>2009 Review

>Well, it’s that time of year when I cast my mind back to what we’ve tasted, seen, and cried our way through in 2009.

My Blog of the Year spot goes to Thornbridge’s brewer’s blog. I like the simple design; the articles are always interesting and present a nice mix of brewing inside-knowledge, know-how, and personal experience. As a budding microbrewer myself, this aspect really interests me – I’ve really enjoyed following thier exploits in brewing and running a growing business throughout the year. For me, Kelly and the gang are always happy to share their experiences, which is again sometimes lacking in the brewer/blogger relationship. Blogging should be embraced by brewers – we are, after all, the beer drinkers that take time to shout from the rooftops our love of their product. And I do love Thornbridge’s beers – to me, they represent a vibrant, young, questing set of brewers who represent this country at the highest level. British Brewing dull? Not these guys. So well done, Thornbridge, and I look forward to drinking in 2010 with you – mine’s a pint of Kipling.

Other honourable mentions go to the ever-excellent Boak & Bailey, Zak Avery’s YouTube Vlogs (still effortlessly head and shoulders above the rest – and apologies for not making the TNP tasting – I was busy failing my driving test) and The Beer Nut, which is consistently engaging and honest.
My Beer Venue of the Year award goes to Pivo, a great beer bar in the middle of York. I’ve always said that York is a real hotbed of great, solid English pubs and beer – and having a little slice of international craft beer on the scene ices the cake, really. It’s very small, but perfectly formed. I’m going to find it hard to visit York without dropping in from now on.
Kudos to Leeds Brewery for opening The Brewery Tap, which brews its own Leodis Lager on site. I’m not massively enamoured of the beer, but I like the idea. What about a Koelsch for the summer, guys?

Beer of the Year – always a tricky one. This year I’m copping out with a tied #1 spot for Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch – which managed to be the hoppiest beer I think I’ll ever drink and yet retain excellent balance – and Nogne-O’s IPA – another masterclass in balance between hops and body. Thanks for the memories, guys.
Also memorable were Dark Horse’s Hetton Pale, Orkney’s Red Macgregor, Dogfish Head’s Johnny Cask, Taddington’s Moravka, Sleeman’s IPA, Stone’s Levitation Ale ,Meantime’s London Pale and Young’s Special London Ale, which I am finding is taking my addiction to one type of beer to a whole new level. Wonderful beers, them all.

Beer Event of the Year goes, without a doubt, to Flying Dog’s tasting, which happened at The Cross Keys in September. The full post is here but it made such a nice change to go a well run event, with great hosting by James Brophy, and meet so many great people who are passionate about beer. Thanks again to all involved. North’s Orval & Cheese day was random-yet-inspired, and The Barge and The Owl in Rodley ran their annual beer & music festival to even greater numbers than last year, proving that the appetite for family-oriented community beer events is still there. Well done, lads.

Next Year? Well, more of the same I hope. I’m getting married in September, and my honeymoon will take in Milan, Florence, Venice and Verona – so I’m hoping to finally fill that black hole I have in my knowledge about Italian Craft beer. If anyone has any pointers for me, drop me an email. Can’t wait.

>Nogne – O pt 2: Brown Ale

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Ok, I’m continuing my NO love-in with their Brown Ale (Bottle-Conditioned, 4.5%abv). Remember last time – I said that I thought that their tastes lie more US that UK – well, Brown Ale confounded that one. Smooth in the body, dark ruby in colour, and with a gentle, spicy hoppiness rather than a massive kick to the face, this is one subdued, elegant Brown, rather than the steroid-pumped, chest beating US Brown that I expected.

There’s a slight creaminess to the body, and a residual sweetness that makes this one very smooth, drinkable beer, with a whisper of smoke at the end of the sip. This is one beer I would love to try on tap and can imagine many a cold night in Norway was soothed along with such a wholesome beer as this. Again, it’s Brown Ale, but a new version, and I quite enjoyed it. Not as much as the IPA though!

All in all, NO push all the right buttons for me – passionate about beer enough to make a life out of it, and stamping their own mark on styles as they go along. Here’s the second part of Greg Koch’s NO video for you to get the full experience; showing off their wonderful looking brewhouse and larder. I’m off to go order some more; from their site, I can see there’s plenty more out there for me to try. Do check the site out, it’s full of info for any NO nerd. Recommendations are welcome, guys.

>Nogne O – pt 1

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I can honestly say I’ve never had a beer from Norway before. This, along with the fact that Nogne-O (‘Naked Isle’ in Norwegian) was started up by two enthusiastic homebrewers made me make a beeline for a couple of their bottles whilst perusing UTOBEER earlier in the summer. I had to pick them up there and then, because I hadn’t seen their wares further North at all.

Although I didn’t know what to expect, I’d seen some excellent videos featuring them on YouTube and had a feeling that their tastes would lie more American than English. I was right, at least in the case of the IPA (Bottle conditioned, 7.5% abv); Chinook and Cascade hops give us that US-Style grapefruit/citrus punch on the nose straight away. And, in my bottle, it was this huge aroma that impressed me the most. Aroma can be hard to maintain in bottled beer, so Kudos where it’s due.
Another really interesting aspect of the IPA was the colour – it’s really quite dark for its style; easily the darkest IPA I have seen. This complexity presumably comes from the addition of Munich malt to the grain bill alongside the classic combo of Maris Otter pale malt and Crystal/Caramel malt. This nice twist gave a biscuity, slightly wheaten undertow to the firstly sweet, then massively bitter taste. It’s also a thick, chewy mouthful, with tons of body. For me, a great beer – and this is what I really enjoy – ‘twists’ genre rather than overhauls. I want my beers to give me something new whilst staying recognisable, and they boys from Nogne-O have done that with their IPA.

Anyway, I’m tasting these beers this week, so I will let you know how I get on with Brown Ale, a style very close to my heart, in a few days. In the meantime, here’s some Nogne-O Vid-eo to enjoy; Greg Koch from Stone visited the guys in 2008 and made a diverting little doc whilst enjoying great food, beer and scenery. That guy has a great job.