Pumpkin King

I said I wasn't disappointed with Pendle Witches Brew yesterday and, well, maybe I wasn't. It is still a great brew and I still like it, nothing has changed there. But it wasn't the brew I was hoping for when I cracked it open and I was hoping to have something a wee bit special with which to end the half term break. To that end I purchased Pumpkin King by brewdog mostly on a whim on Saturday and intended to keep it from prying eyes, having it either that day or the Sunday when round at friends or afterwards. Alas, it was not to be, one thing and another and the hint of stress about going back to work all conspired to prevent my drinking of it.

Now, now the first day back has happened. The world did not explode. My marking is mostly on track, my lessons mostly made (and what isn't will be soon) and so there's an element of peace. Add to that the fact that a comedy of errors at the end of the day bring me home, with a relatively quiet house and no actual work begging for my attention. It's time to drink some ale!

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Pendle Witches Brew

It's Hallowe'en, more or less, and it has arrived at long last. I've been meaning to give centre-stage to this brew for a few years now, well, at least since it played a role in the Hallowe'en Showdown I did a while back (see that on this link). After that, and it definitely won, I had a few more times and always enjoyed it but always forgot to take a picture, resulting in the sad truth that, for an ale I enjoy so much, Pendle Witches Brew has never appeared properly on this blog. This year I planned to rectify this and give it a proper review all of its very own.

And now I have a picture, shakily taken on my new camera phone in the darkness of the evening as the night has drawn in, the car is on charge and Willow is complaining of the cold. We have company over and they are not an ale fan, more's the pity, but we have been out to the local supermarkets where I have weighed myself down with a fresh haul. Yay!

Wait, where was I? I was here, about to review and ale! Would you like to know more?

Pumpking

It's coming up to Hallowe'en and so here is the second ale that I am trying that is themed for the time of the year. Also, as a pumpkin ale, it gets to take part in that huge argument and controversy online about pumpkin ales. Coming, as I do, from the UK I really don't see many pumpkins (more now than when I was young) and so I don't see many ales that are pumpkin themed either. Alas, I have not yet seen the brewdog offering but I have picked up a Wychwood Pumpking that claims that it is evil pumpkin ale. I have, actually, had this three times before in a forlorn attempt to review it around this time last year but I never got round to it.

Truth be told, I actually like this ale. But it never hurts to offer a proper review of it around the right time of year and so I present to you the review at the right time of year for Pumpking. Would you like to know more?

Spooks Ale

It's coming up Hallowe'en soon and, loathe as I am to fuel the American juggernaut of a pointless holiday, there are a number of ales theming themselves on the occasion so I would do well to do my usual and try a couple. And, once again, do so in plenty of time for the actual night so that people have time to either act on what I write or ignore it completely. Either way, I feel it time for a different kind of brew. That's why I'm having Spooks Ale from Shepherd Neame. Well, that and the fact that I found it at random at a local supermarket on offer and I can never resist beer on offer.

It's a rubbish photograph and a big head, probably from the fact that I walked back from the supermarket and launched straight into ale with tea without really letting it settle. Would you like to know more?

Triple C

Had this hanging around for a while after having some friends over and having it in a sequence with a couple of others, where it didn't fare so well, truth be told. However, I suspect that part of that was the unfairness of putting it up against the all-conquering Mocha that I'd had saved for a year or so. It follows, therefore, that on a rainy day and evening, when I've been in and out and all over the place, and despite having it chilling in the fridge in case of some sun and warmth, I would have this again and give it a little more free rein to do it's thing.

What is this strange little number? Why, it's Triple C by the brewers at Thwaites in their Crafty Dan imprint - a place to do odd things.

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Red Rye

Busy week, plenty to be doing and many things piling up on the week of celebration. We have a folk concert on this evening and I've had to drive out to shop because our local supermarket is closed for a big refurbishment. Not a major issue but there is the annoyance of driving long distances. I shouldn't complain. On getting there I found that they had Mud City Stout (see here) on for cheaper than our local discounter and a selection of ales from The Great British Brewing Company, who appear to be an outlet for other brewers to do their thing in much the same way as Revisionist is for Tesco.

So it is that I am sitting just after lunch having been in the garden, enjoying a bottle of Red Rye from the aforementioned brewing company, this one being the result of Twickenham Fine Ales brewers, and having a review session. Because why not? No clever revolving picture of this one, because I am not so hot at those, but a brief look at the garden now all overgrown in preparation for winter.

Would you like to know more of this ale rather than the plants in the garden? Then you should click on. If not, then... I dunno. Beer.

Blue Moon

I realise that I am very late to this party, as I usually am. The later one turns up to the party the more likely that all the amusing drunks are drunk and you can play the sober one looking after them, in my experience, mind you, I tend not to go to parties very much so I could have missed my guess, who really knows? Point is that this particular ale has very much done the rounds on the places I frequent with many people having tried it, reviewed it and rated it to the point where you may well ask why I am bothering reviewing it. The reason is, of course, because I can. Also, I haven't done it already and I am something of a complete-ist. What ale is this? Why, it's Blue Moon from the, uh, Blue Moon Brewing Company. Which is original.

After last week's wheat beer are you ready for a second dive into that particular pool? You are? Well, good, you can follow below the break and view my own rather esoteric journey.

Raising Purgatory

I take the title from my friend's comment on our activities this weekend on a Saturday in Ilson town. I think it most appropriate! Two blokes out for a beer or two with the hope of curry are hardly the sort of combination to cause trouble or raise the roof particularly. So it was that my friend from FE and I descended on the southern part of Ilkeston in the evening to sample ales and discuss matters of import - setting the world to rights - and nary a sporting anecdote to be seen.

There was very little in the way of planning, as one might expect, and a rumble of thunder (that caused a comic dash from me to unplug the EV before setting off) preceded a big fall of rain that pretty much obliterated chances of getting exterior shots of the pubs we visited whilst the joy of catching up pretty much obviated the collection of pictures from within. Luckily my beer bore settings were high so I managed to gain pictorial proof of the ales consumed.

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Hefeweizen

Well, that is a bit of a surprise! Apparently this is the first wheat beer that I have reviewed, I could have sworn I'd done others. No matter, if that is the case that is the case. A warm day with humidity and the sort of heat that made doing garden stuff an actual chore rather than something of a pleasure. Still, got most of the weeding done and watered the plants (and a bit of the lawn so badly mauled by my buying of a mower). All of that and we managed a trip to our local IKEA because we know how to live, we do!

In any case, tonight I shall be drinking Hefeweizen: a wheat beer from Germany brewed by Altenmunster and that has sat in the pantry for almost six months awaiting consumption. And thus I make it sound more like a heroine from Austen. Ah well, the point is that I feel like I have done some actual labour towards and ale rather than just my usual labouring and am actually looking forward to it.

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Golden Ale

I know, I know, the beer that I put in the fridge a few days ago and finally got out today because it as just so warm and sunny doesn't really deserve to be called an ale. I also know that, despite saying it was brewed in Tadcaster (where it very probably was) and Tadcaster being a place that I have driven through a lot, that this no local ale to, well, anywhere - least of all Tadcaster. I know that John Smith's is a brewery owned by Heineken and that it was one of the big beer combines that have conspired, sometimes very powerfully, to put smaller breweries out of business in the past. Yet, despite all of those things, this was actually what I wanted to drink and I've never had it before and so my autism demands that I must review it. I speak of their Golden Ale which is unimaginatively named but rather descriptive, all told.

I think I did a rather good job of the photo all told, given that I couldn't actually see the screen because the sun was so bright! Would you like to know more?