Day 17: Marmalade Porter

Marmalade Porter

Origin: Wold Top Brewery (Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK)

Style: Porter

ABV: 5%

IBU: Not Listed

Description: On the Eastern coast of Northern England sits a 600 acre farm that has been worked by the same family for generations. The 80s and 90s were a hard time to be in the agriculture business, so the current generation looked at their options for diversification. What did they decide on? Beer!! It seems like they made a good choice. Wold Top Brewery now produces an extensive line of award-winning cask and bottle-conditioned ales that have found distribution all over the world.

This offering from Wold Top Brewery is a porter produced from barley grown on their land and malted on site. Water is drawn from a borehole and chalk filtered to feed their brewhouse. Their source of hops isn’t mentioned in any of the literature I’ve found, but all of their ingredients certainly combine to produce a fresh, clean-drinking brew.

The pour is typical of a porter, with a thin creamy head that quickly dissipates to rim the surface of the brew. The colour is a very dark brown with amber and gold hues towards the edges.

Although the body is thinner than I prefer on a porter, it does produce more than its fair share of aromatics and flavour notes. Claiming to be triple hopped, I’ve found a decent amount of citrus hops wafts from the glass accompanied by a malty sweetness. On the palate the bitter bite is most noticeable, the hops playing well with roasted coffee and chocolate notes that border on burnt. Citrus also plays a role here, though it is quite muted.  My least favourite trait of this beer is the finish, which I find quick and dry without any lingering tastes to hang my hat on.

The best food pairing for this would be a dessert, preferable creamy and sweet. Crème brûlée would do nicely, or a generous slice of chocolate cake with creamy layers and a wafer crunch. Perhaps I shouldn’t write these posts while hungry. Yum, beer and cake.

Overall I was a little disappointed in this beer. It just doesn’t seem to have any legs to really stand it up as a quality beverage. There are certainly interesting tastes there, but overall it lacks punch. It does hold the distinction of being a certified gluten free beer, as does a good portion of the Wold Top line, so I am interested to try the other two offerings on Legacy Liquor Store shelves, the Against The Grain bitter and the Scarborough Fair IPA. Or, if you are interested to try a few other porters, I would suggest the Driftwood Blackstone Porter or Samuel Smith Famous Taddy Porter, both nice examples of the style. – C.L.

Day 13: Blackfriar

 

Blackfriar

Origin: The Inveralmond Brewery (Perth, Scotland, UK)

Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy

ABV: 7%

IBU: Not Listed

Description: When I remembered about this blog “homework” assignment I was in the middle of watching a documentary on the origins of sea shanties, traditional working songs sung aboard various types of ships in the Golden Age of sailing. So off to the kitchen and out of the packaging I pulled the Blackfriar from The Inveralmond Brewey of Perth, Scotland. The match between the two was serendipitous.

You see, the Wee Heavy style of beer is the type of brew a calloused handed fisherman, or a home bound navy crewmen would crave from the first pub ashore. A form of pale ale characterised by a caramelized malty forward heaviness, they are warming, filling and satisfying. This Blackfriar is a slightly mild version of the style, but it displays itself proudly as an example of a Scotch Ale. Closing my eyes, I could perfectly picture swinging a pint of this beverage while bellowing a sea shanty with the boys at the pub.

Poured as a deep hue of amber with copper highlights in the edges, the colour was beautifully appealing. A fairly calm beige head rimmed the glass while sweet wafts of caramel and toffee overcame the subdued hops aromas. These types of beers should be consumed at almost room temperature which will really change the flavour profile quite substantially, so I sipped lightly at my glass while resting it in both hands. As the temperature rises, the notes of plum, caramel and prune really start to come alive. When I drink a Scotch Ale, I unconsciously slow down to a crawl as I near the bottom of the glass, because it really satisfies until the last drop.

It’s a perfect time for this style of beer, especially with the mild beginnings of a Vancouver winter. I find the late Autumn really relates to Wee Heavy’s as a bridge between the lighter beers driven by hops in the summertime and the dark, rich styles that follow into the darker months. There are quite a few good examples on store shelves right now, but my favourites are the Persephone Wee Heavy, Spinnakers Keg Tosser Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, and the Wolf Brewing Scotch Ale.

If you feel inclined to pick a few up, stop by the grocery store and get a nice cut of meat to grill with some potatoes, or a roast beef sandwich. The two will go really well together. But please, if you’re feeling inspired to belt out a sea shanty or two while consuming a Wee Heavy, please finish chewing first. No need to copy those naval table manners. -C.L.

Day 3: Chateau Civrac Old Ale

Chateau Civrac Old Ale

Origin: Penpont Brewery (Launceston, England, UK)

Style: Old Ale

ABV: 7.5%

IBU: Not Listed

Description: My initial thought was: I wouldn’t have made this beer.

To make an old ale means subjecting a beer to elements we know are adverse to producing a drinkable beer – mainly taking a beer and storing it in a wooden barrel. HELLO!! You can’t clean or sanitize wood!!  Wood has cracks , cracks hide bacteria, bacteria infects beer. Second you’re exposing beer to oxygen. O₂ spoils beer in minutes and here you are exposing it for a year! Sure sure, some CAMRA trainspotter in Sheffield may geek it out but really, you made a spoilt beer.

Screwing a beer up this bad takes talent and I mean talent. However…

The head of this Penpont Old Ale pours out a lovely thick creamy top and stays in place due to a constant stream of bubbles. The nose offers up wafts of steamed wood staves, dark fruits and a mix of red licorice and red apples. Mouthfeel gives over with prickly but fleeting carbonation and making way for the big tannans. Black tea and light body play the mid pallet where upon dry malt and slight toffee come round for a brief visit.

I said I would’t have made this beer. It’s because I can’t! This is the work of a brewer who not only goes beyond knowing his trade but also sits with the ghosts of brewers past and smiles that smile of a thousand years. Keyser Soze lives and I have tasted his work. ~C.B.