Goose Eye Brewery -Chinook. Lovely refreshing pint. Very dry, very bitter… More to follow

Rooster’s are a Knaresborough based micro brewery who’ve been producing ales since around 1993 under the Rooster’s label. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with their ales, they’re well produced and well balanced, but if I’m honest I find them a little bland. Not this one however, Juniper is the flavoursome ale that I’ve been waiting for from the Rooster’s label. (Rooster’s also brew under the the experimental label of Outlaw Brewing Co and their Outlaw Wild Mule is actually a favorite of mine, but more about that some other time). Juniper is a 5% IPA and as I sampled it on a school night, I only had a couple but thoroughly enjoyed every drop. It has a super citrus grapefruit flavour and was so refreshing and the strength helps to give it a nice dryness and bitterness that Rooster’s do very well, when they’re not kicking out the bland stuff - more like this please folks

Having visited the legendary Fanny’s in Saltaire, I walked in the p***ing rain to consume a pint of this ale. Darkstar are based near Brighton and rarely make it up North, except for some strange reason, The Junction in Baildon, Leeds where it’s a regular. I’d heard so much about this ale that my mouth was watering all the way to The Junction (though that could have been the rain) - boy was it worth the soaking, this is a cracking pint and just to make sure it was I had to have 4 (one of which was a little cloudy but that didn’t impair the taste). As the name suggests Hop Head is a well hopped ale and is super refreshing - if you’re lucky enough to find it - devour it

This is quite an interesting beer - novelty though it may be - on first taste it reminds me of Liefman’s Goudenband, with a kick of ginger of course. I didn’t chill it too much as I thought that would help the flavour and I think it did, it’s essentially Robinson’s Old Tom Ale mixed with Fentiman’s Ginger Beer and the results are actually quite pleasant. Ok I wouldn’t go out and order it on a Friday night but I would order it before some of the established mass marketed crap I endured. It’s as a cheeky little 6% Christmas treat is a pleasant bottle of fun.

“Thwaites Original tastes like brown water. Pointless. A waste of effort in brewing” - I concur

I first tried BrewDog Punk IPA earlier last year and it would be no exaggeration to say that it absolutely blew me away. I couldn’t wait to tell people about it. It’s stunning! As the label says, ‘This is an aggressive beer’, well they’re not kidding! It’s hopped to the max using New Zealand hops which give it a ballsy, distinctive flavour. BrewDog are a modern success story when it comes to newbie breweries. Based in Aberdeenshire the company has only been in existence since 2007, Punk IPA being one of it’s flagship brews. I can’t recommend this enough - though it’s slightly disappointing that it’s not second fermented in the bottle and is, in fact, lightly carbonated - I’d love, no kill, to try it on hand pull. This is an aggressive beer alright, a good gob full beats up your taste buds and screams “drink me, you bastard, drink me!” I’m only too happy to oblige.

I sampled this Leeds Brewery, Leeds Pale in one of the brewery’s very own drinking establishments - The Brewery Tap. Located near Leeds Rail Station, it’s not near the brewery as many other ‘taps’, but it does have a mini-brew-house upstairs. This is a refreshing pint and fairly inoffensive, but it’s at it’s most refreshing on a warm day as a real quencher. A lot of Leeds beers are good, well finished with a nice hoppy flavour and Pale certainly doesn’t disappoint

This was the most interesting ale I tried all weekend. I wasn’t a taste sensation but bloody hell it was packed with so many flavours, it’s perhaps too complicated actually. For starters it’s 3.8% and it tastes like 5.8%. I didn’t know what to make of it at first, did it have a hint of chocolate, was it stout-like? Well, probably not but it’s such an unusual flavour you don’t know what it is you’re tasting. It does have a lasting, lovely, very bitter finish and it’s not too ‘claggy’ if I can use that word, which some Scottish ales tend to be. It’s worth a pint to try but if honest there’s a bit too much to it to drink more.

Ok this is not a beer, I know that. But it’s a beer related post and this is the absolute perfect beer snack. There’s simply nothing more appropriate or more tasty when it comes to a bar snack. Bits of pig! Perfect with a pint!

This is Geuze! (often spelled Gueuze) It’s fantastic! It’s not everyone’s cup of tea though, in fact there are some who’ve tasted this sour brew who fear for the sanity of the Belgian nation, which is where it’s brewed. Geuze spontaneously ferments in the Lambic region of Belgium and is aged in oak barrels, various ages of the brew are then mixed together to produce the Geuze. If you’ve had cherry beer or Kriek, then this I suppose is it’s cousin, cherries are added to sweeten and produce Kriek. I prefer this very sour form, which has cidery notes to it but it’s amazingly refreshing. As well as that warning on flavour, I should also warn you that it can be quite volatile and so it’s served in a half champagne bottle complete and wired to keep the cork in. It’s not to everyone’s taste but, if you can find it, try it with gusto and have a damn good gob full!

Ok, I haven’t tasted this ale, but my Twitter buddy Dave (twitter.com/dbrereton) reckons this is a quality pint and it’s a regular lubrication to his oesophagus. Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde, according to Dave is “a light, yellow, fizzy, session ale. Easy to neck”. I’ll look forward to you buying me a couple then mate! (apologies for the blurred photo, you’re seeing this through his 5 pints eyes)

So I’m told by one of my ale drinking compatriots “Salamander beers are rarely anything but bloody good”. Well I wouldn’t know, I think this was my first from the brewery, a tasty little ale called Stalagmite. Stalagmite is very light in colour and not too bold in flavour, easy going with a lovely, lasting bitter after taste and only 3.8% to boot. Bloody good it was, and I wouldn’t say no to another…

From the very same hand pull in my local that brought me the delicious Windermere Pale, this evening I sampled the simply named Hawkshead Bitter. And I have to say that although not as ballsy as it’s counterpart, I was quite impressed. This is a very drinkable ale with a more malty flavour and a lovely bitter aftertaste. To think I hadn’t tried Hawkshead beers until the beginning of the week, but I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship

Stunning Ale! Fabulously named after bygone motor cars as other Mallinson’s ales are - Maxi is a beautifully citrusy and hoppy with a lovely bitter aftertaste. Have to confess to downing one or two of these. Mallinson’s are fairly new I believe and based in Huddersfield. A brew and a brewery to look out for!

This is a cheeky little number. Only 3.5% so a good session ale, but wow what a ballsy flavour for a beer with little strength. Very drinkable with a hoppy flavour that’s packed with punch. I’ll be revisiting this one again