BeerCast #23 – Hold the fruit!

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 – Fraoch 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!