The BeerCast

BeerCast #24 - Arran Beers

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:08:42 +0000

The BeerCast's second brewery showcase spectacular discovers beers from that jewel in the Firth of Clyde - the Isle of Arran. After the success of our Wickwar special, (ably guided by local boy the Hopmeister), we now travel to the west coast of Scotland in the company of another native BeerCaster, MrB - who knows Arran well. Richard, Shovels and Grooben are also on the panel, and taste Arran Ale (3.8%), Arran Sunset (4.4%), Arran Blonde (5.0%), and finally Arran Dark (4.3%).

The Arran Brewery are based on the eastern side of the island near the main settlement of Brodick. Opened in early 2000 by Richard and Elizabeth Roberts, the company traded strongly to supermarkets and pubs with their well-regarded ales and bitters. However, market forces put the brewery into difficulty, and in May 2008 they called in administrators and ceased production. Happily though, they were rescued and saved from complete closure, and are now back up and running - ensuring one of Scotland's best breweries still survives.

Please keep your emails and comments coming in, we'll return in a couple of weeks with our 25th BeerCast - an edition devoted to traditional German brewing. Stay tuned for details...

thebeercast@googlemail.com
http://beercast.blogspot.com

BeerCast #23 - Hold the Fruit!

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:35:25 +0000

What makes a beer? If you go by the puristic Reinheitsgebot of (pre-yeast) German yore then it can only be three things - water, hops and barley. But realistically you can add pretty much anything to alter the flavour. Many of these 'speciality' beers include fruit - and we've had plenty of fruit beers on the podcast before. But you don't have to restrict yourself to the obvious in the brewing art, and BeerCast 23 sees us sample four beers that have an unusual added ingredient that isn't fruit-based.

Firstly we try a beer brewed for English Heritage by Suddaby's of Malton, North Yorkshire. Brother Anthony's Rievaulx Abbey Ale (4.0%) contains honey, lavender and lemon balm, in the style of historical monastic brews. We then move onto two Scottish beers from the Williams Brothers' traditional ales range, both of which give the secret ingredient away in the title - Fraoch Heather Ale (5.0%) and then Kelpie Seaweed Ale (4.4%). Our final drink of the night is Naylor's Ginger Beer (4.4%) from Keighley in West Yorkshire.

On the BeerCast this week with Richard and Shovels is Andy of Andy and Jess, fresh off the boat from London. We also ponder the mysteries of strange liqueurs, evil killer horses and unfortunate places to live. Join us again in a couple of weeks for another podcast, and until then - happy drinking (whatever's in your beer)...

thebeercast@googlemail.com
http://beercast.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/jkcbryant

BeerCast #22 - Oo Arr Wickwar

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:37:43 +0100

BeerCast contributor Tom the Hopmeister hails from the mighty county of Gloucestershire in the South West, so who better to help judge beers from there? Friend of the BeerCast Chris in Bristol sent us four beers from the Wickwar Brewery, so we make our way through them with Tom as local guide. First up is Cotswold Way (4.2%), the official beer of the footpath of the same name. Then we move to Wickwar's 'Brand Oak Bitter', BOB Original (4.0%), before moving onto another acronym, I.K.B. (4.5%) - honouring the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Finally, we finish on Mr Perrett's Traditional Stout (5.9%), named after the original brewery founder.

On the panel this week with Tom are Richard, Shovels and Grooben. The Gloucestershire facts flow from start to finish, which is useful as half the panel had no idea where it was. Also in this epiosde we test a theory that eating dry white bread in between beers cleans the palate and aids taste comparison. It doesn't.

We'll be back in a couple of weeks with another podcast episode, in the meantime please keep the emails and comments coming in. Cheers!

http://beercast.blogspot.com
thebeercast@googlemail.com

Tom would like to point out that nobody in Gloucestershire says 'Oo Arrr', they say 'Oh Ah' - but he doesn't write this, I do.

BeerCast #21 - USA

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:17:26 +0100

As everybody knows, the legal drinking age in the USA is 21 - and in a totally unplanned co-incidence our podcast of that same number is our first American craft beer special. Spooky. After safely ignoring the mass-produced bilge, we source four quality beers from over the pond - starting out with San Francisco's Anchor Liberty Ale (5.9%), a patriotic brew first created in 1975. Next, we travel inland to Denver for Great Divide's Titan IPA (6.8%), which turns out to be three months out of date. We gamely try it anyway - with interesting results. Our third beer is Boston-based Harpoon's Winter Warmer (5.5%). We finish on another dark brew, back in California for Sierra Nevada's Porter (5.6%).

On the panel this time with Richard and Shovels are Grooben and MrB, both of whom get highly animated, in very different ways. We also discuss the merits of winter beers, and what happens when beers go bad. This episode, you will quickly discover, was recorded in June (as we mention it every two minutes) - we are currently working through a backlog of podcasts and will soon get back to recording new episodes and releasing them with minimal gaps between. Bear with us!

We'll be back in a couple of weeks with another podcast, as Tom the Hopmeister returns and in his honour we sample four beers from his home county of Gloucestershire - all from the Wickwar Brewery. Stay tuned for details, and keep the emails and comments coming in. Cheers!

http://beercast.blogspot.com
thebeercast@googlemail.com

BeerCast #20 - White Rose Beers

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 21:38:31 +0100

BeerCast number twenty travels to the centre of the White Rose County, as we sample two beers from York and two from Harrogate. A snowy Easter trip to these twin genteel tourist meccas produced several good pubs and many decent brews (see our York Pub Guide). Firstly we begin with York Brewery's Yorkshire Terrier (4.2%abv), the flagship ale from the only remaining producer within the city walls. We follow that up with their Centurion Ghost Ale (5.4%) before switching to Harrogate for Daleside's Porter (4.4%), and finishing on Daleside's Chocolate Stout (4.0%).

On the panel this time with Richard and Shovels are the returning MrB and John, who helped score our lowest ever ranked beer last year, and comes back for something better (hopefully). We also discuss poor quality cartoon vehicles, the closing of a much-loved BeerCast haunt, Shovels gives a Mouthchart lesson, and we introduce John and MrB to the wonderful world of chocolate beers.

Big thanks to Faye at the Daleside Brewery for supplying their two beers, and The Bottle on Stonegate in York for the others. We'll be back in a couple of weeks with Podcast 21 - our first American beer special - stay tuned, and until then, happy drinking...