When Did Beer Become A Fashion Accessory?

How to start:

- Come up with a name for a brewery.

- Come up with names for all the beers you're going to make.

- Come up with all the beer styles you like the best and which you will obviously need to produce.

- Get a design student to create branding and a logo for your brewery which looks mega flash amazeballs.

- Get this logo and branding put on glass ware, and mock up some bottle designs.

- MAKE SURE YOU GET THIS BRANDING PUT ON A T-SHIRT.

- Buy a small storage unit.

- Purchase an old kit from a brewery you've never heard of.

- Find out what the new hop on the block is and if it's been used in a single hop beer yet.

- Find a distributor who will put your beer in bars and shops all over the country.

...and after all this has been done

- Make you're first ever beer.

- If it turns out wrong, call it craft and sell it anyway.


Is this really what brewing is becoming?

Insanity of Balance, Subtlety of Extremes

Why can't you ever have an extreme balance in beer...

It seems these days in the brewing world you have to go big or go home, and any brewery not making 'extreme' beers is boring... and certainly not 'craft'.

So what happened to the subtle beers? What happened to the balanced beer? Extreme beer certainly isn't anything new... people were actually drinking very strong stuff before I, or even you were born. Most of that stuff had crazy ingredients and was barrel aged too! (and pretty awful so I hear.. has much changed these days, honestly..?)

When was the last time you had a British pint of, say, 4% Pale ale or Bitter that was so balanced, so drinkable, with just the right amount of flavour that one pint turned into three before you knew what happened? Can you name five of these beers? I still see them around, and when they're good they're great! It seems in a lot of bars these days I'm more likely to find a big bruiser of an IPA or Imperial Stout pushing upwards of 8% rather than a 4% Pale ale. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough anymore, I don't know...

This begs the question though, why do these stronger 'extreme' beers have to leave you feeling like you've been hoofed in the face by a donkey every time you take a mouthful? Why does every beer these days have to shock, be the biggest, be the strongest or hoppiest.. Why does beer have to have so much flavour it stops becoming enjoyable? Any brewer can put intensity into a beer, all you need do is whack in a boat load of ingredients and then stick it in a Chardonnay barrel or something. To make a strong or 'extreme' beer balanced, to make it subtle and drinkable whilst having all the noise behind it too - that takes skill. That's a true craft.

Over the past couple of days I've had a few 'crazy' beers when you look at them from the outside, but once those bottles were poured what I found was something much more; I found something extreme and something drinkable at the same time, something that was strong and powerful, but subtle at the same time so I didn't wince every time I took a mouthful.

A couple of those beers came from Magic Rock.

The first was the recently released Strongman: A 12% Barley Wine aged in Amontillado Sherry casks with more hops in it than you can shake a stick at. Sounds like a beer not to be trifled with on paper, but is it all that? When it came to the aroma of the beer I immediately thought of diacetyl, I was wrong in this though. What I thought to be a butterscotch aroma opened up into a very sweet caramel playing among a mass of earth-pine like smell. There was sweet summer fruits too, and these aromas continued to evolve as the beer warmed. It was evident from the first sip this beer was big, thick, sweet and rich. Lots of watermelon with sweet toffee. Pine needles and oranges soaked in a 30% desert wine (if such a thing exists) loads of earthy bitterness too which leads to a finish which belies it's true nature.

This is the point. This beer is 12%, it's barrel aged, it's pretty darn extreme... On the one hand it has a powerful presence, but on the other it's perfectly balanced. It's not in your face. It's not cringe making beer it's dangerously drinkable beer. Subtle flavours mixed with powerful design. Perfection.

The second was another bomber of magic: A 10.5% Imperial Stout aged in a Bourbon barrel - BBA Bearded Lady. Once again, sounds like it'd be a bit too much for the average drinker... but it's not.

On first examination the beer presents itself with aromas of chocolate fudge brownies and vanilla. It's literally desert in a glass - almost like someone's taken a scoop of vanilla ice cream and poured a bit too much chocolate sauce on it. There's wood too and raisins. Lots of decadent dark cherries go well alongside just just a hint of spice - a fantastic aroma if there ever was one. The beer itself is almost stupidly drinkable. Magic Rock have really hit the nail on the head with this one. Once again, it's rich, it's devilish, it's full bodied and packed out with flavour - but it's amazingly and perfectly balanced, it's brilliantly drinkable and it makes me want more and not want to stop drinking.

This is how to really brew beer.

It's taken me a while to come to this conclusion, but I now feel that you can make any kind of beer you like. If it's not drinkable though, if it doesn't have balance, what's the point?

Redwell

Redwell Brewery are new to the scene from Norwich who were kind enough to send me a couple of their new bottled beers so I thought it'd be rude not to give them some proper consideration.

Redwell Original Lager - 5%
With the weather getting a little warmer Lager is what I've been craving the most recently. This little gem has notes of lemons oranges and peach skins in the aroma on top of some straw and grassy malt. A very soft carbonation makes this brew one you could easily knock back a sixer of whilst grilling up a barbecue. The flavour is heavily malt forward in the body, with the finish producing a really satisfying stone fruit minerality which really lingers, quenching the thirst. Anyone that says Lager is easy to make, well, is lying. It's a very difficult process (and a very lengthy one at that!) to get right, and this Lager is pretty spot on the money.

I have a feeling you'll start to see a lot more breweries in the UK producing a Lager very soon... but that's another post in the making.

Redwell IPA 6%
Well the aroma on this beer is really something to write home about! It's absolutely rammed full of tropical fruit! Peaches and mangos, grapefruits, oranges and limes. There's also enough caramel and brown sugar in there too to make the malt presence known. All these flavours and more transfer through to the flavour really well. It's one big juicy and full bodied IPA which any lover of the hoppy stuff would be a fool to miss. I know I got this bottle for free, but I am not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best IPAs I've had this year. And that's not because it's the most extreme, the most hoppy, the strongest or the rarest. It's because it's the most balanced, it's so accessible, so dangerously drinkable, that's why it gets up there, that's what makes it great.

Fair play Redwell.

These are a couple of very fine beers, but I think I'm most impressed with the whole package of the brewery. The design work is crisp and clear, bold but not in your face. I love the ticket stub style labels on the bottles, it's something different, and something that I think will stand out. I'll keep my eye out for the rest of their range, I know these two are worth seeking out alone.

Picture taken from their website here.

A Night On The Town Full Of Beavers

It seems we can't have a week without listing a new brewery to the shelves at Beer Ritz these days..! Not that I'm complaining mind! Heck no. It's an incredible thing, and considering 95% of the new breweries we do stock are British, it's much more of an excuse to look on the good side of things.

Last week saw the arrival of the Beavertown range. Five different gorgeous looking bottles to get stuck into... Here goes!

Gamma Ray - 5.4% American Pale Ale
Aroma: Mango, peaches and lychees, a regular fruit cocktail. Some strawberry and raspberry yogurt too!

Taste: The initial flavour seems slightly burnt on the first sip, and I'm wondering if it may be faulted..? After a few big gulps this dies away though to a huge orange and peach juiciness. This is followed by a big, but not overpowering hop bitterness. Other flavours including pine and lemon which linger in the refreshing finish. Looking over my notes I wrote "It's one Hell of an IPA!" - I didn't even see on the label it was a Pale Ale before drinking it...

Smog Rocket - 5.4% Smoked Porter
Aroma: Smoked Beechwood chips are the name of the game here. There's also some burnt toast and charcoal and a hint of underlying chocolate malts.

Taste: The smoke is actually quite subtle and balanced in this brew. It's packed full with tonnes of malt flavours. Caramel, toffee and dark chocolate. Burnt cereals and a lot of woody notes giving a slight souring effect. A super smooth body and finish - Delicious!

Bloody 'Ell - 7.4% Blood Orange IPA
Aroma: Surprisingly enough, the aroma is chock full of orange! There's is also a strange gin and vodka essence on top of some caramel and pine and maybe a tiny amount of aniseed?

Taste: To make a comparison with Gamma Ray, this is a much more earthy style beer. It still has plenty of hoppy juicy qualities mind, lots of bitter grapefruit and the big orange too. Some interesting herbal notes balanced with sweet earthy caramel malts. Something a little different and well worth a try.

8 Ball - 6.2% Rye IPA
Aroma: Peaches, rye malts with a touch of chocolate malt too. Lot's of raw drying cerials here.

Taste: Loads of malt, straight away and in your face. The rye malts are very evident, am I also getting some cara red or Munich malts too? It's clearly not an IPA about the hops, and you know, it's refreshing to see! The hops are still there though, a gentle bitterness in the finish reminds you that they don't skimp on the hops even for this style of beer which could easily be carried by the amount of malt here.

Black Betty - 7.4% Black IPA
Aroma: The beer has a classic BIPA aroma (if you can have one...) which reminds me of the Kernel BIPAs of last year. It's more floral with citrus fruits, rather than roasted and chocolate like.

Taste: The body is light and very fruity. Sweet to begin with (caramels) which then moves through to fruity but drying body and long lasting bitter finish. I've been really impressed with the recent offering of BIPAs at the moment, like the Salopian Vertigo I just posted about previously, this BB is an absolute stunner, and certainly my pick of the whole range.

I think what I like most about this range of beers is the flavour consistency. You can really tell that they're made the same way across the board, and the same amount of effort that goes into every beer really shows. I must make special mention of the artwork on each bottle as well. The attention to detail in the Beavertown labels is stunning, and they look absolutely great!

Wouldn't you agree...?

Salopian

Salopian Brewery are a new one to the Beer Ritz shelves, and a very welcome addition they are indeed! I think they fit in very well with their classic range of Bitters and Ales which are all very nice, but the brewery also creeps into the bigger beer range too with a couple of newbies that I'll be trying tonight... (by "bigger beer" you could take that to mean - craft beer, geek beer, stronger beer, more experimental beer.. and so on, etc..)

Before checking out the beers below, do read the opener over on the Beer Ritz blog here.

First up is Automaton 7.0% IPA
It's certainly a very lively IPA with a big chalky white head filling a third of the glass. It has a lot of Citra aromas about it, but the addition of Saaz mellows and balances the scent slightly. Fresh melon, peach and mango flesh fill the nose making for one juicy looking beer. Lots more citrus in the flavour though. Good body, perfect carbonation. Lots of orange and tangerine with some lemon and lime spritz mix with some caramel malt sweetness making the perfect bittersweet balance. Slightly grassy, slightly floral - soft and accessible, it's dangerously drinkable for a 7% beer! After trying (and thoroughly enjoying) the three (more classic) other Salopian beers I can say this is a little out of step from those mentioned, and that's pretty damn OK with me!

Next up is Vertigo 7.2% Black IPA
I'm not sure if this will make any sense, but this beer smells cold, and I don't mean temperature wise... The aroma is certainly different - it's sort of minty, rocky and earthy, some mineral elements with wood elements too, pine and oak chips. All these aromas are massively amplified in the flavour and body of the beer. It's certainly a bitter beast, but I feel it lends a lot of that bitterness to earthy woody flavours rather than citrus fruit hoppiness. Looking a little deeper there's quite a bit of orange juiciness coming forward now which masks the alcohol very well once again. It's a really nice beer, and one I'd highly reccomend..

I think the overall look, feel, taste and presentation of these beers (all these beers) is pretty great. I reckon this brewery is going to be lurking around our shop for quite some time...