KEN'S BEER BLOG ; BEER OF THE MONTH

Every month I will try and feature a beer of the month, something that has stood out and hopefully has a story to go with it. 

So here goes with January. Despite all the bollocks about dry January and people telling us how much we have to drink, Ive had some interesting beers.

Black Sheep Riggwelter, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA,Hop Back Entire Stout along with others have been enjoyed. Even a week in the sun in Lanzarote came up with some interesting German beers , Franzishaner Dunkel Weissbeer among them@@.  But the winner this month goes to (drum roll)  Robinson s Old Tom.

I had it on handpull for what i thought was for the first time at the Station House micropub in Durham at the beginning of the year. At 8.5% this one packs a hell of a punch. I have it every so often in bottle form, with the label "Best Beer in the World 2009" .I was struggling when I started writing this to recall when I first tried it then,  suddenly it came to me ; it was at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival 10 years ago.

In those days Theakstons Brewery ( of Masham N Yorks)  had their own bar, always selling Old Peculier. To wind the bar staff up I remember wearing a Black Sheep Brewery   T shirt (also of Masham N Yorks). Jokingly the barman said " sorry mate can't serve you wearing that !!". Anyhow he did and we enjoyed the beer whilst browsing through the Festival Programme.

One eagle eye spotted the entry  Robinson's Old Tom 8.5%. I believe at the time it was the strongest beer available on the day . Some of us said,  a bit like a builder giving you a quote with a sharp intake of breath, " Not touching that, too strong !". However three of us decided to try it as our last drink of the day, so as not to tip us over the edge into insensibility for the rest of the afternoon. There was a collective " ooh that's good " soon followed by a collective glazed look. This one had the desired effect as we weaved our way to the exit.

Fast forward to this month. The cask version was still as good as I remember , and have just savoured the bottled version.

As you can see from the picture, it looks black, but viewed from above is a deep red colour. Now unless a beer has chocolate in it I'm usually crap at smelling beer. I'm told Molasses and Fruit and Chocolate feature in the aroma. I got a hint of an unfamiliar smell so it must have been the molasses.

So now the taste. This is classed as on Old Ale, but really tastes like a Madiera wine, preferably served in a wine glass. Its best sipped and savoured, and not thrown down your neck. The beer comes over as fruity and warming, perfect for a winter month.  Its been brewed since 1899 and has won several awards, including Champion Winter Beer of Britain in 2005. In my opinion a worthy winner. 

I usually ration myself with this one; familiarity breeds contempt so would I reckon about 6 times a year will keep me loving this beer. 

Thanks to the Station House for giving me the chance to try it from a cask, after all these years. 

  

@@ see previous post. Click here for more on Dunkel ale