neilwhyte.com

Manx Bitter

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:42:10 +0000

Posted by mobile phone:
19 aug 1856
Another pint in the Bow Bar, another beer from far away – Isle of Mann this time, in the form of this pleasant bitter. Initial taste reveals background melon flavours, followed by the expected bitterness, and the somewhat less expected cigar notes. The aftertaste is long and dry, with a lingering bitterness detectable long after in the rear of the mouth.

Maplemoon

neil — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:21:08 +0000

Picked up a bottle of this at Morrisons, intrigued as I always am by beers flavoured with something a little bit wierd! This one, as you may be able to guess from the name, has the addition of some Canadian maple – which adds a delicious sweet maple tone to the nose. I was worried that the flavour in the mouth would be too sweet and make this a somewhat sickly sup, but I needn’t have been. A delicious light flavour with the merest hint of syrup, it was a refreshing treat to usher in the weekend!

Nimbus

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:48:14 +0000

Posted by mobile phone:
Just stopped into the Guildford for a quick pint before another choir rehearsal, and found something of a mini beer festival in full swing! Beers from Atlas and Sinclair (Orkney Brewery) on tap – sounds dangerous for just the one swift half!
However, I soldiered on undounted and ordered a pint of the Atlas Nimbus. A very welcome refreshment after a day of work, this strong pale ale had a pleasant smooth yet bitter taste and a stranglely warming finish. Maybe the weather outside, rain as expected for the Festival – made me experience the warmth more than I would normally, but it was good nonetheless!
It’s very pale colour, almost like the colour of wee, disguised a depth of flavour which included a gentle mix of malt and hops with slight citrus peel on the finish. Very, very tasty and rewarding!

Fringe Benefit

neil — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:25:34 +0000

After another rehearsal for Cadenza’s Fringe Concert, some of the choir retired to the usual haunt of The Meadow Bar for a swift half. And since we were rehearsing for our Fringe show, it seemed like the natural thing to chose the guest ale alongside the usual Deuchars – another monthly guest ale from Caledonian brewed specifically for the festival. It has the sweetness of Caledonian’s 80/-, but without the same robust taste. A subtle taste of hops on the finish without overpowering the sweetness – characteristic of a traditional Scottish ale – provide a lovely, balanced pint that was very refreshing after a hard rehearsal of Mozart’s Mass in C minor.

Killellan Bitter

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:11:34 +0000

Erin and I are spending a couple of days down at the caravan in Eyemouth, which gives us the perfect opportunity to try some pubs a little further away from the home stomping ground. Armed with a copy of the Good Beer Guide 2009, the POI file for the Sat Nav and a decent appetite after a morning trawling the shops in Berwick we decided on the Craw Inn, Auchencrow – winner of the CAMRA Borders Pub of the Year 2009.
And what a find it was! We sat in the main bar, which was small and snug and had a wonderful collection of pump labels attached to the many beams traversing the low ceiling – I hope all the beers have passed through the two handpumps! In the corner a pendulum clock provided a nice background soundtrack when the nice lady behind the bar wasn’t chatting. On the walls the evidence of ongoing success in the CAMRA competitions was apparent with multiple winners certificates from 2002 to 2009.
More to come…

Explorer

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:50:57 +0000

Posted by mobile phone:
Another tasty tipple enjoyed in The Melville Inn, which seems to be in a rich vein of form at the moment in terms of its guest ale selection, with Kew last week. This brew is very light gold in colour – a really nice hue for a tasty summer evening pint. The taste is very nice too – smooth over the tongue, with a bitter, lingering finish and aftertaste. A nice new discovery, as it’s my first Adnams but I’m sure not the last!

Wildcat

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:59:50 +0000

Posted by mobile phone:
For the first time I found Wildcat on tap at the Caley Sample Room. The Caley is usually spot on for keeping beer in decent condition, and I’ve previously enjoyed Wildcat out of a bottle direct from the brewery. It’s a bit of a conundrum therefore why I didn’t enjoy this particular pint.
Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood or the right frame of mind for such a relatively strong (5.1%) ale on a Monday after work? However, the Bitter & Twisted I had afterwards slipped down a treat! I found this Wildcat a little to viscous (not a typo!) to be tamed! It seemed too sweet, too cloying for my taste. I’m a great lover off full bodied beers with balls, but this just wasn’t the right mix for me.
It was disappointing – I’m a great fan of the other beers from Cairngorm, and perhaps my previous experience of this beer from a bottle provided enough fizz in to counter the sweet flavours?
Not for me – but it certainly won’t stop me from reaching for a Trade Winds or Sheepshaggers Gold in future!

Banana Bread Beer

neil — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:29:28 +0000

The label on the bottle gives a full description of the story behind the naming of this beer. Beer dates from around 3100BC, when it was also known as liquid bread – the base ingredients between bread and beer being very similar. The banana part of the name comes from the addition of fair trade bananas during the brew.

The latter ingredient is immediately obvious when the top comes off – a full bouquet of fruit fills the nose. The taste is sweet, but not sickly. A really very pleasant experience indeed! Widely available.

Marston’s Old Empire

neil — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:09:13 +0000

Marston’s is brewed in the home of real ale brewing in the UK – Burton on Trent – and, in line with their ‘Marston’s Don’t Compromise’ byline, has reverted back to a more genuine IPA style to create Old Empire. It’s brewed to be stronger than a standard ale (5.7% ABV), has a typical pale colour and is bursting with hop flavour and citrus notes. The nose is beautifully pungent with rich hops (too much for Erin to stand – she hates when I first open a bottle of this) and while the strong flavour may be too much for some it is very quaffable in the hands of an expert. Or me.

This is a reliable standby in the caravan in Eyemouth – the local Co-op always seems to have this stocked! Not seen this on tap as yet, but hopefully will see it around. As with most bottled ales which are not cask conditioned it may well be fizzier than the real thing – so hunting down a cask version is very much on my list of must-do’s! I’ll let you know here when (not if!) I find it.

Fursty Ferret

neil — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:21:33 +0000