'Beerikins' - A Beer Drinking Cat

I have a mild fascination and interest in the (nine) lives of brewery and pubs cats, so by chance I came across the following short tale from the late spring of 1909 while searching for same. It did the rounds of a number of newspapers at that time, where the story remained the same, although the headlines used varied a little ...

A CAT’S DRINKING HABITS 

The secret drinking habits of a cat, Beerikins, which came from brewery, are described by a correspondent who is now the owner the animal. Normally a basin of water with a lump of sulphur is the cat’s pet drink, and a saucer of beer he rejects. “But if,” writes the owner, “I chance to leave bottle beer on the table with the screw-stopper loose he takes measures of his own. I only knew it looking through the crack of the door. Two forepaws go round the neck of the bottle, the little white teeth go to work and release the stopper, then the bottle is turned over, and Beerikins mops up much as he fancies.”

Of course this might not be a true story but it does paint an interesting mental picture of what your cat may be doing when you are not watching, and it's a warning to those who might adopt a brewery or pub cat with a hidden taste for beer! Let's hope they never figure out ring-pulls ...

Interesting name for a cat too, and what about that sulphured water...?

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post.)

Newspaper image © The British Library Board - All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk from whom I have received permission to display content here).

Pub Tales: First Drink

The place was heaving.

I forced my way towards the bar, squeezing through the crowd by turning sideways and shoulder-leading my way slowly forward using baby steps, gentle manipulation and repeated sorrys shouted into already overloaded ears. Two guys with one guitar were on the small stage butchering ‘Dancing in the Dark’ but nobody seemed to care. The dance floor in front of them was full of twirling snow-washed denim jackets, sweaty mullets and jumpsuits in too-bright primary colours. Spinning, twisting lights penetrated the smoke and gloom and flickered across the crowds seated on stools at wet-circled Formica tables loaded with glasses and overflowing ashtrays. Small pockets of boys and girls hung around in separate groups tight to the wall for protection, occasionally casting glance towards the tables as the waited for a group to leave so they could commandeer their seats like some full-on game of musical chairs.

But the people here were all just extras in a movie scene to me as I finally approached the long countertop and prepared to ask for my first drink ever. The narrow space behind the counter was filled with a large bearded man who was calmly serving the waves of drinkers that were lapping up to the bar. I waited patiently for my turn, trusting that the barman had a mental queue of who to serve next once eye-contact had been made and the nod given. I gazed at the sparse collection of taps deciding what to have, suddenly that bearded face was in front of me, he leaned over the bar with his left hand cupped around the back of his ear, which was aimed in my direction.

‘What’ll be head?’

‘Er, a glass of Harp…?’

‘Sound, lad.’

He grabbed a glass from the shelf behind him and I watched as he pulled the tap forward and a yellowish cascade of liquid and bubbles quickly filled the glass. He straightened the glass and filled it to the top, always checking who was next up to the bar. He plonked it unceremoniously down on the bar and I paid him.

‘Cheers head,’ he said as he slammed the change on the countertop and went to his next customer and the ritual began again.

I stared at it for a minute watching the bubbles rise in quick succession from the base of the glass and breaking on the surface. This was my first proper drink in a bar, my first proper beer too, and I had somehow expected it to be a more momentous occasion. I picked up the glass and put it to my lips and had my first taste of beer…

The music abruptly stopped with a mistimed twang of guitar strings.

Everyone in the whole bar turned to look at me silently …

… before erupting into applause.

I raised my glass and toasted my adoring fans.

The girl next to me smiled coyly and put her hand in the small of my back as she brought her lips to my ear and whispered…

Of course none of this happened, when I woke from my reverie I took another cautious sip and with a grin on my face I made my way back through the crowd. I held my glass high to prevent it spilling and it flickered flamelike as spotlights pierced the liquid and for a split second I felt like some ancient champion returning from my first battle basking in the glow of heroism.

But this was 1984 in a grimy student pub in a provincial town in Ireland, and when I arrived back to the comfort and company of my friends that spark of elation dimmed and died. We somehow engrossed ourselves in inane conversation, a common occurrence, and my moment was gone.

But for a brief, special moment I was a hero - I was a somebody …

I had drunk.

Beer History: London Calling - Thrale's Exports to Dublin in 1771

(So it's been a couple of months since my last post, this was due to a number of reasons but mostly a mixture of apathy towards blogging and perhaps a little lethargy due to 'real life' work, family and other personal issues. I've always wrote for myself and not for others, so it didn't bother me greatly that I hadn't posted something new here in a while, as I knew I'd return to it ... and when I spotted my page views go over the 100k count (Meagre compared to others, I know!) it prompted me to dust off my account and put something new up. I'm not sure how often I'll post in the future but let's take it one at a time.)

Here's an interesting advertisement from March 1771 that deserved more than a tweeted reference so I decided to put it here, as it will hopefully have a little more longevity and permanence. It shows the prices and styles of John Grant's imports from Thrale's Brewery into his store on Jervais Street, Dublin ... London Porter, London Brown Stout and London Pale Stout are all listed.

There's nothing new here in the wording if taken as separate pieces of information, from the beers to the sizes listed - even to the mention of a Winchester Gallon, which preempted the imperial gallon I believe - but taken all together it's still, perhaps, an interesting snapshot into what beers were being imported and their relative costs and volumes.

Freeman's Journal 1771

Some of the wording is interesting too, I read 'NEAT as imported' to mean not diluted, which sounds like it was a common practice back then. 'Allowance for casks returned sweet' meant you couldn't return a dirty or infected cask, a 'clean as you go' ethos perhaps in action in the late eighteenth century! The Pale Stout is described as having 'a bright Amber Colour', which is my first time reading a colour description for such a beer, as vague as it is. (Don't forget stout just meant strong at this point in time...) He specifies his casks are all made in London, is this a dig at Irish coopering abilities? Probably not, more to do with sizes/volume I'd imagine...

What we are missing of course is what they tasted like exactly, if only we had a time machine we could order some from William Halligan? Although if we did possess a time machine then getting beer samples would probably be low on our list of things to do...

Anyhow, it's nice to be back!

Liam

(With thanks as ever to my local library...)

Beer History: Politics versus Bad Beer ... and The True Heart of Man?

In 1834 William Cobbett an English journalist, farmer and member of parliament wrote a series of letters back to a labourer called Charles Marshall at Normandy Farm, his home in Surrey, England, recounting his recent tour of Ireland.

I came across the following excerpt from these letters in an edition of The Kerry Evening Post of that year, where he talks about a few topics from a discussion on marble by gentlemen "much bemused by beer" to a rant about a Mr. Finn ... he of the local paper Finn's Leinster Journal I presume!

He also has some disparaging words to say about the beers he came across during his travels, prompted by a meeting with 'Mr. Smithwick' in Kilkenny...

"I dined with one Smithwick, a popular brewer - O heavens! What stuff the wild Irish will drink out of political friendship. Why Marshall, if Tom Paine were to come on the earth again - as I suppose he will at the general resurrection - and turn brewer, I would not deal with him unless he put malt and hops in his ale. The purest principles of patriotism and philanthropy could not make cockles indicus go down. Don't suppose I allude to brewer Smithwick's drink, which I understand is some of the best political swipes in Ireland. But I have a prejudice in favor of good unadulterated malt drinks; and I hope, Marshall, your pity for these poor people will prevail upon you to lose your taste for the same sort of potation. Love your country as much as you will, you cannot love it too much; but love your beer also. Beer is the heart of man."

As you can read below he goes on to complain about those who attend his lectures - which he abandons - for not paying to do so but gives a backhanded compliment with regard to the people of Kilkenny's thirst for knowledge. He has some choice words to say about the city itself, and Waterford too!

It all makes for interesting reading...

But even after all of that ranting, it's those sentences from above that stick in my mind...

"Love your country as much as you will, you cannot love it too much; but love your beer also. Beer is the heart of man." 

Wise words? Who knows...

Liam

[With thanks as ever to my local library.]

Beer & Whiskey: Did Jameson get it wrong?

(This post relates to free product I received from Jameson - although there's more to it than that - so back out now if that bothers you...)

As I've said previously, I'm not really a whiskey person.

Although I do like the idea of sitting back in my armchair with a nice warming single malt and a pipe, basking in the glow and warmth of an open turf fire with a little bit of vinyl jazz tickling my eardrums, as I read the latest dispatches from abroad with my obedient King Charles asleep at my feet...

Okay, so perhaps that's overkill but the fact is I've never really been exposed to spirits in any meaningful way until recently, and even now a bottle can last me an awful long time, so perhaps my hearts not really in it ... I may need to cancel the spaniel and the load of turf.

Spirits such as whiskey were never something that featured in my past. My parents and grandparents didn't drink much, although allegedly when my great grandfather came back from WW1 with undiagnosed (and unheard of) PTSD he took to whiskey to blank out his past and spent his journey home from the local pub saluting the telegraph poles that were erected along his route, perhaps in tribute to fallen comrades.

I was for a brief time partial to the odd whiskey myself in my younger days when my constitution was better and I needed that warming alcohol hit without the stomach-filling volume of a pint. But in recent years my 'Drink Less, Drink Better' mantra (which I may have stolen from The Beer Nut) has kicked in and although I still enjoy alcoholic beverages, it's more likely to be beer or wine and taken in a different, more analytical and sometimes-social, way where the alcohol content can be an unwanted but necessary part of the consumed liquid.

But I still do buy the occasional bottle of spirits, which are slowly consumed and rarely commented on. Therefore I was surprised to receive a free gratis bottle of Jameson Caskmates IPA Edition a few weeks ago via their marketing company - not that I refused it because, let's face it, I'm not that stupid! (Hush now...)

Anyhow, the whiskey came with a memory stick which contained a blurb about the whiskey and some images ... which I quickly deleted and it's now full of beer and whiskey related history research - cheers Jameson! It also arrived with a can of Franciscan Well Chieftain IPA to pair with the whiskey, as the whiskey was finished in casks that were previously used for flavouring an IPA.

This struck me as a little odd as surely the IPA would mask any hint of hops, which already had to fight for its place on my palate with the whiskey flavours themselves? Nevertheless I did what I was told and sure enough, although they were quite pleasant together they didn't give me the contrast I was looking for ... 

So I went off-piste and ignored Jameson and their silly ideas ... Sure what would they know about whiskey anyway?

I tried drinking the whiskey with one of my all time favourite stouts from Galway Bay Brewing - Buried at Sea. This was better for me, as the contrasting sweet stout brought out the subtle citrus quality of the whiskey. I'm sure other stouts would also work by the way - just differently.

A different night I tried another experiment with a half measure of the IPA Caskmates and the same amount of the older Caskmates Stout Edition of the whiskey, which I'd purchased myself by the way. This was better again as the sharp contrast between the vanilla-like stout edition enhanced the hoppy-citrus notes of the IPA version and vice versa, this part of the experiment impressed me the most.

Lastly, I tried the Stout edition of the whiskey with an IPA and again found this a much better partner, as that contrast in tastes worked much better for me. Again the nice vanilla sweetness of the whiskey enhanced the hops in beer and even bought out a different side to the malts.

So ... where does that leave us? Well for me Jameson did get it wrong...

They should have shipped the IPA edition with a stout and the stout edition with an IPA - but that's just my palate of course - and if you want to pick up the hops in the IPA whiskey in any meaningful way try it after the stouted version.

Then again some people like to match yellow with orange and others like the contrast of yellow with blue ... so maybe you like complements, where I like contrasts...

Liam

(Thanks again to Jameson & Co.)

(Responsible Bit: This experiment took place over a couple of weeks, I don't suggest doing it all in one night!)

Beer History: Allsopp's Pale Ale Adverts - Facts and Figures?

Paper never refused ink they say, and I've learned than you certainly can't believe everything you read, but I came across the following advertisement by Allsopps in the Dublin published The Freeman's Journal of 1844.

The figures may be of interest to some people as they claim that their beers are best by virtue of the quantity that is shipped to India and the price it achieves in the ports there versus Bass and Hodgson...

It also contains a list of the places in Dublin where it was available if any of my scarce readers there fancy rooting in a cellar for a stray cask...

---

Not forgetting Cork, here is a advertisement from The Cork Examiner in 1856 again for Allsopps, but this time letting us know how wonderful their pale ale is for our constitution!

Well if you can't trust someone called BARON LIEBIG then who can you trust?!

...

Wait a minute...

Liam

(Ron Pattinson over at Shut Up About Barclay Perkins has more on the above price spat here.)

With thanks as ever to my local library...

Travel & Beer: Valencia, Spain Part III - Some Cerveza Sampling...

After my last two posts it seemed fitting and logical to write a little about some of the beers and bars of the city, as I'd imagine some of you are curious - and possibly thirsty - by now.

The beer aspect of my trip was far from the most important but nevertheless I did get time to get to a visit or two to a few bars during our stay, just to cool us down from the Valencian heat you understand. I had no real idea of what to expect from the Spanish beer scene, as apart from tasting a few Barcelona beers at Alltech this year I had no real clue as to where the microbrewed beer scene stood in the country, let alone Valencia. I had contacted the helpful Joan from Birraire Beer Blog and he had confirmed a couple of places I had already electronically stalked, so I ended up visiting three main bars and trying their beers, plus I ran into a couple of strays here and there along the way.

---

Birra & Blues

First up was Birra & Blues who brew just outside the city and have two bars in the city. Spaghetti & Blues near the main beach and a bar on Avinguda de María Cristina very close to the central market. It's a modern, bright bar with a little snug hidden behind the serving area and loads of seating outside. We called in there on the first day after our initial wander around the city to calibrate our bearings, to slake our thirst from the valencian city heat. Herself went for La Rubia - a 5.2% blond ale, and from my small taste I thought it like rock shandy - pleasant, clean and refreshing drink on a hot day like today. I went for La Negra, a 5.8% brown ale with roasted pumpkin - or perhaps gourds of some description - but minus the spices that usually dominate and ruin a pumpkin beer for me. I really liked this one, I'm not sure how much the pumpkin actually added to the beer but there was a nice depth of flavour, which might have came from the roasting process. Anyhow overall it had a nice cola-like taste with a bit of resiny pine that was all nicely balanced in the glass. Next up was the 5.5% IPA Blues, sold as 'English Style' but in reality it's more hopped up and flavoursome than what I would associate with an English IPA. It had a typical grapefruit taste but also lemon zest and a hint of something tropical from one or more of the six hops used. Again it was nicely balanced for me and clean and refreshing. As you can see all of the beers were a little hazy but this didn't impact on taste or cleanliness, at least not to my palate!

This is a nice spot in lots of ways, the location is good for people watching and it serves food - which we didn't try - and seems to be run efficiently and effectively. The bar staff are friendly enough and willing to give samples of any beer before you try them, as I guess is the norm in most bars of this type now. It certainly revived our tired limbs anyhow.

Birra & Blues

I called back by myself one night later in the week and tried a few more beers, as there was a Belgian-style stout I specifically wanted to try. Unfortunately that was sold out so I went first for the 6% Amber on a tip off that it included Sorachi Ace as one of its hops. This was supposed to also contain roasted pineapple according to the blurb on the menu but sadly I could detect neither, it was pleasant enough but a little boring for my palate. Next up was the 7.5% Tripel which was a fine beer but perhaps a light bodied and lacked that little bit of the  'Oomph' I would have expected from a tripel. Service was a little less friendly tonight and I did feel a little like I was an inconvenience, sitting inside reading by myself, in earshot of the bar staff's incomprehensible conversations - my paranoia heightened by own social awkwardness.

My beady eyes happened to noticed a strange looking bottle in the fridge that turned out to be a smoked beer and I went for that next. Smoke My Beer is 8.2% and seems to be trying to be all things to all drinkers. It tastes like a hoppy tripel, has some smoked malts and is oaked - although I'm not sure exactly how. The bottle was opened at the bar and immediately started to gush - albeit slowly, so not quite a bottle bomb - out of the bottle and along the counter, much to my wide-eyed consternation but without causing the bar person to bat an eyelid! Now a fussier, more particular and less tired person than me might have sent it back and got something different, but with the bar person gone elsewhere to clean and tidy I took my erupting bottle to my seat and waited for it to calm down a little. This took a while... It poured cloudy but without too much of a head - anymore. Sticking my nose in the glass I decided this was a good one, containing all the above elements that I like in a beer. I got a taste of sweet smoked oranges with a sprinkle of vanilla sugar and the now-smooth carbonation gave it a lovely syrupy quality. It just goes to show that first impressions are not necessarily a way of judging a beer - I was really glad I hadn't sent it back.

By my reckoning I had more than an hour to go before closing time but when I went to get another drink, the double IPA as a night cap, I was told sternly that this would have to be my last as they were closing soon. Perhaps the sight of a lone male slowly working his way through a few beers was somewhat unnerving to them, so with this in mind I declined the beer and wandered back through the quiet streets to our hotel, wondering all along if I was really that scary looking...


Even with the erratic customer service I quite like Birra & Blues, and the beer appears to be well brewed although not all of it is to my taste. The smoked beer was excellent and was one of the beer highlights I had in the city. I'd certainly go back there again if I'm ever back in the city ... although I might go earlier and bring some company!

Oh, and maybe act less creepy...

---

Tyris on Tap

Tyris on Tap sits in a weird little intersection north of the central market on Carrer de la Taula de Canvis. You could miss it if walking in the wrong direction in this part of the city, and indeed we did on our first reconnoitre. It's the tap house for the same named Valencian brewery and I wandered in by myself one day while the rest of the family were at the hotel pool. I immediately liked the look of the place with its funky mismatched furniture, polished cement floors and unfinished look, the bar counter looked very cool with its leather seated high stools and chalkboard listing the beers on offer. I scanned the list and decided on the smoked porter ... but it turns out that this listing isn't updated - presumably someone stole their stepladder - and instead the beers are listed under the taps, a little annoying and lazy perhaps? Instead I went for Paquita Brown a 5.2% American brown ale that wasn't very brown as it turned out (It's on the right in the picture above) and the beer-style-police would say it tasted more like a hopped up amber than a brown ale. But hey I'm not a member so I drank away ... and it was okay taste-wise but definitely had a raw unfinished quality, like some of my own homebrew if I'm honest.

A little wary I moved next to guest beer in the form of a 6.6% juniper citrus rye IPA from H2ÖL here in Valencia and Bax Bier in The Netherlands imaginatively called - Bax Bier Meets H2ÖL. This was another strange one with a bitter, almost acrid taste and an unappealing quality that I couldn't quite get a handle on. I began to wonder was it something to do with this bar, or maybe just me ... I decided on the latter.

As I really wasn't sure about this place, I vowed to come back and keep an eye out for Tyris beers on my travels too.

And I did both ... I tried the CCCP in Burger Beer - as I mentioned in the previous post - and found it okay if not overly exciting, then Au Yeah an American pale ale that was a little rough around the edges for me, Diablos Joe was an okay red IPA with a strange burnt sugar quality and something was not quite right again, but their VIPA was better with a nice clean hop kick. Some of the beers were quite cloudy and wondered could they do with some filtration ... but perhaps it was the yeast they used that disagreed with me, or the hops, or something else? It frustrated me that I couldn't pin-point my issues, so ironically I'd urge others to try them to see if it is just me...

Tyris on Tap

But I persevered...

We all went back to their taphouse later in the holiday because I really wanted to like the place. Service was excellent and herself got the 5% Tyris Original blond beer, which was actually quite nice, and was clean and crisp with just a little haze. I spotted the 4.5% Smoky Porter that I had wanted on my first visit in bottles in the fridge so asked for one of those. When I poured it first I ended up with a huge head and a tiny bit of beer in the bottom of the glass. I embarrassedly gulped down the foam and went to pour gently this time when I noticed how hugely over carbonated it was. I have no idea how it didn't explode from the bottle! I took me ages to pour it and trying to get any taste from it was difficult, as the carbonation stripped any hints of roast or smokiness from your palate almost immediately and made the beer feel quite watery. This was hugely disappointing again and it left me wondering about Tyris ... if you can't get the carbonation right on a porter it seems to me like a bad sign...


So with Tyris I had mixed feeling. None of the beers were undrinkable but many seemed to me to have minor issues and none really stood out, although the blonde was pleasant enough as was the VIPA. I guess that sometimes a beer just doesn't suit your palate...

---

Zeta Beer at Olhöps

I heard about the Zeta Beer tap takeover at Olhöps on Carrer de Sueca from Joan at Birraire Beer Blog again, so one night while the rest of the family were tucked up in their hotel rooms with books and screens, I made the twenty minute journey south of city centre to the bar. It was quite busy when I arrived with people standing outside and all seats taken in the front section, so I squeezed down to the back. The fact that the air conditioning unit was down here was helpful too, so I stood blocking the cooling breeze from others and taking in my surroundings, as well as scanning the beer list on the chalkboard behind the bar.

The bar was long and narrow with a nice modern warehousey feel that was hip and trendy - unlike that phrase I suppose - with industrial style shelving on the walls and more polished concrete. Obviously all the beers were from Zeta (Yet another Valencian brewery so at least I was keeping things local!) or collaborations with another brewery. I was a bit wary of quality to be honest and I always think that if you can brew a nice clean lager then you can brew almost anything, so first up was a half pint of the 5.5% Zeta Hell. My first taste put a smile on my face as this was clean and crisp with a lovely subtle honey and lime zip complementing the biscuity base. I felt in safe hands and sat down to do a bit of crowd watching. It was then that I noticed that apart from perhaps one other person I was the oldest here by at least a decade and probably more. Feeling slightly paranoid again about the whole auld-lad-sitting-in-a-bar-looking-at-young-ones thing I saw a spare seat at the counter and plonked myself on it, once again hoping I appeared slightly less creepy ... but doubting it.

Next up was the hefty 7.8% Zendra, a rauchbier, and one of my favourite styles and this had the usual bacon-like flavours and some nice barley sugar sweetness, with just a hint of bitter hops and perfect carbonation, very tasty indeed. The place was really buzzing now with a vibrant, eclectic crowd full of happiness and incomprehensible chatter as I sat there trying to absorb their youth and energy. Then quite suddenly, one of the bar men vanished and the one guy now behind began to get hammered with orders, and not just for beer but for snacks and the interesting hop ice cream they sold here. I had decided that my next beer would be the 8.7% Blackbell Baltic Porter, a Zeta collaboration with Bluebell coffee roaster from the city. But suddenly I became invisible as my eyeline and the barmans were blocked by the taps and no amount of standing up and down on the rungs of my stool or finger waving at him got his attention, as he worked his way through the younger, better looking and quite frankly better spending clientele at the other end of the bar. It was clear they weren't expecting to be this busy, but where the other barman went I never figured out.

Zeta Beer at Olhöps

Eventually having done a little dance on top of the bar (I jest - but I was tempted) I got my half pint of porter, which was very much worth the wait. Full bodied and with more of a dark chocolate than coffee flavour, which improved as it warmed up a little - and with its lovely silken carbonation it jumped to the top of the nicest beers I'd had in the city. As I savoured the beer I chatted to a few people, who all seemed very friendly, and one pointed out the Zeta brewer, who I decide I'd thank on my way out - after my final beer.

I had planned to have whopping 10.5% barley wine for my last one but tiredness from our busy day, the heat and the beers were taking their toll and I changed to the 6.7% Zeta Hop IPA at the last minute, as I was in need of a pick-me-up. Service was back on track and I received this one relatively quickly. This was a very well made IPA, with resinous pine and lychees combined with a sticky malt sweetness that just stopped short of being cloying - my kind of IPA.

By now time was pushing on and with a twenty minute walk back to the hotel I decided to head off. On the way out I spotted the Zeta brewer, who I complimented on the beers. He asked me what ones I had and seemed impassive when I started waxing lyrical about the helles, my first beer. I could see his eyes glazing over and I knew I'd lost him. Before I got to talk about the rest of the beers he had wandered off, writing me off as a lager lout no doubt ... I really do make a bad impression with brewers, regardless of the country.

I very briefly chatted with a guy from a local bottle shop (more on that spot in another post) and another person from Zeta who I'd conversed with in the Twitter universe. At this stage it was getting late and I was tired, so almost falling over a big black dog that appeared to be standing guard at the door, I toddled off into the night, full of happiness and osmosis-gained youth.

Olhöps is a great bar, although the service was a bit scarce and brusque at one point, but this seemed to be just a glitch that night, and it was more than compensated by the terrific atmosphere and great beers. It's a bar I'd like to check out when I'm less tired and they're less busy. The Zeta beers I had were great and very clean and clear. (Not that I'm against cloudy beers, unless I'm blaming it for a flawed beer!) In my travels through the city I also tried an American amber collaboration called Nublar with H2ÖL, which was excellent too, I was really impressed by this brewery. I'm not sure they felt the same about me though!

---

Valencia wouldn't be on many peoples radar as a beer destination but like much of the rest of the world it's seeing an explosion of new breweries and beer. And like other places some are good, some are bad, and many just produce beer that doesn't suit your palate. I really only sipped at the surface of the beer scene here, as this was a family holiday and not a beer tourist one. Service varies a great degree in bars here too and although none were outright rude some were brusque and disinterested, but again that's possibly the effect I have on people...

But I liked it all with the benefit of hindsight, even those beers I felt were a little off were worth trying because life should be about the bigger experience, with less focus on the little things.

I have a round up of some of the other bars and bottle shops still to come - along with posts about tapas, jellyfish, snails and horse meat, plus buildings and people. This series could go on for a while yet...

Liam

Part IV is here, and this is where the series starts off ... Travel: Valencia, Spain Part I - Wonder Walls

Travel & Food: Valencia, Spain Part II - Bueno Burgers

 

Okay so I know that burger restaurants are hardly synonymous with Valencia or indeed Spain but during our week in the city we sometimes craved something different from the more traditional Spanish fare, which I will cover at a later date. But in reality it's a testament to the ever evolving food scene in most countries that as well as a craft beer explosion we are also seeing great burger bars - other than the usual globalised suspects - cropping up in most cities. And as I was going to try some of the local beers it seemed only fair that we also sampled some local burgers, and so on three occasions when the mood for a meat sandwich hit us we tried three different spots in the city...

Mediterranea de Hamburguesa

First up was Mediterranea de Hamburguesas on Calle San Fernando (It has a sister restaurant in the trendy Ruzafa area...) quite close to the the huge food market that dominates this part of the city. Valencians don't really start to strap on their nose bags until well after nine so unsurprisingly we arrived to an almost empty restaurant. We were seated near the door beside an American group who were obviously used to eating early like ourselves. It had rained pretty hard that day and as there was a bit of a pong wafting in from the street we decided to move further inside the restaurant. It was only when we were sitting down again that we thought that the Americans may have thought we were moving to get away from them ... the fact that they were black exacerbated that feeling and our discomfort. (It is quite possible that somewhere out there someone has written a blog post discussing the racist Irish family that they came across in Valencia...)

Anyhow, hiding our embarrassment we studied the menu, which boasts 14 different types of burger - with a choice between veal or beef - and includes a vegetarian and vegan option, as well as a selection of starters and sandwiches. I chose the Ibérica - an Iberian pork burger with ham, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and crispy onions - served in a rustic Mediterráneo bun, while the rest of the family went for a Mediterranea - a veal burger with goat's cheese, baby spinach with apple and mango chutney in an Americano bun; a Panceta - a veal burger with emmental cheese, bacon, lettuce and onion in a Mediterráneo bun; and a kid sized burger for the smallest in our party. Incidentally there were three types of bun servings available including a topless version!

The beer list didn't seem to run past macrobrewery stuff and anyway I wasn't really in the mood for beer so I plumped for a sparkling water - teaching our confused waiter a new English term in the process. Service was quick, unsurprising I guess given how empty the restaurant was at this time, and my pork burger was decent sized with an undersheet of lettuce leaves and a snug duvet of ham on top, with the crispy onions cleverly scattered on the mayonnaised bun. The fries were pretty standard but inoffensive and nicely cooked. The burger tasted good with the succulent pork combining with its piggy cousin perfectly and complimented by the crunch of the lettuce and crispy onions - but I still looked jealously at the burgers being devoured by the rest of the family as we sat quietly eating our meals and taking in our surroundings, which were a nice mix of urban (If that's really a descriptor?) with a rustic modern feel, and a few bicycles and advert-throwing projectors thrown in for good measure.

We had room for a chocolate and a cheese cake afterwards, with ice cream for the kids (Well I say we had room ... in truth it was a tight squeeze.) before paying the bill and waddling out onto the square where most normal people were only just considering that they may go for a meal in a couple of hours time ... it was 8pm.

Our Opinion: Very pleasant and efficient service plus quite tasty food. The lack of beers that I like might have been an issue on another day but is hardly a deal breaker. The atmosphere was a bit quiet but that was down to our early visit we presumed - but were all happy all with the choice of restaurant and the food itself.

---

Berny's Burger

A few days later, we arrived at Berny's Burger on Carrer dels Valencians a little after its supposed opening time of 8pm to find it shut, but as we were walking back down the street we heard the rattle of shutters and turned to see it opening up for the night. We decided to give them a chance to properly open up before heading in so we grabbed a quick drink close by and wandered back half an hour later.

As with Mediterranea de Hamburguesas it was pretty quiet when we got there with just one lone guy munching on his burger. This place has an arty/music vibe and theme with movie star photos and some cool looking t-shirts, which were for sale, hanging on the walls. Indeed the menu is music themed too, as each burger is named after a musician or movie star it seemed. The very freindly Berny himself - we presumed - was in attendance and quickly translated the menu for us with no fuss, explaining the menu carefully and concisely. We decided on the Berny's Nachos for a sharing starter and then the kids went for plain beef burgers, one with an egg on top, while I went for the Jackson - a veal burger, crispy bacon, mushrooms, loads of cheese and a bourbon sauce - while herself went for the Boris (Karloff?) - a veal burger with goat's cheese, rocket, alfalfa and salsa del bosque.

From my research I knew that they had some craft beers here but sadly he was out of stock when I asked, so instead I was recommended an Alhambra Reserva Roja. This was a doppelbockesque red lager - far from exciting but pleasant and clean enough, and suspiciously easy to drink given its 7.2% abv.

The nachos arrived quickly, laden with guacamole, chili and what appeared to be a mascarpone-style cheese. Personally I would have liked some jalapenos too but it was still all very tasty and nicely balanced when scooped up together. Our burgers arrived soon after, served with a handful of potato wedges and in a nice floury bun. My own burger was a wonderful combination of juicy meat with the cheese, bacon and mushroom raising the flavour profile up a notch ... as only bacon can do! The wedges were fine if a little boring, but then they are only the supporting cast and not the stars so that wasn't a huge deal for us. The rest of the family were well impressed too and as we sat there discussing our day the place started to slowly fill up, with Berny greeting everyone - many by name - with a great smile and a genuine interest in their choice of meal and drink. This came across as a real local hangout as well as well as attracting the odd (literally) pale looking Irish family with their monolinguistic issues.

We had no room for desserts after the nachos and our burgers - I'm not sure if any were available - so we paid our bill and made our way out into the darkening streets of the city to walk off our meal and perhaps find somewhere along the way for a digestif...

Our Opinion: We really enjoyed the personal service, the laidback vibe here and the quiet street it stands on, you could easily wander past it and not give it a second look - I was lucky I had researched a little before heading to Valencia. The lack of microbrew beer was a little disappointing but again it was wasn't a big issue, and seemed to be just a temporary blip. We were all very impressed with the food though!

---

Burger Beer

When I spotted that there was a spot called Burger Beer in my research of Valencia I knew that my life would be somehow incomplete if I didn't give it a try. This is another burger joint that has an outlet in the Ruzafa area of the city but we visited the one on Calle de Luis Bolinches, as it was less that ten minutes from Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) where we had spent an enjoyable and educating morning wandering through exhibits and gazing in awe at the ultramodern buildings, pretending to be time travellers - or at least I did! Having spent a good while there we were a little tight for time as we wandered in through the easily-missed door of the restaurant a little after 3pm, as they close at 4pm but open again in the evening until late night.

We were seated quickly and shown menus in English which helped ... even if it also helped to highlight once again how useless we were with foreign languages. An impressive range of mostly Spanish and Belgian beers were cleverly listed on our place mats and I decided on a Tyris CCCP IPA (Pronounced Ee-Pah seemingly!) while my other half decided to forgo her normal Ribera del Duero and tried the Zeta Hell. Foodwise I chose the B&B - a beef burger with pork belly slices, lettuce, tomato, gherkin with a mustard and tarragon sauce. Herself went for the Pastor - a lightly spiced lamb burger with tomato, lettuce, yogurt sauce and caramelized onion - while the boy went for a plain burger with bacon and cheese, and the girl a kid's sized hot dog.

The place had a clean clinical but not overly harsh look that I liked and I could imagine that this was a busy spot at night, processing orders and turning seats quickly. My beer was pleasantly citrusy and relatively clean, and I enjoyed it more than some others from Tyris that I had tried. (More about that in another post.) The Zeta Hell was criticised for being, 'Too flavoursome'. Go figure... (More about this in another post too, as I had enjoyed it at a well-timed-for-me tap takeover a few days earlier.) Again service was quick and efficient and our food arrived at our table in no time.

The food was nothing short of superb. The burgers seemed to me to be cooked over charcoal as they had that wonderful smoky flavour and tasty charred bits. The succulent pork belly, trimmings and the toasted bun were all top quality, as was the sauce that covered the burger itself. The fries were incredible too, and strangely shaped as you can see from the top photo, with the right amount of crunch and lightly covered in seasalt. The rest of the family agreed with me with our youngest declaring her meaty, grilled hotdog the best ever!

At 3:58 pm we paid our bill and wandered back into the heat of the Valencian afternoon - full, happy and reeking of meat and contentedness - we heard the door click closed behind us...

Timing is everything, remember that.

Our Opinion: Excellent food and great service, and a pretty good looking beer list. We certainly couldn't fault them on anything and we were tempted to try their place in Ruzafa another day but time got away from us sadly. To be fair their burgers are slightly more expensive than the previous two places but in our opinion they were well worth it. Top marks Burger Beer, we were very impressed!

---

As mentioned earlier it might seem strange for a tourist to search out burger bars with all the great tapas and paella around but they do seem to be a big part of the food offering in the city so it would have been remiss of us not to try some. Overall our favourite was Burger Beer but we did like the food and personal service in Berny's Burger ... and in truth had no real complaints in Mediterranea de Hamburguesas, so choose your pick and try one!

(Just a quick note on the meat...

As you can see veal is popular, and you will be asked how you would like your burger cooked ... there is a good deal of conjecture about the cooking temperature/colour/preparing, etc. of minced beef. We chose medium each time and had no adverse effects but as with everything, make your own decision - I am not a meat-cooking-sciency-person!)

Liam

Part III is here.

Beer History: What's your Poison?

I jumped ahead 50 years in my research out of an interest in seeing how the paper I am currently trawling through - The Carlow Sentinel - had changed in the interim, and to see what beer was being advertised in the town. I landed in January 1901 to be greeted by the following advertisement:

[The Carlow Sentinel January 1901]

According to an excellent article on the arsenic-in-beer epidemic of 1900-1 by Matthew Copping on The Brewery History Society website, the poisoning was traced back not only to the sugar production process but also to arsenic transmitted onto the surface of malt during the kilning process.

Either way it seems that scaremarketing was being used to sway consumer purchasing habits then as now.

I'd love to read Professor McWeeney's book but sadly I can't find it online...

[With thanks to the Local Study Room at Carlow Library]

History: Beer and Loathing in 17th Century Ireland

If I had come across the first two lines in the following extract a few years ago I would have probably drolly commented that things had come full circle since this was first written in the early part of the 17th century. Thankfully a lot has changed in the last few years...*

'Scarce anywhere out of Dublin and some few other towns will you meet with any good beer or any reasonable bread for your money, only you may have some raw, muddy, unwholesome ale, made solely of oats, which they buy for 5d the quarter at the dearest and commonly for 4d, and yet they sell their ale pots dearer than here they do the best beer. Now if barley were sown there in plenty, seeing it is so fruitful and so profitable a grain, (for that land is as profitable for it as England) and that likewise, in head towns and parishes, thoroughfares and villages of note, malt house, which prove so beneficial to the owners, public and common brew houses were erected, and men experenced [sic] in those trades were there from hence employed, which here might be spared, it would prevent this general mischief, which, if any weighty exigent would call thither any number of British men, would soon cause them to perish by this poisonous drink and bread, and therefore a thing not to be continued.'

The editor dated the original document to 1623 and given the context and wording it was written in England. There are some interesting points raised, such as that beer was being made wholly with oats(?); that it was more expensive than the 'good' ale of England; that there was a huge opportunity for the growing of barley in Ireland, for the establishment of malthouse and breweries, and a need for good brewers; and that any British men that arrived over here would be poisoned by our beer...

I think it's safe to say that didn't happen!

* There are still many places in the country that lack any decent beer for those who want something a little different - or at the very least a choice. Dublin and the major cities still have the best of all worlds, a fact that many who live, and brew, in those places often fail to comprehend...

[Extract from 'Advertisements for Ireland', Edited and Transcribed by George O'Brien, Dublin 1923 - via the Local Studies Room in Carlow Library]

History: Brilliant Beverages from The Saracen's Head?

To Brewers, Retailers of Beer, Ale, Cider, &c.

A BRILLIANT ARTICLE IN A FEW HOURS.

THE ADVERTISER has invented FININGS that will cause the article of Beer, Ale, Cider, &c., to become immediately transparent, without violating the law or injury to the article.

The RECIPE is for sale or contract for a supply. A Sample Bottle will be sent to any address, made from this Recipe, on the receipt of 2s 6d, or, in powder, at 8s per cannister, with proper directions for use.

Address - ANDREW WOOD, 5, Snow Hill, London.

(The Carlow Sentinel -  November 1847)

As Isinglass had been around for a long time, was this is a new product? Or at least a new process? With the recipe available too, it must have been made from a raw material that was relatively freely available ... gelatin based perhaps?

There's also an interesting footnote in the fact that the given address was The Saracen's Head Inn, a quite famous establishment in Snow Hill, London that was demolished in 1868 and is now the site of a police station. One assumes that Mr. Wood had lodgings there? Or perhaps it was used as we use PO boxes today...

So not hugely interesting or exciting but ... lots of questions and very few answers!

Liam

[With thanks once again to the local history room in Carlow library]

Travel: Germany Epilogue - Airport Snobs & Aged Doppelbocks

Waiting patiently at a checkout...

Waiting...

Waiting...

'Oh, hello. Just this please.' I place a bottle on the counter.

'That is not pils.' He says in a Teutonic accent. I get sniffed at...

I hate getting sniffed at.

'Er, I know.'

'This is a strong beer.' He holds it up to my eye level, tapping the bottle with manicured finger nails.

'Yes ... I know.'

'You can not drink it like a normal beer.' A finger is waggled at me, as if I'm a bold child.

'I know. Can I just buy it please?'

'I suppose so ... but do not open it here.' He looks me up and down taking in my dishevelled appearance, which is my default look to be fair.

I pay.

'You obviously don't need it wrapped.' The sniff again and bottle is shoved toward me with two fingers...

Then he gazes past me and pats down his overly perfect hair, picks a piece of lint from his emmaculate black shirt and turns his back, to do something noteworthy to caviar or something French and bubbly.

The above interaction took place in The Caviar and Champagne Emporium of Snooty Service or something like that in a German airport, and prompted me to utter a slightly high pitched 'Harumph', grab my bottle from the counter and march indignantly away muttering about beer and food snobs and hoping that the next bottle of champagne the guy opened took his eye out.

Or at least ruined his hair...

This started because wanted to bring back a beer from my Wiesbaden and Mainz trip and as usual there was nothing amongst the whisk(e)ys, wines and liqueurs in the airport's duty free or whatever it's now called. I had spotted the above establishment and took a chance that they might have a local beer or two. The had a few bottles hidden in the back of a fridge and the Lahnsteiner Martinator I spotted was localish, and as it ended in 'ator' it seemed a safe bet as something that might appeal to me. I presumed it would be a doppelbock or something close given its 8% abv but either way I just wanted a souvenir to bring home and perhaps have at Christmas ... but after all of that I forgot to have it then and kept putting off opening it, never finding a suitable moment.

Almost 12 months later I find the beer lying forlornly at the salad drawer of the fridge surrounded by wrinkled carrots and a disturbing blue substance that may have been cheese in a previous existence. I'm heading off on a Christmas trip again in a few days time so I thought I might as well crack it open now. It is 5 days past its best-before date so I am not hoping for freshness...

But it's very lively, with a big fluffy head creeping up over the top of the glass.

I took a big gulp...

I tasted ginger at first and then a little clove, then came a big sweet rush of honey as the softness of the beer coated my mouth and when that slowly receded there remained a slight hint of something fruity like sweet glacé cherries. There was little or no discernible bitterness, so the hops had either dropped out over time or were well blended with the other flavours.

Perhaps time and my fridge were kind to the beer but for whatever reasons I really enjoyed it, although I do feel that my tasting notes were sprinkled with fairydust, laden with lebkuchen crumbs and glühwein essence...

But that guy was right in fairness, it's not a pils.

Liam

Travel: Christmas Market, Wiesbaden, Germany - Sated Senses, Steam and Sustenance

The spectacular living Poinsettia Tree in the Kurhaus, Wiesbaden

I'm not a big Christmas fanatic...

In fact I have a slight Scrooge-like attitude to all the spending and nonsense that's associated with the so-called festive period. This is probably due to spending too long in retail, purchasing and then selling all the shiny Christmas tat that people feel obliged to cover every surface of their house in at that time of year.

But if I'm being honest then I must admit that there are parts I enjoy too, such as seeing how much kids enjoy Christmas, the chance to unashamedly cook goose, wear loud jumpers and play with lasers, LEDs, fibre optics and other ways of lighting up the house and causing my hair to stand on end.

The other big Christmassy thing I do is visiting European Christmas markets, and it's something I really look forward to every year. It's probably because of my deep seated wanderlust, combined with all of the new sights and sounds of course but it's also because a good market waylays your other senses too. The taste of new food, the smell of various roasting meats, or spiced aromas of Christmas tipples ... and the feeling of being wrapped up snuggly in folds of cotton and wool, mingling with my own layer of bacon-laden fat.

But I tend to shy away from the more traditional Christmas market destinations in Germany such as Cologne, Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich and instead try to seek out places off the beaten track, as I hope that these will be slightly less commercial(!), cheaper and most importantly more interesting than the larger ones. I prefer markets that are more local than touristy, which I know is tinged with irony given I am a tourist..

This means that I've seen Düsseldorf, Augsburg, Hamburg - which was a big one admittedly - amongst others, and now Wiesbaden - pronounced 'veece-bah-den'. I visited Vienna too but it was too large for a short trip and although I enjoyed it immensely, I regretted too much the things I had missed ... but vowed to get back there again.

Wiesbaden wouldn't be first on many people's list of Christmas market destinations but that was one of the appealing things of course. It also helped that it is easily and quickly accessible from Frankfurt airport, as a key part of these trips is finding somewhere with early flights in and late flights out to make the most of my precious few days. It's not full of the traditional wood framed house one expects from certain parts of Germany and instead is a pleasant and striking mish-mash of neo-gothic, baroque and other classically flouncy styles.

Okay, I won't bore you with too much detail but here are a few photo highlights from the trip with a few notes...

Marktkirche - An imposing and dramatic brownstone edifice in the centre of the city.

A beautiful art nouveau mural on Bahnhofstraße close to our hotel. It's great to see this type of accessible art sneak into Irish cities too like Limerick and Waterford.

A fantastic food market with a great range of unusual and colourful produce. I'd love it on my doorstep!

Nice brunch in the trendy  Du & Ich - Focaccia with a bottle of Hamburg's finest Astra Urtyp with its mild but bitterly acrid taste.

A Giant cuckoo clock outside a shop whose staff followed us around as if we were shoplifters! Needless to say we bought nothing in the place but I had fun picking stuff up and walking around with it before putting it back on a different shelf, much to the annoyance of said staff.

The remains of some Roman - and not-so-Roman - ruins tucked up a side street, interesting viewing tower too.

One of the many gorgeous buildings dotted around  the city.

We took a break in Der Andechser in the Ratskeller under the Neues Rathaus. I enjoyed a very nice Andechser Dunkel with an ubiquitous pretzel -  my dunkel tasted of bitter malt and ginger, with an acidic-metallic quality and a dash of cola perhaps. The very cool bottling machine sits in the entrance hall, ignored by all but me it seems!

Neues Rathaus and Marktkirche looking elegant on a winter day, viewed from Warmer Damm.

Church doors with the now familiar brownstone of this area of germany.

The fantastic thermal spring on Kochbrunnen Platz. This also explains why we spotted steam escaping from manhole covers around the city, and the rotten egg smell that lingers in this spot!

Bäckerbrunnen - A nice old fashioned bar where I had a very drinkable Diebels Altbier with its very mild ginger and digestive biscuit flavour. 

Extremely well merchandised christmas shops with an obvious slant towards European tastes.

Sternschnuppenmarkt -  The Twinkling Star Christmas Market was packed every evening and full of the usual foods, novelties and decorations. It sprawls in a good way along a number of streets but is easy to get around and well laid out.

Beer and a burger in the excellent Nassau Burger & Beef Company - They stock both German micro beers and a few foreign imports. Its a rustic spot with loads of wood and very friendly staff. I had a Wiesbadener Pale Ale that was mild for the style but extremely tasty with hints of cardamom and ginger biscuit too. I followed this with a Hanscraft & Co. Nizza Wheat Pale Ale  that had a lovely balance of clove and citrus with a bacon-like aftertaste. I paired it with a bacon jam burger cooked medium with the most fantastic fries. The burger itself was nicely pink but a little bit over seasoned, even for me. I finished up on Hanscraft & Co. Backbone Splitter - one of my favourite beers of the trip, bitter as hell with a big kick of spicy grapefruit hops. 

Dunkel in Weihenstephaner on Taunusstraße - It tasted of sweet barley sugar and clove, with brown soda bread. I was also given the Possmann Frau Rauscher Speierling cider by someone who hated it. It was extremely bitter after the beer but really refreshing, reminding me of a Belgian Oude Gueuze!

Maisel & Friends in Spital Bar (Now Closed) - We shared these three Maisel & Friends bottles - The Bavarian Ale was all mandarin oranges, clove and funky cheese with a chewy-sweet finish. The Chocolate Bock tasted of of cocoaed Bovril with maybe a hint of smoked bacon -  rich and chewy too with tons of body. The Pale Ale had a whiff of old cheese with some lemongrass and perhaps custard cream biscuits. All three were excellent, as the suited the mood and company. We also bought a couple of those cool glasses to bring home!

My final morning breakfast of bacon and eggs - naturally - in La Maison du Pain.

The fantastic walk way under Gustav-Stresemann-Ring near Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof - This reminded me so much of the Chagall stained glass windows in Mainz that I posted about here.

So that's a quick photo reel of some of my highlights of Wiesbaden. It's certainly an excellent city to visit for its Christmas market and makes a change from the timbered old-style german towns we normally frequent. It's easy to get to and you'll have plenty to do, we missed out on a couple of places such as Baron von Richthofen's grave and the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth to mention just two! Don't forget Mainz and Frankfurt are close too...

You'll find more information on the city here.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Liam