Shepherd Neame Tins'Ale

This is Shepherd Neame's festive offering, called Tins'Ale  (which is a terrible name!). My first proper 'Christmas Beer' too.

500mls, 4.0% abv, not bottle conditioned, and bought from Lidl a couple of weeks ago, so it might still be available.


Light orange brown in colour, the head is surprisingly big to start with, reducing to a good white ring.
Light peppery aroma with malt and oranges.
The taste is quite spikey, spices and bitterness rule, although i'm not picking up anything distinct. Its got a strong malt backbone, pruney fruit too. Quite gassy.

Its an okay bitter, nothing more than average though.

Golden Pint Awards 2011

Well why not, we all love a list don't we!!!!


Best UK Draught (Cask or Keg) Beer: 
Oakham White Dwarf (although i understand its changed now so its no longer a wheat beer)
R/U - Brains Dark

Best Bottled Beer:
Kernel Pale Ale Cascade

Best Overall Beer:
Kernel Pale Ale Cascade

Best UK Brewery:  Kernel Brewery
closely followed by Otley Brewery


Pub of the Year:  The Boars Head, South Wales - consistent quality ales and food.

Beer Festival of the Year:  Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival

Best Supermarket: Tesco - Okay, surprising maybe considering their terrible marketing this year but my one has added many new lines this year I never thought I'd be able to buy just down the road.
New deals for Brains Brewery.
I can now choose from not just Guiness but 8 stouts including the excellent William Bros 'March of the Penguins'.
And take home bottles of Samuel Adams, Brooklyn Brewery, Goose Island and Duvel.

Best Independent Retailer:  Cardiff Discount Supermarket  of course!

Best Beer Book or Magazine: 1001 Beers... by ATJ

Best Beer Blog or Website:  For consistently a good read, opinions on a range of beer or pub related subjects, some I still don't agree with but enjoy the conversation - The Pub Curmudgeon




In 2012 I’d Most Like To…  Actually whilst continuing drinking great beer I kinda need to spend less!!
See the new 'craft' range from Brains
Hopefully see some from Tiny Rebel Brewing Company  - Newport's new kids on the block.

Newmans Red Stag Bitter

A couple of sundays ago we had been out for most of the day, got back and I had to crack on with a chicken roast post haste. I was absolutely parched though and grabbed something quickly to sate my thirst while i got a-peeling.

I have had a couple of Newman's beers on draft before, okay but nothing special, and one bottled beer which was the Cave Bear stout which followed that trend also.

Red Stag bitter is 3.6% abv, 330mls.
The colour was a nice red amber, aroma of fruit and malt, little bits of toffee sweetness.
 Solid malt backbone, reasonable body, a little over sweet with caramel but countered by a good bitterness.


Perhaps it was the thirst I had, it probably was one of those 'right time right beer' moments but this went down a treat that afternoon.

I suspect that if tried it again I would be a bit 'meh' and really overall its a good standard bitter.

Purple Moose Brewery 'Dark side of the Moose' and 'Snowdonia Ale'

Another two from the North Wales brewery Purple Moose, a porter with the excellent name of 'Dark Side of the Moose' and a pale ale called 'Snowdonia'.
The bottle label calls it a pale ale, and its won several awards under the bitter banner, it does seem to be putting a toe into the golden ale camp to my mind. But whatever it is, is it any good, thats whats important.

The Snowdonia pours a nice golden yellow, a small head that reduces but lingers down the glass.
Aroma is light citrus, little hoppy. Its body is on the lighter side also, not to thin though, and I get lemon,  small bittering hoppyness, creamy with a certain juicy quality.
Very drinkable, if I had more than one bottle I certainly would have quoffed it much quicker,and with its 3.6% abv this certainly puts it in the sessionable arena.
On the down side it doesn't have much to distinguish it from similar beers, on cask I would hope it had more body and fruit to make it a more rounded beer.



'Dark Side of the Moose' is 4.6% abv, 500mls.
Dark reddy brown, creamy chocolate and some fruit, I would say blackcurrant but its not as acidic as that.

Its smooth, delicious with raisins and rich tea biscuit coming on, good body, some spice and then sweet stickyness. 
Nicely dry, a bit metallic in the finish also, but I liked this porter.




Many thanks to my friend Doug and his family for these Purple Moose beers, cheers mate.

Andy Hamilton "Booze for Free"

A few months ago the kind people at Transworld Publishers asked if I'd like a copy of a book to review, it being Andy Hamilton's  "Booze for free".
The author is known mostly for his work on brewing and gardening, in publications such as The Guardian and the BBC Countryfile magazine.
I have read him before in Kitchen Garden magazine which is kind of aimed at those with allotments and small holdings, and also online at the guardian.co.uk. He is also known for his brewing through the Bristol Brewing Circle which benefits from his foraging expertise.

Booze for Free is a combination of all these elements, hoping to providing a guide on collecting ingredients, brewing beers, wines, spirits and many other styles as you can see from the cover photo.
The first third of the book gives an introduction to foraging, wine, beer and cider making, equipment and processes. Whilst I'm no expert on making these drinks and therefore cannot comment on its accuracy, its presented simply and very readable, and I would suspect very easy to follow.

The main contents of the book is then presented seasonally, each chapter listing the forthcoming recipes.
At the end is helpful advice, websites and organisations, and a glossary.

Overall its a great little book, a great handful size (?A5) with a nice looking cover.
The range of seasonal produce is quite varied and interesting, that you can have an extremely cheap or free drink based on a little produce gathering and time is brilliant. The book is interspersed with amusing stories from Andy brewing/foraging past, and the general style is very readable.
Picking this up you autmatically think of what is in your garden and local area that could be used.
The inside page quality is possibly were publishing costs are saved in order to provide it at a reasonable price, with also drawn illustrations instead of photos.
This was obvious when the description of sloes was not quite like the produce I had picked, and I was unsure if I had the right fruit. A photo would have cleared it up, I had to google to ensure they were indeed sloes not bullaces (Which they were so looking forward to sloe gin this xmas).

However its a great book, an ideal xmas present. I could quite imagine my wife or dad seeing this and thinking of me, and I would have been rightly happy to receive it.
It sells with a RRP of £9.99 but I'm am sure its available for a better price in the run up to the present season.


Thank you to Kate at Transworld Publishing for sending me this for review.

Odell Brewing St. Lupulin EPA

Odell Brewing St.  Extra Pale Ale
6.5% abv, 12 fl. oz. , I paid £2.99.


The Odell Brewery are based in Colorado, and have been going since 1989, they significantly expanded in 2009 and on Ratebeer have some highly rated beers .

This EPA is made with Lupulin (pronounced 'Loop-you-lin') resin, its oils from the female flowers of the hop plant, which were used by medics in the past as a sedative.



Pours a golden colour, aroma is some citrus, deep/heavier herbal notes.
Taste - orange pith bitterness, lemon, oily, the hop bitterness is herbal and like the aroma to my mind kinda heavy.
I'm not totally swayed by this, its interesting, quite drinkable but the herbal bitterness is not quite to my taste.

Off topic - watching MOTD - isn't Alan Hansen looking old this season!?

The Kernel 'Pale Ale Citra Cascade'

The Kernel 'Pale Ale Citra Cascade'
5.4% abv, 500mls, and it cost me £2.99.

Like the excellent Pale Ale Cascade I had earlier this year, anticipation was high.
Again, it was satisfied.

Hazy orange, nice light bubbly head.
Typical Citra aroma - citrus, mango, simply heavenly.
Taste is probably as one would expect, good middle bitterness, tangy fruits, sweet maltyness, refreshing all round.

Well made, entirely satisfying, and after two lighter beers from The Kernel I'm really looking forward to the Export Stout I have waiting.

Mikkeller Tomahawk Single Hop IPA

Mikkeller Tomahawk IPA, from their single hop series, one of a number of breweries running with this concept, their occasional collaborators Brewdog being another.
I did look for tomahawk on Wikipeadia to learn that its a trade name for Columbus, a well known American hop.

Really good hazy orange colouring , with a massive head that reduces to frothy white covering.

An amazing hoppy aroma of grapefruit, pine, dilute orange juice.
Its oily, has pine and citrus, obviously the bitterness is foremost,  The flavours dont quite live up to the aroma though.
The bitterness lingers at the upper back palate, its quite intense but not harshly so.
Fresh, spiky, very enjoyable.
330mls, 6.9% abv.

Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Golden Ale

Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Golden Ale  4.2%, 500mls.

A golden ale, obviously,  made with Goldings and Fuggle hops.

Pours a golden yellow, and its quite well carbonated.
It had little to no head after the initial pour,
Its got sweet malts and citrus on the nose.
Its a little oily, good hits of bitterness with a light fresh citrus bite, some sweetness comes in like a mild honey.

Very good golden ale, well rounded, you could very easily sink a few of these in a session, on a hot day it would be perfect.

When I made notes I forgot to look to see if it was bottle conditioned, I do recall a minute sediment at the bottle of the glass so it might well have been.

Asahi Black

Asahi Black, an odd volume in the bottle at 334mls, and its 5% abv. Bought in Tesco last week, for £1.89.


Nice bottle cap and label, proclaiming this is Munich style, black lager.

Very dark brown, almost black and it started with a reasonable white head which reduced to a frothy white ring that stayed throughout.

Aroma was light, mild coffee and cream.
Light medium body but not to thin, light chocolate, grains, again a little coffee.
Nicely smooth, pleasant enough, overall though not very exciting.

Cardiff Discount Supermarket - New beers

Just as the Pub Curmudgeon was posting about Independent beer sellers and supermarkets, i was spending money that had only been in the bank for a matter of hours (electronically i suppose, not real money).
Fortuitously my wife had left her lunch at home and rang to see if i was going over her way to drop it off. Seeing as travelling into Cardiff was not on the list of jobs she had given for my day off i took this as an order rather than a request.
But this meant i could combine it with a trip to the beer shop.

Now i know i have mentioned them once or twice, but it is really a fab shop.


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You wouldn't guess the depth of range from the outside, pretty much any Belgian beer you can think off, British from up in Orkney down to Keltek in Cornwall. The US is represented regularly by Anchor, Brooklyn and Flying Dog now, dotted with specials from Sierra Nevada and others. Many other countries are represented by their more well known breweries, such as Australia and Little Creatures.
He also has a good range of changing German beers although he admits supplies are not as varied as before, the proprietor is friendly and good for a chat about what's new and good.
They have however found new suppliers and the shelves have been brightened recently with the likes of Thornbridge, The Kernel and Bristol Beer Factory. They certainly have come up trumps this time though, with small supplies of Mikkeller and Nogne O.
If you love beer and are in or around Cardiff then you have to visit,  at 97-99 Whitchurch Rd, Cardiff, South Glamorgan. 

What did i buy? My beer geek heart skipped a beat when i saw the Mikkeller, and he only had 2 bottles of the Nogne O so i took one. Beer Geek Breakfast and from their single hop series the Tomahawk IPA, the Nogne O is the Brun belgian style ale.
The one and only Kernel I've had was brilliant so from the range of 5 or 6 there i took the Pale Ale Citra and Cascade, and from an equally wide selection from Thornbridge i fancied the Saint Petersburg. 
My first Odell Brewing Co. beer will be the St Lupulin, and from Anchor is the large bottle but low abv 'Small Beer'. 
Following Ghostie's post i also picked up Berliner Kindl Weisse - wonder how much he paid for it in The North Bar? 

In the photos you can see the others i bought, hence i think that will be my last trip to the shop this side of Xmas!

 Speaking of Xmas, I got the seasonal offering from the Bristol Beer Factory 'Bristoloe' and one from Ridgeway Brewery who seem to brew for export to America more often than not, but I had their Reindeer Droppings before and it was quite good so took the 'Reindeer's Revolt'

And while we mention Christmas I see Tesco have a Leffe gift pack on sale. The post i did last year about a similar present is surprisingly one of the most read here, often through the google images picture I took. The gift I saw today is a 330ml bottle, glass and bottle opener, I think it was £5.99.

Whilst there i did also pick up two bottles I've not seen before, Asahi Premium Black lager, and Crabbie's Black Reserve. This is a 6% abv giner beer oak matured with extra spices, citrus and ginger for longer than normal.

Great Orme 'Orme'

The Great Orme brewery, based in the Conwy Valley, have been going since 2005, and I believe they sell quite well in North Wales, but this is however the first time I've seen their beer outside a festival.

'Orme' is a 4.2% bitter, 500mls bottle, not bottle conditioned.
Colour is deep brown, briefly had a head but soon gone.
Aroma was malt, caramel, a little smokey and woody.
It has a thinnish body, the malt and caramel dominate, again smokiness comes in, fruity and some butter too.
To be honest i didn't really enjoy this, I didn't think it was balanced, the caramel and fruit sweetness are spoiled by the butter overtones, and a hop bitterness smothered by the woody smoke that's not pleasant.

Jacobi Brewery of Caio "dark roasted ale"

I'm afraid I know little about this brewery but what i manage to find out is:

- Based on one of the few National Trust lands in Wales, the Dolaucothi estate in West Wales.
- Started in 2006 by Justin and Jane Jacobi, i met Justin at a recent food festival and he's a very nice bloke.
- He told me that they were hoping to convert a nearby building into a brewery tap and shop.
- This is the website but there's nowt there!

 So, the Jacobi Brewery of Caio produce 4 regular beers plus seasonal offerings, I picked up the dark, Light ale, and Red Squirrel bitter. I also tasted a locally sourced honey beer (i forget its name). They sell locally, festivals, realbeerbox online and through some National Trust shops.


Tonight i fancied the 'dark roasted ale', 500mls, 5% abv, not bottle conditioned. When opening it i feared it was going to be a flat beer as there was hardly any 'pffft' but this was actually no problem i the end, it stayed perfectly carbonated through to the bottom the the glass. Head retention was reasonable also, an off white head.

Strong roasted aroma, creamy chocolate, a little spicy.
With the fizz and its dark brown colouring its similar looking to Coke, plus a head.
Light body, not as strongly roasted as the aroma suggests but nicely smooth to start with light chocolate, a dryness, sharp berry fruits sneak in too. Ends with a mild bitterness.
Very pleasant overall, look forward to trying the other beers from the brewery.

Purple Moose Brewery 'Myrica Gale'

The Purple Moose Brewery are based in North Wales near Snowdonia whose range of beers in their 6 year history have won quite a few awards at national and international level, including Champion beer of Wales in 2009.

My bottle tonight is this years winter seasonal 'Myrica Gale'. A stout brewed with Hallertau hops, 500mls 4.1% abv, and with bog myrtle added.
Bog myrtle is also known as sweet gale, and has a long history in brewing, being frequently used for bittering, its 'intoxicating' effects and was used in place of the hops when brewing.

A nice very light brown head that settles to a ring in the glass. Colour is near black but deep red at the edges when held up.
Aroma is chocolate, spicy which reminds me of dandelion and burdock.
Light to medium in the mouth for a stout, carbonation is good.
The spices are more evident in tasting, herbal and bitter tones, although they dont linger to much in the mouth. As it goes on the chocolate and roasted malts come through more.
Easy to drink and overall its quite nice, refreshing, interesting. I found the spice dominating over your normal stout flavours however, although not in an offensive over the top way.

International Stout Day

is November the third, you can find more details here.
But what more do you need to know?  just get some stout and drink it!!
Except i cant. I'm working a couple of night shifts this week.
Poor show for a blog with stout in the title huh!

Anyway on the next available evening i'll retrospectivly celebrate and drink some black stuff, namely these two welsh bottles.

The Jacobi brewery of Caio  i picked up three of their bottles a month ago, the Dark roasted ale will be perfect for stout night, the sample i tasted was tantalising. 

Next will be the Purple Moose brewery  and their seasonal offering "Myrica Gale"  'a sumptuous stout brewed using Hallertau hops with the added extravagance of bog myrtle' 

Sounds interesting!!