
I took E along for support and had a look at what was on offer. A simple programme showed mainly Spanish beers with a sprinkling from Sweden, Germany and Malta. The noticeable thing about the Spanish offerings was their similarity. All seemed to have a Pale Ale, an American Pale Ale, an IPA, an Amber Ale and either a stout or a porter. Now this isn't a problem, but does make you wonder a little why you'd go to the trouble as a small microbrewer to export such universally available products. I guess the answer is, that despite the oddities of the beer world that we see so often, that's what sells.
I tried most of them and it has to be said, though none were particularly bad, none really stood out. The pick of the bunch were the porters and stouts with a stunning cigar smoke smoked stout from oddly named Swedish brewers, Pang Pang and very competent offerings from others. For those interested in such things, Spanish brewers included Mala Gissona, Cervecera Artesana and LaPirata.

The best beer of the show? The delicious Cisk Lager from Malta, was honest, fresh and tasty and at the right price-point would be a great addition to certain outlets. That's the kind of beer that still really sells, but for complexity, the Cigar Smoke Stout pips it. For a different market of course.
My thanks to Morganrot for a very entertaining couple of hours. E enjoyed the wine too.
Lastly, we went after to Gasworks Brew Bar and Kitchen next door. I liked it and more of this later.
3 comments:
Ain't no junket like a TandleJunket.
Sleeman is owned by Sapporo. Any chance it's being brewed there by another branch of the empire?
I love Cisk - the beer of Malta! Farsons-Simonds do some other really nice beers as well, they're not cask, but you can't have everything. They were kind enough to give me a VIP tour last year https://beerleeds.co.uk/2016/11/14/farsons-simonds-cisk-brewers-of-malta/ I also met the head brewer https://beerleeds.co.uk/2016/11/29/a-maltese-brewer/ who was a wonderful guy. Well worth a visit if you're ever in Malta
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