Taking ones own advices

Some while ago I wrote a post about the ideal Birmingham pub crawl - it's here.

Now over the course of the year this has proved to be quite popular (in so far as my blog statistics appear to show).  This post also seems to have had bursts of sporadic popularity, where I am gratified to say, people appear to be actually using it to plan real-life crawls.  So I decided to do the same.

The opportunity throated itself when my long-standing and brilliant chum @joneso76 came a-visiting from Leicester.  He's fairly new to Twitter and had quickly become enraptured by the exciting adventures that the West Midlands beer community always seemed to be involved in.  So, on arrival in Brum he begged for the chance to hit as many hot 'spots' as possible, during his one-day duration. This situation seemed set-up for revisiting as many of the locations on my ideal pub crawl, as could reasonably be fisted into a day.

Before my arrival in the centre, Jones already ticked off Brewdog and walked past Post Office Vaults (2 down).

We rendezvoused in the Victoria, where we were honoured to be the first people in the pub to ever sample cask Magic Rock.  In fact, we were possibly the first people to ever sample cask Magic Rock, in the whole history of Birmingham.  Ku.  dOS.  It was Curious.  It was history.

After the Victoria it was back to Brewdog for some delicious Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast and a chance meeting with two of Birmingham's foremost international beer connoisseurs Hazel and David.  Unfortunately Brewdog didn't have any lager from Bhutan, so they had to drink something nice instead.  Ho hum.

Next up, Citra and delicious Thai grub at the Bartons, having walked through Bacchus en route.  The Bartons never disappoints, although the lack of bottled Green Devil IPA did remind me just how baffled I am that Oakham will no longer be bottling it - madness.

From there to the Lord Clifden, where it was yeasty Budvar and one of the city's most impressive hand dryers.

The LC is an Urban Art Bar, as is the Red Lion, which I'll come to in a minute.  But before that, it was the Drop Forge and a pint of Malvern Hills Black Pear.  What a smart place.

So then, the Red Lion for more lager- this time some Estaminet Pils, which was extremely tasty and served in a splendid, ribbed beaker.  Golf.

Finally, for a quick pint of Bathams (which turned into several), it was to the ever [and always] brilliant Black Eagle.  It has been too long since I visited this esteemed and fabulous location, which seems to transcend the vicissitudes of beer fashion; so I made the most of my stay.  1) Free chips.  2) Bathams served in tip-top condition. 3) Dancing with, and for the entertainment of, an older and surprisingly sprightly clientele (old ladies).

If I say one thing about the above mentioned pub crawl, it is this: it was brilliant.  If I say a second thing, it's that Birmingham has loads of great boozers, and sometimes I forget that.  I increasingly find myself drawn to a handful of crafty joints in the city centre these days, but in order to de-narrow my beerview, perhaps I need to be more stringent in making sure I remember to visit the other venues of legend, in this, the Second City.

~ ~

In the coming weeks, I will endeavour to bring you posts on the following:
i) The greatest beer tasting evening I've ever known
ii) My reflections on a booze-free January
iii) An update on the Birmingham Beer Bash   

The 2013 Top Ten Movers and Shakers on the Birmingham Beer Scene

A year ago, I done a blog post, which I was actually rather proud of.  It constructed a list of the 10 most influential people in Birmingham's crazy 'world' of good beer.

12 months on and much has changed (or is in the process of changing), therefore we need to do a follow up.  The only slight problem is that the formulae used to determine how influential people were/are, and therefore where they ranked in the list, has disappeared into the mists of time - in fact these formulae may never have existed in the first place.  As such, these ten are served up to you in alphabetical order (by surname).  Annnnnnnnnnnyway, here is this years list - the Top Ten Movers and Shakers on the Birmingham Beer Scene for 2013.

Nigel Barker (Wellington and Post Office Vaults)

The Wellington yet again took CAMRA's top prize as the Birmingham pub of the year, but it was with Nigel's newer venture - the Post Office Vaults, that he made the biggest impact on Birmingham this year.  With a mind boggling range of Belgian and German beers, crammed into a tiny space, the POV has quickly become a staple of any Birmingham pub crawl, and finally (FINALLY) offers somewhere for us to consistently drink world classics such as Orval, Rodenbach Grand Cru and De Molen Vuur and Vlam.  Tiny Rebel often feature on cask too, which is a big plus.  Strictly speaking, this ranking is sort of shared between him and Mike Perkins, with them both being co-owners of the POV, whilst Nigel, is sole licensee of the Welly.

Dr Paul Bennett (Beer Geek Brewery)

Launched in February 2012, Beer Geek are a common sight in the pubs of Birmingham, plus their excellent branding is now being recognised in London and other faraway places.  Following the demise of the Two Towers' brewery tap at the Brown Lion, Beer Geek are now Brum's most recognisable local brewer and have the chance to broaden their range to seriously tickle the fancy of the city's swelling band of actual beer geeks.  

Marverine Cole (Beer Beauty)

Not just an award-winning beer blogger and former Sky News presenter; this local-girl come good, is also a veritable tour de force banging the good beer gospel on television and radio (as in here).  Savvy, well connected and glamorous, Marverine is ideally placed to use her national celebrity and local pride to bear on the Birmingham beer scene, with hopefully marv-ellous results.   

Paul Halsey (Purity)

If this list had been written in a few months time, I would expect Paul to be higher up the list*.  This would be because of the projected opening of the Purity Craft Beer bar, which is, I believe, due to touch down near John Bright Street to form (along with Brewdog Birmingham, The Victoria and the also imminent Craven Arms) the city's 'Craft Beer Quarter'.  However as it stands we don't yet know what the new place will look like.  Purity Mad Goose is still delicious however, and with their three beers still being ubiquitous in Birmingham, Paul is still a shaker.

Jaz and Kal Kandola (Cotteridge Wines)

This time last year I didn't even know that Cotteridge Wines existed.  Now they are a nationally recognised off licence, with a range of 700-800 different bottles, offering access to US brewers not previously glimpsed in our city.  It is an astonishing rise. Via a twin assault of well priced UK craft beers (and a big range too), plus access to foreign beers (Mikkeller, Evil Twin, Anchorage, Bruery et al) Cotteridge now present an irresistible offer, which has undoubtedly diversified the craft beer audience in Birmingham.

Gerry Keane (The Anchor)

The Anchor keeps rocking and rolling.  The line up of great cask beers keeps coming, with a excellent representation of lesser known brewers from around the country.  Also their range of beery events is as impressive as ever.

Dan Muldoon (Brewdog Birmingham)

Finally, in December, the big boys arrived.  Brewdog, undoubtedly the superbrand of UK craft brewing, finally killed off Brum's reputation as a desert for kegged craft beer.  With a dozen or so taps of unadulterated quality, BD now bring us their own highly flavoured offerings, plus guest beers we would previously have had to get to London to sample (Nogne, Mikkeller, Evil Twin, Brodies etc).  With imperial stouts such as Tokyo, AB:12 and Paradox they are the first place to offer high strength beers on tap.  With regulars such as Dogfight, Punk IPA and 5AM Saint, they are pretty much the only place in Brum to guarantee hoppy draught choices.  Two big pluses.  Since opening, they have also killed off the myth that Birmingham couldn't support such a 'craft' establishment, or that there simply wasn't the demand in our great city for premium beers.  The place is rammed each night - go figure.  With a De Molen tap takeover on the horizon, and other such events in the pipeline, we now have a place to light up the beery imagination of a generation and blaze a trail for independent outlets to follow.  He built it. We came.

Jen Nadin (Cherry Reds)

Cherry Reds is a wonderfully homely and friendly bar/cafe in Kings Heath, which has made a concerted effort to stock good beer in bottles and on tap.  Jen has also programmed a consistent range of themed beer tasting events, and a held their second annual beer festival last August.  This would be enough to earn Jen a place on this list, but, coupled with her participation in the Foreign Beer Bar at the Birmingham Beer Festival, and, perhaps more intriguingly, the projected opening of a city centre version of Cherry Reds this year, Jen is right at the heart of the good things which are afoot. 

Krishan Rajput (Stirchley Wines and Spirits)

Krishan and his father are Brum beer pioneers; perhaps last year was the year where we saw his spiritual children begin to emerge, blinking, into the Birmingham sunlight.  Stirchley Wines and Spirits continues to be a nationally recognised off licence, with an awesome range of bottles, PLUS they now have their own tap, offering fresh, draught craft beer to take away - to my mind, one of only two places in the city to offer this!  In addition, Krishan again brought beer quality to the Birmingham Beer Festival, with a powerful selection at his foreign beer bar.  


Matt Scriven (Bitters and Twisted)

Matt's Bitters and Twisted chain continued it's expansion this year, by opening the steak-fuelled New Inn in Harborne.  More importantly (for me) however, this year the beer range in his pubs was certainly on the up.  With consistent cask offerings from Dark Star, Thornbridge and Red Willow and with a range of excellent bottles, the choice of good beer for Brum beer geeks suddenly got better overnight.  Not only were the Victoria, New Inn, Jekyll and Hyde the first pubs in the city (to my knowledge) to stock beer from UK craft brewers such as Kernel, Summer Wine and Arbor, but they remain amongst the few to do so.  (plus Magic Rock on tap is in the pipeline...) 

---

Initial observations on the list?  Well clearly it shows the importance of entrepreneurs.  12 months ago, there was space on the list for people who headed up national companies - this is no longer the case.  In fact, apart from the Brewdog, whose brand power in the world of 'craft' beer is irrefutable, all of the other people who make this ten are local, highly motivated individuals, seizing Birmingham's beer scene by the scruff of the neck.

Next year (if I'm still alive) I fully expect the following people to appear in the list, for a variety of reasons: David Shipman (Birmingham Beer Bash), Keith Marsden (Prince of Wales, Moseley), Chris Sherratt (Craven Arms).      

Having completed the above list, I sit here perambulating in my own glory.

<5 minutes elapse>

In this post-perambulation period, I have also come to a sort of encapsulation regarding exactly what it means to be a 'mover and shaker' on my list.  It is part to do with the impact on the progressive beer scene in the city, and secondly, it's to do with the personal trajectory of the individual - have they improved or remained steady, etc etc.  I hope that's clear.

*even though, as Carl Durose has pointed out - this sentence is complete nonsense. After all, for someone to move up the list, it would involve them knobbling all/some of the people ranked alphabetically higher than them on the list.  Watch out Paul, Nigel and Marverine!  Happy now?

The Festive Period. An exciting 'round up"

The onset of January, and indeed the onslaught of 2013, recently began in earnest.  Before that becomes a grinding inevitability, let's just take a minute to look back over an exciting December, which turned out to be a month.

As Birmingham residents will be only too gratefully aware, our branch of Brewdog finally opened it's doors on 11th December.  It's opening was met with a wave of people going in and buying beer and then tweeting about how nice it was[is].

I managed to hold back for a full half a day before peeking inside and buying my first ever {Birmingham-based} kegged Brewdog.  It was Movember, a Black IPA and it tasted, like, victory.

Since then I have popped in as often as my wife/wallet/boss/child/slim-fit jeans will allow and even during this short timescale, have already sampled some incredible draft beers, including Cocoa Psycho, Punk IPA, Jackhammer, Hoppy Xmas, Tokyo, Imperial Red Wheat and guest offerings from the likes of Mikkeller, Brodies and Rogue.  Fabulous.  A range which is blatantly of a different order to any other draft offering in the city.

Coincidentally, the opening of Brewdog Brum came just a few days after I visited their Nottingham sister, during a short, punchy crawl of that city.  Nottingham is somewhere that conjures fond memories of Selectadisc, Rock City and massive LCFC victories (cough).  I was pleased to see that its boozers are up to scratch, with King William IV, Kean's Head and BD all brilliant venues.  I supped Whim, Navigation, Brewdog, Castle Rock and Rodenbach; and almost missed my train.

<The second half of this post drags rather.  Thus, to brighten/spice things up, I have changed the text colour. Does this work as a technique?>

In other Brum news, the Christmas period offered the yearly chance to visit boozers whose doors I don't usually darken**:  

Sometimes this is because I am frightened to venture in - like i) the Crown, which I was delighted to find was a beautiful old pub, in great nick.  Terrible beer choice mind, but space to sit down and kegged Brew XI were a compromise worth taking.

Sometimes I assume a place doesn't serve beer and/or I'm not trendy enough to go in - like ii) the Island Bar, which I was delighted to find was a buzzing place, offering bottled Marstons Oyster Stout.

Aside from Brewdog, another regular stop-off during the party season was the Victoria, which boasted 3x handpulls of Thornbridge on the visit I can remember, including delicious (ever-delicious) Kipling.

I also popped into the Old Joint Stock and enjoyed a Fullers Past Masters Old Burton Extra, which was mellifluous malt indeed.

My final note is of brief stop-offs at two of the Shakespeares* in the centre: I quaffed Pilsner Urquell on Summer Row and succulent Jaipur at Lower Temple.  Both were delicious.
 
***

Happy NY.

* There is a third one in New Street station.  You have to have a train ticket to get to it and I certainly would not advise buying one for that specific purpose - it's not a good enough place.
** Because all of my usual haunts are rammed.
*** I also went to Leicester over the holiday.  Lots of Everards Tiger - yum yum.

Golden Pints 2012

Hello, yes. 

Last year I sent off my nominations for the Golden Pints awards, even though I wasn't a blogger.  A year on and I am, in the words of my wife "always typing on the ruddy computer", so I feel fully justified in making a proper 'blogger's' response to the 2012 version.

Here are my award WINNERS:

Best UK Draught Beer

Tiny Rebel Urban IPA

Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer

Brodies Hoxton Special IPA

Best Overseas Draught Beer

Ska Modus Hoperandi

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer

Nogne India Saison

Best Overall Beer

Brodies Hoxton Special IPA

Best Pumpclip or Label

Anything from Moor

Best UK Brewery

Kernel

Best Overseas Brewery

Mikkeller

Pub/Bar of the Year

In Birmingham and the Black Country = Windsor Castle, Lye

Nationally = Sheffield Tap, err Sheffield. 

Beer Festival of the Year

Not a big festival fan.  Only been to one in 2012, so it'll have to be Birmingham Beer Festival. 

Supermarket of the Year

Tesco

Independent Retailer of the Year

Cotteridge Wines

Online Retailer of the Year

Beers of Europe

Best Beer Book or Magazine

None

Best Beer Blog or Website

The one and only.... Mediocre Beer Adventures

Best Beer Twitterer

Simon Johnson or Pierre Van Klomp

Best Online Brewery Presence

Brewdog

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year

I don't eat and drink simultaneously

In 2013 I’d most like to...

Visit Birmingham's new range of craft beer bars, on a regular basis

My Best Post of the Year

A typical day in the life of Mediocre Beer Adventures

Now, eagle-eyed viewers will spot that I've adopted a slightly provocative, 'Liam Gallagher' style posture in my nominations.  I'm not sure if I like it, so you may not see this persona a second time.

Love

Dan

September Round Up

A. There are a few bits and bobs I can update you on, and a few photographs you can drool over.

Q. What is the point of this post?

First up, some sad news.  Apparently the Brown Lion has closed.  This is really sad, for not only was this a friendly venue, but they were also Birmingham's only genuine brewery tap, offering Two Towers' beers, such as Jewellery Porter and Complete Muppetry, both of which were very drinkable indeed.

Way back in April I reported on quiz night at the Brown Lion and (I hope) conveyed my enjoyment.  Fingers crossed that the Brown Lion will return in some form, but perhaps by then, Birmingham's sights will have moved to John Bright Street and the impending Brewdog Brum.  Speaking of which...

Brewdog Birmingham is now scheduled to open in errrrr, not sure.  It was originally due in August, but the last official word was that it'll be mid-November.  I don't suppose it matters when it gets here, as BD's fans are so rabid, that they'll lap it up come what may.  I probably will too.

Last week I had a lovely super quick tour of Leicester, which mixed Richard III tourism, with visits to some of the City's lesser known boozers/hidden 'treats'.



I hit the Salmon, the Ship and the Longstop, of which the first one was the best.  All were interesting though.   



In Twitterati news, this week I, along with Carl Durose and Tania Nexust hosted national beer legends Jezza, Martin Ridge and the enigmatic Black Haddock.  This was a good opportunity to sample excellent Thai food and Oakham Carioca at the Bartons Arms, some Saltaire at the Anchor and bottled UK 'Craft' beer at the Victoria.



Speaking of which, did I tell you that a Birmingham pub has finally taken the plunge and started stocking bottles from the UK's best new breweries, i.e. the ones who have invigorated and/or reinvigorated our national scene?  Kernel, Bristol Beer Factory, Arbor and Summer Wine are all (or certainly have all been) available, with highlights such as Amarillo Pale Ale and Cohort.  It is worth saying again, simply to highlight how gobsmacked I am that it has taken this long, but let me emphasise that the Victoria are still the ONLY pub in Birmingham stocking bottles from our top breweries.  Well done to the Victoria, I hope that their adventure is rewarded by people buying the new range by the truckload and that therefore the experiment widens and becomes a permanent feature.

But honestly, all other Brum pubs need to look hard in the mirror and ask themselves why no one else has been prepared to have a stab at stocking UK bottled craft.

In happier, or rather equally happy news, here are some of the best beers I've sampled in the last fortnight:

Raw Citra Black Ale - a magnificent Black IPA sampled at the Anchor,

Flying Dog In De Wildeman Farmhouse IPA - a deliciously funky Saison, which utilises New World hops.

Raw Dark Peak Stout - sampled at the Salmon in Leicester, this is the second delicious Raw beer I've tried recently; with this one being a super smooth and tasty Stout.

Great Heck Powerhouse - as recommended by @ckdsaddlers, this was a well balanced UK Golden Ale, replete with many hops and sampled at the Anchor.

Ksiazece - a lovely Polish Hefe Weizen, picked up in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton



Finally, as previously mentioned,

Oakham Carioca - a wonderful tropical fruit salad of hops and that. Smelt like an Avon saleswoman's basket.

Oh, one final thing - here are a photo of bottled "treats" which have latterly been placed in my beer cellar [cupboard] for future consumption.



Lager is for life, not just for Michaelmas.

The Hype Machine

Are things really kicking off for Birmingham beer fans?

Is it finally happening?

Yes, I think it is and they are.  [Remember to edit this sentence, it's rubbish.] [But isn't it deliberately rubbish? Isn't it slightly knowing?] [Yes, I suppose you're right, OK leave it.] [Thanks]

This issue of the Mediocre Hype Machine will give you cast-iron proof that things are on the turn:

i) Brewdog Birmingham
No visible sign of building work at their John Bright Street site yet, but we I believe they are still due to open sometime in August.  This will bring uber-trendy beer in bottles and on tap.  Plus, we should get new beers when they are new, rather than eons after the rest of the country.

ii) Purity's new Craft bar
Just round the corner from Brewdog, we now have news of a second new craft venue, which will be run by Purity team.  Twitter brings news that it will feature a range of craft beers, in tandem with a top-notch food offer.  This sounds good.

iii) Brumcraft
In July 2013, Birmingham will have it's first Craft beer festival, organised and delivered by Birmingham beer fans.  No longer prepared to wait for the very best new beers to make their way to our City, a small group of determined activist have raised their heads above the parakeet and are now in a position to deliver a new kind of beer event - one peppered with the very best flavour combinations, from the very best new brewers.  This will be a big one.

iv) Off licences flexing their muscles
I dare that say that both Stirchley Wines and Cotteridge Wines would rather that their competitor was located a bit further away; BUT given their close proximity, it's Birmingham beer fans who are reaping the benefits.  There is no doubt at all that Cotteridge and Stirchley are driving up each others' standards - bringing in more and more of the World's best beers to us, at an ever quickening pace.  The work of new and hitherto unseen breweries is arriving day by day, and the choice of so many great beers, means that personally I no longer feel like I have to live a compromised beer existence.  Dan in 2005: "What beer shall I sup at home tonight?  Samuel Smith? Freeminer? Erdinger? Marston?; Dan in 2012: "What beer shall I sup at home tonight? Mikkeller? De Molen? Kernel? Summer Wine?  No contest.  I may be asking too much, but I hope this level of competition continues, as it will surely breed a newer, larger audience for quality beer in Brum.

v) Better beer in existing pubs
Dare I hope?  Is genuinely high quality beer starting to become commonplace in venues like the Old Contemptibles, and the Wellington?  This may seem facetious, as these are two pubs in the City, already known for a premium beer choice; however.... they were are not always home to the very, very best brands.  But in recent weeks, we have seen Hawkshead and Moor at the OC's, Red Willow and Buxton at the Wellington and Tiny Rebel at the Post Office Vaults.  I accept that these are very small, isolated examples, but I am still taking them as a positive.  In fact, when I popped into the Welly on Friday, they had a mini-festival underway, featuring beers from a fistful of London's new breed of microbreweries - By the Horns, Hackney and the Botanist, in addition to Happy Valley from Macclesfield.  Now I'll leave aside the fact that the Wellington failed to publicise this via social media, which would have been helpful, but you can't have everything.  Pubs of Birmingham, we want these top beers, we want them regularly and we want to know when you have them.

vi) Cherry Reds
A tiny venue single-handedly taking on the apathetic giant, this Kings Heath venue are doing a great job with their range of great beers on offer and by hosting beer tasting events - to my knowledge they are the only venue really doing this at the moment.  This outfit are a model of independence and integrity.  More please.

vii) Beer Geek
6 months (or so) on from their launch, they are now an increasingly established local brand, available in loads of places across the region.  More please.  On a personal note, I would like them to brew a delicious beer in my honour, but I realise that does sound a bit grandiose and bit git-like, now I come to type it.

viii) Birmingham Post
Talented journalist/cum PR Manager Keith Gabriel neatly captured the gathering beer zeitgeist in the City, in this article.  It's clearly a great piece of writing and clearly mentions all the most important beer figures in the City - namely moi.  But seriously folks, when the Birmingham Post starts noticing that beer is on the up, beer really is on the up.  In actual fact, the article in question appears to have been heavily plagiarised (in theme and tone) by me, in this post, here.  Whoops.

So then, lots to be positive about.  Are there any more?

Drinking - My New Paradigm

It's time to finally admit.  I don't go the pub very much anymore.  I think I was sort of trying to make this point in a previous post, but it warrants a more explicit airing.

Much respected colleagues in the Birmingham Beer Twitterari have recently revisited a much noted point - that Birmingham still doesn't have a City Centre pub, which can consistently deliver, on tap, one or more hoppy, high quality beers.  Various location have their moments, but equally there have been many (boringly retold) occasions when I have ducked in and out of several boozers, during an attempted 'stolen crawl' only to find nothing to take my fancy.

This is one part of the problem.  Now this part may be fixed by the arrival of Brewdog, in fact I'm sure it will.  However, that will not correct part 2 of the problem, which is fiscal in nature, and could perhaps be described as 'quantitive diseasing' i.e. large corporations liberally pumping funds out of my bank account.

Brewdog won't be cheap, but then again, nowhere is that cheap anymore (except for the Black Country).

So shorn of my once frequent pub loitering, I have now moved fully to an off-licence driven pursuit of great beer.  Off licence addiction is now easier than ever to 'get into', as Birmingham now provides any number of places to grab some Eastern European lager, plus two premier destinations for all the very best beer brands - both located along the Pershore Road (Stirchley Wines and Cotteridge Wines).  Off licence shopping is clean, easy and oh so tempting; but it does lead to single-handed drinking, for [I am perhaps glad to report] my house is not usually filled with garrulous blokes standing at the bar necking boozes.

Yes, I now mainly drink alone, which simultaneously means I don't drink as much.  This is good for health reasons obviously, but it does lead to a stockpile in my beer cupboard.  Why is this?  Well during a proper session in the pub, I might manage to sample 4 or 5 different beers in an evening, but I'm unlikely to do this at home, as sitting on my sofa, watching Family Guy and getting mullered on fine beer is not exactly the height of spiritual rebirth and doesn't provide the most wholesome example to set for one's offspring.

So then, what I have right now, is a cupboard full of beer, and ever more chances, to purchase ever more delicious beers, from some of Birmingham's ever more brilliant off licences.  Good for the City, meh for my wallet, and confusing for my hectored brain.  How can I keep up?

In the long run, will it truly be possible to be the poster boy of Birmingham's craft beer revolution from my sofa?  Only time will tell, but it will require some ingenuity.

This post is dedicated to the_Bish - one of Birmingham's premier Ratebeer and Twitter correspondents.         

My 10 Favourite Breweries (at the moment)

Pretty self explanatory this one.

Here then, in reverse order, are my 10 favourite giants of the brewing world.  I hasten to add, (or preamble) that this classification is temporal, 'of the now' and entirely personal in a way which means it is not based on any kind of established measurement or Worldwide score.  I reserve the right to change my mind next week. 

10.
Svyturys
This is a bit of an leftfield choice, but I justify it thus: these Lithuanian macro lads provide a range of lager variants which are very consistent and which consistently offer refreshment, archetypal lager finesse and balance.  Plus they also offer an excellent wheat beer.  They are also cheap/good options in the face of the 'craft' onslaught.  Buy these products from Lithuanica and you will be pleasantly rewarded. 

9.
Summer Wine
I just love these guys.  I never get to sample them on tap obviously (except when I go to Sheffield (once, ever)), but I still love them.  Great range of styles, great hops, accessible proficiency.  Cohort is a favourite.  Buy at Stirchley and Cotteridge.    

8.5
Brewdog
I was going to be controversial and leave them out, but then I remembered Dogma.  And 5AM Saint.  And IPA is Dead.  And their bars - where you can sample all of their wares.  Come August, come Birmingham and join their gang.  

8.
Thornbridge
Another obvious choice.  I don't love Jaipur as much as some people, but I do love Raven, St. Petersburg, Geminus.  And many more.  Solid and spectacular.  Consistent and highly productive also.  Try them on tap at the Victoria, Rose Villa Tavern, Waggon and Horses; try them via bottle at all the usual [good] Birmingham outlets.  And Tesco.    

7.
Schneider Weisse
Schneider Original is the best Hefeweisse in the World, period.  Well, in my opinion anyway.  Aventinus is a classic Doppelbock.  Hopfenweisse is a delicious collaboration with Brooklyn and marries traditionally unyielding German style, with new World hops.  Tap X is another example of their delicious wheat credibility, but with an eye to the future.  These lot deserve their place on any list.  To be found at Post Office Vaults and Cotteridge and Stirchley (get used to me saying this). 

6.
Rodenbach
They only seem to do one style - Sour Flemish Ale.  Thankfully I love Sour Flemish Ale, and they make the best one (Grand Cru).  They also make a junior version, which is very pleasant.  Their retired Alexander is top of my list of retired beers, that I dream of sampling in Belgium.  See them at Post Office Vaults and our chums on the Pershore Road.   

5.
Lindemans
I'm a fan of Lambic Fruit beers going way back, and Lindemans' Kriek and Pecheresse are among my very favourites.  That alone may not have been enough to warrant their place on my list, but recently I have sampled a couple of bottles of their Cuvee Rene Gueuze, which I ab-so-lutely love.  Give me a 3-pack of those aforementioned err 3 and I'll be happy, Mother.  Check them at Post Office Vaults and possibly Stirchley and Cotteridge.  

4.
De Molen
New-ish, but more than just good-ish.  Very good in fact.  I love their hop aromas and their embracement of both British, continental and US styles.  Very good value (mostly) at the Post Office Vaults, too.

3.
Mikkeller
If I had written this post 2 weeks ago I might have left them out, as I was slightly jaded, from hearing about their delicious strong beers on tap in the best London bars, for £4.95 a half, knowing full well I had neither the money, nor opportunity to sample them.  Also, it had been a while since I'd tried one of their bottles which really knocked my socks off.  This week however I have been bowled over by both Wheat is the New Hops and Beer Hop Breakfast, which were both mindnumbingly good.  They are indeed prolific, innovative and worthy of the hype.  Available mostly at Stirchley Wines.   

2.
Nogne
Norway's finest; they offer a range of the most beautifully well constructed hoppy beers, with a great example of virtually every style you can think of.  Balanced, precise and magnificent.  Their consistency is first class - better than everyone else in fact.  Almost everyone.  (As seen at Stirchley and POV).   

1.
The Kernel
The UK's best, just got bigger.  A bigger brewery that is.  I'll never forget my first Kernel - Simcoe IPA purchased from the Euston Tap.  It was an explosion of taste, with hopping hitherto unseen in a beer from the British Isles.  I try to relive that first encounter whenever I can.  I always love it.

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State of the (Mediocre Beer) Nation - Brum

I have now been writing this blog for around 6 months, which has been a lot of fun.  I have enjoyed writing a load of nonsense about my beer drinking exploits and have tried in my own small way to promote good beer in Birmingham and highlight good practice.

Six months is therefore, probably a good point at which to take stock of where we are; and by 'we' I mean both me and Birmingham (as a whole).  [Due to my garrulous typing, this will be done in 2 concurrent posts].

Part I – Brum

At the start of the year, Birmingham had just welcomed the Post Office Vaults, which is now very well established indeed, with a massive range of bottled beers, great staff and a rising profile.  It is the best beer pub in the City. 

But...... from August onwards Brewdog will be coming to town, which will undoubtedly change things.  Now in many ways this is a dream come true, certainly it's something myself and other Brum beer bloggers and tweeters have begged for.  But could it be the tipping point?  I think 'Yes' is that answer to that one.  Yes.  At last Birmingham beer fans will have some tangible part of the national craft beer 'scene' to cling onto; at last we are being taken seriously, by one of the big players.

I fully anticipate that the arrival of Brewdog will spark the counter-arrival of one or two independent craft beer bars, at which point we really will be in the midst of an upward trend.  Equally, I think it will breed a new err breed of clientele, which will dovetail quite nicely with the fanbases of pubs like the Anchor, the Wellington and the Bartons Arms, which will still have a part to play, along with the Nicholsons and Bitter and Twisted venues.   

Off-licence-wise, Birmingham has also expanded it's waistline, as Cotteridge Wines have popped up to become the first real competitor to Stirchley Wines; having taken note of the quiet revolution which SWS have been orchestrating for over a decade.  Indeed, South West Birmingham has become something of a bottled beer haven.  If only East and North Birmingham could seize the baton in as enthusiastic a fashion: but then again, they are already well served for Polish and otherEast European beer produce, as evidenced by my ongoing off licenceproject.  

It seems strange to think that only 18 months ago, Brum had never laid eyes on a Mikkeller, Kernel, Nogne or Stone, but thanks to SWS, I think we already take for granted our access to these international beer icons.  Indeed, if the Twittersphere is anything to go by, the City's thirst for new national and international beer brands is getting ever more intense.

Talking of Twitter, April saw the first Birmingham Twissup, which was a great event in itself, but more importantly was the genesis of Birmingham’s first ever, (upcoming) Craft Beer Festival, provisionally entitled Brum Craft 2013.  Now this will be a fantastic event anyway, but my feeling is that even in 2013, it will still be the only opportunity for beer fans in the City to sample the UK’s best craft beer on keg and cask.  Whither Magic Rock?  Whither Kernel?  My tongue is already watering.

In short then, the beer scene in Birmingham is getting better and better.  It's still not as good as London or Sheffield, nor Manchester, Newcastle, Huddersfield, Ilkeston, Cambridge etc.  But we are moving in the right direction, and the pace of that movement is picking up (in the right direction of pace).

In my next post, which forms Part II of this State of the Nation report, I will talk about myself*...

*for a change

4 dark beers and DownDIPA/Eurovision

Sometimes the joy of beer is in sharing.  The best case scenario is to share the beer experience in 'real time' either with friends in the pub, or via the medium of off-licence, at home (also with friends).

However, for someone like me with burgeoningly anti-social habits, the Internet offers a remarkably pain free way of sharing good beer experiences, with some complete strangers/friends who feel obliged to read your blog.

Here is a quick resume of my most recent 'good' beer experience.  Actually, I'll give you my two most recent best experiences... how's that for a BOGOF?

i) 19th May AKA Champions League Final.

This evening saw four dark beers stashed in the fridge, and supped whilst Chelsea put Munich away on penalties.  In fact, because I'm rather a slow drinker, this session probably lasted until well after the Chelsea fans had downed their last stein of Augustiner Helles in Munchen.

Things kicked off with Buxton Imperial Black IPA, an absolutely belting beast.  Hoppy, ashy, smooth with licorice and good, clean earth.  From that high point, it was a tough ask to top it.

But Magic Rock Dark Arts had a good stab at living up to Buxton's err blazing trail.  Dark Arts is une grande Stout: chiseled blocks of graphite, bobbing in a sea of blended hop and sweetness.

Next up a Brewdog Dogma - an example of the style which is known as a Scotch Ale.  What exactly is a Scotch Ale Dan?  Did the style originate in Scotland presumably, Dan? Err, well yes, but it's been popularised by our US craft-brewing cousins.  Dogma is everything which I profess to be err not necessarily enamoured with: thick, sweet, extremely malty, with not much hops.  But, this was very delicious; exceptionally smooth and compelling.  Another winner.  But hang on, could it be that I'm deliberately lauding a Brewdog beer, because I'm so delighted that they are opening a new bar in Birmingham?  Perhaps subconsciously.  But honestly the beer was great.  Great news about Brewdog opening a bar in Birmingham, by the way.  Can't wait until August.

Fourth and [thankfully*] last of the evening, was a Bristol Beer Factory Raspberry Stout.  Now this was plainly a nice beer, but I'm afraid my tastebuds were shot by this point.  In fact my sense of reason had wandered down Hagley Road some time previously.**  It didn't hit the heights of the others.

* With ABVs of 7.5%, 6%, 7.4% and 7.7% respectively, I was at full capacity.
** Please see above sentence and try to pay more attention.

Buxton won the night.

ii) 26th May AKA Eurovision

Oh yes - Eurovision.  But oh, not just Eurovision, also DownDIPA, the Campaign for Really Good Beer's celebration of Double India Pale Ales.

Not quite as socially unacceptable as the evening detailed above, this night saw the consumption of three beers of 7.2%, 9% and 4.9% content.

First up was Ageless, a very tasty hopfiend from Redwillow.  This was more of a single IPA, rather than a double, but that's missing the point; the point being that it was a very tasty, hoppy, orange rock and parma violet accented beer.

Then came a genuine DIPA - Summer Wine Maelstrom.  For those who need to know, Summer Wine are a really very good UK 'craft' brewery from Holmfirth (yes, the place where they filmed Last of the Summer Wine). Maelstrom was thin, sticky and packed with very bitter, oily alcoholic menace. Excellent.

At that point I was sensible (for once) and opted out of any further DIPAs.  I had a Dunkelweizen instead.  Maisels Weisse Dunkel in fact.  Yes, it suffered in comparison with the two previous beers, lacking their hoppy, high content flavour.  But it was nice to relieve some happy Germanic memories of Summer's gone by.  More proof that this Summer will be the 'Second Summer of German beer' (which I will explain another time, but basically means that I am aiming to drink lots of delicious German beers this Summer, in some futile attempt to regain my fast fading heyday).

Any way, the Maisels was smooth, nutty and full of frothy sweetness.  One day soon I might tell you my top ten Dunkelweizens***

Eurovision is obviously a hoot, and the beer was equally good.  Here's to the next DownDIPA.

*** If you are particularly naughty.      

   

The Ideal Birmingham Pub Crawl, or is it Beer Crawl?

Given the pubs that Birmingham has, what would be the best achievable pub crawl?

More specifically, since I prioritise beer over surroundings/decor/atmos etc, what would be the ideal beer crawl in Brum?

Here's an imagined (but rooted in reality) attempt.

Starting slightly north of the centre, I'm kicking off with a pint of Oakham Citra in the Bartons Arms.  This is a double whammy, as the pub is a beautifully restored Victorian gem, with lovely tiles; and... it's owned by Oakham, who are one of my favourite/the best breweries in the country.  Citra is a deliciously crisp, hoppy and piquantly fruity beer, with a tickle across the tongue. Lip-smackingly moreish.

Next, a short bus ride away from the Bartons is the Bull - a small, homely, genuine old pub in the Gun Quarter.  Here, I'd probably plump for an Acorn Barnsley Bitter, which seems to be consistently available.  The comforting genuineness of the bitter, would echo the surroundings nicely.

Next I'd swing up to the Jewellery Quarter, to tick off the Lord Clifden, Brown Lion, Rose Villa Tavern, the Drop Forge and Red Lion (in that order).  In those pubs I'd hope to be able to sample [halves obviously] of Bathams (in the Clifdo), Complete Muppetry or Jewellery Porter (in the Brown), Thornbridge Kipling (in the RVT), a Malvern Hills Black Pear (in the Forge), and finally a Purity Mad Goose (in the Red).  Why those beers?  Well, because they are, respectively: i) a pleasure to drink and should always be sampled when available, which it usually is at the Clifdo and Red Lion; ii) the best of Two Towers' current range; iii) Bitters 'n' Twisted pubs usually carry Thornbridge beers, and they are always good; iv) usually on offer around Brum, and a pleasant Golden ale; and v) the best of Purity's 3 ubiquitous Golden ales.

A detour would be required to get to the Black Eagle, and once there, I'd hope for a Brewdog Trashy Blonde.

Heading back to the centre, I'd hope for a pint of Moor Somerland Gold in the Shakespeare [Summer Row], then an Otley Thai-Bo at the Old Contemptibles.  2 x Nicholsons' pubs, with 2 x of the better breweries on their Spring ale roster.

On the homeward stretch, I'd swing by the Old Joint Stock and umm and arr about whether to have a Chiswick Bitter (toasty and tart), a Bengal Lancer (quite hoppy) or a London Porter (rich and roasty).  The Porter would probably win.

In the nearby Wellington, the rotating ales make it difficult to pin down a guaranteed choice, but Wye Valley HPA IS always on, so that would 'do' me.

In the Post Office Vaults there are lots of bottles that I KNOW will be in the fridge on any given day, and a good number of them would tempt me on EVERY given day.  On current form, I think I would have to plump for a De Molen Amerikaans, which has the best aroma EVER.  However, having chosen Amerikaans, I would obviously have to live with NOT having chosen Rodenbach Grand Cru or Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze - but those are the kind of tough choices I make every day.

Before the final leg, I'd head to the Victoria and certainly sample a Thornbridge Jaipur if possible. 

Final 2 stops would be in Digbeth.  First up the Lamp Tavern, where I would hope to sample an Everards Tiger, which is not only a delicious Bitter, but also a small taste of home.  And then the Anchor, which has a retinue of ales which rotate at a similar speed to the Wellington: therefore I would cross my finger and hope to sample a Gargoyles Citra or a Steel City Vane Tempest.

After that I would be fit to drop.

But what conclusions can we draw from this imagined crawl?  Well, firstly that the sort of breweries guaranteed to be available on any given day, in our best pubs, are not really members of the burgeoning 'Craft Beer' scene.  My ideal Brum pub crawl would not allow me to sample Summer Wine, Magic Rock or Buxton.  But, on the positive side, it would allow me to sample some nice Golden ales.  Lots of Golden ales.  Mainly Golden ales in fact.  Golden ales seem to be doing rather well in Birmingham.

The other conclusion, is a rather more obvious one, and that is that Birmingham has lots of lovely drinking venues.  Rather more than you might imagine in fact.  And perhaps more than we realise - which is a sign of improvement is it not?   

In the style of Tony Hart, why not come up with you own imaginary pub crawl, using this ever improving Birmingham Pub Guide via Google Maps?

Wednesday in the Victoria and Friday in the errr, nowhere

On Wednesday I had a pre-planned (unusual for me) night out at a pub, with, wait for it, some friends (highly unusual for me {sob}).

It was at the Victoria and was most pleasant, thanks for asking.  It was also uncharacteristically pleasant to stay in one pub, all night, and work my way through their wares.  I was happily reacquainted with some old favourites, whom in some cases, I have not sampled for far too long.

Brewdog 5AM Saint rarely disappoints, and must be one of their best, yes?

The Flying Dog Doggie Style was a new one for me and enjoyably hoppy and drinkable, in a sort of 2006 kind of way.  What does that mean?  Well, it merely means that in 2006 I was drinking lots of new US beers with the same sort of hop profile.  Is that OK?

Jaipur was (and is), well, Jaipur.  Very juicy.

Brother Rabbit, also from Thornbridge was another new one for me, and not my favourite from these reliable lads.  The sunshiney hops were by turns 'a bit' juicy, and then 'a bit' straw-ish.

The Kirin lager was lager.  I don't think I am able to handle lager any more.  It's been so long since I drank it, and it makes me feel a little bit queasy, and a little bit like Morrissey might have felt when asked to do cross-country running at school.  

The Wye Valley Butty Bach was terribly run of the mill.  Not terrible.  Served in good nick, but utterly lacking in inspiring flavours.

The Maisel's Weisse was fluffy, smooth like a satin bedspread and undulating with it's cakey, creamy manifestations.

The Brooklyn Lager was perfectly acceptable, and rather slick.

The Victoria has lots of lovely murals, appropriate lighting levels and a good atmos.  My fellow drinkers made me feel like an old git and no mistake, but that's my problem and not theirs.  I wish I had been as well dressed as them, when I was their age.

And then I went home. 

As a quick addendum, let me tell you about tonight's beer hunting.  With a window of about 10 minutes after work, I trooped in and out of three pubs and tried.... zero beers.  There was nothing on offer which excited me, so rather than blithely sup a half of this or that, I kept my wonga in my pocket.  Does that represent exceptional strength of mind, or gargantuan beer snobbery?  Only you can decide.

Mediocre Beer Adventures Goes on Tour to London

So why should the writer of a Birmingham beer blog, bother to trouble his readers with an account of a visit to London?  Well, when you are concerned that your city is lagging behind in the beer stakes, you need to know what you are aspiring to.  You also need to whet that appetite and remind yourself exactly what beer experiences you are seeking to reproduce in the city of thousand trades.  Q. Are there really things in the London pub scene which don't exist in Brum?  A. Yes.

After a great deal of painstaking research involving Twitter and the Transport for London website, my long anticipated London pub crawl finally happened yesterday.

Using this proposed route, three lifelong Leicester chums and I arrived just after lunch, with them waiting for me in the Euston Tap.  I can certainly think of worse places to kill time - in fact if this place were in Birmingham, I would go there and stay all day.

First stop was the Southampton Arms, somewhere I previously visited in June.  We trudged through slushy snow from Tufnell Park tube and on arrival made short work of some dimpled mug encased halves.  My Brodies Dalston Black IPA was outstanding and I believe Dave's pork pie looked equally stunning, I say that I believe this to be the case, because it was scoffed so quickly, my recollection is based on only a fleeting glimpse. 

Reluctantly we left this crowded, rustic and charming location, to get the bus to Brewdog's Camden outlet.  By contrast, this bar was light, industrial and had plenty of breathing space.  The beer choice was tantalising and hop drenched.  I swigged 2/3 of a pint (in a 2/3 glass no less) of the latest IPA is Dead issue, this time showcasing the Simcoe hop.  It was very good, as was Martin's 2/3 of Hops Kill Nazis.  This bar is a winner in my book, with [duh] a big range of Brewdog beers (keg only), plus their bottles and the bottles of well chosen guests.  Equally well chosen were the guest taps, with a clear leaning towards hoppy US craft brewers such as Lagunitas and Ballast Point.  A really enjoyable stop off and a venue which needs a sister  in Birmingham - STAT!   

As the bus whizzed us into throbbing heart of London's shopping district, we hopped from Regents Street to Beak Street, and into the Old Coffee House, a proper trad London boozer, except for it's range of Brodies beers.  Between the 4 of us we sampled each of the Brodies beers on show: Summer Saison, Bethnal Green Pale Ale, West End Best and Amarilla.  The 8% Saison was bold and silky, but the West Best was probably, the err, best.  Sorry about that gag.  The Old Coffee House meanwhile was a good Soho stop off and atypical on the crawl, in that it was not a new generation beer bar.

Unlike the wonderful CASK Pub and Kitchen, which really set new standards when it popped up.  The problem with the CASK (along with others on the route) was there was just TOO MUCH choice.  Not just a bunch of good cask beers.  Not just great foreign beers on tap.  Not just top quality international bottles.  Not just (is this getting boring yet?).  In the end, three of the party, (including me) swooped for a 12% Mikkeller/Cigar City collaboration, entitled Swinging Harry.  This Belgian style Quad was fruity, sweet and perilously easy to swig, given it's abv.  The CASK really is fabulous and worth the detour to Pimlico, even though the tube station was shut and we actually had to walk.  Could a CASK survive in Brum?  My heart says yes....

By this point my beautiful timings for the day had disappeared down a rabbit hole, so we reluctantly skipped the Rake and instead made the walk down Tooley Street to the Draft House at Tower Bridge, all the time admiring the ever growing Shard, with its top portion enveloped by mist.  Spooky.

The Draft House is another lovely bar - so clean, so well presented and with a wide range of foreign beers on tap and some good bottles.  Real ale too.  Two of our party sampled Camden Town Pale Ale, one had St Feuillen (can't remember which one) and I grabbed a half of Milk Stout from new Brighton microbrewery Pin-Up. 

After a beautiful walk across Tower Bridge, we just about had time to get to the Craft Beer Co in Farringdon, which really is like something from another beer planet.  39 beers on tap (keg and cask), with a small army of bottles also. Mind blowing.  Genuinely mind blowing.  Not only were the beers only from good* breweries, but the range of styles on offer was tear-jerkingly vast.  Dare I dream that one day I may walk into a Birmingham pub and order a half of Double Imperial Ale, followed by a Saison or a bottle of Barley Wine?  I just about had time to guzzle portions of Southern Tier IPA, Cigar City Jai Alai and Magic Rock Curious.  Jon meanwhile, positively gurgled over his Rothaus Weisse.  On another day I probably should have come here first. 

As it was I had to bolt for a cab, which dropped me outside the Euston Tap 15 mins before my train left, giving me just enough time to grab a 1/2 of Nogne Imperial Stout, which was ruddy marvellous.  I also bought a Kernel to take home - you can never have too many Kernels. 

So that was London.  Depressing in a way, that this sort of beer experience is 90 minutes away by train, rather than 10 mins by bus.  Here was a wide range of pubs offering top World beers, cask and keg dispense, different glass sizes and more hops than you can shake a stick at.  Just think, London drinkers have access to Mikkeller, Kernel, Nogne and Brewdog whenever they like.  Not really fair is it?  

Saturday's stolen 'crawl' and a craft beer checklist

Well it was stolen, but not a crawl.  I left work yesterday, pinched borrowed 5 bob off leather-clad chum Malcy, legged it straight to the Welly and necked two halves in ten minutes, as follows:

Black Iris Bitter - a proper old-skool, 'real man' type Bitter, which makes no concessions to fruity transatlantic flavour, just a wallop of grizzled UK hops and chiselled sandpaper malt.  It was alright though.  Interestingly enough, having tried all five beers from this newish Derby-based microbrewer, I am now their top rater in the World.  Consider personal trumpet thoroughly parped.

Second was a new beer from Oakham - always a pleasant sight to greet a weatherbeaten beer fan, upon entering a boozer.  This one, entitled 'Preacher' was a suntanned bronze colour, with a luscious aroma of tropical fruit.  Taste was right upfront in the 'delicious mango and passionfruit' department and as balanced as my current account* throughout.  Really good from Oakham.  As always.  Which got me thinking....

How many of the top, top UK breweries' products actually make it to Birmingham on a regular basis?

Oakham - We are lucky to have one of their own pubs serving all their best stuff, plus their beers always make it to the Welly.

Crouch Vale - they pop up in the Welly, fairly frequently.

Moor - Nicholsons carry them, so four chances for their beers to appear in the City centre.

Brewdog - no bar in Birmingham as yet, and their stuff hardly ever pops up on cask, except occasionally in the Bleagle.  Nowhere in Brum serves craft beer on keg, so we are fairly scuppered for Brewdog generally.  Their bottles make it to Stirchley Wines; as do >>>

The Kernel - no pubs in Brum take these bottled masterpieces.  Thankfully Stirchley Wines are doing Birmingham proud.

Magic Rock - to my knowledge, none of their beers have ever appeared in a Birmingham pub, which is nothing short of a scandal, given their reputation as one of the UK's hottest new brewers.  Thankfully Stirchley Wines have just picked up their bottled range (are you noticing pattern here?).

Summer Wine - they very (very) occasionally pop up in the Welly - I've sampled them there twice. 

Thornbridge - pretty good coverage with Post Office Vaults, Wellington and the Nicholsons' pubs taking them.  Unfortunately no one serves their keg efforts, so we have never seen Versa, Italia or Kill Your Darlings, to name but three.

Dark Star - these appear in the Welly with almost acceptable frequency.

Brodies - never glimpsed in Brum.

Redwillow - spotted twice in the Welly by my good self.

Marble - occasional visitors to the Welly, but a full bottled range is at... wait for it.... Asda Stirchley Wines.

Bristol Beer Factory - not spotted in any Brum pubs for a good wee while, luckily someone has some bottles for your delectation. 

Hard Knott - Stirchley only.

Hawkshead - interestingly enough, Wetherspoons are your best bet for these Cumbrian beauties.

Gargoyles - The Anchor is your best bet to try these Devonian treats on cask, which is the same story for...

Steel City - only spotted in the Spanker.

Camden Town - only Nicholsons have sported a beer from this lot so far, but then again, they are primarily keg only.

Buxton - yawn, I'm boring myself now ... these are spotted very occasionally in the Welly, but Stirchley take their bottled range.    

As a City, the end of term report reads "Must do better".  Beer fans like you and me must request these brewers' products and our band of dedicated landlords must seek them out. 



*perhaps more so actually.