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