Mary Christmas

Time is running out for the directly Christmas named ales in the lovely Christmas present and a morning spent a local country park walking in the frost tinged air with cloudy breath catching the dying embers of the sun at 2pm is enough to work up the kind of thirst only an ale can really slake. Therefore, and without any consultation, I turn to Mary Christmas from Ilkley Brewery as a reminder of where I used to live and an attempt to scratch that rather beery itch. It does not bode well for going back to work (what does?).

The bottle claims that this is a spiced amber ale and that it is Christmas in a bottle. I don't know about that and I am pondering accompanying the brew with a packet of tortilla chips I picked up on offer for cheap (my parsimony knows no bounds). Nevertheless, this ought to be an interesting one and we have a fire on to combat the slight chill. Would you like to know more?

Siberia

Picked up from my local supermarket during a beer festival that they had the cheek to spring on me at the end of the summer and on the cusp of autumn, this little saison was a must-have and try. It is raining, I've had to unplug the EV early (it's fine, I got the charge I wanted, but I like getting extra) and I am avoiding doing actual work (like always). It's time in the dark of the evening whilst candles burn in the salt rock holders by the new fireplace (well, I say new, it's been a couple of months now) to have something a bit different. This different is Ilkley Brewery's Siberia, a rhubarb saison in a funky looking bottle.

There's not a lot I can add to that description so if that intrigues you then you can continue beyond the line break into the sunlit uplands of ale review. Alternatively you can find yourself a darkened room in which to recover from my murdering of the mother tongue. Would you like to know more?

A Weekend of Ales

This week is the time I can make it official - we are getting another addition to the family in the form of a small human some time in April. Scan at the beginning of the week confirmed that it was not a Velociraptor (which is a shame if you ask me) and that it had the normal expected complement of limbs and features for a 12 week old foetus. Announcement of this garnered ales from my colleague and friend at work who shall remain nameless but awesome and thus I had some Yorkshire love in the form of light and frothy beer. Add in a swift trip to my favourite local (the Burnt Pig, you can find many references to them by clicking here) and you have the makings of a good weekend with much ale, why not? I even have an excuse.

As usual, there is still time to bail out, and much of this entry consists of re-reviews rather than new ales, so there's a dash of Midlands and the South thrown in for good measure. Would you like to know more?

Beer Review: Ilkley Pale

Back when I was up in Leeds (link) I was given some excellent ales by my good friend there, including some fine examples of his home brew. I confess that I didn't review my final bottle of that (which I aged in the pantry) because I couldn't remember which brew it was. What I can say is that it was very nice and welcome on the hot day at the centre of the heatwave earlier this year. One of the other brews he kindly passed on was from Ilkley Brewery and was something he'd tried on tap even further back (when I was on anarchist beers) when I'd visited (here). It was sunny again, some rain, and we've recently finished an extended 24 hour (as in, it was longer than that) test drive of an EV, more on that another time, so I felt the need to have me some golden ale.

Ilkley Pale fit the bill, despite not being golden, and stepped in to do its duty as ale. That is, allowing me to ignore the rising note of panic as I approach having to be a teacher in a classroom again (aaaaaa!) and enjoy the fact that it has been good weather and I have actually been helping Willow proactively. Yay! Not in the garden though, as there were sporadic showers.

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Beer Review: Cultural Exchange

It was my grandfather's 80th birthday bash and so my brother and I decided to tool up and have a DVD night. It didn't quite go according to plan but we did bring along some ales that were local to us (well, my grandfather misunderstood and brought some Tetley's in cans). Again, I shan't do full reviews on each of the beers but the guests were, in order of being drunk, Cascade Pale Ale from Saltaire Brewery, Manchester Brown Ale from Joseph Holt, Ilkley Black from Ilkley Brewery and Maple Moon (Joseph Holt again). We had Leeds Best (Leeds Brewery) and Champion 1849 (Joseph Holt again) on hand but these were consumed after the fact and in isolation.

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