Aug 20 2013
Beavertown Brewery – Meet The Brewer – Port Street Beer House – 19/08/2013
(Welcome to Beavertown!)
I have a confession to make. I am a Beavertown Virgin! Or I was, until Logan Plant (Brewer) and Byron Knight (Ringmaster and hat wearer supreme!) rolled in and rocked up at Port Street last night!
If you’ve never been to one of these events, a brief introduction. For some time now, the guys at Port Street Beer House have periodically, on a Monday evening (when otherwise shut) been inviting some of the best brewers in the UK (and further afield) to come in and showcase their beers. This is done in a structured fashion. You buy a ticket up front (these events ALWAYS sell out!) for which, upon entry, you receive 5 “raffle style” tickets. Each of these entitles you to a sample measure of each of – generally – 5 beers presented by the brewers throughout the evening. The brewers introduce each beer, talk about the genesis of each and give an overall potted history of their business. There!
Having forgotten all about the matchday traffic, then stressing out having got caught up in it, there’s something calming and reassuring about the organisation that Port Street bring to these events. Once I’d obtained my raffle tickets / beer tokens, I was much calmer. Once I had been presented with my first beer (Gamma Ray ) by Jaz, I just knew I was in for a good evening!
The Gamma Ray at 5.4% abv was a hazy gold coloured Pale Ale with a full aroma of mango citrus from the hops (Magnum, Columbus, Bravo & Amarillo), quite full bodied for the strength with loads of resinous piney hop stuff going on! Really fruity & refreshing with a wonderful dry bitter finish. A superb start.
(Logan & Byron – Comedy Superstars!)
Then came the comedy! Logan and Byron bounced off each other all night, on occasion, like Run DMC but powered by hops! They explained their coming together in 2011 and the origin of the brewery being – until recently – attached to and an integral part of Duke’s Brew & Que a BBQ joint on Downham Rd in De Beauvoir Town, Hackney. “Beavertown” coming from the Cockney corruption of their locale. They brew on a 4 Bbl (Beer Barrel = 36 Gallons) kit and after originally having only 4 FVs (Fermenting Vessels) they now – following on from their recent relocation – have treble that number and are brewing 8 (EIGHT) times this week!
Logan apologised for any errors down to tiredness due to their hectic schedule, but he needn’t have worried. Both guys were on fire with the banter. Both obviously passionate about what they do, Logan was introduced as the brewer and Byron as the man behind Duke’s. Showing how integrated both sides of the business are, there were several ideas given for food matching with each beer, something they obviously think carefully about and – more importantly – enjoy hugely.
(Gamma Ray & Barley Champagne Saison)
Next beer up was the Bloody ‘Ell, a blood orange IPA at 7.4% abv arrived at by LOTS of ZESTING! Not an obvious fruit beer and truly more of an IPA. They used 25Kg of blood oranges in this brew with an extra pale malt, handpeeling the zest and adding the squeezed juice at the end of the boil. Byron described how well this went with a Duck a l’Orange burger in Edinburgh (Or Dick a l’Orange – eh Logan?). This beer was another crackling hoppy pale, with the oranges coming through subtly almost like a marmalade essence in there coming through at the end following the zippy and bitter hops. The trick with this, like many of their beers (as I was to discover) is that they taste light, fresh and WELL below their strength!
The third beer (and last of the pales) was Barley Champagne at 8.7% abv, made with a French Saison yeast and Bramley apple juice from their nearest orchard in Kent. A real lightness of touch again here, for me, a gentle yeasty funk with a tart sweetness from the apples coming through. Again a fresh fruity beer with dangerous alcohol levels hidden somewhere! Stronger, but comparable with Ilkley Siberia for me – never a bad thing in my book!
CHOW TIME! Smoky hot dogs fully loaded with slaw, jalapenos, fried onions and mustard. Genius! Just what Dr Beers ordered!
Now sliding across the street to the Dark Side…….
Next up was Black Yeti, a Stout at 5.6% abv. Brewed with one of the brewers from Camden, they used a lot of paler roasted malt in this with a late dump of hops in the boil. Firmly on my home ground with this! Black, smooth, beautifully so. Smoky, lovely bitterness and a substantial coffee note for me. BUT not a coffee bean in sight! Nice dry bitterness in the finish too. A classy beer and a definite winner for me!
Logan quickly talked about the “All Seeing Eye” imagery and the likeness to the imagery on the US Dollar bill. A really clever branding that features – in various twists – on many of their beers. Like Byron said, a “Cease & Desist” from the US Treasury would do their publicity wonders! They are using local artists now for their newer beers coming up with smart individual designs, but always with the pyramid in there. Superb designs that would transfer well to T-Shirts and other merchandise. Byron also related an interesting description of the term Craft Beer mentioned to him by Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery. A beer is “Craft Beer” when you know the brewer!
Imperial Lord Smog Almighty. A Smoked Porter. 10% abv. The biggest abv beer that Beavertown have brewed. A natural extension from another beer “Smog Rocket”. Sounds like it had its historic origins in a collaboration with Brewdog called Catherine’s Pony (named after Catherine The Great – A LEGENDARY fondness for equine capers! Cue LOADS of horsey puns). They take great pride in being the first UK Brewery to collaborate with the Aberdonian Pranksters, rightly so.
Containing more smoked malt, Jaggery, tons of hops (110 IBUs!!!). They had a face off with Brewdog in Shoreditch with this beer and “Kicked Their ASSES!!!”
This is a TREMENDOUS BEER! Oh my! Creamy as a Cornish scone, viscous, oily, quite bitter with sublime coffee notes. Buttered rye toast, a bit of whisky in there too which is surprising as it hadn’t been barrel-aged! Reminded me of one of my all-time favourite porters, Harviestoun Ola Dubh 18, but stronger. What a serious beer this is, but with a wink in the eye and a grin on its face!
One to watch out for will be the collaboration brew with Wild Beer, a sour provisionally titled “Wild Beaver”, coming soon! Maybe one that my buddy Damian O’Shea could get for his stall???
I had a chat with both Logan & Byron. Top blokes who hosted this superbly, confident public speakers who must have had a LOT of recent practice. Came across really well and obviously care hugely about what they do and how it’s perceived, which last night was very well indeed.
Cheers fellas. You busted my Beavertown cherry and put a lop-sided grin on my face! (Or was that the Imperial Lord Smog Almighty?)
Finished off the evening with a beer that wasn’t subject to presentation, the 8 Ball Rye IPA, lovely rich and spicy with even more hoppy goodness! The evening was rendered complete once I’d had a chat with Connor Murphy of the “Beer Battered” blog and the mighty Tyson the Beerhound, even introducing the two! A quick chat with a focus on the recent Tickety Brew / Crabbies nonsense – keep an eye out for this, ‘cos if it doesn’t sort soon, Manchester should make some noise!!!
(Coming Soon!)
Right then, my back is creasing in agony after all this typing, so time to head for the fridge to see what goodies can anaesthetise me!
On that note…’til next time!
Slainte!
Sep 27 2013
Hornbeam Brewery MTB @ The Salford Arms 25/09/2013
So. It’s a Thursday. Also happens to be payday (YAY!). A choice between checking out my new Virginmedia setup, or pop down to The Salford Arms for the MTB with Dentons’ own Hornbeam Brewery. I won’t insult your collective intelligence with the obvious question…….!
A quick (almost telepathic) exchange with Tom revealed that there was no food on. So off to Caribbean Flavas on New Bridge St and possibly the saltiest meal I’ve ever had! Next time, I’ll go for the Jerk rather than curried chicken! It DID promote the thirst though!
Walking back in, there was the reassuring sight of my Arch-Nemesis at the bar. Furnishing me with a pint of Milestone Black Pearl Stout. Gloriously roasted and smooth with lovely notes of toast and mild coffee, we settled down in the front room to await the event.
Quiet. Again. What is WRONG with this picture, eh? A local brewer making an effort to come across town (on a Man U v Liverpool night to boot!) and talk about their excellent beers….an opportunity missed, to say the least!
Kevin Rothwell – the head honcho at Hornbeam – was a most convivial host. He started commercially brewing in 2007 having been a keen “full mash” brewer at home since his teens. Brewing on a (Sketchy memory time alert!) 6 beer barrel plant (1 Bbl = 36 gallons) they brew up to 100 x 9 gallon casks a week, with about 10% or slightly less going into bottles.
In response to a question, Kevin told me that they have distributed pretty much across the whole of the North West, from Lancaster down to Derbyshire. However, now the focus is pretty much on the Greater Manchester area with a number of regular accounts. Whilst talking, Kevin was popping bottles…..first up was a taste of Black Coral Stout.
A fruity dark beer with a good roasted malt body. Nice dark fruity notes with a hint of damson or plum. A very nice starter, but destined to be the only dark of the evening!
Another couple of people came in (Aussie couple that were also there last week) making a grand total of 4. We had a good chat around beer and sport, then Kevin broke out the White Swan. At 4.6% abv, this is a Wheat beer made with an unusual addition. Lavender. Bizarrely, this very pale golden beer had a distinct ginger note on the nose! really refreshing medium bodied beer with a really pronounced floral character. Unusual and damned tasty!
I was trying to make notes whilst the beers were coming fast! I could barely keep up! (No. Don’t weep for me. I can cope!)
Next came Lemon Blossom at 4.1% abv. Brewed using the Sorachi Ace hop, this was again pale gold in colour with a delicate floral aroma. A distinct lemon note (a Sorachi characteristic) in this clean easy drinking beer. Nice bitter finish with spicy hop note too.
Next came the Summer IPA again at 4.6% abv. Golden with a savoury aroma that I couldn’t quite pick. Quite fruity this, a little floral with a tinge of spiciness. Nice bitter and spicy finish.
“Hard on the heels” came the Champagne Ale. 4% abv. Another golden beer but this time more dry and a pronounced bitterness to it. Light bodied and really refreshing, with a nicely dry slightly grassy bitter finish.
On the bottle front, we finished up with one of the core range. Top Hop. 4.2% abv, with more of a deep golden hue. A more straightforward example of a traditional bitter, but full flavoured really fruity hopped with a cracking dry finish.
Whilst drinking these latter beers, Ken, one of the owners joined us. Asking a few questions himself, he was also puzzled at the attendance and I think, if there are further events after Deeply Vale next week, they may be on a different evening to encourage a greater attendance. Chaeck out their website via the link above. Nice bottle shop.
Ken then popped in with this little beauty!
A cracking little tapas platter, highlighting the good food being prepared here. Really tasty with the mussels, a seafood paella and a mini burger. Went superbly with the Top Hop and Champagne Ale!
The nemesis and I couldn’t leave without the Orange Blossom on cask, could we? This is a lovely golden beer with some subtle earthy hops in the aroma. Dry, with some subtle orangey stuff going on at the back of the tongue. Nice dry and grassy bitter finish.
The theme of the evening? Other than my whining about the poor turnout? Tremendous well-balanced and tasty beers. All at a drinkable strength. Made with having more than one in mind. No bad thing to me. Another brewer from our beloved area making balanced tasty beers at a drinkable strength, alongside the likes of Wilson Potter and Privateer. Nice to see all these brewers thriving in this great city of ours!
We wandered off to other pastures! Absolutely SCANDALOUS on a school night. But hey-ho! I had got wind of some nice beers at Pie & Ale on Lever St so off we strode across the Northern Quarter.
(pic: creativetourist.com)
Pie and Ale by Bakerie. A relatively recent addition to the thriving Northern Quarter scene, this places loses nothing compared to some of the more established NQ bars. The price upped a notch in here, but for what I had in mind, that was no issue! (And the Nemesis was paying!!!) Obsidian from The Hop Studio in the fine city of York. A cracking Black IPA at 5% abv. Lovely sharp sherbet grapefruit nose, with coffee notes in with the citrussy hops. A cracking pint. On the basis of the occasions that I have had this, one of the best beers I’ve had this year!
I do like Pie & Ale. No food this evening (being 9 ish) but great pies, having had the pleasure previously!
I couldn’t resist thee siren call emanating from the area of Port St!
A belting chat with Al behind the bar, excellent barman who’s a keen home brewer. A kindred spirit in many ways, we shared our horror and disbelief at ale bars with no ale (Lower Turks take note!) over a pint of Graveyard Eyes Porter from Hopcraft Brewery from Pontyclun in South Wales. I do like Sorachi Ace in a dark beer. It adds a certain lightness and lifts what can be a heavy flavour into something much lighter. This was a cracker. The usual roasted character of Porter, quite creamy as well, but the Sorachi Ace…….yum! First time from this brewer for me. Will NOT be the last!
So. Nearing bedtime on this fine Thursday evening, I’m off to recline with a good book and a glass of DOC by First Chop. Damned tasty too….that review can wait!
On that note…’til next time…
Slainte!
By BeersManchester • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: Bakerie, Black Coral, Black IPA, Black Pearl, Champagne Ale, Graveyard Eyes, Hopcraft Brewing, Hornbeam Brewery, Lemon Blossom, Milestone Brewing, Obsidian, Orange Blossom, Pie and Ale, Port Street Beer House, Porter, Stout, Summer IPA, The Hop Studio, The Salford Arms, Top Hop, White Swan