This Is Camden
"I'll explain how the process works as I prepare your order" shouts Ahrash over the buzz of the crowds and the whirrrrr of the industrial food mixers. And donning a thick gauntlet, and dropping plastic safety glasses, he turns to the cannister containing nitrogen oxide and casually turns the latch, releasing a gushing of colder-than-ice-cold steam into the pureed ice cream mixture. This is Camden. This is England. Eating nitro ice cream in the 2010's and drinking ...
Build A Rocket Boys! by Elbow & Robinsons
Elbow are the kings of soaring melancholy, masters of poetic northern introspection. Let Elbow's albums flow over you and you can be mesmerised by their beauty alone. Put in the time to listen, to soak up the poignancy, the humour, the extraordinary manifestations of the ordinary and their albums become life affirming tributes to the everyday. Conversely, it's quite easy to stick an Elbow album on and realise thirty lethargic minutes later that time - and ...
The humble pint
So the pint is done with we're told! Well what would they say in Prague, where refreshing pilsners stand proud in tall half litre glasses, quenching thirsts almost with their looks and frothy gusto alone. Tell the football fans sinking a pint of bitter before the well trodden march to the ground that their beer will be served in flutes or tulips or whisky tumblers. "Like hell" they cry! The ugliness of a nonik pint glass aside (does ...
York Tap
It's a drinking hole essentially, underneath it all. For all the domed skylights and stained glass, people come here to let off steam, to pass the time, to forget the day. To drink. But to say that is to do York Tap a disservice as it stands resplendent next to the revived station complex. Like its Sheffield counterpart it was born in an old resting room, and the 104 year old building suits its new life ...
Meantime Union Vienna Style Lager
Deep in a basement bar not far from Bohemia, the cerny pilsners of the brewery up the road changed my perception of lager. Sweet and rich but surprisingly light, they distributed refreshment and nutrition as if feeding me and five thousand other thirsty drinkers. Meantime Union shares a similar contradiction. Broody and brown, this is is no pale bodied pushover. Lagered it is, and a tad metallic to boot, coupled with a dark caramel composition and ...
Roosters Pumpkin Beer
Roosters Brewery, whose beers are the staple diet of many a Yorkshire pub, marked this Hallowe'en with a pumpkin beer. No ordinary pumpkin beer though, a pumpkin beer served in nothing less than a giant pumpkin. A really, really giant pumpkin. Pumpkin 5 Spice Ale was tapped at North Bar in Leeds, in front of Calendar news and a small selection of excitable beer lovers. Arguably a more delicate task than tapping a cask, the job ...
Killer jerk chicken with killer ginger beer
Jerk chicken isn't just tasty to eat, it's a joy to make. The honey and coriander marinade is messy and sticky, the chicken succulent with a crispy skin - lots of kitchen mess and fun. Juices of bird and salad mean this a meal best served sans cutlery but with plenty of, well, Plenty. For a ginger beer Robinson's Ginger (brewed for M&S) is a dark and syrupy affair, quite different from a can of Barr's ...
House of the Trembling Madness
The goofy moose head gazes down aloofly from his lofty perch below the rafters, and we sit cradling a kriek and a pilsner in a building that has almost a millenniums worth of years on us. House of the Trembling Madness sits above the cobbled shopping street of Stonegate, York. The city walls skirt their circular path near here, the famous minster is but a Viking throw away. Students from the continent order coffee and thirds of ...
North By North Orval
Orval is the sort of beer spoken about with reverence. I like to think the same goes for North Bar. It should have been me and my friend Tom sat there, dissecting Leeds United's yo-yoing fortunes, laughing at the Howson Is Now blog and deliberating the creaminess of the Orval cheese whilst sat on the classroom chairs and the well leaned on tables. But it's my brother partnering this trip due to Tom's tight schedule as a relatively ...
Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew
From Pendle Hill you've more chance of seeing Ian Holloway celebrating at Bloomfield Road than coming across any broomsticks or clandestine hurlyburly. And that's on a cloudy day. The sandstone plateau does have a slightly spooky aura about it though. Standing proud from the undulating hillside you can imagine a cackling coven of witches peering over the landscape and plotting the demise of their rivals. Especially if you visit during thunder and lightning... Moorhouse's Pendle Witches Brew is inherently ...
Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt 2011
Over the last few months the Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt has been taking place providing a welcome opportunity to try some different beers from the familiar supermarket shelves. 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 ...
M&S London Porter
Smoky as hell to smell and like a burnt caramel bar to taste, M&S's London Porter is a sweet beer to devour with masses of chocolate or marshmallows over a camp fire. If you don't fancy the great outdoors then no worries, the lingering smoky presence hangs around for a long time in your mouth and may invoke daydreams of sitting under the stars and gazing at the heavens. It's packed with malt variety: you can settle ...
Lakeland IPA
Tuesday night, two bottled bitters sunk and the quenches for thirst and flavour continue to itch away unabated. Cue Lakeland IPA, a beer that for one moment in time justifies the beatification of hops single-handedly. The perfect hiss released as metal hits glass and twists plastic; an aroma eager to reach a nose and knock on the door of the senses. Soft-fleshed fruit says hello - mangoes might not be typical of Cumbria unless visiting a certain kitchenware ...
Moor JJJ IPA
This not, I repeat NOT, an IPA. Punchy, citrus hops? Nil. Alcohol? Deep, stewed and sweet beyond believe. Apple skins & fruit pudding? Yes, yes, YES! None of which gives Moor JJJ IPA much credence as an IPA. But then again this isn't an IPA nor a double IPA. It's only a bleedin' triple IPA(!!!). This couldn't be further from Green King's bland and monotonous flagship brand of ale and is similar in nothing but colour. By their own admission Moor didn't ...-
October 11th, 2009Beer Reviews, Golden AlesBath Ales Golden Hare
Objectivity in any sort of reviewing is very difficult. I’m the first person to admit that my favourite beers of all time are drowned in nostaglia and personal experience – drinking Brooklyn EIPA or Old Hooky my judgement is clouded with an emotional connection to those beers that were my first of a particular style or are associated with personal triumphs.
Beyond these beers there’s the beers by breweries that I just love. I’m a sucker for St Peter’s rounded bottles and for Brooklyn’s adaptable logo designs*, BrewDog oozes rebellion whilst White Shield, steeped in history, will always be my benchmark of English IPAs.
Bath Ales is one of the breweries that is starting to make a mark with me. I love the labels, they are a mix of contemporary and traditional, somehow reminding me of a cosy yet modern pub and restaurant, the sort of establishment that serves continental lager with olives, and is decorated with Habitat ceiling lights hanging from 13th century exposed beams – all set against a roaring fire in the middle of the Dales of course. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but it makes me feel cosy whilst remaining comfortably luxurious.
Bath Ales' Golden Hare
The names of Bath Ales’ beers are similarly classy whilst rooted in the Avon countryside and the charm of rural life.
And the beers are good too: Barnstormer winner of the Sainsbury’s Beer Competition 2008 is a distinctive dark ale, Gem a rich amber bitter and Wild Hare, a citrusy pale beer brewed with yeast.
But the cream of the crop might just be this little number, Golden Hare.
Golden Hare pours a gleaming gold, light amber and yellow. There’s a slight floral aroma and a fruity nose. It slips down your throat with ease (as most Bath Ales do), with hints of tropical fruits following a light and fresh golden body.
This is crisp, refreshing, almost invigorating – dry yet thirst quenching. The tangy aftertaste begs another sip and the zesty flavours exude sunny days and long nights.
But am I being objective, or have I succumbed to the ‘pick me off the shelf’ labelling and paradoxically modern/traditional branding?
Who knows? And does it really matter if I enjoy it?
Tags: bath ales, bees, birds, golden*(interesting, the Brooklyn logo was designed by Milton Glaser, designer of the I Heart NY rebus and the poster from Dylan’s 1967 Greatest Hits album)
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October 9th, 2009Golden AlesOn arrival at Sainsbury’s to peruse the finalists in their 2009 beer competition Birds & Beesimmediately caught my attention. The label is modern and playful and stood out from the crowd.I loved the colour and the illustration and it fell into my basket (placed very carefully I should say)without further thought.Originally I was going to save this beer but it on an indecisive evening with the light not fading until late into the night, it was thisthat grabbed my attention again and I plucked it from the shelf.Not 100% sure what to expect I took care opening it and poured out the golden liquid. It had a light hoppy aroma,and light fruity taste. Turns out it’s a light golden ale! Swill this around and the colour, aroma and the taste combineto make a really good golden beer.The gentle fruit and floral aroma (looking at the label that must be the elderflowerand the Cascade hops) is really refreshing. There is a malt finish that adds an unexpecteddarker tang to the beer, which is just enough to make you want another sip and no doubt makes this an enticing session beer.Trying this it was actually one of the first summer ales I’ve had and I wish I’d been able to get my hands on some in May or June as this might just have been my proverbial soundtrack to the summer (that typical over in a flash summer we usually have!)I’ve only tried the bottle but I can only imagine the cask version of this is the perfect pint on a sumnnyternoon.
On arrival at Sainsbury’s to peruse the finalists in their 2009 beer competition, Birds & Bees immediately caught my attention. The label is modern and playful and stood out from the crowd.
I loved the colour and the illustration and it fell into my basket (placed very carefully I should say) without further thought.
Birds & Bees & Beer: this is a playful ale with citrus and honey flavours
Originally I was going to save this beer but it on an indecisive evening with the light not fading until late into the night, it was this that grabbed my attention again and I plucked it from the shelf.
Not 100% sure what to expect I took care opening it and poured out the golden liquid. It had a light hoppy aroma, and light fruity taste. Turns out it’s a light golden ale! Swill this around and the colour, aroma and the taste combine to make a really appealing golden beer.
The gentle fruit and floral aroma (looking at the label that must be the elderflower and the Cascade hops) is really refreshing. Honey and lemon blossom on your tastebuds and there is a malt finish that adds an unexpected bitter tang to the beer, which is just enough to make you want another sip and makes this an enticing session beer.
Trying this it was actually one of the first summer ales I’ve had and I wish I’d been able to get my hands on some in May or June as this might just have been my proverbial soundtrack to the summer (that typical over in a flash summer we usually have!)
I’ve only tried the bottle but I can only imagine the cask version of this is the perfect pint on a sunny afternoon.
Tags: bees, birds, citrus, elderflower, golden, honey, summer, williams brothers -
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