Yeast Extract

You may not think that yeast extract has anything to do with beer, well you would be wrong. Yeast extract is made from a by-product of beer production, have you guessed yet, yes it's yeast. Many people love yeast extract, just as many do not, I am with those that do.

Marmite is the big name in yeast extract, but there are many others and for years now I have favoured Tesco's own brand yeast extract over Marmite (although they are all probably made by the same people). During our weekend away though, I discovered Sainsbury's reduced salt yeast extract and like it just as much as Tesco's, so I will probably be changing my allegiance to Sainsbury's.



For those of you thinking, why hasn't he mentioned Vegemite, well the answerer to that is simple, I do not like it.

Alpine Lager Warning

Samuel Smith's, Alpine Lager, from England

This beer has changed strength, it is no longer 4.5%, it is now 2.8%, so beware if you are a lager drinker and you end up in a Samuel Smith's pub. Last night I watched some poor lad realise he had just bought a 2.8% beer, he was gutted.

So this one has gone


Replaced be this one

York and Sam Smith's

We have been in York for three days now and for the last two evenings we have been drinking Old Brewery Bitter in the Kings Arms (well I have), so tonight we will not be breaking with tradition. We could do something different but why should we, its so friendly and very cheap.

Durham Lumiere 2011

We though it would be a good idea to attend the last night of the, Durham Lumiere 2011, a city centre wide art installation. We would park by the river, have a walk round the sights and have a couple of beers.

 Well that plan didn't work, even though we were there early, there was nowhere to park and the traffic was solid from the motorway all the way into the city centre. So we gave up but not completely, we drove to a pub in a village just out of town and had a beer, while we waited for the traffic flow to change direction. I had a Blacksheep but it was expensive, so only the one and then set off back into Durham.

The traffic was still mad but we managed to get down to the rowing club and walked in from there. We intended to pop into the club on the way back, to book some nights there in the van (See here).

We walked in along the river to Elvet Bridge but could not cross, as there was a one way system in operation, so we had to walk back to the market place. The crowds were at a standstill there, all trying to get the the cathedral but getting nowhere.

So we went to Framwellgate Bridge, where we though we could walk along the river to the cathedral but there was also a one way system that way as well, with both sides of the river going the same way.

We gave up trying and went to see the rail viaduct, which was also lit up. This detour was just long enough to let the crowds die down somewhat, so we tried again to get to the cathedral.

It was still hard going but we moved steadily along until we where outside the cathedral, the light show there, although very good, it was too dim to get a good photo. The queue to get into the cathedral after the show, was the biggest of the night by far, so we walked round the side.

Where there was a one way system in operation again, so even though I didn't want to walk the long way back to the market place via the river, that's what we had to do. Through the gate around the side of the cathedral, there looked to be a very good light display out back but we where not allowed in, because of another one way system.

At Prebends Bridge we had some luck, the steward shouting to everyone to stick to the one way system, mentioned that we could turn left instead and head back a quicker way. This turned out to be a very good choice, as we had to pass next to the artificial waterfall from Kingsgate footbridge.

  

From there the path came back out onto Elvet Bridge and we went straight into the Swan and three Cygnets, for a pint Smiths Old Brewery Bitter. Refreshed we did the long walk back along the river to the rowing club but unfortunately it as closed, so we finished the night early.

Not a photo from the night but I may as well review Old Brewery Bitter.

Samuel Smith's, Old Brewery Bitter, from England



4.0% dark brown colour with a good lasting head, fruity aroma, very nice smooth fruity but bitter taste, very good beer, now an all time favourite of mine.

Spooks Ale

Saturday gone, we had the last of the beers we had that were brewed for Halloween, I suppose the Christmas beers will be out soon.

Shepherd Neame, Spooks Ale, from England.



4.7%, deed red colour with a thin head, caramel malt aroma, nice toffee malt taste, not bad.

Football Beers

On Saturday we had a couple of new beers with the England v Spain friendly match. England apparently, had no chance of winning against the best team in the world but we did anyway 1 - 0.

The first beer, was only made for last years World Cup but there are still a few kicking about.

Shepherd Neame, 4-4-2, from England



4.0% gold colour with a poor head, citrus hop aroma and taste, slightly too much hop, for me. Not the best beer in the world, more just a gimmick for the tournament.

The next one was only slightly better.

Shepherd Neame, Autumn Blaze, from England



4.0% deep amber colour with a thin head, caramel malt and hop aroma, caramel malt taste.

Bonfire Night Beers

We booked the motorhome in to the Caravan Club site at Stockton for bonfire night, that way we didn't have to bother with all the traffic, before and after the event. We arrived early and had a walk into Stockton centre where we bought lipstick (well Dot did). While trying to find the Boro match on my phone radio, I realised that it was the late game and on TV, Sky Sports 2. I always take the satellite dish away with us, but as we were only away for one night I didn't bother, how stupid can you get. However you can now get Sky on your phone or laptop, so I had to pay for extra internet access at the campsite, to get it on the laptop.

Jonathan, Lorraine and the boys arrived at half time and we had sausages, beans and baked potatoes, while we watched the second half, before setting off to see the display. Much warmer than past years and I saw much more than I usually do, as I didn't try to take photos for a change. A very good display, a big thank you to our local authority for still supporting things like this.

Then it was back to the van to finish the beers we had started with our supper, the first was an old favourite but bought for £0.69/bottle. I got it on offer from B&M Bargains, when asked how many I bought, I said all of them, Jonathan had done the same in his local B&M. I had eleven bottles, Jonathan had nine bottles, I won, the beer in question is,

Grolsch, Premium Weizen, from Holland



5.3% cloudy gold colour with a thin head, smells like and tastes like a good German Hefeweizen, banana in the aroma and that wonderful yeasty wheatbeer taste, strange that it's Dutch then, well done Grolsch.

The Grolsch was that good we only tried one other beer, a new one for us, and it was also on offer at £0.79/bottle,

Joseph Holt, Fifth Sense, from England



4.3% amber colour with a thin head, floral aroma, slightly sweet fruity taste, not bad.