Down me Dad's

My father arranged some tickets to go and see Russia in London, and you don't turn down an offer like that, so I travelled down to his house the night before because it would be easier to get an early train. Being me, I took down some ales to try and compare notes on. As this is me, I took down a selection from which we chose what to have and then discussed the finer points of sours and pales because, well, I took down a sour and a pale.

The sour was Sur Simcoe by To Ol and the pale was an American Pale from the inimitable local brewery Urban Chicken being their Bantam. It sort of had to be done, you see, it wouldn't have been fair otherwise. Mind you, I set off from home quite late so it was properly dark by the time I got round to opening some of the delights and I very nearly forgot pictures, hence the picture of Daventry, because that's where the beers were had.

Near to where my father lives, but this is spring. It'll do.

Now that the preamble is out of the way, it's time to get to the beer. Would you like to know more?

Breakfast of Champignons

Not long after the end of the school term I was being all smug about buying in a large amount of quality ale and a colleague of mine, who knows who they are, shared the fact that they had bought in a large order of Millionaire (see this link) from Wild Beer Co. because, let's face it, why wouldn't you. Clearly I couldn't let this provocation lie and, as I said, why wouldn't you? I got myself on my pedal-powered internet connection (disclaimer, nothing is pedal-powered) and promptly ordered my own booty from their online beer emporium. The most curious of their ales, to my mind, was the rather clever-titled Breakfast of Champignons and that was the first bottle to get drunk. It thus forms the first of the reviews from that particular shipment.

Let's face it, something made with wild mushrooms as well as yeast is intriguing to say the least. I think I was expecting something that tasted not a little like a Sunday morning fry up with absolutely no reason to harbour this feeling. However, I have now tasted and reviewed this rather strange little brew so that others may make up their own minds. Would you like to learn 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?

Superluminal

I shall be honest, I got this in as I misread the label and thought it was the amazing Subluminal stout, but I'm not complaining. Buxton make a fantastic range and they've yet to put a foot wrong for me, so I was actually looking forward to this. A sort of birthday present and it's been sat in my fridge for what feels like an incredibly long time. However, the official marking period is now over, and I've broken up from work, time to surface with style!

Hot and humid weather, dark and grey outside, brooding and ready to rain. It is obviously the time to break out the big summer ale guns with this IPA and a sour touch. The last sour I had, Waimea Sour, in London did a great job with the humidity, so I have high hopes for this, Buxton Brewery's Superluminal sour IPA. Would you like to know 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?

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!

Modus Operandi

I am looking forward to tonight's review, I had been seeking it when I saw it at the bottle shop long before the bloke there tried to convince me to buy it, he continued in his patois anyway because I'm not sure many people are looking out for a Modus Operandi from Wild Beer Co. in the local area! This is the 2016 version and it's been sitting about in my understairs cupboard for a bit of a while. No time like the present!

As ever, mania may well be afoot, would you like to know more?

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?

Tart

A sunnier and warmer day called for something a bit special this evening to celebrate. I plumbed for cooking some grilled salmon with thyme and parsley, a bit of cous cous with coriander, lime and tobasco sauce coupled with some florets of broccoli. As a member of the bourgeoisie I know just how to roll and, as a beardy tosser with a gut, I know how to drink ale with that melange. This evening's ale therefore is the rather cleverly named Tart - Bakewell Sour from Thornbridge.

Astute readers will note that this is on a Tuesday, because I am switching my review days to Tuesdays from Sundays. Why? Well, it better reflects when I actually drink ale and it leaves the weekends free for occasional special posts. Now that that part that no one cares about is over, would you like to know more?

Wild Goose Chase

Last night I dreamt of San- no, I mean, last night Willow and a visiting friend went out for a curry and ordered too much food. Luckily, they know that I not only have an iron constitution, I also have hollow legs and a desire to eat all of the things. So they brought back a doggy bag of all the things they could not eat. This means that, with this ale, I was able to have chicken tikka biryani, chicken satay and some aloo Gobi. Basically, I've had a proper curry in a huge melange for lunch and then chased it with... well, it had to be something pale and light and preferably zingy to combat the high spice taste from the lunch. This means the job fell to the Wild Beer Co. Wild Goose Chase. This is a Gose with a bit of sediment and sounds lovely.

I even took a picture in the kitchen, so that's how special it is! Oh, and had at a lunch time in case I hadn't made that obvious. Would you like to know more?

Blending in

Over on Twitter, where I have an account, there is a hashtag called HopGodFriday which I have found myself taking part in from time to time. Now and again I even get to join in with the theme of the evening. It so happened that, a couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Petrus would be hosting the evening between 8 and 10 on last Friday. They contacted me and offered to send me free samples to be involved. Who am I to say no to that?

They arrived. Aged Pale, Oud Bruin and Aged Red in a parcel delivered during the Thursday and I looked forward to their plans on the Friday. Thus is formed my review of the evening. A great hosting by Petrus Sour Beers on Twitter - and I'm not saying that because they sent me free stuff (though they sent me free stuff) - I felt very much part of the affair and it was a lot of fun.

They also told us a lot about brewing in foeders and the history of the brewery in Belgium. I'm afraid all I can really tell you (because it's all I really remember) are the tasting notes. Would you like to know more?