The BeerCast

Beer may be a universal product, but travelling overseas and seeing a foreign country through the eyes of its beer drinkers makes you realise how different things can be. That those eyes are bloodshot and sleep-deprived is par for the course – boy, do Germans like a beer. Of course, even before I went to Berlin I knew that, but spending several days there (on my first real trip to Germany) certainly reinforced that particular stereotype.

I’ll be writing in detail about those differences – between the German drinker and the British (or rather, the modern British) drinker in another post – along with my introduction to the wonders of Berliner Weisse. But our first Berlin post highlights Brauhaus Spandau – as good a personal introduction to the spirit of German brewing as one could hope for. I loved Spandau – travelling there as a ‘beer treat’ became a highlight of the trip for my girlfriend and I, as we ended up spending eight hours there.

To find it, take the S9 from Berlin city centre (or the U7 to Altstadt Spandau, which is closer). Walk up past the red town hall and the modern church of St Nikolai, and hopefully the tall redbrick chimney of the brewery should guide you in, over the dual carriageway. For the first-timer like myself, the Brauhaus ticks every box – large outdoor beer garden, busy but well-organised bar, huge plates of sausage. The brewing equipment seems to be woven into the building, with two giant coppers behind the bar. A wrong-turn to the toilet led to a foaming bath of beer in the conditioning room, frothing away gently.

The staff each operate a small area of the garden, or the inside – I’m not even sure you can be served at the bar, it seems to be table service only. They are friendly and very efficient, each of our beer orders arrived extremely quickly, and thankfully a minimum of fuss was made when my credit card was rejected (an issue that also gave me the chance to go behind the bar, albeit only to stab another four digits into a different machine). On a random chilly Thursday the inside of the Brauhaus filled up pretty quickly.

Don’t expect Flanders-esque wooden-backed menus – they only make two beers at any given time. No agonising choices to be made here. Have one, then the other. Their regular is Spandauer Havelbräu Hell – an unfiltered lager. Each month, a special is also produced – which for April is Spandauer Schwartzbier. A bottled wheat beer is also offered, as is home-made schnapps (which can also be added to either of the beers to generate a fairly lethal Spandaubomb).

Admittedly I was on holiday, and generally bright of mood, but I found both of the beers to be outstanding. The lager (pictured above) had a beautiful grassy lemon flavour, with the unfined yeast only playing a small role in the flavour – unlike many unfined beers over here – coming across as a faint marzipan sweetness. The Schwartzbier was even better – deep, sweet chocolate with an ashy bitterness on the finish. Both were superbly smooth, drinkable – and pretty dangerous at over 5% (as we discovered later).

There may well be nicer beer gardens in Berlin – and probably better brewers in and around the city, too. Sadly we never made it to Eschenbrau or Sudstern (we did go to Prater, which will be another post this week). Spandau may be a trip out of the centre, but it’s absolutely and utterly worth it.

Brauhaus Spandau
Neuendorfer Strasse 1
Spandau, Berlin 13585
(030) 353 907
Website

‘Gastro’ is often the dirty prefix when it comes to lovers of traditional pubs – signifying the changing of the guard, unpronounceable bar snacks and cold, insipid beer. The reality, of course, is that there are plenty of outstanding gastropubs out there – just as there are many run of the mill examples, and a few shockers. Stripping back the floors to bare boards and throwing in mismatched furniture is no guarantee of success – but neither does it mean the pub will have become uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

Pub goers in Islington may well be more familiar with the concept than drinkers elsewhere in the country, but for the Gastro-curious I would recommend without hesitation the Drapers Arms in Barnsbury. The large blue/grey frontage sits flush with the extremely dapper three-story townhouses that line the roads of this part of London (I’d also suggest a wander around the nearby Lonsdale Square to get an idea of the neighbourhood). Where the three doors used to lead to different parts of the pub, they now all open directly onto the open-plan dining area.

If just reading that paragraph causes you to tut and shake your head wistfully, then fair enough – I can sympathise with the very many pubs ruined by having original features removed. But in the case of the Drapers – any changes they have made fit with the building, and really work. The large green wooden bar looks great, as does the upstairs dining room and the beer garden out the back. The toilets even have Belfast sinks and quilted toilet paper*, with the walls adorned with old painting and sketches of the exterior.

Gastro obviously pertains to food – but many of these pubs have great beers on as well – such as the Drapers three handpulls. During our visit Dark Star’s original Dark Star was flying out, and with good reason. I knocked back three pints before I really knew what was happening. As the pub began to fill up, we ordered some food and ended up with a superb steak and kidney pie, which took over half an hour as it was cooked from scratch in the oven.

So if your much-loved spit n’ sawdust local was swallowed up by the late 90′s Gastropub revolution, I feel your pain. But – like footballers who play for the ‘big four’ – they can’t all be bad. Take that chip off your shoulder and replace it with a bowl of chunky ones, cooked in goose fat. Take a punt on a haggis scotch egg (as seen on the bar snack menu). At the end of the day, we’re all the same – as long as good beer’s involved, we can be gastro. Go to the Drapers Arms – you won’t regret it.

Drapers Arms website

* Yes, quilted toilet paper. In a pub.

Landlord Steve (with arm in cast) outside the City Arms

Manchester has no shortage of decent places in which to get a few pints – the Marble Arch is becoming renowned far and wide for its microbrewery, and the Port Street Beer House has a selection that guarantees pretty much anybody will find something to drink. But if you head southwest of these two new institutions, through the small Chinatown and past the art gallery, there’s a classic, two-roomed public house called the City Arms.

Shoehorned in between two other pubs, it looks almost like the smallest brother being forced to line up for a photo. Are there any other places where three sit side-by-side on a quiet city backstreet? The Vine Inn and a large Wetherspoons don’t seem to take away any of the punters – on my visit people were queuing outside on a weekday ready for the noon opening* – and after the bolts were drawn back it got busy fairly quickly.

In part, this is due to the size. The City Arms has two rooms – the rear lounge is sunk down a couple of steps – and both are fairly snug in size. It’s clearly popular with the local office workers – another reason why it gets busy. The beer range is good too, although the pub is tied to Punch, landlord Steve Crook manages to mix and match to get a range of things on the eight handpulls.

Steve’s extremely amiable, and knows my old man well (as he drinks his bodyweight in bitter there every month or so). The three of us had a long chat about various Scottish beers he’s had on, and how they fared with the regulars. During our visit – which coincided with the SIBA Great Northern Beer Festival – Steve was taking an unforced break (if you’ll pardon the pun) from licensee duties, after trapping an arm between two casks in the cellar.

I liked the City Arms immediately – it’s extremely welcoming, the beer is good (I went for a couple of lunchtime-friendly 3.6% pints of Red Squirrel Red Tail) – and most importantly, it feels relaxed. With glass office buildings opposite, not to mention the two hulking neighbours, it would be easy to be crowded out – or worse, overlooked – but the City Arms is a great pub that does everything well, and makes you feel the better for it.

*Ok, admittedly I was at the front of the queue

The City Arms
48 Kennedy Street, Manchester M2 4BQ
Tel: 0161 236 4610

“Hang on…that can’t be it, can it?”

For the final London highlight this week, we follow on the heels of Tuesday’s post and explore another of the capital’s hot new hangouts – the Euston Tap. Located in an old doric arch near the main entrance of Euston station, it’s extremely easy to miss – as you can see from the photo. But inside this Tardis of beer, the cool, quiet interior reveals a fantastic surprise. Eight cask ales and nineteen keg beers, with a huge bottled selection – the choice at the Tap is wonderful.

It must get incredibly busy, being so small, but when I was there everything was very relaxed. It almost felt like a station waiting room, with the silent introspection of the few customers, sitting on leather chairs around the outside of the central bar. Green tiles are everywhere, as are wallcharts about beer, tasting wheels, and old blueprints of the arch. A spiral staircase in the corner heads up to the top room – and there’s also plenty of seating outside.

The Tap feels like a station bar should – a place to grab something hurriedly, or one to relax for a while between connections. Making a beer selection if you were in a hurry could be tricky, however – particularly as when I was there a few of the taps were off, or out of service. Not that it matters, just scanning the fridges would take you half an hour or so – which is how I ended up with the Kernel’s Super Alpha Pacific Jade – a magnificent, sticky, orange IPA. In fact, so orangey it became, it reminded me somewhat of drinking Fanta.

Next up I went for a brown ale – a style I really love, whether it be the sweet hoppy American versions, or the malty, leathery British style. Anchor’s Breckles Brown is firmly in the first of these camps – the malt is there, but so is a glassful of brown sugar and raisins. I was lucky to get some, as it dribbled out of the font like the cocked leg of elderly dog, and was clearly about to go the way of most of the other MIA beers. I’m glad I got to try it, the malts really came through as it warmed.

So two great beers over a quick half-hour visit to the Tap, before wandering off to get my train. Great station bars are making a revival (indeed in Yorkshire and East Lancashire they never went away), with the opening of similar ‘Taps’ in Sheffield, Cambridge and York. There’s no need to resort to a can of John Smith’s Smoothflow with a platform-side selection as remarkable as found in those places. We may even be near the time when drinkers visit the station, but don’t actually go anywhere…

The Euston Tap is found at the west side of Euston Square Gardens, just outside the station – or a five minute walk from King’s Cross for east-coasters such as the BeerCast. Visit their website for details, or you can follow their twitter feed for daily information as to what’s on. That’s it for London week on the BeerCast – until our next visit…

Stand by next week for an important announcement, as the BeerCast take the moral highground for the month of October…

Our previous post talked about the continuing rise of London as a top European drinking destination, but we really need to justify that with a few examples. So, each day this week, we’ll be featuring a new or outstanding (or both) location in the city. Somewhere that fits both of these categories is the Craft Beer Co – it opened in June, and very quickly became an integral part of the London beer scene. The reason why becomes immediately obvious when you walk through the door, as you are greeted by an astonishing array of choice.

Fifteen cask ales. Twenty-one keg beers. Dozens of bottles. Sour beers. House lager brewed for them by Mikkeller. It’s simply staggering. I was there for an hour or so, and the most overheard phrase by a mile was “Err…” as punter after punter were dashed against a wall of fonts, stretching for half a mile along the bar. Beer bloggers tend to rack up the pub hours, and can spot the new and unusual from a casual glance through a window – but I was totally bamboozled – and from just the cask offerings, the keg beers glittered at the other end of the bar, out of reach.

Thankfully, the staff at Craft know their stuff, and are ably marshalled by landlord Martin Hayes (who I spotted proudly adjusting the pump clips so they were all exactly aligned). Given that the majority of BeerCasters don’t get to the other capital all that often, I went for something local – Redemption Trinity, a citrusy 3% golden ale that had a appealing rising dryness. Whilst savouring this, I watched plenty of samples being given out to help people – there were almost as many tasters given out as pints, which is great to see.

When the goal is to get people drinking good beer, and to try things they wouldn’t normally – letting them know what they might be in for is vital. Once in a pub in Edinburgh (which I won’t name), when I asked the proprietor what a new beer was like, she replied tersely “It’s from Orkney”, and that was it. Thankfully times have changed – although maybe not in that establishment. My next beer at Craft was another from Redemption – Fellowship Porter (5.0%), which was lovely. A classic, roasty London porter.

By this point it was time to ignore the warning throbs of the CAMRA membership card in my wallet and head to the colder, shinier end of the bar. Every other keg font bristled with the Mikkeller logo, an army of bearded Danish faces. As I’d started a fantastic pork and black pudding pie, I wanted something sweet and roasty – so I plumped (after samples served by Martin) for Intern Ale #1 Nucifera Porter, from Grassroots Brewing in Fanø, Denmark. Roasty and sweet it was, and in spades. Also a tremendous coconut aftertaste.

Unfortunately I then had to leave, as I was due at another of London’s outstanding pubs – and one which is very different indeed. Check back for that tomorrow, in the meantime the Craft Beer Co is on 82 Leather Lane, Clerkenwell, EC1N 7TR, and if you’re in London, is simply a must-visit.

Craft Beer Co website