Northern Restaurant and Bar

On Wednesday I attended what is described as "The North's leading hospitality trade event. Bringing together over 9,600 visitors and 300+ exhibitors".  This is an annual event and I have been going, off and on, for quite a few years. The venue is Manchester Central, the huge exhibition centre formerly known as GMex and renamed after the railway station it used to be.  It was fitting that my companion for the day was my friend Graham, with whom I co-organised the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival  for several years when it was held there. It felt like a sentimental return for both of us.

We went on the second day of this two-day event, mainly to see who we knew - usually many - from both publicans and local breweries - and as always to have a chat with the various other exhibitors -  and certainly to sample a few beers. Firstly we had a look round to get the lie of the land, and, knowing the place as we do, we both felt that the exhibition was using more of the space than previously. This is a good thing, because the event is popular and can be very crowded. It is broadly split along the lines of food on one side and drinks on the other, with trade suppliers of everything from cutlery to glasses and electronic tills all dotted around and a central "theatre" where presentations and discussions take place. 

This being the second day, it wasn't too manic, but apparently, on the previous day, it had been rammed and there were a few slightly pissed people. Even small samples of spirits, will, I suppose, do this if you have enough of them - and there were plenty of these to go at -  but everyone I knew was very well-behaved and indeed I saw nothing untoward at all. In fact, the event was very civilised and well organised too.

Our first port of call, by accident as much as anything, was the bar of La Chouffe, owned now by Duvel Moortgat brewery group. A quick taster of  Cherry Chouffe  warmed us up in more ways than one with its 8% alcohol and as a bonus, we were both given a souvenir glass. We tucked that in our coats and set off for pastures new, being stopped on the way by a rep offering a free can of beer. Ah. No bag, so a detour to the Lipton's Ice Tea bus, saw us sorted out with a tote bag for any subsequent offerings.

I decided that my tastings should have a purpose. I'm fond of nitro stouts and there seemed to be a few on offer, so I'd try and taste them all. A benchmark need to be set, so I plumped for a beer I know. So, off to JW Lees stand for their excellent stout - which is not, strictly speaking, in the Irish style - followed by two from Theakstons.  They offered Brennan's Irish Stout, which was rather sweet and chocolate forward, but with a little late bitterness. The other, Barista Stout was as expected, big on coffee and vanilla, but overall, a bit too sweet for me.

Next up was another local one. Joseph Holt's Trailblazer Stout, a beer, again I am familiar with. This is more Guinness like, and I enjoyed its tasty roast malt and its chocolate and slight smokiness. A very well-made beer.  I also gained a bit of intel about a licensee change in my area, so a bit of CAMRA business too, though I was badged up as a "Beer Writer".  A new one for me though was Coal Drop from Tiny Rebel. A joint venture between distributor LWC and the Newport based Tiny Rebel, this was an absolute beauty.  The lads behind the bar couldn't have been nicer and the beer was excellent, with a silky body, a touch of roast malt and a smooth finish. Excellent stuff.  

Final two were Brock from Thornbridge which was a little disappointing, being a tad thinner than the others and finally, BrewDog Black Heart, which was decent, but seemed to lack flavour.

So, there you have it. I must point out that all stouts were served in sample sizes of a few ounces, in various plastic "glasses", so you have to bear that in mind, though some were sampled more than once. To me the Coal Drop just edged it from Lees Stout, but I do wonder if they were tasted blind, in pint glasses, how it would all have turned out.

I wasn't alone in my stout interest, as you could observe many people asking for samples. One thing seems certain, the stout revival continues apace and I reckon we'll see a lot more brewers putting efforts into promoting it. 

Other highlights were, as usual, seeing people I know and meeting brewery staff. A special mention to Iain from Greene King who was a smashing lad, and to everyone else who represented their companies with charm and good humour, despite their sore feet.  It was also very gratifying to hear that many had done great business there, including some of the smaller breweries exhibiting.

I did also sample various other beers as we went round. Top of the bunch for me was Swiss brewed 1936,  Birra Alpetti, a proper Italian lager and Budvar Dark. There may have been others, but it was still nice to go to the pub afterwards and drink cask from a pint glass.

 

How Stouts Should Be

 Who doesn't love a good stout? Well, I certainly do, but what I'm not so keen on is those that have been extensively mucked about with. By mucked about with, I mean the addition of the likes of coffee and most of all that evil of all evils, which should only ever appear in confectionary or puddings, vanilla. To that, generally, I'd add blackcurrant - unless to disguise the cardboard taste of Guinness - and most other herbs, fruits and spices. I'll leave a slight exception for a touch of chilli, but that is a now and again thing.

It isn't that I'm against such stuff, and I agree and recognize that there are plenty out there that like these additions, but what I do dislike is that a bit too often, there isn't just a straightforward stout that tastes of, well, stout.  There are exceptions of course, and maybe too many brewers feel that a "normal" stout doesn't get them sales in a crowded market. Well that's fine, but let's at least have an unmucked about version as the default, with the additions as specials.

Others seem to agree that at least these additions should be used sparingly, as I ran a poll on Twitter with the following results:

I seem to have struck a chord with praising unmucked about stout, so a poll. Stout should contain ingredients other than water, malt, yeast and hops:

— Tandleman (@tandleman) December 8, 2021

A respectable 215 people voted, with the vast majority saying stouts should have adjuncts added sparingly and occasionally. 

This doesn't surprise me,  as that is how it should be. 

I did once brew a fantastic stout with Ramsbottom Craft Brewery. It had a hint of chilli. I did an even better one with Aldgate Brewery, which didn't, so make of that what you will.

The photo shows an unmucked about stout taken in Skipton. See previous post.

Should Porter Be Sweet?

After attending CAMRA's Revitalisation meeting I needed, er, revitalising.  In the Crown and Kettle I spotted a porter. I was in the mood for dark beer, so ordered a pint. It was very sweet. "Hmm". Later in the Marble Arch I ordered a different porter, again a touch on the sweet side, so I tweeted that.  Beers incidentally were from local brewer, Squawk  and the other from Summer Wine, both great brewers I hasten to add. Nothing wrong with either as such, but just too sweet for me. Another "Hmm". I don't really like beers that are too sweet and wondered if porter should be. Now "should be" is a bit pejorative I suppose and when I tweeted about the sweetness, Squawk Brewing responded by saying "That's just how we brew it". Fair enough (up to a point) and if it sells that way, why not?

But should it be sweet? When you want to know anything about Porter, you really need to consult the oracle. Well in this case the oracle's blog. Here's what Ron Pattinson has to say. Basically if you look at the apparent attenuation of porters when porter really was a thing, it just couldn't have been as sweet as some of the examples around nowadays. Is there a genuine misunderstanding going on here or is it something else, namely the dividing line between what is perceived as fashionable these days - porter - and what isn't fashionable at least by its availability at drinking strength - stout? Of course, nowadays, brewers call it a stout or porter to suit themselves it seems, but the artificial dividing line can often be one that falls between the degree of blackness and the degree of roastiness, though Ron's myriad of tables suggest no such thing. If you do want to know the difference between porter and stout, see Ron.  As far as I can tell there isn't really any, at least in historical terms.

Talking to a new brewer, Ken Lynch from Serious Brewing in Rochdale, he reckons that there is a gap in the market. His first cask beer is a stout at a drinkable 4.5% and a lovely black bitter and roasty drop it is too.  He, like me, likes stout and often can't find one.  His beer - and I have witnessed it happen - flies off the bar.  My two recent collaborations have been dark bitter stouts and they too have sold so well they are repeated. So, not many bitter stouts around, but they are popular when available.

Are brewers missing a trick here?

The only issue in using Ron as a source is that there is information overload, but nowhere that I have found does he suggest that porters are sweet.  I am far too lazy though to read very single article, though I gave it a fair shot until my brain rebelled, all tabled out.

The poorness of modern Guinness also presents an opportunity for stout brewers I would suggest. The photo is a pint of Serious Moonlight Stout.

Chocolate Chilli Stout

I was rather pleased to visit Matt Holmes of Ramsbottom Craft Brewery to brew a beer with him. Matt brews in a small but perfectly formed two barrel plant in the garage of his home in deepest Ramsbottom.  It has everything you need from mash tun to hop store, all within easy reach and as a bonus he doesn't have to go far to work in the morning or home later.

The beer chosen was a Chocolate Chilli Stout. On the side I'm a bit of a stout fiend. The only other brew that I've had a recipe hand in was with Allgates of Wigan and that was a stout too - and a bloody successful one that has been brewed more than once. I see a pattern emerging.  Now one thing I always think that stout should be is black. That means, to me at least, that it should have roast barley in it. I know you can piss about in other ways to replicate the colour without the "burnt" flavour, but then to me it isn't really a stout.  I know in purist or historical terms that's not so, but if you want me to brew a stout, it will be between four and five percent, be black as the ace of spades and it will have a resinous hoppy finish and be a bit dry.

We decided that the chilli should just be a hint, so Matt prepared some fresh ones and we also had actual cocoa nibs too.  I won't bore you with the brewing details, but while it was all boiling away we took the opportunity to sample some of Matt's bottles. They were good. A list can be found on his very informative website here.  I can particularly recommend Oh Sunny Day and the wonderfully named Flaori Maori made with New Zealand hops as you have no doubt guessed.  The Chocolate Chilli stout  - which had to be re-chillied as we were determined not to overdo it - has just a prickle of heat and is otherwise a classic bitter stout. It was all sold out in advance as Matt's casks tend to and made its début at our CAMRA do referred to in this post. It was very well received on the night by the assembled drunks beer experts and has gone down well subsequently elsewhere, with positive comments. Want to try it? You might be too late for the cask effort, but it will appear in real ale in a bottle form soon. Contact Matt if you are in the area and fancy some.

Stout. Mmm. Under-rated and yummy. We need more of it.

The fact that I had a hand in this beer has certainly influenced my views.  Still a good beer mind.  Of course it is greatly enhanced by perfect cask conditioning and a tight sparkler to produce a classic creamy white head. That and the fact that Matt knows his stuff.  To labout the point, stout just isn't stout without that creamy head.

The Big Four-O

The local CAMRA Branch I chair and have done for twenty years, is forty this month.  We have been celebrating this with a series of piss ups thoughtful events to mark the occasion.  The first formal do was last Wednesday when we met at the Flying Horse in Rochdale to enjoy a few local beers (including one I had a hand in) and to view memorabilia of Branch happenings over the years.  We gathered together quite a lot of interesting stuff, including the minutes and attendance sheet for both the first meeting to establish interest in forming a CAMRA Branch in Rochdale,Oldham and Bury and the first meeting minutes having decided to go ahead.  Many photos of old gits when a lot younger were eagerly perused, as well as posters, beer festival lists and all sorts of other paraphernalia which had been gathering dust in drawers, lofts and garages for donkey's years.  Old colleagues attended and it was rather a cheery evening, with around fifty present.

While that was jolly nice for all of us, what occurred to me was that on an otherwise quiet Wednesday evening, a very large number of pints were consumed, giving the pub a pretty good boost to trade. It also occurred to me that similar events happen all the time and across the country there are countless CAMRA organised events that give local pubs much needed business at quiet times. Quiet midweeks are serendipitously the best time for us to hold meetings and the best time for pubs to host them and thus fill space.  Almost all CAMRA branches are no doubt doing the same kind of thing all the time and in our case, we'll have special events throughout the year and, as CAMRA was growing hugely forty years ago, there will be a lot of this kind of stuff going on. It's all good for pubs.


Some of us may be old and set in our ways, but we are still campaigning for real ale in the best way anyone can, by getting out and drinking the stuff.

My beer was brewed by Matt Holmes of Ramsbottom Craft Brewery. It was a chocolate, chilli stout of 4.5% and was a dark as possible. It had just a touch of chilli and a beautiful white creamy head. Lovely stuff. It sold out before it was ready for serving and will shortly be available in bottle conditioned form. Want some? Ask Matt here.

Photo (Top) shows me presenting a certificate to the Merrie Monk in Rochdale in 1997.  Alas, like the landlord, the Merrie Monk is no longer with us. I'm hanging on in there.

More Stouts Please

Porters seem very fashionable these days and when we talk of fads (or trends if you like) in beer, there is IPA, saisons, sours etc. but you do see an awful lot of porters. Or a lot of awful porters -  but they rarely seem to get a mention.  Now I like stouts and though the line between a porter and a stout can be a blurry one, I tend to subscribe to the view that porters are sweeter and less roasty and stouts are bitter and include much more by way of roasted barley.  They should also in my view at least, be hoppier, particularly with a bit of hop resin to finish. It counters the other flavours within the beer and makes you want more. Stouts too should be full of mouthfeel. Nice and thick.

When I brewed a stout with Allgates Brewery some time ago - with others - we wanted to produce a stout that ticked all these boxes and I believe we did though perhaps we could have got more of a resinous finish. But that's probably just me.  Yesterday I tried JW Lees Archer Stout - one of their seasonal beers and just released yesterday.  Now Archer Stout is named after those Middletonians that went to Flodden Field in 1513 to fight the Scots. Their weapon was the bow and arrow, hence Archer Stout.  Their feats are commemorated in our local Parish Church here in Middleton by a venerable stained glass window, reputed to be the oldest war memorial in the world.  (A war memorial has to have the names of those that fought). I have seen it and it is rather fine, as is the (partly) Norman Parish Church. Worth a visit if you are ever in this neck of the woods and in need of culture.

But what about the beer, not those misguided souls that killed so many innocent Scotsmen? Well the brewery describes it thus: "A ruby/black beer made with five different malts and Target hops to a roasted molasses nose and a roast chestnut and liquorice taste." It weighs in a 4.6% and it has been some years since it was last on Lees seasonal list, though its brewing origins go back to 1951. I remember though it as a bottled sweet stout of much more modest strength. It disappeared when Lees stopped doing their own bottling a good number of years ago.

Yesterday at the Tandle Hill Tavern, in atrocious weather, I went to try some.  John, the landlord greeted me warmly and around me were many trying this dark brew. "It's going well" said John.  The beer is rich and dark, with a bitter-sweet taste that melts into a roasty, liquorice middle and a fairly short finish.  I didn't detect the chestnuts, but it was a good beer, with enough body and taste to make you want a second. I could have done with my favoured resinous, hoppy finish, but you can't have everything. It is a very decent stout and I reckon it will do well judging by the positive reaction in the THT.

It was served through a tight sparkler to give a tight, creamy head and trust me, it had condition. 

The previous seasonal, Plum Pudding is though to me the pick of Lees seasonals. Glad to say they are now making them so much different in taste to the bitter and it is telling in excellent sales. I have nagged them on this point over the years, so claim, if not credit, foresight.

BlackJackpot

It was a busy old day on Saturday.  The Manchester Beer and Cider Festival Organising Meeting in the Angel was (unusually) businesslike and brisk. It was gratifying to see that not only do we have a great team running things, but excellent progress is being made. Lessons learned from last year are being applied and that's as it should be. It'll be bigger and better, with more seats, beer on two floors, a greater selection and more. If it isn't in your diary, put it in now. The link is below. Also gratifying to this reader at least, was ideal organising meeting beer in the shape of an old friend and favourite, Hawkshead Windermere Pale.  At 3.5%, you can sup a few without your concentration and ability to contribute being adversely affected.  It was in tremendous form too, though another bar person wouldn't have gone amiss in what was a very busy pub, especially when you have to wait behind someone paying for a couple of beers with a credit card.  That's a pain in the whatsit to put it mildly.

Afterwards a few of us nipped into the recently renovated Smithfield, which has been opened out a bit, cleaned up tremendously and dragged into the 21st Century. It had sorely needed it. Sadly there was only two cask beers on, Lytham Gold and a variation thereof with added berries and fruit.  I didn't try that, but my "ordinary" Lytham Gold was fine, if unexciting. I noted too that Heineken had clearly put money into the place, the viewing lager cellar somewhat giving the game away and the adverts, brewery signs, John Smith's Smooth and Fosters point of sale visible everywhere, providing ample confirmation. At least we were spared Deuchars IPA, though.  This is a venture on which the jury is still out I think. Round the corner, the Crown and Kettle was busy and had a good choice to go at.  I settled for my first ever Brewsmith beer, their 6% IPA, cashing in my previous weak beer credit all at once.  I enjoyed it and it certainly seemed appropriate, having met brewer James and his wife Jennifer at IndyManBeerCon only the week before.  I'll be taking up their kind invitation to visit, even though their premises are, sadly, just a mere 200 yards of so outside my CAMRA Bailiwick.

No trip to Manchester is complete with popping in to the Marble Arch. I've not been in for while and had hoped for great things following the appointment of a new head brewer. Marble Best was brown, full of crystal malt and pretty much a standard, English Bitter.  One for the malt fans I think.  A half of Chocolate Marble wasn't as good as I've had it before on this showing and neither retained their heads,  indicating that perhaps there is some way to go.  Pint too, drunk by a colleague, lost its head immediately.  On the plus side, service was noticeably friendly and quick. The visit was saved though by a recommendation.  Blackjack Stout, dispensed by nitrogen mix, was smooth, bitter, strong (ish) and quite delicious.  But then, I'm a bit of  a sucker for unpasteurised nitro stout, as it gives lovely mouthfeel and a gorgeous thick white head.  Stouts simply look and taste better through a tight white head.* 

Your mileage may of course vary on that one.  Probably does in fact.

Manchester Beer and Cider Festival details are here. Open from 21st- 24th January 2015 at the Manchester Velodrome.

*Cask conditioned stout through a tight sparkler is also delicious, if not more so.

Allgates Quaker House - A Proper Stout

Tuesday was an exciting day for me. Not just because of the monthly CAMRA Branch Meeting which I chair (and that's quite exciting)  but because the stout I brewed jointly with Allgates Brewery and two fellow bloggers, was to make its bar appearance. 

Allgates is a fantastic brewery with well made beers that have that elusive drinkability.  Now you can wax lyrical all you like about wine barrel aged imperial double saisons and their ilk, but the essence of good drinking is a decent (cask conditioned) pint of good honest beer.  Substance over style if you like. (And even if you don't like.) In fact here's a point of view. There's a big difference between really good drinking and what the beer geeks might term "awesomeness" in beer.  One is a social lubricant that makes the world go round just that little bit better and brightens your life accordingly, as an accompaniment to it.  The other is perhaps a tad more introspective and exclusive. All too often it comes across as a one dimensional, fleeting paean that worships the product (often for its bragging rights) more than the moment, the company or the occasion.

Right. That's off my chest, so back to our Quaker House.  Like all Allgates beers, it was named after a defunct coal mine from the area around Wigan, which used to yield many millions of tons of the black stuff.  Appropriate then on two levels at least.   Having agreed we'd produce a stout, it was my hope to persuade my fellow brewers that it had to be a real stout of premium drinking strength and most importantly, it had to be as black as the ace of spades and not a pale, see through porterish excuse of a beer. In my view, if you can see through the bloody thing, it isn't a proper stout. Fortunately that idea was readily agreed and there is no doubt that this is a proper stout. Jet black, with a gorgeous off-white, creamy head, it looked like Guinness used to look before they fucked it up completely many moons ago.  The oats gave it a tremendously smooth mouthfeel with roast and chocolate malt and decent hopping from the Warrior and Galena hops came through nicely.  It is a deep and satisfying beer which drinks easily and belies its 4.9% alcohol.  The finish is long and roasty with lingering hops. It coated my palate wonderfully.  The beer is pretty damn good. If I had my time again, I'd have perhaps have suggested a few more resinous hops in the finish, but I remind myself it is a collaboration and that we have produced a beautiful, easy drinking stout which has enough complexity to make it a cut above the ordinary.  Gratifyingly many of our members supped it with pleasure.

It was also a great pleasure to me that it was hosted by the Baum, CAMRA's National Pub of the Year, so no doubts about quality of keeping and dispense. Served with perfect conditioning, at around 12°C and sparkled as God intended, I was a happy man.

Thanks again to David and Jonathan at Allgates. Princes among men.

Tyson and Jim (my fellow collaborators) will have their barrel on soon. Jim's is on Friday at the Joshua Brooks in Manchester I believe. Tyson TBA.

My chosen charity (it was kindly donated by Allgates) is the Salvation Army in Rochdale to help with their work with the homeless.

Stout Fellows

Like all non brewers that have been in and around beer for a long time, I have visited countless breweries and had the process explained to me a thousand times.  I often feel when in a new brewery (to me), that apart from the history and background, I could fairly easily conduct the tour myself.  But I've never been involved in a brew from beginning to end, though I've seen more or less every bit of it in segmented form.

Thus I leapt at the chance to do an end to end brew with Allgates of Wigan and the additional chance to input to a recipe that we'd brew.  The "we" in this case was fellow bloggers Tyson the Beer Hound and Jim from Beers of Manchester, along with brewer Jonathan Provost and co-owner, David Mayhall.  We assembled at the brewery last Saturday in glorious sunshine, with a pre-agreement that we'd brew an oatmeal stout of around 4.8% and it would have some hops in. Lots of hops.  We started with a brew of course - tea - and without much further ado, yours truly was dumping sack after sack of malt into the hopper.  We'd agreed on the grist which was 175kg of Maris Otter Pale Malt, 10kgs each of roasted barley and chocolate malt, 25kgs of malted oats and 8kgs of torrified wheat to help with head retention.  I was glad that my plea to replace the intended crystal malt (boo) with roasted barley had been accepted. I wanted this beer to be pretty damn dark and no stout is a true stout without a good glug of roasted barley in my opinion at least.

Now Jim, swot that he is, has detailed what we did in his blog, so I won't repeat it.  You can also read Tyson's account here. It was hard work interspersed for us at least, with glasses of excellent Allgates beer, a picnic lunch and of course, as always when with beery types, the most friendly and cheery of conversation as anecdotes were swapped, theories expounded and tales told.  Much shovelling of spent grains, carting of heavy sacks and general cleaning up ensued and all too soon we were adding the yeast and the brew was in FV1 and beginning its transformation into what we hope will be a fantastic stout.  Bittered with Warrior and Galena hops and with aroma coming from Amarillo and Ahtanum and finally a good sized dash of  Nelson Sauvin we have high hopes of an excellent hop profile. We are aiming at 55 IBU.

David surprised us all by a very kind offer of a nine of the finished beer for each of us, to be sold at the pub of our choice for a charitable donation by the pub.  That is tremendously generous of him and once again re-inforces that those in the brewing industry are princes amongst men. When I have sorted out destination and charity, I'll announce here where it will be sold and when as no doubt the others will too.  The name of the beer has now been agreed and in accordance with Allgates practice will be named after a defunct colliery in the area, so a big "hello" to Quaker House Oatmeal Stout.

Saturday really was a fantastic day out, with great people.  Thanks to owner David and Head Brewer Jonathan  for their hospitality, expertise and friendship.  We really couldn't have done it without you.

We were also meant to be joined by Jay Krause of Quantum, but regrettably he was unwell.  Hope you are better now Jay. Phtos show my fellow bloggers Tyson and Jim and of course the stout, straight out of the copper.  Looks great already!

Harping On

More about warm beer in London? No. Not really. After traipsing round every sportswear shop in Covent Garden (and there is a lot of them) looking unsuccessfully for footwear for her indoors, a pint was called for. I can never resist Wrasslers Stout in Porterhouse Brewing, so we popped in. While E had a couple of halves of Oyster Stout, which was a little sweet and fruity for my taste, I had possibly the most bitter example of Wrasslers I have ever had. It was no worse for that, bursting with bitterness, with a dusty hop store nose and a long, long, bitter finish. One wasn't enough. I quite like the pub too for its buzziness and style, but its inherent gloom doesn't for me at least, make for a long stay. One note of caution though. In nearly an hour there, we didn't see anyone else drinking stout at all.

On the way to the 15 bus, we have to pass the Harp in Chandos Place. Now this is a pub I really do like. Busy, bustling, interesting decor and lots to look at and enjoy. It has a local following as well as those like me, who pop in now and then. The staff are quick, friendly and attentive and it has Dark Star, with enough others to go at to offer something for everyone. It has character from top to bottom and is a living lesson on how to run a pub well.

I like Hophead. It has just enough hoppiness not to offend the unwary and is easy enough drinking to have more than one. So we had two. OK, it was a nudge over the optimum serving temperature, but still cool enough to thoroughly enjoy and I suppose you sometimes have to make allowance for Londoners liking of beer on the warm side.

The Rake

I am in London, briefly. I came down for a social meeting with Eileen's colleagues and a trip to see "As You Like It" at the Globe Theatre. Despite reservations, I thoroughly enjoyed that, aided and abetted by the fact it was a lovely night, which helps in an open air theatre. Being at the front in the top gallery, some of the best seats, helped too.

At the interval which was short - they ought to get Shakespeare to sort that out - he certainly knows how to drag things out - I noticed with horror that the only beer on sale is canned Fosters. WTF? I stuck to water.

We walked home through Southwark and popped into a quiet Rake. Quiet in number terms, though not in noise, provided by a very drunk young American, whose political views would have earned him a smack in the mouth in some places I know, and to be fair, a round of applause in others. I watched the two women behind the bar. They served me civilly, but with no customer interaction other than telling me the price. They seemed a little cheerier a few minutes later at 10.40, when, without any call of "Time", the fridge lights were turned off, the lights on the fonts the same and they emerged for a sit down. Now I have never found the Rake staff anything other than just indifferent. Not good, not bad, just apathetic, though others have written about worse experiences. With the beer range (and prices) they have, wouldn't it be nice if they were full of enthusiasm and cheer? It'd make the experience a lot better for both sides of the bar.

So what did I have? Dark Star Sussex Extra Stout which was decent, with roast malt dominating, though there was little by way of hop bitterness. Needs some work I'd say. It was in average condition. Like the service, not good, not bad.

An interesting pumpclip.

Blast from the Past

I won't bore you with the history of Mackeson Stout except to say that the beer was originally brewed in Hythe, Kent by Mackeson's Brewery in 1907 and was taken over by Whitbread in the 1920's, many moons ago. The brand is presumably owned by InBev now, though I don't know who brews it, but until the demise of the Ram Brewery, it was made by Youngs. Maybe it is now made by Wells and Youngs. I simply don't know, but maybe someone out there can tell me?

Anyway the landlady has been unwell recently and being the impressionable type, thought a milk stout would pick her up a bit. A phone call to Lees revealed that they stock Mackeson and a crate of this beer, once available in nearly every pub was duly ordered. She has managed to persuade a few of the regulars to try it too, usually mixed with the bitter. I had a swig of it yesterday and it isn't bad at all. A stout like roastiness and a creamy sweetness defining it. I must say it's interesting that this has taken off in the pub, though I suspect it may be a passing fad.

It contrasted greatly with the other stout I was given in the pub. The long awaited Brew Dog Tokyo. 18.2% or 3%? We'll see.

The photo shows the bottle and a pint of the Mackeson/Bitter mix.

Mystery Beer

I had to call into JDW's Regal Moon in Rochdale to drop off some CAMRA stuff, so had a half. My beer of choice was that rarest of beasts, a cask conditioned stout, which jostled with Irish and British beers trying to blag some kind of St Patrick's affiliation.

Now Chris the manager hadn't heard of the brewery and asked me if I had. Well no, I hadn't. The beer in question was Ship and Mitre Suitably Irish, a rather full bodied little number at 5.6% which was pretty good, though it needed a stronger hop finish to disguise the alcohol. I know the Ship and Mitre Free House in Liverpool of course, but they don't brew and I can find nothing helpful on t'interweb.

My guess it that is brewed for the Scousers. Anyone know anything?

Chris will check the cask when he gets a chance, to see if it yields any clues.