Six Of The Best ?
Some Classic British Ales Revisited

"What two ideas are more inseperable than beer and Britannia?" - Sydney Smith

British Beer. Brown, warm and flat. This was apparently once the view of our American cousins, possibly due to the ice-cold fizziness of their adjunct laden pseudo-pilsners. Now however, both countries are producing wonderful, diverse and boundary-pushing brews. You only have to read some of my blog entries and particularly those of those on my 'Blog List' to the right hand side of the page to see that this is indeed correct.
It's a fascinating and exciting time to be drinking beer. New breweries, pubs and bars are opening all the time offering more choice and varieties than any of us can remember in our lifetimes. Twitter, facebook and various smartphone applications enable us to find out when and where new beers are released, and improved distribution means that some of the best are obtainable by more of us.
It doesn't seem that long ago that discovering such beers as Nethergate Old Growler and Hopback Summer Lightning were things that were shared excitedly amongst my beer-loving friends.
With so much choice it's sometimes easy to bypass some beers that were once favourites. Christmas at work means 'Secret Santa' and even though I may be the easiest person to buy for; "It's beer again. Fantastic!" , I have been given the opportunity, via the medium of a classic ales gift box from the Martson's stable, to revisit some beers that I haven't had for some time.
Enough of the nostalgia, lets get drinking those beers.

Brakspear Brewing Company - Brakspear Bitter 3.4%

Once brewed in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, production moved to the Wychwood Brewery after their redevelopment in 2002. Brewed using the 'double-drop' fermentation process where the partly fermented beer is moved to a second, lower fermentation vessel to finish. This leaves the fermented sediment from the first brew behind ensuring a 'cleaner' beer and a cleaner yeast crop for the next fermentation.
It pours an amber-brown colour with a thin off-white head. The aroma has lots of yeast bread dough and is rather inviting. The initial bitterness on the tongue is replaced with a wash of caramel and maybe the merest hint of butterscotch, however the bitterness crashes back in quickly bringing a touch of raisin and some meatiness too. The finish is bitter and dry with a little fruity caramel in there for good measure.
This beer is refreshingly bitter, you may have picked up on that from the description, and lightly sweet. It's not bold or brash but that's the point, it's not trying to be however there's enough flavour here to keep you happy to the bottom of the glass. It's a satisfactory session bitter, and sometimes that's just what you need.

Marston's Brewery - E P A English Pale Ale 3.6%

Marston's PLC is in control of five 'traditional' breweries. If you don't know which they are then it's this one (its own in Burton On Trent) and beweries all the beers here which encompass this box are brewed. Its most famous beer is of course Pedigree, slightly sulphurous, fruity and malty, brewed in the 'Burton Union' oak casks. I fondly remember the 'Head Brewers Choice' range of ales from the nineties where a new and interesting beer was introduced seemingly each month, totalling forty-four different beers in all.

It is with these memories of Marston's beers that I take the bottle out of the box to find to my horror that it's in clear class. Not the best start, however as it has been kept in the dark I surmise, then it shouldn't affect the flavour. It pours a medium amber with a light, fluffy white head and there's not much of an aroma here, possibly some malty citrus but it's very slight. This is confirmed with a wash of watery malty citrus, followed up by ... well nothing really. The dry bitter finish reminds me of nothing better than a flat bitter shandy. The abv might be slightly higher than the previous beer but most of its flavour appears to have gone AWOL. More of an English Pale Imitation than an English Pale Ale sadly.

 

Banks's - Banks's Bitter 3.8%

Brewed at the Park Brewery in Wolverhampton, Banks & Co. started as a firm of maltsters in 1840, before moving into brewing in 1874. The bitter is billed as an 'easy drinking beer' although I've yet to see the session beer that claims to be difficult and challenging (although I'm sure Brewdog are working on it). It's quite a while since I've drunk this so I'm anxious for a sip.

It pours a very inviting darker gold/copper with a 'proper' bitter maliness, bold and bready, this is exactly as I remember it. The taste has a raisin and caramel bitterness, dry and cutting, scrubbing the tongue clean. The yeasty malt loaf comes through next leaving pleasingly lightly burnt toast finish.

Of the three beers I've had so far, this is probably the closest to being called a classic, if only for it's flavour. This is the taste I associate with an English Bitter and is a good example of the style.

 

Jennings - Cocker Hoop 4.2%

Founded in the village of Lorton on the edge of the Lake District in 1828, the brewery moved to Cockermouth in 1874. Acquired by Marston's PLC in 2005 the brewery claims that pure Lakeland water is still used for brewing, possibly in the same way that Coors uses pure Rocky Mountain spring water.

Cockerhoop is brewed using Styrian Golding hops, and derives the name from both its location on the banks of the River Cocker and Cock-a-Hoop the 'old custom' (their words) of removing the cock (or spigot) from a barrel and resting it on the hoop of a cask before a 'drinking bout'. No mention of the cockerel shown on the bottle but I suppose that imagery was too good to resist.

Pouring a light copper colour, not quite the golden suggested on the bottle, it has fluffy off-white head with a fruity cookie-dough aroma. A hint of bramble comes through which has a slightly metallic edge, but that isn't enough to kill the fruitiness. This is a beer that rewards a big gulp as some honey notes are revealed. The finish is dry and a little sweet, and I'm actually enjoying this more than I expected. It may not be the greatest beer in the world but it's very drinkable and possibly my favourite Jennings beer.

 

Ringwood Brewery - Fortyniner 4.9%

I first encountered Ringwood Brewery beers in the cathedral city of Winchester visiting my good friend and future best man, Mike Ratcliffe during his employment at King Alfreds College. There was a certain hotel bar, whose name escapes me, opposite the bus station that carried beers from Ringwood and Flowerpots, and rather good they were too, as were the kebabs nearby from what I recall. Good times.

A relatively new brewery, founded in 1978, with Fortyniner being one of its first brews. It was purchsed by Marstons in 2007 for £19.2 million, but production and the beer range so far remains unchanged.

It pours a dark amber with a thin white head and has a delicious malty toffee apple aroma. There's some caramel, fudge and toffee apple here too, although they're quite lightly accentuated in this pale beer. The finish is sweet and more-ish, and as delightful to drink as any in their range.

This is a genuinely good beer and it's nice to see it included here.

 

Wychwood Brewery - Hobgoblin 5.2%

This is the last beer in the box, and the highest in alcohol. It's also a beer that has some fond memories for me. When I first started seeing my future wife she was studying to be a teacher in Bath, and this meant frequent trips to the ex-county of Avon. One of the pubs we visted regularly, partly on account of its locality to her accomodation and partly as it kept its beer well and had decent guest beers, was the Hobgoblin.

Brewed with chocolate and crystal malt, and Styrian, Goldings and Fuggles hops, this is Wychwoods flagship beer. Sadly reduced in strength to 4.5% in the cask from the beer I used to drink in Bath, the bottle still packs a healthy 5.2% punch.

Pouring a deep ruby red with a medium beige head, there's some pleasing muddy toffee and vine fruit notes in the aroma. Coffee, raisin, toffee caramel and perhaps the mention of a little cabernet grape in the taste. The finish is fruity and rich, it's certainly not a beer you'd drink a lot of but it really is rather good.

 

I've rather enjoyed my diversion into the ghost of beers past. Of course, some or most of the beers in this selection don't really compare to the big flavoursome monsters that are being produced all over the country and all over the world right now, but what they do provide is, to me anyway, just as essential. The memories that they evoke of a time when cask beer in the UK was the only real alternative to bland fizzy lager are absolutely priceless. I formed many friendships over good, tasty beer many of which I still have, and was one of the things that my wife and I found we had in common at the pubs we both drank at. I'd like to thank my 'Secret Santa' (LJ) for buying me these beers. Cheers.





 

 



 



 

Christmas 2012

Words And Pictures

So 2012 has been and gone. The world didn't end (did you really think it would?), which is just as well as I would have missed out on a wonderful Christmastime. I had a bit of a blast to be honest. It was a fantastic time spent with family and friends, and my children called it 'The Best Christmas Ever' which is something I'm sure every parent wants to hear.
This is, as I'm sure (hope) you're aware, a beer blog and if you follow me on twitter or facebook then you may have noticed that I've had a bit of fun putting the beers I've been drinking in suitably festive surroundings. Even though most weren't seasonal beers and even though it's a little self-indulgent I thought I'd put them all in one place in one post (hopefully) as a record as much for me as anyone else. I'll be using my Untappd notes to help me along.
Let's get cracking:
Brouwerij De Ranke - Pere Noel 7%

This was the first beer I had for the #SeasonsTweetings online event organised by @Filrd which was the day before the #CAMRGB #XmasTweetings event (that was some weekend!). This seasonal favourite has a beautiful balance of sweet malt and peppery hoppiness with a hint of apricot for good measure. Great depth of flavour makes this a sure-fire winner.
Inveralmond - Santas Swallie 4.3%

Actually thinking about it this may have been first for #SeasonsTweetings, but it doesn't much matter. Golden and spicy with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg. An easy-drinking beer with suitably festive flavours.

 Anchor Brewing Company - Our Special Ale 2012 (Christmas Ale) 5.5%



 

This was a bit of a stunner. I was slightly disappointed by the 2011 edition (the recipe changes slightly every year in case you're wondering) but this was a real return to form. Hoppy, slightly smoky, sweet pine, cinnamon, nutmeg, hint of ginger heat and some milky chocolate to finish. This is some beer.

Brouwerij Slaapmutske - Slaapmutske Christmas 7.4%

This is a beautifully deep Christmas-cake fruity deliciously rich Belgian Ale. Sweet, but not cloying, this is a dangerously drinkable beer with a touch of class.

 Nogne O - Underlig Jul 6.5%







Deep and spicy with typical Christmas flavours of nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and a little star anise, this is beer is based on the Norwegian drink 'glogg' a mulled wine. I found this a bit too sickly sweetly spiced for me and slightly disappointing. This was my final beer for the night. Five was enough for me.
Weltenburger Kloster - Winter-Traum 5.2%

This, the first of two German beers in a row, is a wonderfully deep rich fruity caramel Marzen. The biting sweet finish lingers awhile like sugar-plums on the tongue. Winter-traum translates as winter dream and it's very apt. Delightful.

 Leikeim - Wintertraum 5.4%

The second 'Wintertraum' in a row, but slightly less dreamy than its predecessor. There's still plenty to enjoy however with some fruity, smooth honey and malty flavours combining rather nicely in this drinkable Dortmunder/Helles. A snappy then mellow finish rounds it off nicely.

 Tiny Rebel Brewing Co - Hot Box (Indian Smoked Ale) 5.7%

As you can see from the (admittedly deliberately inserted) props this actually was a post-present-wrapping treat. Present wrapping is a job I hate, however this is a beer I absolutely love. Smoky, sharp with sweet milk chocolate and pine, all 'wrapped up' with an arid dryness. Tiny Rebel were my Brewery of 2012 for my Golden Pint Awards that I put up on twitter and as far as I'm concerned they've yet to put a foot wrong. If you see their beer, buy it.

 Brewdog - Cocoa Psycho 10%

My second Christmas Eve-eve beer, I opened this just before midnight on the 23rd December. This was part of Brewdog's latest Prototype series and by far the best of the four in my opinion. Initial dusty cocoa powder becomes a big boozy drinking chocolate beer with a dry dark chocolate finish. What's not to like? It was Christmas-time after all.

 Tiny Rebel Brewing Co - Chocoholic 6.8%

My first beer of Christmas Eve, and what a cracker to start off with. Lots of dark Belgian chocolate, a little macchiato and  a dry sweet malty finish with the merest hint of the alcohol within. I've read some mixed reviews of this beer but as chocolate Stouts go it's a big hit with me.

 Petedrinks - #AG4 Double Trouble 8.8%







This is a beer that I was lucky enough to have a acquired on the last stop of the night on the #CAMRGB #XmasTwissup Secret Santa/Pass The Parcel/Silent Night-athon at the Euston Tap . It is a dark double IPA brewed by the excellent @petedrinks Pete Favelle and you can read how it was brewed on his blog right here. He states at the end that he'd be keeping some back for Christmas, so if it was good enough for him then it was good enough for me. Lots of boozy prune and fig in the aroma gave way to chocolate, more alcoholic fig and a hint of liquorice in the taste. It really was a stunning beer and I'd love to try more of his homebrew.

 St Peters - Christmas Ale 7.0%

This Christmas Ale from Suffolk based brewery St Peters was a bit of a novelty, and one I was anxious to track down. Only available from the brewery directly or a limited local release I managed to pick up a bottle at Utobeer. The taste has a real depth of plum and chocolate, quite rich but slightly too carbonated however the dark fruit cake finish is quite satisfying. The brewery says this is the perfect companion for Christmas savouries but I paired it with a mince pie and left the sherry for Father Christmas.

 Worthington's White Shield Museum (Molson Coors) - Czars P2 Imperial Stout 8.0%

I'd had this for a little while, waiting for the right time to open it. Last drink of Christmas Eve and I wasn't disappointed. Brewed in very limited numbers I read that its mellowness comes from its long maturation time. All I know is that this is an exceptional beer. There is a spicy caramel, date and stewed apple aroma giving way to lots of deep rich and spicy vinous fruit and berries. Blackberry and black cherry merge smoothly into liquorice and black treacle then back again, finishing with some delicious black cherry coffee bean fruity dryness. Possibly the best stout I had in 2012 and I'll be looking to be getting another bottle very soon if I can.

 Brasserie Cantillon - Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio 5.0%

It's Christmas morning! Last year we started the day with a Brouwerij Bosteels - Deus Brut des Flandres which is a fantastic beer but as I was unable to obtain a bottle for less that £26 I came up with this admirable substitute. What's more, I had the whole bottle to myself. I think that a Gueuze is a great appetiser and it's a lot easier to get on with cooking the Christmas dinner after a bottle of this than a few glasses of Champagne. It has a spritzy deep cider apple freshness with a sprinkling of white pepper. It's not overly dry either and is simply a wonderful beer.

 Beavertown - Smog Rocket 5.4%

The turkey is in and the table is set, time for another beer. This smoked Porter is from another of my favourite breweries of 2012 and it's not at all heavy, perfect for all-day drinking. Smoky sweet chocolate with a hint of coffee, caramel and raisin, it's rather yum!

 Tiny Rebel Brew Co - Fvde 4.9%

We've had our starter, but due to a slight under-estimation of the cooking time of the turkey there's plenty of time for another beer before the main event. This is a dark spiced Belgian style wheat beer named in honour of the Belgian international and sometime West Ham United striker Francois Van der Elst by @liberty_bear from Liberty Beer. Lots of sweet sticky raisin and prune, light and dark at the same time, the finish is clean dry and fruity too.

 Billericay Brewing Company - Mayflower Gold 6.5%

The first beer from Billericay Brewing Company . I'll be doing a full and more comprehensive review shortly but I will say that the traditional Christmas dinner of roast turkey, ham, bread sauce et al. really brought out the spicy citrus of the hops. It's a very promising start.

 Hoppin' Frog Brewery - Frosted Frog Christmas Ale 8.6%

This is a beer that I'd waited very nearly a year for. I picked it up at the Euston Tap a week or two into 2012, and it was recommended to me as a mince pie in a bottle. I'm a big mince pie fan (which sounds a little odd, but isn't .. is it?) so I was sold. I'd bought a bottle to share, again at the Euston Tap on the #CAMRGB #XmasTwissup on 15th December so I knew what I was in for and it really has all the sweet flavours of Christmas. There's plenty of mince pie-ness here but also some Christmas pudding too with plenty of sweet sweet cinnamon,raisin, ginger, allspice and fig on a light bready malty base. If you like your Christmas beers warming spicy and, above all, sweet then you won't go far wron here. This lasted me most of Christmas night, it's definitely a sipper not a gulper.

 Brouwerij De Molen - Vuur & Vlam 6.2%

Boxing day, and my first beer is one that my wife @esseemason bought for me for Christmas in what I have to say is an exceptionally fantastic case of beer. Vuur & Vlam is Dutch for Fire & Flames, and this beer is late hopped with Chinook, Cascade, Simcoe and Amarillo hops, and it sure does show! A beautiful clementime tart aroma with a tangerine, lychee, honeyed pine and white pepper taste, this is simply a very very good IPA.

 Beavertown - Black Betty 7.4%

I love Boxing day lunch! Cold meat, pickles, mashed potato, salad crisps, pies, flans and all sorts of savouries. A table full of wonderful food piled high and eaten and picked-at from lunchtime until late into the evening and what better beer to have with it than my favourite bottled beer from 2012. This black IPA has citrus and pine combined with a dark malty bitterness with some toffee covered pineapple bite in a beautiful glass of beer. I've drunk a lot of this beer and I plan to drink a lot more into 2013.

 Brouwerij Bosteels - Tripel Karmeliet 8.4%

What could be better with some late-night cheese and biscuits than this beautiful Belgian Abbey Tripel. A complex taste of grassy hoppiness, banana, light toffee caramel, white pepper and cookie dough is the perfect foil to strong and creamy cheese. This beer is an absolute delight.

 Brewdog - Christmas Paradox 2012 15%

It's going to take a big beer to round off a fantastic Boxing day and this certainly has the credentials. Aged in rum barrels for 12 months this is a late night sipper par excellance. It's like a rum-drizzled dark-chocolate-coated digestive biscuit, deep, rich, big and boozy, with liquorice, espresso and black cherry and plum touches the flavour just builds and builds. More boozy rum flavoured berries in the finish round of a staggeringly good Christmas cracker.

 Otley - O6 Porter 6.6%

Thursday nights for many of us is Beer Bods night. The chance to share and review a beer on twitter with other subscribers, describing and discovering the flavours together. This porter was the beer of choice on 27th December and I found it a little on the thin side. It has a muddy chocolate aroma with hints of liquorice, chocolate, black cherry and ashes in the taste. This beer inspired a healthy online discussion on the differences and similarities of porters and stouts. If that sounds like your sort of thing then give them a try, you won't regret it.

 Brouwerij De Molen - Molenbier 7.5%

Another from my Christmas case, and another treat. Aroma is like a bready fruit cake underpinned by a really earthy hoppiness. The taste has oodles of zesty toffee and sweet blood-orange caramel drying to a delicious date finish. I'm really warming to De Molen beers, having avoided them after my first experience a poor bottle of Bed And Breakfast. I've had some great beers since and it's really a brewery I'd like to try more from in 2013.









Loose Cannon Brewery - Abingdon Bridge 4.1%

I had this bottle at the house of our good friends, david & Juliette King and their children in Billericay, and I couldn't resist pairing the red, green and yellow colours of the bottle with the reciprocal colours of their Christmas tree. This is surprisingly a very tasty, fruity, malty beer. Lots of glace cherry, raisin and plum fruitiness on a cookie-dough base. Sweet, slightly rich and satisfying.

 The West Berkshire Brewery - Christmas Magic 5.5%

Another beer at the King's house.This seasonal beer is heavy on the malt, with a scattering of berry fruits and some cinnamon spiciness.Although the maltiness is dominant the other flavours do sit quite nicely on top of it making for quite pleasant drinking late into the evening.

 Adnams - Shingle Shells 3.9%

 





 Waiting for us when we arrived at my parents in Beccles, Suffolk  just before New Year, was a mini-cask of Adnams Shingle Shells. I'd previously had this on cask and I'd really enjoyed it, so more of the same was most welcome. God old Mum and Dad! There's some dry berry hoppiness in the taste perfectly surrounded by some delightful maltiness and that little tang of saltiness that I associate with Adnams beers. Needless to say we had several glasses of this and I took pictures paired with various snowman decorations in my parents house. I've picked my favourite to show here.

 Sierra Nevada - Torpedo Extra IPA 7.2%

First beer of New Years Eve, and a great way to kick off the celebrations. Big deep hoppy pine flavours for a big night. I'm sure you've all had this beer many times, but if you haven't then I'd heartily recommend it, especially if you like your flavours big and hoppy.

 John Smiths (Heineken UK) - Newcastle Winter IPA 5.2%

I picked this up in my parents local Tesco, and to be frank I wish I hadn't. I purposefully put it in front of the'Let It Be Merry' Christmas card hoping, without any hint of irony that it would be 'Hoppy In The Dark'. It was't. In fact it wasn't very much of anything at all. The rear label states it is a 'Balanced Winter brew with a breamy finish' but that was nothing like what I was tasting. Without any shadow of doubt this was the worst beer I had over the entire Christmas period. I also picked up a bottle of the Newcastle Nocturnal which I'm informed is even worse. It stares at me from the kitchen shelf.

 Budweiser Budvar Ceske Budejovice - Tmavy Lezak Dark Lager 4.7%

Putting New Years Eve back on track with some milk chocolate maltiness and that Saaz hop bite. This really is a classy beer, and it's great to see it regularly available in the UK now.

 Meantime Brewing Company- India Pale Ale 7.5%

Seeing in the New Year with this full flavoured and hoppy special little beer from Greenwich's Meantime Brewery. The amount of Fuggles and goldings hops in here really show what you can do when you don't hold back on those beautiful British hops. deep bitter orange with a hint of grapefruit on a lovely biscuity base. This is another beer that I'd forgotten quite how good it actually is.

 London Fields Brewery - Harvest Ale 5.5%

A trip to Norwich and a trip to the relatively new and rather excellent Norwich Tap House furnished me this beer after a recommendation from that most agreeable chap @NateDawg27. In fact I bought all they had. There's plenty of crisp Autumn leaf mulch and honey-drizzled pear drop in the taste setting up an intensely dry biscuit finish. Superb.

 Robinsons - Dizzy Blonde 3.8%

This beer is a little golden treat. A dry zesty sugary citrus taste with a light golden syrup finish shows off the Amarillo hop off nicely if a bit too subtly. A decent enough beer but more hop presence would really work wonders here.

 Wells And Youngs - Youngs Double Chocolate Stout 5.2%

Getting towards the end of my seasonal beers with festive pictures but I'm having a beer that I never tire of. I tend to pick up a bottle of this now and again to remind me of just how good chocolate stouts can taste. A big milk chocolate taste has a hit of coffee roastiness and the merest murmur of cream soda in there for good measure. Creamy, full rich and smooth, this is near heaven in a bottle.

 Duvel Moortgat - Vedett Extra Blond 5.2%

Last two beers now and these are two of a kind ... sort of. First up is the lighter of the two. This pale beer has a honeyed grass aroma with more of the same in the crisp taste and finish. Perfect for the summer, it's going down rather nicely on a Friday in early January.

 Duvel Mortgat - Duvel 8.5%

A rather special beer to finish with, and this is the beer of choice of the chap who urged me to start writing a blog on beer about a year ago @stillmation Rob Mitchell, a British commercial photographer based in Belgium. You can check out his website here, it's well work a look. This beer has a beautifully warming sweet grassy hoppy bite with subtle white pepper and clove notes. It really is a classic, and this Christmastime has been one too!

 

I've come to the end of my beer and Christmas image odyssey. It's been a bit of a labour of love for me to be fair. I love great beer and I love Christmas so it really seemed like a natural thing to put the two together and have some fun in the process.

All that remain for me to do is wish you a fantastic 2013. I hope that it's happy, healthy, shared with great company and that you have some awesome beer along the way.

Cheers !

  

 









 

 

 

                                                         Episode IV

 

                                          A NEW HOP

 

                     It is a dark time for the Empire. Although British Brewers

                          are now producing beers to rival their US cousins, the British hop

                     growers have been driven underground, protecting their diminishing industry.

 

             Evading and rebelling against the trend, a group of Hop Merchants led by Charles Faram 

  and Co Ltd have established have established a stronghold in the English county of Worcestershire.

 

Working in secret they have developed a super hop variety to take on the USA. It is time, now the .....

 

 

 Scene 1: The Ale House Chelmsford
Holding back a great tide of constantly flowing beer (and occasionally falling on the floor and covering it) a secret is hinted at. A rumour. There may be a way to repel, compete with the rebellion new world.
Cut to ...

Scene 2: My house. Sitting in front of the tv, laptop open.
"What's this ?"
"Why, it's an e-mail from Liberty Beer !"
Tentatively I open the communique ...
It reads ...

I close the laptop, intrigued.
The Strike Back has begun.
 

 Scene 3: Wednesday 21st November - London
Leaving work I take the train to London town. Fighting and weaving my way through on-coming hordes of x-wing fighters  commuters, I manage to negotiate safe passage to my destination the Death Star  the Earl Of Essex , Islington.

 Scene 4: The Earl Of Essex
An expectant crowd gathers around the bar. First to speak is Admiral Ackbar Justin from Liberty Beer:

   "The fight-back has begun. A new beer, brewed with a new hop, and you gathered are the first to know its name: Jester !!!"
Thunderous applause (probably).
"To tell you more let me introduce the brewer, General Antilles  Justin from Moor Beer "

  "Friends" he began "In association with  Charles Faram & Co Ltd we are able to bring you  today a beer brewed with a hop to rival anything that  US or Antipodes has brought to the party. It's name is: The Empire Strikes Back !"
"Mon Mothma Will from Charles Faram has travelled across many galaxies up from Malvern to be here today. And he has the secret with him"

   A hush fell.
Will stepped up onto the podium bar stool. In has hand he had a small packet of green hop cones.
"Here is the future, our future regained, our heritage returned. I have in my hand the Jester hop, the product years of work. Many hop varieties were tested to bring you this today".
"Now taste the future!"

 Scene 5: The bar at the Earl Of Essex. Glasses filled with a pale yellow liquid are passed around.
We toast the future.
We taste the future.
I bring the glass to my lips and I am struck by the aroma.
Rhubarb and custard with a hint of lemon and vanilla. Nice.
I taste.
More rhubarb, more pronounced this time and with the addition of stewed gooseberries. This is a very British beer with a very British taste.
"Of course" I exclaim "we fight back on our terms, with our flavours."
I understand.

Scene 6: Later. A table toward the rear of Mos Eisley Cantina the Earl Of Essex.
I join a table with a Corellian smuggler and a Wookiee  Justin from Moor and Will from Charles Faram. They are discussing the hop.
The words are beyond me and my simple upbringing on my Uncle's moisture farm on Tatooine background in banking but in front of me, in a bag, is Jester. The Force behind the Empire's return.

I know that this is the just the beginning and I know that this is just the first wave but tonight, in a London neighbourhood the Empire Strikes Back !

Credits:
Thanks to Steve at Liberty Beer for the invite, being an all-round good bloke, and letting me have a copy of the original artwork, particularly as I neglected to take any pictures of the beer or pump-clip!
Thanks to Thomas Marshall for his contacts and without whom I wouldn't have been in a position to taste this.
Thank too to all the lads from Moor beer and Will from Charles Faram for being involved in this and taking the time to talk to me about the beer and the hop. Cheers guys.
Additional thanks to Matt Curtis, great beery friend and fellow blogger, for diverting me to Craft Beer, Islington afterwards. You can read his account of the evening here.
For another report you may also want to read this by the lovely Sophie Atherton, from whose hands I first smelled the Jester hop (distinctly hempy with a hint of lemon in case you're wondering).
Lastly to Andy Parker for the image of the pump-clip. Thanks fella.

It was a great evening with a wonderful beer and a superb crowd of people. Everyone was very friendly and it was nice to put faces to people I had only previously become acquainted with on twitter. I love you guys !!! (Gushes)

The End?
No.
It's The Beginning.                                

Meantime Brewing Co. -
Barrel Aged Greenwich Hospital Porter 6.0%

I've drunk and reviewed many beers this year and I think it's fair to say that as a drinker, and particularly as a blogger, that it's only natural to get a sense of thrilling anticipation when you're able to obtain and drink a rare beer, or one that hasn't been reviewed before.

This is neither, but I've still got the same feeling as I sit down to write a review of this beer as when I wrote about the Mikkeller - Mexas Ranger or the Red Fox - Foxymoron earlier this year.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that I've not had it before, well it would be the first reason if that were true. It is true to say that I've not had a bottle of this before but I have sampled it, which brings me to my second reason, the last bottle I saw was nearly twice the £9.99 that I paid for this one.

That was at The Rake in Borough Market in London. I was up in town showing a good friend around some of the excellent pubs in the area, (which had included The George, the subject of a recently released and rather good book Shakespeare's Local by beer writer Pete Brown). To cut a longer (and much less interesting) story short, a bottle of this beer was bought by an American visitor and his friend at the next table to us who we had got into conversation with. They began extolling its virtues and passed us their glasses and the bottle to us to taste and view, and whereas I can't remember the beer I do remember spotting that 'Brewed Exclusively for Marks & Spencer' on the bottom of the label had been covered over in black marker. I don't know if the American and his chum ever noticed it but fearing an international incident we made our excuses and went to Brew Wharf instead.



Seeing this beer back in my local Marks and Spencer today brought this all back, so I couldn't resist buying it.
Brewed to an original 1750 recipe using seven different malts it is then aged for four months in Marks and Spencer's own Islay whisky barrels from Ian Macleod Distillers Limited. Brewed at the historic Old Naval Hospital Brewery in Greenwich, whose fascinating history can be viewed here and is well worth taking the time to read.
It's time to meet this beer properly, and on my own terms.
The first thing that is apparent when removed from it's delightful carboard tube is that the 750ml bottle, in common with many of this type of release, is corked and caged. The cork was particularly hard to remove but I was rewarded with a sweet milk chocolate aroma coming from the neck of the bottle. It pours a very dark brown with a lovely sustained cream-coloured head. The aroma is a smooth mix of coffee, burnt toast and chocolate with a nice smoky alcoholic edge coming from the barrel aging. Smooth and a liitle thin over the tongue, the dominant taste is the whisky smokiness from those Islay casks with the merest hint of coffee and chocolate settling at the tip of the tongue. I'm slightly disappointed that the latter flavours aren't a little more dominant and the balance of flavour doesn't seem quite right. The finish has a faint touch of creamy vanilla which dries into more whisky smokiness that lingers in the nose for some time.
I quite like this beer. It hits many of the right (smoky, peaty) notes for me and even though it does remind me a little of Adelscott, a beer I definitely do not like, it is nowhere near as overpowering. I'd have liked more of those chocolate, coffee and vanilla notes I picked up but I have to declare that I do love a good smoky, peaty single malt scotch whisky. The only downside for me is the price. At very nearly ten pounds, this doesn't really taste like a ten pound beer. I was warned by others earlier this today on twitter that this might be the case, and I have certainly found that out for myself.
I'm just glad I didn't pay more !