MikeGrice.com

I’ve not posted for a while, but beer-related things have been afoot.  I travelled to Paris to watch the Six Nations France-England match with some friends, and catchup with some old friends who live there.  One of these friends is beer geek Olivier Tharan, and we talked about doing an England-France beer swap for a while.  I was pretty excited at the prospect – I was only going over with hand luggage, what range of beers could I choose to give Olivier a feel for what beer was doing over here?

Olivier gave me some steer on what kind of beers he would like, while I left my preferences open.  I decided pretty early on to go for hoppy or roasty beers, as they’re my preference – if I were to do this again I think I’d focus some more on traditional English bitters as I didn’t see much in that style over there.

I figured that I needed to pick some beers that were typical of those I drink over here, coupled with some of the more exciting breweries.  Not strictly a Desert Island Discs of beer, more a snapshot of what is going on.

So, with that background set, I asked my beery Twitter people for some guidance, and then set about with a rough idea of what I wanted.  I was also bound by what I could get locally, I only cheated in one instance.

The beers I chose were as follows:

Thornbridge – Jaipur

For me, Jaipur is a staple Sheffield beer.  It’s the beer that made Thornbridge famous and that’s with very good reason.  It’s a lovely IPA, bursting with hop flavour and a delicious malty backbone.  It’s a quite hefty 5.9% – you have to be careful with it.

Thornbridge – Bracia

Bracia is a special Thornbridge ale brewed a few times a year in small batches.  I reviewed this beer earlier and it impressed me, so in it went.

Magic Rock Brewing Co. – Human Cannonball

Magic Rock have been one of the movers and shakers of the British craft beer scene over the last couple of years.  They are local (Huddersfield) and are known for producing clever, tasty beers that consistently impress.  I chose Human Cannonball as a stronger version of it’s fantastic Cannonball IPA – I remember the first time I tried this and it really knocked my socks off!  Magic Rock seem to know their hops as well as the most clever American breweries and HC is a good example of this style.

Magic Rock Brewing Co. – Magic 8 Ball

I included this beer after chatting with a few people.  It’s an example of that contentious style: Black IPA.  As far as these go I actually prefer the Thornbridge Raven, but this is a very well regarded BIPA and so had no hesitation in including it.

Magic Rock Brewing Co. – Bearded Lady

The final beer I am including from Magic Rock is their Imperial Brown Stout, Bearded Lady.  I was eager to seek this out when it was released as I am a sucker for most things Imperial, and was definitely impressed when I tried this at the Sheffield Tap shortly after it’s release.  It’s very powerful, delicious, and very quickly robs you of the use of your legs.  I definitely had a wobble on leaving the Tap the night I first discovered it.

Dark Star Brewing Co. – Imperial Stout 2010

As an annual traveller to Sussex for the Glastonwick Beer, Music, Poetry and More Beer Festival, I have a soft spot for Dark Star.  They make a huge range of delicious ales and their Imperial Stout is one I find myself partaking of every time I see it.  My local-by-frequency, the Rutland Arms, recently had this and I did my best to make a dent in it I’ve had this beer every time I’ve been at Glastonwick and it’s delicious.  I had bought a bunch of these online so including it was a no-brainer.

Buxton Brewery – Axe Edge

Buxton are a local, exciting up-and-coming brewery.  They are getting famous for consistently knocking out fantastic ales (I’ve never tried one of their ales I haven’t loved!) across the spectrum from ruby red to blondes to eye-watering IPAs.  Axe Edge is an example of the latter, it’s a very tasty strong IPA that I fell in love with upon drinking it at the Dada Bar in Sheffield.  It was a bit of a pain to get hold of though, I had to grab it from Beer Ritz online as I couldn’t find it locally but really wanted to include it.

Bristol Beer Factory – Ultimate Stout

This is another beer I had to get from Beer Ritz, the BBF Ultimate Stout was tasty and one Olivier hinted at wanting to try, I reviewed it here and I am sure Olivier will enjoy it as much as I did.  I bought the BBF “twelve stouts of Christmas” pack and I’m still working my way through them!

The Kernel Brewery – Indian Brown Ale

I’m a big fan of The Kernel Brewery.  I’ve tried several of their ales and been impressed every time.  I’ve not tried this particular beer but given how good they are I know that it will be a good one.  The Kernel are one of the more exciting breweries in the south of England so I’m glad that I can include one of their beers (they were stocked in The Dram Shop in Sheffield – a great source of good bottles…!)

BrewDog – 5 A.M. Saint

There’s little that needs to be said about the Scottish beer rockstars that are BrewDog.  They are one of the disruptive players in the craft beer market and they are screaming, annoying, and clawing their way to becoming a major part of the UK craft beer market.  I’m a BrewDog investor, and I am definitely looking forward to their AGM

HardKnott Brewery – Aether Blaec 2010 28-year Speyside Cask

I love the guys at HardKnott.  The Cumbria brewery’s no-nonsense chatter, excellent beer, and ballsiness really ticks all the boxes with me. I reviewed one of their more silly beers recently and it was everything I hoped it would be.  I’ve never actually tried the Aether Blaec, but I have one of these limited-run beers and I got one for Olivier too.  They produce some great beers so I have high hopes for this one, too.

So, that’s the lot.  There’s my 11, locally-grabbable British Showcase beers.  They’re now safely with Olivier waiting to be drunk.  I’ll post about the French exchange later, and start working my way through them.

And finally, a question for you.  If you had to do the same thing, which beers would you choose?  The only rule is they need to be British and need to be available to you without too much bother.  Which beer are you proud of and why?

Finally having found a hobby engaging enough to blog about, here’s my first post on it.  I’ll try and post things of interest relating to beer, but I reckon the bulk will be reviews.

I brew my own beer!  These days it’s often referred to the more trendy Craft Brewing than Homebrew but it’s the same principle.  I buy hops, malted barley, yeast, and combine them (sometimes with interesting additions) to make ales and lagers… so far.

It’s a fascinating subject, and one of the perks is that with this hobby you get beer at the end.  I’ve not had any disasters so far (fingers crossed) but I’ve had mainly positive feedback and I really enjoy it.

Learning to taste beer is something that is a work in progress for me.  I enjoy all styles of beer, be it Ale, Lager, or Lambic – and so I shall document my journey through this by trying new and different beers, and trying to read up on the subject.  I attended a beer tasting session at the Sheffield Tap some time ago where master beer taster Alex Barlow of ALLBEER led the group.  It was definitely an eye opener and I hope to develop my skill.

I’ve now got 12 (and a bit… one on the go) all-grain brews under my belt; the more I learn, the less I know.  Aside from reading lots of books (I’ll post more on that later) the folks at Jim’s Beer Kit have been extremely helpful – go and say hello.

Thanks for reading,

Mike.