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beer reviews

The Driftwood Spars

The Driftwood Spars pub and brewery viewed from the beer garden.

It might not be easy to get Belgian, German or American beer in Cornwall, but the native brewpub scene continues to offer exciting alternatives.

The Driftwood Spars is a great pub in a great location, nestled amongst huge sand dunes overlooking a lovely cove just outside St Agnes. St Agnes is well connected by bus, and it’s a 10 minute walk from there, so you could leave the car at home.

It spreads over three levels and so has plenty of room for everyone, from motorbike-riding locals to well-off German tourists. It also has a “best of Cornwall” cask ale selection, taking advantage of its free house status to offer two from Sharps and two from St Austell (including the sublime Proper Job).

Of course our main reason for coming was the beer they brew on site.

We started with Red Mission, a 4% red-tinged best bitter. We enjoyed it a lot. More crystal malt than we usually like worked here because it was well balanced with a hard bitterness throughout, and a sulphurous, hoppy kick at the end. Not at all floral and, in that, perhaps a bit like a Duesseldorf Alt?

Dêk Hop was next and this really was a cracking beer. At 3.8%, it was pale amber and distinctly hoppy. Again, though, it was a hard, robust hop flavour– not floral, citrusy or delicate.  It was also very spicy. We wouldn’t be surprised to hear there was coriander in the brew. We spent a long time listing flavours and characteristics. It was many-faceted and complex. Did it remind us of a saison? Were we tasting German hops? (Coppery, minty.)

They had more beers in bottles (also for sale in their off licence) but, as we were coming down with heatstroke*, we called it a day, vowing to return, frequently.

* Heatstroke is a common cause of headaches and nausea the day after enjoying a beer garden.

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Uncategorized

The lager spectrum

Advert for Stella Artois.

All commercial lagers sit somewhere on a spectrum.

On said spectrum, Becks might act as the zero point, with its more-or-less neutral flavour. We can take it or leave it; it doesn’t actually taste unpleasant; it’s better than nothing. Maybe that’s where Peroni lives, too.

Above that point, there are many good, very good or even excellent commercial lagers. Estrella Damm, for example, might not be remotely like a craft beer, but it’s good. We enjoy drinking it, and even find it a little moreish. It has a certain something.

But, head the other way, beyond the Becks neutral zone, there is the murky world of the nasty lager.

Nasty lagers aren’t just bland or boring: they actually offend the tastebuds. We’d rather drink water than San Miguel, even on a hot day in Spain. What is that flavour? Onions burned in butter? Stella Artois is in the same boat, with a taste that suggests someone has bunged a bit of lighter fluid in to pep it up.

What are your candidates for the nasty end of the spectrum?

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marketing

People who really know beer…

1968 advert for kegged Courage bitter.

Another advertistement scanned from the 1968 Journal of the XI Hussars. Weird. We thought we did know a bit about beer, but we rarely drink Courage if we can help it, kegged or otherwise. Anyone for a pint of Tavern?

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marketing pubs

Support your local

1968 advert urging people to support local pubs

From the XI Hussar’s Journal (1968). Click for larger version.

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Uncategorized

Can everyone just grow up

We couldn’t sum up our feelings about the latest Brewdog/CAMRA spat in a Tweet, so here’s a quick post.

In short, based on what we’ve read so far, we’re annoyed at both parties.

Brewdog make some beers we really love. The current bottled version of Punk IPA is far better than many of the cask ales we can easily get where we live.

And CAMRA is a great institution. We keep renewing our membership because, broadly speaking, we know they’re the goodies — the Rebellion facing off against the sinister Galactic Empire of crappy beer.

But Brewdog’s relentless pursuit of publicity and attention-seeking is really boring. They’ve got nice beer, good design — why do they need to be so malevolent? Is ‘irritating’ one of their ‘brand values’? They position themselves as underdogs but are beginning to look like school bullies.

And CAMRA… well, they make us sad. Why can’t they just try to turn the other cheek, show some statesman-like dignity, and make their critics look petty and bad-tempered for once? Brewdog take the piss and push and push, hoping for a controversy, and CAMRA give them one. To be fair, Marc Holmes, GBBF organiser, has given an impressively calm, dignified response, but it’s a bit late now.

Those who already have a downer on CAMRA, or aren’t sure it has values they can buy into, will have had their prejudices confirmed and might not bother reading beyond the Brewdog PR.

Whether there is any flex in its principles or not (not, seems to be the answer, which is fine, as long as we know where we are) CAMRA needs to work twice as hard to show it’s not grumpy, prickly and petty.