Ruddles Rhubarb at the Allotment

Something different today with a trip to the allotment to taste Ruddles Rhubarb beer from Greene King.

The beer is a 4.7% beer flavoured with rhubarb. It was the winner of the Tesco Beer Challenge in 2007 and remains a regular in their stores.

The beer has a distinct vanilla aroma, followed by a slightly synthetic tasting rhubarb sweetness - reminiscent of old-fashioned rhubarb and custard sweets. This is balanced by a lasting bitterness provided by the Brambling Cross hops.

It is not a session beer but is pleasant enough on a warm day for refreshment and provides an interesting if somewhat unchallenging flavour.

Apologies as usual for the production quality of the video. Apologies for the aircraft noise - the price of living 6 miles from Heathrow. Apologies for the slip of the tongue - I meant rhubarb fool of course, not raspberry fool. And apologies from the passing gardeners who put me off towards the end. I prefer to leave it as a one take (so long as my head is in-shot), so all of the shortcomings are part of the "charm".

You can also find some of the older video blogs here.

Spent Grains

On my recent trips to Fullers and Sambrook's breweries, it struck me how different in scale they were when I saw the spent grains being removed from the brewery to be taken away by farmers for animal feed. I took two short videos and then had to work out how to present them together.

Here is my first effort at movie making - not bad for a luddite - but then again - not brilliant. I hope you agree though that despite the shortcomings of the arty side the point is well made. Fuller's is a large brewery that brews excellent beer. Sambrook's is a small one with excellent beer. The brewing process is very similar - attention to quality will always give a good product.

Final apology that the blog has become slightly Fuller's and Sambrook's centric. I must get out more.

Sambrook's - Fermentation

Another video taken on Sambrook's Brewery open day with David Welsh showing off his fermenters.

Sambrook's - Hops

Sambrook's Brewery in Battersea recently held an open day to give their customers a chance to have a look an the inner workings of their local brewery. I went along and took the opportunity to video some of the talks given during the day by David Welsh, one of the partners at Sambrook's.

David had spent some twenty odd years at Ringwood Brewery so knows a thing or two about brewing. I think his passion for the beer comes through well but my video skills need some improvement.

Another one tomorrow.

BEERmerchants.com

Join me as I take delivery of some extra special beers that I have just bought from Beermerchants.com.

I was overwhelmed with how good the Lost Abbey beers were at Christmas that I was thirsty for more. Of course, the Lost Abbey beers were quick to sell out but the Port Brewing pack is still available - Port Brewing being a sister company to Lost Abbey in California, but specialising in more hoppy IPA style beers.

There was also another special pack of rare beers from Struise, Mikkeller and De Molen - some collaborative brews and all hardly ever seen in this coutry apart from the most adventurous of CAMRA beer festivals. Again a short run and the special nature of this offer meant it was quick to sell out but the beers from Mikkeller are still available.

Finally, a few beers from Boon Brewery in Belgium, specialising in the famous wild, sour beers generally only available in Belgium.

BEERmerchants.com do not only sell beer for beer geeks, that would not be much of a business. Their mainstream offerings are just as interesting. Their mixed packs are good value and an easy way to spread your wings as far as beer drinking is concerned. I can also say that their customer service and delivery service is excellent.

Morris Dancing at the Willoughby Arms

I try to take my camera and my small video camera wherever I go these days just in case I come across something interesting to share.

I arrived late afternoon at the Willoughby Arms beer festival having been delayed by the other beer festival at the local Wetherspoons. A long afternoon enjoying the range of 30 odd beers quickly turned into evening and the Ewell St Mary Morris Men arrived to dance. Of course, they needed fuel before they could muster the energy required but after a few jugs of foaming ale they got down to do their stuff.

As you can see by my short introduction, I think you need to be a bit pissed to enjoy Morris Dancing but for entertainment on St George's Day you cannot beat it.

This is eccentric England at its finest.

Video Blog 1 - Zywiec Porter

I purchased this new gadget last month and have now plucked up the confidence to have a go at a video blog.

I am keen to share some interesting, less common beers, guide people to interesting web-sites, books or magazines, and generally to have some fun with new media.

Although I think I need to be a bit more thorough on the beer tasting, it is not bad for a first effort from a complete technophobe but I let you be the final judge. I would appreciate feed back whether this is OK or not.

The beer tasted is Zywiec Porter, a 9.5% baltic porter imported from Poland. This brewery has been brewing since 1856 and the beer has been made since 1881 so I guess they are getting the hang of it.

The beer was served and tasted at a cellar temperature but as it warmed up afterwards the complexities came through. Some really nice fruit flavours, fruit cake, vanilla and raisins with very little harshness from such a high gravity beer. The highlight was the longest finish and lovely bitter aftertaste that I have tasted recently.

The web-sites mentioned are

www.thebeerboy.co.uk - Zak Avery, Beer Writer of the Year

and

www.boakandbailey.com - Boak and Bailey from the beer blog world.

Sorry but thus far, I have not managed to work out how to upload the video ! The first video blog without a video :-) Hopefully it is now here.

Cheers for now