Arbor, PG Bomb

Drank this ages ago. Managed to get it pretty fresh I think. Orange and hazy,medium carbonation, citrus and assertive earth/wood bark. I absolutely loved this.

Buxton, Jawgate

A style of beer that I do know a thing or two about: the good old American Pale Ale. This is Buxton's second branding of this (the old one is in this image). This mid strength beer didn't exist in Buxton's core range for a while (the closest was Wild Boar at 5.7%) and why they introduced it when they already had an existing beer that was quite similar in style and taste seems a strange choice. It's certainly a solid APA, but the fact that it doesn't reach Gamma Ray or Bethnal Pale Ale heights makes it seem as though it's really only included as part of the range to make up the numbers, to tick the APA box.

Cheers Kon once again for this!

Dark Star, 6 Hop

6 hop from Dark Star: dewy grass nose, wet leaves, mulch and a fleeting caramel tinge - almost brandy? Taste is instantly bitter - mulchy, dank hops (probably pine - not overly citrusy). Minor booze around the gums when you purse your lips. Great stuff. Bottle drank in August 2013.

Dark Star, Revelation

I've had this american style (sort of) pale ale from Dark Star on a few occasions: cask at the Grape and Grain, keg at the Westow and this bottle (c/o Utobeer). Keg stood out the most for me (I drank the pint on cask ages ago though and can barely remember how it tasted). An unhelpful description might be that this is a bit like a hoppier version of ESB. Good balance, nothing too crazy.

Five Points Brewing Company, Trial Brew - Pale Ale

Sensational session pale ale from Five Points. Poured nice and hazy, a deep orange. Fresh, finely balanced, but with a pleasing emphasis on the new world citrusy hops. Had the pleasure of drinking this on cask, could've drunk it for days. I think this is now called their 'Pale Ale'. Picked this 'trial brew' version up from Manish at Good Taste bloody ages ago.

Oskar Blues Brewery, Dale's Pale Ale

Internationally known Dale's from Oskar Blues. Fresh APA goodness with nano-keg tech. No nose to speak of (did have a cold mind you) but a fantastic fresh aftertaste (where all the signature Colorado flavour is it seems) with the longest bitterness I've experienced in a while. No sediment, so I gleefully poured every last drop into my glass - look how much of it I filled...hooray! This drink was not cheap.

Kernel Brewery, Cascade Pale Ale

My first beer write-up for a while - I have a bunch of bottles under the sink that have been sitting around waiting to be photographed and for one reason or another, I simply haven't got around to it. Anyway, I thought I'd make a series of sorts out of a bunch of Kernels. Their cascade pale ale is from back in April I think. I suppose you'd sort of know what to expect from this, a standard affair really - a typically amazing pale ale.

Redchurch Brewery, Bethnal Pale Ale

A blog post of 2 halves I think:

Firstly, I used this beer to attempt 'pairing'. Normally, I'll have a beer after dinner. I suppose I prefer to have the taste of the beer unadulterated by any other flavours. Pairing food with beer is a pretty popular thing by all accounts - much has been made of the 'wineification' of beer and I suppose suggesting a food that best compliments a particular beer is a consequence of this. I have absolutely no problem with this and I am fully supportive of it. Personally, I have liked (so far) to keep the appreciations separate. I've never really considered why, that's just the way I've been happy to do it.

I made a curry (recipe in this book) and had a bottle of the Redchurch Bethnal Pale Ale. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting (the curry or beer to taste even better?), but whilst it wasn't an altogether unpleasant experience, I can't confess to having had any sort of epiphany. One thing I do remember is that on some mouthful combinations, the beer did taste a lot smoother, like a good chocolate (by contrast, in some mouthfuls, the beer lost it's flavour altogether). The Bethnal Pale is I suppose quite a strong flavoured beer and perhaps I'm too used to Cobras and Banglas with my currys.

That said, the Bethnal Pale Ale is a remarkable beer. This was one of the first 'craft' ales and the memory of it has stuck with me (and probably biased my opinion of it slightly...). A delicious London take on an APA, I don't think I've had a bottle of this that has disappointed. What I do find strange is Redchurch's lack of 'presence'. There's obviously alot of web-talk and digital media focus on the Kernel, Magic Rock and maybe some of the newer brands like Weird Beard etc but Redchurch don't seem to feature much on the blogs and in the bars. Is it just me not noticing them? Or do they deliberately keep a low profile? I suppose you see them in Oddbins, some of the posh burger joints and even some of the swankier cafés. Whatever, a solid, solid outfit. Never had a bad beer from them.

Brewdog, Dead Pony Club

I'm a big fan of beers that have a lot of flavour but a low alcohol content - they enable me to have a delicious drink and to have the confidence that I'm well under my daily recommended allowance of alcohol (whatever that is). (Such beers make you wonder about what on Earth people like Carling and Fosters are bothering to do when Brewdog, Kernel and Magic Rock can make ales that are well under 4% abv which sometimes excel their stronger compatriots in terms of flavour.) This US style pale ale by Brewdog has a fat nose of refreshers, thoroughly carbonated but not a great deal of head. The initial bitterness didn't really last long unfortunately. These are now available in my local Sainsburys at a pretty decent £1.69. Although the Punk IPA sells more it seems (that part of the shelf is nearly always empty), I definitely prefer the (seemingly) more intense US inspired flavour of the Dead Pony Club.