500ml vs 330ml

On Boxing Day we were over having dinner with family, and my uncle had bought in some bottles of Hobgoblin which is always a reliably decent beer.  Rather than the normal 500ml bottle, though, it was the smaller 330ml bottles - indeed it was the first time I've seen Hobgoblin in this size of bottle.  It got me to thinking - having a bottle of beer at home, do you prefer a 500ml bottle or a 330ml bottle?

Rightly or wrongly, I've always assumed that the 500ml bottles tend to be the domain of what you would class as 'real ale' whereas 330ml bottles tend to be for 'craft beer'.  Lagers too, for that matter, but let's not get into that now!  The lines seem to be blurring now, however, with Wychwood offering Hobgoblin in a downsized bottle, and I'm sure I read somewhere that Harviestoun are considering using smaller bottles (sorry, can't find a source for this!).

Personally, I'm all for smaller bottles - perhaps due to my fondness for strong Belgian beers and suchlike.  If I'm having a beer or two at home of an evening, I'll tend to take my time over it.  With a 500ml bottle that sometimes means that the last few mouthfuls are a little warmer and flatter than I'd prefer.  A 330ml bottle, on the other hand, seems to work out well for me.

The same goes when I'm out and about; if there's a good selection of beers, I'd much rather have half-pints of half a dozen different beers rather than pints of only three different brews.  Variety being the spice of life, and all that.

Buy hey, that's just my preference - I'm sure others will have their own viewpoints on this (not so) thorny debate!

Christmas Homebrew Experiment - the results!

So for yesterday evening's beer-drinking selection it was none other than the homebrew which we started a few weeks ago.  It's been maturing nicely ever since, and other than a few small samples it's been left untouched so I was glad to get a few glasses of it to sample!

Firstly, the name - and my dad's to blame for this one.  It's been given the pun-tastic monicker of Blawnag Ale, in honour of the winter months.  Say it out loud and you'll get the pun (although you may prefer to remain ignorant, to be honest - it is pretty groanworthy!)

All in all it's a pretty decent effort - a nice dark colour, a fairly minimalistic head, and a nice bitter flavour.  It won't win any awards, but for a first attempt I'm really quite chuffed with it.  Plus it does what you'd expect from a beer of around 5.8% or so - after 3 or 4 glasses I was pleasantly tipsy.  It certainly went well with Christmas dinner.

Come 2013 we're planning to get the necessary kit together and start brewing from whole grain rather than from a malt extract - watch this space!

Christmas beer #1

Although our main Christmas meal is in the evening, Christmas lunch deserves a nice beer to accompany it too! Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp 53 - Floral IPA is this year's choice.

It really is a lovely, floral, hoppy IPA - very refreshing!

Brewdog Tasting Session

Anyone familiar with beer must be aware of Brewdog - as one of the most quickly expanding breweries in Scotland, and probably the UK, they've definitely been getting a lot of press for both good reasons and bad. Suffice it to say I'm a fan - I tried a couple of their brews last summer for the first time and was immediately taken with how much more interesting they were than many other beers.

To be fair, winning a mixed case of their various offerings via a Twitter competition didn't do any harm in converting me to their cause!  Anyway, I'm sure I'll come back to this topic in a later post.  Today, however, I wanted to post a few comments on a tasting session that my dad and I had at their Glasgow brewpub at the weekend after buying a voucher deal a few months back.

For those who know Glasgow, the pub is directly opposite Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, so it's sited in a really prime location and dead handy for public transport.  First impressions of the bar were good - it has a pretty nice atmosphere inside, cool decor, and welcoming and friendly staff.  The selection of beers on tap was impressive, with about 7 or 8 of their own brews alongside a good handful of guest ales.

The tasting was for two people, and involved 6 of their own creations accompanied by a cheese and meat platter.  One of the bar staff joined us for the tasting, talking us through each beer and generally keeping the group company and - as so often at this type of tasting - you could tell he knew his stuff and was passionate about good beer which made all the difference.

The first couple of beers we tried were Punk IPA - their flagship beer, which is a lovely hoppy monster of a beer - and their 5am Saint amber ale.  I've had many bottles of both of these beers before, but on tap they were both even better.  Punk IPA is my current 'go-to' beer which I always have in the cupboard, but I have to say I was even more impressed with the 5am Saint this time round - it clearly benefits from being served on tap.  Next up was their Raspberry Revolver, a fruit beer they're experimenting with which isn't yet being bottled.  Generally I ain't a fan of fruit beers, and nothing about this made me change my mind - it wasn't quite as cloyingly sweet as some fruit beers can be, but it just didn't do much for me.

The next three was where it got interesting.  Firstly, some Hardcore IPA which again is a beer I've had before.  It's around 9.2% if memory serves, and is an intense, bitter and sweet double IPA which is perfect for sipping down with some cheese and oatcakes.  It really is a cracker - though best taken in measured quantities!

This was followed by their 'International Arms Race' which they brewed as part of a brew-off with US brewery Flying Dog.  Bizarrely, it's brewed without any hops - the rules of engagement apparently stated that only a handful of things could be used to flavour the beer, including juniper berries, spearmint and a couple of other things I can't remember.  Let me tell you, it was a seriously odd experience which was more medicinal than beer-like; the menthol/minty hit was the most predominant flavour.  I've got to respect the experiment, but I wouldn't say it was hugely successful!

Last up was their Tokyo* which was the 18.2% beast which caused a lot of unfairly negative press a while back.  I've got to say, this was a beautiful experience - like a beer-flavoured port.  Strong, sweet and bitter with a lovely warming aroma, this one is the real deal.  At £10 per 330ml bottle it's not cheap, but this creation deserves to be savoured amongst friends.  I'd heartily recommend giving it a try.

Perhaps my highlight of the afternoon, though, was the lovely photo to the left - again, you may have seen stories about this in the press.  After brewing a couple of huge beers to claim the title of the strongest beer ever brewed - Tactical Nuclear Penguin at 32% and Sink the Bismarck at 41% - they brewed the 55% End of History.  It seems only a few bottles were ever created, and they were bottled in this lovingly taxidermied roadkill squirrel.  I can't imagine many other breweries going down this road!  Anyway, they had a bottle (empty, sadly!) on display at the bar, so here's the little fella in all his glory.

So all in all it was a great afternoon - and at £19 between us for the voucher it was a complete bargain.  Great pub, good staff and excellent beer - I'll be back!