The BeerCast

2009 was a great year for the BeerCast, we managed to get through 63 beers over the space of 16 podcasts, attend several beer festivals, and unleash a few new panellists on the podcasting public. As things wind down over Christmas we’ll be turning our attention towards the turn of the year – which means our annual BeerCast Beer of the Year Show. We tally up the scores achieved by each ale over the last twelve months, and take the four highest scoring away to a secret location for a re-sample. Which beer will follow on from Hop Back Summer Lightning and become our BOTY for 2009? Here are the four contenders.

First up (in order of when we initially scored them), you have to go all the way back to New Year’s Day and a snowy evening in Stockholm. Although our Swedish Special eventually hit the airwaves in March, and having been recorded on an iPhone it sounded like we were lisping underwater, our first finalist made it all the way through the year in the top four placings. Carnegie Baltic Porter 2008 (5.5%) came top of BeerCast 28, despite being brewed by mega-behemoth Carlsberg, who bought its Gothenburg creator Pripps Bryggeri. This sweet, earthy porter scored 32½/40 and thankfully we managed to track some down in the UK for our BOTY show.

Next is the only UK beer that made it through to our final four, the flagship ale from Cornwall’s St Austell Brewery, Tribute (4.2%). This classic English bitter won the highly competitive SouthWest Special of BeerCast 33, which produced several high-scoring beers. Recording a tally of 40½/50, it drew praise for its balance of malt and citrus, including two 9/10 scores. English session ales have traditionally done well in BeerCast BOTY shows, with Coniston Bluebird Bitter and Thwaites Double Century respectively making it through to the first two end of year spectaculars. Neither won though – can the self-styled “Taste of Cornwall” fare better?

Our final two beers hail from over the Atlantic, coming from two heavyweights of the American craft brewing scene. That’s no co-incidence, as smaller-scale producers are very rarely found in the UK. Things are changing though, thanks to importers such as James Clay, and specialist beer retailers like Norfolk’s Beers of Europe, York’s The Bottle, and Edinburgh’s own Cornelius. Our third beer is Stone Ruination IPA (7.7%), a “liquid poem to the glory of the hop” from California. Ruination blasted to the top of our leaderboard (where it remains) in our IPA Battle, BeerCast 36 in July, ending up with a 38/40 score for an almost perfect 95% rating. The balance of hops and alcohol make this truly special, and as it garnered the first ever BeerCast 10 score (from MrB, of course) – it has to be the favourite for our 2009 BOTY show.

The final beer that made it through is also our most recently drunk – coming from last week’s Christmas Special. Anchor’s festive beers have done very well in the past, but their 2009 beer was gazumped in spectacular fashion by Goose Island Christmas Ale 2009 (7.0%). Racking up 25/30 it finished with the second-highest score of the year, ironically bumping Goose Island IPA out of the top four in the process. The Belgian malts and Crystal hops combine for the wintery tastes, and although our panel felt it wasn’t as classically festive as others they tried, it was still head and shoulders above the rest. This could be a dark horse for the title, particularly as a Christmas beer has won previously, Anchor Christmas Ale 2006, won our first ever BOTY show.

So as our list stretches from the afore-mentioned Stone Ruination IPA on 95% down to Dieu du Ciel’s terrifying Péché Mortel coffee-infused imperial stout on 14%, we can look back at another great drinking year on the BeerCast. We’ll be recording the BOTY show at New Year, and it’ll be up sometime within the first couple of weeks of January. Stay tuned for surprises, controversy, and personal highlights, and in the meantime everyone associated with the BeerCast wishes our readers and listeners a fantastic Christmas and New Year, and all the best for 2010.

2008 Beer of the Year Show
2007 Beer of the Year Show

Ho Ho Ho, and Merry Christmas from all at the BeerCast! As with any other time of year, there are no shortage of seasonal ales that can be used to celebrate the festive period, so we’ve collected several for our Christmas Special. This episode is actually our third festive outing, and as with last year we celebrated by ramping up the number of beers. We begin with Naylor’s Santa’s Choice Winter Warmer (4.9%) from Yorkshire, and then move down to Suffolk for St. Peter’s Winter Ale (6.5%). Our third beer follows BeerCast tradition – Anchor’s Our Special Ale 2009 (5.5%), following on from the three previous Christmas vintages that have featured in our podcasts. Next up we sample Bad Elf (6.0%) from the Ridgeway Brewery, before finishing on Goose Island Christmas 2009 (7.0%) from the Chicago-area producers. On the panel for our festive special are Richard, Grooben, and the returning MrB.

1. Santa’s Choice Winter Warmer (4.9%abv)
Naylor’s Brewery, Keighley, West Yorkshire.
500ml glass bottle

Keighley’s Naylor Brewery were founded in 2005 by two long-time friends who decided to purchase and renovate a local pub, the Old White Bear. As their success grew, they outgrew the homely surroundings in Crosshills and had to open a bespoke brewery to keep up with demand. They produce beers under the Naylor’s name, and also a range of Pinnacle beers, named after a local pointy landmark. We sampled their Ginger Beer in BeerCast #23, our unusual ingredient special. Their festive offering might weigh in at under 5%abv, but it’s a self-styled ‘winter warmer’.

What They Say – “Chestnut in colour, with a hint of Christmas fruit and spice. This traditional ale is a real winter warmer” [Official Website]

Label Christmas Rating – 8/10

What We Say…
Grooben – I fail to see how it’s a winter warmer at all 5
Richard – Too watery to be warming, it tastes like a shandy 4
MrB – Santa on the label has a beer – I bet it’s not this one 4

2. St Peter’s Winter Ale (6.5%abv)
St Peter’s Brewery, Bungay, Suffolk.
500ml glass bottle

The small East Anglian village of Bungay used to be renowned for tales of a sinister feral dog called Black Shuck that terrorised it’s medieval inhabitants – but these days thankfully it’s a brewer that has put it back on the map. St Peter’s produce a wide range of beers from their Suffolk base, and supply a single – but outstanding – pub in London, the Jerusalem Tavern (link for our visit). We’ve also featured the brewery on the BeerCast, tasting their Golden Ale in a summery-themed show last year, BeerCast #19. This time we take on their Winter Ale, and see how it compares to others that have also been brewed for the season.

What They Say – “A deep, ruby red strong ale with an excellent balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness. A classic example of a ‘winter warmer’; high in alcohol and rich in taste.” [Official Website]

Label Christmas Rating – 0/10

What We Say…
Richard – Dark, deep and rich, but cloyingly sweet 6
Grooben – That’s some malty business, not for the faint-hearted 5
MrB – Too fizzy, and I don’t associate liquorice with winter 3

3. Our Special Ale 2009 (5.5%abv)
Anchor Brewery, San Francisco, California.
355ml glass bottle

It wouldn’t be a BeerCast Christmas Special without the latest special festive ale from Anchor. Each year they produce a highly secret recipe, slightly different from all previous years – the 2009 vintage is the 35th in the series. The 2006 edition topped our beer rankings for a long time, and was eventually crowned beer of the year in our 2007 Beer of the Year show, (during which we also tasted the 2007 one). The 2008 version also scored well last year, so as ever we have high hopes for the 2009. There are never any tasting notes as the San Francisco concern keep the exact ingredients classified, but expect spices, piney freshness and all kinds of winter flavours.

What They Say – “The Ale’s recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which we offer it remains the same.” [Official Website]

Label Christmas Rating – 3/10

What We Say…
Richard – No cloves or spice, it just tastes of juniper 7
MrB – Very bitter – lemon-juice bitter, not hop bitter 7
Grooben – I would have like a bit more warming spice, I’ve got a vague sense of disappointment 6

4. Bad Elf (6.0%abv)
Ridgeway Brewery, South Stoke, Oxfordshire.
500ml glass bottle

Ridgeway can be loosely pushed into two pigeonholes – as a phoenix brewery, and a cuckoo brewery. They were founded from the ashes of a defunct producer, as ex-Brakspear head brewer Peter Scholey left and managed to start up another company in his own right. He named the new operation Ridgeway, after the ancient upland pathway that meanders along the South Downs, first trod by the Druids. They contract brew, so Peter leases time from brewers with the capacity to spare, most commonly Sussex’s Hepworth. They export a lot of their beers to North America, and revel in the use of elf puns, increasing in strength from Bad Elf through Very Bad Elf, to Insanely Bad Elf.

What They Say – “Olde England meets the New World in this strong, warming golden ale. A generous amount of famous English malt is masterfully balanced with an astounding 45 ounces of fresh hops – including English Cascade – per barrel.” [Official Website]

Label Christmas Rating – 3/10

What We Say…
Grooben – Not a Christmas beer, but it’s the kind of beer I like 7
Richard – Hoppy at the start, then the taste vanishes 6½
MrB – A smoky IPA, smokier than an American pale ale 6

5. Goose Island Christmas 2009 (7.0%abv)
Goose Island Brewing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
750ml glass bottle

Anchor aren’t the only American craft brewer that produce a seasonal beer with slightly varying recipes each year. Chicago veterans Goose Island also put out a festive ale along those lines, and we’re really pleased to have finally tracked down a bottle. The company started off based in a Chicago brewpub, one of the first in the United States, but like Naylor’s Brewery they became too successful for their fledgling space, and had to open larger premises. We delighted in their amazing India Pale Ale (5.9%) in BeerCast #36, our IPA special. In fact, before we started our Christmas Special the IPA was in our top four beers of the year, and heading for the Beer of the Year Show.

What They Say – “Specialty Belgian malts create a deep garnet color and a truly rich old European flavour in our classic Christmas Ale. And the generous amount of crystal hops adds that extra spicy aroma to your pint, perfect for a wintry night.” [Official Website]

Label Christmas Rating – 7/10

What We Say…
MrB – It’s like a special Goose Island IPA, sooo good 9
Richard – Hoppy, bittersweet, smooth, warming, fantastic 8
Grooben – Anchor’s more of a seasonal beer, but this is nicer 8

Panellists – (clockwise from top left) Richard, MrB, Grooben

BeerCast panel verdict
Goose Island Christmas 2009 (25/30)
Anchor Christmas Ale 2009 (20/30)
Ridgeway Bad Elf (19½/30)
St Peter’s Winter Ale (14/30)
Naylor’s Winter Warmer (13/30)

As that concludes our 2009 BeerCast season, stay tuned for the announcement on which four beers have made it through to our Beer of the Year Show in early January. Reigning champion and 2008 BOTY Hop Back Summer Lightning will be displaced…but by what…?

After the Caledonian, Loanhead’s Stewart Brewery are probably the closest producer to BeerCast headquarters in Edinburgh. Throughout the real ale pubs in the city, their beers such as Edinburgh Gold and Copper Cascade are found fairly regularly. Within the last few weeks they have launched a new range of bottle-conditioned beers, so we had to snap a few up to sample. Historically, Stewart have concentrated on cask ales, so their lineup of three new beers (plus Edinburgh Gold) in hand-filled bottles is a welcome change of direction.

Embra (5.0%)
Stewart’s first amber ale pours a hazy, opaque dark orange colour – all of their bottle-conditioned range state that they are ‘naturally cloudy’. It smells hoppy with a slight mustiness from the yeast, but none of the promised fruit aromas. It’s very bitter, the hops really coming out on the palate – Embra has almost a pale ale tang to it. It is quite drinkable at 5% though.

Hollyrood (5.0%)
Hollyrood smells almost exactly like Edinburgh Gold, the grapefruit citrus flavours are really apparent from the off. Comparisons with their other beer continue on the palate, although Holyrood is slightly more bitter in the finish. This one’s pretty hazy too, although a lighter golden colour than the Embra. It’s pretty refreshing though, with the biscuity aftertaste.

St. Giles (5.0%)
Stewart’s newest dark beer is named after the historical kirk that stands on the Royal Mile, and is classed as a ‘smooth, malty contemporary taste of Edinburgh’. It’s got a wonderful aroma to it, roasted malt and a slight smokeyness that comes through like a porter. Highly carbonated, it fizzes away in the glass as the head vanishes. Tasting very similar to a porter, it’s the pick of the bunch and has a great strength of flavour.

We like to run a democratic ship here on the BeerCast, so when panellist Grooben requested a chance to go foraging for beers, we gave him full reign and unlocked his cage. He managed to pull together four ales – all varying styles – so we cobbled together a podcast in his honour. We begin with a gluten-free beer, Green’s Herald (4.0%), to see how these special ales for people with intolerances actually taste. Next we head to the US to sample Juju Ginger Ale (6.0%) from Left Hand Brewing. Our third beer is the first of a BrewDog double-header. The Fraserburgh duo have been much in the news of late, so we try their 1.1% protest beer Nanny State, before we finish on a stronger one brewed in collaboration with San Diego’s Stone Brewery – Bashah Imperial Stout (8.6%). On the panel this time are Richard, Shovels, and of course Grooben.

1. Green’s Herald (4.0%abv)
Green’s Gluten-Free Beers, Shipley, West Yorkshire.
500ml glass bottle

Coelic disease is a very serious disorder of the small intestine whereby sufferers are intolerant to a gluten protein found in wheat. Of course, as a result of this beer is something off-limits to most. However, these days there are a number of producers who create beers specifically for people who can’t drink beer made the traditional way. Green’s of Shipley are one such company, using ‘pseudo-cereals’ such as sorghum, millet and buckwheat instead. They have a range of ales and lagers, including a Belgian-style dubbel and an amber ale. Herald is their English-style bitter, although there’s little information as to exactly what it contains.

What They Say – “Inspired by strong European beers and developed to a closely guarded secret recipe, the specialist beers are brewed with a strong body, crisp taste and a refreshing flavour, losing none of the taste but all of the allergens.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Grooben – There’s a reason why barley was chosen to go in beer 5
Richard – Not particularly nice, tastes as if something’s missing 4½
Shovels – It smells like apple strudel and tastes like cheap cider 3

2. Juju Ginger Ale (4.0%abv)
Left Hand Brewing Co, Longmont, Colorado.
330ml glass bottle

On Christmas Day 1990 Dick Doore was given a homebrew kit as a present by his brother, which began a passion for brewing. Three years later he moved to Colorado and met an old school friend called Eric Wallace. The two of them founded a brewery in November 1993 in a former meat packing factory in Longmont. Naming themselves the Indian Peaks Brewery after some local mountains, they were undone by copyright issues and renamed themselves after local historical Indian chief Niwot – ‘Left Hand’. We sampled their Imperial Stout in BeerCast #34, and this time take on their subtler ginger ale, Juju.

What They Say – “Juju is a pale ale brewed from a relative low gravity, with some of the hops which would normally be used in the beer replaced by freshly ground ginger root. The beer is light in body, lower in alcohol, has a distinct ginger aroma, and has a very crisp finish. It was initially brewed as a refreshing alternative to the plethora of wheat beers which are popular in the summertime. Popular demand turned it into a year round beer.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Sweet, sticky ginger taste, it’s quite smooth 7
Grooben – Toned down a lot, I was expecting sharpness 6½
Richard – Ginger can overpower anything but at least it’s subtle 5

3. Nanny State (1.1%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
330ml glass bottle

There can’t be a more newsworthy brewer in Scotland (or maybe the UK) at the moment than Fraserburgh’s BrewDog. James Watt and Martin Dickie started the operation to counter the establishment, and with regular wacky press releases and PR stunts they are certainly being talked about. Their strong oak-aged imperial stout Tokyo* (18.2%) hit the headlines for it’s hefty abv, so as a two-fingered gesture Martin and James produced a protest beer called Nanny State, which at 1.1% is below the legal classification of beer, and so not subject to duty. This podcast was recorded on the night that James announced he had complained to the alcohol industry watchdog Portman Group about the strength of Tokyo*, in a publicity stunt to highlight what he thought was their double standards. BrewDog have since announced they are producing the world’s strongest beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%). As of 03/12/09 the Portman Group recommended British retailers removed Tokyo* from their shelves.

What They Say – “Nanny State is an extraordinary little beer. It contains more hops than any other beer we have ever brewed. There is over 60 kilos used in our tiny 20HL batch. It contains more hops than any other beer ever brewed in the UK. It has a theoretical IBU of 225. It is jam packed with our favourite hops and already tastes amazing.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Still tasting it even though I finished three minutes ago 6
Grooben – It’s like drinking lemon juice, but isn’t all that bad 6
Richard – I would urge everybody to try it as an experiment – is it a beer? Yes. Is it nice? No 3

4. Bashah (8.6%abv)
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
330ml glass bottle

The second beer from BrewDog on the podcast tonight was brewed in conjuction with one of the heavyweights of the American craft-brewing scene, California’s Stone Brewery. Seeing as they currently top our BeerCast rankings with the peerless Ruination IPA, we were certainly expecting something from their collaboration – a Belgian black double IPA.

What They Say – “This particular beer has refused to succumb to the illusion of meaning or allow capricious parameters to have any influence on it’s own fermented fate.” [Label Tasting Notes]

What We Say…
Richard – Combines a nice strong alcohol kick with sweetness 8
Shovels – Strange one, it’s very hoppy and portery and maybe it should be one and not the other 6
Grooben – It’s a lot to take – I’m just not sure it’s to my taste 5

Panellists – (clockwise from top left) Shovels, Grooben, Richard

BeerCast panel verdict
Bashah (19/30)
Left Hand Juju Ginger Ale (18½/30)
BrewDog Nanny State (15/30)
Green’s Herald Gluten-Free (12½/30)

The delights of a business trip to the heart of the West Midlands can be offset, if you know where to look. Here on the BeerCast we’ve been banging on about the Wellington at Bennet’s Hill for years (see here, here and here). Recently I was back and managed only the most fleeting of trips there, but I did manage to get hold of a couple of local bottles of ale I’d not seen before, to make up for the solitary pint I had time for.

Davenport’s Original Bitter (4.0%)
Highgate Brewery, Walsall

Highgate’s amber ale is bottled on behalf of the revived Davenports brand (the original having closed their Birmingham brewery in 1986), and pours extremely light and clear. Very bitter on the palate with a slight hop finish, it’s drinkable but to be honest not really that special. It would undoubtedly be nicer on cask, as it could mellow out the upfront bitterness a bit. Unfortunately Highgate went into administration last week with debts of over £1m, and although they’ve been purchased by new owners, the outlook is uncertain. They are continuing to brew however, which is something at least. (Publican Link).

Grainstore Ten Fifty (5.0%)
Grainstore Brewery, Rutland

The Grainstore Brewery are fond of their slogans – they take pride in being ‘the largest brewery in the smallest county’ (Rutland being only 18miles by 17miles at it’s longest spans). This gives rise to it’s motto ‘Multum in Parvo’ – ‘Much in Little’. They started in 1995 in an abandoned railway grainstore in Oakham, one of the two towns in Rutland. Ten Fifty is also a bitter, but this one pours with a mid-toffee brown colour and an opaque haziness. It tastes much nicer, with a rounded biscuity, hoppy finish from the Bramling and the tang of the Fuggles. It’s really quite nice and I’d certainly seek it out again.

Dashingly Dark (4.5%)
Derby Brewery, Derby

The pint I managed to knock back at the Wellington was during a wait for a train to the airport – but it was worth it. As ever, the plasma telly beer boards were lit with 15 beers, the majority from producers I’d never sampled before, or even heard of. Warwickshire Winters T’Ale? Morgan’s Gunpowder Ale? Salamander Figaro? I could have consulted one of the battered beer guides there, but the fun is just to charge in and pick one. I fancied a porter, so plumped for tap 13, Derby’s Dashingly Dark (4.5%). Served well, cask ales have no competition with bottled ales, and comparing porters to bitters doesn’t work either. So I’ll just say that DDD was smooth, dark, and had that classic roasted malt backbone with a hint of chocolate to add the sweetness. It was great stuff, and just the thing to take the boredom away from a long wait for a train…