Day 155, Beer 155 - Thornbridge's "Chiron"

Today's Beer

Name – Chiron

Brewer – Thornbridge

Classification – American Pale Ale

Strength – 5.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Deep, rich, comic malevolent laughter inducing orange amber. 

On the nose – The aromatic equivalent of an earthquake. One whiff will literally tear your house down. Apples, pears, grapefruit, nectarines, lime, black pepper, shaking walls, falling masonry...

On the tongue – A bewilderingly complex, exuberant, but refreshingly mild mannered, perhaps even 'gentle' expression of modern brewing capability.

On the subject – I think I can safely say Thornbridge is one of the best and most revered craft breweries in Britain today. Yes, I think I can safely say that. The only objections to this claim might be about my use of the word 'craft', and demands might follow about what exactly I mean by that. I will point those making such complaints in the general direction of their own backsides.

On the market – Well, given their ever enlarging reputation, the reach of Thornbridge is better than most 'craft' (yes, there it is again, just deal with it) breweries, but that really serves to illustrate my point about how poorly represented all the best contemporary UK beers are in the wider marketplace. Anyway, contact the brewery directly for sales info, or try The Real Ale Store.

On the whole – 9/10

Full Review

Okay, there's been a certain amount of specific 'talk' about this beer lately, so let me just get right to the heart of the matter.

As many of you will know, Thornbridge brew a beer called Jaipur, which is considered a modern classic by the majority of idiots like me who enjoy beer so much that they sit down and write about it.

Comparisons between these two stable-mates have sparked quite a bit of discussion in the murky realms of beer appreciation.

So here's my contribution to the debate...

I do not prefer today's beer to Jaipur.

There, I said it.

However, upon further inspection, this declaration is far more nonsensical than it might first appear.

It's rather like saying - “I don't prefer this snowflake to that other one.”

Actually, it's even closer to saying - “The bright star up there on the left has less appeal to me than its equally twinkly neighbour”.

Now, it could be very easily argued that one snowflake is different from another, but it would take an exceptionally well made argument to successfully convince a neutral observer than one snowflake is better than the other.

Likewise, what evidence could back up a claim that the heavenly body we call Sirius twinkles more pleasingly than that which we've name Polaris? Sure, one star might appear bigger to us... but better?

I think you get my gist. 

Jaipur and Chiron are both stunning examples of their kind. Quite simply, Thornbridge have developed a habit of creating individual products that are all stellar* in their own right.

(* - Not to be confused with 'Stella', for more reasons than I could list in one lifetime.)

Indeed, in many ways these two beers are pretty similar. The are both highly hopped, underpinned with delicate savoury malt base, and chiefly characterised by a super-complex matrix of citrus, floral, tree fruit and soft spice flavour themes which drop your jaw and keep it dropped till it damn well hurts. So numerous are these two beers' similarities, that I reckon someone who's never drunk beer before might not even spot a difference. (After all, we all still know people who think 'bitter' is just 'brown lager.')

But the reality is there are a whole bunch of differences, and although I like a lot of the elements which set Chiron apart from Jaipur, there are few aspects that just don't hit my own personal 'B-spot' in the quite the same way.

It's not the flavours that (microscopically) miss the target. Oh boy no! Chiron thrills with delectable swathes of elderflower, rosewater, grapes, watermelon and mango. It's wonderfully vibrant, fresh, uplifting to the taste.

I think, if anything, it's the intensity of the overall experience which would lead me to opt for one of these beers over the other. Chiron is a subtly gentler giant, providing a slightly more 'laid back' experience throughout. That's all very well and good, and there will be folk who will instinctively vote in favour of that very quality. But for me, I just found myself wishing for something infinitesimally 'additional' from this beer. 

I wanted it to be exactly what it was – but be it a shade more.

At a considerably less potent 5.0% ABV, I did wonder if this is just the difference a slightly less robust alcohol content can make to the character of a beer. And maybe that's what also accounts for the slight sense of comparative thinness in the body which, again, is the kind of thing that suits some people more than others. Personally, with beers of this kind, I've found all kinds of consistencies can work very well, and I couldn't say that was a problem for me here.

(Incidentally, many beer writers refer to the aspect of a beer's physical characteristics as 'mouthfeel' – a term I dislike enormously and avoid using because it always makes me imagine sexually repressed dentists.)

(Don't worry, I'm seeking help...)

Look, I really am splitting hairs here. The fact is that Chiron is one of the best brews around. It really is that simple. Yes, it walks somewhat in the shadow of one of the finest beers of our time, and comparisons will always be made - but none of that is any of it's own fault.

It's an exquisitely crafted contemporary high-hopped beer, with a dazzling array of carefully assembled flavours and it's just about as rewarding as pouring liquid into your face can get.

It's another Thornbridge modern great, and you should go out and buy yourself at least one bottle of it at your very earliest convenience.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue wishing on that star just a little over to the right.

I almost convinced it twinkles better.

Day 107, Beer 107 - Thornbridge's "Jaipur"

Today's Beer

EDITOR'S NOTE -

THIS REVIEW IS TO BE VIEWED AS AN HISTORICAL RECORD ONLY.

SUBSEQUENT BOTTLES OF THIS BEER HAVE ALL BEEN ASTONISHING. IT SEEMS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE A 'DUFF' SAMPLE WAS USED FOR THIS REVIEW. (IT CAN HAPPEN.)

JAIPUR IS FAR BETTER THAN MY FIRST IMPRESSION HERE IMPLIES, THE SCORE HAS BEEN UPDATED ACCORDINGLY.




Name – Jaipur

Brewer – Thornbridge

Classification – IPA (Which means it is now official - 'IPA' has no meaning to me any more. Read on...)

Strength – 5.9% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Gold infused grapefruit juice.

On the nose – Sharp, vivid citrus. Like grapefruit juice.

On the tongue – Grapefruit jui... Look, I'd really better skip these bits. Just bear with me and read on...

On the subject – I sometimes wonder how 'big' the world of craft beer really is when so many people I know still haven't heard of one of the mightiest and most venerated breweries in the sector. But that's precisely what Derbyshire's Thornbridge are, and a stack of major industry awards only partly explains why.

On the market – Pretty widespread and only getting wider. If your local supermarket won't, then the Internet will at The Real Ale Store.

On the whole – 9.5/10* (See note above)

Full Review

And so it came to pass that I finally threw in the towel.

The 'IPA Definition Towel', that is.

Basically, if today's beer is an IPA (India Pale Ale), and yet Greene King's is also an IPA, and then Meantime's is an IPA too, and Okell's is an IPA, and Fuller's is an IPA, and Brooklyn's is an IPA (albeit an 'East' IPA) as well as many others like 'Proper Job', 'Deuchars' and 'Torpedo Extra' – then I can no longer hope to explain to the proverbial Man From Mars what an IPA actually is.

An even harder thing to explain to an alien would be what makes an ale not an IPA.

I think I'd just have to casually refer to the history of the drink, talk a little about hops and ships, before asking the alien not to ask too many questions. But even if I tried my hardest, I'm sure he'd still stare at the line-up of brews I just listed feeling far more like alien than he ever did before, and who could blame the poor guy.

Usually, when dealing with such matters, many of my fellow beer bloggers like to say – 'a beer is whatever the brewery says it is.'

And perhaps therein lies the problem. An IPA is merely any beer which a brewery has decided to call an IPA.

By that reckoning I can quickly and easily understand why this golden ale entitled 'Jaipur' is in fact an IPA.

Just like Green King's traditional bitter is an IPA.

And just like Meantime's English-brewed American-inspired 'English-style ale' is an IPA.

I'm not struggling with the science here, or with the brewing process, because levels of attenuation, alcohol content, colour, texture, taste, hop varieties, malt varieties – are simply all over the place amongst the range beers currently being sold as IPA's.

It seems to me that IPA – the term 'IPA' itself as opposed to what the term IPA might actually mean – is just plain old 'trendy' these days, and this is probably best summed-up by the upcoming global event 'IPA Day.'

Boy, would that really not be a good day for the Man From Mars to show up!

So intensely en vogue are the letters 'IPA' that every brewery needs something new and exciting called an IPA on their list in order not to look out of touch. But it really does seem that just about any new brew will fit the glass IPA slipper – regardless of what this means to the poor customer stood at the bar scratching his head clean off.

Anyway, if knocking out all manner of different beers under one increasingly meaningless umbrella results in great beer being created, then I suppose it's all well and good. I mean, who really cares what an 'IPA' really is, or what a 'bitter' really is, or what the even more indefinable 'ale' really is.

If it's a good drink, it's a good drink. Right?

Well, rather fortuitously, it has quickly become pretty clear to me that Jaipur is a 'good drink'.

It's nice to be clear about something.

But to say I was surprised by the drink that came out of a bottle marked 'IPA' is something of an understatement. If the label had read 'golden ale' or 'blonde ale' or something equally out of fashion, I might have been a little less taken aback by the faint pastel yellow, highly translucent, light bodied and rather delicious alcoholic grapefruit juice which appeared before me.

There is almost no detectable trace of malt in this drink. There is no certainly no sense of balance between malt and hops. This characteristic does of course lend itself to the name IPA, as the very first India Pale Ale's did tend to be highly hopped.

But beers like this are not simply highly hopped.

In effect – they are only hopped.

That's all.

They are just epic wide-screen battles in which vast armies of certain citrus flavours attempt to conquer vast armies of certain other citrus flavours.

In previous millennia, 'balance' used to refer to the relationship between hop and malt, whereas these days it frequently refers only to the relationship between one high pitched hop and any number of even higher pitched hops. It's basically about the balance between hop, skip and jump.

Yes, there may be microscopic hints of all kinds of further flavours, but the citrus here is so mighty that only the most pedantic and determined of taste buds are going to care about – or even notice – anything else.

Hugely, unashamedly, and (as it happens) really quite hypnotically hopped is what this beer is, and I do have to say that it is among the freshest, cleanest and most dynamic taste experiences I know of within the world of alcoholic beverages. In fact, there really is something quite genuinely awe-inspiring about the impact of this drink.

But I just don't taste beer.

I certainly taste something – it's possible that I taste more than I do in most other drinks on the planet. But it's the most unceasingly delicious and exquisitely crafted alcoholic fruit drink on Earth, when what I really wanted to drink was an ale.

In the end, it's simply a personal preference thing. A straightforward 'my cup of tea' thing.

Personally, I like my 'cup of tea' to be a more well-rounded affair, and I really am growing tired of this unceasing trend toward ever more 'massive' hops.

If you are into that sort of thing, then the current beer scene must feel like the greatest thrill ride imaginable.

But for many of us, it's just kinda dull and frustrating.

My great solace is in the knowledge that fashion is fickle. I keenly await the inevitable shift away from high citrus yellow beers, and for the tide to gently roll back in favour of the nut, the biscuit, the granary loaf, and the copper hue.

Believe me, I dislike sweet, malty, soupy ales as much as anyone. These horrid beers are the very reason this hop-fuelled march began in the first place, and I thank Heaven and the likes of Thornbridge for that. But the reality is that I'm also left largely cold and unmoved by these hop-aggressive one trick ponies.

Might it not be time to start taking baby steps toward the middle ground again?

I first discovered a love of beer via the likes of Pedigree, Draught Bass and the greatly missed Museum Ale from Sam Smith.

Any brewery who reappraises, redefines and reworks these kinds of drinks would doubtless lead a whole new march of their own.

I live in hope.

In the meantime, let me end with this...

A toffee apple without toffee is not a toffee apple.

It's just an apple.

These totally hop-dominant beers nearly always bring this thought to mind.

Day 39, Beer 39 - Spire Brewery's "Britannia Cream Ale"

Today's Beer

Name – Britannia Cream Ale

Brewer – Spire

Classification – Strong Amber Ale

Strength – 6.4% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Gorgeous shades of yellow and gold, ruined almost entirely by copious amounts of floating yeast. I tire of this subject almost as much as it tires of me...

On the nose – Thickly buttered hot cross buns. Toasted, of course.

On the tongue – Fresh ginger and pink grapefruit. In a cake.

On the subject – Chesterfield's Spire Brewery is the brainchild of David McLaren. As a former secondary school teacher - he will have NONE OF YOUR BACKCHAT about his beers.

On the market – Local suppliers score an A+, but non local suppliers all get detention! Mine was supplied by The Real Ale Store (who totally loves 'Sir' and always brings him an apple)

On the whole – 8/10

Full Review

If you'd just been through what I've been through, you'd realise just how hard it is to know where to begin.

From the very first sip, this crafty little beast had me all brow-furrowed and head-scratching and, if I'm entirely honest, I'm still pretty bewildered by what I just experienced.

Before I go any further, let me quickly establish that this is a beer that needs to be taken very seriously.

It is, in other words, a very serious beer.

It's a serious beer, and I've been left with little reason to doubt that it's probably also quite an excellent beer.

But I couldn't be absolutely certain of that, or of anything else in relation to this brew because - boy oh boy - is it enigmatic!

It simply refuses to fall neatly – if at all – into any of the usual beer categories, and the brewery's claim that it is a 'cream ale' is certainly one that I'm in no great hurry to embrace.

For sure, there are cream-like aspects to the beer, particularly in terms of the sumptuous buttery fragrance and that huge Hagen Dazs head which billows forth impatiently regardless of how fast you pour.

But a long time before I would have thought of picking out 'creaminess' as this beer's overriding defining quality, I would surely have opted for one of the clearly more dominant properties such as its highly hopped 'kick' or its richly complex finish, or I'd have focused onto its unrelenting citrus appeal.

Mind you, its not as though any of this matters after a few mouthfuls, because at an insidiously deceptive 6.4%, this ale soon renders most Earthly matters devoid of any real significance.

But then again, at 6.4%, I probably shouldn't be craving several more of these – but the awful, terrifying truth is that I am, and it wouldn't be fair on the beer not to confess that.

To be even more fair, though, I also have to confess that my craving is not necessarily due to an intense love which has developed for this ale. The feeling I have is more akin to an investigators obsession with a case he can't yet solve, such is the tremendous sense of intrigue behind this beer and its devilishly elusive character.

Day Seven, Beer Seven - Derby Brewery Company's "Old Intentional"

Today's Beer

Name – Old Intentional

Brewer – Derby Brewing Co.

Classification – Premium Ale

Strength – 5.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Copper. I'm sure there are other ways of encapsulating it, but in the meantime...copper.

On the nose – Very appealing for anyone who adores fruit cake and Garibaldi biscuits. Someone like me, for example...

On the tongue – Malty to the point of showing off. Complexity in spades, but without ever being difficult.

On the subject – Saviour of the much admired Brunswick Inn in Derby, Trevor Harris has since applied his Midas touch to the independent brewery business. This is one very clever Trevor!

On the market – Wide local supermarket presence in the UK Midlands and beyond, and Majestic have become big fans. Buying direct is still an option.

On the whole – 7/10

Full Review

It seems silly to begin a review with the single word 'delicious', but some beers just have a way of sending me silly, so here I go...

Delicious.

Delicious and somewhat dangerous, I should add. This is one of those menacingly morish ales of a certain alcoholic strength which trick you into having incredibly stupid thoughts such as – “I reckon this is an excellent session beer..!” and “I'm going to drink this all night..!”

I was similarly conned by Greene King's 'Abbot Ale' a few years ago, and paid heavy price at breakfast time.

The reason they can trick us with such sinister ease is because these are the types of beers that speak directly to our mouths using words which mouths can really understand. Actually they really only ever use two words – the word “keep” and the word “going.”

This being said, I can think of several pals of mine who won't like this beer. Not a bit. They'd moan about the strongly metallic flavours, “it's like drinking copper,” they'd cry – foolishly believing that such an experience was a bad thing. Then there's the 'it smells like antiseptic' crowd who would take exception to the highly hopped fragrance which hits you at every sip. Pal's like these could go on making these 'novices errors' all night long when faced with a complex beer like this. But, as the witty name of this brew suggests – it knows exactly what it's doing.

There's an intensely nutty finish which, despite it's utter dependability, always comes as a surprise. That's a real achievement. Few beers can claim to repeatedly dazzle and bewilder you, gulp after gulp, with such apparently deliberate nonchalance.

This is a deep, rich, full bodied and fully rounded drink experience – not for the uninitiated – and I'm going to be careful to recommend it only to those with a wide repertoire, who do not consider 'copper' to be a swear word, and who do their drinking with the precisely the same Old Intention with which most brewers create their beers. 

Those kinds of drinkers....will absolutely love it.