Love Beer Learning

In this blog series, I’m trying all the beers!  I choose a beer from one of those books recommending the beers you should try. Check out this introduction post to read the rules of the game.  I know in my last post about Budvar Dark, I said I needed to move away from British beers.  But, as I was in Manchester recently and at Track Brewing Co, I felt it would be remiss of me if I didn’t do Sonoma next.  Sonoma Pale Ale from Track Brewing Co is heralded by craft beer geeks and general beer lovers alike.  It is served on both cask and keg at Track’s taproom in Manchester and you can now get Sonoma AF.  So you have lots of options when drinking this beer.  But is the beer worth the hype and which version is the best?  Let’s take a look!   Beer: Sonoma Brewery: Track Brewing Co Manchester, UK Style: Pale Ale ABV: 3.8%   The History of Track Brewing Co The Track taproom in 2019 Track Brewing Co's journey begins amidst the vibrant craft beer s...

In this blog series, I’m trying all the beers!  I choose a beer from one of those books recommending the beers you should try. Check out this introduction post to read the rules of the game.  I’ve done a couple of British beers in this series so far, let’s go outside of the UK today and visit Czechia.  I’m a dark beer girl and dark lagers are up there on my faves list.  There’s just something about the combination of chocolate and coffee flavours with the crispness of a lager that does it for me.  And Budvar Dark is one of the greats.  When I see a Budvar stand at a festival, I’m right there and Radim, their global ambassador knows me well enough now to know I’m after a Budvar Dark in one of their beautiful glasses when I’m there! Beer: Budvar Dark Brewery: Budejovicky Budvar Ceske, Czechia  Style: Tmave/Czech Dark lager ABV: 4.7% The History of Budvar Budvar Dark Lager, also known as Budweiser Budvar Dark Lager, is a traditional Czech-style dark lager...

In this blog series I’m trying all the beers!  I choose a beer from one of those books recommending the beers you should try. Check out this introduction post to read the rules of the game.  Next up, we are going to visit Elusive in Finchamsted, Berkshire.  I found this beer in Modern British Beer and World’s Greatest Beers - let’s take a look at why this beer deserves both of those titles. Beer: Oregon Trail Brewery: Elusive Brewing Finchamsted, Berkshire.  Style: American IPA ABV: 5.8% Elusive Brewing Embarking on a beer-tasting journey is much like setting out on the Oregon Trail – full of anticipation, discovery, and the promise of new horizons. In the world of craft brewing, Elusive Brewing stands out as a trailblazer, offering a unique experience with their exceptional brews. Founded in 2016 by Andy Parker, Elusive Brewing quickly gained a reputation for its innovative and experimental approach to brewing. Located in Berkshire, England, the brewery set out to c...

In this blog series I’m trying all the beers!  I choose a beer from one of those books recommending the beers you should try. Check out this introduction post to read the rules of the game.   I’m starting off the series with Jaipur from Thornbridge.  It will become clear why this is a great beer to start with as you read on, but also, it was the one beer that I found in ALL of the books.  To be fair, some of the ones I chose have a disadvantage because they weren’t British, so won’t be in Modern British Beer, but still! Beer: Jaipur Brewery: Thornbridge Brewery Bakewell, Derbyshire Style: American IPA ABV: 5.9% Introducing Thornbridge Brewery Thornbridge Brewery's history is a fascinating journey that reflects the growth and evolution of the craft beer movement in the United Kingdom. The brewery was founded in 2005 in the heart of the Peak District, specifically in a village called Thornbridge near Bakewell, Derbyshire.  Thornbridge was the brainchild of Jim Har...

I’m sure you’ve seen the books and the posters, that tell you all the beers you MUST try before you die.  They list beers from all over the world with a bit of information about the brewery and the history of the beer, and often also have notes and comments from the author.  I have several of these books and had thought about starting a blog series where I try to cover as many from one book as I could. The problem I found with that was this - some of the beers are no longer available and a lot of them are quite traditional.  Now, I love a traditional beer, don’t get me wrong!  They are great for learning about styles and you should definitely drink a few to get a good understanding of how beers have developed over time.  But, there are so many good beers out there to try, that might be newer and didn’t make the books, for instance.  Or the beers are so obscure you may never be able to find them or try them.  So I’m going to try something a little diffe...

Today we're going to look at the beer style Czech Pilsner. You may also hear it called Czech premium pale lager. This is because in the Czech Republic, only Pilsner Urquell is allowed to be called a Czech Pilsner.   We are going to look at the history of the beer style, I’ll go through the style guidelines and what to expect from your glass. And I'll also give you some examples to go try.    The History of Czech Pilsner Bohemia, also known as the Czech Republic now, has a long history of brewing just like Germany and England. In the 16th century, brewers were creating beers made out of rye malt and wheat malt.  Wheat malt beers were called white beers and rye malt beers were called red beers. These were ales made with top fermenting yeast and they were darker, smoky and heavier than we would expect today because of poorer malting processes. An important figure in Bohemian brewing was Ondřej Poupě. He was the first brewer to use a thermometer. He also wrote the...

Today we are going to be baking with beer and making the British classic the scone.  This is a super easy recipe that I did with my 9 year old Brownies over Zoom the other day.  The original recipe uses lemonade but I used my ‘special homemade lemonade’ (that’s lemon & rosemary saison to you and me) and they came out great!   This recipe is quick and simple and produces lovely light scones.  Baking with beer adds a leavening agent with the carbonation of the beer.  Obviously you don’t have a home brewed lemon & rosemary saison to hand (I assume!) but you can use any lemon beer or even a wit beer; I’ve added some suggestions in the notes.   I enjoyed making the fruit version so much I thought I would experiment with a savoury version.  If you aren’t into sweet treats, check out my cheese scones made with old ale below.  Baking with beer can be quite diverse!   Baking with Beer – Lemon and Cranberry Scones Ingredients: 300g self-raising...

Today I want to talk to you about beer made with bread. Let me tell you how brewers might do this, why there is beer made with bread and I'm going to give you some examples of beer made with bread that you can go and try.   How is Beer Made With Bread? So how does a brewer go about brewing beer made with bread?  The bread can be used to replace a portion of the barley.  It will still produce fermentable sugars, which we need to be able to create alcohol within our beer. As a recap of the basic brewing process for you - grains are steeped in warm water to extract starches and enzymes to create fermentable sugars.  Part of that grain bill can be replaced by bread and the same process will happen. The water is then removed from the grains, and bread as the case may be, and that is boiled.  Hops and various ingredients may be added at this point.  Then the liquid, now called wort, is cooled and yeast is added. The yeast will then convert the fermentable sugars ...

Roasted beer brined chicken In our house, we eat a lot of chicken so while I’ve been experimenting with cooking with beer, I’ve enjoyed cooking chicken with beer.  My favourite and the most versatile I’ve found, is beer brining.  You can use a plethora of beers to create different flavours and super moist chicken. Why Should You Be Cooking Chicken With Beer? Beer brining not only adds flavour, it also tenderises the meat. Alpha acids and tannins in the beer help to break down the fibres in the meat, making it more tender and juicy.  My current favourite beer to use for this is Theakston’s Old Peculiar.  This is an old ale and adds rich flavours to roasted chicken breast.  I also used it on chicken I put on the bbq recently and it was delicious!  I have tried craft lager with lime for excellent tacos – Utopian or Braybrook lagers would be great for this.     Don’t just experiment with cooking chicken with beer!  I’ve also beer brined beef...