Bacchus filling up nicely

So I just wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone that turned up, shared a beer and chatted with me, Andy and the guys and girls at Bacchus for sourcing and putting on some excellent beers, Mark and Julia at Tyne Brewery for their hospitality at the brewery and sharing their excellent beer, Mick and everyone at the Free Trade again for sourcing and putting on some amazing beer and supplying some much needed pies, Rob and the guys at Mordue Brewery for the Pandazilla beer! ToonBeerChris and Jeff Pickthall for their help in organising the day and who ever it was bought the day saving baked goods from Greggs.

Now for a few awards…

Beers of the day for me (in no particular order) were Highland Brewery’s Old Norway, Tempest Canyanero, Tyne Bank Southern Star, Summer Wine Covenant and Roosters Baby Faced Assassin, which Ol and Tom from Roosters brought along to share.

Pumpclips of the day were Rob’s Pandazilla and The Scottish Borders Brewery’s Dark Horse beer

The award for facial hair of the day goes to Dean from Mr Foleys with his Bronson inspired movember tash.

Journey of the day goes to Steve who flew all the way from Ireland to share a beer with people he’d never met before.

View of the day – has to be the view from The Free Trade Inn as the sun was setting

Moment of the day – turning up at Newcastle Railway Station and spotting Dredge a mile off looking like a little lost boy in his huge jacket while everyone else was walking around in t-shirts.

I’ve tried to put together a bit of a plan with the help of Jeff, Mick from the Free Trade, Toonbeerchris and Andrew from Bacchus so here’s a rough outline of the day…things are bound to change and as with all the twissups you can do what you want…it’s not a school trip ;op

The people I’ve spoken to are very excited about showing off what the Toon has to offer, there will be some very special and very exciting beers on so there should be plenty for everyone.

11:30-13:00: Meet in Bacchus, enjoy some beers.

13:00 Jump on the bus to Tyne Bank Brewery for a tour and some more beers before heading to the Free Trade Inn for more beers and possibly a Meet the Brewer.

Sometime later, depending on how everyone feels….visit the Tyne Bar, then head back into the City Centre for food and more beers, I’m sure the plan will be formalised a bit more later on as there are plenty of pubs to visit.

If people are still around on Sunday there are plenty of pubs and a couple of beer shops to visit.

We’ve put together a map of pubs which you can view by clicking here (thanks to Jeff and Steve for their input on this)

If you are looking for some cheap accommodation then check out the Euro Hostel, if anyone knows anywhere else to stay then please leave the details in the comments section below

Finally if you are coming along please complete the form below so we can get a rough idea of numbers. (if you cant see the form then click here)

The voting for the host city was quite close with Newcastle 5 votes ahead of Edinburgh and then Norwich a little way behind. The 12th November romped home with 49% of the votes so for those of you coming from down south remember to bring your winter clothes!!!

There are some fab pubs and breweries in and around Newcastle so details of a plan are being formed and will be announced very soon.

If you are aiming to book tickets for trains etc then we usually kick off around 11:30 to 12 noon but you can join us at any time through the day.

If anyone has any suggestions of things they specifically want from Twissup in Toon then leave a comment below! We will do a roll call closer to the time so we can get a rough idea on numbers.

In the meantime have a look at Newcastle Real Ale for a list of some of the beers currently available in Newcastle and a look at my ramblings on a visit to the Toon a few months ago.

All you need to do is complete the form below and we will announce the results in a couple of weeks.

If anyone has suggestions of places to visit or beery things to do in any of the proposed venues then please leave a message below or drop me an email…..See you all soon.

You can also keep up with the latest news using the #twissup tag or by following @twissup on twitter. or follow me or @markdredge. There’s also a list here too.

(if you can’t see the form then click here)

I arrived way too early so went for a quick wander around the lovely historic streets and had a look a the market in the square, only just resisting the urge to buy some curry and various lumps of cured meat and stinky cheese.

Twissup in Pivni

Fortunately I wasn’t the only one who was early and I soon bumped in to Ann, Dave and Sooty from Hardknott Brewery,  who despite having loads of work to do had made the long trip from Cumbria to share a few beers with everyone, after a quick catch up we headed to our first pub of the day, the Maltings.

There was  a decent choice of cask ales but I couldn’t decide so plumped for half a Roosters Leghorn and half a Stumpy’s Old Ginger, the Roosters was the pick of the two, light, hoppy, grassy and slightly fruity, the old ginger was just a bit bitter and not very gingery.

We were quickly joined by lots of other twissup’ers (is that right?) and all to soon it was time to head for our arranged tour at the York Brewery. When we arrived there was already a group waiting and a few more turned up before we were welcomed into the brewery and up into the bar for a few post tour beers. I went straight for the single hopped Motueka, part of York’s seasonal single hop series it was a lovely golden colour and full of citrus flavours with the malt becoming more prominent as it warmed up, next up was the other seasonal beer, First Light, this was lighter than the Motueka and slightly sharper, both beers were great session beers, just what I needed at that time of the day, managing to squeeze another couple in before the tour. I’m not sure what happened to Andrew the brewer but the bits of the tour I saw were interesting, having already done the tour a few months previously I ducked out and back in the bar for a few more beers.

Once the tour had concluded and people had finished their beers we headed down to Brigantes where I had one of the strangest beers I have ever had, It was from the Brass Monkey Brewery and I think it was simply called Baboon. It was really pale but had  a strange smokey, almost ashy taste to it, it wasn’t unpleasant just really weird and lots going on, my notes even mentioned balsamic vinegar so I was either starting to get a bit tipsy or it was really that strange.

sooty loves the kwak

By now time was ticking on and we had an appointment at the small but perfectly formed Pivni, where they had kindly reserved the upstairs room for us. On arrival we were greeted with a huge choice of casked and kegged beer. I found it hard to see past the 5AM Saint from Brewdog, sinking both the cask and kegged version, I did get asked which was better and I honestly can’t remember. What I can remember is that the delicious Camden pale ale smelled of refreshers, I liked the second bottle of the new version of Hardknott Dave’s beers best, in fact I must have been seriously impressed as It was in capitals, shame I didn’t remember to store it’s name, Dave’s bitter also seemed to hit the spot along with Bernard Ox. I also remember thinking that the version of Riptide I tried in Pivni was lacking something compared to the bottled versions.

By now everyone was getting hungry so we agreed to meet in the Old white swan in an hour or so allowing people to visit their chosen fuelling stops without overwhelming any one place.

We headed for the house of trembling madness for meat platters and more beer, madness platter, perfectly chilled Jever and rauchbier the order of the day for me.

After this things got a bit blurry…..The white swan had the most unremarkable Jaipur I’ve had and someone was drinking the most eggy glass of John Smiths Cask I’ve seen in ages and there was another beer that simply went in my phone as a random string of characters.

The fresh air of the walk between the Swan and the Rook and Gaskgill did me the world of good, although for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the Ossett beer I was drinking, It  do remember it being rather delicious though.

It was now nearing home time and I needed some food so after traipsing round York, deciding against the dodgy looking Kebab that a certain brewer from Thornbridge had and finally re locating the hog roast shop a huge hog roast bun with all the trimmings was wolfed down and one final beer in the Maltings was had, whilst trying to avoid a bolloking for a certain persons swearing.

A HUGE Thanks to everyone who came, drank, discussed and had fun! I had a great day and I hope you did too.

If you’ve not read the details then you can find out more here and here, the important thing is we are starting at York brewery at 12:00 on Saturday for a quick tour and a few beers before heading in to the city. We’ve also got a room booked in Pivni for 14:00, numbers and what people want to do will dictate the rest of the day, there are some great comments and suggestions on this one

So if you’re coming please leave a comment below to let us know.

The day will start at 12:00 (on the 26th Feb for those who’ve forgotten) at the York Brewery visitors centre, where we’ve got a tour of the brewery booked, after that we can stay for a couple of beers in the bar before heading to either Brigantes or the Maltings (which ever we don’t visit we can visit on the way back to the station later on.

After that the world is our oyster, we’ve booked the upstairs at the wonderful Pivni for 14:00 so we can have a few beers without disturbing the regular punters and crowding out the bar.

There will hopefully be more of a timetable coming later in the week along with a final roll call but I’ve copied the map of a lot of the pubs in below. There are a few that I think are must visits, such as the Rook + Gaskill and the tiny House of Trembling Madness (you can read what i thought about them here and here

There will also be chance to buy a few bottles for the journey home from the Bottle which is below the house of Trembling Madness.

If anyone has any suggestions of other places or ideas for timings and places to eat…we will need to grab something during the day…we’ve learned our lesson after Sheffield.

There will be a hashtag on twitter during the day probably something like #twissupyork so if you need to know where are we are check that or get in touch with one of us via mobile.

View Twissup York 2011 in a larger map

Despite a last minute surge from Brighton (taking the last five votes), York is where we’ll be going with 26 of the 69 votes (Brighton picked up 21 votes, Newcastle 15, Bristol 4 and Derby a surprisingly low 3).

Let's get twissed

Mark and I will now try and sort out a plan for the day. If anyone knows York well and can suggest a good pub crawl then let us know : remember that we need to be able to fit around 30 people in at a time. We also need somewhere to eat and affordable accommodation for people.

The best place to meet will probably be the brewery at 12pm and we’ll try and arrange a tour and a pint to get us on our way. We’ll keep everyone updated by email and twitter from here on in.

Get train tickets booked : we’re going to York on 26th February 2011

If you want to find more out about beer in York check out my visit from last week and my visit from last year or my write up on their brewery tour

Just a thought…..how about a North vs South Twissup next time with two happening simultaneously? We can have one group in Newcastle and one in Brighton with people choosing the one they want to go to. Could be fun!Voting has closed for the February Twissup and we’re going to… York!

Here we go, the first Twissup of 2011 will take place on Saturday 26^th February. It’s our regular drink-a-thon around a new place with beer bloggers, tweeters, brewers, pub managers and much more. We’ve done Sheffield, Burton and Manchester/Huddersfield, now the next one is up to everyone to decide on the location.

Let's get twissed

Mark and I have listed five places. If you want to attend then sign up and vote below. We will go to the place with the most votes, as simple as that (and then the others stay in the list for next time).

We haven’t arranged anything for any of the places yet but we’re sure we can find enough pubs and beer to keep us happy in each town. Once we know where we’re going then we’ll start planning the day and arranging pubs and breweries.

Get voting, this is only open until Sunday 9^th January. And save the date now: 26^th February, we’re getting twissed!

The day didn’t start out too well for me as one of my trains was delayed so I missed my connecting train, fortunately it wasn’t long until the next one and it gave me chance to catch up on some more of my book. It also meant that I bumped into Mark from Real Ale Reviews on the train. Once in the Hustle and Bustle of Manchester Station we joined the group that were already there (Including Zak, Yan, Glyn, Mark, Chunk, Kelly and the lovely Catherine) Before long numbers had swollen and there were loads more people that we had expected and not everyone had Arrived at this point.

Twissup Begins....

First stop was the Marble Brewery, it wasn’t far from the station, Dom even managed to give us a bit of a guided tour en route, how much of it was true I’m not entirely sure.

On arrival at the new brewery under the arches (built because they out grew the one at the Marble Arch) we were greeted by James and Colin who were in high spirits and handing out glasses of the rather excellent Dobber, (possibly my favourite Marble beer). A few stragglers arrived including Baron Orm who presented some of us with “Twadges”…badges with our twitter avatar on.

We were then shown round the brewery which was informative and fun. I’ve found that after doing so many brewery tours now it’s started to become less about the process and more about the personality, luckily Dom, James and Colin have that in bucket loads.

This was shortly followed by a trip back up the hill to the rather wonderful Marble Arch, I’m not entirely sure they were ready for so many bloggers and drinkers descending on them in one go, but they dealt with it well. There was a great selection of cask ales from Marble plus a guest pump of Hardknott Dave’s Infra red.  By the time I got to the bar a few casks had already been sucked dry, I do remember drinking Dobber, Bitter and trying a few sips of other peoples beers but it was so busy everything blurred into one. There wasn’t really time or space for food but what went past into the dining room looked absolutely delicious, the little loaves of hovis were very cute.

Just before we left Zak pulled out a bottle of Birra Del Borgo that he’d been carrying around in a bag of ice, I can’t remember the exact details but It was an as of yet unreleased beer, It was more like champagne than beer, still pretty tasty though.

Inside the Marble Arch

Next stop was the Angel which had a great range of beers, I went for something light and hoppy by Pictish I think, I also tried Ola Dubh 30, which if I’m honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of, I much preferred the younger bottled versions I’d had before, It was just too rich.

Bar Fringe was our next port of call, a cool little bar that really did get a shock when we all piled through the door, by this point I was craving something a little bit different so ended up with a Cantillion Rose de Gambrinus which. tart, tangy and packed full of fruit, just what I needed. All too soon it was time to leave and head for Huddersfield.

On the way I hopped off the train with a few of the others to visit the station bar at Stalybridge, I think I got a pint of Flowers IPA at this point which was quickly necked before jumping on the Train to Huddersfield, Looking back I really should have got a bowl of black peas as i’ve not had them for ages and they would have filled a bit of a hole that the rather pricey pasty I got back in Manchester had failed to fill.

The monster curry

First stop in Huddersfield was one of the bars at the station, The Kings Head, I think, another pint of something pale by Pictish was consumed before we trudged up the road to the Grove. The walk was probably a good thing as I really was starting to feel a little bit squiffy.

The Grove is an aladdin’s cave of cask, kegged and bottled beer so It took a while to decide what to drink, In the end I opted for a half of Moor JJJ IPA, I just cant resist this beer whenever I see it. This was teamed up with some smoked chilli jerky and proved to be the tipping point, from here on in I can’t remember what I drank apart from a few bottles that were shared around including Kernel Stout, Thornbridge Bracia (new batch) and Thornbridge Exposed which were consumed later in the evening.

I do however remember Mark from Real Ale Reviews not being able to handle the chilli jerky and asking for a glass of milk, the barmaid replied with something along the lines of do you think this is a cocktail bar? Hardknott Dave was met with a similar reponse when he asked for a pint of Carling…nice one guys!

We also managed to nip out for a curry between beers, heading for a place which’s name I don’t think I actually ever new, let alone forgot. It however was a curry of epic proportions, It came on a a huge bin lin type thing with an array of kebabs, chops and curries in the middle then naan and chapati round the edge. This was accompanied by some chilli mango lassi that Andy from Summer Wine Brewery had arranged.

Full to bursting and our hands stained with curry we headed back to the grove for a few more beers and to boast of our awesome curry, this prompted a half of the group to leave in search of the same spicy goodness. Leaving us to share the aforementioned bottles of Kernel Stout

The night ended at Mark’s back in Leeds, we shared a bottle and ate some cheese – including some rather yukky caramel cheese which will stick in my mind for a very long time….

…And that was It Twissup day one was over, I had a fantastic time and I really hope everyone else did too…Hopefully some of you will upload some photos somewhere so that we can all have a look.