Strawberry Beer

In replies to the post below, Phoenix Strawberry Beer was mentioned. Tony Allen of Phoenix revealed this beer to some of us who were at his brewery in July. It was made from both strawberry pulp and strawberry juice and a base pale beer. It was thick and luscious when sampled straight from the cask, though the trade version is kegged and gassed. The cask version was a delight and I've now tasted the keg version at the New Oxford. This had lost some of the sweetness and taken on a distinct Belgian fruit beer edge. It was lovely too. Tony plans another couple of fruit beers, depending on how the strawberry one goes. Judging by the reaction so far, he might have to make a habit of it.

The photo shows my lovely lass, Eileen, with Tony and the beer.

Well Spotted

We had the mob from the pub round on Saturday. The beer of choice was Phoenix Spotland Gold, named after Rochdale FC's ground. This is a delightfully pale and hoppy beer which drinks really well. I'm glad I chose it.

The only issue was in the preparation. Tony Allen, the brewer, always conditions his beer well to ensure a vigorous secondary fermentation. He'd certainly done it in spades this time. When I vented the beer, it went off like a rocket, soaking me and a fair bit of the garage in beer. Unusually I soft spiled it. No good. The beer just gushed through. It came through the hard spile a fair bit too, but when it had all stopped, the beer was ready and in fantastic condition. It went down well and the cask was soon drained. If you see any Phoenix beer near you, grab it. There isn't a bad one in the bunch.

When I returned the cask, Tony was telling me he'd been on a six hour trail round Lewes with the Harvey's Head Brewer Miles Jenner and the Brewery History Society. He mentioned that the beer in the brewery was fantastic.