I have some knowledge of the Black Sheep brewery as Black Sheep Ale is frequently a guest beer in pubs round here and very nice it is too. It is a comparatively young brewery, having been established in 1992, in Masham in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. The founder of the company was one Paul Theakston, who is a scion on the Theakston family who own an run the eponymous brewery, which is also based in Masham. I am not sure of the reason for the schism, though it might have been linked to the sale of the family company to Scottish and Newcastle (though Theakstons returned to the independent sector in 2003).
Riggwelter is a strong Yorkshire ale. The name derives from the Old Norse rygg meaning 'back' and velte meaning to overturn. When a sheep is on its back and cannot get up without help, local Yorkshire Dales dialect says it is rigged or riggwelted. This name is probably not unconnected with the fact that the ABV is 5.7%.
It is a fruity bitter, with complex underlying tastes and a long dry and bitter finish. It is in my opinion a very good example of a beer of this type and I liked it a lot.
We are told that the ingredient include malted barley, wheat, sugar and hops (varieties not specified). It is not bottle conditioned.
Sunday 28 February 2010
Saturday 20 February 2010
Ringwood Old Thumper
The Ringwood brewery has quite a chequered history. It is claimed that beer has been brewed in Ringwood for centuries ever since mediaeval man first mixed the crystal water of the River Avon with the malted barley harvested from the surrounding fertile fields of Hampshire. The market town was a magnet for merchants and dusty drovers who needed their thirst slaked and whistles wetted before they could get down to the business of bargaining and bartering and many a deal was sealed over a draught and a noggin in one of the many taverns, inns and ale houses that gave Ringwood one of the highest pubs per head of population in olde England.
The Ringwood Brewery was founded by Peter Austin in 1978, a man who is revered as "the father of British Micro-brewing". Ringwood Brewery's first brewhouse was in a former bakery in the old station yard brewing for a handful of local customers. In 1986, having outgrown the Minty's yard premises, the brewery moved to its present site, ironically the location of the old Tunks' Brewery which ceased trading in 1821. Today the brewery is able to produce circa 40,000 barrels of its renowned and distinctive beers.
In July 2007, David Welsh, the then owner of the Ringwood brewery, decided to retire after nearly 30 years at the brewery and handed the baton over to Marston's Brewery. Marston's say they are determined to continue the Ringwood success story in the premium cask ale market and share the same passion as Ringwood do for real ale. Read more at www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk.
1979 was the year that saw the first production of Old Thumper, which has since become the brewery's flagship brew. Old Thumper was voted Champion Beer of Britain by CAMRA in 1988. It is a powerful, sweet, copper-coloured beer which is very much to my taste. A fruity aroma precedes a strong sweet malty taste with soft fruit and caramel, which is not cloying, and leads to a surprisingly bittersweet aftertaste.
The New Forest (where the brewery is located) was historically the hunting ground of legendary fierce wild boar, the prize kill of many an English king of the middle ages. Ringwood brewery celebrates this heritage with the beast of a beer that is Old Thumper, a strong ale with a spicy fruit hop aroma and a warming malty finish, a distinctive taste that has made it a champion beer.
All we are told of the ingredients is that it contains barley malts. It is pretty strong, with an ABV of 5.6%
The Ringwood Brewery was founded by Peter Austin in 1978, a man who is revered as "the father of British Micro-brewing". Ringwood Brewery's first brewhouse was in a former bakery in the old station yard brewing for a handful of local customers. In 1986, having outgrown the Minty's yard premises, the brewery moved to its present site, ironically the location of the old Tunks' Brewery which ceased trading in 1821. Today the brewery is able to produce circa 40,000 barrels of its renowned and distinctive beers.
In July 2007, David Welsh, the then owner of the Ringwood brewery, decided to retire after nearly 30 years at the brewery and handed the baton over to Marston's Brewery. Marston's say they are determined to continue the Ringwood success story in the premium cask ale market and share the same passion as Ringwood do for real ale. Read more at www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk.
1979 was the year that saw the first production of Old Thumper, which has since become the brewery's flagship brew. Old Thumper was voted Champion Beer of Britain by CAMRA in 1988. It is a powerful, sweet, copper-coloured beer which is very much to my taste. A fruity aroma precedes a strong sweet malty taste with soft fruit and caramel, which is not cloying, and leads to a surprisingly bittersweet aftertaste.
The New Forest (where the brewery is located) was historically the hunting ground of legendary fierce wild boar, the prize kill of many an English king of the middle ages. Ringwood brewery celebrates this heritage with the beast of a beer that is Old Thumper, a strong ale with a spicy fruit hop aroma and a warming malty finish, a distinctive taste that has made it a champion beer.
All we are told of the ingredients is that it contains barley malts. It is pretty strong, with an ABV of 5.6%
Friday 5 February 2010
Badger Golden Glory
Badger Ales are brewed by Hall and Woodhouse, an independent brewery based in Blandford St Mary in Dorset. I associate them mainly with beers such as Tanglefoot, which seem to be quite widely available. Researching further has led me to discover that it is owned and run by the fifth generation of the Woodhouse family and is a substantial business - turnover of £90 million and 1500 employees. It has an estate of 250 pubs, extending to the far northern outpost of Hemel Hempstead! More information is available about the company and its heritage at www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk.
As far as the beer is concerned, I should have been warned by the label which says "'An orchard on a warm, late summer's day' was how our brewer described the taste and aroma of this ale, so we named it Golden Glory". The initial reaction is that, from its appearance, it is a standard golden ale, but the first sensations of smell and taste suggest you have encountered a bunch of flowers rather than a beer! It was rather unsettling to start with, though I have to admit that it did grow on me a bit. It uses a floral blend of hops including extract of peach blossom apparently to achieve this effect and it certainly has novelty value but I prefer something more conventional and unadulterated I am afraid. Not everyone agrees with me clearly, as it has won some awards, but not any I notice from CAMRA.
As well as those hops, the label tells us that the ingredients include malted barley, wheat and sulphites. ABV is 4.5% and it is not bottle conditioned.
As far as the beer is concerned, I should have been warned by the label which says "'An orchard on a warm, late summer's day' was how our brewer described the taste and aroma of this ale, so we named it Golden Glory". The initial reaction is that, from its appearance, it is a standard golden ale, but the first sensations of smell and taste suggest you have encountered a bunch of flowers rather than a beer! It was rather unsettling to start with, though I have to admit that it did grow on me a bit. It uses a floral blend of hops including extract of peach blossom apparently to achieve this effect and it certainly has novelty value but I prefer something more conventional and unadulterated I am afraid. Not everyone agrees with me clearly, as it has won some awards, but not any I notice from CAMRA.
As well as those hops, the label tells us that the ingredients include malted barley, wheat and sulphites. ABV is 4.5% and it is not bottle conditioned.
Thursday 4 February 2010
Kelham Island - Pale Rider
Well, the first of my additional beers is Pale Rider, another multi-award winner. This one I know well from Sheffield, where it is brewed (and where bottles are available from Tesco), though I introduced it to Patric and Simon when we discovered it on draught at the Doric Arch at Euston. They agreed with me that it is one of the best beers of its kind and no wonder it won the Supreme Champion Beer of Great Britain at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival a couple of years ago.
In 1990, Dave Wickett fulfilled his dream of bringing craft brewing back to the city of Sheffield, with the aim of brewing a series of traditional ales that would rival the best of British beers. The Kelham Island Brewery was purpose built in 1990 on land adjoining the renowned Fat Cat pub in Alma Street in Sheffield. The area is known as Kelham Island as the land is on an island formed by a mill race, leaving then running back into the River Don. The brewing equipment was purchased from the Oxford Brewery and Bakehouse and allowed for full mash brewing of approximately twenty barrels a week. The first brew was in September 1990 and it meant that The Kelham Island Brewery was the first new independent brewery in Sheffield this century.
Due to its success in its early years the brewery moved into new, purpose built premises at Kelham Island, very close to the original brewery, in March 1999. The new premises has five times the capacity of the original premises. The original brewhouse has been converted into a visitor centre. Since The Kelham Island Brewery opened, all four of Sheffield's large breweries have closed. leaving The Kelham Island Brewery as Sheffield's largest brewery.
The Kelham Island Brewery is a full mash pure beer brewery which brews beers using only the finest malted barley and wheat, hops, yeast and water. No sugar is used or anything that might compromise the quality of the finished product. It is the policy of the company not to ape the commercially led practices of modern brewing, the sole aim is to produce beers of the highest quality from pure brewing ingredients. The range of beers brewed by the brewery has grown considerably from the early Bitter and Celebration beers and they currently have four beers always available one of which is Pale Rider. See www.kelhambrewery.co.uk for more.
Pale Rider is a full bodied straw pale ale with a good fruity aroma and a strong fruit and hop taste. Its well balanced sweetness and bitterness continue in the finish. It is included in Roger Protz's book 300 Beers To Try Before You Die where he says "The beer has a pungent aroma of perfumey floral hops, tangy citrus fruit and biscuity malt. Hop resins, piny notes, tart fruit and sappy malt fill the mouth. Creamy and juicy malt builds in the long finish, balanced by a continuing citrus note and bitter hop resins."
Not much detail is given away about the ingredients, other than it contains wheat and barley. ABV is 5.2% and it is not bottle condidtioned.
In 1990, Dave Wickett fulfilled his dream of bringing craft brewing back to the city of Sheffield, with the aim of brewing a series of traditional ales that would rival the best of British beers. The Kelham Island Brewery was purpose built in 1990 on land adjoining the renowned Fat Cat pub in Alma Street in Sheffield. The area is known as Kelham Island as the land is on an island formed by a mill race, leaving then running back into the River Don. The brewing equipment was purchased from the Oxford Brewery and Bakehouse and allowed for full mash brewing of approximately twenty barrels a week. The first brew was in September 1990 and it meant that The Kelham Island Brewery was the first new independent brewery in Sheffield this century.
Due to its success in its early years the brewery moved into new, purpose built premises at Kelham Island, very close to the original brewery, in March 1999. The new premises has five times the capacity of the original premises. The original brewhouse has been converted into a visitor centre. Since The Kelham Island Brewery opened, all four of Sheffield's large breweries have closed. leaving The Kelham Island Brewery as Sheffield's largest brewery.
The Kelham Island Brewery is a full mash pure beer brewery which brews beers using only the finest malted barley and wheat, hops, yeast and water. No sugar is used or anything that might compromise the quality of the finished product. It is the policy of the company not to ape the commercially led practices of modern brewing, the sole aim is to produce beers of the highest quality from pure brewing ingredients. The range of beers brewed by the brewery has grown considerably from the early Bitter and Celebration beers and they currently have four beers always available one of which is Pale Rider. See www.kelhambrewery.co.uk for more.
Pale Rider is a full bodied straw pale ale with a good fruity aroma and a strong fruit and hop taste. Its well balanced sweetness and bitterness continue in the finish. It is included in Roger Protz's book 300 Beers To Try Before You Die where he says "The beer has a pungent aroma of perfumey floral hops, tangy citrus fruit and biscuity malt. Hop resins, piny notes, tart fruit and sappy malt fill the mouth. Creamy and juicy malt builds in the long finish, balanced by a continuing citrus note and bitter hop resins."
Not much detail is given away about the ingredients, other than it contains wheat and barley. ABV is 5.2% and it is not bottle condidtioned.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
The blog is dead - long live the blog!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have now consumed all of my sixty beers. So, you would have thought, this blog has come to the end of its natural life.
However, the more astute of my readers (assuming that they are plural) will have noticed that I started off on this oddessey at the end of January 2009, because that is when my sixtieth birthday was. This means that my birthday has rolled round again and guess what I have been given as presents by various kind souls. - around a dozen different bottles of beer!
As it happens, none of these beers have appeared in the blog so far. So this provides the opportunity for me to prolong the blog's life for another few weeks.
(Any further contributions of beer to enable further extensions would of course be very welcome!)
However, the more astute of my readers (assuming that they are plural) will have noticed that I started off on this oddessey at the end of January 2009, because that is when my sixtieth birthday was. This means that my birthday has rolled round again and guess what I have been given as presents by various kind souls. - around a dozen different bottles of beer!
As it happens, none of these beers have appeared in the blog so far. So this provides the opportunity for me to prolong the blog's life for another few weeks.
(Any further contributions of beer to enable further extensions would of course be very welcome!)
Timothy Taylor Landlord
Well, we have finally reached the end of my sixty beers. A journey which has introduced me to many new acquaintances has, it turns out, culminated in encountering and old and much loved friend. Landlord is frequently a guest beer in pubs around here and if kept well is hard to beat. Also, it has been CAMRA's national champion beer on no fewer than four occasions.
What I did not know much about was the brewers, Timothy Taylor. The story dates back to 1858 when the eponymous founder of the brewery began brewing beer in Cook Lane in the West Riding town of Keighley. He clearly struck upon a successful formula for in 1863 he set up and built a larger brewery at Knowle Spring, where the company has remained ever since. The superb spring water that wells up from deep under the Pennines is still used today to produce the country's best traditional cask ales.The brewery remains in the Taylor family and is now the last independent brewery of its type left in West Yorkshire. This independence enables Taylors to survive as one of the few brewers still brewing true cask ales in the same way it has always done. More can be found at www.timothytaylor.co.uk.
Landlord is a classic pale ale and as its reputation as the beer that has won more awards nationally than any other suggests, it is a full flavoured and well balanced amber beer with a hoppy bitter finish complementing the background malt. The only information given about the ingredients is that it contains, as well as the famous Knowle Hill Pennine water, the finest malt and leaf hops. ABV is 4.1% and it is not bottle conditioned.
What I did not know much about was the brewers, Timothy Taylor. The story dates back to 1858 when the eponymous founder of the brewery began brewing beer in Cook Lane in the West Riding town of Keighley. He clearly struck upon a successful formula for in 1863 he set up and built a larger brewery at Knowle Spring, where the company has remained ever since. The superb spring water that wells up from deep under the Pennines is still used today to produce the country's best traditional cask ales.The brewery remains in the Taylor family and is now the last independent brewery of its type left in West Yorkshire. This independence enables Taylors to survive as one of the few brewers still brewing true cask ales in the same way it has always done. More can be found at www.timothytaylor.co.uk.
Landlord is a classic pale ale and as its reputation as the beer that has won more awards nationally than any other suggests, it is a full flavoured and well balanced amber beer with a hoppy bitter finish complementing the background malt. The only information given about the ingredients is that it contains, as well as the famous Knowle Hill Pennine water, the finest malt and leaf hops. ABV is 4.1% and it is not bottle conditioned.
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