BeerCast #48 – LocoBeers

Our latest podcast revolves around a theme which at first glance may seem tenuous, but actually has a pretty strong connection with British brewing – the railways. The rapid expansions of brewing centres such as Burton-on-Trent were aided by the arrival of the railway to transport barrels to the major population centres of the UK. London’s St Pancras station, for example, had raised tracks to negotiate the Regent’s Canal – creating a huge pillared cellar for storing beer transported from Staffordshire by the Midland Railway. These days, there are heritage railway pub crawls, and many stations have real ale opportunities for the discerning drinker. So our homage to the British railways begins with Wylam Locomotion No1 (5.0%), a pilsner lager named after one of George Stephenson’s Rocket precursors. We then move on to Richmond Station Ale (4.0%) from the Richmond Brewing Company in North Yorkshire, before sampling Wold Top’s train-related A4 Amber (4.4%). Our final beer is a nod to that most famous railway style, as we taste Dent Porter (3.8%) from Dent in Cumbria. Catching a ride on this podcast are driver MrB, ticket collector Grooben, and manning the buffet car, Richard.

1. Locomotion No1 (5.0%abv)
Wylam Brewery, Heddon on the Wall, Tyne and Wear. 500ml glass bottle

Heddon on the Wall is a Northumberland village located nine miles from the centre of Newcastle (the wall being Hadrian’s). Nearby is Wylam – the birthplace of the father of the railways George Stephenson, who built the first public steam railway in the world, the Stockton and Darlington. On this route travelled Locomotion No1, an early prototype of his more famous Rocket steam engine. A few hundred years later, John Boyle and Robin Leighton set up a brewery in Wylam on an old dairy farm in May 2000. They outgrew the original plant in 2006 and expanded to a new facility three times the size in a bespoke barn conversion. They decided to name their pilsner after Stephenson’s Rocket precursor, the ideas for which were formed only a few miles from the brewery site.

What They Say –
“Made with lager and Vienna malts, a lager yeast and with the famous Saaz hop. This continental style beer is traditionally lagered for 3 weeks at1oC to give that distinctive lager style and the flavour of a classic hop.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Low carbonation with a little dryness at the end 7½
Grooben – Smells quite nice, but I think it lacks a little body 6
MrB – I don’t know where it fits with that low carbonation, to me lager is barbecues or holidays 6

2. Richmond Station Ale (4.0%abv)
Richmond Brewing Co, Richmond, North Yorkshire. 500ml glass bottle

Another railway-related brewery opened by two established brewers, the Richmond Brewing Company are much smaller than Wylam, operating from a six barrel microbrewery in a restored station. On the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, the market town of Richmond (Britain’s Great Town of the Year 2009) recently renovated their old station buildings into a tourist centre, with art galleries, cinemas and restaurants. Also on site is a resident microbrewery run by Andy Hamilton and Richard Bowerman, who have a combined 44yrs experience from such notables as Theakstons, John Smiths, Websters and Tennants.

What They Say –
“Richmond Station Ale is a light golden coloured bitter brewed using ale and crystal malts with English hedgerow hops.” [Official Website]

** On opening this one we immediately found strong indications that the beer had gone bad, despite being ‘in date’. We carried on to score it, but we may have to re-sample to get a better indication of Richmond Station Ale. **

What We Say…
Grooben – No body to this at all, it’s such an underpowered beer 4
Richard – You get bitter oakiness then off-tasting flatness 3
MrB – I don’t like this, it tastes like corked Chardonnay 2

3. A4 Amber Ale (4.4%abv)
Wold Top Brewery, Wold Newton, Driffield, East Yorkshire. 500ml glass bottle

The Wold Top Brewery at Wold Newton near Driffield in East Yorkshire was set up by two farming families, the Mellors and the Grays, in 2003. Both families have been growing malting barley for some time, and eventually decided to cut out the middle man and use the barley to make their own beer, sourcing the water from local chalk-filtered reservoirs. They not only set up this micro brewery but also bought a local pub, The Falling Stone in Thwing, as an outlet for their beers. Driffield is the ‘capital of the Wolds’ – the distinctive low rising hills that undulate around East Yorkshire. A4 Amber Ale was launched in 2007 to celebrate the A4 train festival on the North Yorks Moors Railway.

What They Say –
“Tasting Fruity and light with a dry finish, it is made from a combination of Maris Otter malt with Goldings, Styrian and Cascade hops.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Genuinely interesting – elderflower, fruit, hedgerows 7½
MrB – Fruity, refreshing, nice and hoppy, it’s good 7½
Grooben – They’re all juicy tonight, got a lovely apricot aroma 7

4. Dent Porter (3.8%abv)
Dent Brewery, Dent, Cumbria. 500ml glass bottle

Nestling in picturesque Dentdale, in that corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park that is actually in Cumbria, is one of the most remote breweries in the Country. Originally, the intention was to sell Dent beer only at the Sun Inn, but such was its popularity that other landlords in the Dales and Lakes asked for supplies and the brewery was soon operating at capacity. Most of their beers have a sheep theme – their Golden Ale is called Golden Fleece, they do a German-style lager called Rambrau, and past seasonals include Ewe Wants to be a Millionaire, Ewe Let the Dogs Out, and Ali Baabaa. On our last BeerCast podcast, we sampled their best bitter Kamikaze, which ended up with the higest score on the night. Will Dent’s classic British porter do as well?

What They Say –
“A dark classic traditional English porter, with delicate tones of five different malts, a rich smooth head and lingering light bitter after-taste.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – Very well balanced for limited leeway at 3.8% 8
MrB – I prefer my porters to be bitter like this rather than sweet 8
Grooben – Coffee hit at first but it mellows out, although maybe it needs that sweetness in the background 6

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

BeerCast panel verdict
Wold Top A4 Amber (22/30)
Dent Porter (22/30)
Wylam Locomotion No1 (19½/30)
Richmond Station Ale (9/30)

Stay tuned for our next podcast, as we unleash MrB with the BeerCast kitty as he takes the reigns for BeerCast #49 – the MrBCast. Expect hops ahoy….