Real Ale Reviews

Purity Brewing Company – Pure Ubu

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I have a soft spot for beers that have a) an attractive, modern, cartoony label and b) an interesting back-story. A sucker for marketing, I know, but there was no way I could leave Pure Ubu on the shelf for both of these reasons.

Ubu, according to the label, is the brewery’s dog, who is “a maverick, brim full of character and the unofficial keeper of [Purity's] secrets”. There’s even a cute little drawing of him crowning the front label.

However, I must become a hard-nosed beer reviewer once again, decant the dark amber liquid into a glass, and cast the bottle away from view as to not influence my judgement on the key element of this package.

The nose is malty and warm, with an extra-sweet sensation of caramel and toffee coming through strongly. Once in the mouth, the light carbonisation barely disguises the rather thin, slightly watery mouthfeel. A little warm flavour does manage to make its way through, however, and the slightly nutty taste soon gives way warm, dry aftertaste; an unexpected sensation considering the lightness of the body.

Further down the glass, the beer becomes rather refreshing and fairly enjoyable. Initial disappointment at the lack of impact in the mouth soon gives way to a rather satisfying ending. This, surprisingly considering the darkness of tone, would make a great summer session ale, with the 4.5% abv being relatively none threatening if enjoyed over a period of time.

In the same way that image of little Ubu frolicking happily across the label, this beer wins its way into your heart. Like owning a dog, at first it can seem hard work, but perseverance will bring its rewards with this ale.

Tags: amber, bottle design, pure ubu, purity, refreshing

Wolf Whistle and Woild Moild, by Wolf Brewery

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The 15 finalists in the Sainsbury’s Beer Competition included no less than 7 beers from Scotland.  The remaining 8 from England included beers from Devon (2), Shropshire, Yorkshire, Somerset (Bath) and Suffolk. The east of England is actually quite well represented with these two entries from the Wolf Brewery in Norfolk as well as Greene King’s Bretwalda.

I’ve come across Wolf before, last year (although not this year  as I didn’t get to the local section) at Norwich Beer Festival. The festival, held in the St. Andrew’s & Blackfriars’ Halls slap bang in the centre of the ancient city, not only has the usual set up of lots of UK real ale ales, but also a room each dedicated to world beers and local beers.

It’s in the local beers room, a rowdy rabbble of beer, cider and tombola, that Wolf features at Nowich Beer Festival. Along with St Peters (from Suffolk) and a handful of smaller breweries East Anglia’s beer is proudly poured for the red nosed punters amidst a loud din of jovialness.

And I think that’s the way these beers are meant to be drunk, because served up in a bottle in front of me I don’t get the same excitement of buzz as I did at the festival.

Wolf Whistle is the paler of the two ales, although it is still a vibrant Fantastic Mr Fox red, bold and amber in complexion. There is a sweetness and gentle hop aroma on the nose, and this is washed down by the easy to drink liquid that leaves a malty aftertaste. The hops add a subtle aroma and later a bitterness that, without, would leave this beer uninteresting.

No doubt this is a session beer rather than an occasion beer and I can see it being better from the cask. It’s clean and light and makes you want another sip, but that’s more to do with the pleasant malt bitterness than a bursting taste you can’t wait to get back to.

Woild Moild is a much darker affair, with a rich nose and a smoky dark mild body and a gentle carbonisation that adds (a slight) bite on the tongue. What sets this apart from similar dark beers is Woild Moild’s fruitiness, which, as with Wolf Whistle’s hops, it would be uninteresting without. For me this beer is held back because I can’t find the chocolate malt the label promised. Without that it’s a simple, fruity dark beer but isn’t as interesting as I was expecting.

These beers are well worth a look though, not least for Wolf’s attitude as a brewery and local business. Wolf are very much focused on their local heritage, placing emphasis on sustainability - they draw water from their own well, recycle waste products and source barley malt from just across the Suffolk border.

Wolf Brewery have certainly done very well to get in the 15 finalists, and the beers are good and highly drinkable – in my opinion they’re just not great. These are session beers, and good pub beers – tasty, fruity and easy to drink – but a little more spark would be needed to be competition winners.

Thanks to Duncan at Wolf Brewery who came to my rescue with a bottle of Wolf Whistle, the only one of the 15 finalists I wasn’t able to get at my local Sainsbury’s.

Tags: chocolate, dark, Fruity, malt, mild, norfolk, norwich, red, ruby, whistle, woild moild, wolf

Nick Stafford’s Hambleton Ales Taylors Tipple

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One of the biggest sellers at this years Sainsbury’s Beer Competition, I’d heard lots about Hambleton Ales’ beers before I picked this up. The North Yorkshire brewery has won a smattering of awards in its short history but I don’t think it’s gained the visibility in pubs and stores.

Not endowed with huge aroma, Taylor’s Tipple poured with a frothy head which quickly subsided leaving a (very) delicate zesty scent. The first sip was subtly roasted and malty. Blink and you’ll miss ‘em hints of berries when it first hit my tongue were replaced with an autumnal feel, no doubt down to its lovely bitterness and it’s chestnut colour. I wonder if there’s a bit of caramel malt too that added a slightly sweet undercurrent to the proceedings?

Sainsbury’s claim this has a wonderful citrus aroma, but I just didn’t get it. Duff bottle perhaps but this ale’s strengths seemed to be it’s chestnut character and superbly drinkable texture.

I think I’ll need to give this another go because one bottle was a little indistinct. It is light and enjoyable, a beer that’s probably perfect for a day spent diving into piles of autumn leaves and drying off in front of a fire.

Tags: ales, autumn, caramel, chestnut, cirtus, hambleton, leaves, malt, taylors tipple, zesty

Bretwalda by Greene King

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Bretwalda was one of the few beers in the Sainsbury’s Beer Competition that didn’t jump of the shelf at me. Packaging is vital to any beer, and whilst there’s nothing wrong per se with Greene King’s Bretwalda style, it simpy didn’t appeal to me when I saw it.

That affects my perception of the beer and I already don’t exactly hold Greene King in great regard – it’s nothing personal I’ve just never really enjoyed the beers hugely. And I’m firmly on the side of the fence that doesn’t rate their IPA.

So given that I’m starting from a slightly negaive point of view, I’m pleased that I can write about Bretwalda positively. My first impression is that it’s sweet and peppery – white pepper that is – with hints of spices and an almost chilli or ginger aftertaste. It’s fruity beyond the interesting pepperiness, like copice pears, and the fruity flavours are distincively English which must be the Greene King and Marston’s apple yeast I’ve read about.

The peppery taste adds real bite to what could otherwise be quite a flat bottled beer, and the caramel malty character makes it drinkable and slighly sweet. A real ‘real ale’ sourness comes through which makes me crave more refreshment.

This is a real autumn beer, in colour, taste and bottle design, you can almost taste the colder days and browning leaves.

This isn’t really my style. Whilst for me, beers like this are infinitely more interesing than the staple bitters found in Wetherspoons. I like the English complexion, texture and aftertaste, but it’s still a tad nondescript. That’s harsh, it’s just a little, underwhelming, for me. For those that favour bitters and autumnal ales this could be a real winner, with something interesting others beers might not have, but if you prefer continental or pale ale styles rich in hops than it might not be your winter cup of tea.

For me, I’ll give this another go, but only at this time of year. I’ll hazard a guess that it’s twice the beer drank in a real pub, under the orangey leaves of an English oak on a chilly Sunday afternoon in November.

Williams Bros 80/-

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William’s Brothers 80/- (that’s ‘80 shillings’ for those born this side of decimalisation, me included) is a traditional Scottish ale. It pours a deep reddy brown liquid, as if it is sprung right out from the land infused with clay and earth.

Its full malt flavour grabbed me from the off but was quickly replaced with a roasted body that created a very pleasant aftertaste. This is an enjoyable beer to drink.

The malt was chocolately and there were hints of toffee and fudge, like the smell of chocolate cooking in a smoky kitchen, amidst the roasted flavours.

The finish came up a little too quickly and it wasn’t until the end of the bottle I fully appreciated the character, which was a little like a barbecue in a pâtisserie, or perhaps a fruit shop. The quirky malt character at the beginning faded into the roasted undertones with hints of fruit in the middle.

This beer is something different and very enjoyable. If I’d just had a bit more body in it I’d find it a little more compelling, but I’ll certainly be buying more of this.

Bays Breaker

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Bays are very much an unknown to me, and this is the real beauty of the Sainsbury’s beer competition. Without, it would probably have taken a trip to Devon for me to have stumbled across this beer.

The brewery is a new one, set up in 2007 on the south Devon coast and has three flagship ales: Bays Best, Gold and Breaker. It’s the latter that made the cut in the Sainsbury’s Beer Competition this year and therefore found its way into my trolley a few weeks ago.

I should point out I drank this a little colder than it’s probably meant to be, a result of not very good fridge planning and me been very indecisive about which beers I wanted that night.

Bays Breaker is an interesting beer, it’s almost peppery, sweet and bitter all at the same time, an array of contradictory flavours that sit together better than you’d expect. The peppery aftertaste demands another sip, a sip that will start fruity and soft, and ends with a carbonised bitterness.

In big gulps the malt and fruit shines through and if you sip slower it the bitter flavours linger.

Without becoming a favourite Bays Breaker certainly makes for an interesting tipple and that could well have a couple of food partnerships out there waiting to be found (I reckon this to wash down fish and chips might just work!)

Tags: bays, beer, breaker, competition, devon, fruit, pepper, sainsburys, torbay

Acorn Brewery Barnsley Bitter

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I have previously enjoyed one of Acorn Brewery’s seasonal ales Summer Pale in Leeds’ excellent drinking hole Victoria Commercial, so was keen to try one of their permanent offerings ‘Barnsley Bitter’.

The look of the pint oozes tradition, right from the off-white, fluffy head down to the dark ruby colour of the body. There is a strong coffee-esque aroma with a hint of Hazelnut noticable as well.

The taste follows the scent perfectly; a strong roasted coffee flavour leads on to a warm bitter aftertaste that defies it’s session ale ABV of 3.8%.

The sensation of the first drink reminds me much of the early-morning caffine rush, often required to get through that Monday morning feeling. It’s a great, satisfying feeling.

The remainder of the pint, unfortunately, never quite hits that high and whilst it remains a good, well-produced bitter with enough to make it stand out from some of the more run-of-the-mill offerings, there wasn’t quite enough to make me want a second pint amongst the competition available at the pump-rich bar at the Vic.

On reviewing Summer Pale, I commented that it was perfect for drinking in the season during which it sells. As we roll into autumn and winter, Acorn Brewery produce a bitter that is definitely a first pint to recommend to warm the cockles.

Tags: Acorn, Barnsley, bitter, coffee

T.E.A. – Hogs Back Brewery

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Hogs Back Brewery T.E.A (Traditional English Ale), 4.2%

Currently sat round Jack’s house playing 1 Vs 100 on the Xbox while having a few real ales. Tomorrow we’re hoping to head over to Greenwich to check out the Meantime brewery but in the meantime (pun definitely intended) we plan on doing a few reviews tonight.

This TEA was recommended to me by Fletch a few weeks ago so when we were down at Waitrose picking ales I suggested to Jack that we give it a whirl. Aside from Fletch it comes well recommended having won the 2000 Best Beer in Britain award.

I have to say that this beer is really smooth, tasting initially a bit like a strong continental lager and not as strong as many award winning ales. The soft initial flavour gives way to a fantastic hoppy aftertaste which I would imagine was responsible for putting it in line for the award. It is bottle conditioned and has the quality you expect for a bottle conditioned ale.

Jack says this is one of the top five ales he’s ever tried and that he would not be embarrassed to give a bottle to his old man at Xmas. Top referral Fletch.

http://www.hogsback.co.uk/

Tags: 4-5% ABV, Best Beer in Britain, Bottle Conditioned, Hogs Back Brewery, T.E.A., Traditional English Ale, Waitrose

1849 Champion Ale – Joseph Holt’s of Manchester

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Despite hailing from the ‘wrong side’ of the Pennines (a distinction I realise is entirely subjective and I say with the greatest of affection and genial banter!), the eponymous Joseph Holt of Manchester and his descendents have created a number of really good quality ales over the years, and 1849 Champion Ale is one of the brewery’s most readily available ales.

Hints of fruit jostle amongst the hops that dominate this ale. It has a darkish complexion in taste and colour, which make for a complex but thoroughly enjoyable drink, worthy of it’s ‘Champion’ title.

Traditional ales that really hit the spot can be hard amongst the myriad real ales in some supermarkets (not a bad thing but a good sign of how real ale now commands decent shelf space in the big four chains). If you live outside the North West & The Lakes you may have to go a little further out of your way to find Joseph Holt’s bottles though, as if I remember rightly this was a frugal purchase from Booth’s in Ilkley.

A very rewarding bottle, from a brewery that deserves greater recognition than it probably gets, at least outside of the Greater Manchester area. We’d be very proud of such a brewery in Yorkshire!

Tags: 1849, champion ale, dark, joseph holt, manchester, Traditional Ale