Click here to ‘It’s like drinking a can of Lilt!!!’ I never buy Lilt when I want a can of pop. However this is a phrase I’ve heard a lot in recent months with the boom in styles of beers that are designed to replicate fruit smoothies or cans of pop. Sometimes the phrase is a very accurate description of the beer, more often it’s not.

Now, I’ve had a few of these beers. Some I’ve found so sweet and sickly a mouthful has been more than enough. Others have been much better balanced and I’ve enjoyed 440mls of it. Rarely have I returned for a second go of the same beer. I like a West Coast IPA. There, I’ve said it.
This is fine. We all have different palates and as often say to others – there’s always another beer. Rest easy, I find plenty.

But to me the recent penchant for these styles of beers has created a couple of issues, from what I’ve observed.

Firstly, there seems to be an increase in accusations of ‘this isn’t as good as last year’s version’ or ‘this beer has changed’. Now I’m no expert on beer, I know what I like but that’s about as far as it goes. Then again, neither are the vast majority of folk I hear these complaints from, though of course everyone is perfectly entitled to their opinion. Let’s take a look at the two gripes in turn. It’s not as good as last year? Really? They remember exactly what a beer they had a couple of times when it was last brewed tasted and smelt like? A year later. They haven’t been influenced by their emotions at the time and afterwards and how that all evolved in their memory. What they read about it on social media. What they’ve read on social media this year – the bandwagon effect. Or, perhaps they’ve also been pouring fruit smoothie or Lilt beers down their neck for the last two months and expect that same intense flavour hit from this orange infused west coast IPA? Who knows whether the beer is as good as last year or not. Is it even any different? It doesn’t really matter, it’s a good discussion to have and I’ve said it myself many a time (or this is better than last year). But the disdain with which I have heard such accusations be spat out is something else at times. Oh and this beer has changed – I hear this a lot. I dare say sometimes it’s an accurate observation by people with a much better understanding than mine, particularly given the outstripping of supply with demand for some hop varieties, but with some of the beers this has been thrown at, I really can’t taste it. Perhaps again, the intense flavours of certain beers, that seem to be being consumed in abundance, are having an impact on what punters taste when they return to their regular beers – my beloved West Coast IPAs seem to be a particular casualty of this perhaps because they were flavour of the month not too long ago.

Secondly, perfectly decent beers also seem to be getting a caning for being ‘poor’ quality when they really aren’t in my humble opinion. As a case in point I’m going to regale my recent experience of Out of Town Brewing’s IPA on keg. We had it on tap at the bottle shop I work in. Before I’d had the chance to try it I was told by more than one person that it was shite. Too thin. No flavour. Nothing about it. A 6.8% IPA – thin and flavourless! Eventually I got around to trying it. For me it was a really good beer. A West Coast IPA that had good body and mouthfeel with a piney, chewy flavour and texture to it – reckon there’s a bit of Chinook in there but I’m not great at picking out hops. Initially I just scoffed inside my head at the naysayers, but then I started to think about what drew them to their conclusions. Who knows but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a combination of taste buds impacted by current trends in beer styles and the good old hype machine that is ‘dictating’ what we all should be drinking and liking - that seemed to have, what was for me a 70+/100 IPA, down as a loser for some.
So whilst these smoothie and Lilt beers remain flavour of the month, enjoy them if they’re your thing. But hey, give the good old West Coast IPA (or whatever other style) a fair crack of the whip when you next have one.

As always, your thoughts on the topic are always welcome, as is constructive criticism of the content and/or the blog in general.
 
Cheers.
edit.

I've been pondering these words a while. I see 'Drink Fresh' spouted a lot, almost to obsession for some - and whilst I get that hop forward beers such as a belting IPA being well suited to this philosophy, I also see a lot of misunderstanding on the subject. My understanding of cellaring is certainly very limited. This will hopefully develop in time for me but the bit of cellaring I've done has raised the odd issue and plenty of internal anguish! Which beers should I be cellaring? I have a rudimentary idea. But, the biggest quandary....when the hell should I open this beer or that beer?!? Do I now buy two bottles of a beer I might want to save for a later date, a special occasion or just because I think I should?
 
I have a few bottles stashed away but why am I doing this. How long should I hibernate the Cloudwater Gyle 123 Imperial Stout for? Thoughts Cloudwater? When should I open the 2009 Goose Island Bourbon County? Goose Island? When should I open the four year old bottle of Orval? Oh - I have. Alongside a more recent incarnation.
 
Recent Orval Vs early 2013 Orval
 
The pour - firstly, I lost a bit of the vintage as it was a little lively but other than that they poured similarly with high levels of carbonation - a large airy head present in both glasses. The colour was virtually identical, despite the appearance of the photographs but the vintage was a little more hazy.
 
The sniff - there was an immediately noticeable difference in aroma. The recent brew had the subtle yet funky aroma that I am familiar with whereas the vintage was far less subtle, much more fruity with a dank lingering nose.
 
Once I started to taste the two versions I immediately became aware of the challenge I had set myself. Unpicking the some subtle and some not so subtle differences between the two beers was far more complex than I had anticipated and made me question what I was expecting to get from the experience. The vintage was less fruity and less floral. It had less zing and bite. But it had significantly more body and an incredible mouthfeel. Drinking even a small amount of the vintage was a soft and full(ish) experience. The smooth soapy texture allowed the vintage to glide through the mouth and down the throat. In contrast to the aroma, the drinking experience of the vintage was far more subtle and rounded.
 
My initial experience of drinking the more recent version was more pleasurable. The vintage was preferable the further down the glass. Reading back this experience it appears that the vintage was the better of the two but I'm not so sure. I think I enjoyed drinking the vintage more but a lasting thought stays with me. It had lost something.  Something in the flavour that came from all the apparent positives. I'm glad I had the opportunity to do this comparison but how would I have felt had I put the years in with the vintage rather than it being gifted my way a few months ago – underwhelmed perhaps? But it was such a well rounded interpretation of the beer!
 
I don’t feel as though I am any further on with this perpetual dilemma and I’m not entirely sure this will make any more sense to the reader than it does to the writer. It seems I have much to learn on the matter until I reach the heights of those that just seem to know.
 
Roll on 2019 for the Bourbon County eh........

Beer of the year is often an interesting thread to follow, though determining my own beer of the year often proves a fruitless task. So many factors influence the decision and there is so much good beer out there. I still have a pretty good idea of what my top three for 2016 were judged by the definition I have in my head but can’t necessarily articulate, but if I skew that definition to being about the beer that exceeded my expectations the most, a new candidate leaps straight to the top.
 
By challenging one’s preconceptions and expectations we often find joy in the most surprising of places.
 
Lager.
 
In my younger days cold and flavourless lager was my drink of choice for several years and my development as a beer drinker leaves a snobbish opinion of lager by association with those years. It’s an outlook I see repeatedly in the beer shop – it’s almost not the done thing to buy lager if one is into indie beer.
 
Thus, last year I tried to push my own boundaries and started to drink one or two lagers, reminded of the definition of lagering – to cold store during conditioning – rather than seeing a pint of Carling Black Label in my mind’s eye.
 
And now, if I think back to 2016 with the definition of best beer being the one that exceeded my expectations the most I have a clear winner – Marble Brewery’s Metal Series Your Betrayal American Pilsner. It’s a while since I had this beer but what particularly sticks in my mind is the tremendous flavour hit from the Equinox, Citra and Cascade hops but more so, the incredible body and mouthfeel – from a lager. My interest was piqued.
 
I’m never good at predictions (though I think sours will be big in 2017) so perhaps I should focus on styles I will make big for me in 2017 by challenging myself and seeking out good quality examples of that style. For me therefore, I predict that lager will be much bigger in 2017 than it was in 2016!
 
With that in mind and having persuaded my boss at the bottle shop to give Lost & Grounded Brewers a go on the shelves, I recently dived in to a Lost & Grounded Keller Pils that I bought, alongside another of their lagers – Running with Sceptres - from Copper’s of Gosforth, where I work.
 
Lost & Grounded Keller Pils
 
It poured a pale, golden straw colour with a white frothy head and carbonation looked spot on. I got an instant malty aroma which was certainly inviting and provided promise for a beer with flavour. For me, I’d have preferred better head retention as by the first sip there was little of that frothy head remaining but determined to drink with senses other than sight, I delved in.
 
On taking a draught and letting it linger on the palate a little I was struck by the very full mouthfeel presented, not dissimilar to that of Your Betrayal – it danced on my tongue as I started to detect savoury biscuit and toast flavours, that with it’s subtle woody and bitter finish, made this lager a pleasant drink to the last.
 
From a 330ml bottle I was left wanting more and whilst my sessions tend not to see the same beer poured more than once I could quite easily enjoy a session on a few schooners of this, particularly on a hot summers day. That said, it hit the spot in the bleak mid winter too. I would heartily recommend trying Lost & Grounded if you’re yet to do so. I expect to see exciting things from them in this, their first full calendar year in production. This and the saison ‘Hop Hand Fallacy’ which I had at the back end of last year in Pleased To Meet You, have both impressed.
 
So really, despite already having had the odd excellent lager from the likes of Marble, Anarchy Brew Co and Cloudwater Brew Co last year, I feel that my lager quest has now truly begun. Don’t get me wrong, I shall still be consuming my fair share of IPAs and APAs, but I am determined to scale my wall of prejudices this year too. I would encourage you to do the same, whether it be with lager, saison or sour beers (or whatever), talk to your bottle shop or the staff in your pub and ask them to help you push your boundaries and stretch your horizons. Over the past couple of years I have grown to love sours, not least with the help of the terrifically knowledgeable team at the Free Trade Inn who have introduced me to sours properly (don't miss their excellent annual Sours Festival) and encouraged me to try more along the way. What’s the worst that can happen? There’s always another beer out there after all.
 

Given that this month thus far appears to have been an explosion of opinions about the strategy of a certain Manchester Brew Co. (or opinions of opinions) it seems fitting that my first amateurish attempts on blogging about my interactions with beer should be with regard to Cloudwater Brew Co.

I have had several offerings from this brewery since their inception and if I recall correctly have enjoyed them all. Their IPAs and the Sorachi Grissette stick in my mind in particular for their quality and I have enjoyed the variety that the DIPA series have offered my palate. However, it was with a degree of uncertainty that I purchased a bottle of Cloudwater Bourbon Barrel Aged Tripel from one of my employers - the excellent Coppers of Gosforth.

But why the uncertainty given my hitherto positive experiences of Cloudwater? It was a 750ml bottle  - if I really didn't like it there would be much waste. But that wasn't it, I have bought many a big bottle and just gone for it. It wasn't cheap - though value for money wasn't a concern. There was one thing that was gnawing away at me. Not that it was barrel aged, but that it was bourbon barrel aged. For why? Well, I realise it's not a fashionable view but I have polarised experiences with bourbon barrel aged beers. I loved Almasty's Sour Mash which was such a well rounded delivery on a complex beer. However, I guess what was too far to the fore of my mind was my experience with a bourbon barrel aged version of a base beer that had previously hit beer of the year heights for me. What had been a viscous and complex delight in it's original form, for me, became an insipid and thin variation on the base beer. A well brewed and aged beer it was, but it left me disappointed and craving it's non-BBA forbearer.

But by the Cloudwater BBA Tripel I had and I was damned if I wasn't going to drink it (all).


So I did, and here are my thoughts. Firstly it poured beautifully to present a deep golden colour with a good head atop. At 10% ABV it was always going to be a beer to sip long and savour but any concern aside from the ageing technique was fear of polishing off 750ml of a 10% Tripel given my expectation of a sweetness I sometimes find a little much in Tripels.

My first few sips certainly confirmed a level of sweetness but it was immediately apparent that it wasn't too much and that the other qualities balanced and carried it well. It delivered a floral and syrupy effervescence that challenged me as a drinker but didn't create a barrier to enjoying the other qualities.

Now the tasting notes on the bottle suggested I should be detecting tones of vanilla, coconut and pineapple and whilst I could certainly taste elements of pineapple upside down cake, what also came through for me was a hint of caramilised peaches which smoothed the sweetness off nicely. Was the bourbon prevalent? For me, no, I would suggest that it acted as a flavour enhancer rather than as a flavour to cut through the brew.

It was certainly a big beer and one that took quite a while to enjoy to the end given the quantity, but enjoy it to the end I did. It had body and depth and left a lasting mouthfeel that demanded a savouring before revisiting for another draught from the glass. My fear of the bourbon barrel ageing thinning out the beer was unfounded. Perhaps I have let one disappointing experience dominate my recollections of the impact this ageing process can have. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Bourbon Barrel Ageing as my lay-person's approach to tasting beer is just that. Feel free to share your thoughts below or on Twitter. I'd also be interested in any thoughts on the style and length of this first blog. I'm not sure I've said much more in this piece than some get across in 140 characters!

So there we go, and I didn't mention cask once.....damn it!

Cheers,

Paul.