12 Beers of Xmas #1 - Hanseatic Porter (Little Earth Project)

I picked up this lovely little bottle after it grabbed my attention at Cotteridge Wines.  They tweeted a picture of it, I read Hanseatic porter 10% and quickly tweeted back 'Save me one please'.  Shopping can be really easy at times.  I knew absolutely nothing about the brewery though but a 10% porter is all it takes to grab my attention.  Little Earth Project is an odd little brewery it seems, specialising in historic, farmhouse and sour beers.  They are located in deepest Suffolk and they haven't been brewing long.  They try to use organically farmed ingredients from the local area in many of their beers and the brewery is powered by local wood and the sun.  All very eco-friendly.   

This particular beer is supposed to be a modern interpretation of the type of porter consumed in the Baltic during the 18th and 19th centuries.  I've still got my cold so aroma is a bit non-existent to me.  My wife thought it tasted of dandelion and burdock.  I know what she means but it's got more complexity than that.  There is a sharp sweet tang to it which bites initially before you get the hedgerow fruity notes to coming in.  There is a sweet finish and I also detected the slight woody notes too (it is barrel-aged).  It is hard to believe this is 10%.  Not really the type of porter I prefer but it's a decent enough beer to start my '12 beers'.     

Kal and Jaz at Cotteridge Wines think the Little Earth Project beers are extremely interesting and are trying to push them and on my last two visits they have thrown in a bottle for me to try in addition to this one.  They remain unopened for the time being but I'm sure it won't be long before I get to try them too.  I also like what they are trying to do.

Cheers.   

Golden Pints 2016

Well what a year 2016 turned out to be.  It was a bit of a mixed bag for me and very little time was found for writing about beer.  There was less drinking at home and more drinking in pubs which is how it should be so I did manage to consume (at least) my usual amount of fine ale so it is time to award my Golden Pints.  Thanks to having the facility to download my Untappd check-ins now I can tell you I have made 897 so far this year and 31 different beers were awarded top marks.  This will (hopefully) help me narrow my choices down and speed up the writing of this post.

It was a year in which I re-discovered Birmingham but this was tinged with sadness following the departure of Chris and Sharon from the Craven Arms.  Birmingham's loss has been York's gain so if you are ever in York then head to the Woolpack. 

As always, each winner is accompanied by a little explanation as well as some close seconds listed where applicable so cue the drum roll ........  

Best UK Cask Beer

Mud City Stout - Sadlers Ales (6.6% ABV)

This is always the most difficult category for me and yet again this proved to be the case.  I had a few pints of Mud City recently at The Bear Freehouse in Stratford-upon-Avon and it was as good as I remembered it to be from when I was first introduced to this beer a few years ago. 

As usual, there were some very close seconds within this category and these were, in no particular order, Autumn Range - Smoked Porter (Cloudwater), Yakima IPA (Great Heck), Pi (XT), Grave Digger's Ale (Church End), Breakfast Stout (Arbor) and Black Oktober (Vibrant Forest).

Best UK Keg Beer

Baby Wheel - Siren Craft (7.1% ABV)

Many more keg beers were consumed this year.  This one was an IPA full of English hops which I thought was really fab when I made my first visit to Brewdog, Brighton.  Marble's Damage Plan was a very close second.  

Best UK Bottled Beer

Imperial Red IPA Special Edition - Vibrant Forest (9.7% ABV)

Plenty of choice in this category as usual.  This particular beer I bought from the brewery quite cheap when I was presenting them with the Yapton Beerex Beer of the Festival 2016.  I just wish I had bought more than the one.  A potent, intoxicating, hoppy monster of a beer.  Durham's Bede's Chalice (9.0% ABV), Siren's Tidal Wave (10.0% ABV) and Irreversible (8.5% ABV) from Twisted Barrel come a very close second.  

Best UK Canned Beer

Imperial Lord Smog Almighty - Beavertown (11.0% ABV)

Not had as many cans this year as I thought I might but that is simply because I have consumed less beer at home and I never make long train journeys.  Beavertown, king of the cans, won this category last year and this year they win it again with this beer which was simply stunning. 

Best Overseas Draught Beer

Christian Bale Ale (4.6% ABV) - Dry & Bitter Brewing Company (Denmark)

No trips abroad this year so very little to choose from in this category.  However, this citrusy session pale that was on tap at the Craven Arms was very pleasing.


Best Overseas Bottled Beer

Mooi & Meedogenloos (Bourbon Barrel-Aged) (11.2% ABV) - Brouwerij de Molen (Holland)

An absolutely amazing beer found at Cotteridge Wines during #BadgeQuest2016.  I need to find this one again as my wife also fell in love with it. 

Best Overseas Canned Beer

Mosiac Black IPA (8.0% ABV) - Mikkeller (Denmark)

Limited choice in this category but this beer was very smooth and just about perfect. 

Best Collaboration Brew

Three's Company - Cloudwater (with Magic Rock & JW Lees) (8.3% ABV)

This was a bottle I had at the Needle & Pin micropub in Loughborough.  A Cloudwater / Magic Rock collab with JW Lees yeast I believe.  A beautiful beer.

Best Overall Beer

Something Something Dark Side (9.2% ABV) by Weird Beard

I am not 100% sure if this was cask or keg (update from the man who knows - I have been reliably informed it was cask) because the Craven Arms did some cracking beers from WB on cask this year.  However, this imperial stout was so good it would probably have won whichever category it fell into so I can make it my best overall beer.

Best Branding

Beavertown

They win once again for the distinctive artwork on their cans.   Magic Rock come a close second.

Best Pumpclip

Downlands

Still the best for me.  It is always a joy to see a Downlands beer with the distinctive South Downs signpost.  The beers are also first class and this year I have particularly enjoyed their Bramber (4.5% ABV), CAM-RAA 2015 (6.4% ABV) and NZ Red (4.3% ABV).  


Best Label

Durham Brewery

No change in this category either.  A classic design and I know the beer inside the bottle will be an absolute joy.  Thanks to more visits to Cotteridge Wines this year I have enjoyed more of their beer this year and, once again, I have a special one lined up for Christmas Day as part of my '12 Beers of Xmas'.

Best UK Brewery

Cloudwater

Fortunately, my first visit of 2016 to the Craven Arms in Birmingham came a few days after a Cloudwater Meet The Brewer event.  This enabled me to try a good selection of their fantastic beers on cask.  Then there is the fabulous DIPA series which are always worth seeking out.  Everything I have tried from them gets a high rating.  Definitely top of the Premier League for me.

Best Overseas Brewery

Brouwerij De Molen

There is a massive range of their beer available at Cotteridge Wines.  I have never been let down by any of them and often I have been elated (see best overseas foreign beer category).

Best New Brewery Opening 2016

Elusive

I got to try some beer from Elusive quite soon after they began brewing earlier this year thanks to the Craven Arms in Birmingham and they followed this up with a Meet The Brewer where I got to try a full range of their beer as well as getting to chat with owner / brewer Andy Parker.  Every beer from them is first class.       

Pub/Bar of the Year

Stratford Alehouse, Stratford-upon-Avon
             

This pub is everything you wish for in a micropub.  Great beer, excellent owners and fantastic regulars.  It has been my weekday 'local' since May and is by far and away the best pub in a town dominated by Greene King.  The Brooksteed Alehouse, Worthing and the Craven Arms, Birmingham both come a close second.  The Brooksteed Alehouse would have won if I had not been sent away to work and the Craven Arms would have won if Chris and Sharon had not been forced away.  

Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2016

Anchor Tap, Horsham

The history of this bar goes back to 1898.  After closing it has been a shoe shop and a coffee shop before Dark Star acquired it and re-opened it as a bar.  With six casks (mainly from Dark Star) and ten keg lines featuring the best craft breweries around the UK this is a beer destination in a town that needed some new life for the beer connoisseur.

Beer Festival of the Year

Birmingham Beer Bash

One of only two beer festivals I attended in 2016.  However, excellent beer choices and a great venue for this one made it an easy winner.  Southern Fail ensured I could not get to the GBBF.  Yapton Beerex, my local CAMRA festival, was discounted as I was not attending it as a customer.  However, as I will be organising it in 2017 (May 12th-14th) it will obviously be the best beer festival next year!  

Supermarket of the Year

Marks & Spencer

Not really shopped for much supermarket beer this year but Marks & Spencer continue to have an interesting selection.    

Independent Retailer of the Year

Cotteridge Wines, Birmingham

Winner for the fourth year running and, thanks to now working within a short drive once again, it has become the only place I buy beer from to consume at home.  They also have a great little bar at their shop too now so it has just got better with each visit.  There are other places in Birmingham that I need to check out though.  This is on my 2017 'to do' list.

Online Retailer of the Year

Beer52

I have bought very little beer online in 2016 but I have been a sporadic subscriber to the monthly offering from Beer52 which always seems to have an interesting beer or two along with an excellent magazine.

Best Beer Book or Magazine

'Ferment' from Beer52


Not really read any beer books this year.  Stephen King takes up all my spare reading time.  However, this winner is the magazine that comes with the box of beer from Beer52.  Always has some excellent articles from the best beer writers around.   

Best Beer Blog or Website

BeersManchester

It has been THE toughest year for Jim (aka Beers Manchester) summed up within this particular poignant post.  The most genuine guy you could ever meet.  Other blogs I particularly enjoy reading come from Pub Procrastinator (@Deeekos), Pub Curmudgeon (@oldmudgie) and Rach - Look At Brew (@lookatbrew). 

Best Beer App

Untapped

Winner for a fourth successive year.  Keeps track of everything I drink.  I'd be lost without it.  I like collecting badges too of course !!

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitter

@BeerOClockShow

I have not been using Twitter a great deal this year.  So difficult finding the time.  However, due to their 'Big Beery Night' and '12 Beers of Xmas' on top of those excellent podcasts etc etc this is an easy award to make.  Steve represents all that is wonderful about the friendly world of beer in the great digiverse.

Best Brewery Website / Social Media

Langham .

Another local brewery that deserves a big mention for consistently producing excellent beer.  They relaunched their website in 2016 and it comes with a quote from me.  Looking forward to brewing a special beer with them for Yapton Beerex.  

That brings 2016 to a close.  Work has taken up far too much of my travel time but it has meant I have got to know Birmingham a little bit better.  The first few months of 2017 will be taken up with organising a beer festival (yes yet another plug !!!) so if you can make it down to my little corner of West Sussex in May I'd be really pleased to see you.     

Happy Christmas and New Year to you all.

Twelve Beers of Xmas 2016

Here we go again.  The 12 Beers of Xmas is now in its 4th year and it is a chance for beer lovers everywhere to choose a dozen beers for Christmas and drink one each day beginning on December 20th and thereby ending on New Years Eve.  For me, the Christmas period is a time for indulging in some of my favourite beer styles.  Imperial stouts, imperial IPAs and barley wines are particularly sought after for my list and that usually means ABVs in excess of 10% too.  This year I have really indulged with six imperial stouts.

If the 12 Beers of Xmas is all new to you then it really is easy to take part.  Buy a dozen beers and drink them is all there is to it.  Add your comments on the Beer O'Clock Show website and/or follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #12BeersofXmas.  If you are a blogger then you can also write a review of each beer too so we can all imagine the finer points of the beers you are enjoying.  

My selections have been made but there may be one or two late substitutions as I am planning on a visit this week to the Birmingham beer mecca, Cotteridge Wines.  Last year I found some absolutely cracking beers from all over the world.  This year I am staying closer to home with only two beers from abroad (and these are the two that might be substituted) as well as three beers from my home county of Sussex but I don't think I will see any reduction in quality.  I certainly hope not.  Due to working away I won't be opening my first beer until Thursday December 22nd.  The second beer will also be opened on this day and beers three and four will be opened on December 23rd by which time I will have caught up with everyone.  That's the plan.  So with no further ado here is my lineup for this year (as it currently stands).

Thursday December 22nd

Hanseatic Porter - Little Earth Project (10.0% ABV)
Pagoda Power - Ballards Brewery (8.5% ABV)

Friday December 23rd

Imperial Raspberry Stout - Thornbridge / St Eriks Bryggeri (10.0% ABV)
2014 Imperial Export Strength Stout - Dark Star (10.5% ABV)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Ale - Harveys (7.5% ABV)

Christmas Day

Imperious Oak Aged Imperial Stout - Durham Brewery (11.6% ABV)




Boxing Day

Oak Aged Silverback - Blue Monkey (13.0% ABV)

Tuesday December 27th

Odyssey 006 - Siren Craft (10.5% ABV)

Wednesday December 28th

Imperial India Pale Ale (#500) - Nogne O (10.0% ABV)

Thursday December 29th

Sadako Imperial Stout - Weird Beard (9.5% ABV)

Friday December 30th

Berlin Passionfruit Berliner Weisse - Oersoep Microbrewery (3.5% ABV)

New Year's Eve

Imperial Stout - Cloudwater (11.2% ABV)

Craven Arms, Birmingham

Destination pubs.  Many cities are lucky enough to have one.  Bristol has the Barley Mow, Norwich has the Fat Cat, Portsmouth has the Hole In The Wall, Brighton has the Evening Star, Manchester has the Marble Arch and Birmingham HAD the Craven Arms.  There are many others too I'm sure but I'm just listing pubs I know well here.  To me a destination pub is your first port of call when you go somewhere.  It is a pub you know will have a fantastic range of beer in a relaxing environment.  A modern range of beers too.  Most cities have some excellent pubs but these pubs go above and beyond the excellent.

This brings me back to the Craven Arms.  I was fortunate to be working in Stratford-upon-Avon when Chris and Sharon Sherratt took this pub on back in early 2013 and I reviewed it here.  Well worth the arduous train ride into Birmingham.  When I was sent back to Stratford this year the train times to Birmingham were more convenient and the Craven Arms has become a weekly trip.  It even got a second review from me here.

During one of these visits I got to know Tim Rowe who had plans for some Meet The Brewer events at the Craven and I was lucky enough to see the pub host James Kemp from Marble and Andy Parker from Elusive.  That's the thing about the Craven.  Only the best is good enough on their bar.  Well there is one exception to this I guess and therein lies the problem.  The Craven Arms is owned by Black Country Ales and three handpumps here have always been wasted on their efforts.  Despite this though there was a constantly changing range of cask and evil keg for the beer aficionado to enjoy in this wonderful pub.  

     

So what do Black Country Ales do?  They make it impossible for Chris and Sharon to continue.  I don't know the full story but it seems BCA want to bring it in line with their other pubs by offering a range of exceedingly average (cheap?) beers.  If you want to see an example of this in action then visit their flagship pub in Birmingham, The Wellington.  A massive list of cask ales from which you will struggle to find one that stands out from the crowd.  Quality not quantity is what the beer lover wants Black Country Ales !!  Chris and Sharon left last week and most of their excellent staff have since left too and this evening I visited the pub and could not bring myself to stay for more than a pint.  Birmingham's one and only destination pub has been wiped off the map and I am extremely pissed off about it. 

So all you beer lovers out there looking for places to drink in Birmingham please strike this from your list.  It's a hard climb up Gough Street to this pub and you really should save yourself all that effort and avoid it.  If you like bland, boring beer than it might be the place for you because it is still a fabulous building but I'm sure BCA will do their worst with it.  I will probably pay it a visit in a few months to see how it has changed.  In the meantime I really hope Chris and Sharon get the pub they deserve.  They have a lot of friends and followers who will be beating a path to their door on opening night.  In the meantime, I will try and find a new pub to frequent in this fine city.  I am told it might not be an easy task though.

Cheers.

          

    

Meet The Elusive Brewer

Another Meet the Brewer event at the fabulous Craven Arms, Birmingham was held on Monday evening.  The star of the show was Andy Parker, brewer and owner of Elusive Brewing based in Finchampstead, Berkshire.  They are close enough to Siren Craft, that they can smell each others hops and it sounds like they have been a great help to Andy too along the way.  In fact they have done many collaborations prior to Andy getting his own brewery operational, particularly with Siren's 'Dinner For' series of beers.
 

 

It seems that Andy's fame and stature was already legendary when Elusive began.  It is hard to believe he only began home brewing in 2012 and within two years he had been crowned National Homebrew Champion netting himself a £5000 prize.  Since then he has made numerous collaborations notably with Weird Beard and Siren before embarking on his own brewery, a 6 bbl set-up which produced beer number one in April.  He says he is risk averse and it was his wife who gave him the kick up the butt to give up the day-job.  And, of course, the thing he misses most about his job is the salary!!!  The brewery is now a true family affair with his recently-retired parents helping out.

Many questions were asked and one which always comes up at any MTB is where did the name come from.  Andy is into gaming and he wanted his gaming tag to be Elusive.  As is often the way with these things the name he wanted was already taken.  In the end he looked at words for Elusive in foreign languages.  His gaming tag became tabamatu which is Elusive in Estonian.  That also became his Twitter id so when he was seeking a name for his brewery it had to be Elusive (Tabamatu wouldn't have worked quite so well I think).

The bar at the Craven Arms was loaded with Elusive beers.  The first one I tried was Level Up (Level 3: Colombus & T'n'T) - 5.0% ABV.  I love good hoppy reds and this is one of them.  This was the beer which won him the National Homebrew Champion crown (albeit with different hops).  Andy was keen to point out that he is keen on marrying malt and hops in a way which provides excellent balance and that is certainly the case because the flavours of both shine through in all of his beers. 

The second beer I tried was Carve'n Yams (5.2% ABV).  The name was a clever play on the name of the pub of course as this was the only cask of this beer available anywhere and, although it is a pumpkin beer, I particularly enjoyed this one.  It was a pumpkin porter with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg but ultimately it was a smooth porter full of flavour and character.

There were three evil keg beers alongside the six casks and it was time I dabbled in one of those.  Spectres' Lair was a fabulous 4.9% ABV APA with lovely grapefruit notes coming through.  That was it for the evil keg though for the night as far as I was concerned.  The next beer was a full pint of Brimful of Masha (7.2% ABV), a beer that was only available on cask here tonight.  This is a beer that has appeared in all the Brewdog bars recently in keg and Andy told me how different it was here tonight.  I absolutely loved it.  My favourite beer of the evening.  It is another American red ale and it had so many flavours combining to give a beer of perfect balance.

My final beer was Ultrahops Vienna (4.8% ABV).  This was a pale ale that I should really have had earlier in the evening because it was a beer with plenty of lighter tones but the quality still shone through.  It is rare to go through such a range of beers from a brewery that is still so new but that was the reality of the evening I experienced here.  Every beer was superb and I cannot wait to see what gems Andy will come up with in the future (something special for Yapton Beerex hopefully !!)

Thank you once again to Chris and Sharon, the wonderful hosts at the Craven Arms, along with Tim Rowe, the events organiser for this wonderful pub.  Sadly I cannot make the next event (Lost & Grounded on Monday November 7th) but I will definitely be along later in the week to sample some of their beers if any are left.  I know that Tim is only interested in inviting quality brewers to these events so the beer will definitely be first class. 

Cheers.
   

Big Beery Night 2016

I have long been a vocal critic of big charities trying to encourage people to stop drinking with campaigns such as Dryanuary, Stoptober, etc.  Last year a group of beer fans led by those awesome guys at the Beer O'Clock Show decided to do the opposite.  Big Beery Night was launched and nearly £4000 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The idea was that for one night drinkers were encouraged to donate the cost of the beers they drink to charity.  Obviously, the more you drink, the more you donate.  

This year I lost my mum to cancer and I'm sure most people have lost a loved one to this dreadful disease at some point in their lives.  It is therefore a cause I am keen to support and, although I don't normally need much encouragement to have a beer or two, it is good to know I will be doing it for a good cause.  Click on the link here to get the full details of what is happening this year and join in if you wish.  

There are a few ways in which you can join in this year.  You can stick to donating the cost of what you drink on the night or you can organise your own event with your drinking buddies.  One thing I will be taking part in this year is #BadgeQuest2016 and my preparations have already begun.  The social media drinking app, Untappd, awards badges for drinking.  Badges are categorised across beer style and venues along with some special badges throughout the year for meeting certain criteria.  The idea of #BadgeQuest is to donate a £1 for every badge you receive on Untappd from November 1st - November 13th.  I am taking this seriously because I want to donate as much money as possible to this worthy cause.  For the past couple of days I have been trying to avoid winning any badges and I have been looking at which beers I will need to consume to get as many badges as possible once the competition starts.  Last year the winning haul was a monumental 45 badges.  Without causing massive harm to my liver I don't think  I can compete with that but I am confident I can manage 30.  A bold prediction indeed as this number would have put me second in the table last year.  If I hit this target I will double my donation so please give me plenty of encouragement.  I have been studying the criteria for Untappd badges for a few days now and I have a few beers already lined up.  A trip to Cotteridge Wines in Birmingham will be made later this week when I will have a very specific shopping list.  

The competition starts tomorrow and in the meantime I have a Meet The Brewer event at the Craven Arms in Birmingham tonight.  I think I have planned it so that I will get no badges tonight but I will put myself within touching distance of two or three for when it all kicks off tomorrow.  Coincidentally, the brewer in question is Andy Parker of Elusive who just happens to be the winner of #BadgeQuest from last year.

Anyway, I think there may be a blog post or two from this to let you know what I have been drinking and the badges won along the way.  

Cheers. 

Meet the Brewer - Marble

All roads and train tracks led to Birmingham last night for those who appreciate the excellence of Marble beers.  Birmingham's top real ale pub, the Craven Arms, were throwing another 'Meet the Brewer' event and the star of the show this time was James Kemp, head brewer at Manchester's finest.  I love these type of events and I had this one in my diary since it was announced. 

Things took an unexpected turn which made it even better.  A former work colleague of mine, John Goodsell, has recently begun getting involved with North Sussex CAMRA doing their social media stuff.  Through this involvement we got back in touch with each other via Facebook but apart from a brief chat at a GBBF quite a few years ago we hadn't seen each other for 25 years - until last night.  He put out a comment on Facebook to say he was in Birmingham for the evening and asking for recommendations.  He did not take any persuading to join me at the Craven when I told him it was a Marble Meet the Brewer. 

The bar was loaded with Marble beers.  Six cask, six keg and a sprinkling of bottled beers.  A few of these were the same beer so it was possible to compare and contrast the two methods of dispense.  I didn't double up though as there were plenty of beers I wanted to try.  I began on the first line of three casks beers shown below. 

The first was Built to Fall (5.6% ABV).  This APA was delicious with a full citrus hit.  I had time to drink this one and fill my glass with the Howgate & Kemp (6.4% ABV) before things began.  This beer turned out to be my favourite one of the evening with a real hit of pineapple from the New Zealand hops. 

Whilst supping I was enjoying listening to Black Sabbath's 'Into The Void' when suddenly the volume went up and the lights went out.  This sudden upping in the volume did not last long as the sound was soon extinguished and the lights came back on.  Tim Rowe, the organiser of these events, stood up and introduced James.  James gave us a brief history of his brewing career before joining Marble at the end of last year.  Born in the UK, a move to New Zealand, learning the art of home-brewing and picking up a strange accent, coming back to the UK and working at Thornbridge, Buxton and Fullers.  Then getting the call from Marble to take on the role of head brewer.

It was then time to try more beer.  I went for the Earl Grey IPA next (6.8% ABV).  I had tried this once in the Marble Arch a couple of years ago but this tasted much better than I remembered it.  I am not a tea drinker and to be honest I did not notice any earl grey flavours in there unlike other 'tea' beers I have tried.  It was just the kind of big bold IPA that I love.

By now John had arrived and he was catching up quickly with pints whereas I was on halves.  Next up for me was my first keg beer of the evening, Skiffie Worlds (5.0% ABV), yet another IPA.  Marble love brewing IPAs.  This one lacked the flavour of the others so I followed this up with the Lagonda IPA (5.0% ABV), one of my favourite Marble beers, and this was in perfect condition.  As good as I remember it.

Whilst all this drinking was going on me and John were catching up on the last 25 years.  Working in IT and drinking good beer seems to go hand-in-hand.  It certainly does for us.  In the meantime James was circulating with Tim and it was good to chat with them when they got to us.  John had missed the earlier talk so I introduced him and we had a good chat about Harveys and old ales, a beer style popular in Sussex and one which James is keen to brew based on the fabulous Gales Prize Old Ale which we all have fond memories of. 

Marble celebrate their 21st birthday next year and many new beers are planned but it was refreshing to hear that Marble have no intention of expanding.  They are happy being the size they are and world domination is not part of the plan.  Also not part of the plan though is Dobber.  This beer has been consigned to the history books it seems.  I will mourn its loss.

The evening then took another unexpected turn.  Tim had a 10-year old bottle of a Marble imperial stout called Decadence and he got some sample glasses for us and offered it round.  This was sensational with a capital "S".  A definite advert for aging beers.  I just can't seem to keep mine long enough though.  Lots of chocolatey notes and a great boozy character to it.

After that my last train was calling me but there was time for yet another superb APA, Damage Plan (7.1% ABV).  This is another beer that I have tried before and it didn't disappoint.  

I would like to thank Tim for organising these events, the Craven Arms for hosting them (and for being the best real ale pub I have ever been in) and to James for his engaging manner and brewing expertise.  Finally to John for joining me and hopefully it won't be quite so long before we meet up again.  Next month's Elusive meet the brewer perhaps?

Cheers.