All For The Sake of Science (and Beer)

Believe me, I will take no pleasure in the following experiment.

Much is talked about the folly of bottling beer in clear bottles. I have touched on this topic briefly here and here in the past. One hears talk of 'lightstruck' beer and of beer being 'skunked' but to be really honest, I'm not sure what a 'skuked' beer tastes like - I haven't run over any skunks lately round these parts.

When beer is exposed to ultraviolet light (or to a lesser degree, any light), hop derived compounds called isohumulones combine with sulphur containing protiens to produce 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol - a chemical almost identical to that which a skunk exudes when threatened or maybe just annoyed. It stinks, or so I'm told.

Brown bottles offer some protection against this process, green very little and clear bottles none. This is why very few quality beers come in clear bottles. Clear bottles are the work of marketing departments rather than brewers.

Now, I have had many bottles of Corona that have tasted what I would describe as musty. While imparting a much lacking flavour, it wasn't pleasant. But was that the taste of lightstruck beer? Or were they just gone stale?

An experiment had to be done. Some weeks ago, I traipsed down to The Abbots Ale House in Cork to purchase beer in clear bottles. Being an emporium of quality world brews, The Abbot's didn't leave me with much choice in clear-bottles beer. It was a strange exercise to be buying beer that I didn't particularly want for the purpose of wilfully destroying half of it. I bought two bottles of Carlton Cold - an Australian lager. Clean, Crisp it says. And Specially Brewed Keeping It Fresher For Longer. Mmmmm we'll see.

I placed one bottle in a dark cupboard ant the other in the window - for a few weeks! Surely, if a beer is going to be skunky, this has to be it.

The Results:

Both beers look the same in the bottle - no colour change.
Here goes.....Window beer first.

Damn!!! It tastes alright to my palate. A rather unremarkable lager with no unpleasant tastes present. I'm thinking that I do detect a slightly whiffey smell on the nose but am not convinced that it's not my imagination.

Now the well kept beer:

Horray, it's not my imagination - this beer doesn't have that smell. It has no smell whatsoever!

Conclusion:

Stupid experiment!
Here I am in the middle of the day with two bottles of lager open in front of me, one of which has a very faint sulphur like smell. And I mean faint. I'm at a bigger loss the explain that strong musty taste I've experienced in Corona and I'm not convinced that I really know what a 'skunked' beer tastes like.

Maybe Carlton's claim of 'Specially Brewed Keeping It Fresher For Longer' has something to do with this? Could they, like Miller, use a chemically modified form of hops' alpha acids which does not produce 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol when struck by light but, apparently, can still produce rotten egg odours? That's the explanation I'm going for.

Can I be bothered trying this experiment again with another beer? Who knows?

I never thought that I'd be disappointed to find that my beer tastes alright!

Now, what to do with two half drunk bottles of Carlton Cold?
Slug traps?
Fruit fly traps?
Or drink them?

Only I will know.

My last drink was; Do I really have to say? It's 4.6%abv in a 37.5cl bottle.

Never Give Up

Regular visitors will have noticed that I haven't updated recently.
Why?
Disillusionment.
Yup.
I became disillusioned.
I guess every revolutionary becomes downheartened. The truth is that most revolutionarys fail. Most revolutions fail.
But some don't, that is, if the revolutionarys don't give up.

So onward all ye faithful. Onward to the paradise where every bar sells good quality, locally made regional beer on draught and some bit of a selection of classic beers in bottles. Onward to a place where good beer is held in the same regard as good wine. Onward to a time when licensing laws allows the sale of beer wherever wine is sold. Onward to a culture that can drink strong beer in moderation. Onward to a society where all the publicans have vision and imagination and do not control the actions of our government. Onward to when almost all the breweries in the world aren't owned by three multinational companies. Onward to a climate of diversity in beer, when pale yellow, fizzy lager will not be every county's mainstay brew. Onward to when hotels sell quality beer (imagine that!), to when restaurants treat beer menus like wine lists, to a time when the quality of beer served at social occasions matches the quality of the food, wine and spirits. Equality for beer! Honour for beer! Respect for beer!

I need an anthem (replies on an ecard, please)

So, after that revolutionary call that has my blood pumping and my spirits up and given me a future to strive for, I reckon, I can explain my downtrodden feeling of before.

It's very easy to live in a bubble:
I always have a source of good beer from The Abbots Ale House, Cork. I usually only drink in pubs that stock good beer (The Bierhaus, Sin É, The Mutton, The Oval, Cane Lane). Most of my friends have, to varying degrees, a preference for drinking good beer rather than industrial lager. I talk on the internet about beer with beery people. I know people in the industry. I seek out beer when I travel abroad.
I can live, most of the time, in a world where it doesn't matter to me that the vast majority of pubs sell only mainstream beer, supermarkets sell frighteningly large amounts of frighteningly discounted lager, and wealthy people drink fabulously expensive wine and spirits but cans of cheap beer. I can convince myself that it doesn't matter to me. People can do as they wish - I'm all for choice.


But some of the time it does matter to me.
It matters to me when I go to a concert and want a beer. It matters to me when I go to a wedding and want a beer. It matters to me when I stay in a hotel and want a beer. It matters to me when I go to a restaurant and want a beer, when I meet a friend in a regular bar.

I have a friend who drinks vodka and diet coke and pretty much nothing else. Apart from the expense of such drinking habits, I envy him. He can have his drink of choice, pretty well presented, in any bar almost anywhere. The same goes for a Heineken drinker (albiet to a lesser degree due to freshness of keg and flow on line etc.).

The obvious answer is for me to drink vodka and coke or Heineken or Guinness or move to Belgium or Germany but I'm not being difficult when I say that I don't like any of the above drinks. I really don't. I could drink gin and tonic or Bushmills or something but when I go to the pub I happen to like drinking beer - not wine (I love wine with food) or spirits or sweet shots or anything else.

The huge vastness of lack of choice available, outside of my little bubble, got me down, almost made me give up hope.

I analysed my choices.

a. Drink Heineken or Guinness in bars.
b. Drink whiskey or gin in bars.
c. Stop going to bars.
d. Drink water in bars.
e. Stay inside my little beer bubble.
f. Try to keep the revolution alive and influence one person at a time in the hope of encouraging some real choice in the market.

I decided on f. with strategic use of d. at times.

The Beer Revolution is reborn (until it gets tired again)

P.S. This post was more about me than I normally like this blog to be. Forgive my introspective indulgence, please.

My last drink was; Green Spot Irish Whiskey, 40%abv, a small one

Let's Take Over The World

Lest anyone though from my last post that I was loosing the run of myself and becoming a celebrator rather than a complainer, fear not. I have a bee in my bonnet and I want to let it out.

My gripe is with huge industrial breweries who, not content with a massive market share, seem to want to control all the beer in the world without consideration for anyone who may suffer in the process. In this instance, I'm talking about the Dutch Giant Heineken and their drive to sell Paulaner in Ireland.

Anyone who knows me will know that, when out, I like nothing more than a nice cold Weissbier. I have written about such things. The first Weissbier commonly available in Ireland was Erdinger. A small company called Noreast Beers started importing it and distributing it about 10 or 12 years ago. Erdinger was the first Weissbier that may Irish people tasted. Over the years, through dogged persistence, Noreast Beers fostered a taste for and created a market for Weissbier in Ireland. It is no mean feat for a small company to successfully introduce a new beer style into a competitive market. And while I personally find Erdinger rather bland, I admire what Noreast have done with it in the Irish market and will, if stuck, willingly drink it. I am, on the other hand, very partial to their Dunkel (a dark weissbier).

It seems Heineken weren't happy with their massive share in the Irish beer market. Big breweries buy littler breweries - that's what they do. Heineken own scores of brands across the world. In Ireland they have: Heieken, Amstel, Coors Lite, and Murphy's and , not to be out done in the specialist markets they now push Heineken owned brands Affligem (Belgian Abbey style beer), Zyweic (popular Polish lager), Sol (tasteless Corona type lager) and Moretti (Italian Lager) in Ireland too.

Now they've gone after Erdinger in the Irish market with their Munich weissbier Paulaner. Now, Erdinger is no small little company but they seem to have put very little effort into the Irish market, leaving all the hard work and marketing to its importers and distributors - Noreast Beers. Heineken seem intent on capitalising on the decade or so of grooming that has been done by Noreast and blowing Erdinger out of the water with deep pockets. They are throwing everything at getting Paulaner to stick in the Irish market: promotions giving away free pints, sponsoring bars at events and making publicans offers they can't refuse to take out Erdinger. Heineken can afford this and, no doubt, will persist at this until Erdinger is squashed out and Noreast Beers are out of business.

My first encounter with Paulaner was about a year ago in The Oval Bar in Cork. A promotions person offered me a free pint of draught Paulaner. Who was I to refuse? It was awful. Like soggy bread. Didn't even finish it. I've since had bottled Paulaner and while hardly a classic of the style, it is very drinkable. I've tasted the draught on two other occasions and one was awful, the other fine. There seems to be a serious consistency issue with the draught product.

More recently I, like many other people, became a victim of their attempted world dominance while visiting The Spigieltent during The Cork Midsummer Festival. There was a Paulaner bar. Available were: draught Paulaner, bottled Paulaner, Sol, Murphy's and wine. Heineken are so serious about Paulaner that they didn't even sell Heineken in their own bar! Faced with that choice, I drank Paulaner. I felt terrible the next day!

Some days later, finding myself in The Spigieltent again, in the interest of research, I drank Paulaner again. Oh no, not again! Yes. Again! Awful headache the next day. Now, good beer does not do that to me. I can drink a moderate amount of Weihenstephaner, Schneiderweiss, Erdinger or any good beer like Galway Hooker and not suffer the next day but not so with Paulaner. I met friends who were with me in The Spigieltent who declared that they "would never drink Paulaner again" for the same reasons. This is not a good thing. I can't say why Paulaner has this effect on me and others but the outcome is that I will not drink it again and cannot recommend it to anyone else.

There is a delicious irony here. Left to my own devices, I probably would have drunk one or two bottles of Paulaner on the odd occasion and been quite indifferent to it. However, due to their expensive push on the product, I got to taste how bad the draught can be and only because of lack of choice due to their exclusive bar arrangement, I discovered the adverse effect of drinking more than two of them has. If they hadn't forced on me I wouldn't have formulated the opinion of how bad it is.

So, what weissbiers would I recommend? I really like Weihenstephaner (especially their rather light coloured dunkel) and Schneiderweiss. Franziskaner is a good beer and Erdinger is not a bad beer at all (some of us are just rather tired of it). And do try, and ask for - because they are available - the dunkel versions of these beers.

The Beer Revolution wants diversity not dominance.

My last drink was; Whihenstephaner Heffeweissbier Dunkel, 50cl, 5.3%abv

Pride of Galway

I know that I complain... a lot. But if people were always content then there'd be no need for revolutions and no one is going to convince me that Ireland isn't in need of a beer revolution. I'm obviously not alone.

If every body was happy drinking mass produced, tasteless lager and industrial, nitrogenated, bland stout then we wouldn't have microbreweries and beer specialist pubs. We do have the above, just not enough of them.

Enough complaining. Today I want to celebrate. I want to celebrate the beer that is Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale.

I've always liked Galway hookers - the sailing boats. They are traditional, big, elegant, swift and take dedication and skill to maintain and sail. Not withstanding all the fun to be had with double entendres (and Galway Hooker brewery use this to the max!), it is an aptly named beer.

Galway Hooker has been around since the summer of 2006. I have tried it many times and have always liked it. It is hoppy, crisply bitter, well balanced and full flavoured. However, recently I had a pint of it in The Bierhaus, Cork and just had to have another. Whether they've honed the recipe or it was a particularly fresh keg (not that it's had freshness issues in the past) or I've just acquired a stronger fondness for the beer, I don't know but those couple of pints put Galway Hooker high on my beer list.

This is a draught beer that while full flavoured enough to appeal to beer heads, it is accessible enough to be in ever bar in Ireland. It is pale in colour, it has carbonation and is not too high in alcohol (4.4%abv). Irish people have conservative tastes in beer but this is a clever beer. Sure, it's too hoppy for some people but it's not a dark, strong, flat warm scary beer either. And it's Irish made and owned.

So where is it? Well, Galway have taken to their own. No less than 19 pubs in Galway have G.H. taps. Now, that's great to see. I just hope the punters are as supportive as the Galway publicans. Dublin has a fair 6 taps and Cork, Tipperary, Leitrim, Sligo and Limerick have one each (shame on Cork and Limerick). A full list of pubs is here.

Yes, it's great that Galway and Dublin are supporting their efforts but it must cost G.H. to be traipsing about the country to deliver to six locations, bearing in mind that with the best will in the world from the publicans, it is still a minority beer. But these guys seem to believe in the organic growth in the popularity of their beer. It's a long haul but if the decisions were left to the accountants, we'd have no G.H. outside of Galway and Dublin. This company is clearly run by people with a belief in and a passion for their beer. Let's hope that the future will see sustainable growth for the beer across the country and show that passion can make profit.

I'm not alone in my love for G.H. The McKennas, in their Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, have sung its praises, bluntly calling it the best new Irish drink. The Irish Craft Brewer site love this beer and have written about it here and here and voted it Best Beer 2007 at the Fransciscan Well Bierfest and more reviews can be viewed here.

At a time when we import more and more of our beer (by necessity, unfortunately if we want quality), Galway Hooker is Irish brewed. It is brewed without the use of chemical additives in a sustainable way. It is essentially hand made. This is a modern craft beer for a modern Ireland. It has funky marketing and can't miss counter taps. It is a quality product from a young, fun company. We should support it.

Ask your bar for Galway Hooker.
And keep asking - I will.
A simple search will find them online.

My last drink was; Glass Rustenburg, Stellenbosch, John x Merriman, 2005, 14.5%anv

It's been a long time coming - Finland Pt. 3

For anyone who hasn't forgotten and may have some interest; here's the final instalment of my Finnish story.

Pt. 1 here
Pt. 2 here

Part 2 (here) Finnished (gedit?) with our intrepid hero and friends turned away from the microbrewery. On our wanderings we had noticed what looked like a promising pub, despite the Guinness sign outside - I've always been suspicious of pubs that aren't bogged down by a culture of draught, notro, cold Guinness drinking that nonetheless choose to serve it and make a feature of it.

This pub was called Olutravintola Sillansuu. (Details here - in Finnish.) Upon entering, the first sight to hit me was some high up shelves directly across from the door proudly displaying, maybe, about thirty world bottled beers with labels clearly stating their origin, price, style and strength. Oh, the unexpected joy! Beer, lovely, varied, visible beer. And what's this? Could it be a barman with interest in and knowledge of beer? Yes it seems to be.

Now it may seem like an obvious thing to do to clearly display your beer selection and some basic information about them but it is a practice sadly lacking in many beer bars in Ireland. I've spent so much time peering over the counter of Irish bars, I fear my body will permanently take on that stooped shape. A large, clearly visible, well written blackboard is also a good way of getting the information across.

This bar had an admirable selection; there was a strong emphasis on Belgian - and not just the usual suspects (Gulden Carolus Classic caught my attention), British and German beers with a smattering of Finnish and other world beers. Alas, I didn't make a list and the webpage doesn't appear to have one either - anyway I don't like making lists on my blog, it doesn't make for good reading. I also suspect that the selection changes on an ongoing basis.

The quiet downstairs bar looked inviting. Overwhelming, more like!! I was, for once, left speechless by the amount of beers displayed in floor to ceiling, glass cabinets lining every wall. I've never seen so many beers in one place - and mostly full. They have a thing that if you bring a beer that they don't have, you get a free beer. Maybe a gimmick but it kept me somewhat distracted for the night. An amazing collection of contemporary and historic bottles.

So, being in Finland, first up was Kukko Dark Lager (4.3%) for me and Kukko Porter (6.5%) for my willing tasting partner. Damn, should have taken the porter which did all that a coffee, chocolate, strong imperial porter should - the dark(ish) lager being rather unremarkable.

Oh oh, this is turning into a list/beer review. Mmmm. Okay very quickly....Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel (4.7%) was had, so was Lia Fail (4.7%) Scottish dark(ish) ale - all very nice but not too memorable. But what did stand out in a big way for me was Ivanhoe Very English Pale Ale (5.2%). Wow! a complex, fruity, big, balanced pale ale which I believe to be English brewed for the Scandinavian market. Lucky Scandys!!

This pub had an odd pricing policy on 75cl bottles. Although just a little over twice the size of a 33cl, they charged a little over three times as much as for a similar strength and quality 33cl bottle. Strange. Their speciality beers were priced much the same or maybe a little less than an Irish beer bar.

When it came to chucking out time, these guys politely do not mess around. Two minutes after the light flash, beer was not to be had. And three minutes after we were informed that the bar must be cleared in three minutes, we were outside, slightly bemused. They stuck to their habit of having the bar cleared on time and we stuck to our habit of staying until the very last minute. All quite agreeable really.

Oh, and they served food too but as we had been driven to a dodgy kebab by the microbrewery (see Finland pt 2), I never thought to check out what it was they were serving

My time there saw me in two other bars. What's the general story? A lot of generic lager. A lot of Lapin Kulta. A lot of Czech lager and some Estonian lager. But what pleased me was that every bar seemed to have some Czech dark lager - mostly Kozel. If every bar in Ireland had such a thing, I'd be a little happier.

They also, like their Scandinavian neigbours, drink lots of fruit "cider", Koppaberg and Rekorderlig being omnipresent as well as some English made, Scandinavian market cider. Oh and sweet, salty, strangely nice, black, vodka shots! Salmiakki!! And they also have what may be the original alcopop - a grapefruit and gin based drink called 'Gin' which was developed for the 1952 Olympics and stayed around getting Finns inadvertently smashed and giving them terrible hangovers ever since.

To finally wrap up this much longer than intended Finnish entry, I must tell you about a new use for beer that I learned. Now, this might sound horrible but trust me on this - it works. While having a leisurely afternoon after sauna, our host suddenly get excited about something (no, not in that way!). A can of beer is produced, a little is mixed with water and the mix thrown on the hot coals. We were gently enveloped in a steamy, malty, bready, beery cloud. Honest, it was really nice. My non beer drinking wife even liked it! It's not unlike the smell you get from breweries when they're boiling the wort.

The Sauna


Now, I'm off to find some more uses for beer.

My last drink was; Schneiderweiss/Brooklyner Hopfenweiss, 50cl, 8.2%abv

A Very Tiny Rant

I know some beers are hard to pronounce and I do realise that people will often get the names of foreign beer wrong. But...... IT'S NOT "DUVELLE" it's simply Duvel. "Doo vil" would be something like it - it's Dutch (Flemish) not French and even if it was French, Duvel would not be pronounced "Duvelle".
It's particularly annoying when bar staff correct my reasonably correct pronunciation!
Now you know.

Keeping Up To Date

Today I want to report any updates on previous posts -what's been going on in my beer world, so to speak.


Very recently, I did a post on The Bierhaus which can be read here.

Unfortunately, I forgot to mention their Summer Beer Festival which took place last weekend (20,21,22 June). By all accounts my plugging was unnecessary as they had a full house all weekend, despite - or maybe because of - serving no mainstream draught beer. Dave got in a number of guest draught and bottled beers for the weekend, the stand out one, for me, being the Meantime Pale Ale from England . There was music and Uncle Pete's Pizza (second next door) did Bradwurst. Who said there wasn't a market for quality beer. The Bierhaus had an absolutely hopping weekend while not selling a single pint of Guinness or Heineken. Look out for their Octoberfest!


My post on the standard of bar serving (here) caused quite a stir on this forum - a debate that still rages.

I had made reference to a bar serving Weihenstephaner but their staff didn't seem to have a clue what it was or, in some cases, that they even stocked it. At the time, I didn't name the bar. It was The Crane Lane. I can now happily report that the staff now seem to have gotten to grips with said beer and even know how much to charge for the Vitus (7.5% Weizenbock). The management were a little slow off the mark in getting their staff familiar with this new beer but better late than never. It must be noted that The Crane Lane does sell a fine varied selection of world beers and local microbrews from The Franciscan Well, not just a rash of 'premium' lagers like many bars do when they want to up the beer selection.


Again, a heated debate arose in this forum when I criticised The Pavillion for having such a poor selection of beer - the post can be read here.

I've been in since. Again, I say I do like the understated, modern décor. A look over the counter told me that, yes, they have changed their beer selection. For the better? Yes, sort of. On the down side, they seem to have taken out bottled Hoegaarden. But they have started to stock Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen - add the dunkel to that and we'd be getting somewhere. While I often complain about too many lagers in bars at (the expense of other beers), The Pav have put in one of my favourites - Vedett. The people who make Duvel (come on, guys stock that too!) make this fresh, crisp lager that actually has some flavour, and while clever marketing and packaging doesn't make a bad beer good, I am a sucker for the look of this bottle and all their marketing gimmicks (check out the site). Budweiser 1795 has also made an appearance, which I do prefer to its neighbour Budvar (the story is here)
In the name of fairness, I handed over my hard earned cash to try their coffee again. I'm very sad to say that it was even worse than the last time I tried it. It just didn't taste like coffee at all. There are obviously some serious problems with their coffee procedures or machine - people don't seem to appreciate that it takes a lot of effort and training to make a decent coffee and The Pav don't seem to be bothered in fixing their problems.
On a happier note, they are now serving lunch in The Pavillion. The person responsible for the food is Mary who previously did Janey Mac's in South Court Terrace and her reputation speaks for itself. I'll be having lunch there myself soon but I'll go elsewhere for my coffee.

Update; I've had lunch there and can confirm that my expectations were correct - the food is well made home style soup and sambos, with a bit of flair at reasonable prices (and it's not that easy to find good soup about town).


In this post I heralded the arrival of Weihenstephaner in Ireland.

Well, finally the Dunkel version had come in. For people who like Schneiderweisse Original, Weihenstephaner should very much appeal. It has a similar sort of darkness to it (quite pale for a dunkel) and while very much its own beer, does have similarities. I think it may just be my regular pub drink.
I had written that their Vitus was somewhat of a disappointment to me. Well, after a few in The Bierhaus and The Crane Lane, I have developed somewhat of a fondness for the pale strong weizenbock that is Vitus. Weihenstephaner have a huge catalogue of beers so who knows what other ones will come to our shores in the future.


Although this post was somewhat disjointed (and all the links took me ages), I feel it is necessary to report on how things are changing and if people are responding to my criticism.

My last drink was; Pint of draught Beamish, 4.1%abv (I think)

A Small Rant

I was at Lou Reed in The Marquee in Cork last night. There was a big Budweiser Tent. I know that this is too big for The Beer Revolution to fight but my complaint is quite specific. I grudgingly accept that bars at big events like this are going to be dominated by the multinational breweries. I know that there will be no real choice. I've come to expect that despite a captive audience and a complete lack of competition, the prices will be somewhat inflated (€5 for a Guinness - not too bad). But what I do not accept is the refusal to sell half pints.

This didn't really affect me personally. I chose not to drink at all. But why couldn't my friend who just doesn't like drinking pints get a half pint of Guinness in a plastic glass?

I've written on this subject before here.

Great gig, by the way (apart from the awful Mick Jagger & Tina Turner meets James Last version of The Velvet's Rock 'N Roll during the encore).

My last drink was not a pint of Budweiser or Guinness from a plastic glass.

Finland Pt 2. How Not to Run a Microbrewery!

First instalment of my Finish experience is here.

So there I was, a little worse for wear on a dull, drizzly Finnish Summer's day, resigned to the probability that this trip would not turn up much in the way of interesting beer. I was quite accepting of this fact - I'd just had a wonderful day at a friend's wedding and was in a small town in the lakes of Finland looking forward to spending more time by the lake with my new Finnish friends and my old Irish ones.

Having missed breakfast, my wife and I went wandering the town in search of food. A little off the beaten path, my interest was stirred by the spotting of a sign. Restaurant and...were my tired eyes and fuddled brain tricking me?....no, it said Microbrewery. I wasn't even looking and we'd stumbled across a microbrewery!

Now, while consuming beer was not on my agenda in my slightly fragile state, this had to be checked out. The sign also said 'Restaurant'. No argument was had. Off we went.

No doubt because of the weather this sizeable bar and restaurant with huge veranda had a somewhat deserted air about it. Nonetheless we bravely entered Huvila Microbrewery and Restaurant. A friendly, fluent English speaking (like most Finns we met) waiter showed us into a formal dining room with tables set for dinner. Water for me, a glass of wine for herself and menus were proffered.

Oops. This wasn't beer snack food. It wasn't café lunch food. All I wanted a bowl of nice chicken broth and some bread but here I was faced with a modern, stylish dinner menu. A quick discussion decided that we would make our excuses, pay for the wine and arrange to return that evening for dinner and beer (for me). The beer menu looked promising with a pale ale and some darker offerings too. After declining to take a booking, the waiter informed us that the kitchen was open until 21.30 and that the place remained open until midnight.

I won't go into our adventures finding soup in Savonlinna. This is, after all, not a food blog. Fast forward to about half eight that evening when four of us walk hungrily to Huvila looking forward to a aperitif beer and dinner. Oh dear. The kitchen was closed and did so at 19.30 every Sunday.
Having assured the staff that we had not misunderstood the waiter it was accepted that maybe he had made a mistake as he was new to the job. So, some snacks? No. No food what so ever! What kind of fool eats food with beer? Surely, everyone knows people only eat gourmet meals with beer but not after half seven on a Sunday!

The need for food, at this point, far surpassed the need for beer so, having ascertained that the bar was open until midnight we left. One desperation driven kebab later, we are again trodding the, now well beaten, path back to the strange Brewery/Restaurant. The seagulls with chicks by the lake are now really starting to wonder are we just there to torment them by passing their unguarded nest six times a day. Onward we plough for beer! Finnish Microbrewery beer!

Hu? No. Can't be. It is. Ha, ha. No? Yes. It's ten 'o clock and the place is closed! Really closed. I won't quote my rantings or what I threatened to do. This is a clean blog. They had shut up early. It was a miserable day a little before the Summer season really gets going and, I guess, due to no customers, they closed early. Surely not a good way to encourage custom.

The thing is, we had arranged to meet up with about eight others of our group there and at this stage we had all recovered enough to drink several good, outrageously expensive, microbrews. Instead we ended up elsewhere but that, I'll save for the final instalment of the Finnish entry.

It's great to see a small out of the way town with a microbrewery. And it's great to see beer being associated with good food but Huvila seem to have a very strange view of what a microbrewery should be. By all means, have an attached fine dining restaurant, but should not a beer specialist bar with a kitchen have some other food available throughout the evening for beer drinkers. Some cheese, salamis, breads, pickles, chicken, chips? But not a sausage, literally. Should a bar not stay open for its advertised hours? And should a microbrewery's beer not be priced somewhere close to other local bar's beer. Maybe a little more expensive but not almost double.

Huvila seems to want to make quality beer exclusive - the exact opposite to what The Beer Revolution wants. Or maybe they're confused as to what they want. It's as if they want to run a fine dining restaurant but got lumbered with a brewery. The really strange part of this story is that due to a complete lack of good restaurants in Savolinna, we actually went there for dinner the following night. It was good. Very good, albeit with tiny portions, but not bad value by Irish standards (or Finnish for that matter). Many of their beers were out of stock but I did try their pale ale and that was very good too.

They have a very good restaurant with an interesting wine list and they have a brewery that makes good beer ( I tasted my friends cider which also had a sense of quality) but they seem to have absolutely no idea of how to run a bar or of customer service.

Despite making good beer, Huvila don't seem to be interested in serving it to the locals or visitors to Savonlinna. Hulvia could be a great bar in a beautiful location serving well made house beer and snacks with an attached restaurant. But it's not.

The Beer Revolution does not take its hat off to Huvila Microbrewery and Restaurant, despite its fine food and beer.

The beer saving grace of Savonlinna will be the topic of my next entry and then it will be back to hassling the providers of beer in Ireland.

My last drink was; Weihenstephaner Vitus. 7.5%abv 50cl.

A Valuable Lesson from the Finns

Right, I’m back from Finland and sufficiently recovered to write about my experiences – the lack of darkness there at this time of year does tend to encourage late nights without epic lie ins.

On my very first day there, The Beer Revolution learned a valuable lesson. I guess that this lesson could have been learned anywhere but it took a wonderful visit to Finland to bring it home to me.

Believe it or not, the lesson learned was; there are far more important things in life than beer. That statement may seem obvious, even to me but I learned that, even in the context of social celebrations, beer and wine are really secondary elements.

To explain; I was at a close friend’s wedding in Finland. After the ceremony, we all gathered at a rural equestrian centre where a Finish buffet was laid on, complete with barn dancing and musical recitals (the family in question are, without exception, ridiculously musically talented – even the in laws). We ate, made new friends, danced, listened to music, petted goats and horses and drank wine from wine boxes and generic Finish lager from cans. Not the kind of drinking one might associate with The Beer Revolution (who’s also rather particular about what kind of wine he drinks) but did I care? I was far too busy enjoying the occasion and appreciating the people around me to give one flying toss about what I was drinking. You know, sometimes it really just doesn’t matter!

I always knew that people are far more important than beer but I would have thought that at something like a wedding, the alcohol served was of paramount importance. It’s not. This was one of the most enjoyable social events I’ve been at and the unpretentiousness of the beer and wine became a part of that.

For our wedding, my wife and I put great thought and effort into what alcohol was served and we had a wonderful day. I’m glad we did but that’s our thing. I now realise that our guests would have enjoyed the day just as much had we not done so. Oh, but we had some nice beer and wine, all the same!

I guess, what I’m saying is that if beer and wine is your thing, then go for it – source fine beer and wine for your celebrations. If it’s not, don’t. Either way your guests won’t judge you, good or bad. If they’re real friends, that is.

So, after my first, long day, bright into the morning, I had no great expectations for beer in Finland. At this stage, I was so in love with the place and so enamoured with the people we’d met that I didn’t really care. It wasn’t, after all, a beer trip.

But did the Beer Revolution find any beer to tickle his fancy, any bars to stimulate the senses? Well, children, that is a story for another day!

My Last Drink Was; Herencia Remondo La Montessa Rioja Crizanza 2004, 13.5%, Glass

Just Taking a Break

Hi readers,
The Beer Revolution hasn't given up the fight against lack of choice for the particular beer consumer - I've just been very busy and am today going to Finland for a few days.

Guess what my next post will be on?

In the meantime, here's a link to a guy whose written a novel based around beer!
That's a new one on me. Anyone want to review it?

Until next week,
Hound your local bar and offie for the beer you want!

For Lovers of Football and Beer

This is not a a post but rather a recommendation that you read this.
Very funny.

You gotta love it!

I still feel that The Beer Revolution should not be all about bar and beer reviews but when people are taking the beer ball and running with it, they deserve a mention and any little encouragement I can provide. Today's worthy runner is; The Bierhaus on Popes Quay in Cork (not to be confused with The Bierhaus in Galway or any of the other Bierhaus named bars worldwide).

After laying idle for a few years the site formerly known as The Head of The River was given new life in the summer of 2006 when The Bierhaus very quietly opened for business. So quietly that it was open for maybe a month before I found it.

From day one, The Bierhaus offered the biggest and best selection of beer in Cork. Despite being the best selection in town, its menu was hardly a beer lovers dream - very lager heavy. A little less than two years later and the menu and guest beer boards have something for every beer enthusiast, freak, nerd, geek, nut, bore and even snob! Check the menu here, although new beers come and go faster than their website gets updated.

In less than two years some fine and strange beers have flowed through the taps - it's the only bar in Ireland to have had Schneiderweiss on tap - and not being afraid to experiment, Dave the owner, has had banana beer, apple beer, cherry beer, La Chouffe, Belgian blonds and bruins, DTs, Messers Maquire, O Haras Red, The Franciscan Well beers and more - and that's just on tap, before you consider that he also sells Guinness, Heineken, Murphy's, Carlsberg and Bulmers along with O Hara's Stout, Krombacher, Hoegaarden, Rebel Red, Erdinger and Svyturys on a full time basis all on tap too.

And then we get to the good part! The bottles. It would be no secret that I love Belgian beer. Where else in Cork can I get Orval Trappist Beer? Where else Gulden Draak? Where else Westmalle Dubble? (sadly not in Calanan's anymore). He's had in the past, Oud Geuze Boon, still has Kriek Boon and for Christmas got in Samichlaus Bruin! There's always a few English Ales, some good cider, and plenty of good lager including my favourite - Augistiner Edelstoff and a few good American beers.

Enough listing, check the menu yourself.

What I think is interesting is that if Dave, like so many other young guys do, just painted up the walls, installed his favourite songs on the laptop, stuck up a few posters and told all his mates, then his venture would have failed. What marked out his pub from all the other pubs that come and fail was its emphasis on beer. Two years on, The Bierhaus does very steady trade. It hasn't always been so but now there's a seven day trade - the key to the longevity in a bar.

There was no huge cost involved in making The Bierhaus a beer Mecca in Cork - just a little outlay in stock and a bit of research in sourcing suppliers; work, in other words. But this effort has paid off with the success of a bar which is small, restricted by its original design, under invested in and a little off the beaten path. The thing is, just sticking a few good beers on the shelves doesn't a beer bar make. Dave can talk beer, he can recommend beer to suit taste, he has beer festivals, a weekly quizz, poker, DJs and thankfully the neighbours stopped him having mediocre bands playing! What I'm getting at here is that it takes a lot of work to keep a small bar alive and while stocking great beer alone probably won't do it, it does give your pub an edge over most other bars.

I believe Cork can absorb another dedicated beer bar without taking business from The Bierhaus, in fact another would probably create more interest and trade. So come on Southside pub owners, give it a shot, one of you. It's not an expensive experiment - you gotta find the right manager or find a consultant (who could that be?).

Today the Beer Revolution takes it hat off and throws it in the air for Dave O Leary and his Bierhaus (an unwitting and unaffiliated member of The Revolution)!

P.S. If The Bierhaus has Budvar Dark, why don't some of the countless bars that stock Budvar have its far superior dark brother.

My last drink was; Apostoles, Palo Cortado Muy Viego, Sherry. 20%abv

Toss it in a warm glass & chuck it at em!

I'm giving out again.
No surprise there.
What is it this time?
No, it's not rocket science, it is the art of bar serving - or rather the lack of art commonly applied.

Now, before people start on about poor pay, unsocial hours or any other hardships that bar staff have to endure, I'm not having a go at bar staff. I'm having a go at bar owners and managers. That is, the people who should train their staff.

While I've experienced poor staff knowledge and practice across all sectors of the licensed trade, what interests me, primarily, is the staff in bars that have chosen to stock a range of premium beers.What is the point of putting quality beers in your fridges and not telling your staff about them. Bar staff don't magically know all about beer, they have to be taught.

No one gets to work behind a bar without knowing how to pull a pint of stout (even though it's arguable that the much loved two stage pour is irrelevant) . Do other beers not deserve the same respect? No body would serve wine in a highball, or stout in a wine glass (although that sounds nice!) so why do we so often get thrown up a weissbier with a warm pint glass?

Most bar staff know that Guinness is a stout, that vodka is clear, Coors lite is a lager, Shiraz is red wine and Kalibur has no alcohol in it but try asking what Leffe is or if they have a weissbier. I have on many an occasion pointed out beer in the fridge after been told by staff members that they don't stock it!

All I want is for staff to have a reasonable knowledge of the beer that the bar stocks. A waiter or waitress is expected to have basic knowledge of the food menu in a restaurant but it seems that, in Ireland, the same is not expected of bar staff. I want them to know what style a beer is,what its approximate alcohol volume is, what temperature it should be served at and what sort of glass it should come in ( I do like a proper branded glass but am happy with any glass that's vaguely the right shape and cold - maybe getting it rinsed out is asking far too much!). That's all. Another few basics like: gin and tonic comes with ice and lemon, whiskey doesn't have ice unless asked for, ditto brandy and beer doesn't go in warm glasses wouldn't go astray either.

I don't expect college trained mixologists, just someone who has been taught the basics of bar serving and has an interest in alcoholic beverages (many great bar persons don't drink). Again I say to owners and managers, TRAIN YOUR STAFF!

On a recent night out in Cork, I asked for a Weihenstephan Hefeweizen. I received a non alcoholic Weihenstephaner (this was not a misunderstanding - the person had no idea it was non alcoholic!). Next effort was the Weihenstephan Vitus - a 7%abv weizenbock (again, no clue that a 7%abv beer was on offer). Finally after much searching, the hefewiezen appeared - not before a Schneiderweiss Non Alcoholic was offered but I will put that one down to a misunderstanding. This experience is typical in many bars that do stock a range of beers and is not the fault of the untrained staff member. When, occasionally, a bar person with a knowledge and interest in beer comes along it is not a result of training but of personal interest.

Look, I'm not gonna 'name and shame' bars with good beer selections but poor staff cause it's a start to have the beer. What I find frustrating is that, in the past, I offered to train the staff for free in the bar I spoke about above. I was told that they were far too busy for training! Mmmm. Interesting, don't you think? My offer of training still stands but is no longer for free!

Bars which have owner/managers working behind the bar tend to do better. The Bierhaus, in Cork, being a good example where the owner has a passion for beer and passes on the basics to his staff.

So, come on managers. Learn a little (ask your suppliers), train you staff and keep proper glassware (again ask your suppliers). And to the good consumer, demand more. Premium beer comes at a premium price. We deserve it to be served with a little respect . Is that too much to ask?

My last drink was; Oud Geuze Boon, Mariage Parfait, 8%abv, 37.5cl (with a best before date of Dec 2024!)

Seeing Red

Occasionally, The Beer Revolution will drift off the topic of beer and into social and political areas of drinking in Ireland (but not too often - it's not much fun!).

Having previously lambasted the much loved pint, what is my target this time as the cause of 'binge drinking' and the alcohol fuelled breakdown of society? It is the monster that is Red Bull mixed with alcohol.

All joking aside, I do have serious misgivings with the common misuse of alcohol and energy drinks (primarily Red Bull). I'm not going to get into a food and drug discussion on taurine, caffeine or glucuronolactone (all active ingredients in Red Bull) but rather talk about my own observations and experiences regarding Red Bull and alcohol.

Now, I'm no fan of prohibition. Red Bull, drunk in moderation, is probably no more malign than coffee. In fact, Red Bull suggest a comparison to coffee as a usage guideline (one can of RB contains about the same caffeine as a cup of coffee) and a RB spokesperson has been quoted as saying "We have always recommended drinking one to two cans of Red Bull to have the optimum effect on performance in times of need." But despite the fact that in Canada and Sweden, it is expressly recommended that Red Bull is not mixed with alcohol, we, in Ireland, happily sell it by the case load from branded fridges in pubs.

What harm? You might say. Have you ever seen somebody after several double vodka and Red Bulls? I have and it's not a pretty sight. Alcohol is a depressant. If you drink too much of it, you will, eventually, fall asleep. Add a stimulant drink into the equation and the sleep part doesn't come into play. More and more alcohol can be consumed without the sleepy side effects. The result is an extremely inebriated, wound up ball of energy who either wants to fight you or be your friend (sometimes at the same time!). Both very unpleasant options. I know this from experience.

From one, ok two, first hand, long past, experiences, I know what the combination of Red Bull and alcohol is like. I know that it tasted horrible, cost a small fortune and left me with parts of my night missing on both occasions. As a younger man, I probably did indulge in alcohol more than was good for me, on occasion, but to loose my memory was a very, very rare thing. The only two times I mixed Red Bull with alcohol, memory loss was a factor. Not nice.

It is my personal theory that much of the violence on our streets which is blamed on cocaine use, is, in fact, the result of the abuse of alcohol and Red Bull type drinks. Please note that I use the term 'abuse'. Red Bull isn't in its own right a problem. The excessive consumption of it with alcohol is the problem.

Obviously, as a beer enthusiast, I'm not in favour of "sweety shots" and "alcopops" and feel that they don't give younger people a respect for alcoholic beverages but my problems with RB and alcohol are more fundamental.

To put it bluntly, I think Red Bull and similar stimulant drinks should be banned from sale where alcohol is sold. If, a few years down the line, the kids are getting completely out of control on espresso and vodka, we'll review that then!

Interestingly, Red Bull is banned in Norway, Uruguay, Denmark, and Iceland while Switzerland and Finland have lifted previous bans. Personally, it wouldn't affect me if it were to be banned here entirely but The Beer Revolution is all about choice and personal responsibility, therefore I only suggest that it is not sold with alcohol as that particular mix tends to diminish one's ability to be personally responsible.

I hope you like the picture of a red bull at the top.

Here's an interesting thread on the subject

My last drink was; Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss, 5.4%abv, 50cl

Hoppy Days

I think it might be time for another 'pure' beer post. A few things have brought the topic of hops to my mind today.

1. The recent arrival of Schneider Hopfenweiss
2. My recent visit to England and the purchase of an IPA
3. My ongoing love of Hommelbier

For those in the know, read on and criticise my unscientific, inexpert post and for those who want to know a little bit more about what goes into beer, I hope this helps.

I did a recent post on ale and yeast here which may be of interest too.

Nowadays, virtually all beer contains hops. It gives beer it's bitterness and aroma, makes the beer more stable and has preserving qualities. Prior to the 1400's, when the Belgians exported hopped beer to England, British beer was unhopped. It is unclear, exactly, when hops were first used in beer but they were grown in Bohemia and Bavaria as early as the 8th century where beer was also brewed.

Hops share a common parent with cannabis and is grown on high trellises. It is the hop cone or blossom that is used for it's oils and acids in beer making, while the shoots can be eaten and are much considered a seasonal delicacy in Belgium.

Today's brewer has so many choices to make when it comes to using hops that there is an almost infinite number of permutations available.

Firstly the brewer must choose the hop variety; from flowery Saaz from Bohemia - famously used for it's aromatic qualities in Pilsener-style lagers to the varieties more known for their bittering attributes such as Goulding from East Kent right through to the spicy, very aromatic US cultivated Cascade. The choice is almost endless with each variety having different characteristics, depending on where it is grown - much like gape varieties and, like the winemaker, the brewer can use several different hop varieties or limit their palette to just one.

Having chosen their variety(s) of hops, the brewer must decide whether to use simply dried hop cones, hop cones compacted into pellets or a jam-like hop extract. Different brewers have their own ideas about which work best.

When it comes to adding hops to the beer, the brewer has huge choice. All beer brews are boiled for one to one and a half hours and hops are added into into the beer during this boiling stage. Hops added at the start of the boil impart bitterness, while hops added towards the end of the boil impart aroma to the beer. Hops can be added several different times during the boil and different varieties are often used at different stages.

Sometimes the hot brew is pored over further hops as it is strained to give even more aroma and following fermentation, the beer may be matured in vats with more hops added - this technique is known as dry hopping.

To come back to what has brought hops to mind, Schneider Hopfenweiss is a dry hopped, strong weissbier which is a collaboration between Brooklyn Brewery in the US (known for their very hoppy Brooklyn Lager) and Schneider of Munich (world famous for their weissbier). The resultant 8.2% abv, pale, cloudy beer has a creaminess balanced by an assertive hop aroma and bitterness - a wonderful, powerful special edition beer.

IPA or India Pale Ale was a style of beer developed to survive the three month journey by ship to India for the troops in the 18th century. As it's name suggests, it was a pale ale but with a higher than usual alcohol content (up to 7.5%abv) and brewed with more hops than typically used in pale ales of the day. IPAs are strong, pale and bitter with big hop aromas.

American brewers have a fondness this style and have developed what is known as American IPA. These beers can be pale to quite dark (despite the name), almost always strong in alcohol with huge amounts of American hops. If you want to know what hops taste like, then an American IPA like Sierra Nevada, SnakeDog or Hercules will tell you straight away.

Britain, on the other hand, seems to have lost sight of what an IPA is. I've had IPAs in England that were neither pale, strong or hoppy that left me at a loss as to why they were called IPAs at all. Although, my recent visit did throw up Marston's Old Empire IPA. This was pale, 5.7%abv hoppy ale. So, while it did fulfil the conditions of it's name, it was a rather uninspiring beer, not bottle conditioned and presented in a clear bottle (not good for keeping beer in) with the rather odd label of "Official Beer of England" (what does that mean). I'm sure there are great English IPAs out there - I just haven't had them yet!

I have had a very good Swedish IPA called Nils Oscar India Ale 5.3%abv.

One couldn't talk about beer and hops without mentioning Popperings Hommelbier.
This is a 7.5% abv, golden ale from the hop growing region, Watou in Belgium. It is yeasty, hoppy in both flavour and aroma and strong. It is bottle conditioned and presents very fruity yeast and hop flavours. Just in case you didn't know what was inside the bottle, the label depicts a hop plantation and has hop cones decorating the label.This full-on beer is one of my favourites.

The next time you taste a beer, think of the humble hop and try to detect it's bitterness and grassy, citrus aroma (not an easy task with a mass produced, bland, yellow lager).

My last drink was; Leffe Vielle Cuvée, 8.2%abv, 33cl

Is the Grass Greener, Oh Yes!

The Beer Revolution has been away for the past number days but he hasn’t been idle. I’ve been in England and though it hasn’t been a beer trip (yes, I know the Cambridge beer festival was on while I was here) I have been observing and keeping notes while fulfilling family duties.

So, after many years of CAMRA being active in this land, what has been the result?

My first port of call was a manor garden café (dutiful husband). To go with their pork pies and lasagna they obviously had some beer and cider. This consisted of, unfortunately, only mainstream cider but among the small choice of industrial beer a local organic lager from the Hepworth Brewery stood out with its rather minimalist, slightly misleading label which suggested it as a blond beer. Not so. On opening, later that evening, it turned out to be a rather ordinary 5% lager. But top marks for putting an organic, local lager on the market. And minus marks for putting it in a clear bottle. (This is an issue that deserves a post all of its own.) And why make such a fuss about using local hops and wuss out on the quantities? Methinks the marketing people in Hepworth have more say than the brewers!

Next up, the local Sainsbury’s. Nothing very different from an Irish Tesco’s here; a few English ales, some Inbev Belgian beers and all the rest, but a short walk across the road to the small chain off-licence displays the earnest efforts that English ale producers have made to get their products into the mainstream. A high visibility display adorns every offie I’ve been in with a fair selection of English ales sold at three for £4. Maybe if we got them at that price here we’d drink more of them!

Surely Wagamama’s aren’t players in the beer game. In England they are. Among the usual Asian suspects nestles Asahai Dark Lager. I’ve never seen that in Waga’s in Cork. I just had to have a beer with lunch! Mmm smooth and black – not a million miles from a Pint Bottle.

Now, the local pub can be a very hit and miss affair in England but Badger umbrellas outside got one’s hopes up. One Tangle Foot later and I’m still not sure if I like cask conditioned ale but, hey, that’s my problem (and as long as I visit, I’ll keep trying to acquire the taste but, oh, for even a little fizz). As long as English pubs continue to reintroduce traditional beer there is hope for beer everywhere, especially when you consider the state of beer in England fifteen years ago.

Finally, today, bearing in mind the dutiful husband that I am, I had to endure a long, lingering lunch in an ancient manor house called Gravetye (pictured). Top-end hotels, restaurants, and houses in Ireland take note – yes, you should have an extensive wine list (and this was extensive), yes, you should stock a huge array of spirits, fortified wines and liqueurs (these guys had their own label Speyside 12 and 14 year single old malt) but, no, stocking a small selection of decent beers will not damage your business. I admit that their beer list wasn’t up to the standard of the rest of their drinks menu but it’s a start. Peroni, Beck’s, Budvar, Leffe (blond, I imagine), Duvel, Guinness (not sure what type), Fuller’s Honey Dew, Harvey’s Old Ale and Kaliber aint so bad. To me the list screamed out for Thomas Hardy Ale and something better than Kalibur (maybe Baltika 0) but I’ve never seen anything close in an Irish top-end restaurant (tell me if you have).

Just to support their list, I selflessly had a Harvey’s old ale. At only 3.7%, this dark, malty, old fashioned ale slips down after a sumptuous feed. Not being a fan of weaker beers, it surprised me with its complexity and a little carbonation from the bottle appealed to my philistine ways.

What have CAMRA done for England?

I was not seeking beer but look what I found.
Maybe there is hope.
Maybe?
Damn right there is.
Howl for good beer, you good people.

My last drink was; Harvey's Old English Ale, 3.7%abv, 33cl

What's in an Ale?

Let's get away from politics and bars and talk about beer on a purer level today. I want to try to clear up a very simple notion that causes much confusion amongst the casual beer consumer.

What is ale?

I am not a brewer or a microbiologist so, for some, my explanations may be oversimplified and a little unscientific but this isn't a brewing lecture - it is a (overly)simple explanation of beer types.

It's all in the yeast.

Most beer is made with one of two basic yeast types: Top Fermenting Yeast or Ale yeast, or Bottom Fermenting or Lager Yeast. Within these groups there are countless different beer styles but for the purpose of this exercise, I'm going to categorise all beer into one of the above two.

Lager is probably the easiest to understand as there are less commonly available variants to the style. Lager is usually a pale, golden brew fermented with a Bottom Fermenting Yeast which ferments at quite a low temperature (around 6- 9 degrees C.) and is stored (lagered) at around 0 degrees C. for one to three months to condition. The resultant brew should be clear with clean, crisp flavours and is usually served well chilled. There are, of course, variations on this. There are amber lagers, smoked lagers, dark and almost black lagers but all will have a Bottom Fermenting Yeast acting on them at low temperatures. The first single-cell, bottom fermenting yeast was isolated at the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen in 1883 by Emil Hansen. Bottom fermenting yeasts are hence known as Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis. Most people don't have a problem identifying a golden lager.

Ale, on the other hand, confuses people. Keeping in mind my oversimplification, all ales are fermented with Top Fermenting Yeasts (Saccaromyces cerevisiae) at a higher temperature of 15-25 degrees C. This type of fermentation produces fruity, spicy flavours and a far more aromatic beer which usually is served a little warmer than lager. Within the broad category of ale there are so many variants (ale,stout,abbey beer, porter, barley wine, red ale , blonde ale etc. etc.) that it is hard to group them together but they all share a common type of yeast. Bare in mind that while each brewer may use their own particular strain of yeast all ale yeasts will be of the same family (Saccaromyces cerevisiae).

So, it's that simple. The basic difference between ale and lager is the type of yeast. We can have pale, blonde ale (Duvel) or we can have dark lager (Budvar Dark). Stout usually uses a Top Fermenting yeast and there are even hybrids like Anchor Steam which uses a Bottom Fermenting yeast but manages to ferment it at the much higher temperatures associated with Top Fermenting.

For those of you still with me at this stage, it wouldn't be right to talk about yeast and fermentation without speaking of Bottle Conditioning . This is the practice of allowing the beer to ferment a second time in the bottle. This produces more alcohol and CO2 ( natural carbonation), preserves the freshness of the beer and produces complex, flowery flavours. It can be achieved by ensuring there is enough yeast in the beer prior to bottling to refermentation or by adding (pitching) fresh yeast to the beer. There may be enough sugars in the beer for refermentation or glucose or a portion of young fermenting beer may be added to feed the yeast. A different yeast may be used in this secondary fermentation than in the primary fermentation. It is usually Top Fermented beers which are bottle conditioned but there are exceptions.

Bottle conditioned beers will always have a sediment in the bottle which, depending on the style of beer and personal taste, will either be swirled into the beer or carefully left in the bottle. Weissbiers and Belgian Wit biers are usually served with the yeast sediment in suspension. Bottle conditioned beers are naturally fizzy as the CO2 produced in refermentation is trapped in the bottle and causes carbonation in the beer. Other beers are bottled under pressure with CO2 'injected' into the bottle. Bottle conditioned beers have more character than filtered, carbonated beers and will mature and develop over years in the bottle much like a fine wine. (Many bottle conditioned beer continue to improve long after their 'Best Before' date has expired)

Despite my oversimplification of beer into two distinct types, defined by yeast, I will also mention Spontaneously Fermented beer. These Belgian artisan beers called Lambics, are fermented by naturally occurring wild yeasts. These yeasts belong to a different family and these beers deserve a post all to themselves.

So there you have it. Ale doesn't mean warm, flat, red, watery tasting beer. But it can do!

Get out there and drink some ale ! It might not be what you thought.

Here's an interesting article by someone who really doesn't agree with my blunt division of beer into two categories .

My last drink was; Nils Oscar India Ale, 33cl, 5.3%abv

Drink Small, Stay Fresh

The Beer Revolution has been busy the last few days and hasn't updated the blog. Apologies.

Now here's a crazy idea and I've a feeling it won't be very popular but it kinda makes sense to me.

Nobody seems to disagree that we have a problem with alcohol in this country. This is a subject that TBR will discuss periodically. We have a problem with under age drinking and with binge drinking.

What people can't seem to agree on is what measures to take, if any, to tackle this problem.

It is my belief that what is needed is a paradigm shift in the relationship with alcohol and the manner in which it is consumed. There is no quick fix solution. You cannot change the habits of a large sector of the population overnight. No single measure will cure the problem. A somewhat more holistic approach is needed.

My, possibly unpopular, idea is not a cure for Ireland's drinking problems, it is simply one of many possible measures (I may discuss more in the future) which may help to slowly change the drinking culture.

Here goes; I want the standard, most commonly used measure for beer to be the half pint. I don't want the pint banned - I simply don't want the default measure to be the pint. It seems that the easiest way to influence people's behaviour is to hit their pockets.

Currently most bars charge more for two half pints than for one pint. I simply wish to reverse this trend. This could be done with a tax imposed on larger measures but as I suspect the unpopularity of this scheme of mine already, I don't wish to exacerbate the situation by adding more tax onto alcohol. Passing legislation that ensures a pint costs, for example, 20c more than two half pints would probably do the trick (let the publicans do the maths).

But why do this?
Because of our 'pint' culture, there seems to be a machoism associated with the larger measure - it's not considered 'manly' for a man to drink halves and conversely considered unladylike for women to drink pints. Let's move on from this place, folks.

If people habitually drank glasses, I believe, there would be a more social focus on drinking rather than a quantity focus. Rounds become cheaper and less intimidating and people would be more inclined to drop out if they've had enough, not having forked out a fortune for their round. The notion of 'one for the road' is less harmful. Something similar could be done with spirits.

I don't naively think this will reduce peoples drinking significantly - what I'm after is a subtle and gradual change to our habits. Most European countries typically serve beer in 25 - 30cl glasses. Anyone ever been to Cologne? Their local beer style, Kolsch is served in 20cl glasses - in Germany! Almost everyone looks to a more 'European' style of drinking.

Is there anything worse than a flat, dead pint of stout, than a warm, headless lager. Drink small, stay fresh! Have as many as you see fit, drink pints if you want to pay the difference - the choice would be yours. 'Can I buy you a glass?' That won't break the bank!

I tentatively publish this post awaiting the backlash.

P.S. I'm not crazy about the standard half pint glass, there are many other designs to choose from.

My last drink was; Maradsous Bruin 8%abv 33cl.

Is This Really The State of Play ?

I don't really plan for The Beer Revolution to become a bar review blog or even a beer review blog but a new bar has opened in Cork and their clear disregard for quality beer is possibly an indication of the disappointing position we're in as regards the revolution.

The Pavilion, once a cinema, which has traded for many years as a night club with a separate bar has changed hands, been refurbished and reopened as -you guessed it- The Pavilion. Again there is a separate downstairs bar and an upstairs club/gig venue.

The people behind the new Pavilion are, I believe, people who were involved in The Lobby bar and music venue and The Bodega. These guys and their compatriots have been up to all sorts of interesting club and music ventures in Cork for many years. One imagines the metaphorical finger on the slightly sluggish pulse of the Cork beautiful people set. What I mean is, these guys are not property developers, they are music/club enthusiasts with a lot of musician/DJ friends.

Evan Dando is, I think, the first gig scheduled. I haven't seen the venue yet but I have been to the bar. I dropped in during the quiet daytime hours (no food served).

The décor is clean and relatively neutral with a suitably modern feel. Understated and quite nice. I ordered a double espresso and a scone (even TBR keeps afternoon beer sipping for special occasions!). The very pleasant server duly served up a truly rank coffee in a dirty cup, on a dirty saucer and I scone which I suspect wasn't baked that morning - oh, and a glass of water which was fine.

Not great but what about the beer?

On draught were the usual suspects: Heineken, Miller, Coors Light, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Guinness, Murphy's, Beamish, Beamish Red and Bulmers. How come a contemporary, hip bar doesn't have Hoegaarden, Erdinger, Puallaner,Staropramen, Budvar or something from the local Franciscan Well brewery ? These may not be my favourite beers but at least they give some draught choice to the consumer. But no. The young and not so young clubbers and music fans will drink only mainstream industrial draught beer. I can't see Beamish Red selling anyway and I'm told Coors Lite is a hard sell too.

To bottles: Heineken, Miler, Budweiser, Coors Lite, Bulmers Light, Corona, Holsten pils. And for the connoisseur (tongue firmly in cheek): Tiger Beer, Budvar, Erdinger Hefe, Koppaberg (glorified alcopop) and .....wait for it......Hoegaarden 33cl.
So, we have 8 lagers, two of which might be considered premium, a light cider and a sweety pear 'cider', one weissbier and one (not bad) Belgian Witbier.

Wow.
Fuck me!
Is that the best the newest, trendiest, hippest, coolest, finger on the pulse bar can do with beer?

I guess so.
Shit coffee, mainstream beer and bottles of Hoegaarden!

Is there not a market for varied, interesting beer. Look at The Bierhaus. The Crane Lane has consistently sold a pretty good selection of varied bottled beer (not just lager and Erdinger) and local draught - they seem to be doing ok.

I had hopes for this bar but until they get some beer in, I won't be meeting any of my beautiful, affluent, hip friends there. We'll go where the beer is.

Apologies for the Cork Colloquial post.

P.S.

I'd like to note that on other forums, (interesting debate here) many people disagreed with my views on the coffee in The Pav. But mine was sour.

My last drink was; Glass of Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2006, 12.5%abv

And Then There Were Two?

This article may not be news to many readers but in conversation with people, I've found that there is much unawareness of what is happening in the mainstream brewing world.

For as long as I can remember the stout market in Ireland has been almost exclusively dominated by three brands; Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish.

Over the years Guinness sold out to Diagio, Murphy's to Heineken and Beamish to Scottish & Newcastle.

Now a rather worrisome development is about to take place.
Heineken and arch rivals Carlsberg have joined forces to take over Scottish & Newcastle in a €10.44 billion deal.

The effects of this will see Heineken take over S&N's operations in UK, Ireland, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, USA and India. The result of this will be that Heineken will own Beamish.
ie Murphy's and Beamish having the same owner.

It seems that the Irish part of the deal has yet to be passed by the Irish Competition Authority.
There has been talk of a management buy out or, if the deal is blocked, then the Beamish brewery would be offered up for sale. But can we trust the Competition Authority to prevent the smaller two of the three big stout producers in Ireland being under the same owenership?

One can't but help speculate that one of the two brews will be axed. Which one? My bet is that Beamish will go. Murphy's is brewed in Heineken's modern Lady's Well brewery Cork, while Beamish is brewed across town on a city centre site I assume to be much more valuable. Take into account that stout sales are falling, will a corporate brewer keep two stouts that struggle to compete in a lager market.

What is interesting to note is that, should the deal go through, Heineken will be the brewers of six lagers: Heineken, Amstel, Fosters, Miller, Kronenburg 1664 and Coors. Will it keep all of them? Who cares?

Now, I'm not a huge lover of the modern draught stout. Over the years it has been tweaked to deliver a pint that is more about coldness and creaminess than flavour. This has happened all three of the big stouts and even the likes of O Hara's Stout, while having a bit more going on, still falls into the nitrogenated, cold, rather bland model of Irish stout. (Draught stout uses nitrogen to force the beer through a fine holed plate in the tap to produce the much loved creamy head.)

I do , however, have a fondness for Beamish. I went for the price and stayed cause I liked it. I would now pay more for Beamish over Guinness or Murphy's if I had to. Beamish is not my beer of choice but given the dismal choice of beer in so many Irish bars, it is my best option. Beamish and boiled bodice.....mmmmmm.

Will Murphy's be axed? Will Beamish be no more? Will the South Main St. brewery (pictured) which employs 160 staff be turned into apartments? Along with the news that Diagio could close St. James' Gate Guinness brewery, things look bleak for the future of what's left of the Irish Stout Industry.


On The Pint Bottle issue;
I was in the iconic Mc Carthy's Bar of Catsletownbere, made famous by the late Pete Mc Carthy's book Mc Carthy's Bar. Very nice bar with grocery section and friendly staff.
But did they have The Pint Bottle?
No.
But they did have Guinness Extra in 33cl bottles.
Now that's plain odd.

My last drink was; Glass of Cote Du Rhone 2006, 14%abv

Stop breathing... It's bad for the environment !!

Most things we do are bad for the environment and drinking beer is no exception or, to be more accurate, making beer is no exception!

All industry uses energy and produces waste and in all industries, some companies will be more efficient (from an energy/waste point of view) than others. But there's nothing like a bit of consumer awareness to make industry sit up and think about what they're doing.

'What if we could invest in efficiency, sell more product and save on energy and waste costs?'

The fact is, that some consumers will pay more for a product they believe to be environmentally responsible. Eco sells.

I recently read of some innovations Bavaria Browerij in The Netherlands have going on.


They claim:

That their waste water returns to the local system cleaner than it came out, due to their own treatment facility.

The methane produced in this facility is then used in their specialised efficient power system.

The one I think is particularly clever is;
The co2 given off during fermentation is recycled and used in the bottling.

They also claim to use considerably less water, use considerably less energy and produce less waste than the European average to produce a hectolitre of beer.

They also malt their own barley, which, presumably, reduces transport impact.


Surely, this must save them a heap of money too?

I realise that these kind of innovations may not be feasible for many smaller breweries and, in the scale of things, it's more important that the mainstream brewers become more efficient. But they need to hear the message from the consumer, not just the regulator.

Would I buy Bavaria over a similar beer because it is more environmentally responsible?
If I wanted a well made, unchallenging, mainstream lager.....Yes.

And while we're on the subject.

Why do we have to put our empty beer bottles in the recycling bin or, even worse, the waste bin. Why aren't our beer bottles returnable? I realise that we import much of our beer but at least our domestically bottled beer should all have a deposit/refund system. We had this system in the past and it works in other countries.

Drink beer - save the planet?

My last drink was; Popperings Hommel Bier, 50cl, 7.5%abv

Strength in Numbers

There seems to be a lot of confusion and, dare I say it, fear surrounding the alcohol strength of beer.

Firstly, I'd like state some facts.


Strong beer does not equal good beer.

Weak beer does not equal bad beer.

Strong beer drunk in appropriate amounts does not get you drunker than week beer.

It is alcohol and the amount of it you consume and nothing else that makes you intoxicated.

Alcohol in drinks is usually measured as alcohol by volume (abv). Simply put, this means that a 50cl bottle of 5% abv beer (or anything else) has 2.5cl of pure alcohol.


Possibly the fear of strong beer in Ireland is due to the fashion in which we drink beer - ie by the pint and multiples thereof. If you're going to drink beer by the pint then 7 or 8% abv beer is probably not wise for a session down the local.

But how come this fear of strength doesn't carry over to other drinks?
People don't fear wine at 14%. Most fortified wine is around 20%abv. And people drink spirits of 35% to over 40% all the time.
So why the problem with beer?

Back to the pints.
If I started to drink wine by the pint or whiskey by the wine glass, then I'd soon be very intoxicated. So, most people don't do this. Alas this sense of measure doesn't carry over to beer for most people. Irish people seem to be conditioned to think that beer = pint. The result of this is if a stronger beer is introduced to the equation, then alcohol consumed also goes up.

One can, and I often do, take great pleasure from strong beer. I drank a 9.2% beer last night - but I only drank one of them (33cl). If I drank 4 pints of it - I'd have been very drunk. The beers fault? I don't think so.

Personally, I don't care for beer under 4% - I find it a little watery - but there are many top quality, well made beers lower than this strength. There are also many mass produced cheaply made 'super lagers' at strengths of up to 9%. I like a beer that I drink by the pint to be between 4% and 5% but why be restricted to only beer in this range.

I treat strong beer much like I treat wine. In fact, although almost every beer has it's own glass, I've yet to come across a beer that doesn't drink well from a large wine glass. To take this one step farther, I also like to share beer out in wine glasses (particularly strong beer). People who don't normally drink strong beer will often enjoy a little in a glass rather than being faced with a whole bottle. Large bottles are obviously made for sharing.

If you can get people away from the idea that beer must be gulped from a large vessel, then you open up a whole world of beer. Treat a 9% or 10% beer like a fine wine or a sherry. Sip it. Savour it. Enjoy it, see how it changes as it warms up, maybe have another. Strong beer also tends to go well after a meal or with cheese and some sweeter beers go well with desert when wine just isn't going down easily any more.

I don't want to get into listing my favourite beers, or the strongest beers in the world (remember , stronger doesnt equal better) but people may wish to know the strongest beer I've drunk.
It's Samichlaus Bruin - an Austrian brown lager at 14%abv. Sipped slowly it's a warming, sherry like beer. Very nice but not by the pint!

My last drink was; Trappistes Rochefort 8, 33cl 9.2%abv

T' Bolleke

Most beer enthusiasts don't have one favourite beer.
They may have a favourite of each of many styles.
One's favourite beer can change depending the time of day, the weather, the location, company etc. etc.

Today's post is on what is, probably, my favourite draught tipple.

There is nothing quite like a cool Bolleke in an Antwerp pub full of character and characters (my favourite pub for a Bolleke is Den Engel on Grote Markt).
The funny think is, there is no beer called Bolleke in Antwerp or, as far as I know, anywhere else.
The beer is called De Koninick. 'Bolleke' refers to the glass that De Konnick is served in - a 25cl bowl shaped chalice - but I've never heard anyone order anything but a Bolleke.

De Koninick is a Belgian ale. It is reddish in colour and is smooth, subtle and fresh to drink.
It has warm toasted malt flavours, fruity ale yeasts notes and is gently hopped and at 5%abv is a very balanced everyday drinking beer. There is a brightness and thirst quenching quality to this beer to challenge the perception of any 'ale hater'.

25cl is a little under half a pint but the Bolleke looks deceptively larger. It seems just the right size for this beer. The beer stays cool and fresh, rounds work out inexpensive and you get to call out 'Bolleke' without offending anyone. Ah, to be in an Antwerp pub now.

De Koninick is, strangely, the only brewery in Antwerp (apart from one brew pub/restaurant) and has been in the same ownership since 1919, without any corporate take overs. I've yet to come across an Antwerp pub that didn't sell De Koninick on draught and, usually, the only other draught beer will be whatever single Belgian Pilsner they choose to stock.
You can have De Koninick, lager or bottled beer.
Thing is; this system offers the beer drinker many different styles - real choice.

De Koninick, in recent years also offer a stronger ale that they call a 'Triple' and a blonde version of a similar strength to their much loved ale.
I've yet to taste these beers.
I've never had De Koninick from a bottle either.

I can't help but wonder if De Koninick just wouldn't taste the same anywhere but in an Antwerp pub. For this reason - my next Bolleke will be in Antwerp.

My last drink was; Glass of Cote Du Rhone 2006, 14%abv