Cue bearded beer expert Zak Avery and now beery business owner, who stepped in with a joint management buy out to rescue the famous Beer Ritz from the brink of limbo.

For those who thought they’d never get to go again, and those who thought they’d never have the privilege, rejoice, because Beer Ritz is open and we hope it’s back for good!

Sing it from the mountain tops, Beer Ritz is back!

If Zak Avery made beer shops, then they'd...

...probably be the best beer shops in the world

Many of you have probably already heard this great news, but just in case anyone hasn’t, please spread the word! And make the pilgrimage to Beer Ritz and buy beer!!!

The last week has been something of a fresh start for me A couple of weeks ago I managed to ruin my netbook, hence the recent lack of any AlanWalsh posts, but managed to have a full factory reset yesterday having lost nothing of any importance. I also made the trip to Meadowhall last week to exchange my iPhone for one that actually works. I should explain. Having been one of the first of my group of friends to get one back in April I thought that the reception was poor due to the 3g and was willing to accept the stick in exchange for having the carrot that is probably the best piece of technology that I have ever owned, even with the limited coverage! As time went on and more of my friends got the iPhone I realised that I was not getting reception when others were. It was becoming apparent that I had managed to take delivery of the only iPhoney on the market and, to the consternation of  anyone who tries to call me regularly (otherwise known as my Mum), was unable to make/receive calls of longer than a couple of minutes without reception disappearing. Anyway, full marks to Apple because they changed the phone with no complications. In truth the most painful part of the whole experience was fighting my way through the hordes of teenagers (most of them pushing prams) to get to the Apple shop in Meadowhall.

I have less technological reasons for recent happiness as well. All of my Christmas presents (nearly all beer) were well received. My Mum and her two sisters were given a selection of Timmermans Fruit Beers - Peach, Raspberry and Cherry – which were tasted and swapped on Boxing Day. Peach was the only one to get unanimous approval with the Cherry flavour being the most ‘acquired’ taste with only my Auntie (a self-confessed Cherry Bakewell nut) being a fan. My two uncles received bottles paired with cheeses from the Piazza Cheese and Ham Shop in Leeds Corn Exchange. Even my Fosters drinking Dad was happy with his bottles of Stout, preferring, to my surprise, the stronger flavour of the Sam Smith’s Imperial Stout. I may have shot myself in the foot though as requests to bring more bottles next time I visit were ringing in my ears well North of Nottingham after an hour on the road. The small New Years Eve party we had at our house went well with a hearty Shin Beef Stew, a delicious hand made Lemon Meringue Pie  (courtesy of my housemate’s girlfriend Charly) and of course a good selection of Real Ales sourced from the thinning shelves of Beer Ritz.

So how exactly is this looking forward to the last year of the decade you may ask… Well for a start I had a great time with family and friends that I do not see often enough, so I’m going to be making more ‘missionary’ visits in order to spread the good news of real ales to the people that mean the most to me. Also I intend to be working hard to find recipes that lend themselves particularly well to the  Real Ale Reviews ethos. My starter of Beer Potted Cheese was delicious on New Years Eve and was found in a book dedicated to Victorian stillroom techniques, I will be scouring such books for further gems so you don’t have to!!!! (The potted cheese recipe will be added in a few days.)

On other fronts aim to run a marathon in less than four hours and a half marathon in 1 hour 31 minutes, neither targets are easy for me as a stocky chap but I hope will be achievable with hard work (I already have 14 miles on the 2010 clock).

Sure it’s good to look back, although perhaps not totally healthy if the method is a week’s worth of e4 Best of the noughties shows. We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the most productive reason to look back is to find the best way forward. For example my first (nearly full) year with Real Ale Reviews has widened my knowledge and experience of beer as well as bringing me into contact with some cracking people that I would have otherwise never have met. Will be sat at home reminiscing about this? No, I’ll be sat wondering where we’re going next. I for one fully intend to grab the last year of the noughties firmly by the bollocks and see where the ride goes. I hope you’re with me.

On Ilkley Moor: one with hat, one without hat

If you read about my special beer night a few weeks ago, you might remember that my usually varied and brimming beer cupboard was running a bit low, with only a few beers left, most of them bottles I was saving.

So with pay day just gone it was time for a stock up, so the weekend just gone I nipped to Ilkley for a few hours out on the moor with Sam Lanes, stopping at Booth’s supermarket on the way before a quick wallet burning session in Beer Ritz.

I’d gone with the intention of stocking up on pale ales, it’s been a while since I had any staple favourites in and I fancied some strong hoppy numbers, the likes of Halcyon, EIPA, Goose Island, St Lupulin and co. But I ended up leaving with a surprisingly English ale selection, as the Booths stock was very focussed on Northern numbers and I got distracted at Beer Ritz by  a few ‘new ins’.

Beers from Booths

Booths has a good selection of ales, although nothing was really grabbing my attention at first. After a few minutes scanning the vast array of brown bottles I picked up a Williams tayberry beer which I remember being good, a Joseph Holt as not only was I tempted by the Lowry label and because 1849 Champion had been good.

A few people had told me to try Chalky’s Bite, whilst I couldn’t resist a beer local brews (thinking a bit ahead of myself for beer swap round 2?!) particularly Withens IPA which I (think) I tried at Keighley & Worth Valley festival at Oxenhope.

And once at Beer Ritz (where I parked extraordinarily badly unbeknown until I got back to the car) I couldn’t say no to a Hooky Double Stout (it’s bloomin’ fantastic!). Distracted by the stout and a cap in the shop who was asking advice on BrewDog’s Paradox and Rip Tide, I stopped in the stouts and porter corner and helped myself to a Dark Star Imperial Stout. It was a short journey along the shelf to a Marble Tawny and a 5am Saint, before grabbing (carefully) a Burton Bridge IPA and a Jaipur to fuel my IPA hunger.

Beers from Beer Ritz

I barely had time to pack these beers home before shooting off to the Christkindelmarkt in Millennium Square, aka the Leeds German Market for light and dark wheat beers and some very fizzy lager.

All in all it was quite a beer oriented day (Sunday most definitely wasn’t!) and over the weekend I even managed to get my beer swap parcel sorted at last, hurrah!

As the title suggests, I have taken a trip to Beer Ritz this evening to restock my Beer Cellar. On the lead up to my big run last Sunday I couldn’t really trust myself to have too many quality beers around the house in case I let my training diet slip (limit was max 1 beer a day, max 4 days out of seven!)

I picked up 17 bottles tonight, in no particular order…

BrewDog Punk IPA x2

Leeds Best

White Shield

BrewDog Zeitgeist

Brooklyn EIPA

Bradfield Farmers Brown Cow

Orval x2

St Austell Tribute

Crown Brewery Unprenounceable IPA

Bradfield Farmers Pale Ale x2

Meantime Pilsner

Brooklyn Lager

BrewDog Trashy Blonde

Leeds Pale

What does anyone think of my selection????

Are there any big names you would have put in your cellar restock that I’ve missed? (I will probably be going back tomorrow to pick up all the ones I’ve forgotten!!!)

First things first, this is the recipe that I am cooking, passed to me by my mate Jack but changed a little but by me  (I have used Leeks in favour of Onions)…

3 x Leeks

6 x Pork Chops

1 1/2 x Jars of Apple Sauce

1 x Bottle Medium Sweet Cider

Knob of Butter

Salt and Pepper to Flavour

Method – Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed stew pot in order to sweat off the leeks (which should be roughly chopped). Once the leeks are soft, brown off the chops before adding the cider and apple sauce to thicken, simmer for 10-15 mins on the hob and then bang in the oven for 45mins at 180-200 degrees.

Moving on to more important things, I had headed to Beer Ritz to grab a few bottles of cider on the way home from work. My housemate Jim is a big fan of Aspall’s and, although Cider is my weakest area (in University Challenge terms) I am aware off Aspall’s to be a good brand and expected to see it on the shelves of Beer Ritz. It was not, but they were stocking Weston’s and Sheppy’s. I selected Sheppy’s as my brewery of choice for the evening as Fletch is something of a Weston’s fan and has reviewed before I believe. The advice of Beer Ritz’s always helpful management was at hand to ensure that I had the right options for cooking. We selcted three Sheppy’s ciders, Kingston Black to go in the food, a couple of bottles of the same to go with andbottles of Cider with Honey and Falstaff Cider for some experimental tasting with the housemates.

Cider with Honey, 5.4%

This cider was exactly what the label suggested. The honey came through as the first taste with the subtle taste of the cider coming through after. The honey carried this golden cider off an absolute treat, it was readily drinkable and, even at the bottom of the bottle, not at all sickly in it’s sweetness.

Not being a regular cider drinker I’m not  sure how this would be received by the hard core scrumpy faithful but I am sure that other dabblers such as myself could do a hell of a lot worse.

Kingston Black, 7.2%

This cider was far stronger on the tongue than the honey one I’d just put down. It was livelier than the honey cider and drier but was still palatable.

Coming straight after the honey cider there was a danger that this would be too dry but it actually reined in the sweetness to just the right amount and provided the more robust body necessary to accompany the food, without allowing my flavoursome efforts to be overridden. The Kingston Black apple is dubbed as being prized for it’s full bodied aromas and this blend is certainly testament to that fact.

I would note that, at 7,2%, while the flavour and body of this cider suggest that you probably could drink this all night, the likelihood is that you wont!

Falstaff, 5.6%

Returning to the a more reserved abv of 5.6% this cider was also sweeteer than the Kingston black, but crisper and clearer than the honey cider. The Falstaff cider perfectly fills the gap between the Honey Cider and the Kingston Black and completes the set of sweeter ciders for tonight’s reviews.

I had not been forward thinking enough to arrange a dessert to follow the main course but this slotted into the gap really well. I would like to give a more comprehensive analysis but, as it’s the third cider of the night, I have run out of adjectives! I apologise and all I can really say is that if I had to select one of these to drink all night, it would be this one.

Conclusion

Aided by my housemates, Jim and Kat, we have rated the three ciders as follows…

1. Cider with Honey

2. Falstaff

3. Kingston Black

Although I have to say that this was on initial tasting only and that my favourite of the night was probably Falstaff. The important lesson here though is that, while I walked into Beer Ritz looking for Aspall’s, I was directed towards a cracking brewery producing a range of ciders suitable for every palate. It’s not an area I know well and the evening has taught me not to be blinkered and to experiment with what’s about. Who knows, next Monday could be cider night with Weston’s and could be just as much fun…