Counting down to the Beavertown Extravaganza

It’s only a few days now until this event and I really am beside myself. SERIOUSLY. How do I prepare for such an epic event? Normally if I’m going out to a massive meal or buffet extravaganza I’ll wear elasticated trousers but for this event what’s a girl to do?

There’s going to be 60 breweries offering their delectable beers and although every single beer on the list won’t all be on the taps simultaneously over the two-day extravaganza, there’s still a lot to contemplate. It’s an ‘all-in’ ticket meaning that you’ll have the chance to cram in 100ml of each tasty beer which is awesome because there’s nothing worse than having to drink a shedload of something that tastes like crap. I’m sure I won’t taste any rubbish ones though…

Right, so that’s the small taster-sized samples ticked but what about a strategy for which bars to hit first? The last Beavertown event I went to was ‘Beaver For My Valentine’ and beers were running out left right and centre whilst I was queueing at the bars. This is the main reason for getting prepped as if I’m running a beer marathon. I’ve got the app, printed off the maps and the handy beer excel list – you can nab all these now from here.

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Normally I just stroll up and enjoy but I’ve learned my lesson and I’m reminding myself: “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”. I know this seems geeky but who the hell cares if I get to sip some of those kick ass beers on my wish list?! The beer list goes live on the app on Tuesday 5th Sep too. Woo-hoo!

My comfortable shoes are at the ready – the location is huge, have you seen it?! Last time I went to the Printworks was for Star Wars Secret Cinema and although this time I won’t be bartering my way to a ticket to Alderaan, I will certainly be busting a move to get some tasty ales that are on my ‘beer-lust-list’ in my glass before the day is out.

12 targets on my ‘beer-lust-list’

  • Lervig ‘Orange Velvet Milkshake IPA with Mango Mandarin and Lime’
  • Warpigs ‘Totally Fucking Entombed AD Bourbon Barrel Aged Imp. Stout’
  • Buxton x Omnipollo ‘Blueberry Slab Cake Ice Cream’
  • Brouwerij Kees ‘StrawberryFields Chocolate milkstout with strawberries and chocolate’
  • Modern Times ‘Devil’s Teeth Aged in Bourbon Barrels w/ Maple Smoked Pecans’ and Cocoa Nibs
  • Garage Project ‘Two Tap Flat White’ – Two beers. A shot of Imp Coffee Stout topped with a velvety smooth nitro Milk Cream Ale
  • Loverbeer ‘LALE Barrel Aged Sour Ale with Cherries’
  • To Øl ‘Dangerously Close To Stupid Amounts Of Guava Imperial IPA w/ Guava’
  • Hawkshead ‘RAINBOW PROJECT Hawkshead + Modern Times Mojito Kettle-soured IPA’
  • Cellarmaker Brewing ‘Manhattan Barrel Vastness of Space Cocktail Barrel Aged Imperial Stout’
  • Brewski ‘Passionfeber IPA’
  • RAINBOW PROJECT Beavertown + Jester king ‘Rex Apiary Bier de Miel’

So that’s a sneaky look at a section of my beery targets and if you see me at the bar ask me about swag. Yes that’s right I’ll have badges! 😉

See you there beer buds.

Coffee & Beer – The Ultimate Buzz

I love coffee and I love beer, so when the two are combined I get majorly interested. There’s loads of coffee beers on the market and I’m pretty sure I have at least another thousand to taste – wish me luck.

Thanks to my buddies at Coffee Architects I visited the London Coffee Festival in April which got me thinking about coffee beers and how my love affair with them is intensifying by the day. At the festival one of my favourite coffee tinged delights was available to sip – Wild Beer’s Wildebeest, if you haven’t tried it yet get out there and hunt a bottle down pronto. It’s so good that I have one bottle that I’m coveting in my cupboard for a ‘special occasion’.


Coffee being a stimulant and beer being a ‘depressant’ in classic terms should surely cause some trouble, right? When combined though they are an unbeatable combination. So why do they pair so well? Well if you’re a fan of porters and stouts you’ll know that they are already on the malty side of the spectrum anyway – giving hints of coffee aromas and flavours, especially in the delectable finish.

Although classically attributed to these beer styles this has now been turned on its head and brewers are experimenting with a new breed of coffee beers. Craft beer and craft coffee go hand-in-hand and as a major coffee fan, I like my coffee rich, complex and chocolatey – similar characteristics to some of my favourite beers! We can rejoice and cheer while we benefit from some these tasty craft partnerships like Beavertown and Caravan, or Wild Beer Co and Tincan Coffee.

So what other coffee beers should you check out? Try these gems:

  • Weird Beard – Out of the Office – I’m in love with this coffee IPA! It’s the right side of coffee without being sickly. I actually think I could drink a couple of these quite happily but at 7.0% I better pace myself. It’s brewed with Hasbean Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Konga Sedie Natural beans and it’s as smooth as hell.
  • Marble – Chocolate Marble – This really is sublime. I would normally steer clear of anything that says ‘liquorice’ on the label so prominently but the liquorice is subtle, in fact the cocoa finish makes it super moorish.

marble beers choclate marble review

  • Nest Beer – Espresso Stout – Nest never disappoints me so I had to give this beer a whirl. I finally purchased this from Beer Gonzo, Coventry and I like it a lot. After a few sips I could actually taste currants in the aftermath of sipping it. Very different to other coffee beers I’ve tried, not as thick and there’s is certainly a tinge of fruitiness about it.
  • Beavertown/Caravan – Spresso – I first sipped this at the Beaver for my Valentine event and if I see any cans of it around again I’ll be stuffing them in my bag pronto. This beer gave me a major hit, like a big coffee clenched fist in fact. If you like your coffee flavours big then this is the beer for you.

Beer of the Week – 15.02.2016

So, following my visit to Beaver My Valentine it seems only fitting to mark Beavertown’s Double Chin as my beer of this week. Still feeling the love from Valentine’s day, this seems pretty apt!

A one-off double edition of its session IPA, Neck Oil this is a monster (and not a scary one). I think I admire it’s ballsiness, the almost herbal hoppy notes definitely woke me up whilst its grapefruity, cirtus hints were delectable. I’ll definitelty be hunting down more cans of this! It’s sold out in most places online ;-(

Beavertown, Beaver My Valentine, Review, Craft Beer

Will You Beaver My Valentine?

The 13th Feb was marked in my calendar for quite a while because it was the fourth birthday party for the infamous Beavertown. Its parties, like it’s beer are legendary.

For me though, this would be my first official Beavertown shindig. Although I’ve been sipping its tasty ales for a while now, I’ve pretty much been admiring them from the back row of the auditorium, preferring to dodge the uber excited fans waiting for a whiff of their idol and slightly embarrassed because now everyone likes their new favourite band.

This event certainly proved that. Like anyone I understand the allure of craft beer but the epically long queue signalled that now one of my favourite bands can sell out that stadium three times over. To be honest, queuing for hours to get into any type of beer festival felt a little bit alien. Yesterday I saw families, OAPs, couples, babies, girl gangs, guy gangs, and lonesome beer geeks – not just the hundreds of omnipresent craft beer fan-come beardy hipster often typified in the media. Great beer crosses boundaries guys.

The bashing Beavertown received on social media was unnecessary. Yes I know people were pissed off that they couldn’t get in but shouldn’t we be patting these guys on the back for creating such a frenzy of excitement about that thing we love – great beer!?

In four years they’ve cultivated such a passionate following and it’s not like that love has been unrequited – their beer it always on point, rewarding to sip and yes, the cool points encompassed by its branding don’t go unnoticed either.

Look, if you were eager to see your favourite band and they were putting on a free gig then you’d get there early right? Call me unsympathetic but I queued for an hour and half in the cold to get in and man, it was definitely worth it. I know naysayers will say “they could have predicted the demand” but seriously I’ve never seen that hysteria for craft beer! There’s no way that could be have been anticipated!

Yes, a few more checkpoints for picking up beer tokens might have been a good idea but after seeing that photo of the dude stealing their beer and ramming it in his bag – the volunteers were hard pushed to keep the beer flowing and control the masses.  The queues for the elusive beer card (£20 for 9 thirds) were like something reserved normally for the January sale, thankfully though the wicked conversation and free tinnies in the queue somewhat quelled my moans.

The Beer!

I attended the festival with my friend yesterday and we needed a strategy to get through our beer tokens pre 4pm so we chose to get a beer and drink it while in the queue for the next. Alas, this wasn’t as successful as we thought – we were disappointed not to get to sip the Omnipollo and Buxton collab (Chocolate Ice Cream) or in fact the Tiny Rebel/Dugess(se) collab (Pina Colada Pale Ale) which both ran out just as I got to the front of the queue.

To start the day’s proceedings I bagged the Beavertown birthday brew – Double Chin, a double IPA version of its Neck Oil. This beer is kick ass – with its citrusy buzz (I got hints of orange and pineapple). My buddy chose Appleation which suitably matched my beer selection in terms of ABV (above 8%) and probably explains why we were floating a bit while in the next queue.


I’ll not go into immense detail about every beer we sampled – 14 in total before we had to leave with the cans we purchased with our last tokens. However, here’s a handy hitlist of my beery highlights for the day:

  • Beavertown, Mr. Hyde (With To Øl) BA Spayside Imperial Stout – 13.7% I like my beer strong and this was a beast of a beer. With tasty chocolate, whisky and dark fruit notes this is intoxicating. I’m now regretting I didn’t bag a few bottles of this to take home!
  • Warpigs, Skull King – 8.7% This wasn’t on the original beer list for the day but hot dam I’m glad I had this. It has a subtle sweetness but a bitter finish. There was definitely hints of caramel, grapefruit and peach present – this is one rockin’ beer.
  • Naparbier, Avant-Garde Series Barley Wine (Ed 2015) – 12% This was an immense one to end the day with. Rich hazelnut in colour, its flavour was certainly equally rich but not in an overpowering way. Very brandy-esque, with hints of coffee, vanilla and a slight tang. I’d probably queue at least an hour to drink this gem again!

 

 Verdict

There was certainly a bit of negativity flung in the direction of our Beavertown buddies due to the event, however there was also bucket loads of amazing chatter too. Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, you’ve got to hand it to them – that birthday bash was a real life indicator of the growing desire for amazing beer and that makes me smile.