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Beer Swap Beer 3: Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout (4% ish)

andyMogg — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:15:15 +0000

This beer arrived as part of my Beer Swap Part Deux box from Andrew at Bristol Beer Factory, It was another new beer to me and it was another of Andrew’s own ales.

Again like the IPA it came without a label, which in some ways is pretty cool as you don’t quite know what to expect. It poured really dark, almost black with a huge bubbly tan coloured head.

Milk stout? can i put it on my cornflakes?

Having never had a Milk Stout (actually I have but i can’t remember a single thing about it) I wasn’t sure if it would smell or taste of milk, it certainly had some milk notes on the nose these were slightly sour but not in a bad way, these were helped along with roasted coffee, chocolate and a tiny bit of licorice and just a hint of sweetness.

Flavour wise it was very smooth the body was thick and silky without being heavy in the slightest. It’s big on roast flavours, to the point where I was getting a lot of smokiness from it, this mellowed and the chocolate came through, I was starting to wonder where the sourness from the nose was but it didn’t come, instead I got a lovely bitter finish that was incredibly smooth and moreish.

It was a lovely beer and something that worked really well with the cheese plate I was muching on, welsh goats cheese, some local blue cheese, a few grapes and some charcoal crackers.

Many thanks to Bristol Beer Factory for sending this across as part of my Beer Swap box, you can visit his website here or follow him on twitter here.

Beer Swap Part Deux, Thoughts from Mitch Adams

andyMogg — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:41:20 +0000

After receiving some excellent beers from Richard Mackney (@Richardmackney) and getting some great feedback from my recipient Scott Edwards (@Edwards80) in Beer swap #1 there was no way I was going to miss out on Part Deux.

Firstly I set about researching who I was sending too. I discovered that Billy Hall (@dad2dam2dum2mum) wasn’t overly keen on pale hoppy beers, most of his positive tweets were about dark ones. So I picked 4 dark gooduns from local breweries and packed them off via myHermes to Newcastle:

The beer swap beers Mitch Sent

Levelly Black Stout 4.8%
Shalford Brewery, Braintree, Essex (www.shalfordbrewery.co.uk)

Commercial description: Winter stout, dark malty, and smooth

The Shalford Brewery is relatively new and was a finalist at GBBF with Stonley Bitter in 2008, the beers are sold in my local Farm Shop (less than ½ a mile away).

Spiced Slow Stout 5.5%
Red Fox Brewery, Coggeshal, Essex (www.redfoxbrewery.co.uk)

Commercial Description: A full bodied stout flavoured with Sloe Berries picked on the farm.

Russel (previously Crouch Vale Head Brewer) hosted a ‘Meet the Brewer’ evening recently and brought two one off beers (this and the ruby mild below) with him, I loved them and picked them for beerswap even before I knew who I was sending to.

Willie Warmer 6.4%
Crouch Vale Brewery, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex (www.crouchvale.co.uk)

Commercial Description: Infamous strong dark ale with a fulsome flavour and roasted barley notes, excellent hop presence also

This strong winter ale verges on Barley Wine with some strong porter characteristics is a rare dark beer from Crouch Vale

Ruby Red Mild 6.9%
Red Fox Brewery, Coggeshal, Essex (www.redfoxbrewery.co.uk)

Commercial Description: A rich ruby red mild

This is a ‘Victorian style’ mild, quite different from the sub 4% milds we are used to today.

Whilst I was still busy getting this collection together I received an email from myHermes informing me that The Ormskirk Baron (@baron_orm) had despatched a parcel for me, in no time at all these beauties from Lancashire showed up!

I had decided to taste the beers with my partner Sarah & a couple of our Friday night locals at The Thatchers Arms (www.thatchersarms.co.uk). We decided to go for a Baron rating system out of 5 for each beer (it seemed only fair!). The three locals tasting (& rating) with us were Bill, a local farmer who supplies us with Free Range Eggs. Chris a Beer loving American who recently moved to the village and Mark a young lager drinking local who we are trying to convert!

The beer swap beers Mitch Recieved

We ran a live ‘tweet’ commentary of our tasting and first up was Prospect Silver Tally, it poured a nice golden colour with a foamy head. I’m afraid none of us were fans of the aroma (farmyard was mentioned at the time) but once we got past it the beer was pretty good, nicely balanced malt & hops with a real citrussy hop bitter finish. Pleasant but it didn’t knock us for six a unanimous [3/5]

Next up was George Wright Cheeky Pheasant which we were all really looking forward to, sadly much to ours (& The Barons) disappointment the cap was slightly loose and the beer had gone off, that’ll have to be one to look out for next time I’m up North!

We moved very swiftly on to Southport Golden Sands another pale golden beer with a thin white head with a great summery citrus aroma, a full bodied fresh & fruity taste with a nice lot of citrussy hops at the end, right up my street, and it seems, everybody else’s, with the exception of our lout drinking friend Mark, we all scored this [4/5] although he was only 1 behind with [3/5]! At only 4% this makes a fantastic summer session beer.

Finally we moved on to Southport Old Shrimper a big 5.5% dark ale. A real dark pour with a caramel head, coffee & chocolate aromas. Exceptionally smooth to taste with a real fruity malt and hints of toffee to finish. This beer had one casualty, as can be expected our token Lager drinker wasn’t a fan [1/5]. the other locals Chris & Bill both liked it and scored it a worthy [4/5], but I REALLY enjoyed it, REALLY wish I hadn’t shared it, and am REALLY looking forward to trying it again some day, perhaps on a cold winters night in front of the fire… if I had a fire, or another bottle! Both myself & Sarah scored it full marks [5/5].

All in all a great selection from the Baron, all sourced from within 11 miles of Ormskirk. A thoroughly enjoyable experience tasting beers I’ve never heard of and would normally never get to try and enjoying them with friends. Now I’m just looking forward to hearing how Billy Hall got on with my little parcel of dark & Stormy beers…

Thanks to Mitch and the guys for taking part and tweeting/blogging about them, if anyone else want’s space to air their views then please get in touch.

Adnams Spindrift (5%)

andyMogg — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:04:06 +0000

I was very kindly sent this from Adnams a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to type my notes up for a while now but not got round to it, until now.

It’s grey and rainy outside and just the site of the picture as I was uploading it cheered me up, it brought back happy memories of the day I drank Spindrift, It was a lovely hot, sunny day and the beer really did hit the spot.

I really do love the blue bottle.

Spindrift comes in a distinctive blue bottle which makes it stand out really well and makes a change from the usual brown and green bottles you see day in day out.

Spindrift got it’s name from Adnams location on the coast and the feelings they wanted to evoke in people when they drank it, I had thought about popping down to the beach at the end of my road, to take a few pics of the beer on location but to be honest I was nice and comfy on the chair in the garden.

The beer it’s self is a 5% and is a blend of East Anglian malted barley, Boadicea and First Gold hops and high grade malted wheat, this gives it its typically Adnams aromas although a lot more subtle and understated. There were hints of peach and grapefruit and some malty sweetness, great stuff.

The head was a little bit thinner than I had expected but what was there stuck around in the time it took me to drink it, although this wasn’t very long because it was just soooooooo drinkable, it slipped down so easily I couldn’t believe it, before I knew it it was gone.

The flavour is light and thirst quenching, you get the toasted malt and a little sweetness from the malt followed by the floral hops which give it a lovely bitterness and just enough zing to keep you wanting more.

I could really see this going down well at BBQ’s and parties with just about everyone, not just ale lovers. It would be great in little mini kegs and might even suit something like the new Molson Coors Home Draught system (which i will be reviewing soon), I could certainly see this becoming “my go to” summer beer and something that will be in my fridge over the summer.

If you want to find out more about (or buy some) Adnams Spindrift then you can visit the Adnams website here or follow them on twitter here. If you do decide to buy some then remeber to by some Innovation too as it really is one of the best beers brewed in the UK.

Beer Swap Beer 2: Cheddar Ales Goat’s Leap (5.5%)

andyMogg — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:56:54 +0000

This beer arrived as part of my Beer Swap Part Deux box from Andrew at Bristol Beer Factory, It was another new beer to me which is great as that’s the whole point of Beer Swap.

The first thing that jumps out about Goat’s Leap is the label, I think it’s great, I love the contrasting bright yellow and green colours, big bright and bold!!

As always I had a quick look to see where the name came from and it had quite a nice story behind it, so here it is:

The beer has been named â€˜Goat’s Leap’ after one of Jem’s favourite fishing spots. Goat’s Leap (or Mekedaatu, as it is known locally) is near Bangalore in Southern India, at a point where the river Kaveri flows through a deep, but narrow, gorge. The story goes that a goat, which was actually the Hindu god Shiva in disguise, is believed to have leapt across the gorge leaving giant hoof-prints in the granite rocks on either side. What that has to do with beer, we’re not sure, but it’s got a connection with India and a Gorge, and we’re happy to leave it at that.

So now you know where the name came from what about the beer?

IPA that weighs in at 5.5%, it pours a lovely nutty amber colour, the aromas weren’t huge but there were lovely floral notes with some hops in there for good measure, the head was decent creamy head which seemed to last quite well.

The flavours were good, light, slightly hoppy, grassy with a hint of malty nuttiness, the finish was quite dry and malty with the grass really coming through. It was maybe a little thin on the body and that’s my only real criticism. It’s not one of those beers that will blow you away (unlike the first of the Beer Swap Beers I drank, Bristol Beer Factory’s awesome IPA, but it is one I would, and will buy.

Once again thanks to Andrew for sending me the beers, up next will be his Milk Stout.

You can visit the Cheddar Ales website here

PS Sorry about the picture, I can’t find the one I took, I will replace it as soon as I can find the proper one.

Beer Swap – Beer No 1: Bristol Beer Factory IPA 009 (6.8%)

andyMogg — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:16:43 +0000

My Beer Swap Part Deux beers arrived a couple of weeks ago now, Andrew over at Bristol Beer Factory was quick off the mark in sending them and they arrived packaged very well along with a little note telling me what the beers were, as they were all bottle conditioned I decided to put them in a cool dark place to allow them to settle and wait for the right moment to start supping them.

Nothing better than a nice big IPA on a hot sunny day

That moment came a couple of days ago when the sun was beating down and the wind was still, I had just finished sorting out the greenhouse, vegetable patch and mowing the lawn so was absolutely gagging for a beer.

I opened the beer cupboard door and there it was, starring me in the face, the dark bottle with simple white test label marked “IPA 009, Dry Hoped (is hoping or hopping? either way I bet both were used.), OG 10.65 – FG 10.115 with a black and white Bristol Beer Factory Logo (which is really cool) a black sheep amongst the brightly coloured commercial labels either side of it. This was to be my first beer of the day.

I grabbed a bag of Walkers Kangaroo crisps and pulled up a chair on the patio, just as I opened the bottle our lass got back from her mornings horse ride, before even looking at the lawn came the cry of “have you just been sat there all morning?”…I ignored it and carried on pouring the beer.

It poured a dark caramel colour, which i thought was quite dark for an IPA, but looking back through some of my beer photos there have been a couple that were a similar colour, It had a little bit of haze from the sediment in the bottle, which didn’t bother me but may cause a few people to raise their eyebrows, the head was lovely creamy and frothy.

The first thing I noticed in the aroma was the hops, they are huge you also get hints of fruit and some lovely biscuit notes on the nose, I couldn’t wait any longer so i dived straight in.

I think it comes in at 6.8% ish and it’s incredibly light for a high ABV beer, the mouth feel is silky smooth, maybe bordering on the thin side but no complains from me, as it swirled around your mouth you get a lovely malty biscuit flavour which is well balanced and nicely hopped (or should that be hoped?) the finish is nutty and biscuit with a lovely smooth bitterness, which is just the right side of bitter. It really did leave me wanting more, I could have quite happily sat in the sun and supped all day but i got dragged out, kicking and screaming to do some shopping.

It was truly a delicious beer, in fact, on Twitter I went as far as saying its one of the best beers I’ve had this year, looking at my notes I stand by this, with a few tweaks it could be up there with the great and a great testimony to why Beer Swap is great, without it I probably would never have got to try this wicked beer.

I’ve had a look around the Bristol Beer Factory website and through the leaflet that was in my Beer Swap box and some of the beers sound very tasty, the branding also looks really good too, especially the logo, so they are well worth checking out if you see them.

Many thanks to Bristol Beer Factory for sending this across as part of my Beer Swap box, you can visit his website here or follow him on twitter here.

Beer Swap Update (live feed)

andyMogg — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:34:40 +0000

As you all know Beer Swap is currently well under way, I have sent, recieved and even drank one of my beers. I will blog about it all properly very soon, it’s been really good fun.

I have created a live twitter feed below so that you can keep an eye on Beer Swap goings on, If you are lucky I might even do one for Twissup next week.

[wpts]

Beer Swap Part Deux – The Beers Have Landed

andyMogg — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:10:27 +0000

This morning on my way out of the door i bumped into postman pat in his litte red van, he handed me a parcel that I wasn’t expecting, I put it in the footwell of my car and set off to work, quite excited as to what might be in it.

I guess these were from Bristol Beer Factory

On arrival at work the box was hurriedly opened and the contents removed, Result, it was my Beer Swap Beers.

As well as a hand written note telling me about a couple of the beers there was also a really cool business card and a leaflet with info about Bristol Beer Factory.

The beers were well packed, unlike my recent order from Brewdog which were very lucky to survive the postal service.

I carefully unwrapped the goodies to find 2 Beers from the Bristol Beer Factory, one Dry Hopped IPA and one Milk Stout along with a rather interesting looking Old Slug Porter and Goats Leap from Cheddar Ales.

Im over the moon with the selection as they are all new beers to me and all sound really really interesting, They will no be placed in the beer cupboard and allowed to settle for a few days, mainly because they are bottle conditioned and I want to drink them at their best, but also because it’s mid week and I am trying to cut back on mid week drinking.

Many thanks to Andrew from Bristol Beer Factory for sending the beers, you can follow him on twitter here or visit his website to find out more about his ales.

Oh I almost forgot here’s the pic of the beers:

Can't wait to get stuck in

Beer Swap Part Deux : The participants

andyMogg — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:29:53 +0000

By now if you are taking part in Beer Swap Part Deux, you should have had the email informing you of who you are sending beers too, if you haven’t then please check your spam folder, if it isn’t in there then please email beerswapuk@googlemail.com and let us know.

Assuming you have received the email then it’s time to start choosing, buying, packing and sending your beer, if you have forgotten anything then you can check the details here and here.

Beer Swap Part Deux has ended up with nearly 40 participants so thanks to everyone for joining in!! I’ve put a list of all the twitter names and blog addresses below so if you don’t already follow them then please do. There is also a list on twitter containing all the participants which you can check out here.

If you haven’t got a blog then please let myself of Mark know as we would be more than happy to let you post your beer reviews on our sites.

So let’s get swapping!

Beer Swap Part Deux: Update

andyMogg — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:29:06 +0000

So we’ve (or more accurately Mark, although I’ve been busy too ;o) ) let this slip quietly on by with no action. The original closing date for Beer Swap was 28th March but we will extend that until Friday 9th (we will push the whole thing back a few weeks).

We will then arrange who sends to who next weekend. So far we have 35 signed up and it’s looking good. If you still need to sign up then do it here (the address needs to be the place you want it delivered to).

The next step is to start buying the beers you are going to send. Remember, it’s four bottles, as local as possible but still as good as possible. If you are a brewer then you can send your own beers, but only two. You can also only send a maximum of two beers from each brewery. You can send homebrew (if you are a homebrewer or a pro-brewer then you can send your beers as extras, if you want to).

When you know who to send to (and keep this a secret, if you can!), and you’ve bought the beers, the next step is the packaging. We can’t stress how important it is to pack your beer properly; if it breaks on its way to your recipient then they won’t get to try the beers you have chosen and you won’t be entitled to any compensation.

No carriers willingly ship beer, so we are responsible for what we send. To this end we must make sure everything is packed very carefully. Sturdy box, loads of bubble wrap, kitchen roll, old t-shirts, popcorn, socks, newspaper, those little foamy things, whatever, just wrap each individually and then also pack the box tightly shut.

Don’t forget to put a little note in there to say hello and who sent it (so the recipient knows who to say thanks to!). You can put a fragile sticker on the box if you want to, but if it’s well packed then it should be fine.

Then it’s how you post it. Last year we used Collect+ which was pretty good but we had too many problems. This year it’s totally up to you who you send with. Here’s a few to look at:

Royal Mail will be the most expensive. The top three work by submitting details online and they collect the package from your house/office/wherever and then send it on from there. It’s easy stuff. You just need to arrange a day when it can be picked up from you.

Once you have sent your parcel please email beerswapuk@googlemail.com to let us know. And then let us know again when you receive your box of beer.

Then drink, photograph, enjoy and blog and tweet about your beers. If you don’t have anywhere to write then please let people know as someone will be happy to let you write a guest post on their blog. Remember the twitter account and the hashtag

If you’ve signed up then buy the beers and wait until next weekend.

And rememberâ€¦ the Burton Twissup is May 15th! Get it booked in. We’ll post more details soon!

Beer Swap: Part Deux (and Twissup too)

andyMogg — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:28:30 +0000

Here’s the announcement you have all been waiting for, it’s time for Beer Swap: Part Deux, unlike Hot Shots, we are unlikely to have Charlie Sheen or any big Hollywood stars but we do have @markdredge and lots of other bloggers/tweeters.

First, Beer Swap. The â€˜let’s send each other beers we can’t get near us and then use social media to talk about them’ game. The same rules apply as last year and if you blog or use twitter to talk about beer then you can enter (it is probably still GB only until we find cheap ways to ship outside of our little island).

Here’s the deal:

You need to find four local beers (use your discretion on â€˜local’ but try and make them small breweries, also, choose good beers).
No more than two beers from one brewery. Feel free to send homebrew, but only two bottles and then send local beers too. Or you can send homebrew as an extra.
You will send them to another Beer Swapper and you will be sent four beers from someone else (it won’t be the person you send to).
You then drink them and tweet and blog about them : send messages to @beerswap and use the #beerswap hashtag.
The dates: The end date will be the 14th May. You have until the 28th March to join in and then Mark and I will sort out the sending. You will need to post out your beers by April 16th.

To enter, complete the form at the bottom of this page (we need you to use the form to collect up all the names and details). We will sort them out and get them ready for the next stage, and promise not to share them with anyone else (other than the person sending you beer) and not to send you spam, after all you are after beer not nasty tinned meat products.

Last time we had issues with postage and Collect+ didn’t really do it for us (the dreaded #collectplusfail). This time we need to do something different, so if anyone has any ideas then please let us know. We will advise on the best service when we announce the next steps after the 28th.

Who wants to swap some beer?!

And Twissup… Sheffield will be hard to beat but we’ll give it a damn good go! So, get the 15th May in the diary as we’re going to Burton-upon-Trent! (assuming the National Brewery Centre is all open and up and running). All the details will come soon but it will hopefully involve a brewery, a museum, maybe a maltings and definitely lots of pubs and beer! It’ll be a great follow-up to Sheffield! You can follow the chat on twitter using the #twissup tag or check out the facebook group.

Now, there’s just two questions:

Beer Swap: Are you in? (If yes remember to fill in the form below)
Burton Twissup: Are you in? (do nothing just yet..maybe just get a little bit excited)