Tag Archives: beer

The Halftime Pint: Fuller’s London Porter

One of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to day drink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith

The Beer: Fuller’s London Porter, Fuller’s Griffin Brewery, London, United Kingdom

The Pub: The Black Swan, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York

What you Need to Know:  Did you know we like porters in this column?  I’ve covered the history of the porter as the original beertail ad nauseum since we’ve been writing about beer.  Fuller’s London Porter is pretty much in line with a basic English Robust Porter.

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The Halftime Pint: Carton Brewing Decoy Winter Warmer

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One of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to day drink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith

The Beer: Decoy Winter Warmer, Carton Brewing Company, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey

The Pub: Bar Great Harry, Brooklyn, New York

What you need to know: The Winter Warmer is a classic English style of seasonal brew.  A variation on the classic Old Ale, it’s a beer of moderate strength heavy on malt character. Spices are used occasionally to add to the “winter” flavor. Though there’s no “divining line” from when the style originates, the classics tend to be English and Belgian- think Sam Smith and Samichlaus.

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The Halftime Pint: Newcastle Brown Ale

One of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to day drink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith

The Beer: Newcastle Brown Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, UK (Now owned by Heikenken and brewed at John Smith’s Brewery)

The Pub: The Football Factory at Legends, on 33rd St. in New York

What You Need to Know: I corrected a grievous error by reviewing a brown ale last week; Newcastle is the most famous of the Northern English Brown Ales. As I recounted when reviewing the brewery’s Founder’s Ale, the signature beer was first introduced in 1927 by Newcastle Brewing Company’s Lieutenant Colonel Jim Porter, himself a third-generation brewer.

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The Halftime Pint: Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

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A Perfect Pint for Breakfast Time

One of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: Oatmeal Stout, Samuel Smith’s Brewery, Tadcaster, England

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in Northeast DC

What you Need to Know: Samuel Smith’s Brewery was founded in 1758. The brewery, well-known as one of the most bare-bones breweries in the world, is also famous for its fermentation vessels, which are large open square slate tanks (as opposed to most breweries’ closed cylindrical/conical stainless steel or copper fermentation tanks). The “Yorkshire Squares” impart a snappy, mineral flavor to the beers. Samuel Smith’s was also one of the first and most well-known to proudly tout its organic grains, as its lager has been labeled as “Organic” for as long as it’s been made. Continue reading →

The Halftime Pint: Lump Of Coal Stout

One of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: Lump Of Coal Stout, Ridgeway Brewing, South Stoke, England, United Kingdom

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in Northeast DC

What you need to know: Ridgeway Brewing is a “gypsy brewery,” meaning that brewer Peter Scholey travels around to different breweries, uses their equipment, and then affixes the Ridgeway name and label on it.  There are quite a few breweries that operate this way, and put out consistently good product.  Stillwater Artisanal Ales, out of the Baltimore region, operates this way (though they just got a “permanent” space at the newly opened Of Love and Regret), as does Mikkeller out of Copenhagen.

The style, a Foreign Export Stout, is a “traveling” version of the classic stout.  It’s typically bolder, roastier and more alcoholic, so to better survive long trips on cargo ships.  It’s not as strong as the Imperial, but then again, it never had to satisfy Catherine the Great. Continue reading →

The Halftime Pint: Kronenbourg Blanc

20121111-165058.jpgOne of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: Kronenbourg 1664, Brasseries Kronenbourg, Obernai, France

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in Northeast DC

What You Need to Know: I covered the history of the Kronenbourg brewery when I reviewed their flagship pale lager. Basically, they’ve been brewing since the Holy Roman Empire.

White ale, or witbier, is a pretty popular offshoot of the Belgian Ale tradition. It’s a typically hazy ale that blends wheat with the normal barley mash, and often includes spices to help out with the flavoring and aroma. Really good wits have a really nice balance of spice, yeast funk and fruit flavors (often of the citrus variety).

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The Halftime Pint: St. Peter’s Grapefruit Ale

20120930-211227.jpgOne of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: St. Peter’s Fruit Beer, St. Peter’s Brewing Company, Suffolk, England

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in Northeast DC

What you Need to Know: We covered the relatively short history of St. Peter’s Brewery, founded in 1996, back in April.

As is common with most fruit beers, this is a pale wheat beer, though unlike most wheat beers, the yeast does not seem to present any clove or banana esters, suggesting that St. Peter’s uses a regular ale yeast with a golden wheat malt bill. As a result, this is drier, and less “full” than most wheat beers as you would know them. Continue reading →

The Halftime Pint: Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald

20120925-072446.jpgOne of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio

The Pub: The Blaguard, in Northwest DC

What you need to know: Yep, it’s another porter, of the American Robust variety.  So roast should factor heavy, but, as Great Lakes stays a fairly style traditional (even their Commodore Perry IPA is fairly restrained), hops should be mellow and grassy. Continue reading →

The Halftime Pint: Cain’s Bitter

20120916-231855.jpgOne of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to daydrink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith.

The Beer: Cain’s Bitter, Robert Cain Brewery, Liverpool, England

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in Northeast DC

What You Need to Know: This is familiar ground for this column, on two fronts. We covered the history of the Robert Cain Brewery, which is also a major pub owner in Britain, early in the history of Four Five Two.

And the English bitter is by now known as a favorite style of the column. Cain’s slots in comfortably as a slightly under-strength Best Bitter, meaning it’s copper as opposed to straw in color, but not quite as strong as the ESB/Premium Bitter. The typical ABV for the range is also about 4.2-4.7 percent, while Cain’s comes in at an even 4. Continue reading →

The Halftime Pint: Black Sheep Ale

20120826-230940.jpgOne of the greater things about watching football in America is that most matches, especially those of the EPL, are early in the morning American time, giving people an excuse to day drink. This is part of our series discussing exactly what to drink when you’re at the pub, presented by our resident homebrewer, Keith

The Beer: Black Sheep Ale, Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

The Pub: The Queen Vic, in northeast DC

What You Need to Know: Black Sheep Brewery was founded in 1992 by Paul Theakston, who is six generations removed from Robert Theakston, the founder of Theakston’s Brewery, best known for its Old Peculier Old Ale. Theakston left the family business in 1988, not long after Matt Brown had taken over the brewery and subsequently sold it to Scottish and Newcastle. He set the new brewery up in what used to be the malting building at the family’s old rival, Lightfoot’s Brewery, and was able to continue brewing in Masham. Consequently, four of Paul’s brothers restored Theakston’s to family control in 2004, and so the family continues its brewing tradition in the Yorkshire Dales. Continue reading →