Free Doombar

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Happy 2019! Do you want a free pint of Doombar to kick start the new year? Ei Group are doing a great promotion - giving away a free drink in pubs up and down the country!

Using a mobile handset only - simply find a participating pub near you, follow the instructions and take your voucher and phone with you to the bar to claim your free drink.

Be quick though - the offer is available 2/1/19 - 20/1/19 and there are only a limited number of drinks available in each pub - once they're gone, they're gone! Please note, the drinks do vary by pub and can be checked here. T&C's apply.

Beers for New Year's Eve

Suggestions from Cask Marque BEERS FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE!

The Christmas decorations are starting to wilt, the turkey carcass is finally in the bin, and you’re ready for one last hurrah before returning to normality: it’s New Year’s Eve. Even if you’ve sworn you can’t eat any more festive food, there’s always room for New Year’s Eve nibbles. I love canapes with a passion, these miniature, condensed versions of my favourite foods. I am the vol-au-vent queen and I would have a plateful of them for my last meal on earth. So this is our guide to which beers to drink with the most popular end-of-the-year party food.

Pork canapes, such as Scotch eggs, pigs in blankets, pork pies and pork belly bites are fantastic with traditional pale and blonde ales. The malty sweetness of these beers balanced with assertively dry hops quench the saltiness of the meat. My top recommendations are the ubiquitous Timothy Taylor’s Landlord (I truly believe this beer was invented to go with pork pie), Butcombe Gold Bitter and Castle Rock Harvest Pale.

Oily fish canapes, liked smoked salmon blinis and sushi, love a delicately flavoured, effervescent beer with citrus notes to cut through the fat. Try these with a Belgian Wit Bier such as Vedett Extra White, or a sharp, crisp lager: Asahi Super Dry is perfect. The zestiness of Thwaite’s Wainwright pairs perfectly with mini cod goujons. Try Magic Rock Salty Kiss with scallops, the beer really brings out the brininess of fish. Oriental inspired appetizers – spring rolls, chicken satay, wontons and coriander prawns – will find no better match than Oakham Citra with its pungent grapefruit, lychee and gooseberry flavours or Adnam’s Ghost Ship which has stunning lemon and lime aromas. Indian influenced spicy bites – think onion bhajis, samosas, pakora and tandoori chicken - work surprisingly well with dark, roasty beers like stouts and milds. The chocolatey sweetness of the beer acts as a foil to the intense heat of the spice and top of the leader board for me is Hook Norton Double Stout, closely followed by Moorhouse’s Black Cat Mild. (These beers also work well with mini Yorkshire Puddings filled with rare roast beef and a dash of horseradish).

Cheesy morsels lend themselves to most beers and you can’t go far wrong with any ale imbibed with mini mac’n’cheese, mozzarella bites and mature cheddar tartlets. My favourite style though is a big hefty Belgian dark ale, such as Chimay Blue or Kasteel Donker (which weighs in at a hefty 11% ABV). If you’re after a British beer, try and get your hands on JW Lees Harvest Ale, a very special barley wine style ale. Finally, if you just want an amazing beer to toast the chimes in at midnight, pour yourself a glass of Worthington White Shield. This India Pale Ale has won the CAMRA Champion Bottled Beer of Britain contest more times than any other beer and deserves to be drunk on special occasions.

Trappist and Abbey Ales

More beerformation from Cask Marque

Abbey & Trappist Ales  Unlike some of our previous beer style blogs, Trappist and Abbey beers are not a specific style – instead they can be light or dark, dry or sweet, fruity or spicy. They are high in alcoholic strength, usually sweeter than other beer styles, and designed for sipping like a fine wine or port. Their distinctive flavours and aromas are derived from Belgian yeast strains. What Are Abbey & Trappist Ales? Trappist beers are made by monks at a small number of accredited breweries inside monasteries, and will always have the unique authentic symbol.

One of the basic principles of monasticism is self sufficiency – the monks should never have to venture outside the monastery walls and face the temptations in secular life. But they needed funds for the upkeep of the monastery, and also to provide for the needs of the community.   Monks made excellent brewers: they paid close attention to sanitation, they were literate and wrote recipes down, and were patient. Their costs were low, so they were able to use better ingredients than commercial brewers. The monks in Northern France, known as ‘Trappists’, brewed excellent beer, and sold and traded it to the outside world. Of the 11 recognised Trappist breweries in the world that carry the ATP (Authentic Trappist Product) label, six are in Belguim, two in The Netherlands, one in Austria, one in Italy and one in the USA. Brand examples are: Westmalle Dubbel, Chimay Peres Trappistes, Trappistes Rochefort and Orval Trappist Ale Abbey beers, however, are made in traditional Trappist styles, but may not actually be brewed within the walls of a monastery. Many Abbey beer labels will feature monks or other ecclesiastical motifs but it does not guarantee that they were actually brewed within a religious order. Brand examples are: Affligem, Leffe, St. Stefanus, Delirium Tremens These ales are roughly split into two types: Dubbel (double – referring to the alcoholic strength and intensity of flavour) and Tripel (triple) and range from 6% to 14% in strength.

Glassware: These beers demand special glassware. All of the breweries have specific branded glassware, but if this is unavailable they should always be served in a stemmed red wine glass or a goblet glass. *Anorak Fact* Because the branded glassware for these beers is so beautiful and decorative, the glasses frequently go “missing” from bars. Many bars in Bruges now ask for your left shoe when ordering a Trappist beer in its original glass – so the customer has to return the glass before they can leave the bar! To Serve: These big flavoured beers suit big flavoured foods – the sweetness will CONTRAST with creamy pungent cheeses like Brie de Meaux and Camembert, and the high alcoholic strength will CUT through the fattiness of these cheeses. That same sweetness will CONTRAST with gamey meats such as venison, duck, and pheasant or COMPLEMENT the caramelised fat in rib eye steak, rare roast beef or sausages.

Pale Ales

This week from Cask Marque  Pale Ales Pale ale is a remarkably diverse beer style. Loosely speaking, the term denotes a beer that is golden to copper in colour; bitter; and brewed using a top fermenting ale yeast. It includes a variety of different types of beer, including bitter, extra special bitter (ESB), golden ale, saison, India Pale Ale (IPA), Double India Pale Ale (DIPA), American Pale Ale (APA) and, of course, those beers simply labelled pale ale. Where Did Pale Ales Come From? Burton-upon-Trent, the famous brewing town, was the home of Pale Ale in the 19th century due to the quality of the local water, which has a high level of a mineral called gypsum that gives pale ales their distinctive ‘biscuity’ backbone. Innovation and advances in technology during the Industrial Revolution enabled brewers to control the colour of the beer, and the result was an ale which was far lighter in colour than most of its predecessors, hence the name ‘pale ale’.

What Are The Differences? British Pale Ale - British bitter – sometimes referred to as pale ale, especially in a bottle – has a fine balance between the bitter hops and sweet, biscuit malt. Brand examples are: Fuller’s London Pride, Marston’s Pedigree, Timothy Taylors Landlord. India Pale Ale – IPA’s were first developed during the 18th century in London for export to India, where it was drunk by the British colonialists who were crying out for decent beer as many of the local drinks had impurities or dangerously high levels of alcohol. As beer did not travel well, the first batches sent from London to India (unsurprisingly) spoiled on the 6-month sea journey, until London brewer, George Hodgson, identified that if a beer was brewed with double the amount of hops, the antibacterial properties of the hops would prevent spoilage. Also brewing beer to a higher ABV would help preserve beer cargo on the long sea journeys – hence IPA was born. Brand examples are: Marston’s Old Empire, Worthington’s White Shield, Thornbridge Jaipur. American Pale Ale – American Pale Ales are a sub style of IPAs. Brand examples are: Beavertown Gamma Ray, Stevens Point Pale Ale, Crafty Dan 13 Guns, Shipyard Pale Ale Double IPA – These are big and bold! It has a booming hop aroma, a deep sweet body and then hefty bitterness at the end. The best are elegantly balanced between malt sweetness and huge hops. The worst taste like nail polish mixed with honey!!!!! Brand Examples: Cloudwater DIPA, North Brewing DIPA, Thornbridge Halcyon, Magic Rock Mind Control Characteristics:

To Serve: British pale ales have enough biscuit malt to COMPLEMENT roast beef, roast pork, sausages, grilled steaks, and lamb (especially Shepherd’s pie). The hop character cuts through salmon and fish and chips. Indian and Mexican food are wonderfully COMPLEMENTED by hop-forward American-style IPAs. The citrusy, zesty hops CUT through chilli heat in creamy curries, and even complement the spices in carrot cake. Intense APAs with their assertive, bright and zingy hops will CUT through any Mexican food (think Tacos, Quesadillas, chimichangas). The fresh lime and galangal elements in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine COMPLEMENT the hop. Finally, Double IPA’s can handle big flavours. Fried chicken, roasted meats, belly pork and barbecue ribs. Strong cheese, double cheeseburger, burnt ends, jerk pork.

Lager

More from Cask Marque this week Lager   Before you all spit out your beer in disgust and wonder what the hell Cask Marque are doing writing about lager, indulge us for a few minutes of your time. One of the most commonly uttered phrases we hear from drinkers is: “I don’t like beer. But I like lager” But lager is a beer, whether you like it or not. And for many drinkers, lager will be the first beer style they try, and for brewers, making a good lager requires technical brilliance. So before you dismiss all lagers as yellow, cold and fizzy, read on… What’s The Difference Between Lager And Ale? There is one main difference – it’s in the type of yeast used to ferment the wort (the liquid produced when grain is steeped in hot water) into beer. Lager yeasts ferment at relatively cold temperatures, they ferment much more slowly than ale yeast, and the yeast lies at the bottom of the fermenting vessels. Coming from the German verb lagern, (‘to store’), lagers are usually matured after fermentation, on the yeast, for between several weeks and several months, often near or below the freezing point (known as lagering).  During this process unwanted flavour and aroma compounds are reabsorbed and transformed by the yeast which settles to the bottom of the beer, leaving it clear.

Where Did Lagers Come From? All lagers have their roots in Bavaria. During the 16th century it was decreed that no beer could be produced in the region between April and September, because it would spoil during the summer months. So ale was made during the winter months, packed into cold, icy, underground caves. The result? The ale yeast became dormant resulting in only lager yeast surviving, and in 1883, this lager yeast was isolated and cultured by the Carlsberg brewery. Called Sachromyces Carlsbergensis, they shared it with brewers around the world, meaning all lagers actually originate from this strain of Carlsberg yeast.   Did you know that …… 9 out of 10 beers consumed around the globe are lagers?   As well as mainstream brand lagers such as Budweiser, Carlsberg and Stella Artois, there are also: Pilsners – made using soft water, European hops (usually Saaz), Czech grown malted barley Dark Lagers - There is a common perception that all lagers are golden, light and low in alcohol. However, there are dark and strong lagers, smoked lagers, sweet malty lagers, and blond spritzy lagers. Additionally, world lagers such as Cobra, Asahi and Peroni have been created to match the cuisine of the country where they were developed (Asahi and sushi, or Cobra and curry, for instance.) Characteristics:

To Serve: Lagers match a range of foods. The light citrus notes in mainstream lagers CUT through oily fish and pizzas. The bready notes in Pilsners COMPLEMENTS cheese and charcuterie, and the toffee notes in darker lagers COMPLEMENT ribs, burgers and roast meats and even suit chocolate puddings. Just avoid very hot and fiery foods (like vindaloos). Mainstream lagers do not always complement these – instead creating an unpleasant bitterness in the beer. Still think they’re yellow, cold and fizzy? Maybe it’s time to try a lager again?

Wheat Beer

Another post from Cask Marque. Wheat Beer   If there is one beer any novice should try first, it’s wheat beer. Why? Because it immediately dispels the preconceptions that all beer is brown and bitter! This is a beer which is ideal for someone who loves Champagne or Prosecco. Surprisingly, wheat beer is not made entirely with wheat grain. It typically contains between 30 to 60 percent wheat and the remainder is malted barley. Most brewers tend to prefer barley because this grain has a husk, which filters out the proteins. Wheat doesn’t have a husk so when we brew with it, the beer will always appear hazy. Where Did Wheat Beers Come From? Before the invention of modern lagers in the 1840’s, there were broadly two types of beer in Bavaria: smoky, strong, lagered (“stored”) brown ales and light, fresh tasting white or wheat beers. ( Although, as early as the 9th century AD records survive of brewing with wheat across much of the Roman Empire). In 1516, Reinheitsgebot (the ‘Beer Purity Law’) was passed in Bavaria, stating that beer could only be brewed using barley, hops and water, although brewers were allowed to use wheat if they paid a higher tax on the beer. When this tax differentiation was removed in 1602, however, wheat beers enjoyed a massive increase in popularity, before falling out of fashion in the 1840’s in favour of modern style lager. Fast forward to the swinging 60’s when Pierre Celis, a diary manager, revived wheat beer with the addition of coriander, cumin, and the dried peel of Curacao oranges. The result was Hoegaarden, named after his home town. The beer looked and tasted completely different and was the first craft beer of recent origin to become a worldwide hit for a global brewer.

It’s Not Just About Hoegaarden! Wheat beer has lots of variances, depending on where it’s brewed. I’ll explain more below (stay with us though – there’s lots of German words!) Weizen (German for ‘wheat’) gets its flavours from the grain, hops and particularly the yeast. By law these beers, when brewed in Germany, must be at least 50 per cent wheat and the remainder barley. German Wheat Beers are also known as Weissbier, Hefeweizen Weizen, Weizenbock, Kristallweizen, Dunkelweizen Wit Bier (‘Wit’ is the Flemish word for ‘white’) originates in Belgium. Some of the flavours come from the grain, hops and yeast, but they include other ingredients such as coriander, orange peel, and oats Belgian and French Wheat Beers are also known as White Beer, Witbier and Bieres Blanche Characteristics:

To Serve: Wheat beers are one of the most versatile beers to match with food. The citrus notes CUT through oily fish and COMPLEMENT light shellfish. The bready notes also COMPLEMENT cheese and charcuterie, the creamy mouthfeel CUTS through fiery chilli and quench heat – in fact, wheat beer is one of the best beers to have with a hot curry! PERFEKT!

Stouts & Porters

From Cask Marque

Know your beers

The Cask Marque Guide To Beer Styles: I bet you all have a friend or a colleague who tells you they don’t like beer? I know. It’s unfathomable to you and I. But these mad, sad fools need our guidance because their experience or perception of beer has probably been a poor one. We know that not all beer is the same, we know that saying you don’t like beer is akin to saying you don’t like food. So, in this new series from Annabel Smith, in-house Beer Sommelier at Cask Marque, we’re going to take a light hearted look at a range of beer styles, and help you persuade the uninitiated masses to try a tipple. Stouts & Porters The darkest beer of them all, stouts and porters get their colour and flavour from the dark grain used to make them – roasted malt, roasted barley, or sometimes other dark grains. From the first sip, expect bold flavours – espresso, chocolate and roasted elements Where Did Stouts & Porters Come From? Porter is actually an older style than stout and was named for the porters who unloaded ships and carried goods around the world’s mightiest metropolis, thus it was the great beer of the 18th and early 19th century London. Stouts derived from the shortening of ‘stout porter’, meaning a strong porter (although this is not necessarily the case!) Imperial stout was brewed in the 18th century with the most famous being shipped to Russia. They are full bodied, massively malty, very dark and bitter sweet. So, contrary to popular belief, stouts do not originate in Ireland, but in London! Why London? In a word – water. The minerals and sulphates in the hard water in London create a very dry flavour and mouthfeel in this beer (now that’s one to remember for the pub quiz!) The Many Myths: Other than stout originating in Ireland, there are many other myths surrounding this particular beer style. Have you heard that its great for pregnant women and those suffering from iron deficiency as it’s packed full of iron? Well there’s actually more iron in a slice of white bread than there is in a pint of stout! How about stouts being full of calories? No more so than other beers (so less than a pint of milk or orange juice). As for the Shamrock drawn in the head of a pint of stout this was very much a cultural thing and one which the Irish dislike to this day. During the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the USA was subject to prohibition, therefore a lot of Americans descended on Europe, particularly Ireland. Irish bar owners would draw a Shamrock in the pints of stout served to Americans to denote they were an outsider, ie, not native to Ireland. It has NEVER been a brand standard for Guinness to draw this Shamrock, it is all just an urban myth