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My first beer back in the UK was from The Kernel

This blog has been pretty dormant for a while. In fact, if you happen to have visited, there may well have been little more than tumble-weeds rolling by. For the past couple months, I have been extremely busy in my day job and I was also out of the country for the entirety of June.

So, the lack of posts has nothing to do with stopping blogging or heaven forbid, not liking beer any more! It was just a simple case of not having the time or energy. However, all that is set to change as I am back in the UK and my life has gradually returned back to normal.

I was away in Indonesia, which is a beautiful and amazing country but does have a dearth of good beer. In some of the bigger cities I visited, there probably was some good beer lurking in the shadows somewhere but I didn't often have time to look for it! 

Like a lot of countries, Indonesia has its national lager, in this case it is called Bintang. Whilst not being offensive to the palate, it is hardly exciting either. 

I loved my time away, but I did periodically (largely when I had an idle moment) start thinking about drinking a decent IPA or a Saison or another of the multiplicity of beers styles that wasn't available to me at that time.

On my first day back in Blighty, I needed to find good beer. I'd waited ages, so I wasn't going to find the first thing that had a bit of a kick of hops to it. This needed to be thought about. I headed to the Holborn Whippet to see what they had on and decided to plump for an IPA from The Kernel. An ever reliable and consistently brilliant choice.

The next day I dropped in on Utobeer in Borough Market and stocked up on a few treats from the likes of Weird Beard, Brewdog and Oakham. It was great to be back in a place with so much great beer, despite in many other ways missing being away.

In the coming days and weeks, I intend to write a lot more - which won't be difficult! There will be views, reviews, guest posts and collaborations - so please do stop by...

The Golden Pints

It's the end of the year and the time when Mark Dredge and Andy Mogg ask beer bloggers to list their favourite beers and beer related stuff from the year.
I'm pretty new to beer blogging, but I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring and pick my faves from the year, so here goes...

Best UK Draught Beer:
The Kernel Export Stout. I had this at Craft Beer Co Islington and absolutely loved it. It's a perfect dark beer - complex, deep and malty with excellent bitter dark chocolate notes. A perfect beer in the winter.

Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer:
London Fields Hackney Hopster. This is just a fantastic hoppy pale ale. I've come back to it a number of times. It's fresh, bright, tasty and extremely drinkable.

Best Overseas Draught Beer:
Rogue Dead Guy Ale.  I like all the Rogue beers that I've had, but I've come back to this German style Maibock time and again at The Black Heart in Camden. Their delightfully named Yellow Snow was a close second. I got into that beer when it was a guest at the Brewdog bars.

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer:
Flying Dog Snake Dog. This is a fantastic little IPA with bags of character - what's not to love?

Best Overall Beer
Thornbridge Jairpur. This has been my favourite beer this year. It's massively hoppy and fresh but with a real balance of flavour.

Best Pump Clip or Label:
Tiny Rebel Hadouken. I love all their design. It's fun, fresh and different. All of Magic Rock's pump clips are great too.

Best UK Brewery:
Thornbridge. A great range of beers. Aside from Jaipur, I've enjoyed drinking Chiron, Kipling, Colorado Red and lots of others this year.

Best Overseas Brewery:
Sierra Navada. Consistently great beer.

Pub/Bar of the year:
Craft Beer Co Islington. It has the vibe of an old school pub with an incredible selection of beer. The latter goes for all their venues of course but I particularly like the feel of the Islington one.

Beer Festival of the Year:
Due to some awful planning, I missed both The Great British Beer Festival and the Indy Man Beer Convention - shocking! I've been to a few smaller local festivals that I enjoyed, but I wouldn't want to name as festival of the year.

Supermarket of the Year:  
Hmmm. I'm not a big fan of supermarkets and I tend to buy as much of my beer from independent retailers as I can. However, if I have to name one it would be Waitrose. A fantastic selection - but it is still a damn supermarket!

Independent Retailer of the Year:
Utobeer at Borough Market. They have a fantastic selection of beer and staff who are knowledgeable and really helpful.

Online Retailer of the Year:
Ales by Mail. They're the one I've used most and they have a great selection.

Best Beer Book or Magazine:
I haven't read that many, but I have enjoyed 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die by Adrian Tierney-Jones.

Best Beer Blog or Website:
Probably Beervana.

Best Beer Twitterer:
There are loads who are good. I really couldn't choose!

Best Online Brewery Presence:
Brewdog - you just can't ignore them. I know they can be a bit annoying and silly sometimes but they certainly get themselves noticed.

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year:
Chickpea curry and Camden Town Pale Ale. It just really works! The right level of hoppy flavour alongside the spice. I don't like to go too big and hoppy with curries as I think massive hoppy flavours can clash with the spice, but this is great.

In 2013 I’d Most Like To:
Start home brewing. Make sure I don't screw up and miss GBBF again!

Brewdog Hello My Name is Beastie

Whilst riffling through the incredible selection of beer at Borough Market’s Utobeer, I spied a couple of bottles of Brewdog’s ‘Hello My Name is Beastie.’ It’s an 8.2% IPA infused with brambles.

As soon as I saw the bottle, I had to try it. I’d wanted to see what combining blackberries with an IPA would do to the taste, since I heard about this beer. It disappeared from their online shop pretty quickly (as you’d expect with one of their limited editions) and I hadn’t found a bottle since. But then Utobeer is the place to find beers that nobody else has.

It pours a pale coppery orange colour with a hint of red and has minimal head. As soon as the beer leaves the bottle, a brilliant bitter hoppy aroma is released. There is a definite hint of forest fruits on the nose, undercut with a tang of orange peel and lemon.

The taste follows the nose and is characterised by a zesty tanginess that you would expect from the American hops in this style of IPA. Whilst it is relatively subtle, there is a clear hint of forest fruits that really does add an extra dimension to this beer.

This is a brilliantly well balanced IPA with a distinctive and cleverly crafted taste. The bitterness is underpinned with slight malty tones and a good boozy kick from its 8.2% ABV.

Hello My Name us Beastie is a typically clever beer from Brewdog. It takes a style that in many ways is the key beer in the craft beer movement and gives it an extra twist. Highly recommended if you can find a bottle kicking around somewhere!