The BeerCast

The first podcast of any year is always one to look forward to – as tradition dictates it’s our BeerCast Beer of the Year show. As highlighted in our recent preview, the four highest scoring beers from the podcasts recorded in 2009 are re-sampled, and a winner picked. Previous winners are Anchor Christmas Ale 2006 (2007) and Hop Back Summer Lightning (last year), so whichever beer came out on top this time, it would be in good company. Re-tasting is always an interesting experience, as a second go often brings a different result from last time – and so it was to prove. The four beers in our BOTY show were St Austell Tribute (4.2%), Carnegie Baltic Porter (5.5%), Stone Ruination IPA (7.7%), and Goose Island Christmas Ale 2009 (7.0%). On the extended panel – Shovels, MrB, Andy, Richard, Jess and Grooben, all of whom were seconded to a remote and snowy location to sharpen the tastebuds…

1. St Austell Tribute (4.2%abv) 500ml glass bottle
St Austell Brewery, St Austell, Cornwall.
BeerCast#33 scored 40½/50 (81%) 28th May 2009
Originally tasted by Steve 9; Richard 9; Grooben 8; Shovels 7½; Stu 7

What They Say - “Tribute is a magnificent example of a bronze coloured English bitter, with a rich aroma of biscuity malt and tart citrus fruit from the Willamette hops. Juicy malt, hop resins and tangy fruit coat the tongue, while the finish is long and lingering, with a fine balance between malt, hops and fruit, finally becoming dry and bitter.” [Roger Protz]

What We Say…
Grooben - Much nicer than your standard session beers
Richard - As an English bitter you can’t get a better example
MrB - I don’t like it, it’s too watery and too biscuity
Shovels - It’s very subtle but very nice
Jess - There’s some kind of citrus in there, it’s very drinkable
Andy - It reminds me of drinking Tennents in working men’s clubs around Edinburgh

2. Carnegie Starkporter 2008 (5.5%abv) 500ml glass bottle
Carlsberg Sverige AB, Gothenburg, Sweden.
BeerCast#28 scored 32½/40 (81%) 1st January 2009
Originally tasted by Jess 9; Shovels 8½; Andy 8; Richard 7

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…
MrB - I like porters a lot, but that’s far too sweet
Shovels - I think we’d had a lot of mediocre beers that night
Grooben - It’s a half-pint beer – although it is smooth
Richard - Sweet and it’ll get sweeter, I’m not that keen on it
Andy - I’m not sure it deserves to be in the BOTY Show
Jess - Can’t believe I gave it a 9, I think we were maybe too happy because we were on holiday

3. Ruination IPA (7.7%abv) 355ml glass bottle
Stone Brewery, Escondido, California.
BeerCast#36 scored 38/40 (95%) 13th July 2009
Originally tasted by MrB 10; Shovels 9½; Steve 9½; Richard 9

What They Say - “So called because of the ‘ruinous’ effect on your palate! This massive hop monster has a wonderfully delicious and intensely bitter flavour on a refreshing malt base. One taste and you can easily see why we call this brew ‘a liquid poem to the glory of the hop!’” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB - I stand by my 10
Richard - Love that piney resinous hop aftertaste
Jess - I can see why everybody go excited about it
Grooben - Expertly balanced, I’d give it 9½ too
Shovels - It’s the single malt whisky of IPA’s
Andy - They’ve managed to get the perfect balance point so you don’t taste furry-teeth sugary-ness

4. Goose Island Christmas 2009 (7.0%abv) 750ml glass bottle
Goose Island Brewing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
BeerCast#43 scored 25/30 (83%) 16th December 2009
Originally tasted by MrB 9; Grooben 8; Richard 8

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]

What We Say…
Jess - It’s smoky but not as interesting as the Ruination
Richard - This one makes good use of it’s brown ale base
MrB - Not Christmassy, tastes like a nicer Goose Island IPA
Grooben - I think Ruination would blow away anything
Shovels - Gets high praise from me, it’s easy to drink
Andy - Pretends to be smooth but leaves you with a sharpness I don’t like

So that was the thoughts – or re-thoughts – of the panel during the tasting of the four beers that had made it through to the final. The next thing to do was go round the table and mark down a first and second choice for beer of the year. Given the comments about one of the beers above, it wasn’t really a surprise when the slip of paper had circumnavigated the table. Stone’s Ruination IPA was a resounding choice for BeerCast Beer of the Year 2009. Fitting, given that it debuted with a record score of 95% that will struggle to be beaten. There was a tie for second between the Goose Island Christmas and St Austell Tribute – despite certain comments on both it seems festive warmers and English bitters always seem to do well in our BOTY shows. But there was really only ever going to be one winner – the fantastic balance of massive hops and punchy alcohol really came through in Stone’s strong India Pale Ale. It was a deserved winner.

Our panel also tasted a fifth beer - a surprise bought by Richard and smuggled to the podcasting under the strictest secrecy. BrewDog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%), the strongest beer in the world. Listen to our tasting after the BOTY voting, and check back to the website in a few days for a full review post on what’s becoming the most infamous beer in Britain…

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

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!