Things I like

To be more accurate this post should be called 'things I like in beer' but I think 'things I like' sets a more pleasant tone. I admit some of my more recent blog posts have perhaps not taken enough prisoners. So for this entry to the beer adventure I'm keeping things on a more appropriate, positive note.    

Since the start of this beer quest/ adventure the world of beer has changed dramatically. Trends in the beer scene have come and gone and for a long time I did consider myself as someone who appreciated all (non macro brewed) beers and beer styles as equals. Though I would argue my own personal preferences have drifted into focus through experience more than they have changed.

 After enough years of beer hunting one develops an intuition for choosing beers especially in situations where overwhelming choice is available. Recently, after returning from a visit to Manchester based Track brewing one experience made me realise just how much I am actually biased towards certain types of beers over others.

Track Dancing Fire 5.4%.

Track Dancing Fire 5.4% is the original inspiration for this blog post and quite possibly my beer of 2026 so far. Put simply it's an American Amber that actually tastes like how I remember American amber to taste like over in the States. It's got loads of character. Big toasty caramelised malt, resinous hops and spice.  A fantastic beer to pair with burgers or other grilled or BBQ meats.

To me this beer covers a lot of bases regarding what I tend to rate highly. Great composure, character. A bit of a retro feel and it's a tad off the beaten path compared to what's considered on trend. Having old school US hops featured exclusively in a beer is something that makes me smile. It's kind of like the equivalent of when you're at a function and a Slayer track comes on. 

A key thing I have found in beer and brewing is the composure of a beer is of fundamental importance. A beer can have loads of ingredients thrown at it, but it won't necessarily equate to composure. Beers that are simple can have great composure and still hold a complex flavour profile to keep them interesting. I can think of many beers that exemplify this beauty in simplicity approach but one I have tried more recently is Devil's Lapstone 4.8% by Durham Brewery.

Durham Devil's Lapstone 4.8% 

This is again a beer that goes down the 'a bit retro' rout. Devil's Lapstone is a naturally conditioned Best Bitter that presents itself through very fresh, simple well composed elements. An interplay of fruit and malt. Marmalade, grassy citrus and spice. Like a naked salad in the sense it is very much malt and hops yet it retains length, depth and nuance.  

Simplicity and composure in brewing are often associated with traditional brewing practices. A lot of modern beers tend to be brewed to very clean, neutral fermentation profiles to showcase speciality ingredients or certain hop varieties. Along with the marketing hype towards ingredient 'X' or hop variety 'Y' they get a bit predictable. 

So in general I take more interest in beers that are less Hollywood and more French Cinema. But that isn't saying that clean, refined fermentation flavour profiles are only for lagers, or are by default make beer less interesting. A beer that demonstrates this very well is an IPA I am very familiar with from work...

Rooster's Blame it on the Tetons 

My first impressions of Blame it on the Tetons 6.3% by Rooster's brewery was that it was indeed a very beautiful beer. Very drinkable for it's abv with a very clean hop forward pineapple-tropical character with orange and pine. 

Oats going into the mash on Tetons brewday.

Tetons was originally introduced to the Rooster's range as a A mountain IPA. Which to the average lay person means its a hybrid style; all the juicy fresh notes of an East coast style IPA combined with the clean resinous bitter finish of a West coast style IPA. When I was first introduced to the term I remember having no clue what it meant and referred to it as the 'Scafell Pike special'.  

In the brew house brewing Tetons is an experience that is in equal parts rewarding as it is challenging. Having over a literal tonne of malt, oats and wheat in the mash plus a big heap of leaf hops in the hop back makes for a challenging runoff and lot of ingredients to dig out afterwards. 

A thing of beauty; Tetons wort passing from whirlpool to fermenter via the hop back. 

So all in all that pretty much sums up a lot of what I like in beer. I confess it probably reads a bit vague to most people and could probably never be condensed into any sort of formula. But if I had to summarise the entire post into list form it would probably read something a bit like;

-Beers that taste good/well composed.

- Retro beers.

- Beers that are a bit off-trend or alternative.

- Characterful beers. 

- Hops. 

- Slayer. 

As with many things what constitutes as good is by nature subjective to the individual. I have on certain occasions encountered beers that were near undrinkable and loaded with off-flavours. Yet there was still someone else at the beer festival waxing lyrical about it saying it was nectar. Conversely on the various occasions I have been vocal about how great a beer was, often someone else would be denouncing it as rubbish (usually an uneducated pleb). But like I say, it's all very subjective.     

Summer, assassins, awards and more.

Greetings again Beer Adventure readers. As most of you are aware it has been a fairly heated summer so far. Aside from heatwaves and football tournaments at Rooster's we have been experiencing some heavy brewing schedules, brewing awards, collaboration brews, birthdays and a canning line running almost none stop. This year the ever expanding  'faced assassin' range has expanded even more with the arrival of Double Hazy Assassin (7.4%) and Peculier Assassin (5.4%). 

Periods where a lot of production has to be forced into a short period of time could indeed be classed as turbulent times. It must also be accepted in brewing the inevitability that things can and will go wrong. Last minute plan changes are never that simple and the sales team will always hold the prerogative to say 'yes' (especially to customers). Yet it seems there has always been something very different about the nature of a production crisis at Roosters.  Long gone are the days of running between the different areas of the brewery double checking ingredient availability, the number of casks left and tank space available. As with most things at Roosters the calm and professional approach is always chosen.  

The Rooster's way. the civilised way. The Harra-gaate way.

But aside from challenging times. One of the plus points of the summer so far has been brewing awards. Daleside Monkey Wrench has won silver at CAMRA Champion beer of Britain 2026 Premium Bitter category. Also Roosters picked up North East Indie Beer awards for Easy Going Assassin, Baby Faced Assassin, Yorkshire's Best and Scoundrel.

Monkey Wrench wins silver in category at the Champion Beer of Britain awards. 

Indie Beer awards; Me and the team checking our bad invincible award winning selves.

On top of this as mentioned previously the 'assassin' range has expanded even further. Double Hazy Assassin at 7.4% is a punchy, juicy, full bodied face full of gooseberry and fruit salad. Peculier Assassin (5.4%) is where the Assassins franchise takes things to the next level. The collaboration brew level. It's a one of a kind collaboration with Theakston Brewery to brew a beer that's kind of a cross breed between Old Peculier and Baby Faced Assassin. You could broadly describe it as an American Brown ale/dark ale. 

Peculier Assassin; available in keg, cask and can. 

It seems the endless tendency to re-invent the 'faced assassin' concept has become more akin to a franchise than just a range or series of quirky spin-off version of the same beer. To me, (much like The Matrix trilogy or Jurassic Park) the original article is still the best. But as with any original offering from a franchise, over time trends and tastes change, novelty wears off and the audience want more. 

 

Hop back of spent hops at the end of a Baby Faced Assassin brew day. 

Born from the Rooster's Outlaw series the original Baby Faced Assassin was born in an era where every brewery that wanted a piece of the 'craft beer revolution' needed an IPA that was a standout powerhouse on the market. Aggressively hopped and upwards of 5.5% in abv. If it did this convincingly enough waves of adulation from the craft beer community would follow. The age of the new world IPA was like the age of the muscle car and the likes of Summer Wine Diablo, Punk IPA, Axe Edge, Jaipur, Wylam Jakehead and many more were all taking centre stage. 

But as fantastic as BFA was and still is. Daleside Monkey Wrench however, also a local classic (and could perhaps be thought of as the mirror opposite to any new world IPA) has never been expanded upon or re-vamped. During it's long service history the debate on whether a hazy, double, session or mango version of Monkey Wrench has always been closed and closed for very obvious reasons. That is because this dark and beautifully smooth strong ale is brewed with only the finest malt, choicest hops and yeast to produce a rich malty ale with a nuanced lingering malty-hoppy finish.

The man from Del-Daleside says; yes!

Newcastle Beer Festival 2026.

Last month I had the opportunity to venture north for the long awaited 48th Newcastle Beer & Cider festival. This year I would be getting to the festival on it's opening day meaning I would be privileged to the choice of every beer on the program at it's freshest. 

Although some years they change the theme up this year the beer selection was mostly focused on the North East, with a few Scottish brews and beers from elsewhere. Tapped brew and Brass Castle represented Yorkshire with live music, cider, scotch eggs, regional spirits, morris dancing and biltong all adding to the overall package. 

The slightly reduced number of beers available compared to last year didn't seem to detriment the festival and as always this years 'Battle of the Beers' feature was back with two categories. Firstly; 'Best of British', a beer made with only British ingredients and 'New World IPA' (kind of self explanatory).

First up on my hit list was Full Circle Waves of Motueka 3.4%. Always loved Motueka hops. A light session blonde ale with soft mouthfeel and sweet hints of lime, kiwi and pineapple. A solid opener from one of the regions most progressive breweries of the current decade.

Next up was Wylam Brewery Rant 5.5%. A collaboration brew with the fairly new Talking Tides Brew Co of Marske-by-the-sea. Brewed with Bru-1 and Strata hops it's a bit of an up front bitter-sweet pineapple mango-stone fruit mix up with a hint boozyness. Nice yet slightly peculiar. Another beer certainly worth a try was winner of this years Battle of The Beers New World IPA category; Firebrick Baffled NEIPA at 6.2%. Clouded golden and light bodied dominated by juicy stone fruit, berries and citrus. It had great drinkability for it's abv and I was fortunate enough to bump into Firebrick owner/head brewer/brother priest of the yeast Alistair Lawrence to congratulate him on his victory. 

Onwards, to the keg fonts

After this it time to venture towards the keg bar. Which this time so happened to be within the cask lineup instead of in a separate room. Donzoko is a name that has been part of the North East scene for the last decade or so. Revered for it's lagers. Saloon Doors at 7% is a big fruity West Coast IPA with plenty of boozy apricot-peach and opal fruits over a full malt backbone. The other great keg beer was the excellent St Dominics Tyneside Blonde. A 5% Belgian blonde style ale with it's very refined grassy hops and peachy-apricot notes.  

Back over at the cask section I did manage to bump into friends (and former rivals) from Hadrian & Border. It was only recently that Hadrian & Border's head honcho Andy Burrows went into retirement and Hadrian & Border Burrows 80 Shilling 4.4% was brewed to commemorate the long standing career of the former director. One of the first people I met in the brewing industry way back pre 2010. Lots of mature fruit, apple and pear meets caramelised malt. Overall quite rounded and easy drinking.  Next up was an offering from another long standing regional stalward, Durham Brewery Black Forest a 5.6% milk stout with lots of sweet but sharp blackcurrant, cherry chocolate and treacle. Nice but quite heavy going and probably better on keg. 

 First & Last Red Rowan 4% is an Irish Red ale that's light and very sessionable. Subtle honeyed caramel malt meet berry fruits. It was good to see Cullercoats Rocket Brigade 5.5% again. This years battle of the beers Best of British category winner. A premium strength testament to British hops.  But the beer of the festival for me was The Kernel East India Pale Ale London 1897 at 5.8%. A big, bold and balanced classic British hopped IPA with loads of bitter marmalade and grassy hop notes. I have to admit retro IPA's have long been my kind of thing.   

All in all it was great festival and lived up to hype of one of my highlights of the year. A mash up quality beer and familiar faces. And it was great to run into the likes of Almasty, Firebrick, Hadrian & Border, Consett ale works and First and Last brewery. Until next year. 

The SALSA audit (and winter update)

 

"Say traceability one more time!
I dare ya! I double dare ya!!"
(bringing a close to section 1)

Entropy; a state of disorder or randomness that increases with time. 

I remember a long time ago, one of the first University lectures I ever attended at Lancaster uni being opened with the subject of entropy. The universal law regarding order, or the degree of disorder, uncertainty or randomness that increases with time within a system. This can apply to just about anything. For example when you don't mow the lawn, shave for a week or get the kids to tidy their bedrooms. Randomness and disorder creeps in. Even during certain conversations I have found my own brain to regress into a state of randomness and disorder.   

So it is easy to see why accreditations such as SALSA plus Beer have a very relevant role in brewing especially in a once rapidly expanding independent brewing industry. Facing a SALSA audit can be very challenging and stressful especially for breweries relatively new to them. Back in the days at the old Daleside site preparing for a SALSA audit meant massive upheaval. Tediously working through each section of the SALSA standard whilst finding time to paint and clean various walls or parts of a building so old they were literally falling apart. Another one of the more awkward parts was the various contesting opinions within the team on how much/little is required to appease an auditor on any given section.  

 The best approach it seems is to have the foundations in place and maintained, alongside knowledge of  what (in theory) should meet an auditors expectations. On the Roosters site everyone has a roll to play to keep on top of the record keeping and cleaning. And with the arrival of our new centrifuge and malt silo's even more paperwork will undoubtedly have to be redone before the next audit. 

 

New malt silo's.

As most people are now aware, it is now winter. Getting to work and back has become that bit more challenging again. Waking up to find the heating already on, knowing full well it's set at the 10oC (as low as it will go) setting certainly indicates things are getting brutally cold outside. Although this hasn't hindered efforts in getting into town and executing the Christmas shopping early with the efficiency of an SAS raid. 

The new Roosters production team members that have joined throughout the year are settling in nicely. On the beer front Daleside Santa's Progress is out again on cask but sadly not in bottled form this year. Rooster's have released Little Donkey (4.3%) a Christmas beer featuring Jester hops. But one release I would recommend looking out for is the slightly unconventional Halloween themed NEIPA Mind Flayer (7.4%). 

 

Largely the mastermind of Rooster's lead brewer and brother priest of the yeast Tim, Mind Flayer doesn't sit in line with most conventional very hazy-hoppy NEIPA's (i.e. have little to no bitterness and taste closer to pineapple juice than IPA). Instead a healthy amount of dry hop aggression is retained with resinous citrus, mango and stone fruits on the palate from the use of Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic and Galaxy hops. The body is still very soft with an upfront fruity, hoppy aroma and the drinkability is similar to a classic IPA without having too much weight to it for the abv. 

In it's entirety Mind Flayer is not just very well orchestrated but has that factor of individuality I like finding in beers. Tim had obviously checked his bad invincible bearded brewing self before taking to the brew house floor to brew this one. I would recommend pairing it with meat feast pizza whilst listening to Akercocke's 'The Goat of Mendes' album for that perfect Halloween ambience. 

Almost like the Goat of Mendes himself would personally approve of this beautiful beer.  

Be sure to get hold of this one while it's still about. That is all for now regarding the winter update. Except to mention that the SALSA audit was passed and production manager Stu thankfully refrained from pulling the trigger.

The Hop Knocker, Durham.

Durham is generally considered to be a splendid place and one of the more sophisticated areas of the North East. It has a Cathedral a castle, the scenic riverside and some good pubs. 

I also happens to be near where my other half the lovely Susan has recently moved to. So to help keep me occupied for a Saturday afternoon I was gifted a visit to Durhams first independent specialist beer shop and micro pub; The Hop Knocker.

A little outside of the city centre The Hop Knocker is indeed a haven for beer fans. Inside one is greeted with a range of keg fonts accompanied by one hand pulled ale. A diverse range of cans and bottles in the fridges are available to take home and there is also a range of specialist beer glassware.   

On the inside The Hop Knocker experience has many qualities I like. It's quiet, intimate, friendly and focused on a diverse range of quality beers. So while the lovely Susan took her daughter to get her nails done next door I decided to sample some of the beers on offer.  

The beer fridge

Toxcitracy 4.4% from Nottingham based Black Iris brewery is a very soft rounded modern pale ale. As many Citra hopped beers come mango and citrus notes are at the fore. Bitterness is minimal but it's not cloudy. I also got to try El Topo 7.2% from Wylam Brewery. A Mexican oatmeal stout brewed with smoked chipotle chillies, raw cocoa, cinnamon and lime zest. It's certainly worth a try, full of spice and boozy top notes. Caramelised cherry, fruitcake. Cinnamon and oily pistachio. As with many speciality beers it's a bit of a mind bender yet at the same time I would say it's good enough to seek out again if given the chance. 

Glassware.

After leaving with a modest selection of beers it was time to say goodbye to The Hop Knocker and Durham. A splendid way to spend a Saturday afternoon indeed, with thanks going to the lovely Susan for treating me out.