Duchy Originals Organic Winter Ale

Mrs N and I shared a review bottle of Duchy Originals’ Organic Winter Ale. At 6.2% this is a new venture for Duchy Originals, following on from their normal Organic Ale. It is brewed by Wychwood at its Witney, Oxfordshire, brewery and is a deep copper coloured beer. After a fruit cakey aroma one gets a good flavour of the organic malts, turning citrussy to a pleasantly bitter finish. There are rich flavours, yet the beet is also very pure and clean tasting. A very pleasing winter brew.

Four-day round-up

Saturday: St Austell Tribute (4.2%) while watching Southampton thrash – okay, luckily edge – Portsmouth in the FA Cup. Consistently good Tribute in the Cornubia, Hayle. Outnumbered by Pompey-supporting builders so stayed quite quiet when the goals went in.

Friday: Couple of pints of Teignworthy Reel Ale in the Star. This is an old favourite – sharp and hoppy, but clean-tasting and very easily drunk. Like me.

Thursday: Young’s Special (4.5%) in the City Inn, Truro, with Cornwall CAMRA PR officer (and Beer Today technical guru!) Fran Brennan and her cartoonist husband Nick. You can catch his finest work in The Beano. A cracking pint of “Spesh”, joined on the “away team” bar by Young’s Bitter and Marston’s Pedigree.

Wednesday: Dropped off in the Star: wife said she would be half an hour or so. Picked up nearly two hours later. Ho hum. Rooster's YPA (Yorkshire Pale Ale) (4.3%) was the first and the best, on the recommendation of a couple of estate agents I bumped into. Journalists and estate agents get on well: can’t think why. A very smooth and creamy, hoppy summer-style pint. Quick halves of three of the other four handpumps: Brakspear Bitter (3.4%), very astringent session bitter (“it has twang” says Steve, the barman – yeast bite, he opines); Cottage Plunger Bitter (4.6%), one of the better efforts, in my opinion, from Cottage’s huge and ever-growing portfolio of beers - quite malty, but not unbalanced. Finally, Cotleigh Snowy Ale, a golden winter ale, quite dry with a good hop.

Bottled beer update

A couple of tastings I have neglected to blog. Firstly, Hampshire Pride of Romsey IPA (5%). This poured well (mind you it has been settled in the cupboard for the best part of four weeks, which is possibly the longest I have been able to leave a pint of beer up to now!) and came up with the most delightful creamy head. This is robust proper IPA with a good strong hop and subtle citrus notes, grapefruit particularly to the fore. Also from Hampshire, Suthwyk Liberation (4.2%). The malt hits you first then bright hop taste kicks in leading to a dry finish. There are overtones of blackcurrant, but very faint.

Star on Sunday

Yesterday, to the Star for a couple of pints and a taster. The latter was a gulp or two of Keltek Even Keel (3.6%), a brew that originally came about to tie in with the launch of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, at Falmouth. I’m a great fan of Keltek beer, but this one is very malty and seems as though it could do with a bit of “hopping up”. A taste of pears (pear drops) is prevalent to me.
The first pint was the utterly irresistible Oakham JHB (3.8% - see the beer section on www.beertoday.co.uk) which seems to get better all the time, picking up new fans all the time (keg lager fans are proving particularly attracted!).Third on the list on a bar of five handpumps with four quality Cornish beers (the other two were Sharp’s Eden (4.4%) and St Austell Black Prince (4%)) was Organic Brewery’s Winter Wonderland (5%). This is a well-balanced ruby ale with a hint Christmassy fruits and spices, plus a hint of smokiness – probably my favourite so far of the Organic portfolio.

Old Luxters Gold Ale

Tonight's choice from the birthday box (see previous entries). A hoppy, yet smooth-drinking golden brew, probably thanks to the pale malt used in the recipe. Just a hint of sweetness. One of the few real ales in a clear bottle - most are in brown to help protect them from the adverse effects of too much light.

Butts Barbus Barbus

Barbus Barbus: the latin name for the Barbel fish and, more importantly from my point of view, a damn fine organic ale from Butts that was part of my birthday box of 12 bottle conditioned examples from livingbeer.com. The hop really hits you, yet the finished beer retains a decent balance. Another site is reporting citrus notes, but I'm getting nuts: well, that's the joy of beer tasting! Lovely straw colour and bags of condition down to the last mouthful which, unfortunately, I'm about to take!

Exeter Festival of Winter Ales

To Exeter, yesterday, with a small Cornwall CAMRA contingent, for the Festival of Winter Ales at the Coaver Club, in Matford Lane. There's a full report in the news section on the website. Afterwards, with a half-hour or so to spare before the train, we stopped off for a quick pint in the Great Western Hotel, beside St David's Station, which I'd never visited before. What a cracking real ale haven - which has been fully honoured by the Exeter and East Devon branch of CAMRA. There was a terrific selection - including O'Hanlon's Yellowhammer and Royal Oak, and Fuller's London Pride - but I decided to stay with the winter theme with an excellent pint of Archer's Blizzard (4.4%).

Truro liquid lunches

A tale of two lunchtimes: yesterday, on the back of gen regarding a good pint of Wychwood Hobgoblin (for which I am a bit of a sucker) I popped into Truro's Old Ale House. The Hobgoblin had been hobgobbled so I opted for a pint of the house ale, Skinner's Kiddlywink. Pleasant without being exciting. Then I spotted that there was Wadworth 6X and, unlike in the past, it was on a handpump. Definitely worth a try. Better than the Kiddlywink, but not inspiring.

Today, into the Kazbah, two doors away from the Ale House. More of a wine bar than a pub, yet there are two handpumps, dispensing Bass and Sharp's Doombar. Pubmaster is the owner so the Bass likes it's staying for the foreseeable (pity: a Sharp's and a Skinner's choice would be nice). The Doombar was, well pretty good actually. In, fact so good that my mate and I had another, and, as so often happens the second was even better.

Tomorrow, to the Exeter Winter Beer Festival: I shall report back!

New Beer Today Blog

I thought I'd better get round to setting up a proper blog rather than the contrived affair currently on the site. The previous blog entries (prior to today, January 12) will remain on the main site. Comments, as ever, very welcome.