Horsforth Beer Festival

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Horsforth Beer Festival

Jam-packed with Yorkshire beer, Horsforth plays host to its annual beer festival this weekend and some of the pints you’ll find probably haven’t even left God’s Own County to get to your (half) pint glass. Local beers include:

• Great Heck ’Slaughterhouse Porter’
• Hambleton Ales ‘Cheeky Mare’ and ‘Stallion’
• Little Valley ‘Python IPA’
• Ilkley Brewing Co ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ & ‘Ugly Duckling’

Prizes for the most memorably weird and wonderful beer (and brewery) names go to:

• Dicky Ticker Brewery
• Leadmill Brewery’s ‘Old Mottled Cock’
• Bazen’s ‘Zebra Best’
• Blue Monkey’s ‘99 Red Babboons’
• Millstone Brewery’s ‘Tiger Rut’
• Nutbrook Brewery’s ’Cow Juice’
• Old Spot’s ‘Dog in the Barrel’

Tags: beer festival, great heck, hambleton, horsforth beer festival, ilkley, leeds, little valley, yorkshire

Beer and cheese suggestions?

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On Sunday a bunch of friends in Leeds are having Christmas dinner. We’ll all be going our separate ways for the festive period so it’s a chance to catch up, eat and drink together, play some board games and enjoying finally admitting that we’re adults with houses now and not students still.

I’m in charge of beer and cheese, after picking some fancy samples at Lincoln Christmas Market earlier this month.

So I’m basically just looking for suggestions, as tomorrow I’m off to Beer Ritz to purchase the beers and on the way back stopping at Leeds Markets for the cheese.

Cheeses I have so far:

White Stilton Strawberries and cream – I’m thinking a strawberry Belgian beer

Yorkshire Black - a local Yorkshire beer?

Maplewood Smoked (just like Applewood smoked really) – a smoky porter or Rauchbier

Lancashire Apple, Raisin and Cinnamon – I’m stumped on this one!

I also have a bottle of aged Orval, but I’m greedily undecided as to whether I’m willing to share this with anyone!

Tags: beer, beer with food, black, cheese, christmas, Food, lancashire, maplewood, smoked, stilton, yorkshire

Leeds Brewery Tour

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It seems so simple, this-setting-up-a-brewery lark.

Walking around the compact, but seemingly organised Leeds Brewery with co-founder Sam Moss, it’s easy to forget that the business has only been in existence for a touch over two years.

Situated on a light industrial estate not far from Leeds’ bustling centre, the brewery is the hub of an expanding local empire that now stretches to three pubs across the town centre as well as the modern and compact Leeds Brewery HQ. The team produces three permanent beers and twelve seasonal beers; one for each calendar month. The beers are on sale across the country and also in Leeds brewery’s three self-owned pubs in Leeds city centre.

Being Leeds residents and big fans of the beers that the brewery makes, we jumped at the chance to take a day off work and visit our very own local brewers. Upon arrival the other half of the management, Michael Brothwell, was busy making an emergency keg delivery in the back of his Ford Fiesta, so it was down to Sam to take us round the modern set up… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: best, brewery, business, leeds, leeds brewery, midnight bell, pale ale, tetleys, West Yorkshire, yorkshire

Timothy Taylor Landlord (bottle)

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When I’m out socialising with companions who are satisfied with just
about any golden, fizzy liquid they can get their hands on, one of the
few real ales they have actually heard of is Timothy Taylor’s Landlord.

In bottle form, the jolly barman on the label is recognisable from
many a cask pump. So does it live up to it’s cousin from the barrel?

The dark amber colour is certainly inviting and the ale produces a
lively head straight away. Freshly poured, the aroma certainly
imitates the warm, malty scent of the cask equivalent.

Once in the mouth, it’s surprising how smooth it feels for a bottled
ale, with only the slightest of carbonising sensations on the tongue.

The first taste reflects the malty aroma with the slightest of toffee
in the mouth, with a strong, burnt aftertaste that lingers for the
remainder of the glass. I have to say, I don’t recall this particular
flavour from the last time I had Landlord in the pub and, at first, I thought
it might detract from the potential to be a good session beer. By the end
of the bottle however, I could certainly have managed another couple -
the sign of a winning ale for me.

Comparing a bottled to a cask version of the same beer is something I
don’t always find easy to do, as each method can produce a very
different pint, some better in the bottle, some in the cask. Landlord
tastes slightly heavier and the aftertaste is certainly more
overpowering in the variety I have tried here, but this doesn’t make
it any less of a drink.

Realistically, I didn’t expect it to meet the high standard set by a
pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord in a traditional pub setting, but I
didn’t anticipate that it would produce such a drinkable bottled beer
in it’s own right.

Tags: landlord, timmy taylor, timothy taylor, yorkshire

Black Sheep Ale

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Every time I have Black Sheep I expect it to be darker, heavier and harder to drink than it really is – my perception really does do it a disservice.

Whether it’s the overly dark bottle or the simple yet foreboding label, I find myself pleasantly surprised at Black Sheep’s drinkability each time I drink it.

My misperception stems from having spent a couple of comedy nights necking bottles of this at Hifi in Leeds, a situation that quickly leads to bloating and an early retirement; to be sure this isn’t a beer for a long session or a night on the town.

However, out of the bottle and enjoyed at a gentler pace, Black Sheep is a deep, amber coloured ale, rich in both colour and  flavour, it’s body bittersweet as the label describes. It takes a few sips to accustom too, beyond which it can be sunk with an ease that creeps up on you. Within minutes it seemed my glass was dry, as was the bottle!

It’s difficult to describe the flavours of Black Sheep, so I might just say what it isn’t. It isn’t overpoweringly hoppy or malty, it doesn’t have a fruity edge or a tangy twist. It has an interesting aftertaste that can’t quite work out if it’s going to be sweet enough to send your taste buds into raptures or bitter enough to make you gasp for another sip immediately. At the same time this feeling isn’t harsh but gently crisp and completely satisfying. In the end you take another sip and another gulp without even realising, enthralled in it’s balanced body and lingering, malty finale.

Black Sheep is one of those beers that really is a “real ale”.It’s strength isn’t in outrageous ingredients nor pretentious marketing statements. Black Sheep is British ale as good as real ale gets – deep, mysterious and glorious in its simple yet rich aromas. There isn’t one overriding ingredient or flavour that defines Black Sheep, it is pure, balanced class, expertly crafted and a beer that Masham, Yorkshire, and the whole UK can truly be proud of.

Tags: balanced, bittersweet, black sheep, masham, theakston, yorkshire