The three beers I had been sent were a lager, a pale ale and a porter.   I decided that I would sample all 3 in a single session, and in the best tradition of beer tasting I would go from weakest to strongest, which would also be lightest to darkest (or so I thought).  The first was Brooklyn Lager (5.2%) from Brooklyn Brewery.  Darker than most lagers I’m used to, even the premium lagers that we can get in this country.  It had a nice head, and a biscuity malty smell more reminiscent of a bitter than a lager, a full-bodied malty taste and was quite bitter – but still had that clean crispness that I associate with lagers.  To be honest, if I hadn’t known it was a lager, I probably wouldn’t have thought it was one.  The label declares it to be “the pre-prohibition beer” and “a revival of Brooklyn’s pre-prohibition all-malt beers”.  The history of Prohibition in America is something I know only a little about, but I believe that when it ended the tendency was for weaker, lighter beers.  If this is a glimpse of what beer was like before prohibition, I think it is a welcome return for a very characterful beer.  Available from Oddbins.

Next up was Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale (5.5%).  A spicy, very citrussy smell – overwhelming aroma of grapefruit – to the extent that I had to check the label to make sure that there wasn’t any grapefruit in the recipe (I take some medication that for some reason prohibits me from eating grapefruit or drinking the juice).  There was also a strong hint of grapefruit coming through the malty taste and the hoppy bitter tang.  I’m really not doing it justice here, as when I drank it I thought that it was one of the best (if not the best) beer I have tasted this year.  This definitely goes on the shopping list (available from Tesco).

Lastly, Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter - 8.7% according to the bottle label, but 7.8% according to the website – sort yourselves out, guys!  This is a beast of a beer!  If you’re going to try it, make sure you’re prepared.  It pours like a stout with a lovely creamy head, and is black, black, black.  I was surprised that it smells of little other than malt – I was expecting coffee, chocolate, toast, etc. – but those tastes definitely come through when you drink it.  A creamy texture with the taste of stewed coffee, licorice, cigarette butts, bitter chocolate, burnt toast.  This is definitely a pudding beer – it could take on the christmas pudding and beat it into submission with no problem.  A real rival to the Classic Pale Ale for my best beer award.  Also available from Tesco.

These were 3 beers that were entirely new to me, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to sample them (for free – which is even better).  The craft brewing movement in this country doesn’t seem to have the same impetus or sense of adventure as it does in America.  There are lots of small breweries starting up in this country, which is absolutely brilliant, and they produce some excellent beers – but mostly they are “me too” brews that conform to the more common styles – maybe they are simply giving the market what it wants – after all, they are businesses that need to turn a profit.  There are a few exceptions to this – Brewdog is one that springs to mind – who are prepared to experiment a little with their beers.  And it’s up to people like me (and you) to experiment a little in what we drink as well, in order to encourage them.

 Brakspears Oxford Gold Organic (4.0%) – one of my favourite beers from one of my favourite brewers (OK, it’s now brewed by Wychwood, which is part of the Marston’s empire, but it still tastes like Brakspears, and that’s good enough for me).

Thwaites Wainwright (4.1%) – named after Alfred Wainwright, author of the famous walkers’ guides to the Lake District.  I can’t remember whether I’ve written about this beer before – if not, I probably should have, because I’ve had it several times, and it’s a nice drop.  When I was a student at Lancaster University in the early 1970s I used to drink a lot of Thwaites Bitter (it’s brewed in Blackburn), and it’s a name I keep an eye out for.

Greene King St. Edmunds (4.2%) – I first tried this at the Great British Beer Festival (see Spoilt for choice) – the cask version – and got hold of some of the bottled version not long afterwards, and since then it has become something of a regular in the beer cupboard.

Joseph Holt 1849 (4.5%) – another occasional visitor to the beer cupboard (I’m sure I have some notes on this waiting to be written up – must drink less and write more – no hang on, that doesn’t sound right).

Sarah had finished off a bottle of Thwaites Liberation (4.5%) which she had used some of in a beef and ale stew (very tasty) and we then shared a bottle of Batemans Victory Ale (6.0%).  A bit on the sweet side for me, but Sarah enjoyed it.  We were certainly making up for a couple of weeks of drinking lager!

On Sunday we decided to go to The Jekyll And Hyde at Turgis Green for something to eat – it’s a Hall & Woodhouse pub, and I love Badger beers.  I thought they might have the autumn/winter seasonal Pickled Partridge (4.6%), but in fact they were still selling the summer seasonal Lemony Cricket (4.4%).  A couple of pints of that went down very well with the very good bangers and mash, and lubricated the pub quiz very nicely (all I can say is that we didn’t come last!).  Shame it’s only available through the summer, as it’s a very drinkable beer.  I was intrigued by the name – reminded me of “Lemony Snicket” a character in children’s books – apparently the name was chosen by members of the Badger Sett Ale Club (of which I’m a member, but I don’t remember being asked!) – and reflects the fact that lemon grass is used in the brewing process – it doesn’t taste particularly lemony, but it is very refreshing.

When I lived in South Yorkshire we used to go to a number of pubs that sold Sam Smiths beers, and as I recall, it was always quite drinkable, though in those days (before University) I probably didn’t care what beer I was drinking as long as it had the desired effect!  I lived in Dallas, Texas for a year back in the 1980′s, and one evening I was in one of our favourite bars (The Vineyard on Greenville Avenue for anyone who knows Dallas) and I mentioned to the barman that I was really missing British beer – he said that he thought he might have some that he had bought in ages ago, but hadn’t managed to sell it because the locals didn’t like it.  He disappeared and returned with a bottle of Sam Smith’s Pale Ale – the trouble was it had been sitting at the back of a fridge for yonks and was ice cold – I had to wait for it to warm up before I could appreciate it properly.  Unfortunately he only had a couple of bottles, and he wasn’t prepared to order another batch just for me.

Anyway, over the past couple of months I have tried a few bottles of Sam Smiths beers – and liked them all:

Sam Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale (5%).  Darker than I would have expected for a Pale Ale.  Slightly sweet, fruity smell, toffee taste with a bitter tang and a nice bitter finish.  The bottle notes say that they use organic seaweed finings, which I thought was appropriate since I drank this with a fish pie – although I think the beer had too powerful a taste for that, and overpowered the fish a bit.  I was also interested to see Carbon Dioxide on the list of ingredients.  I’m sure that lots of brewers add CO2 to non-bottle-conditioned beers, but I don’t recall seeing it in an ingredients list before.

Sam Smith’s Oatmeal Stout (5%).  One of my favourite beer styles, and this is a very good example of the style.  Black, with a creamy head.  A malty smell, but not burnt like some stouts are.  Smooth creamy taste – bitter, but with quite a bit of underlying sweetness and a roasted malt flavour – maybe a hint of coffee in there as well.  Very nice indeed.

Sam Smith’s Taddy Porter (5%).  Another favourite style, and I enjoyed this one as well.  Very dark, full bodied with a creamy head.  Roasted malt smell, very intense taste – manages to be both dry and sweet at the same time – tangy, toasty, creamy – a little sweet, but nice all the same.

Sam Smith’s India Ale (5%).  Pale amber -”the colour of a golden sunset” according to the bottle notes.  A strong hoppy smell – claims to use British hops.  A strong, bitter taste, very hoppy, and again with quite a bit of sweetness underlying the bitterness – and a long bitter-sweet finish.  The bottle notes suggest drinking this beer with spicy food, and I think it would go well, although I drank it without food.

For any Sam Smith’s fans who live in London, have a look at this website that I came across that has a Google map of Sam Smith’s pubs.  Neat.

The event finished at about 10pm, and we then set off back home to Reading.  In need of a comfort stop, we pulled in at The Pack Saddle in Mapledurham, a couple of miles north of Reading.  When I first moved to Reading back in the mid-1970′s I used to go there quite regularly – it was a Gale’s pub then, one of four to the north of Reading.  It was what used to be called a “spit and sawdust” pub – run for the locals, but with excellent beer.  It’s now a Wadworth’s pub, and has been extended and developed into what appears to be a decent restaurant – but still serving good beers.  I’d wanted to try a pint of Horizon, but unfortunately it was off, so I had a pint of Henry’s Original IPA (3.6%).  Quite dark and low in alcohol for an IPA – but a decent session bitter – I hadn’t tried it before, but I will look out for it again, as I prefer the lower strength bitters (it means I can drink more of it).  It’s one of those beers that you just drink – nothing outstanding about it, no gimmick, just a nice tasting and very satisfying drink.

Back to the pub – we were surprised to see, when we walked into the bar, that it had a bar billiards table.  You don’t see those very often these days, and apparently it had only been there for a few days.  Sarah and I used to play regularly in the leagues in Reading, but we haven’t played in years – we didn’t have time for a game last night, but it’s a good reason to go back there.  I also discovered, when I was looking at the pub’s website, that it also has a helicopter landing pad!

A few years ago I spent quite a bit of time working in Camborne – not the prettiest town in Cornwall, and little incentive to stray beyond the hotel bar in the evenings (The Tyacks hotel – which is one of the brewery’s hotels as it happens).  I got quite a liking for Tinners and HSD, so I’m looking forward to re-acquainting myself with those – but I’d also like to try some of the other beers that you don’t seem to get anywhere away from Cornwall – such as their IPA, Proper Job and Black Prince.

This time we’re staying in the White Hart Hotel in St. Austell – a short walk from the brewery.  Hopefully I’ll have something nice to report on next week.

Anyway, to get to the point, I sampled a bottle of Belhaven Twisted Thistle a few days ago.  This is a 5.3% IPA – and very drinkable for it’s strength – I tend to prefer the less strong beers (but I’ll try anything once).  It smells very hoppy, and has a dry bitter taste and a lasting bitter finish.  Well worth trying.

The reason that Belhaven Best is on at our local is that it is a Greene King pub, and Belhaven appears to be part of their “portfolio” now – along with Ruddles, which is also on draught at the local.  I couldn’t find any mention of that on the Belhaven web site, but there is a link in the opposite direction from the Greene King web site.  But, as I’ve said in previous posts, just because breweries get absorbed into a larger group it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily a bad thing.  At least Belhaven still brew their beer in Dunbar (unlike the Morlands Original which is now brewed at the Greene King brewery in Bury St. Edmunds – see my post What’s original about it?)

Interestingly, the Thwaites web site doesn’t mention the bottled version of this beer, but here is a link to the description of the cask version.  The bottled version is significantly stronger than the cask version, being 5.2%.  It’s quite dark (I think “dark amber” is the official term).  It’s what I would call “flavoursome” – quite sweet and fruity, but slightly bitter.  Very drinkable – I enjoyed it. 

I used to drink Thwaites Bitter (lots of it) when I was at Lancaster University (that was in the early 1970′s!) and I haven’t seen much of it since then – only when on trips “up north”.  Thwaites was one of my favourite beers at the time – quite an achievement, as we were blessed with lots of great beers from Manchester and the rest of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria, etc. – which I must get round to writing about sometime.

Meanwhile, there are still a few of my recent adventures in beer that I haven’t yet mentioned.  One of these is Double Maxim Premium Brown Ale.  Brown ale is not a style of beer that I have much experience of – obviously the most famous is Newcastle Brown Ale, and I used to get through a bit of that while I was at University in Lancaster (many years ago), but to be honest it’s not something I normally go for these days.  The Maxim Brewery is also based in the North-East of England; it was founded after the decline of the Vaux Brewery in 1999, and still brews some of the Vaux beers, along with others such as Ward’s, which is a beer I remember from my youth in Sheffield.

“Full of Northern character”, “All flavour, no flannel” – well enough about me……OK then, that’s what it says on the bottle.  It tastes of toffee – and is fruity, nutty, sweet and slightly bitter all at the same time.  It is smooth, neither light nor heavy, and very drinkable.  I enjoyed it, and would be happy to drink it again, but I don’t think that brown ale is really one of my favourite beer styles.  Actually, I’ve had a couple of cans of Newcastle Brown in the beer cupboard for quite a while, and I always seem to pass them over when I’m choosing something – must change that.

Another couple of indicators that Morland Original is one of the poor relations of the Greene King stable – the handpump advertises “From the brewers of Old Speckled Hen” (obviously nobody has heard of Morland, but they have heard of Old Speckled Hen) - and the Greene King web site has no mention of it – not even under “other Greene King ales”.  It’s sad that this local brewery is no more – but they are hardly unique in that – and I suppose that being part of Greene King is better than going out of business altogether.  I’m not really criticising Greene King for taking over Morland (and a lot of other small breweries) – they are at least still producing good quality, good tasting beers – and I suppose that the Morland name is still around, so that old fogeys like me can reminisce about how things used to be!