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.

Brodie's Fabulous Beers, Kiwi IPA

It's slightly telling (and possibly a bit sad) that I can easily recall every instance where I've had a Brodie's beer. The Westow once had Dalston Black and the London Fields Pale on tap (keg and cask respectively), both were incredible. (Occasionally, I'll see the Dalston Black in Ales By Mail, but by the time I get round to making my order, they're all sold out.) The pipes at the Cross Keys weren't too clean (I'm guessing) when I visited, so my London Fields there wasn't too great, and I was only able to have the Mofo Stout in Copenhagen. Pint of Citra (at 5%+) in Brewdog Shoreditch. Apart from the Kernel collab (had in a couple of different incarnations) this bottle (1 of 2 purchased) of Kiwi IPA is the only bottle of theirs I've tried. Beyond intense hoppage to inhale and chew on in this; the pungent and viscous pine sap flavours were in ascendency over citrus for me (contrary to other Brodie's I've had surprisingly). Super full body and savagely, savagely bitter.

I think these beers are only brewed out the back of a pub? Hence there being so few of them available. A shame, I try to snaffle these up whenever I can and I always order them on tap over anything else when I see them. Their collborating with the big boys Kernel and Mikkeller is no surprise: James Brodie's beers are world class. Hope I can one day go to a Bunny Basher, failing that, just a trip up to Leyton would suffice.

Great interview with James Brodie talking about his his beer ethos on the (now defunct) London Beer Blog here.

Guinness, Nigerian Foreign Extra

Nothing like the original Guinness. Took me ages to find one of these, then all of a sudden, south London was flooded with them. I reckon this one is sufficiently different to the regular export version (readily available in Sainsbury's) to be a different drink. It still has a light body when compared to export stouts from the likes of Kernel and Partizan, but that's ok (particularly when you've got 660ml of it). Weak coffee plus a winey, berry nose. Taste is quite sweet (particularly as it warms up), perhaps more sweet than the regular export version. A bit more boozy than that one too. This drink will forever remind me of many good times in my younger days at FWD (when it was in Plastic People). Sigh.

Stone Brewing Company, Ruination IPA

Vicky and I shared this bottle after a long drive back from visiting my extended family for Wigilia. Previously, we'd both sampled this (double?) IPA from Stone on keg at the Westow where it was quite impressive: hazy, thick, obviously obscenely hoppy and brilliant (and possibly a lower abv?). I'm afraid to say that this bottle didn't quite measure up. Hoppy yes, piney bitterness yes, but not thick, not hazy and unfortunately not my cuppa to be honest. I was expecting something akin to Racer 5 - bottle conditioned with a good amount of the relevant body to it, but more so for a DIPA at 8%+¹. This was, dare I say it, actually a bit thin? For me, the Danes and O'Riordan do DIPAs better. This bottle set me back £4.60(ish) from Utobeer.

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1 Of course I've been griping about the yeast in BC beers in recent posts, but it certainly seems that BC'd IPAs produce my favourite type, i.e: Hoppiness, nearly all Kernels and Rechurch Great Eastern.

Magic Rock Brewing Co, Cannonball

Alot has been said about the calibre of this IPA from Huddersfield stars Magic Rock, and by people more fully versed in beer related wordery than myself. (This post by Matt Curtis is pretty good.) I agree with pretty much all of what's been said. Sweet tinge from the caramel malts is the perfect foil to the hop wallop in this: there's perfect balance all the way through. Negatives: in short supply and relatively expensive. Not being bottle conditioned is a plus though (for me). Getting a bit tired of the unavoidable yeastiness (however small) in my IPAs at the moment.

Kernel Brewery, Black IPA

Reappearance of Kernel's black IPA. Nice enough. I've put one down for Christmas, by when I suspect the malts will have almost certainly taken over. Not so much in the way of hops here. There was a metallic mouth feel at the end of the aftertaste. I preferred the collab with Brodies.

Odell Brewery, Myrcenary

My second experience of the DIPA style (after a recent double citra from Kernel) - the Myrcenary from Odell Brewing Company. I remember this one pouring more or less the same colour as a commercial lager. The nose was relatively subdued and despite a commendably disguised abv, the taste was actually quite lacking - nothing really jumped out at me. Bit of a disappointment really - 90s pretty much across the board on the beer rating sites, so I was expecting something rich, citrusy and full bodied. Hmmm. Again, as with the standard IPA, this bottle was from the start of the year and I was drinking it some months later. Maybe this had something to do with it, maybe not. Purchased from Mr Lawrence.

Thornbridge, Jaipur

Rather arrogantly, I didn't write any notes for this Jaipur, thinking something along the lines of 'Well - it's a Jaipur isn't it?'. Bottle-wise, I've had some brilliant ones, I've had some (comparatively) flavourless ones. This one probably fell into the middle of those two extremes somewhere. (For the record, the best one was on cask at The Westow, some moons ago.)

Pub Crawl - April 2013

My first trawl across London specifically to visit some of the best spots to get some decent beer.

Cask Pub and Kitchen: Half of a Thornbridge APA on Keg that I wasn't familiar with. Can't remember the name. Not a Chiron.

Bottle of Green Flash West Coast IPA. Had to be done really. Bye bye palette! Actually, I had a Magic Rock Simpleton next (a half hearted attempt to pace myself) and despite the Green Flash, I still managed to taste the signature Magic Rock amazingness in this extremely decent sub 2.8% IPA.

Next was the Cross Keys in Covent Garden. Unpleasantly busy compared to the relatively empty Cask Pub (to be fair, it was post work at around 6pm), we each had a single of pint of the Brodie's London Fields Pale Ale. After singing it's praises (and going to this pub specifically for this pint) I was slightly embarrassed to find it warmer than I'm comfortable with and tasting a great deal less amazing than it did at the Westow House Ale Festival. I know Justin takes immense pride in the beer he sells and I'm certain he makes damn sure that the Westow's pipes are absolutely tip top. This is why his London Fields Pale tasted like it ought.

A short walk away (via an aborted attempt to get a table at Bone Daddies) - the amazing Holborn Whippet, situated on the beautiful Sicilian Avenue for a burger and a couple of halves of Moor: Dark Illusion and Nor'Hop. However they dispense their beer, they seem to make Mr Hawke's beers taste even better - both drinks tasting amazingly smooth and delivered at the perfect temperature. What a difference from the Cross Keys! Been to this place a few times now, love it.

Up the road to the Euston Tap, a pub housed in one of the only surviving parts of the original, Victorian built railway station. Half a Magic Rock High Wire APA on cask followed by a half of Thornbridge St. Petersburg on keg - both brilliant. First time for me to have a Magic Rock on cask - the jury's out on a comparison with keg until I actually do a proper test. The St. Petersburg may have been the catalyst for my recent move away from hoppy pale things to darker drinks. Great pub btw - knowledgable yet low key staff, not too busy. Could've done with a bar stool by that point in the evening though.

The Craft Beer Co in Brixton was a short tube ride away from Euston. Half a Wild Beer Company Fresh from the keg. Describing the bottle in a recent post, I mentioned how this half on draft basically made me re-evaluate whether I actually liked the drink or not. I get the feeling that despite having the same name, the two drinks were actually very different. Anyway, either from hop-fatigue-syndrome, a ruined palette or simply just general tiredness, I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy my last half of the evening.

One quick thought on the prices - whilst I absolutely understand the reasons behind charging £3.50+ for a half, it can be prohibitive. I love imported keg ales (and the UK ones) but it'd be great for them to be more 'democratic'. Having said that, I suppose the high price makes them a luxury, which isn't necessarily a bad thing: some of my most memorable experiences drinking a particular keg ale have been, I suppose, memorable by virtue of their being so rarified, as much as the taste itself.

All in all an enjoyable evening and I'm glad my mate James and I did it. 4.5 pints + a bottle, but I wouldn't have said I was drunk. Certainly not sober, but tactically interspacing the heavy hitters with session ales helped keep me compus mentis. I don't think I'll be 'craft crawling' again in a hurry though. I think I'd prefer to stay in one pub (destination pub or not) with an amazing selection and stick to it. Either that, or keep it organic - do it like the old days when I didn't care what I drank as such and went with the good company instead. I love tasting beer and I adore discovering new beer brands and flavours. Where I can, I'll always steer people towards a decent beer pub. But isn't 'going out for a drink' meant to be about the people you're with rather than what drinks the pub has?

Hog's Back Brewery, Hop Garden Gold

Decent enough drop from Hog's Back. Local to where I grew up, I've been drinking their TEA for years. Simon at CAMRGB did a write up of this beer. Go and read it (and the rest of his stuff too).