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ElectroKemistry Beer Review - December 2014

1/30/2015

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Apologies for this coming a little later than planned… much the same as the November blog, things have been a little backed up from the Christmas period and partly due feeling a bit under the weather and not being able to sit at the computer and write up all the lovely beers I had over the Christmas period.  I hope people enjoyed the last one and the pictures of the New Year’s Eve ElectroKemistry dinner (which were on my Twitter feed 17th January), which went off pretty well (despite a rather stressful period in the kitchen as guests arrived!!).

It’s a mixed bag once again for this beer blog, a few IPAs, a few curveballs in Steam Beer, Solera style saisons and other pale ales.  I’ve not drank many stouts over this period, partially due to the excessive snacking over Christmas with lots of salty bad-for-you snacks, which I find don’t work as well with stouts in the main.

Hopefully you’ll get to try a few of these beers, as ever, I provide details of where they are available from (locally of course in the Liverpool/Merseyside and West Lancashire area).

Cheers!!

Summer Wine Brewery – Oregon

Oregon is another solid and splendid offering from Summer Wine of Yorkshire.  This is a single hopped 5.5% beer using Cascade hops that appears as a light orange hazy pale ale carrying a tight white head.  The aromas are of the style for a US West Coast Pale; lots of tropical fruit with a prominence of pineapple, some lemon, plenty of acidic pine and a touch of waxiness.  The flavours are robust and quite plentiful, with pine and tropical fruits once again firmly in the driving seat, especially lots of mango coming through with some grainy cereal notes.  The finish is dry and pretty astringent, along with a gently resinous mouthfeel to the beer.  Balanced and very accomplished within the style!  Get this on the go with a curry.


(Sourced from Source Deli, Ormskirk)
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Metropolitan Brewing Company – Under Currant Pale Ale

As with the last beer blog from November, I thought I would give the Metropolitan Beers another chance. For those who didn’t get to read November’s installment, Metropolitan is a collaborative project has given rise to this Brewing Company; Tesco, Greene King and the Metropolitan Pub Company all have had an input and resulting, and to remain consistent with Big Bad Wolf, this is also a bit of a mess.  At 5% and with a pale amber to copper hue under thin white head, this galaxy hopped ale is described as having a lot of fruit aromas and flavours, though nothing really jumps out at you.  There is a hint of blackberry on the nose, along with plenty of malt and cereal, which is pretty reminiscent of another bog standard bitter.  There are gentle nudges of fruit in the flavours, but the malt dominates this aspect of the drink too.  Medium bodied with a dry but slightly metallic finish means this is a pretty poor effort really.  This Under Currant is certainly not above ‘average’.


(Sourced from Tesco, Rose Lane, Allerton, Liverpool)
Marble Brewery – Ginger ‘5.1’

This is Marble’s effort stemming from previous two ginger-infused beers.  Coming in at 5.1% and light copper in colour, Ginger 5.1 has a reasonable retention time on its crisp white head.  The aromas are initially of peppery ginger with some herbal notes.  The flavour is heavily skewed towards dry ginger, with a touch of sweet heat and a little cereal and nutty character revealed in the length.  This is fairly full bodied but not unpleasantly coating in mouthfeel, bearing a slight astringency and dry ginger finish with an earthiness in the length, tasted near to the middle of the tongue.


(Sourced from Crosby Bottle Beer Shop, 59 College Road, Crosby)
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Revisionist – Steam Beer

Another big brewery and supermarket collaboration beer, trying to make the most of the beer-boom is Marstons Brewery teaming up with Tesco for their Revisionist series (which includes Wheat/IPA etc etc).  Some of these beers have actually been fairly competent, though I am not entirely sold on this iteration of the Californian Common.  An amber coloured beer with a quickly lost white head, the Steam Beer has aromas reminiscent of a biscuity lager hopped with Saaz; dominated by the cereal and even quite sweet.  The sweetness pervades into the flavour along with a metallic tang and a distinct lack of fruit (despite the claims in the tasting notes for the beer of citrus.  Another beer it is quite reminiscent of is, if any one had it during the 1980s, Stones Bitter from the orange cans.  The finish is slightly cloying, with a dryness in the length, not unpleasant, but not a particularly interesting beer overall.

(Sourced from Tesco, Rose Lane, Allerton, Liverpool)
Wild Beer Company – Solera

Another saison from the Wild Beer Company which comes in at 4.4%.  For those not familiar with the term ‘Solera’ – it is not just the name of the beer, but a style made from blending various ages of whatever alcoholic or other beverage (though it also includes vinegars) you are endeavouring to make.  To get your head around it, it is probably best to stick the term ‘solera’ into a search engine and have read!  The beer itself is a ruby and hazy beer which is high on carbonation and carries a soft white head.  The aromas are generally quite soft and over-ripened fruit driven, notes of green apples and some ‘yeasty/farmyardy’ character are also in there.  The taste is dry, sour and heavily fruity with a touch of lemon citrus and orange giving just a hint of sweetness.  The body is medium and slightly creamy, feeling pleasantly effervescent on the tongue, although there isn’t a serious amount of length to the beer.  Yet another good saison from Wild Beer Company.


(Sourced from George Wright Brewing Company Beer Emporium, Cambridge Road, St Helens)
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Offbeat Brewery – Bohemian Antipodean Pale

This is another in the pale series of beers that Offbeat do quite well.  The Bohemian Antipodean Pale is a cloudy off-lemon colour with a crisp and frosty white head, which is retained fairly well.  The nose is very piney, with touches around the edges similar to plasticene smells and a woody character.  The flavours are of wood, pine and this beer is quite light bodied with a crisp and lingering finish that is tinged with cereal and has a good length.  Another good effort from Offbeat.

(Sourced from Crosby Bottle Beer Shop, 59 College Road, Crosby)
Firebrand Brewing Company – Graffiti IPA

The Graffiti IPA is a solid mid-range IPA from Firebrand Brewing Company at a strength of 5%.  The colour pours pale amber to copper with a good level of carbonation and thus a well-held white head.  The slight pine aromas are balanced with plenty of tropical fruit from hopping with Centennial, Amarillo and Summit and malt (Maris Otter) based undertones.  The flavours are notably citrussy, with an excellent and pleasing tang of lemon meringue due to the lightness of this IPA, some mango and slightly underripe pineapple also come through.  The Graffiti IPA has a good medium body, a slight chewiness and has a fruit driven, but still dry finish.  Excellent table IPA.  Will pair well with an array of light meats, burgers, curries and oriental food.


(Sourced from Crosby Bottle Beer Shop, 59 College Road, Crosby)
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La Trappe – Witte Trappist

A Belgian White style trappist ale, brewed in the Netherlands which is not brewed with any added herbs as many others are.  At 5.5%, this ale has Saphir hops added to give an extra kick of citrus.  Pouring a pale and hazy yellow, this wit also has a crisp white head and a good carbonation.  On the nose it has sweet candied peel, hints of bubblegum and candyfloss with a very nostalgic candy rock aroma (think seaside).  The flavours are the usual clovey and banana driven set, with some citrus and a drier than average finish for the style.  The body is rather light and there is only a little chewiness to this beer, but the finish, as stated is dry, but also has a spicy and lingering feel to it.  Probably best suited to a summer or late spring BBQ.


(Sourced from The Inn Beer Shop, Lord Street, Southport)

That’s about it for the December drinking anyway, apologies for the delay, but I hoped you enjoyed the read… don’t forget to tweet (from the buttons below) or share on Facebook if you did!  I'll have another of these ready in February for a February and January blog.

Happy drinking everyone!

Pedro.
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Ad Hop Brewery and Liquorice Lady Launch

1/16/2015

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The guys from Ad Hop brewing limited have been pretty busy in 2014 since their inception thanks to a meeting of minds at the 23 Club on Hope Street in Liverpool.  The main base of operations and the main point of sale for the beers produced by Ad Hop is also at 23 Club, although their beers are heading out further afield from the creative hub, including a night of food and drink matching at Back Colquitt Street’s Rookwood BBQ alongside Liverpool Craft and Wapping Brewery.

Having spoken a bit to Ad Hop, they were very kinds to give me a bit of their time and provide a few answers to some of my questions.

AD HOP Brewing LTD was established, in Autumn 2014 with 23 Hope Street as its home.  Richard helped set up a homebrew club around that time and expressed at meetings that he was looking into starting his own brewery; an accomplice had tasted a few of Richard’s beers down at the first meeting and took the plunge with an offer to work with him.  Richard continued to say “Since then we have been working tirelessly with help from a few others down at the 23 Club and local breweries to get the ball seriously rolling with AD HOP.   We both work full time, so have to do everything in a very AD HOC fashion, (hence the name AD HOP). We’re very happy with progress so far, especially considering circumstances.“
 
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Liquorice Lady
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Lally of Wapping I think approves...

For their next beer Ad Hop followed up a contact they had made at the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo 2014, in Rob Allen of Hand Drawn Monkey. 

Richard was particularly excited by this, “The talking point being a fantastic sauvignon blanc barleywine using Nelson Sauvin hops named brew #100, which Rob had brewed.  After much discussion on the recipe between ourselves and HDM we finally decided on brewing a Smoked Oyster and Beef Jerky Stout, with Meco Chipotle Chillies! A couple test batches were performed on our 5L kit for optimisation. Followed by a long evening (4pm-2.30am) of oyster smoking in the alley at the side of the clove hitch. We were on our way for 8am to Huddersfield the next morning.”  

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From mash...
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...To mashed!

Indie Man Beer Con was a very good event for AD HOP, firstly Richard stated that they all had an awesome time, secondly and most importantly they made a connection and got chatting to Oliver of SQWARK brewery, based in Manchester, “We discussed a few recipes, and decided to go with a Liquorice Porter, due to much success with the homebrew recipe.”  As thus it was that the Liquorice Lady was conceived.

Future ploys include such ideas as considering barrel aging most if not all beers done so far in Jim Beam barrels.  Ad Hop currently brew small batches of around 80L at LCB, brewing more experimental beers including a treacle stout, stout aged on red wine lees, and a nutty brown ale.

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Beef Jerky... so the beer definitely isn't veggie...
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2.30am smoking of oysters... that's dedication

Upon being pressed for a bit more regarding their future, Richard added “Our 208L kit has also recently arrived for the Clove Hitch and 23 Club. We aim to be brewing on this kit in January, allowing for a steady flow of new and exciting beers there on.  In 2015 we are looking into avenues to expand our production, whether it be through working closely with local brewers, or setting up in our own premises.  We will be looking to get our beers out there much more also, through; submitting beers to festivals, holding tasting events and establishing relationships with distributors.“

Recently (and just in time for Christmas as stated above), Richard Greensmith and co. released their latest brew, the Liquorice Lady, which is a Baltic style porter carrying a heady and rich aroma of liquorice above a layer of other intricate flavours.  The Liquorice Lady follows on from other releases, the Tongue Twister (under supervision of Lally Morrison, head brewer at Wapping Brewery) and Surf ‘n’ Turf – the beer mentioned earlier featuring beef, smoked oysters and chillies. 
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The liquorice infused porter was served with custard tarts and liquorice, in an effort to bring out the flavours of the porter, although it was best tasted prior to the liquorice in order to maximise the deep earthy and sweet hit of the infusion.  There was a surprising layer of complexity in the flavour-set under the liquorice, carrying coffee and bitter chocolate, giving the impression that these guys really do know what they are doing.

The excellent pump clip art has been sourced from that talents of one of the breweries long time friends, by the name of Martin Lexelius.  It seems keeping things informal and Ad Hoc is definitely in the Brewery's nature.

Keep an eye out for some of their brews, Ad Hop are producing some very fine beers and are certainly one to watch for at beer festivals!  

Pedro.
1 Comment

ElectroKemistry Beer Review - November 2014

1/5/2015

4 Comments

 
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Welcome to the New Year everyone, I trust you’re all well?

It’s been a rather hectic Christmas in some places, as I am sure it was for many of you.  Nearly losing the oven 75% of the way through cooking Christmas Dinner was a particularly stressful moment, followed by a proving mishap with some dough for the ElectroKemistry NYE celebrations.  Nevertheless, it all worked out in the end.  With many new bars opening over the last couple of months (not to mention a handful of new restaurants), wine tasting events and beer launches, there’s been more than enough to keep me occupied in truth, but I did have to squeeze out this last edition of the beer review; just in case anyone needs a touch of beer inspiration for the depressing months!  As mentioned on my Twitter feed, I did intend on this being published before Christmas, but with one thing and another (hapless disorganisation, mostly) it sat on the back burner.

I’ve got another mixed selection, with stouts, pales, rye ales and wits all making an appearance and freely available from the outlets discussed below.

Hope there’s something in there for you all!

Cheers!!

Madness Brewing Company – Night Boat Porter

Another beer brewed by a brewery standing in for a band, in this case Portobello brewing a stout for Suggs and company.  This is tagged as the ‘last beer along the River Nile’, although if that was truly the case I was stuck on a boat down the River Nile, I would be a little disappointed considering the climate!  All in all, it is a pretty average 4.6% strength stout with a standard black colour and a poorly retained beige head.  The aromas are pleasant enough, giving off nutty, stringent cola and roasted to burnt coffee notes giving way to flavours of burnt coffee and not a huge amount else aside from a dry and nutty finish.  The body leaves a slight residue and the finish does have a decent length, but the beer is pretty flabby and thin in the realms of a stout.


(Sourced from Morrisons, Speke, Liverpool)
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Fordham Brewing Company – Rams Head IPA

A lemony and coppery hazy 7.5% IPA with a crisp white head white is well-retained through the carbonation of the ale.  Zingy pine notes in a rich combination with candied lemons and orange peel give a pleasing sharpness to this beer.  The flavours are of bushels of fruit; orange, apricots and some grapefruit push through an overall, rather sweet layer.  The body is resinous and thick, carrying through a good level of chewiness into a herbal dry finish.  This is a rounded and solid mid-range IPA in terms of the use of hops, dryness and flavouring.  Perfect for a BBQ when chilled down, or good with a bucket of popcorn and night in.


(Sourced from Oddbins, Allerton Road, Liverpool)
Hacker Pschorr – Hefe Weisse

This is another classic German hefe-weisse beer coming in at 5.5% in a swing-top bottle.  The marmalade colouring is crested with a bubbly white head that is well retained by the beer.  Aromas that come through are heavily of bubblegum, cloves, sweet and ripe bananas – all of which are pretty standard expressions of a wheat beer.  The flavours carry pretty much through from the aromas, staying pleasantly just the right side of sweet.  The body is relatively light compared to say Paulaner and Maisel’s, but this is not to the beer’s detriment.  A reasonable finish on a very solid beer from the style; lingers briefly on the palate and doesn’t cloy too much.


(Sourced from Ship in a Bottle, Liverpool)
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Thornbridge Brewing Company – Vienna IPA

Another excellent beer from Thornbridge with a pleasing back-story, the Vienna IPA is the winning beer from the Homebrewer of the Year awards brewed by Graham Nelson and taken on by Thornbridge to be brewed from October 2014 onward.   This light, pale and coppery ale is well carbonated and retains its head well.  It is extensively hopped with Citra and Ahtanum, giving off forests of tropical fruit (mango, passion fruit and lychee) along with a slight limey kick.  The acidity is definitely in balance with the rest of the beer, the flavours do retain serious amounts of fruit and wood and pine notes carry through gently long into the lingering finish.  Behind the fruit, lurks some cereal and biscuit, quietly buzzing through.  Winner by nature, this IPA is a heavily pleasing ale.  Twin with fried chicken or sausages perhaps, would also go well with Chinese food.


(Sourced from Waitrose, Three Tuns Lane, Formby)
 Metropolitan Brewing Company – Big Bad Wolf

A collaborative project has given rise to the Metropolitan Brewing Company; Tesco, Greene King and the Metropolitan Pub Company all have had an input and resulting, it’s frankly a bit of a mess.  This ale is a 6% IPA without giving off any real IPA impression; a pale copper coloured ale which initially pours well, but retains the head poorly.  The aromas are quite mixed, possibly due to the combination of hops used, but sadly the take home notes are a low hum of fruit and a massively malty backbone – all back and no front.  There is some caramel in the flavour and aroma, but the metallic, slightly dry finish is short and not very rewarding.  They need to go back and look at the profile of how an IPA should be presented and start brewing again.  Poor.


(Sourced from Tesco, Rose Lane, Allerton, Liverpool)
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Ilkley Brewery – Rye ‘n’ Dry

This is a 5% Roggenbier which is brewed using orange peel and ginger atop the mounds of rye.  In colour, the Rye ‘n’ Dry is a reddish brown ale, carrying a tight white head which is lost within a few minutes of pouring from the bottle.  The aromas are heavily peppery, with subtle hits of orange, spicy but sweet ginger and some toasted cereal notes.  The flavour is aggressively bitter thanks to the rye, and this aggressively dry and bitter character lingers long into the finish, pervading across the palate and deviating rather drastically from the aromas.  A divisive beer; those who love rye beers will probably truly love this, whilst those less enamoured with such astringency might want to swerve this one!  May work well with earthy Mexican dishes or cumin heavy Indian cuisine.


(Sourced from George Wright Brewing Company Beer Emporium, Cambridge Road, St Helens)
Buxton Brewery – Wolfscote

Another interesting effort from the Buxton Brewery is this black sour ale.  Wolfscote comes in at 3.3% and is black in name, black in colour with a poorly retained light brown head from the bottle.  Aromas of coffee and roasted nutty cereal have a slight tart halo around them, hinting at the acidity awaiting the palate.  Soured coffee is the main flavour of the Wolfscote, though the tartness of unripened berries (possibly early raspberries or rhubarb) does come through, none of the balancing sweetness is retained.  For a pretty dark beer, the body is very light and the finish is dry, sour and lingers into a good length finish.  Try this with some fruit cake or fruit pie and watch the fruit sing!


(Sourced from Holborn Cask Ales, Malthouse Business Park, Ormskirk)
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Mallinsons – Nelson Sauvin

A sessionable 3.8% beer from the single-hop obsessed Mallinsons.  This pale blonde to yellow coloured ale pours in a lively fashion and retains its head very well from the bottle.  There are masses of citrus on the nose, notably of grapefruit and lemon with pineapple representing the tropical fruit that Nelson Sauvin is synonymous with.  A fresh and very punchy ale, the slight tart character and dry fruit last into a brilliant finish which is almost bone-dry on the palate.  Balanced and accomplished.  Get your seafood on with this one.


(Sourced from George Wright Brewing Company Beer Emporium, Cambridge Road, St Helens)
That’s it for November’s beers; we’ll kick off with December’s haul fairly soon since New Year is upon us.

Happy drinking for the New Year!

Pedro.
4 Comments

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