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Going Bananas
From: InnSpire - Issue 68 – August 2007
 While in Scotland recently we had a day trip to
Dumfries; a quick shufty at the Good Beer Guide set us
on course for the Cavens Arms on Buccleuch Street and I
ended up savouring Top Banana, brewed by Caledonian.
The
brewery (known locally as the Caley) is based in the
Slateford area of Edinburgh and was started up in 1869
by George Lorimer Jnr and Robert Clark. On George’s
death in 1919, the business was taken over by the Vaux
Group, which remained in control until a threat of
closure loomed in 1987. Thankfully, there was a
management buyout, which kept the brewery going.
Scottish & Newcastle purchased the premises in 2004. A
new Caledonian Brewery company was formed and it has
become a well-known and successful concern.
Caledonian beers are a common sight in pubs nationwide,
thanks mainly to the success of their Deuchars IPA,
which won the Champion Beer of Britain award in 2002. It
is now quite common to see their other beers, such as
80/- (a fruity red/brown 4.1 % ABV beer), XPA (a pale
flavoursome 4.3% brew) and Rebus (4.4% and named after
the Ian Rankin character).
Top
Banana is part of the Caledonian seasonal beer portfolio
- we drank it at the end of June. Apparently, bananas
were chosen as a joke at the Sales Director’s expense!
Each 4.1 % ABV brew is produced using around 3kg of
Fairtrade fruit, and a blend of Challenger, Pioneer,
Sovereign and Bodicea hops. The beer is a darkish golden
colour with a reasonably long lasting, off-white head.
The aroma is quite malty (like toast), mixed with a
subtle fruitiness (not surprisingly, there are some
banana elements there) and a little sweetness. Texture
is smooth and medium bodied, with a nice mouthfeel.
Compared with brews like Charles Wells Banana Bread
Beer, the banana flavour isn’t overpowering and it is
possible to enjoy it even if you aren’t a big fan of
that particular fruit. This sweet fruit flavour is
balanced nicely by the hop mix, which gives bitterness
and a slight citrus taste. The underlying flavour is a
soft biscuity malt that brings all the other elements
together. This all leads to a drier finish and a
reasonably long lasting bitter aftertaste. It is an easy
to drink, mid strength beer that is well balanced and
full of subtle flavours. Apart from the banana, my
favourite taste in this beer is the base soft malt and
the slight bitter flavour that comes through towards the
end. The golden colour is also quite appealing to the
eye and on a warm sunny day it was a very tempting
looking beer indeed!
Since our Scottish holiday, we have found Top Banana in
two of our local pubs: the Market and the Portland in
Chesterfield town centre. You are assured of a tasty and
refreshing beer.
Don’t monkey around, try to pick yourself a Top Banana
before stocks run out – then again, there’s always next
year’s crop!
www.caledonian-brewery.co.uk
Andrea Waterhouse
Solid as a rock
From: InnSpire - Issue 67 – June 2007
 I
spent the ‘Mild Month’ of May month sampling new brews
(as well as old favourites), and during a trip to the
Plough Inn at Radford I tried Rock Mild - brewed by
Nottingham Brewery. Set up in October 2001 by Niven
Balfour and Phil Darby, the brewery is based in
outbuildings behind the Plough. Although popular, they
aim to stay a small local microbrewery and only sell
their products to a limited number of outlets, mainly in
the Nottingham area. Among the beer range currently
produced are Rock Bitter (a pale, session beer at 3.8%
ABV), Sooty Oatmeal Stout (a full-bodied 4.8% brew) and
Nottingham Supreme (a strong, light and hoppy 5.2%
beer).
Rock Mild was brewed to complement Rock Bitter - it is
identical in strength. The latter is pale and bitter;
the Mild is dark and sweet. Milds originate in the
Middle Ages - the first written reference comes in a
song of 1551, by William Stevenson: “I stuff my skyn so
full within, Of jolly good milde and olde”. Rock Mild is
a lower strength, dark ruby coloured beer with a lasting
(but small) head. The aroma is fruity, with dark fruit
(blackberry mainly) predominant. There is also a scent
of floral hops in a base of roasted malt and a little
sweetness. Texture is quite smooth, rather than the
wateriness anticipated of this beer style.
Rock Mild’s flavour almost repeats the elements present
in the aroma. It starts of quite sweet, as the dark
fruit and sweet flowery hops come to the fore. As you
drink it becomes increasingly bitter, leading to a dry
and bitter finish, and aftertaste. There is also quite a
lot of roasty malt and towards the end you will find
flavours of dark treacle and slightly burnt toffee. It
is surprisingly complex and quite well balanced too.
For a beer that is only 3.8% ABV, Rock Mild is a tasty
beer with a good mix of flavours. As a Mild, it is a
little unconventional because it is hoppier than most.
It is a good introduction, though, to the Mild style, as
it is less ‘different’ and thus perhaps daunting for the
non-Mild fan.
I always choose Rock Mild whenever we visit the Plough
at Radford. It isn’t too strong – so it is a good
daytime beer, or a good beer to start off a session with
because you can still taste other beers afterwards. To
be honest I do prefer to just have a couple and then
move up to something a little more robust, with slightly
more character.
As Rock Mild and other Nottingham Brewery beers are
usually confined to the Plough and to beer festivals, it
is rarely seen in Derbyshire pubs. Mind you, a good
reason to drink Rock Mild at the Plough is down to its
role as the ‘Brewery Tap’ - the beer is invariably
cheaper than in most other establishments. There is also
the full range of Nottingham Brewery beers available,
many - including the Mild - under the magic £2.00 a pint
mark.
I thoroughly recommend that you give Mild a chance and
keep trying it throughout the year. It is an undervalued
part of our brewing heritage. Ask your local landlord to
include one on the bar (there are more to choose from
than you might think) and, if possible, recommend Rock
Mild from Nottingham Brewery as a good one for them to
start stocking.
It is easy to drink, pretty tasty and consistent in
flavour and quality. Go on… you know it makes sense!
www.nottinghambrewery.com
Andrea Waterhouse
Have
a ‘Blonde Moment’!
From: InnSpire - Issue 66 – April 2007
 As the
spring weather promises to be a little bit brighter, and
the nights are getting lighter, my thoughts are turning
towards the light side - of beer, of course… rather than
those dark winter warmers. When we were planning for our
recent Beer Festival, we were making choices from each
of our local breweries - as Bradfield Brewery are not
too far away in South Yorkshire, we opted for three from
their portfolio. One of these is Farmers Blonde - a beer
that is becoming increasingly popular with Real Ale
fans.
Bradfield Brewery is housed in a former dairy farm,
using their own Peak District water and natural
ingredients to produce a range of cask ales - many of
which have won awards from the brewing industry and
CAMRA beer festivals around the country. They currently
brew four regular beers alongside a selection of special
and seasonal beers. These include Farmers Stout (dark
and roasty at 4.5% ABV), Farmers Bitter (at 3.9%, a good
standard bitter) and Belgian Blue (a 4.9% Christmas
ale).
The majority of Bradfield beers take the inspiration for
their pumpclip pictures from the farm. All their artwork
also features a millstone - showing their Peak District
roots. Farmers Blonde shows a rather pretty - for a
bovine - blonde cow as its main image. This popular beer
has recently won the Gold Award - Speciality Beers
category - in the SIBA (Small Independent Brewers
Association) North regional competition.
Farmers Blonde weighs in at 4.0% ABV and, as you would
expect, is a pale yellow blonde beer - clear and bright
with a small off white head. Aroma is primarily of
citrus fruit (lemon), with hints of caramel, honey
sweetness and a very slight spiciness. Texture is light,
fresh, but is slightly grainy on the palate.
The flavours of this beer are also quite light and
fresh. There is a pleasant fruitiness throughout, nicely
balanced out by an underlying lemon flavour. As you
drink a sweetness develops, via a light malt taste and
an almondy hint. Add to this a little spice, the same
honey flavour that was present in the aroma and you get
a complex and tasty beer. The finish and aftertaste are
also quite sweet, but not overly so.
Of the beers I have tried from Bradfield Brewery,
Farmers Blonde and Farmers Stout are my favourites; the
blonde being definitely my all round choice. It is tasty
and light - certainly a refreshing beer for a summer's
night, but it also has bags of flavour, making it
suitable for any time of year. There is a lot going on
and there are several layers of flavours that develop
and give a good mix of tastes - a sign of a well crafted
beer. The light golden colour also gives it a wider
appeal - the excellent taste makes it a favourite with
the Real Ale drinkers, but the colour and freshness will
hopefully entice some of the lagerboys and girls!
My last sample of Farmers Blonde was at the Sheaf View
in Sheffield; their prices are around the £1.85 a pint
mark, but generally expect to pay between £2.00 and
£2.40. The
brewery regularly supplies pubs in our area and as a
SIBA member, their beers are more readily available to
public houses that are tied to pubcos.
I certainly recommend Farmers Blonde to those who
appreciate a refreshing, slightly sweet blonde beer - it
is one that I have enjoyed again and again!
www.bradfieldbrewery.co.uk
Andrea Waterhouse
Cromwell's got his hat on!
From: InnSpire - Issue 65 – February 2007
 One
of the best things about winter is winter beer - strong,
full of taste and warming on a winter's night. Over the
last couple of weeks we have been fortunate to have one
of the better examples down at our local pub. Cromwell's
Hat is a beer brewed to suit the season, by Springhead
Brewery.
They began life back in
1990 as the smallest micro-brewery in England. Brewing
began in a small outbuilding next to the brewer's house
but, as production and demand increased, they moved to a
custom built brewery on an industrial estate in Sutton
on Trent, near Newark in Nottinghamshire. "Springhead"
refers to a bend in the River Trent; the place where the
brewery was sited. The head brewer (Shirley Reynolds) is
extremely proud of her range of beers which have built
up over the years. They can be found in pubs nationwide
(though more readily available in the Nottinghamshire
and Derbyshire areas), Beer Festivals and also can be
purchased for drinking at home, direct from the brewery.
These beers include Roaring Meg (a strong blonde ale at
5.5% ABV), Puritans Porter (a dark, tasty porter at 4.0%
ABV) and Charlie's Angel (a light coloured, fruity beer
at 4.5% ABV). You can also go and visit the brewery and
tours are available - you need to contact the brewery
and they can take up to 40 people.
Springhead beers tend to take the English Civil War as
the inspiration for their names. Cromwell's Hat is no
exception! The name of this particular brew refers to
the occasion when Cromwell was offered the Crown of
England, after Charles I was beheaded. As a politician
Oliver Cromwell was more comfortable staying as Lord
Protector, rather than becoming a King. Keeping his hat
instead of donning the crown was his way of showing he
had maintained his parliamentary principles and not
taken on any Royalist ideals. Thus, the beer Cromwell's
Hat was born! As a seasonal beer, Cromwell's Hat is only
available during November and December. It is a strong
beer though and may often linger in pubs until a short
while into January.
Cromwell's Hat weighs in at 6.0% ABV and is placed
firmly in the category of a Strong Bitter. It is a
winter beer, brewed using Northdown Hops, Pale Crystal
Malt and with the addition of cinnamon and juniper
berries for added wintry flavours. Looks wise, it is a
dark brown beer with a slightly copper red tinge. The
head is slightly off white in colour, medium in size and
lingers for the majority of your pint. Aroma is spicy
like mulled wine (the cinnamon and juniper berries
really show through), combined with a slight honey
sweetness, hints of blackcurrants and a slight cola
smell. Body is quite syrupy and full bodied, much as you
would expect from a strong beer, but with a good amount
of conditioning making it less heavy than some winter
ales. It is quite smooth in the mouth and rich on the
palate too. It is a nice warming beer that has a good
combination of flavours you would associate with a
winter or Christmas beer. Primary flavours are the
sweetness of honey and a soft maltiness. This is
combined with a vinous fruit flavour (a little like a
deep red wine), and the spiciness of the juniper and
cinnamon, which builds in strength as the pint
progresses. This all leads to a short bitter/sweet
finish and an aftertaste that is warming and has a spicy
tingle.
Cromwell's Hat isn't a beer I drink regularly. This
isn't because I don't like it though! It's mainly down
to circumstance and planning - At 6% ABV it is pretty
strong, so I usually reserve it for a last long drink at
the end of the night. Also, it is a seasonally produced
beer, so my sampling of Cromwell's Hat is limited to
just a couple of months out of the year. It is a beer to
be sipped and savoured and not a beer to be swilled and
glugged down. The strength makes it an ideal beer to
take your time on - this also gives you a chance to
fully appreciate the flavours that build up as you drink
and as the beer warms up a little. I recommend that you
drink it on the warmer side of chilled, otherwise it
won't reach its full potential in terms of depth and
character. My last couple of pints of Cromwell's Hat
were enjoyed in The Industry - the pub around the corner
from me. Here we paid £2.40 a pint for an excellent
quality beer. Previously I had tried it during a trip to
Springhead Brewery, where a sample of it was included in
our tour. The Industry had it on the bar for about a
week and we popped in on a few evenings and had one each
on each occasion. I did find that as the beer got older
(meaning it had been maturing in the cask down in the
cellar for longer) it got even better and the flavour
towards the end of the cask was much more developed and
fuller. The young (less matured) beer at the beginning
of the cask was still tasty, but not as balanced and
strong.
I can appreciate that a few people won't like the taste
of this one. The blend of the bitter and the sweet and
the mulled wine quality make for a slightly out of the
ordinary flavour for a beer - this is no tasteless lager
or characterless beer of the "smooth" or "cream flow"
variety! It is smooth, tasty and warming, with a real
taste of winter.
www.springhead.co.uk/
Andrea Waterhouse
This webpage was last updated on
Sunday, 07 October 2007
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