#120: Fuller's London Pride

Who would have thought that thus far, one of the best pints I've ever had would be a humble London Pride?

Granted, this is much different to anything I've had from the bottle or can. Those servings are all well and good, being reliable and tasty, and while I loved some Pride only a few months ago, it's not something I go out of my way to get anymore. That is, until it appeared in it's cask form at the Bierhaus. 

Eager to finally have a true cask experience (I do not include the fumbled ball that was the Helvick Gold in B&C), I made my way to the 'haus at opening time to get stuck in - I even watched as the cask was prepared, and gladly accepted the very first pint of the stuff.

Cask London Pride pours copper as you'd expect, and the aroma is gorgeous. Like so many English ales it's balanced to perfection, and while that often crosses the fine line to boring mediocrity, here everything seems so very lively. With the first sip, I think I understand what's going on. The hops are incredibly potent; that's not to say it's very bitter, not at all, but it really tastes like what I imagine fresh, whole cone hops to taste like. The effect is cooling on the tongue, which only enhances their fruity bitterness. The finish picks up on the caramel malt and throws in a fist of peanuts to seal the deal. The aftertaste is woody and longlasting.

While the flavours here are the same as what you'd get from the bottle, they're delivered so much more effectively. I don't know whether this is purely down to the cask, or the ultra-freshness of my pint, but I like it. 

No, I love it.

#63: Few More Cans?

The range of canned English ale really is increasing, or at least my access to it is. My local(est) Carry Out offered a smart 4 cans for €6.99, which I couldn't  resist. Rather than try four wholly new beers though, I only tried two new ones, reserving the remaining slots for Old Speckled Hen and personal favourite London Pride.

First up, London Pride. I've not got much more to say about this beer, as I've already hyped it up the maximum amount, but I suppose I'll go through the motions. Toffee malt hits hard on this ale, and it's extremely quaffable and  tasty. However, the body really pales in comparison to the bottled version.

Next of the batch to go down the hatch was Old Speckled Hen. Only around a week previous I'd had the bottled version again, and although it was enjoyable for about 300 mls, it became quite watery and boring in the finish. On the nose with the canned version I was surprised to find a touch of yeast amidst the usual malt and fruit balance. The body on this was extremely light, almost to the point of being watery, and yet it surprised me with a decently complex palette. Toffee malt is to the fore, with red and dark juicy fruits following up. It's not as bitter as the Pride, and it has better head retention.

Fuller's ESB was one of the new beers I opted for. Looking at my notes, I see the first word I wrote at the time was 'delicious'. It's certainly hoppier than the others but I still found a very strong biscuit malt backbone, with elements of, you guessed it, toffee. For the sake of variety, I might have said caramel, but really it was deeper than that. Hops make themselves known by lending a slight oily and astringent character to the beer, while the oily fruitiness lingers long after the finish. As time goes on, caramel does develop in the malty section of the drink, as well as very surprising hint of booze for a beer of 5.9%.

The last of the bunch was also new to me - Marston's Pedigree. To be frank, it's watery, it's got a slightly cider-like green apple element, it's got a very mild (or weak) malt character, and a very mild bitterness. Unremarkable, so don't bother.

So far, of all the English ales I've tried from the can, Fuller's ESB is by far the best. The biggest problem I have with the can is the apparent weakness to the body that I've noticed in most of the beers, but there's no real lack of fullness to the ESB. I look forward to trying the bottled version - it may replace London Pride as my go-to English ale. 

#48: Euro 2012 Beer Semi Finals

It took me a while to work out the tasting of these four beers, so while I was at it, I decided on the overall winner...

But that'll come later on.

First of all, we have the semi finals to get through, so let's see who'll be making up the final later on tonight.

SF 1 - Ireland v England: This was always gonna be a tough one. On the one hand, Ireland's Carraig Dubh is a thoroughly enjoyable, complex, flavoursome and rich porter. It succeeded in an area where very few have done the job for me. That, and the fact that I genuinely just love the flavour and aroma I get from the beer, is the reason Ireland have come so far in the competition. On the other hand, however, is England's London Pride. While the complexity and intensity does not quite match that of the porter (at least not anymore), my enjoyment of it's layered malt, fruit and hop flavours has not diminished a bit. It's incredibly satisfying and refreshing, with a drinkability that I find hard to match. 

Clearly, both beers have winning points, but I suppose the best test is as follows; if I was to go shopping for beer, which of these two would I pick up? Around 7 or 8 times out of 10, I'd go for London Pride. It's consistent, reliable, and I never question buying a bottle. As such, England go through.

SF 2 - Germany v France: I'm only realising now that these two matchups are rather similar. There's the new, exciting beer that I tried and that really impressed me in the form of the French 3 Monts, and there's an old favourite, a beer that I buy almost automatically when I shop for beer. The thing is, there's a significant difference between my opinions of Paulaner and London Pride. Both are my favourite beers in their respective styles, both managed to really impress me and stand head an shoulders above their peers. But in the past 6-8 months, my tastes have changed considerably. I no linger look for Hefes and Wits the way I used to. Instead, I look to explore Belgian, English or American ales, even including porters and stouts. Often, this leads to me finding a style that I had not known existed before, like a Bière de Garde, represented wonderfully by the great 3 Monts. This beer is satisfying to no end. I've said it before but I'll say it again - it just feels so nourishing. This beer tastes like it's made on a farm, for farmers to drink. And it's surprisingly drinkable and refreshing for it's alcohol content, yet the body never feels too light. Brilliant beer...

And there we have it. England will play France to find out which nation in Euro 2012 has my favourite beer. Oh the excitement!

#46: Euro 2012 Quarter Final Draw and Matches!

Yes, it's late, but who cares? There's a wee break before the semis and I did need time to try the beers, so what harm! Once again though, I promise that if I do this again I'll have prepared much better. 

On to the draw then! As I've said, I literally drew the names from a hat to ensure an entirely random fixture list. It went as follows;

France v Netherlands

Ireland v Czech Republic

Poland v Germany

England v Spain

DOES NOT COMPUTE

QF 1 - France v Netherlands:  This is a good one. The La Trappe Tripel is a great beer, and as the only Trappist beer in the competition I had thought it could be a finalist at least. However, I had not considered the possibility that I could be blown away by 3 Monts. Despite not knowing what the fuck to do with the cork, I was really very impressed with the beer. Far from the boozy, malty Belgian style ale I had assumed I'd be getting from Flanders, I got a very nourishing, refreshing, strong lager-tasting ale. First on the nose is champagne yeast and grassy hops, followed by fresh straw and zesty citrus fruits. Herbal, almost. The taste brings malty bread and caramel into the mix, with a grainy wheat and barley follow, finished off by a slight hit of syrupy alcohol and moderate dryness. Really, I didn't know what to make of the style, and that's something that always thrills me when tasting beer. As such, well done France.

QF 2 - Ireland v Czech Republic: Another quality match, with two quality beers, and probably the toughest choice I've had to make this round. On the one hand, you've got Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne's Carraig Dubh porter, one of about three beers of the stout/porter style that have really impressed me in flavour and aroma. Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil was the first, followed by this and Wrassler's XXXX from Porterhouse, and I have to say that on trying Wrassler's again recently, I don't think it's quite as good as the former two. Chocolate, toffee, coffee, liquorice and dark fruit all combine on the aroma, with the taste more or less matching it. I loved the complexity of it and the way it's all carried on a nice creamy full body. I hope I'm not letting my love for Dingle (and my bruised national pride) cloud the decision, but I'm honestly more drawn to a bottle or two of this than a Budvar. After all, no matter how well the Budvar caters to my lager needs, I don't even think it's my favourite of the style, broadly speaking. Sam Adams or Spaten may have a thing or two to say about that. Now, there's an idea - quest for my favourite lager, or indeed lager style. For now though, Carraig Dubh puts Ireland through.

QF 3 - Poland v Germany: Being cheap is not always a good thing. Sometimes a low price tag is the mark of a low quality beer, so it can be hard to decide whether it's good value or pisswater in a bottle, but it sure is exciting to find out. Zywiec, along with fellow Polish recession-friendly Tyskie, is somewhere in between. It's not particularly bad - I thoroughly enjoyed the cold pint of it, and I suspect I'd enjoy it even more with food - but it has to be said that it's not particularly good either. In this case, the price point is a good thing. Yes it's not great, but you won't exactly be throwing all your ducats away. Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier on the other hand, is about €1 more expensive, but offers a vastly improved drinking experience. The malty backbone balances the strong banana, citrus, spice and hoppiness that you get at first, before mellowing out into a nice bready yeast finish. It's ridiculously refreshing, and dangerously quaffable. I will concede, however, that I may  be biased to this brand - my first love of a style that welcomed me into beer geekdom. Regardless, I believe it's a fantastic Bavarian Hefe-Weizen that gets bonus points for being more accessible and affordable than others. Perfectly balanced between true, traditional craft beer and international brand. Germany go through hands down.

QF 4 - England v Spain: British ale really puts to shame the variety of craft beers we have to choose from in Ireland. Fair enough, they had to deal with Heinekenisation (there's a brand new word for you) just as we did, but it seems to have seriously stuck with us. Nonetheless, our craft beer scene is growing and that's something to be proud of. Fuller's is an English brewing institution, and it is too something to be proud of. And you know what? They are proud of it. In London. Hence, London Pride (note: this is almost definitely not where the name comes from). It's their flagship beer, and with good reason too - it's bloody delicious. Perfectly balanced with a strong toffee malt character, fruity follow-up and a nice bitter finish. Drinkability is great - it's quaffable, thirst quenching and you'll probably want another. England are in the semis, and in this competition, there are no penalty shootouts.

#45: Euro 2012 - Beer Quarter Finals

Ok then, with the actual Quarter Finals starting tonight I thought I'd better get my act together and announce the second group of beers in the last eight of my own tournament. I do have a confession to make though - I've let Italy down by failing to hunt down any of their craft beers. I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to find such in my area, but The Beer Nut pointed out to me that I should be able to get some Brewfist beers at least, which would surely represent the Italians better than Peroni... As such, I'm going to have to go with Spain instead, to be represented by Estrella Daura, simply for being a light and refreshing drinkable lager that is Coeliac friendly. As someone with Crohn's disease, I appreciate beers like this cropping up on the shelves, whether or not I need the option at this point in time. However, it seems unfair to me that Spain (or Italy) should suffer a poor beer representation and as such, I will allow for a 'substitution' if I get the chance to try a better beer before the competition ends. Otherwise, I promise I'll prepare better for the World Cup in 2014! On with the qualifications then...

In Group A, Poland escape the drop with Zywiec. It's a fairly standard Euro Pilsener-style lager that is cheap as chips and goes down well with strong curries or anything chilli. Fair enough, it may not be an obvious Best In Show, but when Greece and Russia are the two to beat, it was easy for me to make the call.

In Group B, Mikkeller's Texas Ranger chilli stout was a very interesting proposition - Beer Geek Breakfast was also a contender - but like football, my own Euro 2012 isn't always fair, and I've opted to send in La Trappe Tripel for almost purely sentimental reasons. I picked up a bottle of this in a supermarket in Amsterdam, and for someone whose love of beer extended to the various bottled macro lagers we have clogging up Irish shelfspace, you can understand that my tastebuds went into orgasmic shutdown under the caress of my first Trappist Tripel. I soon got the Dubbel on tap, and I was sold to real beer. Good job, Netherlands.

In Group C, it's as I've said - Spain with Estrella Daura. During my first flare-up, I was struggling to find the cause of the terrible stomach pains and was advised to opt for Coeliac friendly food where available. Result.

Lastly, in Group D, with England already through on London Pride, it's got to be France with 3 Monts. This was my first Biere de Garde and I really have to scope out some more of this stuff. It's very, well, farmy, with grainy malty tastes that actually put me in mind of a good lager, as opposed to the Belgian-style Pale I was expecting. Surprisingly (and dangerously) for an 8.5% beer, it drinks extremely well, with only a light dry heat at the end warning you of your imminent intoxication. Very refreshing, good warm weather beer, yet still fulfilling and nourishing. Great stuff.

So there we have it. 

The eight Quarter Finalists are as follows;

Budějovický Budvar - Czech Republic

Paulaner Hefe-weizen - Germany

Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne Carraig Dubh - Rep. of Ireland

Fuller's London Pride - England

Zywiec - Poland

La Trappe Tripel - Netherlands

Estrella Daura - Spain

3 Monts - France

Unlike the real Euro 2012, the Semi Final draw will be done completely randomly from an actual hat, to liven things up a bit.

In the meantime there are some interesting prospects in the cupboard, with Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel awaiting appraisal, Piraat awaiting reappraisal, and Paulaner just might finally be written about properly on this blog. 

#39: Euro 2012 Group Stages and Loosely Linked Beer Talk

Euro 2012 started on Friday, with Poland, Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic fighting it out. Needless to say, the tournament didn't start for me until Spain played Italy yesterday. It was a promising day, with Cork winning the Munster Semi-final and Italy and Spain ending in a draw, an Ireland win would have been perfect. Flags and scarves up, Sam Adams in the fridge, cheap Ireland charity t-shirt on the back... Anyway, we know what happened. In an effort to redeem my national pride and to desperately induce some sense of superiority over the Croatians, I reflected on the fact that we have better beer. Well, probably. I did some research a few weeks before the tournament - as I planned to stage my own Euro 2012 of Beer - and I realised I was going to have trouble buying and trying the beers from some of the participating countries, especially at short notice. For example, I don't know where in Cork I can get my hands on some Croatian, Ukrainian or even Russian beer, and some countries (Spain, Poland, France, Portugal) are only represented in my locale by absolute toss.

So instead, I will do one beer per matchday, with the first four obviously in hindsight (I told you I'd be distracted). 

For matchday one, it was really no contest. I've never had a Greek or Russian beer, and I have to make this clear, I'm not about finding the best beer, just my favourite, and in this case Budějovický Budvar takes it for the Czech Republic. A full-flavoured pilsener that I found ridiculously enjoyable with my curry a while back.

For matchday two, we had more interesting prospects. Netherlands, Denmark and Germany all produce fine beers, with La Trappe, Mikkeller, Wieckse Witte, Paulaner and Weihenstephaner all vying for the considerable honour of being called my favourite. Portugal and beer is a venn diagram that in my mind only has one tiny and insignificant interception - Sagres. Nothing there, then. I would even consider Heineken for the Netherlands, because I have to say having a 250ml glass of the stuff on tap in a sunny Amsterdam really is a much different experience to being served a pint of the fizzy water we get here. That's all redundant, though, because I don't think I was ever not going to choose Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier for Germany.

Matchday three was once again more straightforward. Italy and Spain don't offer much that I've experienced and enjoyed - Peroni was my most recent, with it being unremarkable and, to be honest, not even very refreshing, which I consider the very least a beer like that should be. Croatia was a no-go for me so Ireland have it in the bag. It's a close battle between Porterhouse Brainblásta and Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne's Carraig Dubh, with the latter edging it for it's massive success in making me really enjoy it, despite it's obvious handicap of being a porter.

Finally, matchday four had England and France fighting for the points on the pitch, and they were really the only two contenders in this group. I do know that Sweden have some goods to offer, but I can't say I've tried any, so I can't vouch for that. I also have to admit that I've been slacking on my research - I haven't tried Trois Monts yet. It appears on paper to be the best French beer I can get a hold of, with the only others I can get a hold of being Kronenbourg 1664 and Desperados. It would have been unfair to the good people of France if I put either of these forward only to get destroyed by any number of classy English ales. Don't worry, though, I plan on selecting 4 runners-up beers to make up a quarter finals scenario. How these will be selected is shut up, that's how. Seriously though, rules and regulations for this competition are corrupt on a Turkish football scale. Anyway, my winner for Group D has got to be Fuller's London Pride. It might not be groundbreaking or game-changing, but it's damned delicious drink. Quaff away, but with Trois Monts on the horizon, a beer of a style I am very much attracted to, England may not exactly be running away with it. Money permitting, Sweden may also launch a late challenge for the remaining spot...

So, a recap of the top placed finishers in each group:

Budějovický Budvar - Czech Republic
Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier - Germany
Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne Carraig Dubh - Ireland
Fuller's London Pride - England

Once again, I can't stress enough how the competition is about me finding my favourite and most enjoyable drink, as opposed to judging what is technically the best beer. I simply haven't got the beer knowledge for that sort of thing, to be honest. Also, in an effort to make this as fair as possible, I'm only going to allow one entry per country. This is mainly to prevent me from giving Ireland two beers in the quarter finals, though it doesn't account for me being forced to choose relatively shit beers for countries that I just can't get good beery access to.

Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Italy... I apologize in advance.

Beer Review #24: Fuller's London Pride

Finally, the last bottle in the 4 for €10 offer I availed of recently. Admittedly, it was a conservative choice that I made - Spitfire, Bombardier and London Pride were all reputable ales that I had not yet tried and the wild card was Crabbie's Ginger Beer (which I won't be having again). However, as I've said, the three ales are all popular, well known and well liked ales and I'd recommend them all, at least for a try. This one, London Pride, is my first ale from Fuller's, a brewery based in London that has a pretty good reputation for their ales. As such, it's one that has me very excited. The fact that James May appeared in an ad campaign was a bonus I learned of afterward. Anyway, dig in shall we?

English Pale Ale at 4.7% ABV


L: Pours a nice ruby-toned amber with a foamy two-finger head. Carbonation is fairly inactive and the there's a decent amount of lacing. Looks like a proper English ale. 8/10

S: Toffee and bread maltiness, slightly nutty(?) smells. There's a bit of metallic sharpness, but not too much. Behind all the malty smells there is a quiet hop presence, with grassy smells coming through, as well as a hint of dark fruits. Really nice. 8/10

T: Delicious stuff here! At the very front, toffee and caramel malt take control, and overall the front and middle of the sip is dominated by strong malty tastes. In the finish though, there's a definite hoppiness, and there's a very light bitterness too. Dark fruits make an appearance at the end too, and there's a delicious biscuity aftertaste. 9/10

M: Great mouthfeel too, medium to full bodied, very very smooth and drinkable, with a gentle fizz on the tongue. 9/10

The verdict: This is a brilliant ale. I've only really tried the more 'mainstream' English ales on the market, and but this is certainly the best of the bunch. I could enjoy this in my Duvel tulip at room temperature as much as I did chilled in my pint glass. Sip or quaff, you'll probably thoroughly enjoy this beer. That being said, you'll probably want to use your pint glass for those nice deep gulps. Brilliant stuff. 9/10

The Drunken Destrier score: 86/100