It was going to happen sooner or later...
A little bit of housekeeping first of all. I've decided that I'm going to drop the "unboxing videos" whilst they were a bit a fun in my head in practice, they just delay the process. I might look to do occasional special videos, but these will more than likely be one offs and not part of a set series.
Secondly, we have come to an issue in the 94 counties, but I’ll explain that after the tasting notes for Harbwr Brewery representing the county Dyfed in Wales.
There were no significant mixed packs available so I picked one of each of their single 500ml bottles. What is quite telling is that one of the few beers I actually liked was the only beer to win any sort of award, maybe I’m getting better at identifying good beers. (I only check awards etc after drinking so that my views aren’t skewed).
12 Bottles (11 Different varieties) cost £31.20 with £7.50 delivery fee extra.
A little disappointing although to be fair I didn’t have any huge preconceptions anyway of what to expect. This is much more your pub IPA than your craft IPA and the taste reflects this after the initial ease of drink it remains a little too heavy on the tongue and pallet, but without the bold heaviness of a punchy flavour that you want to remain. Don't get me wrong it's perfectly drinkable just doesn't have any particular wow factor.
The smell for some reason takes me back to times I've been in "proper" pubs. The sort of place where the landlord pours your pint before you ask. Certainly, more likeable than Pia Whanga. Really good hoppy flavour which ironically doesn't linger as much as I'd like. The Golden Ale clearly reflected in colour but also flavour with slight hints of caramel dancing around the mouth. None of which are noted on the bottle...as I say many times, I’m not a trained palate yet.
Red Berry Bay - American Hopped Red Ale 4.7%
For the first time in all of my beers I’m really struggling for anything to say with this. There is a certain sweetness to it and like the beer before it there is a hint of caramel to it (not sure if this is true of all golden/ red ales) but other than that there's not a huge amount jumping out at me. I tried implementing a trick I learnt at a beer tasting at Brewdog, covered the glass and gave it a quick swirl and suddenly it's come to life, aroma suddenly starts bursting from the glass and the drink has come to life dancing around the mouth. Possibly something in the bottling process but yeah it because a lot better after that.
La Nossa Signora - Milk Chocolate Orange Stout 5%
I really wanted to like this more, but from the smell alone you can tell it's not going to have the punchy flavour that I’ve experienced with previous stouts. Whilst not completely absent of flavour it feels more like an orange stout than anything else, on a few occasions I’ve had the slightest chocolate aftertaste but it doesn't punch through the main body of the drink.
RFA Sir Galahad - Red Ale - 4.6% SIBA (The Society of Independent Brewers) Bronze award for British Premium Cask Bitter
I don't know if I’m a bit more positive today but there's something pleasing about this one. As with a lot of Harbwr's ales there seems to be a lot going on, without anything really being the dominant profile, but it's perfectly drinkable. Certainly, slight fruitier undertones which work their way through the hops and aren't totally lost. I could drink a good few of this one I think but as with the others, there's nothing that jumps out at me with it and it begins to blur into the whole variety that I’ve had so far.
Bilidowcar - Eureka Single Hop Pale Ale 4.4%
Now this very much was a EUREKA moment as it's the first beer I’ve had so far with a bit about it. Really strong flavour but in a pleasant way this is what I’ve wanted from them from the beginning a good solid ale that punches you in the mouth and has its stuff together. It left that nice warming feeling in the gut I like. A good beer.
Caldey Lollipop - IPA 4.5%
Another beer that hits the mark this is a pretty strong IPA with a really good flavour to it. A really good hoppy beer that is pleasing in almost all aspects. Whilst it doesn't have the strongest of aromas the flavours within it more than carry the depth of the drink. I feel kind of let down from the first few beers because these last two have shown how good they can be, but I just think I don’t know the sheer number they had that were all the same or similar to say the least it just makes me wonder if they should maybe streamline their processes.
MV Enterprise - Pale Ale 4%
A slightly sweet and floral aroma and hits you with the first sniff, first one that's had a pungent and pleasant scent to it. A slightly bitter taste to this one but not unpleasant really light and refreshing, but again falls into the middle of the road category there's nothing that really leaps out with the beer at all and could just be any beer without a key identifier.
Trawlers Dread - Black IPA 5.4%
So this bad boy intrigues me as it says it's infused with Pembrokeshire seaweed. Obviously, it's very dark but I wonder if that means the beer is going to become all salty. You know what it is and it's incredibly challenging. My first thought it I don't like this. Now I get and like the premise they were going for, but this is not for me at all. I don't like to be too negative but no... definitely not one for the future.
After drinking notes: The above was just my initial thoughts as i drank more and more the beer got worse and worse. I have never tasted anything that missed the idea of subtleness so much as this salty monstrosity. I posted on Facebook that night that i'd had one of the worst beers i'd ever had and at this point i was right. I of course cursed it and said at least the next beer can't be as bad as that.
Blaidd - Wolf Hop Golden Ale 5.5%
Oh no, another bad one. Aggressively bitter mouth feel which drowns out almost everything else the drink is looking to put out there. I hate to be this negative but I honestly feel this is borderline undrinkable. An awful after taste that just lingers all around the mouth. Avoid.
After drinking notes: For the first time i was unable to finish a beer in this blog and had to pour away just shy of 1/3 of a pint. I don't know if this was an "off" beer but this wasn't drinkable.
Sheriff - Golden Ale 4.2%
We're on the last one of the journey now thankfully as this hasn't been the greatest of experiences at all. It has the standard old man pub aroma I’ve come to experience with these. This tastes incredibly watery with only the slightest hint of bitterness to note, which weirdly is better than the previous two beers and take them back to a generally uninspiring brewery as opposed to a bad one which the last two beers really gave the impression of. I understand it's a session ale but I’ve had many a session ale without compromising on complex and bold flavours.
And there we go, I can honestly say I did not enjoy the overall experience of this case. It wasn’t all bad, but there was enough bad there including two of the worst beers I’ve drunk in recent memory that it left a bitter taste in my mouth. As always, food and drink is subjective and what I do or do not like may not be reflected in others however I would not on good conscience recommend this brewery unfortunately.
As we say though onto the next one!
So, our next brewery will be Ayr Brewing Company, but here in lies the problem. The random county generator gave me West Ayrshire of which no breweries would deliver to me, further research indicated that there was just 2 in all 3 Ayrshire counties which would so I was forced to combine all of Ayrshire into one and pick from those two (obviously Ayr Brewing came about via the Random Name Generator).
This however means that I am now 2 breweries down in my journey of 94 breweries, as such I have come up with a two-point solution.
Firstly, Dyfed is going to get a do-over. In my research I came across a brewery in Dyfed which is very much up my alley in the shape of Tenby Brewing Company (https://www.tenbybrewingco.com/) and I feel they can bring back my faith to the county.
Secondly is an idea that was posed to me by the head brewer of West Brewery in Glasgow, who said if ever the random generator let me down, why not contact one of the breweries and then they could recommend their favourite brewery or one that they like at least. This is exactly what I will be doing and returning to West to ask for his recommendation.
The two will be the next breweries following Ayr Brewing, so although the random has gone for a little while we will be back and track much quicker this way, especially without the faff of filming / editing videos.
This will put me back on track for the 94 breweries and whilst now every county is not “truly” represented, I cannot be blame if there simply isn’t any there.
Next Brewery: Ayr Brewing - https://www.ayrbrewingcompany.com/
