Jennings Beers

Had a new Jennings Beer over the weekend (new to me anyway), so I thought I would go through the Jennings Beers I have tasted so far. Jennings Brewery is one of me favourites so this shouldn't be hard, I will start with the basics and move on to the more gimmicky beers towards the end.

Jennings, Sneck Lifter

5.1% dark red colour with a good head, roasted malt aroma and nice roasted caramel flavour, very good on draught or in bottles. The "strong ale" comes from the fact that most UK draught beers were under 4.0% and usually still are.

Jennings, Bitter

3.5% amber colour with a good head, hop and malt aroma, very nice rich bitter taste, a very good standby beer, I have been drinking quite a lot over the last few weeks.

Jennings, Cocker Hoop

4.2% (was 4.6%) deep gold colour with a nice head, hop and malt aroma, dry caramel and a faint hop taste, good beer, even at the lower strength.

Jennings, Cumberland

4.2% pale amber with a poor head, not much aroma, not much taste (compared to other Jennings beers), slightly bitter.  This was an old review, the bottled version is now stronger, so I will have to give it another chance.

Jennings, Tom Fool

4.0% amber colour with a thin head, a classic Amber Ale, more like an average bitter. “Tomfoolery” derives from the antics of Thomas Skelton, Fool of Muncaster Castle in the Lake District. This mischievous jester was infamous for his pranks, and some believe his ghost still haunts Muncaster Castle today.

Jennings, Golden Host

4.3% gold colour with a thin head, hop and malt aroma, caramel malt taste, nice easy to drink beer, I find it hard to fault most Jennings beers.

Jennings, Cross Buttocks Ale

4.5% deep amber colour with a good head, malt aroma, smooth bitter malt taste. This was the new one and I have a few of them, so it must be good.

Lastly for now Jennings, Kiss Me Kate

4.0% gold colour with a good head, hop aroma, bitter hop taste but I did not like it. This was a royal wedding beer.

Away for Birthdays

We are away in the van for our birthdays (my 60th) and still have a few days to go before we are back home.  I have had many new beers on the trip but as we are only on mobile broadband it will have to wait until we are home to do the reviews.

So for now here is a photo of me at 60.

Chimay

From the Chimay web site in italics,  Chimay is an authentic Trappist beer. That means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, and whose revenue is devoted to social service.

The monks of Scourmont Abbey in Chimay belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, usually called Trappists. These monks follow the Rule of St. Benedict (dating back to the 6th century), taking their name "Cistercians" from the monastery of Cîteaux, founded in Burgundy in the 12th century.

During the summer of 1850, a small group of monks established themselves on the wild plateau of Scourmont near Chimay. Around the monastery a farm, a brewery, and a cheese plant came to be.

Chimay, Chimay Red or Première from Belgium

7.0% deep red colour with a good head, fruity malt aroma, smooth fruity malt taste. 

The Chimay "Première" was the first beer brewed at the Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey by the Trappist fathers in 1862.

Its current recipe was crafted by Father Théodore when he recreated the brewery after World War II. He was directly inspired by the original recipes from the beginnings of the brewery.

Chimay, Bleue (Blue) from Belgium

9.0% cloudy red with a very thin head, toffee aroma, burnt malt toffee taste, very good beer.   

Christmas 1948, creation of the Christmas beer that will later become Chimay Blue.

Chimay, Triple / Blanche (White) from Belgium

8.0% cloudy pale yellow with a very thin head, could not identify the aroma so I will say it was complex and fruity, fruity malty caramel taste, very good beer.

1966, creation of the white cap (now called Chimay Triple).

Center Parcs, the beers.

Just back from a long weekend at Whinfell Forest Center Parcs, Cumbria, the draught beer selection there was limited but I have to admit, they had a good selection of bottled beers in the shop. As part of the good selection they had many local Cumbria beers on offer from two breweries. Although none were new to me, I have not reviewed all them here, before now.

The Beers from the Tirril Brewery are reviewed here,  the brewery is based in Long Marton, near Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria.

The beers from the Hesket Newmarket Brewery are listed bellow, together with extracts from the brewery website, the brewery is in the village of Hesket Newmarket in the north of the Lake District National Park.

By coincidence the six beer on sale in the Center Parcs shop were the same six of the ten made by Hesket Newmarket that I have already sampled.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery, Haystacks from England

3.7% pale gold colour with a thin head, citrus aroma and as the bottle says it has a zesty taste.

Haystacks is situated at the south-eastern end of the Buttermere Valley and is where the ashes of Alfred Wainwright were scattered near Innominate Tarn. Wainwright stated that “for beauty, variety and interesting detail, for sheer fascination and unique individuality, the summit area of Haystacks is supreme. This is in fact the best fell-top of all”.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery, Doris' 90th Birthday Ale from England

4.3% light amber colour with a thin head, malt aroma and taste, average but good.

Jim Fearnley, the founder of Hesket Newmarket Brewery, prepared an experimental full malt beer for his mother-in-law's 90th birthday party at the Old Crown on 12th September 1989. The intention was to call it Doris' 90th Birthday Ale for one night only and then rename it, as is the custom for the brewery, after a northern Lake District Fell. However, the name stuck and Doris has become famous amongst real ale drinkers. When Prince Charles visited the village, brewery and pub he drank Doris' 90th.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery, Scafell Blonde from England

4.3% gold colour with no head, slight hop aroma, slightly bitter a bit watery and a bit like French hot weather beer but strangely satisfying.  Is that Denise van Outen on the label?

Scafell is the second highest mountain in England. Although not quite as high as its neighbour, Scafell Pike, it is the more difficult fell to climb. The scenery is rocky and impressive. Alfred Wainwright noted that “Many folk today, even with the added knowledge that the main Pike is not only higher but actually the highest land in the country, share the old opinion that Scafell is the superior mountain of the group”.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery, High Pike from England

4.3% dark amber with a thin head, slight hop aroma, malt and hop bitter taste.

High Pike, the most northerly of the Lakeland fells over 2,000ft, is one of our very local fells. Like many of the fells in this area it has been extensively mined and Elizabeth I said “Caldbeck Fells are worth all England else”. The summit has an interesting feature – a slate bench. It is also used as a beacon and a fire is lit to celebrate important occasions. There is a fine view of the Solway Firth and the Scottish Border hills.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery, Catbells from England

5.0% gold colour with a poor head, malt aroma and a bitter sweet malt taste, not sure about it but I think I like it.

Catbells is situated on the western shore of Derwent Water and is within easy reach of Keswick. It is one of the most popular fells in the area. Alfred Wainwright described Catbells as “One of the great favourites, a family fell where grandmothers and infants can climb the heights together, a place beloved”. The fell’s name is thought to be derived from “Cat Bields” meaning shelter of the wild cat.

Hesket Newmarket Brewery, Old Carrock from England

6.0% dark beep red colour with a thin head, fruity malt aroma, taste is slightly tart fruity and bitter, nice.

Carrock Fell is one of our very local fells. The fell’s name means “Rocky Fell” and is a combination of the Old Welsh “carrec” and the Old Norse “fjall”. Alfred Wainwright rated Carrock Fell as the second most exciting and interesting fell in the northern area of the Lake District, Blencathra and Skiddaw coming first and third respectively. Carrock Fell is unique in the Lake District because it is predominantly composed of Gabbro. The fell is rich in mineral ores and was mined extensively for many centuries. It is the site of an Iron Age hill fort.

Caribbean Beer

I have only had one new beer in the last week and it was one from a new country for me, in fact I haven't had many beers at all from the Caribbean. So I will put them all together here now.

Carib, Carib Lager from Trinidad & Tobago

5.2% orange colour with a thin head, sweet malt aroma, and sweet malt taste. My son was drinking Cobra and he reckoned it tasted exactly the same, even though one was from the Caribbean and one from the UK.

Desnoes and Geddes, Dragon Stout from Jamaica

7.5% vary dark almost black with a good head, sweet malt aroma, sweet chocolate malt taste, not bitter like your usual stout, I like it even though it is a bit sweet.

Banks, Caribbean Lager from Barbados

4.7% gold colour with no head, sweet malt aroma, sweet fizzy malt taste, refreshing.

Desnoes and Geddes, Red Stripe from Jamaica

4.7% golden colour with no head, faint malt aroma, usual lager taste, average hot weather beer, the one that everyone knows from the Caribbean.

Windward & Leeward, Piton from St Lucia

5.0% gold colour with no head, malt aroma and taste, OK in the heat of St Lucia, , I need a new photo of the bottle but can not afford to go back.

Weekend

Usual Friday night out for the first time since before Christmas, a mix of bad weather and holidays had meant missing seven Friday nights.

Saturdays have been much the same as well, missing the last two.

In that time there are some new beers I have managed to try that I have not mentioned here.

Leeds (Sainsbury’s), Parkin's Bitter from England

3.0% pale amber colour with a thin head, not much aroma, slight caramel taste, not too bad for a weak, cheap, supermarket beer.

Coors, Carling Zest from England

2.8% gold colour with a thin head, orange peel aroma, hint of zesty orange in the taste, I did not like it but Dot did and when in was on offer was worth buying but not at full price.

Adnams, Spindrift from England

5.0% deep gold colour with a very thin head, fruity hop aroma, dry citrus lemon/orange hop taste, not as good as some Adnams beers.

BrewDog, 5 A.M. Saint from Scotland

5.0% amber colour with a nice head, sweet floral hop aroma, slightly sweet hoppy taste, did not like it.  I have had a rant about this brewery before, so all I will say this time is, come on, stop writing stupid insulting stuff on the labels, if your beers were better than everyone else's it would be OK but they are not, not even close. 

Ten Supermarket Beers (England)

There are many great supermarket beers and although these beers are supermarket own brands many are supplied by top famous brewers.

The majority of supermarket own brand lager beers sold in stubby bottles, are made in France and most are much the same, very drinkable, especially very cold, on a hot day. So that is enough about them and I will not be mentioning them again, except to say I can recommend them for your barbecue in the sun.

One problem with supermarket beers is, that they often only appear for a limited period and disappear again as soon as you find them and discover how good they are. So some of these may have disappeared but I hope not.

Another thing to look out for, is that in this contrary some times, these beers are as expensive as the named brands, so beware.

Shepherd Neame (Sainsbury’s), Traditional Kentish Ale from England

4.5% pail amber colour with a thin head, slightly sweet citrus hop aroma, sweet caramel hop taste. Shepherd Neame make some very good beers so I am not suprised that this was very good.

Marston's (Tesco), Simply Dark Ale from England

4.5% deep amber colour with a nice head, caramel malty aroma, nice fruity caramel malt taste. Another good beer from another good brewery.

Arcobräu (Co-op), Wheat Beer from Germany

5.0% cloudy white colour with a thin head, smells and tasted like a good wheat beer should, yeast and banana. It says on the bottle "Served chilled", now I would never have thought of that on my own.

Shepherd Neame (ASDA), Golden Ale Premium from England

4.5% gold colour with a thin head, hoppy aroma, bitter and hoppy with a very slight hint of citrus, good for a supermarket beer.

Freeminer Brewery (Morrisons), The Best from England

6.0% good head, malt aroma, strong malt taste, one of the best supermarket beers I have had.  The Co-op use the Freeminer Brewery as well.

Saint-Omer (Sainsbury's), Biere D'abbaye De Belgique from France

5.6% amber colour with no head, sweet aroma, sweet malt with some bitterness but a bit too much carbonation. Saint-Omer are the brewers of most lager beers sold in stubby bottles over here.

Shepherd Neame (ASDA), Whitechapel Porter from England

5.2%, black colour with a nice head, sweet malt and fruit aroma, malty and there is definitely chocolate in the taste, quite good for a supermarket (Asda / Wal-Mart) beer.

Freeminer Brewery (Co-op), Gold Miner from England

5.0% hazy amber colour with a good head, malt aroma, malty hoppy bitter taste with some toffee. Freeminer Brewery beer, brewed for the Co-operative society.

Haacht (Aldi), Park Blond from Belgium

5.6.% in the UK, 6.0% in Belgium, Very much like Leffe, so it's very good. This was in the day when I compared all Blonds against Leffe, in fact I still do.

Batemans (Aldi), Treble XB English Bitter, England

4.7% amber colour with a thin head, malty aroma, malty caramel bitter taste with some hops, a very nice beer.  not sure if this is still available though.

There are many Supermarket Beers in cans here are a selection.

These bitters are all from 3.0% to 4.0%+

If you want a bitter but alcohol free, well these are close at 2.0% to 2.1%.

And unless you have a sweet tooth they are all better than drinking shandy

Below are the links to my other Top Ten Beer blogs.

My Top Ten French Beers

My Top Ten German Beers

My Top Ten English Beers

My Top Ten Belgian Beers

My Top Ten Dutch Beers 

Another Ten French Beers

Another Ten English Beers

Ten Supermarket Beers (France)