Ragnar Raspberry

A good friend of mine from Oop North was round a while back in the holidays for a trip round the locality and some decent hostelries, long overdue, but he brought with him a few things that he'd picked up when he was having some time off in Gloucester, because why not. One of them I was very excited to see given the reception it had garnered over on the Twitter-sphere. Being a proper beer-bore I pay attention to these things. Naturally I waited for a day when it wasn't so warm and ventured into the garden.

It is, of course, Ragnar Rsaspberry Wheat Beer from Eden River Brewing Company, much championed by some people I know. And it has been a lovely day for lazing around the garden after taking a tiny child for a long wander. Would you like to know more?

Urban Gold

Having had the wonderful Pit Pony in a bottle (see here) and the equally good, but less delectable for me, Bantam with my father (see here) it was a no brainer that I would pick up the Urban Gold from Urban Chicken Ale when I saw it in my local bottle shop. Furthermore, it had to be had on the Bank Holiday because it screamed Bank Holiday ale!

If you were to go to ancient Rhodes and sail into the harbour you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a giant statue that is supposed to have stood astride the channel under which triremes sailed and plied their trade. This was the Colossus and it was supposed to have been something of a sight to behold, in much the same way I suspect that the Urban Gold stands astride my Bank Holiday ales (and I had a few) in a fashion that means I have to actually get on and review it above all others.

If you'll forgive the obvious self-referential flourish, this is an epic beer. Would you like to know more?

Cwtch

A long time ago now, I made a special trip to my local micro-pub, the Burnt Pig, to get me some Cwtch (see here) because I heard they had it in and I wanted to try it. At that point I did not know that I would ever be able to get the kind of canned and bottled ales that many of the people that I know online were having. Since then, of course, there has been a bottle shop open in my area and it has some fantastic ales on offer pretty regularly. So it was that, when they got Cwtch in, I bought some. And, today, I review it.

Obviously, with sunshine, I had it in the garden. And, equally obviously, that was not today because today has been rather grim and more usual wet summer from Britain. Still, a sunny day is when I had it and a sunny afternoon is when I did the review, would you like to know more?

Chatsworth Gold

Not long ago we were given a bit of a gift, that is, my father took our two eldest for a day at Chatsworth House. I'm not complaining! They thoroughly enjoyed their time away, playing on an adventure play park and climbing walls and such, and Willow and I sort of bodded about the house actually having the time and space to do... nothing. And it was glorious. I digress, the point is that when they returned they brought a lovely ale for me: Chatsworth Gold from Peak Ales and now is the time that I get to have and review that ale on this here blog.

More to the point, I've not really been on the golden ales as much as I was this time last year and so this is a hole that needed to be filled. Again, not a bad thing, I have been having lots more stouts and porters instead, but goldens are, I believe, a necessary part of a balanced beer diet in the summer. Would you like to know more?

Skadoosh

For my birthday earlier in the year I picked out and bought two ales that I would not ordinarily get. Obviously, with the memory of last year's Sink the Bismarck (see here) I decided that I would go big and enjoy something utterly insane again this year. So it was that I bought me a can of Wild Weather Ales' Skadoosh because it was a mental 11% ABV DIPA with a panda on the can and what more could anyone reasonably ask for? It's been chilling for the best part of two weeks now and the sun is shining and warm in the garden, though it's been a warm and dull day so there are few flowers out, and the perfect weather for such a mad ale.

A long day with the family doing not a lot but with a chance to have a haircut and even buy me some electric clippers to try and control the mess that is what I call a beard. Time to kick back in the sunshine that has threatened through the cloud cover all day, enough to keep things uncomfortably warm, and enjoy a can, right? Would you like to know more?

Delirium

I picked this one up sometime in March,I think, because I was so keen to get hold of one and it was the first time I'd really seen one in the wild. Well, at least at a time I could get my grubby mitts on it. Then circumstances and me being busy at work meant that I really didn't have the time to get round to drinking it. So it was stored in the dark of the understairs cupboard for a while then moved into the pantry in expectation of actually drinking it and there it stayed through the heatwave before being returned to the cupboard. Then we had a few moments, my Boy and I got back from the park and I had the time and inclination to have a beer in my garden.

I refer, of course, to that mighty ale from Belgium, in advance of having our favourite Belgian over to stay, from Huyghe that comes in the form of Delirium with all the elephants on it. Alas, not a stoneware bottle but a glass one painted to look the same. Not being stoneware may well have led to the experience, but that may just be me. Would you like to know more?

Orange 'n' Basil

Something of a trend seems to be emerging this summer, that is, the trend of having sour ales when it is warm and sunny because they seem to help. This trend is not helped by such wonders as the sours that are on offer and, today, I ventured into the garden again to enjoy me a sour IPA from Mad Hatter Brewing Co., that is aptly named Orange 'n' Basil. The chap at the bottle shop recommended it highly when I was picking up the Tzatziki Sour (see here) from the same people and so I naturally picked one up the next time I was in. Combined with a quick lunch of noodles with extra spice and a feeling of invincibility, this was already shaping up to be rather nice.

Being at home more does rather allow me to branch out and try different things. And I may have been in to work to do some tidying up and I may have been stupid and spent some time doing extra marking for a pittance in order to have some money to spend rashly later in the year. However, this is not the time nor the place to be discussing any of that, it is a place to discuss beer and so would you like to join me in learning more?

Damn Dead Strawberry

It was a while ago when everyone online was having some Wild Weather Ales but, clearly, the brewery name stayed with me because when I saw some at the local bottle shop I had to try some. I had a good gander and I rather like strawberries and so it was that I found myself in possession of Damn Dead Strawberry, a lactose sour in a can. I have no idea what I was expecting except the fact that I have been on the sour a lot lately and clearly thought that it was worth a try. By way of preamble, I rather like the artwork on the can and the combination of that, being a sour and the fact that it has strawberries were the full and frank reason I bought the can. And now you know.

A sunny and hot day, which is becoming something of a feature of this summertime, in the garden and it was time to find out exactly what was going to become of what I had purchased. Would you like to know more?

Southville Hop

This one was sent to me by someone I know on the Twitter and I had it and enjoyed it and promised a review. Alas, I had it before the marking began and so was rapidly snowed under with work until I could no more type a review than I could raise my head at the end of evening before going to bed and starting the whole marathon once more in the morning. What I'm trying to say is that this review has waited a criminally long time to be produced! No matter, it is here now, and I am pleased to be reviewing the rather excellent Southville Hop, an American IPA from Bristol Beer Factory in rather a delectable bottle.

Of course I took the opportunity to have this in my garden as it is the summer and it was in the stirrings of the recent heatwave (which I seem to be mentioning in every review at the moment) and I sat with it in the purple seat by the lovely painted fence, all courtesy of Willow, assailed by the smells of the flowers in the deep bed and the wildflowers spilling into the lawn. Which, now as I think of it, probably needs to be mown again. Because of course it does. Enough of this, would you like to know more?

Tzatziki Sour

I was actually after a whole bunch of other ales but then the Mad Hatter job lot had come in and this little number was high on the list of wants in terms of wanting to try it. Having a good bottle shop so close by is going to bankrupt me. It's not going to kill me, I don't drink quite enough ale, but it very well may cause me to lose all of my money. Maybe it would be quicker just to transfer a couple of hundred a month? Anyway, I'm not complaining because having quality ales on hand is always a good thing. And back to the point, I got me some Mad Hatter Tzatziki Sour because it was a fun label and it was green and it was a sour.

It appears that I am drinking more sours these days. I would love to know why but maybe that's just how the wind is blowing for now. This one promises some Greek cuisine along with the murk and the orange hue, would you like to find out how true that is? I thought you might!

Trolltunga

Trolltunga, the bottle tells me, is a rocky outcrop in Norway that, well, looks like a troll's tongue in stone. And Buxton Brewery, for it is they, decided that it would make a great name for a gooseberry sour IPA. I, for my part, decided that the afternoon would be the best time to have this. A changeable day of weather and some bright but dull garden photos, despite the fact that now the sun is shining in full strength, made it a decent enough time to pour and so I did.

I have been enjoying my half term. Plenty of work to do, plenty of politics to make me fearful and give me a headache but also plenty of ale to make me too relaxed to care too much. Would you like to know more?

Clwb Tropicana

I was given to understand that the drinks would be free but that was a lie and I am a little not bothered by it. After my ravings on Sunday (you can access them via this quick link if you like) it fell to me to remember the price of this offering and so I did - being £3 from my local. It was something that I had seen about online, again, and I wanted in on the action. Had it the best part of a week before venturing into the warm garden to crack it open as the sun sank below the houses opposite, lighting the tree but leaving much of the garden in shadow. I am referring, of course, to the Clwb Tropicana produced by those clever people over at Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. and I am rather looking forward to trying it.

So, with my tea far behind me and an evening stretching out ahead of me, would you like to join me in the journey along the path blazed by this? In essence, would you like to know more?

Session IPA Simcoe Mosaic

I have seen this brewery all over the online craft drinking circles and never heard a bad word about them, back last year I saw a chance to get hold of their DIPA from a micro-pub that my father took me to visit for a fiver and turned it down. Well, my local bottle shop announced that they had a crate of Cloudwater's Session IPA Simcoe Mosaic in and so I had to bob down and get some in. I don't even remember the price, I'm sure it was pricey, but I was keen to try it.

It was a sunny day too so, with lunch in hand, I was able to get out and sit in the garden on the picnic bench to enjoy it amid the sunshine and warmth. Would you like to know more?

Wild Boar

It's another beer review that is accompanied by tasks other than drinking beers. Tonight I reminisce over doing the garden and think about how warm the sunshine was whilst drinking the rather lovely Wild Boar by Buxton Brewery. I also rather show my lack of beer tasting chops here by having this as the first offering from the brewery despite how often I see them being touted as excellent by other beer drinkers and bloggers!

It's been a while in coming too, having bought this in way back before the third child was born, so this is much awaited and an IPA for the changing season. Also mowing the lawn and watching the slightly emotional Song of the Sea. Just saying. Would you like to know more?

Treason

Tonight's review was done on a sunny afternoon in the garden with the bees lazily buzzing through the budding flowers and the sound of buses plying the road outside my house far off and gentle on the breeze. It is also of an ale that I have been itching to get hold of for well over two years now after reading about it on another beer blog (now sadly no longer posting from what I can gather). I refer, in this instance, to Treason, a West Coast IPA brewed by a small brewery named Uprising Craft Brewery who seem to be operating out of the Windsor and Eton Brewery. I may be wrong.

I managed to pick this up from my local bottle shop after the proprietor had nipped down south for a bit and stopped off at the Windsor and Eton Brewery, indicating that there is significant overlap here. Anyway, the sun is currently high and the air is warm, would you like to know more?

Innis & None

Ah the weekend. What a time to be alive and to be finally at the end of one load of toil. Of course, there's more on the way because I am a glutton for punishment and mark extra every year. I get paid, mind you, so I can't complain. A mixed day weather-wise, scattered showers and occasional sunny patches. I almost risked shorts but then recoiled from the cold. Today, for it is not the evening, I am planning to have the rather nice looking Innis&None by, well, Innis & Gunn. I have had this lurking for the best part of a week - how hard is having non-alcoholic beer anyway?

Apparently quite hard. I know, right? I blame the new child. Would you like to know more?

New Inn Restoration Ale

Happy Easter everyone! He is risen indeed. And so it is that I am reviewing this ale in my garden on the garden furniture in the sunshine. And it is, I think, a golden ale too, which is always nice. This ale was brewed by Chiltern Brewery in Bucks and was bought for me by my father, to whom I am grateful, from Stowe. I shall be honest, I have no idea where Stowe is nor any idea of its historical significance. But it must have some because there's this ale that has been brewed specifically to allow National Trust to make money and use it to restore the New Inn, hence the name: New Inn Restoration Ale.

I, for one, am looking forward to it. Would you like to know more?

Mountain Livin'

Sunny afternoon, threatening rain, lawn still without sight nor sound of a lawn mower, and I'm in the mood to sit at our garden bench thing and have me some ale. I picked up this Mountain Livin' back when my drinking partner was up for a weekend of ales (see here) and he insisted on buying me a bottle at my local bottle shop - having already sampled the delights of the Burnt Pig - and who was I to argue. I'm not usually a fan of pales but I saw that this was a Statesian brew and at 355ml and thought, why not. And why not indeed. Brewed by Crazy Mountain Brewing Co. up in Colorado (I think). So I sat near the cat-scarer and poured me a glass.

Some big pigeons dropped by to wish me well as I poured and there were wasps out and about near the rather beach-coloured fence panels. Would you like to know more?

Breakfast Stout

I am painfully aware that I haven't made it out into the garden this year. And today I was given opportunity to do just that. Equally, I am aware that today's ale is not one that is easily available. I am indebted to a friend on Twitter who asked to remain anonymous for today's stout, all that and they asked no payment - so I owe them, big time! Anyway, the subject of the review on this crisp sunny spring day is Breakfast Stout from Founder's who so impressed me back in the summer at Leeds International Beer Festival (see here).

My garden is some disarray, the lawn is unmown and the various beds are all a bit of a mess, in short it is a garden in need of TLC but that's no bad thing when there is a slight breeze, warm sunshine and a brightness that makes me narrow my eyes. Would you like to know more?

Brooklands Goldstar

Well, summer may well be over, but the memories can live on in beer reviews and a bit of warm sunshine from the August Bank Holiday weekend allowed me to have a beer in the garden and so it gets published on a Sunday, as is traditional, with a revolving picture. Which is less traditional. Also, I publish it later than the summer because, of course, it all got a bit busy and I had many many beers and not much time to post reviews. Instead I post this in November(!) because I have space and this is an ale that deserves a review, dammit!

However, I wrote the review itself (as shall become apparent in the next sentence) all that time ago in summer. Today I ruminate on a good day out with some family friends at Wicksteed Park, and sit in the sunny, warm garden with an ale brewed for a motoring museum that I have never visited for a lunchtime tipple (and why wouldn't you?).

Apparently I suck at animated photos. Observe the dancing glass!

Won't you join me for a further and fuller investigation into the merits and otherwise of the Brooklands Goldstar I picked up from my trip to the Hog's Back Brewery back in the holidays? I promise I won't keep you long!