Sunday Smile

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Top 50

So the results are in, the top 50 beers in the country as voted for by consumers and overseen by a panel of industry experts. I was surprised how many "old faithfuls" were on the list this year, I suspect this is a reflection of availability rather than anything else (like quality or taste etc.) anyway here's the list..

1. Steady Rolling Man, Deya
2. Best Five, Points
3. Jaipur, Thornbridge
4. I Could Get Better At T*sco For A Quid, Pretty Decent Beer Co
5. London Black, Anspach & Hobday
6. Plum Porter, Titanic
7. Pilsner, Pillars
8. Lightbulb, Verdant
9. Landlord, Timothy Taylor
10. American Pale Ale, Saint Monday
11. Parade, Beak
12. Even Sharks Need Water, Verdant
13. Kitchen Disco, Double-Barrelled
14. Turtles All The Way Down, Duration Brewing
15. Proper Job, St Austell
16. Iron Brew Sour, Vault City
17. Sumo, Mad Squirrel Brewery
18. Lumina, Siren Craft Brew
19. Clwb Tropicana, Tiny Rebel
20. Atlantic APA, Brixton
21. Sicilian Lemonade Radler, Left Handed Giant
22. Intuition, Attic
23. Old Peculier, Theakston
24. Sonoma, Track
25. Peach, Jubel
26. Floret, Polly's Brewing
27. Faith, Northern Monk
28. Boost, Deya
29. Camden Hells, Camden Town Brewery
30. Kaleidoscope, Wiper and True
31. Three Swords, Kirkstall
32. Aurora, Burning Sky
33. Oregon Trail, Elusive
34. Citra, Oakham
35. Lager, Lucky Saint
36. Table Beer, Kernel
37. Helles Lager, Harbour Brewing
38. Time Better Spent, Tap Social Movement
39. Foghorn, Brewpoint
40. Bristol Lager, New Bristol Brewery
41. Wherry, Woodforde's
42. Juice Forsyth, Brew York
43. Sussex Best, Harvey's
44. Keller Pils, Lost & Grounded
45. Roadie, Signature Brew
46. Helles, Braybrooke
47. Premium British Lager, Utopian
48. Halo, Hackney Church Brew Co
49. Mosaic GF Pale Ale, Arbor
50. Heathen, Abbeydale Brewery

I've added links to my reviews of the beers that I've tried. Great to see representation from most of my favourite brewers, for example, Verdant, Siren, DEYA, Elusive and Kernel to name but a few. Shame that beers like Old Peculier and Wherry are on the list, this is the kind of thing we used to go for in the 70s and not a patch on modern brews in my humble opinion. 

Friday Smirk

The boys illustrating the illogical core of the main religions, the belief in things that cannot be shown to be true or untrue (unfalsifiable) and the insistence that their holy books were authored by the creator of the universe when even a child can see that they were written by scientifically illiterate Men (not Women!)

Ice cold in Kernow

Had one of these last week, an unusual choice for me as I usually go for hazy pale ales or IPAs if I have any choice however, what with the heat and everything, I decided an ice cold lager was more appropriate. It was a banger too, from my favourite brewers, Verdant it was a Helles style lager (as opposed to a Pilsner) a little softer but just as good. 

London Stories

I was wondering around Hampstead Village a few weeks back filling time while waiting for my Son to finish work (he lives nearby) it was late in the afternoon and the rain was starting to set in so I looked for somewhere to take cover and maybe have a coffee or something. I turned down a side street off of Heath St. and low and behold stumbled across a little craft beer bar (The Tipsy Dog). Never one to pass up an opportunity for an interesting half of something I wondered in, it was empty and so I ordered a half of a pale ale I'd never tried before and got chatting to the barman. 

The venue itself was really small, only 4 taps (keg only) and perhaps a dozen or so seats plus a couple of large beer fridges that were filled with cans and bottles (some good stuff), more of a "bottle shop" than a bar I suppose although it was a nice little space and the perfect refuge from a Summer downpour! I only had time for one and after that I headed on down the hill to where I was meeting my boy, however next time I'm up in Hampstead and have half an hour to kill I know exactly where I need to go!

Kernow Adventures - Part 2

While in Falmouth last week we popped into the Seafood bar in town (on one of the days) and had a spot of lunch (see above) This venue is owned by my favourite brewer Verdant and sells their beers and a range of interesting seafood dishes (tapas style) We had a fish-finger bun, crab loaded fries, fish tacos and scallops, my goodness it was delicious, strong flavours and great combinations of ingredients plus (of course) a lovely half of a delicious Verdant beer to go with it all, totally lush.

On a different day we hopped onto the St Mawes ferry and sailed across to that picture perfect little village for some lunch. The venue was a hotel called the "Idle Rocks" which has a very scenic veranda and restaurant. I opted for the fixed lunch menu which included chowder to start followed by sole (see above) with sides of fries and broccoli, then a dark chocolate cremeux to finish, all for £28 which I thought was great value considering the setting and the quality of food, great spot for lunch, thoroughly recommended!

The picture above shows the veranda of the restaurant and the view beyond to the harbour wall and on to Falmouth, a great place to have lunch (when the weather is good!)

One of the disadvantages of staying/living in a seaside town is the noise and waste products from the ample seagulls that also live there. The various families of gulls that inhabit the town centre seem to be screeching at each other for most of the day only stopping when it gets dark and then starting up again at first light. I suppose you get used to it after a while but I can imagine that it gets a bit much sometimes. One day we even saw a Greater Black-backed Gull eating a dead rat, swallowed in one go! It's easy to understand that you're looking at an evolved dinosaur when you see something like that!

Kernow Adventures - Part 1

As previously mentioned we were down in Cornwall last week and on the way down to Falmouth we always stop at the Waitrose in Truro to stock up on essentials for our stay. It's a great store, large and well stocked including a section that's dedicated to craft beer where they feature Verdant cans (Verdant is a brewery in Penryn, near Falmouth) the variety available is impressive and probably not replicated in any other supermarket in the world! This is probably my favourite supermarket ever!

On the subject of Cornish brewers I discovered a new one in Falmouth called "Dynamite Valley", they have a small taproom in the centre of town which we happened to walk past one day and (of course) had to pop in for a pint. It was a pale ale made with American hops and very nice it was too on a warm day (see above) We all agreed it was a good addition to the beer scene in the town and while there are several Falmouth venues that sell Verdant beer (my fav) it is always good to have choices!

While in Kernow we also visited the Eden Project just outside of St. Austell, I'd never been before and thought it might be a bit naff (I'm not massively into plants) but how wrong was I! It was a spectacular place, huge and with lot's to see and do, a really impressive collection of plant species, from all kinds of environments around the world. They even had a section for Madeira which we visited earlier this year, I even recognised some of the plants! The only downside was visiting the "Tropical Dome" on a rather warm day, much sweating followed, fortunately they have "cool spaces" with A/C units in them where you can recuperate for a few minutes before moving on.

The picture above shows what it's like inside one of the domes, this was the tropical zone..