Free beer to be had!

In a first for Ed's beer site I can now offer the chance to win free beer. 

I've been contacted by the people promoting Spitfire ale asking if I'll run a competition based on their 'Bottle of Britain' campaign, the winner getting a free crate. 

Now you may be asking why I, a brewer working in Kent, will promote a rival Kent brewery. Simple, they've offered me free beer too and I can't say no to that. 

Watch the vid and answer this simple question: Which famous English landmark features in the Bottle of Britain film?

Email your answer to toby.young@the7thchamber.com and when I get back from the lakes in a week's time hopefully a winner will have a crate of beer winging its way to them and I'll have a crate waiting for me on the door step.

The most comprehensive guide to Britain’s many and glorious beer styles ever

...is now in my possession. 

The lovely Lisa has bought me a copy of Martyn Cornell's Amber, Gold and Black. I've got next week off so when I'm not being heroic on the hills or engaging in practical beer research I'll be reading up on the history of British beer. It's looking good already, check out the opening paragraph:

Britain is one of the world's greatest brewing nations: a fact the British themselves often seem to be unaware of. We need to be much more proud of what we have given ourselves and the world: beautiful, refreshing hoppy bitters and IPAs, golden summer ales for hot days in the garden, heady, rich barley wines, unctuous winter warmers, cheering, sociable conversation-encouraging milds, creamy, reviving black porters and hearty filling stouts, barley wines and old ales for sipping and relaxing, beers that go with food and beers that can be enjoyed on their own, beer styles born in these islands and now appreciated and brewed from San Francisco to Singapore, from St Petersburg to Sydney.

Stick that in your cold fermented, vegetable flavoured pipe and smoke it!

Western Lake District Recommendations Anyone?

The lovely Lisa and I will be heading to Loweswater for a week on Friday. It's no coincidence that we'll be staying a short walking distance from the Kirkstile Inn but is there anywhere else we should check out? Recommendations for walks would be good too as we'll need to earn our beer. 

Oak aged beer

I'm still not sure about this oak aged beer malarkey, but I think they might be growing on me. The first bottle of Brewdog's Paradox that I had I couldn't finish* , Innis & Gunn didn't impress me and Fuller's Brewer's Reserve I could take or leave. But I've now found a beer "fermented and conditioned with oak" that I've liked from the off: Curious Brew Admiral Porter. 

With Innis & Gunn I noticed the vanilla flavour that comes from oak but it didn't seem to sit well in beer. With Paradox I noticed a whole new layer of 'eurgh' added to what have been a good strong stout. And with Brewer's Reserve I thought 'hmmm...bacteria', not what I normally look for in a beer.  But dedicated beer researcher that I am I've since tried all of these again and found them more enjoyable. 

Admiral Porter is contract brewed for a wine maker, and I think aged with oak chips rather than in an old whisky barrel, so should be safe from any whisky contamination. It was a good balanced beer that went down very easily. I'm not quite sure if this is because I'm getting more used to beers with a bit of oak in them or because this is just the mildest of the oaked beers I've drunk. Am I failing as a beer nerd here? Will other oak aged beer become more pleasant the more I drink them or are they just a bad idea in general?

*Don't worry, a mate drank the rest of it.

Back to the beer garden

There was no doubt this weekend that Spring has sprung. The lovely Lisa and I went for a walk round Newlands Corner and Silent Pool, the site of Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance. 

Having worked up a thirst we trotted down to the nearest pub only to find it was shut. No doubt the locals were enjoying conjugal relations with their close relatives rather than keeping the beer flowing. 

We don't give in easily though so we moved on to one of our favourite pubs with a beer garden, The Jolly Farmer in Worplesden. Sitting in the sun, with a cracking pint of Pride in my hand, I couldn't help but thing what a great term 'beer garden' is. It's got that whole connotation of being somewhere pleasant and homely, where you'd want to sit on a sunny day, and with the added benefit of  beer! I don't think I'd want my house to be a public house, but I'd like to think of my garden as a beer garden. 

IPA challenge bout four: Brewdog Hardcore IPA Vs Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA

The latest bout in the IPA challenge is a clash between two heavy weights: Brewdog Hardcore IPA and Dogfishhead IPA, both weighing in at 9% ABV. Both lacking stamina (stingy little bottles), the fight has all the makings of being short and brutal.

Hardcore opens with a stinging jab and a taste like sucking on lemons but without making your eyes burn.

The Dogfish head has a darker copper colour, and with a bigger body. The famously continuously hopped beer is made to taste sweet in comparison to the hardcore hop monster from brewdog.

Styles make fights and though on paper these are both double IPA, when they get in the ring they're fighting with completely different styles. The bruiser from Brewdog has an unbalanced style with stinging hops constantly jabbing you in the face but not much in the way of body. Less reachy than Hardcore the Dogfish head's bigger body clinches to your tongue with a barley wine like sweetness.

Despite having all the makings of a classic fight, like with Calzaghe Vs Hopkins the clash of styles seems to bring out the worst in each other. After a sip of Hardcore the 90 minute IPA seems cloyingly sweet, but when you switch back the Hardcore tastes overpoweringly bitter.

At the end of a very negative round the judges are not impressed, with me thinking the 90 minute edges it and the lovely Lisa giving it to Hardcore. As we're the only two judges it's looking like a draw, but we can't progress with our knockout tournament if we allow that. So the only option is to call for another round. Sadly a rummage in the beer cupboard reveals I haven't got any more Dogfish head and won't have until my mum goes back to Delaware. So when the bell goes for round two 90 minute IPA remains on its stool and it's a win for Hardcore by TKO. Not a very satisfying result, and I'm sure 90 minute IPA will be eager for a re-match.

A perk of being a brewer

A local winemaker popped into the brewery today. Before he turned his hand to wine he used to work for Whitbread selling Stella, with a certain Pete Brown reporting to him. More importantly he has some beer made for him too and brought some bottles with him. I nabbed a bottle of Cobb IPA which I will now be entering in The IPA Challenge.