One man's excuse…
When it comes to the no-longer-so-new wave of hazy and fruity IPAs, the past couple of years have seen one name shoot to the top of the pile – Verdant. Add Zagovor, a Moscow brewery with a growing reputation, and kveik, the Norwegian farmhouse yeast that has become a recent craft beer darling, and you have a beer that I need to try. Time for Apahrapa Kveik IPA.
Continue reading “Verdant + Zagovor Abahrapa Kveik IPA”
The boilermaker. An annoying name for a tradition as old as modern whisky – drinking it alongside a beer. With BrewDog having expanded into spirit-making and continuing to grow its bar estate, it was only a matter of time before it got in on the action. While this isn’t the first time they’ve done whisky and beer stuff, it’s certainly the most concerted effort – three whiskies, from three producers, each matched with a BrewDog beer. I’m not a big fan of two of the three, but the third I’m quite partial to: Compass Box Transistor paired with Punk IPA.
Continue reading “Compass Box Transistor and Punk IPA”
Continuing on from the Bass King’s Ale in my last post, we stepped back even further and tried what may end up being the oldest drink I ever get to taste – Bass Ratcliff Ale, brewed on 16 December 1869.
My obsession with old beer continues. At Dramboree this year I had the chance of trying a pair of bottles that I’m honoured to have tasted. First up: Bass King’s Ale from 1902.
When it comes to drinks which don’t contain alcohol, there is one that I am almost as obsessive over as booze – coffee. While I’m generally not a fan of coffee beers, there’s one that combines beer, coffee and whisky in a way that I can’t ignore: Magic Rock Common Grounds.
Continue reading “Common Grounds – Magic Rock and Dark Woods Coffee”
There are some bottle of booze that have mystique. Bottles that people search for and keep, opening them only special occasions. For me, one of the bottles that I’ve coveted since hearing about it is an 80 year old beer. So, here’s the oldest beer I’ve drunk, opened at the celebration of someone becoming old: an excellent occasion and an incredible bottle – Bass Prince’s Ale from 1929.
It’s BrewDog’s AGM this weekend, and along with some big news (a new bar in Glasgow with micro-brewery, launching Lone Wolf gin and vodka, revealing who’s buying 22% of the company…) there are a load of beers to try. In amongst the the cans of Born to Die and bottles of Dog F are a trio of beers from the past: Hop Rocker, The Physics and Punk IPA. This isn’t the Punk of today, instead it’s a recreation of the original recipe. And while I’m not at the AGM, I am in BrewDog Shepherd’s Bush, leeching their wifi and drinking Original Punk IPA.
My recent post about fresh beer has made me change my attitude to beer almost as much as my first taste of new world hops. The past few weeks have seen me squinting at bottling codes in badly lit shops and regretting almost every beer I’ve bought in a restaurant. It’s also made me think a lot about the one indication that we usually have to give us an idea of how fresh it is – best before dates.