16/3/2017 2 Comments Craft Beer NewsletterWesthill Service StationIf you're local to Westhill, or if Westhill Service Station is your local beer wonder emporium then you may, or may not be aware about their craft beer newsletter. This is the official blurb from Chris, who works at the service station: "The newsletter will be sent out to selected customers that would like to be the first to hear what’s new in stock each week. Detailed info on each new beer will be provided, along with options to reserve as much stock as you wish, for store collection at anytime that suits. Prices of each item will also be listed, and there’ll be a brief word on craft competitions, upcoming tasting events and a weekly review on what’s selling the best, including what’s close to selling out. There will be links to read how each beer is going down by others around the world through Rate Beer, and there’ll be links to fire us any requests that will automatically get saved for me to try hunt down! Finally, I’ll be including an up-to-date stocklist of everything craft currently in-store that week…so you can plan out your craft purchases to your hearts content! " It's definitely worth signing up to the newsletter. Every week so far it has been jam packed with great beers, and the opportunity to reserve some of the limited stock beers from guys like Beavertown & Cloudwater is a great touch. The reservation system works great, I've used it a couple of times so far to bag some excellent beers, Cloudwater DIPA v12 being one of them, and more recently the super rare collaboration between Brewdog & Beavertown - Coffee & Cigarettes. Even if you don't use the newsletter to reserve beers, it's still a good way to keep up with the latest releases and learn a little about them. You can sign up to the newsletter by visiting the link below 🍻
https://www.facebook.com/WesthillServiceStation/app/100265896690345/
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10/3/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - DIPA v12CoudwaterI've been drinking craft beer for what seems like forever now, and in that time I've only had one beer made by Cloudwater...two if you include Big Dipper; their collaboration with Magic Rock. Neither of these beers have been any version of their DIPA series, and for a brewery that's considered as one of the best in the UK - that is shocking on my part! So when Westhill Service Station's weekly craft beer newsletter was sent out the day before I flew to New York, and the headline beer for the week was DIPA v12 - I immediately emailed and asked them to reserve a can for me on my return. Chris who works there was more than happy to so for me and after a brief mix up when trying to collect it...I was finally ready for my first taste of a Cloudwater DIPA. DIPA v12 is the 12th beer in Cloudwater's highly revelled, and now monthly, DIPA series. Coming in at a hefty 9% ABV, Mosaic hops take the lead here, backed up by a combination of Nelson Sauvin, Chinook & Citra. WLP095 Burlington Ale Yeast is used with a small addition of Caramalt to give some fruitiness. Well, I don't know what to say, apart from that I'm blown away. This is one of the best DIPA's I've ever had - it's certainly up their with Bloody Notorious & Big Dipper. Opening the can, you are greeted with big fruity aromas - pineapple and mango especially. These flavours follow through into the flavour, with mango in particular at the forefront of the flavour bomb. Rounding these flavours off, is just the right amount of bitterness that makes this DIPA very drinkable - it is everything you look for in a DIPA. v12 has also looks great, pouring a nice hazy golden colour, that is topped off with a nice white head. Now I know what everyone has been raving about for so long! I wont be leaving it so long to have my next Cloudwater beer after this. On the basis of this beer, I can certainly see why the are gathering such an impeccable reputation. I'm not sure how long they're planning on keeping up this DIPA series, but I will definitely be keeping tabs on the next release.
5 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 http://cloudwaterbrew.co/ 13/2/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - Crossing The RubiconDrygateDrygate are a brewery that I've seen and heard so much about - I just haven't drank a lot of their beer. Enter Crossing The Rubicon - A 6.9% ABV IPA that is described by Drygate as; “Pale golden Weegie-West Coast IPA. Tropical fruit, citrus & honey combine with a cutting, bitter finish.” Sounds good, right? Seriously, look at that can! You just want to pick it up and look at it right? I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the can that attracted me to the beer. The awesome can art was designed by John Felix.
Anyway, on to the beer. Cracking the can and having a whiff, the aromas are almost perfect; sweet, juicy & fruity. If ever a beer was going to come close to the impeccable Tropigamma, then this is it. The bold fruity flavours hit you right up front, with pineapple and berries prominent. There's then some lovely malt and bitter hops to round off this excellent beer. I highly recommend you try it. Crossing The Rubicon gets an impressive 4.5/5 hops from me 🍻 http://drygate.com/ 11/2/2017 0 Comments Beer Review - Heavy WaterBeavertownHeavy breathing more like! That's usually me, when Beavertown release a new beer. This one is also made with cherries...I love cherries. I had a feeling I was going to like this beer. Again, picked up from the ever great Westhill Service Station, Heavy Water is a 9% ABV Sour Cherry and Sea Salt Imperial Stout. Described by Beavertown as; "Pitch black and thick like tar, masses of roast barley molasses, muscovado and brown sugar amp up this imperial stout so it lives up to its heavy name! Infused with sour cherries and sea salt". This sounds like a good'un. Beavertown aren't ones to lie when they describe a beer, and that continues again here. After you open Heavy Water and pour the silky stout liquid into a glass, you are met with a sour, chocolatey aroma. And from the first glug, the sour cherries kick in - wow! Combined with the salty stout that leaves you with a smooth malt finish. This beer was incredible.
This is another example of a Beavertown beer with with an exceptionally high ABV that is well hidden by the outstanding flavours. This does not taste like a 9% ABV beer - however, drink and few cans of it, and it will feel like a 9% ABV beer! I feel like I keep repeating myself every time I review a Beavertown beer, especially when it comes to can art; they knock it out the park again here with another awesome design. Overall, this beer is up with the best of the best that Beavertown have produced. I only wish I had more than one can of it! 5 out of 5 hops from me 🍻 www.beavertownbrewery.co.uk/ www.instagram.com/beavertownbeer/ www.facebook.com/beavertownbrewery/ 20/1/2017 0 Comments Magic Rock BrewingThe Kings In The NorthLately, I have been enjoying lots of awesome beer from Magic Rock Brewing. They make some seriously awesome beer. Beer that rival some of my favourites by Beavertown & Brewdog. I'm gonna give you a little rundown of some of the beers I have tried. They first came to my attention by seeing some of their cans in Brewdog's bottleshop. Thinking they looked quite cool, I decided to pick a few of them up. Cannonball & Inhaler were the first two I tried, and as my taste expanded, I tried more and more. They definitely provide some of the more interesting beers on the market, with High Wire, and Salty Kiss being prime examples. Magic Rock have a core range of 9 different beers, as well as a HUGE back catalogue of limited releases and collaborations. My local bottleshop, Westhill Service Station do a great job of stocking the core line of beers, and have also managed to get in some of the limited runs & collaborations. So far, I have tried the following beers by Magic Rock: Core Beers:
Without doubt my absolute favourite is High Wire Grapefruit, followed closely by Big Dipper. High Wire is awesome. Grapefruit works excellently in a Pale Ale, with another awesome example being Elvis Juice by Brewdog. High Wire, however, takes the crown for me. If you have never tried a beer by Magic Rock, I would recommend at least trying High Wire Grapefruit, and Salty Kiss...they are both packed full of awesome flavours, and I can guarantee, that will not be the only can of High Wire Grapefruit that you ever have. I have never had a bad beer from them yet. They have also today, announced their first collaboration of 2017 - with The Wild Beer Co. These guys have been doing awesome things lately, and I cannot wait to see what they can do together. Magic Rock were formed in 2011 by two brothers; Richard and Jonny Burhouse and their head brewer Stuart Ross. Within six months, they had built up and excellent reputation and were named 2nd best new brewery in the world, 2012.
In 2015 the brewery moved to a new Brewery in Birkby, Huddersfield, which increased their capacity to 10,000hl PA. Since then, The Magic Rock Tap launched and they did their first run of cans. In early 2016, their capacity increased by a further 100% to a total fermentation capacity of 70,000 litres. You can find out more about Magic Rock in the following places: https://www.magicrockbrewing.com/ https://www.facebook.com/magicrockbrewing/ https://www.instagram.com/magicrockbrewing/ I can't wait to see what they do next 🍻 |
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