I've been pretty busy lately hence the lack of posts; fortunately I haven't been drinking too many new beers so I don't have too much of a backlog to catch up on, but its been eating away at me regardless. I had this Triple Chocoholic from Saltaire a couple of weeks ago so its high time I got my thoughts down on...er...paper. I bought this bottle in the summer but until recently it hasn't felt appropriate to drink it and its been stored away in my beer cupboard alongside quite an impressive array of stouts and porters, most of which will probably crop up on here over the coming months. Its very definitely dark beer season. Anyway I'd heard this was a good one and I like what Saltaire do. My benchmark for chocolate beers is Sam Smith's Chocolate Stout which is the closest thing to a chocolate milkshake I've ever had in a beer. This one is another absolute cracker, it pours as a stout should, dark with with a lovely tan head. On the nose it's very chocolatey indeed with perhaps a hint of sweet vanilla. It's probably not as robust in body as I'd hoped but it does have a lovely chocolate flavour met with a decent dose of bitterness and a clean dry finish.
In between pints at the Old Red Lion the Saltaire Blonde
was replaced by this South Island Pale Ale from the same brewery, so I thought
I may as well give it a try too. Brewed with New Zealand hops, this beer packs
more of a bitter hoppy punch than the Blonde. The taste is much more
hop-oriented with fruity grapefruit bitterness although again the hops are
nicely balanced by the malt which results in a pleasant, drinkable beer.
Comparing the two, the Blonde is probably more to my taste however both are
nicely balanced, refreshing beers.
Following on from my last post I’ve still got a few beers
from my birthday drinks to add, it feels like a lifetime ago now so I need to
get my arse into gear. My second and third beers at the Old Red Lion were both
from Saltaire Brewery in Yorkshire. Since starting brewing in West Yorkshire in
2005 the brewery has won a host of awards for its beer and finally, finally it
makes an appearance on my blog, as worthy an accolade as any I’m sure you’ll
agree. First up was Saltaire Blonde a nice golden ale brewed with German and
Czech hops. It pours clear gold with a good hoppy nose. The taste is grassy hop
with a bit of citrus, very finely balanced with some well-rounded malt. The
flavours are very delicate which made this super drinkable and rather
refreshing. Apparently it is also now
stocked in Waitrose nationally which is pretty bloody good news for the summer.