Day 152, Beer 152 - Moor's "Revival"

Today's Beer

Name – Revival

Brewer – Moor

Classification – Pale Ale

Strength – 4.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Deep tangerine gold. Not remotely unpleasant looking.

On the nose – Razor sharp metallic hops. Combative tropical fruits. Beaujolais 'extra' Nouveau. Properly lovely.

On the tongue – An exquisitely refined drink experience. A strong contender for 'most elegant' of all the ultra-hopped contemporary beers.

On the subject – The county of Somerset has long been almost exclusively associated with the production of cider, but thanks to the rapidly growing reputation of this highly innovative brewery, that's not the case any Moor. (Poor gags like that wouldn't be making it to publication if my editor hadn't quit. And my editor might never have quit if only I'd had the foresight to hire one in the first place. So, so many regrets...)

On the market – I already had my 'new beer availability rant' here yesterday, but I'm literally having to beat myself with rusty iron bars in order not to do so again, because today's beer is yet another modern classic that's pretty damn hard to come by. Contact the brewery for sales info, or drive yourself halfway around the world* to The Real Ale Store just like I ended up having to do.

(*Roughly 15 miles).

On the whole – 9/10

Full Review

Without wanting to sound at all disparaging, this is probably the most 'sensible' highly-hopped modern beer I've yet come across.

Let me quickly expand on that before representatives from Moor (poorly disguised in brewery branded balaclavas) burst into my house and begin water-boarding me for hours on end with gallon after gallon of their very latest products.

(I wish.)

Let's be honest, some of the hop-heavy brews pouring with ever increasing frequency out of breweries these days can have an effect very similar to jumping stark naked into an ice bath. They are quite deliberately 'things that make you go oooooo!' (Or make you emit other, slightly less repeatable expressions to the same effect.)

They can often – again, quite deliberately – cast aside such notions as subtlety, nuance, balance and sometimes even complexity. In my opinion, one or two brews go even further by abandoning the very concept of 'taste', in all forms of that word's definition.

So it was a real pleasure to crack today's bottle and discover something that puts each of those elements neatly and firmly back into place, resulting in a beer of staggering elegance, presence and composure.

Revival, if anything, is a dignified beer.

It exudes class and superiority, and does so in a way which is utterly understated. No braggish swagger is needed here, nor indeed is there any need for aggressive branding, and this amounts to a lesson in self-awareness which a few other contemporary breweries would do very well to learn.

The flavours are beautifully composed. So crystal clear is it in its intentions, that it leaves no secrets in the mouth, allowing tropical fruits, wild grasses, floral themes and underlying pale malt savoury notes plenty of room to have their individual moment in the spotlight. To have achieved all of this at such a relatively low alcoholic strength is highly commendable in itself.

Freshness is a big factor here, too. The grapefruit, pear, watermelon and lime all zing with 'just squeezed' immediacy. As do the gentle bread and walnut notes at the other end of the scale. (Though why anyone would waste their time 'squeezing' bread is anyone's guess! - adds The Editor, having finally been hired.)

All in all, this pale ale stands as something of a statement among its hop-heavy contemporaries, reminding them all that no matter what the beer style, there'll always be room for a genuine touch of class.

Very few are as classy as this.

Day 146, Beer 146 - Windsor & Eton's "Kohinoor"

Today's Beer

Name – Kohinoor

Brewer – Windsor & Eton

Classification – Commonwealth IPA  (And, children, that stands for Commonwealth 'Indies' Pale Ale as opposed to Commonwealth 'India' Pale Ale, m'kay!)

Strength – 5.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Deep, rich, almost aristocratic amber. One might even offer forth a daft nonsensical word like 'amberstocratic' if one were a spineless, bottom-feeding cretin. (Doh!)

On the nose – Citrus Kong, high on steroids, tearing up an Asian herb garden. A deadly fragrance, but a beautiful one.

On the tongue – Punchy bitterness, surprisingly full bodied, and with an array of delicate herbal and spiced notes which put the ‘India’ right back into ‘IPA’.

On the subject – One of three beers brewed to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by one of the most exciting breweries in all of Britain, the Commonwealth, and the world.

On the market – All of the usual W&E stockists as listed on their website here. But wherever you find it, buy it quickly. This won’t be around forever.

On the whole – 8.5/10

Full Review

This is not my favourite Windsor & Eton beer.

I laughed to myself when I wrote that opening line, because it’s rather like some wealthy aristocratic lady declaring “sapphires aren’t my favourite blue jewels.”

The reality is that this brewery are responsible for some of my very favourite bottled beers, so when one of their creations isn’t quite as jaw dropping as one of their others – chances are it’s still probably far better than the vast majority of ales in the universe. So, on reflection, maybe that’s actually a more accurate way to begin this review...

‘This beer is far better than most other beers in the universe.’

Yes, that’s much better.

As I’ve already hinted above, one of the most instantly impressive characteristics of this beer (arguably its defining trait) is the playful way in which it introduces flavours and aromas from the Indian subcontinent. I say ‘playful’ because one can’t help but assume this is a nostalgic nod to the former British Empire and the “days of the Raj” – the very days that this beer variety was first created. But in all my years of enjoying IPA’s in all there multifarious forms, I’ve never before tasted one that evokes such a sense of India itself, and the results are both delicious and amusing.

But the fact is that these guys have such finely honed skills alongside their famously good instincts for recipe building, that they can literally chose to be playful as well as merely brilliant.

The levels of nuance are just bewildering. Some of the herbal and dried fruit 'twangs' (to name just two of many more) are almost there as flavours which you can ‘select’ to experience at your leisure, tuning your taste buds into them as and when you please, or switching certain tastes off in favour of others when the mood takes you. This, then, is rather like ‘interactive ale’, which the ‘user’ can engage with at any level that he/she desires. User defined beer is not simple to brew. These guys have the vast amounts of talent required.

The potency of the overall flavour theme and the perceived alcohol ‘thwack’ are both far bolder than the 5.0% ABV should really allow, which again shows us that these Berkshire magicians know how to maximise results from every ingredient in every part of the process.

It’s got a nicely robust salty bitterness, but there’s also a welcome sub-flavour of Jamaican Ginger Cake which brings with it enough of a subtle syrupy quality to counteract the saltiness and keep everything evenly balanced.

Overall, Kohinoor has enough ‘quirkiness’ to justify its classification as a ‘special edition’, and in many ways it is a very unique beer. But there’s also enough sheer class at play here to ensure that if this IPA decides to stick around long after the national party is over – I for one will not be complaining.

Day 145, Beer 145 - Oldershaw's "St Wulfram's Summit"

Today's Beer

Name – St Wulfram's Summit

Brewer – Oldershaw

Classification – Bitter

Strength – 4.3% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Deviously traditional. A 'new wave' beer walking among us disguised as an old favourite.

On the nose – Tree bark. Tree sap. Tree fruits. Tree mendous. (I tried not to write that. I honestly did.)

On the tongue – Peppery, sharp citrus bitterness, pine nut and savoury biscuit malts. Decidedly 'unbad.' (My word. Leave it alone.)

On the subject – Proof positive that this brewery, having taken recent giant strides, is now among the most exciting micros in the land. The branding is new, the bottle-conditioning has been greatly refined, and somehow their beers just keep getting better. 

On the market – This was initially brewed to showcase the restoration of Grantham's principle landmark, but responses have been so positive things may be looking more long term. Contact the brewery for the latest on this.

On the whole – 8.5%

Full Review

In some ways, Oldershaw Brewery have spent the last few years spoiling their own party.

And my life.

The good news is that they've simultaneously been planning a much better party, and thereby giving people like me the chance to live much richer lives - in place of lives that were actually far less fulfilling than we'd ever realised.

Let me explain.

A few short years ago, a beer like today's beer would have shot straight to the top of my high score chart. After all, today's beer – for all it's contemporary use of multiple high citrus hops sourced from across the world – is essentially a beautifully balanced amber bitter.

Since those days, Oldershaw's glorious party-wrecking has got well under way, and this has come in the form of some extraordinarily dynamic and creative beer creations, which have quietly placed this small brewery right at the heart of the modern 'hop-concious' craft beer scene.

Basically, the beers which Oldershaw and certain others have been producing (such as Blonde Volupta, Regal Blonde and Alchemy) are possesive of so much which is dynamic, vibrant, complex, exciting and just plain old delicious – that after while they make all the old classics seem just a little bit dull.

Personally, I now find even a well kept pint of Pedigree to be somewhat underwhelming. That's rather like an Archbishop losing interest in the Bible.

But as surprising and distressing as this apathy towards established favourites is, the rewards derived from these new beers are numerous enough to more than compensate.

However, what the beer world has needed for a long time now, is for some of the most exciting breweries to take a fresh look at a beer style which has fallen out of favour during this recent period of creativity. Falling out of favour is bad enough, but far more significant in these PR concious times is the fact they've fallen out of fashion. Fashion has become a dominant force in the world of craft beer, and one beer style in particular has become its victim.

That beer style can loosely be described as 'amber bitter.'  Or 'the browns', as they are so often referred to by those who would have them disappear for good.

It's actually not rocket science. We've simply needed someone to step up and create a 'brown' which has a sense of it's own place in time. Less of a Gordon Brown, and more of a James, or an Ian, or even a Cleveland Brown.

For a good few years now, the beer world has been in urgent need of a 'cool' brown. And – slowly but surely – such creations are gradually beginning to emerge.

Breweries who care just a little bit more about beer than they do about new-media lead popularity contests are starting to sneak out some amber, bitter-style beers which are, in themselves, every bit aware of the recent developments in beer recipe creation and the huge changes in the wider public's preferences that these developments have inspired.

Admittedly, even with this new approach, these new browns still feel less abundantly and immediately attention-grabbing than the ultra-hopped golden beers or even the sumptuous new breed of 'roasty toasty' darks, but making a massive instantaneous impact is not the only purpose of beer, and I firmly believe that a permanent loss of this middle ground beer style will spell disaster for Planet Ale in the long term.

These beers have been the rock against which all the recent displays of flair and ingenuity have been tethered. Many 'browns' were the very inspiration for all of the magnificent creativity we've all benefited from over recent times. But the way in which the beer scene has turned against them – like teenagers turning on their devoted parents – has been pretty regrettable in my opinion, and the potential for their permanent disappearance is worrying to say the least.

And so, even though Oldershaw brew beers which are clearly more 'jaw-dropping' and 'mind bending' than this beer, I'm possibly more glad of it's arrival than I have been about any other title on their list.

'Summit' has zero sweetness, a dynamic and refreshing bitterness, with a subtle savoury biscuit/nut base, and it has been brewed by a company who stand at the forefront of the recent march away from boring brown beer.

This is exactly the kind of product that the market needs.

A distinctly modern beer for the traditionalists to savour, and for the fashion victims to be reminded that the world of beer is a lot less 'black and white' than they've recently been telling themselves.

Brown is the new black.

And it's tasting great. 

Day 139, Beer 139 - Liverpool Organic's "Honey Blond"

Today's Beer

Name – Honey Blond

Brewer – Liverpool Organic

Classification – Well, the brewery are calling it a 'Honey Beer', so I'll reluctantly tow the line...

Strength – 4.6% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Possibly the only honey-like quality of this drink.

On the nose – Sharp citrus, faint fruitcake sweetness. All pretty low key.

On the tongue – Super dry and bitter and therefore something of a riddle in terms of branding. A delicious riddle, but definitely a riddle. (Read on...)

On the subject – This brewery is among the most exciting new companies in the industry. Organic ingredients and exemplary bottle-conditioning are used to enhance some astonishing recipes, amounting to the most consistently impressive range of bottled beers I've yet found.

On the market – This brewery's market presence still has a way to go if its going to make the huge impact which its marvellous beers merit, but the momentum is increasing nicely all the time. For the impatient, the company has its very own online store.

On the whole – 9/10

Full Review

Oh dear.

It's another gorgeous, more or less infallible beer from Liverpool Organic.

Those of you wondering why this would be a problem might want to take a look at the opening passages of this recent review, but let's just say my chart's uppermost section is getting rather congested with this company's products. Basically, they sent me loads of different beers and every new one I try is utterly outstanding.

It's a real nuisance.

Today's beer, needless to say, is no exception to this pesky rule, and now I'm sat here in a state of what I can only describe as 'pleasant torment', taking savagely enjoyable sips of this miraculous stuff and wondering how I can possibly prevent it from entering the top ten.

The funny thing is, I do actually have a gripe, but sadly it's nothing to do with the beer itself, so I can't really use it as a convenient trigger for downgrading the score.

Pity.

The problem I have is with the name.

To be absolutely specific, it's not a problem with the name itself, but about what that name implies.

The use of the word 'honey' implies that this beer is a sweet and syrupy affair.

It is not.

Moreover, the word implies that this beer features the flavour of honey.

It does not.

Now, in truth, I was hugely relieved to discover that this beer's label is a filthy liar, because to have had these implied characteristics would have made this beer just the sort of English ale that I don't much care for. But it does make me wonder what's going on when a beer's given name and its essential nature are so massively at odds.

And boy – are they at odds.

Instead of a lot of syrupy sweetness, we have an ultra-dry, ultra bitter, citrus intense, and gently nutty pale copper beer. Quite where honey is involved is a complete mystery – one which begins at the very first sip and sustains until the very last drop.

As I have already made clear, the absence of any honey-like elements is absolutely fine by me. But the reality is that I would never have thought to buy this beer in the first place – purely due to the mention of honey's involvement, and all those people who would be tempted by the 'honey factor' are almost certain to wind up disappointed. (Or perhaps 'confused' is a better word than 'disappointed' – as I really can't imagine this beer being a disappointment to anyone with a functioning sense of taste.)

Of what can be detected in this beer (setting aside what cannot be detected in it) there are bags of high citrus notes from gooseberry and grapefruit, some lovely savoury layers from the delicate malts, and the sense of 'just-brewed' freshness is typical of this brewery's work. 

This is a vivid, dynamic, refreshing and intensely uplifting drink experience.

There really is honey involved in the process (I'm told) and perhaps the aromas do contain the faintest trace of something not a million miles away from such a substance. The colour, too, is perhaps not the least honey-like shade on Earth, but I'm delighted to report that this these are the only real suggestions I could find.

All I can say is, if honey-themed beers are your thing, there's plenty of other stuff to enjoy about this beer which make up for honey's apparent reluctance to transfer itself from the bottle into your mouth.

And if honey is absolutely not something you make welcome in your beer – do not allow this fabulous ale's mischievous name to scare you away.

It certainly scared bees away. 

Day 134, Beer 134 - Rooster's "Baby-Faced Assassin"

Today's Beer

Name – Baby-Faced Assassin

Brewer – Rooster's

Classification – India Pale Ale

Strength – 6.1% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Eerie fruit cocktail. The hazy dawn after a tropical apocalypse.

On the nose – Citrus of jaw dropping clarity, vividness, freshness, immediacy and intensity.

On the tongue – Not applicable. (This fluid interacts in an altogether new way with the human mouth. Read on...)

On the subject – Many of you will know that Knaresborough-based Rooster's Brewing Company has been evolving of late, and the new owners appear to have a determination not just to improve on the considerable success of their predecessors, but also to transport the concept of beer into an entirely new dimension. This sounds like the stuff of delusion and fantasy... until you crack the lid on one of these bottles... whereupon an entire alternate universe begins emerging from within.

On the market – Just 70 'prototypes' have been produced so far, and most of those were claimed well before going on sale. I've heard that 16 are available at Beer Ritz. (Or at least they were yesterday. Don't be too surprised if they laugh loudly for an hour or so when your try to buy a bottle today...)

On the whole – 9.5/10

Full Review

I'm not going to give this beer a perfect score.

In fact, this will come as no surprise to you at all, as you will have already seen the score I've awarded to it and noted that it is not '10/10.' 

However, in spite of your prior knowledge, I felt I just wanted to add a little extra emphasis to the point. I want it to be perfectly clear that this beer is not going to be the first beer to get the biggest possible rating.

Oh no, no, no.

It is absolutely not going to be that beer.

No way.

I mean, what beer ever could be 'that beer', speaking rationally?

To score 10/10 would imply that the beer in question was perfect, and nothing - not a single thing whether in the natural world or the contrived world - can be accurately described as 'perfect'. It seems not even God was audacious enough to give perfection a try.

'Perfect' doesn't even exist in any real sense. It's merely a concept, entirely of human design. A fantastic and impossible ideal for us all to waste our time searching, striving and dying for.

Perfection is more of a motivation tool. A metaphorical dangled carrot. It's not an actual state of being.

So to suggest that a mere alcoholic beverage could suddenly pop into existence and defy all logic and possibility would be plain silly, and I'm not prepared to look silly for any drink, not even an outstanding one.

But making the decision not to award this beer a perfect score has presented me with a significant problem, because as a direct consequence I'm now faced with the near impossible task of having to find fault with it.

I'm going to have to identify an element of this beer that is manifestly not perfect, and as much as it pains me to admit it, there is a very real danger that my search for such an imperfection is going to preoccupy all the remaining years of my life.

Talk about a 'raw deal'.

But, for now at least, let me set aside what is not wrong about this drink and focus instead on what is oh so abundantly right about it.

I'm referring to it as 'it' because as much as I love the name 'beer', it just feels clumsy and awkward when applied to this fluid. It's not that 'beer' feels inadequate, it just that it doesn't feel altogether 'up-to-speed' or 'on message' in terms of being a relevant identification. It's almost as though this drink has brought the evolution of beer to a point where it is in need of a new description for itself. A new name. This just isn't beer anymore, not in the sense that all other beers have been up until now. Of course, a great many beers have helped to lead us to this point, and I personally (like many others) give credit to our American friends for triggering this transformative phase in beer's life, but I think this could be the drink that finally draws the line in the sand and steps right over it.

Baby-Faced Assassin is the latest and best evidence that we are in entirely new territory now. It has made it finally feel official.

Upon opening, this beer (which, for the sake of clarity, I'll go back to calling a 'beer') offers forth rich vapours of vivid tropical citrus fruits with a sense of clarity and freshness which significantly outperforms every other beer on the market. It's almost as though an entirely new process has been used to generate this effect. The fact that these aromas also happen to be extraordinarily delicious is almost a side-issue - so overwhelming is the impact and immediacy of the experience. It's one of those smells you can't quite believe is happening.

The great news is that all of these aromas translate directly into the taste, and there's a gargantuan heap of bonus flavours backing up the fruits, thanks in no small measure to some supremely refined and delicate malts.

Bitter, sour, sweet, dry, crisp, rich, savoury, spicy, herbal, light, dark, up, down, left and right, backwards and forwards - it's such an endlessly complex flavour package overall. I'm quite sure you could gather ten people and have them list over a hundred flavours between them, or perhaps even a hundred each. For me, it's those fruits (with blood orange and grapefruit being the most dominant) and the softly spicy, softly herbal bitterness of various 'woody' 'grassy' and 'seed-like' themes which make the strongest impressions.

The body is very 'now' in feel, in as much as it gives you the impression that its in the very early stages of a journey toward becoming a solid. It's not heavy, but it there's a density, rather like you find in a freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice. (Which is a very apt analogy on many levels in this case.)

To say you have to try this one for yourself seems not only trite, but also unfair – as only this run of 70 bottles has ever been produced so far. The only silver lining there is that this beer is so ceaselessly exquisite that it will surely see itself in full production before very long.

My only concern about that is that some of the more finely-tuned aspects might be lost in mass production. A needless worry perhaps, but the sense of 'hands-on' craftsmanship here is more than palpable, and it would be a disastrous loss. You can literally taste the thought, the talent and the time that has been invested in this beer. It smacks of the same meticulous attention to detail that is found in a Fabergé Egg, or a Swiss pocket watch.

Elegant, dignified, outrageously classy and enormously enjoyable.

This really is beer of an entirely different kind.

It's a 750ml monument, built to mark a point in time wherein beer itself took an extremely positive forward step into an entirely different era.

This is Next Generation Beer.

It's still not getting that perfect score, but it's going to take many long years of painstaking fault-hunting before I can ever hope to explain why.

Day 130, Beer 130 - Liverpool Organic's "William Roscoe"

Today's Beer

Name – William Roscoe

Brewer – Liverpool Organic

Classification – Bitter

Strength – 4.5% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Rich, antique gold.

On the nose – Vivid fresh citrus and gently nutty malt. Lovely.

On the tongue – A vibrant and dynamic beer, with ultra-crisp citrus, super solid dry bitterness, and perfectly pitched nut foundations.

On the subject – This brewery has now officially brought The Bottled Beer Year to a crisis point. (Read on...)

On the market – Growing availability, but I urge you not to wait for it to come to you – go right now to the brewery's own web store.

On the whole – 9/10

Full Review

I delayed the posting of this review after it was identified as being lethally toxic.

This post, in addition to the other Liverpool Organic reviews already online here, threatens to poison my entire website and send it to an early grave.

Quite simply – I cannot keep reviewing beers from this brewery.

Not without making huge changes to the way I operate. It's really just a question of whether I make those huge changes or elect not to review any more of these titles.

The reason for all of this is fairly straightforward.

Liverpool Organic's beers are too good.

And I'm not being all cutesy here. I'm deadly serious.

If I don't stop reviewing this consignment of beers, it's very possible that the top twenty slots on my chart will include ten products from the same company, and that's not a scenario I'm getting all giddy with excitement about.

This website would begin to look like a poorly disguised promotional stunt. My readers (even the most open-minded ones) would start participating in games of 'Spot The Brown Envelope' and 'Pin The Tail On The Corrupt Beer Reviewer' – and this is something I'm obviously keen to prevent. (Although they do sound like pretty excellent games...)

My chief problem is deciding what changes to make to deal with this problem. I really don't think it's morally justifiable to effectively 'ban' or 'blacklist' a brewery for sending too many high qualities ales. That would be a bit like banning Colonel Sanders from opening any more restaurants because he was making too many people lick their fingers.

(KFC played no part in the making of this poorly disguised promotional stunt. Other fried chicken outlets are available. But their food is like raw sewage in comparison. All Bargain Buckets (18 Pieces only) should be delivered via the usual Bottled Beer Year address. Dark meat only, with Diet Coke and sweetcorn sides. Don't rely too heavily on the doorbell – knock loudly as well. And step lively, time's getting on! Thanks.)

Where was I?

Oh yes, beer.

In the interests of fairness, I'm going to press ahead with a review of today's beer, but then I'm going to have a good think about how to proceed with this brewery in the future – any suggestions would be appreciated because I'm finding this whole situation a lot more sticky than I'd anticipated. 

Okay, so...

Another beer from their Heroes Of Liverpool range, William Roscoe has the deep gold visual appeal of a fine antique, and indeed there are'traditional' elements to this beer, but in true Liverpool Organic style – only the most 'modern-feeling' elements of a traditional ale have been selected, and the rest of the drink is distinctly contemporary.

Grapefruit, watermelon, gooseberry, ultra-peppery celery and the sharpest white grapes all swirl and glide around a central core of roast nuts and savoury biscuit. It's all massively immediate and dynamic, and the freshness is once again the key. It seems to me that this company's strict use of Organic ingredients, and it's consistent output of uncommonly vivid and fresh tasting beers – cannot be dismissed as mere coincidence. Organic produce appears to lend itself to beer production in the most astonishingly beneficial way.

The Liverpool Organic bottle-conditioning is as brilliantly executed as ever, meaning almost every drop can be consumed and enjoyed without grief.

Every aspect of this beer, every feature, element and component part is exemplary.

This brewery is either run by Martians or exceptionally gifted Earthlings. I wouldn't be surprised either way. Whoever they are, they're currently bottling beer every bit as well or manifestly better than any other outfit I know of.

I've got six more of their beers waiting in line, and I don't yet have the slightest idea what I'm going to do with them.