Snacks to Beer: Sea Laver!?
September 2nd, 2010Stein’s, Richmond
September 1st, 2010
We finally made it to Stein’s, a beer garden which offers a slice of Bavaria in Richmond, in south west London.
There is good Klarheit with the unorthodox rules up on the shack, in the menu, and anywhere else there’s a flat surface to pin them. It’s still confusing for lots of punters, though: you can’t drink without eating, so you need to buy food, order the beer at one serving hatch, and then collect it at another. This is clearly a carefully calculated business model designed to deliver the atmosphere of a particular kind of beer garden in “binge Britain”. This is not a place you come to get very drunk. There are even signs asking you not to shout or sing.
The food is standard beer garden stuff, but pricey for what it is (cheap rubbery Bratwurst, mostly) but, really, you are paying for a fabulous view of the Thames and the authentic German atmosphere. The beer is probably the least convincing bit — Paulaner Helles, and not as fresh as it might be in the Englischer Garten at that.
You won’t come here if you’re a beer geek, but if you are a beer garden geek, it’s about as good as you’ll get in London.
Last thoughts on Antwerp
August 29th, 2010
We’ve got one more bar to report on from our recent trip to Antwerp, as well as some final thoughts on the city.
Paters Vaetje is next to the cathedral. It’s a friendly place and has a nice but manageable selection of beers. It’s obviously popular with tourists but there were also plenty of younger locals there on our visit.
First, we went for Dikke Mathile. We’re not ashamed to admit that its comparative weakness was the attraction. It turned out to be a pleasantly sweet and fruity Amber, with a beautiful art nouveau inspired glass featuring a naked lady (tee hee).
Next, a matching pair, Boerken and Boerinneken, both 9.5%, from Den Ouden Advocaat, although brewed by someone else on their behalf. Boerinneken was a golden yellow triple which managed to be intensely sweet, bitter and sour all at once. There were all sorts of flavours popping out one after another, including orange, caraway and toffee (it tasted darker than it looked). Very complex. Boerken, the dark one, was also impressive, although less complex, reminding us of chocolate covered pretzels.
So, what did we make of Antwerp? We want to live there. It’s not as twee (nor as touristy) as Bruges, but much less grotty than Brussels, and there are nice looking bars everywhere. The only real disappointment was De Koninck, which, although a great institution, was not, as promised by various sources, any more brilliant in Antwerp than anywhere else.
The best chocolate beer?
August 23rd, 2010Saltaire Triple Chocoholic might be my favourite chocolate beer. It’s not sweet like some, but definitely smells of chocolate. It’s dark, creamy and extremely full bodied, almost like a Spanish hot chocolate fit for dipping your churros.
It’s like (but better than) the Meantime effort at its best.
And, for all its intense flavour and gooeyness, is a mere 4.8%.
Once again, evidence that Saltaire are masters of flavouring beer.
Boak
Live from Cask
August 21st, 2010
We are in Cask in Pimlico and have obviously had too much to drink — we have just paid 16 quid for a bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County.
Ice cream, coffee, tiramisu… alcohol… It’s wonderful, but is it worth that much?
Maybe, just about.
Advice, please
August 18th, 2010
What do Wells and Young’s Bombardier and Greene King IPA have in common?
They’re both brands with a reputation for being bland, boring and often badly kept, as the token gesture towards ‘real ale’ in mediocre pubs.
And yet both are listed by Michael Jackson in his 500 Beers book, and other bloggers and beer writers have started to question their knee-jerk dismissal, suggesting that they are not so much bland and boring as straightforward and nonetheless well crafted.
So, we want to give them another shot but, to be fair about it, we want to make sure we drink them in the best possible condition.
So, where can we find absolutely the best pint of each in or near London?
Bristol Tap Needed Urgently
August 15th, 2010Waiting for a train to Keynsham at Bristol Temple Meads station this weekend, we found ourselves wishing that someone would roll the Sheffield Tap concept out across the country.
As it is, we went without a pint, not much fancying a light lager or keg bitter in a in plasticky pub/cafe/newsagent, with an atmosphere of oppressive gloom.
Opening a decent pub on the platform at Bristol would be easier said than done, though. Unlike Sheffield, where you can wander onto platform one without a ticket, Temple Meads is locked down tighter than Checkpoint Charlie. They’d have to redesign the whole station around the pub, which, we suspect, is not going to happen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbZpNYx3Vms
Talk to the Hand
August 8th, 2010
De Koninck, Antwerp
Ancient beer and charming clutter
August 7th, 2010
The Kulminator Beer Cafe in Antwerp is a great little place, full of tat, and with a cellar full of interesting aged beers. We turned up the night before they closed for their two week summer break and the owners were in a very relaxed mood as they began to wind down.
Boak had been jonesing for a proper sour Kriek, and so went for Boon Oude Kriek — a mere youth of a beer compared to some on the menu, from 2004. This tasted like cherry drops in lemon juice. Interesting, but not necessarily all that pleasurable, and a bit of struggle to get through.
Bailey went for a Hoegaarden Grand Cru from 1987, which came in a dusty, rusty bottle, with a vintage glass. This smelt incredibly malty and tasted like barley sugar. There was no hop character, and none of the characteristic spiciness, although a hint of acrid bitterness remained. Oddly, it reminded us of Fuller’s 1845, but with a thinner body. Probably not a beer, then, that stands up to 23 years maturation.
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drink some extinct British ales, although it seemed weird to go to Belgium to do so. Gales’ Prize Old Ale (1982) had no head at all. It smelled like an amontillado sherry, which was also the main flavour at first gulp. There was also a little saltiness. It had an extremely long aftertaste, with notes of cocoa, liquorice, marmite, orange peel… we could go on. There weren’t many flavours that weren’t in there somewhere. Again, an experience rather than an absolute pleasure. And you can get a whole bottle of sherry for €9.
Courage Imperial Stout, actually brewed at the Anchor brewery long before it became yuppie flats, was beautifully served in a nip glass of an appropriate vintage. Even after all those years, a nice off-white head was present. The aroma was, again, like sherry — this time, something raisiny and sweet. The first taste was of raisins and chocolate, giving way to oak, smoke, burnt cream and coffee. Unlike the Gales, it still had some hop flavour and bitterness. In fact, it tasted amazingly fresh and alive — there was a real prickle on the tongue — plenty of zing.
The cellar, which is behind glass and gently lit, offers tantalising glimpses into the future: some special De Molens, not on the menu, “will mature for 25 years”.
This place is absolutely unmissable for the beer geek. Just remember to bring plenty of cash. The above set us back €38, and they don’t take credit cards. Probably just as well for our sakes.
See also:
Nen Bangelijkes at T’Pakhuis (eh?)
August 3rd, 2010
T’Pakhuis is a huge, 370-seater brewpub in an old warehouse in the arty part of Antwerp to the south of the Grote Markt. At 2pm on a Friday afternoon morning, we had the place to ourselves.
They make three beers. The 5.1% beer was very light and refreshing, but with very upfront spicing. It was cloudy but had enough character to avoid being mistaken for a Boring German Brewpub Zwickl™.
The 5.5% bruin would probably be pretty dull out of a bottle, and certainly isn’t the most exciting beer in Belgium, but its freshness did it a lot of favours.
Finally, the main event: Nen Bangelijkes. It was a 9.5% triple and is dangerously drinkable, as the barman explained. “Guys come in and they think they’re pretty tough, they can handle their beer, but after a few… wow… I’m having to, like, throw them out in the street.” The name is Antwerp dialect and (so we were told) means both scary and fantastic. With this beer, Pakhuis have successfully pulled of the Duvel trick — it was strong and powerfully flavoured, but with a champagne-like fizz and body which meant it seeemed to slip over the tongue rather than coating it.
If we weren’t ready for our afternoon nap, and hadn’t needed to recover for an evening session, we’d have happily had another.
