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When I left dear old Blighty, in March, with ‘she who must be obeyed,’ swapping this green and pleasant land with the deserts of the Middle East; the world’s largest building site the Emiratees call ‘Dubai,’ I left strict instructions with ‘home-alone’ man of the house, that the dwelling place must be clean and tidy upon our return. You can bet money on the outcome of that! Similarly, I had a volunteer to write the Reviews, to recall for prosperity all that the brewing group do. What did you get -Nothing! Yes, dear reader, you have been starved of reviews, which I hope this particular commentary will go somewhere to compensate for the past few months’ deserted wilderness we call ‘reviewing.’
The Crown Inn, Manfield 26th July
My report starts, not at the home of a group member, but a local country hostelry, and not a Sunday as per usual but a Saturday evening. Many changes have taken place since my last review; Mithril Ales has gone commercial. Pete has taken the plunge and bought a Micro brewery, had it installed, and is now brewing at weekends. His intention is to supply local pubs. Tonight is the launch of his wares and we, the group, have broken with tradition and are here to support him. Mind you, the beer isn’t free.
Peter was bound to hit some stumbling blocks en route to perfecting his craft and who better than the Brewing Group to point out a few flaws. The evening was spent chatting and drinking with no great drama – until it was time to leave! This time it is the turn of Jacko who misses out on the bus home. It went without him.
Mithril Brewery 18th July
Moving on three weeks and we are at the above mentioned brewery as it is Pete’s turn to play host to the Group.
So, to the entrance of Pete’s bar and the home of Mithril Ales. Before we enter Pete’s bar I do have news to impart – both Big Ritchie and Ian (Pops) T have left the group, the latter still taking charge of the Website. This means that Little Ritchie becomes Ritchie by default. And Jacko is the only Ian.
The beers we are having tonight have been made purposely for our consumption with the exception of one, which is the remains, after barrelling, of one of his commercial brews.
So, back to the entrance of Pete’s bar and the home of Mithril Ales. Stuart is sailing the high seas so can’t be with us tonight. Pete is still cleaning out his brewery so we are left to get on with it. Also, we have a new member in the form of Alex. He bumped into Our Glorious Leader, John, brandishing some home-brew kits. OGL, being who he is, told him he should be brewing properly and invited him along. He brought his wife with him. Now, many years ago, in the Emerald Isle a young woman wandered into a freemason coven and, because she saw something of what went on, was made the only woman to ever be a freemason. Our manly group don’t tolerate such things, so our new member’s missus, a brewer in her own right, albeit kits, was allowed to stay the evening but will never be a member. Mind you, Mrs Alex does have a keen nose which will come in handy when Alex brews the traditional way. She also knows a good pint when she sees it. She could be a very useful non-member and a force to be reckoned with if all spouses decided to have a ladies brewing group. Nuff said.
So, back to the entrance of Pete’s bar and the home of Mithril Ales. Will we ever pass the threshold and get a drink? Yes we do and it’s OGL behind the bar. Big John and myself get the two stools and prop up the bar, spaces vacated by Big Ritchie and Pops. On offer we have three ales:-
Barbie Cue (4% abv), a light beer with elderflower notes (picked around in the village hedgerows by Pete’s own fair hand.) In addition to the pale malt, he used light crystal and wheat malt along with Torrefied wheat. His choice of hop was First Gold for bitterness with Sarachi and First Gold for aroma.
Charcoal (4.4%) was his option for a dark ale. The list of ingredients is long – pale, chocolate, dark crystal, brown and black malts; roast and rolled barley; and oat flakes. Columbus hops (4.4% alpha acids) for both bitterness and aroma.
Heatwave (3.9%). Here, Pete used Amarillo hops to give a nice slightly clean bitterness.
The meeting was bereft of the usual topics (probably sorted in my absence) There are no plans to have a trip this year. Maybe we will make up for it next year. It also looks like the cider press idea has been shelved. On the subject of hops, the two main hops have been bought for this year – Saaz (alpha acid 3.5%) and Bobek (4.5%). OGL had his usual, “I’ve got something to tell you all.” This time it was about a bag of malt which was found that is 18years old. Brulab in Sunderland are going to use it for experimental purposes. “18 Years Old” he shouts again. “I can’t believe it!”
Beer of the night was Barbie Cue, and, on a warm summer’s night, why not? For all of you who live in or near Darlington watch out for Mithril Ales.
Bali Hai 8th August
This is Rob’s brewery. The pub is in his garage with his odds-and-sods hidden from view by a couple of dust covers. Not with us tonight are Pete and new boy, Alex. So few are the numbers that Big John points out that only one car is needed to get here. Not strictly true as recently promoted Ritchie (from Little Ritchie) is making his own way from his farm and Stuart from Hartlepool.
On offer tonight are three beers: Stormy, Peg Leg and Darkness.
First out the pump is Peg Leg, a cool light and fruity ale. It’s abv is 4.5% and has an ebu of 28. A very simple recipe using Maris Otter pale malt and bobek hops. For the aroma hops Rob has used Bobek again with a very precise measurement of ‘a handful.’ The final gravity is a very low 1.007 for all you aficionados.
Next we try Stormy. Again a very simple recipe with Maris Otter, Crystal Rye malt and Challenger hops. Some readers may remember Our Glorious Leader’s opinion of Rye Malt, which he wouldn’t give house room. The ale has a healthy abv of 4.6% and ebu of 30. Again the gravity is low at 1.007.
Darkness is a low alcohol dark beer (3.9%) made up of Maris Otter, Black Malt and Roast Barley. Heaven knows how much hops Rob used as the ebu is 40 and the Alpha Acid of Saaz hops is only 3.5%. He reckons he used Palisade as well but our stocks of that particular hop are all but finished; age wise as well as weight. It is difficult to categorise this beer as it isn’t a porter nor a stout, and certainly isn’t a mild. Probably a lighter beer that’s been out in the sun. Gravity 1.011
At this point Jacko has to guess which two hops are in the Darkness – I know you know but Jacko didn’t – well, he hasn’t read this review yet, has he? So he sets off by telling us what they ain’t; Fuggles, Challenger, Target, Cascade..... okay, now tell us what they are. He had to be told in the end, or at least given a few clues.
The evening kicks off with Our Glorious Leader bangin’ on about how he had to throw 10gallons of beer out because the yeast he used was “sh**e!”
I brough a magazine that I picked up called ‘CHEERS’ edited by champion beer writer Alistair Gilmore of Newcastle Journal fame. Issue 2 has coverage of the North-East’s latest brewery. Mithril. And with Pete’s face staring up from the page we each read the article.
From behind the dust covers Rob brings out a long rod with a tap at one end. It is used for dispensing beer from certain barrels. Next he brings out a cornelius! To the layman a cornelius is a beer/lager keg originally used for lemonade and the like. It is a vessel that is easy to clean and can withstand very high pressure. They would be ideal for our stall at the next Darlington Beer Festival which is in September at the Arts Centre. Come along and have a free taste of what we can brew. Those brewing for the ‘do’ are OGL, Rob, Jacko, Big John and recently promoted Ritchie. Anyway, we now get a lesson on how to fill, unfill, put valves here and there and one or two other snippets before, (low and behold), Rob reveals more corneliuses (cornelii), barrels and other paraphernalia related to brewing. He is a regular jackdaw is our Rob.
Lasagne is our meal tonight and very nice it is too; gives Stuart a chance to tell everyone of his sailing exploits of a couple of weeks ago. He took his boat down to Scarborough to race over to Holland. (Use Google Maps at this point and keep the website open as you will need it later on.) He did very well, or at least he arrived at his destination. Then went on to tell us about sails and rigging; sailing into the wind, and out; navigation; and many other gizmos that help the stranded, if not lost, mariner on the high seas.
On the subject of sailing, Hartlepool has played host to the ‘Tall Ships’ races. Races that have won international acclaim. Competition is fierce between the 80 or so vessels but all come together at Hartlepool marina, where thousands of people from all over Britain descend upon this coastal resort(!) to marvel at the boats, the crew and to enjoy an interesting day out. What could go wrong? If you are Our Glorious leader, anything can go wrong. He decided to take Mrs Glorious Leader and grandchildren on the bus to Hartlepool. First and foremost there seems to be no direct bus from Darlington to Hartlepool so OGL went via Stockton. Eventually arriving at his destination, he and his entourage have a mosey round Hartlepool. At this point he is no where near the ships! And this is how it remains for the rest of his visit. Having tired themselves out wandering around the uninteresting bits of the town, they decide that enough is enough and go to the bus stop for the lift back home. Google maps at the ready, dear reader, for OGL has not finished this day out. Buses, it seems, don’t go back the way they came so no going back home via Stockton – oh no! Our intrepid adventurer has to come back via Peterlee.
Ah well! You may be envious of me spending the next few months until Christmas over in Dubai, and very nice it is too! One drawback is, of course, no real ale. Only lager and usually Heineken at that. And it costs in excess of £4 a pint.
And so, dear reader, I close this extended edition in the knowledge that reviews will probably not get written in my absence; the ‘malt run’ will have it’s dates changed at least twice; there’ll be something wrong with yeast; the group will talk about me in my absence in a derogatory manner.....
.....but, hey! they are not bad blokes, really. ‘Beer of the Night’ is Stormy.
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