tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24466199198480287122024-03-18T02:12:31.867-07:00Ghost DrinkerGhost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.comBlogger372125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-74473934857919791552016-12-01T12:39:00.001-08:002016-12-01T12:39:12.812-08:00Thornbridge And A Tale Of Smaller Beers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm currently drinking this very old bottle of Thornbridge Saint Petersburg Imperial Stout. The older recipe bottle at 7.7%, before it got reduced to 7.4%.. (thanks government!) It went "out of date" in 2010 so I'm going to guess it's maybe 7/8yrs old now..<br />
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It's aged amazingly in my opinion! A perfect amount of carbonation still left leaves a great tan foam which lasts and leaves delicate legs as I consume. The large yeast sediment is left stuck to the bottom of the bottle as it should be and the flavour is just phenomenal. Dark chocolates and black forest gateau fruits are dominant in this smooth and rich beer. Drinking far much easier, than what is probably a stronger than 7.7% beer, it's a proper winter warmer. All hail Catherine II!!<br />
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The whole experience leaves me saddened though. I know I'll never have this beer, like this, again.<br />
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Thornbridge don't leave as much sediment in the bottle like they used to anymore. They also have reduced the strength of this beer, which in all honesty I can't blame them for.. The thing that really gets to me for some reason though is that Thornbridge have moved from 50cl bottles to 33cl bottles.<br />
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Bigger bottles are just better, end of. You try a big bottle of Chimay Blue next to a small bottle of Chimay Blue and tell me they're the same.. They're not. And the difference only gets more obvious as they age. Putting all your beer in 33cl bottles just seems like following the current trend of all UK brewers, which I think should be avoided! People don't want less beer. No one wants a 33cl bottle of Kolsch!! Sure, maybe for your big, special beers, but the whole range? It was the same for Buxton a few years ago, I would get so many complaints in the past that Axe Edge was now in 33cls instead of 50cls..<br />
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We're English, not American, we want a bottle of beer that's going to fill our glass without us having to go back to the fridge twice as much!<br />
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Let that sentence sink in just a little..<br />
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But I'm rambling though, none of this is going to change anything. I'll sit here and throughly enjoy my last bottle. It's been an absolute treat, and one to be remembered! One last thought however; Should monetary gain and beer industry trendsetting define you and the product you bring to market?<br />
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In terms of integrity, I don't think it should. Do you want to follow the crowd? Even if what everyone else is doing <i>seems</i> to be successful, it doesn't mean it actually is.. Just because everyone else is going to 33cl bottles, that doesn't mean that's what the customer wants.<br />
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I'll follow my Buxton method with Thornbridge now, and pour two bottles of Jaipur into one glass. Not because I have some sort of problem, but because 33cls is fuck all beer!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-1974790413813734962016-11-17T10:08:00.000-08:002016-11-17T10:08:18.481-08:00Saying GoodbyeI have never been a fan of change, but sometimes change is necessary to move on in life.<br />
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I've been working at Beer Ritz for over a decade now. I started when I was 19, and in just under a week I'll be turning the big 3-0.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aUi-v79BElw/WC3wDz00LMI/AAAAAAAADsI/5uMpmWawj6gPzO9uZmffRJ74W5SqlR9HQCLcB/s1600/GhostLeave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aUi-v79BElw/WC3wDz00LMI/AAAAAAAADsI/5uMpmWawj6gPzO9uZmffRJ74W5SqlR9HQCLcB/s320/GhostLeave.jpg" width="225" /></a>Saturday the 26th of November will be my last official shift at the shop. Now while some people might think of me as a bit of a dick, I'm not, so I will be working a couple of weeks mid December so I'm not leaving them at the worst possible time. For arguments sake though, the 26th will be my last 'official' shift. Do come by if you can spare the time, I'd love to see everyone one last time.<br />
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Looking back on my time with the Ritz I can only bring to mind truly wonderful experiences. The shop really feels to me like my second home, I know every nook and cranny of the place! I've probably shed enough blood, sweat and tears in the place to fill a swimming pool - and every second was worth it.<br />
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Beer Ritz has allowed me to grow massively. Not just in my knowledge of beer, but as a person - it's been a place hugely influential on my life and I'm without doubt grateful for everything I've been taught, learned and experienced. The business links I've acquired will never come close to compare to the friendships I've gained and will treasure as I move forward.<br />
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I've watched the industry completely change over the past ten years, but throughout all the change one thing has always remained the same. The alcohol industry is the best, and always will be the best industry to work for! I won't be going into something different, I'll be sticking in it. The blogging will increase too.. I don't personally know of another industry that's as kind, as loyal and as generous as the one I'm in and the one I'm gonna stay in!<br />
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For a long time I wondered how I could ever leave Beer Ritz. It's a place I love. BEER RITZ IS A PLACE I LOVE. I've already had to bear the anguish of closure once before, so people close to me will know my true feelings about the shop. Once Zak bought out the company though, I was the first man back through the doors. I opened the shop back up and got the word out there that we were not closed, but starting a new and exciting chapter. I can leave feeling very proud of that..<br />
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Some people go their entire lives in jobs they hate. That's definitely not something I can say. I've worked at the best job in the world for over a decade, and while I was very happy to get paid I never did it for the money. Once again, I couldn't be more grateful, proud, emboldened and ready for the next chapter of my life. I'll never forget my time in such a small little off-license corner shop. I'll never forget the people I've met, the places it's allowed me to go, and bonds I've managed to forge.<br />
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I could write a million words in this blog post, but sometimes things must come to an end.<br />
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Beer Ritz will live forever, It'll be a part of me always. I will miss it every day.<br />
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I STILL GET TO SHOP THERE THOUGH!!<br />
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Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-10544247692073184502016-11-14T14:31:00.000-08:002016-11-14T14:31:42.311-08:00Strength to Strength - NMBC IBNTThe last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind, but it actually feels really good to get behind this keyboard (for the evening at least) to tell the truth!<br />
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I don't think there's anyone out there at the moment who would disagree that Northern Monk Brew Co has had a bit of an explosion in the last couple of years. Their improved product quality has certainly not gone unnoticed to us!<br />
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So time to put them to a classic Ghosty test! Can you make a good Imperial Black N Tan out of their beer?!<br />
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Turns out you can....<br />
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Speaking of cans though, Double Heathen and Black Forest Strannik are a force to be reckoned with on their own, let alone blended together! A 10% DIPA meets a 10% Russian Imperial Stout. Good combo!<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbtbJQdXnCA/WCo5y1Aa22I/AAAAAAAADr4/8-mFK_FYi4cNnx7uqUyfQ-kYOflFr_r_gCLcB/s1600/NMBCIS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbtbJQdXnCA/WCo5y1Aa22I/AAAAAAAADr4/8-mFK_FYi4cNnx7uqUyfQ-kYOflFr_r_gCLcB/s320/NMBCIS.jpg" width="320" /></a>Now this is the second time I've done this in two days, and for a good reason. The first day I just blended them straight together to make one beer. Tonight I've layered them to create a whole different drinking experience. The first night was great, but this night has been really cool..<br />
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When you layer a latte most people will just mix them straight together, which is fine, but tonight I didn't mix the two beers together.. I just drank them layered. This meant that for the start I was just getting great DIPA. Around the middle however, you can't really tell where the DIPA ends and the Impy Stout begins, so you get a fantastic blend of the two without even knowing it. By the end of the glass I knew I was drinking Imperial Stout sure, but that middle part.. I really need to do that again!<br />
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I've always found when making black and tans that one beer will always over power the other, but when drinking them layered without mixing I found an amazing transition from one to the other without one beer ever out shining its kin. You get the best qualities of one beer and the best qualities of the other, but the middle ground is a fascinating experience. Less than more of one overpowering the other, but more of two meeting in the middle.<br />
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I want to see a Black N Tan like this as a regular occurrence in the Northern Monk Refectory!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-61365301075109999772016-06-09T14:03:00.000-07:002016-06-09T14:03:30.579-07:00Worrying Trend?It's no lie that Leeds has been seeing a bit of an explosion of "craft" beer bars over the past few years. Existing pubs, old and new, have also been expanding their ranges, getting refurbishments and trying to move with the times. It's not a bad thing by any means, but there is something worrying I have been noticing...<br />
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I've visited a few new bars only to be wowed with very impressive selections of drinks, beers/spirits/wines everything really, and then left disappointed with the level of staff knowledge.<br />
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As an example, me and a friend visited a newly opened bar recently and stood at the bar whilst we had our drinks to try have a chat and see how things were going. It was a big place so they had a lot of staff. There was a woman changing a couple of barrels whilst a man was frantically running round seemingly telling everyone else what to do. The rest of the 10-odd staff looked to us to be 20-25yr old young ladies - which don't get me wrong, I have no problem with.<br />
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What I do have a problem with is that no one we really spoke to knew anything about the drinks they were serving! We chatted to one barmaid, who said she'd never tried the beer she was pouring us.. fine, I guess. We chatted to another, she said she didn't like beer... Ok, well I guess you can't please them all... Over the course of the night though it seemed to be an increasing trend. Were most of these people hired for their looks? (doesn't matter if they were all ladies, could have easily just have been a bunch of 10-odd attractive lads..) Was the man running around telling everyone what each product was and where they were on the keg fonts?<br />
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It's basic staff training. You need to have staff that know the product. You wouldn't go into a big chain like Starbucks, ask for a recommendation only to have the 'barista' come back with "oh, I don't really drink coffee, I don't know.." You wouldn't stand for it, and we shouldn't have to stand for it in our bars.<br />
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It's a fundamental part of the business, and if you open up a new bar with 20+ beer lines - you need to be able to give recommendations, give advice, tell people about what you're selling, or at the very least have an opinion!<br />
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Of course, knowledge comes with time and experience, but it's not hard to go through a few of the beers with the staff when they arrive and give little samples to them. They can then easily see what they like and what they don't, and even if they don't like it at least they can explain to customers what they think of it.<br />
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And after some time if they don't like anything at all..? they're probably not right for the job, and not good for your business, and you should consider why they were hired in the first place.<br />
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I'd go to a bar which had 1 or 2 great beers on that the staff new about rather than a bar with 20+ beers which the staff knew nothing about..Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-40269563590248472662016-06-07T16:06:00.000-07:002016-06-07T16:06:57.801-07:00Welcome Gifts!Hawkshead were kind enough recently to send me some bottles of their new 'specials' range of beer, so I thought it only fitting that I share my thoughts in an open environment here!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low quality photo,<br />because my phone hates<br />me right now........</td></tr>
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The first beer I tried was the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Chuckle Berry Sour</span> - a 3.5% Berliner Weisse aged on Chuckleberries. It pours cranberry juice red with just enough haze to make you think it's not just another wet fruit fail. The aroma off the lively head is full of gooseberries and red currents, candy floss and toffee apples, a real mix of things here. The body starts with a classic refreshing tartness which leads to a red current flavour which then jumps unannounced to a big green leaf and lasting sourness.<br />
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Next up was <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Tonka</span> - a Tonka beans and cocoa nibs Imperial Porter. A thin looking beer to pour, but don't let that deceive you. The aroma leaps forth with vanilla and chocolate. Heavy on the toffee and sweet burnt caramels too, surely desert in a glass if there ever was. The beer itself has a real creme brulee vibe going on to start. Lots of really sweet burnt meringue, but not overly sweet, it has a very nice balance of flavours. Quite a bit of charred toast bitterness creeps in the finish to make it that little bit more moreish.<br />
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The final beer was the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Northern Imperial Stout</span>. I'm no stranger to Imperial Stouts, and it's good to see a brewery not going mental and making a 14%, barrel aged, cinnamon and nutmeg added monster, just a straight up 9.5% sipper. That's what this beer is, just a really great beer to sip, savour and enjoy. Nothing here to over think, just great flavours, and quite literally the definition of what an Imperial Stout should be. Top marks on this beer.<br />
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Once again thanks to Hawkshead brewery for sending these beers though, they were a pleasure to drink, and keep up the great brewing!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-6703507720584666212016-04-16T11:10:00.000-07:002016-04-16T11:10:25.083-07:00Supermarket Shenanigans I'm a massive fan of Williams Brothers beers from Scotland, but recently we've been having a very hard time getting them in. They've given some reasons, and every time we get in contact it's only the same couple of beers available.. which is a bit of a downer when their range is so massive and they do so many good beers. So we're now at the point where we have none left, and that's annoying because they're very good selling beers.<br />
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Other people have their beers though. I've seen their beers in supermarkets, and they have plenty of stock it seems every time I go. Is the reason we can't get any of Williams beers because it's all being taken by the supermarkets? I've not been told this is the case so I can't confirm that, but it's just something in my gut that tells me that's what's going on.<br />
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Something else I have heard recently that may or may not be true is that Vocation brewery are going to be going down the supermarket route. How long might it be before I can't get any more Vocation beers.<br />
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People seem to forget that breweries are still a business at the end of the day, and getting a big portion of stock sold to a company is better for business than selling small amounts to independents.<br />
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But I want my Williams beers BACK! And I don't want Vocation to go either!!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-34828074249313977082016-04-15T11:52:00.001-07:002016-04-15T11:52:14.873-07:00Styles For A SeasonSaison in December.. Imperial Stouts in Spring.. Has beer style brewed for particular months or seasons died a death? Is there no more use for the 'beer calendar' any more? These thoughts have arisen over the past year or two as I've seen that every new brewery that pops up these days has to brew a year round Saison it seems. Also I've not seen any Bock beers around this Spring. I've heard there's been some around, but I've not seen any...<br />
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Have we got to a stage in the beer industry where breweries don't actually care about the time, just what they brew? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but does anyone follow the old time methods of brewing for the time of year any more?<br />
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Maybe I'm just a little tired of so many breweries bringing out a similar type of Saison.. Funny how a beer style that literally means 'Season' has now become a year round thing..Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-55137401374551379762016-03-03T09:22:00.001-08:002016-03-03T09:22:35.998-08:00Cans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Maybe I've not been looking hard enough but it feels for me like the 'hype' or excitement about new release beer cans has just dropped off a little as of late. I'm going to rectify that now by telling you about one of the best beer cans I've had in a very long time!<br />
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The experimental Outlaw arm of Rooster's Brew Co have just released their first can, and what a thing of beauty it is! Roots. Rock. Reggae. is a pineapple and grapefruit IPA, and we're not just talking about flavours here. They shoved so much pineapple and grapefruit zest and juice into this beer it hardly even tastes like a beer to me, more something like Lilt or tropical fruit juice. Perfect balance and not too sickly. I could drink this all day, which is a dangerous thing at 6.4%<br />
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Now apparently this is a 'limited' release beer.. but I've heard that before and I don't pay too much credence to that statement these days, but if you do see this beer, BUY THIS BEER!<br />
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As a side note, me and a colleague were talking about this beer at the shop and he reckoned that the beer would sell better under simple, solid Roosters packaging, instead of the Outlaw labelling. I have to agree a little bit, but I'm not 100% sure why.. Not letting that take anything away from this beer though!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-66340198403323676222016-01-21T11:48:00.000-08:002016-01-21T11:48:55.524-08:00Healthy Beer!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I enjoy bottles of Purdey's. It's a multivitamin fruit drink which I pay a bit more for, for for a drink whose effects are probably no better than normal fruit juices... But I like it though! Plus it calls itself an "Elixir" and ever since I first played Final Fantasy XII many many years ago, I've always been a sucker for an elixir!<br />
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I was thinking the other day that if I felt so inclined I could add a bit of rum or vodka to some Purdey's and make it an evening drink rather than morning drink. I tell myself because it's got extra vitamins, it must be better than having a vodka & coke for example.<br />
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Now there's plenty of vitamin drinks out there, but I've started wondering if you could actually brew a multivitamin beer??<br />
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Before anyone starts though, I know that beer is horribly horribly bad for you and that there's "No safe limit" to drinking, so I'm not pretending that anyone try make any claims that beer could be good for you. Oh, heavens no! Daily Mail save us!<br />
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Joking aside, could you make a multivitamin beer and not label it as being good for you, just add the extras on the ingredients list..? There's plenty of beers with caffeine in them. Hell, Erdinger Alcohol Free advertises itself as an isotonic drink. I know I get a better (most probably false) sense of well being from drinking Purdey's so why not get that from beer too? (It's probably all the placebo effect if we're being fair)<br />
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Pint of Jaipur with extra C, B2 & B6 please!<br />
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Things to ponder on....Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-35527288177355996992016-01-18T14:30:00.003-08:002016-01-18T14:30:48.227-08:00Beer ExperimentsI got a bit of stick recently from more than a few people for stocking a new lager in the shop, and I think unfairly so.. I think this stick might come from quite a bit of beer snobbery, so I decided to do a bit of an experiment...<br />
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I've been craving lager recently, not sure why but I've been drinking quite a bit of it. The beer itself I recently started stocking is Primus - that (yes that) Belgian lager. I feel it was badly received in the shop, considering we also sell beers like Carling, Fosters and Corona ect.. Yes we actually do sell those kind of drinks! We are a local off-license as well as a specialist beer shop!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k4jBi1r9Ufk/Vp1mIxsLGaI/AAAAAAAADoo/W4-AEbgmPHI/s1600/Pmus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k4jBi1r9Ufk/Vp1mIxsLGaI/AAAAAAAADoo/W4-AEbgmPHI/s320/Pmus2.jpg" width="239" /></a>So I decided to grab a can of Primus and another two beers, we also sell, and see if I could pick out each one in a blind tasting. I made sure I was completely withdrawn from the pouring so as not to give any bias, and also made sure the name of each beer was stuck to the bottom of the glass for later.<br />
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Beer 1: sweet malts, corn flavouring and hay with some biscuit malt aftertaste. Ice cold and refreshing.<br />
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Beer 2: Sweet again and creamy, slight creamed corn flavour. Softer than the first and a little more mello.<br />
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Beer 3: Pretty much exactly inbetween the first two. Still ice cold and refreshing.<br />
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They all tasted pretty much the same to me, if not for a slight discrepancy in texture, a slight colour difference in one and a bigger carbonation in another.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WlY1UNdkRD4/Vp1mF0u42KI/AAAAAAAADok/3bxChfY-2Ls/s1600/Pmus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WlY1UNdkRD4/Vp1mF0u42KI/AAAAAAAADok/3bxChfY-2Ls/s320/Pmus1.jpg" width="320" /></a>Results:<br />
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After peeling back the paper it turns out beer 1 was Stella, beer 2 was Jupiler and beer 3 was Primus. So a pretty interesting experiment if not for the only conclusion that these beers are all basically the same. Yes, all these beers taste the same. And I'm not just saying that, I know the differences in beer, even when it comes to the "same" beer, look here at when I did <a href="http://ghostdrinker.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/does-freshness-equal-provenance.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">US Sam Adams vs Kent Sam Adams</span></a>.<br />
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Don't go judging beers without trying them, and certainly don't go judging them because you think they're crap.. <b>There's a beer for everyone</b>. And I'm happy to report since stocking it last week, Primus (which I actually preferred, probably because of the extra carbonation) has easily out-sold Stella and Jupiler.<br />
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It's cheaper than Stella too.....Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-18040761304415433212016-01-10T13:07:00.000-08:002016-01-10T13:07:16.964-08:00Brewdenell 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pIQccZUNIk8/VpLGbMhKpoI/AAAAAAAADoA/HExsWk7M6oo/s1600/Brewdenell1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pIQccZUNIk8/VpLGbMhKpoI/AAAAAAAADoA/HExsWk7M6oo/s320/Brewdenell1.jpg" width="320" /></a>What a great way to stick two up to the new ridiculous alcohol guide line bollocks than with a cracker of a beer festival in January!<br />
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Yes this weekend saw the fourth annual Leeds based beer festival at the Brudenell Social Club - Brewdenell! Fourth time held and fourth time visited for this ghost.. and once again it didn't disappoint. The whole venue was rammed full of people, more so than last year I'd say, but this was no bad thing.. I got there slightly later than my Beer Ritz colleagues but we soon found a nice spot just by the keg bar (under a well placed fan) and tucked into a lot more beers.<br />
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My tipple of choice for the night was the strong IPAs from places I've never heard of, and places I can't remember! I do however recall trying some Edge Juggernaut DIPA and thinking it tasted far too much like hop oil. I then followed that with some Odell Myrcenary and once again was throughly impressed at how good that beer is!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zc8aMLuGCtU/VpLHaVL378I/AAAAAAAADoQ/nSZ-gxgac6w/s1600/Brewdenell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zc8aMLuGCtU/VpLHaVL378I/AAAAAAAADoQ/nSZ-gxgac6w/s320/Brewdenell.jpg" width="320" /></a>I sampled a few dark beers too, but nothing really stood out apart from some Founders Dark Penance and Kirkstall Barrel Aged Drop Hammer, which had a very good condition to it compared to the last time I tried it and it was completely lifeless..<br />
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That's something I did notice about this year compared to last, there wasn't that much beer on offer. Maybe it was just because I went late on Saturday night and a lot had run out, but the selection seemed pretty slim in my opinion. That's to be my only gripe, I had a good night indeed and look forward to the next! Still going strong at the fourth showing and continuing in popularity, it's definitely on the beer festival calendar of the not to miss category.<br />
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I was interested to hear that Friends Of Ham had a stall down this year, but was unable to sample any meaty goods as they'd gone by the time I'd arrived. Oh well.. It's not like the pub is far away!<br />
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January is an interesting time to have a beer festival if you ask me. I think it gets missed off a few people's Golden Pints beer festival of the year as they might have forgotten about it by December. Only a minor point, it takes nothing away from a great festival.Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-18152475787589076072016-01-05T10:43:00.000-08:002016-01-05T10:43:04.540-08:00When Did Beer Shops Stop Selling Beer?Beer Ritz has been a shop selling beer in Far Headingley for coming close to twenty years now.. That's older than most breweries.. Well all the "crafty" ones anyway. We've moved with the times we like to think, but have remained relatively unchanged in what we deliver to our customers.<br />
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We brought Belgian and European beers into the heart of Leeds before it became cool. We started to stock Brewdog beers when they first opened way back when, and still do regardless of their "punk" rhetoric. We saw the mass importation of American hop forward beers, and subsequent following of style from British brewers. We've seen duty rises, brewery openings and even the unfortunate closures.. Hell, we nearly even closed ourselves, and would have if it wasn't for a man who's just as passionate about beer as I, if not more so.<br />
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The fact is that we've seen a LOT in this industry, and I can personally maintain that we've always given the customer what they really want... Beer.<br />
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It's no secret that over the past few years there has been a flourish of specialist beer shops opening around the UK over the past 2/3 years. More than a couple on our city doorstep as well. Now I'd never say this is a bad thing, in fact we're loving the competition!<br />
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The thing that interests me though is what the shops deliver. While these shops have good beer selections (some better than others) I've personally found that there's a lot of extra things to be bought in said establishments. Things like beer T-shirts with the shops logo printed upon. Beer mats in the similar ilk, carrier bags too.. it seems like it doesn't matter what beer you've bought as long as everyone knows where you bought it from!<br />
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Don't get me wrong, of course getting the word out there is important for business - so I guess the open question here is, do you think Beer Ritz is missing a trick buy not having lots of personalised merchandise?Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-27276472648025169472016-01-02T15:21:00.001-08:002016-01-02T15:21:32.086-08:00An Old Enemy <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well I hope you're all rested and well after Christmas and New Years celebrations, because there's an old foe rearing it's ugly head.<br />
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It seems Dry January is back once again, but this time I personally think they've gone a step too far with their advertising... If you haven't seen it already there's a TV advert doing the rounds at the moment to promote this most ludicrous of "months" which I take a great deal of offense towards.<br />
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In the advert itself it's claimed that by partaking in Dry January you have <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">"One less sin to worry about"</span>. Sin? SIN?!? Since when did drinking anything become a sin?? Except for drinking dragon seamen maybe!<br />
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Being not only a religious man, but also a man who's income is based upon alcohol, I find this term which is used in such relaxed referral to be very offensive! You know what really worries me about this advert though? ..<br />
There's plenty of idiots who watch TV...<br />
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Let's not fudge the issue. There are a lot of people in this country who have a problem with alcohol, but these people aren't who the advert is directed at! Hell, most of these people probably don't even have a TV! The advert is directed at some people who will blindly follow the rules to make themselves feel better about themselves for no real reason.<br />
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Am I being too harsh? I don't think so.. Because If we start so publicly demonising alcohol in this way and making everybody think they're doing something wrong for consuming it, how long will it be before the Temperance prohibitionist movements come back and take the pints out of your hands?!<br />
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Want to give money to cancer funds? Just do that! It's a damn good cause, but you don't need to come up with an excuse to give money or raise money!<br />
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I just read the other day that the recommended daily limits are going to be changed soon.. Hands up if you think they're going to put it up...<br />
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If you put enough crap out there about how drinking is wrong, and how it's really, really bad for you it won't be long before enough idiots follow on and call for restrictions and bans to be put in place.<br />
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Since when did you people let someone else tell what and what not to drink? These snake oil salesmen have let themselves into your lives and made you think that you need to do what they say. Drink what ever the hell you want, just do it in moderation. I've seen this Try January thing going round at the moment. At least some people out there have some sense and don't want to see the fun/relaxation/joy/jobs/industry/fucking beer taken out of the common mans hand.<br />
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Just have a bloody beer, it's a miserable enough month already!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-82887968402340575482015-12-30T15:59:00.000-08:002015-12-30T15:59:23.227-08:00Ghosty Golden Pints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, it's been rather a while so I figured I'd leave it right to the last moment to rock out my Golden Pints...<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best UK Cask Beer:</span> Anything pale from Ilkley, but mostly Tribus.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best UK Bottled Beer:</span> Siren - Dippy & The Equinox DIPA, runner up Tempest Marmalade On Rye DIPA.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best UK Canned Beer:</span> Brewdog Black Eyed King Imp. (If not for the ridiculous price tag, I would have drowned in the stuff!)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best UK Keg Beer:</span> Roosters Baby Faced Assassin, if anyone says other wise, they're wrong...<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Overseas Bottled Beer:</span> Founders KBS (very well played to James Clays for getting this over here!)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Overseas Canned Beer:</span> Firestone Walker Union Jack.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Collaboration Brew:</span> Not hugely keen on colab brews, too much for the fan-boys in my opinion, but I'm currently drinking a Key Lime Tau from Crooked Stave and Hawkshead as I type this.. (it was a gift, I'm not a beer fan-boy)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Overall Beer:</span> Talk about choosing your favourite child! Well if I did have any children, I'd have to choose To Ol Like Weisse Directors Cut Imperial Berliner Weisse - just purely for the shock factor of how damn good that beer was.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Branding:</span> Tempest have done the magic for me this year. Great move to go into 33cl bottles, and they're flying out right now.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Pump Clip:</span> I don't really pay attention to them, but I'd have to give my props to Northern Monk Brew Co for making possibly the biggest pump clips ever!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best UK Brewery:</span> It'll have to be Mad Hatter for me this year. Not only because their beers are very good, but also because of a few following things - They regularly email me stock lists and are very quick to reply to queries. They are very prompt in delivering beer, and never get it wrong. They are incredibly friendly. They also have great branding. Hard working guys if I ever saw.. If you want to sell beer in Beer Ritz take note.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Overseas Brewery: </span>It's got to be Firestone Walker this year for the sheer quality of beer they produce.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best New Brewery Opening This Year:</span> I honestly don't know the dates that breweries open, but First Chop is new to us and does a storming range of very popular Gluten Free beers.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Pub/Bar Of The Year:</span> In the last few months my regular haunt has shifted from Arcadia to East Of Arcadia so take from that what you will..<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Festival Of The Year:</span> Leeds International was solid as ever.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Supermarket Of The Year:</span> Marks & Spencers for a great range.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Independent Retailer Of The Year:</span> Have you heard of Beer Ritz?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Online Retailer Of The Year:</span> HAVE YOU HEARD OF BEER RITZ??<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Beer Book/Magazine:</span> A book I'm always going back to is Michael Jackson's Great Beer Guide 500 Classic Brews.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Best Beer Blog/Website:</span> Loving the balls-out approach thats been going on over at Zythophile this year.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Simon Johnson Award For Best Beer Twitterer:</span> Martin (@6townsmart)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Dumbass Decision Of The Year Award:</span> Goes to Green King to limiting the import of Goose Island beers to IPA, Honkers and Urban Wheat.. WHERE'S THE BOURBON COUNTY?!?<br />
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Let's hope 2016 brings bigger and better things..Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-83266540746268290552015-08-17T13:40:00.000-07:002015-08-17T13:40:01.413-07:00Illusion Of PricePeople just don't know how much beer costs, it's as simple as that. And it's a fact that's beginning to get on my nerves more and more.<br />
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How often do you hear people complaining about the price of a pint, or how much a bottle of lager costs in a pub? I hear it all the time! And I find it pretty funny that no one ever looks twice at the price of a bottle of wine in a bar!!<br />
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We get it in the off trade all the time too.. People asking if we "have any deals on" or "I'm sure it's a good beer, but I'm not paying that much"<br />
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We don't do deals. We don't have 3 bottles for a fiver or any of that selling strategy. We can offer a 10% discount when you buy a case, but that's about it. We stick to a strict mark-up across our whole bottle range and believe we offer a fair price for all our beers. If they cost more, it's because the breweries sell it to us for more! It's as simple as that.<br />
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People just don't seem to understand it though. When I say to customers that we don't offer any multi-buy deals they look at me like I'm from another planet and usually leave in a huff.<br />
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It's not these people's faults though, heavens no!<br />
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It's the Supermarkets.<br />
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They've been doing it so long now we just assume that what they do is the norm. Two bottles of wine for £5, 5 beers for a tenner, or a case of twenty stubbies for less! Supermarkets have been driving down the price of alcohol for so long that our attitudes towards price have become so poisoned and deluded that we turn our noses up at a bottle of wine for £8, but are perfectly happy to pay 2 POUNDS FOR A BAG OF LETTUCE!!<br />
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LETTUCE!!!!!<br />
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Why don't we do it then? Well because we'd go out of business, simple as. All we sell is alcohol, so unfortunately we can't make massive fat profits on selling people a sandwich, packet of crisps and a drink, calling it a meal-deal for a fiver, whilst not making a margin on a bottle of beer they might buy as well.<br />
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Bring the ban on multi-buys to England, a ban on selling below cost price, and a cap on how low margins can dip on alcoholic products! We need it.<br />
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...and grow your own chuffin lettuce!<br />
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<br />Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-86565428069763139602015-08-13T10:30:00.001-07:002015-08-13T10:30:19.673-07:00Don't Give Me That Crap!I drank the worst beer I've ever tasted a couple of weeks ago. This is by no means an exaggeration or some sort of dick waving spiel, it was literally the worst beer I've ever had. I poured it down the drain after two mouthfuls, something I've never, ever done! (probably because I'm a Yorkshireman....)<br />
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If you're a newish brewery and you're trying to stand out, here's a really good idea/piece of advice: If one of your team comes up and says "why don't we make a beer and put A,B,C, X,Y,Z in it and then age it on some wood we found.." tell them politely, but firmly, NO. Especially if you don't have a single ounce of experience in the field said team mate suggested.<br />
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Spend some time learning how to make good beer first before you start churning out a conveyor belt of multi-ingredient garbage.<br />
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I shall not name the brewery or the beer..<br />
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Just don't give me that crap.<br />
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A similar experience was had last week which got my head in my hands again. We had just received a nice big delivery of beer upon which was a case of highly sought after and well known beer. We put it out and sold a few, job's a good-un... Two days later we got an email from the brewery.<br />
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The long and short of it was, the beer was not ready for sale. It needed few more weeks before it was ready. This was fine, at least they told us. But they also said in regards to if we should send it back or not, no, we should just keep the beer to ourselves.<br />
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Keep it till when? Keep it where? In our mass of extra cellar space?<br />
I sent it back. If it's not ready for sale, I don't want it. That's not how you run a business.<br />
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I shall not name the brewery or the beer...<br />
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Just don't send me that crap.<br />
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Amongst the gloom there's always the good that shines through though. We got a case of beer in that was covered in a slight mold last week. Apparently the whole pallet was in a similar condition and rather unfit for sale. We called up the brewery and they said they'd get back to us.<br />
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They got back to us very shortly saying they'd used a wrong detergent in their cleaning process. They were very apologetic about the whole thing and sent someone to pick up and replace the whole lot. The whole matter was cleared up and managed very quickly, efficiently and professionally.<br />
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That's someone that cares about their product, and wants a successful business.<br />
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The brewery was Vocation and the beer was Heart & Soul.<br />
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Pretty fitting name if you ask me.Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-61481060015742522422015-05-18T13:37:00.001-07:002015-05-18T13:37:48.718-07:00Flavour In A BagI recently was told of an article which sees an interesting if not bizarre new gadget (I'm not sure what else to call it!?) in the beer world.<br />
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Hop Theory have come out with what is essentially - beer tea bags. A bag of three ingreidients; Cascade hops, coriander seeds and orange peel are all packaged up in a bag (not sure exactly how you'd trademark that!) which you can pop in your beer to steep some more flavour into it. It's apparently a "solution for lackluster brews" - something that you'd stick in your glass of mass produced lager to make it taste a bit better than dirty dishwater I guess.<br />
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I have two thoughts on this product. Firstly the people already drinking crap beer aren't going to give two monkeys about making it taste better, and secondly people who do want beer with actual flavour aren't going to be buying these things, they'll be buying better beer! I know I won't want to be giving my money to the bigger companies and making their beer taste better instead of buying good beer from people who are passionate about making it..<br />
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Now there'll be people that say it'll make cheap Lager taste great, and it will still have lower calories than a 'craft beer', lower abv, be cheaper and all the rest.. but I do wonder how much these bags will cost, even if you can reuse them 4 times!<br />
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All that being said, I still actually would like to give it a go!<br />
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Small time non-starter fad, or trendsetting way the beer world is moving towards??<br />
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Check out the article <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/04/06/make-light-beer-taste-better-with-hop-infused-tea-bags/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">here</span></a> and judge for yourself:Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-72541371922991506422015-05-05T15:13:00.001-07:002015-05-05T15:13:27.910-07:00Power Of The Negative<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Giving a negative review of a certain beer or brewery is probably something we've all done, be it either on twitter, blogging or just in general conversation.<br />
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It's easy to do, and some of the time it can be quite fun! It carries no sense of responsibility from the person, or possibility of recoil done anomalously, and at the same time gives that person a sense (possibly a false sense) of power and authority over anothers product.<br />
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So why do we do it? Well there's many answers to that question, but I bet the question that you're all thinking right now is WHAT BEER AM I DRINKING AT THIS MOMENT???<br />
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People love a bit of juicy gossip. I think it's just a part of human nature, but the thing I find really interesting is how negative gossip can effect people. They say there's no such thing as bad press, and I think there is a lot of truth to this.<br />
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If someone I know, who really likes their beer, knows their stuff and doesn't bullshit the truth - if he tells me he doesn't like a beer he's tried, I'm not sure what it is, <i>but I need to try that beer!</i><br />
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Maybe that's so I can agree, tell him he's wrong, or whatever - but I still want to try the beer.... If people are drinking a similar thing and everyone is just blowing smoke up it's arse, how boring is that? If you don't like it and everyone else does shouldn't you say something? But at the same time, you might be afraid to disagree with everyone else in fear of your thoughts being rejected as ludicrous.<br />
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I think a lot of people are so afraid of getting bad press that they completely miss the fact that it could be good for them in the long run! On the other hand, if you weren't completely convinced in your own product, you wouldn't release it for public consumption...<br />
Right?<br />
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I think the question of why we're drinking beers that make us feel this way is another topic all together though...<br />
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Hmmm.... The beer industry can be a funny place sometimes....Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-17780632606342619752015-04-16T13:42:00.000-07:002015-04-16T13:42:29.979-07:00Peer Pressure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's been some interesting goings on recently around one of our local pubs which seems to almost border on the Hot Fuzz-esk shenanigans. I feel the recent actions of the Far Headingley community can only be classified by the term "for the greater good."<br />
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We have a well know pub in Far Headingley - it's second on the 'Otley Run' and is called The Three Horseshoes. It's stood in it's location for many many years, probably about a thousand... (not actually sure, but it feels like a thousand years when some people talk about it!)<br />
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The pub recently changed hands and this was the scene I observed when coming back from the deli one afternoon;<br />
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Crap quality photo I know, but you might just be able to make out that the name changed to the Industrialist - a pub that was going to push "All day food, Live sports and Craft beer" once the referb was completed.<br />
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This obviously had mouths agape and tongues started wagging whilst fingers pointed and heads shook... you get the gist. I personally thought it was a bit silly, but held some silent optimism and waited for opening night.<br />
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Now I was too busy to pop in for a pint on opening night but assumed it went down well. About a week later me and some friends decided to go check it out only to find the doors locked and closed. Without seeing any explanation I didn't think much else of it until I saw this tweet from Greg Mulholland;<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">@GregMulholland1: Well done & thanks</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><a href="https://dub122.mail.live.com/m/messages.m/openurl/?mid=m78f861b5-e472-11e4-b81e-002264c19806&mts=2015-04-16T19:55:06.893Z&fid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&iru=%2fm%2ffolders.m%2f&pmid=m7fbc8261-e472-11e4-bb4a-002264c2033c&pmts=2015-04-16T19:55:30.313Z&nmid=m96866b65-e424-11e4-8224-002264c197dc&nmts=2015-04-16T10:37:44.100Z&dh=True&rt=true&link=https%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fSpiritPubCo" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">@SpiritPubCo</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">for listening to the</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><a href="https://dub122.mail.live.com/m/messages.m/openurl/?mid=m78f861b5-e472-11e4-b81e-002264c19806&mts=2015-04-16T19:55:06.893Z&fid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&iru=%2fm%2ffolders.m%2f&pmid=m7fbc8261-e472-11e4-bb4a-002264c2033c&pmts=2015-04-16T19:55:30.313Z&nmid=m96866b65-e424-11e4-8224-002264c197dc&nmts=2015-04-16T10:37:44.100Z&dh=True&rt=true&link=https%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fsearch%3fq%3d%2523FarVillage%26src%3dhash" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">#FarVillage</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">community & re-renaming the</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><a href="https://dub122.mail.live.com/m/messages.m/openurl/?mid=m78f861b5-e472-11e4-b81e-002264c19806&mts=2015-04-16T19:55:06.893Z&fid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&iru=%2fm%2ffolders.m%2f&pmid=m7fbc8261-e472-11e4-bb4a-002264c2033c&pmts=2015-04-16T19:55:30.313Z&nmid=m96866b65-e424-11e4-8224-002264c197dc&nmts=2015-04-16T10:37:44.100Z&dh=True&rt=true&link=https%3a%2f%2ftwitter.com%2fsearch%3fq%3d%2523ThreeHorseshoes%26src%3dhash" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">#ThreeHorseshoes</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><span><a href="https://dub122.mail.live.com/m/messages.m/openurl/?mid=m78f861b5-e472-11e4-b81e-002264c19806&mts=2015-04-16T19:55:06.893Z&fid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&iru=%2fm%2ffolders.m%2f&pmid=m7fbc8261-e472-11e4-bb4a-002264c2033c&pmts=2015-04-16T19:55:30.313Z&nmid=m96866b65-e424-11e4-8224-002264c197dc&nmts=2015-04-16T10:37:44.100Z&dh=True&rt=true&link=http%3a%2f%2ft.co%2fD2yikS6PmH" style="color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none;">pic.twitter.com/D2yikS6PmH</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">The tweet had these two accompanying photos:</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djx0loRC-qg/VTAb4aoACmI/AAAAAAAADmU/DjyHaxEim5o/s1600/Shoes3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-djx0loRC-qg/VTAb4aoACmI/AAAAAAAADmU/DjyHaxEim5o/s1600/Shoes3.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qn3apwvET9E/VTAbniDu5gI/AAAAAAAADmI/10SzKMkc_R0/s1600/Shoes4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qn3apwvET9E/VTAbniDu5gI/AAAAAAAADmI/10SzKMkc_R0/s1600/Shoes4.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
There it was, plain as day.. the name had changed back to The Three Horseshoes.<br />
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Now some of these women in the photo come in the shop from time to time and I see the rest of them out and about in Far Headingley <i>a lot</i>. I'm pretty confident when I say that I'm 99% sure that they <b>do not</b> drink in the shoes. I'm also pretty confident in saying that I'm 99% sure that these were the only people who will have complained about the name change.<br />
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I knew the Far Headingley community had a lot of power behind them, but for all of this to go down in the space of 2 maybe 3 weeks is very surprising to me.<br />
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All this pushed to one side for the moment though, name aside the referb is a vast improvement to the place. We went in for burgers and beers the other night and had to go back the very next day as the quality was that good. Call it what you want, surely it's the quality that matters the most?Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-66676741704868901782015-04-08T15:17:00.003-07:002015-04-08T15:17:59.247-07:00Enjoy ByI'm not sure I fully understand brewers need to put an 'Enjoy By' date on their beers instead of a best before date... What the hell (as a retailer) are we supposed to do with these beers if they pass this date? Treat them as out of date? Because they certainly seem to be without a BBD if they have an Enjoy By..<br />
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It seems to be a phrase creeping into a lot of pale ales and IPAs at the moment and its seeming to annoy me a little. Why not just use the phrase 'Drink Fresh' and stick to a best before date?<br />
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Maybe I'm making mountains out of mole hills, but as a retailer if you send me a pallet of beer with only three months to sell it, you're either totally convinced in your product to stand out against all competition - to sell out just like that, or oblivious to said competition at all!<br />
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Is an extra couple of months really going to make that much of a difference to the taste of your beer? If so maybe you need to think about making a beer that isn't so focused on <i>just</i> the hops. There's another three ingredients in beer too! We all know that hop deterioration does exist, but I've never been shown any sort of time scale for this phenomenon much less pair two of the same beers made one month apart... I'd really be interested to know if someone had tried a beer that was five months old in the bottle compared to a beer that was one month in the bottle. Honestly tell me you'll be able to tell the difference, cos I bet you wouldn't be able to - unless your mind totally convinced you otherwise!<br />
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Forget the Enjoy By, forget even the Drink Fresh! Just stick to a best before date (which let's face it, unless you're making a wheat beer doesn't matter at all)<br />
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And how about you all stop making beer which you know will lose half it's flavour a couple of months after it's been produced... It's not a realistic time scale to sell your product!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-56168389399483921282015-03-05T13:03:00.000-08:002015-03-05T13:03:05.642-08:00Yeah, but.....We're starting to see a little bit of a trend forming at the moment whereby a brewery will take one of their well know beers, basically double the strength of it and release it as a limited edition, special beer. I don't see this as a hard thing to do. Upping the abv of a beer is an easy task for an experienced brewer. Charging twice as much for the beer, at the end of the day, is a bit of a marketing ploy. And a clever one at that, don't get me wrong!<br />
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Let's look at some of the recent examples that've come through the shop over the past few months:<br />
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William's Brothers <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Joker</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Double Joker</span><br />
Buxton <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Imperial Black</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Battle Horse</span><br />
Buxton <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Axe Edge</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Double Axe</span><br />
Ilkley <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Mary Jane</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Mary Jane IPA</span><br />
Pressure <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Drop Bosko</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Bosko Absoluto</span><br />
Magic Rock <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Cannonball</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Un Human Cannonball</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXWxTadpmso/VPi_1YhpRZI/AAAAAAAADlc/d85YUeN1KIs/s1600/JX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXWxTadpmso/VPi_1YhpRZI/AAAAAAAADlc/d85YUeN1KIs/s1600/JX.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a>I'm sure there are more, but asked for the beer I'm drinking right now; It's that well talked about Jaipur X. It's a beer they brewed to celebrate their 10th birthday, and rightly so, I'm not saying don't celebrate. What I will say is though that I personally think there's about 75% of these amped-up beers that don't work because of their increased abvs..! They seem too big for their own good. The alcohol masks the flavours with a prickly warming heat which distracts from what the beer was in the first place.<br />
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I can foresee a few coming in the current year as well...<br />
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Siren <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Soundwave</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Ultrasonic</span><br />
Weird Beard <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">5 O'clock Shadow</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">10 O'clock Shadow</span><br />
Beavertown <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Gamma Ray </span>& <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Quasar Beam</span><br />
Wild Beer Co <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Madness</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Beyond Madness</span><br />
Red Willow <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Ageless</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Deathless</span><br />
Roosters <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Baby Faced Assassin</span> & <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Babygesichtige Attentäter</span><br />
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Ok, maybe these are a bit far fetched, but are they though?? I think the problem lies in the fact that if you have such a good beer to begin with, why would you want to mess with it? When you have a beer that's so well know, so well loved, there's going to be a few things to happen when you make it stronger..<br />
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On the one hand you're going to get the beer nerd die hards who'll say yeah, it's good, but it's not as good as the original. Hashtag 'not my beer!' totes..<br />
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On another hand you'll get people saying, yeah it's really good, I really like it, but it's completely different.. Why didn't they just package it as something else...<br />
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And then you'll have the beige group who'll just stump at the cash without having an opinion because it's what everyone else is buying.<br />
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For me it's not progression.. Of course you should, and need to pay homage to the past, but it's not moving forward. Love the beers you've made, respect them, keep them alive and move on. It's not forgetting them! Jaipur X is a really nice beer, (go out and buy it, you should!) but I'd prefer a pint of regular Jaipur and set my lustful eye on their Bamberg Smoked Bock that's coming out soon. That for me is progression.<br />
<br />Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-88974164857999628782015-02-20T13:47:00.000-08:002015-02-20T13:47:36.733-08:00Beer "Hype"We've been having discussions in the shop recently about a phenomenon which I'm going to call Dark Lord-itis. We feel that some breweries are making one off beers and creating such a hype about them on social media that by the time they're put on the shelves they're already sold out! And some of the time these beers in question aren't even very good! (but that's another blog all together..)<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v2Gu_X8ojno/VOeq8g97EYI/AAAAAAAADkk/x1r5Uz1crBk/s1600/Bloody%2BEll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v2Gu_X8ojno/VOeq8g97EYI/AAAAAAAADkk/x1r5Uz1crBk/s1600/Bloody%2BEll.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
A current example I can call on is Beavertown's Bloody Ell Orange IPA. We had people asking us for this beer over twitter weeks before we got any in.. It's a beer we got in yesterday (Thursday) and in under 20 hours we sold out of all three cases we received. More are coming, but they won't last long. That's 72 cans, if you look at our five best selling products (not just beers) for those twenty hours it seems pretty ridiculous;<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">1- Beavertown Bloody Ell cans - 72</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">2- Beavertown Gamma Ray cans - 22</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">3- Carlsberg Lager cans - 16</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">4- Roosters Fort Smith cans - 15</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">5- Beavertown Neck Oil cans - 14</span><br />
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These are our five best sellers for the past twenty hours in a shop that has around 1000 items. Just let that sink in....<br />
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Another few breweries that have had a similar beers pull at people's heart strings only just recently are as follows;<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">Magic Rock Un-Human Cannonball</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">Buxton Double Axe</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">Roosters Baby Faced Assassin</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232;">The Rainbow Project Beers</span><br />
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I'm sure there are plenty more but don't even get me started on Thornbridge X which will be hitting our shelves next week. People have been asking after that for over a month!<br />
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The thing is I've not really come to a conclusion if Dark Lord-itis is a good thing or not.. I guess time will tell. If there is one thing I know for absolute certainty though, it's this - If you're going to make a limited edition beer, there will always, <i>always</i>, be some people left disappointed.<br />
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I think a future blog post will be focussing on when exactly did the hype created by twitter outweigh the quality of a beer...Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-21601392192071867142015-02-09T14:37:00.000-08:002015-02-09T14:37:09.131-08:00Foreign Export OrvalAfter dabbling back in blending beers again recently, it seems I'm not the only one.. I've been inspired by Boak & Bailey's <a href="http://boakandbailey.com/2015/02/peculiorval/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Orval blending</span></a> over the last few weeks and thought it time to try one of my own, so here goes!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nyGTbSG22zo/VNky7LbWUSI/AAAAAAAADkM/Mz130eBe_Cw/s1600/Orval5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nyGTbSG22zo/VNky7LbWUSI/AAAAAAAADkM/Mz130eBe_Cw/s1600/Orval5.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a>One bottle of Orval, one bottle of Partizan Foreign Export Stout, all in one glass!<br />
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You'd think a big punchy 8+% Stout would dominate the meager comparison of Orval's 6.2%, but it seemed to do the opposite! The sweet hay like Bretty flavours were really at the forefront of the drink, and the big roasted Stout flavours came in the finish.<br />
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You get all the flavours of Orval, and they are complimented by a big boozy, roasted punch in the finish. This could be because of the heavier nature of the Stout and it sinking a little beneath the Orval.. We'll have to see at the end of the glass!<br />
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For now though, I'm thoroughly enjoying this mix and am thinking of others I could do! After all I do work in a place full of possibilities....Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-25635607293416711692015-02-02T16:22:00.002-08:002015-02-02T16:22:25.886-08:00Black n Tan Business <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a while since I did any beer blending so I thought it about time I put down some ideas. If there's anyone out there who says blending beers together is heathenistic well I can only note that it's been common practice in this country for a few centuries now, so get off your high horse... <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMZgTyc51MQ/VNATj0b7KYI/AAAAAAAADj0/S4rvwoesgJ8/s1600/B%26T1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMZgTyc51MQ/VNATj0b7KYI/AAAAAAAADj0/S4rvwoesgJ8/s1600/B%26T1.jpg" /></a>Mad Hatter brewery have been around on our shelves for a while now, and it's good to see them still churning out the good and interesting stuff. This black n tan was a creation of immense proportions. Rye IPA supercharged with Columbus hops meets the eight robust and complex malts of one hell of a porter! These two just work so well in a glass together it's actually rather amusing to me! It has it all, it starts off with the clean citrus, grassy style hops which are so dominant in US beers. It then moves to a big caramel malts and burnt sugar sweetness which is perfectly balanced against the yang of rye spice which creeps in the background. The roasted porter flavours are present all the way through, but they don't linger. They just melt away in the finish and you're brought back to the clean citrus bite which makes you want more.<br />
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You need to try this.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oj1KHaZ4SFo/VNATo_N0o5I/AAAAAAAADj8/-9hS3yqFj60/s1600/B%26T2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Oj1KHaZ4SFo/VNATo_N0o5I/AAAAAAAADj8/-9hS3yqFj60/s1600/B%26T2.jpg" /></a>My next mix of the night was from Buxton. These two beers just seemed so damn obvious to blend I was mad at myself for not doing this months ago! Axe Edge with it's hoppy glory, and Tsar Imperial Stout, famous for tearing up rule books of how to make beer. This was another blend that was just too good! I mean really so good I can't put it down. That being said....<br />
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Enough words, time for beer.<br />
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(that could be the 4 strong beers in quick succession talking..)Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446619919848028712.post-73372576843094493912015-01-29T10:33:00.000-08:002015-01-29T10:33:07.516-08:00That Type of Weather!It seems winter is on the war path at the moment, with Leeds seeing it's fair share of blizzard conditions today. Let's just say it made our regular beer delivery rather interesting...! That being said, one of the advantages of January is snow, and that <b>means beer snow cones</b>!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XAyF4oe_lwY/VMp8Y-F8YpI/AAAAAAAADi8/LhexoKAvF7Y/s1600/Snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XAyF4oe_lwY/VMp8Y-F8YpI/AAAAAAAADi8/LhexoKAvF7Y/s1600/Snow.jpg" /></a>I'm steering clear of the Belgian fruit beers this year, as they just weren't sweet enough for me. I'm sticking to the tried and trusted: The Imperial Stout. And one with a lot of flavour too! A 13% Imperial Oatmeal Stout brewed with copious amounts of vanilla and coffee :)<br />
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This was a good choice. The high alcohol wasn't fazed by a little bit of an ice addition. Massive flavours of icy vanilla dominated the palate just like the first big gulp of iced coffee smothered in a chocolate and vanilla frosting. While I enjoyed the cone, I couldn't help but feel that this one (like last years) just didn't match up to the original Bourbon County Stout <a href="http://ghostdrinker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/imperial-stout-snow-cone.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">snow cone I made</span></a>.<br />
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I shall have to keep trying I guess. Till the thaw occurs I'm going to try enjoy this brief flurry of powder. I probably only say that now as I'm typing this in front of the fire eating Guylian chocolates with the rest of this 13% beer... What a match!!Ghost Drinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753576955816756710noreply@blogger.com0