Drinking Real Ale in the UK
I’m now just over a week into my trip to the UK. Unfortunately the majority of my time has been spent on my day job. I have managed to find some time to try some real ales though. With the day job stuff out of the way I am on my from Oxford to London by bus. It’s a pretty good set up with decent free wifi on the bus. If they only had a couple of taps so we could sample along the way.
I have been working and staying around the Cheltenham Glouscter area and have been trying to try beers from the local breweries while I have the chance. I did make a day trip on a day off to Stone Henge, Bath and Cardiff so got to try some of their local drops too. However, I did manage to find the holy grail of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord on cask at a pub not five minute walk from my hotel. I got as much of it as I could. I can tell you from my experience it is every bit as good as you imagine it to be. If you ever get the chance to try it from the cask you simply have to do it.
Now I have London and all it has to offer to look forward to. I’m particularly keen on a visit to the pub, The Greenwich Union, owned and run by the Meantime brewery. I have been a big fan of some of their beers and can’t wait to try them from the source. Will also be good to taste the difference and see how well it travels compared to what we get at home. Will add some more posts soon and have some article coming for Brews News too so make sure you keep an eye out over there.
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On The Road in the UK
Photo Andrew Macdonald
After taking me all around Australia over the last twelve months my day job now has me off to the UK. Unfortunately I am going to have to work while I am there but I am certainly going to find the time for a pint or two and be able to taunt you all when I have a Landlord fresh from the cask. I can’t wait to try the real cask ales sitting in a real English pub.
I will be spending a total of two weeks over there with a week and a half in Cheltenham and a couple of days in London. If you know of any great must see pubs or breweries in those areas please let me know. I have been hitting up the CAMRA web site but a personal recommendation is always great. I am going to be in London for the Tottenham V Arsenal match at Whitehart Lane so if anyone knows how to scam tickets that advice would be greatly appreciated.
Watch my twitter for the latest on what I am up to over there.
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Travels
It’s been a while since my last update as I have been travelling around Western Australia for my day job. I have some good beery stories to tell from the wild West though. My visit to Fremantle turned out very well.
Make sure you down to The Wheaty soon. They have the Epic Armageddon in will have Emerson’s pils on tap this Friday. Both of these are not to be missed so get on down there and get your self some great beer. I don’t get back in town til the 23rd so will miss it. I will be there on the 23rd to see if there is anything left though.
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AABC and ANHC
Coming up this week are the Australian Homebrewing Nationals Competition judging and running in conjunction is the Australian National Homebrewing Conference. I’m off to Melbourne for both events so it looks to be a big week. Lots of events over the course of a few days all of which involve beer in some way shape or form. If you don’t already have a ticket you should think about getting one. Even if you are not a homebrewer there is plenty to see and do.
Besides the actual conference sessions which are mostly for real brewing geeks there are a number of events for those that are not brewers. On Wednesday night there is a dinner and judges calibration session at Biero, a new bar/restaurant in Melbourne. After judging on Thursday there is a dinner and drinks at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda. On Friday the conference gets into full swing with a bunch of sessions including a session on advanced flavour training. Friday night is the beer and food matching dinner which will be amazing if last time is anything to go by. After the dinner it’s time for club night where homebrew clubs from around the country put their best on show for everyone to try. This is a big night going on past performances so don’t go too hard too early.
On Saturday it’s back to the conference sessions. On Saturday there are a few more sessions for the lest technically inclined including talks on cooking and pairing food with beer and on calibrating your pallet. Later in the day there is even a cheese making presentation. One I think I will be attending. After the conference formalities wrap up for the day it’s time for the gala dinner where the National Brewing Competition awards will be handed out. Once again we get some great beers paired with fantastic food.
As you can see there is something for everyone. If you make it along you won’t be disappointed. Get There!
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We Have it Pretty Good in Adelaide
Over recent weeks I have been out of Adelaide and travelling around Northern South Australia and Southern Northern Territory. Unfortunately I haven’t had much time to see the sites but that isn’t what I’m paid for. I have spent a lot of time at small pubs, bars and restaurants after work is over for the day though. I can tell you that the selection of beers available is not great.
Now days you can usually find a decent bottle of wine in most of the smallest towns. Unfortunately the same can not be said of beer. Even in the larger towns like Alice Springs there isn’t any craft beer to be seen. In the bigger places you may find a locally made Euro lager like Heineken or garbage like Guinness. About the best thing around is a couple of Coopers ales. When you get to the smaler places you may be stuck with nothing but VB and you see everything between.
Back home in Adelaide I am a ten minute drive from The Wheaty and I can walk to Brewboys. Sometimes I see all the stuff going on in Melbourne and I get a bit envious but we really do have it good at home in Adelaide compared to the beer selection many people have to live with. I guess people in these places order a lot of stuff online.
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Knappstein Enterprise Brewery
We went for a weekend trip to the Clare Valley and surrounds. As part of the trip we made a visit to the Knappstein Enterprise Brewery. We dropped into Neagles Rock who also produce a beer but they were sold out. We made it to plenty of wineries but just one brewery on this trip. The beer was good and we had some nice wines.
The brewery only has one beer and I have tried it before on a few occasions. The Knapstein Enterprise lager is fairly widely distributed and not too hard to get your hands on. When it first came out I really enjoyed it. After a time I felt like they backed off on the bitterness of the beer which really had a negative impact on it. I hadn’t tried it for a while before this trip but was pleasantly surprised when I did.
At the Brewery/Winery they serve this beer on tap. This is the only place it is available on tap. They only distributes it in bottles. After tasting it fresh from the tap I have concluded that is a huge mistake. The staff at the tasting room told me this was because they couldn’t keep up with demand. I’m not sure of the exact specs but it is a fairly small brewery. So I asked how often they were brewing and the answer I got was once a week. I’m happy to admit I’m no professional brewer but it seem to me that if you were brewing once a week and couldn’t keep up with demand then you would perhaps brew more often. I realise the rest of their pipeline may not be up to it but they said they brew more often in the lead up to Christmas/New Year period so I have to imagine it is. This beer while good out of a bottle is much better from the tap. They really are doing themselves a disservice not distributing it in kegs.
On to the beer though. It is a lovely light and crisp lager with a good level of bitterness but now quite high enough for my taste. Take that for what it is though as I like very bitter beers for the most part. The beer is well balanced and very drinkable. Though the beer has enough malt to hold it up the star of this beer is the hops. It has a nice big whack of Nelson Sauvin. As soon as you put your nose near the glass you know there is something good coming. The flavour and aroma are both that fruity lively aroma of the Nelson Sauvin hops. Whilst there being something here for the hop loving beer geek I think these hops are also very approachable for the novice. It is also very clean crisp and super drinkable.
The downside to a visit to the Knappstein brewery and winery is that they will only serve tastings of the beer. You can’t buy a pint if you want to. So if you can find a way to get down to the Clare area make sure you make a stop at Knappstein.
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