REVIEW: Ridgeway Lump of Coal & How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Alright, hope everybody had a great weekend. Were it not for sports, I sure would have. At least Navy came through for me. Well, beer will never let me down, right? Today we've got Lump of Coal; a stout from Ridgeway Brewing in South Stoke England. This one was bought for the name only. I figured it'd be one that I'd be able to come up with a pairing for. And pair we shall, with How the Grinch Stole Christmas! And hey! It's all online so everybody at home can play along!

REVIEW: Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale & Doctor Who

I'm slowly but surely getting back into the swing of posting here every other weekday. So, today we soldier on with the Christmas parings! This fine Wednesday I'm looking at Winter Welcome Ale, a winter warmer from Samuel Smith's. A brewer that has always seemed to me to be quintessentially British. I'm not sure if that's actually their actual perception within the UK but to me when I think of British beer a bottle of Taddy Porter immediately springs to mind. But today, in the spirit of the season, we have Winter Welcome Ale, and to pair with it, something as essentially British and as essentially Christmassy, the Doctor Who Christmas special, The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe!

REVIEW: Wychwood Hobgoblin

Folks, I have to start today with an apology. You've probably noticed that the timing of these posts has become pretty erratic. The new job and a current lack of Internet at my new apartment (jerk neighbors password protecting their wifi) have made it so that I can't put up these posts when I would usually like. I'm sorry. I'm doing my damnedest to get three posts a week up. Sometimes that may take longer than I would prefer. Bear with me, people.

So I'm doing this beer today all because of that bizarre mug. It is beyond strange right? But so cool. So, inside of that borderline creepy mug resides what I always assumed was a brown ale. It's listed on Wychwood's website as a ruby ale and on Beer Advocate as an ESB. Well, whatever it is, Hobgoblin checks in at 5.2% ABV. To the beer!

REVIEW: RCH Old Slug Porter

In the past I've done weeks here on the blog that had a bit of a theme. A week when I would do nothing but barleywines, or nothing but beers from MadTree. Nothing like that will be happening here in the foreseeable future. I've got a whole mess of beers sitting it my fridge at the moment and I'm just going to be grabbing what sounds good at the moment. So that lead's us to today's beer, Old Slug Porter from RCH Brewery. I'm a sucker for a funny animal sidekick so the mustachioed monocled gastropod on the label has me thinking pretty highly of this beer already. To the beer!

REVIEW: Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Folks, I'll be honest. This is not the beer that I had originally in mind for today's post. The other night I had a can of Tetley's Smoothflow all set to go. I poured the beer, took the photo and everything. But when I tasted it it gave me pause. Not that it was a bad beer, not at all. I enjoyed it. It just tasted a whole lot like Old Speckled Hen. The aromas and flavors were eerily similar. And I was worried that my post today would look a whole lot like the one that you saw on Monday. That I wouldn't have anything new to say. So for today's post I decided to go in another direction. In a direction that will surely give me some new tasting notes. Today I look at Young's Double Chocolate Stout. To the beer!

REVIEW: Morland/ Greene King Old Speckled Hen

So I mentioned last week that that Meantime Porter was the first English beer that I had looked at on the blog. Well, I'm making up for lost time. On a semi-related note, I have recently rediscovered my love for Guinness. The sessionable, hearty, dry, roastiness, and the creamy nitro body. With both of those things in mind I'm making it a point this week to check out some English nitro draught ales. First on the list, Old Speckled Hen, first brewed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MG factory in Abingdon. There seems to be some discrepancy online as to the style of this beer. Old Speckled Hen's own website just refers to it as an English Ale, Beer Advocate has it listed as an English Pale Ale. I was always under the impression that it was a bitter and I found a couple other references out there saying the same. Well, whatever it may be it checks in at 5.2%. To the beer!

REVIEW: Meantime Naval College Old Porter

So as I was preparing to write this post I went looking back through my... archives (that can't be the right word). While I was there I noticed something pretty surprising.  I have never taken a look at an English beer. I've talked about a handful from Scotland, a couple from Germany, plenty of Belgians, and of course a whole lot of American beers. But shockingly, none from England. This is especially weird because all of my favorite beers are interpretations of English styles. IPAs, stouts, porters, bitters all originate from England. Well, today my blog is no longer bereft of English ales as today I take a look at the Naval College Old Porter from Meantime Brewing in London, England. To the beer!