Hawkshead Brewery

Last week I went on holiday to the Lake District with my boyfriend and our puppy, Chips. I’d never been to the Lakes before and we had a fantastic time filled with lots of walks, drinking great beer in cosy pubs and eating the best food. One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley. We’d wanted to visit for ages and when we realised that where we were staying in Bowness-on-Windermere was not too far away, we decided that we must go.

To get to Hawkshead, we had to get a bus to Windermere and then a train to Staveley. The trains are only every hour, despite it only being a 10 minute train ride, but we didn’t mind as it gave us an opportunity to have a look around Windermere. We stopped off at a great pet shop and bought Chips a toy turkey and some treats to keep him happy. He got very excited, as it was his first time in a pet shop and dragging him out of there so we could catch our train was somewhat of a challenge!

We arrived at the tiny station in Staveley and worked out that it was about a five minute walk from the train. The village of Staveley is small and quaint, with lots of picturesque cottages. On the way to the brewery, we passed a few local restaurants, a coffee shop and a place selling gelato which all looked welcoming. We arrived at Mill Yard where the brewery is and realised that it was the modern looking building that we had seen as we were coming in on the train. At first Mill Yard appeared similar to many of the industrial estates where you can often find brewery or two, however we were surprised to see a chocolate shop which a local told us “sold the best chocolates you’ll ever eat” and also a bakery. We wondered if these places had already existed or whether the presence of the brewery attracted these other great businesses to Mill Yard.

We’d missed the brewery tour unfortunately, which runs every day at 1pm. For £10 per person you get a tour of the brewery which lasts around 45 minutes and choice of a pint or two halves at the end. As we’ve been on many brewery tours before, we were mainly interested in tasting the beer, so we found a good table, got Chips occupied with his new treats and turkey toy and headed to the bar. I started with a half of “Bright Light, Long Nights” a 4.3% Florida Weisse which was fruity and clean with a subtle tartness to it. My boyfriend Rob went for the “Thyme after Thyme” which is a 4.5% gose made with lemon thyme, thyme, sea salt and black pepper. This beer intrigued both of us as it was unlike anything we’d ever tried before – a really strong taste of the sea came through, but in a good way if that makes sense. Rob said it was one of the best goses he’d ever had, so high praise indeed.

The Beer Hall at Hawkshead is very welcoming and all of the staff were extremely friendly and helpful during our visit. They have a great food menu too – we didn’t eat ourselves, however we did look longingly at the food being served around us while we drank and chatted with a variety of different people. You could very easily spend a whole day here, eating great food and great beer and talking – as long as you like dogs that is – the Hawkshead Beer Hall is very dog friendly and we met loads of lovely pups during our visit, to the delight of Chips!

Other highlights on the beer front included the “Great White” a 4.8% cloudy, botanical, wheat beer which was extremely light and drinkable and the “Red” a 4.2% sweet and malty red ale. Rob finished our afternoon at Hawkshead with an 8.5% “Tonka Stout”, which tasted beautiful and the flavour of the Tonka bean definitely came through. I finished with the much lighter “Lakeland Gold” on cask – a hoppy and fruity golden ale which is award-winning and I can see why. Hawkshead also has a great bottle shop on site where you can buy beers to take away, along with a wide variety of merch. I was very tempted by the hoody but decided to save my money – oh well, there’s always next time.

We had a great day at the Hawkshead Brewery and I’d highly recommend stopping off there for at least a few hours if you’re a beer lover on holiday in the Lakes. We will definitely be back at some point, especially as the Beer Hall (and the Lakes in general) are so dog friendly. I’m now thinking ahead to this weekend as on Saturday we are planning to visit the new venue for the Grub food fair in Manchester’s Green Quarter (near where we used to live!). We will also be popping into our local favourites Runaway Brewery and the newly re-opened Beatnitz Republic tap room, before heading over to Hemsley House for the fantastic Salford Beer Festival which we look forward to every year. Look out for a blog next week on my trip to Salford Beer Festival!

Why I love being a UK Brewery Tours Guide

Me with Sarah (another guide) and some recent guests at Track Brewery

I’ve accidentally had another hiatus from blogging which is a real shame because I’ve been to some great beer festivals and attended some really special experiences over the last few months. One of the reasons I’ve been off the blog lately is that my partner and I are in the process of buying a house in Levenshulme, Manchester and I’ve been busy dealing with estate agents, solicitors and various other professions previously unknown to me. Another key reason is that I’ve been busy balancing my full-time job with a part-time role as a Tour Guide for UK Brewery Tours – a company that offers tours and brewery experiences across the UK. I thought for my first blog in a while, I’d talk about this experience and why I’ve been enjoying it so much.

I started as a guide back in August and initially only did a couple of tours, but then took on a few more in the run up to Christmas and am now doing roughly two a month. There are two tours available in Manchester – the Manchester Microbrewery Experience tour which takes guests around three breweries and the Manchester Beer Tasting Tour where guests are taken on a tutored tasting in a few of the local breweries. So far I have only guided the Experience tour, however I will be doing a few tasting tours soon. UK Brewery Tours also provides the option for you to book private tours for smaller groups and I’ve also guided a few of these.

The Experience tour meets upstairs at Piccadilly Tap near Manchester Piccadilly Train Station and once all the guests have arrived the guides take them on the 20 minute walk to the first brewery stop, Beer Nouveau. The Experience tour usually has two guides as we have groups of up to 25 people, however the tasting tours and private tours usually only have one guide as the groups are smaller. At the first stop, Steve Dunkley, the experienced brewer and beer historian at Beer Nouveau does a very detailed tour where guests get to try at least three different beers, as well as a variety of malts. They also get to feel and smell a few different variety of hops. Steve’s talk is always really popular with the guests and by the time we leave Beer Nouveau, they are all chatting and having a laugh with one another. Most people on the tour have been bought it as a present so you tend to get many smaller groups of 2/3 people booking on. Sons buying it as a present for their dad, plenty of couples, as well as groups of friends looking for a good time.

The next stop on the tour is Alphabet Brewery which is a short 5 minute walk from Beer Nouveau. Alex at Alphabet takes the guests on a short tour of the equipment while we present them with their first beer. The guests get two halves at Alphabet and we try and vary it up so they are trying a wide variety of different beers. For example, on my last tour I got them the Small Packages Table Beer, which at 2.8% was nice and light after some of the stronger beers they’d had at Beer Nouveau (including an outstanding stock ale!). I then followed this up with the Juice Springsteen Tropical IPA for something slightly different and packed full of juicy flavours.

Alex (another guide) and a group of guests at Alphabet Brewery

The final stop on the tour is Track Brewery, which recently opened its new tap room at the top of an apartment building. We always try and remember to warn the guests beforehand as there are quite a few steps up to the tap room! It’s worth it when you arrive at the top though – a warm and welcoming space with plenty of benches and a ping pong table. We always finish by giving the guests Track’s most well known beer, Sonoma (a 3.8% pale ale). You can’t really go wrong with a Sonoma and it nearly always goes down well. This is where the tour officially ends but we always try and stick around for a bit in case any of the guests have questions or want any recommendations. We usually try and point out Cloudwater on the way to Track too because many people are keen to go on there afterwards and experience whats been named the second best brewery in the world.

What I love most about doing the brewery tours is meeting such an amazing array of people. I love working with my fellow guides who are all lovely people, passionate about beer. I also love the guests who for the most part seem to really enjoy the tour and like getting to know us along the way. I’ve even made friends with a few people off the tour and met up with them afterwards. If I could do this full time then I would! As well as being a passionate beer lover, the other thing I love about the industry is how friendly and supportive everyone is. It really does make it all worth it.

A happy bunch of guests at the end of the tour (this one is taken at Track’s old tap)

If you haven’t already been on a UK Brewery Tour then you should definitely give it a go. Tours are available in many different cities with others being added all the time. And you never know, if you join the Manchester tour you might be guided by me – if you do then I look forward to meeting you!

Bruges: De Halve Maan Brewery

I’ve been so busy again recently that I’ve barely had any time for writing. Works been hectic and my boyfriend and I are trying to buy a house, so that’s also taking up a lot of our attention right now. I’m going to have to start writing more again though, as there are so many great events and beer festivals coming up in Manchester over the next few months! Before I get back to writing about more local beer though, I am going to finally write about our fantastic trip to the De Halve Maan Brewery in Bruges this summer.

I first heard about De Halve Maan Brewery from reading this Buzzfeed article about the two mile, underground beer pipeline that transports beer from the brewery in central Bruges to the bottling plant outside the city. Ever since reading that article I’d been really keen to visit the brewery, and of course I’d already sampled De Halve Maan’s wonderful Brugse Zot, so was excited to taste it again straight from the source.

33022149600_e5c998f06f_b — Entrance to De Halve Maan Brewery

We decided to book on to the Deluxe tour which was €19 each and included a guided tasting of three beers. The standard tour is cheaper and is about an hour quicker, so is a good option if you don’t have much time or need to stick to a budget. You also still get to try Brugse Zot unfiltered – the only place where you can do so. We booked in advance, but most people appeared to show up on the day to join a tour.

When you first arrive, it feels a lot more commercial than a lot of other breweries – mainly because there are so many people – but once you get inside the brewery itself it feels very different. A complete contrast between much newer, shinier equipment and the older, traditional parts of the brewery. Our Tour Guide, Ann, was extremely knowledgeable and took us through much of the history of the brewery, as well as the specifics of Belgian brewing. Ann’s vast knowledge and enthusiasm really made the tour feel special and she was happy to take questions and give recommendations.

One part of the tour that was unexpected but definitely one of the highlights was climbing the staircase up to the very top of the brewery and taking in the view of Bruges. It was spectacular and controversially, I thought the view from the brewery was even better than from the Belfry which we had climbed earlier that day. A word of caution though for anyone not comfortable with climbing lots of stairs or being in confined spaces – there are lots of steps that are quite steep and hard to climb (even harder to climb down because they are very narrow). Fortunately there are a few areas to rest along the way!

View_on_Bruges_from_De_Halve_Maan_brewery_(12) (1).jpg — View from the roof

The final part of the tour was the best bit – tasting the beer! We were led down to the brewery tasting room which had an traditional feel with dark mahogany furniture. It’s very much like how you would imagine an old beer hall to be. We were then taken through a guided tasting of the unfiltered Brugse Zot, Dubbel, Triple or Quadruple (you can choose whether to have the Triple or Quadruple, but if you are in a couple or with a friend choose one each so you can try both!).

Ann expertly guided us through the tour, even telling us what cheese you should pair with each different style. She inspired us to plan our own Belgian beer and cheese night, which I can’t wait to organise! Apparently the Dubbel and Tripel goes well with a lighter, creamy cheese like a brie or camembert, whereas the stronger Quadruple complements a strong blue cheese. It was also interesting taking part in the tasting as a group because everyone seemed to have a different experience and favoured certain beers over others. I really enjoyed the Dubbel for instance, but quite a few people on our table found that they couldn’t finish theirs (I wasn’t complaining…). The unfiltered Brugse Zot was also amazing – so much more satisfying that the version you find more readily across Belgium. Unfortunately you don’t get to see the infamous two mile beer pipe, however Ann told us that she gets a lot of questions about it!

IMG_3059 (1) — The beer recommended to us by Ann

Following our tour, we decided to stay in the De Halve Maan bar for a little longer. My boyfriend had loved the Tripel we had tried and was also wearing a t-shirt he had bought at Cantillon Brewery in Brussels (well known for their lambic beers brewed with wild yeast), so Ann recommended another beer to him that she thought he’d like – the Straffe Hendrik Bruges Tripel ale, re-fermented with a wild “Brettanomyces” yeast. It was delicious. She also brought over a leaflet for us about the beer with the full description and information about how it was made. We really appreciated this and were really struck by how passionate and attentive Ann was as a tour guide. She clearly loves her job and we feel very lucky that she guided us through our trip to De Halve Maan.

So if you ever find yourself in Bruges, make sure you visit the De Halve Maan Brewery – it will be well worth your time. Even if you don’t have time for a tour, make sure you order an unfiltered Brugse Zot and sit in the brewery’s lovely outdoor bar and watch the world go by.

Brussels: Moeder Lambic, Cantillon and Brussels Beer Project

I’ve had a bit of a blogging hiatus over the summer, but now I’m back and I’ve got plenty of things to write about!

Towards the end of July my boyfriend and I went to Belgium on holiday and really fell in love with the place. The first stop on our trip was the capital city, Brussels. I’ve always wanted to go to Brussels however I didn’t really know what to expect because a lot of people have told me in the past that it’s not the most exciting city to visit. I have to say that they were all wrong! Brussels exceeded my expectations and it is now definitely up there in my top favourite cities. We are already thinking about going back for a long weekend because we loved it so much. I would highly recommend a visit to anyone, however for the beer lovers out there it’s an absolute must.

The Dark beer on offer at the Brewers Museum

And the Light version…

We were fortunate enough to stay in a hotel in central Brussels, so it was very easy to get around. Brussels is a very walkable city, as long as you have some decent shoes to wear – the cobbled roads and pavements can take their toll otherwise! Something that really surprised me about Brussels (due to what I had been told) was how beautiful it is – the main square is very grand and really takes you aback when you first stumble across it. The streets in the very centre of Brussels are quite narrow and small which means that the main square is quite hidden away, so you really don’t see it clearly until you get right up to it. As well as tourist information and a multitude of chocolate shops, you can also find the Belgian Beer Brewers Museum. Yes, that’s how much this country loves its beer – the brewing museum takes centre stage in the main square! The museum is small and doesn’t take long to look around but for €5 it’s well worth a visit, even if only for the beer you get at the end. You get a choice of a light beer or a dark beer and both are excellent.

One of many delicious beers enjoyed at Moeder Lambic

Another place that all beer lovers should visit when in Brussels is Moeder Lambic – a fantastic bar serving craft beers, as well as more traditional Belgian brews. We visited the “Fontainas” location, however there is also the “original” Moeder Lambic in the south of the city which we didn’t get to visit this time but we will definitely go in future. Moeder Lambic has a standard menu which has a wide range of more traditional brews, but also has a list of guest kegs which change all the time including breweries from Belgium and beyond. We tried quite a few beers from Quebec based breweries during our visits, as well as many from Belgium of course. The staff in Moeder Lambic are extremely friendly and knowledgeable and with every beer you get a little bowl of roasted malt to snack on – so delicious. We were only in Brussels for three days but we just kept going back to Moeder Lambic – we will definitely keep coming back to this place.

We also visited two breweries while in Brussels – both very different from each other but both amazing. We visited Cantillon Brewery first, which exclusively brews Lambic beers. Cantillon was one of more than one hundred operating breweries in Brussels when it was founded, but was the only one to remain operational through the 2000s. It’s a fascinating place to visit, but you need to keep your eye on your map because it’s easy to miss. For €7 you get a quick explanation of the brewing process at Cantillon (Lambic beers are brewed using only naturally occurring yeast), followed by a self-guided tour where you can look at all the brewing equipment (which is still all in use, despite being very old).

The Fou’Foune and Mamouche we drank at Cantillon

Once you’ve finished looking round the brewery, you also get to choose two beers to try from the bar. I had a pure Lambic followed by a Kriek – both fantastic. When you’ve had your two beers as part of your entrance fee, visitors are welcome to stay for longer and purchase sharing bottles from the bar. We stayed and had two bottles between us, the first was the Fou’Foune which is a lambic with soaked apricots and the second was Mamouche, a lambic infused with elderflower. It’s a great place to go and spend a few hours as you end up talking to so many people. We got chatting to a guy from Portland, Oregon (where we visited last summer, so had plenty to talk about), a girl from Indiana who now lives in Madrid and another young American traveller who had just come from Ghent. Cantillon is definitely worth visiting if you can, it really is a unique experience. Unlike most Belgian beers, all Cantillon beers are 5% which is pretty low for Belgium, so it’s also a good place to go if you want to avoid the really strong brews.

Beer list at Brussels Beer Project

Inside the brewery…

The second brewery we visited was a much more modern experience – Brussels Beer Project. We were due to leave for Bruges on the day we visited Brussels Beer Project but we waited around until it opened at 2.00pm (BBP is only open 2-10pm Thursday to Saturday). It was definitely worth the wait. Brussels Beer Project began in 2013 with the aim to collaborate in order to become more innovative and daring and offer a more modern take on Belgian craft brewing. We had picked up a flyer in the tourist information centre which offered us a free taster beer, so we started with that. I chose the Juice Junkie – a hazy New Zealand IPA. We didn’t have much time unfortunately but we decided to stay for another one, I had the Grosse Bertha, a Belgian Hefeweizen. Both were delicious and I really didn’t want to leave but we had to go and catch our train. We can’t wait to come back to Brussels so we can come back to Brussels Beer Project and spend much longer there. We will be back soon!

Thanks for reading about my amazing trip to Brussels. There’s so much more I could say but this blog is already over 1,000 words. I look forward to writing more about this great city and it’s amazing beer scene soon. Look out for my next blog which will be all about our beer travels in Bruges.

Manchester Beer Week

Last Friday marked the beginning of Manchester Beer Week – Manchester’s only city-wide beer festival. The fortnight of festivities includes a variety of events from tap takeovers to brewery tours and educational talks and beer-based quizzes. There’s been so much going on that I wish I’d been able to take the whole two weeks off work and explore everything!

As soon as it was time to clock off work last Friday, my boyfriend and I headed out to Plant Noma for our first event of the festival – a discussion about how and if craft breweries should be giving back and working with people in the communities they are based. The discussion was facilitated by Manchester Beer Weeks’ organiser, Connor Murphy and included Jim Cullen, founder and organiser of The Independent Salford Beer Festival and Jenn Merrick, who used to be Head Brewer at Beavertown Brewery and is now setting up her own community brewery in East London called Earth Station.

It was a great start to the festival and a really interesting insight into some of the things that breweries are already doing to engage with their local communities. A particularly interesting part of the conversation was about taking on people from within local communities as brewing apprentices and the positive affects this can have, as well as the challenges. Many of the other attendees at the talk worked in the industry and were talking about how hard it is to retain brewers and that there is a real skills shortage. It was really interesting to hear from people actually working in the industry and the challenges they face. I really like the idea of breweries training up young people and supporting them through a career they may never have considered and also giving back to the communities they work in, as many already do. However I can also see how hard that must be for various reasons. Jenn Merrick’s Earth Station is a wonderful idea and I can’t wait to hear more about it and (hopefully) visit at some point.

For our next stop, we headed to Hatch on Oxford Road for a tap takeover at ÖL Nano Brewery & Bar on Oxford Road. The takeover was with Croatian brewery Nova Runda, who I hadn’t heard of before but did not disappoint. I had three great Nova Runda beers while I was there, however the one that stood out the most was their American style IPA, C4. Very hoppy and citrusy – perfect for the heatwave we’ve been having here in Manchester (and the UK as a whole). I’m looking forward to trying more beers from Nova Runda in future. There seems to be a lot of really interesting craft breweries coming out of Croatia at the moment…Garden Brewery, Nova Runda…perhaps a trip is on the cards.

We didn’t want to stay out too late because we were attending The Pilcrow‘s Summer Beer Thing the next day, however we made a quick stop on our way home at Sandbar on Grosvenor Street. Sandbar were holding a tap takeover as well with Boutilliers Microbrewery from Faversham, UK – another brewery newly on my radar that I was keen to try out. Boutilliers’ beer did not disappoint, especially their Anti-Trump Fruit Saison which had a political message I can definitely get on board with, as well as being incredibly delicious. Sandbar is a great spot for craft beer and somewhere I’ve only discovered fairly recently as it’s in the more studenty part of town, which we don’t go to so often. I really like the atmosphere in Sandbar and love all the little hidden rooms towards the back. One of my new found favourite spots in Manchester.

The next day we woke up raring to go for our second day of Manchester Beer Week activities. Before heading over to Summer Beer Thing, we popped in to our most local and favourite brewery, Runaway. We always like having a chat with Mark, Co-founder and Head Brewer at Runaway Brewery, as he is super friendly and welcoming. We were keen to try their new collaboration with local sushi restaurant Umezushi, Gari Gose brewed with seaweed, root ginger, wah plums and sushi rice. It was delicious and so unique. We only had a half each because we were keen not to drink too much before Summer Beer Thing but we could have drank a lot more. We will be back!

After our brief stop at Runaway we headed over to the main event of the day – Summer Beer Thing at The Pilcrow. This was day two of the festival, showcasing some of the very best breweries in the North. There were a number of ‘beer stations’ offering different types of beers, from hoppy styles to sours and fruity beers and darker stouts and porters. Session ales were available inside at The Pilcrow bar and all the other stalls were set up outside under a giant yellow gazebo. It was such a sunny beautiful day and everyone was sitting outside, either on the benches inside the tent or on the walls around The Pilcrow.

We traded in our tickets in exchange for a programme with all the beers listed and a glass. Like most beer festivals, it was based on a token system so we bought 9 tokens between us for £20 to start off with. The beer was served in thirds, which I appreciated because it meant that I was able to try more different styles than I would have done if the servings had been larger. I’m not going to go into detail about all the beers I had because there were so many, but what I will say is there was an amazing selection, showing off the very best the North has to offer. They also featured breweries from further afield and there were ‘meet the brewer’ sessions throughout the day where you could try free samples – I particularly enjoyed meeting some of the team from Lost and Grounded and trying their Keller Pils!

I loved the relaxed and friendly atmosphere at Summer Beer Thing – it was just full of people having a brilliant time and enjoying great beer. In fact all the activities we’ve done so far as part of Manchester Beer Week has just reaffirmed to me how much I love this city and the expansive brewery scene we have here.

Thankfully the festivities continue until Sunday 8th July, so there’s plenty more Manchester Beer Week events to enjoy!

Huddersfield Part Two – Seshfest 2018

Following an excellent Friday night at The Sportsman and Magic Rock Brewing, the next day (Saturday 9th June) we headed back to Magic Rock for Seshfest 2018 – a beer festival dedicated to session brews 4.5% and under.

We arrived bang on 12.00pm for the start of the festival and were given a special Seshfest pint glass, a beer list and four beer tokens at the registration desk. The festival worked on a token-based system and I felt like this actually added to the experience. My boyfriend and I bought an extra £20’s worth of tokens, as we were planning to sample as many different beers as we could. Each token was worth £1.50 and you could choose when ordering your beer whether you wanted a half for one token or a pint for two tokens.

Before starting on the beers we had a coffee from Dark Woods Coffee, who were serving at the festival until 3.00pm. I think this was probably a sensible way to begin and the coffee was excellent. It’s the same coffee that Magic Rock uses in their Common Grounds Triple Coffee Porter, so we already knew it would be good.

Sufficiently caffeinated, we moved on to our first beer of the day. We were both excited to get our first beers from Gigantic Brewing, a brewery based in Portland, Oregon. We visited Portland last summer and had the most amazing time visiting fantastic breweries, so we were keen to relive that experience with some beers from Gigantic. I opted for the Oni Kawaii Kettle Sour, which the friendly brewer serving me said is made using Marionberries which can be found in Oregon. Bright pink in colour and wonderfully sour and flavourful, this beer was a great way to start and hard to beat.

We decided to sample beers from the breweries we knew least about or would find harder to try in future. There were some really unusual but interesting styles available at Seshfest. My boyfriend had a Green Coffee Lager with Ginger and Citrus called the Anaconda Verde from Against the Grain Brewery (Louisville, Kentucky), which was a lot more tasty and well balanced than I had anticipated. One beer that stood out for me was the Proto 5 from Swedish brewery Brewski – a Milkshake Berliner Weisse with Mango which was so juicy it felt like you were drinking pure mango, but with the sharpness of a great sour.

I had so many great beers at Seshfest that it wouldn’t be possible to go into great detail about all of them, but there are just a few more I’d like to highlight and then I’ll post the rest at the bottom of this blog with a short, one line description. I hadn’t heard of Deya Brewing Company from Cheltenham before Seshfest, so I was keen to try them out. The Chulahoma Rye Table Beer from Deya was one of the best I had during the festival. Dry hopped with Amarillio, Chinook and Mosaic, this citrusy beer with tropical notes was so delicious. If I hadn’t been set on trying as many different beers as possible, I would have definitely gone back for a pint.

I also had a wonderful Sour Red Ale from Bristol brewery, Left Handed Giant. This collaboration with Unity Brewery Company is really unique. I’d never had a sour red ale before and as a huge fan of sours and red ales I was really intrigued. This light, fruity sour is also very malty and I don’t know quite how they’ve done it. At 3.5% it’s extremely sessionable but also so much more flavoursome than what I used to expect of such low ABV beers (although so many beers I’ve tried recently are altering my opinions on this). I would highly recommend.

Still Life, a collaboration between Beavertown and Mikkeller Brewing San Diego also deserves an honourable mention. This Dry Hopped Sour, fermented with wine yeast was so light and refreshing and not that easy to come by, so I felt lucky to be able to try it at Seshfest.

thumb_IMG_2705_1024 Seshfest was a great beer festival which was small enough to maintain a friendly and relaxed vibe, while being big enough to create a buzzing atmosphere. Despite the small amount of space at Magic Rock Brewing in Huddersfield, it never felt too crowded or overbearing. There was an abundance of fantastic beers available from the world’s best breweries and it was well organised, with beers only running out towards the evening, with plenty still available. It was also amazing value for money. Our £13 ticket provided us with a pint glass and enough tokens for four half pints and then we only spent around an extra £20 on tokens between us – a lot less than you would spend at most beer festivals.

Seshfest 2018 was an amazing experience and all I have left to say is bring on next year!

Full list of the beers we had at Seshfest 2018

Gigantic Brewing, Oni Kawaii, 4.1%, Keg – Kettle Sour beer made with black rice and marionberries
Gigantic Brewing, Kolshtastic, 4.5%, Keg – German style pilsner with noble hops and kolsh yeast
Slim Pickens and Marble Beers, Agua De Jamaica, 3.5%, Keg- Hibiscus Berliner Weisse with ginger and lime
Roosters and Ska Brewing, Anything Gose, 4.2%, Keg – Rhubarb Gose with sea salt
Beavertown and Mikkeller, Still Life, 3%, Keg – Dry hopped sour fermented with white wine yeast
Against the Grain, Anaconda Verde, 4.5%, Keg – Green coffee lager with ginger and citrus
Brewski, Proto 5, 3.5%, Keg – Milkshake berliner weisse with mango
Buxton Brewery, Myrcia, 4%, Keg – Oatmeal Hopburst Session IPA brewed with 15% oats and 10% wheat for a really full body and creamy mouthfeel
Deya, Chulahoma, 4%, Keg – Rye table beer
CR/AK, Mundaka, 4.5%, Keg – Fragrant and easy drinking session IPA
Fyne Ales, Sour Friends: Passionfruit, 4.5%, Keg – Super-fruity kettle sour with tropical passion fruit and a citrus finish
Brouweriji Kees, Pinapple Coriander Smoothy, 4.4%, Keg – A beer smoothy, brewed with Pineapple, Coriander and Szuchuan pepper
Odell Brewing Company, Duck Tickler, 4.4%, Keg – Easy drinking Belgian Golden Ale
North Brewing Company, Pinata, 4.4%, Keg – A softly tropical pale ale with stone fruit aromas of guava and mango and a strong hoppy finish
Thornbridge, Green Mountain, 4.3%, Keg – Juicy New England session pale
Verdant, Quiet Charge, 4%, Keg – American style pale ale with citra and amarillo hops
Roosters, Jubilee, 4%, Keg – Refreshing cucumber ale
Ossett Brewery, Inception, 4%, Cask – A heavy hopped American IPA
Wild Beer Company, Sleeping Lemons, 4.6% (breaking the rules slightly!), Keg – A salty lemon gose
Basqueland Brewing, Fruit Boot JR, 4.3%, Keg – Milkshake IPA with passion fruit and mango
Kirkstall Brewery, Three Swords, 4.5%, Cask – Thirst quenching English pale ale
Left Handed Giant, Distinct Phases, 3.5%, Keg – Sour red ale
North Riding Brewery, Mosaic Pale, 4.3%, Cask – American Mosaic pale ale with blueberry and citrus flavours
Northern Monk, Patrons Project 5.01// Striding Edge, 3%, Keg – A light IPA with big flavours

Focus on: CR/AK Brewery

Recently I have become a bit obsessed with Italian brewery CR/AK. I first heard about CR/AK through a post from Honest Brew, an online craft beer delivery service, and then saw some of their beers when I visited Pop ‘N’ Hops bottle shop in Cardiff a few weeks ago. I bought a Guerrilla IPA from CR/AK during my visit to Pop ‘N’ Hops, which is a delicious IPA with notes of orange. It was also quite sessionable, despite it’s strength at 5.8 per cent. I decided I wanted to try more of what CR/AK has to offer so I put in an order at Honest Brew.

IMG_2628_CRAKCROP — CR/AK Brewery haul from Honest Brew

When the four beers I had ordered arrived, I just couldn’t stop looking at them. The artwork on CR/AK’ cans is so eye-catching and I was almost too excited by them to drink them. It wasn’t until about a week later that my boyfriend and I decided to tuck in.

We decided to start with the lowest percentage beer and move up from there (not sure there’s much logic to that approach however…). We had The Hunchback Session IPA to begin – a collaboration with Fyne Ales from Cairndow, Scotland. My first thought about this beer was that it’s hoppy, very sessionable and has zesty and fruity flavours without being too sweet. The Hunchback has a big hit of hops on the nose and is light in colour and slightly cloudy. I tend to find that beers this hoppy have a higher ABV, but at 3 per cent I could easily drink many of these cans. We were off to a very good start!

Next we moved on to the New England IPA, which I was particularly excited for as I always seem to gravitate towards NEIPA’s. This beer is double dry hopped with amarillo, citra, mosaic and motueka hops and as I had expected, it was my favourite of all the CR/AK beers we ordered. It is quite juicy with tropical notes and also hazy. Not sure if it’s because of the way the beer has been double dry hopped, but I found it to be a very interesting and complex. It definitely has a bitterness to it, more so than most NEIPA’s I’ve had, but I loved it.

We moved on to the New Zealand Gluten Free IPA next, which ended up being my boyfriends favourite. This is another really great beer. It has a citric aroma and a tropical taste of grapefruit and is made with NZ hops motueka and wakatu. This beer has a subtle sweetness to it and feels far too easy to drink considering it’s high ABV of 7 per cent. There seems to be a lot more gluten free beers available on the market now and I definitely feel like they’ve improved considerably over the last few years. I would very much enjoy drinking this one while relaxing outside on a sunny day.

Last but not least, we had the Cyro Adult Double IPA – a collaboration with Magic Rock, which is one of my favourite UK breweries (based in Huddersfield). This is a strong and bold beer. It tastes very juicy and has flavours of bitter orange. On first sip, this tastes quite soft for a DIPA, however it has a boozy kick as it hits the back of your mouth. I did not want this one to end as it was the last of our CR/AK haul, which we had enjoyed so much. It was probably a good thing that it did though, as Cyro Adult is deceivingly strong. It’s so tasty that you could easily drink a lot of it, however I was definitely starting to feel it’s strength towards the end. A great collaboration.

I think CR/AK is a really exciting brewery that create a variety of really interesting and bold beers. I am now keen to try and plan a trip to Padova so we can visit the CR/AK taproom, which has 24 taps and also features an experimental beer called “Tap Crak”.

Until then, I am looking forward to trying more beer from CR/AK at the Magic Rock Sesh Fest festival in a few weeks time. All beers poured at this festival will be under 4.5 per cent so I’ll be interested to see what CR/AK has on offer, as the only beer in our haul under 4.5 was The Hunchback.

Blackjack April Brewtap

On Saturday we visited the Blackjack Brewtap for the first time. Based just around the corner from one of our favourite breweries, Runaway, it is crazy that we have never been before. Although saying that, the brewtap only opens once a month – but believe me, after this visit I will be keeping the future dates in my diary!

The brewery has a really great space – very open and can hold quite a large amount of people. The weather was chilly but surprisingly sunny on Saturday, so plenty of people were there to take advantage of the great beer and street food from The Ottö-Men.

To get started with our first beers, we needed to buy a token card and rent glasses from the bar. Each token card is worth £10 and the bar staff tick off what you use as you go along. Renting a glass costs £2 and you can choose a pint glass or a 2/3 glass and you get the money back at the end when you return them. I actually felt like this token system added to the experience, as it made us feel like we were at a beer festival.

There was an excellent selection of beers available at the brewtap – a wide range of Blackjack beers of course, but also interesting beers from other breweries such as Wiper and True, West by Three and Gloucester.

I started off with a Blackjack beer that I had tried for the first time a few weeks before – Schapkopf – a lemongrass and ginger wheat beer which is really up my street. My boyfriend started with Congregate by Unity Brewing, a Belgian inspired pale that we had also tried recently as part of our Beer Bods subscription.

Like there usually is at breweries, there was such a friendly feel at the Blackjack Brew tap. We got chatting to a great guy called Ian and bonded over our shared love of beer. We later took him to Runaway Brewery as well, where he hadn’t been before, and exchanged numbers with the plan to have more great beer experiences together in future. We also met a great couple with a passion for beer and running (something my boyfriend and I also share) and planned to meet up in future for a run with a beery reward at the end. That’s one of the best things about visiting breweries instead of usual bars and pubs – you always find yourselves chatting to the most passionate and interesting people!

Other beers I tried that day include the Mango Kettle Sour by West by Three – a brewery from Swansea I’d never heard of before – which was bright orange and definitely tasted like mango. I also had the Bristol Crush by Wiper and True which was a super refreshing Grapefruit Pale Ale. As well as the extensive keg offering, there were also some great cask beers on offer, including the Gloucester Session IPA, which was delicious and flavoursome easy drinking.

If you haven’t been to the Blackjack Brewtap before then I would definitely suggest getting yourself down to the next event. We will definitely be back – hopefully joined by some new friends.

And if you can’t wait until the next one…make sure you visit The Smithfield Market Tavern on Swan Street in the Northern Quarter – Blackjack’s excellent taphouse.

Future dates at the Blackjack Brewtap

May 25th-27th, Blackjack Brewtap, 36 Gould Street.

June 29th-30th, Blackjack Brewtap, 36 Gould Street

July 27th-28th, Blackjack Brewtap, 36 Gould Street

August 24th-26th, Blackjack Brewtap, 36 Gould Street

September 29th-30th, Blackjack Brewtap, 36 Gould Street

Beer crawl on a sunny Saturday

Last Saturday my boyfriend and I decided to take advantage of the rare glimmer of sunshine and embark on one of our favourite activities – a beer crawl! This felt slightly indulgent for me as I’d already taken my friend on an extensive brewery crawl a few weeks ago (see previous blog), however it was a perfect day for it and loads of our local bars and breweries seemed to have special events on that we didn’t want to miss.

To line our stomachs for an inevitable day of drinking, we stopped off Idle Hands – a coffee shop that we had previously enjoyed during one of their visits to the Grub Food Fair last summer, but has now secured its own premises on Dale Street. It’s a really lovely space – light and spacious, with the most friendly staff. The food menu was great too. I had Turkish Eggs, which was one of the most pretty and delicious brunches I’d had for a while. The coffee was outstanding too. There were two blends available that day and I opted for the San Francisco in an iced latte, which helped to gear me up for the rest of the day.

This sunny Saturday was also Record Store Day and although we did plan to peruse a few record stores, we were most excited by the special RSD beer – a collaboration between Cloudwater, Piccadilly Records, Common and Port Street Beer House. We headed over to Common where we purchased two cans, which did not disappoint. A DDH Pale, full of flavour and brewed with Centennial, Enigma and Chinook hops. Delicious.

We then walked up to one of our favourite stops on the Manchester brewery strip – Beer Nouveau. We had the place to ourselves for a while, so had a great chat with owner and founder Steve Dunkley, who was as welcoming as ever and let us try lots of different beers, as well as a barley wine. I was fortunate to be able to try Steve’s Peach Bonnet witbier, one of the last bottles left of the batch. I absolutely loved this beer. One of the most interesting things I have tasted for quite some time. Peachy and refreshing to start with and then followed by a subtle kick at the end. Well, the heat of this beer may not be subtle for some, but I do like my spice.

As it started filling up in Beer Nouveau, we moved on to our next stop – Wander Beyond Brewing – who were open for a special event to launch four new beers. The space was really nice and there was a great atmosphere. I decided to have the Illicium Imperial Milkshake IPA, but just a third as it’s very strong at 10%. I’d had the other beers in Wander Beyond’s Milkshake range before and really enjoyed them, so I was intrigued to try this new version. It was so smooth and drinkable – I could have easily had a pint of it but I don’t think I would have been feeling so fresh afterwards. My boyfriend was more sensible and chose the Graviton Session IPA, which had tropical notes but was also quite different to other IPAs. We decided to move on at that point and get some snacks, but I am really looking forward to trying the other two new beers soon.

Imperial Milkshake IPA and the full menu!

Last but not least we stopped off at our local, The Pilcrow, on our way home. The Pilcrow is one of our favourite pubs in Manchester and definitely the one we frequent the most (it being very local to us). A Burning Sky Brewery Takeover was taking place on Saturday which we were keen to check out. I can’t remember the names of the beers we had unfortunately but we both opted for saisons, which were delightful and perfect for the weather that day. The Pilcrow has regular tap takeovers, but for some reason the timings don’t usually work for us, so it was great to be able to finally get to one and support a brewery that we have been following for a while.

After that we headed home. We still had some treats at home which I’d bought on my last trip to the Cloudwater Barrel Store. We’d been saving a special edition Cloudwater bottle, a collaboration with Coswut, a home-brewer and beer lover (who I’ve since heard, has sadly passed away). A brettanomyces bruxellensis fermented sour (bit of a mouthful) which was fermented in French white wine barrels for 13 months. We really enjoyed this beautiful beer – the kind that should be savoured and drank slowly like a wine. We finished the evening by sharing a can of Cloudwater and Half Acre (from Chicago, Illinois) Triple IPA. We’d already shared a can of this a few weeks before and loved it, although it is very strong so not sure I could handle a whole can to myself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading more about my beer adventures in Manchester. As well as longer reads like this, I’m also planning to start doing some shorter “beer haul” pieces where I share my thoughts on the latest treats I’ve picked up from my local bottle shops and breweries.

Cloudwater Brewery Tour

I started a new job in February and as a farewell present, my colleagues at my old work very kindly booked me tickets for a Cloudwater Brewery Tour. Ah, they know me so well!

Along with the gift, they printed off this article in the Manchester Evening News about Cloudwater being rated as the second best brewery in the world. I had sampled their beers many, many times however I’d never been on the tour, so I was really excited to learn more.

Last Saturday the day finally arrived and we headed over to the Cloudwater Brewery, based at the Piccadilly Trading Estate. I’d been to the actual brewery itself once before as it used to open as a tap room on a Saturday before they opened the Cloudwater Barrel Store on Sheffield Street. I’ve heard that the plan is for the tap room to re-open next door to the brewery quite soon, but I’m not sure exactly when that will happen.

The tour began at 10.45am and we were immediately offered a choice of two IPAs as we arrived. My boyfriend and I both went for the 2.9% option instead of the alternative, which was pretty strong at 6.5%. Neither of us had eaten any breakfast, choosing a lie in instead – definitely not advisable before going on a brewery tour!

One thing that I thought was really good is that everyone on the tour was told that they could help themselves to beer throughout. We didn’t top ourselves up again because we knew there would be more tasters later, but I felt that it helped add to the relaxed atmosphere of the tour.

We were very lucky to be visiting the brewery on a brew day, which we were told rarely happens at the weekend. The reason they were brewing on a Saturday was due to something going wrong during the brew on the Friday, something else we were told happens quite rarely, with only around 1 in every 90 brews going wrong. I am no brewing expert, but I thought this was pretty impressive, especially considering how many different beers the brewery produces.

Cloudwater doesn’t have a core range of beers and instead makes seasonal beers, using ingredients that are readily available. For example, they wouldn’t tend to brew a strawberry beer in the winter and would usually brew darker beers instead. As of last weekend they were on there 425th recipe – not bad in only three years!

IMG_2508_CROP — Shot from inside the brewery

The first part of the tour focused on a brief history of Cloudwater, as well as a general overview of the brewing process. We were actually stood inside the main brewery floor during this part, but did have to move eventually so the brewer working hard that day could continue with his work. Like on most other brewery tours I’ve been on, we got the opportunity to try different types of malt used during the brewery process and various different types of hops were also passed round for us to break apart.

It was then time for the best part – the guided tasting! We got to try two different beers: one was a pale ale brewed with mango and the other was an IPA, which if I remember rightly was made with Centennial hops. I really liked both, but the second one was particularly delicious and went down far too easily.

Towards the end of the tour, our guide gave everyone the chance to ask him questions. This was really interesting as it provided the opportunity to understand so much more about the brewery. For instance, although Cloudwater is only three years old, it’s such a well thought of brewery that I had just assumed it’s quite big, however that’s not the case. Although it is growing in notoriety and has increased the size of its team, it is still a relatively small brewery. They don’t export their beer at all at the moment except for special events. I asked our guide if they’d noticed a difference in demand since they were named second best brewery in the world. He told us that this had made some difference, however demand has been growing since early 2016 and that the brewery is now producing five times more beer now than it was then. There was a group of people on our tour who had come all the way from Seattle too, so their reputation is clearly spreading far and wide.

We also learnt more about hops. Apparently it’s not as simple as breweries being able to pick and choose what hops they would like to use each week, but instead they have to take out a “hop contract” which lasts a year. I also found out that Citra hops – the most expensive in the world – cost £28 per kilo! Perhaps I’m being a bit nerdy here, but I found it all fascinating.

The tour was now coming to a close, but the fun wasn’t quite over yet. At the beginning we were all given a token which could be exchanged for a beer of our choice at the Cloudwater Barrel Store, around a 5-10 minute walk away from the main brewery. We made a quick food stop on the way and then headed over. I had the MCR DIPA CITRA BBC which was a bold and tasty choice full of tropical flavours.

I had a brilliant time at the Cloudwater Brewery Tour and would recommend to anyone interested in brewing, enjoys drinking good beer or is looking for something different to do on a visit to Manchester.