Beer Blog & Beer Reviews

St Austell Proper Job Delivery

Proper Job is a strongly hopped, 5.5% IPA from Cornwall’s St Austell Brewery. St Austell’s beers are almost always good so I am expecting good things.

St Austell Proper Job IPA

From the Austells Mouth

Proper Job is an authentic IPA brewed with Cornish spring water and malt made from a blend of malts including Cornish grown Maris Otter barley.

Does it smell like a Proper Job?

Proper Job Smells a little like lemon curd, grapefruit and malt. It smells much more fruity than I expected, a result of the chinook and cascade hops I imagine. It is medium gold in colour and has a light medium mouth feel.

The taste is all about grapefruit when you first try it, and as expected it is very hoppy. There is clearly a excellent selection of hops in here yet it doesn’t have a biting bitter nasty taste that you can get from overly hopped beers.

When you have had a bit more than half a pint, the yeast and hops mingle into a place where there flavours dance and balance. The bitterness comes through more and interacts with the fruity flavours, but says balanced in a happy place where there is malt sweetness, fruity bitterness and lots of drinkability.

The balance and poise that is almost a trademark of St Austell are the thing which always shines through for me and makes everything they touch turn to gold.

St Austell Proper Job is 5.5% so you can keep your Stella, this is a proper man’s drink and I could drink it all night long if only a local would put it on tap.

If you are looking for a nice and fruity session IPA then this is definitely a good choice.

Proper Job is dedicated to the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment who stoutly defended their garrison during the Indian Mutiny in 1857-58. Throughout the siege the traditional “Sunset Ceremony” (beating the retreat and lowering the national flag) was ignored as an act of defiance to the mutineers. In recognition of a “Proper Job” Queen Victoria awarded the 32nd the honour.

You can buy it directly from the brewery at St Austell Brewery.

Veltins Pilsner comes in a great botttle. It’s 500ml, Green and has Veltins Pilsner’s Brand Embossed on the neck. Its tall and thin. The Label is classy if not uninspiring.

Veltins Pilsner

An interesting Veltins beer fact is…

“Veltins owns the naming rights to the football stadium of FC Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen. It is one of the most modern stadiums in Europe and hosted matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.” now that is a beer AND football fact.

I served my Veltins Pilsner slightly chilled, I wanted it to be refreshing but also wanted to be able to taste it.

Veltins Pilsner pours like it should, its a very very clear and pale fizzy yellow. It smells as I would expect but it doest have any harsh alocholoic notes in the nose. It actully smells more malty, and a little largery as you would expect.

The head holds OK, but it is clearly mostly the gas forming up the bubbles without any particles in the liquid holding them together. Its invevtable with a beer this clear and in this style really.

Veltins Pilsner Taste

Now that is seriously good! Its like british largers bigger, older more refined brother. That is suprising to me. All of the tosh larger you get over here, and even the pilsners you can commonly get, are all flavorless piss water (to use the common parlence).

Its not actually that fizzy and has a much fuller more rounded taste than I expected. I can just imagine sitting in Le Mans town centre watching the old car parade drinking this under the french mid day sun.

The flavors go like this: First is very slight harshness as the co2 bubbles hit your tounge and relsease flavor with it, then you get a little bit of bitterness then a little bit of sweetness then a nice warming sesatation as it glides down your throat leaving you with a hoppy after taste as a good bye present.

The malt and barley tastes come through about mid way through the bitter/sweet phase of the drink leaning towards the sweetness.

One thing against the Veltins is that the long term aftertaste leaves something to be desired. Its just like a normal largers but with a consolation of a bit of saaz hop bite at the back of your throat.

This isn’t my usual fare and I will be honest its not a bottle I would normaly pick up if I were in a in a shop or on a website. But for the style of beer, and for the hot summers or even dare I say it the first pint after a “hard days work” its a cracker.

Take this to your larger drinking mates and give them a bottle. The charateristics that Veltins Pilsner shares with theor usual pint will make sure they are not scared off but the added flavors maltyness, hops, roundedness and complexity of the Veltins Pilsner will open there eyes to bigger better things.

If I was forced to compaire it to somehting the average person might recognise I would say its most like Nastro Azzurro by Peroni, but with more malt, hops and flavor in general. Serve chilled at as close to 5pm as possable or with Good helping of the old UV.

I am going to end this post on another beer fact:

“The first batch of modern pilsener was produced on 5th October 1842 by Josef Groll in the town of Pilsen from the Citzens Brewery (Bürger Brauerei)” Thats another beer fact!

You can get Veltins Pilsner from Purity Brewery along with some other great imported beers.

The beer community (especially on twitter) continues to blow me away with the staggering kindness and willingness to help you just don’t see often at all when you live in middlesbrough (UK) and work in advertising.

Today I am so impressedm going to give a Should Out to the people who have made me feel welcome and to the people who are often selfless and kind.

• @EuroDog: I Only met you yesterday and you have been very kind in finding me a relativly rare beer type in the UK and offering it to me. Thank you.
• @RealAleReviews: Thans for so Kindly Sending me a bottle of Rudgate Ruby Mild, you had better come up north soon so I can pay you back the favor
• @ChilliUpNorth: Cheers. He is a very welcoming guy willing to share his knowledge and jokes all day long.
• @beerMerchants: Thank you for the Promocodes and banter around the topic of beligain beer.
• Purity Brewery: Thank you for engaging with your Fans so personally and kindly
• Plus many more

Very nice offer from EuroDog

GBBF 2009 Champion Beer

I had been following the GBBF 2009 with unmitigated amounts envy and so when the over all winner was announced as “rudagte Ruby Bold” I decided I would stop at no length to get some.

Luckily for me a nice guy on Twitter called @RealAlereviews was visiting Beer ritz in Leeds (UK) and agreed to post me a bottle. So thank you to you sir!

Rudgate Ruby Mild. Beer of Britain?

Now I’ve always thought Rudgate was a Novelty brewery, I figured it was born form the near by Viking Centre toutist attraction. But after this bottle I might have to change my views.

Opening The bottle

It has a lively opening, do be careful not to let it fizz over.

There is a strong smell as soon as the bottle is open, even at half an arms length away.

The smell is two part as you inhale it. 1st) It smells sweet and ‘beery’ 2nd) caramel and very slightly treacle smells.

Pouring It

It pours dark and the head likes to come up fizzy and caramel brown. The beer is not black but its very dark. You can barely see a hint of brown as light travels through it.

There isn’t much hop smell but as you put it to your mouth to taste you get another blast of that wonderful strong burnt flavor.

Drinking the Ruby Mild

mmm… nice, from the smell and looks I thought it would be thick and viscous drink but its a good light consistency. The flavours are nice and light. The types of flavors in this beer are really bold flavors but in manageable amounts.

The malt and lightly burnt sugar comes through first, then lastly comes a light treacle flavor (especially on the breath). If I were brave I might even suggest a little licorice flavour buried deep in the beer hiding behind the other flavors. But I’m not so you will have to decide for yourselves.

This definitely isn’t a light summary beer in my opinion. Its a beer to drink in a low ceiling pub near a fire and a dog possibly playing a game of dominoes (you not the play playing dominoes).

These aren’t the types of flavors I usually go for (burnt dark sugars), or even like, because they are usually so strong and overbearing but in Ruby Mild they are light and airy. If you do try to drink dirty great big mouthfuls of this the flavors will intensify mind and give you a huge flavor.

My Ruby Mild Review

Yes it is a good beer, is it the best in Britain? Maybe in its category, but I’m not sure about best in Britain.

Now I can be cynical if I try and if I didn’t know any better I might say that Ruby Gold winning gold might be an attempt to re-invigorate the mild style of beer which has been less popular in recent times.

Anyway Its a good beer, its not my favorite style, but it is clearly made with skill and care as its not just another ale, it does have some good qualities which I didn’t expect. So maybe try it for yourself and see what you think.

Purity Brewery: UBU Ale

UBU premium amber ale is quaintly named after purity brewery’s unfaithful companion, UBU the dog.

“god love him the dog is mad. But an inspiration to all who enjoy doing what they do and want to be love for being what they are”

The UBU label has a distinctive Typographic style with a sketched dog which will site well with younger drinkers and stand out on shelf. You can also spot it from above by there red star logo.

If you care to join them on face book their infamous dog ubu has his own face book group to join.

Opening UBU

UBU does Not have much fizz but it pours with a good head with a bit of encouragement.

UBU has a Lovely hoppy smell, it smells like it will be quite hoppy. This defiantly has a strong smell off cascade hops.

The head dies off UBU quite quickly leaving some residue on top of the amber colour beer.

Does UBU’s Bite Match the Bark?

The Ale has a good hoppy flavor at first which mellows out into, the smell that comes through when drinking is like sweet fruit bread, brown sugar, malt loaf.

The bittering is medium on the palette the malt is simple and clean. I like the lack of fuss that this beer comes with. Its a basic amber ale with a sort of normal pint thing about it, but with extra flavor especially as you drink it more and more.

Could UBU be Adictive?

This beer improves consistently with the amount of it you drink. As you get used to the taste it changes and almost matures in your mouth and it becomes more flavorsome and full. I think it must have some some nefarious additive agent in it!

Conclusion

I am a big fan of Beers with plenty of aroma hops and this is right up my street. UBU is a honest beer with honest flavors and for a pint to drink in a pub I would be chuffed if it was a regular on the pumps.

Purity Brewery Pure Gold ale is a premium ale made in a eco friendly way.

Green beer means beer made with as little impact on nature as possible, not to be confused with the drinks often made on St patrick’s day by adding green food colouring.

Purity Brewery Pure Gold Ale

The Official Line on Pure Gold

Talking to the brewers the say “We say it’s an easy drinking beer with a lovely dry and bitter finish”

What Pure Gold Smells Like

Pure Gold smells a little like tribute ale by st austell. It smells like a good traditional golden ale with a small hint of something like a continental lager.

Good Head?

Gold has a good head which is quite thick compared to mad goose.

Its quite gassy having either been gassed up with co2/nitrogen or being fermented a second time under pressure. It has alot of fizz for an ale, but this seems to help the head.

What does it taste like

This is a really nice beer, when drinking it and smelling it at the same time the lemon/lime zesty dry taste and the hops blend together seamlessly into a really nice citrus hop bitter taste.

The after taste is dominantly hops, but the taste doesn’t dominate your mouth if your know what I mean?

There is a definitely a slight sweet theme running throughout the beer when the zesty bitter hops aren’t there on your taste buds.

If i could change one thing about this it would be too let some of that gas go and leave it to warm up a little. This beer is probably best served slightly warmer than some others.

Pure Gold Review

To me Pure Gold is a almost a modern twist on a classic golden ale. It brings some of the fizz from modern lagers and adds it to the classic fuggles and goldings hops but even these are grown in exotic Slovenia soil.

Very Nice, very drinkable and a easy beer to drink especially on a warm evening. Its interesting to note the cask version is 3.8% while a bottle will come with 4.3 ABV, its is because it easier to sell bottled beer at higher ABVs. The brewer assures me they taste the same anyway.

For these beers I am bringing out my new lidless, solid bottom, English pewter tankard. Its the perfect size for the full bottle and the purity of the beers I think deservies it.

Purity Brewery Mad Goose IPA

Lovley People, Nice to the Ecosystem

Well I can tell you having spoke to Claire at their office they are realy nice people and they are actually very much into the environemnt. I was a cynic when I read the labels promclaiming eco friendly ethics, but having read there literature and talked to the people i’m all for the green beer ethic purity brewing extoles.

Getting On and Drinking It

The beer is medium fizzy and pours well without fuss. There is a very slight caramel smell to the usual IPA tones of sweet hops and malty flavor. From the smell I think its going to be creamy.

On drinking you get Sweeness, quickly to bitter hops, then back onto the sweet malt before mellowing out into fruit aromas given by the cascade hops. Its doesnt leave the breath feeling too warm and the bitter drying finish at the very end, which can some catch the back of the throught, is there but it is very plesant.

The beer certainly doesnt taste like its been chemicaly treated (not that most do), and the taste is good. A lot of IPA’s I drink these days are far to plain, this beer walks the fine line between the plain jane and the interestingly drinkable. Its very nice to drink without being.. over the top.

Half way through drinking the beer the head doing well, and I am taking my time with this. The head lasts long enough to drink the beer through top to bottom.

What is in it?

Like almost all british beers these days, this is brewed with Maris Otter Malt. It gives a rounded nice malty flavor, but without too much going on. The Majority of the Nicer Malty flavors in the beer seem to some from the subtly creamy/butter tones supplied by the wheat malt included in the mash while brewing.

I’ve never heard of or used 2 of the three hops used in this beer, but they seem to hit the spot. Its definatly a good change from ‘good old’ Fuggles and Goldings, of which im becoming increasingly board despite my patriotic view of using british produce.

Mad Goose in a Glass

Is It Any Good

After all this talk about the green beer / eco friendly beer and the ingredients used, the one question I can hear you waiting me to get to is “is it a nice beer then?”

Well the answer is a definate yes.

The One thing Mad goose really does well is a balancing act. Its not so hoppy or mad that it is a party peice beer, but it is also very tasty with it. You will be able to drink this without having to make a big deal about it and you certinaly will be able to enjoy pint after pint of it.

There is a HUGE amount of competition in the IPA market and this beer not only has something to set its self apart being a em>green beer, it also tastes good. Its not out of this world crazy like Wipe Out IPA or BrewDog Extreme IPA, its just a good drinkable IPA with nice flavors. If it also helps the environemnt by me drinking it then I am all the more happy to drink it again!