Zinfandel Rosé and Grenache Rosé are among the grapes at risk of disappearing from UK supermarket wine stocks, as the government gears up for a potential 25% tariff on all wine imports from the US.
Finally a good news Brexit story.
Zinfandel Rosé and Grenache Rosé are among the grapes at risk of disappearing from UK supermarket wine stocks, as the government gears up for a potential 25% tariff on all wine imports from the US.
Finally a good news Brexit story.
Cointreau was a bad idea
First pull of my tropical New England this evening. It’s going to be a dangerous one at 7.2%, doesn’t taste remotely like it.
Doing a day sesh in Chester next week and staying over, and rather than the usual wanky cocktail bars, my wife has requested we go to places that sell fruit beer, so I’ve routed some top drawer dive bars that happen to sell Timmermans.
I'm a twit
I know I’ve harped on about it enough but going a wedding on Friday and booked a minibus for the 40 minute journey. I’ve bought myself a bottle of Kernel table beer and also a £9 Mixed Fermentation Elderflower & Verbena Saison for the journey.
A girl from work is bringing 4 cans of Carling. I reminded her it’s only a 40 minute trip. “Easy.”
I'm a twit
Rye River Lupulos Borealis
Finally a replacement for the long gone pilgrims path. We need more dry hopped pilsners on the shelves.
Being UK bound for the month I've managed to score a decent-ish order off good old Morrisons [they seem to have a pretty good beer selection], sadly none of Baz's Rhubard & Custard Northern Monk offerings were available or listed.
The Northern Monk Faith is always a solid citizen (I wanted the Eternal as I've not had that before, sadly it was out of stock) but the Mad Squirrel Roadkill NEIPA is just alright (quite a strong alcohol taste for me).
Flirted with a Trembling Madness order but I'm too oiky to be shelling nigh on £5 a can for this shit.
They do have some really decent lower priced options as well but yeah, I tend to spend a fair amount in average per can but on a given evening I'll have a mix of cheapo supermarket stuff and a few of the good shit.
Brought these two back from Chester:
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Had the pineapple one tonight and it was delicious. Tasted like coconuts.
I'm a twit
The Milk Foley is pretty decent. I mean I liked the name and can design anyway, of course.
Yeah, that can is nice.
Mangoes on with Faith Northern Monk/Drew Millward [who seems to be some sort of can artist] is pretty good. Seem to have a few mango pales in this batch so this is a good start.
Starting the proceedings with a Vault City Strawberry Session Sour. It's really refreshing and very tasty.
£5 pinot grigio from the co-op. It's alright.
What's a session sour?Originally Posted by Ian
I struggle with sours, but I've just opened a Siren Pompelmocello Sour IPA and it's not terrible.
I also have some £5 supermarket wine, but it's a Shiraz.
Tell me what’s good from the British selection here chaps. Haven’t had a try of a few in a while (apart from my regular Samuel Smiths oatmeal).
https://craftcentral.ie/pages/uk-craft-breweries
Session would normally just be lower abv.
I’ve a Kinnegar rhubarb and ginger sour for later this evening.
Think I've had a few decent things from Verdant, not sure if it's any of those though.
The Magic Rock Saucery is a bit odd for me, has a weird savoury taste.
Never been a massive fan of Wild Beer but some of those are probably decent. People swear by Pogo don't they? Actually, as I recall it is decent. Think I've also had Everstone and Madness from that list, which are both also ok.
Hepcat (Gypsy Hill) is something and nothing, but maybe that's the certain fate of a Session IPA.
Don't Thornbridge make Jaipur? That's another highly rated thing isn't it so those two cans might be interesting.
Never had anything from Wander Beyond Brewing but I'm sold on their can designs.
I also have a can of that Brewdog/Northern Monk Vermont Sessions in the fridge so can report back on it later, maybe. Layer Cake was also decent, but probably not up to the high standards of some stouts on the imperial end of the spectrum.
Last edited by niko_cee; 06-08-2021 at 05:13 PM.
As Giggles said, just a sour that is specifically not strong. In this case it's 4.1% but it's still pretty sharp and fruity.
I'll just tell you ones I know I like and let you filter out styles you don't care for:
Brewdog - I assume you've had most of the normal ones like the basic IPAs and stuff but Roaster Coaster is lovely, as are the collabs with Cloudwater and Salt.
Wild Beer - Millionaire, Tepache sour
Thornbridge - I like generally. It's aaaaages since I had the Bear State but I'd be prepared to gamble on a 7% West Coast IPA from them for 4.25.
Quite tempted to get a mixed 12 off that Wander Beyond mob's website now.
£68 though.
Also has 3 Imperial Berliner Weisse's in, which is potentially concerning.
Last edited by niko_cee; 06-08-2021 at 07:13 PM.
Went a wedding last night that sold bottles of ale so I got a different one each time.
Problem was there was no signal cos it was in the middle of nowhere so couldn’t use Untappd and now I’ve just got a load of photos of beer on my phone with no idea which was which.
I'm a twit
Not that it helps you now but doesn't Untappd have an offline mode on the app?
I have a case of Miller Genuine Draft arriving today, top tier of the mass produced lager, sadly only available at a premium thanks to covid and Miller abandoning the UK market.
I enjoy Budvar, is Budvar Dark worth picking up? Contemplating ordering a case.
You got a case of the ol' Spikey dementia? You asked that last month.Giggles confirmed his approval though.
It's a long time since I've had a Miller but if I was buying that sort of lager I wouldn't be choosing it over a Staropramen, say.
Maybe I should be more wary of my homebrew based on that
Just went deep into the Equilibrium sale on Trembling Madness.
Just had an Allendale Wanderlust IPA which was pretty good for a supermarket price can, and that Vermont Sessions NEIPA Brewdog/Northern Monk thing is also nice. Maybe not quite Atlantean level, which I still think is a bit of a benchmark for the style, but still good. Not sure how sessiony something is if it's coming in at 5.2% but do NEIPAs usually clock in at 6%+?
Yeah I'd say quite often NEIPA's clock in a fairly high ABV.
I thought you were too oiky for those sort of prices? Aren't those ones all going at £7-odd?Just went deep into the Equilibrium sale on Trembling Madness.
I'm having 'I Do This All The Time' by Deya. A fairly straightforward wheat beer but with a little coriander in there at the back end which is a nice twist.
£10 for 2, which is fairly bargainous if you work off the RRP which is £7.50-£10.
Had to get to £75 for free delivery too, natch.
I’m supping pints of my raspberry and gooseberry wit beer
The bossman grew the fruit and all.
Spent the afternoon enjoying Sussex Haze from Harveys, which is pretty decent, their Wharf IPA should be avoided, if anyone's ever in 'these ends'.
Got that Equilibrium order earlier in the week and just cracked the first one today (Fractal Galaxy IPA) and it is superb.
Also got a DEYA with a name like Can We Get Another Plane or something which was also very good.
They’re all chucking Galaxy in everything now but it’s class.
I've started the Friday festivities on Strawberry Pie by a Swedish bunch called Brewski. It's a strawberry sour and is very tasty indeed. 4% too so you could drink it for days.
Northern Monk's Transient DDH IPA is nice.
Northern Monk's everything is nice, basically.
I dunno, Striding Edge is pretty meh.
A few of the other Equilibriums have gone (Neoblast DIPA and one with Einstein on the can). Both very good. Not sure they're necessarily worth the full price of entry (£10) but at half that they are probably justifiable.
Anyone tried Blanton's bourbon? Might stick a bottle of the Gold on my christmas list.
Consider me intrigued. What's the distinction between the gold and original?
I mean I wouldn't go out of my way for all of them but I've never had one which if it's what was put in front of me I couldn't happily go through a few of them.
I had their West Coast Routes over the weekend, a West Coast IPA. It was lovely.
Opening the proceedings tonight with a Hitachino Nest Chocolate Berry Ale. And it's pretty decent. I find the Hitachino ones never blow me away but they're always pretty solid.
Off licence gave me a couple of Islands Edge to try today, I think they must be told to give them out to promote them. New nitro stout from Heineken that’s main hook is ‘easier drinking than Guinness’. It’s fairly light and bland.
A Guinness drinker would probably lash them down all night but end up feeling like they were missing something. And when I can get an Irish stout like O’Hara’s on nitro now I wouldn’t be going back near either anyway.
Last edited by Giggles; 20-08-2021 at 06:21 PM.
I've had some dodgy coke mixers in the fridge for months now so suppose I should pick a bottle of spirits to accompany them. Play it safe with Gentleman Jack or see how they go with some Old Forester?
Those Equilibrium beers are all really good.
Just had a Fluctuation DIPA.
Are pubs all back to normal over there by now (I presume they are for ages now). Going over for work next month and will be close enough to try a Samuel Smiths one I hope.
I've not been in many in my little sojourn over here, but, whilst I believe they are meant to be, it has been hit and miss as to whether they are or not in the ones I have been in. Masks, perspex screens and people queuing to order have been encountered.
Depends on the pub, but most are back to normal. Quite a few are having to close due to staff getting pinged left, right and centre, mind.
All back to normal here.
I'm a twit
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