Arbor and Moor, Double Dark Alliance

I was fiending for this beer ever since it was first released (2013??). Dark Alliance I knew (blog post here), the double version I wanted. 2/3 years later, I saw it (almost by chance) in webroughtbeer and it was an insta-snaffle.

However.....whereas once the thought of a DBIPA would make me salivate, my tastes have changed I think (I thought something similar about Buxton's Battle Horse). This is an excellent beer, but all I could think of whilst drinking it was that I wish I had a 'standard' imperial stout instead. I wanted some more molasses and more roasty bitterness, rather than the 'cleaner' and fresher citrusy thing going on here. I suppose I'm a bit spoilt these days.

Moor, Nor'Hop

Splendid session ale from Moor. Erm, my notes say 'kernel table beer'. Probably not the most creative of appraisals. Whatever, I enjoyed this alot and all 660ml were guzzled in moments.

Ps - if this came before Kernel's table beer, then the sincerest of apologies!

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?

Moor, Illusion

Yet another truly world class beer from Justin Hawke at Moor. I'm trying to collate my recent BIPA tastes into a sort of series with this latest batch of blog posts, and whilst I would say that they're all excellent, I could easily say that this one is certainly one I'll go back to time and again.

My friend and I sampled this on draft at the excellent Holborn Whippet and I had this bottled version not too long afterwards (bought from the independently run Good Taste in Palace). Unbelievable tropical nose of the neck off the bottle, decent carbonation and a virtually seamless flow from the IPA tropicality into the malty chewiness (not so much of a coffee, more a like one of those malted biscuits with the cows on that might have been a little over-cooked in production?).

A blessed lightness of touch throughout, makes this beer, as it says on the bottle, a splendid session BIPA. The direct comparison would be with the Conqueror, but personally, I think this trumps it in most categories. So easy to drink the while bottle of this - a massively recommended drink. BIPAs are rapidly becoming my favourite type of ale and this particular one is possibly contending for the pick of the bunch.

Moor and Arbor, Dark Alliance

Opaque with a mildly foamy head, this Dark Alliance from Moor and Arbor had a thick coffee nose and taste wich was followed by a mild fruity hoppiness. Texture was a bit thin. Long, medium bitter aftertaste coupled with some fruity belches. I had this on keg at Westow House where I remember it being quite a bit more enjoyable (actually, it was one of those slightly embarrassing 'saying "cor" out loud' moments). Can I call this a black IPA? A black pale ale? (Or is that an oxymoron? Not that it particularly matters of course - good beer is good beer regardless of genre/type/pigeonhole/etc.) I liked this bottle and I polished it off quickly. It's nice to have the option of a decent session BIPA (most of the others I've tried have been 6%+ abv), although I suspect this is a limited edition. Purchased from Mr Lawrence before they went mail order only.

Moor, Hoppiness

Easily one of my favourite beers at the moment (deserving of an extra photo)! 660ml of fruity bitter goodness. Justin at Moor really knows his onions - I'm not sure I've had anything from him that I haven't liked. I first tried Hoppiness a while back now (more or less on a whim: it's described as part barley wine on the label which I hadn't really experienced and I must admit it wasn't without a certain degree of trepidation that I picked up this particular beer, but I'm extremely glad I did!) and was fortunate enough to be able to get hold of a couple more from Mr Lawrence. Unfined (of course) natural beer, a hazy, burnt orange in colour, frothy head, super nose (zesty and citrusy), and a decent malt smoothness gives way to a blistering long bitter ending. A jolly satisfying drink. Strong at 6.7% and best to share it I reckon! (Well, on a weeknight at least.)

Moor, Revival

I could easily drink an awful lot of this beer from Moor. A tinge of fruit on the edges and the main flavour for me was an umami-esque, indefinable yet clearly a zesty, hoppy character. (Again, if I was perhaps more experienced I might recognise the particular hop(s), but I'm not, so I don't.) Amber in colour, I shared this bomber with my mother-in-law. Really really easy to drink. I imagine this would be amazing at a BBQ in the summer! I bought this from Mr Lawrence in Crofton Park.

Moor, Empire Strikes Back

Without wanting to labour any point about 'types' of beer, I think it's reasonably important to mention the different types of IPA. (Genre definitions are the bane of electronic music aficionado's lives, and I suspect that they're a point of issue for beer geeks too.) Anyway, Much like the Sainsburys TTD IPA, the Empire Strikes Back from Moor is a UK IPA, brewed to deliberately (I imagine) stand apart taste-wise from the US varieties. No tropicality, only a faint and delicate nose, extremely pale and massively hoppy. (Actually, what this UK IPA does share with it's US sisters is it's extreme hoppiness.) There was a touch of fruit coming through in the aftertaste (alongside the longlasting big bitterness stinging my gums) but the major flavour was that earthy/grassy one from that Joker hop they use. As with all Moor beers, this is unfined (which again I understand has come to be a talking point for beer lovers: Mark Dredge via Matt Curtis) - for me this is important and a selling point for good beer. The Moor advocation of unfined beer is here. I love the Moor branding btw, it really stands out.

Ps - Yesterday was a Moor day: 1 x pint of Sloe Walker, 1 x 0.5 pint of Dark Alliance (many thanks to the discerning manager of my excellent local Westow House) and then my bomber of Empire. Spoilt rotten with excellent beer!