The BeerCast

If you want to get down to the very basics, beer should only really have four ingredients - the near-mythical German Reinheitsgebot purity laws state our favourite drink can only contain water, barley and hops (yeast became the final part of the foursome only when it was discovered). But as anyone who’s stood bemused in an off-licence can tell you, these days there are all kinds of different things in beers. Fruit is a very common (and not entirely unpleasant) addition to ale - whether a Belgian framboise or a pint of the fantastic St. Peter’s Grapefruit Beer. But increasingly, other things are added to the brew to give some interesing results - and some aren’t exactly new ideas, either. Today on the BeerCast we taste four traditional beers with an extra, non-fruit, ingredient. Our first of these is the rather herby Brother Anthony’s Rievaulx Abbey Ale, from Suddaby’s in Malton, North Yorkshire. We then move to Scotland and try two of the Williams Brother’s historical range - Froach Heather Ale, and Kelpie Seaweed Ale. Finally we return to Yorkshire for Naylor’s Ginger Beer, proving once again that you don’t need to have a modern style of beer if you’ve got the right ingredients. On the panel this week with Richard and Shovels is the returning Andy, of Andy & Jess.

 

1. Brother Anthony’s Rievaulx Abbey Ale (4.0%abv)
Suddaby’s (by Brown Cow Brewery, Selby, N Yorks).
500ml glass bottle

The Suddaby family name has gone hand in hand with the North Yorkshire market town of Malton for over a century - Suddabys having been voted “Rural Pub of the Year” by Scarborough CAMRA eight times in nine years. The Suddbay beers, however, are produced under license by the Brown Cow Brewery in Selby, as there are no production facilities in Malton. We sampled their 6% bruiser Old Bob in BeerCast #17, and it brought back a lot of bad memories for panellist Shovels.

Added Ingredient(s) - Honey, Lavender, Lemon Balm

What They Say - “Brother Anthony’s Rievaulx Abbey Ale is brewed with the finest English malt, hops, borage honey, and yeast with a subtle hint of herbs. It marks the 875th anniversary of the founding of the famous Rievaulx Abbey” [Label Tasting Notes]

What We Say…
Andy - I would recommend it to people with a sweet tooth 7
Shovels - As far as honey beers go it’s not bad, down the middle 5
Richard - Smells like cream soda, the herbs are far too subtle 3

2. Fraoch Heather Ale (5.0%abv)
Williams Bros, Alloa Scotland.
500ml glass bottle

In 1986 a Gaelic-speaking man wandered into Bruce Williams’ homebrew shop in Glasgow and began telling him about a recipe for traditional heather ale - “Leann fraoich”. Once the Mr Miyagi/Yoda character had left, Bruce took up the challenge and revived this ancient Scottish beer, testing the results on the visitors to his shop - calling the concoction ‘Fraoch Heather Ale’ (Fraoch being Gaelic for heather). Once he started a brewery with brother Scott, it was an obvious choice for the first product. Heather Ale Ltd eventually became the Williams Bros Brewery - we tried their wonderful Williams Gold way back in BeerCast #2 - but how does this ancient drink compare?

Added Ingredient(s) - Heather

What They Say - “Fraoch has a floral peaty aroma, full malt body, a spicy herbal flavour and a dry wine like finish” [Label Tasting Notes]; “The unique taste of heather flowers is very noticeable in this beer. A fine floral aroma and spicy taste give character to this drinkable speciality beer” [Good Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Richard - Beer then heather comes at you from all directions 6
Shovels - Tastes like a wheat beer mixed with something else 5
Andy - Strong flavour but not a strong character 4

3. Kelpie Seaweed Ale (4.4%abv)
Williams Bros, Alloa Scotland.
500ml glass bottle

The third of the Williams Bros Historic Ales to feature on the BeerCast (as BeerCast #2 also featured Ebulum Elderberry ale) is Kelpie. Named after a mischievously deadly water spirit fond of taking the form of a beautiful white horse, the inventive Alloa siblings mash seaweed into the malted barley. This has some historical significance, as Scottish coastal farmers traditionally planted their crops in seaweed beds, giving an unusual taste to the resultant beer they produced. But will we like it?

Added Ingredient(s) - Argyll seaweed

What They Say - “Kelpie is a rich chocolate ale which has an aroma of fresh seabreeze and a distinctive malty texture” [Label Tasting Notes]

What We Say…
Richard - It’s very nice but you just can’t taste the seaweed 7
Shovels - Smokey, chocolatey, gets better as it warms up 7
Andy - Fantastic colour, it’s more coffeeish than seaweedish 6

4. Naylor’s Ginger Beer (4.4%abv)
Naylor’s Brewery, Keighley, West Yorks.
500ml glass bottle

The old Yorkshire textile town of Keighley is known in beery circles as being the home of the hugely successful Timothy Taylor brewery, but there are others nearby too. The Naylor’s Brewery are based in the nearby village of Crosshills, having started in 2005. They recently launched a range of six beers called Pinnacle, named after a local landmark which features on the label. Their traditional ginger beer isn’t one of these - but the tower still appears on the bottle. It’s a classic British drink, but what does a proper ginger beer taste like?

Added Ingredient(s) - Root Ginger

What They Say - “A mid amber beer, our brewer’s choice Ginger Beer has the addition of fresh ginger root to give a subtle spice flavour” [Label Tasting Notes]

What We Say…
Andy - Would be a great cleansing after dinner drink 7½
Shovels - Subtle ginger spicyness at the end, it’s summery 6½
Richard - Nice but not sure how many of these you could drink 5

BeerCast panel verdict
Kelpie Seaweed Ale (20/30)
Naylor’s Ginger Beer (19/30)
Fraoch Heather Ale (15/30)
Brother Anthony’s Rievaulx Abbey Ale (15/30)

Panellists - (from bottom right) Andy, Richard, Shovels

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #23 - Hold the fruit!
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with our second BeerCast brewery showcase - from the Arran Brewery. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!

Usually on the BeerCast we take a theme for an episode and pick beers from four different producers. But this week we have four from the same brewer, as we showcase some of the ales made by Gloucestershire’s Wickwar Brewery. Founded by Ray Penny in 1990, they began in an old cooper’s shop in Wickwar, ten miles north of Bristol. Since moving to a larger location on the site of the Arnold Perrett&Co Brewery, they have expanded to produce eight regular cask ales, seven seasonals, and eight bottled beers. Our first of these is Cotswold Way, the official beer of the southwestern footpath. We then sample Wickwar’s Brand Oak Bitter, or BOB - the only bottle conditioned ale of the episode. Our third beer is another acronym, IKB, named after the great Victorian engineer Isombard Kingdom Brunel, and we end on a darker note with Mr Perrett’s Traditional Stout, honouring the original Wickwar brewer. On the panel this week with Richard and Shovels are Grooben and the returning Hopmeister Tom - himself a Gloucestershire native. Big thanks to Chris in Bristol for sending us the beers to sample.

1. Cotswold Way (4.2%abv)
Wickwar Brewery, Wickwar.
500ml glass bottle

What They Say - “Winner in it’s class at CAMRA’s Beer of Gloucestershire competition. An excellent choice among drinkers everywhere, no disappointments here. A rich, amber, smooth, well balanced beer with a terrific hoppy finish. If you require succour after rambling along the Cotswold Way, then it has to be the beer of the Cotswolds…” [Official Website] “Amber-coloured, it has a pleasant aroma of pale malt, hop and fruit. Good dry bitterness in the taste with some sweetness. Similar though less sweetness in the finish, with good hop content.” [Good Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Shovels - Subtle flavours going on, I really like it 7½
Grooben - Very malty smell, quite down the line really 5
Richard - Pungent smell and insipid taste, very watery 5
Tom - At best a bad pint of Scotch ale, it could be tinned 3

2. Brand Oak Bitter (BOB) (4.0%abv)
Wickwar Brewery, Wickwar.
500ml glass bottle

What They Say - “A distinct blend of hops, malt and citrus fruits. The slightly sweet taste turns into a fine, dry bitterness with a lasting finish. Very moreish and an award winning classic ale. Our brand leader.” [Official Website] “Amber-coloured, this has a distinctive blend of hop, malt and apple/pear citrus fruits. The slightly sweet taste turns into a fine, dry bitterness, with a smiliar malty-lasting finish.” [Good Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Richard - Genuinely interesting, sharp green smell and taste 6
Shovels - Cooking apple smell, fizzy but not bad at all 6
Grooben - Fizziness and fruitiness, it does taste of pears 6
Tom - Certainly distinctive, it tastes a lot stronger than 4% 5

3. IKB (4.5%abv)
Wickwar Brewery, Wickwar.
500ml glass bottle

What They Say - “Strong in multi-malt flavours, and very well balanced to produce rich fruit flavours of cherry and plum. IKB (Isambard Kindom Brunel) is the latest member of the Wickwar family. Introduced to the portfolio to help celebrate the opening of our new home at the Old Brewery. Engineered to perfection. An award winner in the making!” [Official Website] “A ruby red ale with a complex hop aroma and flavour derived from the use of three hop varieties. Flowery but well balanced.” [Good Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Tom - More of a cherry taste, I could drink a lot of that 8
Shovels - Full-bodied and with lots of flavours going on 8
Grooben - Head and shoulders above the rest 7½
Richard - Dark fruity malt flavours, it’s very nice 7

4. Mr Perrett’s Traditional Stout (5.9%abv)
Wickwar Brewery, Wickwar.
500ml glass bottle

What They Say - “A powerful stout with licorice and chocolate bursting throughout, and a very long finish. Dedicated to Arnold Perrett & Co. who brewed on the same site.” [Official Website] “Aroma and taste of smoky chocolate malts and peppery hops. Dark fruits of black cherry and blackcurrant give hints of sweetness to the dry, quite bitter, slightly spicy, well-balanced beer.” [Good Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Richard - Dark malty taste with lots of fruit coming through 7½
Shovels - Balances bitter and sweet quite nicely 7
Grooben - Nice, but not the expressive taste of other stouts 6½
Tom - I’m not a huge stout fan but this is pleasant enough 6

BeerCast panel verdict
IKB (30½/40)
Mr Perrett’s Traditional Stout (27/40)
Brand Oak Bitter (BOB) (23/40)
Cotswold Way (20½/40)

Panellists - (from top left) Shovels, Tom, Grooben, Richard

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #22 - Oo Arr Wickwar
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with an episode themed around beers with unusual added ingredients that aren’t fruit-based, and in a little longer our second brewery showcase from the Isle of Arran. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!

We always love comments and emails on the BeerCast - thebeercast@googlemail.com - and there are now plenty of other ways to join in the fun (should you wish). We’re all over Facebook, search for our ‘Friends of the BeerCast’ group, and we also have a page on MySpace. Come and be our friend. We’re also fond of LastFM, so if you listen to our podcasts via iTunes, please scrobble us.

If you have no idea what this paragraph means, just have another pint of mild and don’t worry about it…

A few months ago on the BeerCast, we started a new category of post - involving the wonders of beer used as an ingredient rather than a beverage. Predictably called ‘Eating with Beer’, it featured the rather odd onion and ale soup produced by the Yorkshire Provender. Just the other day another suitable mealstuff presented itself, in the form of Waitrose’s Steak & Murphy’s Topcrust Pie. It’s probably been ten years since my last pint of Murphy’s, but in a pie…too good to pass up.

Well, actually it’s not. Described on the box as “tender chunks of braised British steak and button mushrooms in a rich & flavoursome Irish stout gravy, topped with buttery puff pastry” it falls apart totally into a gloopy mess. Why? - it’s not a pie! ‘Topcrust’ it may be, but call me old-fashioned in thinking a pie should also have a bottom and four sides? The puff pastry crumbled into pencil shavings, as puff pastry always does, leaving the stouty gravy to do the talking.

Actually, this is the best part - the steak is nice, although there’s hardly any of it, and the dark gravy really does taste of stout. It contains 12% of the (other) black stuff, and in tremendous legalese the packet says “Murphy’s stout brewed under licence by Inbev on behalf of Heineken, Waitrose is an authorised user thereof”. I’d certainly draw the line at a steak and Heineken pie, that’s for sure.

Anyhow, at 539 calories it’ll put hairs on your chest, just take my advice and fling the lid out of the window and call the thing a stew. It is nice, but it’s not a pie (and I’m from Lancashire, so know what I’m talking about on that subject).