Dry

To those who have read my posts, a massive and sincere thank you! I hope that you have enjoyed keeping up with my reviews and indeed, have ventured to try at least one or two of the beers that I have mentioned. Feel free to comment back with recommendations of your own: I'm always keen to explore new lands!

On another note, I have gone 'dry' for the last few days and will be doing so for January but I shall return soon with more ale recommendations and reviews: I received many boozy presents for Chrismtas and so much ammunition for the review-cannon is primed and ready.

A happy new year to all who have read any of my posts: peace and love to you all.

New year's resolution: try as much as you can!

Review: Fullers London Porter.

Name: London Porter.
Brewery: Fullers, London.
ABV: 5.4%
Style: Porter.
Season: Winter.

Availability: Can be found in supermarkets around late Autumn/Winter. 

Try if you like: Guiness original, Hobgoblin, Old Peculier, Anchor Porter.

A beer style from the Industrial Age that died out after the impact of wartime restrictions but today, very much alive and well and enjoying a massive and well-deserved resurgence (and aren't I grateful for it!) - the Porter is a very dark brew with a bittersweet chocolate-coffee appreciation. Fullers Lonond Porter is a classic expression of the breed: brown, crystal and chocolate malts give it a distinct treacle brown, reminiscent of dark chocolate and a flavour encompassing coffee, dark demerara with the background notes of vanilla. You would also be forgiven for thinking that someone from the brewery went out and captured essence of logfire too as there is a delightful, subtle smokiness within this is festive draw. After having one myself yesterday (after seeing the delightful new Star Wars film with a good friend at the IMAX Empire) I certainly felt my yearnings for the dark side of brewery and the joy of this pint is that it is surprisingly light for its punch and complexity, bringing balance to the force (please forgive me). I dare say, at 5.4%, I certainly felt its influence but not in the stomach meaning that this would sit very nicely as an after-supper pint to be sipped and savoured - good lord, in front of a roaring fire if we could all arrange a Dickensian evening. This is a smashing tipple and perfect for this time of year when preserved fruits, chutneys, rich puddings and logfires abound. A drink that manages to capture that smokey stillness of a Winter's day. Sublime and indulgent but won't induce a post-roast dinner coma! Tis the season to be Porter! No festive beer appreciator should allow themselves to miss one of these this Winter-time. For me, it is more traditional than that monstrous steamed pudding or chestnuts roasting on a fire. If you could shove a sprig of holly in it without causing a health and safety disaster, I'd say it was more Christmassy than Santa's jingling bells!

Review: Roasted Nuts, Marlow Brewery.

Name: Roasted Nuts
Brewery: Marlow Brewery Rebellion Beer Co, Marlow.
ABV: 4.6%
Style: Amber Ale
Season: Autumn/Winter.

Availability: Local availability.

I no longer live in Bath and so am a far cry from my favourite brewery. However, I am very handsomely consoled by the fact that Marlow is a local brewery and its output, especially its exceptional IPA and the utterly stunning Rebellion Red, are easily available to me. Upon visiting a local pub (The Greene Oak at the top of Dedworth Road), imagine my excitement that I saw, on pump, a Winter Ale from one of the best breweries in the whole bloody country! It was a dark, roasted nut colour and promised oh so much with the pedigree of those I have already sipped seducing me easily into requesting a sample. The colour is a true delight, like maple syrup and it has a similar butterscotch flavour with a biscuity maltiness at the forefront of the mouth. However, to my disappointment, an overbearing hop bitterness marched up from behind and ruined my Roasted Nuts! The comforting, rich flavour, so adored at this time of year, was utterly subdued by the hopping. I persevered and tried the whole sample, hoping upon hope that things would improve as the flavour developed. Develop it did but into something too flawed, too sour to enjoy the sweeter edge of. The IPA from Rebellion is superbly balanced and delivers the citrus freshness of an IPA but without the herbal washout you may get with some. In this, the brewery balances bitterness with poise and grace on the edge of refreshment and fruitiness. This one just falls flat on its nuts.

Review: Golden Champion

Name: Golden Champion
Brewery: Hall & Woodhouse, Dorset.
ABV: 5%
Style: Golden Ale
Season: Spring/Summer but really, any time you fancy something more than a cold lager can deliver.

Availability: Most major supermarkets.

Try if you like: Crisp, full-bodied lagers such as Pilsner Urquell, Fursty Ferret.

This is the beer that started it all. Back in 2005, I first saw a bottle of this adorned in sun blushed labelling with a dark, brown glass bottle and gold lettering. It was the first 'ale' I had ever held in my hands. It tasted wonderful. Grown up. Better than lager. Of the earth, the field, the country. I adored it. I still do. Today, it is slightly at odds with my favourite flavours of subtle caramel, morish malt and dark roasts but then that is probably why I love it: it isn't these things but still manages to finish sublimely whilst reminding me of a more naive time. Cut grass, pollen and summer freshness burst forth from the soft bubbling, shining copper brew. A wonderful golden straw not far off golden syrup in tone. Crisp, refreshing but with that depth of hop and malt that remind you this isn't a gassy, dilute lager or sharp pilsner: there is a slight coriander tone that keeps things from the garden and the echo of maltiness that give you something sweet and bodied to consider. Summer in a cup, in a quaff, in a mouthful. Perfect with a barbecue, on a picnic or whenever you want. Maybe it is nostalgia that really wins this for me? Or maybe it is that, whenever I go to a friends house, they tell me: "You left a bottle of ale here" and it is always a Golden Champion and I most certainly didn't leave it (but they buy me one every time I'm going to pop by and keep up the pretence!). I love this beer. I know it is winter and you are roasting chestnuts on the open fire but whilst you sit there in your thick knitwear, the rain drizzling down the windows and the sky churning an endless, miasmic grey just pop a bottle of this open and journey back to August. 

For more info go to: http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/beer/golden-champion

Follow me on Twitter: @FullFlagon

Review: Adnam's Broadside

Name: Broadside (Bottled Strong Best Bitter)
Brewery: Adnams, Southwold
ABV: 6.3%
Style: Strong Best Bitter
Season: Autumn/Winter

Availability: Available in most good supermarkets.

Try if you like: Strong ales, Thwaites Old Dan, Fullers Golden Pride, golden & dark rum.

The coming of December and the festive time really does call for a drop of this mighty Frigate of an ale: with a wonderfully punchy strength of 6.3%, Broadside delivers a punch of both alcohol and flavour. It is a sip perfect for this time of year with its wonderful blend of chocolate malts and fresh Pale Ale malts to create a fruity, rich and full bodied bomber of a beer. You could easily be fooled into thinking Christmas Puddings have been spiked with this stuff for centuries as cascades of presevered fruit-cake notes and treacly plumbs are followed up by the hint of bitterness in every mouthful. It finishes Demerara-sweet and with a real rush to the head from the punchy ABV (hence the Broadside choice, perhaps!). This is an absolute beauty of a strong, comforting bear-hug of a ruby beer. With a bottle of this around, who needs chestnuts on an open fire? Open fire with a Broadside! 

http://adnams.co.uk/beer/our-beers/adnams-broadside/

Review: Bishop's Finger

Name: Bishop's Finger
Brewery: Shepherd Neame, Kent.
ABV: 5.4%
Style: Strong bitter
Season: Autumn firstly but on a very late, balmy summer evening: especially wonderful!

Availability: Most major supermarkets.

From the garden of England and the home of many famous hop varieties comes Bishop's Finger of Shepherd Neame. With a name sounding somewhat like a niche love-act or a Carry-On esque innuenddo than a beer, the punchline comes with an ABV of 5.4%. This makes for a surprisingly heady brew and this pint is a real draw of potency that sneaks up on you. For its colour and strength (pouring out a maple-sultana chestnut brown), the delivery is rather delicately handled: there is a hop bitterness that makes this quite refreshing especially when served cold. As the drop starts to warm, a malty sweetness begins to bloom on the palate but make no mistake, this is a bitter albeit extremely well handled. The front notes are sweet with a slight smoke to the malts but as it finishes, things start to twinge with the air of steeped winter berries and as you draw breath, you would swear brandywine had something to do with the maturation. There is another flavour here that eminates up and around like the air of a late summer evening: call me romantic or even foolish (or maybe under the spell of the Bishop's rather boozy fingering!) but there is the haunting of polished wood or dare I say it, the scent of nostalgia: the dampening of grass as the late August evenings start to wane and the barbecue embers start to fade. This is a beauty of a beer and although not often visited by myself, I always appreciate an evening with the Bishop, when he comes a-calling!

Nuts to the Ratings!

Ratings: who ever cared about ratings? High ratings are no guarantee of quality and indeed, some of the most prolific novels, films and texts have been bigger hits than their ratings ever were. Beers are like poetry: they mean so many different things to different people and so, because of this, I am going to be removing ratings from my reviews. I want the reader to make their own conclusions about a beer based on their own tasting, hopefully motivated by what I have professed. What works for you may not work for me: every now and again, we may beet in the middle! I dare say, we could even agree! My reviews were meant to help you make a decision and I feel it a condescension to suppose to rate a beer. Drinkers are discerning and breweries work incredibly hard to forge the product that they do. Fortitude and diligence and heart go into brewing: who am I to stamp a rating on such master works? Sucks to the rating! Here's to drinking!

Review: Old Hooky

Name: Old Hooky
Brewery: Hook Norton, Oxfordshire
ABV: 4.6%
Style: Amber Ale
Season: Autumnal

Availability: Most major supermarkets.

Old Hooky is a beer I'd heard some good things about (lots of 'Top Ales of GB' lists make a nod to Old Hooky) and so I had to get myself a bottle. To summarise, I feel like this beer is inches away from perfection but with a disposition like mine, crashes swiftly away from it at the last minute. It's all about the back of the palate and the finish. Pouring out this Amber ale was like watching maple syrup settle into my glass and the light froth bubbling up promised a slightly carbonated body, which certainly made itself known upon the sip: not too gassy mind, just the right amount to lift it beyond becoming weighty. At first taste, I thought this would be a very rapid addition to my favourites list: a malty front which provides a sweetness along similar lines to darker sugars and there are definite whispered hints of toffee or caramel in the air. Surprisingly, there is a floral note - an earthiness that reminds me of fallen autumn leaves: a real freshness that cuts straight through that demerara element to create a finish on the back of the palette that is, for me, just far too bitter. This final finish spoiled the deIivery for me (anyone who has read my previous reviews on Old Peculiar and Darkside will know I have a penchant for the sweeter side of taste) and I found that, the more I drank, the more this bitterness completely overthrew the pleasure of the sugared malt and all that delicate floral edge was torn apart by clumsy hop bitters. If you prefer your pint slightly more on the bitter side (like a Windsor & Eton Guardsman) then this may really appeal but if, like me, you prefer the morish and malty, you'd best head for something sweeter like the mighty Cornish Doombar or Bath Ales incredible Gem (which I cannot wait to review soon!).

Review: Fursty Ferret

Name: Fursty Ferret
Brewery: Hall & Woodhouse, Dorset.
ABV: 4.4%
Style: Amber Ale
Season: Summer but really, let's face it, any time of year: that's the beauty of it!

Availability: Most major supermarkets.

From the Badger brewery (or Hall and Woodhouse - a family-run business for generations) comes Fursty Ferret, a real lesson in balance. This is, for me, one of the great session beers and suitable for absolutely any time and any occasion: not too gassy, not too heavy, not too malty and not too hoppy: pure and absolute balance in a glass. The colour is a coppery gold which whispers of the morish and malty under flow to this pint. Coupling this almost biscuity undercurrent is an interweaving of floral hops with the tiniest hint of something citrus but don't get me wrong, this isn't overly bitter at all: just when it gets too hoppy, the malt flurries in and likewise, just as the richness of malt might dominate, there comes an updraft of fizz and freshness that takes you from autumn to spring in a single sip. We all have dependable regulars in all facets of our lives and Ferret is certainly one of those: an all-rounder that you can rely on to deliver when you may be overwhelmed with choice or simply just not sure what to go for. I wish more pubs served it owing to the fact that if you can't decide on a lager or an ale then you would have the Ferret to satisfy all your demands. Almost proving its 'Jack-of-all-trades' persona, this little beauty also comes in cans! 

Check out the brewery website for further info: http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/beer/fursty-ferret

Review: Bath Ale's Darkside

Name: Dark Side
Brewery: Bath Ales, Warmley, Bristol.
ABV: 4.0%
Style: Strout
Season: Autumn/Winter but in fairness, like so many things, whenever you can get it!

Availability: Mostly around the Bristiol/Bath area. On sale at The Rec, where I indulged in mine on my pilgrimage to see Bath play.

Dark Side is an extremely fitting name for this ebony brew: a very deep, ruby-chestnut stout that looks every bit as a stout should but with none of the weight and cloy of the more famous expressions of the breed. Dark Side has redefined what a stout can be and for a beer that is only 4.0%, it is imbued with a rich pedigree of flavour. Each sip acts as a coffee bean wrapped in smoked chocolate and finishes with a refreshing, bitter edge; slightly carbonated to avoid the brew turning into syrup: Dark Side has a refreshingly lifted mouthfeel and is both slightly fizzy yet smooth on delivery. These slow burning tastes and textures are the result of a marriage between dark roasted malts and the majestic, legendary Fuggles hop (I'm noticing a pattern in the brews that win big!). Dark Side manages to be both robust and delicate: an absolute triumph from the incredible West Country outfit at Bath Ales and a stout that will have you turning away from the conventional and embracing, dare I say it, the Dark Side of brewing! 

Review: Guardsman

Name: Guardsman
Brewery: Windsor & Eton.
ABV: 4.2%
Style: Best Bitter
Season: Late Summer

Availability: Unknown outside the Windsor area.

I have lived in and around Windsor for a while now and as a place, there's very little not to like. I am a man who wants to support all things local but Guardsman by Windsor & Eton Brewey is something I cannot champion. From the pour, it is ruby and copper with the kind of body I usually find irrestable in a pint glass. However, the nose belies a bitterness that I simply cannot palate: the hops are far too dominant and destroy any sweetness or character the malt tries to bring. Boasting a "distinctive hop aroma" and a "tangy taste", I certainly must agree but it is not a pleasant one. I just couldn't taste past the slaughtering iron-tang even though the colour and aroma promised so much. It's not often that this happens but, after sipping as much as I could, the sink enjoyed the rest. A taste I can best do without.

Review: Theakstone's Old Peculier

Name: Theakstone's Old Peculier
Brewery: Theakstone, North Yorkshire.
ABV: 5.6%
Style: Dark ale

Availability: Widely available in most supermarkets.

Try if you like: Coffee, dark chocolate, rich, deep & sumptuous treacle flavours, stouts, porters.

A quintisentially British brew and well worthy of its fame: a true legend and a beer that continues to be complex and surprising after each drink. Old Peculier pours out a deep, rich ebony brown and foams up with a head like whipped deep-vanilla ice. This is a dark brew but maintains itself a lighter body than a stout or a porter thanks to the slight carbonation that lifts the whole profile and the fresh bitterness from the equally legendary fuggles hops. The epitome of bittersweet, at the front it is fresh and roasted with the sweetness coming somewhere in the middle, not far off burnt caramel or dark maple or treacle. Towards the end, there lingers the more coffee-tinged notes and then the dip of bitterness to stop this brew from being sickly-sweet. It packs a real punch at 5.6% and you can taste that alcohol but it is managed extremely well through a balanced and smooth finish but, again, thanks to the slight fizz and fuggles, doesn't feel too syrupy. This really is a luxurious and surprisingly light brew for its colour and taste but somehow, I can never drink one quickly: be it the punch or to savour every drop, a pint lasts a bit longer than a quaffable amber ale. I adore this brew around late autumn and winter when fires crackly, fireworks pop and the days are so miserable that a pint in the cosy indoors is irrestable. When Theakstone crafted this, they crafted something that deserves to be preserved like Stonehenge or The Tower of London. If you've never had one, try one on Christmas Day, before the dinner; downwind of the pine needles: there's a resonance of rum-kissed raisin in this drink that will have you feeling merry in no time (and of course, the 5.6% will have nothing to do with it!).

Review: Hobgoblin

Name: Hobgoblin
Brewery: Wychwood, Oxfordshire
ABV: Cask: 4.5% Bottle 5.2%
Style: Ruby Ale
Season: Autumn/Winter

Availability: Widely available in most supermarkets

Traditionally crafted and legendary: this is how the beer describes itself. Regardless of the self-promotion, there's no denying the justified popularity of this one. Another heavily reliable pint, the flavour profile of Hobgoblin means you always go back for more. From the bottle, it packs a punch at 5.2% which is more than enough to warm your cockles on a winter's eve. From the pour, you are immediately struck with the dark, chestnut colour of the brew which yields a frothy, butterscotch coloured head. To taste, it is a delightful mix of bittersweet chocolate hoppiness: lingering coffee tinged notes with a malty dominance that could remind you of a stout. The fantastic thing about Hobgoblin is that it has a good level of carbonation to lift this to being mildly refreshing, which seems odd considering the chocolate malts kicking around. Again, this is another great reliable beer that never disappoints and for me, carries the essence of that descent into cold, slow Autumn. When served cold, the coffee flavour sits more in the background, as does the sweetness but as things warm up, the full body of mocha-esque morishness comes to dominate. A real corker of a pint and a beer that has been a firm favourite and nowhere near as heavy as you think it would be. A perfect draw for when the days get short and living rooms get cosy.

Review: Sharps Doombar

Name: Doombar
Brewery: Sharps, Cornwall
ABV: Cask: 4.0% Bottle 4.3%
Style: Amber Ale (according to the brewery)
Season: All-Year
Availability: Stocked in most supermarkets.

Try if you like: Gem, Broadside, toffee and caramel biscuity malt flavours - hopped enough to not be sickly mind!

An incredible achievement by the brewery that hails from Rock in Cornwall. It pours out at a copper brown rather than an amber and it tastes how it looks: malty, morish with a slight biscuity note coming from the roasted malts. However, this is by no means a heavy beer and what saves it from being too 'chewy' is the refreshing swell of understated bitterness brought out by the hops. This is a sweet pint but one that is nowhere near as demerera on the palate as beers near a similar shade (such as the now legendary Speckled Hen or Abbot Ale). This is a real session beer that doesn't give too much gas and doesn't pack too much of a punch. It's real charm is that it suits any time of year: cold and from the fridge, it can refresh on a summers day whilst still giving some malty scrumptiousness that makes it wonderful paired with Autumnal dishes and rich comfort foods. In many ways, this is the most competent all-rounder and a real go-to beer if in doubt. Dependable and delectable. One of my all time favourites: a forever beer.

An Ale for All Seasons

Ale is a wonderful thing. It is the perfect marriage of humankind's ingenuity and the fruits of Mother Nature. Unlike so many things we humans perpetrate, brewing takes what nature offers and produces something that can marry the essence of the natural world and the selfish desires of human beings into something wondrous: like landscape gardening but infinitely more intoxicating! What I love about ale is that it is seasonal. Of course, you can drink whatever you like whenever you like, but ale definitely comes in seasons. In the colder phases such as Spring, Autmumn and Winter, (if you're living in the UK, 3/4 of the year are cold...actually more like 7/8ths) the freshness of the air and the need for richness and comfort cause one to gravitate towards the darker, more luxurious shades of ale such as the Porter, the Stout or the heavily malted bitter. Like the days, pints get darker, smokier and heavier. The nose of such brews can be imbued with the rise of a wood fire, the reassuring embrace of brewed coffee and the heady velvet of a brandy or rum. Crisp autumnal mornings and crackling fireplaces have been miniaturised and distilled into glasses of stout and porter, I promise you. Summer sunshine brings the freshness and florality of hoppy, herbal citrus-noted golden and amber ales: grassy and bittersweet with a fresh crispness bordering on lager-esque and equally refreshing but with the ability to be richer and roll with a fuller body: beers such as Badger's Golden Glory or an IPA like Sierra Nevada can taste tossed in freshly cut grass, flower petals, lemon zest and, in the case of some European lagers, hemp. Of course, I adore lager as well and at the height of summer, it comes to its zenith.

If you ever visit somewhere, taste its food but also taste its beer: around the year I truly believe a landscape can be sculpted and projected through the beer it yields: stand on a cliff in Cornwall slurping a Doombar and you'll know what I mean. Throughout this blog, I will mention when I drink beers and by all means, ignore my seasonality: drink is for when you want it and should be taken exactly how you want it, I merely mention it because I am somewhat romantic and like to revel in the nostalgia sensuality can bring. You'd never guess I was born in the South of England would you? What a nauseating fop I sound.