale they make you climb a thousand feet for a pint (you might even have to do the washing up if you’re lucky!)

From the gastro pubs of Ilkley to the cove-view nooks of Robin Hood’s Bay; from the alleyway drinking dens of Leeds, to the walkers respites littering Garsdale, Wensleydale, Dentdale, Ribblesdale, Malhamdale, Nidderdale…

The Grove Inn, Leeds - surviving against the odds

Whitelocks, Briggate - the alleys where Loiners get their name

Station Inn, Ribblehead - take a map and a train timetable!

Yorkshire is blessed with pubs, nearly 10% of all the public houses in Britain. Some good, some bad, each and everyone someone’s favourite. All 5,115 of them.

What better way to spend the Bank Holiday than oiling your discourse down the local, or heeding Milton Crawford and taking a  moment to reflect on life. And when your done, you can vote for your favourite Yorkshire pub at Yorkshire.com/pub

"Yorkshire, Yorkshire!!"

There are 54,000 pubs in Britain and 5,115 pubs in Yorkshire. Ish. Thanks to the border hungry constituency of Brigg & Goole which straddles both the East Riding of Yorkshire and the northern climes of Lincolnshire we’ve had to apply some educated guesswork to the final tally. Thanks to the CAMRA press team and the British Beer & Pub Association for help locating the raw data. And thanks to Dan Cohen, John FotoHouse and Rick Harrison for the pics!

From a bored Tuesday night wondering what we could do that was better than sitting on our arses, to writing for thousands of visitors each month, we’re pretty proud of our little hobby and we spend most of the time thinking about how we can make it better (unfortunately the day job prevents that from actually happening!).

We've come along way baby...

...from the days of cocktails and Mythos!

We don’t always write posts as much as we’d like too and we don’t always write about things as quickly as we’d like to (nothing like a blog post once the ship has sailed eh?!). And despite the out of date ‘About’ page it’s all worth it when we get nice comments or bump into people at beer festivals who tell us how much they enjoy reading our musings.

So it’s great to be able to get involved with a project that aims to bring together the beer community and hopefully contribute something useful for other people who want to find out about beer or write about it.

In late May we’ll be attending the European Beer Bloggers Conference and little me will be sitting on a panel entitled “Do’s and Don’t of Beer Blogging”, designed to provide an answer to the questions about beer blogging that Google just can’t answer. Think of it like a beery search engine that’s drunk waaaay too many beers and might not provide coherent answers.

European Beer Bloggers Conference

I’ll be joining author Pete Brown and journalist Melissa Cole to give you the chance “to learn a few new tricks, discuss important issues, and ask a question you have never had answered”.

There’s currently plenty of spaces left for the conference which starts on 20th May (although expect some drinking in London from the night before!) and you can sign up here.There’s also the chance to win a free conference pass.

The conference in the UK is organised by Mark Dredge who’s probably got enough enthusiasm for beer to give everyone at the conference a lethal dose and still have more than enough for himself! So it should be a good event!!
You don’t have to be a blogger to attend and it should be a fantastic weekend in London for anyone who wants to find out more about the history, science and commerce of beer, pairing your favourite brews with food and drinking lots of malty beverages at some great beer locations in London.

P.S. Watch this space as we update the blog to celebrate our 2nd birthday – plus we’re looking for passionate and talented new contributors too. Email mark(at)real-ale-reviews(dot)com for more information on joining the team…

Leeds Beer Festival 2011

Leeds Beer Festival starts tomorrow, below is the programme of beers. Directions can be found on the festival website http://www.leedsbeerfestival.co.uk/getting-here/

Mark and Sam will be there at various time but please comment, tweet or email us if you fancy meeting up for a pint!

Down a dark and wet side street between the less historical buildings of the city’s shopping district, the white washed walls of Modern Art Oxford are accustomed to the strange and gangly structures of modern sculpture. But to the strange and gangly structures of humulus lupulus they are not.

Twisting, reaching, helixing, yearning upwards, the leaf-heavy green bines have designs on the famously spired skyline.

The structures on this occasion are just printed images, but Modern Art Oxford does in fact have a hop garden, just a few miles away at Plot 16, the museums community allotment in the Rose Hill area of the city. And unlike the plaster-cast sculptures on show at the museum one cold Saturday afternoon between Christmas and New Year, the ambitious hop plants aren’t restricted by the white washed ceilings of MAO’s warehouse home.

Plot 16 green hopped beer, Modern Art Oxford

Since March 2010 artistic collaborators Leora Brook and Tiffany Black have been farming hops. Inspired by the MAO gallery’s history as a nineteenth century brewery, their ambition to grow hops to create a beer from their produce was realised in December 2010 when, after a communal hop picking harvest, Plot 16 was launched in 1000 limited edition bottles.

And the fruits of their labour?

A green hopped beer with a nose of dough, tree sap and tropical fruits, an exotic ploughman’s without the cheese and meat. It’s unfined, unfiltered and unpasteurised which makes it slightly prostrate when poured, but that doesn’t stop it being peppery, spicy and bitter throughout with a lingering dry finish, all nettles, hedgerow and nature’s unkempt bounty.

Everything about this beer feels as if the hop flowers were filtered straight into the brewing kettle along with the earth their mothers grew from, that big chunked, crumble-in-your-hand, lets-grow-our-own-tomatoes-earth that is the joy of green-fingered gardeners the world over. The fruitiness disappears all to quickly early on, the young hops imparting just a teaser of their potential.

The Art In Rose Hill experiment brought together art, industry and volunteers, and the resulting beer is a successful experiment, despite a few obstacles along the way.

Leaving the museum to an even colder, wetter Saturday evening between Christmas and New Year the spires and shopping centres of Oxford look haggard and weather beaten. The shopping crowd are thinning, the park & ride queues are bulging, and the ancient pubs are making way for the evening crowd and all their gladrags.

And in my white washed carrier bag just a little bit of the city is returning home with me, bottled up and ready for a rainy day.

Plot 16 beer at Modern Art Oxford

Hop bines at Rose Hill

Picking hops

Hops glorious hops!

Hop cones for brewing

Beer information:
Beer: Plot 16
Brewery: The Shotover Brewing Company / MOMA Oxford / Brook & Black
Style: Green hopped amber ale
ABV: 3.7%
Country: Oxford, UK

The Plot 16 beer was made from a based of Prospect by Shotover Brewing to which a late addition of the Rose Hill hops (Fuggles if you’re interested) were added for a two week infusion. Thanks to Modern Art Oxford for the photos and their help during our visit.

It’s too cold to sit on the wall outside Southwark Cathedral so the pigeons scrounge our scraps. In fact it’s barely warm enough to eat as we prepared for a second day wandering around London in minus degrees centigrade weather.

A long day starts by working our way along the rail tracks to Tower Bridge following the perfectly symmetrical arches. Under numbers 98 – 100 sits Kernel Brewery. There’s a striking resemblance to Marble of Manchester: the home under the railways, the emphasis on hops, the appreciation of good food and the influence from distant shores.

In nearby archways sit bakeries, green grocers and purveyors of continental delicacies. So no surprise that cheese and ham are been carved on the counter next to the Imperial Stout, S.C.A.N.S. IPA and Kernel White Ale. And the beer that broke the yeasts back, cooking porter (apparently that’s all it’s good for).

Evan, mastermind behind Kernel’s flavour-packed beers, shows us the kit which take up a fraction of the space under the curved roof. Hops litter the mushroom cloud of yeast in the first fermentation tank whilst something stout-like slowly bubbles, getting stronger by the hour on it’s way to an ABV% from the dark side of the moon.

Game hanging at Borough Market

Mr Pork watches guard at Borough Market

Kernel Brewery, Tower Bridge, London

A happy accident: cooking porter

(click on images to enlarge)

The tasters of Evan’s 12% imperial stout hits pretty hard but the cold air soon knocks the lucidity back into us. Tower Bridge is just around the corner, a magnificent symbol of London’s prowess, the most famous bascule in the world. On the approach to the majestic structure we nip into the Draft House purely for warmth and cheekily walked out after checking the beer list (which was fine, but nothing took our fancy). Mere doors away is the Bridge House, Adnams Dining Pub of the Year. It shows; above the bar Veuve Clicquot magnums are arranged neater than the Selfridges Christmas window display and the food looks nothing less than divine. A hearty winter meal is tempting but curry at Greenwich market is on the to-do list so we settle for sharing a bottle of Adnam’s IPA. It’s just the ticket as we adjust to the sudden warmth and the über geek-chic staff (who look like they’ve just walked off the main stage of an über trendy music festival).

We can’t stay for long, Mark’s itinerary is packed tighter than sedimentary rock (and would take as long to be fulfilled) so it’s back towards the train via the fascinating Southwark Tavern. Football fans, shoppers and bar-proppers are thrust together like sardines in the upstairs bar so we try our luck down the steep winding stairs. Far from escaping the hustle and bustle it’s packed and rowdy. The low bricked ceilings supposedly once housed a debtors prison, perhaps the very jail where William Smith and Marc Isambard Brunel were once coalesced*, but its probably just as likely that in the tiny cubby holes stewed less salubrious activities. At 12pm it’s no bordello but it’s not the time or place to a quiet beer and a chat. One to try another time because the building and beer list are alluring to say the least.

Cold and thirsty the packed overground offers brief respite. Luton fans are hunting for tickets on the way to Charlton in the cup and one, particularly well lubed up with cheap lout (not that that’s of any consequence) is demanding everyone’s attention with his bionically integrated foghorn because his mate Biscuit has dropped some sort of bollock…

Hop names adorn the Draft House walls

Adnams IPA at Bridge House, London

Moor Freddy Walker at Cask Pub & Kitchen

Mikkeller night at Cask Pub & Kitchen

(click on images to enlarge)

Greenwich saves us. Inspired by Michael Jackson’s beer collection which adorns the walls of the Old Brewery we do what beer geeks do best. Meantime London Porter, Helles and a French bock are quaffed in the strange surroundings of a museum-cum-tourist-information-cum-café-cum-restaurant in the shadow of Meantime’s brewing coppers and in earshot of an engrossing dissection of astrology by a very intellectual looking couple drinking wine.

Nearby Greenwich market is surrounded by Grade 2 listed buildings, a covered collection of stalls crammed in the open spaces that were once dark streets filled with slaughter houses and traders peddling their wares. These days hand carved nik-naks and world food stalls cater for the hoards of punters. Polish dumplings and thai green curry stove our fires and home-made champagne cider warms us up again.

The next stop takes us overground and underground, through Brixton towards the huge tardis that is the Florence brewpub. Disembarking from the train Herne Hill looks like a Lego town due to it’s cobbled main thoroughfare that cuts between the main roads sheltering local hardware shops, salons and greengrocers. It’s quite unlike anywhere else in London so far. The Florence overlooks a big park and has a family atmosphere (there are copies of the Guardian and children everywhere) and is quite unlike any pub I’ve been to in London so far. For a start the smell of wort hangs from the rafters but unfortunately their own beer isn’t on although the beer mats make interesting reading whilst we enjoy a spicy seasonal Adnam’s and peruse the menu – Weasel, Beaver and Bonobo are all brewed on site in the tiny glass brew room where two burly figures are repairing what looks like a heat exchanger.

It’s a whistle-stop tour and the day is running out so we rush for the train – luckily it’s late – which sends us rattling over a completely different London; lights across the city twinkle on as far as the eye can see and there’s a strange quiet, the calm before the storm of Saturday night.

At Cask Pub & Kitchen that twilight drinkers are a mix of people just starting their evening in the city and those, like us, bringing a long day to a close. We have an hour and a half before the X Factor express takes us back to Kent. That’s just enough time to try most of the Mikkeller beers on draught as well as a sneaky Moor Old Freddy Walker, an incredible beer that’s perfect for the time of year. The Mikkellers fall faster than I can scribble then names down.

Cask has a cosmopolitan atmosphere to it, a pub that you can relax in and chat. We get talking to two lads who tell us a titillating tale about a beery stag do in Bruges and we convince them to try some of the outrageously strong beer we’re sampling. Long before we leave the table is covered in empty glasses, though very beer served in a different glass from an unrelated brewery, the only blotch our the last stop of a day of unrelenting exploration.

*The father of geology and the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel respectively were both short-term residents at King’s Bench prison in Southwark, but neither that nor Marshalsea, the two major debtors prisons of Southwark, were in quite the right place to be connected to the Southwark Tavern in any form other than prison guards watering there.