Going For A BrewLog
Jan. 20th, 2015 06:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeMonday evening saw us go to BrewDog for another tasting session, this time six tipples from the New Zealand based 8 Wired brewery, which is run by a Dane. Beforehand, we stopped off at Bar Burrito for some food and ample beer soakage, taking advantage of one of their January offers - free soft drink and tortilla chips with every burrito ordered. Since they have expended into London, Bar Burrito has become somewhat expensive although the portion size has jumped considerably in that time. As a consequence, just over £7 all in with the deal was exceptional value although the burrito in itself probably would have sufficed as it was so large. I went for the spicy BBQ beef variety, upon which I liberally sprinkled smoked BBQ sauce, and it was delicious, oozing with rice, onions, sour cream and guacamole in addition to the filling. The tortillas came with guacamole and sour cream and again I sprinkled BBQ sauce on them - another great addition.
By the time we tipped out of Bar Burrito, I was starting to feel somewhat bloated, adding weight to my reasons not to go there before fursuiting at the Leeds meets. The last thing I really wanted was beer but we were two of five people signed up for the event and we had been talking about our attendance with the BrewDog staff for most of the last fortnight so we went. Normally it's just us at these tasting sessions but on Monday there were three others - two university students who were pretty friendly and a beer fantastic in an orange Mac who refused to stop talking. He was very enthusiastic about beer (and wine), waving his arms around and dominating conversation for most of the 90 minutes, although he was quite knowledgeable to boot. He was extolling the virtues of the home brew club they have in BrewDog every second Wednesday while his flailing arms did hit me quite often as I was sat next to him. It took me until about two beers in to get his measure but once I did, he was interesting company, and I was delighted that he was responding positively to my own comments on the beer. I'm not a huge connoisseur of beer - I sample many but have only just begun describing the flavours due to the Untappd app - and I feel my comments are often somewhat naive but time and again he responded positively to my remarks and this was quite a confidence boost. I'm not sure whether the whole tasting scenario is a little hipster and pretentious but there are a range of different styles and flavours to beer so it seems like a worthwhile thing to do. After all, I do enjoy beer and sampling as many as possible anyway so this is the next logical step. After this, no doubt, is to start the home brew stuff again and perhaps present our brews at the local club. That's for later in the year though when we have our extension sorted out.
We got through six 8 Wired beers if varying styles, starting with a wet IPA and moving through a red ale, smoked porter and brown ale before ending with the iStout and a seasonal high strength barley wine. The styles were all so different, highlighting the variation and talent the Danish founder of 8 Wired possesses, and it's hard to pick out a favourite. The smoked porter was the nicest smoked beer I has ever tasted as the smokiness wasn't overpowering and lingered in the mouth afterwards while the sweet iStout was divine sweet deliciousness although it would have got sickly after a while. With five of us sampling two bottles of each beer between us, we were enjoying just under one third of a pint each time, far less than is normal when it's just Wolfie and I in attendance. This was a saving grace though given my groaning belly and it did mean that we weren't too drunk afterwards.
Orange Mac man tried to disappear after the fifth beer, with the sixth and final one still to sample, but he noticed the server coming up with the glasses so he stayed a little longer. He needed to catch a bus though so headed off soon afterwards, while our quiet student friends, who had become a little more vocal as the evening progressed, headed off shortly afterwards too. With the bar dead, it being Monday, this left Wolfie and I alone with two hours to kill before our last bus. I started speaking to the server - a good friend of ours on the BrewDog staff - about the new range of popcorn they have just launched, popcorn that is paired with some of BrewDog's core beers. He suggested we have a taste session of all five beers with their matched popcorns, which he rang up on the till specially for us. For £14.50 we would get five thirds of BrewDog beer and the accompanying popcorn, which seemed like a great option, so we took him up on the offer.
The popcorns and the beers were perfectly matched, although they did start with the best popcorns in my view. The two cheesy versions - paired with Dead Pony Club and Five AM Red Ale - were definitely my favourite while Wolfie enjoyed the madras flavour with onion and black pepper which was the last one we had, paired with Punk IPA. The tropical fruit flavours of this beer did work well with the curry tones and it made me wonder why curry houses don't serve more IPAs instead of standard largely bland Indian mainstream lagers. Only Japiur in Armley, which has sadly since closed down, served an IPA with their curry (the appropriately named Jaipur from Thornbridge) and it's a shame some others don't either. The final three popcorns had a sweet glaze and, preferring savory flavours, these were not as good for me, although I will admit that they did complement the beers nicely. While we were sampling, we had a good chat with the BrewDog staff, many of whom know us personally, and this makes the bar feel rather homely. I'm not sure what will happen when they move to their new premises later in the year - the bar may lose some of its intimate nature - but certainly the staff make the bar a great place to be. We are already looking forward to the next tasting session, although I doubt it'll be my suggestion of a Tramp Special where we get to try a range of high strength beers such as Special Brew and Carlsberg's Elephant. Here's hoping though.
By the time we tipped out of Bar Burrito, I was starting to feel somewhat bloated, adding weight to my reasons not to go there before fursuiting at the Leeds meets. The last thing I really wanted was beer but we were two of five people signed up for the event and we had been talking about our attendance with the BrewDog staff for most of the last fortnight so we went. Normally it's just us at these tasting sessions but on Monday there were three others - two university students who were pretty friendly and a beer fantastic in an orange Mac who refused to stop talking. He was very enthusiastic about beer (and wine), waving his arms around and dominating conversation for most of the 90 minutes, although he was quite knowledgeable to boot. He was extolling the virtues of the home brew club they have in BrewDog every second Wednesday while his flailing arms did hit me quite often as I was sat next to him. It took me until about two beers in to get his measure but once I did, he was interesting company, and I was delighted that he was responding positively to my own comments on the beer. I'm not a huge connoisseur of beer - I sample many but have only just begun describing the flavours due to the Untappd app - and I feel my comments are often somewhat naive but time and again he responded positively to my remarks and this was quite a confidence boost. I'm not sure whether the whole tasting scenario is a little hipster and pretentious but there are a range of different styles and flavours to beer so it seems like a worthwhile thing to do. After all, I do enjoy beer and sampling as many as possible anyway so this is the next logical step. After this, no doubt, is to start the home brew stuff again and perhaps present our brews at the local club. That's for later in the year though when we have our extension sorted out.
We got through six 8 Wired beers if varying styles, starting with a wet IPA and moving through a red ale, smoked porter and brown ale before ending with the iStout and a seasonal high strength barley wine. The styles were all so different, highlighting the variation and talent the Danish founder of 8 Wired possesses, and it's hard to pick out a favourite. The smoked porter was the nicest smoked beer I has ever tasted as the smokiness wasn't overpowering and lingered in the mouth afterwards while the sweet iStout was divine sweet deliciousness although it would have got sickly after a while. With five of us sampling two bottles of each beer between us, we were enjoying just under one third of a pint each time, far less than is normal when it's just Wolfie and I in attendance. This was a saving grace though given my groaning belly and it did mean that we weren't too drunk afterwards.
Orange Mac man tried to disappear after the fifth beer, with the sixth and final one still to sample, but he noticed the server coming up with the glasses so he stayed a little longer. He needed to catch a bus though so headed off soon afterwards, while our quiet student friends, who had become a little more vocal as the evening progressed, headed off shortly afterwards too. With the bar dead, it being Monday, this left Wolfie and I alone with two hours to kill before our last bus. I started speaking to the server - a good friend of ours on the BrewDog staff - about the new range of popcorn they have just launched, popcorn that is paired with some of BrewDog's core beers. He suggested we have a taste session of all five beers with their matched popcorns, which he rang up on the till specially for us. For £14.50 we would get five thirds of BrewDog beer and the accompanying popcorn, which seemed like a great option, so we took him up on the offer.
The popcorns and the beers were perfectly matched, although they did start with the best popcorns in my view. The two cheesy versions - paired with Dead Pony Club and Five AM Red Ale - were definitely my favourite while Wolfie enjoyed the madras flavour with onion and black pepper which was the last one we had, paired with Punk IPA. The tropical fruit flavours of this beer did work well with the curry tones and it made me wonder why curry houses don't serve more IPAs instead of standard largely bland Indian mainstream lagers. Only Japiur in Armley, which has sadly since closed down, served an IPA with their curry (the appropriately named Jaipur from Thornbridge) and it's a shame some others don't either. The final three popcorns had a sweet glaze and, preferring savory flavours, these were not as good for me, although I will admit that they did complement the beers nicely. While we were sampling, we had a good chat with the BrewDog staff, many of whom know us personally, and this makes the bar feel rather homely. I'm not sure what will happen when they move to their new premises later in the year - the bar may lose some of its intimate nature - but certainly the staff make the bar a great place to be. We are already looking forward to the next tasting session, although I doubt it'll be my suggestion of a Tramp Special where we get to try a range of high strength beers such as Special Brew and Carlsberg's Elephant. Here's hoping though.
