European Beer Bloggers Conference - Live Beer Blogging
May 19th, 2012Okay, so this isn’t “live”. I’m writing it whilst drinking the beers I’ll be talking about in this post, but I’ve opted to not try and actually tweet anything about the beers, as the wifi in the room we’re drinking in is horribly unreliable.
The first brewery at our table is Marble Brewery from Manchester. They’ve bought with them a beer made in collaboration with Emilisse Brewery from Holland, an Earl Grey IPA. It’s been made using earl grey tea, and has a lot of citric bitterness.
Second to pimp their beer is Roosters Brewery, with a single hop IPA called Baby-Faced Assassin. It’s a Citra IPA, made with a single variety of malt. As with most Citra hopped beers, it’s not really my thing, but it does seem to be at the more likeable end of the range for me. Now I’ve had a few sips, it actually tastes more like grapefruit juice than it does a beer.
Next to the table is Great Heck Brewery, serving us Stormin’ Norman, an American Style IPA, hopped with Cascade and Columbus. I don’t seem to be getting much hop aroma from this, and to be honest, the taste isn’t really doing much for me either.
Brewer number four is Slater’s Ales with Top Totty (queue Parliament jokes and pump clip taste debates). To me, it’s a nice, lager like ale. There’s not much aroma, but it’s clean, crisp and very refreshing. I’m not a fan of pale ales, but this I enjoy
Next to our table is Mark Dredge, representing Camden Town Brewery with a bottle of US Hells. I’ve had one bottle of this that I’ve “got”. The others haven’t quite met expectations, and this is the same. It’s nice, but it doesn’t quite match that bottle that made me “get” US Hells
Half way through and Adnams are serving us with Ghost Ship, a “Ghostly Pale Ale”. It contains a combination of Moteuka and Citra hops. These combine to create an aroma and taste that I quite like. It’s still not my style as a pale ale, but in the right circumstances, it’s a beer I’d enjoy.
Seventh to the table is Innis and Gunn, showcasing their Scottish Pale Ale, which will be available to buy soon. As with all Innis and Gunn beers, it’s aged in oak barrels, in this case, Bourbon Barrels. It has a sweet, whisky like aroma, with a hint of vanilla in the aroma and the taste. It’s a good beer, but the fact it is sold in clear bottles does put me off
The Leeds Brewery are the eight people to the table, bringing with them Hellfire, a “Fiery Pale Bitter”. It had a subtle aroma of grapefruit, and a bitter taste. After several pale ales I’m starting to get tired of them now. Variety is a good thing. Thankfully, I know Otley have bought Oxymoron with them
Talking of which, Nick Otley is at the table now. Oxymoron is a Black IPA. Aromawise it’s one of those annoying bastards of a beer which I can recognise the aroma, but can’t quite place what it is. It seems to be a mix of coffee, chocolate, liquorice and aniseed, with something else as well.
Finally, we end with Brains and Brains’ Dark, the brewery’s Mild. It’s full of rich, chocolates and burnt malt flavours. This is the sort of beer I enjoy, and I’m pleased to finish on this.
