The BeerCast

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

Organic foods are fast becoming big business, as choice conscious shoppers flock to farmer’s markets and upmarket shops for the fancier ingredients and the healthier foods grown naturally. Marketing is pushing organic products more than ever before, and beer is no exception. The Soil Association apply their sought-after logo to alcohol as well as fruit and veg – providing of course it’s comprised of only rigorously-grown malt, hops and barley. With that in mind, the BeerCast got hold of four very different organic beers to see if the environmentally kind production process transferred to the taste.

Firstly, we sample a self-styled ’boutique lager’ from West Sussex, apparently named after a 6th Century Persian King – Hakhamanesh Organic Lager (5.0%). Then we head into session ale territory with Brakspear’s Oxford Gold (4.6%), before returning to BeerCast roots north of the border in the form of Black Isle’s Organic Porter (4.5%). Our fourth and final beer is Duchy Originals Select Ale (6.2%), part-compiled with the help of Prince Charles’s Highgrove-grown organic barley. On the panel this week – Grooben, Richard, Shovels (back from Austria), and our second debutant in two editions – The Hopmeister, aka Tom, who grew up near Highgrove and shares his opinions of Prince Charles. And what opinions they are…

1. Hakhamanesh Organic Beer (5.0%abv)
Hepworth & Co, Horsham, West Sussex.
330ml glass bottle

Boutique beers don’t usually feature on the BeerCast – but an organic lager wrapped in paper, and apparently named after ancient Persian nobility was just too interesting to pass up. Sadly we never found out exactly why the beer was so-named, but the Sussex outfit of Hepworth & Co opened in 2000 after their brewers left the nearby Kings & Barnes concern to go solo. They brew a range of cask and bottled ales, and in 2004 started production on their fully certified organic lager, Hakhamanesh.

What They Say – “A truly elegant beer – Hakhamanesh Organic Beer is a lager brewed using traditional methods and only contains water, barley malt, hops, and yeast, with no additives and no preservatives.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Shovels – Too much faff for a beer, but it’s not bad 6
Richard – Somehow got an odd banana taste to it 5
Tom – Soapy and flat, reminds me of Miller 4
Grooben – A London Ooh La La boutique beer 4

2. Brakspear Oxford Gold (4.6%abv)
Wynchwood Brewery, Witney, Oxfordshire.
500ml glass bottle

Oxfordshire’s great old Brakspear brewery closed in 2002, after stretching back into the 18th Century. For a time, their beers were produced under licence by Burtonwood in Cheshire – but now they are again brewed in Oxfordshire by Wynchwood (of Hobgoblin fame). So the ‘Original taste of Oxfordshire’ (since 1779) is back in the correct county. The Witney site produces all kinds of brews for the various companies (and we’ll be coming back to it later), but they turn out an organic ale for Brakspear that goes out on cask and in bottles – Oxford Gold. The BeerCast team like a session ale or two, how would this one fare?

What They Say – “A multiple award-winning beer made with organic Target hops to give it a remarkable aroma. Late hopping with Goldings and fermentation by the Brakspear yeast creates a remarkably zesty aroma, a full fruity flavour and a golden colour.” [Official Website] “A copper ale with a rich orange and apricot aroma. The taste is fairly bitter with lots of fruity, tangy hops (more orange and apricot) and a spicy overlay. Dry, bitter, tangy hop finish.” [Good Bottled Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Richard – Almost a wheatbeer taste to it 7
Shovels – The taste disappears at the back of the mouth 6½
Grooben – Decent session beer, but a bit thin 6
Tom – If you got fired into four of these you’d be rocking 5

3. Black Isle Organic Porter (4.5%abv)
Black Isle Brewery, Munlochy, Ross-shire.
500ml glass bottle

The first organic beer ever sampled on the BeerCast was the excellent Caledonian Golden Promise, tasted in our debut podcast, way back in June 2007. But Scotland has some other organic beers – and taking the lead are the Black Isle brewery. Located just north of Inverness, they are totally organic, as all their beers and production methods meet Soil Association standards. Originally an award-winning cask ale called Wagtail, their Organic Porter has been winning fans up and down the country. We love a good porter here at BeerCast HQ – so what will we make of this one?

What They Say – “A dark ruby porter with a mellow, biscuity, coffee nose. The taste is creamy and coffeeish but bittersweet, with a restrained hoppy fruitiness behind and a bitter, roasted finish.” [The Good Bottled Beer Guide]

What We Say…
Tom – I quite like it, it’s licqouricey 7
Grooben – Got that coffee thing going, a good quality porter 7
Richard – Dark smoky taste – it’s very good indeed 7
Shovels – Tasty yet not as think as other porters 7

4. Duchy Originals Select Ale (6.2%abv)
Wynchwood Brewery, Witney, Oxfordshire.
500ml glass bottle

Back to Witney for our final ale – when not rescuing Brakspear (not to mention making their own beers) the busy people at the Wynchwood brewery also find time to produce organic beers for the Duchy Originals range, as championed by the Prince of Wales. Part of the recipe involves plumage archer barley, grown on the Prince’s Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire, and profits from the sale of this range of foods and drinks goes to his Charities Foundation – which to date has raised over £6m for rural good causes. Will the panel be in a charitable mood over his beer?

What They Say – “Duchy Originals Select Ale is slowly brewed in the traditional way, using a blend of the finest UK organic hops, rye, oats, and Plumage Archer barley which is harvested from organic farms including the Home Farm at Highgrove. This exclusive recipe produces a full-bodied ruby ale with dried fruit and toffee flavours balanced with the refreshing bitter citrus notes of the specially selected English hops.” [Label Tasting Notes]

What We Say…
Richard – Not as exciting as it should be given the abv 6
Shovels – Tastes slightly strong, slightly fruity 6
Grooben – It’s quite nice, got a toffee aftertaste 6
Tom – Nice on the first gulp but becomes wishy-washy 4

BeerCast panel verdict

Black Isle Porter – 28/40
Brakspear Oxford Gold – 24½/40
Duchy Originals Select Ale – 22/40
Hakhamanesh Lager – 19/40

Panellists – (from top left) Shovels, The Hopmeister, Grooben, Richard

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #13 – Organic Special
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

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