Wild Beer Modus Operandi

Boy did that summer seem to end quick. Anyway it's time to settle down with some wild and crazy bottled beer, this time from a brewery way down south in lovely place called Somerset.

Basically Modus Operandi (not to be confused with SKA brewing Modus Hoperandi) is a barrel-aged old ale that's been given the old wild yeast treatment. I'm sensing a little Gale's Prize Old Ale or Russian River type inspiration from this one. That signature 'Brett' nose is evident, then it initially hits you with rasping strawberry, caramel and cherry. A sweetish body with subtle woody-caramel undertones is contrasted by tart acidity running right to the finish. Lots of berry flavours, and not assertively sour. Somehow there seems to be a lot going on for its modest 7% abv and I also found this to be a good beer for steak and stilton sauce although I imagine it would be great with duck or venison.

Overall an intriguing and well balanced bit of brewing and as far as specialist sour beers go this is a good call.

Workie Ticket

As a brewer the beers you invent are like your children. You watch them develop before releasing them into the world. The beers you brew but didn't invent are like your adopted children, try to change them if you like but some are best left alone. One such adopted brew I've got to know very well over my few years at Mordue is Workie Ticket.

I often say to visiting Brewlab students that Workie is the most old school beer we do. Some would call it a brown ale, others a Scotch ale cross best bitter ('style hybrid' dare I say?).
Workie Ticket is a classic ale of the North East region that's been around since way back into my school days. Chocolatey almond goodness meets rugged grain and underpinning hop bitterness in the finish. It's northern beer with character that almost echos decades of Geordie history.

Workie Ticket is  retro. It's the notes you've heard before yet not quite in that order. It's like Oasis 'Wonderwall' suddenly sparking up on the radio. This beer sits alongside its cousin IPAs, blonde ales Panda Frogs and others and is yet still at heart and soul of Mordue Brewery.

Workie Ticket is a lovely beer and I am a proud successor to its architect.

In addition to this I am even more proud to have been representing this arguably iconic North East beer at the Great British Beer Festival in London this week. With the Mordue team we represented our region, our brewery and our Workie Ticket.

Mordue Workie Ticket; champion beer of Britain 1997, champion best bitter of Britain 2013 

Return of the Killswitch

Killswitch 51. 51 IBU's, OG 1051.

Many will remember Killswitch 51 as Mordue's entry to last year's battle of the beers at Newcastle beer festival. This year we're bringing it back. Well I say bringing it back, as it's not quite the same beer. Let me explain.

It's always a difficult decision to make when dealt sub-standard hops. Never had I seen Galaxy hops so brown. Do you use them anyway or substitute completely? So in short Killswitch 51 (2012 version) became a sort of kit car beer, where a lot was made up as we went along. Though in the end we were happy with the outcome.

This year however we had the hops to make this beer the way it was originally intended. The original article you may say. Deepish amber with Melon and liquorice, smooth pine and backing of cinder toffee mellowing things out. Still Munich malt based although more complex and floral I would say. Strangely enough both brew days yielded the same exact 1051 original gravity. Killswitch 51 is available in cask and (very shortly) in keg form and for those who didn't guess the origin of the name first time round, then this link reveals all. I will be trying to hunt this out for sure.

Pleased To Meet You

If you haven't worked it out it's the name of the pub, or should I call it a bar. Pleased To Meet You is a relatively new craft beer hotspot in Newcastle I have been meaning to visit for a long time. It seemed everyone's been, except me, so I had to do something about it.

Before I start I must mention that this isn't another one of those bars you wished you could sit in for an entire day and try the bulk of the beer range getting merry in a sort of beery paradise. This is more of a bar you wished was situated next to your house, so every few days you could pop in to try something new, whether it be more beers from the taps, new whiskies, wines or even cocktails. You could devote an entire evening just to getting to know gin, or you could continually chase the changing guest draft beers. In short the emphasis on choice here is epic, with an atmosphere that's very charming and friendly.

So where to start, cask or Keg? Way more was on offer than could possibly be consumed in a sitting. The likes of Dark Star, Thornbridge and Marble were out in force while Tyne Bank and Mordue held the local front. A few beers down the line and the urge for something different arose. Amble Butcher's Chorizo and saffron mash with a De Struise Westoek XX is a half decent combination. This weighty 8% Belgian strong ale has a sweetish body and lots of tart wild yeast character with dark fruit. Classic Belgian to the core. Rustic, nuanced and unpredictable. More of a random wildcard pairing given the menu advises pairing this dish with 'gutsy red wine or a powerful hoppy IPA' but it worked ok.

Next up was the dessert named 'coffee and doughnuts' with my chosen beverage Dark Star 1910 Porter. This beer is one clean cut hit of Espresso with bitter dark chocolate that contrasted my doughnuts quite well. The menu suggests pairing an imperial stout but I honestly thought a heavy barley wine or rich Belgian strong ale would do better at lapping up all the sugary deliciousness of this dessert.

Next up a beer from the menu under the category 'peculiar' meaning not really fitting in a style category. This I like. Bristol Beer Factory Vintage 2012 sort of comes across a tad like a well aged old school barley wine but at 6.6%. Nice dried sultana and apricot esters over underlying woody notes. Probably excellent with a nice medium strength cheddar that's all about the texture.

The wife enjoying a Mojito IPA, a combo of rum and Jaipur IPA

So after a cracking evening was time to finish by turning to the extensive whisky range. Scottish, English, Japanese, American......

Again, this is probably worth another visit.

Beer and Jambalaya

Three beers from the fridge

One pan of Jambalaya

But which one to pair with it???

This is another one of those posts that arose out of coincidence. So it was Saturday night and the wife was cooking Jambalaya. I was pondering over which beers would be the better match for this Southern American dish. It later occurred to me that Mark Dredge had covered this way back in 2011, coincidentally using an almost similar set of beers. Nothing wrong with repeating an experiment I thought, so let's get them all opened.

Well it was almost a repeat. A big difference here was that this Jambalaya recipe was taken from the Hairy Bikers, and does not involve scotch bonnet chillies (like Dredge's Jamie Oliver one). In other words, the Dredge was obviously pairing beers with a much hotter dish. Jambalaya is a kind of mixed meat spicy risotto and in Dredge's 2011 experiment, the unexpected winner was the underdog, none other than your staple macro brewed Budweiser lager. For this reason my equivalent, the Graffenwalder Pils was the favourite to conquer in tonight's pairing challenge.

Grafenwalder Pils.

Shoppers at Lidl supermarket may be familiar with the 4.8% Grafenwalder Pils. Brewed probably in some random UK-based factory owned by a faceless corporation. At only 85p per can it's not a bad take on your standard pale lager. Heavier and less neutral than Budweiser with a touch of cooked corn/DMS about it which I don't mind too much. With Jambalaya I immediately noticed what Dredgy was on about. The clean refresher certainly works with this.  The lager sits back whilst cleansing carbonation provides a nice contrast.

Arbor Triple Hop #8 (Mosaic Nugget Simco)

A nice, hoppy, bottle-conditioned 4% blonde ale. Plenty of soft fruity citrus and pine going on here. The slight yeast haze brings a smoothness combined with soft carbonation. For some reason it seems a bit thin, but nice flavours with the Mosaic thing obviously dominating. Enjoyed this greatly with Jambalaya, the nice citrus theme complements the mild spice nuances of the dish nicely. This beer might not have the cleansing power of carbonation Grafenwalder had but for intensity and flavour harmonies it sure hits the mark.

Maui Brewing Aloha B'ak'tun

Now for something different. Aloha B'ak'tun is a 7% Belgian stout aged with chocolate and spices.  I never realised when I bought it that it was a Christmas beer, and a bloody good one at that. Christmas beer meets stout. Cinnamon spice leads to big sweet dark chocolate and coffee, alcohols warmth and Christmas spice. For me this is my favourite stand alone beer of the three. However with Jambalaya the mix is crazy. Bitter dark chocolate contrasts the spice brilliantly yet everything else meanders off in various directions. Very complex but doesn't completely work. It also seemed a bit weird drinking this on a sunny July evening.

So in conclusion this was a close one between the Arbor and the Grafenwalder. I honestly thought that if this dish had chilli kick the 85p lager would have walked it. But because both beer and food were on the moderately subtle side myself and the wife both agreed that Arbor Triple Hop worked the best.