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 ...
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 ...
Goose Island India Pale Ale
Hoppy, vibrant, refreshing and tangy to finish, Goose Island is a mighty fine American IPA. The Chicago brewers bottled ales are a staple of many of the best bars in the UK, with both the IPA and Honker's Ale permanent fixtures at our work's regular, The Cross Keys in Leeds. American IPAs differ from their UK counterparts. I don't think it's all down to the fact I enjoy them quite a bit colder than I'd usually ...
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 ...
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 ...
Hare & Hounds, Bowland Bridge
It seems like a wild goose chase, this drive through tiny lanes, sloshy piles of orange and yellow leaves, under a canopy of browning greenery. Both wing mirrors brush through the amber walls of the wild hedges are pinning us to the road like tramlines of a vanishing point. The last weekend of October is an immeasurably beautiful one in the Lake District, and after two full days of trundling around Coniston, Ullswater, Bowness and Kirkstone ...
Plot 16: The Fermenting Room
When beer and art collide: Modern Art Oxford's limited edition green hop beer 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 ...
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 ...
Golden Pints 2011
We saw the New Year in with Asti, barley wine and a drop of whisky. And cheese. And board games. And in suitably reflective mood this morning, here's a little celebration of the year we've just waved adieu too. These are a small bunch of highlights of a 2011 that was action packed, even though it meant blogging was harder than ever. Rather than awards, these are people and places we'd like to buy a drink for, ...
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 ...
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...
...my true love gave to me a delicious homemade lasagne. It really was absolutely scrumptious, but not particularly in-keeping with the season. So to accompany this feast and herald a climax to the Yuletide festivities, I brought a centuries old recipe back to life in the form of wassail. This winter warmer is a heady concoction of dark ale and spices fortified with a splash of something a little stronger. It's a bit like mulled wine for ...
Desert Island Beers #26: Leigh Linley
This week we have a friend coming to stay on our desert island. Welcome Leigh Linley! Born and bred in Leeds, Leigh has been writing about beer and food on his blog, The Good Stuff, since 2005, which makes him one of the longest serving food and beer bloggers in Yorkshire. And he sure knows his stuff. In conjunction with Dough Bistro (and soon also the famous Beer Ritz beer shop in Leeds) Leigh hosts beer and ...
Ivanhoe English Pale Ale
The guy behind the counter looks as decrepit as the shop, and the shop doesn't even look open, it's grape-bordered window dressing might be confused for a long boarded up newsagents. It leans against Ladbrokes on the Dereham Road, just a short walk (and not very scenic walk) from the pot-holed streets of Norwich city centre. Ivanhoe jumps off the shelf, of all the local beers it looks the most promising (though in fairness surprisingly few ...
Spurn Point
Just like Mike Parker, the author of Map Addict, for years I've been mesmerised by the enigmatic Spurn Point, that strangely shaped strip of almost-land that stretches from the tip of the East Riding of Yorkshire and awkwardly attempts to reach back downstream towards the sands of the Humber estuary. Spurn Point (or Spurn Head for many) is a sand bar that has been precariously edging it's way westwards over the last millennium of geological time as the ...-
September 23rd, 2011Desert Island BeersMartin Townshend started home brewing in the mid-nineties with two Swedes, a South African and another pom whilst saving hard during an apple picking season in New Zealand during 1995.
When returning to live in New Zealand permanently in 2001, a weekly slot to talk about beer in a local radio station arose that lasted over a year and a half. On the back of radio appearances a fortnightly beer column in the local newspaper led him to meet a fellow brewing enthusiast and Craftbrewers was born, a small marketing company dedicated to the (then) 5 breweries in the top of the South Island. A series of beer events followed, raising capital for Martin to seek further investment to purchase the Moutere Inn, New Zealand oldest pub. It now boasts 13 dedicated craft beer taps.
Whilst this was all going on, Townshend Brewery was established, dedicated to cask real ale. Growing steadily and as demand increased for the beer, the brewery’s output became a full time job. Since selling his shares in the Moutere Inn, the brewery has gone from strength to strength, winning the odd award on the way.
Tags: Abbot Ale, Fullers London Pride, new zealand, pilsner urquell, townshend brewery
Martin Townshend, Townshend Brewing, New Zealand
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August 27th, 2011Desert Island Beers
Stu McKinlay is the brewing brains behind Yeastie Boys – a multiple award-winning New Zealand brewery. He formed Yeastie Boys with friend and fellow beerhunter Sam Possenniskie, in 2008, and they’ve been bucking trends ever since. They burst onto the scene with their style-bending debut ale Pot Kettle Black (still the only beer to have won two BrewNZ trophies in a single year), and this month were awarded the BrewNZ ‘Morton Coutts Trophy for Innovation’ for their heavily-peated single malt golden ale Rex Attitude.
Tags: Desert Island Beers, new zealand, Yeastie Boys -
November 8th, 2010Comment
In a list of New Zealand’s exports you can pick from lamb, kiwis, exciting rugby union, Bret and Jermaine, Nelson Sauvin hops and even non-league football and World Cup legend Shane Smeltz, who helped guide his national side to become the only unbeaten team in the 2010 tournament in South Africa (unfortunately he didn’t help Halifax Town too much although I have seen him play at the Shay a few times).
But you beer lovers might just want to pop Kelly Ryan, brewer extraordinare at Thornbridge Brewery, to the top of that list. Kelly leaves the UK this week to head back to his homeland but his legacy will live on with a number of beers that are achieving cult status in the UK – Jaipur India Pale Ale, green hopped Halcyon, Saint Petersburg Imperial Stout and the rare and enigmatic Bracia stout. Kelly’s influence goes beyond simply brewing though, but through hosting tasting events, becoming a resident and local at The Coach and Horses in Dronfield and generally being a positive ambassador for beer.
So as a brewer whose helped change real ale for the better and someone we’re honoured to call an acquaintance, to Kelly and Catherine, all the best in New Zealand and we hope to see you again (hopefully for a twissup style curry!).
Kelly Ryan: better at brewing than Shane Smeltz is at football
Shane Smeltz: has scored more World Cup goals than Kelly Ryan
Tags: halifax town, kelly ryan, new zealand, shane smeltz, thornbridgeKelly& Cat, thanks for the great beers, the inspiring chats and the twissup adventures. All the best in New Zealand, we’ll be having a Mac’s Gold and selected Thornbridge beers in your honour this weekend! PS. Did you and Shane learn those faces at school or something?!
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July 28th, 2010Beer Reviews, Lagers
Mac’s Gold All Malt Lager would simply fly off the shelves if you stuck it in UK supermarkets.
It’s the perfect barbecue beer: it’s lager, it’s sweet golden nectar with just a hint of pilsner influence from the brewer.
It’s gimmicky ring pull gives it points simply for the lack of dependence on those pesky bottle openers that inevitably go missing mid-way through the evening, lost in decorative stones or knocked off a low brick wall into a thicket of patio plants. It happens, you know it does.
The distinctive bottle and ringpull of Mac's Gold
Mac’s doesn’t distinguish itself by being different, bold or arrogant. It’s simply good lager – a sweet not-a-million-miles-from-honey twang.
Hops don’t dominate, in fact hey barely offer any bitterness to counter the sweetness infused by the malt.
This is probably the endearing factor that might make Mac’s Gold suitable to beer lovers from all walks of life, even hop head vampires whose blood runs thick with DIPA. I believe they have a predisposition to chilled wholesome lager anyway. Even BrewDog James.
Tell me I’ve been done by the fact it looks different to the others.
Tell me actually its not better than San Miguel, Sam Adams or even Sam Smith’s Alpine.
I’ll say ‘whatever’ – whether it’s branding or body copy, Mac’s should be brewed on license over here, because it’s a winner through and through.
Tags: BBQ, macs gold, new zealand
Macs Gold from New Zealand: Perfect for bbqs
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