BEERS #2 - Beyond the Pale

[Blinder Data]

Had one pint of Oakham's Citra in the State Bar last night and I'm still thinking about it. Utterly delicious.

I've been told good things about their Green Devil IPA but at 6% I would need a clear day afterward to attempt that.

[Ferris]

Big fan of Oakham's Citra.

[shoulders]

Not a Citra drinker but some adherents were telling me Oakham Citra wasn't what it used to be. I guess these things can go up and down.

Had a really nice Belgian pils at lunchtime, Brasserie de la Senne's Zenne Pils. Unfiltered, grainy, fruity, quite crisp and bitter. Very well balanced. The best Belgian lager I have had by some distance.

[Ferris]

The pint of Citra I had was probably 4 years ago but I still remember it being class, which is impressive (to me, anyway).

[king_tubby]

I've not had a pint of cask Citra for a while, but the last one wasn't great. Though my sister's go to pub in Peterborough is Oakham's brew pub meaning I mainly drank it there so was getting the good stuff.

Economies of scale, I guess. More capacity, less quality. I've seen that with a few others too.

[purlieu]

Having only previously had it in bottles I was very pleasantly surprised at how good Citra is on cask with my first pint the other week.

[phes]

I've not had a pint of cask Citra for a while, but the last one wasn't great. Though my sister's go to pub in Peterborough is Oakham's brew pub meaning I mainly drank it there so was getting the good stuff.

Economies of scale, I guess. More capacity, less quality. I've seen that with a few others too.

That's the way to go! Likewise with kelham Island and Fat Cat. I've had a couple of dozen very average pints of Kelham Island beer in pubs around the country but every time I have one in the cat it's fantastic. Presumably just a lot of experience in how to store, condition and serve the beers.

Citra from a bottle I find a little spikey and sharp but the cask Citra that was often on in The Crown Inn, Nottingham, was always 5 star.

[shoulders]

Presumably just a lot of experience in how to store, condition and serve the beers.

Cellarship (if that's the word) and knowing how to operate a handpull does make a remarkably big difference to cask, which is a delicate, organic, evolving product often treated like it was a keg of industrial lager.

A guy who runs the Craven Heifer in Stainforth was saying how his Thwaites pumps were his babies, essentially. In all respects a lager man from the rough end of Leeds but the utmost reverence for handpulled cask ale, and even though Thwaites isn't amazing these days, you could tell he had made it as good as it was ever going to be (bar from the brewery perhaps).

Anyway, Kirkstall have a revival series on with a Bitter and 5.0% Mild with their old logo on the pump clips at the brewery taproom. Never tried the Mild before, if it was ever available since I turned 18, but it's an absolute delight. Toffeeish with a hint of bitterness crackling away in your tongue afterwards. Fresh as a daisy.

[Ferris]

There's definitely some truth to storage, but even being gentle with the cask when you transfer it from cellar to taproom makes a huge difference because they're (usually) naturally fined by gravity and time only so shaking them up undoes all that good work.

A lot goes into it, more than I thought anyway.

[shoulders]

It's frustrating how Poland's only full time cask brewpub operation that I know of (T. E. A Time in Kraków) is still a bit rough 6 years after first visiting. Not impossible to drink or anything but just very... grainy.. and unbalanced.

Good cask should almost sing with vibrancy and lightness as it hits the back of your gob, even hefty stouts and so on.

[phes]

It's something I was oblivious to until a few years back. Now a handful of my top 10 favourite pints are very good but not exceptional core beers, elevated by consistency and experience. I'd put Dissolution (bridge), pale/easy rider (Cat) and Jaipur (Sheffield tap) in there. All of them are very good value and almost always excellent

[king_tubby]

Anyway, Kirkstall have a revival series on with a Bitter and 5.0% Mild with their old logo on the pump clips at the brewery taproom. Never tried the Mild before, if it was ever available since I turned 18, but it's an absolute delight. Toffeeish with a hint of bitterness crackling away in your tongue afterwards. Fresh as a daisy.

O RLY? That's worth the short walk down the A65 then. I've booked Sunday lunch at the Cardigan this week, so if it makes the trip up...

I had a cracking pint of Mild in Dave's last week.

[amateur]

Mild is lovely stuff. Perfect pre-wedding beer (as a guest) - settles the stomach, starts the day right.

Delighted there's a few more banging about in the year 2022.

I'm going to a pub tomorrow, looking forward to it.

[Ferris]

I'm sure I've tooted on about this already, but mild is one of the reasons I started brewing again because it's not easy to find in the UK and fucking impossible to find in eastern Canada. Aside from watching games at Villa park and family, it is essentially the only thing about the West Midlands that I miss as an expat.

[phes]

May was usually the month to get out and about on a mild trail as CAMRA did Mild May

[shoulders]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/14/brewdog-boss-hired-private-investigators-to-gather-evidence-of-alleged-smear-campaign

As a result of those investigations, our lawyers are pursuing a private criminal prosecution for fraud and malicious communications in a court in London

Punk AF

[amateur]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/14/brewdog-boss-hired-private-investigators-to-gather-evidence-of-alleged-smear-campaign

Punk AF

Their beer genuinely leaves a sour taste in my mouth these days.

[shoulders]

BrewStasi

[Blue Jam]

Some Dutch beers I'm just posting here for reference:



Some interesting labels... any more I should look out for while I'm here?

[Ferris]

Fucker's had 3 beers at once! Legend!!

[Ferris]

Just occurred to me this might not be in a bar, fair enough.

[Ferris]

Sorry I had 2 pints at lunch, fucking students taking the piss eh

[shoulders]

Some good Dutch breweries:

Bruut
De Dochter van Der Korenaar
De Man
De Molen
Emelisse
Frontaal
Kees
Moersleutel
Uiltje
Door Vrouwen
De Euwige Jeugd


Zundert and La Trappe for Trappist stuff.

To be honest, the prevalence of Belgian Flemish beers available somewhat crowds out the Dutch scene, while they do very little to improve prove the dire lager offerings where they could in theory do something different.

[Blue Jam]

Just occurred to me this might not be in a bar, fair enough.

The photo is of three bottles I bought from the European Supermarket, all unopened and just sat on the table in my sordid little grief hole at the Travel Tavern. Still in werk mode I'm afraid, just want to remember the names before I sample them and type up some nerdy notes on here!

[Blue Jam]

Some good Dutch breweries:

Bruut
De Dochter van Der Korenaar
De Man
De Molen
Emelisse
Frontaal
Kees
Moersleutel
Uiltje
Door Vrouwen
De Euwige Jeugd


Zundert and La Trappe for Trappist stuff.

To be honest, the prevalence of Belgian Flemish beers available somewhat crowds out the Dutch scene, while they do very little to improve prove the dire lager offerings where they could in theory do something different.

Cor, thanks Shoulders! Will keep a lookout next time I pop to the supermarket, and again when I finally get out of the sticks and into Amsterdam proper on Friday.

The lager situation isn't great is it? They bloody love their Heineken over here. Edinburgh Airport has a Brewdog bar and while I'm no great lover of Brewdog that situation is still preferable to that of Schipol with its massive Heineken bar. Fuck that shit- Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[Psybro]

I might be going back to Amsterdam in the summer so in the market for recommendations for nice pubs - I only had time to go to Proeflokaal Arendsnest last time, which was spot on.

[shoulders]

I might be going back to Amsterdam in the summer so in the market for recommendations for nice pubs - I only had time to go to Proeflokaal Arendsnest last time, which was spot on.

What sort of thing do you like? I don't want to ply you with the 28 brown cafés in my directory if that's not your style.

[Psybro]

Somewhere that is particular to Amsterdam/the Netherlands in its visual style and has good beer (can be a decent session beer rather than dozens of craft options), but preferably serves fruit beers for my wife.

Edit: I suppose somewhere where the clientele is not exclusively decrepit old men, but I'm not sure you really get that in central Amsterdam.

[shoulders]

Ok, well, the following are intact excellent brown cafés that are particularly functionally Amsterdam-like.

Rickety, brown, atmospheric day or night, empty or full.

t'Smalle
De Pilsener Club
De Wetering
Karpershoek
Mulder
De Ooievaar
Thiejssen
Papeneiland
Hegeraad
Twee Zwantjes
Niewe Lelie
Chris
Gouden Florijn
Laurierboom
Blauwe Parade
Van Daele
Gollem
De Eland
Chaos
Eijlder
Pieper
Tapvreugd
Scharrebier
De Druif
Onder de Ooievaar (different to the above Ooievaar)
Slijterij Osterling
Brecht
Welling
Gruter
Anno 1890
Hoppe


For other reasons I also recommend:

In de Wildeman
Foeders
Proeflokaal Arendsnest
Wynand Fockink
De Dokter
In de Olofspoort (if it has reopened)
De Drie Fleschjes

[shoulders]

Sorry, I appreciate that's a hefty list but it's a big city centre.