Breakfast Beer Tasting: Weird Beard Hit The Lights


Time to gear up for the weekend with something special. An IPA seems the likely candidate. But no ordinary IPA, obviously. Weird Beard are yet another of the seemingly endless supply of London brewers keen to make their mark on the craft scene. Results so far have been very promising and this one boded well. Described as a “mixed up IPA”, it blends English malt with American yeast and Target and Aurora hops. The hop kick is given a boost with the addition of dry-hopping.

It’s a 588ml bottle and comes in at 5.8%. It was very lively and poured cloudy amber with a large off-white head. The aroma was an appealing mix of marmalade, light toffee and a healthy dose of fruity hop notes. Surprisingly this didn’t continue into the beer itself. Instead you are presented with a clean, crisp bitter-rather than fruity-bite that intensifies as it washes over your palate. The American yeast is there to hold back the esters and it works well in that role as the strength is barely noticeable.

Tyson says: All the elements are working in perfect harmony here. The result is an excellent crisp IPA that really delivers a bitter hop punch.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Kimberley Club

Image
The Kimberley Workingmen’s Club in Stacksteads, Rossendale is the stuff of legend. Few, outside of those interested in such things, have heard of it and fewer still have visited it. Even many locals aren’t aware of its location and yet internet forums are full of people willing to travel across the country to visit a genuine slice of social history. Established in 1897, the KMC started out as an afterhours drinking venue for quarry workers. Legend has it that it was carried down into the valley on poles. There are various theories about its South African connections-there is a Kimberley Street close by, but what we do know is that surprisingly little has changed since those early days.
Once you have got up the steep hill, over the dirt track and through the gate; you are confronted with two very small rooms. There’s probably just enough room to squeeze all 36 members in. This helps to explain why visitation is strictly by invitation only. We were privileged to enjoy a special Sunday ope…
Read more

Wyldes Refurbishment

Image
Wyldes sits on the corner of Bolton St and Market Place in the centre of Bury. When it first opened, it was a flagship Holts pub. It sold Mild, Bitter and, revolutionary for the time, guest beers. It offered all day dining and sports TV. However, the wheels soon began to come off. The guest beers were too expensive for the regular Holts drinkers and quality suffered. This in turn deterred the casual drinker from going in and slowly both Mild and the guest beers disappeared from the bar.

I wrote about its woes back in 2008 and the years in-between havem't been kind. Pub trade in the centre is fiercely compettitve and it's had more lows than highs. It didn't get to grips with Wetherspoons on the food side, failed to build up a weekday trade and relied too heavily on the weekend late night music-led crowd. It was looking dark and tired and even the TV picture was poor.


Now however; as part of Holts estate refurbishment, it has had a long overdue makeover and reopened last wee…
Read more

A Night In Rawtenstall

Image
“It's a long way to Rosendale It's a long way to go”

Some folk may indeed think it is a long way to go, but the trip up to the valley that time forgot isn't actually that far. You only have to witness the raiding parties of East Lancs shoppers pouring into Bury on market days to realise that. So it seemed only fair to send a few missionaries the other way. The spur was the opening of a nano-bar on Rawtenstall market. Without the restrictive stranglehold of two Wetherspoons that afflicts Bury; Rawtenstall has seen a remarkable growth in small, independent beer outlets. And after 6pm a 1 Day Go Rosendale bus saver ticket is only £3. So after a few warm up libations in Bury, we were valley bound

First stop for many is the Buffer Stops adjacent to the ELR station. This is the sister pub of the Trackside and whilst it has been good in the past, like the TS it has been more patchy in recent times. So we pushed onto the Cabin. This is the self-described nano-bar on the market and …
Read more