Beer #420 - Tiny Rebel Hank

One of my favourite things about the Craft Beer Co chain in London is that the invariably have something from Tiny Rebel on and it is invariably pretty good. I recently spent a very pleasurable Saturday evening drinking pint after pint of Hank, a session-able golden ale at the Farringdon branch and very good it was too. Rather light in body but what it lacks there it makes up for in flavour - it has a big tropical fruit flavour to it that belies its 4% ABV. A slightly bitter and dry finish but that doesn't detract from its drinkability. Very tasty.

Brewery: Tiny Rebel Brew Co.

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.0%

Beer #393 - Salamander Scary Mary

Another pint during my first visit to Cask Pub & Kitchen in Pimlico. This golden ale from Bradford's Salamander Brewing Company bore more than a passing resemblance to Thornbridge's Wild Swan that I posted a couple of days ago. Quite light in body but smooth and creamy, this was a perfectly pleasant pint with some decent citrus and grassy notes but lacking in a punch really.











Brewery: Salamander Brewing Company
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.0%

Beer #382 - Greene King / Penpont Cornish Coast

I tried this Greene King collaboration with Cornish brewery Penpont at my regular Wednesday night haunt The Compton Arms a couple of weeks ago - I generally try and avoid the Greene King beers but had this one for want of a better option! This golden ale didn't have much going on flavour-wise; the citrus notes described on the clip weren't really that evident. It was a perfectly refreshing drink that would no doubt be more enjoyable in the summer, but either way its fairly uninteresting.








Brewery: Greene King / Penpont Collaboration
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 3.7%

Beer #378 - Southwark Bitter Sweet

From a pale ale the Kernel to something completely different at our next stop in Bermondsey, a half of Southwark Brewing's Bitter Sweet. I am yet to hear of anyone that is enamoured with what Southwark are brewing, I definitely think a more traditional brewery in Southwark is a great addition but to fit in the beers have to be way above average and my experience so far tells me that they just aren't. Bitter Sweet was a slightly odd beast although the description was fairly accurate! It has a very strong sweetness initially with a flavour that I can't quite put my finger on - almost like a sugar syrup. It's quite thin in body and has a thwack of bitterness in the finish. Really quite a strange beer.



Brewery: Southwark Brewing Co.
Country: United Kingdom
ABV:%

Beer #369 - Kite Welsh Pale Ale

This is another beer I picked up in Hereford Morrisons, this one on a whim as I knew nothing of the brewery other than that it was Welsh (which is often good enough for me). The brewery's website seems to be down but I have managed to glean that it is based in Llantrisant in south Wales and has been in operation since 2011. I'm always a bit wary of supermarket beers but this turned out to be a cracking choice (well done me). Kite's WPA is brewed with US hops which give it a pretty nice citrus flavour but my favourite thing about this beer was its crispness, it was beautifully clean and really drinkable. Well worth keeping an eye out for.




Brewery: The Kite Brewery
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.1%

Beer #353 - Southwark London Pale Ale (LPA)

On Saturday I briefly visited Bermondsey and managed to take in a quick half-pint at the newest addition to the Bermondsey Beer Mile: the Southwark Brewing Company. The brewery differs from the others on the mile in that is more traditionally British, producing cask ales. I'm a big fan of each brewery on the mile, each one has it's merits and they all produce absolutely brilliant beers, but there is something quite exciting about a cask-beer brewery joining the ranks. I opted for a half of the London Pale Ale, described as a 'Light Refreshing Hoppy Beer with Citrus Tones'. Despite the description I found the beer malt-forward with biscuity notes dominating.  There are some grassy hoppy tones in there too but if you stand this up against a 'Hoppy Beer with Citrus Tones' from the likes of The Kernel or Partizan...well, this would come off unfavourably. I won't be dismissing SBC on the basis of this one beer but the competition in Bermondsey is hot and on based on this effort there is room for improvement. I'll be following the fortunes of the Southwark Brewing Company closely.

Brewery: Southwark Brewing Co.
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.0%

Beer #345 - London Fields Hackney Hopster

East London beers have been featuring quite prominently on here lately and today is no different. This time it's Hackney Hopster from London fields, a pale ale brewed with a hefty dose of New Zealond Nelson Sauvin and Motueka hops. This beer has a cracking aroma of fruity hops and the flavour is more of the same with bitter orange and grapefruit nice balanced by some sweet malty notes. The beer has a bitter finish but despite that it's very fruity and perfectly drinkable. Really enjoyed this one

Brewery: London Fields Brewery

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.2%

Beer #326 - Oakham JHB

Oakham Ales is a brewery that probably should have featured on this blog previously, but for whatever reason hasn't. I was chuffed to see their JHB on the bar at The Compton Arms when making my weekly visit and quickly ordered a pint before someone drank it all. A former Champion Beer of Britain, it was bloody lovely. The flavour is dominated by the bitter hops yet they aren't cloying and it is wonderfully clean and crisp in the mouth. Citrus fruits dominate but there are some wheaty notes in there too. Having polished off the first pint I hurried back to the bar for a second, a real triumph of a beer.






Brewery: Oakham Ales
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 3.8%

Beer #322 - Clearwater Real Smiler

I spent last weekend in rural Devon for a friends wedding, which included a day trip to the pretty little town of Appledore on the estuary of the river Torridge. A pub stop allowed me to try a local brew from Clearwater Brewery, based in the nearby town of Bideford. From its modest foundation in the 1990s it now seems that the brewery enjoys quite wide distribution across the south-west of England. Real Smiler is a light, hoppy beer that suits a seaside location very well indeed. It pours a clear gold and has a nice fruity aroma. Its light and crisp on the palate with a bold hop flavour, especially for the ABV. Pretty good.





Brewery: Clearwater Brewery
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 3.7%

Beer #310 - Clarence & Fredericks Golden Ale

Last week I caught up with some of my friends at the always excellent Harp in central London. In saying that, the pub was recently acquired by Fullers so I did have some concerns that things would change for the worse but as yet, they thankfully haven’t. I went for a pint of Clarence & Fredericks’ Golden Ale and this one seemed to be a special edition single-hopped Citra version (the beer is ordinarily brewed with four hops). Clarence & Fredericks is a family-owned brewery based in Croydon that opened in 2012. This Golden Ale poured almost impossibly clear and had a subtle citrus aroma. In flavour it was fairly bitter, particularly on the finish, with grassy and citrus fruit notes. For me it was a bit too light in body, although the flavours were good it could have been more robust.

Brewery: Clarence & Fredericks
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 3.8%

Beer #304 - Redemption Trinity

A sunny Saturday afternoon was perfect for a pint of Redemption's Trinity - a light but flavoursome ale checking in at a healthy 3% ABV. I was still feeling the effects of my day at the Great British Beer Festival and this was just what I needed; something light and refreshing yet tasty enough to remind me that beer is awesome. Trinity pours pale gold with areasonable white head. The nose is fresh, floral, hops and citrus fruits. Its light in body and really drinkable, the flavour dominated by the bitter hops which give it a strong citrus flavour, but its clean and crisp too.





Brewery: Redemption London
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 3.0%

Beer #297 - Tiny Rebel Fubar

Please see my entry on the Great British Beer Festival 2014 for tasting notes and further info.

















Brewery: Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.4%

Beer #295 - Coniston K7

Please see my entry on the Great British Beer Festival 2014 for tasting notes and further info.

















Brewery: Coniston Brewing Co.
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 4.7%

Beer #288 - Clarkshaws Gorgon's Alive

I recently moved to the Denmark Hill/East Dulwich area and to within 5 minutes of the home of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club. As a result I’ve been to a couple of their matches in recent weeks and they’re making an extraeffort to get some decent local beers into their supporters bar. On Tuesday night I went along and they had a cask of Clarkshaws Gorgon’s Alive served from on top of the bar by gravity dispense. Superb! Clarkshaws is an independent microbrewery based in East Dulwich, meaning that the beer had travelled for a matter of minutes to reach the football club. This is a really good golden ale, brewed with (plenty of) Challenger and Progress hops that give it a nice zesty flavour. It pours a slightly hazy golden colour with a slight, off-white head. The nose gives some grassy and citrus notes with some malty biscuit in there too. The flavour is nice and hoppy; fruity and fresh tasting with some nice caramel in there too, very well-balanced.

Brewery: Clarkshaws

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.0%

Beer #281 - Etxeko Bob’s Beer Blonde

This beer was a birthday gift from my girlfriend's parents that they picked up during a holiday in France. Bob's beer is produced in Hasparren in the heart of Basque country by an English chap (named Bob) who has been brewing for 7 years, using 'the finest natural ingredients' and distributes his beers within 75km of the brewery. This was the brewery's blond ale, a pale ale brewed with German and Slovenian hops.The beer pours a hazy yellow golden colour and has a lovely aroma of wheat and citrus fruits. The taste is similar to the nose with lovely fruity hoppy notes, a hint of  wheat and some caramel malt. Undoubtedly the best French beer I've tried.



Brewery: Etxeko Bob's Beer
Country: France
ABV: 5.0%

Beer #279 - Greene King Yardbird

Yardbird is a apparently an ‘innovative brew’ that has been ‘hand-crafted’ by…uhh...Greene King. Despite visiting The Compton Arms in Islington pretty much every Wednesday for the last 18 months or so I’ve managed to avoid drinking this beer, which they have both in bottles and on keg, until now. I’m very sceptical of the attempts being made by larger UK breweries to worm their way into the ‘craft’ beer market, if only out of principle. But this week, this week I thought I’d give it a try. First thing to note is that this ‘American-style IPA’ is not really an American style IPA at all. I’m not sure what the thinking was there, do they think people wouldn’t know what an American-style IPA actually tastes like? Odd. Anyway, this doesn’t. It pours a dark brown and mine was served in a fancy-ish stemmed glass, nice. The aroma is of dark fruits, it smells pretty malty and has a medicinal hint to it. There is quite a lot going on flavour-wise but mostly it’s bit strange. I found it sweet and very definitely malt-forward with strong caramel and dark fruit dominating, resembling a fairly standard English ale with a bit more tang. The marketing blurb proclaims that it is ‘packed full of hops’ but where they put them I don’t know. It was by no means a bad beer but for me it was too sweet and it really isn’t what it says on the tin. 

Brewery: Greene King

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.0%

Beer #278 - Bath Wild Hare

Bath Ales' Gem is quite possibly my favourite cask beer but shamefully, it has taken me until now to try another of their beers. I was fairly confident that, given how much I like Gem, I'd enjoy the brewery's other stuff too so I picked up this bottle at the fancy new Waitrose store in Hereford (which has a truly excellent beer selection, it's worth adding). I was not to be disappointed. The beer pours a clear golden colour and has a beautiful floral aroma with some sweet honey notes. The flavour is bitter with citrus hops and some floral notes that also come through, all nicely balanced with a hint of caramel sweetness. Really very drinkable and really very delicious, it's so refreshing to drink a high quality bottle of ale like this.


Brewery: Bath Ales
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 5.0%

Beer #275 - Skinner's Cornish Trawler

Last Friday found me at The Castle in Farringdon for a few post-work beers and I went for a couple of pints of Cornish Trawler, a new seasonal special from Skinner's in Cornwall. Summer is well and truly here (sort of) and so golden ales are pretty much ubiquitous in London pubs at the moment, and rightly so. This effort from Skinner's is amongst the better that I've had lately. It pours a nice clear gold with a white head with a nice fruity nose. It's crisp and clean on the palate with a dry finish, good bitter citrus hoppiness dominates and it's super refreshing. A very solid and enjoyable session beer for the warm weather.





Brewery: Skinner's Brewing Co.
Country: United Kingdom
ABV: 3.8%

Beer #269 - York Off The Wall - Velo-City

I spent the past weekend in York; the primary reason visit being the Grand Depart of the Tour de France, but I also managed to fit in a visit to the York Brewery for their brewery tour. The tour includes four tokens which can be exchanged for a 1/3 of a pint of beer at the brewery bar, so before we began I had a glass of Velo-City. The Tour has seen a plethora of cycling-themed beers produced by breweries across the north-east (and beyond) and this was York Brewery’s effort. The beer is hop forward and brewed with two different French hops; Triskel and Bouclier. The cask version of this beer is low ABV at just 2.8% but the hop profile lends it a decent flavour. The beer pours a nice bright golden colour and has a hoppy citrus aroma. It’s light on the palate and refreshing and, as above, the hops lend it a decent citrus punch. A pretty good one.

Brewery: York Brewery

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 2.8%

Beer #262 - BeerCat Barcelona Blonde

This one is another Catalan beer that I picked up on my trip to Rosses i Torrades in Barcelona last month. BeerCat was established by a couple of former legal professionals, one from Irish and one from south London, which is pretty awesome. Living the dream or what? Barcelona Blonde is one of three beers produced by the brewery and is a decent, hoppy golden ale. It pours a clear golden amber with a white head. The aroma is grassy, bitter citrus fruits with a hint of honey sweetness. The flavour is super hoppy, again bitter citrus fruit, grapefruit dominating, but it's quite smooth and very drinkable. Very good indeed.




Brewery: BeerCat
Country: Spain
ABV: 5.0%