Not always better at home

I enjoyed my day out in London on Saturday. Wary of the weather, I was up well before dawn to get the earliest possible train. Even with a 40 minute delay I stepped on to Euston concourse at 09:30 and after a quick bite to eat was in the Harp, Chandos Place soon after its opening time of 10:30.

A couple of quick pints from Harvey's and Sambrook were good if expensive to a northern lad at £3.60 and I was off to meet some London friends in Cask, Clerkenwell. I was very impressed with the beers from Redemption and was far from surprised to be told the next day that they have the same brewing consultant, Dave Smith, as my excellent local brewery Brimstage.

Much as I wished to linger the main point of the trip was to watch Tranmere Rovers at Brentford so a train from Vauxhall was required. There was just time for a pint of London Pride from a plastic glass in the Griffin before kick off. The lads 'done well' as they say and three points keep us top of the league. Seven minutes injury time were unwelcome but a supreme effort meant that I made it to Brentford for the 17:00 back to Vauxhall and from there straight on to a tube to Euston. It was now 17:40 and even though my ticket was valid for any train to Chester or Liverpool a quick scan of the delays and cancellations on the destination board made my mind up that I should head north on the first available train.

I just had time for quick pint in the Euston Tap. Marble Draft on the blackboard was a no-brainer for me and it was the right choice. In fact, it was in better condition than I've ever found in the Marble Arch. I don't know if it's because the beers on sale in the Marble are very young. That's a pure guess and I may be wide of the mark. Whatever the reason it contradicts the 'Landlord is better in Yorkshire' and 'Adnams is better in Suffolk' type of comments that we hear so often.

Thoughts from Liverpool Beer Festival

The CAMRA Liverpool Beer Festival is hugely popular and I've already said how difficult it is to obtain a ticket. The venue is superb. It's the crypt of the Metropolitan (R.C.) Cathedral which was built before the 2nd World War as the first stage of a project to build a grand traditional cathedral to match the Anglican edifice at the other end of Hope Street. The was intervened and plans were scaled back with designs for an ultra- modern glass and steel building taking its place. 'Paddys Wigwam' was controversial and unloved at first but is now accepted affectionately as an integral part of the Liverpool skyline.

It's as bit dim down there for photos

All stonework and Gothic arches it's a great place to drink beer with seating in the main hall for those who arrive early. There seems to be simplicity in planning the beer order. Quality is the watchword rather than rarity with 200 of the countries finest brews on sale. That's a lot of different beers for a mid-sized festival which means some have sold out by the final day. Liverpool has a number of great pubs, many of which have taken the opportunity to piggy back their own festivals onto this weekend to offer the drinker even more choice.

Brimstage, Hawkhead and Yates. What a line up!

The beers themselves are excellent. Most are £1.00 per half/£2.00 per pint even up to and above 5% with only the real rocket fuel brews at £1.50 per half which is still good value. Local breweries get pride of place near to the entrance with 17 of them represented. I obviously sampled the offerings from the wonderful Brimstage Brewery first just to check that they were as good as ever (they were). Their Rhode Island Red must be a winner one day soon at Earl's Court.

Those 'flavours of the month' Brewdog, Thornbridge and Marble were well represented. I have to say that on this occasion I found the Punk IPA to be overpowering, all sweetness and grapefruit. I was much happier with Dark Star's more modest Hophead.

Marble's Manchester Bitter and Ginger went down well but again I felt the Dobber was a little sweet. Maybe these strong hoppy beers are better with the sharpness of keg !! The new Galaxia from Thornbridge suited my palate better. The citrus notes balanced by good bitterness. This one uses Australian hops.

I'd drank a number of hoppy beers in the first few hours do it was time for a change of tack. Sarah Hughes Ruby is always a winner and I was recommended Liverpool Organic's Russian Imperial Stout. The tasting notes state Liquorice, Dark Chocolate and Coffee. Decadence in a glass indeed. This is a top class brewery with a fine range of cask and bottle conditioned beers. Their version of the much missed Higson's Bitter caused a lot of interest but it's a difficult taks to match that pungent, bitter, headache inducing brew.


One rare that was available was Hawkshead Tripel XBP. I cleansed my palate first with a glass of their Bitter which is one of my favourite beers  but the XBP was a disappointment. A strong and dry old ale there was no distinctive flavour evident. I'd even say it was bland despite the strength.



Spelling lesson needed

Good food is on offer too. The Everyman Bistro provide upmarket fast food and there is also a pie and pasty stall and a huge range of farmhouse cheeses with bread. Ideal ballast for a beer festival.

A justifiably popular festival and a good excuse to spend a weekend in Liverpool. After all if you can't get a ticket for each session there are plenty of good pubs.

What's in a name?

Since the first wave of guest microbrewery beers surfaced ever more exotic names have appeared on pump clips and bottles.

Hilarious names have abounded such as Dog’s Bollocks and Old Fart. Hilarious if you have an I.Q. of under 80 that is or went to a public school. Or both. Puns like 'Quacker Jack' or 'Hung, Drawn 'n' Portered'. Forgive me while I split my sides.

As brewers endeavoured to produce ever more special and interesting brews, i.e stronger and more expensive, they have attempted to come up with names with suitable gravitas. No, I wasn’t thinking of Brewdog. Fuller’s Vintage Ale and Brewers Reserve spring to mind. Some are given obscure names to add an aura of mystery. Ola Dubh may not be obscure to Gaelic speakers but it's all Greek to the rest of us.

I was thinking of beer names earlier this week while enjoying numerous excellent pints in the Marble Arch, Manchester. Marble have gained a reputation for high quality draught beers and a range of classy brews presented in 75cl champagne corked bottles. So why the name Utility Special 2010? Dominic Driscoll told me that Marble's original end of year 2010 special ended in failure when the Duvel yeast expired part way through the brew. So they quickly commenced brewing a replacement, presumably using a pre-existing recipe. This utility beer is now on sale in draught form and in bottles. Simple!

2011 Poll

You've no doubt seen the end of year polls on all the other beer blogs. If you're like me you find it hard to remember what you drank yesterday never mind last January. What do you mean "Don't you keep a record on your smartphone thingy complete with marks out of ten?"

So here's my easy peasy Best Brewery of the Year 2011 Poll. Complete it now and save valuable drinking time next December. As any fule kno there are now only four breweries anyone is allowed to vote for. You would be open to ridicule from the Beer Cognoscenti for thinking otherwise. So the nominees are:

1. Brewdog
2. Thornbridge
3. Marble
4. Stinking Sheep (U.S.) This one's a made-up name but if you all disseminate it round the interweb their 23% Balsa Aged Quintupel IPA will soon be name-dropped in the Euston Tap and The Rake.

Happy New Voting!