Manchester Brown Ale by Joseph Holt

 (If you want are holding your Wedding in Lancashire but want to find the right venue, dress or entertainment why not pop along to http://www.iweddingsinlancashire.co.uk or if you want to find out What's On in Lancashire go to http://www.insidelancashire.co.uk)


Joseph Holt are a bona fide Manchester Brewery and have something of a tradition behind them having been brewing their own brands since 1849.

Manchester Brown Ale itself has been in production at The Derby Brewer since the early 1900s and its enduring appeal is certainly not based on flashy advertising campaigns

Declared as being "the taste of coming home" this ale is low on pretensions right at the outset.


Dark brown in colour with a pungent, hoppy aroma this ale delivers but in a deliberately understated way.  It is unremarkable on the mouth with a demure soft carbonation, but as you continue to drink the charms begin to seep through.

It is neither bitter nor sweet and yet... and yet was that the gentle undercurrent of treacle there?  The flours are as unobtrusively timid as they are pleasantly subtle.  An uncomplicated ale for social drinking.

Lancaster Bomber by Daniel Thwaites' Brewery

 (If you want are holding your Wedding in Lancashire but want to find the right venue, dress or entertainment why not pop along to http://www.iweddingsinlancashire.co.uk or if you want to find out What's On in Lancashire go to http://www.insidelancashire.co.uk)

  Hi there! After the last ale I thought I'd contrast it with something different - the Lancaster Bomber

The Lancaster Bomber ale is actually produced now by Marston's in Wolverhampton for Daniel Thwaites Brewer - so it stretches the definition of 'Lancashire beer' somewhat!

Named after the Avro Lancaster, a British Second World War bomber, this beer certainly packs wallop just like its namesake.



As you pop the bottle top there is the slight but pleasing hoppy whiff .  The chestnut colour gives further hints of the richness, but doesn't really prepare you for the warm, rich, malty taste and texture of the beer.  The first bitter palate gives way to a lovely, sweet malt involving and velvety lending a full, satisfying and lasting finish.

                     
This is a beer for winter evenings curled before a real log fire eating Lancashire hotpot!  I  really enjoyed the drinking experience... a full beer yet falls short of being overly rich or filing, it spills its payload with a fulfilling explosion of malty taste.

                         
The Gen on Hops

The beer, I'm told, uses a complex hop formulation of Challenger, Fuggles, Goldings and WGV.  The Challenger, Goldings and WGV will account for the sweetness and the  Fuggles and WGV for the robust fullness.

Moorhouse's Pride of Pendle

Hey, sorry for the lack of beer reporting lately, been busy with other pursuits like www.insidelancashire.co.uk and www.iweddingsinlancashire.co.uk and looking after two rabbits who want to take over my house: so we're calling them 'Asbo' and 'Bandit' - not your typical cute names but their not you typical cute rabbits either!  When their not chewing wires and decimating furniture they can be seen jumping on my bed in a morning to wake me up.

Maybe I should give them some of Moorhouse's Pride of Pendle to help them chill out and relax a bit more!

Moorehouse is an independent brewer located in Burnley and were founded in 1865 by William Moorhouse.

Moorhouse describe the beer as having 'An exceptionally fine balance of malt and hops to give beer a long dry and extremely satisfying taste.  They suggest 4/5 for bitterness and 3/5 for sweetness

The beer has a medium copper colour and a light, pleasant feel on the palate. Balance... that is the word to describe this beer and care has been taken to ensure that neither the hops nor malt dominate.  The blend is close to 50/50 with neither bitterness nor sweetness dominating.  I would suggest 3/5 for both bitterness and sweetness. There is the hoppyness of flowers and contrasting peatyness but both are light, subtle notes.  They adumbrate quiet chill evenings just as the sun is going down.  The brewer's website indicates a long finish but I didn't get this at all - more like a quick splash in a sparkling stream.

The hop used is Fuggles Willamette (fruity and floral)  - the fruity character appears to be outshone by floral aspects - but not really to the detriment of the beer.  It simply is a beer for jasmine-scented, light summer evenings.

Lancaster Black Stout

Lancaster Black

Lancaster Black is a traditional English Stout brewed by Lancaster Brewery Ltd but to my palate it isn't as bitter as a lot of stout.  Instead it seemed a little sweeter than most with a heavy dolop of smokey malt and easy on the bitter hops.  It said on the bottle that you could get hints of chocoate there but I got rather a more smooth, smoky, coffee-like taste

The brewery website says "An excellent fusion of malt, oats and wheat, balanced with Challenger, Perle and Cascade hops"

Cascade has a spicy, flowery slight citrus character; challenger learns toward marmalde, toffee and citrus; perle is floral and fruity.  These hops are less bitter than some and in this case appear so have reduced the bitter character of the beer and made for a very smooth yet tasty ale.

The beer is an S.I.B.A. Bronze & Gold Medal Winner.

 Where can I get this?

I got mine from Asda for about £1.50