Saint George's Day Beers

Just for a laugh I had a quick think about some beers which might be suitable on Saint Georges Day

Spitfire Premium Kentish Strong Ale 4.5% ABV (Spitfires are quintessentially English and Shepherd Neame is the oldest brewery in Britain)

Crafted from traditional varieties of English malt, this golden ale combines an underlying depth of maltiness, tinged with a subtle hint of toffee, with the bold citrus and fruity spiciness of Kentish hops, to produce a well-balanced, thirst quenching, popular drink.

Wells Bombardier Bitter (4.3% ABV) (Flag of Saint George on the Label)

Wells Bombardier English Premium Bitter from Wells and Young's Brewing Company, has become synonymous with St. George's Day and all that is English, throughout the length and breadth of the country. It is known as the 'Drink of England.'

Wells John Bull Finest Bitter (4.1% ABV) (well its Obvious from the name)

Wells John Bull Finest Bitter (Alc 4.1% Vol.) is a a refreshing, traditional ‘London-style’ premium with a distinctive hop bitterness brewed to a recipe originating from the early 1900’s.

Greene King IPA 3.6% ABV (official beer of England Rugby Team)

Award-winning Greene King IPA is a great-tasting beer, loved by drinkers across the world. In fact, Greene King IPA is currently Britain's favourite cask ale, so you're in good company and taste.

This hoppy, refreshing beer is brewed in the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds, in the heart of Suffolk, where brewing has been an important part of the town's history even as far back as 1086 when brewing in the town was recorded in the Domesday Book.

pain

Not much news about jogging on the blog recently but the London Marathon is coming up this weekend and boy am I glad I am not running. Mind you if I was I would have done some preparation. But this made me chuckle. So you know it is going to hurt don't you!

Special mention for the Mighty Oak Brewey http://www.mightyoakbrewery.co.uk/ not much of a website but the beer I drank was Springsteen's delight. And it was a really good golden ale. It would sooth many an ache afte a marathon. But beware after a marathon you are dehydrated so teh alchohol is absorbed very quickly.

6 wheeled Cars

Who can remember a 6 wheeled car in formula one. Doesn't it look dated - like something out of Thunderbirds! It was the Elf Tyrrell driven by Jodi Schekter. World champion I believe in 1979 but not in the Tyrrell. So what happened to the Saffer world champion? He is now an English farmer running Laverstoke Park Farm.

This is what he says about Laverstoke Park Farm Organic Ale "I started the farm to produce the best tasting healtiest food without compromise for my family and myself. To follow this we follow nature very strictly and have two principles we follow - slow groeing plants and animals generally taste bettew; and biodiversity is key to a healthy natural environment. We hope you can taste the difference in our beer."

This is a 5% ABV bitter made from old traditional hop varieties balanced with aditional organic but not specified hops.The soils are supplemented with the correct fungi to enhance the barley and hops and their flavours. Jodi says this is his first beer which implies there will be more.

This beer is only available from Laverstoke Park Farm or Waitrose supermarkets. It is a good beer but not outstanding bottle conditioned beer. It needs more tasting to be sure about it so I will have to buy a few more bottles to really assess it.

Golden Glory

I would say this is a "desert bitter" although bitter may be a slight misnomer. It is slightly sweet with a floral aroma and flavour to it. It doesn't quite over power the bitter hops completely but it has a damne good go. It is from a brewer who is rapidly becoming one of my favorites Hall and Woodhouse, that is sort of defeating the e object of the blog which is to promote lots of breweries but Hall and Woodhouse make a lot of interesting bottled beers which are sold through the supermarkets.

About the ale

A refreshing premium ale subtly flavoured with extract of peach. An award-winning 4.5% ABV premium ale, well balanced with distinctive bitterness and a delicate floral peach and melon aroma.

Legend states that the gift of peach blossom brings good fortune to the recipient.

It seems to hold true today, as the subtle addition of extract of peach blossom to enhance the floral blend of aromatic and bitter hops has created an outright award-winning ale that is refreshing, charismatic and...Absolutely Glorious.

Availability : Most supermarkets and a growing number of off licences and independent retailer . Glolden Glory Premium Ale (4.5% ABV) is available in 500ml bottles for pure indulgence.

Billy No Mates

Last night I inherited the title of Billy from Andy. I went to the Vine in Black Notley, the only CAMRA pub in the Braintree area. It was supposed to be the St Michaels men's night but what with school holidays and everythning no one else turned up. In fact there were only 3 customers in the whole pub.

Anyway I was able to sample something very rare in Essex "Yorkshire Gold" on tap from the Leeds Brewery. This is a new brewery started in 2007 so its good to promote it. It normally only supplies in the Leeds area and Yorkshire Gold is supposed to be a seasonal beer in May so it must have been a pre production barrel.

A really good easy to drink pint, I could have had more if I was not driving, heres's what the website says

" Yorkshire Gold 4.2% ABV

A full golden ale. Specially selected English Northdown hops give this well balanced bitter a rich and satisfying finish."

I don't have a picture so here is a video of the beer festival in nearby Bradford - near Leeds I mean

Is this the way to Amarillo

Those of us who are British will remember Jonathon Woss intwoducing Peter Kaye miming to Tony Christie's Amarillo but just in case you have forgotten about the comic relief song here it is clickhere. Actually I am giving my vintage away but I rememeber my sister buying the 7 inch single and playing it on her grammaphone.

Any way to the more serious stuff - there is a nice strong (5% ABV) beer from Crouch Vale Brewery near Chelmsford in Essex. It is available through Tesco stores in Essex. I can't actually remember much about it except that I thought I would definitely drink it again but here is what it says on their website

A superb premium golden ale with wonderful aroma and a lasting spicy flavour.

Any way must dash just got to go out for a long run - I have got to get in shape for that summer beach holiday and work up a thirst for tonight so I can blog again tomorrow

Anyone for a pint of T.E.A.

No I have not gone teetotal altough I will admit that tea is my fourth favorite drink. T.E.A. stands for Traditional English Ale. The bottle was obtained from Waitrose and I wished I had got more than one to sample. The pint disappeared very easily afte a massive plate of fish and chips. This comes from a brewery new to me the Hogsback Brewery, it is a relatively new brewery which started in 1992. You can read the story here www.hogsback.co.uk/history.htm.

Back to the business in hand what kind of pint is it? It is a bottle conditioned pale brown ale with a hoppy slightly fruity aroma with a malty taste. Really good flavour with no american honey after taste.
A classic Best Bitter.

You can buy this beer on line by visiting the shop at www.hogsback.co.uk