Don’t judge me.

Following my recent judging at the World Beer Awards, a family member commented on a Facebook post of mine from the awards.  His comments were “Sorry mate, but I don’t get how you can like a beer that you don’t like”

My response was as follows “well they weren’t being judged on whether we liked them or not.  They were judged on how well they were made and if they were true to style.  Each beer has a set of guidelines and each flight was judged accordingly, even if they weren’t to our taste”

That’s all well and good, but when it comes to buying our own beer, we’re constantly judging them before we’ve even tried them, which is wrong.  I’m even guilty of doing this.

Reading through the list of Country Winners on the train home from judging, I was amazed at some of the beers that were included.  What amazed me was that I’d seen some of these beers on the supermarket shelf and that I’d not bought them, because I’d judged them.  I’d never bought them, but yet I’d seen them, judged them and ultimately chosen to not buy them, which is wrong, so wrong.

How can you judge a beer when you haven’t even tried it?  We all do it though, every time we go into the bottle shop or supermarket, we do it.  We’re not just choosing the beers we’d like to drink, we’re judging those we’re not sure about or the ones we feel we don’t want.  These are the beers that lose out, or rather, we lose out because we’ve judged that they are not worth purchasing.  Which again is wrong.

They may not all be to our taste, or at least we believe they’re not, or they could be from one of those breweries that the craft lot don’t buy from, but, they are well made and are perfect exhibitions of the brewers skills.  But, none of this quality matters, as we’ve already judged it, made our minds up and bought something else.  Something that may be unsatisfactory, but then everyone else is drinking it so it’s fine.

I’m not cool with that.  It doesn’t matter what everyone else is drinking, or what they’re saying about what they’re drinking.

“Yeah but HopHead69 on Instagram is drinking this and he says it’s the bomb”

My mum always used to say “if he decided to jump off a cliff, would you do it too?”

No you wouldn’t.

Buy something different, buy something you’ve never thought of buying before, or better still, buy one of those beers you’ve previously dismissed and don’t judge it until you’ve tasted it.  You could be surprised.

Make up your own mind.  Judge beer for yourself and don’t always be influenced by others.  Drink something different, enjoy it, and be proud of it.

You are your own person and you are your own beer buyer.

 

 

My work; outside of beer, with just a little bit of it inside too.

For over twenty years I have worked as an electrical engineer within the water pump industry, working with all sorts of pumps from domestic shower pumps right up to large industrial applications.  The work wasn’t just limited to pumps though, it was all types of rotating electrical plant; if you can think of a piece of equipment containing an electric motor, I’ve probably worked on it.

The largest of which was on board HMS Ocean whilst it was docked in Devonport.  We replaced bearings on the motors that powered the ships gun compressors.  These motors were huge, 265kw and weighing nearly a ton each.  The bearings were pretty hefty too, I could easily put my leg through the centre of one!

In amongst all this heavy industrial work, I’ve kept a few brewery pumps running too. The first brewery I can recall visiting for work was O’Hanlons.  There have been a fair few others along the way, but it all started here.

Prior to becoming just Hanlons and its relocation to Half Moon, the brewery was based on a farm just outside Whimple.  It was pretty rustic to say the least, the track that led to the brewery skirted a field and would have been the ideal playground for someone like Petter Solberg or Marcus Gronholm, but for me in my van it was ridiculous.  When you eventually reached the brewery you were often greeted by a large boar that pretty much roamed free, but it was fine, you just accepted it and got on with it.

Fighting through the cigarette smoke in the office, you’d check in and find out what needed doing.  The brewery itself was served by a borehole and a well, each having their own pumps and water treatment.  The equipment had a hard life and breakdowns were inevitable, regular servicing was required too.  Even though I got to know the equipment very well, you just never knew where the next failure would be.  But the one thing I did know, was that without water, there would be no beer, so the pressure was always on to get things working again.

Once the job was finished, I’d often leave with a few bottles of Yellow Hammer.  This was the Yellow Hammer I loved, bottle conditioned and slightly hazy, I could drink bucket loads of this golden fruity delight, and did too! It was just a beautiful beer.

Back then, the thought of being self employed never even crossed my mind, I had no reason to be self employed, so why would I be?  But, like everything, I had to change.  The driving force behind this change was the arrival of our baby, Ace, and for the last seven months I have been self employed and doing what I have always done, working with electrics, pumps and water.

The brewery work has continued too, I was approached by Two Drifters shortly before Christmas and asked if I would install some water filtration plant in their new brewery. How could I say no?  A new local brewery, promising new beers, with strong ethics in sustainability and carbon negativity; this was going to be a slightly different challenge, but one I was up for.

In late 2018, Gemma & Russ Wakeham began the massive task of setting up their brewery on the outskirts of Exeter.  Located near the airport and powered by 100% zero emission energy, everything about the brewery had to be managed and controlled with sustainability in mind.  Their plans were big too.

The finished product was to be delivered locally in the brewery’s own electrically powered van, which would only be charged at the brewery by their zero emission electricity.  The use of carbon neutral couriers would enable the products to venture a little further too.

To go beyond carbon neutrality and become carbon negative, the brewery will be working in partnership with Climeworks to remove CO2 from the air.  By using direct air capture, more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere than is produced in the emissions from the production, manufacturing and transportation of the ingredients that are used for brewing.

This technique will enable Russ and Gemma to create what they believe to be, the world’s first carbon negative brewery and distillery.

The plan for my work was to install a water softener, reverse osmosis unit and an ultraviolet steriliser, along with a pump and some plumbing around the brewery.  With this equipment in place, the incoming water would be completely stripped of its chemical and bacteriological load and later remineralised to suit any style of beer.  Various tappings were installed throughout the brewery to give the option of using raw, softened or RO water.  These different waters could then be used for different processes in the brewery, depending on the requirements of the process.  A mechanical seal cooling system for the brewery pumps was also plumbed in.

The RO water was also piped over to the distillery to be used in the production of rum.  The six stills all required a water flow and return, with individual isolation and flow controls.  I modified an underfloor heating manifold to provide exactly this.  Each still has its own isolation valve and manual flow regulator, giving complete control of the distilling process.  The return water is not wasted either, it’s collected or passed back to the brewery for further use.

Following on from this, I was asked to install the chiller system for the four fermenting vessels and cold liquor tank.  This was a big job for one man, with over seventy metres of pipe to snake around the brewery and into each vessel, along with solenoid valves, pressure regulators and commissioning valves.  A continuous circuit had to be achieved and the flow through each vessel balanced.  It had to look good too.  With this pipework being constantly on show, the angles had to be just so.  Being predominantly solvent weld ABS, you only get one shot at getting the final assembly correct, so there’s no place for any inaccurate measurements.  But when finished, it was incredibly satisfying to take a step back and just admire those angles.

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Shortly after completion and commissioning, the beer entered the fermenting vessels for the first time to do its thing.  Drifters Gold was the beer of choice, a light golden beer with the right attributes for some summer drinking.  Swiftly followed by Sunrise, a peach infused pale, generously hopped to amplify the adjunct.

Both beers were due to be canned and the contract canning company had been booked weeks in advance, way before I’d even started to install the chilling equipment!  The pressure to complete in time was immense, but it all came together in the end and both Drifters Gold and Sunrise made it into cans, nestled in biodegradable can holders.

Seeing both of these beers, and the rum, available to buy in local outlets, and directly from the brewery itself, was incredibly satisfying.  After all of the work I’d put in, which totalled well over 100 hours of labour, it was really quite overwhelming.

 

An ode to Ace.

Sorachi was its name, the hop in the beer.  Ace was his name, the little baby, my son.

A hop content on confusion.  A heart intent on fusion.

The hop divides, but the baby unites.

Disagreement.  Enjoyment.  The bizarre.  Overwhelming joy.

The hop and the baby.

They’re both Ace.

In a stout it’s dark and mysterious.  In the dark he’s sleepy and mischievous.

He’s just Ace.  But not Sorachi.

Maybe you love Sorachi, maybe you love Ace.

Or maybe you love both, Sorachi and Ace.

It’s Just Business.

Believe it or not, Craft Beer, or the very business of it, is just like any other business.  It’s sole purpose is to create profit through the production of successful products.  It is not there to make friends with everyone it meets along the way.  It will however make friends along the way, but not in the way of ‘Hey, this is my new DIPA, buy it and I’ll be your friend forever’ It does it by saying ‘Hey, this is my new DIPA, buy it, enjoy it, and then I’d like you to buy the rest of my beer’ Which of course, is exactly what you do.

You do become friends, but at no point during this process does it permit you, or anyone else for that matter, to claim any form of ownership of the brewery, business.  However, the merest of contact with the beer turns instantly into perceived ownership.  You’ve touched it, held it, tasted it.  The haptic sensation of holding the beer in your hands, it’s yours, or at least you think it is.

The successful brewery, which it is now, as you’ve drank all of their DIPA and moved on to the rest of the range, is turning a massive profit and generating some interest from who you may perceive as being outsiders.  Which of course they are not.  They are people from within the same industry, who see your favourite new brewery causing a stir by producing some great beer, and like any savvy businessman, they want a piece of it.  The equally savvy owner of your favourite new brewery sees this as a potential for investment, a way to further improve his product and expand the brand he has worked so hard to create.

Now, he can do one of two things, reject it or take it.  Rejecting investment can be detrimental to your business, however, it could earn you some further respect from your hardcore fans who have stuck by you throughout your growth.  This respect is good, however, respect alone cannot make your business profitable.  Investment and future growth will make your business profitable.  This growth, however, can only be achieved if your product is good and you have loyal fans to support your product.  Now you can see it all needs to come together, or at least in the following order; good product, loyal fans, investment and future growth.

Your loyal fans may end up criticising your decision to expand, they shouldn’t though, as truly loyal fans should welcome and embrace this investment and see it as an opportunity for you to grow and fulfil your dream as a successful brewer, businessman. In return for their support, you will continue to produce great beer that will continue to be loved.

There are of course other forms of investment, including crowdfunding.  This is a great way to draw in funds from eager fans willing to donate generously to your cause.  It’s a great way to achieve that short term goal which will assist the growth of the business.  It will also bring your fans closer to your business and its development, thus solidifying its place in the market.

What crowdfunding lacks however, is the financial clout and potentially limitless expertise and knowledge that only experienced and seasoned investors can bring.  Another thing that crowdfunding can lack is the potential to spread your brand and its products to a larger market.  The large investors however, are professionals at this and your product could literally be catapulted into areas of the market that would previously have been beyond your reach.  Areas of the market where people still respect good beer, but are not caught up in the politics of what may or may not be craft.  They just want good, reliable, consistent beer that satisfies with every sip.  Something that your favourite new brewery is good at and will be even better at once it has a little injection of investment from the correct place.

There is another issue with crowdfunding.  It is as follows, ‘why should you invest in a company that is quite clearly profitable, and why aren’t they using their own profits to develop their own business?  Usually a profitable business develops itself by reinvesting its profits to further increase its growth.  So why would it need crowdfunding?

In addition to the above forms of investment, there is another option.  The owner of your favourite new brewery could approach the investors on Dragons Den.  If you saw your favourite new brewery on Dragons Den pitching for an investment to fund larger premises, which would allow for an increase in brewing capacity to keep up with demand, how would you feel?

There is one more thing to consider too.  Put yourself in the shoes of your favourite new brewery.  You’ve worked hard to set up your own business, created some amazing products and have amassed a base of loyal fans.  All of which hasn’t gone unnoticed and some pretty keen investors are on your tail.  What would you do?

 

The Australian dream.

For almost a year both my wife and I had been looking forward to our little Aussie getaway. Laura has always said how much she’d like to live here and that I would too, well maybe, but I’d need to test the water first.

Our holiday would be a time to catch up with friends and also a time for me to discover what the Aussies have been brewing. Much like Crete, I didn’t know what I’d be drinking, although I did know that breweries were a little better established here.

On our arrival I was greeted by a James Squires One Fifty Lashes. Our journey from Tokyo via Kuala Lumpur was arduous and this fruity pale quenched my desire. That night I got to know this beer pretty well and I hit the sack looking forward to discovering more of what Australia had to offer.

But little did I know, this would end up being one of the most reliable beers of the holiday.

Rather frustratingly, the quality of the beer I tried varied a lot. I bought beer from a few different shops and many of them were either oxidised or had had something else affect them, probably heat, to the point that they were undrinkable.

From one shop in particular, where I picked up two six packs, I probably had two good beers out of the lot. All the beers were well within date too, still having six months plus left to go.

Cans seemed to be better, but they weren’t perfect. I bought a four pack of Balter IPA, a cracking little beer with all the pine and citrus you could want from an IPA, with a decent malt base and a solid bitterness too.

But, two of the cans were just teetering on the edge, with some unwanted toffee and caramel flavours just beginning to creep in. They didn’t pour as well and from the colour it was obvious that something wasn’t quite right.

But, when bought from the right shop, I was absolutely blown away. Beers from Batch Brewing Company were incredible, their West Coast IPA being lifted straight out of the red book.  With a delicate touch of grain, this dry, hop lead tropical beast quenches the heat of the day with just a light grab of bitterness to follow.

The Zonnebeke India Saison, brewed for Sydney beer week, is a piece of art. It sits below a duck-down head and its crisp, spicy nature will lure out the Saisonator within as you decipher this hugely hopped, IPA, saison hybrid.

But then came Modus..

Overwhelmed by juice at home I’d almost forgotten what it was like to taste a beer with a clawing bitterness. Future Factory IIPA and Sonic Prayer IPA had me, I didn’t have them, they had me, for breakfast. They chewed me up and spat me out, and I went back for more, MORE!

I couldn’t get enough, two nights running I prayed sonically. Prayed for more, and it kept on giving. If God was to brew a beer, this would be it. Perfect in every way, heavenly almost, from the divine grain through to the gospel chorus of pine and grapefruit. Saisonism is gonna have to take a pue at the back for a while, this IPA is preaching.

But all that preaching can come at a price, beer in Australia isn’t cheap by any stretch. The tax on alcohol is high which can make for some pricy drinking, couple that to the cost of single cans and bottles, and a session on a few different beers can leave a huge dent in your wallet.

Some shops do offer discounts on single cans and bottles, but buying in multiples guarantees to keep the cost down.

Without any single discount, three individual bottles or cans are roughly the price of a four pack. High strength stuff is mainly in four packs and an individual can such as Modus Operandi Future Factory IIPA is roughly the equivalent to £10. Which is quite a price, but it is 500ml, it is also 8.5% and it is absolutely incredible. It took me straight back to a time when balance and bitterness reigned supreme.

Would I live here? That’s a tricky question. I doubt I’d have an issue finding employment as the demand for skilled tradesmen is high. But it’s bloody hot, too hot sometimes and I like a nice crisp winter.

Parts for my 2cv would be virtually impossible to get quickly, and no, I wouldn’t have any other car in case you were wondering, wouldn’t even entertain the thought.

It’s that satisfying feeling of vigour you get from driving a 2cv with the roof off on a fresh, crisp winters day which is just unparalleled.

Actually, just the feeling you get from driving a 2cv anywhere is unparalleled.

But that Modus though……

Last Voyage

It’s malty, with slices of bread on its tail, but that was just the end of the voyage; with moments and levers in perfect harmony, what came before was pure IPA glory, with perfect balance in every aspect of flavour and figure.

A spicy concoction of bitterness precedes, led by an onslaught of tropical fruit with its oozing crevice hunting aroma. 

However, immediately prior to this display of wealth, it was just sat there, slowly showing off its gradually appreciating globe. 

The pour was insignificant, in that its qualities were as yet unknown. It’s removal from the fridge was as untroubled as it’s first voyage in my possession; from the bottle shop where I caught my first glance, shortly before its last voyage began. 

How was your last voyage? 

Golden Pints 2016

Welcome to my first ever Golden Pints.  You’ll find that it doesn’t conform to the same formula as everybody else’s.  Why should it?  This has been my year in beer, and for that reason alone I’m writing this my way and not to a prescribed formula.

So here you are.

Best bottled beer.

Marble Brewery, Portent of Usher.

It’s difficult to explain exactly what this beer did to me when I drank it.  But I wished it would never end, it’s sumptuous, heavenly, warming and probably one of the best beers I’ve had this year.

Best Cask beer.

Tapstone Kush Kingdom.

Photo credit: @forkandcarrot 

Hazy, fruity, gloriously full in the mouth.  Difficult to believe that it’s actually a cask beer.  The body and life of the thing are truly fantastic, definitely should be one of your five a day.

Best Canned beer.

To Øl Sur Mosaic.

You really don’t need anything else in a can, but this.  Fact.

Best Double IPA.

The Number’s 55|01.

It’s pretty damn near perfect, in every way.  Coupled to the way it just appeared, with no fuss.  Bang, here’s our first Double IPA.  Thank you very much.  The rest of you can stay at home.

Best Cloudwater DIPA.

V6 all the way, that aroma is just incredible.  So good in fact, that I’d quite happily have it as an air freshener.

The order of the rest?  Oh just put the remaining version numbers into ERNIE and see what comes out.

Best use of beer tiles.

So many people have used beer tiles this year, it’s been a tricky one to conclude.  Do you go for consistency or variety?  Here’s some of my favourites of this year.

Photo credit: @HoptimisticDude

Photo credit: @Myles Lambert

Photo credit: @Sparkyrite

But I think the overall winner has to be this from Matt The List.

Best beertographer. 

Tom Denham has taken some spectacular shots this year.  Lighting and depth of field have been pretty near perfect in most of his shots, the subjects haven’t been too sloppy either.  Think he and I need a bit of a photo competition.

Best BBNo Saison.

All of them.

What do you mean one?  Really?

Ok, if I must.  It begins 01|

Best professional drinker.

Not saying, but here’s a link to the AA should you ever need it.

Best blog.

Has to be Adrian Tierney-Jones.  I’ve not kept up with a lot blogs as much as I should have done this year, and neither have I kept up with my own for that matter.  But I always manage to find time to read Adrians.  It’s pure beer poetry, no matter what he writes.  One could say it’s poetry in mash tun.

Best personal beery achievement.

Becoming an ambassador for St Austell’s Proper Job.

Sharing my love of this glorious beer with other like minded people and informing others of its presence has been great fun.  I’ve met some fantastic people over the last twelve months through being an ambassador, and I’m looking forward to 2017 and plenty more Proper Job.

Because as they say, it’s always Proper Job o’clock!

#allthesaisons Brew By Numbers

Brew By Numbers. What does that mean to you?  Well, to some it’s similar to painting by numbers, which we will now call drinking by numbers, only you have complete freedom over which numbers you choose, and all you have to do is match each one to the most suitable glass and enjoy.

For now, we have five beers and two glasses.  The beers are all Saisons, 750ml of course, and the glasses are Brew By Numbers own.

To make it nice and easy we’ll start from the beginning, and work up a little as we go along.

01|01 Saison Citra.

I first came across this beer around 12 months ago and it was the first Saison that made me think ‘wow, these Saisons are alright’.  Call it a Saison epiphany if you will.  It continues to blow my mind every time I drink it.  You’ve probably seen the hashtag beergasm, well, this is it for me.  Spicetastic, funktastic, citratastic and full to the brim with the Number’s Magic.

This beer alone is the reason why I have chosen to do this with 750ml bottles.  Don’t get me wrong, the 330ml is good, but that extra volume takes it to another level.  The depth and intensity of flavour are unparalleled, and it starts with that aroma.

It hits you, and you know you’re in for a treat.  It’s classic Saison, with that funky spiciness coming from the yeast, but the hop pushes it forward.  The fruity funk delivery from the Citra completes the meet and greet, so you’d best taste it.

The spices used are really evident as you delve in, but there is a light maltiness there too.  Coupled to the yeast, this really does make for a satisfying drink.  And that hop, it just doesn’t go away.  With it’s relentless funky fruits hammering away at your taste buds, you’ll wonder why this doesn’t come in a bigger bottle.  I could quite happily take a magnum of this stuff.  Actually, no.  Make that a Jeroboam.

And that dry finish it leaves behind?  Well that’s your invitation to get stuck in with the next.

01|02 Saison Amarillo & Orange.

The aroma, again, starts with the typical saison funk, but this time with a fistful of orange.  The taste is bittersweet orange, with the saison spice just creeping in along with a nice dose of bready malt.

It’s surprisingly quite smooth too, and doesn’t have the coarse carbonation of some Saisons.  That smoothness makes is very satisfying and so wholesome; it feels full bodied but it’s quite light at the same time.

The finish is a mix of bread and cereal malts, and a light orange pithy bitterness.  It’s not too dry and some bananary notes also linger.  If you’ve started this off straight from the fridge, this beer benefits from being allowed to warm slightly, which really opens the beer up to release all those flavours.

01|09 Saison Hibiscus & Chamomile.

Ever had a cup of chamomile tea followed by an Hibiscus Prosecco cocktail chaser?  No?  Ever thought of mixing them?  Thought not.  But if you did, you’d probably end up with something like this.

The funky Saison yeast hits you first, but it soon fades and is followed by the sweet fruity smell of the hibiscus and a dusting of orange.  The chamomile completes the breath and offers an almost savoury end prior to the tasting.

It’s similar to Prosecco, just much smoother, in the way that it’s dry and has a certain grape like character to it; The back of your mouth thinks it’s having a glass of the stuff.

The dryness is also like chamomile tea.  It is exactly like the aforementioned mix would be on paper, although I doubt in practise it would be as successful.  The dryness extends and the finish builds for some time after.  It almost has an evolving woody note to it’s end, and it’s complexity will have you chewing your cheeks and lips to fully fathom it.  It’s definitely wood, or is it?  Could it be the chamomile?  It’s tricky to pinpoint, but it’s very intriguing nonetheless.

01|16 Saison Rakau.

With a leisurely rush of bready malts, followed by a dash of funky yeast and the lightest of spice, this begins in a much more delicate way than the other beers here.  All the flavours are there but they’re chilled right out as they glance across your palate.  The beer is wholesome, and there’s a slightly sour kiwi fruit making it’s way along your tongue.  It leaves behind more of the earlier bread delivery, but contained within the sandwich is a splattering of grapes.

The trail acts as a guide for the next mouthful, which after gaining a little warmth, becomes all the more exciting.  There’s more of everything; more funk, more spice, more sour kiwis rolling around your mouth, and more slices of malt too.  It’s still incredibly delicate, but if you allow it, you will become immersed in it.  Add a shade more warmth, and that bread becomes a freshly baked sourdough loaf.  Glorious.

01|17 Saison Enigma & Nelson.

Think Saison, think white wine, think savoury.  Throw in some fruits and you’re close, but not that close.  There’s a good load of malt in there too.  Swill it, wake it up, and allow its aroma to unleash itself on your senses.  Peer through the faint banana and get yourself involved with the spice.  It’s got a kick, but you arrive at it in a more leisurely way than a hot curry.  Taste it; Cloves like a Kretek, and shouldn’t be rushed like one can’t either.

Reminiscent of white wine, but you soon realise you have something far, far better.  There’s an increase in depth that you just don’t get with your favourite Sauvignon, but it’s hard to remember that this is actually a beer.  It has exactly the same dry finish as the wine, but with the added extras that keep your senses alive and brain ticking.  And you ask yourself, again, is this actually a beer?  You answer; it is. It’s fantastically dry, grapey, funky, spicy, murky; and an immensely satisfying offering.

For months I’ve been buying Saisons, all the Saisons in fact.  But none of them satisfy me in the way that those from The Numbers do.  I don’t know what it is exactly that makes them suit my taste, but it’s been a struggle to find anything else that comes close.  And after you’ve made your way through all the Saisons above, you’ll see exactly what I mean and you’ll be on the hunt for the rest.  And if you see a 750ml bottle, make it yours.

 

The Double IPA, is it a thing?

The early part of this year has seen some fantastic double IPAs. Some of which were seasonal brews showing their faces again, some were completely new beers, and others just didn’t quite know what they were. Or they did, except a newer, slightly different version was released before you’d even finished the last.

Now, I’m all for tweaking recipes and altering things to improve the final product, but it would seem that Cloudwater have progressed with their series of DIPAs a little quicker than everybody else; First came the original DIPA, followed swiftly by V2 and then rather rapidly by V3. V4 and V5 will soon be on their way too, but do we really need them both now?

Picture @ThaBearded1

So far, the Cloudwater DIPA series has been very successful, and each one different to the last, but I do wonder what will happen when VMax has been reached.

Moving away from Cloudwater and on to the rest of our DIPA offerings, we have the highly anticipated Human Cannonball from Magic Rock. This yearly brew has the beer geeks mouths foaming at the prospect of getting hold of it. Fortunately for me, I was one of those lucky geeks whose overcame the mouth froth, correctly engaged my talking organ and successfully purchased this beer. I also managed to fill my sweaty palms with an Un-Human Cannonball too. This, a Triple IPA has an even bigger froth factor that will make a mess out of even the hardest of beer geeks.

To get the most out of Human Cannonball and Un-Human Cannonball, you really should add the normal Cannonball IPA into the mix and take part in what is now known as the Cannonball Run. Not entirely like the film at all; no crazy doctors, no priests and unfortunately no 1980’s super hot girls in a Lamborghini either. But nevertheless, when drinking these ‘on the run’ you’ll see that these beers have everything in common with the two crazy Japanese guys in the Subaru. ‘Do sixty, sixty’ may well be your famous last words too, as you are propelled into hop heaven…..Or, it could be the that you end up in the pool after saying ‘I can’t see shit, can you?’

The next DIPA scored very highly on DIPA night. Not on your average Clintons sourced calendar, but on the Twitter calendar, it’s there alright. The score this beer received was 55|01. Quite a strange score that, I hear you say. Well yes, but then there’s more to the beer than just the score.

55|01 is actually the first DIPA from Brew By Numbers. They’ve really made us wait for this, and you know what? I’m glad. No rush, no fuss and no V’s. Just a DIPA exactly the way it should be; extra everything, and a little of the BBNo magic too.

Born To Die from Brewdog may well have you thinking of Lana Del Rey, but you must stop, and stop now! Too late, it’s already dead. You spent too long thinking about Lana and now the beer is dead.

Like all it’s predecessors it only had a short life, limited to weeks, and all the while you’ve been procrastinating about Lana, this poor beer has been gradually fading away without you even realising it. Shame on you!

As the hop fade of Born To Die was irreversible, this next beer is too. Irreversible is the DIPA from Twisted Barrel Ale, who are touted as being more folk than punk.

Picture @Sparkyrite 

So as they sit on opposite corners of the ring, will they slog it out? Or will they embrace and just hug it out with a beardy cuddle? There might also be a rabbit thrown in for good measure. That’s not an elephant in the room, that’s a folking rabbit.

So, what do you think.  Is the DIPA a thing?

Tapstone, Opium Wars. A beer on the silky side of hoppiness.

Brewer of, perhaps, the most interesting beer at the recent CAMRA Festival of Winter Ales in Exeter, is the Tapstone Brewing Co, and that beer is Opium Wars.  Billed as ‘An unfined dark brown beer.  Strong hop aroma and citrus flavours and a lingering finish’ it is in actual fact an oily, black IPA.  Unfortunately by the time I’d managed to get myself to the festival, this beer had run out.  However, on further investigation I discovered that the Tapstone Brewing Co is based in Chard, and I have just started a new job working out of, you’ve guessed it, Chard.  So, off I went to find the brewery and get me some of that beer.

Chard is not a big place, and neither is the industrial estate on which the brewery is based, but could I find it?  Eventually after driving round and round for the whole of my lunch break, I saw a clue.  A white van parked outside a nondescript unit with beer casks peeking out of it’s open door.  This has to be it, and there it was.  The unit door was open so in I walked, to find James Davies, the brewer.  After a quick introduction, I was led into the business part of the brewery.  Not big either, but all the kit was there and the room smelled absolutely incredible.  I’m sure James’s nose has become accustomed to the smell, but it was a glorious dose of fruity tropical hops, and I was in heaven.

At the rear of the brewery are the two main vessels, and contained in one was the next batch Opium Wars.  Still conditioning, I was told it wouldn’t be ready for a couple of weeks.  We discussed pumps and flow rates, and agreed that I should return after said conditioning time had elapsed.

A few weeks later I returned to the brewery.  When I arrived James was casking up a new, low abv beer, called Zen Garden.  At 3.6% this is the lowest strength beer that the brewery has produced.  The aim was to create a massively hopped, light beer with a decent body.  And after a quick taste, I can confirm that it’s pretty much met that mark.

We picked up from our previous conversation and began to talk oxygen and the way that it affects beer.  James’s desire to rule out any oxidation that could occur is evident when you see just how full my bottle was.  But even filled to this level James isn’t satisfied.  As in his mind, the bottle should be filled to the brim, to fully preserve all the hoppy goodness contained within and prevent any oxidation from occurring.

Now, back to the main reason for my visits, Opium Wars.  This beer never usually reaches bottles, in fact, none of Tapstone’s beer usually ever makes it into bottles.  So I have been very fortunate to be able to obtain this bottle and I am also very grateful.

Let’s start with the label.  With its simple graphics and just enough information to tell you what’s inside, it’s like what you’d expect to find on a white label promo record.  And during my record collecting days, these ‘white labels’ were the hens teeth and most collectable of all records.  I’ve still got boxes of vinyl, all doing exactly what I’m not going to do with this beer, ageing.

The beer, pours a very dark brown with its grassy, roasted chocolate notes making their way around the room and deep into your nostrils.  As it’s luscious, slick, velvety body lands on your tongue, your senses are kicked into life by the light citrus, cherries and bitter chocolate contained within.  And the presence of the dark chocolate leaves behind a sublime bitter finish that just lingers, and lingers, and lingers.

This is a truly stunning example of a black IPA, it’s not just an unfined dark brown beer with a strong hop aroma, citrus flavours and a lingering finish.  No, this is much, much more than that.  The depth of the flavour and complexity are outstanding.  It’s balanced too.  The aroma hits you first and that flavour just drags you in.  Not to mention the feel of the thing.  It’s absolutely magnificent.