Where's the Southern Blondes Then?

London is always an enigma to me. It contains some of the best pubs in the country, has some of the most go ahead brewers and new wave bars yet still thinks it is in the Second World War in terms of new inventions like refrigeration.  The problem of warm cask beer is one that I bang on about and will continue to bang on about. London has some of the best pubs - pubs you could happily drink beer in all day - if only the beer wasn't kept so bloody awfully. Even the lager is rarely as cold as it ought to be. London, it seems, likes warm beer.

Funnily enough though this isn't about that. I just like to stick that knife in whenever I can. So what am I banging on about this time?  Well the lack of pale, hoppy beer that's what.  In the North and by this I mean anywhere above Birmingham, it would be an odd situation indeed if, in a free house or even one that isn't, you didn't find something pale and hoppy on the bar.  It is a given Oop North but this just doesn't seem to happen in London and when and if you do come cross something pale, if it isn't Dark Star Hophead, it is likely to be sweet and it is likely to be the only one on the bar that that isn't brown. Going further south, on my recent trip to Broadstairs, there was again a distinct lack of hop forward blonde beers. Why is this I wonder?  Is it a matter of preference or perceived preference? Is it a lack of availability locally and local is big at the moment?  I'm kind of baffled.

Why is this? Any ideas?



The list of Northern Breweries producing a huge range of blonde beers is vast.  Those would be people like Phoenix, Saltaire, Elland, Pictish, Allgates, Wilson Potter, Goose Eye, Mallinsons, Ossett to name but a few.  These can be readily bought through beer distributors.  There is lots more.

And yes, I know some exist down South, but why don't we see them in London is the question.

Doing What it Says on the Tin

Readers of this blog will know I am a big fan of Mallinson's beers. After picking E up from the station last night, we called in to the excellent Angel for a couple

I immediately spotted a new Mallinson's beer. Hooray - that's usually pretty good news. P.A.H. stands for pale and hoppy. It is. And it is bloody good too. The barmaid loved the name. We loved the beer. If you click the link above it will take you to their web site. It's called www.drinkmallinsons.co.uk.

That's very good advice indeed.

Seeing the Light Again

Yesterday took me briefly to the "wrong" end of Central Manchester. I was down to do "postering" for the National Winter Ales Festival, so I met with the others in the Knott Bar. I have been a bit overdosed on Lees since my illness prevented me from travelling, or rather, knocked the inclination out of me. It was cheering to start off with a very pleasant pint of Marble's Manchester Bitter. Pale, hoppy, full bodied with biscuity malt, it was just the dab for jaded taste buds. Alas it came to end before my request for a second could be fulfilled. Damn. Dilemma. The other beers were dark except Hornbeam Lemon Blosson which I had condemned in no uncertain terms before here. Still, being a very forgiving type, I plumped for it and was pleasantly surprised. The artificial "lemon" taste had gone, instead a clean, zesty beer was very welcome.

We soldiered on visiting dingy back street pubs, sticking posters up and leaving "flyers" with snotty concierges until our second beer stop. Unfortunately in the Atheneum, an impressive former banking hall, they couldn't get the Young's pump to cough up any beer and we eschewed the alternative Bombardier and had little better luck in either the Waterhouse or the City Arms where all beers were dark. We pressed on with the job and eventually, having knuckled down and completed our tasks, we finished in the Crown and Kettle where excellent pale pints of Titanic Iceberg were consumed and repeated. This brewery has come back on form after a dodgy patch I reckon. As an aside I also tried a half of Cheshire IPA from Dunham Massey which proved to be overwhelmingly, sweet and cloying and hoppy at the same time. Like most of their beers, not for me.

Two more ports of call though. The Angel brought us pints of Allgates New Year Ale which was decent but not inspiring though the usual charming and excellent service here causes me to make huge allowance. Finally on to the Marble Arch where we were told one of the beers of the century was on, a new beer called Brew 1425. This pale, 5.9% golden beer of over 50 units of bitterness was powerful in the aroma, hugely hopped and bitter, but for me harsh, unbalanced and hard to drink. Others had raved to me about it, but for me it just didn't work. I really was disappointed, though perhaps another time would have been better, but this is a "one off". Things were redeemed for me by the excellent Mallinson's Matterhorn which was fresh, lemony and zesty with a good hop finish. I had my last beer of the night from another old favourite, Pictish. This time Galena. Somehow Richard Sutton the brewer drags every possible nuance out of his hops. This was no exception and was very hoppy, very pale and a great beer to end the night on.

And hooray for First Bus. The 163 came immediately! There's a first time - no pun intended - for everything!