I had a few pints of Abbeydale's Aztec Gold last night. It's a very pale, refreshing ale with a subtle deviation from the taste of similar beers using American hops. £3.50 a pint is more than I like to pay but I think that is just about the lowest price for that particular pub.

The Euston Tap is fantastic - though it's tiny inside and you could easily walk past without noticing it. They also have a sister pub outside Manchester Piccadilly station.

I don't know if it's open yet a I haven't been in the area for a while but they were planning on converting the Cider Tap which was in the gatehouse opposite the Euston Tap into the Northern Tap specialising in beers from Oop North: http://londonist.com/2016/03/euston-...thern-beer-bar

As you say, it's tiny inside so I sat outside and it did appear the opposite entrance was still the Cider Tap.

I'd be in favour of seeing it change to a Northern Tap though.

Being a non drinker I know nothing at all about alcohol so when my eldest son told me there was a new shop opening during July 2016 in Nantwich(near to were I live)called the Beer Dock and that it sold Craft Beer, so I have a question what is Craft Beer please.

Now you're just being naughty.

Really I'm not, I haven't a clue.
I'll ask my son when he comes in or I could google it couldn't I.

Just had a google and it says I quote
" A beer made in a traditional or non-mechanised way by a small brewery"

Or a very big brewery pretending to be a small brewery

Enjoyed a lovely BBQ in the sun, cracking food and lovely beer. I had the following.

To Øl - Thirsty Frontier
To Øl - Mr Pink
Wild Beer Co - Pogo
Northern Monk - Wasted
Crate - Sour
Lost Industry - Nettle Gose
Lervig - Lucky Jack Grapefruit
Fierce - Cranachan Killer

They were all pretty good to be honest, didn't have a bad one. Pogo and Mr Pink were particularly good.

The "Wasted" was the worst one but it is a nice concept, a "zero waste" beer. It's a pear saison brewed using pears and croissants that have been thrown out of supermarkets. The hops and malt are re-used as animal feed and they use champagne yeast which is then re-used. Yeah, it may be a gimmick but it's a nice idea and it's tasty enough.

I was in Manchester a couple of months ago, didn't know about the Piccadilly Tap. I did go to Port Street Beer House though which was absolutely fantastic.

I only found it by accident when I was looking for somewhere for a pint or two before catching the the train. I tried to get into the Port Street but it was absolutely packed out. Otherwise I was a little underwhelmed by the real/craft beer scene in Manchester. Mind you, it was my first time in the city in many years and I only had a few hours to play with so I didn't venture far from the station. I'd love to go back to explore the city properly.

There's meant to be some good places in the Northern Quarter. Cafe Beermoth is meant to be very good but I didn't have time to check it out.

I'm currently researching Nottingham as I'm having a couple of nights there towards the end of the year. From what I've found it looks to be very good.

Sorry can't help with Nottingham. I must say that one of my favourite things is going beer hunting in a town or city that I don't know. Even in London I always try to go somewhere off the beaten track.

I didn't want to get involved in the Great Bottled Beer debate as I very rarely drink beer at home. A big part of the beer experience for me is finding a great pub to drink it in.

I had a good trip to London at the end of last year, had some nice stuff. The highlight though was eating at Alyn Williams at The Westbury. A Michelin starred restaurant but with the 7 course tasting menu they did matched beers so you got a different beer with each course! It was fantastic. I wish more restaurants would do that, far too many just focus on wine and beer appears to be an afterthought. To me beer is more versatile than wine and is just as valid an accompaniment to food.

I always like to have a drink on Friday and Saturday night and we don't go out every weekend so I always have a good stash of beers in the house.

Finding new pubs is one of the things I like about the Untappd app as you can just press "nearby" and it will show you what people are drinking and where. Very useful if you're in a strange place.

My local shop has started stocking stuff from Fierce, a brewery I've never heard of before. They're based in Aberdeen I believe, I bought a couple of different ones and was very impressed, one called Granadilla Guerilla an IPA with big tropical flavours and a little addition of passion fruit and one called Cranachan Killer, an oatmeal pale based on the flavours of the Scottish dessert. Both were very nice and I'll definitely be checking out the others.

They've also started stocking cans from Beerbliotek, a Swedish brewery that I've not encountered before. I've not tried them yet but they have good reviews and there's a lot of good Scandinavian stuff about at the moment so fingers crossed they'll be as good.

Went to my local for the pub quiz last night. Had the following on cask in order of how good they were:

Thornbridge - Seaforth
Leatherbritches - Stouter
Tiny Rebel - Fugg Life

They were all pretty decent, the rest were nice enough but fairly average (again in order):

Thornbridge - Handsome Pale Ale (keg)
Fernandes - Triple O
Ossett - Silver King

They've also just started selling a few craft cans, Beavertown Gamma Ray, Magic Rock Grapefruit High Wire and Pogo and Bibble from the Wild Beer Co. Only £3 a can too which is really cheap. I've had them all before but after a couple of really average beers I couldn't resist a Pogo and a Gamma Ray. Both quite comfortably the best beers I had all night.

I had a couple of Magic Rock beers last night.

I thought the Grapefruit High Wire tasted a bit like shandy to be honest, fruity and refreshing but too easy to drink.

I then tried the Shredder, which is a wheat beer. This wasn't really to my tastes, I didn't really like it.

There does seem to be a recent trend of pubs selling "craft cans". Maybe it's because I'm becoming an old git but I've never been tempted to try them. Beer for me comes out of a hand pump or, at a push, a bottle - never a can.

Wheat beers do seem to divide people, I really like them but I've a mate who hates them. The delivery messed up so I didn't manage to get a Shredder, I got a can of Common Grounds though, I've not tried it yet.


There's some fantastic stuff in cans these days. Some breweries such as Magic Rock, Beavertown and Vocation don't bottle anything at all and from October Cloudwater are moving from bottles to cans. A lot of experts say cans are actually better as they allow less light pollution and they provide a better seal. I personally can't tell the difference between can and bottle and for me all that matters is the beer inside. It all gets poured into a glass anyway.

I don't mind a single wheat beer on a hot day for a change but I couldn't drink it all night. I got the taste for Blue Moon while working in the US a few years ago so will have a pint of it when I see it on sale here for old times sake.


Hmmm... maybe I'll give a few a try next time I'm out and about.

Cracking selection tonight. The highlight was "Hillbilly Wine" by Siren Craft, lots of high profile DIPAs out recently but this has come out with little fanfare. A big, juicy 9% DIPA with passion fruit and conditioned on oak chips. Absolutely lovely!

I tried the can of Magic Rock "Common Grounds", a triple coffee porter, very good indeed.

Then "Tschuss" from Siren Craft, a blueberry Berliner Weisse with mint, lime and orange! Bloody lovely!

I had maybe one of the best named beers I've ever had, a collaboration between Weird Beard and Anspach & Hobday called "7th Church of the Apocalyptic Lawnmower", a dark cream ale with lots of Sorachi Ace hops. The Sorachi hops really seem to divide people, I really like them, they're so different and so recognisable, always dry and for me they give a coconutty flavour. Saying that, it was pretty nice but nothing spectacular.

Then "Shadow of The Beast" by Elusuve. The first one I've had of theirs and it was a very tasty black IPA. Loving the old Amiga game reference in the name too.

The worst of the night, not to say it was bad, but it wasn't on a par with the others was Brew By Numbers "17|03 Grisette Saphir", a table saison, 3.7%, pleasant enough but just very average.

Jambo, where are you buying these beers from? A pub?

Last night's were all from a couple of bottle shops that are fairly nearby. One I use all the time, cracking place and a lovely bloke who runs it, he does saves so I never miss out on the limited edition stuff and they even do a loyalty card. The second place seems to occasionally have some stuff the other doesn't though so it's worth the occasional trip.

My local town is decent though and has some very good pubs that serve real ale and craft stuff, I'm only a quick train ride from Sheffield though and often go for gigs, when I do I always make sure I go in a bit earlier and have a little walk up to Brewdog for a few pre-gig beers, plus there's the Sheffield Tap on the train station which is great!

I've got this place but it's about 40 miles away, so I have to save up before I go there to make it worthwhile.
http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/british-beer-ales

Nice one, my regular place is only 15 mins away but I get stuff saved and go when I've got a few saved up. The main reason I do that is one, for every £20 you spend you get a stamp on the loyalty card (10 stamps and you get a £20 voucher) and two, I've zero willpower and nearly always spend twice as much as I intended once I start browsing the shelves!