Eating isn't Cheating: American IPA

Showing posts with label American IPA. Show all posts

Modus Hopperandi by Ska Brewing (Super Fresh) American IPA

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Wednesday, March 07, 2012

I got a tip off from Dean from Mr Foleys about how good this beer was and I knew I had to try it. It was just a few days before I went on holiday, and I had a million other things to do, but it was worth the trip.

What a beer.

Here's how Modus Hopperandi from Ska Brewing tasted...

Piney, earthy, citrus hops on the nose. Very dry smelling with a touch of white pepper.

In the taste it's got a massive upfront hop bitterness, as big as any US IPA I've tried. There's a bit of orange pith, intense grapefruit, and underlying malt sweetness, resinous pine and wet, almost skunky grassy notes. Alongside a massive bitter finish with a smidge of American hard candy sweetness before the hops just completely knock you for six.

Punishing, intense, awesome.

This batch was Kegged 4th Jan, and served feb 24th. It's the freshest tasting American IPA I've tried in this country, and easily one of the best.

This beer is awesome, but the freshness made it even better. It's the antithesis to the somewhat lacking Racer 5 I tried recently. In other words, freshness matters.

North Bar and The Euston Tap (and probably a few other places too) have some of this beer I think. Go get some!

p.s I've been a bit lax blogwise of late due to the fact I went on holiday. Normal service shall be resumed presently....

Jai Alai

Cigar City Brewing Jai Alai India Pale Ale

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Friday, December 02, 2011

Just a quick one today. This is my first beer from Cigar City Brewing, an american brewer that I've heard a lot of good things about but never tried. I wasn't even going to blog about about it, but it was so good I thought I'd spread the wealth. So here we go.

The aroma is a mix of tangerine, a little fresh pine, a slight sweet butterscotch in the background and just loads of fresh citrus. It smells great.

This has got a really great fresh hop flavour that reminds me a little bit of the Crooked Line Detour IPA which I absolutely loved a while back. Despite being 7.5% it’s not got that typical resinous American IPA flavour to it, and is much fresher, less reduced, and an altogether more quaffable beer than I was expecting. Super fresh and just generally delicious, I loved it.

Buy some from www.mybrewerytap.com you won't regret it.

Sliders

Sliders (Mini Beefburgers) 3 ways - paired with Caldera American IPA

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Friday, November 25, 2011

I think about food a lot. If I’m not doing something that requires my full attention, then you can pretty much guarantee I’ll be formulating a recipe in my head or thinking about that Thai place I can’t wait to try.

This afternoon I was mostly thinking about burgers. I knew I had some really good butcher's mince in the fridge, some onions and a few of the other bits and pieces needed, but what about the all important toppings? I couldn’t decide.

The combination of my indecisiveness, Colette’s penchant for mini stuff, and spotting a perfect 9 pack of mixed mini bread buns in M&S sealed the deal. I wouldn’t decide, I’d make three different kinds.

The three flavours I decided on were: Fresh Coriander and Jalapeño salsa, Mango Chutney and Blue Cheese, and Classic Cheddar.

All the burgers had a bed of lettuce and just a smidge of mayo: The “Classic Cheddar” also had tomato, sliced red onion, ketchup and mustard.; the “Fresh Coriander and Jalapeño salsa” contained diced tomato, red onion, Jalapeño, garlic, fresh coriander, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar; the “Mango Chutney and Blue Cheese” was simply a generous slab of Stilton with a mango chutney coated top bun.

These three seemed like a good balance as you get one pretty classic burger, one spicy burger, and one rich and weird burger. Lovely stuff.

I wanted a big fruity IPA to go with these burgers. Something that was sweet and fruity enough to handle the mango chutney but also had some bitterness and depth to go with that charred meat - Plus blue cheese and American IPA’s is a match made in heaven - so Caldera IPA from Oregon was the ideal candidate.

It worked a treat. Particularly with the Blue Cheese and Mango Chutney which was far and away the best of the three. It’s just a perfect combination; salty, funky cheese and sweet, fruity chutney atop charred, well seasoned beef. It ticks all the boxes and with the Caldera was probably the best Beer and Food Match I’ve had all year.

Burger tips and other info:

I used 700g of mince (mixed with 1 grated red onion, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1 beaten egg and plenty of salt and pepper) to make 9 mini burgers. That works out at roughly ½ a pound of meat per person, split between three mini burgers. This amount is perfect for a good sized main meal when served with a big shared bowl of potato wedges.
Mould your burgers into lime sized balls and then press your thumb into the centre and squash down. This creates a fat, red blood cell shaped burger. Place these onto an oiled plate and set in the fridge or freezer for at least 15 minutes before cooking. When the burger cooks the dint in the middle will expand creating a perfectly flat top. If you have them flat to begin with then you’ll end up with golf balls after cooking, it’s a neat trick that works a treat.
I used butchers mince but fresh ground chuck steak with a bit of fat is even better. There’s loads of recipes online and I’m not pretending the burger recipe here is the best. This post is about the toppings, and the beer match.
I cooked my burgers on a really hot griddle pan for 4 mins either side to medium well done.
The Mango and Blue Cheese burger was partly inspired by this post from Andy at BeerReviews, and also the great rare beef, Stilton and onion Maramalde sandwich I ate recently in Pickles & Potters of Leeds.

Zeitgeist

5 great beers that deserved a repeat visit

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The one problem with writing about beer is that I’m always looking for new beers to try, because it gives me something to write about. So if there’s one beer which I know is good, and another which I’ve not tried but I think might be good, I’m much more likely to go for the latter.

One of the things I love most about beer is the fact there’s always something new to try, but it doesn’t negate the point that there are loads of beers which I know are good, but which I never talk about because they aren’t new.

So today I want to talk about a few beers which aren’t new, but which I’ve drank loads of times, sound exciting? Well it should, because the reason I’ve drank them loads of times is because they are damn good beers. They deserve a repeat visit and every time I’ve had them again I’ve thought “why don’t I drink this beer more often?”

BrewDog Zeitgeist (Black Lager) 4.9%

Zeitgeist hasn’t gained anywhere near as much attention as some of BrewDog’s other beers, possibly because it isn’t as extreme as the likes of Black Tokyo Horizon or as (rightly) popular as the ever approachable new Punk. But it’s still an absolute belter.

Its got a big roasted malt flavour yet a lot of the characteristics of a good lager - nice light to medium body, slightly sweet, refreshing and massively drinkable. Even if the weather’s red hot this dark beer hits the spot.

Drink it straight from the fridge if you want a refreshing yet tasty beer, or let it warm up a little to coax out a more complicatedly roasted chocolate flavour.

Sierra Nevada Celebration (Fresh Hop Ale) 6.8%

They really should change the label of this beer. Calling it ‘Celebration’ and putting a picture of a snow covered cabin on the front screams out ‘Christmas’ more than a holly decorated mince pie - even though the beer inside doesn’t taste in the slightest bit Christmassy.

In fact this is a really well balanced beer with a complex yet satisfying combination of hops and malt; you get grapefruit, green tea, orange pith, and even a touch of herbal mint from the dry hopped American C bombs, alongside fruity, hardcandy sweetness and an underlying crisp toffee from the malt.

It’s just a great beer, any time of year.

Titanic Stout (Stout, duh) 4.5%

Titanic Stout was one of the first British bottled beers that really blew me away. It just doesn’t taste like it came out of a bottle - with a really big, mouth filling cask ale texture and absolutely bags of flavour. I’ve had this on cask and it’s almost identical to the bottle conditioned version, which is no mean feat.

It’s got everything you want from a stout, with a smokiness that’s just softened enough by flavours of chocolate and filter coffee, but remains charred and dry throughout with a really crisp bitter finish. It’s just a stunning stout, and at 4.5% punches well above its weight.

Drink this one at cask ale temperature (not straight from the fridge) and you’ll get a lot more out of it too.

Brooklyn Lager (Vienna/Amber Lager) 5%

I bought a pint of Brooklyn Lager at the weekend to compare it to Thornbridge’s new Kill Your Darlings Vienna Lager, and do you know what? Brooklyn is still the best Vienna Lager I’ve tasted to date. Kill Your Darlings and Flying Dog Old Scratch both came close to knocking it off the top spot, but didn’t quite make it.

It’s just brilliant every time I have it. As an introduction to American Craft Beer I’d say Brooklyn Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale are two of the best places to start - but even if you’ve been drinking good beer for years, their worth returning to. Classics for a reason.

Goose Island IPA (India Pale Ale) 5.9%

Goose Island IPA is the perfect example of a beer which I drink all the time but have never written about, because it’s been around for so long. It’s a stunning American IPA even by modern standards, despite the fact it’s been around for over 20 years and is in fact brewed as an “English Style IPA”.

Having recently been taken over by AB-InBev, and now being stocked in Tesco’s, this is a beer that is becoming extremely easy to get a hold of, which in my opinion can only be a good thing.

It’s got big flavours of bitter grapefruit and that classic American IPA citrus/pine needle flavour, yet the underpinning of sweet malt makes it pretty balanced and drinkable. Another one that can stand up to being drunk straight from the fridge, it’s a great beer to coax your macro-lager drinking mates on to good beer.

Mr Foley's

International IPA Day - Mr Foley's full beer list

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Wednesday, July 27, 2011

For the benefit of those who don’t follow me, or pretty much any other beer blogger, on Twitter; I’ll start off by letting you know that there’s a genuinely exciting beery event happening next week called International IPA Day.

Thursday the 4th August is set to be a celebration of the much loved beer style India Pale Ale and its importance in the "Craft Beer Revolution". Started by a handful of bloggers in America it has quickly spread across the beer drinking World, predominantly via the power of social media and without the involvement of the traditional press or any corporate sponsors. Anyone can get involved, and everyone’s invited - A truly grassroots movement.

One of Leeds best pubs, Mr Foley’s on The Headrow, is getting involved and serving a huge range of IPA’s from keg, cask and bottle to delight the taste buds of Leeds drinkers, as well as some talks from a number of brewers serving beer at the event and two of Leeds finest Beer Bloggers – Zak Avery and Mark Fletcher.
There’s even talk of some curry to go with this historically Anglo-Indian beer-style, which is quite frankly a happy bonus!

If you want to read more about IPA Day then visit the event page, or search the hash tag #IPADay on Twitter. I’ll be there on the day and Tweeting throughout, so follow me at @EisntCNeil for a live rundown of what’s tasting good.

As you can see from the list below Mr Foley’s have secured some really special beers for the event, lots of exciting new brews such as Summer Wine Brewery '7C's of Rye', Magic Rock Brewery 'Human Cannonball', and Thornbridge Brewery 'RyePA'. A few exclusive beers you won’t find anywhere else such as Brewdog’s 'Hello, My Name Is Ingrid', which was brewed solely for the Swedish Market and Roosters Brewery 'Underdog IPA' which was produced especially for #IPADay at Mr Foley’s. Add to that a dedicated fridge containing 13 different bottled and canned IPA’s from the UK and USA and you’ve got an event with more hops than a bag of bunnies.

Mr Foley’s #IPADay - Full Beer List - UPDATED WITH PRICES (Pint/Half)

KEG

Magic Rock ‘Human Cannonball’ 9.2% £5.50/£2.75
Summer Wine ‘7C’s of Rye’ 7% £3.20/1.60
Brewdog ‘Hardcore IPA’ 9.2% £5.00/£2.50
Brewdog ‘Hello, My Name Is Ingrid’ 8.5% £5.00/£2.50

CASK

Thornbridge ‘Geminus’ 8.5% £3.50/£1.75
Buxton ‘Axe Edge’ 6.8% £3.30/£1.65
Kirkstall ‘Dissolution IPA’ 5% £3.00/£1.50
Roosters ‘Underdog IPA’ 5% £3.00/£1.50
Red Willow ‘Peerless’ 5.2% £3.00/£1.50
Hardknott ‘Code Black’ 5.6% £3.10/£1.55

BOTTLES

Odell ‘Myrcenary IPA’ 8.5% £5.50
Odell ‘IPA’ 7% £4.20
Stone ‘Cali-Belgique 2010’ 6.9% £6.00
Victory ‘Hop Devil’ 6.7% £4.00
Victory ‘Hop Wallop’ 8.5% £5.00
Dogfish Head ‘90 Minute IPA’ 9% £6.00
Sierra Nevada ‘Torpedo’ 7.2% £3.80
Maui ‘Big Swell IPA’ £4.30
Goose Island ‘IPA’ 5.9% £3.30
Brewdog AB:06 11.5% £15.00
Brewdog ‘Punk IPA 5.6% £3.40
Brewdog ‘Hardcore IPA’ 9.2% £4.50
Red Willow ‘Ageless Double IPA’ 7.2% £4.00

Double IPA

Sierra Nevada 'Best of Beer Camp' Double IPA

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Friday, July 08, 2011

Sierra Nevada’s ‘Beer Camp’ sounds like a seriously cool thing to be a part of. Basically it’s a Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket type experience - but for American beer geeks. People submit video entries explaining why they should win a ticket to Beer Camp and Sierra Nevada select a lucky few, who then go along to the brewery (based in Chico California) for a few days, and see the ins and outs of what makes great craft beer. But that’s not the best bit. Winners also get the chance to help formulate a new beer, and in a "no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle battle of wits" a new beer is decided upon amongst the participants of ‘Beer Camp’.

The resulting ‘Best of Beer Camp’ beers are fairly rare even in the US, but in the UK are almost impossible to come by, with only ten kegs of the three beers produced making it across the pond. The three Beer Camp beers hitting the UK this year are: Juniper Black Ale 8%, Double IPA 8.5% and California Common 6.5%.

Luckily for beer lovers in Leeds, Mr Foleys has got a hold of one of each. The Juniper Black Ale was the first beer up and it came and went before I had a chance to try it (although Leigh and Ghostie both loved it), so I made a point of making sure I tried the next beer to hit the bar – the Double IPA.

Sierra Nevada ‘Best of Beer Camp’ Double IPA

The aroma is soft pine and pink grapefruit, very clean, vividly bright orange colour, with a tight, thin white head.

The flavour is absolutely huge with an instant hit of super bitter hops, which give you loads of bitter orange, pink grapefruit and a hefty whack of pine resin. There's a nice marmalade sweetness in the middle then the finish is dry and harsh (but not in a bad way) with more pine, and an almost tongue stripping final hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is light but slick from the high amount of hop oils in the brew, it tastes and feels jam packed full of American hops.

It hides it's hefty 8.5% ABV pretty well but in the aftertaste there is a definite boozy quality, a bit like Cointreau, but it's a pleasant mellow alcohol hum rather than a big boozy kick .

This is a seriously full on, dry, bitter, yet just sweet enough, true American Double IPA. What an absolute gem of a beer for Mr. foleys to get in, and one which I’m so happy I got a chance to try.

The Double IPA was almost finished when I tried it last night so unless you get there super quick after work tonight you might not get a chance to give it a go, but if it’s finished then be sure to try the California Common, I’m sure it’ll be another must-try beer.

p.s. 'California Common' is a 'Steam beer', the most famous of which is Anchor Steam. A bit like a lager but brewed at a temperature more akin to ale brewing, these beers have a fruity character that lagers dont really get. The name comes from the fact when tapped the kegs gave off 'steam' from very high levels of carbonation. However because Anchor have copyright on the term 'Steam Beer' the term 'California Common' has been adopted by other breweries which produce the style.

181

Victory

Why we've fallen in love with American Craft Beer

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Tuesday, June 28, 2011

American craft beer is great. Not only has it inspired breweries like BrewDog, Thornbridge, Magic Rock, The Kernel, DarkStar, Marble and Summer Wine to push the boundaries of 'British Beer', but it's also vastly improved the bottled beer selection that's on offer over here. I mean sure we aren't drinking it quite as fresh as our trans-atlantic cousins, but damn those hops still taste good!

There was a great article on The Guardian website recently about American craft beer making inroads over here and for once i've been forced to agree with a national about beer; it is getting wider availability in the UK. A recent trip to The Stew & Oyster cemented my feeling that normal pubs and bars in the UK are starting to broaden their bottled beer horizens, and the perfect way to do that is with some tasty American craft beer. If we can get more pubs with good British cask beer on the bar, bottled US craft beer in the fridge, and maybe even some UK or US craft keg available too I'll be a very happy bunny.

So on to the beer that got me thinking about the US craft invasion, and how it's inspired and pushed forward breweries in the UK, Victory Hop Devil.

Victory Hop Devil is a great example of why I fell in love with American beer. It's the antithesis to boring beer. Bright, brash, bold, super hoppy, tasty and damn drinkable. It even looks a bit gaudy. I love it.

The beer pours a rich amber orange, very clear and clean but with a fairly thick hop haze and an ever so slight tinge of red, like someone's pippetted a single drop of cherry juice into the glass. The aroma is a mix of sharp citrus marmalade and pine resin, with a faint touch of caramel sweetness.

The flavour is initially slightly sweet and fruity with hints of orange and underripe mango, before it becomes extremely dry and bitter with a spicy, stinging attack of orange pith dryness, resinous pine and just masses of complex hop bitterness, in the finish there's also a faint edge of sweet Cointreau booze from the medium-high (in US terms) 6.7% ABV.

The hop flavour of this beer is the star of the show, and there's a nice balance between orange peel, grapefruit and loads of pine that combine to create a huge onslaught of complex bitterness. Its got that classic American IPA flavour, more resinous than floral, with a herbacious spiciness rather than the um bongo fruityness that hop forward British IPA's like Punk display. Maybe it's the fact these hops have had chance to settle but you get a lot more spicy, resinous hop flavour and bitterness than you do fruitiness and aroma with these American craft beers.

It's not a new beer (brewed since 1999), but it's one that most British beer drinkers won't have tried, and as an inroad to big American IPA's it's not a bad place to start. Available from Beer Ritz in Leeds (if your quick), and often from the online retailers such as AlesByMail, MyBreweryTap and BeerMerchants.

Give it a try, and long may the invasion continue!

The Grove

Tasted and tested: The Magic Rock beers

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Last night was the official launch of Magic Rock Brewing at The Grove in Huddersfield, and what a night it was.

Most breweries do a 'soft launch'; with their new beers slowly making it into different pubs and beer bars as they begin to spread the word, and build up a loyal following over a few months or even years. Magic Rock on the other hand took a leaf out of the BrewDog book of Marketing, and decided to kickoff the brewery with a wollop rather than a whisper, inviting anyone and everyone to come and try their brand new beers fresh from their fledging brewery. The potential pitfall of this strategy of course is that once you've got everybody's attention you run the risk of the beers not living up to the expectation, in other words, not fulfilling your own hype.

However I'm very pleased to announce that this wasn't the case in any way, shape or form when it comes to Magic Rock. These beers deliver.

The place was absolutely packed and there was a genuine buzz in the air, with a heady mix of beer geeks, bloggers, brewers, beery Biebers (see @GroveBri's twitter for clues) and slightly bewildered old regulars, all mixing together happily and discussing, assessing and most importantly enjoying the fantastic range of beers from Magic Rock.

I did what everybody did for my first pint and went for the session strength "Curious" Pale Ale 3.9% - which was so good the first cask went in 30 minutes and at one point there was a 12 pint queue.

"Curious" has that quenching, juicy-yet-bitter citrus hop flavour that great session strength pales like Hawkshead's Windermere Pale or Ilkley Mary Jane achieve, along with just a hint of sweetness and a finish which is bitter yet balanced, making it very drinkable. I spoke to Rich from Magic Rock briefly at the event and remember saying to him that I could see this beer selling like crazy. With a mix of drinkability, flavour and relatively low ABV it's exactly what most cask drinkers are looking for in a beer.

Next up was the beer I'd been looking forward to most, the "Rapture" Red Hop Ale 4.6%. The taste definately lived up to my hopes and this was by far my favourite beer of the night, and the beer I chose to buy a second pint of when I only had time for one more before my train back to Leeds. Which in itself says a lot.

"Rapture" hits you with a big juicy smack of fruity orange peel hops, which combine with a stewed fruit, raisin and mixed berry malt body to create a hugely satisfying beer. It's also got a very slight chocolate note - that fruity, juicy flavour you sometimes get with really high quality, 70+ cocoa dark chocolate. For me the berry pushes through stronger than the chocolate though, and combined with the strong hop profile makes Rapture remind me a little of BrewDog's 5am Saint, which I hope the Magic Rock guys will take as the compliment it's intended.

My third beer of the evening was the "High Wire" West Coast Pale Ale 5.5%. If "Curious" is the beer that regular cask drinkers will lap up then "High Wire" is definately the beer bar staple, where the regulars won't touch anything under 5% ABV this is going to be a winner.

"High Wire" was the one beer that wasn't quite what I expected. Slightly lighter and more balanced than I thought, making it hugely drinkable. I think I was expecting a sort of mini AIPA, but actually this is a true West Coast Pale, with mango and a touch of passionfruit hop flavour sitting atop a lightly bitter body and just a hint of crisp malt, it finishes bitter and clean, and is another great beer.

Last, but by no means least, was a half of the "Cannonball" IPA 7.4%. Unlike the other three beers this one was, in my opinion quite rightly, being served on key keg with an added spritz of carbonation and an ever so sligthly cooler serving temp. It was initially pouring a bit frothy, which someone mentioned to me could be down to the fact that the key keg hadn't been racked upside down. I've got no idea if this is correct or not, so don't shoot the messenger if it's way off the mark.

By the time I bought my half the beer was pouring perfectly, obviously just some first night jitters, and my doubts were pushed aside after the first sniff. Wow that's a good smelling beer! It's got a sweetly floral, fruity aroma from the dry hopping, with tropical mango, orange pith, passionfruit (Nelson Sauvin?), lime citrus and a little pine resin all coming through, even before you take a sip. The taste is a continuation of the smell, but there's also a slightly unexpected amount of sweetness that acts well to balance out the onslaught of bitterness that your palate is bracing itself for. It's a very rich beer, with a definate slickness to the mouthfeel similar to something like Sierra Nevada's Torpedo IPA, which again highlights the amount US Craft beer has to play in the flavour of Magic Rock's brews.

So there you have it, four great beers from a brand spanking new brewery, how often can you say that?

I'll hopefully be getting my hands on some of Magic Rock's bottled beers soon too and will let you know what they are like compared to their cask and keg cousins, so keep your eyes peeled.

On a final point, we all commented on how much we liked the branding, particularly the frankly beautiful pumpclips, and it's reassuring to find out for myself that the beers match up to the hype. No amount of eye catching branding or social media marketing (both of which are good things for a brewery to do) will cover up bad beer, and I couldn't be happier to say that this is one brewery that have the full package, and certainly can't be accused of style over substance. The fact is, their just lucky enough to have both.

Visit Magic Rock's website here www.magicrockbrewing.com for the latest information on where to buy their beers, although an obvious place to start is of course www.mybrewerytap.com

English Pale Ale

Buxton Brewery: Axe Edge and English Pale Ale

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Wednesday, June 08, 2011

I attended a 'Buxton takeover' at North Bar in Leeds recently and got the chance to try four of their beers on cask in one evening, a rare treat in itself, but the thing I enjoyed most about the event was the chance to chat with some guys from the brewery and hear the passion they've got for what they do. These guys know their stuff, and are trying to make the best beer they can, which is a recipe for great beer if ever I heard one.

I also got the chance to pick up some bottles from the brewery. So first up from this brewery are a pair of very different bottle conditioned pales: An English hopped pale ale and an internationally hopped IPA.

English Pale Ale

The English Pale Ale from Buxton pours a slightly hazy Amber orange with a bubbly White head that laces the glass and clings around. The carbonation is very soft, the closest thing to cask you'll get in a bottled beer. Really mouth filling and lushly thick like a good hand pulled cask beer. In fact this beer has a very cask ale feel to it in general, which I mean as a great compliment, as it definitely suits the style and completely sidesteps the boringness of some British style pales.

The aroma is soft but the closest thing I can get is orange caramel wafers, not overly fruity, just a faint dry orangyness. The flavour is much stronger, with sweet orange and a little bit of herbaceous/orange wheat character initially then comes a big waft of really complex hop character, mixed citrus peel and a huge dryness which is floral and spicy like fresh oregano, as well as grapefruit pith and a very slight limoncello alcohol flavour right at the end. There's also a slightly odd smoky note but it disappears when you look for it, it's both there and not there - like Schrodinger's cat. This beer was brewed as a showcase for English hops and it achieves its aim perfectly.

It's a very complicated beer but also very drinkable, one you can pay attention to and enjoy exploring or simply sit back and enjoy.

Axe Edge Double IPA

This pours a thick, hazy deep orange colour, with a small head that dissipates to a thick ring but sticks around.

This smells massively fruity with a big aroma of grapefruit and sweet orange, really inviting. The flavour is a nice balance of sweetness and tartness, with orange and grapefruit flavour following through from the aroma plus a touch of lime and a faint dry oatmeal biscuit note. It becomes even more dry as you swallow but its not that huge crippling dryness that some double IPAs display.

All in all it remains pretty balanced for the style. There's a slight alcohol slickness to the mouthfeel and a definate warmth but no burn or harshness and unless you look for it the ABV is hidden well. It's a lovely double IPA thats really drinkable and super tasty, what more could you want?

These Buxton beers do something very difficult. They are both complex and hugely drinkable. You can concentrate and enjoy the depth of flavour, or simply sit back, drink them and enjoy. Which is exactly what I'll be doing with the next bottle of either of these little lovelies.

Leigh at Good Stuff, Zak from Are You Tasting The Pith? and Reluctant Scooper also really liked the Buxton beers they tried and all are well worth a read.

I was kindly passed a few bottles by the guys at Buxton during the North Bar event, but you can buy their beers from a number of places around the country, some of which are listed here: http://www.buxtonrealale.co.uk

If you live in Leeds then Beer Ritz have Buxton beers in stock too.

Uinta Brewing

Uinta Brewing's Crooked Line Detour Double IPA - Beer Review

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Monday, May 30, 2011

This Detour Double IPA (9.5%) is part of a 'Crooked Line' series from Uinta brewing, which they say are a range of beers that side step traditional brewing techniques and ingredients and present a different approach to great beer. In fact, they don't say that, they say this:

"Our brewing odyssey is a thirsty quest to satisfy our obsession with beer. Marked with frequent diversions

and detours, our crooked path has taken us to some unexpected places. These adventures often culminate into late nights around a table, enjoying good food, artisan beer, and animated conversation.Our journey has ultimately led us here, on an innovative brewing escapade, an opportunity to brew outside the lines. Welcome to the Crooked Line, bent beers that side-step traditional brewing techniques and ingredients."

But that's a bit long winded isn't it?

Still, whatever their motivation, they've produced a fantastic beer, in one of the best looking

bottles I've seen in a while. Really unusual looking, creative, and just a touch weird, it works really well and definitely goes along with the 'Crooked' shtick that they're peddling. Zak commented on it being a great looking bottle a while back, but didn't go into much detail about the beer itself, something I'll try to rectify now (not that I can match his flowing prose of course).

It pours from the big 750ml corked and caged bottle a deep orange colour,

like a chunk of raw Amber, with a fluffy clean white head and very little carbonation.

You get sharp resinous hop oils on the nose, loads of pine resin, a little fresh pine needle and also touch of pineapple. There's a little bit of booze in the smell too, which is expected at 9.5%, but the overriding aroma are those big juicy hops.

The flavour is immediately bitter resinous hops, fresh pine and loads of pine resin aswell. Some bitter orange citrus oil, a little orange breadyness in the middle and again that slight fruity pineapple flavour fights to come through along with a faint bit of grapefruit. The mouthfeel is slick, smooth and slightly oily but that hop bitterness manages to keep it clean. The carbonation is perfect, not too heavy, and that pure white head sticks around and laces the glass. Impressive for a 9.5% beer. As it warms a little the booze becomes a touch more noticeable and warms your palate, but it never gets harsh, and for it's ABV remains dangerously drinkable.

This IPA has huge bitterness which follows through smoothly into the finish, there isn't a sudden dryness or bitterness that comes in, and in that sense it is very balanced and smooth. The bitter hops are constant and satisfying, but there's enough sweetness to keep your mouth from crippling and it finishes clean and dry with lingering pine and orange citrus oil.

It's a lovely beer, and one which I'm looking forward to drinking again.

Saison

Nogne O Brewery tasting session

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Nøgne ø are a fairly new craft beer brewery from Norway (they started in 2002) and I think that like me most people won't have had the chance to try many of their beers. Despite some product being sold at outlets such as Utobeer on Borough Market, and a few other very specialist places, they haven't officially entered the UK market so their beers are still pretty rare over here. But that's something that is hopefully set to change.

Last night I was invited to be on a tasting panel being conducted (with a little help from North Bar's Matt) by a marketing research team working for Nøgne ø brewery based in Norway - no they unfortunately didn't fly us over there, it was held in Leeds!

NB - In case you're wondering how to pronounce Nøgne ø; going by the way our Norweigen hosts said it, I think the pronunciation is something like "Nerg-na-ya oh" but please don't hold me to that. Let's just agree it's hard to say and leave it at that.

We started off by talking about what beers we liked, how seasonality effected our choices, how we got into 'good' beer and some other general beery subjects while the tape recorder rolled and a few of the marketeers made notes.

During the discussion we were served some of the brewery's Pale Ale and were then asked our thoughts on it. Which is pretty much how the rest of the session panned out - a bit of chat while drinking, then a talk about the beer itself after we'd tried it. Everybody there was very honest and forthcoming about what they thought of the beers and there was a really informal atmosphere (we were in a bar afterall), exactly what a tasting session should be.

My notes below are what I thought of the beers, much of which I repeated to the group at the time, but some of which I have contemplated in retrospect.

Pale Ale 6%

Quenching and refreshing, this beer drinks like a good session pale yet has an American hoppyness too it aswell. I liked this beer but it didn't have chance to wow me, and I don't think it got a fair outing. It's the kind of beer you appreciate over the course of a pint, not a small amount being swirled around an oversized wine glass!

Saison 6.5%

Admittedly, it's not a style I've drank a lot of but this one left me distinctly underwhelmed, probably my least favourite of the session. It had a yeasty, slightly citrus aroma which carried through into the flavour which was also earthy and slightly spiced with hints of clove or coriander seed. It was nice, but if all five were on the bar I think this would be my last choice.

India Pale Ale 7.5%

This smelt amazing, with a huge passionfruit led aroma and hints of other tropical fruit such as mango and grapefruit. The flavour didn't quite deliver on the smell but was still damned good, tart and hoppy with big citrus flavours running right through and a dry, slightly boozy finish. I liked it but a few of the others were a little dissapointed and didn't think the flavour matched up to what the smell was promising. I would agree but I think it might have been judged a little harshly by some (Dean!). As we said during the tasting there are so many awesome IPA's flooding the craft beer scene that we are a little spoilt for choice. If you'd have given us this beer a year or so ago I think it would've knocked all our socks off.

Porter 7%

This was a really good, classic Porter. It had that typical roasted, slightly chocolatey coffee flavour yet a nice dry hoppy finish which balanced everything out. It also had that straight-after-an-espresso after taste that I love to find in Porter, where the roasted coffee flavour and hops come together to dry your mouth in the same way that a coffee does. It was really good and something I could have drank a pint of (but probably shouldn't at that ABV).

Imperial Stout 9%

They really saved the best for last with this one - It was the unanimous favourite with the group. A really deep, rich, thick to the point of being oily, Imperial Stout. This was a beer to be savoured. I'm a massive fan of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and this was the closest I've tasted to it. It wasn't quite as good, but it wasn't far off. The group were bouncing flavours off each other with more mentioned than I can remember, but I'll try: Dark Chocolate, Coffee, Liquorice, Blackcurrant, Peat, Salt, Brown Sugar, Molasses plus loads more. It's the kind of beer you could serve as a dessert with a scoop of good vanilla Ice-cream, and in fact, that's exactly what we ended up doing.

Does that count as a beer cocktail I wonder?

Big thanks to Matt at North Bar for the invite, Nøgne ø for the free beer, and everyone who attended (including Rob from HopZine, Nick from Beer Prole and Dean from Mr Foley's) for making it such an enjoyable few hours.

Raging Bitch

Flying Dog Raging Bitch - Belgian Style American IPA

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Monday, May 02, 2011

Flying Dog Raging Bitch (8.3%) is a mixed up sounding beer. A Belgian style IPA hopped in the American style, i.e. big, bold hops and lots of em. It's a beer I first tried on a recent trip to the excellent House of The Trembling Madness in York and I liked it so much I bought a few bottles from the shop downstairs to bring home and review with a slightly more level head (I'd had a fair few beers already that day so no time for note taking).

First impressions of this beer are that it pours like a classic American IPA, orange/amber colour but very clear and bubbly. So far so standard. But then when you give it a whiff it's really big and malty, with that classic Belgian yeast funk from the yeast and a little spice. Not a lot of hops initially but they came out more as I went down the glass.

I poured it fairly aggressively to knock a touch of carbonation out and create a nice big head. This meant that, for me personally, the carbonation was spot on. Not too foamy but nice and tight with small bubbles in the body.

The flavour is sweet and malty in the beginning, but not as malty as the colour or aroma would suggest. There's also a clear banana fruitiness that obviously comes from the Belgian yeast. It then becomes dry and boozy in the finish with fruity hops and a definate piney, resinous hop twang that is dry and spicy, more of a pepper flavour than anything more exotic though. There's also an orange pith character that comes through as the beer warms, which I think comes from the use of Amarillo hops.

It's a really unusual beer. It has that big American IPA hit from the hops but it's Belgian character is also very clear. It wasn't really what I expected, I think expected a super-hopped Duvel, but that said it definitely delivers on what it promises. It does taste like a Belgian style American IPA, just not in the way I expected. Really nice and definitely worth a try if you can get a hold of it.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA

The importance of drinkability, subtlety and balance in British beer

Neil, Eating isn't Cheating Monday, March 21, 2011

Going for a quiet beer on a Saturday afternoon is becoming a regular treat - either meeting up with a friend for a few choice beers, taking the missus out for a spot of lunch, or stealing a few hours to myself with a paper and a pint - it's one of my favourite things to do.

This Saturday it was the latter as the other half had to work, and apart from a gaggle of bell jingling Morris Dancers descending on the place it was a thoroughly relaxing hour or so.

The two beers I was drinking got me thinking about some recent discussions in the blogosphere surrounding British beer, and what they mean to me. One being the infamous cask vs keg argument, and the other being the difference between more extreme beers vs subtle beers, as discussed recently by Mark Dredge.

The two beers in question were Marble Utility IPA on cask and Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA on keg. I started with Marble, which was in fantastic condition and just the kind of beer I was looking for in a first pint - bags of flavour, drinkable, tasty, and refreshing. But before I dive into my take on the aforementioned debate, here's what I thought of the two beers:

Marble Utility IPA 5.7% from cask

The smell is quite light but there's a tropical fruitiness there, as well as a slight pear aroma. Once the pint had settled from the handpull it was pin sharp with a light amber colour and absolutely no haze, there was also a noticeable light carbonation from the cask conditioning.

The flavour is best described as modern British IPA, nicely bitter but with a slight mango edge. Very refreshing, beautifully balanced and drinkable but comes dry in the finish making it very moreish. Could easily drink this all day. The hops aren't overpowering or too drying but have bags of flavour, ultimately it's a full flavoured yet balanced beer.

If I was going to split hairs I could say it's a touch too light in the body, but that lightness adds to the refreshingness of the beer, and makes it feel like a Session beer even at 5.7%.

Sierra Nevada torpedo Extra IPA 7.2% from keg
The smell is slightly piny and medicinal but not as huge as I expected, perhaps needs to warm a little for a bigger aroma to come out.

The taste is a massive hit of juicy, piney, resinous hops with a very clear rich malty background. It feels thick but finishes clean with big hop dryness. A lot more going on than the Marble but on the flipside couldn't really be described as refreshing in the same thirst quenching way. As is usually the case with keg there's a prickly, fine carbonation that I think is wholly necessary for a beer like this.

A marmalade jamminess comes through but it's not overly sweet, with a nice long finish that leaves bitter hops on your tongue for as long as you care to wait before another sip.

There's also an orange liqueur note and its got that juicy oily piny quality that only big American style IPA's achieve.

So how does this relate to the ongoing debates I mentioned? Well first of all it highlighted the fact that there is a grey area in which using cask or keg could be better for the beer. When I tried keg Thornbridge Kipling (5.2%) recently I remarked it would probably be better on cask, but that Jaipur (5.9%) was better on keg than I'd ever had it before.

Well this Marble IPA was right on the cusp (in terms of ABV and style) of where I think keg becomes the better option for the beer. But when I tasted it I realised this beer was spot on, it couldn't have been improved by being on keg, and it highlighted the fact that no matter what looks best on paper, a beer by beer approach is the right way forward.

It also reminded me that when cask is done right, it's hard to beat. It still had bags of flavour and a big hop profile but it also had a subtlety and drinkability that begged to be sessioned. But I was only staying for a couple and couldn't resist the Torpedo on tap. Yet again I'd been seduced by the big, bold, slightly brash American beer, but was I forgetting a more important 'B', was it better?

Well, I did really enjoy it, and I don't know whether it was the high ABV doing tricks on me but the further I got down my glass the more I liked this beer. But at the back of my mind I knew there was just something missing - all the flavours were up front, big, bold, obvious. I was missing that subtlety, that balance of flavour, those notes that are hard to pin down, and difficult to put into words.

The Marble politely presented its flavours one after the other with a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts, whereas the Sierra Nevada shouted through a star spangled megaphone what I should be enjoying.

Maybe that's the difference in these beers, it's a case of subtlety vs impact, a beer based transatlantic personality clash you could say. Diversity is essential, but for me what's equally important is that we don't forget why British Beer is World renowned, and what made it so good in the first place. At least that's what I thought, on balance.