Known for producing a solid range of tasty cask and bottled beer they decided to brew a beer they’d not tried before…an Imperial Russian Stout, weighing in at 8.5% ABV,  what’s more they then sent the beer on a little adventure across both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea from London to St Petersburg on a 60ft Clipper (you can read more about the journey here).

As soon as I heard what they were doing I had to try it, luckily for me, on a trip to York I spotted the really funky, label standing out on the shelf behind the bar and bought a bottle to bring home.

It didn’t stay in the beer cupboard long before I succumbed to the urge to open it, It poured thick and viscous, almost treacle like, it was a really dark brown with a hint of ruby red when held up to the light, the head was thick and bubbly, a lot lighter than I expected when I saw the colour of the beer.

On the nose there was plenty of coffee, a little bit of liquorice and some dried fruit, there’s also a little bit of alcohol poking through.

In the mouth it was medium bodied, maybe not as full as I’ve come to expect from an Imperial stout, the coffee and liquorice came through as did a little bit of pepper and spice, there was also that unmistakable Black Sheep character, you know the one that some breweries have where if someone put a pint in front of you and said where does that come from, you can tell immediately.

On the whole I really enjoyed the Russian Imperial Stout, it’s like their Ruddy Ram porter (or wooly jumper as it was known when we went to the tasting night) but with the volume turned up a notch or two.

Fore more info on Black Sheep Russian Imperial Stout check outtheir website, it was limited edition but a few places still have it in stock so if you see it it’s worth a try….I wish I’d bought another bottle to keep for a bit to see how it changes, plus the label is really cool and it looks great on my empties shelf.

So I thought it was about time I broke the duck, jumped on the bandwagon and wrote a little bit about them.

Based in Huddersfield, Magic Rock Brewing was founded by Brothers Richard  (of MyBreweryTap fame) and Jonny Burhouse and head brewer Stuart Ross (Ex Crown Brewery) and since launching has gone from strength to strengthen and is now making some stunning beer.

mmmmmmmmmmmm Magic

Currently stiting at the top of the pile and the strongest beer in their range (although from what I hear not for long) is Human Cannonball, a 9.2% ABV Double IPA, which I first tried on Keg in Cask Pub & Kitchen after GBBF 2011. I remember being blow away then being very drunk after stupidly trying to cool my mouth down after eating some Naga Bombay Mix. My next encounter was at the Free Trade Inn where it was tasting great again. So when the bottles arrived in the post I could’t wait to try it.

The first couple of bottles disappeared really quickly and I really enjoyed them, It had bottled really well, possibly not quite as big and bold as in keg  but not far off.

The huge tropical fruit aromas were still there, kind of like a melted fruit salad sweet,  lemon, mango and some orange, in the mouth it was huge, slightly sweet, slightly boozy and full of fruit and pine, really really fresh and in your face. The only downside was it lost it’s head a bit to quick, especially compared to the keg verizon.

So by now (if you’re still reading) you are probably wondering how on earth a blue cheese and mango chutney tart comes into it?

A couple of nights ago I had some left over puff pastry in the fridge that needed using when I remembered I’d made this tart a while back, after a quick rumble around in the fridge I found some blue cheese, parma ham and half a jar of mango chutney so knew that when I got in from work that’s what I was making for tea.

I tweeted asking for suggestions on what could stand up to the flavours of the chutney and blue cheese, HardnottDave suggested Queboid, which I’m a big fan of but unfortunately I’d drank my last bottle, fortunately Solebear stepped in and suggested a big hoppy IPA with mango aromas, This is where I immediately remembered Human Cannonball (although Fergus might have been hinting at the excellent Innovation or American Style IPA that he brews but I was fresh out of those too.)

I was hoping the big tropical fruit flavours would compliment the mango and cheese and also be able to stand up to the salt and richness, so there was only one way to find out. So I stuck a bottle in the fridge and got on with making  the tart.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler, Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees, take a sheet of puff pastry, place on some baking paper on a tray, spread the mango chutney over the pastry, leaving a 2cm gap around the edge, sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and then top with slices of ham. Bake in the oven for 20-30mins until the pastry has risen and turned golden. Serve with salad.

If I’m honest it didn’t really work, I think I’d picked the wrong cheese, the first time when I made the tart it was a lot milder, a lot less pungent and way less salty, as a result everything clashed just a little bit too much. I can’t remember what the cheese was called now but it was one of those really big, really stinky and really sticky blue cheeses.

Im almost certain it would work if I’d used the Yorkshire Blue or some Dolcelatte as they are a bit less mental and a lot milder. I think this particular combination would have suited something darker so the combo was a bit less sickly.

So I put the beer to one side, munched the tart , had a couple of glasses of water and finished the beer off afterwards. In this case both parts were better than their combined sum, sometimes this happens but It won’t put me off trying it again.

If you want to know more then check out their website here, where you can also buy their beers. Follow them on twitter here, here, here and here.

Innis & Gunn are one of those breweries that divides opinion, some love their beers, others can’t stand them, for me it’s probably the best beer that Innis & Gunn have produced, with the Canadian Cask coming a very close second, although I now find the original Innis & Gunn a little bit too sweet especially if it’s not super cold.

Highland casks you say?

Innis & Gunn Higland Cask  is the the latest in a long line of Innis & Gunn special editions has been matured in oak barrells that were previously used to mature 18 year old single malt Scotch whisky from the Highlands of Scotland.

The beer pours a lovely dark amber colour (nearly as dark as the rum version) with a really thick frothy head. There’s huge sweet vanilla pod on the nose and a little bit of alcohol.

In the mouth it’s unmistakably Innis & Gunn, but it wasn’t as sweet as I expected, it was almost like drinking vanilla fudge with hints of wood, some lemon zest and a little bit of whisky, there was a bit of bitterness at the end balance it out.

Dougal recommends it with, black pudding or haggis, roasted venison or rib of Angus beef,  and apparently cheese lovers will find it a great match for hard goats’ and cows’ cheeses and pickles….. I tend to agree. I’ve got a recipe somewhere for steak soaked in Innis & Gunn which is delicious and I’m quite tempted to try it with this version.

Innis & Gunn Highland Cask Edition comes in an a lovely green box, retails for £2.50 per 330ml bottle and hit the shelves of Sainsburys last week.

According to the blurb, The creation of Oracle came about because of the employment of a new member of staff and a trip to a local pub. Jake Douglas joined the brewery in early 2008 having spent a decade at a brewery synonymous with hoppy beers; a promise was

Another cracking beer from Salopian

early on to brew a beer to his taste. The trip to the pub was to try a beer of this style. The ambition was to create a balanced low gravity golden beer with a striking hop character. After a period of test brews Oracle was born.

Oracle pours a lovely light golden colour, it smells really grapefruity and slightly grassy.

It really did pack a punch for its bang on 4% ABV It’s quite dry and bitter and the grapefruit from the aroma is really pronounced, a little bit of sweetness comes in as the beer warms up so my tip is to drink it pretty cool, as this definitely shows off the hops a little bit more and creates a really great supping beer.

Its not over complicated, the hops and fruityness give it more than enough to keep just about any beer lover happy, and I can see a lot of people falling in love with this beer.

Along with Darwin’s Origin, Oracle is a cracking beer and one I would happily buy a case of and could see my self drinking on a regular basis.

Check out the Salopian website here or follow them on twitter here or my review of their delicious Darwin’s Origin

Not long after my paypal receipt had arrived I received a DM from Dave saying my beer had been packed and it would be with me on Monday as it was Friday and the couriers didn’t do Saturdays.

Hoppy, Roasty but still a little bit brown...

Sure enough when I got in from work there was a parcel waiting for me, 12 bottles of the new Hardknott beer, Code Black, 6 for me and 6 for Dave Lozman (who’s written about it here) It was well packed, surrounded by bubble wrap so thumbs up there.

Despite wanting to crack a bottle open straight away, they were a little bit warm and I’ve learned that beer needs a day or so to settle after its long journey through the mail, so I behaved my self and put them somewhere nice and cool to settle.

After precisely 24 hours I grabbed a couple of bottles and got stuck in. The branding is typically Hardknott so stands out quite well.

Code Black pours a really dark brown, not quite black as the “Black IPA” would have you believe, you could tell the beer was fresh the citrusy, piney hops were really pronounced on the nose, there was a little bit of smoke there too.

In the mouth it was really smooth and had that typically Hardknott characteristic, whether it’s from the special Cumbrian water, the malt Dave uses I don’t know, what I do know is I love it.

Code Black is a cracker of a beer, It’s big and it’s bold, the hops are present from the moment you put it in your mouth and long after you’ve swallowed it. There’s hints of mocha (or chocolate and coffee if you prefer), plenty of fresh pine and a bit of citrus for good measure.  There’s a slightly bitter sweet toasted malt flavour there too, the bitterness from that and the hops lasts long after you’ve swallowed and balances the sweeter side of the beer out quite well and the finish is surprisingly dry.

The blurb says that at 5.6% ABV it’s a bit strong to neck pints of, unfortunately the flavours out weigh this and I think if it was on in the pub or at a beer fest, in cask, keg or bottle I’d end up getting into a lot of trouble.

The shop it’s self  was really simple to use and despite needing  a few tweaks here and there  it’s looking good and you’ll all be able to buy Dave’s beers online sooner rather than later, so keep an eye on the Harknott Website and twitter accounts, if you’d like to know more about Hardknott Beers then check out my reviews and Meet the Brewer which is worth a look purely for the old photo of him)

While the chocolate and cheese was a delicious and a nice touch, I was most interested in the beer, I’d previously had it in cask form at our local pub quiz and enjoyed it so much I sat and drank it all night long, It was well carbonated, nice and smooth and had a wicked ginger bite, so the bottled version had a lot to live up to.

Love it or hate it the label certainly stands out

The bottle didn’t disappoint, while I don’t think it was quite as fiery as the cask version it certainly packed a ginger punch and if you like ginger beer then you will love this. It’s definitely a beer with ginger in it rather than a lemonade based ginger soft drink. It was slightly sweeter than I remembered but all the other flavours were there, slightly lemony and soapy and then the fiery ginger that seemed to intensify the more you drank.

I’ve since been and bought a couple more bottles, It’s really nice chilled but i’m not sure I’d pour it over ice like so many of the other ginger beers suggest, unfortunately I’ve not seen it on cask since the pub quiz which is a shame as I’d have loved to try it again to see if i was just imaging things with the spice of the cask version.

I’d like to say that I paired it with the cheese and chocolate but they were gone before I opened the bottle as I couldn’t resist the 80% dark choc from M&S or the sticky, pungent blue cheese that had obviously ripened a bit in transit.

Big thanks to Wychwood for sending this across!

So on a camping trip a couple of weeks ago we decided to have a beery night in Coniston town I popped into the Black Bull for a few pints and in the hope of buying some Infinity IPA. I was in luck as I spotted the bright green label in the fridge behind the bar. I promptly ordered a bottle along with my pint of Olivers Ligt Ale, the cheery barman then persuaded me that 1 bottle wasn’t enough and that buying 3 offered better value, as the £10 note I had in my hand had just come out of my other half’s purse I decided it would be rude not to heed the barman’s advice.

Coniston Infinity IPA from a Titanium Mug

We sat outside in the beer garden and I happily sipped away on my Olivers Light Ale, which was really refreshing and light, hints of straw and digestive biscuit, lightly hopped and perfect for a post walk refresher. Even though I was supping a good ale I couldn’t wait to get stuck into the Infinity, I ogled the bottled longingly until everyone else had finished their beers and we had walked back to the campsite.

Now a lot of people say you need the right glassware for a beer, I’m usually one of those people, but being at a campsite and only having packed what we needed for our intended wildcamp I was all out of branded glasses, fortunately I had the next best thing a Lifeventure Titanium mug, 60g of titanium camping mug, more that used to seeing it’s self filled with beer on a mountain top.

There’s something that just sounds cool about drinking a beer called Infinity IPA from a Titanium mug, so the branded glass freaks can go jump…for now at least.

The only issue with drinking out of such a vessel is that you can’t see what colour the beer really pours, but from subsequent bottles drank from clear glass I can tell you it pours a lovely golden amber colour, with a nice thick off white head, the head was present in my mug, if anything it seemed a little more lively, although that could have been due to the wobble back from the pub.

In the mouth it had plenty of body and good carbonation, there was a lovely slightly sweet biscuity backbone, complimented by bags of zesty pithy lemon and a little bit of marmalade. There’s no sign of the 6% ABV the finish is nicely bitter, that cuts through the sweetness from the malt.

For me it sits really well in the Coniston lineup, which has plenty of variety and enough choice to satisfy just about any palette.  I’d love to try it on cask or even see it in one of the funky little mini casks that I remember drinking the legendary Coniston Bluebird from after winning it in a Trail Magazine competition.

I can also confirm that Infinity IPA goes brilliantly well with Jamie Oliver’s Spicy Southern Sausage Stew, as I needed something with enough flavour to stand up to the spices but didn’t want something with a high ABV, like most of the USA IPA’s I had in the fridge.

For more info visit their website at www.conistonbrewery.com follow them on twitter using @ConistonBrewco

Epic by name Epic by nature

It wasn’t cheap at £6 IIRC but it has had to travel a long way and it was a beer I didn’t want to miss.

According to the blurb on the rather lovely tall skinny bottle, “This isn’t your ordinary beer de jour. It is so packed with hop-fuelled flavour and aroma that it will invigorate even the hardest hop-head. Brewed as our special festival beer, only available for a limited time. mayhem will alter your beer reality forever. Enjoy this road to hoppyness with caution.”

I think you’ll agree that’s some intro and sets the expectation bar quite high. Luckily I’m happy to report that it not only clears the bar it smashes the track record by a long way.

Mayhem pours a lovely rich amber colour with a lively bubbly head, It smells of over ripe tropical fruits and oranges with just a hint of sweetness. In the mouth there’s a little bit of caramel wafer which is complimented by resiny fruits, melon, orange and something a little bit more fruity that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The finish is quite dry , not hugely bitter but just bitter enough.  It’s also extremely session-able for a beer over 6%.

I forgot to check how old the bottle was but I had travelled extremely well, having said that I would love to try a fresh one, Now if only I could find an excuse (and the money) to take a trip to NZ and visit some breweries like on NZ Beer TV

I really did love this beer and I’m glad I bought it, The name’s cool, the bottle’s cool and the beer is brilliant, what a great way to pop my Epic Cherry.

PS Kelly/Luke if your reading this please export more beers to the UK soon I know they will be a big hit.

The latest of these beers is number 3 in a series they’ve done called “Hopped”. The series uses the same base ingredients for each beer including a combination of Perle, Cascade, Amarillo hops then each versions is dry hopped with a different hop, in this case Cascade was used.

Simple yet inviting branding.

I know Cascade gets a lot of stick but I’m a big fan of it, It makes the perfect post hike beer, especially in beers such as Hardknott Light Cascade and Saltaire’s Cascade. Mainly because it’s used in easy going, thirst quenching beers and provides a nice punchy bitterness that’s refreshing and generally very drinkable.

Mallinsons Hopped #3 shows off the hop perfectly, it pours a lovely orange colour, not perfectly clear as I managed to pour a bit of yeast into the glass, I really should be better at pouring beer by now but In my defence I had just finished cutting the Lawn, trimming the huge hedge in the garden and weeding the vegetable patch.

It had a decent head and nice carbonation, It wasn’t too fizzy and wasn’t too thin although a little bit more body wouldn’t have done any harm, I guess that’s something that’s difficult to get in a sub 4% beer. The aromas were of a little bit of orange.

The flavour was spot on, nicely balanced, Lemons, Clementine and a nice spiceyness, there was plenty of bitterness without being over the top.

I can’t stress how much I liked this beer, It was utterly drinkable and extremely refreshing, If you are reading this and like Lager then you really should order some and give it a go.

You can buy it from My Brewery Tap here

Fruity, fun and delicious

Unlike many fruit beers Fruli  actually tastes and smells of strawberries, in fact the smell reminds me of my child hood, steaming hot rice pudding with a big dollop of strawberry jam on, you know the sweet vanilla and sticky sweet strawberry you get (if you’ve not had it rice pudding this way you really have to try it).

In the mouth its light and refreshing, no where near as sweet as it smells, It really packs in a fresh strawberry flavour, slightly over ripe and just starting to go a little bitter. There’s a hint of buttery pastry in there, the vanilla also comes through before a little bit of bitterness, It always stays just the right side of the sweet and cloying line which means it’s easy to drink by the pint and doesn’t leave you feeling like you’ve just drank a pint of fruit juice.

I’m not sure it’s me but lately i’ve also noticed a slightly tart almost yogurt like after taste to it, it’s not unpleasant but it’s not something I had noticed before and that I quite like.

From what I gather there are a few Fruli fan sites kicking around but you read more about Fruli on their official website here, like them on facebook here or follow them on twitter here, you can even buy it online here.