Beer Compurgation

The other day I had a long chat with a late 50’s, huge CAMRA supporter who, rather tragically, is one who has not embraced anything brewed since 1987. I didn’t shout or judge, I was just interested in his opinions to see if we shared any common thoughts. On the whole, we did not. But one eminence did strike a chord with me and has led me to this post. Whilst discussing a decent pint of Hook Norton’s Old Hooky, a beer he professed to have first drank in 1978, he made the following statement, “Hook Norton has made a small number of beers consistently well for over 40 years. These new breweries are too prolific and don’t focus on maintaining a stellar range.” It got me thinking about some of the experimental “one-off” beers I’ve had recently, the new breweries I like that seem to have a new beer out every day and the fact that all beer lovers seem to have had a disappointing pint of Punk IPA at some point in the last 6 months. Which leads me on to a taste test with a range of, wha...

I’ve written briefly about my localist of local micro-breweries before – the Millstone Brewery, Mossley. I have ranked them in my top 3 favourite breweries for nearly 7 years and have enjoyed their great beers, mainly locally, without deeper thought in all this time. But, something changed the other day. I was in Stalybridge Buffet Bar and had a pint of Millstone’s famed Tiger Rut and it was, as they say, on terrific form. Light but full of flavour, a fresh melon-like aroma, a great hoppy hit with a satisfyingly bitter aftertaste, everything I’ve grown accustomed to in the years past. The only difference was my natural reaction to this delicious beer was to reach for my phone. Why? Well any users of Twitter probably know. There’s nothing wrong with Twitter. I love Twitter. I love having a little beery community to share my thoughts/rants with about beer, rather than drilling into the brain cells of my lager obsessed Gump friends. And I’ve certainly no problem with breweries usi...

My inane desire to try beers I haven’t sampled has come over me and so I’ve banded together all the American beers in my stash that herald from breweries I’ve not tried before. (I really need to stop theming my evenings so much.) I ordered all of these in the hope that some of the less readily available American brewers were hiding some hidden gems. I’m excited. (As there are 6 I’ll try to keep tasting notes brief. I’ve also not bothered with individual pictures, because nearly all the beers look the same in the glass this time – seriously!) Shipyard Brewery:   IPA - Think American Craft IPA and you have the style pictured in your mind, or on your tastebuds. There have been some truly fantastic ones, so it’s always interesting to try one’s you haven’t. I’ve never heard of Shipyard, but for under £2 a bottle it seemed like it was definitely worth a go. I shan’t be bothering again. This is an English IPA that Caledonian brewery wouldn’t be proud of. It’s not BAD, there’s...

I’ll let more knowledgeable pens write about the events and conversations that led to #impoff. In a moment of pure self-indulgence I’ll just discuss my own experience. On Saturday night I was due to travel down to Chester to see some friends. When this was duly cancelled on Friday I was faced with preparing for a Saturday night in alone. Fortunately, there was another twitter tasting taking place on Imperial Stouts. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared in the slightest and originally thought I would need some of the 8 beers set to be discussed to truly participate. I only had a De Molen and a N ᴓ gne Impy in reserve. So on Friday night I went to my local organic shop which boasts a full range of Thornbridge beers, including St. Petersburgh, a full range of Buxton beers, except for Tsar and a full range of Sam Smiths, except for the Imperial Stout! There was one I’d never seen before by Liverpool Organic Brewery but this meant on Saturday I had to broaden my search and go to the city cen...

I wouldn't normally write about beer festivals. But then again I wouldn't normally go. I have a strange relationship with beer festivals but I don’t think I am alone in this. I had a grand baptism to them, as my first came when I was 19 and it just happened to be the National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester. This was when it was still held at the old co-operative building and was a huge event. I was a starry eyed youngster, still dipping my toe into the ale pool, but I held this event with such regale. Hundreds of beers, lots of merchandise stalls and a lot of people.   I followed it by going to many across Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire that same year, and enjoying the merits of each one, big or small. But as I aged my cynicism grew. Soon I was seeing the downside to them. My last NWAF came two years ago where I left early, annoyed that most of the beers I’d wanted to try had already been and gone. The problem is that the none 9-5 working CAMRA lot steamrol...

               My three favourite pubs are not my favourites for beer. And vice versa. But is it possible to have both? A debate for another time, perhaps, but it got me wondering about certain chain pubs.                 I assume, perhaps wrongly, that most regions have their versions of Hydes and Thwaites. They are the big brewer boys that control a lot of your real-ale-serving local pubs. They have their own brews, they are nationally renowned, and on the whole you accept them and expect them to be good putatively.                 I should start by saying that this blog stems from a tale of success for a local Hydes pub of mine – The White House in Stalybridge – that recently won a CAMRA pub of the season award. It was thoroughly deserved. The pub now has ...

At present my bottle stash has a very continental theme and is full of the weird and the wonderful. Whilst out yesterday I added to it with Japanese and more American beers. Which is why on Friday it was nice to try some more traditional beers and so I treated myself to a local beer night. I had bottles in from my two local breweries – Millstone and Greenfield, as well as one from fairly local and new brewery Wilson Potter. I also rounded off with a Marble beer, because they are local too and fitted in with the theme I started with a very local brewery and Greenfield’s Uppermill Ale. I get the chance to have Greenfield on draught regularly and their Black Five, Icicle and festive poison Rudolph’s Tipple are excellent whilst some of their traditional bitters can be average for me. So when I saw their beers in the shop I chose the Uppermill Ale being one I hadn’t tried before. It’s a pleasantly clear looking amber beer that smells darker than its shade. There's plenty of roasted...