Uncategorized

What beer to drink in Brussels

08/05/2013
What beer to drink in Brussels

Follow @TheGuestAle As I write this I am enjoying a small glass of Leffe and awaiting my Eurostar at Brussels Midi station. It’s actually really nice in that sweet, clovey, characteristically yeasty familiarness that we know most quality Belgian beers to be. Think “Belgian beer” and at one end you may think the genius of Trappiste monks, and at the other the ubiquitous Stella Artois. My Brussels-based beer connoisseur colleague tried to convince me that the Stella Artois in its home town of Leuven is worth trying. I’m not so sure, but I was happy for him to introduce me to a sample of other local delights, starting with La Chouffe. La Chouffe Coming in a 750ml bottle, this...

Read more »

US Beer Review: Anchor Brewing Special, San Francisco

20/04/2013
US Beer Review: Anchor Brewing Special, San Francisco

Follow @TheGuestAle San Francisco is possibly my favourite US city and I happened to be there on business this week. As well as being introduced to the impressive bar-cum-off licence, the City Beer Store, by my US colleagues, I also felt it would be conspicuous of me not to review beer from San Francisco’s most famous brewer, Anchor Brewery. Despite tracing its roots back to the 19th century, Anchor Brewing was at the forefront of the revival against the generic mass-produced beers of the 1970s. In the UK, we are probably familiar with the Anchor Steam brand, but in San Francisco I got hold of some other bottles to review… Liberty Ale Anchor Brewing’s Liberty Ale was first brewed...

Read more »

Beer Review: Dead Pony Club by Brewdog

19/04/2013
Beer Review: Dead Pony Club by Brewdog

Follow @TheGuestAle The modern, American style hop-fests that Scottish brewer Brewdog produces may not be to everyone’s liking. Those who favour malt-dominated ales and lighter weight beers may be averse to Brewdog’s strong, hoppy beers unleashing their floral notes on the Great British drinking public. However, for a gentle introduction to Brewdog’s line, look no further than the Dead Pony Club. While a massive leap from Brewdog’s near alcohol-free Nanny State, Dead Pony Club is still quite light at 3.8%. After all, we’re talking about the brewer that created the nuts strong Sink the Bizmarck at 41%. Dead Pony Club pours a rich amber-toffee colour and fizzes out of the bottle like a real livewire. As you would expect...

Read more »

Beer Review: Curious Brew by Chapel Down

01/04/2013
Beer Review: Curious Brew by Chapel Down

Follow @TheGuestAle When you’re confronted by the Gold Medal Winner at the International Beer Challenge 2012, you have great expectations. That is exactly what the Curious Brew from Chapel Down in Kent promises. Curious Brew is a premium English lager and there’s one theme that runs throughout: elderflower. The beer pours clear and pale in colour with lively carbonation at first. Once the head dies down you’re left with a busy glass which reminds you a little of champagne. Those elderflower hits I told you about start at the nose and follow through in the taste. It’s crisp, light in body and pleasantly flavoursome without being overbearing. A real winner. The essentials: ABV: 4.7% Colour:  Pale wheat Nose: Sweet...

Read more »

Beer Review: Bath Ales Dark Side

28/03/2013
Beer Review: Bath Ales Dark Side

Follow @TheGuestAle I revel in the opportunity to visit Bath and I happened to be there again this week. Cue the opportunity to pick up another Bath Ales beer from Waitrose – this time the Bath Ales Dark Side stout. Up front, this is as close to a session ale as a stout could possibly ever be. It’s a nice round 4% ABV, bang on session strength, and it’s light-bodied and smooth, not the heavy “stout plug” types of the traditional black stuff. I think this is the quickest I’ve ever drank a stout! I feel like I’m drinking Marmite. It’s really heavy with black malts and benefits from a good balance of Fuggles hops but the malt fest...

Read more »

Beer Review: Curious Porter by Chapel Down

19/03/2013
Beer Review: Curious Porter by Chapel Down

Follow @TheGuestAle Tucked away down a country lane outside Tenteden in Kent is the Chapel Down winery. Not only does it make wine, but it also does a very passable line in craft beer. We already reviewed the Curious IPA, but tonight is the turn of the Curious Porter. The bottle conditioned London style Porter is matured in oak, giving it a woody feel and mountains of character. You can see the crystal malts come through in the reddish hue, the chocolate and black malts in the strong sweet Marmite nose, and the bitter Admiral hops fighting through to make themselves known. It’s wonderfully balanced and smooth, not too smoky, not too burnt, just a right balance of those...

Read more »

Beer Review: Calvors Dark Lager

15/03/2013
Beer Review: Calvors Dark Lager

Follow @TheGuestAle I like a good dark lager, I must admit. They’re like light-bodied porters. The Calvors Dark Lager is the last of the English lagers in the Calvors line which I’m reviewing (disclosure: Calvors sent me a batch) and it’s probably my favourite. Suffolk-based Calvors has created a wonderfully drinkable dark lager. It’s effervescent to start with, although any trace of a head or any carbonation disappears very quickly. The colour is reddish-brown, like a diluted cola, and the nose is strong, sweet malts. The taste isn’t quite so malty as the nose promises, but it has a lovely crisp texture and there’s a tiny bit of cloves in there and some clean hops. It had gone in...

Read more »

Beer Review: Exmoor Beast

14/03/2013
Beer Review: Exmoor Beast

Follow @TheGuestAle Wow. I just had my head blown off by a beast of a beer from the West Country. Exmoor Ales’ Beast weighs in at a hefty 6.6% (geddit?) and is named after the oft-spotted mythical (or real?) beast of Exmoor. This beer is sinister. It’s dark ruby, almost blood-like in colour with a lovely creamy mocha lacing, almost like a porter. The Exmoor Beast gets that colour – and its molasses and raisin nose, I imagine – from its use of Chocolate and Crystal malt. Challenger and Goldings provide the bittering and aromatic hop content. The taste is filling and deeply satisfying. It’s full bodied and it displays powerful cinnamon spice and clove hits with an oily...

Read more »

Beer Review: Calvors Amber

09/03/2013
Beer Review: Calvors Amber

Follow @TheGuestAle We’re back on the hunt for quality lager and I do believe we have found one. Last year we looked at the Calvors Premium, which impressed, and now from the same stable I’m trying Calvors Amber. Suffolk-based Calvors were kind enough to send me a batch of beer to test. The difference between ale and lager comes from the fermentation process. Ales are made with yeast strains that ferment at the top of the wort and the flavours the beer with chemicals called esters. Lagers use bottom-fermenting yeasts, which don’t tend to add much in the way of flavour. The Amber is more of a bronze colour and the head dies immediately, although gentle carbonation remains. There’s...

Read more »

Beer Review: Hopdaemon Skrimshander

07/03/2013
Beer Review: Hopdaemon Skrimshander

Follow @TheGuestAle It’s been a while since I last sampled an English IPA; it’s not really been the season. So I dug out the Hopdaemon Skrimshander, something I picked up on a trip to Faversham last autumn.  It’s a proper Kentish beer, made from local hops. First impression is the massive head. It dissipates pretty quickly but it’s wonderfully carbonated throughout. The colour is cloudy marmalade, not wildly attractive. It’s described as “aromatic” but I didn’t really sense much of that bar a little distant tangerine in the nose. The taste is also rather neutral. There is a zestiness but it’s got a chewy maltiness to it that lingers at the back of the mouth for a long, long...

Read more »

Hunt for beers…

Let’s get social…

Search by Beer Styles

Latest tweets…