Something Smells Fishy: The Woes of the Vege and Vegan Drinkers

Hello and welcome back, it's been a while!

So once again I feel like opening with an apology, predominantly to myself, about my lack of blog writing over the past couple of months. Again. I have been busy, but also in this time I've been struggling to actually think of some genuinely interesting topics, both for readers and for myself.

It's not even like I haven't been doing anything in this time though... I've been once again to the London Brewers Market in Shoreditch, been to a few Meet the Brewer events at We Brought Beer in Balham and spent a brilliant day enjoying the beery delights of Gipsy Hill. Two taprooms, a brewery bar and a pub with an excellent craft beer range just outside my door is never going to get old! But I have recognised recently that a lot of my blogs, if not all of them, have essentially been only descriptions of my own comings and goings. Hopefully some people find these interesting, but there is only so much I can write about pubs I went to and beers I have drank before the posts are just variations on a theme. I will always enjoy writing about these things, and I am sure there will be more posts about them in the future, but I also want to try and find some new and interesting topics to discuss. There are some great beer blogs out there so this could take some doing to get something genuinely original! But I'll give it a go...

The Problem

Recently, I have been taking a lot more note of not only what goes into the beer I drink, but also how it is made. Podcasts, articles and visits to breweries all tickle my curiosity at what is a really intricate science and I take great pleasure in actually knowing what a mash tun is, or what fermentation means, or why you would want to dry-hop something. But I have also come to realise that a lot of the been I drink, or at least used to drink, is not vegetarian friendly. A year ago, this wouldn't have made a difference to how I feel about beer or how I drink it.

But just over a year ago, I decided to take the plunge and become a vegetarian. I'd been essentially living as a vege for some time before this, as my girlfriend was a vegetarian and about eighteen months ago became a vegan. I really only ate meat at work or when at a restaurant, and decided it was time to actually engage my moral compass and stop eating meat.

I know, big whoop right? Today, being vegetarian is not difficult, I am not going to kid myself otherwise. Veganism on the other hand IS harder, as I experience daily living with my girlfriend. Alternatives are often harder to find, generally a bit more expensive and most frustratingly of all, vegans are barely catered for in most restaurants, small or large. It is not surprising when having dinner out to see the only vegan option on a menu being a very sad and uninspiring-looking salad, or having to pick a mixture of sides instead of a main. That's not to say there aren't people out there who do cater excellently for vegans, and we have found some great places, but more often than not it is a struggle, especially when visiting a new area or going on holiday.

 I fully recognise that the cruelty inherent in the meat business can and does translate into the trade in milk, eggs and obviously leather too, but like many vegetarians I think veganism is a step I currently don't feel able to take yet. Yes, I've made the odd cock-up since starting (accidentally eating a meat pizza in a drunken new year party haze, buying pick'n'mix at the cinema) but generally it has not been much of a challenge. I don't even really miss meat, and apart from the odd craving for an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet or battered cod from the chippy, I am perfectly happy. I imagine that someday I will become a vegan (even our dog is almost vegan), but that's not really the point of this article. I've gone rather off-topic...

So to come back to my main point; beer. What a lot of people don't realise is that a lot of the beer they drink isn't vegetarian. They also probably don't care, as much of the time will be quaffing down their pint alongside a burger, steak or chicken madras. But for the veges and vegans out there, particularly those who love beer, this is an issue.

The Facts

This is where my vegetarianism fell down without me even knowing it. Particularly in relation to cask beer. As a lot of people know, beer if filtered and fined at two or three points in the production process. One of these processes uses a substance called is Isinglass. And although it sounds like a castle in Middle Earth, it is in fact a protein made from the swim bladders of certain tropical fish. Mmm, tasty!

It is added to cask-conditioned and often bottle-conditioned beer in order to reduce the yeasty haze that a lot of traditional ale drinkers would complain about. "It looks off", "it hasn't settled" and "it must be the bottom of the barrel" are all common complaints when served a hazy beer. Traditionally, cloudy beer meant infected beer, and this has stuck with the product to this day, even though it is generally not true any longer. But, in order for these complaints to be avoided, Isinglass is added to bind to the yeast particles, dropping them to the bottom during stillaging and resulting in a bright, clear pint at the bar.

Yes, excess yeast can cause changes to a beer's flavour as well, but as Adnams Head Brewer Fergus Fitzgerald says, it is the drinker's expectations that are the main reason for the fining. And for a brewery such as Adnams, you can kind of understand why. It would be hard to change the perceptions of every Adnams drinker in every pub across the country, who at the end of the day couldn't really care less if it was filtered through fish guts or a cow hide. Maybe they'd care if it was filtered through Cecil the lion's pelt though (look at me, doing satire!) Beer will always eventually clear as the yeast drops to the bottle of the barrel, tank or bottle, so Isinglass merely speeds this up. But a slow-clearing beer is going to take up space in pub cellars and add time to the already 3-day long stillaging process.

I was actually at a Cellar and Cask Beer qualification session recently via work and I brought up the question of are the brewery's beers vege friendly? I won't go into detail on who the brewery are who ran that session, but the answer was a very clear no. Again, fine; this would be too difficult to change for a national brewer and distributor. But the almost more pressing issue here is that it is essentially hidden. Very few pump clips are going to tell you if your beer is vegetarian, and at the end of the day there are probably a lot of vegetarians still sitting drinking their beers with no understanding of the facts. I should know, as until recently I too was doing it too.

The Solution

Sadly, there isn't much of an alternative around at the moment. Gelatin has been suggested, but again doesn't really change anything for the vegans and veges Simply leaving the beer unfiltered or unfined is also becoming more common. This might work for smaller breweries whose customers are more likely to read their information and understand the reason for a cloudy beer, but will struggle to be rolled out on a large scale.

The best option for anyone worried about what they are drinking is to do their research. It's become the norm to trawl through menus or Google after each new suggestion of a restaurant or food stuff is suggested as the next meal for anyone living a meat-free diet, even more so for Vegans, so this won't come as a big shock. As a general rule of thumb, cask beer is a no, keg beer is a yes. This is because keg beers are usually pasteurised instead of being fined. Although Vegans, it might sound obvious but be aware of anything with 'Milk' or 'Cream' in the name. Canned beers are generally fine, whereas bottled beers are dependent on where they are conditioned - brewery-conditioned is usually fine, bottle-conditioned may or may not be (easy, right?) However, these are just guidelines; some keg beers are fined before being kegged, while some bottled-conditioned beers are left cloudy and are therefore okay. Essentially, it's a bit of a minefield. There are some breweries out there who do make specifically vegan and vege-friendly products, and others who only make vegan beers, but it all comes down to research.

Hopefully with time, someone out there will come up with a new way of fining that is both vege-friendly for the drinkers and cost-effective for the brewers. In these days of experimental brewing and meat-free alternatives to just about any animal products, it doesn't take much of an imagination stretch to see it happening. I bet there are already people working on it now! I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

For now, just keep your eyes open and as always, happy drinking!

Cheers.

This blog post has been written to the sound of: Public Service Broadcasting – Theme from PSB

Beer for Miles...

Hello Cleveland! Or wherever you may be reading this from...

It was actually on the train I started making some notes for this post, yet over a month later I finally get it written up! Therefore a few details may be missing, but hopefully from my ramblings you get the jist of the day! And looking back, it's been about two and a half months since my last post. It genuinely doesn't feel that long, but that's just life I guess. It is flying by! So what have I been up to in this time I hear you asking?... 

Well, I've been to my old university housemates' beautiful wedding in Derby, planned some summer beer and music festival adventures, discovered the great We Brought Beer in Balham and attended for the first time the Late Knights' Beer Rebellion pub quiz (losing gloriously in the process). All whilst drinking some fine beer!

But this post isn't about any of those things in great detail. As you might of inferred from the title, this post is about the Bermondsey Beer Mile! For those of you who haven't heard of this, it is a well-recognised bar crawl of tap rooms and brewery bars in the just over a mile stretch between and London Bridge in South East London. For whatever reason, this area of the city has become a haven for craft and micro breweries to locate themselves ever since The Kernel opened its doors in 2009. Back then, when the craft beer world was just beginning to come into its own, these fledgling breweries had to set up wherever they could afford the rent, and the Bermondsey railway arches were as good a place as any. Now, there are no less than 8 separate breweries in the area, all of whom throw open their doors on a Saturday afternoon for the beer geeks, casual drinkers, birthday parties and fellow brewers to come and sample their brews fresh from the tanks.

So, on Saturday 9th May, my girlfriend and I jumped on a train and made our way to sunny Bermondsey. First stop, Fourpure.

I have only recently discovered Fourpure and their adventure-inspired beer, but they are fast becoming one of my favourite London breweries. I really like the fact that they have embraced cans from the start, and plenty more breweries are taking this route now, for many reasons (Beavertown are a big one, and I've also seen cans from Wild Beer and Weird Beard popping up recently). Fourpure's brewery and tap room are located on an industrial estate just round the corner from South Bermondsey station, and on arrival I treated myself to their new West Coast Saison. Sweet and sharp with zingy citrus, this beer brought out the sun (literally) and was a great start to the Beer Mile. This was obviously the start point for a lot of beer aficionados that day, as by the time we had got through beer number one, the bar and the outside seating were all full. I would have happily stayed for longer, but breweries to visit with beers to drink were calling!

Stop number two was Partizan. Probably the longest walk between breweries of the whole day, this took about 15 minutes and as we arrived under the railway arches on Almond Road, I could already see a lot of the same faces who had been at the bar at Fourpure. The Beer Mile really is taking off with so many different people. With a penchant for interesting saisons, there were a number on tap and in bottle, so we opted for a Raspberry, Plum and Ginger for the girlfriend and a Le Moyne for me. Crisp, tart and refreshing, these really take over the palette, and although not really my thing usually, a welcome change from the pales, porters and reds that frequent my glass most of the time! So we obviously couldn't just have the one...!

Interestingly, it was at this brewery I heard a different view on the Beer Mile and its popularity. For some, it seems that the Beer Mile is just a 'Let's Do It to Say I've Done It' kind of thing, with a real detachment from the actual appreciation and enjoyment of the beer. Too many people viewing it as a standard pub crawl, with every other customer at the bar asking for directions to the next place, can take away from the actual craftmanship and passion behind the beer itself. I, however, would argue that this 'Beer Mile' can only be a good thing. Not that I don't understand this view, and agree that it would be a shame to see the route clogged with stag parties and birthday bar crawls, it seems counter-intuitive to be frustrated by the 'event's' popularity. Craft beer, like it or not, IS becoming a trend across the world, and London is one of the cities at the forefront of this post-American, new wave of craft brewing. This should be something to be proud of, and if there are multiple breweries all open on a Saturday afternoon in the space of a couple of kilometres of each other all inviting you to come and drink their excellent beer, you can't blame people for wanting to sample as much as possible in that short window.

Yes, there may be a some people coming just for the status of doing it, but I'd say from my experience there are 3 or 4 times as many coming for the love of the beers. These generally small tap rooms for the most part have little or no furniture, so this isn't your normal pub crawl, so those expecting that will soon be put off, or at the very least not come back for seconds. There were also plenty of people more than happy to sit at their favourite one or two breweries for the whole afternoon, and how best to decide that without finding your favourite first? And you know what, if just one of that hen party or that gang of lads out for a session decide that they actually ARE enjoying this new-fangled craft beer over their standard bland lager, then that's surely a win, right?

Anyway, back to the Beer Mile! Sadly The Kernel, which was the next brewery on the route, closes its doors at 2pm, so we were straight on to the next one: Brew By Numbers. Sitting pretty much bang in the middle of the Mile, this bar was operating a one in, one out policy by the time we got there. Admittedly, I did feel a bit sorry for the guy on the gate who really only wanted to be there talking about and drinking his brewery's beer, but all in the name of licensing, there wasn't really another choice. So we joined the queue, and were in really quickly anyway. I had myself a nutty brown ale whilst Steph got a hazy golden, and we managed to claim a palette outside in the sun to enjoy them on. I'd never had anything from BBNo before, and really enjoyed the Brown. Maybe a heavy choice for such a sunny afternoon, but the malty ale with its hints of chocolate, dark fruit and earth easily made this a minor concern!

By now, it wasn't just the beers that were getting hazy. The sun was low in the late Spring sky and the beer was starting to cloud our heads just a tad! So around 5pm, we found ourselves on Druid Street. This final stretch of the walk has 3 breweries all in close proximity to one another. We knew we would probably already be missing last orders at one of the newest additions to the mile, Southwark Brewing, so instead settled in at the joint brewery bar shared by Anspach & Hobday and Bullfinch Brewery. Now I'm not sure if it was just my beery goggles, but I couldn't find anything from Bullfinch, which is a shame as I've heard some great things about them. Instead I opted for a couple of tasting boards from A & H, consisting of their Pale Ale, IPA, Best Bitter, Noble Ale, Sour Ale and Cream Ale. Particular favourite there was the Sour, a real palette-cleanser at that time of the day!

So as the day was drawing to a close, there was one final treat in store for us, in the form of a place close to my hoppy heart, The Bottle Shop. This gem began life in The Goods Shed in Canterbury where I went to uni and worked for a couple of years before upping sticks to London, and along with a couple of fantastic pubs and individuals in the city, helped provide my first real venture into new and exciting beers. I remember being blown away by the artwork, taste and accessibility of a Beavertown Gamma Ray (back when it was still in bottles) from the original Canterbury store, so it was apt that the Bermondsey site was hosting the Beavertown tap takeover the day we visited. Again, our reasonably late arrival saw us confronted with empty kegs of some exciting beers like their DIPA Skull King (which I have since tried... and it's amazing!) and some interesting collaborations. 

That said, their are very few things about Beavertown and their beers that could be described as 'unexciting', so we grabbed ourselves some halves of the Bloody 'Ell Blood Orange IPA and savoured our last stop on the Mile.

Ultimately, this was a genuinely great day with good weather, good friends and some top notch beers. Yes, it was really busy at some points and yes, in some ways queuing out the door at the makeshift brewery bar of a micro brewery seems slightly against the ethos of what many of them are trying to do. But realistically, craft beer is commercialising; Sambrooks, Camden Town and Thornbridge are all now available in some form in chain superstores and it's even making appearances on cookery programmes and breakfast TV. Maybe some people would lead you to believe that the spirit behind the beer has gone, but as I said before, I don't believe this. Don't be that guy/girl who revels in being the only one drinking something different at the bar, like you are in some kind of secret club that becomes uncool the moment you let too many people in. The term 'hipster' is something papers and the internet love to casually stick on to any new-ish movement at the moment, no matter if it is prefixed with music, fashion, craft beer or numerous other terms. Instead, be that person who buys the rounds in specifically to get your friends or colleagues drinking better beer. In my opinion, there is no bar crawl better than one when you are drinking beer fresh from the brewery with like-minded people, where you know your are putting money back into helping these breweries do what they do. 

So the next Saturday you have an afternoon free... I'll meet you in Bermondsey! 

This post was written to the tune of: The Bohicas – Where You At

London Brewers' Market - Shoreditch, Saturday 28th March 2015

First post for a few weeks, it's been a busy time! Work has been quite crazy, and although I've still been managing to get a few beers drank in the evenings (as you'll know if you have me on Instagram), I haven't had a whole lot of time to spend finding new places to drink. That's not to take away from the great beers I've enjoyed from the sofa (Delirium, the already renowned Bloody 'Ell from Beavertown and some of the Adnams Jack Brand beers), but you just can't beat that new-pub feeling!

So it was with great anticipation that the girlfriend and I made our way to Shoreditch on Saturday to take a look round the London Brewers' Market. I had heard about this via social media, and had been looking forward to it since. It's actually my first full weekend off in March, so it made an afternoon at a market full of beer all the sweeter!

I hadn't got in until 6am Saturday morning from work, so after walking the new dog, we didn't leave home until about 1:30pm. Actually, I don't think I've mentioned the new dog in the blog yet - his name is Fudge, a 4 year old rescue dog from Battersea - so I've put a picture of him in below for everyone to see just how adorable he is.

As you can see, we have already bonded over a love of action films. He hasn't sampled the beer yet though...

Arriving at the market about 3pm, we were greeted by a mass of people and stalls, with everyone clutching either a can or pint of beer. What was cool is that there was also the Independent Record Label Market sharing the space that day, more than doubling the amount of stalls and meaning there was constant good music to listen to from the DJ in the centre and a load of great music to sample and merch to wish I could afford!

The market was packed, so the first beer I tried was one of the first stalls I visited - Fourpure. I got myself a half of their new Outpost series, a rich Vienna-style lager called Amber Trail. It was full of dark fruit and rich malt, very satisfying and totally should have got a pint! The girlfriend grabbed a Raspberry and Lime Saison from Partizan at this point - sour and fruity with a citrus kick, and very moreish! 

Wandering round, almost every great London brewery was represented. I sampled beers from Sambrook's, One Mile End, Hop Stuff and Brixton Brewery, but could have tried many more if I had had the cash! It was a really nice event to just speak to the stall-holders and fellow craft beer lovers, about their beers, bars and upcoming events they mare hosting or going to. Also had a great chat with the guys at Home Brew Depot about their kickstarter campaign, which sounds fantastic!

But, alas, all good things must end and after grabbing a couple of takeaway brews from Windsor and Eaton and London Beer Factory (whose brewery and bar is also just round the corner from me!) and an IHL from Camden Town for the road (up there with my top craft lagers this one, although sadly I couldn't get a bottle of the barrel-aged version), we got ready to head home.

Overall a great event, and hopefully next time it will expand to include a few more breweries too. It's so good to live in a city where these type of things are happening more regularly, and that the products from all the breweries there and more are so easily accessible. Only the other day I was tweeted by a local wine and beer shop about the new craft beers they just got in... sadly I may need to wait until pay day for that visit!

This blog was written to the tune of: Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weather

I'll take you to (not so) foggy London Town

Hello again, fellow beer-heads! It's been some time since I last wrote here, but that isn't through lack of beer-related adventures. I've just been super busy with work, seeing people and visiting Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in search of a new furry friend for the household!

But these things have, as always, been interspersed with good amounts of new beer in new bars, which is always good.

Just over a week ago, the girlfriend and I took a trip to London Zoo when we both had a couple of days off mid-week. Although the weather wasn't the best, we still managed to see most of the animals and have a good afternoon snapping pictures and 'aww-ing' over a variety of critters from porcupines to tiger cubs. It was a great afternoon, and later in the day we also took our first visit to a Brewdog bar [insert big cats to big dogs joke].

For someone who raves about craft beer in all its varieties, I always feel bad for not having been to one of Brewdog's bars before now, considering there are at least 2 within half an hour of where I live. But now I have, and I wasn't disappointed!

First up, I had a Pressure Drop Pale Fire whilst the girlfriend had a 5am Saint from Brewdog. Pressure Drop were the featured brewer when we went, and the Pale Fire was brilliant. Often made with different hops, I had this from draught so sadly can't remember which this was (or even if it was advertised). Regardless, it was delightfully citrusy and hoppy, with enough strength to kick more than your average pale ale, but still very drinkable. As quite a fast drinker, I then decided to grab a second half before we headed off, this time going for one of Brewdog's own - Bourbon Baby. A bourbon-barrel aged scotch ale, I was silly to think this could be a 'quick half'. As with any dark beer in my opinion, you really need to savour the complex flavours and heavy aromas. Bourbon Baby is a test in barrel-aging low ABV beers, and it works particularly well, giving you an almost sessionable dark beer that still has the complex dark fruit and roasted flavours, with the bourbon notes coming through nicely, but doesn't leave you feeling like you've just eaten a whole steak and ale pie.

The Brewdog bar itself was great inside, modern and bright, with great areas and what looked like great food, although we didn't have any. I love the fact that these guys have got bars springing up everywhere, although maybe it's just the modest Brit in me but I get a slight feeling of an over-the-top attitude present in the whole make up of the bar. The 'Hopinator' tap (on this occasion filled with orange peel), the vast array of merchandise feels kind of like they are just shouting about themselves, and not the beer. Maybe it is just that very few genuinely great people are comfortable saying "yes, we ARE great at what we do!", but something it just feels like Brewdog are, in some aspects, overly concerned with their appearance and reputation. However, this is only a very small niggle that I'm not expressing too well... plus they have just announced a Norwich bar opening, which is great news for my home city where craft beer is just starting to find its feet.

After Brewdog, the on-demand lady that she is, my girlfriend was whisked away to an art exhibition by fellow models and photographers she knows, so I was left in Camden with no choice but to drown my loneliness with more beer...

Ok, slight exaggeration, I actually only sat in one bar by myself, which was the Black Heart. Not having been here before, it's located near the station in a little alley behind the World's End, which most Camden frequents will be aware of. Filled with a mix of clocked-off professionals and old school metal heads, this bar does well to recreate the divey bars of many of our childhood's in what is actually a pretty nice (albeit pretty dark) space.

Firstly, after seating myself at the bar I ordered a Mikkeller Czechet Pilsner. A nice, dry pilsner, light in bitterness and medium in body, this was the first Mikkeller beer I've sampled, having heard great things about them. A nice choice for a solo drink, light and easy on the finish. I was actually going to head off after this, until I spotted the canned Beavertown beers in the fridge. I couldn't help myself, I had to have a Gamma Ray! Immediately  this became one of my favourite American Pales so far. Tropical fruit, hops and some floral notes, this hazy ale is exquisite and designed for summer swigging. Also, Beavertown are up there with Partizan for my favourite designed beers, and I love that their whole line come in cans now - if I can just find them by the case, my festival drinks this summer are sorted!

It was overall a great day for beer. And, I almost forgot, I finally visited Late Knight Brewery's Beer Rebellion bar the night before! I had a Pale from 5 Points Brewing and a Frosty Morning from the hosts, Late Knights. I can remember I enjoyed them both, particularly the flavour-ful Pale, but other than that it was almost two weeks ago now, so sorry for a lack of detail! I was particularly enamoured by the bar itself thug, with its nice range of guest beers, Monday quiz night (which I am currently assembling my team for) and great looking menu with beer-batteres gherkins on! So happy this is just on my doorstep!

So overall, it's been a great week and a bit for my beer exploits. In addition to the above, I also managed to enjoy pints of Gentleman's Wit and  Hells Lager from Camden Town Brewery whilst at the incredible Jungle gig at The Roundhouse on Tuesday, a Magic Rock High Wire and a Meantime Urban Lager (which is probably my favourite beer that's ever come under the 'lager' label) at another local watering hole The Westow, along with some bottled treats from Adnams, Wolf Brewery and The Orkney Brewery at home.

If you want to keep up to date with all my beer-drinking (and why wouldn't you?) you can follow me on Instagram if you're that way inclined for all kinds of tasteful pictures of tasty ales - @dangreen89.

For now kids, I'm off shopping, so see you all soon!

This post was written while listening to: Everything Everything – Distant Past

Trip up t' North

Being up at 6am on a cold Saturday in January is not the ideal start to a weekend. Neither is a looming four and a half hour coach journey. But knowing that both these things would result in me and the girlfriend being in Leeds by midday for a weekend away made it all bearable. And the promise of some northern brews to warm us up helped as well!

After arriving in Leeds an hour later than planned thanks to a driver change where the driver taking over happened to still be in bed, we made our way to the hotel. In an ideal world, the first call would have then been the pub, but due to us being a bit late, it was straight to the train station to go and meet my sister in Huddersfield. Fortunately, my sister greeted us off the train with a pub already in mind! Must run in the blood...

First stop was The Warehouse where we settled in to catch the end of the Ireland v Italy 6 Nations match. For the life of me I cannot remember what I drank here, but after a couple of pints from their decent selection of local beers, we moved off to find dinner as the pub started to fill up for the football.

We decided to stop off on the way for food at a great little place called Vox. I enjoyed a Coyote American Pale Ale from Bob Cat Brewery here - well-hopped and malty, with a dark amber colour, and from just up the road! I could have happily sat and had another, or something else from their large range of UK and Belgian beers, but alas it was time for food. (I say that as if it's a bad thing!)

I won't bore you with what I ate at the well-known high street chicken restaurant, but suffice to say I was soon ready to wash it down (and cool of my mouth) with another brew. This time, we were led to a small door which without a Huddersfield-dweller we could have easily walked past. Up a flight of old metal stairs, we came across the delightful Bar Maroc. A cosy Moroccan-styled bar with plenty of sofas and corners to settle down in, this place felt like a secret retreat for the town's coolest, albeit a terribly kept secret, as it was already impossible to get a table by the time we got there.

When we did manage to grab ourselves the end of a table, it was my job to get the drinks in. I can't say I was expecting a lot in terms of beer, but I was nicely surprised at the bar where I found some decent local brews on draught and a fridge full of craft. Faced with a choice, I went back to my table clutching one of these beauties...

A Black Betty IPA from Beavertown Brewery. This black IPA clocks in at a nice 7% ABV, and has an earthy, piney smell to it. Not as heavy as other black IPAs, I enjoyed the roasted malts, chocolate and liquorice flavours, with subtle lemony hints coming through too. Really well-balanced on the hops and overall flavours, I will definitely be getting more of this when I can!

The evening was great, catching up with the sister and sampling some of Huddersfield's nicest places, but we had to say our goodbyes about 11pm to get on a train back to Leeds and our hotel. Sunday was just as nice, wandering the city and enjoying the sunny weather... who said it was grim up North?

On our wanderings, we chanced across a beer market down one of the arcades, called Tall Boys. Inside, there was a huge range of beers, like local ones from Leeds, York and Manchester plus more from great breweries including Magic Rock, Siren and Five Points. Plenty from across the pond in the US of A and from across the slightly smaller pond in Europe helped make the selection vast and mesmerising. They also have beers on tap for drinking in and a quirky gallery upstairs to enjoy. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't buy anything to take home, but knowing this place is there means it will be my first stop next time!

I could happily have stayed in the city longer and would not be complaining if I was still there now, but too soon it was time to go. My trip had been brief but fun. Leeds is a great city with a lot to do and, as much as I am enjoying London, I could genuinely see myself living there or somewhere similar in a few years.

Making my way home minus the girlfriend who was staying up there for work, I know I could have sampled a lot more from the local area, with breweries like Northern Monk and Kirkstall both a stone's throw from the centre. But I suppose it's all the more reason to go back!

Finally, after a long coach journey back to London finished with the obligatory bus-replacement train from Victoria to home, I walked in the front door and couldn't resist cracking open a Sunday-evening brew.

K*ntish Town Beard from Weird Beard is a delicious foggy copper American Wheat Ale, full of sweet berry and hop aromas, A zingy citrus taste, full-bodied and lightly spiced, with noticeable pine and hop flavours too. Finished with a sharp, bitter after-taste, this was the first Weird Beard brew I've had, and I can't complain at all. A wheat beer is always a nice change as I don't drink many, but sweet, citrus and spice make it irresistibly drinkable and, in a 500ml bottle rather than a 330ml, you get a bit more beer for your buck, which is never a bad thing!

Anyway, that is me done for another evening. If you've managed to stick with it for this unusually long post, thank you. You must have enjoyed to stay this long! I'm just cracking open the Partizan  India Pale Ale, so I'm sure you'll get a review of that soon, or an Instagrammy picture here (@dangreen89).

Anyway, night!

This post was written to the sound of: Hannah Wants – Rhymes

Old Red Eyes, Aye?

As anyone who has read my previous posts know, I live pretty much opposite a great little brewery bar called Beer Rebellion, run by London's Late Knights Brewery. However, I am embarrassed to say I still haven't been in. In my defence, for a couple of months they were closed while they moved their whole operation next door, but since December they've been open for business again. And it looks like they are doing well! 

I can try and blame a number of things for not yet walking through their door, but whether it is work, being away or simply feeling too awkward to go and drink in there on my own, I should really have gone by now. So to make myself feel a little better, the first of my pay day treats I decided to sample was Late Knight's Old Red Eyes. A dark amber ale with hints of ruby in the colour, straight from the bottle it looks incredibly appetising. 

The sticky, long-lasting head sits nicely on the top, and on the nose the emphasis is in the strong red fruit and malty aromas. I'm a big fan of red or ruby ales and this one really does not disappoint.

Drinking this beer about half 10 in the evening, it feels like one you could sit nursing for a while as you chat away in front of a roaring fire. I have no fire, so the warmth from the radiator had to do, but it's a great beer to add to a cold January night. Taste-wise, you get the sweet red fruit and malt again, with added hop, nut and subtle citrus. With lingering toffee afterwards, the beer is as full-bodied a dark amber/red ale as you'll find, and I love the fruit flavours that exist throughout the drink.

If this isn't enough reason for me to actually take that short trip across the road, I don't know what is!

I'll be back soon with another review, but tonight I'm back in central meeting some old friends from uni, and Saturday I'll no doubt be recovering from this. Then Sunday I'm managing the Super Bowl event at work, so it will be a sea of Coors and hot dogs and not understanding the rules all night for me. But I might treat myself to a pint of our current guest ale afterwards, so every cloud.

Anyway, have a good weekend all!

This post was written to the sound of: Riz MC - Halflife

Day out in the big smoke

Living in London for the past few months has been great, but since living here I've had to get used to a new job, moved flats, been away a couple of times and had the Christmas and NewYear period at home. So I haven't actually had the chance to see a lot of the city.

So yesterday, with a day off from work, the girlfriend to meet between jobs at lunch and a cinema trip planned for the evening, I thought there was no better way to spend my free time than investigating where to find some good craft beer in the capital. And then drink it.

Using my trusty Craft Beer London app that I mention in a previous blog, I was wandering around near Piccadilly Circus and saw to my delight that I was only a few minutes walk away from Craft Beer Co's Covent Garden venue.

Picture: ratebeer.co.uk

Surprisingly, there isn't a great amount of places to buy decent beer around very central London (think Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly etc.) I suppose it could be due to the area's main focus being tourism and entertainment, and whatever the bars around there do serve, they're going to sell it due to sheer volumes of people through the door. I know that's a sweeping generalisation, and I have managed to get a good pint in bars around the area, but it feels harder than it should in city with so much good stuff on offer!

Craft Beer Co is a great new(ish) chain of bars, and I'd heard a lot about it, just never had the opportunity to go. The first thing you notice on entering is the sheer volume of beers - cask, keg and bottle - that they have on offer. I counted 45 on keg or cask, and lost count on the bottles, but got close to 80! Most of these are on rotation as well, so you will never not be spoilt for choice in there. They also have a fantastic whisky selection as well, and as a whisky fan as well, this blew me away! 

However, as it was only 4pm in the afternoon, I decided to leave the spirits for now and stick to the real reason I went in. Beer.

It's not often I find myself hesitating at the bar, as usually I have spotted what I'd like on my walk from the door. Yet in Craft Beer Co, I genuinely had to say "Just another minute.." whilst choosing my beer. Finally deciding on a Somerset Wild by Wild Beer Co, I found myself a bar stool, got out my book and settled down to enjoy it. 

And enjoy it, I did not. Well, not initially. First sip tasted like a strong cider, and I genuinely for a second thought I had been served the wrong drink. On closer tasting however, I could get past the dry acidity, that could also be likened to a white wine, and could taste the refreshing Saison beneath. It took me probably the whole half to really get used to what I was drinking, with the various bacteria used in the fermentation really giving it a citric, sour finish. Different to anything I've drank before, unusual but not unkind, this interesting brew truly incorporates the brewery's 'Drink Wildly Different' slogan.

In order to give my taste buds a bit of a rest, I went slightly more safe with my second choice and bought myself a Pale Ale from The Kernel Brewery. As most of you will probably be aware, Kernel have gone from strength to strength these past few years, and this fashionable brewery are easily the most exiting thing to have come out from under a bridge since that whale swam up the Thames a few years ago. (To anyone who doesn't know, Kernel started under a railway arch in Bermondsey, and has since moved to a slightly bigger one.)

A powerfully-flavoured, American-style beer, their Pale Ale's are defined by the combination of hops used, and sadly I can't remember exactly what ones I has the pleasure to be supping on. Although the light, citrusy notes in the scent and taste gives me some idea at least that it was made with citra, anything else I couldn't tell you. The ale itself is surprisingly sessionable for a 5.4% brew and it's no wonder why this brewery have made such a name for itself. 

I could have stayed in this bar for much longer, but I had places to be and people to meet. Although not before I'd got a bit peckish and treated myself to some chips with my Pale Ale. Not one to blag about knowing loads about food and beer pairings, I have to say Craft Beer Co's salted skin-on chips make an excellent addition to a flavourful, crisp pale ale like The Kernal's. And the Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup is probably the best condiment I've ever tasted!

The best thing to happen in the world of condiments since Nandos 

thought 'you know what this hot sauce needs? More hot!'

 Finishing up. I headed off to meet up with some lovely people for a trip to watch 'Office Space' at Scroobius Pip's Film Club, Prince Charles Cinema. As an added bonus, the cinema had Brewdog in their fridges... f**kin' A! All in all, a great day out. 

Looking forward to my next venture to a new bar, although I've still got a fair few beers here at home to get through!

As always, I'll keep you all posted.

This post was written to the beat of: Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – Get Better

Pay Day Treats

So with pay day happening on Saturday, I thought I'd treat myself after the long month of January. I also realised for the first time that getting paid on 24th of each month is a privilege, especially at this time of year!

Visiting the good folks at Good Taste in Crystal Palace, I treated myself to the below beauties...

Left to right: India Pale Ale by Partizan, Old Red Eyes by Late Knights, K*entish Town Beard by Weird Beard Brew Co. and Chocolate Porter by Meantime

So thankful that a little place like Good Taste exists where I live! There is a lot on offer, from big to small breweries both in and outside of London. Also some excellent-looking gins and whiskies crafted around the city that I might sample when feeling a little more flush! (Okay, small disclaimer, only 3/4 of those beers are from the shop... the Meantime is actually from Morrisons, but for £1.50, who could refuse?!) 

Definitely some fun to be had over the coming week with these! An excellent mix of beers and breweries to sample, and the added bonus that Late Knights actually have one of their bars Beer Rebellion almost right opposite my flat!

Will be sure to keep you all updated with reviews over the next couple of weeks.

Have a good weekend, I'm now off for lunch and a pint.

This post was written listening to: Tourist – Illuminate

Best thing online, all for the price of less than a pint

So after doing a lot of research into places to drink and find good beer in London (I know, what a hard task...) I came across this beauty on the Google Play Store - 'Craft Beer London'. At £2.49, it's pretty lucky I even stopped to look as I haven't paid for an app since moving to Android 3 years ago.

However, the reviews were all extremely positive and at the price of less than a pint, I thought why not! Hell, it's less than half a pint in some places around...

Fortunately, I wasn't to be disappointed. The app is a detailed map of brew bars, breweries and pubs that serve good beer across the capital, sorting everything into a handy list of what's nearby. Just sitting in bed, I can see there are no less than 4 bars or pubs and 4 breweries within 2 miles of me. What a nice Sunday that would be! 

For any beer aficionados looking for their next new watering hole, but similarly if you just want a nice pint in the big smoke, I can't recommend this enough. The creators are obviously true beer-geeks, with each bar or brewery getting it's own description, favourite pint and links to find them online. It makes the whole app feel a lot more personal and built with a great deal of both research and passion, setting it apart from a lot of the other free pub or beer finder apps out there. There's even an option to suggest pubs that you feel might have been unfairly missed off, which is nice, especially if through your recommendation your favourite bar makes it onto the app.

Who'd have thought a Google map could make me this inconceivably happy!

To find it on Google Play, the link is below. (Iphone users, you'll have to look yourself and for Windows die-hards, probably best not to bother, you'll only be disappointed... You don't even get Snapchat.) They've also published a book for anyone looking to delve a bit deeper into the beer culture and best drinking spots in London.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=craft.beer.london

Have fun and happy beer-drinking!

This post was written listening to: James Bay – Scars

Starting close to home

So, first beer of the blog. And what better place to start than home! Lacons, based in Great Yarmouth, opened their doors again after a 45 year absence in 2013 and wasn't it worth the wait!

Encore is one of the brewery's three signature brews (which I was lucky enough to get given for Christmas, and strong-willed enough to not drink until now!) Winner of multiple awards last year, this amber ale has impressed across the board. It's genuinely so nice to see something like this spring out of Great Yarmouth, after so many years of seeing various parts of where I spent my childhood and teenage years gradually fade out.

The fruity nature of the beer is refreshing and zesty, a great way statement of intent for the brewery in the beer market of today. Crisp and dry, the taste lasts and keeps you keen right through to the last swig. Enough bitterness and sweet fruit in equal measure, it's easy to see how it won such praise as it did globally last year at the World Beer Awards.

For all the beer nerds, according to the brewery's website, the yeast strains used in the beers are made from the original yeast cultures, deep frozen at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures - the most fun place ever to work- by the brewery before it closed its doors in 1957. Crafting their ales from these original strains give physical substance to the air of history and heritage that surround Lacons, and the blend of the classic with the modern is at the heart of what they are doing since the reopening.

Overall, Encore is a pleasure to drink and hopefully the brew will start finding its way out of Norfolk in the not so distant future. Not enough craft beer is finding its way out of the county at the moment in my opinion, and their are a wealth of microbreweries old and new all around. 

A quite apt metaphor for what Great Yarmouth should be itself, Lacons are reinventing themselves, and I can only hope that the town itself isn't far behind!

If you want to find out more about the brewery or want to sample some of their wares, check them out here: www.lacons.co.uk. 

Now, I've still got two more to 'sample' before the night is through, so if you're lucky, you might see them up here in some vaguely readable ramblings soon.

Bottoms up!

This post was written to the tune of: Jungle – Julia

I am a man. I drink beer. I also like to talk about it.

However, I realised recently that everybody does. Apparently beer and its taste, look, history and innovation is just not as interesting for some people. Well, most people. Who'd have thought it?

I understand that for many, a beer is a pint of run-of-the-mill lager over lunch, a crate of the same at house party or a few jars of ale in a pub on a Friday night. And that's fine. I mean, it really is. Even the run-of-the-mill lager drinkers, unlike a lot of the die-hard beer connoisseurs I can appreciate the cheeky pints of big brewery lager you guzzle down. These bar top standards have their time and place and most importantly aren't (in general) going to leave a gaping 568ml's worth of space in your wallet.

  However, I can't deny the fact that over the past about 3 years, the ales, the craft beers and the speciality brews of our sceptred isle and beyond have tempted me and drawn me into their sweet beery embrace. I don't know if it's from being surrounded by some great bars and breweries throughout my time living in Kent, working in bars and hearing "I'll have a Fosters please" countless times every evening or just a wish to try something new as my snakebite-stained uni years fade behind me, but regardless it is something I have not once regretted. (I realise I'm almost making beer drinking sound like some kind of life-changing force... if only.)

But as I said, not everyone cares. Why should they? Even if they like the stuff I am asking them to try, what's so special that we need to start a twenty minute conversation on the subtle aromas of citrus, the type of rare hops used and the trousers that the brewer wore on the day he first casked it? The most obvious answer is, well, nothing.

Apart from it does really interest me! So rather than bore my friends, colleagues and anyone in the pub who will listen with it, I thought I'd stick my musings, reviews and other beer-related ramblings on the internet. Combining my love of all things beer and my ability to write somewhat interestingly (hey, if I can't say this after a BA nad MA in English, what other use are they?) I decided that I might as well, after years of reading some truly great blogs of friends and others from all over the interweb, I decided to make my own. So here it is, my Beer Blog!

Picture credit: alternativeberlin.com

I get to put my thoughts on what I'm drinking into written word. I get to use the phrase 'I'm working' when drinking beer at home. And maybe, I will get to entertain and even educate others on the wonders of craft, independent and small-batch beer. 

Maybe you'll even go out and try the beer I review. Or maybe you'll tell your friend. Or maybe, just maybe, you'll order a pint of something different on the next lager-lunch. 

And that can only ever be a good thing, right?

This post was written listening to: Blue Swede – Hooked on a Feeling