The BeerCast

Merry Christmas from the BeerCast to all of our readers and listeners! Our fifth annual Christmas Special podcast is another festive frenzy, as we review six seasonal beers and give our thoughts – both on the contents of the bottle and the ‘Christmassy Factor’ of the label (i.e. whether looking at it puts us in the festive mood). Our first beer brings the seasonal puns straight away – Cotleigh Red Nose Reinbeer (5.0%), from Somerset. We then head to Belgium and sample Het Anker Gouden Carolus Christmas (10.5%), before dealing with the litre growler containing Williams Brothers Nollaig (7.0%). Our fourth beer is another Scottish entrant – Sinclair Atlas Clootie Dumpling (4.3%), named after a traditional Orcadian pudding. After that, it’s back to the continent for De Ranke Père Noël (7.0%), and we finish on a traditional note with the 2011 vintage of Anchor Special Ale (5.5%) – which we taste every year on our Christmas BeerCast. The festive panel this time are Richard, Grooben and Shovels.

1. Red Nose Reinbeer (5.0%abv)
Cotleigh Brewery, Wiveliscombe, Somerset.
500ml glass bottle

Cotleigh began as a five-barrel startup in an old farmhouse near Tiverton in Devon. Their first beer was Tawny Owl Bitter, debuting in 1979. Success came quickly enough for them to relocate from the Cotleigh Farmhouse to Wiveliscombe in Somerset within the year. Having expanded since, they produce a range of beers – the majority named after birds of prey. Having celebrated thirty years of brewing in 2009, they continue to support the Hawk and Owl Trust with charitable donations. Their Christmas beer might not feature an owl – but it does have a robin on the label, perched on the antlers of the maniacal reindeer…

What They Say -
“Guaranteed to give you a nice red glow like Rudolph, this is a highly recommended drink. A smooth long lasting finish with chocolate, toffee and nuts. Pale, Crystal and Chocolate malts; Goldings, Fuggles and Northdown hops.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – I like it – toffee aroma, nice bit of roast, some fruit 7
Grooben – Doesn’t have that thick Christmassy thing going on 6
Shovels – Smoky aroma, slightly pruney, not my cup of tea 5

Label Christmas Rating
8/10 I bet that’s the reindeer Santa breaks out when he has to go through the Gorbals (Grooben)

2. Gouden Carolus Christmas (10.5%abv)
Brouwerij Het Anker, Mechelen, Belgium.
330ml glass bottle

In 1471 a community of Beguines (a Catholic lay religious order) began a brewery in the Flanders town of Mechelen. Four hundred and one years later, the facility was acquired by Louis Van Breedam – who changed the name to Het Anker (the Anchor brewery). Fast-forward to 1960 and Het Anker produced a range of beer, owned a brasserie, and a local hotel. Their main line of beers these days are Gouden Carolus – named after the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who was born in Mechelen; to a man titled ‘Philip the Handsome‘). Today we sample their festive Christmas beer.

What They Say -
“A strong, dark ruby red beer with character, it contains an alcohol percentage of 10.5 % VOL. Brewed in August, the beer rests a few months to reach an optimal balance. Three kinds of hops and six different kinds of herbs and spices define the rich taste of this Christmas beer. Top-class!” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – That’s cracking – an awesomely Christmassy beer 9
Richard – Star anise flavour, more herby than spicy, great 8½
Grooben – Sweet but not cloying, this really is top class 8

Label Christmas Rating
10/10 – I don’t think you can get much more Christmassy than that (Richard)

3. Nollaig (7.0%abv)
Williams Brothers Brewery, Alloa, Scotland.
1 litre glass bottle

BeerCast fans will need little introduction to the beers from Alloa’s Williams Brothers Brewery. One of Scotland’s most prolific producers, the company began life in the Glasgow homebrew shop operated by siblings Bruce and Scott. Having an interest in historical recipes, their Heather Ales range includes the flagship Fraoch heather ale, Kelpie seaweed ale, and Alba – a 7.5% spruce beer we sampled in BeerCast #61. Today we try a brand new release (literally; it appeared the day before our recording) – Nollaig – a 7% beer brewed ‘with Christmas trees’.

What They Say -
“We have brewed this special festive ale using malted barley, a variety of high impact specialist hops and hand picked spruce tips which are only ripe for picking during a two week window in the spring. The resiny sweetness of the spruce and malt is countered by a huge hop character, which is just delicious. Limited batch of 800 bottles.” [Label tasting notes]

What We Say…
Grooben – Unusual and really sweet, it’s definitely been crafted 8
Shovels – Sweet, piney, sprucey, slightly bitter, it’s a cracker 8
Richard – Like drinking a Christmas tree – the hops make a difference, there’s other things to it 8

Label Christmas Rating
7/10 It’s like a no-frills present (Shovels) Without the tinsel it would be nothing, but it’s a good package (Grooben)

4. Clootie Dumpling (4.3%abv)
Sinclair Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo, Scotland.
500ml glass bottle

Founded by Roger White in 1988, the award-winning Orkney brewery started in untypical surroundings – an old school house in Sandwick. In June 2004 they merged with the Atlas Brewery of Kinlochleven, to form Highland and Islands Breweries – which in turn was taken over by the Sinclair Brewery Ltd in 2006. Recently we sampled the punchy Skull Splitter as part of our big abv protest BeerCast #64, but today it’s their session-strength Christmas Beer. BeerCaster Grooben – who was raised on Orkney – confirms that a Clootie Dumpling is a traditional steamed suet pudding.

What They Say -
“A light tawny beer. It has an aroma of spiced fruits and dried fruits, with hints of smooth roasted malt. Clootie Dumpling has a soft rounded palate, with flavours of dried fruits, citrus fruits and spices.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – I don’t mind the additions but it needs more body 6½
Richard – Inoffensively spiced, but nice and gingerish 6
Grooben – It falls into the “let’s put spices into a beer” trap 5

Label Christmas Rating
4/10 It looks like a Christmas pudding, that’s Christmassy (Richard)

5. Père Noël (7.0%abv)
Brouwerij De Ranke, Wevelgem, Belgium.
330ml glass bottle

In 1994, a Belgian by the name of Nino Bacelle – who came from a lemonade manufacturing background – began brewing at the Deca brewery in Woesten. Two years later, and with partner Guido Devos on board, Brouwerij Nino Bacelle became Brewery De Ranke. In 2008, they opened their own facility in Dottignies, producing 2,000hl of beer annually (60% of which was for export). Nino’s original 1994 beer is still going – Guldenberg – but they have several more, including a festive Christmas brew called (and with a label featuring) Père Noël.

What They Say -
“A fantastic Christmas beer, but one that defies the universal custom of a stronger, spicier beer for the holiday season. It combines a fine balance of malt and hops, complex character, a refreshing dryness, and a gorgeous cellar aroma – but is distinguished by its festive copper colour.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – No huge departure here from Belgian beer in general 7½
Shovels – For a Belgian, it’s not bad. I prefer the spruce beer 7
Grooben – It’s a good beer, decent amount of alcohol 7

Label Christmas Rating
7/10 – It’s a bit half-assed – a badly drawn Santa hugging a beer (Grooben)

6. Anchor Special Ale 2011 (5.5%abv)
Anchor Brewery, San Francisco.
535ml glass bottle

It wouldn’t be a BeerCast Christmas Special without the latest special festive ale from Anchor. Each year they produce a highly secret recipe, slightly different from all previous years – the 2011 vintage is the 37th in the series. The 2006 edition topped our beer rankings for a long time, and was eventually crowned beer of the year in our 2007 Beer of the Year show, (during which we also tasted the 2007 one). The 2008 version also scored well, before a dip over the last years with the 2009 and 2010. There are never any tasting notes as the San Francisco concern keep the exact ingredients classified, but expect spices, piney freshness and all kinds of winter flavours.

What They Say -
“Created in the style of a dark and malty, strong scotch ale, with the addition of selected seasonal spices to compliment the festive season.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Not as junipery as before, the sweetness comes out 8½
Richard – More sprucey than other Anchors, but more balanced 8
Grooben – Backs up the aroma with flavour better than the previous couple of years 8

Label Christmas Rating
8/10 It is just a tree, but to us this beer is now synonymous with Christmas (Shovels)

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

BeerCast panel verdict
Het Anker Gouden Carolus Christmas 26/30
Anchor Our Special Ale 2011 24½/30
Williams Brothers Nollaig 24/30
De Ranke Père Noël 21½/30
Cotleigh Red Nose Reinbeer 18/30
Sinclair Orkney Clootie Dumpling 17½/30

• Listen to the episode on Soundcloud here:

• Or here if you’re on iPhone/iPad: BeerCast #66 – Christmas Special 2011
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Keep those comments and emails coming in – many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment on our website this year. Our next podcast is the big one – our fifth annual BeerCast Beer of the Year show. We’ll have the five highest scoring beers from our podcasts this year, sampled by a specially extended panel. Stay tuned for a BOTY preview…

Last week, the Camden Centre in Kings Cross hosted the 2008 London Drinker Beer Festival, and the BeerCast was there on consecutive nights (just to make sure we didn’t miss anything). Held in a converted theatre, the elbow to elbow crowds again demonstrate the increasing popularity of ‘real ale’ – which can only be a good thing. After negotiating the queue and forking over the reduced entry price of £1.50 (CAMRA membership has some advantages), and a further £2.50 for a tasting glass, it was time to charge into the fray and get sampling.

1. American Pale Ale (4.7%)
Dark Star Brewery, Haywards Heath, West Sussex.
First up, I tried Dark Star’s American Pale Ale. At only 4.7%, it was a very hoppy IPA, with a deceptively strong taste for such a low alcohol content (as opposed to other American pale ales). I actually ended up voting for this one as my beer of the festival, as the dry hop taste was really very good indeed.

2. Wherry Best Bitter (3.5%)
Woodfordes Brewery, Norwich, Norfolk.
The APA was a tough act to follow, and unfortunately Wherry Best didn’t live up to the expectations. Thin, and not really tasting of much, maybe this one had been opened for a while and had suffered as a result (the packed Camden Centre was incredibly hot).

3. Stoodley Stout (4.8%)
Little Valley Brewery, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Two session beers down, time for a darker one. Little Valley Stoodley Stout had a tremendous smell of rich chocolate, and delivered a very pleasant portery taste. I really liked it, but my brother Mark (deputised BeerCaster for the evening) wasn’t sure about the ‘exceedingly bitter aftertaste’.

4. Millenium Gold (4.2%)
Crouch Vale Brewery, Chelmsford, Essex.
Finally one of the UK’s most decorated breweries – Crouch Vale have lifted CAMRA’s champion beer of Britain two years running (2005 and 2006) for Brewer’s Gold. Millenium Gold is their rarer seasonal beer for the month of March, and is a tremendous hoppy session beer. Again, Mark was troubled by the aftertaste – but I thought it was superb.

5. Tawny Bitter (3.8%)
Cotleigh Brewery, Wiveliscombe, Somerset.
The Cotleigh brewery name most of their beers after birds of prey (I learned later), and have to date raised £16,000 for the Hawk and Owl Trust. This was the first beer I tried on the second day of the festival, accompanied by regular BeerCaster Andy (of Andy and Jess). Tawny Bitter had a mild, slightly hoppy taste, and would be the dictionary definition of a session beer.

6. Old Porter (4.5%)
Enville Brewery, Stourbridge, West Midlands.
Andy’s first tipple was Enville’s Old Porter, from the rural West Midlands. Despite it ‘tasting like flat Coke’, he described it as being ‘very pleasant, smooth and light’ (at least I think that’s what my scribbled notes say). He ended up voting for this one as his beer of the festival.

7. RCH Steam Spring (4.6%)
RCH Brewery, Weston Super Mare, Somerset.
I’d been quite lucky with the beers up until now, but a late addition to the festival was my undoing. Steam Spring from the RCH Brewery was almost undrinkable – it tasted flat and medicinal, like a pint left out unattended for 24hrs. I can only think this was due to the serving temperature and conditions rather than the beer itself, which was a shame.

8. Pullman 1st Class Ale (4.2%)
Hepworth Brewery, Horsham, West Sussex.
I didn’t realise at the time, but Hepworth produce Hakhamanesh Lager which we tried in our organic special BeerCast last week. This was thankfully much nicer, a nutty tasting bitter with a pleasant finish. And it wasn’t wrapped in paper.

9. Brewer’s Gold (4.0%)
Crouch Vale Brewery, Chelmsford, Essex.
I’ve never before tried the fabled Brewer’s Gold, aforementioned two-time champion beer of Britain – but managed to make it my last drink of the second night at the London Beer Festival. Having tried it, I can now see what all the fuss is about. Light, zesty, with a great hoppy bitterness, it’s a class act – and if Dark Star’s APA hadn’t been so good, would have certainly got my best in show vote.

So a good time was had at the festival, thanks to Mark and Andy for their comments, and keep checking back for the BeerCast’s next forays into the world of beer festivals. We’re due to attend the Kingdom of Fife Festival in April, tasting glasses primed and ready. Before then, look for our special beer guide to York – and associated Yorkshire-based podcasts.

London Drinker Beer Festival