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!

Happy Christmas from all at the BeerCast! Hopefully you’re all eager to indulge in the trappings of the season – and time spent with the family sitting in front of Morecambe and Wise repeats is great beer drinking time. So with that in mind, the BeerCast panel sample four festive beers that you might come across in your local tinsel-decked bottle shop. Firstly we sample Meantime Winter Time (5.4%), from Greenwich in south London. Then we journey to the scene of our last podcast and taste Erdinger’s Schneewiesse Winterbier (5.6%), to see how it differs from their usual wheatbeer fare. Our third tempter is Anchor’s Special Christmas Ale (2006) (5.5%), surprisingly the first ever American beer drunk on the BeerCast. But as the scores show, one that was certainly worth the wait. Finally, the panel drink a Belgian Christmas tipple with a fantastically OTT label – Gordon’s Xmas (8.8%). Find out how we get on, and if any bring some festive cheer to wintry Edinburgh…

1. Meantime Winter Time (5.4%abv)
Meantime Brewery, Greenwich (UK).
500ml glass bottle

Founded in 1999 by a group of friends in London, production at the Meantime brewery first started in April 2000. It was the only British brewery to win medals at the 2004 World Beer Cup (for it’s Viennese lager), and repeated the feat in 2006. They went considerably better in 2007, collecting five ‘world’s best’ at the World Beer Awards, then having four of their range included in the International Beer Challenge’s 50 best beers in the world. They have a large and adventurous range, from coffee and chocolate beers (the latter of which was recently voted the world’s best), to a porter, IPA, wheat beer and raspberry beer. But today the BeerCast sample their seasonal Winter Time…

What They Say – “To best enjoy Meantime Winter Time wrap up warm, go outside and kick up leaves in the street until the end of your nose goes red. Then step back into the warmth, open a bottle and let the soft aromas of roast coffee, chocolate and vanilla beckon. Savour the richness of dark, smokey malts supporting a palate of roast chestnuts, caramel and molasses whilst you wiggle the warmth back in your toes. English fuggles hops, dark malts and smoked malt provide a fireside warming brew.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Some burnt flavours in there, it’s a tasty brew 7½
Richard – Dark, smokey maltiness, really nice stuff 7
MrB – Definately a warmer, it’s like a nice smokey mulled wine 7
Grooben – Smells heady, it tastes a bit like a stout 6½

2. Erdinger Schneewiesse Winterbier (5.6%abv)
Brauerei Erdinger, Erding (Ger).
500ml glass bottle

Our second visit to the Bavrian wheatbeer behemoths in two podcasts, as last time out we sampled their extremely tasty Dunkel Weissbier. For this seasonal edition, we got hold of their Schneewiesse Winterbier, or ‘Snow White’. Almost opaque when held up to the light, Erdinger describe it as a ‘special’ winter beer, which they first produced in December 1997. It is matured longer from the summer malt harvest until mid-October, apparently to make the flavours more pronounced. It’s only available from November to February, so is this one-off one to savour, or one to avoid?

What They Say – “With a slightly darker colour and a slightly higher alcohol content than the classic Erdinger Weissbier, Schneewieße offers a really pleasant change at the coldest time of year, a time when we like to treat ourselves to something special. It’s amber colour and spicy taste is an ideal compliment to hearty foods such as those round the Christmas table. The taste of winter just got better!” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Just tastes of wheat beer, not great but not bad 6
MrB – There’s something slightly different that detracts from it 6
Grooben – Some honeycomb going on, I’m not sold on it 6
Richard – If I had it with a turkey dinner it would be nicer 5

3. Anchor Our Special Ale 2006 (5.5%abv)
Anchor Brewery, San Francisco (USA).
350ml glass bottle

The Anchor Brewing Company is a well-known feature of San Francisco, and started life in 1896 under the resourcefulness of two German immigrant brewers Ernst Baruth and Otto Schinkel, who acquired the Pacific Brewery started by another ex-pat, and renamed it Anchor. After overcoming several tragedies, and the prohibition era, the landmark company were saved from closure in 1965 by Fritz Maytag, and have since gone from strength to strength. They are renowned for their annual special Christmas beer – which remarkably is brewed to a different recipe every year. Sadly the 2007 vintage has yet to reach us, but we more than made do with the 2006 version. BeerCaster Shovels used to live in San Francisco, and is a devoted fan of Anchor – but will he take to the Special Ale?

What They Say – “Every year since 1975 the brewers at Anchor have brewed a distinctive and unique Christmas Ale, which is available from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which we offer it remains the same.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – Mulled red wine, cloves, it’s the most fantastic beer ever 9½
Shovels – This tastes of Christmas, it’s spicy and just wonderful 9
Richard – What a great mix of spices, sugar and Christmas taste 8
Grooben – Great berry fruitiness, for the season it’s exceptional 8

4. Gordon Xmas (8.8%abv)
Brasserie John Martin, Genval (Bel).
350ml glass bottle

John Martin is part of the Anthony Martin conglomerate that dominates Belgian brewing. They also own Timmerman’s, whose Peach Lambic we were distinctly unmoved by in BeerCast 5. A municipality in Walloonian Brabant, along with nearby Rosieres, Genval is home to a large lake and fancy hotels used by Brussels weekenders. The Gordon Xmas beer comes in the most Christmassy bottle any of us has ever seen, and when you’re scouring shelves for potential seasonal ales, this one shouts at you to choose it. But should you?

What They Say – “A top fermented dark ruby Scotch ale. The real beer for Father Christmas. Created in the 30’s, Gordon Xmas initiated the tradition of Christmas brews. To accompany your festive evenings, Gordon Xmas is all dressed up in it’s party clothes. Don’t forget to ask for some in your letter to Santa…” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – This is port-like after-dinner cheese & biscuits drink 8
Richard – Warming and it lingers, this is really drinkable 7½
Grooben – Sweet and rich, with a thick taste not for everyone 6
Shovels – Sweet sherryness, the more I have the less I like 5½

BeerCast panel verdict

Anchor Our Special Ale (2006) – 34½/40
Meantime Winter Time – 28/40
Gordon Xmas – 27/40
Erdinger Schneeweisse – 23/40

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

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #9 – Christmas Special
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in early January with our 10th episode, our first annual BeerCast Beer of the Year 2007 show. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!

BeerCast episode 8 sees our panellists return to Europe, and to one of the countries many people think of when they think of decent beer. Germany has the second highest number of breweries in the world (behind the USA), and thanks to strict purity laws – the fabled Reinheitsgebot – produces some seriously decent beer. For this edition, we try four different styles, with firstly the ubiquitous German pilsener, Beck’s (5.0%). Up next is a Weizen from Munich’s Franziskaner brewery (5.0%), then a Dunkel from the giants of Erdinger (5.6%). Finally we wrap up with one to file under ‘acquired taste’ – the Marzen variety of Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (5.1%). On the panel this week – which turns out to be one of the most interesting scorewise – are Grooben, Richard, the returning MrB, and Shovels, who starts everything off in true German style…by asking for directions?

1. Beck’s Pilsener (5%abv)
Brauerei Beck GmbH & Co, Bremen.
220ml glass bottle

The Bremen brewery was founded in 1873 by three men – Messers Beck, May and Rutenberg. After the latter two left, Beck perservered under the purity laws and continued producing beer. He was saved by two factors – the sudden popularity of the Czech-style Pilsener beer (which he happened to be producing), and the ease of distributing products from Bremen via the River Weser and the North Sea. Growing from strength to strength, in 2002 the brewery was taken over by Belgian behemoths InBev for a cool US$2bn. Beck’s pilsener is still produced under the Reinheitsgebot laws (i.e. beer must only contain water, barley, hops and yeast), and last year the hard-working Bremenites churned out 34m cases of the stuff.

What They Say – “This classic German pilsener carries a distinctive full-bodied taste, with a fresh ‘hoppy’ bouquet, golden colour and a rich full head. But the taste doesn’t end there – with a slightly fruity but firm crispness, this exciting blend of intriguing flavours ends with a clean, dry finish.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – I prefer this to many other lagers, it’s quite refreshing 8
Grooben – It’s just a lager, and it smells weird 6
Shovels – Even in a blind tasting I’d still know it was Beck’s 6
Richard – Has a ‘green’ smell, it’s less worse than it was 6

2. Franziskaner Weissbier Kristallklar (5.0%abv)
Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu GmbH, Munich.
500ml glass bottle

In 1363 Seidel Vaterstetter set up a brewery in the Bavarian capital of Munich. The city takes it’s name from the number of monks who inhabited it at the time, so Herr Vaterstetter decided to name his fledgling company ‘Franziskaner’ after the monastery over the road. Today their Weissbier is the third best selling in the world, and the laughing friar on the label chuckles out from beer shop shelves all over the globe. Munich is also going places, being recently named the 8th best city in the world in which to live, although it’s also Germany’s most expensive in which to do so. Rather fittingly, Munich’s UK twin town is Edinburgh, home of the BeerCast. Will that win it any extra points?

What They Say – “This fresh, golden coloured and crystal-clear wheat beer is characterized by a certain citrousity and softness. The light, bubbly, and slightly acidic Franziskaner Kristall is an excellent thirst quencher and refreshing beverage delight. Kristallklar is a delicately bitter weiss beer for everyone who wants a fresh wheat beer without cloudiness.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard – A nice wheatbeer, not flowery like some of the others 7
MrB – It smells like dishwasher tablets – I prefer Erdinger 6
Shovels – It’s not great, but not bad. I’d struggle to finish a pint 5
Grooben – This has grown off me the more of it I drink 4

3. Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel (5.6%abv)
Privatbrauerei Erdinger Weißbräu, Erding.
500ml glass bottle

Franziskaner does well to be the world’s third-best selling wheatbeer, but the daddies are undoubtedly Erdinger. A relative newcomer on the scene, they started in 1886 in the Bavarian town of Erding. Only thirty miles from Munich, this sleepy commuter centre houses a brewing giant – as long ago as 1935 they were producing 250,000 litres a year (the figure is now 800,000). But the citizens of Erding like a stein or two, as a town census in 1789 revealed 1700 people, and 11 pubs (one boozer for every 154.5 of them). The panel sampled Erdinger’s Dunkel, which is the German word for ‘dark’. Such beers are characterised by the colour and malty flavour.

What They Say – “Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel is a rich and smooth wheat beer. It owes its full-bodied flavour to the fine hops and dark malt used in its production. The beer is brewed according to an age-old recipe, and its spicy flavour also results from the increased proportion of wort. Maturing in the bottle, this is a real speciality for connoisseurs.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – I prefer the dark German beers, this is lovely stuff 9
Richard – Wheatbeer taste up front with more going on behind 8
Grooben – Dark, subtle, an edge of malt – one of the nicest 8
Shovels – Nice smoky porter taste to it but not overpowering 7

4. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier [Marzen] (5.1%abv)
Brauerei Schlenkerla, Bamberg.
500ml glass bottle

If you wander the historic cobbled streets of the Franconian town of Bamberg, you might be lucky and come across the Schlenkerla brewery tavern (it’s in Dominikanerstrasse). This classic Bavarian eatery is a half-timbered, geranium-clad hostelry of the oldest style. It’s here that the ‘original’ smokebeer is produced, by mixing beechsmoked malts with water and hops. The name Schlenkerla derives from the German verb to dangle, as 19th Century proprieter Andreas Graser apparently walked in a strange way due to a disability – the symol of the brewery is an old timer wobbling along with a cane in one hand and a giant beer in the other.

What They Say – “Even if the brew tastes somewhat strange at the first swallow, do not stop, because soon you will realize that your thirst will not decrease and your pleasure will visibly increase. Many have tried to describe Schlenkerla, but no comprehensive description is possible, one has to experience it to understand!” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Grooben – Past the smoky bacon crisp taste, has a certain charm 7
Richard – Woodsmokey; persevere and it’s by no means awful 6
Shovels – It grows on you – a 2 at first, but rising to a 5
MrB – It’s like drinking hotdogs in a blender, it turns my stomach 0

BeerCast panel verdict

Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel – 32/40
Beck’s Pilsener – 26/40
Franziskaner Krystallklar – 22/40
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier – 18/40

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

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #8 – Das DeutscheCast
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with our extravagant BeerCast Christmas Special. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!