The BeerCast

And then there were four. After starting up the whole reviewing/podcasting thing in June 2007 we sampled our way through thirty-four beers from half a dozen countries. On the way we’ve drunk our way through numerous others in various guises – but it was down to those 34 when we decided to re-taste the top scorers and find out what would be crowned our first annual BeerCast Beer of the Year. Using our standard scoring system throughout, we had one beer out on top with three others tied for second place – so it was only fair to take all four away and revisit their many pleasures.

On new year’s day our extended BeerCast panel of seven sat down in a windy house in the border village of St Abbs, and let the battle commence. The beers we had with us were the Anchor Brewey Our Special Ale 2006, Daleside IPA, Erdinger’s Weissbier Dunkel, and Coniston’s Bluebird Bitter. All four are tremendous – and very different – so it would be tough to pick a winner. As scoring had been done in each individual BeerCast, for the final we re-sampled each one and gave our general thoughts, before going round the panel and simply picking a winner. For this BotY edition, the panel consisted of Richard, Shovels, MrB, Andy, Jess, Grooben, and BeerCast newcomer Gillian. First up, was Coniston’s Bluebird Bitter…

1. Bluebird Bitter (4.2%abv) 500ml glass bottle
The Coniston Brewery, Cumbria.
BeerCast #3 scored 16/20 (80%) 9th Aug 2007
Originally tasted by Shovels 8; Richard 8

Grooben – I like it a lot, and on tap it might be even nicer
Andy – It’s quite thin and tastes like it has something else in it
Jess – I don’t like it, I find it too bitter, especially the aftertaste
Richard – I think it’s really nice and I stand by my 8/10 score
MrB – Pleasant but not astounding – on tap I’d drink it all night
Shovels – I still think this is a really good beer
Gillian – I agree, this is perfectly drinkable

2. Daleside IPA (4.5%abv) 500ml glass bottle
The Daleside Brewery, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
BeerCast #3 scored 16/20 (80%) 9th Aug 2007
Originally tasted by Shovels 8; Richard 8

Jess – This is much nicer, it reminds me of honeysuckle
Andy – Much more pleasant, with more substance to it
Grooben – One of the nicest of IPA’s I’ve tasted on the BeerCast
MrB – Very very nice, this is my kind of hoppy session ale
Gillian – Smoother and nicer than the Bluebird
Richard – More flowery than the Coniston
Shovels – All round the mouth taste, it’s good stuff

3. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel (5.6%abv) 500ml glass bottle
Privatbrauerei Erdinger Weißbräu, Erding.
BeerCast#8 scored 32/40 (80%) 1st Dec 2007
Originally tasted by MrB 9; Richard 8; Grooben 8; Shovels 7

Gillian – I could drink more of the previous beers but I prefer this
Richard – Wheatbeer flavour gives way to nice dark malts
Shovels – First few mouthfuls are tasty but it then loses flavour
Jess – This is lovely, full of bubbles, and it smells really nice too
Andy – Looks dark but it tastes light, there’s an iron taste in there
Grooben – I thought I wasn’t going to like this again, but I do
MrB – I may have overmarked it, but as a wheatbeer it’s ahead of the pack

4. Anchor Our Special Ale 2006 (5.5%abv) 350ml glass bottle
Anchor Brewery, San Francisco.
BeerCast#9 scored 34½/40 (86%) 15th Dec 2007
Originally tasted by MrB 9½; Shovels 9; Grooben 8; Richard 8

MrB – That you can put these flavours into a beer is amazing
Jess – I don’t like it, it’s totally overpowering and not very subtle
Grooben – They’ve crafted this, I have lots of time for it
Andy – Smells of so much yet is forgiving on the tongue
Shovels – It’s really got that spicy Christmas taste to it
Gillian – A gorgeous colour, it’s drinkable but very, very seasonal
Richard – All the other beer smells tonight combined wouldn’t come close to this

So the beers had been re-tried and thoughts given – but only one thought counted, the overall winner of the four. The final step of the Beer of the Year show was to go round the table and pick the one that stood out the most…

Jess
“I had a really tough time between Daleside IPA and the Erdinger. I really like the Erdinger, but it had too many bubbles and I wouldn’t actually drink that much of it, so I chose the Daleside because it’s a nice beer and very pleasant.”

Andy
“I had real difficulty choosing between Daleside IPA and the Anchor, but of the four beers presented to me this evening, I liked the taste of the Anchor the best. So I have to vote for that.”

Grooben
“Again it was between two, the Daleside IPA and the Anchor, and I’ve gone for the Daleside. It’s a beer I would enjoy more on a more consistant basis. I’ve got nothing bad to say about the Anchor – I think it’s brilliant and will drink it every Christmas, but Daleside hit more buttons for me.”

Gillian
“It came down to either the Daleside or the Erdinger, and although I could drink more of the Daleside, I picked the Erdinger. It was a more complex taste and I quite liked all the bubbles.”

MrB
“Daleside IPA was fantastic but there’s at least half a dozen beers – some of which we haven’t reviewed this year – that were better than that, so my vote goes to the Anchor. It was extraordinary, and I’ll be drinking it at every Christmas from now on.”

Richard
“I have to give it to Bluebird as it’s one of my favourite beers and I love it. It’s everything I want from a beer and I’ve enjoyed drinking it this year even before we were sent some. Anchor is truly special, but Bluebird is my BotY so I vote for that.”

Shovels
“Anchor has so much taste and so much going on, but it’s only available for two months of the year. The Daleside IPA is amazing, but there are lots of other good IPA’s out there. I have to say – purely based on all the flavours going on – my BotY is the Anchor.”

So there you have it – the BeerCast Beer of the Year for 2007 is, rather strangely, Anchor’s Special Ale 2006. UK beer drinkers can often be at the back of the queue when it comes to finding the American seasonals, but the Californian brewer lists their Special Ale as having a two year shelflife. We did manage to source some of the 2007 Special Ale, and tried that in the same session. It was also extremely good, albeit very different – but the 2006 vintage was the one we tested during our first year, and it was that beer which came out on top – both in overall scoring and our BotY special. Congratulations to the Anchor brewery, as well as Coniston, Daleside and Erdinger, and we’ll be back on the BeerCasting front very soon with episode 11. In the meantime, here are the panel’s honourable mentions for 2007…

BeerCaster’s 2007 personal favourites

Shovels – Williams Bros Joker
Grooben – Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted
Jess – Wynchwood Hobgoblin; Shepherd Neame Bishop’s Finger
Richard – Stewart’s Edinburgh Gold
Andy – Fruli; Minoh Seasonal Beer; Belgian Peach Lambic
MrB – Fyne Ales Avalanche
Gillian – Didn’t have a favourite, but did try a beer in 2007 she thought was truly awful – so we gave her the honour of naming it as the worst beer of the year – Desperados, the French 12%abv tequila beer. If we ever do a French episode….

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #10 – Beer of the Year 2007
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back soon with episode 11. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!

For the next stage of the global beer adventure, it seems reasonable to move the short distance over the southern uplands into England. English beer is all about tradition – even if the specific brewery is young, the methods used or the types of ales produced will probably have echoes of a far older time. With that in mind our third BeerCast takes in some classic varieties of English brews – Bitter, Golden Ale, India Pale Ale, and…er…a raisin beer…

1. Bluebird Bitter (4.2%abv)
The Coniston Brewery, Cumbria.
500ml glass bottle

Opened in 1995 behind a picturesque Lakeland pub, the Coniston brewery have already won numerous awards. Part of the secret might be the water they use, which comes from the surrounding Cumbrian fells. Located in the Furness region of the mountainous county, Coniston gained an unfortunate notoriety in 1967 when the intrepid Donald Campbell died on the nearby lake attempting to break his own world waterspeed record. The name of his ill-fated ship was the Bluebird, and it seems fitting the local brewery would take the name for it’s most prized beer. Bluebird Bitter was the Supreme Champion beer of Britain in 1998, as voted at the CAMRA British Beer Festival of that year (co-incidentally the 2007 festival is due to take place this week). The Coniston Brewery will probably be there, aiming for glory once more.

What They Say – “Supreme Champion Beer of Britain 1998, a good session ale with a golden colour and a light, clean, quality taste” [Coniston Brewery]. “It has a massive orange fruit aroma from the challenger hops, balanced by biscuity malt. The tangy fruit lingers on the back of the tongue until it develops a hint of orange liqueur. It is, quite simply, a wonderful beer.” [Roger Protz, esteemed beer writer, CAMRA big-cheese and compiler of the Good Beer Guide].

What We Say…
Richard – Very nice – light, hoppy, orangey – it tastes fantastic 8
Shovels – This is a very tasty session bitter with a nice colour 8

2. Daleside IPA (4.5%abv)
The Daleside Brewery, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
500ml glass bottle

Despite the name, India Pale Ale is the quintessential English beer. First produced in London and the brewing mega-hub of Burton-on-Trent for the colonial market, the high alcohol and hop count aided preservation on the long voyage to India and beyond. Traditionally they have high bitter and malty tastes, with plenty of sharp citrus fruits cutting through. This particular IPA is produced specially for a small Lancashire supermarket chain – but the Daleside brewery, founded in the genteel North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate, produce three draft and seven bottled beers. Another relatively recent company, they moved to their current premises in 1992, and pride themselves on the variety of hops they use – 18 to be exact.

What They Say – “This IPA has a fruity malty finish, with aromas of flowers and toast, and plenty of hops.” [RateBeer.com].

What We Say…
Richard – This is a nice summery outdoorsy IPA 8
Shovels – More character than the Bluebird, but it’s just as good 8

3. Lakeland Gold (4.4%abv)
The Hawkshead Brewery, Hawkshead & Staveley, Cumbria.
500ml glass bottle

Moving on to beer three, which is an example of another English staple – the Golden Ale. Hawkshead Lakeland Gold is a less malty, more hoppy number from a Cumbrian company started by a BCC journalist who decided on a change of career. Begun in a listed barn near the village of Hawkshead by Esthwaite Water, they have now begun operations in a 20 barrel plant at the larger town of Staveley. Also on that site is a Beer Hall, containing the brewery tap, a sampling room, visitor centre and a beer shop selling all varieties of local ale. With noble organisation, their official website has a list of every pub in the Lakes that serves their beers – handy for fans of their brews. But what will the two-man panel make of it?

What They Say – “A Golden Ale. Hoppy and uncompromisingly bitter with complex fruit flavours from the blending of a modern English hop, First Gold, with an American, Cascade.” [Hawkshead Brewery]. “A hoppy, bitter golden ale with complex fruit flavours. Champion Best Bitter at the 2005 SIBA National Awards.” [Good Beer Guide].

What We Say…
Richard – Not easy to knock back, you have to work for it 7
Shovels – Too bitter and no all-round satisfying taste 4

4. Cain’s Fine Raisin Beer (5%abv)
Cain’s Brewery, Liverpool.
500ml glass bottle

The traditional English beer theme ends here, with our fourth teaser from the skilled people at Liverpool’s largest brewery, Cain’s. Finest Raisin Ale is very simple – a choice light-coloured hoppy beer, with a great big pile of Californian raisins added. This gives a fascinating fruity beer with a deep purple colour. An idea of the current owners, the Dusanj brothers – who rescured the brewery from closure in 2002, and became the first Indian-born owners of a British beer company. Cain’s really is a Liverpool landmark, having been opened by Irish immigrant Robert Cain in 1858. Today, their latest expat owners sit proudly behind a producer that rolls out 120 million pints a year. Each month they release a speciality ale – and every November it’s the Raisin Beer. It’s very popular – winning the Tesco Autumn Beer Challenge in 2003, and the honour of being the ‘Official Beer of Liverpool 2008 – European City of Culture’.

What They Say – “A rich, fruity amber ale infused with succulent Californian raisins. Choicest hops give depth, density and complexity.” [Cain's official website].

What We Say…
Richard – Fruity raisins and the oaty/malty tastes – it’s like muesli 7
Shovels – Reminds me of prune juice – which is not a good thing 5

BeerCast panel verdict

Coniston Bluebird – 16/20
Daleside IPA – 16/20
Cain’s Fine Raisin Beer – 12/20
Hawkshead Lakeland Gold – 11/20

Panellists – (from left) Shovels, Richard

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #3 – Northern Charms
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with Episode 4 – four beers from the South of England, tested by a panel of six BeerCasters. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!