Tag: Pete Brown

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two MORE Welsh breweries

Our Welsh journey continues with two more breweries mentioned by Pete Brown that I thought should be shared with more people this side of the pond.

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Otley Brewing

Here are two beers from Otley that intrigue me.
O1
ABV 4.O%
Our flagship brew. A pale straw colour ale with
heavy hop aromas, a thirst quenching bitterness
and a big nose aroma.
O3 BOSS
ABV 4.4%
Traditional chestnut ale with Northdown
and Challenger hops, quaffable enjoyment.

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Kingstone Brewery

Here are the two beers that jumped out at me. The first two I will try if/when I get to travel through Wales.
Humptys Fuddle
“Our IPA, dangerously smooth at 5.8% ABV, is a warming, oaky-smoky tipple. Humpty has a slightly sweet floral nose, a balanced level of malt supporting the hops and finally a subtle but slightly citrusy finish.”

Classic Bitter
“The name says it all. This is our award-winning Classic Bitter – a balanced, disctinctively hoppy, dry ale with a floral nose and smooth well-balanced finish. Classic is brewed with pale and crystal malted barley, bittered with a quartet of hops – Northern Brewer, Cascade, Willamette (a Fuggles hybrid) and Brambling Cross.

The Great Taste Awards, which is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and often referred to as the Oscars of the food industry, is this year celebrating its 15th anniversary. A Great Taste Award is the authoritative, independent standard for Britain’s fine food sector: the gold & black logo is the benchmark for independently proven fine food. Our Classic bitter was awarded the 2* Great Taste Award in 2008.”

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Man Walks into a Pub

I have been reading Pete Brown’s excellent beer books in reverse order. Just to be contrary I guess. I have finished Hops and Glory and Three Sheets to the Wind and that leaves me with only…
Man-Walks-into-a-Pub

Even though Three Sheets traveled to my hometown of Portland, Oregon, I much prefer Hops and Glory because of the great history that was interwoven into the modern day IPA journey. We will see how is first book stacks up!

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Breconshire Brewery

As promised, here is the 2nd Welsh entry.
leftcrest
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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White or Red

Pete Brown is one of my favorite beer writers (though of late, mostly focused on the new prohibitionists). His three books are great and this POST really looks at the beer vs wine issue from a fresh vantage point. I strongly suggest reading it and then buying his books.

Personally, I think the first step in beer education may have nothing to do with beer. It is educating people on food and drink and how they play with and enhance each other. And even that comes after educating people on real, whole food. Once people understand these basics, they can made informed decisions based upon what really makes their particular palate sing.

Until then people will be staring at the wine and beer choices with a dazed look and just pick the cheapest because if the choice is bad at least it’s cheap. We as beer writers need to continually push to open up beer minds but we can’t overlook the forest for our favorite tree.