– What Is A Craft Beer? / By Steve Dunkley
To be brutally honest, no-one really knows. There are all sorts of articles and postings on the internet where people claim to know the definition of what a craft brewer is. It’s easy enough to define what an American Craft Brewer is, because they have an association and a definition: Small, Independent and Traditional. But for them small is less than 6 million barrels of beer a year. That’s a whopping 1.7 billion pints. Not sound so whopping? Here’s a bit of maths; in the UK each day 28 million pints of beer are consumed, which equates to 1.02 billion pints a year. And by beer, that’s all beer including lager and even stuff like Tennents Super and Special Brew. (more…)
– Event / American Beer Festival
Starting on Monday 27th June PSBH will be having its first festival. We will be celebrating ‘Uncle Sam’s finest, the most creative craft brewing scene in the world’.
There will be an opening event with the ‘Port Street Beer School’ which includes talks, exclusive tastings and lots of fun. This will be a ticketed event for just 60 people, tickets will be on sale next week. On Sunday 3rd July we are also having an American BBQ, if you came to Common’s ‘American Afternoon’ last year you will know what to expect!
On offer throughout the festival there will be cask, draught and bottles from Anchor, Brooklyn, Caldera, Coronado, Dogfish, Flying Dog, Goose Island, Great Divide, Indigo Imp, Kona, Left Hand, Maui, Odell, Rouge, Saranac, Sierra Nevada, Sudwerk, Uinta & Victory. The festival runs until the selected beers have gone!
Opening event / Monday 27th June – 6pm : Port Street Beer School American Beer Tasting – ticketed event
Sunday 3rd July : An American BBQ, beers, burgers, mega sausages and possibly sunshine.
Tickets for the ‘Port Street Beer School ‘are on sale NOW from the venue at £9 each.
You can purchase over the bar or call us on 0161 237 9949
cheers!
– To Keg Or Not To Keg / By Jonathan Heyes
Of late I’ve had a jolly old time picking through the various blogs written on the contentious, if imaginary keg vs cask debate, I say imaginary because personally I don’t think the versus part is real I think they should really be partners in crime. For those of you who have missed it here’s a quick recap, forgive the gross generalisations here but hey I’m short on space, CAMRA believe essentially all good beer/real ale comes in cask/container in which it is subject to a secondary fermentation, ie ‘IT’s ALIVE!’ and is dispensed via a traditional handpump. Keg is seen to not achieve this as the liquid in side is almost in stasis and is dispensed via a pressurised system, which provides a generally colder more carbonated finish. There is a third way, keykeg, but that’s for another post. As the bloggers and CAMRA seem soon to be locked in a deadly embrace which i fear neither will emerge with more dignity than they started with I thought it might be time for me to throw my hat in the ring. (more…)
– Stockport Silver Beer Festival 2011 by Rebecca Guest
Round one. After three years of coming to Stockport beer festival, I was pleasantly surprised that this year I made it to the opening day, when the beer supplies were not in danger of running out. First 1/3 had to be Quantum, AAA 5 %, style: American Amber Ale, launched for its debut at the festival by good friend of mine and Port St; Mister Jay Krause. It was really good, deliciously hoppy with Bravo and Summit whilst staying true to its name with a rich Amber colour, it went down a treat and so I went back for another half. Ordinarily my rule is to move on, but this was extra special. Over to a nip on the dark side, which came highly recommended by the Port St crew Pied Bull, Black Bull Porter 5.2%, with an amazing sophisticated dry smokiness to it. I went from excellence to a mere ick with a nip of Off Beat, Way Out Wheat 4.5%, style: watered down coriander, so I plucked for 1/2 of the Outstanding, Silver Magnet 4%, brewed especially for the beer festival and The Magnet Freehouse, Stockport. This was a real good palate cleanser, on the nose a whiff of citrus, a really good example of a session ale that has something more complex going on. Next to a pass on by my sister, who was battling her way through. I had no problem with this amply malty Hardknott, Infra Red IPA 6.5% with Cascade and Centennial hops and Crystal malt leading to a rich ruby hue. Moving nicely onto the dark, Summer Wine, Barista Espresso Stout 4.8%. I’m a big fan of Dark Star, Espresso 4.2%, so this had some to live up to; I was not disappointed as this coffee stout had everything going for it. It was bitter as decent coffee brewed with ground Arabica, dark and not too creamy, there was nothing forced about the taste. Last one for the night Acorn, Simcoe IPA 5%, always a nice move, this is the 4th in their second series of American IPA’s, golden in colour and taste.
There were plenty more to try with 150 beers, ciders and perrys, they hadn’t put any Marble on yet and I like to try the Summer as it changes year by year. I never got round to some of the good old faithful brewery’s like Dark Star and Thornbridge, so I made up for this with a delightful Friday evening in Port St where they had on the exceptionally good Ramsgate, Common Conspiracy 4.8%: Amber American Ale. I tried a nip but alas it ran out, only to be replaced by Thornbridge, Sequoia 4.5%, which was excellent. I made up for Summer in bottle form, with Brooklyn, Summer Ale 5%, delightfully good on what felt like the hottest day of the year.
Large beer festivals are always a strange occasion, as they are most definitely about drinking the beer and the chances to talk about it are quashed by the masses. It was good to see a large selection of old and new beers on at Stockport that were more than your average. They had a wide variety of ciders and perrys, which although are not for me are great for those who prefer these to the ale. The next beer festival I will go to will be at The Albert Club in West Didsbury, as it was a real hidden gem last year and quiet enough to sit in the bowling green with time to ponder the flavours. There won’t be as many beers to try, but it’s free entry and definitely worth a couple of pints, 24th-26th June.
For a full listing of the beers that were on at this year’s festival go to http://www.stockportfestival.org.uk/BeerList.pdf
And for the flyer that advertises the West Didsbury beer festival http://www.thealbertclub.co.uk/home/noticeboard
You can follow Rebecca on twitter @babamonchichi or read her blog http://becksie.wordpress.com/
