New Brew June 2024
This newsletter is all about beer - if you don't like beer, it's probably not for you.
But if you like beer, want to learn more about it, or just want to read something a bit different to the usual stuff on LinkedIn, stick around.
Why New Brew Thursday?
Every Thursday, my husband (Alex) and I try a beer we've never tried before. Sometimes we try a few different styles from the same brewery. Sometimes we try a few similar styles from different breweries and compare. Sometimes we try one we've had before and compare it to a new one. Sometimes we just have a beer.
And sometimes, we try beers on days other than Thursday.
So I thought I'd create a monthly newsletter to share my beery experiences and provide a round-up of what we've been tasting.
A Summer Selection
Despite the lack of sunshine recently, it is summertime, which is the perfect time for light, tropical and fruity beers. And we've had a few this month from some of our favourite Yorkshire breweries.
Hop, Skip & juice is a delicious hazy pale ale from Vocation and a new brew for us - definitely in our top five new brews of the month.
Faith & Peach from Northern Monk is a variant of Faith (one of my favourite beers) with subtle peach flavours - lovely and refreshing.
Volta is a rhubarb and blood orange sour from North that we absolutely love. It's a seasonal beer so it isn't available all year round, but we picked a couple of cans up as soon as it was in stock.
Hop, Skip & Juice (5.7%) from Vocation
Brewer's note: A beer that’ll get lips hopping and mouths skipping.This tropical pale ale is jumping with juice and filled to the brim with feel-good flavour. Beers like this are the reason we leap out of bed in the morning. Dive into splashes of citrussy Simcoe and delicate drops of Citra, complete with a soft juicy finish.
Brewer's website: Vocation Brewery
Faith & Peach (4.5%) from Northern Monk
Brewer's note: Faith, the hazy pale that blazed a trail, but with a sweet & tart taste. Craft brewed with Northern pride and bursting with juicy, peachy flavours.
Brewer's website: Keep the Faith - Northern Monk
Volta from (4.1%) North
Brewer's note: The original recipe was concocted in 2017, as we took our first steps into the world of sours. The main ingredient in Volta is the locally sourced fuchsia pink rhubarb from Rothwell, one corner of the nine-square-mile area that makes up the Rhubarb Triangle.This 4.1% kettle sour is made with plenty of wheat, with the locally sourced fresh rhubarb and seasonal blood oranges added into the whirlpool, taking on all those delicious, vibrant flavours. Dry, tangy, zesty and super sessionable, this is a North staple to welcome in the change of the seasons.
Brewer's website: North Brewing Co?
Out and about in Porto
We started the month in Porto and, in between lots of port and wine tastings, we made time to sample some local beers.
Two of Portugal's most popular beers are Super Bock and Sagres, both of which were widely available (and in some bars and restaurants, the only beers available). Super Bock and Sagres are what you'd expect from macro beers, so I'm not going to go into much detail about those but we also tried the Super Bock Stout and the Sagres Preta. If you like darker beers and you're out and about in Portugal, then these offer an alternative to lager.
Fortunately, we were also able to sniff out some local craft beers (which were much better in my opinion).
Plus we found a fantastic little craft beer bar called Armazém da Cerveja where we had a lovely red ale and a rather strong Belgian quad-style beer.
Letra D (6%) from Letra
Letra is a craft brewery situated in the village of Vila Verde, near Braga and we stumbled across their beers while on a visit to Braga. Each of the beers in their core range has a letter from A-G, which is helpful if you're not great at remembering beer names.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to try them all so we opted for Letra D - a lovely 6% red ale.
Brewer's note: Letra D has a reddish colour and an intense flavour of caramel and attractive fruity aromas resulted by the use of American Cascade hops.
Brewer's website: Cerveja Letra
Brasao IPA (6.5%)from The Browers Company
We came across this beer in a little restaurant where we tried Porto's speciality sandwich - the Francesinha. Served in a ceramic cup, it was a good IPA and rounded off our meal perfectly.
Brewer's note: An IPA in which American hops shine, reinforced by Citra, Simcoe and Cascade hops dry-hopping. Intense body and aroma with notes of tropical fruits, and a clear bitter aftertaste, well balanced in the mouth.
Brewer's website: The Browers Company
Red Zeppelin (5%) from Cerveja Musa
One of two beers we tried at a great craft beer bar called Armazém da Cerveja.
Brewer's note: Scarlet colour and medium body. Pungent pine, peach and orange scents. Slightly dry and bitter aftertaste. Pure class!
Brewer's website: Cerveja Musa | Loja Online
20.01 Belgian Quadruple (9.5%) from Burguesa
Another of the local beers on tap at Armazém da Cerveja. A Portuguese beer inspired by and brewed in the style of a Belgian Quadruple.
Brewer's note: 12 month aged in PortWood Whisky Barrel. With orange peel and coriander.
Brewer's website: Catálogo - Todos os produtos | BURGUESA Craft Beer
Beer Battle: La Trappe (Netherlands)
Trappist beers are beers brewed by monks in their monasteries. There are only thirteen Trappist breweries in the world and only ten of them are allowed to display the Authentic Trappist Product logo on their beer products. To meet the criteria of an Authentic Trappist Product:
La Trappe is one of two Trappist breweries located in the Netherlands (five are in Belgium, one in Italy, one in Austria and one in England).
We decided to try five La Trappe beers - a Witte, a Blond, a Dubbel, a Tripel and a Quadrupel. We started with the Witte as it was the lowest ABV, then we tried the Blond, followed by the Tripel, before moving on to the dark beers - the Dubbel and the Quad.
A strong start - the Witte had the spiciness you'd expect from a wit without being overpowering and it had a lovely dry finish. The Blond had a stronger banana aroma, was less peppery and not as dry on the finish. It wasn't a particularly complex beer but was super smooth.
The Tripel was my favourite of the light beers. It had a slightly spicy, orangey flavour and the sweetness of the malts came through. It's not the best Tripel I've ever had, but it's pretty decent.
The Dubbel had a lovely treacle flavour with notes of candied dark fruits and honey. Lovely and smooth (although I think too much of it might have gotten a bit too sweet).
The Quad was the standout of the night - lighter in colour than the Dubbel but deeper in flavour and not quite as sweet. It had a slight spiciness but also had that lovely treacle flavour like bonfire toffee.
Witte 5.5%
Brewer's note: The first Trappist white ale in the world. Light-blonde, cloudy with a firm and long-lasting head. Smooth, malty, lightly sour and tingling sensation due to the carbonation. A consistently drinkable, refreshing thirst quencher.
Blond 6.5%
Brewer's note: Trappist beer with a golden hue, La Trappe Blond offers a rich taste experience while remaining approachable. It delivers a fruity aroma with malt scents and a spicy palate with notes of caramel.
Tripel 8%
Brewer's note: Amber-coloured Trappist ale with a broken white head. The harmonious taste starts off fruity and shifts to malty caramel; a perfectly balanced ale.
Dubbel 7%
Brewer's note: Classic dark-brown Trappist ale with an ivory-coloured head. A full malty and caramel-sweet taste with a subtle, sweet influence of dates, honey and dried fruits.
Quadrupel 10%
Brewer's note: Characteristically Trappist ale and the source for the name of this ale style. Warm, amber-coloured with a cream-coloured head. The full, heart-warming and intense taste is malty with sweet tones of dates and caramel.
Brewer's website: Taste the silence - La Trappe Trappist
Battle of the Belgian Breweries
As we're off to Belgium next month, we thought we'd work our way through some Belgian beers to get an idea of the styles and breweries we like best. After all, we won't be able to try all of them when we're there.
Westmalle
Westmalle is one of the five authentic Trappist breweries in Belgium. We've tried their Dubbel and Tripel in the past, so the Extra was the only new brew, but we wanted to try them together.
I wasn't too keen on the Extra. It was ok, but I felt like something was missing and it just didn't do it for me. The Dubbel was good, but not quite as good as I remember it being. The Tripel was the best of the night for me but still didn't blow me away if I'm completely honest.
Extra (4.8%)
Brewer's note: This is one of the oldest beers of Westmalle Abbey, with a tradition that dates back to the start of our brewery. It was created to drink with meals in the abbey, something the monks still do today. As a top fermented golden yellow Trappist beer, the Extra is unique in combining a low alcohol content (4.8%) with a rich flavour. Enjoy its fruity notes and its refreshing, thirst-quenching character.
Dubbel (7%)
Brewer's note: Westmalle Dubbel is a dark, reddish-brown Trappist beer with a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The creamy head has the fragrance of special malt and leaves an attractive lace pattern in the glass. The flavour is rich and complex, herby and fruity with a fresh-bitter finish. It is a balanced quality beer with a soft feel in the mouth and a long, dry aftertaste.
Tripel (9.5%)
Brewer's note: Was first brewed in 1934 and the recipe has not changed since 1956. It is made with pale candy sugar and has a very pale color produced from a mash of light pilsener malts. Styrian Goldings hops are used along with some German varieties and the classic Saaz pilsener hop. After a long secondary fermentation, the Tripel Westmalle is bottled with a dose of sugar and yeast. This beer holds up well in the bottle over time and seems to soften with age.
Brewer's website: Trappist Westmalle | Abbey of the Trappists Westmalle
Straffe Hendrik
Brouwerij De Halve Maan is an authentic family brewery in the centre of Bruges. ?It brews four brands of beer and one of them is Straffe Hendrick. As we've got a brewery tour booked for next month, we decided to familiarise ourselves with this range.
We started with the Tripel and followed it up with the Wild which is made using the same recipe before undergoing a refermentation in the bottle. It was interesting to try both so we could understand what the refermentation does to the flavour.
The Tripel had banana aromas that didn't come through as much in the taste. There was a hint of cloves and a light bitterness on the finish. The Wild was fizzier and funky in flavour.
We finished with the Quadrupel which was our favourite of the three beers. The aroma was similar to the Tripel but it didn't taste as boozy. It had a velvety mouthfeel and a lovely dried fruit flavour.
Straffe Hendrik Tripel (9%)
Brewer's note: The beer is strong and full-bodied. The tripel has an alcohol percentage of 9% and the refermentation in the bottle generates a long natural shelf life. Caramel taste flows into bitterness, with the aftertaste comes a subtle hint of banana in combination with citrus fruits.
Straffe Hendrik Wild 10%
Brewer's note: Our Straffe Hendrik Wild is a wild variant of the well-known Straffe Hendrik Tripel. The beer undergoes a refermentation in the bottle with a wild yeast: the 'Brettanomyces' or 'Brett' yeast. This gives the beer a longer natural shelf life and ensures a special taste evolution over the years. The beer is only bottled once a year, so there is only a limited supply of each edition available. After three months in the warm room the re-yeasting of the wild yeast is complete, and the young beer is ready to drink. The beer however does keep evolving over the years. The bitter hop aromas are softened, while the wild yeast continues to develop and create fruity and flowery aromas.
Straffe Hendrik Brugs Quadrupel Bier 11° (11%)
Brewer's note: Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel, launched in 2010, is an intense beer, dark in colour and full in taste.The aroma is elegant, spicy and slightly roasted.The sophisticated blend of special kinds of malt give the beer a complex character, combining a delicate dryness with hints of coriander, dark fruits, anise and roasted chestnuts. The palate finishes in a syrupy taste.The refermentation in the bottle creates a living beer that will evolve over the years.Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel finds an excellent partner in chocolate when it comes to foodpairing.
Brewer's website: Straffe Hendrik | The art of brewing
Venue Shoutout: The Tetley
We love The Tetley and have visited for food and drinks with various friends and family members over the years. So we were sad to hear it was closing.
Fortunately, a few weeks later, it was announced that Kirkstall Brewery would be taking on the lease with plans to make it a hub for great beer from Leeds and renew its status as a “landmark of Yorkshire beer culture”.
It reopened in May, but we've only just got around to visiting. We decided to head there for my birthday celebrations (and to watch the England game that happened to be on the same day).
I love the new look. While the layout hasn't really changed, the furniture and decor gives it a much cosier feel.
As well as a fridge full of Leeds-brewed beers (with a couple of non-local beers and wines), they offer a great selection of beers on draft and cask.
Because we were there for a few hours (and the game went to extra time), we were able to work our way through a good selection of beers.
We started with a fruited pale ale, followed by a cherry beer, then we moved on to the cask beers. We tried a delicious roasty porter brewed with 100% British ingredients and a lovely pale ale brewed with all English hops. As the game went to extra time, we decided to finish with the Mango IPA that had just been added on draft.
Summer Pi?ata (4.5%) by North
Brewer's note: Pi?ata but not as you know it.Our 2024 edition combines subtle, sweet strawberry with tangy, tropical lychee for a super crushable pale ale to enjoy in the sunshine.This super light and refreshing edition of Pi?ata uses our classic base of extra pale, wheat and oats, with Belma added in the whirlpool for floral aromas. We take this and divide the base between two tanks: one gets loaded with almost a tonne of organic strawberry puree and lychee, whilst the other has been given Pinata’s signature dry hop. Delicate, summery and blush pink, like a Brit in the sun, and ready for the BBQ’s and picnics ahead!
Kirkstall Kriek (3.4%) by Kirkstall Brewery
Brewer's note: A Belgian-style cherry beer brewed for us by Brouwerij Haacht in Belgium. A medium-bodied and well-balanced fruit beer, rich with summer cherries, gentle sweetness and a smooth, dry finish.
Railway Porter (4.8%) by The Five Points Brewing Company
Brewer's note: One of our very first beers with a recipe essentially unchanged ever since the first brew.A classic, robust London style porter – with our own twist. Smooth and full-bodied, bursting with aromas of dark, bitter chocolate, and roasted coffee. Brewed with 100% British ingredients, East Kent Goldings Hops and an array of seven different malts of Maris Otter, Brown, Crystal, Chocolate, Munich, Dark Crystal, Black.
Reunion Pale (4.3) by Leeds Brewery (a collab with Harrogate Brewing Co.)
Unfortunately, there are new brewer's notes for this beer, but the description on the tap handle let us know it was a collab between Harrogate Brewing co. and Leeds Brewery and that it was made with all English hops.
Mango IPA (5.5%) by Kirkstall Brewery
Brewer's note: Fresh, juicy mango adds exotic depth to this hazy IPA hopped with Galaxy, Citra and Simcoe.
Beer of the month
Northern Wild 004 Mixed Fermentation Ale
If you've never tried a wild or mixed fermentation beer, I highly recommend giving some a go. They taste so different from what you typically consider a beer to taste like.
We were heading over to see friends as part of my birthday celebrations so we decided to invest in a bottle of this limited edition mixed ferm saison from Northern Monk.
Our friends had never tried this style of beer before, so we were unsure what they'd make of it. Fortunately, it was a fantastic beer and we all loved it. And that's why it's our beer of the month.
Brewer's note: A very special, limited-edition blend of white wine barrel aged mixed fermentation saisons, made in collaboration with two of the world’s best wild and funky beer makers; Crossover Blendery from Hitchin, UK, and à tue-tête! from Aigle, Switzerland.? NW004 features funky citrus acidity, honey notes with white wine, soft stone fruits and vanilla with a drying and tannic finish. To make this edition, six barrels were chosen from four batches by Crossover and à tue-tête! when visiting us to pour at our Dark & Wild festival 2022.? The beer was then bottle-conditioned with champagne yeast.
Brewer's website: Keep the Faith - Northern Monk
What's on the menu for July?
Exciting news for July as we're currently putting together content for our brand new New Brew Thursday website. Rather than trying to squeeze everything into a monthly newsletter, the content will be broken down into categories.
There will be beer battle blogs, features on venues, taprooms and craft beer bars, and articles about geeky beer stuff. Plus, I'll be changing the monthly round-up - this will now focus on our top five beers, including our beer of the month.
What else?
We're off to Belgium in late July and already have brewery tours booked in both Brussels and Bruges. We'll also be on the hunt for great bars and any beers that aren't available in the UK. And, of course, we'll be doing some sightseeing in between refreshments.
I'm not a beer blogger - I'm a blogger who likes beer
Beer has nothing to do with my business (not directly at least).
Craft beer is an interest I share with my husband - something we enjoy together - and this newsletter is purely a passion project (for now). I like beer. I like writing, so why not write about beer?
I am not paid to promote any of the beers, breweries or businesses featured in this newsletter - I'm just sharing stuff I think might be of interest to you.
I would always encourage people to drink responsibly. UK Chief Medical Officers recommend adult men do not regularly exceed 3-4 units daily, and adult women do not regularly exceed 2-3 units daily. Drink responsibly www.drinkaware.co.uk
When we're drinking multiple new brews or new brews with high ABVs, we split the cans or bottles between us - otherwise, I'd get very little work done on a Friday.
And talking of work, here's a little reminder of what I do.
I provide copywriting training for individuals and teams and business mentoring for freelancers and small business owners.
Feel free to message me if you need help attracting and converting more of the clients you want, or if you'd like to send me free beer ??.
Sales Manager at GrowthPad, specialist consultants in R&D tax credits, Embedded Capital Allowances, Land Remediation and Patent Box tax reliefs.
4 个月Very informative and thorough Lisa Slater … this could be your full time day job!