Holsten Pils

Hi all, got my writing mojo back now I can see the computer screen properly so I thought that having just written about a beer with tonnes of taste I'd write about one with absolutely none.
Holsten Pils was a big brand way back when I was growing up, there were a load of cool tv adverts featuring Jeff Goldblum and so when I spotted it at my local offie, never having tried it, I thought I'd get a bottle. That would be my first mistake, my second would be opening it. This beer is devoid of any goodness, it is possibly the worst beer I have ever tasted.
There is just nothing, no hop character, no malt character absolutely no character whatsoever.
This is a beer that is brewed under license so don't worry folks, no chance of seeing it at The Rake. Can't help thinking though that it might be a better beer if the Germans were still brewing it.

What the F*?k do I know? - the final act

Yesterday at The Rake, The Otley Brewing Company and myself unveiled two brand new beers, if you read this blog on a regular basis you'll know that I helped brew one of them, the Motley Brew.
A pub full of people attended the bash and the Motley Brew went down very well. For a first attempt I was thrilled, I had a sneaky taste on Sunday and had to go and be by myself for a while, I was on some sort of beer high, it was as close to total serenity that I think I will ever come. Now, I've never been the most verbose person in the world at the best of times but I was totally speechless on Sunday.
I was banging on about it for weeks before the event and People must have been getting absolutely sick to death of hearing about O-Nite and Motley Brew, after all, I'm not the first person to brew beer (or help brew beer!) and I certainly won't be the last but the sheer amount of people that turned up at The Rake yesterday to try the two new brews was a humbling experience.
The beer itself? A double IPA, bright amber and a bit hazy. Massive amounts of tropical fruit on the nose, that'll be the 3.5kg of pacific gem hop we put in, in the mouth the body was totally right, the taste, wee bit of apple yeastiness from the American yeast we used, the bittering hops(Chinook and Centennial) perhaps should have been a bit more prevalent but it wasn't too sweet either. The finish was fantastically dry due to the dry-hopping (again Chinook hops were used) and it left me wanting more.
I hope that when people said they liked it they weren't just being polite but I was more than a bit happy with the final result and for those of you who missed it? Well I'm looking forward to the new year when I get the next cask in and I hope to see you there next time.

In Vino Veritas

Alcaeus, a Greek poet, said it first and said it best. In wine there is truth. These days it means someone's got pissed and said something they shouldn't have. Inhibited judgement is a cause of drinking, people become more confident or bolshy.
Small disagreements between otherwise intelligent and good friends become full blown arguments where things get said in ways that they shouldn't.
I have two friends that I have known for over 30 years now, long enough that I now consider them my brothers, we have had many arguments in the past and have always found a way to get past them. Another two friends of mine, and I'm not going to name names, had a falling out last night, not just caused by beer but over it, now I'm not going to go into details but suffice to say, I have immense respect for both of them as people and in respect to their work.
And so, with all due respect to both of them, come on guys, it's only beer, lets move on.

3rd of a pint

Just read a piece by Mark Dredge on 3rd of a pint glassware and how it should have been used by the White Horse at it's recent Old Ale Festival.
Now we have been using 3rd of a pint glassware at The Rake since March when I held our first Welsh Beer Festival because I know from experience at other festivals that even having halves can get you far more drunk than you want to be. We now offer them on every single draught product be they the 18.2% Tokyo(which I refused to serve in anything bigger) or the 1.1% Nanny state(of which frankly, sorry Brewdog, I didn't want any more!)
There has been talk of introducing the 2 thirds pint glass but like Mark Dredge, I can't see a huge benefit on this, I will probably stock them but it'll take a while to take off over here.
You also have to take into account that a lot of pubs are tied to big companies who 1) will not let them spend the money on glassware and
2) have such rigid till systems that it would be a massive job re-doing the till screens for all their pubs.
Now, I'm quite lucky that our till system is quite flexible so when I decided to start doing 3rd of a pint as standard on everything it was easy just to add them to the till.
Can you imagine M&B redoing all their till screens for 3rds and then 2/3rds, I can but all at once, per brand. Also, lets face it, there are so few outlets around that do such strong beers, how cost effective is it going to be for the big pubcos to do this?
Personally, if it's a legal measure these companies have a responsibility to make sure the measure is available as standard. After all if you go to the right glassware company then the glassware is not too expensive.
It would also help keep those idiots quiet who think that the alcohol is the cause of all evil.
Anyone feel a campaign coming on? I think I do.

Silly Season

Tis the season to get shit faced fa la la la la, la la la la....Every pub in the country is about to get hit, if you haven't already, by the once a year drinking crowd. The guys and girls who celebrate until they fall over and vomit in the street. Get carted off to hospital with alcohol poisoning, shag someone they shouldn't(usually a work colleague). Total amateur drinkers, no knowledge of how to treat people who are serving them politely and diligently.
What makes these people, normally polite, intelligent, nice human beings, to act like total animals?
Alcohol. Full stop. How many laptops will get nicked, left in bars, cabs, trains? How many hours waiting around hospital wards to be seen by a junior doctor who just wants to sleep?
How many unsuspecting party goers will have their drinks spiked and do something they regret? Or worse have something done to them?
How many people will get nicked for drink driving this year?
Intelligent people...usually.
As a bar manager in spitting distance of the city, I'd like to make an impassioned plea to all would-be revellers : Get out on the town this Christmas, come into the bars and enjoy the atmosphere that this time of year brings, but please, please do it responsibly the last thing we as operators want to see is people falling over in the street, starting fights, being sick everywhere etc... It just helps to give the holier-than-thou brigade a platform on which to stand and spout their neo-prohibitionist bullshit, and frankly we could all do without that, especially at Christmas.
And remember the people on the other side of the bar, we are here to make sure that you all have a good time, safely and responsibly, bar staff do long hours for very little money, with a smile on their face most of the time so smile back and remember your manners because they cost nothing and lets all have a great Christmas this year.
I would like to just take a minute and say merry Christmas to all my customers this year, we hope you have a great time. Every single one of you.

Tickers

Evening all,
I've just read a piece on a good session beer by someone who made a vaguely insulting remark about beer geeks. Now I'm sorry but beer geeks, tickers or spoogers, call them what you will are an integral part of my business and most of them are very nice people.
If you have not heard of Tickers before then I'll tell you what you're missing out on. Generally these people, and most of them ARE people, with one or two exceptions, collect beer, that is to say that they scour their favourite beer haunts looking for new beers to try. They note down the name, the brewery, the abv and where they drank the beer. Almost all of these people are retired, hence having the time to do this. There are various types of these beer-enthusiasts too...
1) People who will not drink anything if they have had it before.
2) People who will drink something even if they have had it before.
3) People who 'bottle' the beer into an old plastic soda bottle of some sort.
4) People who rate beers, usually on the internet with sites such as Ratebeer or Beer Advocate.
Most of these people are hugely interesting guys (and gals) and have loads of tales to tell about the industry as a whole(Pic above is Tony Martin, King of tickers). They are the salt of the earth and frequent various watering holes in order to sate their appetites for new beer.
These folks are helping to keep the british brewing industry alive and because it's beginning to thrive again, they will keep coming in and they will always be welcome.
Cheers to the beers boys and girls.
Look out for the new film (not widely available in cinemas) about beer tickers, I'm really wanting to watch this, if only to do a bit of customer spotting.
I'm off back to work now, later folks!

Bibulous

Morning all, I've just done two days at Bibulous, an event at Vinopolis that was showcasing beers, wines and spirits. I was doing beer cocktails, two of them, the first one being the Coconut Corsair, a mix of Sailor Jerry Rum, Mongozo Coconut beer, and Coca Cola, very refreshing, perfect for a hot summers day.
The second one I came up with was The Yeti Tar, a mix of Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout, Sailor Jerry Rum, syrop de Gomme, topped with cream, chocolate flakes and a cherry for decoration. They seemed to go down well, very well in fact, so well that the samples I had prepared weren't enough and I had to speedily make some more!
I'm thinking seriously about putting the cocktails on the beer list at The Rake, maybe by doing a Beer Cocktail Night, what does everyone think?
Off to Lunch at the White Horse, Parsons Green for Old Ales and Great food now, have a good Sunday folks.