thenectarofgods

Woolpack Inn & Hardknott Brewery - UK

2007-01-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

The Woolpack Inn and conjoined Hardknott Brewery are secreted away in the not so well known western dale of the River Esk in Cumbria. It is possible to have a delightful day traveling, firstly, by miniature steam railway, The Ravenglass and Eskdale from the coastal town of Ravenglass through lush, rolling, scenery. Thence by foot from the Dalegarth terminus of the Railway; the terminus appears to leave you stranded in open countryside, however it is a very short walk to the nearest village (Boot). It only requires that you walk one mile to reach the Woolpack from Dalegarth, and if you find the selection of beers too tempting it would be forgivable to make it the object of your walk.

If however you wish to work up a good thirst, press on for two more miles and head for the ruins of Hardknott Pass Roman Fort, the view is spectacular to say the least and your reward for a good stretch of the legs.

I sampled the "Light Cascade" from the home brewery and it was correctly described, a very light, clear, hoppy and tangy ale that didn’t stay in the glass too long. Coniston Brewery beer was on offer as well my personal favourite being the "Bluebird" and I cannot argue with the company’s website description: very clean with an excellent dry finish. Moorehouse’s Black Cat was on offer (reviewed previously) but the other local micro brewery "Foxfield" had run out of gas on the day!

Guest Post By, Pertinax

Coffee Stout

2007-01-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

Dark roasted malts, such as black patent malt (the darkest roast), can lend a bitter coffee flavour to dark beer. Some brewers like to emphasize the coffee flavour and add ground coffee. Brewers will then give the beer a name such as "Guatemalan Coffee Stout", "Espresso Stout", "Breakfast Coffee Stout", etc.

The ABV of these coffee flavoured stouts will vary from under 4% to over 8%. Most examples will be dry and bitter, though others add milk sugar to create a sweet stout which may then be given a name such as "Coffee & Cream Stout" or just "Coffee Cream Stout". Other flavours such as mint or chocolate may also be added in various combinations.

[Test Post] Porter 2

2007-01-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

Second Porter post.

[Test Post] Stout

2007-01-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Stout

[Test Post] Porter

2007-01-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Porter

[Test Post] History

2007-01-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

History

[Test Post] IPA

2007-01-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

IPA

[Test Post] Pale Ale

2006-11-02T22:49:00.000-08:00

Pale Ale

Home Brewing (Part 3)

2006-04-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

My experiments continue, I have prepared a "Dry Irish Stout " base, added 1lb of organic oats, 4 ounces of very best quality bitter chocolate (Belgian of course) and 2 ounces of cinnamon.

Initial fermentation has been fierce; normally a bin will "fizz" a little with the CO2 bubbles being constant but only pin prick size over the surface of the beer. In this case we are talking volcanic-the bin is gurgling and hissing away like snakes in a cauldron! I am two days into initial fermentation and the sampled liquid is bitter and sensually thick.

The first batch of Espresso Beer is settling in the cold room now and the samples are also "robust", the aroma is worth bottling as a beer drinker after shave. As I posted previously the "attack" of the Espresso beans is not for the faint hearted but the finish is promising dryness and fullness.

The ordinary Dry Stout is going down fast despite its Calvinist plainness, (in comparison to its two showy siblings). The London Porter is really unusual, it’s a ripe, almost fruity taste based on a well hopped malt, I’m tempted to say sweet but actually it’s more sweet and sour. If there is a porter kit in the USA I’d suggest a trial at least. This was the definitive British beer before the Edwardian era, and its taste is quite apart from modern palates.

edit: the chocolate/oatmeal is quite definitely smoother and less bitter than the espresso, so my next experiment must logically be a kenya blends bean/oatmeal stout-to aim for a gamey taste and smooth finish.
In the meantime though a standard "London Bitter" has entered the fermenter , very well hopped as you would imagine but I have used only malt extract not sugar , and added small tweaks of rosemary herb and cardomon pods. As I sterilise with rosemary the tang of that herb lingers in the fermenter anyway.

edit 2: experimental mix going in today, 1lb ginger root, 2 ounces fresh mint, juice of two lemons: to be fermented with raw cane sugar using yeast from a heavily hopped London Bitter.

edit 3: my goodness! The Ginger is startlingly hot and clean , it may be a bit "biting" for some palates but the recipe is workable.

Guest Post By, Pertinax

“Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers” by S.H. Buhner (Part 1)

2006-03-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

This is a very arcane and specialized work indeed. However it is also a lucid and entertaining excursion into the understanding of social behaviors and ceremonies that mankind has lived with for most of its history; but has forgotten in a brief moment of technological and social ferment. The brief moment I would say is from (perhaps) the American Civil War until today.

Buhner gives historians a strong reminder to try and dust off the fashions of “modern” thinking (i.e.: whatever is the latest school of straitjacketing analysis) and to acknowledge that our ancestors might just be as smart as or even smarter than we ourselves are today. A perfect example of course is that Rome is “ancient” to us but we recognise its superiority to many modern societies.

Buhner extends this further as he acknowledges that our very distant ancestors probably acknowledged a wider range of behavioral possibilities and embraced altered states of consciousness through a desire to appreciate the divine.

Given my own medical aptitude, the first shock to register was the universality of fermented liquids used as medicine/intoxicant/communion with divinity. This excludes only the Australasian continent.

The historical “lesson” is really to try to appreciate the “indigenous mind” without denigration, in this context we see Rome as a very modern and enquiring society though Buhner suggests that the Galilean step of “the world as a machine” to be lived within is the historical fracture line. The “indigenous mind” simply accepts life and spirit throughout the world. So plant, animal, rock and tree have a living presence.

Ok you will be thinking, well yes this is all a bit new age isn’t it?

Not really when one gets to grips with the achieved medicinal quality of the goods manufactured by those ‘Indigenous Mind’ societies in terms of delivered therapeutic dosage without morbid side effects; though perhaps after an interesting bout of religious and sexual activity…

The technical abilities of theses societies always allowed the active principle of a plant medicine to remain in its matrix and obviate the contemporary obsession of taking active principles, removing them from contextual stability and then synthesizing these principles so that side effects are almost certain… This has made me think very hard about the longevity of many herbal medicines (probably 14,000 years) and the disastrous Pandora’s box of synthetic drugs used out of natural context and without discrimination.

I do not ascribe to “no science,” only intuitions as a world view. I do suggest however that our science is very unsophisticated and presumptuous.

Vaclav Havel (President of the Czech Republic) is quoted from a speech where he berates the sterility of scientific reductionism versus the human need for a more essential knowledge of the world that our ancestors may well have glimpsed more frequently – No doubt to the benefit of their mental health.

Coming next-the Celtic/Druidic/Pictish beers - Serious high quality medicines, sustaining foods and frenzy inducing warrior psychoactive!

End of Part 1

Guest Post By, Pertinax