ale | bierebelle

When Albert met Kate (the really great Kate)

Posted on August 17, 2013 by bierebelle

As you may know I am very fond of my Belgian friend Albert who has been a welcome companion on dark winter evenings and early morning train rides. On this particular journey from the south coast all the way up to York it was particularly wise to bring along one of the illustrious and extravagant Albert family, Kabert (11.5%abv). The result of my favorite and most sturdy of Belgian brewers De Struise‘s expert blending of Kate the Great and Black Albert, laid down in port barrels in 2011 to become an exquisitely indulgent Russian Imperial Stout.

Opening the bottle with excitement as a little unctious thick brown foam oozed down the side, the aroma was almost enough to disguise the cesspit stench of the Cross Country train’s ever-overflowing toilet. Rich dark malts, beery yeast and brown clumps of sugar with ripe red berries. My hands are slightly sticky from the side of the bottle, the beer is so voluptuously thick like treacle. The flavor is incredibly full and immediately alcoholic in the most warmingly delicious way. The dark malts compliment the lively black cherries and raisins and there’s a sprinkle of nutmeg spice. So sweet and smooth. I never fail to be impressed by this series of beers. Even the label, featuring an ornate crest of mythical beasts alongside the signature ostriches, gives this ale an air of pomp and majesty reminiscent of the early albums of Queen. Albert I am privileged to be your audience once again.

It’s not rocket science but it is a craft!

Posted on June 17, 2013 by bierebelle

I’ve been finding myself staring into space a lot recently. It’s so awesomely huge that it makes my head hurt to think about it too much but thankfully I have beer so it’s never too stressful. It’s been hard not to think about space, what with real-life Major Tom Chris Hadfield hitting the news with his performance of Space Oddity actually filmed on board the International Space Station! Then the amazing opportunity came up on Kickstarter to back the first publicly accessible space telescope, Arkyd and have a ‘selfie‘ sent up and photographed. In space! Then another opportunity on Kickstarter to support the fantastic band Ananamaguchi in their quest to make even more mind-bendingly colorful beepy awesomeness. What do they have to do with space? See their latest video Endless Fantasy and prepare to be impressed.

Joining the Space Race

I was very excited when brand new Bristol brewery Rocket Science Craft Ales got in touch to see if I wanted to try some of their new beers. Well since they have such a cute logo how could I refuse. After a long day in London seeing the V&A’s exhibition celebrating the original Space Oddity, David Bowie, it was fitting to open a nicely chilled bottle of the IO (6.5%ABV) to unwind. Named after one of the moons of Jupiter studded with over 400 active volcanoes, this American IPA has a lot to live up to. It’s unfined, unfiltered and unpasturised so it’s about as back-to-basics as brewing gets. In the glass, it’s cloudy dark amber – not what I was expecting – and the aromas are fresh, sharp citrus and slightly sweet honey with a touch of pine. It’s a surprisingly really accomplished American-style pale for such a young brewery – the bitter lemons and grapefruit really hit the taste buds hard making the mouth water and the dryness at the back is so crisp, The acidic pineapple brings a touch of tropical sunshine and there’s a little sweetness in the aftertaste like sherbet lemons.

I was most excited about the Jet Black (5.4%ABV) since it’s a Cascadian Dark Ale which is one of my current favorite styles. I’m fairly particular about Cascadian Darks and very few fit the bill for me. This was a very promising pour, jet black like it says on the bottle with a lovely lasting whispy head and an aroma like a charred hedgerow. The dark malts give a burnt crust characteristic to the fabulously bitter hop but it’s lifted by a delicious fruitiness, like a playful cocktail of lychee and cranberries. This is perfectly balances with deliciously bitter dark chocolate – think of your favourite bar of 80-85% cocoa solids studded with crystals of burnt brown sugar. The finish is wonderfully dry with a bitter-sweetness that’s so moreish. I think I’ll be strapping on my jetpack and blasting off to Bristol very soon – I gotta get stocked up on these! Impressive for such a new brewery!

Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2013

Posted on May 13, 2013 by bierebelle

Last week I fulfilled a dream of many beer geeks and jetted across to Copenhagen, Denmark for the second edition of the Copenhagen Beer Celebration hosted by the esteemed ‘gypsy’ brewer himself, Mikkeller. This was a rare opportunity to sample beers from a wide selection of the best breweries in the world today. Our tickets were for the Saturday afternoon session and, between 18:00 and 23:00, all the beer we wanted was ours for the taking. Getting off the flight and going for our train into the city that afternoon, I was already geeking out, spotting t-shirts and stickers and jackets depicting brewery logos everywhere I looked. Some I’d never even heard of. Having checked into the hotel and dumped our cases, we made our way across town clutching Google Map directions, but we kinda knew when we were in the right area. The folks staggering out of the previous session and lying on the pavement gave it away.We had arrived.

Posing with my cute festival glass

We were issued with cute little stemmed tasting glasses and told to help ourselves but it was tough deciding where to start! There was way too much choice so I started with Stillwater Lower Dens (6%ABV) and made my way around the hall to peruse the stands. One of the nicest things at a beer festival like this one is meeting the brewers or at least people associated with the brewery and hearing them talk so passionately about the beers they’ve brought I loved the team from Boxing Cat who had come all the way over from Shanghai. Their King Louie (8%) which had been aged in bourbon barrels was insanely rich and complex and one of my favorites of the day. The team were so friendly and really wanted to talk about their beers and the brewery, which I learned was named for the brewery cat Louie who used to look like he was boxing when he chased butterflies (unfortunately now no longer with us). I also loved the very smiley team from Westbrook from South Carolina and their spicy, chocolaty treat Mexican Cake (10.5%ABV).

Unfortunately, I completely missed the 3Floyds stand, I believe because there were too many people around it to actually see it, so I missed out on the legendary Dark Lord! In fact, 3Floyds were the first to run out of beer – for some reason I hadn’t expected this to happen (yes they make some of the highest rated beer ever) so next year they’ll be my first stop. Luckily we happened to be in a huge hall packed with so many amazing breweries I was spoilt for choice!

How will I get this in my suitcase?

It was great to have a flat ticket price which included all drinks rather than using a token system – it took me the whole 5 days I was in the country to work out the Danish money so cash would have been a disaster! I felt like a kid in a candy store, wandering wide-eyed from one stand to the next clutching my little glass and marveling at all the wonderfully creative brews. I’m glad that the festival glasses were so small so I could try lots. A lot of the beers were pretty strong and as you can see in my list below, I didn’t drink many that were below 10% so even 1/3rd pints would have been disastrous. The trends I noticed around the hall were barrel-aging (OK that’s been popular for a while) and saisons and lambics, two styles I have only recently started getting into. I’m not sure whether I especially noticed these as they are still relatively uncommon here in the UK. Mikkeller brought a particularly exceptional lambic Spontandoubleblueberry (8%) (imagine trying to say it after a few drinks) which had a pretty disturbingly purple color and a super-serious sourness.

So was it possible to choose a favorite amongst such a stellar line-up? Possibly not but a few stand out in my mind. One of my top picks was actually from Siren who hail from the not-so-exotic Berkshire; ‘Chai Love You a Latte’ (6.5%ABV) is a spice-infused version of their breakfast stout Broken Dream. I initially loved the cute name but the flavor was a pretty close match to the hot-cross bun chocolates I love which Hotel Chocolat bring out every Easter. I also rate Against the Grain Bo & Luke (13%ABV) quite highly – the guys on the stand were great which helped but they had brought over a port barrel aged version of this Imperial Stout which was fabulously smoked. Then of course there was the Anchorage tripel, The Tide And Its Takers (9%ABV) which had an amazing citrus sourness and totally lived up to its reputation as an outstanding beer.

Of course, our trip to Copenhagen was more than just the CBC – I’ll be following up to tell you how we got on at the Mikkeller block party and whether the two bars are worth a visit. For now, I’ll leave you with a list of the beers I sampled:

What Bierebelle drank:

Anchorage: A Deal With the Devil (17.3%ABV)

Brewdog: Abstrakt AB13 (11.3%ABV)

Mikkeller/Brodies: Big Mofo Stout Blueberry & Danish Liquorice Edition (10.5%ABV)

Against the Grain: Bo & Luke (Port Barrel Aged) (13%ABV)

X-Beeriment: Brett the Elder (Berry) (9.3%ABV)

X-Beeriment: Agent Coopers Delight (10.5%ABV)

Siren: Chai Love You A Latte (6.5%ABV)

Siren: Oi! Zeus! (11.4%ABV)

Cigar City: Cheers! (10%ABV)

Firestone Walker: Double DBA (12%ABV)

Jester King: Funk Metal (8.2%ABV)

Hoppin’ Frog: Hop Heathen Imperial Black IPA (8.8%ABV)

Boxing Cat: King Louie (Bourbon Barrel Aged) (8%)

To Øl: Liquid Confidence (12.3%ABV)

Stillwater: Lower Dens (6%ABV)

Mikkeller: Spontandoubleblueberry (7.7%ABV)

Anchorage: The Tide and its Takers (9%ABV)

Mikkeller: X Barley Wine 2006/2013 (12.9%ABV)

Westbrook: Mexican Cake (10.5%ABV)

Arrogant Ales

Posted on April 21, 2013 by bierebelle

Wow guys it’s been a while hasn’t it! For some unknown reasons I’ve been finding it really difficult to find the time to blog recently. Maybe it’s that the prolonged winter hasn’t done a lot to inspire me to write but spring has sprung and I have a pretty awesome year ahead. The highlight of the beery year (so far) comes as early as Saturday May 4th when I’ll be jetting off to Copenhagen to Mr Mikkeller’s fabulous Copenhagen Beer Celebration which promises to be a massive party featuring a who’s who of the greatest brewers working across the world today. It’s motivation to get drinking some of those beers I have stashed away just in case there’s anything worth bringing back. There was extra motivation to break into one of my special bottles today when the OH dropped a camera lens on the bottle of Stone Double Bastard (11.2%ABV). Don’t worry – the lens was somehow fine but the bottle cap was somehow slightly loosened so, since the seal was broken, we just had to drink it. Oh well. I’ve taken these here lucky taste buds of mine on quite an adventure since I started this blog. The first full-on American Strong Ale I tasted was Stone Arrogant Bastard which was possibly before I started blogging and it stuck in my mind as a benchmark for full-on over-hopped bitterness and big flavours – not to be messed with. However, a lot of beer has flowed since then and I

Arrogant like a Sauce Boss

recently revisited the Arrogant Bastard. Although it remains a well-made and tasty ale, it didn’t blow me away as it did the first time round. So would Stone deliver the next big hit with their Double Bastard? According to the website, the IBU count is actually classified and the blurb from the label promises much. Well the good news is this bastard has every right to be arrogant – this bad boy has swagger. The deep golden color is almost sunset red topped with a wispy white hint of foam. The aroma is dark malts and deep burnt caramel with a little spice. The flavor is a real wake-up for the tongue, starting with roasted malts in spades and delicious candy sweetness, then diving into devilishly deep bitterness offset by a little berry fruit and a hint of wood. It packs a punch whilst staying well-rounded, balanced and complex.There’s only a tiny burn at the back which has a rum-like warmth. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how it shines through in the Double-Burn Habanero sauce (pictured as part of the unholy ‘trinity’ of hot sauce) when I find an excuse to open that – maybe it’ll have a run-in with a falling Tupperware and then of course I’ll have to try it!

Wild thing

Posted on March 3, 2013 by bierebelle

The apple of my eye!

As a lover of apples and a hater of cider, I have often wondered why somebody can’t just make an apple beer!? Then I chanced upon Unibroue Ephemere (5.5%ABV), a candy-cane sweet Belgian style apple ale last October and found that I was right – apples can make a good beer! Unfortunately this was over in Vancouver and the brewery is in Quebec so there’s little chance of finding it over in the UK. I’d almost lost hope on another apple ale until I spotted the Wild Beer Co‘s Ninkasi,(9%ABV) a very strange beast named after the ancient Greek goddess of beer. It’s a Belgian-style saison with New Zealand hops, wild yeast and Someset apple juice. If this all sounds rather zingy for you, be warned that champagne yeast is added at secondary fermentation to take the effervescent bubbles up to the next level.

Whilst I love a pretty bottle and noticed this one partly due to it’s striking appearance, I soon realized it may not have been a good idea after all. The regular metal lid was coated in wax which had been elegantly allowed to drip down the sides but there’s just one issue with this. When the wax is solid and the beer inside is potentially pretty lively, wrestling with a tough seal is a fast-track to a very beery kitchen. Eventually we ran a sharp knife around the edge and then held our breaths in anticipation as the OH gallantly prized open the lid. Thankfully disaster had been avoided. Now the main challenge was in pouring the damned thing using the good old ‘pour half an inch then wait for the head to top the glass then subside’ method. But what a sensational saison. They were right about the bubbles! The rustic aroma has a hint of the apples and the taste is so unbelievably crisp and dry you can almost taste the crunch – there’s definitely a hint of champagne-ness. It doesn’t have the typical flavor one would expect from New Zealand hops; there’s a lot of bitterness and a hint of citrus but the tart apple is the star of the show here. It”s a world away from the candy apple Unibroue Ephemere which makes me wonder where else brewers can go with delicious apples.

Squeal Piggy!

Posted on February 8, 2013 by bierebelle

Could this be how we make beer for girls!

My word holy smoke we finally have the long-awaited Rogue Voodoo Maple Bacon Ale! We heard it had hit down at our beloved local beer emporium, Bitter Virtue and rushed down to grab a bottle before it all went, but would it live up to the hype? I’ve been a fan of Rogue Ales for a long time and beers such as the Mocha Porter and the Chatoe OREgasmic are a tough act to follow! With an ingredient listing including Cherrywood, Beachwood & Hickory Smoked Malts and Applewood Smoked Bacon I really really wanted this to live up to the hype and guess what…it actually surpassed expectations! Especially so after the bitter disappointment of Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown ale and having read many an unfavourable review. I was concerned that I’d built myself up to be let down. It’s a collaboration with Portland doughnut crazies, Voodoo whose idiotic offerings include such delights as Cock & Balls and the Tex-Ass Challenge so you know this beer aint’ gonna be subtle whether that’s good or bad. I started to feel a little happer pouring it out of the bottle, seeing the joyful bright red sunrise colour but one whiff of that aroma confirmed my suspicions about the treat I had in store. What an enormously extravagant hit of maple sending me right back to Canada. The first sip has all of that maple sweetness, but then there’s the extraordinarily dirty smoke like you’re sitting downwind from a barbeque caked with burnt-on bacon that’s been cooking non-stop for 6 hours. Then you get to the salt. I would not be in the least bit surprised if you had enough of this to fill a pool, you would float in it like in the sea, although such wastefulness would be unthinkable. In fact, there’s so much sticky-sweet salty maple caramel I’m surprised it pours from the bottle so much like a liquid! This beer is massive and I suspect a bit like marmite. But more salty. You’ll love it or loath it. I love it. Don’t worry about horse in your lasagne and get some bacon in your beer

The rest of the haul from Bitter Virtue

What would your last beer be?

Posted on November 30, 2012 by bierebelle

So I had actually thought that with all this cold weather I would find more time to get blogging. No chance! Christmas is hurtling towards us like it’s been shot from a catapult and this one may even be our last if you believe those Mayans and their crazy calendar. In fact, if the world ends on December 21st all of this running around the shops in a mad and crazy panic will all have been for nowt. Maybe the apocalypse will begin with War breaking out over the last Furby, Pestilence spread amongst cheerless shoppers shuffling through the over-crowded high-streets, Famine as the German markets close and we can no longer shovel down foot-long bratwurst and finally the Death of any chance of sobriety and sanity.

Torrent of awesome

I’ve always been one to cut things fine but the deadline to finish my blogs about the exciting Craft beer from Canada could turn out to be pretty final so I’d better get on with it. Those guys at Elysian, located South of the border in Seattle, decided they would mark the End of Days with a series of 12 commemorative beers, one for each month of 2012. Their brief for their brewers was simple: which 12 beers would you brew if you knew they would be your last? Apocalyptic beer requires awesome artwork which was taken from comic book artist Charles Burn‘s fabulous Black Hole series. I was lucky enough to catch two of them whilst I was in Vancouver. The Maelstrom Blood Orange IPA was an amazing marmalade treat I enjoyed from the tap at the Alibi Rooms. The second one I got hold of was Torrent, a pale beet bock, at an off-licence and I was glad to have the bottle just for the artwork. Out of the bottle, it was the colour of the last sunset; golden red burning up the little fluffy white clouds with in glorious destruction. There was a definite beetroot aroma lifted with a touch of honey and the flavour was perfectly balanced and lightly malted with lots of proper, honest beetroot. Earthy, vegetal, deliciously bitter and incredibly dry at the end. As a beetroot juice addict, this would definitely go on my list of beers to drink as I watch the world burn!

If you brew your own brewer and like a little experimentation, the list of 12 is pretty inspirational. Which beer would you brew for the end of the world?

January: NIBIRU Yerba Mate Tripel

February: RAPTURE Heather Ale

March: FALLOUT Green Cardamom Pale Ale

April: PESTE Chocolate Chile Ale

May: RUIN Rosemary Agave IPA

June: WASTELAND Elderflower Saison

July: TORRENT Pale Beet Bock

August: MAELSTROM Blood Orange Ale

September: BLIGHT Pumpkin Ale

October: OMEN Belgian Raspberry Stout

November: MORTIS Sour Persimmon Ale

December: DOOM Golden Treacle Pale

It’ll be owl white!

Posted on October 6, 2012 by bierebelle

As a big fan of owls, I really cannot resist the ridiculously cute labels on the Kiuchi Brewery‘s Hitachino Nest range of beers. Kiuchi have traditionally brewed Kikusakari sake but branched out into beer in 1996 and have scooped a number of awards for their range since. A while ago the Brewdog online store had them in so I just had to snap them all up. They’re so cute that I’ve almost been reluctant to drink them as they’re a joy to just have out on the shelf but, since we were having an Asian-inspired dinner tonight, I decided this was the perfect occasion to open the White Ale (5.5%) I had been hanging on to.

Owl drink twoo that!

In the glass, it’s a really beautifully cloudy golden yellow with a crown of joyful, albeit fleeting white clouds, reminiscent of the autumn sun through the trees. Fresh, sweet orange and corriander leap out on the nose. The flavour is clean and dry and has a really well-balanced herbal nutmeg and corriander twang up-front followed by a bitter and super-dry marmalade orange. Throughout the whole thing there’s a rustic wheatiness and a touch of tropical pineapple acidity, elegantly topped with a sprinkle of white pepper. This is possibly my favorite of all the Hitachino Nests so far. It was the perfect refreshment for my spicy, salty black rice and salmon dish but the style was decidedly more European than Asian. Delicious nevertheless! Another win for those owls but then everyone is fond of owls.

Further adventures in the North

Posted on August 23, 2012 by bierebelle

A super selection at the North Bar

Wow it’s been a busy month! So little time to blog so sorry about the general silence from Bierebelle HQ. What an amazing month of an amazing year to reach that milestone 30 – it’s been a whole month of birthday! Between spending my evenings glued to the Olympics and now glued to the Paralympics, I managed to fit in a short trip up North to the wonderful West Yorkshire. Before heading off to Bradford for a music festival, first stop was Leeds where I just had to call in at the lovely little North Bar asap. Part of a small family of Leeds pubs which includes the cozy Cross Keys and even a beery ice-cream van, although not for much longer since they’re selling it. How long ’till Christmas? Although it looks tiny from the outside, North Bar actually boasts a pretty enviable selection. On the day we went, out of 16 taps I saw 6 dark beers which for me is a pretty admirable ratio, although it makes sense on a rainy August day.The range on the bar includes a Dunkel from Erdinger, Coffee Porter from Flying Dog, a Cream Stout and two IPAs from Sierra Nevada – there’s something for everyone! The prices are pretty much what you expect in London. I had an X-Ray (8.5%ABV) from the Italian Brewfist at a fiver for a half but I guess it’s pretty rare to find in the UK. Tasting it I soon forgot the dent in my wallet (well, my boyfriend’s wallet). You could get lost in this luxurious dark Italian stallion of a beer. It had the aroma of delicious caramel with tones of burnt wood and in the flavor the sweetness hit first. Treacle toffee oozed through before a bitter coffee sweeping through to a woody leather finish. Sophisticated, elegant and complex. The OH was lucky enough to try a gorgeous Brooklyn Mary’s Maple Porter (6.9%ABV, draft only so fairly special!) which was a big mama of a sweet malty drama with voluptuously unctuous maple syrup taking it to the limit of what could turn out sickly but staying damned drinkable.

Next on our whistle-stop tour of the bars of Leeds was Friends of Ham, located on New Station Street which has become one of my favorite streets in the city. Nestled alongside Laynes Espresso, serving the best coffee around, and brew-pub Leeds Brewery Tap, Friends of Ham is the tiny bar station with a big secret in the basement. Descend below street level and you’ll find yourself in a cozy, laid back lounge complete with comfy sofas, eclectic-chic unmatched tables and chairs, sociable long dining tables and a Shuffleboard (which somebody must explain to me some time)! Check out the gorgeous photos on their Facebook page if you’re not convinced.

Hey little piggy!

It boasts a brilliant cask and keg range for such little bar space. I finally had the chance to try Williams Brothers Birds & Bees (4.3%ABV) after admiring the artwork on the website ages ago but never seeing it in real life. It was exactly what I wanted it to be, like a hazy summer afternoon of snoozing by a river-warm amber gold with sweet honey aroma. Honey is perfectly balanced by floral hops. Imagine this with crusty baguette and soft cheese lying somewhere in a field, if summer were ever to return. The OH had a Dark Star Revelation (5.7%ABV) which also had a little of the honey flavor like Birds & Bees, rounding off the overwhelming huge hops and a lingering dry bitterness to finish. Another win from Dark Star – can they ever go wrong? We loved this place so much we actually called in on the way out of Leeds to sample their charcuterie delights. Well it is just next door to the station. As a light lunch, the two of us shared a mixed meat and cheese board which came with delicious fresh bread, cornichons and a duo of delightful onion marmalade and a warming orange habanero jelly. The smoked goats cheese was the best I’ve had so far with a mild goats-milk tang and perfect amount of smoke and the garlic cheese wrapped in garlic leaves was incredibly delicious without anti-social amounts of garlic. I was pleased I took the suggestion of the lovely lady at the bar and went for the salted beef and I also tried the fancy salami studded with fennel seeds which gave it a pretty refreshing twist.To wash it down I indulged in a half of Delerium Red (8.5%ABV) which I had never actually encountered before. It was gorgeously full of rich and juicy cherries with a trace of bitterness in the after-taste. Still not as good as my much-loved Sam Smith’s Organic Cherry Ale but tasty nevertheless.

The gorgeous bar at Mr.Foley’s

Thankfully, we also had the chance to drop in on the York Brewery‘s Western outpost, Mr.Foley’s. It’s a lovely proper pub and the huge bar has a high ceiling so while you wait for your beer there’s plenty of interesting bottles to browse, although many are from times past and may just invoke fond memories. There’s 3 or 4 taps devoted to York Brewery so it’s a must-visit for me if I’m not actually going to York! Alongside are about 6 on cask including some changing guests and 4 on keg. I had my beloved Ghost Ale (5.4%) which we all know by now is one of my desert island ales and I love for it’s rich creamy chocolaty goodness. I don’t know whether the ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ saying is appropriate or whether this was just perfectly well-kept but I swear this was even better than I remember. The OH went for a delightful Sierra Nevada Summerfest (5.0%) which was a delightfully light, citrus hopped Pilsner style. To round off our one night in Leeds, I decided to try a Bellerose which is the blonde from Brasserie des Sources, a brewery founded by by Gerrard Depardieu. In all, it was pretty typical of the style with all you expect including the off-putting aroma (or is it just me who finds that?). The flavour was smooth despite the herbal zingy hops and joyful carbonation. Although I was quite content with the Bellerose (6.5%ABV), I did find myself fairly jealous of the OH’s Buxton Imperial Black and couldn’t wait to finish my beer so I could pour myself some of his.. Had Brewdog Libertine? This is Libertine’s bolder, larger-than-life swashbuckling cousin. Hoppyer with a truckload more blackcurrant and a zesty citrus pow!

So, as you can see, mostly I haven’t been blogging because I’ve actually been out and about on my travels. You could even call it research. We had barely had the chance to unpack on our return from Bradford before we were back on the plane to the Emerald Isle… More on that soon!

The York Brewery Pumpclip Collection

The Ginger Beer that could possibly blast a Hole in the Wall

Posted on August 19, 2012 by bierebelle

Everyone loves a ceiling covered in pump clips

Living in Southampton, it’s frustrating that good pubs are so few and good beer is mostly only available to drink from bottles at home. Sometimes it’s nice to drink somewhere outside the home where it’s friendly and the beer selection is good. Thankfully, since I only live a short walk from the train station, the South of England is pretty much my oyster at the weekends and one place I love to go is Portsmouth – a girl can’t just survive on beer. She’s gotta shop once in a while and Gunwharf is lovely for a potter around. Just a short walk along the seafront at some point Portsmouth melts into the gentle seaside town of Southsea which is where you will find one of my favorite pubs down here,The Hole in the Wall. It’s such a cozy little pub it almost lives up to its name so it’s a good job the patrons all seem so good-natured every time you have to squeeze through to get to the bar. Since Portsmouth is a Naval town, there’s folk from all over the country and I find it comforting to hear Northern accents whenever I wander into The Hole.The first thing that attracted me to the place was that I heard they were selling a proper real ginger beer, a ginger beer that would make the Famous Five weep with joy.

Wheal Maiden’sGrandma’s Weapons Grade Ginger Beer has become the standard ginger beers must

Poor Bierebelle got the wrong one. Lucky it was only a half!

live up to for me. It’s allegedly 5.5%ABV although I would not be surprised if there’s still a bit of fermentation occuring in that white plastic barrel it’s served from. Although it used to be on the bar at the Hole In the Wall every time we went in, it’s become slightly more random now. Thankfully there’s plenty of awesome ales to choose from so we always end up staying. The landlord must be something of a connoiseur as he keeps his ales perfectly and sources them from the very best breweries up and down the country. The last time we went in, I made a duff choice on my first drink, Quantock Royal Stag (6%ABV) which had a bit of a sicky smell and no real hop flavour, despite being marketed as a ‘traditional IPA.’ However, the OH had a pretty delectably nutty Irving Admiral (4.3%ABV) oatmeal stout which I managed to trade with him halfway though. To my delight, also on the bar was Magic Rock Carnival (4.3%ABV), a gorgeously golden summer ale with a full hop aroma with candy lemons. Magic Rock do a cracking job and The Hole is one of the only places down this way where I have seen it on tap. With the initial hit of lemons the Royal Stag had become a distant memory and then the hoppy bitterness and a trace of bitter orange at the end provided a magnificent full finish. Also on the bar was the slightly dialed-down but still very refreshing Curious (3.9%ABV) which the OH was more than happy with.

Finally the Weapon’s Grade is back!

Although the Magic Rock had been awesome and a really rare treat, I was still missing my lovely ginger (as were two other people who came in while we were there and asked after it). I hadn’t had any since the day I celebrated completing the Great South Run at The Hole a year before. Thankfully, last weekend my luck had finally turned and I got a pint of what I had been waiting for and it was indeed worth the wait. As is usual when ordering a pint of this stuff, it came with the usual ‘watch out love, it’s a bit strong’ warnings from regulars propping up the bar which is a sure sign of a good drink. The lemon and ginger aroma is so clean and fresh, it’s almost worryingly like something you could clean your sink with it it’s so sharp. Any readers familiar with those lip-tingling plumping lip-glosses will already be familiar with the ginger burn but you get the bonus of the lovely sweetness and a mouth-watering dryness at the end. Looking at the milky white colour, the OH did point out that it had more in common with cider than beer, and he may be right but I love it no matter what it is. The only problem is I can’t normally drink more than a pint without getting giddy!