Author: Sean Inman

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Breconshire Brewery

As promised, here is the 2nd Welsh entry.
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Breconshire Brewery is considered the leading Welsh light of their craft beer revival.

Two of their beers struck my fancy. First is Ramblers Ruin – “Dark amber, malty and well hopped with a beautifully balanced aftertaste; a champion Old Ale. High percentages of Crystal and Black Malt create the malt/biscuit undertones; bitterness and aroma are provided by Goldings and First Gold amongst others.”
Second was 6. “This 4.4% abv complex ale is the colour of Welsh Gold; smooth, full flavoured and brimming over with character. Oat and Rye malts give the redish hint to this golden ale, whilst Challenger, Goldings and Sovereign hops provide the bite that underscores the flavour profile. Like the Welsh team, this beer promises to make a great and lasting impression over this Six Nations….
4.4% abv”

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Purple Moose Brewery

Since I am striving to bring my faithful readers beer news that spans the globe. (ripped off Stephen King and Wide World of Sports, sorry) Today’s brewery spotlight falls on Wales! (Kudos to Pete Brown for bringing these breweries to my attention)

The first stop is the Purple Moose.
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Here is a little background…
“The Purple Moose Brewery is a ’10-Barrel’ micro-brewery based in the historic harbour town of Porthmadog, North Wales, close to the mountains of Snowdonia.”

Here is the important beer information…
“We currently produce four standard beers in both cask conditioned and bottled formats. These are Snowdonia Ale (3.6%), Madog’s Ale (3.7%), Glaslyn Ale (4.2%) Dark Side of the Moose (4.6%)”

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Clim8

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Ran across this beer mentioned on Roger Protz’s blog and thought I should bring it to a slightly wider audience…
“Denmark’s Harboe Brewery has launched a beer called Clim8 using 100% raw barley. The company says CO2 is saved by not malting the barley. All very worthy, but beer traditionally is made from malted grain that contains the natural maltose that can be fermented into alcohol. Raw barley on the other hand offers starch, not sugar. It appears that the only way maltose can be extracted from the grain is for large amounts of industrial enzymes to be added during the brewing process.”

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Quantum of…

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Firestone-Walker has a new six-pack entering the world. A wheat beer. I am glad that they are moving in this direction. They have IPA’s and specialty releases in bottles but this marks a broadening of the portfolio. And I am all for that.

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Badger Beer

This is one of the beers that I wish made it across the pond. We are starting to see more Bateman’s here in Los Angeles so hopefully, more esoteric British beers will find their way to my ‘fridge.

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The Badger website says this about the stinger…”Hall & Woodhouse Head Brewer, Tim Morris, who helped to brew the recipe for the ale said: “Stinger is made from fresh organic Dorset nettles from the River Cottage estate added to the copper. It has a grassy herbal aroma with subtle gooseberry and lemon citrus notes that build up towards the end of the glass. It is finished with a slightly spicy after taste that lingers beautifully.”

Check out their full range of beers HERE.

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Safety 1st – Craft Beer 2nd

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For those who must go out and party in honor of casting snakes off a cold, wet island, PLEASE, AND I MEAN PLEASE!

Do not drink and drive.

Use your smartphone and get a taxi. Tweet a sober friend to take you home. Don’t endanger anyone else. It is selfish.

(Tomorrow, we return to normal fun beer posts)

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New plan for St. Patrick’s Day

You would expect a craft beer fan to love St. Patrick’s Day.
Well, I don’t. Not because of the Irish people mind you. But because of how it has become an “excuse to drink too much” day.
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Imagine you are Brandon Roy of the Portland Trailblazers. He is the best in the NBA (just saying). Now imagine one game a year where you have to play hoops with players from the couch potato league and not LaMarcus or Camby or Rudy Fernandez. That is what St. Patrick’s Day is to me. People who gulp neon green beer, just to get drunk. People who don’t drink Irish Stout all year, show up and get plastered. Then moan over getting pulled over by the cops.

Afficionados like me then have to deal with the anti-alcohol people the rest of the year because of these bone-headed bingers.

Of course, in this analogy, I am nowhere the beer guy that Brandon Roy is the basketball all-star.

Here are my proposals:
1. Use St. Patrick’s Day to cleanse your palate. Then return to normal craft beer imbibing the next day. Your tastebuds need a break after all the DIPA’s you’ve had anyway.
2. Avoid the crowded bars and drink a special beer at home with friends. This year, I am opening and sharing Bridgeport’s Highland Ambush. You won’t have to deal with long lines at your favorite beer bar and being pinched by strangers or faux Irish dancing.