14 December 2011

We now deliver!

In fact we allways have done; we just never shouted about it before.

Free if you spend of £50 or more, we'll ask for a fiver for smaller orders.

Edinburgh only I'm afraid, usually next day

 

Would you like a piece of cake?

 

Buy a case of wine and we will reward you with a £5 voucher redeemable at Edinburgh's best patisserie (& neighbours) The Manna House http://themannahousebakery.co.uk/

 

 

New(ish) Assistant Manager

 

If you've been in the shop during the last three weeks then you may have been served by me - Dom Holt, pleased to meet you!

I've been in Edinburgh/Leith for the last 6 years or so. I'm a graphic designer & photographer by trade. Last year I put myself through a few WSET courses with the talented Claire Blackler over at Case Studies Wine School. My motivation for this was so I could become more informed about what I was drinking. I wanted to try and demystify the world of wine for myself so I could drink better stuff.

Upon completing my WSET Advanced, I decided I would take the plunge and find work in the trade. If you want to learn French then go to France right?

When James advertised the position at Cornelius, it was like the planets had aligned just for me. I'd harboured a desire to work here for as long as I'd been coming as a customer.

I like a shop where you can discuss your purchases and get recommendations from your vendor. There's not enough of that these days. I believe it's important to know what you're getting, and I've always valued the fact James has a personal relationship and an opinion on everything in the store. His recommendations are always spot on.

Knowing what to recommend is a huge part of the job here. It's not sufficient to just know the price and style of a wine or beer, it's important that we know first hand what something's like. And that means trying things out. I'm slowly familiarising myself with the contents of the shop and expanding my own personal knowledge at the same time. I couldn't be more satisfied. I plan on starting my WSET Diploma next year.

As well as working in the shop, I still design for web and print and I still take photos, mainly for the Edinburgh band scene. I also manage a band and promote local artists. I put on my own gigs every now and then too. Last year I setup a small record imprint - Youngteam Records- which I run from my kitchen. Our 5th release - 'Oscillator' by Frantic Chant - is out on 12th November.

Find me on twitter @therealdomholt I'll also be tweeting from the shop @corneliusbeers

Cheers!

 

Written by Cornelius | 14 January 2010

 

Going Dutch 17.09.11

In July I spent a very pleasurable afternoon drinking in the pretty grounds of Koningshoevan Abbey, a Trappist Monastery in the South of Holland. It is a large, imposing red brick building of tall spires, which quietly dominates the surrounding (very flat) countryside. Like the majority of Belgian Trappist monasteries, it is home to a rather fine brewery; but it differs from them, in that it is run with a far more commercial sensibility.
The brewery is commonly known as La Trappe and it’s focus on the demands of the market has led it to cutting deals with the big multi-nationals for distribution, owning a chain of pubs, and even (gasp!) brewing a lager. For a while the beers lost their authentic Trappist certification and there was a cloud of suspicion about how involved the monastery was in the day to day running of the brewery. Five years ago, a change of management allowed the monks to get back to brewing, there was a return to more traditional practises and smaller scale production. Now the beers proudly display the "Authentic Trappist Product" logo. It may lack the renown of Chimay and the exclusivity of Westvelerten, but it is the only brewery of it's kind to show any innovation.
That innovative spirit still drives them to experiment with, and launch new beers    (5 in the last decade). The latest is a refreshingly simple organic thrist quencher by the name of La Trappe Puur.
Pale gold and rather bubbly, with a serious attack of bitter hops on the nose, aromas of pine needles, dill and shredded wheat. The palate is medium bodied with a slightly oily character and gentle citrus fruit flavours of creamy tangerine. The finish is raspingly dry and thirst quenching. It is a world apart from the traditional Trappist beer and much easier to drink, being at 4.7% abv about half the usual strength.
Another of their more recent brews is the Isidor, a robust, dark, oak aged beer that has a peculiar, sour, prickly texture and a rich palate dripping with dried fruit and molasses. At 7.5% it packs a punch without going overboard and like most of the beers in the La Trappe range, can be seriously habit forming.

 

Charity Begins At Home 17.07.11

If you are fortunate enough to live in the North of Edinburgh, it's more than likely that you are aware of the extensive flood prevention work currently under way along the Water of Leith. Unlike some large scale public projects I can think of, the work continues apace with little delay or rancour.
The Water of  Leith may be small, inconsequential river that meanders nowhere in particular (sorry Balerno!) but it is home to a surprising amount of wildlife, is very tranquil in places and is a vital resource for many joggers, cyclists & young families. Unfortunately maintaining a 13 mile stretch of river is a costly business and with Edinburgh's purse looking a bit empty, the Water of Leith Conservation Trust  is in need of an alternate revenue stream. (Snort!) Which is where we can all pitch in and help, through the wonderful healing power of beer.

Maid in Leith is a light, summery beer which will (hopefully) be widely available from August and all profits will got to help the Trust maintain this little heralded, but much loved Edinburgh landmark.
The beer pours a brilliant gold, with a fair amount of effervescence and a small, but persistent head, which leaves a delicate lattice work of lacing down the glass. The nose is simple, but punchy with  definite aromas of custard cream and apple blossom. The palate is drier, thirst quenching and seriously quaffable, with a finish dominated by toasted citrus.
Quite wisely, with a product aimed squarely at the mass market both the alcohol and hop levels are quite restrained. Clearly intended as a easy going session ale, it succeeds superbly, which comes as little surprise since it is brewed by the William's Brothers out in Alloa who are masters at  this sort of thing. Their beers are also usually very well priced, so although I can't  be precise, Maid in Leith should retail for well under £2 a bottle.
To sum up, it isn't made in Leith, isn't particularly interesting and shouldn't be difficult to get hold of but it is a well crafted beer of near universal appeal, which helps to support a decent local charity.

Has Beans. 03.07.11

I’ve never been much of a coffee drinker; having always found instant to be a very poor alternative to a decent cup of tea and although I do enjoy the very occasional mug of the proper stuff I haven’t got round to learning the art of brewing it.
The chances are you are probably a lot more au-fait with the complex, bittersweet flavours of the coffee bean than I am. But even my de-caffinated taste buds can detect the very mocha-like flavours found in many stouts and porters. These flavours are usually derived from the use of dark, roasted malts, but if a brewer wants to emphasise these notes it is not uncommon to beef them up with the addition of some freshly ground beans. As is the case with a rather fine example from Sussex; the Dark Star Espresso Stout.
The beer is more colourful than most stouts, with red and umber highlights and a thin, magnolia, shortbread biscuit head. It is fairly flat with little or no effervescence and the head fades reasonably quickly. The nose is very intense, almost physical in it’s presence and dominated by strong black coffee. There are suggestions of molasses, bitter chocolate and dried fruit, but they all play second fiddle to the freshly ground Arabica beans. The beer is medium bodied, with little or no alcohol burn. The palate is well rounded with sweet oloroso sherry notes, a suprising amount of hop bitterness and a dry, grainy finish. It is a much lighter beer than both my experience and that almighty aroma led me to expect. It does linger on the palate in a very pleasant way, but unlike so many stouts, it isn’t brash or overblown, it is simply well crafted, smooth, extremely neckable beer of both modest strength ( 4.2%abv )  and price ( Just over £2 for 50cl )
Although an extremely successful English brewery; Dark Star is just now making inroads in Scotland. The only other bottled beer that is available up here is a golden summer ale that the missus dismissed as being to sweet and floral. For now I’ll take her word for it, but given the quality of the stout you can be sure I’ll be giving it a go soon.

 

Gaarden of Eden 10.05.11

In April there was a fair bit of uproar in the beer geek community, when it was announced that Chicago's much loved Goose Island brewery had been purchased by Anheuser-Busch-Inbev; The drinks multinational responsible for Stella, Budweiser and many other beers to horrible to name. It is easy to understand how the thought of a respected, innovative, microbrewery in the hands of a soulless corporate behemoth enraged many; but, occasionally the marriage of small scale talent and corporate muscle can work to mutual advantage.
In the late eighties Interbrew (Inbev's previous incarnation) acquired a Belgian brewery by the name of Hoegaarden and in the process made the brewery's founder, Pierre Celis a very wealthy man. Over the next few years a lot of care and attention was invested into the promotion of the brewery's flagship wheat beer. By the mid-nineties, no swanky bar was complete without a few idiots drinking Hoegaarden from oversized pint glasses, complete with a slice of lemon.  For many people it was their introduction to continental beers in general and Belgian beer in particular. It was a noteworthy for many reasons; it was different, imported & sold at a premium, creating a market for similar beers.
It is now in a bit of a decline, aficionado’s complain that the quality has taken a bit of a dip and the brand has been contaminated by new releases which have upset purists without enticing enough new drinkers.
But despite this, the brewery does still produce some exceptional beer. Foremost among them has to be the Forbidden Fruit (In Flemish Verboden Vrucht), a rich, full bodied, heavily spiced ale. Brewed to an original recipe by Pierre Celis and adorned with a lovely Rubens depicting Adam & Eve, the beer pours a deep, muddy, brown, amber, sitting beneath a mound of the fluffiest, creamiest, candy floss head. The aromas are beguilingly sweet and fruity with plenty of raisin, cherry and mulled wine. These characters dominate the heavy-ish palate where they are knitted together with a bit of toasted caramel and loads of vanilla. Despite the beers weight and 8.8% a.b.v. it is seriously neck-able, even more so when paired with chocolate sponge.
Full credit to Inbev for keeping this excellent beer in production and fingers crossed they look after the more interesting beers from Goose Island in the same way.
(As a final aside, it is worth noting that Pierre Celis, who passed away in April, spent his final years in Texas after establishing his own brewery and becoming a major player in the American craft beer scene.)

Real Special Brew 04.04.11

As we all know, strong beer is only appreciated by strange smelling, hairy men on park benches. These unfortunates are afflicted with the only chemical addiction that varies in severity alongside the sufferers disposable income. So, in a purely benign effort to tax this serious social problem out of existence, our beloved chancellor has raised alcohol duty on all beer above 7.5% abv. Clearly the thinking is that beer of this strength is tramp juice and weaker beers are only purchased by responsible drinkers.
This attitude would be viewed with a mixture of disbelief and scorn in Belgium, where famously, beer is brewed to unholy strengths and revered as both an important export commodity and a token of national pride. A laissez faire attitude has prevailed which has preserved the ancient brewing traditions of the wealthier monasteries and  nurtured a new generation of small-scale artisan producers.
The best of these are truly unique products which have yet to be replicated outside of Belgium.
One of the best of these peculiar little breweries is De Dolle in the West of the country. Established in the early eighties by a successful artist, their most successful export is an aggressively bitter blonde ale called Ara Bier. I first tried it back in the mid nineties and  found it close to undrinkable, my young palate preferring the sweeter, more immediate pleasures of more commercial products like Leffe. Trying it again recently I was impressed not only by it’s quite singular nature, but also by just how utterly delectable it was.
It has a gaudy, parrot themed label and the bottle is topped by a natty bow tie. The beer pours as a slightly hazy pale blonde, topped by a very impressive, lifted, fluffy, strato-cumulus head. It has a powerful bouquet with citrus peel aromatics and a herbal, medicinal edge. It may look fluffy, but the palate has real bite. It is
pretty bloody dry, medium weight with sharp, zesty flavours and a finish which becomes fairly chalky a bit like alka seltzer or fino sherry. The 8% abv alcohol is well hidden beneath layers of bitter hop notes, but clearly works behind the scenes knitting together all the disparate flavours.
At around £2.70 for a 33cl bottle, it is no ones idea of cheap bevvy and I would be deeply impressed if you were to find any empty bottles underneath your local park bench.

At a time when we are all having our belts tightened whether we like it or not, it would be wrong to ask for an exception to be made for beer of all things. But it would be nice if stronger beers of this ilk were encouraged rather than lumped in with the super lager.

Can You Dig It? 17.03.11

As a way of containing and distributing beer, the humble bottle is a far from perfect solution. When considering its vulnerability to light & heat , not to mention the cost implications of transporting a product that is both weighty and fragile, it soon becomes clear, that frankly, the bottle is a bit shite. By comparison the aluminium can is lighter, more durable, impervious to heat and easy to recycle, and yet overwhelmingly we stick with bottles. Bottles are pretty, they are a great way to present beer and in the absence of a glass are an adequate drinking receptacle. The other major advantage of the bottle is the downmarket reputation that cans have. Cans are cheap to produce and  usually contain cheap beer, cheap beer is usually a bit dull and lifeless. Even the biggest of the mass-produced commercial lagers tend not to show cans in their advertising, preferring to go for more aspirational imagery.

So it is somewhat heartening to hear that Scotland’s most infuriating brewery has chosen to relaunch it’s flagship beer in a tin and for once I honestly believe that this is more than a mere marketing gimmick.
You are probably familiar with Brewdog Punk IPA, which for the last couple of years has been on the forefront of the explosion of American  style pale ales in the U.K. The recipe has been recently tweaked to reduce both the alcohol (it now stands at 5.6% abv) and the hop content. Despite in many ways being dumbed-down and more commercial (it lacks the originals bite and rough round the edges bitterness ) it is a definite improvement. From it’s shiny new can it pours a brilliant gold, with a fluffier head, the nose is fresher, zestier and greener with more herbal flavours. The palate is of medium weight, creamy and well balanced with some tropical fruit flavours making their presence felt alongside the usual citrus notes. The finish is clean, light and very refreshing.
It is by a long way the greatest canned beer and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it; EXCEPT true to from Brewdog have decided to make the cans exclusive to Sainsbury’s which makes the beer about as punk as Jamie Oliver. This is bloody typical of a company whose undeniable talent as brewers is consistantly undermined by their belief in their own hyperbole

Ayr Craft 04.03.11


Thanks to the recent explosion of craft breweries in the U.K. we have quickly become accustomed to all sorts of bell’s and whistles with our beer: different cask maturation, ridiculous strength’s, unlikely additives. Today’s drinker has more choice than ever before. This trend is very noticeable among the previously staid world of stouts and porters.
It might be an attempt to distance themselves from a certain Irish brewing behemoth, but it’s rare to find a dark beer that isn’t jazzed up with at least a bit of ginger. (in February two new Scottish coconut porters were launched within a week of each other)
But occasionally it’s refreshing to drink a beer that sells itself on sheer quality alone.
One of the most traditional Scottish breweries ( and also one of the newest ) is the Ayr Brewery, a small concern ran from the back of a hotel. Although only in their second year they have won a clutch of awards and plaudits for their decidedly old fashioned, Burns-themed  beers, the best of which is their Rabbie’s Porter; a simple, well made dark beer of the kind your grandparents would recognise.
It is an impressive looking beer; almost totally opaque, ebony coloured and topped off with an attractive, fluffy, persistent, butterscotch coloured head.
The nose exhibits gentle aromas of roast coffee, gingerbread and chocolate box. These flavours give way in the mouth to suggestions of tight knit currant fruit and molasses. The sweeter notes are  balanced with a bit of astringency and bitterness, becoming creamier towards the long, warming finish. Finishing as dry and as tannic as black tea.
It’s fairly weighty and satisfying, certainly more so than the modest (4.3% abv) alcohol would suggest.
It succeeds wonderfully as both a decent pint in it’s own right and as a sop to traditionalists who may be somewhat bewildered by the stronger, more exotic porters and stouts currently available.

 

A Couple of Italians 04.03.11

Amarcord Volpina 6.5% abv
A lovely, honeyed amber coloured beer, with some slight effervescence and a rather fleeting, insubstantial head. A sweet, powerful nose of toffee and ginger, on top of drier, spicier undertones of leather, shoe polish and spice rack. The palate is rounded and creamy with a big hit of aniseed & boiled sweets and a definite suggestion of dried apricots. The finish is long and rather dry in comparison with a mild alcohol burn.
A good beer that does deliver on the palate, but maybe lacks a bit of fluffiness and texture, certainly when compared to the great Belgian ales it is aping. The brewery rather vaguely suggests it would be great with meat. I drunk it with a haggis burrito and it worked rather well, leading me to suspect that dry, salty meat dishes would be best

Baladin Open IPA 7.5% abv
A very impressive imperial pale in the modern US/Belgian style. It is very light in colour with a nice Mr Whippy foamy head. The nose is very expressive and green, with herbal aromas of coriander, parsley and waxy orange peel alongside cigar box and balsa wood. The palate kicks in with a melange of citrus; from tart, acidic lemons to juicy pink grapefruit. The finish has great length with a waxy, oily edge and a nice, slow crescendo of hop derived bitterness.
It would sit very nicely with mildly spiced dishes but is dry and crisp enough to drink as an aperitif. I will definitely be coming back for some more of this.

 

A Very Civil Partnership 05.1.11


It is with some regret that I am going to write the next 300 odd words.
At some stage mid-way through 2010 I resolved to avoid writing yet another paean to a Brewdog product, but at Christmas I was gifted a bottle of I Hardcore You, their collaboration with the very experimental Danish brewery Mikeller.
The two breweries both produce world class strong pale ales so the results of union between the two would have a fine pedigree and, much as I am loathe to admit it, would have to rank amongst the very best beers of 2010.

The beer is made of equal parts Brewdog Hardcore IPA and Mikeller I Beat You IPA, the resulting cocktail is then dry-hopped twice. This is the addition of hops in the final stage of the brewing process to impart a much fresher aroma and a bit more zest & vibrancy. This was probably necessary, to avoid the beer becoming flabby, stale and less than the sum of it’s parts.
It is a lovely deep, cloudy, buttered gold colour, but lacks a bit of effervescence and has a thin, frankly insipid looking head. What the beer lacks in appearance, it more than compensates for on the nose, with a very impressive bouquet of tangerine, tropical fruit and cough candy. The palate has a chewy, fudgey texture and plenty of sweet, peaches & cream character, but has no overt alcohol burn, despite the beers strength (9.5% a.b.v.) The finish is relatively brief, but sedate, well-balanced and very mellow, ending with a weird sweet/dry flavour I can only equate with honey roasted peanuts
It is a cracking beer and a great pale ale, albeit one without the up-front immediate charms of an American Style IPA. It isn’t dry, it isn’t refreshing and it’s charms are too subtle to stand up to spicy food, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for a cheeky indulgence late at night with your better half.
It is due to be launched at the end of January, the downside is that being a Brewdog limited edition, it will be hard to find and likely to be a wee bit pricey.

 

So Beer It Is 29.11.10

Christmas is a pretty under-stated affair round at our gaff. The only real indulgence I allow myself is the odd glass or three of seasonal beers.
Your classic Christmas beer is an exercise in excess, usually a Belgian triple or quadruple fermented monster, stronger and pricier than most wines and infused with a multitude of seasonal herbs and spices. These are powerful ales that demand your respect and are one of the few drinks with the clout to stand up to the cholesterol apocalypse that is Christmas pudding.
Much as I love these beers I recognise the limits of their appeal. Not everyone wants to limit themselves to just a wee half, or find themselves nodding off into their pint.
There is definite gap in the market for a light session beer with a festive twist. One of the easiest and most neckable has to be the Santa’s Swally from the Inveralmond brewery in Perth.
They’ve been brewing this bitter for the last few winters, but this is the first year they have released it in bottle.
It is a very pretty beer, a lovely burnished copper colour; a bit flat maybe, but with a decent head. The nose is very impressive, with warm, malty aromas, balanced with a bitter, dried fruit edge. The palate has both caramel sweetness and dry pepper notes. It is spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon and a clove or two, but these flavours are very well integrated and never overpower the generous smattering of hops. It has a rather light, clean finish with a very delicate, sour edge and a very civilised 4.3% abv, making it a good option for a cheeky drink with your folks during the Queen’s speech.
I could well see myself having a few of these over the next few weeks; It may well lack the assertive clout of the more extreme Christmas beers, but it has  plenty of festive character. It will be widely available through November & December and should cost about £2.30 for a 50cl bottle

Forthcoming Attraction 05.10.10

It's pathetic I know, but I do take derive a small amount of pride from the numbers of premieres, previews, product  launches and opening nights I have managed to sneak myself into over the years. There was a time in the late Nineties when it felt like I was never without a canapé in one hand and a warm glass of Sauvignon in the other.
It was in this spirit that I found my self starting October by sitting on a tasting panel, alongside many of Edinburgh's online beer geek community. Our genial host was Robert Knops; brewer, Edinburgher and all-round good bloke. He had corralled us together to evaluate a selection of prototypes of his latest creation, a mild Scotch ale, of moderate alcohol and bitterness. As the evening began, the only thing that had been decided was that this new beer should be called Musselburgh Broke, an obscure and arcane brewing reference that I shan't bother you with.

As it progressed we were poured a succession of beers that differed in slight variations of malt balance and alcohol. They all looked pretty much alike; spectacular, chestnut-hued brews, topped by a fluffy head. But besides appearance I was struck how very minor adjustments to the recipe had resulted in very different beers.
All were malt accented and rather sweet, but the beer with slightly more hop concentration was decidedly more effervescent, had a savoury edge to the palate and had developed a woodsmoke & charcoal  aroma. The strongest sample was much more fruity, with a palate rich in molasses, raisin, Demerara and maple syrup.
To one batch he had added a dash of wheat malt  which gave the beer a Bavarian feel, creamy with aromas of roast banana. This was very popular, but we all wondered whether it had strayed too far from the brief, having too much weight & body to be gluggable and not being Scottish enough in character. Opinion gradually gravitated toward a beer that had maybe a bit less personality, but made up for it in being absolutely bloody delicious. A deep brown ale with a subtle nose of dried fruit, rich caramel and gentle spice, a gentle hit of 4.9% abv and a warming finish. Fuller in flavour than your common-or garden eighty shilling but very easy to drink.
Whatever the final recipe, if these early samples are anything to go by, it should be a stonking wee beer to see the winter nights in with. Hopefully it will be hitting the shelves before Christmas.

Electric Bock Treatment 24.09.10

“The best drink known to man is Einbecker Bier”

These unlikely words are attributed to Martin Luther (1483-1546) theologian, philosopher, reformer and apparent beer-critic. Despite doubts about the great mans credentials, it is a hell of a write up for a small brewery and highlights the sheer age of the Einbecker Bauhaus (They claim it dates from 1378)
The German town of Einbeck was originally home to a community brewery which pooled resources from all the brewers in the city limits and whose product was an important source of civic revenue. Nowadays it’s run on more straightforward commercial lines, but it is proud of it’s heritage as the spiritual home of brewing in Saxony.
Among the brewery’s more contentious claims is that the famous bock’s (strong golden lagers) of Bavaria derive their name from Einbeck and that one of Southern Germany’s most famous beers has it’s roots in the North.

Whatever the truth, the Einbecker Brauhaus still makes a damn fine pint of Bock and being German, it is  brewed under the strict regulations of the German Purity Law, which means that it is unlikely to be substantially different to that drunk during the Protestant Reformation.
The brewery produces three varieties of bock, Dunkles (dark), Helle’s (pale) and Maibock ( a hoppier seasonal beer ) All come in at 6.5% a.b.v. and receive extended cellaring of 6-8 week’s before release. They are all good beers, but I shall concentrate on the Helle’s for no better reason than that I have one to hand right now.

In the glass it is a rather unappealing pale lemon yellow colour, with gentle effervescence and a short lived head. The nose has the distinctive pilsner aroma of damp straw, with warm, yeasty bread notes and maybe a hint of spicy balsa wood. It is a full bodied beer with an assertive punch of quite sweet citrus notes. The mid-palate is creamy and builds in bitterness  towards the peppery, hoppy finish. A robust beer with good weight and length, richer, stronger and mealier than most lagers, without being quite as hardcore as some Bavarian Bocks
It is a clean and refreshing beer for the lager drinker in your life, but one with much more weight and character than most commercial brews. It also has the not at all unreasonable price tag of £1.90 for a 33cl bottle


It Takes All Sorts! 05.08.10

In recent years microbrewery has become a much abused and almost meaningless term. Many of these operations, especially in the States have grown to become pretty big concerns with large workforces and a sizable export market, they may be smaller than the multinational conglomerates, but they are far removed from the lone eccentric brewing grog in his kitchen.
Of Scotland's microbreweries, one of the smallest breweries has to be the Madcap brewery in Dumfries. The brewery is tiny by anyone's standards, being housed in a garden shed and having a capacity of just one barrel. It's been operating commercially for less than a year, primarily brewing cask ales for the local pubs, but with a very ambitious range of more experimental bottle conditioned beers in the pipeline.
We have had some limited success with the brewery's Belgian style Trippple and sweet, grainy rum cask-finished Killick's Madness, but without a doubt their most successful release has been a 10 % imperial stout spiced with liquorice.
The Madcap Liquorice Ale is a deep, intense and satisfying stout which has proven very popular despite being launched at the beginning of the summer.
The beer is as black as they come, with a mightily impressive, thick, creamy, tan head of the finest, fluffiest bubbles. (an unusual quality in a  beer of this strength) It is not especially aromatic, but there are subtle hints of demerera sugar, rye bread and Kahlua. The palate is complex & spicy with a streak of intensely bitter coffee, balancing notes of aniseed, dark chocolate and sweet sherry .The liquorice flavour is very subtle, only making an appearance at the finish, long after the swallow . It's real quality shines through in the beers texture, which although rich, never veers into gloopy and although the alcohol is quite evident from the first sip, it never feels indulgent or boozy.
Despite being a little on the sweet side, I wouldn't hesitate to put this in the top tier of Scottish stouts and maybe among the very best from the U.K.

 

Full Steam Ahead! 07.06.10

It is not widely appreciated, but lager is a bloody difficult drink to make. Even the blandest commercial pish, requires meticulous control of yeast and a constant cool temperature throughout the brewing process.
This is one of the reasons why pilsner originated in Bavaria and the Czech republic; regions with an abundance of cool, stone vaulted cellars. A commodity that was in short supply during the Californian gold rush.
This posed a problem for the states breweries; After a 14 hour shift of hard labour in very dangerous and extremely hot conditions, the prospectors were hardly in the mood for a pint of mild or a bottle of porter.
The solution hit upon was to brew using a bottom fermenting lager yeast, but at the warmer temperatures associated with heavier beers. The resulting drink had the light, zesty, refreshing character of a lager, but with the depth and creaminess of a pale ale.
One of the downsides of this new beer was its volatility. New casks had to be vented with a great hiss and a blast of beery smoke. Thus the beer was christened Steam beer.
The best known of Steam beers is produced by the Anchor brewery in San Francisco, but now an Edinburgh based brewer has introduced a Scottish interpretation of this American classic.
The California Common  is the inaugural release from Knops Brewing Co
It is a pretty, vibrant, golden beer with gentle effervescence and a fine head. Nicely aromatic with hints of wet straw and shortbread biscuit. The palate is light and  zesty with a crisp finish and a quite definite citrus edge. It is by no means a complex or powerful beer, but it is poised, balanced, clean and refreshing.  It is clearly designed as a session ale and weighs in at a morish 4.6% a.b.v. At £1.70 for a 33cl bottle it is reasonably priced and if there is any justice will be available at every one of this summers barbecues.

 

Driven To Abstraction 29.04.10

There are few things in life more certain to get my hackles up than a “rogue K”. A deliberate miss-spelling so pointless and ugly that my knee jerks in frustration whenever I see it ruining a perfectly good sentence. As a marketing gimmick it smacks of out of town shopping centres, exhaust fitting and the early eighties. Why anyone would choose to have a product associated with such things is a complete mystery to me.
You can see one of the blighters sitting up there in the title of this piece, bringing down the tone of the whole article.

The men responsible for this minor irritation are James Watt & Martin Dickie, the men behind Fraserburgh’s Brewdog brewery. Your probably familiar with Brewdog, they have had more than enough press attention over the last couple of years and have become synonymous with gimmickary, self-publicity and an ever so cocky attitude that sets my teeth on edge. They would be easy to dismiss if the beers weren’t up to scratch; mostly though they live up to the hype and in some cases surpass it.
As is the case with their latest release, the Abstrakt AB01. This is the first in a new line of very limited edition experimental brews which they will release 2 or 3 times a year. Billed as a vanilla infused Belgian quad and available in only 3200 numbered bottles, this sees them moving away from the aggressively hopped, American style pale ales at which they excel and creating a sweet malt accented, grainy beer in a more continental style.

It is a deep russet, dark amber hued beer with a rich, foamy head that is quite dense and persistant. Very aromatic, with a bouquet of spice, dried fruit & sponge cake; The palate is a sweet & creamy marriage of fudge and maple syrup developing a fair bit of spice. The finish is actually quite dry with a good level of bitterness and a suggestion of both liquorice & mint. It packs 10.8% a.b.v. which is on a par Belgian Trappist beers. There is a hell of a lot going on in here and it has excellent potential for cellering over the next few years.
At a tenner for a 355ml bottle, it’s not what most people would call affordable, but if we take them at their word, this is a true one-off. Further experimental releases in the range will follow in time, each being made to a different recipe.

Despite their more irritating quirks, I am full of (somewhat grudging) admiration for Brewdog. They refuse to rest on their laurels, constantly innovating and pushing back the expectations of what a Scottish brewery can, or should be doing.

 

Ginger Nuts 07.04.10

Towards the end of last summer the committee that regulates trends in public taste held a meeting to decide the flavours that would dominate the new decade.  They came to the conclusion that the new ingredient du jour would be ginger.  By Christmas, a new product arrived on the shelves, pitched pretty much directly at the sector of the market which had previously abandoned  the Breezer, in favour of  pear cider:
Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer has been a bit of an instant hit, backed by canny marketing and aggressively pushed  in the on-trade it is now many people first choice for sugary booze.
Unfortunately, it no longer has anything to do with old Crabbies and bonded warehouses in Leith; It now exists purely as a brand  owned by Halewood International, a company which specialises in alcopops whose biggest products are WKD & Lambrini. It is this fact, rather than any fault in the drink itself, that has lead many in the trade to dismiss it as just another novelty hooch.
It is an attractive golden straw colour, with a surprisingly assertive nose of  yeast, herbs and cardamom pod. The palate is initially as sweet as a cola, rich with flavours of raisin & molasses, but dies quickly with leaving a sticky, honeyed sensation in the mouth.
I would hesitate to call it a beer since it is not brewed from malted barley, but if we have to classify it as an alcopop it is certainly one of the more digestible.
As an alternative, I urge you to give the William’s Brother’s Ginger a go. This is a proper beer from a proper Scottish brewery.
It is paler in colour than the Crabbies, but throws a decent head with nice creamy foam. The nose has sweet aromas of fudge & digestive biscuit. The palate is much drier, more grown up with a very zesty bite of tart lemon. The ginger dominates the finish with a peppery burn akin to that found in a Jamaican ginger beer.
Both are impressive as mixers, especially with rum. They are both of around 4% a.b.v. and are reasonably priced. Crabbies will be available everywhere before long and William’s Ginger is proving popular among all Scottish independents

 

 

Brown Sauce 11.03.10


Anyone who takes their beer seriously, cannot fail to be aware of the rise to prominence of the American craft beer movement. Since the mid eighties, microbreweries have sprung up all over the States like a rash, with a particularly intense concentration on the West coast.
Their success has been pretty much based on a single style of beer: the Indian Pale Ale.
The American approach tends towards, bigger, more aggressive beers with an assertive hop character and an often indecent level of alcohol. Most rely on the Cascade hop for their character; a variety famed for it’s aromatic qualities, which imparts a very distinctive flavour of zesty pink grapefruit.
Much as I am a fan of the American I.P.A., there really is very little to say about the stuff other than if you’ve yet to try some, I urge you to get your mitts on a bottle A.S.A.P. A good place to start would be the beers of Sierra Nevada & Goose Island, not only are they uncharacteristically affordable and widely available, they are also among the best.
For a change, this month we will highlight a brewery on the East coast. Dogfish Head is an acclaimed brewpub in the state of Delaware and their beers are incredibly rare and rather pricey. Although their IPA has been lauded as the greatest beer in the States, it is far from their most interesting beer. That accolade must got to their Indian Brown Ale, a beer so individual, that a quick bit of Googling offers no other beers of that description.
Essentially a porter, brewed with roasted malt, but with the bitterness and flavours of an American pale ale. It is a deep, mahogony coloured, beer with a thin, short-lived head. Looking pretty much like a glass of cola.
It is blessed with a very big, open nose, featuring instant coffee, chocolate orange and some floral notes. The palate is full-bodied, robust and has a resinous, oily character. Although the initial flavours are of black treacle, molasses and dried fruit, this is not an overwhelmingly sweet beer; some sour notes and a fairly astringent bitterness to the finish give the palate an unexpected bite. It hides it’s 7.2% a.b.v. pretty well and has an impressive lightness of touch for such a complex beer.
Unfortunately we only managed to source a handful of cases and by the time  this sees print, it is highly likely that they will all have sold out. If you do spot a rogue bottle expect to pay anything up to £4 for it.

Suck It And See 05.02.10

Hard as it is to fathom, it is an undeniable fact that there are folk out there who are stubbornly resistant to the charms of beer. For years now the breweries answer has been to strip beer of these charms; chasing the lowest common denominator by producing beers that deliver the desired hit of alcohol, at the lowest price, without any of that nasty flavour getting in the way.
I find this a very defeatist approach and that it is easier to broaden peoples palates by introducing them to more extreme and diverse beers, some of which don’t taste like “beer” at all. Many of these are best taken in moderation, not just because of their impressive strength, but because their intensity of flavour, could overwhelm if drunk without restraint.
Of these, a personal favourite is the Gouden Carolous Cuvee Van Der Kaizer. Released every year on the 24th Feb to a different recipe and a different strength. (I’m currently drinking the ’08 vintage which has a chunky 11% a.b.v.) This is the very finest beer produced by Gouden Carolous, a small Belgian brewery that dates back to the early 14th century.
It is a strong, spiced winter ale, but its depth of character rivals the very finest fortified wines and ports. Like port it should only be cracked open at the end of a particularly filling meal, but unlike port, it has a creaminess and frothiness that injects an element of fun into the proceedings.
Pouring a modest amount into a wine glass, reveals a beer that is black, viscous and intensely aromatic. It is very full bodied with a palate full to the gunnells with
cola, marshmallows, demerera rum, prunes, plain chocolate, black pepper, aniseed, liquorice, rye bread, root beer and brandy. (Being Belgian, there is a strong possibility that some of these are actual ingredients) The real surprise is just how drinkable this stuff is, these flavours are harmoniously knitted together and there is very little bite, bitterness or aggression.
If you think you don’t like beer, I urge you to give it a shot. At just under a tenner for a 75cl bottle it’s anything but cheap, but split the bottle with a bunch of good friends and open your smelliest cheese. I’m pretty sure you’ll see the light

Pizza Hit 21.01.09

Despite being a gourmand’s paradise, Italy suffers from a serious lack of interesting beer. This is something it has in common with the other great winemaking nations of France and Australia.
There are only two Italian beers commonly available in the U.K. and both are owned by big, multinational conglomerates. This doesn’t make them inherently bad; I’ve enjoyed many a pint of both Peroni and Moretti, they are high quality, continental lagers if a bit on the neutral, washed out side. Unfortunately, they lack the character & complexity to hold their own against the depth of flavour in the finest Italian cooking. Instead, you would be better off opting for a classic, heftier lager like a German Oktoberfestbier or Czech Pilsner.
On Hogmany, after having my usual Montanara pizza delivered by the nice chaps from La Favorita I reached for a bottle of Krusovice Imperial Lager.
With Pizza I tend to favour the grittier Czech Pils over the cleaner, more refined lagers of Germany. Krusovice is more rough and ready than most, with a rustic Bohemian charm lacking in the richer (arguably better made) Budvar.
It is a very lively, foamy beer with a billowing head, a brilliant golden hue and a pretty standard 5% a.b.v. The nose is slightly restrained, maybe even disappointing. Like all classic Pilsners, its chief ingredient is the Saaz hop, a Czech strain, noted for its shortbread aroma. Here it only makes itself noticed in the back palate, with a burst of spice & bitterness once the initial sweet creamy malt flavours have tailed off. The finish is crisp and lip-smackingly dry.
Most importantly it has the assertiveness and clout to cut through the acid flavours of tomato & onion, whilst being light enough not to overwhelm the milder ingredients of Italian cooking like, Basill & Mozzarella cheese.

Bitter up North

The British consumer has a quite dizzying array of beer styles available to choose from. With a wealth of premium imports and home grown specialties, not to mention the many, many commercial lagers with little to distinguish between them, besides the label.
With the exotic and interesting readily available, it can be tempting to overlook home grown beers, whose only USP is sheer, bloody quality.
A couple of years ago Rob Hill left the Orkney Brewery, where he had some success with strong, dark ales such as Skullsplitter and Dark Island and moved down the road, opening the Highland Brewery in 2006. It may not be the most exciting name for a brewery, but it epitomises the back to basics approach of his brewing. His most successful beer is the Scapa Special, a very zesty pale ale, that can be found in some of Edinburgh’s best pubs (At the time of writing is was available at The Cask & Barrel and The Guildford Arms)
I am a big fan of the special, but have perhaps become a bit over-familiar with it, so I have decided instead to focus on a lesser known beer; The Saint Magnus Ale.
The Saint Magnus is a medium weight, medium strength (4.5%) bitter, which despite being named after the patron saint of Orkney, is made in a pretty universal style and has no overtly Scottish qualities.
It is the colour of proper beer, deep amber to russet brown with a good couple of inches of head; this is a pint as rendered in a cartoon. It has a fair bit of life with fairly persistent bubbles and a good whiff of dried fruit, ginger & spicy hop resin on the nose. The palate is full, with flavours of grapefruit, baked apple, ginger and toasted nuts, building in bitterness towards the crisp finish.
It is atypical of a Scottish beer, having much more in common with a Yorkshire bitter and although it has a generous dollop of sweet Scottish malt, it plays second fiddle to the more assertive hop flavours.
Overall, a nicely balanced, well made and very drinkable beer, with less body but perhaps a bit more character than other Orkney beers. Like most strong bitters it pairs nicely with smellier cheese and salty meats. A 50cl bottle will set you back £2.20, which will leave you with change from a fiver for a sarnie to go with it.

 

Eis Cream

Christmas is brilliant, isn't it? The giving, the getting, the parties, the constant food, the break from the job, (or if you are one of the unlucky few who work through the season; the knowledge that no-one expects you to put in more effort than you strictly have to). It is the year’s best opportunity to cut loose, let your hair down and partake of some serious over- indulgence.
In December I find ample excuse to hit the richer, stronger, mealier brews. Beers which only a devoted sot would drink on a regular basis, but which come into their own at the end of a big meal, or as a night cap in the wee hours.
There are few that fit this bill better than the Schneider Aventinus Weizen Eisbock.
An Eisbock is a Bavarian beer style that uses a very similar production method to the great ice wines of Germany & Canada. The beer is lowered in temperature until ice crystals form, these are extracted, leaving a richer, more concentrated liquid, higher in both alcohol and sugar.
There are a mere handful of eisbocks and the Schneider is the only one to be imported into the U.K. Marketed as the bigger brother of the regular Schneider Aventinus, (itself a beastly strong weissbier) it comes in at a sinful 12% a.b.v. Which is no bad thing, since a little of this beauty goes a very long way.
In the glass it is a frankly unattractive mud brown with a dirty tan head. It is a cloudy, grainy beer that lacks the effervescence and fluffiness of your common or garden weissbier. Only once you get a sniff of it do you get an inkling of its quality. The bouquet explodes out of the glass; the dominant aromas are of black, squidgy banana, malt loaf, raisins, demerera sugar and maple syrup. These flavours are married to a fair bit of cinnamon & ginger on the palate, with maybe just a hint of sour cherry. The finish is long, sweet and very creamy.
What really makes the beer stand out though, is it’s texture; gritty and grainy, with a consistency thicker than many soups. There really is no other beer with quite the same mouth-feel.
It will set you back three quid for a 33cl bottle, which for a beer of this strength is fair enough. Although, not marketed as a Christmas beer, you would be hard pressed to find a more festive drink; as it tastes pretty much like a mince pie and figgy pudding smoothie, fortified with sweet sherry.

Stormy Heather

Twenty years ago, a pair of young Scots brothers launched a very different beer onto the U.K. market; a beer whose success has
kept alive the long history of brewing in the Falkirk town of Alloa and kick-started the whole Scottish microbrewing boom of the Nineties. It isn't much of an exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for the Fraoch Heather Ale, which created a market (especially in the U.S.) for quirky, experimental, Scottish beer, I might well be out of a job, having little to write about or sell.
Reason enough to celebrate with a glass or two of the new, limited edition, Fraoch 20th Anniversary Ale.
Taking the original Fraoch blueprint of a light, session ale sweetened with heather and bogmyrtle, this bottling has been considerably bolstered by an extended maturation in 20 Year Old Speyside Malt Whisky Casks.
Unlike most cask aged beers, it actually has a quite noticeable undercurrent of both the malt whisky and the sherry which originally filled the barrel.
The resulting beer has a rich amber hue, topped by a small, fluffy head. It has a heady aroma giving first impressions of warm, spiced rum & ginger wine, loads of fruit, (especially baked apple and bitter orange) sweet caramel and roast chestnuts. These winter, comfort food flavours are all very evident on the rich, full-bodied palate; which, although sweet, achieves a good balance with a yeasty, sherry-derived undertone.The 11% a.b.v. gives the beer a fair bit of heft and the finish is extraordinarily long.  Ending with a streak of intense citrus acidity, which acts as a nice counterpoint to all the rich, indulgent, flavours.
Tasted blind, I'm not sure I could even place this as a beer, it having more in common with a particularly fine mead, a fortified cider or even a half decent muscat. It'll be interesting to see how these flavours develop over the next few years. The brewery have given it a best before date of 2019, but I reckon it has the alcohol, acidity and structure to have a life well beyond that.
To get your hands on one of only 7500 numbered 75cl bottles ( 5000 of which are headed to the States) will set you back a measly £9. Small change for a stunning drink that makes a great aperitif, after dinner indulgence, or winter warmer.

Mild Thing

At the time of writing, the silly season has just begun and the press are in the grip of one of their confected moral panics about alcohol abuse. If certain media outlets are to believed, the brewing industry is out to corrupt our children through the unlikely medium of absurdly expensive imperial stouts. To act as a counterpoint to this brou-ha-ha, I thought it might be nice to highlight a beer that manages to be cheap, cheerful, unassuming and as Scottish as heart disease.
Way back in the day, alcohol duty was weighted by strength and the beers became known by the tax payable on barrel; hence, 80 shilling. There were a plethora of other strengths and styles all with their own shilling denomination, but they have failed to make it into the twenty-first century. One of the very few to survive is the Belhaven 60/-. This is a very typical example of what used to be known as a mild.; A malty, low alcohol, brown ale.
Coming in at a very modest 3% a.b.v. (If you are lucky enough to find it in a pub, it is a bit lower)
Although incongruously labeled as pale ale, it is a solid, ruddy, very deep red-brown, topped by a rather substantial, quite creamy head
It has an open nose with a smoked, savoury character, containing aromas of charcoal, molasses and furniture polish. The palate is full bodied and malt-heavy with the only hop presence felt in the beers prickly finish. It has some effervescence, which gives the beer an expanding, mouth filling quality. It is as if someone had removed every trace of sweetness from a glass of cola.
Although dry, the beer veers toward the sour rather than the bitter, it lacks the sweetness that comes with alcohol and the tartness that hops impart. What remains is very close to the taste of roasted grain.
For a low-strength beer it packs absolutely masses of flavour and is eminently drinkable, (if a wee bit home-brewish)
A fair measure of respect is due to Belhaven for keeping this beer in production. They may now be part of a big brewing conglomerate, but they have too much respect for Scottish brewing heritage to let deeply unfashionable styles of beer like this fall by the wayside.

 

Ale At Sea

One of the benefits of having a successful business, is the ability to, when the whim takes you, blow a large chunk of your profits on foolhardy ventures which add little to the bottom line.
It was in this spirit that the guys at the Brewdog brewery, took some very strong I.P.A.(8%+), stuck it in some casks which previously contained Islay malt and then lashed the casks
to the deck of a North Atlantic trawler for a couple of months.
This was an attempt to recreate the conditions which brought about the first India Pale Ales; Stronger, heavily hopped beers which would be matured in oak during the long voyages to distant parts of the British Empire.
The result is the Atlantic I.P.A., one of the worlds greatest, rarest and priciest pale ales
It is the colour of a lovely rich walnut veneer, bearing a slight yeasty haze and a minimal head. Nothing untoward about the nose, maybe a wee bit of shoe leather alongside the more expected citrus and spice flavours. It has a bit more body than most pale ales, but nothing to suggest it is any stronger than usual, the hops dominate, but not to the degree I was expecting. The beer opens up very nicely in the glass, developing flavours of stewed tea, buttered toast and toffee apple, with the bitter bite and citrus zing moving to the finish.
What does seem to be missing is any overt maritime influence, instead of creating something new and interesting, the guys at Brewdog have simply added another phenomenal beer to their impressive roster of I.P.A.’s.
Sadly however, perfection does come at a price. To get your hands on a wee bottle of Atlantic I.P.A. will cost you the best part of a tenner. Whether there is a demand for such a niche product in today’s market remains to be seen. Even if the only people to share a glass will be likes of Fred Goodwin and Donald Trump I’m sure the guy’s at Brewdog wont be to disheartened. The Atlantic I.P.A. is first and foremostly an experiment in brewing and it takes reckless mavericks with zero concern for commercial concerns to perform it.

Snap Crackle & Hops

Belgium’s enviable reputation as the world’s capital of brewing excellence has been earnt through a long tradition of experimentation. For a very small nation it produces a bewildering array of beer styles, from a wealth of  ingredients
Brews of ungodly strength, fruit beers, beers flavoured with hemp, ginger, cloves & liquorice, beers to be served piping hot , lambic beers as dry as a cracker and Christmas beers as sweet as an eccles cake.  Even  your common or garden pint of Hoegaarden is flavoured with a bit of curaçao and coriander. Belgium produces a beer for every season and every occasion.
Given this, it  can be refreshing to find a Flemish beer in a stripped back style, brewed from the classic recipe of  yeast, malt and hops;
Lots of  hops
The Urthel  brewery was founded by Hildegard Van Ostaden in the province of  Ruiselede.  She brews a wide variety of beers, but her masterpiece is the Urthel Hop-It , a rare Belgian example of that most international of beer styles; the I.P.A.  The only clue to it’s country of origin is the crude, folksy label and it’s relatively high strength (9.5%)
It is a very pale straw colour with a big, fluffy, bounteous head and fresh, bubbly character. It is quite aromatic with a big bouquet of cookie dough and an undercurrent of vanilla reminiscent of a barrel fermented chardonnay.
Palate is initially tart and citrus, but becomes increasingly complex. Boasting flavours as diverse as grapefruit, marzipan, roast cashews, earwax, 9 volt battery and lime pickle. The finish is overwhelmingly bitter. The overall effect is a bit like chewing fudge & lemon rind at the same time. It sounds repulsive, but somehow it works brilliantly.
I keep thinking that it might be a bit out there for general tastes, but everyone I’ve offered some to has enjoyed it immensely. I particularly recommend it with a hunk of cheddar, maybe in a ploughman’s lunch.