Brewskie
I can’t imagine many people have heard of Denton, let alone been there. Using the youth of today’s scale of rating places which goes as far as to ask the question ‘Does it have a Primark?’ the answer is no, although there is one in Stockport now which isn’t a million miles away from Denton. It does have a TK Maxx though, and it turns out, it also has a micro brewery called the Hornbeam brewery. Having spent a lot of my childhood in Denton visiting my Gran I was particularly surprised to find this out and also saddened at the same time. A quick Google search reveals that I drive past the brewery every Tuesday on the way to taking our little pesky dog to his training course; we even stop at the Sainsbury’s for beer amongst other things fairly regularly. I’ve never seen a bottle of Hornbeam in there and it’s right next door!
In 5: Vanilla, Cloudy, Amber, Citrus, Denton
In a world where it’s cheaper to buy something on ebay shipped in from China than it is to buy the same thing at the shop on the corner of your road this isn’t surprising. Perhaps the issue of the big supermarkets stocking real local produce is an argument for another day.
So how was the beer itself?
It poured nicely, even though it had been kept in the fridge instead of room temperature as directed on the label (not to self (again) read the label first!!!). It has a lovely vanilla nose with a cloudy outlook – a bit like the Manchester weather where it is brewed. It is amber in colour with a sharp yet palatable taste as the sweet vanilla aroma contrasts nicely with the citrus ever so slightly floral taste. If I had to categorise it I’d say it is somewhere in between an IPA and a best bitter and it was thoroughly enoyable.
On a side note, I really love the styling of the bottle and branding of the brewery, great work!
This article is copyright © 2012
Brewskie
This beer has history: the label says “since 1890”, so San Miguel have had over a century to get the beer right. But there is more to the past than a date, as two years ago in the floods that destroyed a lot of rural Pakistan, my Filipino colleague and I spent a long deployment together discussing our first beer once we left the country. We agreed that we would one day meet to drink a San Miguel in the Philippines, and finally we did it last month.
In 5: Wet, Icy, Cold, Damp, Fizzy
The one I drank that night was in a can. I’m not sure Brewskie will even post a review of a beer that is drunk out of a can (Mr Brewskie is becoming a purist)? In my defence I’ve drunk a lot of bottles the past fortnight too. Still the beer tastes good, and we’re served it with a glass full of ice cubes which appears to be local custom and I assume aims to keep it cold. You can taste the fruit of the hops going in, though it is well controlled so that it is clean with a pleasantly sweet after taste. Equally, the gas is just right providing a sufficiently robust fizz to back up the strength of the flavour. The pale colour is sufficiently golden and keeps its head to keep me sipping, which I’m encouraged to do by the ice cubes which I think are melting and diluting the contents of the glass. I remember my colleague explaining to me how he used to buy a 24 pack with his friends on a weekend and spend all afternoon drinking all the cans and I can understand why. He’s paid the price however and is drinking “San Miguel Lite” which together with the ice cubes looks like it tastes of nothing. There are another two types of San Miguel behind the bar so it is definitely the most popular drink in the country, 95% market share I read somewhere…
The food in this part of the country is a lot of fried or barbecued pork and fish so we keep on drinking, the saltiness is refreshed by a new can. It occurs to me that the ice cubes could be a way of counteracting the dehydration effect in the tropics, but the morning afterwards the beer passes the hangover test too. Like most foreign beers, it is a pilsener with limited scope for doing something special: San Miguel just does it well. If only they wouldn’t serve it with ice cubes…
This article is copyright © 2012
Brewskie
The quest for international beery goodness took us to Wales recently. Well actually, Wales was brought to us via a wonderful Christmas present consisting of a selection of beers from The Great Orme Brewery. What a perfect gift. For those of you not in the know, the Great Orme is a big rock in North Wales, with a tram, a dry ski slope and an amazing toboggan track (note; it was amazing when I was 12 and may now be in a horrendous state of disrepair). There’s some nice scenery and views too if you’re in to that sort of thing. It turns out there is also a Brewery, although not on the Great Orme itself it’s pretty close by.
In 5: Bright, Sweet, Rounded, Tasty, Citrus
A big fan of a pale ale this seemed like the most sensible choice for a first taste of the Orme “a refreshing blonde ale bursting with citrus notes” according to the fancy label. We certainly don’t disagree. It pours an amber colour and is bright and sweet from the off. The pale hops give a touch of bitterness and the citrusy high notes are quite something. It has a sweet and fruity flavour which give it a rounded finish and offset the bitterness just enough.
It’s a very pleasant beer and would be perfect to provide that much needed refreshing moisture in a beer garden on a fine summers evening after work.
This article is copyright © 2012
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