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117. North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin

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BrewDog are one of those companies that can greatly divide opinion within the beer world, to say the least.

Their histrionic, Kevin-the-Teenager marketing schtick may not be to everyone’s tastes, but they do brew some fine beers. And now, via their bars and wonderful new shop, BottleDog in King’s Cross, [Edit: sadly now closed] they’re importing and making available some exceptional and rare beers from far-flung corners of the world. Which brings us neatly to this guy.

North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin

North Coast Brewing Old Rasputin is a fairly intimidating 9% ABV Imperial Stout, and hails from Fort Bragg, California. You’ll very occasionally find it in bottles, but will almost certainly never have seen it on tap in the UK. Unless, that is, you made it along to the newest BrewDog bar in Clapham Junction within the first few days after it opened.

Which, needless to say, Threehundredbeers did.

The beer board at BrewDog Clapham Junction

It’s a stout alright, and a mighty one at that. Old Rasputin is utterly black, coating the inside of BrewDog’s well-chosen glassware thickly with its tan froth and boozy alcohol “legs” as you swirl it around.

Speaking of which, the 1/3 pint measures are a nice touch, since this is quite a strong beer, and there are many other strong beers to be sampled here too. For the curious, that other third in the background is the Stone Brewing Old Guardian, a gigantic Barleywine that’s similarly rare to find on tap, if at all.

The aroma is surprisingly fruity, though fruit as in dates, figs, that sort of thing. The body perhaps isn’t the fullest I’ve ever come across in an Imperial Stout, though it’s still pretty robust.

First impressions are dominated by a huge bitterness, so much so that in my scribbled notes I wrote the word “bitter” three times, just in case I somehow forgot. There’s a big, warming alcohol hit up front too.

All the requisite Imperial Stout boxes are ticked: there are licorice, dark chocolate, leather and coffee flavours in spades. That bitterness won’t lie down though, not that you’d want it to.

This is a great beer, and it’s a real treat to find it on tap. I’d have had another, but that Old Guardian won’t drink itself. Either way, a browse through the BrewDog beer menu suggests this won’t be our last visit. Any excuse to return to a very pleasant bar that’s a wonderful addition to the South London beer circuit.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, CA
Style: Porters and Stouts
Strength: 9.0% ABV
Found at: BrewDog Clapham Junction, Battersea Rise, London SW11
Serving: Keg, 1/3 pint

116. Brakspear Bitter

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A trip to the West Dulwich mail sorting office to collect a package is always a good excuse to stop by The Alleyn’s Head, a pleasant enough local pub with a traditional but regularly changing guest cask lineup.

Since the sorting office is only open in the morning, we’ve reached the pub at a scandalously early hour, so perhaps something on the sessionable side is called for. Fortunately, there on the pumps is another of the many English Bitters we need. At an improbably reasonable £2.95 a pint (£2.49 all day Mondays) it won’t break the bank either.

Brakspear Bitter at the Alleyn's Head

Brakspear Bitter hails from somewhere in Oxfordshire, and comes to us courtesy of the same folks who brew that rather nice Brakspear Triple we enjoyed back in this blog’s infancy (last year).

It’s a fairly standard colour for a Bitter, in other words brown, if a little darker than some examples of the style. There’s a smallish cream coloured head that clings to the glass in an appealing fashion.

Well, it’s certainly bitter. There’s an unmissable citrus tang all the way from front to back. There are some juicy underlying malts and a tiny hint of butterscotch sweetness, but it’s that sharp bitterness that gets the attention.

In fact it’s hard to taste much else unless you concentrate quite hard. It’s not unpleasant though, and in fact is quite moreish. There’s no doubt that the Brakspear Bitter is in impeccable nick today, so I had a second pint. At that reasonable a price, it would seem rude not to.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Brakspear Brewing Co., Witney, Oxfordshire, England
Style: Bitters
Strength: 3.4% ABV
Found at: The Alleyn’s Head, Park Hall Road, London SE21
Serving: Cask, pint

115. Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale

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It’s becoming apparent that if I’m to make a great deal more progress through the lengthy todo list, I’m going to have to spend a little more time looking beyond the perimeter of London.

Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale is a case in point: it’s brewed in the heartland of British brewing, Burton-on-Trent, but the vast majority of it is exported to the States. One of the few places you will find it in this country is at the brewery tap, the Burton Bridge Inn.

As it happens, a day trip to St. George’s Park with The Official Threehundredbeers Sister meant that a visit to the Bridge Inn on the way home was eminently achievable, nay inevitable.

And why not. It’s a very pleasant, traditional two roomed pub of the sort that you’d barely leave if you lived nearby. There can’t be many places where one could get a stronger sense of being back where it all began, beer wise.

Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale at the Burton Bridge Inn

Burton Bridge Empire Pale Ale is only available in bottle-conditioned form, and I’m immediately impressed that at the Bridge Inn, the bottles are kept in the cellar to be served at the perfect temperature. Fortunately the barman is a youthful chap, and more than happy to descend the stairs to fetch us one.

It’s lovely looking stuff, a honeyed copper colour with a thick tan head that lasts. The aroma is of huge bitter hops—it’s an IPA, that’s for sure—and an unexpected but unmistakable waft of sour notes that can only come from Brettanomyces yeast, of the sort that turns Orval slowly yet deliciously sour as it ages in the bottle.

We’d better get stuck in. Blimey, it’s strong and drinks every inch of its hefty 7.5% ABV payload. It immediately gets to work, flushing your face with warmth, and making you think you should probably take it slowly rather than get giddy and embarrass The Official Threehundredbeers Sister.

Once you get past the initial boozy hit, it’s lovely, mouthwatering stuff. The hop bitterness is huge and uncompromising, and the beer is all the better for it. It’s complemented by peppery spice and sultana fruit from the malts.

This is an IPA very much in the traditional English style, and I suspect this is as close as you can get to the proper old IPAs that were brewed in Burton 150 or so years ago, and exported to the Empire. Hence the name, I suppose.

That said, the sour Brett notes are intriguing, and not typical of IPAs that I’ve experienced. Thinking about it though, the chances of a beer brewed back then, and then transported in wooden barrels in the hull of a ship for several months not becoming inoculated with a wild yeast strain seem fairly remote.

Either way, it works. The combination of bitter and sour mean you’re more than likely to be sending the barman downstairs for another, as I did, and perhaps even taking one or two more home with you.

This is very much to my tastes, and it’s a beer I’d drink quite regularly in London if only it were easier to find. I’d also be fascinated to know how it responds to the long journey over to the States. For the time being, though, it looks like I’ll have to find another excuse for a trip back to the Bridge Inn.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Burton Bridge Brewery, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire
Style: India Pale Ales
Strength: 7.5% ABV
Found at: The Burton Bridge Inn, Bridge Street, Burton on Trent
Serving: 500ml bottle

114. Triple fff Alton’s Pride

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You simply have to love The Grape & Grain. I’ve said it before, but the contribution the pub has made to this blog, not to mention the South London beer scene, has been absolutely priceless.

This is no less than the tenth beer that the Grape & Grain have been able to furnish us with. Look, I’ve even given the relevant posts their own super special Grape and Grain tag now.

Shall we swing by once again on the off chance there may be something of interest among their 12 hand pumps? I don’t think there’s any doubt that we shall.

Triple fff Alton's Pride at the Grape and Grain

I know very little about Triple fff, other than they’re a fairly small brewery tucked away somewhere remote in rural Hampshire. Alton’s Pride is yet another past winner of CAMRA’s coveted Champion Beer of Britain award, along with such beers as Mordue Workie Ticket and the wonderful Kelham Island Pale Rider. Perhaps I should create a tag for past winners too, as there are more to come.

Alton’s Pride is another fairly typical English bitter. I’ve been known to accuse examples of the style of being a bit boring and even crushingly unexciting, but this one is in a different league entirely.

It pours a very appealing deep bronze colour with a big, foamy tan head that fades quite quickly. Unlike some bitters, this one actually tastes of something.

Indeed, it’s big and fruity, with both citrus and dried fruits up front and vying for your attention. There’s a dense underlying Lyle’s Golden Syrup sort of sweetness from the Maris Otter and Cara Gold malts, and an immense, long bitter finish from the First Gold and Northdown hops. And when I say long, I mean I drank this beer several days ago and can still taste it. In a good way.

What a lovely pint. If I was looking to find fault, I might mention that the body is perhaps a little on the thin side, but for a beer weighing in at a modest 3.8% ABV, that isn’t really anything out of the ordinary.

What you get in return is a beer that’s hopelessly easy drinking, and an excellent session bitter that isn’t actually boring at all. Good stuff, and I’ll be keeping an eye open for more beers from this brewery.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Triple fff Brewing Company, Alton, Hampshire
Style: Bitters
Strength: 3.8% ABV
Found at: The Grape & Grain, Anerley Hill, London SE19
Serving: Cask, pint

113. Castelain Ch’ti Blonde

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This is the second Bière de Garde to be covered here, after that rather pleasant St. Sylvestre 3 Monts we enjoyed in Essex a couple of months ago.

As I’m sure I mentioned back then, Bières de Garde are basically synonymous with the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. They were originally brewed on farms during winter and spring, and then kept—hence the name—somewhere cool, in order to keep the farm’s workers, and no doubt owners, well lubricated through the summer and autumn.

Castelain Ch’ti Blonde is a little more sessionable than the 3 Monts at a mere 6.4% ABV, and comes in a small enough bottle that I’ll probably manage it all myself this time. The name apparently is Picardy dialect for “c’est toi”, meaning “it suits you”. It certainly suits me to pull this one from the fridge and crack it open.

Castelain Ch'ti Blonde

Poured from its 330ml bottle, Ch’ti Blonde is a lovely, glistening copper colour with a big, foaming white head that seems to fade quickly.

I’ve noticed that happen with many bottled beers, and recently read that it may be to do with pouring them in the kitchen where the air is likely to contain microscopic oil particles from cooking. It’s an interesting theory, and one I’d be fascinated to hear people’s views on.

There isn’t a huge aroma beyond a malty Rich Tea biscuit sweetness and some general lagery notes. The initial taste is faintly sweet too, but it’s balanced out by a full malty body and a big, long dry finish. There’s a slight golden syrup note that’s a little reminiscent of a Belgian Ambrée such as Bush, or perhaps a lighter version of the famous Pauwel Kwak.

As with the 3 Monts, this isn’t a beer that shouts, but it’s hopelessly easy to drink, and this one went down quickly enough that I had a job on my hands just getting a respectable number of tasting notes written down.

Bières de Garde do seem to pair particularly well with food, and Ch’ti Blonde again is robust enough to stand up to strong spices, while being subtle enough not to upstage lighter flavours. I didn’t have this one with food, of course. I had it while sat at a laptop typing a blog post about how well it would go with food, but I think my point stands.

Good stuff, all in all, and particularly welcome straight from the fridge after a long, sweltering week at work in London.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Brasserie Castelain, Benifontaine, France
Style: Bières de Garde
Strength: 6.4% ABV
Found at: Beers of Europe
Serving: 330ml bottle

112. Samuel Smith’s Organic Pale Ale

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It’s Friday, it’s lunch time, and the office is eerily quiet, so let’s sneak out to the pub for a well-earned spot of light refreshment.

It’ll be a good opportunity to try the Glasshouse Stores, one of the countless Sam Smith’s pubs that lurk around the nicer end of Soho, luring in passers-by optimistic that they may be able to requisition a pint of their favourite brand of beer within.

They can’t, obviously, as it’s all Sam Smith’s beers in here. That’s fine with us, because we’ve a fourth and final one to track down. This is the Organic Pale Ale, formerly known as Old Brewery Pale Ale, but rebranded a couple of years ago when organic things seemingly became more fashionable than old things.

Samuel Smith's Organic Pale Ale at The Glasshouse Stores

The Glasshouse Stores itself is a very nice old thing, or at least looks it. It’s a bit of a cosy timewarp, with its etched mirrors, acres of timber panelling, and warren of tiny rooms that you know are there but can’t seem to find a route to. It successfully manages to pull off feeling like a decent local boozer despite its location, and for that it is to be commended.

Pouring the beer from its satisfyingly chunky, generously sized bottle, there’s a big waft of enticing dark fruits, and the Organic Pale Ale comes out a very nice deep chestnut colour, albeit with a slightly alarming pinkish tinge.

There’s a big cream-coloured head, and indeed a lot of fizz due to the carbon dioxide added to the bottle, which seems a surprising choice for such a traditional style of beer.

It’s tasty though, that’s for sure, and full of malty sweetness and dried fruit. So much so that I’m actually reminded of a Barleywine, which I didn’t expect. The spicy English hops provide a big, satisfying bitter finish that’s very moreish indeed.

There’s a lot of depth and complexity in there, yet served well chilled it’s refreshing too, and thoroughly welcome on what was the hottest day of the year so far.

I stuck at one and drifted back to the office, but this is a beer I’d happily drink again. I happen to know it’s a great accompaniment to your traditional sort of pub food—fish and chips, burgers, that sort of thing—but I’ll save that for a cooler day.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Samuel Smith Old Brewery, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England
Style: Pale Ales
Strength: 5.0% ABV
Found at: The Glasshouse Stores, Brewer Street, London W1F
Serving: 550ml bottle

111. Berliner Kindl Weisse

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It’s been quite some time since we ticked off a beer from the Wheat Beers section of The Book, and even longer since we tackled a sour beer. Thankfully, the magnificently cornucopial BottleDog have recently had Berliner Kindl Weisse, a sour German wheat beer, in stock.

Berliner Kindl Weisse

I learn from Official Threehundredbeers German Correspondent Carmen that in Germany this kind of beer would typically be enjoyed in the summer, and mixed with herbal or fruit flavoured syrups. It’s certainly summer here, but I wouldn’t know where to find woodruff flavour MIXcups in this country.

Maybe it’s better to simply find out what the beer tastes like first anyway.

I’m also informed that “Kindl” is a regional term meaning “child”. I dread to think what the well-meaning party poopers at the Portman Group would make of that, not to mention the charming little picture of a thirsty looking toddler on the label.

Berliner Kindl Weisse

Berliner Kindl Weisse seems an unusually golden straw colour for a wheat beer, but then I’m reminded of the Kernel’s Berliner Weisse version of their London Sour, which was much the same colour. There’s a healthy dose of white froth that disappears quickly.

To smell, it’s a pungently sour beer, and I certainly can’t imagine the aroma or indeed the taste appealing to children. It’s a relentlessly dry beer, which complements the face-puckering sourness well. The result is hugely refreshing.

It’s light and effervescent too, quite unlike the cloying, musty Belgian-style wheat beers such as Hoegaarden. No, this is in a different league. There are notes of vanilla ice cream, sherbet and citrus fruit, without being in any way sweet.

I like it a lot, and I’m not sure I’d want to flavour it with fruity syrups at all. Perhaps one day, purely for research purposes, but otherwise this is definitely a beer I’d buy again to keep in the fridge ready for a hot afternoon.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss-Brauerei GmbH, Berlin, Germany
Style: Wheat Beers
Strength: 3.0% ABV
Found at: BottleDog, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X
Serving: 330ml bottle

110. Adnams Southwold Bitter

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For the second of the two Adnams beers that we need to try, let’s seek out an actual Adnams pub. In fact, it’s terribly convenient that the sizeable Suffolk-based brewery happen to have one, and it is just the one, right here in London.

And so to the Bridge House on the southern slopes of Tower Bridge. As an Adnams pub, you’d expect their flagship Southwold Bitter to be in good condition here. You’d also expect your pint to be reasonably close to containing a pint, and to be served in less than 10 minutes if you’re the only customer waiting at the bar. But you might well be disappointed.

Adnams Southwold Bitter

Stingy measures and disinterested service aside, the Southwold Bitter is a handsome enough beer, being a deep reddish copper colour with smooth off-white head, albeit one that fades quickly.

It’s relatively full bodied and indeed full flavoured for an “ordinary”, and in fact reminds me more of a Best Bitter. Still, I guess the sober 3.7% payload would preclude that particular classification.

Beyond that, it’s a Bitter, and you already know what it tastes like. There’s very little to distinguish the Southwold Bitter from any other example of the style that you might come across, and so I’m struggling to come up with colourful adjectives to describe it. It doesn’t help that it’s a style of beer that doesn’t tend to be particularly exciting in the first place.

Still, it’s in good condition here, and it was entirely drinkable and seemed to go down quickly enough. Which was convenient as it allowed me to press on to the Draft House just down the road for a rather more interesting selection of beers.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Adnams, Southwold, Suffolk, England
Style: Bitters
Strength: 3.7% ABV
Found at: The Bridge House, Tower Bridge Road, London SE1
Serving: Cask, pint

109. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

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It’s been quite some time since we last covered a Barleywine, which seems remiss, as it’s fast becoming one of your correspondent’s favourite styles.

Barleywine originates in the country houses of England, where it was originally brewed as a potential alternative to non-native wines as an accompaniment for food. The style fell from favour fairly promptly, and was all but forgotten until Fritz Maytag of San Francisco’s Anchor Brewery introduced Old Foghorn.

These days Barleywines are all the rage among the better US-based brewers. They all seem to make at least one, and one of the most famous is Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. It’s not terribly easy to find, and only produced in once-yearly vintages, but Putney’s rather wonderful Beer Boutique came up with the goods recently.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot looks and smells every inch the classic Barleywine. It’s a rich, deep caramel and Greek honey colour, with a good dose of tan foam on the top. There’s caramel in the aroma too, along with sinister black treacle and a hefty dose of peppery hops.

As Barleywines go, the Bigfoot is remarkably bitter. Some examples of the style can be excessively, cloyingly sweet, but that certainly isn’t the case here. There is a dense, malty underlying sweetness all the same, but it’s more than balanced out by the bitterness.

There are plenty of big, fruity flavours, along with some medicinal, cough syrup notes and huge pine resins. It’s a giant of a beer in many ways, and all that flavour is backed up with a big, warming 9.6% alcohol hit.

This bottle was from the 2014 vintage, and so very fresh indeed, but Bigfoot is considered to be one of the best beers around for ageing. I’ll be putting at least one or two away then, and hopefully tracking down some from other vintages past and future too.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Style: Old Ales, Barley Wines and Vintage Ales
Strength: 9.6% ABV
Found at: The Beer Boutique, Upper Richmond Road, London SW15
Serving: 355ml bottle

108. Hanlons Port Stout

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I’ve lost count of how many beers the Grape & Grain have been able to furnish us with so far, but I think it’s approaching double figures. Indeed it’s often worth casting a speculative eye over the pumps if I’m in the area, and today was no exception. Pint of Hanlons Port Stout please, barman.

There’s a minor operational matter to clear up before we dig in, though. This one is listed in The Book as “O’Hanlon’s Original Port Stout”, but is now the more concisely named “Hanlons Port Stout”, since the O’Hanlon’s Brewery changed hands just a few months ago.

It’s the same beer though, though, and is even brewed by many of the same people. It’s time to see what a Stout with port in it tastes like.

Hanlons Port Stout

Hanlons Port Stout looks much as a Stout should, pouring as black as you like, with a light tan head. From the first sip it’s very much an “Ooh, that’s quite nice actually” beer.

It’s smooth and rich, and basically tastes a lot like a decent Stout. I’m not sure I’d be able to identify port specifically, but it does work. There’s a floral and very subtle Turkish Delight sort of sweetness that balances the inherent Stout roastiness, taking any kind of burnt edge away.

In fact there’s no harshness at all, so this one might appeal to drinkers who wouldn’t usually try a Stout. There are plenty of nutty, chocolatey notes too, and a long, pleasing bitter finish to keep things satisfying and moreish.

This perhaps isn’t the deepest, most complex Stout I’ve ever tasted, but it’s one of the most drinkable, and is certainly worth a try if you come across it.

Facts and Figures

Brewery: Hanlons Brewery, Half Moon Village, Devon
Style: Porters and Stouts
Strength: 4.8% ABV
Found at: The Grape & Grain, Anerley Hill, London SE19
Serving: Cask, pint