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