West Country Ales Vol 1 and Wandsworth Halloween Fest

Quantock Brewery Quantock Ale, 3.8%

Synonymous of the Quantock Brewery in Somerset this is a well made traditional amber ale with slight fruit notes on the nose, its well rounded and improves as it goes on and would make an excellent session beer due to its medium-low percentage, a good place to start after a day toiling at a computer, 6.5/10.

Emma says ‘Unusual very beery’

Clearwater Brewery Devon Dympsy, 4.0%

Formerly known as “Cavalier” this ale is from the Clearwater brewery in Torrington, Devon, a small brewery with a succinct range of ales and a few pubs around the Exmoor area. The ale itself is excellent, dark chestnut in colour with a nutty smooth taste which builds into a citrus finish. It’s very drinkable and I wish I had more than one bottle right now,  8/10.

Emma says ‘light smoky burnt taste a bit like eating an ash tray’

Wandsworth Common Halloween 2012 Beer Festival

In between trying the two aforementioned ales I visited the Wandsworth Halloween Ale festival at Le Gothique just off Wandsworth Common. Located in the middle of the huge Royal Victoria Patriotic Building this festival is without doubt the ‘coolest’ festival I've been to with a mainly young clientèle, Halloween costumes and an excellent setting. It’s never overcrowded and it’s a good festival to get served quickly, the range of ales was even better this year than last and the setting in Le Gothique’s courtyard is excellent.

The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building

I would give you a breakdown and reviews of what I had but foolishly I lost my booklet with my thoughts inside and my memory is somewhat hazy. Although I do remember being very disappointed by the Downton Chocolate Orange ale, but that was my only duff selection and the ales available generally were of the highest quality. Although one downside was the weather as this festival is mainly set outside it is at the mercy of the British autumn and it was brutally cold despite the halogen heaters but the organizers cannot help that. A great festival and I'm looking forward to their spring edition.

Tanya's Courage Trust Ale

A slightly different blog today, I saw this on ebay and thought, ‘I know I will buy something interesting and help a charity at the same time’. What I had today was the last ever bottle of an ale brewed specially for Tanya’s Courage Trust by Keltek Brewery in Redruth Cornwall.

Tanya’s Courage Trust is a cancer charity helping young people with cancer in Cornwall and the Isle’s of Scilly, I know how horrific cancer in young people can be and any causes such as this should be supported and encouraged. Please go to http://www.tanyascourage.org.uk/ for more information.

To the ale itself (pictured below in my Wandsworth Halloween festival glass from 2011), I’m not going to be too harsh on it as I’ve no idea how it has been stored and the Keltek Brewery has an excellent reputation, but it wasn’t great, very very smoky and a bit of a sour taste.

But I’m pleased that I bought it and if one person clicks the link in this blog and makes a donation then that’s the important thing, and even if no one does then no one else bid for it so the charity is up none the less. I'll raise my glass to that.

A Trip to the Powderkeg

Me and some chums went to the Powderkeg Diplomacy (http://www.powderkegdiplomacy.co.uk/) bar in Clapham on Friday, despite living not that far away I’d never been here before but I had heard good things so I thought it was worth devoting an evening to.

The Powderkeg is about a 10 minute walk from Clapham Junction station and even though you walk past several other pubs to get there it is definitely worth it. It’s sort of innocuous from the outside but definitely interesting inside with old doors suspended on the wall and ceiling which was certainly different. You always know you’re in for a good evening when the menu is mostly devoted to ale of various varieties and the Powderkeg certainly doesn’t disappoint.

The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and although the bar space is limited as the staff come round to your table to ask if you need another drink this isn’t a problem. I must also give a special mention to the staff member in a flat cap who brought us an extra chair, presumably from the restaurant, when we didn’t even ask for it (we were rather cramped onto a small sofa before this). Staff who go out of their way to help you out does really make a difference and it really did cement the Powderkeg up there as one of my favourite places.

One small critique would be that I’d like to know the bottle size of the ale on the menu before I order it, as I don’t mind paying £4.50 for 330ml of an imported/hard to source beer but I’d like to know beforehand. But overall the Powderkeg is excellent and the ale selection and quality was top notch.

These are the first five ales I had, there were another two but I don’t remember them.

Oakham Hawse Buckler, 5.6%. This ale takes its name from the plate which fills the hole for a ships anchor chain, the hawse-hole, in rough weather, strangely apt as I was soaked from an autumn shower. A dark, dark ale, with rich malt and raisin aromas which hits upfront and then is followed by a long lasting bitter finish, one for those who like their dark ales (like me), an excellent start, 7/10.

Magic Rock High Wire, 5.5%. Magic Rock’s tribute to West Coast IPA’s which really do use a lot of hops and test your taste buds. This has a nice fruity start of lychees and grapefruit and then develops into a long increasingly intense bitter finish, really does wipe the palate and very refreshing. 6.5/10.

Beavertown 8 Ball, 6.2%. A Rye IPA which takes its name as originally the hop sacks were weighed down into the beer using old pool balls. Fruity orange and spice on the nose and palate with a tinge of bitterness at the end, really, really nice. 8/10.

Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, 4.5%. For me there are not enough milk stouts around, and this is a good one, it’s a historic recipe re-brewed for the modern day and it looks just as it should, pitch black and thick. Smooth and well balanced with the milk sugars bringing sweetness into the taste and a nice sharp finish. 7/10.

Flying Dog Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, 7.5%. This was my favourite beer of the night, hazy golden colour, very hoppy with a tart orange and lemon zest, surprisingly easy drinking. Also has the best bottle design of the evening too. 8.5/10.

Top stuff all round.

As Nature Intended selection

So today I went into As Nature Intended in Balham to see if they had any funky organic ale for me to try and it turns out alongside some ones I’ve had before like the River Cottage Stinger there were some new ones for me to sample, I got a Cannabia, a Stroud Brewery Budding, and an Organic English Beer.

First up was the Cannabia (5%), it’s not an ale but more of a Pils lager, but with special hemp, the website for it says this ‘Cannabia, first hemp beverage (Cannabis beer) of mankind’. One hell of a line. Apparently more hemp is used than hops (more information can be found on their website). The beer itself is gold in colour, smooth to drink with quite an odd aftertaste, which just left me a bit underwhelmed. It’s an interesting concept trying to make a beer out of hemp but i think it needs more work on its taste. I’m going to give it a 5/10, as it’s ok to drink but the only thing I’ll remember about it is the label.

Emma Says: ‘this is a beer so it’s difficult as my palate is not very educated, beery, and sweetish’

Next I went for the Stroud Budding (4.5%), another organic ale with a rich golden colour, according to the bottle this ale has won Champion Beer of Gloucestershire in both 2006 & 2008 and is named after an Edward Beard Budding of Stroud who invented the lawnmower and if that’s not something to celebrate in a fine ale I don’t know what is! The ale itself has a slight floral aroma, with a fruity hoppy taste with hints of bitter citrus with quite a long dry finish. A nice pale ale and certainly a big improvement over the Cannabia, 6.75/10.

Emma says: pulls a funny face then says ‘I had to double check but it tastes like dishwater’

And finally... the Organic English Beer (4.1%) brewed with the influence of Master Brewer Peter Scholey (former Brakspear head brewer). It’s another golden organic ale and has a smooth floral aroma with an equally smooth drinkable taste, and it does have a little bit of a spicy and bitter kick which disrupts the smoothness in a good way. It’s not going to leave you thinking ‘this is amazing I must have more’ but it is a nice ale nonetheless, 7/10.

Emma says: ‘sweet and honey taste’

Origins

This blog was born from my love of real ale and my desire to keep trying new breweries and types until I lost track of what I like and didn't like. So I started to record and review every ale in a spreadsheet  which led to twitter reviews and now as twitter doesn't have enough characters now I'm going to blog them.

My reviews will be direct and to the point but I will be honest and ales are not guaranteed to get a high mark (although a lot do).

The reviews also include a short summary from my other half as she can come out some good comments which make me laugh.

I will also blog occasionally about ale related activities, pubs, and ale brewing.

I hope people may find this interesting and I will try not to waffle on.