Beer Reviews - Beer Blog
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • About
    • About Me
    • Friends
  • Beer Reviews
  • Breweries & Pubs
  • Beer Festivals & Events
    • Beer Festivals & Events
    • Festivals
    • Golden Pints
    • Beer Swap
    • Open It
    • Twissup
    • World Cup Beer Sweepstake
  • Meet The Brewer
    • Meet The Brewer
    • Meet The Home Brewer
    • Meet The Publican
  • Beer Stuff
    • Places to buy beer
      • AleselA
      • Lions Den Yarm
      • Ales By Mail
      • Beermerchants
      • Beer Ritz Online
      • Beer Here
      • Belgian Beer Shop
      • The Belgian Beer Company
      • B & M Bargains
      • My Brewery Tap
      • Lewis and Cooper
      • Hi-Spirits
    • Beer Stuff
    • Food and Recipes
    • Beer News
    • Beer Gifts & Gadgets
    • Home Brew Beer
    • Games
    • Drinking and dental health
  • Contact
  • Homepage

Beer Swap Part Deux, Thoughts from Mitch Adams

Posted on June 11, 2010 by andyMogg in Beer Festivals & Events, Beer Swap 2 Comments
  • Home
  • Beer Festivals & Events
  • Beer Swap Part Deux, Thoughts from Mitch Adams

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

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

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.

Related Posts

  • Beer Swap Part Deux – The Beers Have LandedBeer Swap Part Deux – The Beers Have Landed
  • A sunny day in ToonA sunny day in Toon
  • The Old Mill Brewery, Snaith.The Old Mill Brewery, Snaith.
  • Meet the Brewer: Paul Spencer (Ossett Brewery)Meet the Brewer: Paul Spencer (Ossett Brewery)
  • White Swan/Captain Cook Beer and Cheese Festival – 22nd – 25th April 2011White Swan/Captain Cook Beer and Cheese Festival – 22nd – 25th April 2011
  • FABPOW – Bacon, Brie and Cranberry Stottie With BitterFABPOW – Bacon, Brie and Cranberry Stottie With Bitter
beer blog, Beer Swap, beer swap part deux, local ale, locale

2 comments on “Beer Swap Part Deux, Thoughts from Mitch Adams”

  1. mitcheladams says:
    June 11, 2010 at 09:50

    Must remember that not everything is quite that exciting next time I’m writing, I seem to be a firm fan of the exclamation mark!

    Reply
  2. Baron Orm says:
    June 11, 2010 at 11:04

    Great write up Mitch! I think my local Source deli still has stock of the Old Shrimper & Cheeky Pheasant so if you want to do a little mini beer swap some time soon then let me know! (Or if you just want to buy some I’ll let you know how much there are!)

    P.S. Exclamation marks! are! good!!! 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search Beer Reviews

Buy me a beer

Enjoyed what you've read? Then why not buy me a beer or two.

Recent Posts

  • LemonTop’s 50th Brewery Client
  • My Golden Pints 2015
  • Golden Pints – Jonny Garrett
  • Golden Pint Awards 2015
  • Golden Pint Awards 2014
Websites for breweries

Beer Tags

Adnams american beer beer and food Beer and food pairing Beer bloggers Beer Festival beer recipe beer recipes Beer Swap Belgian Beer bitter blogger beer swap Bottle conditioned bottled ale bottled beer BrewDog cask ale cask beer craft beer Crown Brewery cumbrian beer english ale english ales Golden Pints home brew IPA keg beer kegged beer local ale locale Meet The Brewer newcastle northern beer pale ale real ale scottish ale scottish beer sheffield Stout Strong beer Thornbridge Twissup york Yorkshire Ale Yorkshire beer

Recent Comments

  • Jim on Thornbridge Jaipur (5.9%) – an ale of two halves
  • Simon Oliver on Salopian Oracle (4%)
  • Kiwigaz on Theakson Old Peculiar Ale Cake
  • Kiwigaz on Theakson Old Peculiar Ale Cake
  • Patrick on Hiver Honey Beer

Beer Reviews on Twitter

  • RT @BeerRitzByMail: CLEARANCE ALERT! £42.50 of beer on sale for £24! A dozen beers from some of our favourite brewers, which we've just ove… 08:19:41 AM November 26, 2021 from Twitter for iPhone ReplyRetweetFavorite
@beerreviewsandy
Web design Darlington

Stuff you may like

Don’t like beer?

Latest Tweets

  • RT @BeerRitzByMail: CLEARANCE ALERT! £42.50 of beer on sale for £24! A dozen beers from some of our favourite brewers, which we've just ove… 08:19:41 AM November 26, 2021 from Twitter for iPhone
  • @jimmoran @NorthernWrites @them_apples Just less orange 10:31:20 PM March 27, 2021 from Twitter for iPhone in reply to jimmoran
  • @jimmoran @NorthernWrites @them_apples Yeah I’d not fancy it in that van! 10:26:49 PM March 27, 2021 from Twitter for iPhone in reply to jimmoran

More Beery Stuff

  • Breweries and Pubs
  • Places to buy beer
  • Friends
  • Contact

Recent Posts

  • LemonTop’s 50th Brewery Client
  • My Golden Pints 2015
  • Golden Pints – Jonny Garrett

My Other Sites

  • BrewSites
  • Chilli Up North
  • Megane Owners Club
  • Mogg Blog

(c) 2014 Beer Reviews - Beer Blog - Every Beer Has A Story