Dr. Morton's Duck Baffler 4.1%

One of many people's favourite beers of 2011 is back again - and better than ever. This time more red grapefruit than the passion fruit alluded to in Abbeydale's tasting notes, but who's gonna quibble!

Simply one of the finest session beers available this, last or any other year. Oh... and it's currently going down very well at The Huntsman  in Chidswell. Catch it while you can. 

Its a Revelation - its Dark Star !

One of the breweries that has featured quite regularly in the recent past on 'A Swift One' is Dark Star from Sussex. We are lucky in Huddersfield in having the Grove, which has a dedicated pump for their beers, so we have a chance to sample plenty of their range. And as I have said before, the range is pretty good, covering every style of beer imaginable and some you cannot.

The most recent addition to the core beer range is 'Revelation', and quite a revelation it was when I found it on Sunday. It was only released earlier this month, so this was my first chance to sample it. It is a light coloured beer at 5.7% and contains 4 different types of hops; Centennial, Liberty, Citra and Cascade, then  dry hopped. Maris Otter pale malt provides the background. It sounded good and it did not disappoint. A beautifully rounded beer, with plenty of  balanced flavour and dangerously drinking nowhere near its strength.

When I read the hops listed I thought one would come to the fore in the taste, but that was not the case, all  blended together to create interesting tropical fruit flavours both in the nose and on the palette. Certainly one of my beers of the year so far. And with it being one of the core range of beers it should be available all the year round, both in cask and keg. At its strength, it fits perfectly into the brewery portfolio. So if you are unfortunate enough to miss it this time, no doubt there will be plenty of other chances to sample it.        

Navvy festival this weekend

One of the local festivals I usually try to get to is at the Navigation at Mirfield, for some reason this weekend's festival seems to have slipped under my radar and I have not managed to trip across, but 'The Bloke From Hull' has managed it and provided us with a beer list. He says all beer is £2 a pint, so that seems a good enough reason for calling in for a start.

Last time I went across, Kev, the licencee, was struggling with his knee and had to cancel the previous festival so it must be good news that he is well enough to do another. He has sourced beer from all over the country, from Kent to Scotland, and plenty breweries in between, with a smattering of new beers rubbing shoulders with old favourites so that there is beer there to suit everyone's taste.

So should you have a spare few hours this weekend, get over there and see what's on offer, and enjoy one of the friendliest festivals about.    

Happy Birthday John

If you are about in the next few days and see a Mallinsons pump clip for 'JMY 70' take a look at the faces on the clip. Well, that's not strictly correct, all the faces are the same bloke, Elaine Yendall's dad, John.

Its possible that some will not know John, or why he has a beer brewed specially for him. The simple answer is that John will be 70 on Friday, a good enough reason for any one to have a beer brewed, but John, who lives in the West Midlands, is an integral part of Mallinsons success. I don't know him well but well enough to know what a good bloke he is. And he is a guy that makes people like me very envious. He can make anything out of anything. 

Much of the interior of the brewery has been custom made by John to make Tara and Elaine's life easier, from air vents to hoists. He has been working behind the scenes to help make the brewery the success it has become.

So when you see it, raise a glass of 'JMY 70' to John. One man who really reserves the accolade. And a Happy Birthday from all at 'A Swift One'.       

Roosters - a blast from the past

Years ago, it seems like a different time, when beer dinosaurs roamed the country and the big breweries dominated, a small group of men, each with their own ideas of how beer should taste, started to bring the taste of hops to the masses. One of those men was Sean Franklin.

He started brewing initially as 'Frankins' brewery (remember them?) at the back of  a pub near Harrogate. He and his wife Alison then moved to new premises and Roosters brewery was born in October 1993 at an eight barrel plant. His knowledge and use of hops quickly made his beer sought after as something different to the normal fayre and the brewery went from strength to strength. Over time Roosters, and their experimental brewing arms Pioneer and Outlaw, introduced the discerning drinker to all sorts of tastes and the wonderful world of American hops.

However eventually other breweries started to get the hop bug and Roosters, in my opinion, became just another brewery. Good, but not exceptional, it did brew some beer I especially enjoyed but mostly the beers failed to stand out from the crowd. In the recent past it seems to have regained it's mojo, and is brewing beer as good as anyone at the moment. Maybe the use of hops is not as innovative as before, or maybe we have other breweries who have taken over the mantle in the hop stakes, but it's core range of beers are  wonderful session ales. Possibly better suited to a warm summer day than a freezing day in winter, but nevertheless still very good.

Now brewed on an industrial unit, with Sean taking more a back seat in the brewing, Roosters goes from strength to strength. Most of it's regulars fall into the 3.9% to 4.3% range, and are light and hoppy - Roosters traditional territory. Wild Mule mirrors the subtle taste of Sauvignon grapes, Yankee is softly bitter with a hint of lychees, YPA is made with Styrian Golding hops with their fruit flavours, and Leghorn is made with four aroma hops for an interesting collection of gentle tastes. There are other beers too, including occasional specials. Cream for example, weighing in at 4.7% and blending US Liberty hops with the softness of Yorkshire water, being one.

So if you are one of those people who like their beer light and hoppy but subtle and well crafted rather than 'in your face', then Roosters could be the brewery for you. Let's face it, any brewery that once brewed a beer called 'Tachy Tim's' can't be all bad!       

Beer through a font - the shape of things to come?

The Grove has never been afraid to try to be a little different to other pubs in the town. They have key kegs for one thing, and lots of bottles for another, but this week thy have tried something a little off the wall, even for them.

They have Abbeydale 'Transformation' on the bar. Nothing unusual in that I hear you say. The method of dispense is though. Instead of coming through the usual beer lines, it is served through one of their 'lager' fonts for need of  a better description. In the interests of science I thought I would give it a go and see what the difference was.

Before I go on, I should explain that I don't know the science that actually gets the beer from the cellar to the bar, but the beer was served without the carbonation that goes with lager, and the beer is from a cask, not a keg, so to all intents and purposes it is a cask beer. Onto the beer itself. It is a light, hoppy beer, typical of the Abbeydale stable, their tasting notes say it has a biscuit base, with a generous amount of hops from America, Australia, and New Zealand giving tropical fruit notes and a hint of toffee. What did I find? Well to be perfectly honest, none of these came though. The font dispense means the beer comes through a chiller, making it colder than your average cask beer, and the temperature of the beer seems to kill the subtle flavours there. I could tell it had hops, but would struggle to get any defined flavour from it and the background maltiness that ought to be there was missing. My half was enough, I would not have wanted any more.

So a bit disappointing. It was interesting to try it, but I do not think it worked, and it certainly did not do justice to what sounded like a good beer. Admittedly, I have not tried the beer in its 'proper' cask form yet, so cannot compare it (though it is on the taunting pole at the Star so I will have a chance soon), and to make a true comparison it may have been better to put one of the regular beers through a font. But there again, if you get chance, try it and see what you think.  

I actually managed to get the beer served through a hand pull at the Star yesterday, it did taste different to the font version, the malt and hop flavours, although fairly subtle, did come through and the beer was well balanced. May be if the Grove want to try again, a more hoppy beer may do the trick, possibly one they have regularly so we can contrast with what we are used to. 

Revolution Rock

Since the move to new premises in Castleford, the Revolutions Brewing Company has increasingly been catching my eye. Clearly someone there has a very similar taste in music to my own, and their ability to produce pump clip artwork very close to the original album sleeves has become a cause for comment, and not a little nostalgia, whenever encountered.

I recall being especially excited when  The Scream appeared on the bar at a  Huddersfield pub not too long ago, instantly transporting me back to my first hearing of Metal Postcard on the John Peel show in the late seventies. Unfortunately my beer appreciation wasn't challenged in the same dramatic fashion that night as my musical perspective had been some thirty-odd years earlier, but nevertheless - thanks for the memory!

The latest batch of beers to be launched include The Clash, Joy Division and Kraftwerk inspired brews, and these will be appearing at the brewery's next gig, namely a mini-festival at Mr. Foleys in Leeds on Friday 10th February (with accompanying soundtrack). I shall hopefully be giving them all a spin, whether in Leeds or elsewhere, and whilst previous offerings from Revolutions have yet to really hit the mark with me, I'm expecting nothing short of absolute masterpieces where London (Calling) Porter & Unknown Pleasures are concerned.

Special thanks to Leigh at The Good Stuff  for bringing the festival to our attention.

The Star has regular Mallinsons Now

Huddersfield has another pub with a regular Mallinsons pump with the Star at Folly Hall introducing one at the turn of the year. This is in addition to the Sportsman who have had one for some time.The Rat and Ratchet, although not having a dedicated pump due to the output of their own beers often has Mallys on the bar as well.

It is obviously great news for supporters of the Lindley brewery, and a testament to the hard work put in over the last 3 years by Tara and Elaine. We wish them every success for the future.

Minimum pricing - the shape of things to come ?

I have heard, although seen nothing official to confirm it, that one of Yorkshire's councils has finally bitten the bullet and imposed a minimum pricing policy for beer across the pubs within their jurisdiction. Is this a case of where one goes, the rest will follow ?

As of yesterday, all pubs or bars in Doncaster, will be selling their drinks at a minimum of £1.20. Obviously a bargain if this is a pint, but not so good if the pub sells thirds or halves. Presumably this is an effort to prevent binge drinking but again seems to hit at the wrong people, and takes the initiative away from publicans to charge what they want. Let's hope its not the shape of things to come.        

Black IPA - Why ?

With apologies to Buxton

A trip yesterday to one of our local hostelries, which had 4 'Black IPA's on the bar, started me thinking. What is a black IPA ? And what is the point ? Before I start, let me say that I have no problem with the beers themselves, even though they vary between the excellent and the average, its just the term 'Black IPA' that I take exception to.

I have always thought an IPA, by its very definition, should be light. Why else should it be called an India Pale Ale ? A black beer is not pale, and never can be. I have explored the provenance of India Pale Ale in a previous post, and will not bore you with it again, except to reiterate that I expect IPA to be what it says on the pump clip, i.e a pale ale. However in recent times, there has been an outbreak, mostly from brewers who consider themselves part of the English 'craft brewing' fraternity, of these black IPA's. 

I assume the term has come from across the water in America which is well known for butchering the English language, and  our brewers have latched onto it for some reason. As far as I understand, beer styles, are named after two things, that being tradition or ingredients used. I have touched on the tradition question earlier, an IPA should be light, or pale, in my opinion. A black IPA is an oxymoron that bucks two centuries of brewing tradition for no apparent reason. Many have other names. Surely calling a beer 'Imperial Black ',or 'West Highland Black' gives the drinker enough information to know he is drinking a black beer, why add the additional rider 'IPA' to the name ? Are they just jumping on a bandwagon ? Does it give the drinker any more information? I personally think not after drinking several of them. 

The other side of the coin relates to ingredients used. I accept that to use the hop character of an IPA and adding darker malts creates some sort of hybrid , but is that enough to justify a new genre of beer ? It could just as easily be a bitter stout, or hoppy porter. I am of the opinion that it doesn't. I am not even sure that the balance of hops and malt in this hybrid are often right, and it seems that often one or the other dominates the taste, dark malts and resinous hops do not seem to blend well to my taste, and I have yet to find one that I am totally happy with.

Maybe I am being pedantic, (who,me !), but for me, an IPA will be forever Pale, and the 'Black IPA' maybe  just a passing phase, the sooner the phase passes the better as far as I am concerned. Or may be in years to come I will be proved wrong and the 'Black IPA' will be a recognised name in English brewing. Only time will tell.  

The picture is no reflection of Buxton brewery, and its beer, it merely illustrates a point.