Return to Beer, Belgian style!

Last night was a reintroduction to beer, after a few weeks off as explained in a short post yesterday. And also an intense introduction to Belgian beer, in preparation for a visit to Bruges in a few days.

Started the evening off away from Belgium, with a new beer from BrewDog. Thought it would be good to refamiliarise myself with:


145: Dead Pony Club, BrewDog, 3.8%
Strong hoppy, lemony smells. A slightly amber colour. Tastes gorgeous. Been a while since having a beer, but what a cracker to come back on. Full of hoppy flavour. A light bitterness. Not strong. Really nice reintroduction. Tastes hoppy lemon, grassy and with malty flavours coming through too.

Next up, start of the Belgian lesson.

146: Blue (2012), Chimay, 9%
Smells herby and spicy. Dark amber colour.  Apparently you can age this beer. Tastes a bit rum-y, and there is a slightly sweet caramel taste. Not especially bitter nor hoppy. Raisiny boozy. Because we served it chilled from the fridge, Mr Ticker advised me to drink it slow and let it warm up. As it did I felt that the spice mellowed and the raisiny flavours became more prominent. A really nice start, a new sort of beer for me but with lots of familiar overtones. Looking forward to more!

147: Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio (2011), Cantillon, 5%
Clear, flat looking. Smells cider like and slightly vinegary. Not looking forward to this. I had been prewarned that this was a sour beer, and took the first sip with a feeling of uncertain trepidation. Tastes sour. Vile, to be perfectly honest. I'm not a fan of sour anyway. Grapefruits and tangy sweets, well, I can perfectly happily swanny through life avoiding these. With the Gueuze, I just couldn't get past the sour to begin thinking about flavours. Just made my face crinkle into a small puckered wrinklefest.

So, should I try other lambics and not let myself be put off or just accept that it is not a style for me and save my pennies for beers I'm going to enjoy? Simon James @Gueuzel via twitter has given some advice to lambic/gueuze newbies, and I think that I will have to have another go, persist, and maybe, just maybe, I might come around to the idea.

A short beery evening for a change, but an enjoyable one at that. Looking forward to delving deeper into Belgium over the next few weeks.

I Hardcore You

During my ticking challenge, I've had some beautiful beers from both Mikkeller and BrewDog. Their collaboration is no exception.

115: I Hardcore You, Mikkeller and BrewDog, 9.5%
An Imperial IPA, and my (growing but still relatively small) experience tells me this will be an intense hoppy number, bitter and with some malt shining through. It smells like Kernel's Citra and Stella, sweet ripe mango and lychee. Lots of mellow tropical flavours. Totally delicious. It is hardcore. It is strong, and it is very bitter and thick and heavy, and I'd struggle to drink very much. But I'd drink it again. And again. And again. In fact I did. I've now gone through three bottles. This is failing on the ticking side of things, but it is totally worth it.

North Bar Turns 15

Yesterday saw an impromptu visit to North Bar, Leeds, during their 15th Birthday Celebrations. I don't visit Leeds city centre as much as I'd like, living in suburbia in Bradford, for two of us to get to Leeds, it is £17.50 on public transport. Makes for an expensive night out. However, couldn't let the opportunity to try a huge array of fantastic beers, many of which would be hard to come across again. Despite sharing thirds with my lovely other half, I enjoyed myself a little too much. The day was like a beer festival on overdrive. Each of the beers a treat, even those that weren't for me, I was glad to try.

Had 14 of 16 beers (had tried Flying Dog Kujo before, and another appears to have passed me by). Tasting notes are somewhat lacking, and probably quite inaccurate. Needless to say, I got 14 ticks last night, for more details see North Bar's website.

94: S.C.C.A.N.S IIPA, The Kernel, 10.1%
Tropical fruit, as per many of Kernel's offerings. Incredibly bitter. A big treat to have this on draft.

95: Everything in Its Right Place, BrewDog, 6.5%

96: Beer Camp Solar Storm, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 5.8%

97: North Pale Ale, Rooster's, 4%

98: Pilsner, Lindeboom, 5%

99: General Sherman, Thornbridge/North Bar, 8.3%

100: Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, Flying Dog Brewery, 7.5%

Similar to Saison Dupont, but more punchy and vibrant. Banana, refreshing, sparkling, delicious.

101: Little Jim (aged), Marble, 6.9%

My first beer from Marble, a lovely smooth, toffee, really tasty yummy beer.

102: Bourbon Barrel Bearded Lady, Magic Rock, 10.5%
Really really yum.

103: Milk Stout, Odell, abv unknown

104: Beer Geek Breakfast, Mikkeller, 7.5%

105: Kolsch, Gaffel, 4.8%

A couple still for me to mull over:

106: Oak Aged Sunturnbrew, Nøgne Ø, 11%

An incredibly dark beer. Too intense for me. To my taste, it reminded me of burnt rubber, which I think was the oak. Definitely a thinker!

107: Gueuze, Cantillon, 5%

The sourest beer I've ever had. I'm not a big fan of sour, be it in drinks or sweets. Interesting to experience, but not for me.

All in all, a success, and as ever a treat to visit North. Certainly a learning curve for a newbie! Happy Birthday North Bar! When you turn 20, I might have to spread the joy over 2 days... 

Olympic Torch

Last Sunday, the Olympic Torch passed through Bradford. Not being one to miss an opportunity to drink beer, it was the perfect excuse for an afternoon visit to The Sparrow, where as usual, there was loads of beers available, all new to me.

88: Feckless, Redwillow, 4.1%
An English Bitter. Lots of hazelnut flavours, and very drinkable.

89: A Face With No Name, Tempest Brewing Co., 6%
Smells and tastes like an orange calypso lolly, with a hint of breadiness. Packed full with intense flavours... so intense, it was verging on too much. Only verging mind, was really scrummy.









90: Summit Single Hop IPA, Mikkeller, 6.9%
One of several of this range that I've tried from Mikkeller, and not my favourite. They are all made to the same abv, but using different hops. I find this particularly interesting, as clearly this shows that I prefer other hop varieties. Saying this, it wasn't unpleasant, still a very drinkable IPA.

91: Hop Wallop, Victory Brewing Company, 8.5%
This beer is offered as an "homage" to the fresh hop harvest... not quite sure what that is meant to mean. Was nice enough, not overtly remarkable.

92: Alice Porter, BrewDog, 6.2%
Now, I love a porter. I have tried this beer before, and will again. Burnt sugar, molasses flavours... yummy.


93: Saison Dupont, Brasserie Dupont, 6.5%
I've tried this beer in the past, but from a bottle. I was slightly underwhelmed On keg, however, it was much nicer. All banana-y, champagne. Lovely. A refreshing celebratory beer.

We snuck out of The Sparrow for 10 minutes and saw the flame... a perfect way to enjoy the event! I'm sure everyone has seen pictures up to the eyeballs, but whilst I was going to refrain from posting any, I had to share this picture of some poor bloke getting taken out by security when he chose to cross the road at the wrong time!

Food Pairing Adventure

My first experience with beer and food pairing came with a BrewDog evening at Coopers, Guiseley earlier in the year, way before blogging began. It was a revelation. Every beer went perfectly with the food, and added something to it, and the food added something to the beer. Another dimension. However. Every beer that I've tried since beginning blogging has been drunk solo (with the exception of Cobra, which I ate alongside a curry). There may have been the odd crisp, or square of cheese munched down in between beers, but I've generally stuck to drinking beer post-eating.


Until last night. It was more of an accident than anything else, which perhaps shouldn't be the way to do it. Dinner was smoked salmon linguine, with capers and dill, courtesy of Mr. Ticker. And the beer...

85: Motueka, Mallinsons, 4.2%
A single hopped ale. Tropical fruit aromas, as would expect. Really hoppy, but not too heavy, or too bitter. Drinkable, tasty beer.

As for paring with food... tropical fruit and salmon might not have been the best match in the world, but having said that, the beer cut through the oily salmon and cleansed the palate. It worked pretty well. Next time, will try and do some research beforehand. As if learning about beer wasn't enough... now I appear to be venturing into food pairing... uhoh....

Double IPA Day

Last week I ventured into single hopped IPAs and feel like I learnt something, vast differences in aroma and flavour due to one ingredient variation. This week was the turn of the doubles.

13: Axe Edge, Buxton Brewery, 6.8%
To kick things off, the lowest strength Double IPA of the evening, with the most amazing smell, light and floral. Taste-wise, a bit tart, pine flavours. Just on the cusp of becoming too bitter for my taste. I've heard of beers being described as oily before, and struggled to understand why, but I think this may be an example. The liquid seemed to linger a little, seemed thick.

14: Ageless, Redwillow, 7.2%
Poured with a massive head... tilt the glass, I know, I know... I did! Still massive. Contrasting IPA, different from all those tried so far in the challenge. Caramel, malty, biscuit flavours. A bit smoky perhaps. And not oily!

15: Queboid, Hardknott, 8.0%
A Belgian style double IPA, no head like Ageless. A very boozy aroma, smelt like rum. Sweet, malty caramel. Similar to Ageless in that it was more malty than fruity, but the rum flavours distinguished it as being very different.

16: Hardcore IPA, BrewDog, 9.2%
Another BrewDog offering. A very hoppy smell, delicate, like sweeties, not at all boozy despite the strength. The taste though, completely different to the smell. Malty and bitter. Was surprised to find out that it is double the bitterness of the IPA is Dead range. There was also an additional flavour lurking in the background... cucumber... couldn't quite decide if this was a welcome addition or a slightly dodgy intruder.

17: Human Cannonball, Magic Rock Brewery, 9.2%
Another double IPA at high strength, and absolutely beautiful. Butterscotch aromas and flavours, rich and malt with a hint of oranges. The best beer of the challenge. So far...

Awoke feeling a bit worse for wear, despite having shared all the bottles. Yummy though, would do it again in a heartbeat.

Next stop: Hawkshead.

328 Days
318 Beers

St George's Day

I was planning on having a few days off the beer, since I've got ahead of myself in the challenge. Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it), around lunchtime, someone pointed out that today is St George's Day. So, after work, I decided to find a good cliche of a pub to go for a quick drink. I headed for The George, in Idle. It was closed. Oh well, luckily just around the corner in Apperley Bridge is The George and Dragon, even more of a cliche! I was pleased to find two English cask beers suitable for the occasion.

6: IPA, Greene King, 3.6%
My fifth IPA of the challenge, but markedly different, with much less flavour and not very bitter. Presumably due to different or fewer hops. A bit of internet research divulged that it contains Challenger hops as well as others. Despite this, it was very different to BrewDog's Challenger, which I recently ticked, and has left me confused as to why Greene King IPA was much more bland.

7: Blonde, Saltaire Brewery, 4%
A very light coloured beer, one I've had before and enjoyed. More bitterness than Greene King IPA, and much more interesting. The flavours not as complex as the hoppy IPAs from BrewDog, but a beer that is drinkable all night long. It's a good job I like it since my wedding reception is being held at Saltaire Brewery (much to Mr T's delight) but my tasting was impartial, honest!

328 beers.
333 days.

Wish me luck!

IPA is Dead- BrewDog

I've drunk beer before, but never really gave it much thought. As part of this challenge,  I want to open my mind (and my taste buds), whilst trying not to become a tankard touting beer bore.

My other half, Mr Ticker, thought that a good place to start was BrewDog's IPA is Dead. Each bottle is made with the same ingredients and to same strength and bitterness (according to the gumpf on the pack), but with one different hop variety per bottle. Not a cheap start at nearly fifteen pounds for a 4-pack (BeerRitz), but not surprising for such a niche product.

Being a geek, I was quite excited to start in this way because it's like a science experiment. If I could taste a difference, I would know that this is due to the different hop varieties. I was pretty worried that they would all taste the same, and as usual leave me opinionless, and pretending to agree with Mr T, piggy-backing onto his descriptions.

Tick Numbers 1-4

1: Challenger, BrewDog, 6.7%
First tick! My initial thought was 'tangy'. Mr T told me this was probably what is commonly described as bitterness. A perfectly palatable beer but not much else to say, enhancing my concerns that the 4 IPAs would taste the same.

2: Moteuka, BrewDog, 6.7%
Phew! Massively different to Challenger, smelt very flowery and had hints of tropical fruit. Check me out, identifying flavours already! I also thought it had a much softer taste. Mr T was adamant that there were green apples floating around somewhere.

3: Galaxy, BrewDog, 6.7%
Not as big a contrast between ticks 1 and 2, but still markedly different, fruity flavours, something tropical, possibly lychee. I thought it was a bit nutty too. Even though I knew it was brewed to have an equal level of bitterness with the other beers, I felt it was more bitter, astringent maybe. Mr T thought it was sharper, zingy and not as rounded at Moteuka.

4: HBC, BrewDog, 6.7%
Mr T had never heard of this hop variety before, he thought it was more subtle and less punchy than the other beers, but not without taste. I agreed it was subtler, still fruity and bitter. We both felt that the bitterness disappeared faster with HBC. Is this what is descibed as a clean finish?

IPA is Dead was an interesting experiment, and I spent a lovely evening with 4 tasty beers and appear to have learnt something! Hops clearly can have a massive effect on a beer. IPA is Dead Medley is rumoured to be released in late May and will contain all 4 hops in one beer. Looking forward to trying this, and dissecting it to see if I can pick out any of the individual hops. Probably not, but will give it a go!

331 beers to go.

Wish me luck!