The BeerCast

“A BeerCast of all the talents”

“Ask not what The BeerCast can do for you, but what you can do for The BeerCast”

“We have nothing to fear but beer itself”

These are just a few of the inspirational quotes from (then minister) Richard’s call to arms when he took the high office of BeerCaster in chief in the summer of 2007. It was with this spirit of public service, that the London constituents of The BeerCast sat down to record our thoughts on The BeerCast’s Beers of the Year 2008 (or BOTY for short).

This was our first BeerCast flying solo. The professionals up in Edinburgh have perfected the art of pre-recording warm-up beers, and so we started off a little stilted but we soon loosened up (especially after the Hardcore IPA!) and started to meander wildly off-topic, as is the BeerCast way.

We only managed to source 3 of the 4 BOTY beers and so decided to throw in a random 4th beer for fun, with surprising consequences. Listen out for factiods from BeerCast first timer Francis Booth, meanderings into BeerCast favorite topic - labels, musings on hampster bedding and what exactly is a ‘two stemmed glass’?

1. Theakston XB (4.5%abv) 500ml glass bottle
Theakstons Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire.
BeerCast#17 scored 25½/30 (85%) 19th Jun 2008
Originally tasted by Tom 9; Shovels 8½; Richard 8

Jess - I’ve got no complaints 7
Francis - Tastes like a 9 volt battery 7
Andy - It’s fine, but it’s not bowling me over 5

2. Summer Lightning (5.0%abv) 500ml glass bottle
The Hop Back Brewery, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
BeerCast #19 scored 27/30 (90%) 4th Aug 2008
Originally tasted by Shovels 9; Grooben 9; Richard 9

Francis - Less complex than XB, but perfect for summer 6
Andy - Zesty, but slightly watery 7
Jess - I find it very bitter 5

3. BrewDog Hardcore IPA (9.0%abv) 660ml glass bottle
BrewDog, Fraserburgh, Scotland.
BeerCast#15 scored 33½/40 (84%) 27th Apr 2008
Originally tasted by MrB 9½; Richard 9; Grooben 8; Shovels 7

Francis - It’s a bit syrupy, i see what they’re doing though 8
Jess - I find it too sweet, you can feel it on your teeth 4
Andy - I quite like it actually, but it’s a bit full on 7

4. Ridgeway Blue (5.0%abv) 500ml glass bottle
Ridgeway Brewing, South Stoke, England

What They Say - ”Bottled. Copper colour with small white head. Aroma is sweet fruity hops at first, then turns quite earthy and grassy. Flavour is very dull fruity, grassy, earthy and some butter & yeasty notes. Not very pleasant.” [ratebeer.net]

What We Say…
Jess - Ahh, this is lovely 8
Andy - Fruity and refreshing, but i preferred Summer Lightning  6
Francis - This would dovetail with my evening nicely 8

Panellists - (from top left) Andy, Francis, Jess

• Listen to the episode here:BeerCast #29 - London BOTY extra
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

BeerCasting is a fine art and the London branch has just set up it’s easel.

We disagreed with Edinburgh HQ on the beers, scored them even though Richard told us not to and ended up almost unable to speak. It was a thoroughly enjoyable 40 mins though, i hope you enjoy it too and we’ll be back with some more very soon.

Well there we are, it’s happened, the beercast is on twitter.

Now i’m as web 2.0 as the next man, not quite as much perhaps as beercast panellist Elliot Jay-2.0-Stocks but you can see from the top right there, the beercast has it’s fingers in most of the web’s 2.0′y pies.

I have to be honest though, i saw little point in twitter, and in fact i didn’t see it appealing to many folks outside it’s hardcore early-adopter web design base.

Although twitter has not released official statistics for the number of registered or active users it’s safe to say it’s in the several millions and recently seems to have captured the attention of mainstream press/politicians/public.

So, the beercast, never one to shy from the new frontier has dived (dove? diven?) into the whirling text pool of tweets and twits to further extend our multi-platform brand extension policy and synergise our drill-down leverage into maybe 2 or 3 more page hits per day.

What do you say? Are you with us! If so follow us @thebeercast and i’ll post back here in a week with an update on how we’re doing.

Andy

At heart, we’re a British beer website that tries to get through as much local real ale as we can. Of course, when we get the opportunity to stretch our collective legs we’re away like a shot. Over the recent New Year period, a small band of BeerCasters took an hour long flight over to Stockholm to see how the Scandinavians do beer. As it turns out, they do it quite well, although somewhat expensively. While there, we recorded an impromptu podcast - so after a trip to the state run Systembolaget on Klarabergsgaten we ended up with four homegrown Swedish real ales. On the testing table were Oppigårds Golden Ale (5.2%) from the brewery of the same name in Hedemora, Nils Oscar’s India Ale (5.3%), Åbro Sigill III (5.2%) from AB Åbro in Vimmerby, and Carnegie Porter 2008 (5.5%) from, erm, Carlsberg. The lucky foursome on site were Richard, Shovels, Andy and Jess.

1. Oppigårds Golden Ale (5.2%abv)
Oppigårds Bryggeri AB, Ingvallsbenning, Hedemora.
330ml glass bottle

Oppigårds brew in the small city of Hedemora in central Sweden. The Golden Ale we got hold of was the first beer they produced in the range, which includes stouts, IPA’s and winter ales. This particular one - not exactly suited for a -14°C January evening - contains Target hops for bitterness, with Goldings and Cascade hops for aroma. Or at least, that’s what I think the Swedish paragraph below says. One minor point - Oppigårds Golden Ale is the 100th beer sampled on the BeerCast…

What They Say - “Oppigårds Golden Ale är ett utmärkt puböl men har också blivit en populär matöl. Golden Ale karktäriseras av en ren maltsmak och medelstor kropp med medelstor beska och utpräglad humlearom från Goldings och Cascade. Denna öl säljs i Systembolagets ordinarie sortiment.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard - Different to British golden ales, although it’s light 8½
Shovels - I like the hoppiness, it doesn’t taste as strong as 5.2% 8
Jess - Smells very nice, this is definately my kind of thing 7
Andy - Looks light but tastes strong, I’m not really sure what to make of it 5

2. Nils Oscar India Ale (5.3%abv)
Nils Oscar Company AB, Nyköping, Södermanland.
330ml glass bottle

Nils Oscar were founded in 1996 and named after a distant relative Nils Oscar Sunderberg, who was born in 1865 and has his picture proudly displayed on each bottle. They put out a huge and varied range of different beers, such as IPA’s, dark porters, barley wines and a festive Kalasjulöl. Back in mid-2008 Lagerboy discovered their God Lager and was rather taken with it. Will our panel similarly enjoy their India Ale?

What They Say - “Förutom att efterfrågan varit stor och alla lovord från våra högt värderade ölkonsumenter så har Nils Oscar India Ale även erhållit en rad utmärkelser. India Ale passar utmärkt till alla typer av mat men kan givetvis även drickas enbart för njutningens skull!” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels - Darker and with more body, it’s just as good 8
Andy - More body and flavour with a nice aromatic smell 7
Richard - The strength overwhelms other aspects of the beer 6½
Jess - I find it a bit heavy on my palate but I don’t hate it 6

3. Åbro Sigill III (5.2%abv)
AB Åbro Bryggeri, Vimmerby, Småland.
330ml glass bottle

Founded in 1861 by Per Luthander in Småland, Åbro Sigill produce beer, water, cider and soft drinks. They are currently managed by the fourth generation of the Dunge family - under whose leadership the brewery increased market share from 1% in 1988 to 10% today. Their website lists the sixteen different brews they currently produce, most of them light and hoppy European beers. Sigill translates as ‘Seal’ - which explains the old-style wax seal picture on the label, if not exactly why it is there.

What They Say - “Åbro Sigill is a flavourful, quality beer where we have made a thorough selection of raw materials in order to create a well balanced lager. We have taken into consideration the quality and taste experience in the beer, which is balanced in sweetness and bitterness.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard - Not much at first, then a bland lagerish aftertaste 5
Andy - I don’t smell or taste much apart from an odd aftertaste 4
Jess - Awful smell and it tastes strangely of cheap wine 3
Shovels - It smells of stale sick and is really awful 3

4. Carnegie Starkporter 2008 (5.5%abv)
Carlsberg Sverige AB.
500ml glass bottle

Carnegie Baltic Porter was first produced in 1836 by the Pripps brewery of Gothenberg, and was a stronger Scandinavian take on the British porters that made it over the choppy seas. Baltic Porters are ‘deep, dense, thoughtful beers’ according to this article in All About Beer magazine, as they are a hybrid of different styles of dark beer. The one located by our panel is now brewed by the Danish giants Carlsberg, as they bought out Pripps but continue to brew their beers using the trademark.

What They Say - “Carnegie Starkporter är Sveriges äldsta ännu använda varumärke. Smakrik, fruktig och med en tydligt rostad ton och stor beska. Inslag av karamelliserat socker, kaffe och choklad. Carnegie Starkporter kan lagras upp till 10 år. När den lagras mjuknar smaken och aromenens komplexitet ökar.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Jess - I really like the almost earthy taste, it’s fantastic 9
Shovels - Sweeter than most porters, it’s a dark winter taste 8½
Andy - Smoother than UK porters as there’s no burnt caramel 8
Richard - Almost tastes like a lagered-down porter, but it’s nice 7

BeerCast panel verdict
Carnegie Starkporter 2008 (32½/40)
Oppigårds Golden Ale (28½/40)
Nils Oscar India Ale (27½/40)
Åbro Sigill III (15/40)

Panellists - (from top left) Andy, Jess, Richard, Shovels

• Listen to the episode here:BeerCast #28 - Swedish Special
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

Please bear with us for this episode - it was recorded on an iPhone and is rather scratchy quality-wise. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with our second BeerCast Beer of the Year Show for 2008 - as our London panel get to grips with last year’s final foursome. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!

We’ve been considering for a while the idea of recording a podcast involving canned beer rather than bottled - although we’ve not managed one as yet. In late 2007 I was in Japan and picked up four cans of interesting-looking jibiru with a view to recording our first ever canned episode. But it always seemed to slip away and we’d be onto something else more exciting instead - including two bottled Japanese specials (BeerCast 7 and BeerCast 18). So the metalbound foursome remained in the back of my cupboard. Recently though I’ve been wondering what exactly they would taste like being so far out of date. Well, there’s only one way to find out I guess. I doubted any of the other panellists would have been up for this one, so this is a solo blog post rather than a podcast. Thankfully…

1. Suntory MALT’S (5.0%abv) 330ml can
Suntory, Katsura, Kyoto.
Best Before Date: April 2008

Suntory’s Katsura plant in greater Kyoto produce several of their mainstay beers, such as Suntory SUPER HOPS and Suntory MALT’S (sic). Being the largest alcohol producer in the country they must know a thing or two about the stuff. Mind you, according to their website they are also involved in “pharmaceuticals, restaurant operation, sports, music and film, resort development, publishing and information services.”

What They Say - “Made with 100% malt and 100% natural water, and bringing out the full fragrance of the finest quality aroma hops, MALT’S has been received huge acclaim from beer lovers.” [Official Website]

What it’s Like…
It pours very frothily at first but then totally loses the head (not surprisingly). There’s a couple of faint trails of carbonation rising, but it tastes very flat. Colour is slightly cloudy straw, vaguely urine-like quality, and it smells of damp hay that has lain too long in a stable. Tastewise, it’s like drinking a dead pint from a long-abandoned table at closing time. No discernable alcohol, and a long malty aftertaste. Or should that be a long MALT’Y aftertaste?

2. Ginga Kogen Weizen Beer (5.0%abv) 330ml can
Ginga Kogen Brewery, Sawauchi, Iwate Prefecture.
Best Before Date: November 2007

Ginga Kogen started in 1996, and the preparatory members visited the beer producers of Germany before building the brewery, drinking 80 kinds of beer in one week. Iwate apparently has a similar climate to Bavaria too, so you’d expect the odd wheatbeer to feature in their range. They named the brewery after the recurring galaxy themes of local poet Kenji Miyazawa, and are situated near the wonderfully named Oouu Mountains. One for Scrabble fans there.

What They Say - “Enjoy and taste live yeast. Refrigerated and delivered fresh from our brewery on the tablelands. The fruity aroma and rich flavour is original to Ginga Kogen.” [Official Website]

What it’s Like…
If there’s one thing that would be interesting 16 months after expiry date, it would be live yeast - this particular one is an unfiltered hefeweizen. It froths up spectacularly and was almost totally cloudy, I could hardly see my hand behind the glass. Looking like a stagnant pond (although thankfully not green), the small grey clumps of yeast slowly spiralled their way to the bottom through the dark golden suspension. Remarkably, it tastes like a regular wheatbeer - albeit slightly vinegary towards the end. It lingers quite a lot and isn’t that nice - but is that because it’s out of date or because it’s a wheatbeer?

3. Kirin Ichiban Shibori Stout (5.0%abv) 330ml can
Kirin, Yokohama.
Best Before Date: May 2008

Kirin - now owned by Mitsubishi - are another of Japan’s largest brewers. But they were actually founded by a Norwegian, Johan Martinius Thoresen, who opened Yokohama’s Spring Valley Brewery in 1869. Sadly he sold up when his wife died, but the concern was re-opened and by 1888 renamed Kirin after the half-horse half-dragon creature from Chinese mythology. Thoresen died in 1901, and Kirin employees still leave tins of beer at his grave. Despite the name, Ichiban Shibori Stout isn’t a stout - it’s a dark lager they first released in 2007.

What They Say - “Just taste Ichibanshibori Stout. The first wort gives a marvellously deep taste. The aroma of roasted malt and smooth creamy foam enrich your precious time.” [Official Website]

What it’s Like…
Well my time is precious, there’s no doubt about that - otherwise why would I be drinking expired tins of Japanese beer on a cold March night? This one looks like a slightly darker glass of Coca Cola and is impossible to see through. The smell is intriguingly of dark treacle, but the taste is a highly unpleasant burnt metallic coffee with hints of cigarettes. Massive coffee aftertaste. One to avoid, as I get the feeling it was probably like this when fresh from the brew copper.

4. Tokyo Black (5.0%abv) 330ml can
Yo-Ho Brewery, Nagano.
Best Before Date: January 2008

Yo-Ho are based in Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture, and unlike the behemoths of Suntory and Kirin are one of Japan’s leading microbreweries. They produce a few beers, notably Yona Yona Real Ale - which I tried unsuccessfully to find on cask when I was over there - and their ‘chocolatey porter’, Tokyo Black. If nothing else, it has a fantastic label - a Sumo wrestler staring challengingly up at the moon, hiding behind a big grey cloud. Nagano is the only city in the world to have hosted events at both a summer and winter Olympic games, if you were wondering.

What They Say - “Tokyo Black is the second brand at Yo-Ho. A robust porter, well balanced between the malt and the hops. The complex chocolate and roast flavours of dark specialty malts are combined with a floral and slightly spiciness from Perle hops.” [Official Website]

What it’s Like…
This one looks like a proper porter straight away - with a lovely thick dark cream-coloured head, similar to opening a bottle of old-style Guinness. Not as strong as the Kirin, it has it’s own rather odd porter flavours. There’s an almost smoked cheese taste at first, which thankfully gives way to dark tangy malts and portery backgrounds. This one’s pretty interesting, and given it’s a year out of date, not at all bad.

Look out for a proper canned BeerCast sometime soon. If you’d like to suggest possible entrants - send us an email to thebeercast@googlemail.com…