Jan 12 2015
Bottled Beers – January 2015 – Pt 1
“They say an end can be a start, it feels like I’ve been buried yet I’m still alive
It’s like a bad day that never ends.
I feel the chaos around me, a thing I don’t try to deny
I’d better learn to accept that there are things in my life I can’t control”
(“If I Ever Feel Better” – Phoenix)
(Clip courtesy of B.D White – via YouTube)
Waffle
For me, this is possibly the ultimate earworm – well, in its original form anyway. From a band that have – criminally – never had a hit single in the UK. I am also yet to discover so sad a song set against SUCH an uplifting melody.
Taken from their debut album “United”, this track – again, for me – explodes any myth that the French can’t make great pop music. For a while indeed, French music dominated dancefloors in the late 90s and early to mid 00s with the likes of Daft Punk (former band mates with members of Phoenix in “Darlin'”) and Justice.
I could have easily just used a clip of the single, but chose the one above to fit in two of the greatest French musical exports of the last 20 years. For a whole variety of reasons (and not just the obvious) at this particular moment, this feels right to me.
And the moment – at approximately 05:57 – when the band kick in again gives the lie to anyone who says that French bands can’t rock. A truly awesome mash-up.
Beer
Thinking of changing the focus of this blog. Maybe a few more pub pieces and less bottles. If you don’t like that idea, let me know, my head is in a weird place at the moment and I’m even more open to persuasion than normal!
Also, I need to track down some excellent fresh new Northern beers, this one has a few “interlopers”!
- Manchester Sun– Beer Nouveau (Prestwich) – 5.3% abv – Golden Bitter – 330ml – Barbeerian (Prestwich)
Golden beer with a persistent white head giving off a gentle fruity aroma with maybe a hint of plum & raisin.
Quite full-bodied in the mouth, that fruitiness carries on onto the palate with more forest fruit and more than a hint of marmalade. This is followed by quite a substantial bitterness and a dry finish with some grassy hops in the aftertaste.
This is what used to be called a “Premium Bitter” and would be a smidgen from a fully fledged IPA for me. Either way, an excellent beer. And do you know what REALLY impresses me, Steve says on the label what he set out to do, and – in his first two bottles – he has nailed it.
- Dry Hopped Lager(Galaxy) – Adnams (Jack Brand – Southwold, Suffolk) – 4.2%abv – Lager – 330ml – Swap with my friend Simon (for a bottle of Thwaites’ 13 Guns)
Yes. A lager. From one of the Regional big boys too! One of TWO this post! A lucky find over Xmas, for which I thank Simon.
Bright and golden (as you would expect), its lingering fluffy white head giving off an aroma of fresh apples with a citric hint of lime sharpness.
In the mouth, a rich tea biscuity sweetness gives way to a light and refreshing fruity mouthful, Orchard fruits with a little lemon and a subtle floral flavour wafts across the tongue too. This is possibly one of the nicest UK lagers I have tasted thus far. Beautifully refreshing. and a joyous thing. A summer beer in midwinter!
- Faceless Spreadsheet Ninja(Citra Pilsner) – Weird Beard Brew Co (Hanwell) – 5.5% abv – Pilsner – 330ml – Barbeerian (Prestwich)
Yep. Another Pale golden Lager! This has a lingering white head and an aroma that is quite restrained, fresh-baked white bread being my first thought.
In the mouth, this comes to life! Medium bodied, This has a surprising depth of flavour with like a citrus jam stickiness and a quite fabulous hoppy hit post swallow. That fruitiness just keeps coming, with a little more citrus asserting itself in further mouthfuls.
This could almost convert me to Lager!
Fruity, refreshing, with a crackling grassy hop dry finish. Yum. Weird Beard strike another home run!
- Dragons Tears– Black Jack Beers (Manchester) – 5.2% abv – Jasmine Saison – 330ml – Barbeerian (Prestwich)
Now then, the first #Beergasm of 2015!
Hazy and golden beer with a thin but persistent white head and a slightly spicy fragrant aroma (presumably the Jasmine)
Oh but this is LOVELY! A typically good Saison in that it is terrifically refreshing, getting the saliva glands working overtime, with that yeastiness powder coating the tongue as the beer slides down.
This is quite full bodied and has that delicate almost floral spice of the Jasmine adding to the lightness of touch. A beautifully refreshing mouthful from young Mr Hamilton & chums!
- Rum In The Black– Wilson Potter (Middleton) – 4.2% abv – Stout – 500ml – Great Ale Year Round (Bolton Market)
Black, with a milky coffee coloured head and a nose of Chocolate. Sweet and seductive.
Medium bodied, a little sweetness in the mouth gives way swiftly to a more bitter chocolate,smooth and moreish with a slight smoky note in the swallow.
Following mouthfuls give up hints of the rum in the title but with that sweetness surpassed by a lovely gentle bitter hoppy finish.
Another excellent beer from the increasingly impressive Wilson Potter.
- Bristletoe– Bristol Beer Factory (Er,,,,Bristol) – 4.7% abv – Oatmeal Porter – 500ml – Barbeerian (Prestwich)
This is black. No shit Sherlock. It also has a rather attractive beige foam collar and a lovely slightly sweet chocolate & coffee aroma. Mocha if you will. It smells nice and….. “dark”.
Taste wise? The chocolate is almost a given. And it is chocolatey, medium-bodied and smooth from the Oatmeal, the first thing is a slight sweetness from the chocolate which fades to a dry and quite hoppy finish, really satisfying mouthful.
At times, it feels like a little lactic like a Milk Stout – never a bad thing in my particular book. It’s the body and the slight sweetness which reminds me that this is a Porter.
Never had a bad beer from BBF. This continues that streak.
Shortly after this, whilst I was having a late night watching the AFC playoff game, I decided to give something a try. The West Indies Porter by Guinness. I took one mouthful (unfortunately) and poured it down the drain. I wanted to like it. I actually have no problem with Guinness, but it was vile. Just caramel. Try it if you want, after all, I was tempted at £1.50 a bottle for a 6% beer. But remember, you were warned!
May 24 2021
People. Not Pixels – Tom’s Tap – A Day Out in Crewe.
I commute on Public Transport. And my daily commute ain’t short, taking me from Bolton to Manchester Airport and back out again. Nearly 4 hours return. But I see humans from all around the world passing through the Airport Train Station heading out to their eventual UK destination.
In December 2019, I started seeing people arriving at the Airport and entering the train station wearing face masks. Little did I know…..
It would be SO easy to bemoan how hard the last 15 months have been, but, in a way, I’ve seen more of my dear beer friends via Zoom and got to know them better through phone calls, than ever I would have previously. Ideal? No. But you make do. Focus on the positive, look after each other. (All THAT is for the next post!)
This blog – from it’s humble inception 10 years ago – had always tried to focus on the positive. Why change?
When the initial loosening of Lockdown was proposed and dates were floated, we started to plan stuff. Immediately, we booked tables at The Marble Arch for the first post-Lockdown Friday, then built a day around that.
Then we took to thinking about the very next day. And what would feel right.
There are – in truth – very few birthdays that are truly worth marking. But 50 is one of them. And to miss celebrating Chris’s birthday last year was, to put it mildly, a bit of a bastard.
A dear friend – and all round good egg – he’d been clear about what he wanted to do. And most importantly, where to do it. So. In the deliberations about where to go on the first post-Lockdown Saturday, that was decided. Crewe. And Tom’s Tap & Brewhouse.
Importantly, The Tap didn’t open until 3. In addition to that, we (Chris, Jock & Steve) were hungry. In that spirit – and killing two birds with one brick – we headed to Crewe Market Hall. And a recently launched bar “The Crewe Dog”.
Firstly. Food. And the Blue Cheese Burger from Mighty Burger Club was – to put it mildly – bloody lovely. Ordering was a doddle on the app for the venue (I speak for myself!) and the burger was delicious. Unctuous umami loveliness from the blue cheese combined with great beef patties. Gotta do that again. Just after the burger arrived, so did my first beer of the day. Keeping with the theme of the day, Tom’s Tap & Brewhouse Table Beer Kveik. At 3% abv, simultaneously fruitily hopped and bone dry, light, yet with more than enough body to hold the hops. It was a stunning start to the day. And may well be the best beer I’ve had so far this year. (And that’s saying something – Ed)
“The Crewe Dog” had an intriguing selection of beers. From local cask, to a really good keg selection. It looks like it was busy as hell. And I suspect we’ll be back. But onward….
Tom’s Tap & Brewhouse – Thomas Street, Crewe.
I go back a bit with this place. I was quite, quite gutted when the previous occupant – Michelle Shipman and Offbeat Brewery – called it a day. To me, an inspirational brewery, brewing beers (in both cask and bottle) that were in many ways ahead of the curve – certainly in cask. Michelle decided to sell.
And as gutted as I was that she did, I was quite delighted that Sean & Jacqui Ayling (Sean being former brewer at Pig & Porter in Kent) bought it. A leap of faith, a big move from Kent, but I sense that the idea of a self contained business appealed hugely. Sean provided one of the most popular beers at #ISBF6 and supplied for #VISBF (a Sorachi beer that I actually enjoyed!), I already knew he could brew. I was intrigued mostly to see how his beers would fit in Crewe.
And how the bar would look after he’d gone to work on it.
The bar is – quite simply – ace. Now moved from its original location to the back wall and served direct draw from his own self – built cold store, the beers were perfectly chilled. And damned tasty.
The Tap is three roomed. Brewery in unit one is expanding with a recently acquired 10Hl mash tun – something Sean will need once restrictions are lifted, given obvious demand.
The middle unit comprises seating with tables and a small performance area and was fully occupied (within restrictions) on Saturday.
The right hand unit – with the bar also has plenty of seating with a rather comfy leather sofa set – unfortunately taken on our visit!
The beers that I had were uniformly excellent. A fabulously tasty Dry-Hopped Lager, a Trans-pacific Pale, ESB, a magnificent WC IPA (with all the bitterness – see below). To be fair, every beer I’ve had in either draft or can has been excellent.
The Brewery – like many – has adapted over Lockdown. Packaging in can, selling subscription boxes, running incredibly popular Cheese & Beer tastings and also sharing the love with weekly events on Twitch (Caught in a Mash) featuring beers from various loved local breweries. There’s quite the community that Sean & Jacqui have built. With the beer being the social lubricant – precisely as it should be.
It has a genuinely almost US feel to it. A brewery Brewing beers for and served to its own community. And there was a community feel to Saturday with almost all customers being on first name terms with Sean.
Crewe is starting to have a critical mass of decent places to drink. The Hops bar is close by, The Borough Arms at the top of Thomas Street, The Crewe Dog, they are all close by. And a 10 minute walk from Crewe Station. And – to me – Central to all this, Tom’s Tap.
Worth the trip. Get on that train.
We’ll be back. And soon.
By BeersManchester • Uncategorized • 1 • Tags: Beer, Crewe, Crewe Dog, Dry Hopped Lager, ESB, Table Beer Kveik, West Coast IPA