Life in the Cronx

The first brewery to hit Croydon since the Page and Overton Brewery closed in 1954.
The Cronx (an affectionate name for the town) has been set up by two Crystal Palace fans Mark Russell, and Simon Dale.

Currently producing small batches on a 60 litre pilot kit, they're in the final stages of installing a huge 2,000 litre vessel for production into their new brewery in New Addington. Having already produced Entire Porter which the second fastest selling beer at the CPFC Beer Festival in May they currently both hope the first casks will be heading to pubs from August and I for one can't wait!

I Got The Remedy

So last Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited by Sam at Signature Brew to the launch their new beer in collaboration with Professor Green's. Named "Remedy" to co-inside with Hackney rapper Professor Green's new single this was a American inspired Pale Ale made solely with British hops.

Signature Brew are a fairly new brewery that offer musicians the chance to brew their own beers, to date having worked with Craig Finn from The Hold Steady and The Rifles. Signature Brew guide the artists through the whole process from the the development of the beer with testing sessions to help the artists pick out their favourite tastes, to the final brew at Titanic brewery.

My evening didn't start so well after getting lost coming out of the many at Old Street station I ended up walking in the wrong direction for quite some time before I arrived at The Marie Lloyd. The pub it's self is no longer open to the public but is in fact now owned by a PR and Media company for such events but it's self is still a lovely space, clearly used as an office by day but still manages to keep the a pub feel with brewing related nick nacks on the walls including a signed picture of Michael Barrymore!

The beer itself tastes like a classic American Pale without that familiar hop bite. Remedy however has a great crisp taste huge grapefruit after taste that really grows on you and kept me coming back for more. I'd be really interested to know which hops were used in this beer as the flavour was unexpected fore a beer brewed solely with British Hops.

After several bottles I got to talk to Professor Green about his beer and he came across very enthusiastic yet concerned that people wouldn't like it! But he couldn't be more wrong, I'd like to think I'm not a fan of gimmicks or things that are used as promotional tools but this is a good beer. The guys at Signature Brew clearly have a lot of knowledge and passion in what they are doing and this comes across in Remedy from the beer and the bottle it comes in. I look forward to finding out who they're working with next!

To find out more about the making of Remedy check out this video or if you want to get your hands on some Remedy then head over to www.gottheremedy.com

Punk AGM

So Tom and I headed up to Aberdeen for the Equity for Punks AGM last weekend!

Here are a few photos from the event.....

BrewDog Aberdeen

Mashing In

Queue Dogs

New Brewery

Scamps!

Musa

Brewery

Original Branding

Bottling 5am Saint

Fermenting Vessles 

Bottling Up

Brew Sheet

The Brewery

Out to Sea

From a far

Pomme

So on Thursday last week, I was invited to a tutored Cider tasting at the Euston Cider Tap, courtesy of Google Places. Having previously visited the Cider Tap's sister bar across the road several times, This was my first trip into the world of all things apples!

The night started with a glass of Kir Normand, a cocktail aperitif made with Normandy cider and cassis. As the other attendee's began to arrive the tasting got under-way. Starting off with an introduction to the evening an brief description of how cider is brewed from Charles Roberts the head brewer at Pickled Pig Cider.

The tasting was started with Calvados - Christian Drouin 3% ABV, a fruity and rich tasting unpasteurised French cider. Served along side an amazing Calvados Camembert cheese. After a the Camembert was devoured Charles talked us through his range of Ciders, starting with a traditional farmhouse cider; Pickled Pig - Old Spot - 6.5% ABV brewed naturally using three varieties of apple all grown locally to the Cambridgeshire farm. The naturally found yeast used in the fermentation gives this cider a tannic and acidic taste not dissimilar to those of a Lambic.

Next we were introduced to Pickled Pig - Rum Cask - 6.0% ABV. Slowly fermented and stored in an oak rum barrel imported from the Caribbean. This cider again had a sour tannic taste this time with a phenolic taste drawn from the rum that had previously been matured in the cask. Charles then went on to explain how the Cider would soon be changing its name to Saddle Back as a resort to meet the new laws imposed by customs and excise!

The tasting then moved to the several sparkling ciders on offer, Lilleys - Fire Dancer - 4.5% ABV described as "A traditional cloudy cider, with a rich rosy colour and full of flavour." I however thought it was heavily over carbonated and was all to similar to the more commonly found commercial ciders.

Sandford Orchards -Shaky Bridge - 6% This has a much stronger taste of apple and was much more palatable, but after several ciders my notes are somewhat lacking!

Aware that is was a school night we made plans to leave, but these where soon stifled, as we were offered a glass of Millwhites - Rioja Cask - 6.7%. With its pink hue drawn from its time in the red wine barrels, this was one of the most interesting ciders we had tasted with hints of oak tannin and warming overall sweetness. And with that the evening and my first foray into cider was over.

The Euston Cider Tap, is the only dedicated Cider bar that I'm aware of in London which is surprising since apparently we're now a nation of cider drinkers. Although I suspect this more than likely the type of cider served over ice!  If more pubs offered at least one craft or real cider, I for one would now be more inclined to move away from ales & beers every now and then. However there's still a long way for craft/real Cider to go before it can break the stereotype The Wurzels have set!

Living For The Weekend...

It's been a quiet start to 2012 on the beer front (and the blogging one), but a few weeks ago me and my good friend Moppo had a wee stroll down to tower bridge on a Friday night.As such here's his first foray into blogging....

First stop was the Dean Swift, which is located on Gainsford Street, near Tower Bridge. The pub describes itself as a ‘local beer house’, which is a fairly accurate description. Busy but not packed, the Swift is a small space with a mixed clientele: suits mixing with a smattering of trendy young people (and that was just me and Ford). The Dean Swift also boasts a very knowledgeable bar staff, each of whom was willing and able to offer recommendations among the array of pumps on the bar, and the multitude of bottled beers behind it.

First beer of the night for me was the Rooster’s Cream(4.7%), seasonal pale ale from North Yorkshire, brewed in Harrogate using hops from the States. As its name suggests, it is smooth and creamy on the tongue, with hints of vanilla, with a citrus finish. A really drinkable pint, I would have happily stayed on this all night.

From the Rooster’s, I moved on to Nibiru IPA (6.3%), brewed by Arbor Ales in Bristol. This is a really fruity beer: I’d almost say tropical, if that didn’t put me in mind of Um Bongo... Unlike that juice drink consumed in the congo, Nibiru is also bloody strong: a great supping beer.

At Tom’s suggestion, we then moved onto the bottled stuff. For me, this meant a bottle of Southern Cross India Pale Ale (7.3%), brewed in SE1 by The Kernel brewery, which had to be fetched from upstairs: too good to sell to the punters? At first taste it has a sharp, spicy quality, and it is dry, with a fruity bitterness at the back of the throat at the finish. A really great tasting beer, and a good note to finish on.

From the Dean Swift it was a short meander to The Draft House, itself only a very short trundle from Tower Bridge. You’ll forgive me for not describing the pub in huge detail, as by this point I was a fairly refreshed young man, but the main thing that struck me with regard to the décor was the Ghostbusters wallpaper on the way to the facilities. Pubs of Great Britain take note: you can do far worse than festoon your interiors with classic 80s film references, even if it is in the form of children’s wall decorations.

Choosing what beer to drink based purely on its name and how that name resonates with you at a certain stage of your Friday night probably isn’t a great plan, but it did lead me to try a bottle of Titan IPA. Brewed and bottled by the Great Divide Brewing Company in Colorado, it is a potent 7.1% ABV. In the glass, Titan has a deep amber colouration, with a small head (if you pour it properly). On the nose there’s a strong pine aroma, and on the tongue there’s a mixture of citrus hops, closing with a bitter finish which borders on sweet.  I just need to apologise to Tom for how much it cost…

Tom: No problem Moppo! Pleasure was all mine! 

1 Year on

• 27 Blog posts
• Over 100 Twitter followers
• God knows how many beers!
• 8 shares bought in Brew Dog
• Trip to Rome
• Trip to Russia
• Trip to Copenhagen
• Trip to Edinburgh
• 6 Beer Festivals
• 3 Pub Crawls

It's not been a bad year!