The Winding Wheel Beer Festival, Chesterfield.

The famous crooked spire.

Last weekend was a great opportunity to venture out of town on a beer hunting adventure. On a road trip organised by my old man we ventured beyond the borders of Yorkshire and into the lesser known wilderness known as the midlands, to a pleasant market town called Chesterfield. 

Chesterfield is a splendid place, not too posh, nor too Northern, but to basically sum it up; It has the famous crooked spire (see above). Thornbridge Brewery beer is nearly everywhere and there are very few charity shops. But I digress..  

Beer festival ground floor.

The annual Winding Wheel beer festival is a CAMRA event encompassing three floors of The Winding Wheel Theatre in Chesterfield. The beer list was pretty extensive with the majority of beers from breweries I had never heard of. Thornbridge Brewery have a separate cask and keg bar. 

Given we were joining on the second day of the festival the beer range had been thinned out a bit. The new highly sought after Thornbridge The Union, 6% IPA  on keg had sold out. Sadly so had a fair few others on the hit list. However, despite this a pretty diverse array of quality beers were still available. 

Thornbridge bar.

The first beer to grab my attention was from a Blackpool based micro brewery; Pool Brewing That's Just How I Feel. Mango, pine and citrus dominate the palate and the mouthfeel of it was fairly heavy for a 3.8% blonde. Then wandering onto the middle floor, Hang The Elephant Van Milder at 5.4% was a strong mild with character. Rich and chocolatey with oily coffee and liquorice throughout. 

After this Neighbourhood Brew Placebo was a 4% blonde ale with a soft grainy feel and some spicy citrus notes. It almost had some resemblance to an American wheat but on cask. Wickham House Jester at 4.5% was amber hued and closer to a classic British pale ale. Plenty of fruit and malt. 

For the grand finale of the evening Brampton brewery Menin Gate was the obvious choice. It's not often you find a 7.4% Belgian style Dubbel on cask. A class beer indeed it's deep amber depths opening with boozy apples and pear. Lots of caramelised malt and winter fruits lingering in the finish.

After this it was time to say goodbye to the Winding Wheel Beer festival. It's always great to visit new places and break the habit of going to the same beer festivals every year. Thank's again to my old man for organising the adventure.  

The last blog post of 2024.

It's that time of year again, and have to say 2024 has been a fantastic year. Highlighted mainly by the Rooster's Brewery takeover, 2024 has brought with it new horizons; Settling into a new workplace. The kids getting older. It has been my year for turning 40 and trying my hand at running an allotment. 

I should also thank my girlfriend Susan for being the biggest influence in getting me back into blogging as well as reviewing beers in the logbook again. So for this final blog post of 2024 I have decided to put together a collection of news and highlights from throughout the year that didn't manage to get on the blog.  

Suds With Buds.

Back from the summer. This is held annually at Roosters and this year was the Daleside teams first time participating in it. 

The basic deal for Suds with Buds was to convert the entire brewery premises including taproom, sample room and garden into a huge beer festival. Independent brewery stands were scattered throughout the premises, accompanied by food vendors, live music and a DJ set on the 30 barrel kit. An awesome experience both to work at and try many of the beers available afterwards. 

SIBA North awards.   

This month Daleside brewery has won three gold awards at SIBA north for Morocco ale, Monkey Wrench and Blonde in bottle. It is great to hear we are still getting recognition. Despite how different things are with Daleside being a company within a company (and it's more than just the staff that have had to get used to that) it's sometimes lovely to see how things have came together.

The posh new office.

Look out for the 'barrel aged' version of Morocco ale coming out next year.

Daleside Winter Jewel.

I also recently got my chance at developing a beer on Rooster's 30 barrel kit, creating (a re-make of) the 4% Daleside seasonal Winter Jewel.

Malts for Winter Jewel; dark and spicy 

Not only loved inventing and brewing this but the brew day itself went exceptionally smoothly. Am still on the lookout for finding it on trade.    

Craig's Retirement.

One the most dramatic changes to hit Daleside this year has been the retirement of long standing brewer/head brewer Craig Witty.  

So famous they put his picture on a bus.

Son to company founder Bill Witty, who passed away in 2007. Craig was the first person on many peoples brewing journey, having a part in training many professionals across the industry today. He will be remembered for his positive energy and drive to always do the most professional job possible. 

After the Roosters takeover Craig added diversity to the workplace by being the token old person in production. But since way back Craig's gradual phasing towards retirement has been arduous and difficult the same way it has for many of the ageing Daleside staff. Take for example this conversation between Craig and head of sales Vince back in mid 2014 following a Spoons meet the brewer. Old age comes to us all, and I myself remember at the old brewery site checking up every couple of hours just in case another staff member hadn't decided to 'snuff it'. 

Golden Pint Awards 2024.

Traditionally this would be the time of year for beer bloggers to publish their very own Golden Pint awards. In short this is a pretty extensive list of the favourite beers tried that year split into numerous categories; favourite new brewery, cask beer, keg beer, small pack etc. But for me I'm cutting straight to chase by narrowing it down to my favourite beer experiences of the year (in general).

Ultimately 2024 has been the year of the IPA. Obviously moving to Rooster's has meant being surrounded by pale hoppy beers. Baby Faced Assassin is a bench mark classic.

Baby Faced Assassin, excellent with Yorkshire blue cheese and pickles.

Although Baby Faced has become my new 'go to' IPA, for my personal favourite IPA tried in 2024 it would probably be between; 

Firebick Brewery Pacific, it's 6%, Raw and uncompromising like a West Coast IPA should be. 

Roosters Blame it on the Tetons Mountain IPA is a hybrid style. With all the juicy tropical hop character of an east coast IPA aligned with the structure and bitterness of a West coast IPA. A beautiful beer on both cask and keg. Very tropical. 

The Thornbridge-Stone collab; West Side Story is also worth a mention. 

Highest ranked beer of the year (based on logbook scoring).

Just on the basis of beer logbook highest score alone, the best beer tried this year was Paulana Salvator. The classic 7.9% German doppelbock tried at The Office Ale house.  

For the record all Firebrick beers have scored highly, including this one. 

  

For me one of the biggest things I find myself attracted to in beer especially in recent years is originality. This isn't referring to innovative hybrid beer styles or beers brewed with obscure alternative fermentables. But more beers that wonder outside of the status quo of 'what the market expects'.       

Most notable/inspirational original beers of 2024;

Lost Cause Don't Call it a Comeback is a 4.5% Belgian inspired Farmhouse pale ale.  Tried at Rooster's Suds with Buds in the summer,  it features lots of funky yeasty, green pepper, woody orange and spice. 

Roosters Throwback 5.3%. Stock ale. A medley of almond soaked oak fruit and malt over caramelised malt. Complex yet sessionable and exceptional on cask.   

Amity Duration In-Visible. 5.4%. Silky smooth Collab Dunkelweazen brewed to celebrate international women's day. Banana, chocolate and spice dominate. With lingering clove, berries, bubblegum and caramel.   

Some other great eamples worthy of mention include Firebrick Cushy Butterfield and the more recent Rooster's Yorkshires Best.

So that was my basic rundown of the highlights of the year. Happy new year everyone.

 

Grape vs Grain at Roosters Taproom.

It was only a couple of blog posts ago I recall going on at great length about my fondness for beer and cheese. Also mentioning that to the majority of people this may seem like just a lesser talked about alternative to the more widely accepted concept of wine and cheese. Arguably over recent decades literature and acceptance across the world for beer and cheese has grown significantly.  

Which is better with cheese, wine or beer? Well the most recent event at Roosters taproom; Grape vs Grain delved straight into fray of this matter. From the moment I heard about this event I immediately felt it was my destiny to attend. But finding anyone interested or committed enough to pay the ticket price and go with was another matter. Sure enough I have a girlfriend committed enough to let me ramble on about beer extensively without restriction, but that doesn't really seal the deal when she isn't really into beer herself. In the end it was both my parent's who decided it was worth the journey south to join me. 

I would note this was not the first beer and cheese tasting event ever to be held at Rooster's taproom, but it was the first one including wine. The concept itself had obviously raised some level of intrigue. Given initial ticket numbers for Grape vs Grain had to be extended after quickly selling out. Eventually over 50 tickets being sold. 

 The basic idea was The Cheeseboard in Harrogate would supply a selection of cheeses and local wine merchants Ake & Humphris would supply and present wine to pair with each cheese. At the same time Rooster's production manager Stu (who also used to work in wine) would supply and present beers from Roosters taproom to pair with the same cheeses. The audience get to decide which beverage pairs best with cheese; wine or beer.

I myself had never tried the two beverages side by side with cheese before. The number of times I have tried pairing wine with cheese in any meaningful way I could probably count on the one hand. But my approach here was to be non-bias and open minded. 

Here was how it went down...     

   

The panel; Jamie, Gemma, Tom and Stu (quirky looking old dude on the right) 

Grape vs Grain was hosted by Rooster's MD Tom Fozard. The three presenters;  Gemma Aykroyd from The Cheeseboard, Jamie from Ake & Humphris and Rooster's Stu collectively presented each cheese alongside grape and grain accompaniments, with explanations on why each beer/wine pairing was chosen.  After the introduction from Rooster's Tom the stage was set for this epic showdown; six different cheeses paired with six different beers and six different wines.  

Pairing 1.

Alp Blossom,

Good as Hell, Helles style lager.  4.9% abv.  

Funkstille, skin contact (orange), Niederosterreic, Austria 12.5% abv.

Alp Blossom was the starting point for the evening. The sweet yet complex Bavarian crowd pleaser with it's rind coated in herbs and scented flowers. A splendid cheese indeed. 

Enter Good as Hell, Helles style lager. It's fresh and clean with gentle toasted grain marrying into the mild sweetness of the cheese while the herbal notes from the hops harmonised nicely with floral nature of the rind. By comparison the wine pairing seemed to have some logic behind it, a kind of zippy acidity contrasting the cheese. But fell completely flat compared to the Helles. 

For me beer won hands down here. My mother also backed beer as the winner but to my surprise my dad decided to back grape. Then came the show of hands from the audience; it's split 50/50, right on a knife edge.  

Pairing 2.

Wookey Hole Goat's Cheddar.

Thousand Yard Stare, hazy pale ale. 5.4% abv.  

Valencay, Sebastiaen Vaillant, Loire, France. 13% abv. 

This was a nice cheese. Cave aged goats cheese from Somerset. Mild, savoury and on the hard side with a 'goaty' flavour and earthy notes. After round one I was feeling pretty comfortable beer was going to smash this one. Thousand Yard Stare is a beer I have grown to love, but this was where things got interesting and I myself was totally thrown. 

The hop forward class of Thousand Yard Stare married right into this cheese. Like it was giving it a cuddle. Yet the elegant mineral quality and acidity of the French white was dancing and contrasting with the cheese like no beer ever could. It was blissful, and by far the best cheese and wine combination encountered in my living memory. Evoking memories of posh restaurants and holidays in France growing up. 

Thousand Yard Stare had a fight on it's hands here and sure was fighting back. Vibrant harmonious tropical, citrus and stone fruits lovingly clinging onto the salty, fatty, textural balances of the cheese.  

I just can't pick a winner...

This was an epic, gripping, brutal battle to the end. Like Yoda vs Darth Sidious in Star Wars but more akin to the Portugal-Greece final of Euro 2004. After as much analysis and comparison I could possibly fit into the time slot in the end I finally landed on beer as my winner.  Like Greece, beer had worn down the opposition. My parents had switched in opinion this time my dad was going for grain, the mother grape.  

Both Stu and Tom on the panel conceded with the opinion that wine was victorious here.

Pairing 3.

Vacherin Mont D'or.

Hazy-Faced Assassin. Hazy IPA.  5.7% abv.

Diez Siglos Verdejo, Rueda, Spain 13% abv. 

This was a rich, voluptuous, gooey washed rind cheese. With an added resinous flavour from being wrapped in spruce bark. For this pairing we would be getting an exclusive pre-release tasting of Hazy-Faced Assassin. The newest addition to the Baby-Faced Assassin family. 

Hazy-Faced Assassin blends the qualities of an East Coast IPA with that signature in your face heavy citrus that let's you know it's from the Faced-Assassin range. It has some softer blueberry and stone fruit notes not featured in the original from the use of Galaxy hops.

The resinous flavours in both the beer and the cheese complemented nicely. The Spanish white was also a nice pairing. Both acidic and sweet, overall quite pleasant. My opinion was neither beverage paired as convincingly with the cheese as the last two pairings. Both great as stand alone beverages but as the pairing was going it was more akin to watching two equally matched average teams. For the first time I decided grape was the marginal winner.

Pairing 4.

Munster.

Daleside Morocco ale 5.5% abv.

Cantina Di Soliera Lambrusco Rosso Grasparossa Amabile, Emilia Romagna, Italy. 8% abv.

Another soft washed rind cheese here, this time from France. Meaty, fruity, complex and stinky. This beer-cheese combination was a one I knew about in advance and was genuinely intrigued on how Morocco ale would pair with this. The deep ruby, spiced strong ale was never a beer I have thought to put with cheese. 

It' certainly didn't disappoint. Morocco ale with it's big boozy caramelised malts and spice just marries into that that big meaty texture of Munster so well.  The wine on the other hand was too sugary. With a cherry balsamic aftertaste. It's trying but no. For me beer was the clear winner on this one however the show of hands from the audience was evenly split between beer and wine.    

Pairing 5.

Cheesemaker's Special.

Terry, Chocolate Orange Stout. 4.5% abv.

Senorio De Sarria Reserva, Navarra, Spain 14.5% abv.

This was an aged hard cheese from East Sussex that veers a little towards caramelly, nutty, Gouda-like. The chocolate orange stout was good choice here marrying right into the caramel notes. Some great harmonies between beer and cheese but on the counter the acidity of the Spanish red picks up on the nuttiness of the cheese and provides a nice contrast. The two really sit well together. Another close battle that could go ether way but for me beer was the winner.  

Getting a bit pi**ed now

By this point in the evening my overall perspective had permanently shifted. Wine and cheese can work really well (if you know how to play it) but beer and cheese is still just generally easier to get right. I confess in my younger years to being drawn in to the various beer writers carrying the rhetoric (not all of them) that beer and cheese was vastly superior to wine and cheese. Some even going as far as stating wine and cheese to be a complete myth/misconception. 

Anyways. Onwards to the final... 

 

Pairing 6. 

Shorthorn Blue.

Stingo Barley Wine 9% abv.

Krohn Lbv Port, Douro, Portugal. 20% abv.

Finishing things off we had the rich, buttery and salty Shorthorn Blue from Acorn dairy of Skipton. This was a fairly easy going new-ish blue cheese. The 12 month old pinot noir barrel aged Stingo barley wine was an easy no-brainer match for it. Lots of boozy complex dried fruits. Even the aroma's of the two seemed harmonious with each other.   

Then came the big guns of the 20% abv port riding over everything. Big, juicy and boozy. For me this pairing was the perfect way to close the evening. Not because it was the most closely contested or because of sheer quality of produce. But because it highlighted just how differently the two beverages pair with cheese. The Port takes a completely different angle of acting more like a fruit sauce/concentrate with a meal. Barley wine likes to parry with earth salty notes while carbonation and alcohol helps contrast the fatty weight of the cheese. Although the audience favoured the port I thought Stingo was great here. 

The conclusion of the night was that both beer and wine can pair wonderfully with cheese, although in very different ways. The overall verdict from the audience was that wine was marginally the winner. But according to Rooster's Tom the real winner was cheese (can't argue with that). 

My personal verdict was that the whole thing was nothing short of pure awesomeness. Although I did have initial concerns that beer might be at a slightly disadvantaged being only sourced from the Rooster's-Daleside brand portfolio. As opposed to team grape who could bring in wine from literally anywhere in the world and include port. A bit like pitting the England team against say AC Milan. Yet this didn't really matter so much as Roosters do have a very diverse range of beer styles/brands at their disposal. Regardless the whole experience was memorable in more ways than one. From the audience participation to quality of the produce/pairings to the novelty of it all. Just class. 

      

A Brief Venture Up North.

These days it's very rare to have a weekend devoid of plans. Last weekend was one of them, which is exactly why I took up the very kind offer from my parents to tour me round a few micropubs they were familiar with in the North East. 

It's only a handful of times each year I get to re-visit 'The Toon' properly but Blaydon is an area I am not overly familiar with.  What I was aware of is it is home to Firebrick Brewery. So on my request our first stop was to give it a visit. I remember Firebrick best for being brewers of one of the best Brown ales on earth, and also for being the new Newcastle Beer Festival Battle of the Beers champions after I had left the North East scene and moved to Harrogate. 

Fifrebrick Brewery, Blaydon

Being unaware initially that Firebrick brewery and taproom are in completely separate locations, we ended up at the brewery shop not a taproom, which is no big deal. Looking at beer is a favourite past time of mine, especially in shops, and the brewery has a pretty cool shop.  

 

Pretty cool shop

Looking forward to trying this one 

We did ask about having a tour round but the shop lady informed us it wasn't the best time but was open to the possibility of that being arranged at a later date. Non the less, after picking up some cans we moved on to the first micropub, also in Blaydon; The Yard.

The Yard is a quirky, underground and dog friendly drinking haven split over multiple small rooms and a garden. According to the Mother; The Yard micropub is conveniently positioned so that on a group day out the males of the group could easily be left here to entertain themselves while the women ventured round the various charity shops of Blaydon.

 

First up from the bar was Tyneside Blonde by Hadrian Border brewery. A 3.9% blonde ale that goes way back. When the local beer scene was younger I remember this beer standing out for it's clean, delicate flavour profile, the one to convert the lager drinker to the delights of 'real ale' (back when people still called it that). My last few encounters with it have left the impression of a slightly more malt forward, rounded blonde ale. Still very much all about subtle fruit and malt, simple but balanced. Did the beer change or is it just me? 

Next up was Firebrick's The Abbot's Best at 4.6%. Deep mahogany in colour and packed with mature fruit, berries and nutty caramelised malt. Loads of character with quite a weighty mouthfeel. Great stuff. After this it was time to venture off to High Spen to Wig's Place. A genuine community boozer that's friendly, well priced, with a comfy lounge bar and loads of local memorabilia. A bit of a drive out from Blaydon but well worth the trip.   

On the taps were offerings from Durham brewery and Spenside Stables brewery. Local to High Spen, Spenside Stables are a relatively new brewery I had never previously encountered.   

First up was Spenside Session at 4%. A light bodied session bitter with grassy citrus fruit and malt. Subtle bready yeast and citrus throughout lead to a moderately dry minerally finish. Initially this beer took me back to my time brewing in the North east, with it's higher mineral content and residual alkalinity water. Pit Pony, also 4%, has a similar theme but is a bit more upfront with the resinous citrus hoppy notes.

Durham Brewery Fresh Coast US IPA was a nice citrus led 4.4% hoppy pale with a rounded but dry finish. Some sulphur notes but my kind of thing non the less. The 4.5% Pit Yakka from Spenside Stables was probably the best beer on offer. A 4.5% Medum bodied well rounded porter featuring sweet coffee, candy, pear and liquorice. 

As the last beer of the session it went down splendidly. This was after all just a casual family afternoon/evening out. With a different crowd in a different era this would be the usual point where everyone would head into town. Here the majority would embrace much more social activity, bright lights and bumpedy-bump music with young people everywhere (I am over 40 now I can talk like that). 

However instead we were retreating back to the pad for sausage beans and chips. Some things never get old.

Beer and cheese (re-visited again).

Beer and cheese at Jorvine, York

 

Beer and cheese is a subject I have frequently blogged about. For a while it became a bit of an obsession, yet like with many things, my relationship with it is one that has evolved with time. You could say this extends into beer and food in general. 

Back in the early days of beer blogging, beer and cheese was a popular sub category subject to discussions surrounding beer at the dinner table. At the time pairing beer with food was becoming so in vogue within the craft beer community that it was on it's way to becoming the next star wars. The growing collective of beer writers, bloggers and online enthusiasts united under the one banner (much like the Rebel Alliance) in the constant push back against the general consensus/Galactic Empire that wine was the only real viable beverage to complement fine dining. 

As immersive as it all was, being a beer-food/beer-cheese enthusiast has never been easy. In my own little sphere of influence I often felt like a kind of a lone obsessive nutter type amongst an apathetic majority. But enthusiasm is rarely seen as a bad thing, and you can't overlook the very credible and influential work of beer writers/bloggers such as Melissa Cole, Mark Dredge and many others. But over time you eventually grow to accept the objective reality that the majority of people in general don't really give a bollocks about food and beverage pairings. 

 

But undoubtedly beer is and always has been a great accompaniment to cheese. As beer writer Garrett Oliver once put; beer and cheese both derive, to some extent from grasses. Both are fermented and aged. Both balance sweetness and acidity with fruitiness and fermentation flavours. 

 Getting a feel for beer and cheese pairing is simply about complementing and contrasting different elements between the two. Take for example a basic cheddar; generally it has elements of sharp fruitiness balanced by firm nutty tones. This marries almost effortlessly with the caramelised malt, grassy-bitter-fruitiness of English hops and fruity fermentation esters of a traditional English pale ale or Bitter.  

The bright citrus flavours and aggressive bitterness of more modern day US inspired pale ales cut right through cheeses with buttery rich textures and citrus notes. Like a bloomy rind goat's cheese.  Equally the tartness and spice of a Belgian or German style wheat beers would pair just as impressively. Citrus notes in harder cheeses can be treated the same way. The subtleties of a real Yorkshire Wensleydale pairing excellently with cask conditioned Daleside Blonde. 

Big aggressively hoppy beers like IPA's love cutting into creamy blues; try a full on IPA like Thornbridge Jaipur or Roosters Baby Faced Assassin with a creamy blue like Shepherds Purse Yorkshire Blue or  Doddington Darling Blue.

 

For cheeses more on the firmer, nuttier textured side turn to the roasted and caramelised malt flavours of darker beers. A class brown ale like Firebrick's Toon Broon with Comte or Doddingtons Original for example. Big cheeses like a Cave aged Gouda are known to be great with malt heavy Bock style lagers or Imperial Stouts. 

Blue cheese is exceptionally versatile with beer especially big abv styles like Imperial Stout, Barley wine or many strong Belgian ales. Daleside Monkey Wrench is exceptional with Harrogate Blue so is (as I am told) the Belgian Flanders Red style ale Duchesse de Bourgogne.

I could branch off into beers with integral sour elements to them but feel I would be over emphasising the point. Exploring different beer-cheese combinations can be endlessly fascinating, the obvious question to address is; what beer do you choose to complement a full cheeseboard, as blogged about here. The 'beer for the cheeseboard' is where my personal take on beer and cheese has really changed. 

To my younger self, the idea of getting tucked into a massive array of several or more cheeses (with crackers, pickles, chutney... sometimes celary or apple) along side the boldest strong ale obtainable at the time (capable of standing up to the biggest cheese on the board), served in a fancy stemmed glass; was like my adult equivalent of watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a kid. Where (music kicking in) all the Power Ranger giant animal robots morphed together into the Ultrazord, the giant awesome unstoppable mega robot that finishes off the baddies right at the end.

The cheese-mageddon, my previous approach to beer and cheese.

Except when you get older you come to the realisation that the formula isn't like Power Rangers at all. Palate overload aside, it's more similar to when your really hungry in the que at the chippy and end up ordering a large fish and chips. As much as it seemed the most substantial option at the time, the inevitability is just being left bloated. With age and wisdom one realises the additional pickled egg and slice of bread is as far as you need to go, you don't need that 'large' option and feeling like a fat b**tard afterwards.

So in conclusion; Beer and cheese doesn't have to be about more is more. Taking a average strength beer with a modest variety of decent cheeses can be just as magical as going overboard. My personal go-to favourite options for beers that are both regular strength and highly versatile with cheese include; Rudgate Jorvik Blonde, Cullercoats Jack The Devil (or Rocket Brigade), Theakstons Best Bitter, Cairngorm IPA, Sam Smiths India Ale.

 

Another great all rounder for cheese, which is currently found mainly in bottled form, but should be more common in cask in coming years is the 4.5% Daleside Greengrass.

Daleside Greengrass with Cheese

 

Greengrass Old Rogue ale is a fruity, mid golden English pale/golden ale. With aromas of apricot, herbal hops, caramel and pear, the palate opens with fruity almond and light summer fruit. The First Gold hops used bring orange and spice that intermingle, dancing over cascading caramelised grain to leave lingering echoes of gentle fruit and malt in the late bitter-sweet finish. This beer is great with mid strength cheddar and sheep's milk cheeses. 

That is more or less concludes my re-take on beer and cheese. For anyone looking to take more of an interest just remember to follow my advice. But also look out for the Beer and Cheese event coming to the Roosters brewery taproom this November.