Damian O’Shea

Nov 9 2014

Bottled Beers – November 2014 – Pt 1

“All I can see is black and white and white and pink with blades of blue
that lay between the words I think, on a page I was meaning to send you.
You I couldn’t tell if it bring my heart, the way I wanted when I started
writing this letter to you.

But if I could, you know I would just hold your hand and you’d understand
that I’m the man who loves you.”

(“I’m The Man Who Loves You” – Wilco)

(Video clip courtesy of “The Tonight Show” (US) on YouTube)

It’s been a while! *Yawns like a bear coming out of hibernation*

I came to Wilco rather late. Via their collaboration album with Billy Bragg, recording songs from the archives of the great socialist American songwriter Woody Guthrie that became “Mermaid Avenue”. Ahhh….”California Stars”…….

The above tune is the most accessible track on arguably their least accessible album, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”. The album that, perversely, brought them to mainstream attention. The album that transformed them from Alt- Country and Americana players to avant-garde. So much so that their label rejected it. Totally. So the band, via whatever channel, leaked it on the web. And became famous because of it, all over the world. There is a documentary about the gestation of the album, which, rather sadly, resulted in one of the band being (effectively) thrown out – Jay Bennett. Sadly, no longer with us. The documentary is called ” I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”. I thoroughly recommend it as a document of the recording process and of the stresses and strains that that can create.

I saw the band for the first time when they were promoting their next album “A Ghost Is Born” at Manchester Academy. Jeff Tweedy, lead vocalist/guitarist, looked (and sounded) incredibly fragile. So much so, that I remember saying to my pal Chris, that I thought that he wouldn’t last the year. Songs with titles (and lyrics) like “Handshake Drugs” led to the belief that he may have been addicted. He was, it transpired, but to prescription painkillers, not the opiates that we feared. We resolved to going to see the band at Rock City in Nottingham a few months later. I now see them every time that they are in the UK.

Tweedy plays The Ritz – solo, in January. Chris picked up tickets last week. I’m excited. (Sad, for a near 50 yr old eh?)

Beer time….

If you have ever read one of these before, you will know what comes next! If you haven’t….this is the format…

1. The Beer, 2. The Brewer, 3. The Strength, 4. The beer style, 5. The Price & Size (where I have it) 6. The discount (and why, eg: for CAMRA membership or shop deal, where applicable) 7. Where from,  and, If a website for the vendor exists, the hyperlink to the shop / brewer website, just in case you are inspired enough by my ramblings to make a purchase! Here goes….And remember, if you like the look of something, click on the (purple) hyperlink!

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1. Dreaming Dreams – Wilson Potter (Middleton, Gtr Manchester) – 4% abv – Pale Ale – £2.40 (500ml) – 3 for £7 – Direct from the brewery

Dreaming Dreams (of Amarillo – Geddit?). Amarillo. My favourite hop. Picked up on a recent (flying) visit to the brewery on one of their “soiree” afternoons following a drop off of casks remaining from The Independent Salford Beer Festival (zzzzzzzzzzz………). I didn’t know that WP had an Amarillo hopped beer other than “Is This The Way”! Intrigued and salivating, I had to pick one up.

A gorgeous Pale golden beer bought on a brewery soiree last weekend, this has a clinging lasting white head with a fine carbonation giving an aroma of a light marmalade with a hint of apricot. Oh wow! For a fairly light strength beer, this has quite a punch!
The first sip brings that marmalade to the party, juicy and sticky, so full of marmalade flavour that Paddington Bear would love this! A stonking dry and bitter finish too, quite bracing. With a substantial resinous pine hit in the aftertaste. An admittedly brief description, but it was that good that I was a little lost for words!
Each new Pale that Kathryn & Amanda release gets more assertive. And more impressive. This is up there with Don’t Fall. And that is a huge complement! A cracker, up there with the best of the Mallinsons single-hopped Pales for me. Speaking of which…..
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2. SPA (Session Pale Ale) – Mallinsons (Huddersfield, W Yorks) – 4.1% abv  – Pale Ale – £2.79 (500ml) – 0 – Beermoth (Tib St, Manchester)
If I had a brewery that I regret not being included at the aforementioned bijou beer fest, it is Mallinsons. And hell did I try….They’d grace any bar. But moving swiftly on (and there’s always next year!)
Lively wee devil this one, took a while to decant. Really Pale golden colour (almost a trademark) with an abundant white foamy head giving off a really fruity aroma full of peach and tangerine juices.
First taste, oh yes! Medium bodied and a now more subdued carbonation. Some peach, some passion fruit and what a whack of bitterness backed up by sticky pine resins. Woof! This is another Huddersfield cracker. A little grapefruit says hello in the next mouthful, backed up by that assertive bitterness and mouth gumming piney resins. As Omar Little might say in The Wire “Oh indeed”!
This is a beauty of a pale ale. Fruity, bitter, a little sharpness and a snap sticky pine aftertaste. Oh yes.
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3. Protz’s Pleasure – Steel City Brewing / North Riding Brewpub – 5.3%abv – Black IPA – ? (500ml) – 0 – The Ale Man Manchester (Various locations)
This beer was inspired – if that is the right word – by a phrase used by beer writer (and CAMRA Good Beer Guide editor) Roger Protz, who said “Black IPA is absurd and an insult to history.” A brief perusal of the internet may reveal that a number of aspiring brewers were “encouraged” to try making a BIPA on the strength of THAT statement!
If Steel City have a mission statement, it has one word. That word is “HOPS”. Pair this cuckoo brewer with Stuart Neilson (North Riding Brewpub) and his evident love of that green flower, then there was only one way this was going to go…..
Appearance : Black with a thick creamy head and a noise full of chocolate, licorice and some citrus hints.
Medium bodied and quite smooth in the mouth, WOW is this bitter! Flavours of bitter chocolate, burnt toast topped off with a distinct grapefruit citrus tang. Finished with an almost incredible, astonishing bitterness!
The smoothness is almost creamy textured as I take a second mouthful and those flavours intensify. That massive bitterness is rounded off with a sticky pine resin dry finish. I’m Gobsmacked! (I think that this MIGHT have been the desired effect!)
N.B. I’m REALLY looking forward to Damian (The Ale Man) opening his own bar in Heaton Moor! (Coming soon)
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4. Light – Briggs Signature Ales (Huddersfield) – 2.8% abv – Pale Ale – £2.80 (500ml) – 0- Beermoth (Tib St, Manchester)
The fact that a new brewer gets to use the kit at Mallinsons, must – in my eyes at least – mean that he has high standards. You have to be damn good for your pales to measure up to the beers of Tara Mallinson & Elaine Yendall! This is how Nick Briggs (former brewer at Elland) has set himself up for a potential fall. But has he…
Has he bloody hell! A lively golden beer with abundant white foamy head and a noise full of peach and Mango. Really fruity and with a floral hint that I can’t quite pick.
Quite a medium bodied beer – surprising at this strength! Initial thoughts are of a rather fruity ice cream full of peach and – strangely – strawberry. A really fruity creamy textured mouthful.
The second mouthful brings a little pineapple to this fruity party but also a strong dry bitterness followed by a dry resinous aftertaste. All in all, a surprising beer indeed. A cracking fruity, bitter Pale Ale.
This is a “Small Beer” in abv only!
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5. Old Norrell – Five Towns Brewery (Outwood, Wakefield, W. Yorks) – 5.5% abv – Pale Ale – £0 (500ml) – Direct from the brewery
Picked up whilst delivering back empty cask from our recent “bijou beer bash”, this was a nice surprise! Got to see Malcolm in action too, with a spot of cask filling. A proper small micro in operation. If I’m right, he has now retired from his “day job”, which – with the addition of a fermenting vessel – will mean both an increase in brewing AND (hopefully) more of his beers over in Manchester – you heard it here first!
Pale golden with a persistent lacy white head giving a big lemon and grapefruit aroma. Lovely fresh & zesty.
In the mouth this is beautiful and sharp. And as bitter and twisted as a Nigel Farage speech! Courtesy of the Sorachi Ace hop methinks. Medium bodied, the first flavour to hit is a bitter lemon mingled with tart grapefruit. A gooseberry note too. Lovely and fresh this in no way tastes its strength.
The fruity tart and beautifully bitter mouthful has a little malty, bready sweetness which gives best to that tart bitterness, a dry sharp finish and resinous grassy hop aftertaste. A pleasure of a beer that I’d love to try on draught.
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6. Marmalade Porter – Wold Top Brewery (Driffield, N. Yorks)  – 5% abv – Porter – £? (330ml) – ? – Wold Top Stall (Cottingham Food & Drink Festival)
A gift from a very dear friend (Phil), this was a huge surprise at the end of a hectic day visiting beery people all over the North. I’ve had some very nice beers indeed from Wold Top (in particular their TdF beer Hello Velo). So to get a Porter flavoured with marmalade, was a bit of a boost!
This is a beautifully black beer with a coffee coloured head giving off milk chocolate and a hint of rum soaked raisins and sweet orange in the aroma.
Ooh Matron! This is a lovely creamy smooth full-bodied mouthful just oozing chocolaty luxury in the first sip! The sweetness from the chocolate is augmented but an Orangey tinge, prior to submitting to a finishing bitterness with a coffeeish edge.
A second mouthful brings some more of the Orange forward, slightly sticky before fading in the face of that bitter coffee and a herbal grassy hop dryness with more than a hint of rum in the aftertaste. A lovely beer. Just wish I knew where he got it from! (Update – See above!)
(Locally, you can get some of their “core” beers in Booths)
Now that #ISBF2014 is washed up, dried and put away like good crockery, normal service can be resumed!
On that note….’til next time….
Slainte!

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Sep 4 2013

Bottled Ales – September 2013 Pt1

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“So when you see me coming, you better whistle or start humming, ’cause otherwise, I’ll tell you now that I’ll just walk right by.

‘Cause lover, when I drink, I’m dozy but I fancy getting cosy and I heard a rumour that I may have caught your eye. “

(Meanwhile, At The Bar, A Drunkard Muses – Arab Strap)

Aidan Moffat – Poet, Genius!

In the miserable knowledge that I am confined, by budgetary restraints, to BM Mansions, I resort to the tried and tasted method of cheering up. Listening to Arab Strap and raiding the (ahem) cellars! By this route, we come to a few more bottled beers worthy of a shufty.

If you have ever read one of these before, you will know what is comes next!……The format remains….

1. The Beer, 2. The Brewer, 3. The Strength, 4. The beer style, 5. The Price & Size (including discount, eg: for CAMRA membership, where applicable). 6. Where from,  and, If a website for the vendor exists, the hyperlink to the shop / brewer website, just in case you are inspired enough by my ramblings to make a purchase! Here goes…

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1. Pale – Five Points Brewing Co (Hackney, East London) – 4.4% abv – Pale Ale – £3.50 (330ml) – The Ale Man (Castlefield Market, Manchester)

I had this beer a month or so ago at Font bar and enjoyed it hugely. When I saw it in bottle at Damian O’Shea’s stall at Castlefield Market, I really needed to give it a whirl. So….

Gold in the glass with a lively white head, releasing aromas laden with mango and sweet pink grapefruit. Medium bodied, that grapefruit comes to the fore in the mouth with a sting of lemon zest. Smooth drinking with some resins and a lovely bitterness with some grapefruit lingering to mutate into a lovely, slightly herby, bitter dry finish. At this strength, I could drink this all night on draught!

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2. Fade To Black –  Weird Beard Brew Co (Hanwell, West London) – 6.3% abv – Black IPA – £3.50 (330ml) – The Ale Man (Castlefield Market, Manchester)

Another product from Damian’s super Sunday stall at Castlefield. Go to this excellent market if you get the chance. Superb food stalls, vintage clothing, even second-hand vinyl when I went last weekend! Beer AND Music – heavenly!

Unsurprisingly, a black beer! Cafe creme head with a candied citrus nose with prominent lemon and sugared grapefruit. Into the mouth and there is espresso with simultaneous citrus! I love this beer, confoundingly satisfying! The body and texture of a creamy stout or porter with fruity hoppiness. A cracker for what is now a firm favourite brewer with no backward steps.

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3. Davy Jones’ Locker – Five Towns Brewery (Wakefield, West Yorkshire) – 3.8% abv – Bitter – £2.48 (500ml) – Yorkshire Ales

Picked up on my most recent visit to Adrian & Vicky Pettit’s excellent shop, Yorkshire Ales. I like this brewers beers. A lot. However, on pouring this, I started to worry. Was this one of those “boring brown beers”? Well, I should have learned to NOT judge a book by the cover!!! One sniff of that glass put me at ease and got me salivating…..mango, pineapple with maybe a sprinkling of caster sugar on a grapefruit segment. Mmmmm….

Unsurprisingly fairly light bodied given the alcohol levels, but oodles of upfront hoppage in here. More mango and a more than a touch of grapefruit. Superbly bitter, fruity with a grassy dry finish. A cracking refreshing beer. Another cracker from Mr Malcolm Bastow.

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4. IPA – Rodhams Brewery (Otley, West Yorkshire) – 6.2% – IPA – £2.61 (500ml) – Yorkshire Ales

On that same visit to Yorkshire Ales, this caught my eye. No idea why, because that is hardly the most eye-catching label! But catch it it did. So in the box it went.

An incredibly pale gold beer, almost lagerishly pale. A reassuringly nose twitching citrus aroma, with tingling lemon and grapefruit. A bloody lively devil this, the top flew off when flipped. In the mouth, more tart lemon and grapefruit citrus in a smooth medium body. Bitter. Desert dryingly bitter. Some warmth filtered through following a bitter grassy herbal finish. Did I say it was dry? OK. Excellent first for me from this Otley brewer.

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5. Punch The Clock – Revolutions Brewing Co / North Riding Brewpub (Collaboration) – 7.8% abv – Double IPA – £3.87 (500ml) – Yorkshire Ales

I love beer. I love music (any kind of music…….). It stands to reason therefore, that I love Revolutions! Another brewery that just gets better with every sip. I also like the beers I have had by Stuart Neilson from North Riding Brewpub in Scarborough. This simply couldn’t go wrong!

A deep golden beer with HUGE citrus aromas. Drooling by now, I put my lips to the glass for a sip. A big biscuity malty backbone with a fabulous full-on dirty hop citrus bang! Citra in there? Like all Revolutions beers, really well-balanced. Loads of Malt? Loads of hops! Simples!! Lovely bitter grapefruit flavours with a big bitter finish and really dry grassy aftertaste. The best beer of this style I’ve had in ages. A real big DIPA……and named after a Costello album. Boys, you spoil me!

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6. (Bourbon Barrel Aged) Bearded Lady – Magic Rock Brewing (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire) – 10.5% abv – Imperial Brown Stout – £11 (660ml) – The Ale Man (Castlefield Market)

With all of that pale stuff, some balance was required. This beer provides that balance….and a bit more! But first, that bottle. Just the look of it stunned me. Sealed with black wax over the crown cap, the bottle looks and feels as if it’s etched. It is simply stunning. The beer had a lot to live up to!

In the words of the mighty Tandleman, this is a proper stout, there’s no seeing through this bugger! Black. Pitch black. Not bad for a Brown Stout! A fabulous creamy cappucino head boasting bitter chocolate, Tia Maria and smoky, boozy aromas. A beergasm! (I felt like Meg Ryan playing footsie under the table with Billy Crystal!)

Once I’d cleaned up and calmed down, I got to taste it! More bitter chocolate with deep coffee tones and an enveloping boozy warmth. Then the whiskey soaked wood rises up and through your nostrils like a dragons’ breath!

Sweet, bitter, smoky and warming. My vocabulary feels inadequate. It is. A work of Dark Art(s) both inside and out. Like the Revolutions/North Riding, worth every penny!

Well, (takes a deep breath!) that’s it for now.

Favourite pale? Revolutions / North Riding. An absolute crackerjack of a DIPA.

Favourite Dark? Go figure!

On that note….’til next time!

(If you’re going to Leeds International Beer Fest on Friday, I’ll be the Manc in the corner, drooling and talking gibberish. Please, save me from myself!)

Slainte!

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Aug 24 2013

Bottled Ales – August 2013 Pt 2

“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, but I think…

OH BONDAGE, UP YOURS! 1,2,3,4…”

(Oh Bondage, Up Yours – X-Ray Spex)

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(Hooray For Tickety Brew!)

Just a quick celebratory note! For those who are unaware, Tickety Brew of Stalyvegas were recently contacted by lawyers acting on behalf of the conglomerate Halewood International – the owner of the Crabbies Ginger Beer brand. The substance of the contact was that Halewood had “trademarked” the phrase “TicketyBoo” and appeared to have issues when our own local micro-brewer applied to register their name as a trademark. This caused concern, and no little stress, for Tickety Brew’s owners who were not in any position to contest any potential “Cease & Desist” style demand.

It was heartening to see social media – in particular, Twitter – swing behind the brewing David, possessing, as it did, an empty slingshot! Just like the battle that Redwell of Norwich had with Red Bull (purveyors of over-sweet chemical swill), the beer-loving denizens of the social media platform showed their feelings and made them plain.

It is therefore extremely gratifying to note, it appears that sanity has ruled the day and Tickety will remain a small Greater Manchester brewer making tasty beer and that they can keep their name and distinct visual branding. Chuffed to bits for Duncan & Keri and will be reviewing their beers soon! Go visit their classy looking website for more details at http://ticketybrew.co.uk/

Right then, that’s settled!

If you have ever read one of these before, you will know what is comes next!……The format remains….

1. The Beer, 2. The Brewer, 3. The Strength, 4. The beer style, 5. The Price & Size (including discount, eg: for CAMRA membership, where applicable). 6. Where from,  and, If a website for the vendor exists, the hyperlink to the shop / brewer website, just in case you are inspired enough by my ramblings to make a purchase! Here goes…

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1. Hook Island Red – The Five Points Brewing Co (Hackney, London) – 6% abv – Red Ale – £3 ish (was a “swap”!) – Damian O’Shea (aka @TheAleManMcr) at Castlefield Market, Mcr.

A deep ruby red, this has a lovely spicy hop and toffee aroma. A lovely dark toffeeish caramelly (is that a word?) malt balanced by some terrifically spicy hopping with some nuttiness too in the mouth. Bit like a slicy (or even “spicy”!) rye beer this. A cracklingly bitter dryness in the finish for this beer from an increasingly impressive brewery. More soon!

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(I can still hear the shriekings of Poly Styrene……!)

2. Identity – Revolutions Brewing Co (Castleford, West Yorkshire) – 6% abv – Extra Strong Bitter (XSB) – Part of a case from the brewery direct

X-Ray Spex were one of the second wave of punk bands. There first single was blast of feminist fresh air entitled “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” and as a 12-year-old music loving sponge, it rocked my world! A punk band in name, but with other influences at play – not every band would have a Laura Logic playing sax! Identity was a later single from their album Germ Free Adolescents and was similarly incendiary in musical style. Was truly saddened when Poly (Marianne Joan Elliott-Said) passed away in 2011. A true trail blazer and icon.

Anyway, reminiscing over!

Another musically themed beer (of course!) by those lovely boys at Revolutions, this is a tawny coloured beer with a generous white head and a floral hop aroma with a bit of toffee in there too. Full bodied with plenty of maltiness offset by some really nice dry bitterness an a nice spicy hop bite, I detected a gentle nuttiness which reminded me of walnuts too, really nice note. A fireside beer this…..I’m feeling a nice warm Yorkshire Dales pub on an autumn evening…I can dream can’t I? A proper strong bitter – not had one of THOSE for a while!

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3. Bleddyn 1075 – The Celt Experience (Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales) – 5.6% abv – IPA – £2.29 (500ml) – Booths Supermarket, Chorley

An off-hand purchase from a swift pit stop, I’m SO glad I bought this! A golden to copper coloured beer with floral nose tingling spicy hops booming from the glass. In the mouth, a tongue-curling bitterness grabs and delights as bitter & twisted grapefruit flavours assail the taste buds supported by some lovely malty backbone.

But this is about the hoppage and, at this strength, I’m not sure that I have had a more assertive IPA. Given the OG (Original Gravity – an indication of the weight of malt goodies that go in the beer), I’m astonished it’s not sweeter than this! Crackling dry finish. A PROPER IPA. Lots of malt, LOADS of hops! (Classy website too – click the link above) A well earned 5*!

20130822_193824(Current reading material artfully displayed with a 5* beer!)

4. Simcoe (Single Hop) – Mallinsons Brewing Company (Huddersfield, West Yorkshire) – 4.0% abv – Pale Ale – £1.98 (500ml) – The Bottle Stop, Bramhall, Stockport

This wasn’t planned. At a friends BBQ last weekend, I took a 5 litre carry out of Kirkstall Three Swords Pale Ale (purchased from the ever excellent Beer Shop), but by departure, there was still some in the bag. A colleague offered this as a swap. Knowing Mallinsons beers like I do (and not having had this previously) I snatched his hand off!

A beer that was bullion gold in colour with a fabulous zingy mango aroma from a light white foam head. A marvellous mouthful of mango, grapefruit and lemon pith drying the tongue and refreshing the mouth simultaneously. Tara Mallinson and Elaine Yendall have – for me – absolutely nailed low gravity single hopped pale ales. This is as tasty a low gravity pale ale as you can get (IMO) – get some, and in the words of Drake “Thank me later”!

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5. Fade to Black – Weird Beard Brew Co (Hanwell, West London)- 6.3% – Black IPA – £3 ish (was a swap) – Damian O’Shea (aka @TheAleManMcr) at Castlefield Market

If you live close to Manchester, go see Damian on a Sunday at Castlefield Market, (but check on Twitter, he’s not there EVERY Sunday!), a top bloke selling some amazing beers. Including this little beauty!

Black. Always a good start in my book! Latte coloured head with a candied citrus nose with sugared grapefruit. Some deep coffee in the background strangely supporting zippy citrus. This beer has the texture of a creamy stout or porter with some belting hoppy fruitiness. I know that, for some, Black IPAs may be a bit of a stretch, but trust me, allow your mind to be bent by beers such as this and you will NOT regret it! Trust me!

Right then – Beer of the Month time again!

Draught? – Hmmm….. in with a run up the stands rails is…..Imperial Lord Smog Almighty from Beavertown Brewery at 10% abv. This was the monster produced from under Logan Plant’s magicians hat at the end of the recent MTB at Port Street. Blew me away. Notes here…http://beersmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/beavertown-brewery-meet-the-brewer-port-street-beer-house-19082013/

Bottled? – A tricky one this, with 4 5* rated beers this month. But, decisions need to be made! (“Ip, dip, doo, the cat got the flu…..”) Oh bugger it…… Old Engine Oil (Engineers Reserve) a 9% abv by Harviestoun Brewery. Porter created for Those Damn Yankees! Read here if you want…http://beersmanchester.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/bottled-ales-august-2013/

Right! That’s it for this month. I’m off camping by the banks of the Severn next week so, unless I come across something truly outstanding, media silence may be the order of….

And if you see a whale clad in T-Shirt & Jeans floating down the Severn, hook me out, there’s a love!

On that note…’til next time!

Slainte!

 

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