Day 148, Beer 148 - Windsor & Eton's "Canberra"

Today's Beer

Name – Canberra

Brewer – Windsor & Eton

Classification – Commonwealth Ale (Confused? Read on...)

Strength – 4.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Deep, lustrous chestnut. Like some gloriously implausible rum and molasses cocktail.

On the nose – Good God! Big hops with equal treacle (which should be a band name) underscored with delicious smoky liquorice (which definitely should not be a band name).

On the tongue – Rich, rewarding and complex with fabulously zesty hops, all kinds of complimentary sub-flavours and an overall punch far greater than its strength ought to allow.

On the subject – This is the final beer of three brewed by Windsor & Eton to commemorate ‘Jubilee 2012’, and it’s arguable they've saved the very best for last. (See one of them reviewed here, and trust me that the other was totally ace.)

On the market – Another ‘grab it while you can’ beer arrives on The Bottled Beer Year, with the safest bet of doing so being to purchase from the brewery direct.

On the whole – 9/10

Full Review

As the inevitable 'end of year reviews' begin to clog up every last media outlet over the coming weeks, much will be said about what has been (in any UK-linked territory at least) the 50^th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s time spent having to shake hands with unwell, poorly paid taxpayers – otherwise known as The Diamond Jubilee.

What might not be mentioned during all this dewy-eyed hullabaloo – not nearly as much as it should be, at least – is the relatively small contribution made to these festivities by a certain UK brewery, in the form of three enormously lovely (and even more enormously diverse) commemorative beers.

Long before this year-long national party had started, the magicians at Windsor & Eton had been quietly impressing me and thousands of other ale fundamentalists with an ever growing roster of astonishing beers, each of which manages to combine cutting edge characteristics and flavour themes with an equally immediate sense of tradition – an elusive little trick which few other breweries ever quite manage to pull off.

Uniquely, Canberra is called a ‘Commonwealth Ale’, and whilst that’s probably just the brewery entering into the spirit of their own idea and having a bit of fun with the royal theme, it’s also perfectly fitting that they should essentially invent an entirely new beer style for this brew because in my experience there just ain’t nothing like it currently available on the open market.

From the moment of contact with the lips this stuff begins racing around the full flavour spectrum like the proverbial bat out of Berkshire, and before you can properly identify any specific notes – it’s already begun firing barrages of new tastes at you as though it genuinely intends to kill you.

And this pleasantly aggressive characteristic is one of the things that most impresses about Canberra. After you remind yourself of the relatively benign alcohol content (4.0% ABV),  you realise it beggars belief how they've managed to empower this drink with such a wealth of robust flavours as well as its almost menacing sense of inner might.

Specifically, the flavours at play here are spiced orange citrus, ginger cake, green figs, fennel, restrained cocoa, delicate traces of maple syrup – and the malts underpin all of this with a super-unique roasted nut, char-grilled tree sap kind of a twang which, frankly, leaves you wanting to sit the hell down and contemplate the inside of your own mouth for a good old while.

This really is a genuinely dynamic and hugely rewarding concoction.

All in all, this three beer salute to the British monarch has been imbued with a majesty every bit as grand as the one it was intended to reflect. The only difference being that this Windsor brewery has taken just a few short years to generate the same glorious heritage which a certain other local resident needed half a century to acquire.

An exaggeration?

Sip it and see.

Day 140, Beer 140 - Oakham's "JHB"

Today's Beer

Name – JHB  (Jeffrey Hudson Bitter)

Brewer – Oakham Ales

Classification – Bitter (in a Golden Ale kind of way)

Strength – 4.2% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Suspiciously like a golden ale.

On the nose – Salted butter, white grapes, savoury biscuit.

On the tongue – One of the first ultra-hopped, high-citrus beers... and still among the best.

On the subject – John Wood, the brewery's original owner, set up a fairly modest venture in the small Rutland town of Oakham at the back end of the last millennium. Things worked out very nicely. These days, the beer is brewed in the rather more mighty Peterborough, and the regime is decidedly larger in scale. The end products, I'm glad to say, are just as good as ever.

On the market – Somehow, despite all their success and their enviable industry reputation, Oakham Ales' beers can still be tricky to find. Fortunately, the ever-willing internet solves this by allowing you to visit the likes of My Brewery Tap.

On the whole – 8.5/10

Full Review

In the world of craft beer, the march of progress has developed into a full blown sprint in recent years, and few beers can better encapsulate the distance travelled than Jeffrey Hudson Bitter.

There was a time – not so very long ago – when this beer was being hailed as visionary, futuristic and ground breaking.

And that's because it was all of those things in the murky wilderness of the late 1990's.

Back then, the concept of a bitter being golden in colour and grapefruit in flavour was practically the stuff of science fiction. Whereas now – just a short industry revolution hence – this description would apply to almost seventy percent of all newly launched beers.

Whether that statistic pleases you or not is one thing, but there's little doubt that this beer (and one or two others) can lay a strong claim to being the catalyst for this new wave of hop dominant ales.

But although this brew now sits on the shelf among an ever extending list of similar drinks, there's little doubt that there's still something a bit darned special about it. Few golden citrus beers that have subsequently appeared on the scene can be said to have bettered it.

It may have been among the first, but it firmly remains one of the very finest.

These beers – much more so than conventional bitters – demand a good degree of chilling. Not as much as a lager would, but greater amounts than a darker, more malt-balanced rendition. The high note fruits simply blur without it, like warm juice would, or any carbonated soft drink.

But at cellar temperature (or preferably just a little below), this beer hits you with a dynamism and intensity which is both refreshing and - speaking quite frankly - utterly thrilling.

It's dry without being harsh, immediate without being aggressive, it's clearly been assembled with enormous amounts of skill and care, and all of this results in a hugely rewarding and memorable beer.

Is it really a bitter?

Given that so many other beers of 'this sort' now exist which can often be found laying claim to many different classifications, isn't it about time they settled on a name all of their own – if only to save us poor consumers from all this post-purchase head scratching?

Well, maybe so. (Especially when these dark brown bottles reveal so few of their secrets...)

But on this occasion I'm really not prepared to dwell on such matters, because the liquid in my glass is absolutely delightful, and that's all I'm inclined to care about.

What was once futuristic and ground breaking is now an absolute classic of its kind.

Whatever 'kind' that may be.

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.

Day 119, Beer 119 - Upham Brewery's "Upham Ale"

Today's Beer

Name – Upham Ale

Brewer – Upham

Classification – Best Bitter

Strength – 4.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Rich copper. Perfect carbonation.

On the nose – White bread dough. Grassy hops. Faint licorice. Nice.

On the tongue – A self described 'malty ale', but one which hop lovers would do well to try... (read on...)

On the subject – As my recent 'arrival' post described, this is a company which has every right to claim 'micro-brewery' status. Founded in 2009 in greenest Hampshire, this compact but highly dedicated team has already moved on from the essential 'local hero' level and is now making inroads much further afield. Today's beer was their first, and it's already obvious to me that beer like this was never likely to stay 'local' for long.

On the market – Whilst those 'inroads' are spreading, the brewery is busy getting an online store up and running. Whilst you're waiting for that, there's a bunch of nearby stockists – or why not just contact the brewery direct for the latest on availability.

On the whole – 8/10

Full Review

In these increasingly hop-obsessed times, it takes an enormously confident micro-brewery to ship out bottles of beer which proudly display the words – 'classic malty ale' – upon their labels.

I can picture the eyes of many of my readers widening with bewilderment at the very sight of those oddly assembled letters.

Long time no see, eh?

In certain, more insatiably 'fashionable' areas of the contemporary craft-beer world, words like those would be enough to consign Upham Ale to the discard pile long before it's lid was ever removed.

The reason for this is fairly simple. The word 'malt' has become something of a swear-word among many of the new wave of 'cool' brewers and 'cool' beer advocates. The only exception to this is when 'malt' is being used in reference to dark beers, partly because malt is pretty hard to ignore in these cases, and partly because dark beers in themselves are currently too 'cool' for it to matter.

It always makes me smile when I hear the word 'cool' used in reference to craft beer, whether it be about companies or individuals. I mean, God bless us beer lovers, we still don't get it do we!

I wish breweries and commentators would stop fretting about being loved and admired by people who 'don't understand'. The truth is, it's us who don't understand. Most of the people we constantly refer to as being 'uneducated' in the ways of real beer are actually not ignorant at all. They just prefer other drinks. And it's not that they think craft-beer drinkers are uncool, it's just that they couldn't care less either way. In my experience, the guys who spend the most time worrying about whether or not they are 'cool' are unwittingly condemning themselves to be forever uncool simply by doing so.

“I can be cool too!” is not a very cool thing to say.

Craft-beer yells it.

All the time.

I wish we could all be a lot less image-paranoid, take some collective deep breaths, fill our glasses with what we like and enjoy ourselves. Who knows, maybe we'll look like we're having a good time and some other folks will come over and join us.

Anyway, within the predominantly uncool world of 'cool craft beer', very dark, roasty beers are currently cool - and very light, citrus-intense beers are also currently cool.

Incidentally, because this is purely about image, these beers will be 'cool' irrespective of whether they're actually nice or not. Taste comes later, after the purchase. It's called an image-based head start.

But meanwhile, all the beer territory in the middle of these two colour/taste extremes – is pretty hazardous ground at the present time.

If you absolutely must brew a beer of this 'other' kind – you know you've got to be very careful when it comes to wording it's label. One non-trendy word, served up at a particularly non-trendy time, can totally break a beer. Regardless of it's excellence.

Single words, timed right, can make or break entire industries. Right now, in the wider world of 'ale', the tide of trend is even beginning to turn against the mighty word 'cask', which had previously held the title of 'coolest word in the universe' for as long as I can recall. (For those who haven't heard – cask's arch nemesis 'keg' is now fighting back, having been off in the wilderness for many years recruiting an entirely new, seemingly unstoppable army. The glittering craft beer crown awaits the glorious victor.)

The inherent nature of fashion dictates that all presently unfashionable words will be right back in vogue before too long, but for the time being they will have to continue to feel the backlash.

But over in rural Hampshire, Upham Brewery is having none of this 'fashion' malarkey. It has brewed an ale which contains malt (as all breweries tend to do) and it's not going to kowtow to the fickle whims of the Twittering masses.

I smiled when I read that label. It was like the most delightfully timed prone middle finger to the increasingly belligerent 'hopheads', the fly-by-night fashion slaves, and the stealthy corporate puppeteers who hide in plain sight right here among us.

But shortly after I read the label, I discovered a slight problem.

Because then I actually drank the beer.

And, wouldn't you know it... it's not malty.

I mean, not really.

Certainly not enough to warrant a special mention up-front on the bottle.

However, if I'm perfectly honest – I was glad. Because they might be belligerent, but those hopheads do have a point, and it's a point I'm increasingly inclined to agree with. Beers (and by 'beers' I mean copper/amber ales of the bitter, best bitter and premium ale style) which are malt-dominant, are hardly ever as nice as those that are hop-dominant.

A big, sweeping statement?

Maybe.

But I'll stand by it.

I'll stand even closer beside a claim that a beer which is properly balanced between these two is the absolute ideal, but even there I would want the scales to be tipping ever so slightly in favour of humulus lupulus – whatever it's variety.

But is the beer I'm describing there anything like Upham Ale?

Well, it's actually pretty close.

The key thing to stress is that this beer (contrary to the suggestions inherent in it's own branding) is not a sweetness-heavy or syrupy beer as the word 'malty' can so easily imply in these days of impassioned anti-cereal dogma.

No, this ale is a mostly dry and zesty experience, one in which the sharp floral and fruit notes are free to flourish over and above a firm malt base, instead of being trapped below one.

And the malt itself is far more tart and astringent than sickly-sweet or honeyed. Far more ginger stem biscuit than golden syrup.

But those lively hops really don't allow you too much time to dwell on the malts. In fact, by the time the Bramley apple, the lime, the watermelon and the grapefruit have had their say, all you want to do is sit back and enjoy.

That's pretty much what I did, anyway.

This beer has been a delightful introduction to what appears to be an extremely exciting brewery.

I'm already thirsty for more.

Day 110, Beer 110 - Dorset Brewing Company's "Durdle Door"

Today's Beer

Name – Durdle Door

Brewer – Dorset Brewing Company

Classification – 'Weymouth' bitter

Strength – 5.0% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye – Deep, vibrant copper. A decidedly 'classic bitter' look.

On the nose – Gorgeous rich malts and a nice hop-derived citrus saltiness.

On the tongue – A robust, full bodied and creamy beer, packed with fruit-laced character.

On the subject – Dorset Brewing Company continue to impress me with this 'Weymouth' bitter, so called due to the locally sourced ingredients which remain a key element of this brewery's ethos.

On the market – A healthy localised presence continues to extend beyond borders, but online (at the brewery's own web store for instance) is the best bet for those further afield.

On the whole – 8/10

Full Review

I haven't seen one for a while, but to the best of my knowledge the UK confectioner Cadbury still produces a chocolate bar called 'Fruit And Nut.'

Those of you who aren't familiar with the product should be able to work out the basics from the name itself.

Now, summoning up all the powers of your imagination, I'm asking you to imagine a version of this chocolate bar which features no chocolate whatsoever, and which also comes in liquid form.

Now imagine that this copper coloured free flowing liquid has a fairly strong alcohol content.

Are you picturing it?

If so, what you're looking at is Durdle Door.

It's the non-chocolate, non-solid, Cadbury's Fruit And Nut of the beer world.

Sort of.

And let me swiftly add that this effectively makes this ale a very delicious, 'special treat' kind of drink, and one which (in fairness) has a great deal more of a salty, high-citrus dryness than my rather crude analogy might suggest.

But there's no doubt that 'nutty fruitiness' is the main feature of this brew, and those two elements have been pitched perfectly against each other in a way that really does evoke the feel of the aforementioned bar of cocoa loveliness.

In fact, this taste test made me aware of a huge inconsistency which is currently at work in our world. You can find chocolate flavoured beers all over the place these days, but I've yet to come across any beer flavoured chocolate.

Surely this represents a gigantic gap in the market... (Consider it copyrighted from this moment on!)

Anyway, I digress. You'll search long and hard before finding any chocolate flavours in Durdle Door, though there are faint traces of toffee and treacle to detect if you can ever manage to pull your focus away from those unstoppable nuts and fruits, which are forever shape-shifting between delightful hints of orange peel and pecan pie, to sumptuous swathes of cooking apple and roasted almond.

It's good stuff.

It's not the weakest bitter in terms of its ABV, and there is a sense that more than a couple of these might liven up your evening in all manner of interesting ways (or leave you slumped in a sorry heap). Add to this the robustness and the immediacy of the flavours and the proud fullness of the body – and you've got yourselves a pretty mighty drink experience.

This is the last of the Dorset Brewing Company beers I've had to sample, and I've been very impressed by the sense of freshness and the skilful composition of their range.

If you don't know this brewery yet, you might want to add it to your 'to drink' list without further delay.

These are very fine beers indeed.

Day 101, Beer 101 - Ballard's "Best Bitter"

Today's Beer

Name – Best Bitter

Brewer – Ballard's

Classification – I'll let you take a guess, but the clue is kinda in the name...(see above)

Strength – 4.2% ABV

Verdict - At A Glance

On the eye– Rich, deep and radiant orange amber. Gorgeous.

On the nose – Dry roasted nuts, pepper, spices and liquorice with faint high citrus.

On the tongue – A sharp, bitter, nutty and well hopped brew which tastes and feels as real as any pub served ale. An exemplary bottled beer. One for all breweries to be aware of.

On the subject – I'm just going to say this in the hope that you go on to read the review in full... It may be insignificant, but Ballard's Brewery is run by Carola Brown who – among other things – happens to be a woman. An elusive creature, still, in the world of brewery control. However, if this fact is not insignificant, then I think it might be time for the entire industry to take a good long look at itself, because this one beer alone from Ballard's range is not only a better beer than most others currently on the market – it is also tangibly different. Do read on.

On the market – The relative scarcity of a product like this is nothing less than morally wrong, and shopkeepers everywhere without it on their shelves should hang their heads in shame. Medals of honour and gold stars go to the likes of Waitrose (not known for their poor quality stock!) and Hops & Pips. Or just order a lorryload from the brewery's own online store.

On the whole – 9.5/10

Full Review

This is like deja vu.

I kept taking sips and thinking – 'I've been here before'. The sense of familiarity came instantaneously and was unwavering.

The odd thing, though (aside from the fact that I know for sure I've never encountered this drink before) is that this strong reaction was not related to the flavour of the beer.

In fact, it wasn't any aspect of the beer itself that felt familiar.

It was the beer's effect.

The beer was working a very strange magic on me. I slipped quickly into a wonderfully contented sense of being in some unspecific somewhere in which I felt comfortable and at home.

After a few sips, I worked out precisely what the cause of this magic was. This beer is essentially a huge number of brews you've loved throughout your life, gathered and fused together into one gloriously evocative ale.

Not a bottled ale, I might add. This fusion of favourites does not consist of all your cherished shop-bought brews. I'm talking about all your favourite pub-bought cask ales, brought together, brewed into one beer and merely served in a bottle.

Without wanting to sound any more deranged than I probably already do - this really is no 'bottled beer' I'm reviewing today. It might have been poured from one, but it sure doesn't look, feel or taste like one. The behaviour, character and the experience of this beer is that of a freshly served and very well kept cask beer, and I suspect that the reason for this is the beautifully executed bottle-conditioning, which deserves closer attention here.

The conditioning of this beer is the best example I've come across. Regular readers will know I've had some pretty heartbreaking experiences with bottle-conditioning during the course of these reviews and I've had some fairly strong thoughts on the subject (here's an example) but this beer has rapidly reminded me why the industry continues to persevere with this concept. I now realise what all these many failed attempts are trying to achieve, and I'm now inclined to think that even failed attempts are worth it – because the cause is a much more noble one than I'd ever realised.

When bottle condition is done badly – it ruins the drink. When bottle conditioning is done well – you get an entirely new kind of experience, and Ballard's Best Bitter is the clearest demonstration of this that I know of. Any sceptics would rethink their stance after a glass of this stuff.

In fact, I would challenge anyone to tell the difference between this and a pub served cask ale in a blind tasting. I invite people to hold such trials all across Britain. I predict 50/50 results across the board.

The body, the carbonation, the freedom of expression and the freshness of the flavours – all say “the landlady just pulled me.”

I hope you'll pardon that hugely ill-chosen phrase.

Of the flavour itself – this is a hop favoured ale (as any proper bitter should be) with absolutely no gaps in the flavour spectrum all the way down to a lovely biscuit and nut malt base. It's taste really does have that feeling of 'completeness' overall, as though someone has taken the time to accommodate each and every receptor on the human tongue, and therefore the capacity of this beer to satisfy is nothing short of jaw dropping.

There's a real feel of nature in this glass. Abundant dry citrus, cereals, soft spices, gentle floral waves, faint granary loaf and flapjack suggestions and so much more besides, but the reality is that it has all been so perfectly crafted that the main flavour of this beer is actually just beer, if you see what I mean. The sense of perfection is so immediate it is almost too hard to believe that it was put together from separate ingredients. All the elements have been combined together so naturally that it feels like it just simply came into being in it's current form like some miraculous biblical arrival.

I need to calm down a little.

Let me just get right back to basics.

This is by far the best 'Best' I've so far found.

It is by far the best bottled-conditioned beer I've so far found.

The only question left is whether or not this is the best beer I've so far found.

It is certainly one of them.