Tiny Rebel Brewing Company

So after a bad day in the office what better way to drown your sorrows but at the Rake? It also just happened to be the first day of their Welsh Beer Festival. And for me there is one welsh brewery above all the others; Tiny Rebel Brewing Company. Set up by brothers-in-law Gareth Williams and Bradley Cummings in their home town of Newport last year, they specialises in producing retro beers with a modern twist. With a number of beers under their belt including Hadouken 7.4% an amplified IPA brewed in collaboration with the Rake's @Rabidbarfly.

Having previously tried and loved their Welsh Red Ale Cwtch 4.6%, logic suggested to try a few more of their wears. First up was FuBar 4.4% a lovely light pale ale, with a huge hoppy nose and a slightly spiced bitter after-taste. Alas this beer is more suited to summer than freezing conditions of the Rake's garden.
So seeking warmth I spotted another TRBC beer, Billabong 4.6% on pump inside. Brewed solely with Australian hops this Pale Ale packs a punch as you'd expect with big citrus flavours. With a lovely floral taste  and lingering with pineapple and mango flavours.

As I was enjoying my pint, a few familiar faces turned up, and joined me for a drink. I was then recommended the Urban IPA 5.5% on keg & to complete the trilogy I couldn't say no! With a
hop forward and crisp tasting finish this was a surprisingly good beer. I'm not sure how often TRBC put this on keg, but it gives the beer a much crisper taste than on cask, though at over £5 a pint i'm not sure I'll be running back to try it!

Pictures from Tiny Rebel Brewing Co

Craft Beer Rising 2013

I wasn't aware of this event until a friend invited me via Facebook, but I wasn't filled with much enthusiasm looking at the list of participating breweries it didn't seem to say "Craft" to me. Several names from the craft scene were missing no; Kernel, Brodies, Magic Rock, Summer Wine or Hardknott. With some odd choices filling the void such as Green King, Wells & Youngs and Fullers under the guise of one of their pubs "The Union Tavern"


However thanks to a twitter competition run by @Brewdog I won two tickets to one of the sessions over the weekend and so Saturday found me an Christine travelling to East London. Set in original Truman Brewery site on Brick Lane, the venue seemed perfect although a little difficult to find at first due to the vintage clothes fair in the basement. Once we'd safely navigated our way inside we grabbed a glass and an ample amount of tokens to see us through the afternoon.


Split into 2 rooms Cask and Keg, it was instantly apparent the event was more like a trade show than a beer festival, each brewery setup with its own stall selling its wares directly to the intrigued punters. First to catch our eye in the cask room was Brains Craft Brewery who have been beavering away in a new micro brewery for just under a year now. With several catchy names to choose from Christine plumped for their latest edition Beardface 5% a lovely milk stout. I was like a kid in a sweet shop but when I spotted Sharps stall my choice was made, Total Citra 4.1% which was a delight.

As well as the beer, the musical inspired Signature Brew were providing DJs & live music in a third room, which became a great place to sit whilst not choosing a beer or chatting to the brewers. If you've not come across Signature Brew before they are a brewery that offer musicians the chance to brew their own beers, to date having worked with a number of artists including, Professor Green, Frank Turner and Enter Shikari. The guys then guide the artists through the whole brewing process from the the development of the beer with testing sessions, up to the final brew.
Signature Brews appearance gave me a chance to try Enter Shikari's Sssnakepit 5% an American hopped larger and catch up Sam McGregor one of the Signature Brew founders. I also tasted Frank Turners Believe 4. 8% and grabbed a bottle of Mammoth 7% double-IPA to take home, which I'm looking forward to trying

As the afternoon progressed we came across Bateman's selling their - Signature Beer Range (with an all too similar sign to the afore mentioned Signature Brew). Christine having previously tried Mocha 6.0% winner of the Sainsbury's Great British Beer Hunt 2012, sampled the Orange Barley Wine 6%  which was light and refreshing and very heavy on the Orange, as well as Hazelnut Brownie 6% with a rich deep chocolate and hazelnut flavours coming through. We started talking to the stall holder who then presented Christine with her own Bateman's tulip glass. Just one of the many examples of the wonderful hospitality at Craft Beer Rising.


Getting hungry we had a look around the various food stalls and jumped for one of the wonderful Hot Dogs courtesy of Fleisch Mob which were laden with onions and sauerkraut, I also got a special shot of Schnapps as the owner Mark is a fellow Palace fan. Look out for his stall at Kerb Market during March.

The evening before fellow South London beer bloggers @SW6Badger & @RealAleGirlShea had recommended the Cornish based Rebel Brewing Co's - Mexi-Cocoa 8.5%. A Chocolate Vanilla Stout, triple-infused with chocolate and vanilla at each stage of the process. Giving the beer a deep and powerful flavour but is still smooth enough to sip. Talking to the team the recipe was derived by their Mexican head brewer (who's clearly a long way from home brewing in Penryn). As well as tasting Mexi-Cocoa, Christine bought a bottle to take home and the Rebel guys threw in a free IPA for me a long with some other goodies! Rebel Brewing Co, appear to be one of the breweries that have really gained something from appearing at Craft Beer Rising. Having not heard of them before the event they'll be one to look out for in 2013.

So I can safely say that Craft Beer Rising was not what I had expected, yes the array of brewers was quite diverse and maybe not "Craft" (I managed to avoid all things Green King) but the new breweries and beers I found more than made up for the lack of some of the bigger craft names.
Being able to talk directly to the brewers about their produce was great and I'm sure that Craft Beer Rising 2014 will be bigger and better, I just hope the don't forget the little guys!

Other Beers/Breweries of note were:

Hogs Back - A over T (Bright) 9%
Courage - Imperial Russian Stout (Bottle) 10%
HOBO - Craft Czech Lager (can) 5.1%
Thornbridge - Bear State- West Coast IPA 7% (Keg)
Sharps - Project Wheatcore 4.7% (Cask)
Sharps - Cornish Pilsner (Bottle)
Penpont Brewery - An Howl Reserve- IPA 7.0% (Cask)
Penpont Brewery - Ginger Beer 4.2% (Cask)
Traquair House Brewery - Jacobite Ale 8%
Thwaites -Thirteen Guns 5.5% (Cask)
Brewers & Union - Dark Lager 5% (Bottle)
The Botanist - Humulus Lupulus Pale Ale 3.8% (Cask)
Wildcard Brewery - Jack of Clubs (Bottle)

Dukes Brew & Que

It seemed like we'd been waiting weeks and when Saturday finally came, this time it wasn't football on my mind but food. Christine and I had booked a table a Dukes Brew & Que a few weeks back, having succumb to our jealousy from the endless tweets in my feed praising the BBQ joint in Haggerston.

Dukes is also the home of Beavertown Brewery which takes it’s name from the old cockney name for the De Beauvoir area of Hackney that the brewery and restaurant resides. Setup in February 2012 by Logan Plant (You might just have heard of his father Robert of Led Zeppelin fame) & friend Byron. Their aim is to "make some damn fine ales"and you can safely say they've achieved that. With a recent collaboration with Brew Dog under their and their 3 bottled beers popping up in establishments all over London.

Situated in an old east end pub, the Beavertown boys have stripped the interior back to its shell, with exposed walls and bare floorboards as well as antlers adorning the walls and chandeliers. Visible from our table to the left was the cramped kitchen as well as the fermenting tanks and other steel brewing paraphernalia, to the right the well stocked bar. A printed menu on each table lists today's draft and cask offerings on our outing including two new additions to the core range Black Betty Black IPA 7% & Hit The Road Jack IPA we tried a pint of each.

The menu its self is simple, really simple, It's pretty much either Beef or Pork with a Veggie Burger thrown in for good measure. Having browsed the menu my choice was made, Beef Rib. With Christine choosing the Trio of Pulled Pork Sliders. We'd barely had a sip of our drinks before meals arrived along with a side of Seasoned Fries. The ribs come coated in a lovely caramelised smoked hickory glaze leaving the meat tender and juicy. The only down side was the amount of fat left, but the amount of meat more than satisfied. The pork sliders come with fried pickles and judging by Christine's reaction were equally as delicious.

Seemingly not quite stuffed by our mains we ordered another beer and a Baked Cheesecake to share. This time Kernel's Table Beer 3.3% ABV amazingly crisp and fruity from a low abv beer. A surprisingly nice match for the velvety baked desert rather than a stout or porter I'd usually consider with desert.
So with that our experience at Dukes was over! Hackney is a part of London I'd never really ventured into before but there's a lot to be discovered, The Sebright Arms, Crate Brewery & London Fields Brewery are all on my list for 2013

If you're planning on hitting up Duke's Brew & Que then I'd recommend booking in advance as the service area is small and your time is often limited to a 1 and 1/2 hour booking.

Dukes Brew & Que: 33 Downham Road, Hackney, London N1 5AA

The Hope

Seeking somewhere different for a late lunch, Christine and I headed 30 minutes down the road in search of the Greater London CAMRA pub of the year, The Hope in Carshalton.

Three years ago The Hope was facing extinction with plans a foot to convert the 19th Century bar into a Indian restaurant and that's where the story would end had it not been for it's intrepid regulars. Who pooled together and purchased the lease, free of ties from Punch Taverns. Now with 40 share holders on board they've bought the fixtures and fittings, stock etc from the holding company that was operating the pub. The company formed (48 West Limited) has set a restriction of 24% on the number of shares an individual can hold. Ensuring there cannot be a majority holder and keeps this pub firmly rooted in its community. One perfectly matched shareholder is Croydon's latest brewery Clarence & Fredericks.

As we arrived we were greeted with The Hope's mock Tudor façade and original fittings, to the right there's a small area with seating and a piano; the rest of the pub continues round to the left curving around the well stocked bar. Offering 6 real ales as well 3 real ciders and 3 craft keg pumps. I had to check twice when I saw Mikkeller - Santa's Little Helper 11%ABV on tap! Not your usual CAMRA pub offerings and one I've not seen outside of Copenhagen. Alas having not yet eaten I went for something with a slightly more respectable ABV; Gadds - Oatmeal Stout 4.5% ABV wondefully smooth with hints of chocolate and coffee. Whilst Christine had a half of Saltaire Brewery - New World Red 5.2% ABV heavily hopped with hops from Australia, America & New Zealand giving it a fruity bitter finish.

With the pub bustling with people it soon became apparent that we'd unfortunately missed the lunch menu (12-3pm) and so sat down with our drinks to take in the surroundings. As well as the cask and keg ales The Hope has a great bottle range including Brew Dog, Brodies and several well known Belgian breweries
Also on keg was Brodies - Citra for Breakfast 10.1% ABV  as well as a number of German lagers
But  as we had driven we decided to leave in the hunt for food elsewhere.

The transport links to The Hope are numerous and there's ample parking if you're driving as well as being a 5 minute walk from Carshalton station. However we've since discovered the 157 bus stops near by handy for our next trip to sample some of the higher ABV beers! We'll make sure we make it for lunch next time too!!

For a video tour of the pub and interview with some of the shareholders click here

*Picture from the wonderful Make Mine a Beer - follow him on Twitter @SW6Badger

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