Beer Drinking Diet Style

So, a brief return to beer with a vengeance. A long walk from our house all the way to The Sparrow justified a couple of beers (well three) and they certainly felt well deserved. As was out with friends, please excuse the brief descriptions!

162: Drink in the Sun, Mikkeller, 3.9%
Pale in colour. Bitter. Very bitter for low strength beer. Smells a bit fruity. Nicely and carbonated. Grapefruit bitterness. Lovely. Much better than yesterday's.

163: High Wire NZ, Magic Rock, 5.5%
Smells slightly floraly sweet. On cask not carbonated. Smooth. Slight bitterness. Can really smell the hops. Ever so slight farmyard hint.

164: Pearl Necklace, Flying Dog, 5.5%
Very dark colour. Slight smokey rich coffee bitterness. Delicious. My perfect kind of beer. Something I've been missing for ages!!


I have missed having beer, which just goes to show how much of a beer geek I've become. At approx 394 calories for three halfs... the walk into Bradford didn't even come close to burning that off, and meant an early morning trip to Bolton Abbey the next day! Am glad I managed to have a few beers, and that I managed to compensate for them so I didn't spoil my hard work... just wish beer was less sinful!

I Heart Coopers

Coopers is my favourite pub. Be prepared for a bit of soppiness... my first date with Mr T ended up in Coopers, we have spent several birthdays, celebrated our engagement and we are hoping for our "last night night of freedom" before our wedding celebrations, to take place there. The building is an old Co-op. A really old Co-op. There are still the tiles from the butchers stand on the walls. The decor is warming. The food is delicious, and reliable and reasonably priced. There are always great staff working. Unfortunately, we don't visit as often as we would like. We are now a 30 minute walk and two buses away. Or a bus and two trains. Or £30 round-trip taxi. Still, when we can, we try and get over there.

Last week when Mr T was feeling overtly generous, he offered to drive to Guiseley for a post-work drink (for me!). So, I was able to tick a couple of new beers.

116: Raging Bitch, Flying Dog Brewery, 8.3%
An IPA. Beautiful smell and some punchy orangey and apricot flavours, really really delicious. Very moreish. If only we weren't visiting briefly!

117: Wild Mule, Roosters, 3.9%
Perhaps should have started with this first, an American Pale Ale. Nice enough, a bit earthy in flavour. Definitely overpowered by the awesomeness of Raging Bitch. Great glass though!

Coopers have got some very cool stuff planned for the summer. They have already hosted Guiseley Beer Festival. There is #fathomlessday on 21st July, with some cracking beers from Magic Rock (cannonball and curious), Summer Wine, Ilkley Brewery (The Chief), Roosters (collaboration with Odell the Accomplice) and Red Willow (fathomless apparently is an Oyster Stout and has been brewed with 300 real oysters...!), plus more events in the pipeline. Hope to see you there!

You can follow @CoopersGuiseley on twitter.

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... 

Pale Ale Night

As it was the topic for the session, and having already written my blogpost, when choosing what to drink last night, some more Pale Ales seemed suited to the occasion.

53: Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, Flying Dog, 5.5%
Not particularly pale in appearance. A very hoppy smell. I thought I was smelling Citra hops, but was being a bit too much of an eagerbeaver in my endeavour to identify flavours as apparently Cascade is the hop variety used. Must remember to not get too big for my boots! Very fresh smelling beer. Taste was quite malty, but quickly disappears. Not particularly bitter. Not vastly unique, I would argue, but a good beer nonetheless.


54: Hermes, Summer Wine Brewery, 5%

Very pale in appearance. Smells of tinned peaches and mandarin. A really lovely aroma. Very bitter. Flavours similar, but not strong and meaty, and in conjunction with this the bitterness is pushing the boundary of too intense. It just manages to hold up against it though. Burnt orange peel bitterness. Drinking this pale ale made me realise that I might be missing out a bit when I share bottles, as this beer got better the more I drank, and the more accustomed to the bitterness I got. Another thought provoking beer from Summer Wine!

55: High Wire, Magic Rock, 5.5%
Massive amount of fruity aromas coming through. Mango maybe, a bit grassy. Amazing smell. Flavour-wise, was very different (something I am finding more and more often that the flavour isn't at all like what you'd expect from the smell). Malty, I was expecting more hops based on the 'west coast pale ale' discription. Popcorn and caramel flavours. In terms of appearance and bitterness, it struck the middle point between the Flying Dog and the Summer Wine.

All three beers smelt hoppier than they tasted, all were very enjoyable, and a learning curve, because they were all vastly different from each other and the beers from Thornbridge. It seems that not only are beer styles massively varied, but also that within styles, there are big variations.

The journey continues...

Hello Sparrow

Last night the challenge extended to The Sparrow Bier Cafe in Bradford. In the past my visits to The Sparrow often involved taxiing a slightly inebriated Mr Ticker, but he was always kind enough to let me stay for a coffee! On starting the beer ticking challenge, I was determined that The Sparrow would become one of my first destinations. As expected a lovely evening ensued and I was able to tick many interesting beers.

When The Sparrow opened in Bradford, myself, Mr T and our friends were delighted. I have lived in the suburbs of Bradford for nearly three years, and have become passionate about the city and feel it has a lot to offer, despite popular opinion. What's important to me is the diversity, culture, architecture, heritage and history, countryside and city living, tradition combining with modernity, and above all the friendly open folk. What winds me up is the stigma attached to the city following the riots, the 1970's architectural monstrosities (which are thankfully slowly disappearing), the big hole at Westfield and the £24,500,000 that was spent on the City Park (a fountain... pretty yes, but that's all, a blooming fountain!).

Bradford's reputation has a lot to be desired, especially the night-life, which I myself am guilty of avoiding. The Sparrow's opening has been a welcome ray of light, with it's friendly atmosphere and passion for what it delivers. It is drawing on the positives of Bradford, and filling an empty gap. With an ever changing variety of uncommon beers, (keg, bottle and cask) ongoing promotion of local artists and photographers, eclectic music playing, it makes the city centre a place I no longer wish to avoid after dark.

Yesterday's jaunt to The Sparrow led to ticking a plethora of beers:

18: Hophead, Dark Star, 3.8%
Light, I felt not overly hoppy in flavour, despite the name (though I had consumed an extremely garlicky potato salad for tea that stayed with me for several hours!). Went down very nicely, despite this.

19: Dissolution IPA, Kirkstall Brewery Company, 5%
Aromas reminiscent of Edam cheese (remember I'm new to this...), but not in a bad way, actually really tasty. The alcohol content tasted stronger that its 5%. It had a very smooth velvety feel, disappearing as quickly as the first beer.

20: Golden Salamander, Salamander, 4.4%
This beer was voted Silver at the 2011 Great British Beer Festival. Straw like in colour. A bit malty. Enough said. Silver? Seriously? Is my inexperience showing?

21: Lakeland Lager, Hawkshead Brewery, 5%
Nothing to smell but very very refreshing. Crisp, clean and fresh, not packed with flavour but very enjoyable, would order again and again.

22: Camden Pale Ale, Camden Town, 4.5%
This beer was served on keg. I like how you can try a beer and be bowled over with surprise. This doesn't happen very often with other drinks. I thought it smelled of pineapple, not fresh pineapple, but like a sweetie, a gumdrop maybe. I tasted tinned mandarin and a tropical fruit that I couldn't put my finger on, maybe papaya or guava- not your typical lychee or passion fruit. I enjoyed this a lot.

23: Dark Ruby Mild, Sarah Hughes, 6%
Chocolate, black cherry and almond (although I may have been sold this flavour by Mr T) personally I thought it was a little bit 'manufactured' in taste, but enjoyed it non the less. It seemed a bit thinner in mouth feel (still makes me laugh...) than the darker beers I have tried so far.

24: Dog Schwarz Smoked Double Lager, Flying Dog, 7.8%
Smelt strongly of alcohol, maybe wine or sherry with a big hit of smoke and maybe smokey bacon crisps. It tasted less smokey than I was anticipating. In the past I have chastised Mr T for ending the evening with an expensive, strong tasting beer but last night, it seemed the perfect finish.