After over three weeks without an update I've finally had some beer to review! Due to financial issues my blood beer content has been dangerously low recently, but I recently came into a little cash, just in time for the Stand Up Inn beer festival. The Stand Up Inn is in Lindfield, my mum's village, and has an excellent reputation, but due to not really getting into beer until I arrived at Bristol I've somehow never been there. This had to be rectified. Unfortunately my attempts to get some old school friends to comer down were unsuccessful (unlike me most of them have actually managed to get jobs and leave home, the bastards), so I went along alone, hoping to meet some people there. This didn't quiet go as planned, as most of the people there were much older, or in large groups. So as a social exercise it wasn't very successful (though I think I'll try again on a quieter night), but at least the beer was excellent. On that subject, I'm going to stop whining now and crack on.
Kissinggate Black Cherry Mild
This is brilliant. The black cherry flavour comes through very nicely, but doesn't dominate, unlike say the Timothy Taylor Mild I reviewed two posts ago. There are also some nice bitter coffee notes in the finish, as well as some hoppy bite to the whole thing which gives it an edge, making it perhaps more traditional than something totally smooth. I loved it, and I think I'm going to lobby for it at the next Bristol Real Ale beer festival.
Dark Star Winter Meltdown
The Stand Up is a Dark Star pub, so there were quite a few of their beers on offer, two of which I had and will be in this post. The first was this lovely autumn beer, the colour of which is described as "dark bronze", and I'm not going to argue with them on that. It has a very complex flavour, helped by the spices added to the brew. They didn't specify which cones, but I think I detected cloves and cinnamon, and there were likely some I missed. Apparently stem ginger was used, but I confess I didn't notice it. There was a slight air of toffee to it, which added a nice warmth without making it too sweet. In fact the hops come through quite nicely, though they add more fruity aroma than bitterness, which my limited experience of hop varieties suggest that Bramling X, a beautiful hop which imparts a blackberry-like flavour to beer, might be involved somewhere. The beer is full-flavoured throughout the gulp, but particularly at the end it has an awesome "thickness" to it, which makes it deliciously satisfying.
Downlands Ruskin's Ram
This is another fairly dark beer, though more of a dark chestnut than a dark bronze. What comes of being at an autumn beer festival I suppose. Not that I'm complaining, I love dark beer. Not this one though. It had some odd estery flavours, slightly reminiscent of an unpleasant wheat beer. It was fairly malty, with a dark chocolatey finish, which is nice, but this chocolate was spoiled by a funny dry "cheek sucking" sensation, which made it not very drinkable. It wasn't awful, and I finished it, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Dark Star Hophead
This final beer is the only one of this post I've had before, and it might still be my favourite. It is the perfect example of a light, hoppy session beer which you could drink all night. It's a pale copper colour, or at least it was in this dark pub, I seem to remember it being a bit paler with more light around. The hops are the main attraction, but they are beautifully aromatic, with big clouds of elderflower, and whilst the bitterness is certainly there, it doesn't have any of the harshness of say an american IPA, but instead a beautifully clean flavour, which hangs around like a mist in your mouth without ever outstaying its welcome. It's absolutely masterful One thing I will say though is don't try to make beer bread out of it. I made several batches of beer bread earlier i the year with various beers left over from a beer festival, and whilst some were delicious, the hops don;t lend themselves to bread. Besides it's too good to waste in bread. God I want another pint of it now.
Kissinggate Black Cherry Mild
This is brilliant. The black cherry flavour comes through very nicely, but doesn't dominate, unlike say the Timothy Taylor Mild I reviewed two posts ago. There are also some nice bitter coffee notes in the finish, as well as some hoppy bite to the whole thing which gives it an edge, making it perhaps more traditional than something totally smooth. I loved it, and I think I'm going to lobby for it at the next Bristol Real Ale beer festival.
Dark Star Winter Meltdown
The Stand Up is a Dark Star pub, so there were quite a few of their beers on offer, two of which I had and will be in this post. The first was this lovely autumn beer, the colour of which is described as "dark bronze", and I'm not going to argue with them on that. It has a very complex flavour, helped by the spices added to the brew. They didn't specify which cones, but I think I detected cloves and cinnamon, and there were likely some I missed. Apparently stem ginger was used, but I confess I didn't notice it. There was a slight air of toffee to it, which added a nice warmth without making it too sweet. In fact the hops come through quite nicely, though they add more fruity aroma than bitterness, which my limited experience of hop varieties suggest that Bramling X, a beautiful hop which imparts a blackberry-like flavour to beer, might be involved somewhere. The beer is full-flavoured throughout the gulp, but particularly at the end it has an awesome "thickness" to it, which makes it deliciously satisfying.
Downlands Ruskin's Ram
This is another fairly dark beer, though more of a dark chestnut than a dark bronze. What comes of being at an autumn beer festival I suppose. Not that I'm complaining, I love dark beer. Not this one though. It had some odd estery flavours, slightly reminiscent of an unpleasant wheat beer. It was fairly malty, with a dark chocolatey finish, which is nice, but this chocolate was spoiled by a funny dry "cheek sucking" sensation, which made it not very drinkable. It wasn't awful, and I finished it, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Dark Star Hophead
This final beer is the only one of this post I've had before, and it might still be my favourite. It is the perfect example of a light, hoppy session beer which you could drink all night. It's a pale copper colour, or at least it was in this dark pub, I seem to remember it being a bit paler with more light around. The hops are the main attraction, but they are beautifully aromatic, with big clouds of elderflower, and whilst the bitterness is certainly there, it doesn't have any of the harshness of say an american IPA, but instead a beautifully clean flavour, which hangs around like a mist in your mouth without ever outstaying its welcome. It's absolutely masterful One thing I will say though is don't try to make beer bread out of it. I made several batches of beer bread earlier i the year with various beers left over from a beer festival, and whilst some were delicious, the hops don;t lend themselves to bread. Besides it's too good to waste in bread. God I want another pint of it now.
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