Truman Brewery Tom Ditto IPA

Truman Brewery Tom Ditto IPA

Style: IPA

Alcohol Content: 5%

From: Hackney Wick, London, England
Purchased from: Direct from the Brewery

http://www.trumansbeer.co.uk/

After just over a year of penning beer reviews, I received my first sample beer direct from a brewery. The nice folks at Truman's kindly sent me a bottle of their new IPA. Working with Danny Wallace – a champion of the traditional British pub - to celebrate the forthcoming launch of his book Who Is Tom Ditto? , Truman’s brewery created Tom Ditto IPA just in time for the Nicholson Spring Beer festival. If you managed to catch this beer on draft you should consider yourself lucky as my spy's told me that it often sold out rapidly. So does this beer live up to the hype once bottled? Let's pour a glass and put some Steely Dan on shall we?

The original Truman brewery has often been described as one of the first true powerhouses of the London brewing scene. Founded around 1666, the Black Eagle Brewery was established on a plot of land next to what is now Brick Lane in London, E1. It grew steadily until the 18th century when, under the management of Benjamin Truman, and driven by the demand for Porter, it expanded rapidly and became one of the largest brewers in London. In 1873, it purchased Phillips Brewery in Burton and became the largest brewery in the world. However, as with most things in life, nothing lasts forever. By the middle of the 20th century Truman’s struggled to come to terms with the rise of lager, cheaper competition from imports and the consolidation of the biggest names in British brewing through mergers. The brewery was eventually sold to Grand Metropolitan in 1971 and by 1989 the decision was made to retire the Truman brand and shut the Black Eagle Brewery site.

In 2010, the Truman's brand was purchased from Scottish and Newcastle by two London businessmen. After several years of planning, with trial brews produced under contract by Everards Brewery in Leicester and Nethergate Brewery in Essex, a new brewery in Hackney Wick was completed in August 2013. The eagle will soar again? I sure hope so.

Colour: Pours a deep amber with a brilliant white head, which will eventually dissipate down to a heavy dusting of foam in the glass. This foam helps to provide excellent lacing throughout the duration of your drinking experience.

Aroma: Full of juicy, tropical pineapple mixed with an ever so subtle hint of delicate elderflower. As the drink warms, the aroma matures into notes of sweet apricot and zesty lime.

Body: Extremely soft carbonation helps to ensure a very pleasurable drinking experience. This beer will fill your mouth and tingle the back of your throat on every sip. This carbonation helps to ensure no clogging on the back of the throat, lovely!

Taste: Just like the nose, the taste begins full of juicy pineapples. This is then playfully intertwined with subtle notes of caramel and a earthy malt base. Resisting the popular tend to hop IPA's to death, Truman's use a subtle blend of three hops in this beer; Challenger, Centennial and a new experimental hop called Wallex. These three hop musketeers impart a relatively low level of bitterness and create a smooth citrus aftertaste to cleanse your palate. I must be honest, this beer was a hell of better than I was expecting. If you managed to try some of this beer at the Nicholson Spring Beer Festival, congratulations you have backed a winner. Hopefully this beer will make a reappearance very, very soon for the masses to enjoy. Top work all round guys!

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/odell-brewing-company-ipa.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/sly-fox-brewing-pikeland-pils.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

East London Brewing Foundation Bitter

East London Brewing Foundation Bitter

Style: Bitter

Alcohol Content: 4.2%

From: Leyton, London, England, United Kingdom

Purchased from: Beer Boutique, Putney 

http://eastlondonbrewing.com/

So it would appear that spring is here again. Kids in shorts and flip flops are now multiplying by the day and the clocks have finally “sprung” forward to herald the start of yet another great British summer. This spring is however different. This spring, brings the birth of the first baby among my close friends. Whilst I am over the moon about the upcoming arrive, I can’t help but think I'm getting older and moving into another stage in my life. Talk nappies and houses have replaced talk of ladies and shots. Our hair continues to thin and waists grow ever larger (no matter what products/diets we use to try and fight it). As my hairline recedes, one thing that has improved with age is our appreciation of good beer.

So whilst visiting a beer garden on Saturday, I took great joy in speaking to my oldest friend about the various beer styles and how they are created. He was shocked to hear that Budweiser actually use rice in their recipe. So as we washed down our splendid lunches with a few pints of Fuller’s ESB, I thought to myself how lucky we are to have such an amazing choice of beers right on our doorstep. With this in fresh in my mind, I decided to open a bottle of East London Brewing Foundation Bitter and reflect on my disappearing youth and look forward to all the changes ahead of me.

East London is a small independent brewery based in Leyton, London. After both deciding to give up their day jobs, Stuart Lascelles and Claire Ashbridge-Thomlinson set up their 10-barrel plant in February 2011. While for most people juggling a young family and an embryonic brewery would prove to be insurmountable task, the dynamic duo rose to the occasion and produced their  first batch of ELB pale ale six months later. Due to their tenacity the brewery was able to stay open and eventual expand into the unit opposite in May 2013. Its well documented that good things come in small  packages so let’s see how their Foundation Bitter tastes shall we.  

Colour: Pours a deep, rich chestnut brown with a small white head which will lace the glass beautifully on every sip. Personally I would prefer a larger head on my bitter but that could be down to my dodgy pouring.

Aroma: As soon as you pop the cap, you will feel like you have walked into a bakery just as the loaves are removed from the oven. A baker’s dozen of aromas will rise to meet your nostrils. Fresh baked brown bread and yeast are present from the outset. After a few minutes in the glass, slight hints of sweet citrus can be detected which helps to round out the aroma profile perfectly.

Body: This drink is remarkably light/thin for a bitter, which actually makes it very thirst quenching. However as soon as you swallow this beer you will notice a high amount of clogging on the back of your throat. Although this sensation is not unpleasant, it will certainly force you to slow down and enjoy your pint. For me this is a hallmark of how a good bitter should be drunk; slow and with great company.  

Taste: I always find the Bitter style very interesting. Although the name suggests the drink should be so overall bitter that you won't enjoy it , I personally find that most bitters have a relatively low IBU (International Bittering Units). So I was pleasantly surprised to find that my bottle of Foundation was actually rather bitter in the mouth.  Upfront notes of brown roasted malts provided a taste similar to that of brown bread or roasted hazelnuts. The finish of this beer is very intriguing, with a large amount of bitterness which is underpinned by a slight, sour lemon edge. I was rather taken aback by this a first and it did take quite some time to get used to. That being said, this sourness helps to create the “thirst quenching” edge which sets this bitter apart from the crowd.

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/moor-beer-company-merlin-magic.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/urthel-hop-it.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Nicholson's Spring Beer Festival

Nicholson's Spring Beer Festival 

Whilst at the Beer Academy last tuesday, I meet the director of the Free Beer App, Bradley Channer who kindly invited me to join him at Nicholson's Pubs Beer and Food Matching in association with Brains Brewery. Now I never turn down a free meal (or beer for that matter) so i jumped at the chance. Upon arrival I was pleased to learn that this event was indeed a precursor for Nicholson Spring Beer Festival. Running from March the 24th till April the19th, the festival will showcase some of the finest beers throughout the UK. Brain's brewery will providing four beers for the festival, all of which were matched to the nights food.

The Solution (6.0% ABV) - Award-winning beer writer Peter Brown collaborated with Brains to produce The Solution - An abbey-style Belgian dubbel traditionally brewed by Trappist monks in Belgium. Using Munich and Dark Crystal malts, Saaz and Styrian Golding hops and a traditional Trappist yeast, this dark, full bodied and complex beer is full of rich, fruity plum flavours with sweet raisin aroma and spicy warming finish. This beer was paired with olives in order to cut through the saltiness and refresh your palate.  

Three C'Son (5.0% ABV) - Beer writer Adrian Tierney-Jones collaborated with Brians for the Continental Beer Challenge to produce Three C-Son, a traditional farmhouse Saison with an added twist of three American Hops - Centennial, Columbus, Citra - giving the name Three-C'son. The sweet nose of ripe peach and citrus, a green apple snappiness on the palate and a hint of white pepper combines with an earthy spice from the use of a traditional Saison yeast that is followed by a firm, refreshing finish. This beer was paired with chicken liver pate. The rich pate was excellently balanced against the fruity backdrop of Three C'sons. My favorite beer of the night!

Rye Catcher (5.0% ABV) - Winner of the annual Continental Beer Challenge this American rye beer was brewed in collaboration with Glenn Payne. Using Rye and Rye Crystal malts to provide a spicy malt base and a vibrant copper colour to this beer, it's powerfully hopped with Apollo, Columbus, Amarillo and Citra from the USA, producing an assertive bitterness with robust flavours of citrus and grapefruit. This drink was partnered with a Iberian Black Pig Burger.  For me this did not work that well as a pairing as the saltiness from the burger muted the flavour of the beer. The IPA was however excellent and gave Three C'sons a close run for beer of the night. 

Boilermaker (6.5% ABV) - Crowned the "Ultimate IPA' in Brains inaugural annual collaboration brew challenge, "Thinking Drinkers" Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham worked with the brewery to produce a Welsh IPA, matured with Penderyn whisky infused oak chips from the distillery, resulting in a complex and fruit beer with a warming whiskey buzz. A sweet beer to compliment a sticky toffee pudding. The sweetness from both blended perfectly to create a sticky sensation that stayed with me all night long.

Not to be outdone, Nicholson’s Pubs will launching their new collaboration beer by british journalist, author and presenter Danny Wallace and Truman’s brewery during the Spring Ales Festival. Tom Ditto IPA (5% ABV) has been created to mark the release of Wallace’s new novel 'Who is Tom Ditto?' set for release on the 24th April (my birthday none the less, so perhaps this can be my birthday pint?)

After having a look through the festival list, I am most excited about the following beers; Charles and Wells/Dogfish Head DNA, Great Heck Shankar IPA, World Top Marmalade Porter, Itchen Valley Blackberry Mild, Peerless Down Under and Oakham Citra (which I reviewed at the beginning of the year, here is the review http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/oakham-ales-citra.html). In short, I will certainly be getting a couple of tasting bats over the course of the next month thats for sure! Who's with me?

Here is the full Festival Programme http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/pdf/nicholsons-festival-programme.pdf

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery