Partizan Grisette with salmon

Beer and food is something I haven't covered much in a while. The sequence of getting the specific beer in for the specific meal then getting round to actually blogging about it requires some effort.
Partizan is a brewery I have heard about but never come across before. One of the new wave of London-based brewers with labels that look kind of funky.

Anyhow, the saison with salmon is a combination recommended by none other than the beer and food master himself, Garrett Oliver. I could immediately see how it works, Partizan Grisette Saison is through and through a lovely light crisp and snappy beer with a clean-cut bitterness with lots of signature Belgian-esque yeasty herbal, peppery and lemon notes going on. It cuts effortlessly through the meatiness of the salmon whilst marrying well with a lot of underlying flavours of the dish. Similar yet different to small number of Saison type beers I have tried before, Grisette is definitely the most light and quenching. Overall a quality beer and, thanks to the wife, some quality home cooking.

X² Battle of beers winner presentation at Lady Greys

Last Tuesday myself and the Mordue crew were presented with the official Battle of the Beers certificate for the X² victory. Being at Lady Grey's some great beers were available to compliment the large quantities of quality scran that we were treated to at our VIP buffet (including some very fine scotch eggs).

Me, Matt and the G-man receive award

So a rather splendid evening, with some highlights including chatting to the Newcastle Beer Festival organiser and various other folks about beer. There was then the sampling of the last-ever keg of Panda Frog Pandazilla, which, at one year old, seemed closer to a vintage porter than a black IPA. Check out the video on the Cannybrew website, featuring interviews with the G-man and myself running out of things to say.

Getting high on your own supply

Mordue IPA from the cask

One of the perks of working in a brewery has always been the free beer. Taken from a bright cask or a conditioning tank substantial quantities can be consumed at home in support of a range of bottled beers or just 2-20 litres to last the night. The problem with it is that in general fresh beer doesn't keep well in the plastic containers, and at some point I usually end up dwelling over the discrepancies between this batch and the last, and the one before that. Like constantly taking notes in a ticker's notebook, at some level it takes the enjoyment out of it.

The ideal take home container for me is the three-litre bottle. A fine carriable volume for taking home, to a friend, or even to your local park bench. Anyway, this weekend I have been enjoying my three litre bottle of X² at the new local Indian restaurant Mivesi. You can take your own beer and the curry is bloody good too.