My second trip to the USA was always going to turn up some beers to my taste although, and I must admit to being a touch smug at being proved right in my assumption, there were far less beers of which I'd append the tag "hop monster" than I'd have thought a couple of years ago.  Basically, the assumption that US IPA's are rammed full of hops and over-the-top bitterness was found, by Dean as well as myself, to be totally untrue and most of them, it seemed, tried to create balance with the hops by adding a hefty dose of crystal malt which overpowers the lovely hoppiness and leaves something tasting, in a surprising number of cases, like a bar of Fry's Turkish Delight... which isn't a compliment.  Obviously there were some absolute whoppers consumed and it's never certain how fresh bottles are, but seeing as over 90% of our scooping was done in brewpubs and bars I feel we had a pretty decent exposure to the beers and most of them should have been fresh enough to be hoppy...

Anyhow, enough whining, we had a superb time and with over 300 beers scored (oh yes!) some good'uns were guaranteed.  Portland was indeed a beery a place as I'd heard although not all the beer was brilliant and, for example, we struggled through 12 almost identical bland, boring fluids in Deschutes plus Full Sail's range wasn't exactly an explosion of flavour either, but the city more than made up for these with a whole host of excellent brewpubs of which Hopworks, out in the South East at 2944 SE Powell Boulevard, was my pick of the lot.  A bright, modern place, obviously purpose built unlike many of the brewpubs which were in converted car repair garages or warehouses (not that there's anything wrong with this, it adds character!), ten beers were on tap plus the usual one on nitro and one on handpull (not cask, it's generally one of the tap beers handpumped).  We worked our way through the tasting tray and found that, in comparison with many other brewpubs where things only got interesting after the first four glasses had been swilled down, every single beer was full of flavour, well brewed and - more importantly - had a decent dosage of local hops!

The pick of the bunch, though, was their Organic IPA which simply oozed fruity, zesty aromatic citrus hops on the nose and, wonder of wonders, the flavour was uncluttered by an excess of dark malts (there was a smidgeon, but only that) allowing the bitter, lemony, fruity (apricots, peaches) and downright hoppy flavour to proceed uninhibited into a gloriously dry, bitter and juicily hoppy finish which implored you to drink more of this glorious example of West Coast IPA.  Another thing lacking was excess alcohol, a common problem with IPA's which burns out the tastebuds and therefore ruins the hop experience, meaning the 6.6% was just about noticeable although it played it's supporting role perfectly.  Overall, then, a classic WCIPA which is full of lovely hops and thankfully lacking excess alcohol and caramel malts which are the ruin of many a similar beer and the, as a bonus, brewpub is easily reachable from central Portland via bus 9 to SE Powell Blvd and 8th.

If only Revolution Brewing in Chicago, where we enjoyed some superb beers on an all-to-brief stopover in the pouring rain, had left out the sickly-sweet Belgian yeast from Let's have a War Belgian IPA (although then they'd then have to rename it!) then this beer would probably have received 5.5 points and joined my exclusive club of beers I'd have on my desert island if I were to be presented with one complete with bar and dispense equipment but, even with the sweet bananary Belgian taste (which is nothing like real Belgian beers in my experience), it still comes a very close second.  Maybe it's to do with the 32lb of Citra hops used in it's making - most going into the whirlpool or conditioning tank - which sealed it for me, giving an aroma which will stick with me for a long time; Citra have a very distinctive nose and this beer had it in shedloads with kiwi, peach and tangerine mixing with cat's piss (in a nice way, similarly to Simcoe!) to give a stunning aroma.  The flavour wasn't as intense or interesting as that stunning nose but still had plenty of Citra oils and fruitiness swirling around all over the place and it finished with a final oily slick of Citra juice down the throat; very good indeed, as long as you like unusual hops and drinking cat's piss!

In third place comes a legend in Portland, Hair of the Dog brewery.  They produce small amounts of (usually) wood-aged beers with a cult following and are in process of moving from an out-of-town location to a new site very close to downtown, just across the Willamette river, although when we visited construction work was still in progress and nothing was for sale!  Their beers aren't easy to find in Portland although bottles can be had at several shops (including the excellent Bridgetown Beerhouse at 915 N. Shaver St, close to the Amnesia brewpub) and on tap at Henry's 12th Street Tavern and the Horse Brass Pub.  At Henry's, our very final beer stop in Portland, we sampled their Blue Spot IPA which was quite a bizarre beer, tasting like a well-hopped yet dry and woody IPA with the usual Turkish Delight hints yet perfectly balanced by a dry, wood-aged edge and a very interesting interplay between dryness, hops and wood in the complex finish.  I don't generally like wood-aged brews that much but this was different than most, well-made and different and, for once, a hugely hyped brewery actually delivers the goods!

Other good beers drunk in May.

Oh, where to begin?  In New York I suppose, as we went there first, and we managed to unearth a few gems in the city's various bars.  I've liked what I've had from Founders Brewing Company thus far and their Double Trouble IIPA, sampled in the delightfully understated Habitat bar in Brooklyn, had a rather outrageous hop oil aroma, all orange zest and soft fruits, with a similarly full-on hops, orange, citrus and bitter taste ending with just enough sweet malt to be comfortable and lots more juicy, fresh hops.  The Blind Tiger was unfortunately holding a Rogue week - cheers then! - but we still managed to score half a dozen winners with Schlafly IPA being the pick of the bunch with it's huge, billowing Simcoe-like nose (peaches, cats piss, orange zest) then a full malty flavour with yet more luscious fruity hops taking over until the bitter, malty, toffeeish and peachy finish; lovely stuff.

I didn't take to the Ginger Man the last time I was in New York but on this occasion, scooping beer by the flight (sample tray), we had a relaxing afternoon blasting through some pretty decent brews from various countries and it's now firmly on my "like it" list!  The best of the dozen scoops I had was Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken, which as the name suggests celebrates the 30th anniversary of the craft beer revolution in the states and honours Fritz Maytag of Anchor and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada who started it all off.  A smooth black brew, the nose belied it's big flavour of dryness, liquorice, fresh coffee and dark malts, all blended together with an effortless, understated class which underlines most of Sierra Nevada's output; a piece of quality brewing, this one.  Finally in New York we stopped into the 4th Avenue Pub where the very "Mid-Atlantic" Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale was scored.  If you've not seen my piece on the Steel City Brewing site about "Mid-Atlantic" pale ales - any why not? - then it's basically what I consider to be a pale ale with UK-style malts (all or almost all pale) with American hop attitude (lots of 'em, particularly late copper and dry-hopping) and this brew ticked all the right boxes with it's golden colour, delicious sweet Simcoe-like fruity hop aroma, a dry flavour without any nasty toasty malt to ruin it overlain by plenty of bitter, fruity, juicy peachy hoppiness; pure class, effortlessly drinkable and very "Mid-Atlantic"!

Washington DC produced nothing of interest beer-wise (although the President's lawn was in good shape) but Chicago did - big time - and on reflection we should have flown there and had a night out in the numerous brewpubs and bars... ah well, maybe next time!  Nevertheless, despite the pissing-down rain and ticket shambles, we still managed to buy two dozen bottles to drink on our epic journey aboard the Empire Builder train to Portland (2300 miles!) and visit three good to superb brewpubs.  First up was Revolution brewing, a new brewpub only a few months old, where some absolutely stunning beers were sampled on tap (including this month's silver medal winner) but the whole range was impressive with not a bad - or even average - beer amongst them.  Anti-Hero IPA was a no-messing-around big IPA with a lemony hop nose, balancing malt and plenty of bitterness around a well-balanced bitter, hoppy finish whilst Cross of Gold Pale Ale could have been mistaken for an Oakham brew with your eyes closed such was the fruity, citrussy and intense hop taste and moreish, inviting bitter hop juice finish, plus it was very pale unlike many US Pale Ales.  Iron Fist Pale Ale had maybe a bit too much of the toffee malt about it but salvaged things with a simply delicious fruity, bitter hop aftertaste whilst, finally, Workingman Mild did what it said being a proper UK mild, a mere 3.5%, emulating in some ways the Midlands style with some sweetness, grainy malt and nutty malt finish. 

Strangely enough there were three sub 4% milds on tap in Chicago that day, Morning Wood Mild at Moonshine which was, despite protestations from the brewer that it was too old, a cracker with coffee, chocolate and a pleasant dark maltiness to the finish whilst the other was at the Goose Island brewpub which, unfortunately, we ran out of time to visit... as I said, maybe next time!  Moonshine also produced a cracking IPA, Able Danger, which had a huge fruity, cat's piss-like Simcoe nose (believe me, cat's piss is a good hop smell!) and a cracking citrus, pine, hop oil and fruity finish which just begged for another one; sadly we didn't have time and almost missed our train due to the brewer forcing us (!) to drink a pint on the house!  The Piece brewpub in Chicago had a range which wasn't as consistent as Revolution yet still contained some excellent brews namely Big Black Mariah Stout, a full-on coffee, burnt toast, woody, nutty and roasted barley-flavoured beast which reminded me of Beamish during the early 1990's only, obviously, a touch stronger!  Their Wackjob Barley Wine was in the American tradition of having a huge hop hit to try and balance the maltiness and, although it failed in this, it was still an enjoyable brew with oodles of Citra all through proceedings and a deliciously fruity, bitter, citrussy and peach-infused finish; delicious stuff, especially considering it's ABV!

On to Portland, then, and apart from their amazing IPA (which came first this month!) the Hopworks brewpub also had strength throughout their line-up with some of their other beers being impressive too, in particular Crosstown Pale, a dry, pale and refreshingly citrussy brew with a moreish zesty, pithy hop finish,  Survival Seven Grain Stout was like drinking a fresh espresso mixed with the very strong chocolate and was one of the best examples of the coffee stout style we tried, and finally there was Bourbon Cask Noggin Floggin, full sweet and just like drinking brown sugar, spice and bourbon; not the kind of thing I generally like but this was amazingly moreish, well-balanced and fascinating with more than a touch of quality Rum about it.  Alameda Brewhouse was another great brewpub with some top brews including Yellow Wolf IPA with it's (yet again!) Simcoe-esque "peach and cat's piss" aroma then juicy malt and a big lemony, hoppy and bitter taste with masses of fruity, resinous hops packing into the taste and the bitter finish, also their Fixed Gear Pale Ale had a hazy golden colour, sticky honey-malt nose and taste with a late developing yet intense citrussy, bitter and oily hoppiness with some pine in the bitter aftertaste; a great drinking beer!

Amnesia Copacetic IPA was the best brew we tried from this tin-shed of a brewpub which seemed much further out in the suburbs than it actually was; it had grapefruit, citrus zest and some bitterness over a malty, toffee-led body which impressed although a fistful more of bittering hops wouldn't have gone amiss in my opinion!  Another brewpub, Laurelwood Public House & Brewery,  provided an unusual style of beer in a kind of "strong red with hops" vibe, Infrared, which managed to balance the huge sweetness from the toffeeish malt by huge additions of bitter, oily hops which shouldn't have worked but, somehow, it just did!  Another beer from them, Space Stout, was intensely burnt and toasty with a full body and coffee, liquorice and plain chocolate all present in the taste and finish with a mouth-coating consistency.

The Lompoc chain impressed us with a couple of their many brews; the 5th Quadrant brewpub (via their new tasting room "Sidebar" which has different beers on tap than the brewpub around the corner!) served us up some C-Note IPA, a brew possessing a massive West Coast hop aroma balanced by just enough toffee malt, but this was quickly crushed by waves of bitterness, fruit, citrus, pine and juicy hop oils which continued on into the bitter, hopflower-led finish; just what we needed after a walk in the sun from Amnesia!  At Lompoc's other brewpub, the New Old Lompoc, I was amazed to see Thomas Fawcett Single Malt on tap at a mere 3.4% which tasted like pure LCMO (low-colour Maris Otter) and had a deliciously simple honeyed maltiness and extolled the quality of Fawcett's malt to a tee.   Roots Organic Brewpub didn't do tasting trays, much to our concern, although we soon polished off everything on sale of which their Epic Ale, a 12.75% barley wine, hit the spot best of all with it's amazingly supple and smooth flavours of chocolate, toffee, bitterness and fruitiness, all intertwined together in a deliciously - and dangerously - drinkable manner!  The most bizarre brewpub of the trip award must go to Upright Brewing where you need to find a lift inside an unmanned lobby in an unmarked building then take it to the basement to find the brewery complete with deck chairs scattered liberally around for imbibing purposes!  Okay, it's not really a brewpub more of a brewery with some taps and chairs, but the beers were fascinating (all wood-aged) and although I didn't like all of them they were well-made and full of character with their Apricot Anniversary coming out best in my opinion with an incredibly lambic-like bone-dry palate with a sourish, dry yet juicy fruitiness and even hints of marzipan; bizarre, complex and very interesting indeed!

Some impressive non-brewpub beers we sampled were 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA with a massive grapefruit and citrus peel character and a delicious fresh, hoppy finish - top stuff indeed.  Likewise, Fort George Vortex IPA was a paler-than-usual IPA stuffed full of juicy citrus hops to the point of stickiness plus the long, bitter aftertaste overlaid with hop oils and some malt was extremely enjoyable.  Speaking of enjoyable, I was delighted to see Russian River Pliny the Elder on tap in the Horse Brass as it's one of the beers I had really wanted to sample although, despite a pungently luscious hop aroma which is probably amongst the top five I've ever smelt, the palate failed to deliver what the aroma had promised and, despite being impressively toffee-less and juicily hoppy, could have done with a bit more bitterness and finishing hops to really make it a world-beater instead of just the very good beer it was.  Finally for the IPA's, Ninkasi Tricerahops was all peachy Simcoes with layers of bitterness, fruit, sweetness and hops which left a moreish and lip-smacking aftertaste and stood out even amongst other hoppy brews that night and after a long day scooping!

Dark beers now... Bison Chocolate Stout was a rich, full-on and very chocolatey with plenty of maltiness and a thick, smooth finish, Ninkasi Oatis Oatmeal Stout was similarly thick, viscous and laced with plenty of coffee and chocolate flavours whilst Oakshire Brewing Overcast Espresso Stout was our final beer in Portland yet still impressed with it's delicious freshly-made espresso hit over a slightly thin body but solidly full finish of roast barley, chocolate and more fresh coffee.  Finally, we sampled Dieu du Ciel Aphrodite on tap in the Ginger Man then again in bottle on our mammoth train journey and I was pleased to see it scored well both times with a subtle, dry chocolate and roasty taste, smooth and flowing, then hints of spices and vanilla in the chocolatey aftertaste; subtle and delicious.

Back in the UK it was gratifying to see that Little Ale Cart's beers weren't overshadowed by the US ones I'd been drinking for the previous two weeks and were, in fact, a refreshing and noticeably hoppy alternative to too many treacly, toffeeish underhopped IPAs! Alcazar had a good malty body with layers of bitter and juicy hop fruitiness ending bitter and zesty, whilst Merry Hampton had slightly more juicy fruitiness and more bitterness to it's flavour, ending notably bitter and refreshing with lots of fruity hops.  Pictish Target was about as good as Targets get with Sutty somehow managing to extract a grassy, herby flavour from them, albeit with the signature raw tongue-stripping bitterness, then an oily, grassy finish with more herbs.  Mallinsons Danger : Hops! had a touch too much toasted malt in it for my tastes but, still, the bitter, fruity and zestily citrus hops came through in the end, whilst Salamander Pitstop Porter did what their dark beers usually do and that's deliver a dry, coffee-led taste with a straightforward roasty, malty and burnt grain finish.

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Beer of the Month - April 2010
Brewery: Mallinsons	From: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK
Beer: Bettison's Tower	Score:
Details: 4.2%, cask-conditioned at the Dragon, Worcester
2nd: Great Oakley Welland Valley Mild    3rd : Browar Amber Żywe Niefiltrowane
UK scoops during the month :  66	Foreign scoops during the month : 29

This one has been a long time coming mainly owing to my total failure to get up North more often and sample Tara's increasingly impressive beers.  This situation is now resolved by Little Ale Cart swapping with Mallinsons so the beers are seen in the Dragon in Worcester which gives me plenty of opportunity to drink them in the comfort of my home town.

Tara's 101st brew was, as usual, pale and hoppy in character with it's deliciously fruity and hopsack aroma.  This followed on to a surprisingly big bitter flavour with a complex hop blast which included rosepetals, orange zest, citrus and a ripe fruitiness (I've since discovered the hops were Brewer's Gold, Cascade, Nelson Sauvin and Sorachi which explains this!) and ended still bitter with a very complex and interesting hop finish with the overriding taste being akin to orange zest mixed with pineapples!  So, here's hoping Tara keeps up this excellent hop-led run of form and here's to many more like this one...

Second comes a beer about as different from Tara's as is possible in the restrictive UK beer scene, a mild.  I've never really had the opportunity to sample many Great Oakley beers before and my visit to the Hole in the Wall at Portsmouth provided no less than three!  All were very impressive but, surprisingly, their Welland Valley Mild was my favourite with it's simple yet effective flavour and, in my opinion, everything a mild should be; a full-on chocolate and toasted grain flavour with ample body and a touch of sweetness was the main characteristic followed by a smooth, dryish and very flavoursome "70% chocolate" aftertaste which certainly wasn't bland, an accusation often aimed at Milds!  Overall it was a cracking beer and a very fine interpretation of the style, although what sub-style it was wasn't obvious; North-West England with a touch more chocolate?!?

Finally, a beer from our recent return to Poland where craft beer is making a comeback in a similar fashion to most other countries around Europe and, indeed, the world.  Amber are based near to Gdańsk and brew a wide range of interesting beers varying from simple lagers through more serious jasne brews, a Vienna lager, a bock and strong mocne lager through to their excellent Baltic Porter.  Now they've gone a step further with their already impressive Żywe unpasteurised lager and brought out an unfiltered version too.  We tried this twice, once at the excellent Degustatornia bar in Gdynia and once at their quirky little bar called "Cup of Tea Żywe Club" in Gdańsk and were greatly impressed both times.  Cloudy and yellow, it has hops and a touch of bananary yeast on the aroma then a good malt and herby hop flaovur, still with the fruity yeast, and it finishes with malt, bitterness, grassy hops and yet more estery yeast leaving a dry, fruity aftertaste; not what you'd expect from a Polish lager although this is a particularly good example!

Other good beers drunk in April.

I suppose it'd be bad form to mention that some of the best beers I had in April were the ones I co-brewed!  Steel City's 51st State came out deliciously citrussy, bitter and juicy whilst our double-award winner, D-Generation XX, was like sucking on a Columbus hop...  Anyhow, our beers notwithstanding, some other crackers were from the same brewery as we used, our hosts in fact, and they are no stranger to these pages.  Little Ale Cart are really finding form at the moment and their Isinglass (yes, there really was a kettle named after fish guts!) had a massive blast of Citra hops, all tangerines, cats piss and lemon zest, whilst Knight of the Thistle was much more tropical fruit-hued although just as interesting.

Unbelievably, a Banks' beer sneaks into this list - the first time for that - although it was by no means one of their usual brews!  Maui Coconut Porter was brewed for the McSpoons beer festival and was a full-on chocolate, vanilla and desiccated coconut stout (definitely not a porter) with a thick chocolate body and more vanilla (rather than coconut) in the sweet finish; bizarre, but it worked!  Hammerpot Bottle Wreck Porter was similarly thick although this brew had a predominant taste of liquorice and bitter, toasty malt whilst, staying with stouts, Great Oakley's Abbey Stout was crammed with roasted barley, aniseed and frazzled malt grains plus a good hint of well-made (i.e. not from the UK!) espresso in the long, roasted finish.  Finally on the stout theme, Three B's Oatmeal was a completely different beast with it's very dry, ashy and bitter palate overlaid by roast malt, liquorice and bitterness.

Otter Mild was, probably, the best beer I had during the McSpoons festival and somehow managed to cram a huge biscuity, honeyed, juicy malt flavour into a light amber brew and totally amazed me by it's suppleness and intensity yet downright juicy, honeyed tastiness.  Finally for the UK, Dark Star's bizarre Saison sneaks in; those who know me will realise I didn't drink Dark Star beers for years and, now I've begun to try them again, I've never been too impressed with any of them save Hophead.  Saison is a brave experiment - not many UK drinkers will know a Belgian farmhouse ale is supposed to be hazy and taste like a banana penny chew colonised by mildew and spiders - but I quite liked it in a hmmmm-okay-but-don't-want-more-than-a-pint kind of way and, I suspect, others will feel the same...

Abroad, then.  Caldera Pale Ale from Oregon should never, ever - if you apply all the lessons learnt about beer in cans - even get a mention on here except, perhaps, a scathing one-line putdown, but canning has moved on a long way and this brewery somehow manages to can beers unpasteurised (!) and tasting bloody lovely.  Their Pale Ale had a resiny hop nose with a fresh, bitter and fairly simple taste although more hops and fruit came in as I supped although I couldn't help but think the hops tasted suspiciously European at times... but, then again, maybe I'm naturalising CTZ, Centennial and suchlike subconsciously as I now expect them to feature in UK beer?  Whatever, it was a good, firm bitter brew with no "can" taste and a fine drinkability with no spoiling toffee or caramel.  Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Extra was more amber in colour with a stonking rosepetal and herby hop nose and taste, very leafy and fresh, before the hops turned almost minty in the solidly bitter finish; interesting stuff.

Gdańsk's new brewpub, Brovarnia, produced some tourist-grade beers at very tourist prices with the pick of the three being their Ciemne (dark) with it's slightly smoky toasted dryness with a reasonably complex malty, ashy malt finish.  Another Polish micro, Kormoran, impressed greatly with it's bottled beers - all unpasteurised - and in particular their Porter, a 9% Baltic beastie with a full dry, toasted grain taste, thick and ashy, then a good roasty, malty finish, and Warnijskie was a hazy golden brew with a fresh yeasty twang, fruit and malt, leading to a smooth malty finish with none of the 7% alcohol showing it's head; good stuff, and it's good to see the small brewers standing up in Poland to show that good beer can be made there, it was just that the multinationals couldn't be arsed.

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Beer of the Month - March 2010
Brewery: Lambrate	From: Milan, Lombardia, Italy
Beer: Ligera	Score:
Details: 5.5%, on tap at Hop in Milan and on handpull at the brewery tap, better at Hop but pretty bloody good anywhere!
2nd: Little Ale Cart Centenary    3rd : Baüscia Onice
UK scoops during the month :  25	Foreign scoops during the month : 44

There seems to be a theme developing here; last month's winner was an APA, as is this month's, and I'd not put much money against next April's being one too (although you don't tend to see as many in Poland and Gdańsk is our next trip!).  Nevertheless, I make no excuses for my love of American "C" hops - you can blame Messrs Dobbin and Franklin for that - and Lambrate's attempt at the style has improved immensely since we sampled it last year, and it was pretty decent back then!

Our first media was at the brewery tap itself where the beer came from handpull and displayed a juicy, thick bitterness alongside a malty body with just a suggestion of hops on the nose and finish; very good, but nowhere near as immense as the pint from tap (yes, from KEG, you heard that right you Flat Earth Society veg!) we had in Hop.  A stunning hop oil nose, full of raw Columbus and tempered by toffee maltiness, showed that this was going to be so much better than the pint we'd had at the brewpub not an hour previously!  The flavour was pure CTZ, masses of oily hops, juicy fruitiness and a solid malt backbone, but it was all about the hops at the finish with a rasping bitterness and a huge dry-hopped, oily, resinous and just plain gorgeous hopflower punch which put a huge smile on my face; not many beers do that, but this little beauty did and I'd go as far as to say it's one of the classic beers of Europe at the moment... as long as you like hops, obviously...

Second place goes to Little Ale Cart's 100th brew, the appropriately-named Centenary, with extra hops added in celebration!  A full-bodied flavour of malt, bitterness and fruity hops is nothing new for LAC but this one had a feisty, zesty tangerine streak shot through it which, as I supped my way through the glass, became more and more intense until I was convinced someone had squeezed a tangerine into my pint!  Little Ale Cart beers are consistently good but this one, just maybe, was their best beer yet...  it goes a long way to showing how much I like their beer that of the 107 I've tried thus far the lowest score has been 3 out of 5!

Third place is claimed by Paolo Polli (of BQ fame) with his Baüscia brewery.  Onice is a stout and semi-permanent in the range and at first tasting seems an everyday, rather straightforward brew, but after a while it becomes more complex with a very roasty flavour, toasted grains, frazzled malt, fresh coffee, dark chocolate and even some bitterness - rare in too many stouts - before a very complex yet still immensely roasted aftertaste which ends dry.  A classic dry stout, then, and amazingly they've managed to pack all this immense flavour into a meagre 4% body!  The beery equivalent of clowns in a car; more and more just keep coming out and you wonder how they were all squeezed into such a small container!

Other good beers drunk in March.

Our trip to Milan gave me 41 scoops - not all Italian - with, as usual, plenty of interesting brews.  New local micro Geco impressed with their Pecora Nera, or Black Sheep, yet another 4% bombshell of a stout with treacly, roasty and ashy burnt grain flavours following on to some sweetness in the roasted barley finish; very nice indeed.  The Officina della Birra brewpub in Bresso, just outside Milan's urban transport zone, was brewing on our visit and consequently smelt gorgeous - as do all breweries when producing, even the rancid Royal in Moss-side smells good! - with good beer, too, the best of which was the 7% Speciale, a ruby-red, smooth and mellow brew with toffee malt and juicy grain yet saved from cloyingness by a dry, fruity finish which somehow balanced it all out admirably.

In the superb BQ bar we scored a shed-load of beers with the best being from yet another new local micro, Rurale, and their Terzo Miglio APA had a deliciously fragrant, fruity hop nose with melons and peaches in a similarly fruit-filled, hoppy taste and a finish crammed with juicy fruits, hops and bitterness; a real taste explosion of a beer!  I also managed to sample the very first beer I've liked from the much-vaunted Baladin brewery which seems to attract all the hype from beer lovers, although I've never had a beer I've liked from them until now!  Open is billed as an APA (yes, another one!) and despite having much of the same brettanomyces flavours most of their other beers seem to have (which I don't consider makes great beer and, in my opinion, quickly becomes tiresome) it also had an appley, malty, bitter character with an unusual fruity, bitter finish which, whilst not being particularly amazing, was at least interesting.

Finally for Italy, Paolo Polli's Baüscia brewery can always be relied upon to produce something low in gravity yet full of flavour and so it was with LA30, a 4% pale ale brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops plus some kind of "stimulant" which I couldn't quite work out; Paolo told us that the beer had been brewed by a "friend who is a porn star" so it could have been anything... to me, anyhow, it tasted of dandelions, gooseberries and lemons with a strange spiciness and dry, fruity hop finish with fleeting hints of something elusive which was interesting as well as annoyingly difficult to pin down!

Back home, I'd better kick off with our very own Steel City Black No.1, brewed at Little Ale Cart, which surpassed all expectations with a hugely bitter, leafy hop character, rich and full roast/coffee/chocolate body which was maybe a touch sweet (so we could have left out the Crystal malt after all!) then a full-on, toasted, coffee beans coated with chocolate blast and a good bitter, complex aftertaste which lasted for ages after the final swallow; I know banging on about your own beers isn't the done thing but I like to think I'm honest in my judgements and wouldn't bleat on if they weren't good!  The coffee version, Czarna Kawa, was a fascinating experiment and if anything was even better which smelt - and tasted - like a just-pulled espresso and will definitely re-appear in some guise again this year!

Little Ale Cart's Tracery was exceptionally dry and bitter, unusually so for them, with more of the citrus/tangerine flavours found in Centenary but tempered by a lower ABV, more dryness and a citrussy zesty finish at the end.  Malvern Hills' new stout, Trevor Trevor, had a smooth, nutty, burnt grain character with heaps of liquorice/ash/fruit and a good dry, grainy finish with hints of bitterness in the finish, whilst White Rose continue to impress with Gecko Beach having plenty of juicy, fruity hoppiness with more than a suggestion of peaches to it.  Finally, Mallinsons beers have started appearing in the Dragon, Worcester, and Jane Really Wouldn't Like it had a huge dry-hopped aroma before a toffee malt body and more hop oiliness in the long, malty finish.

All you need to know about Italian brewpubs and craft beer producers can be found here.

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Beer of the Month - February 2010
Brewery: Harwich Town Brewing Company	From: Harwich, Essex
Beer: Phoenix APA	Score:
Details: 5.1%, Cask-conditioned in the Cask Pub & Kitchen, Pimlico, London
2nd: Füchschen Altbier    3rd : Uerige Altbier
UK scoops during the month :  49	Foreign scoops during the month : 23

A brewery I'd only had one beer from two years previously isn't one I'd expect to be my beer of the month which goes to show that you should never to prejudge anything, especially beer.  I sampled it in Pimlico's new Cask Pub & Kitchen bar where, as I knew nothing about the brewery, I had no idea just how good it was going to be - and good it was!

A pale ale, it possessed a fresh hoppy nose with some citrus which gave me cause for optimism after having been hugely disappointed by Dark Star Six Hop which didn't have anywhere near enough hops in it and was so sweet I could feel my teeth rotting as I supped.  Being called an APA was another hopeful sign - which I assumed meant American Pale Ale - and it didn't let me down!  The first impression was of a reasonably bitter beer, something distinctly lacking these days, with famous five-esque "lashings of fruit" from the yeast and hops before the fresh, citrussy, hedgerow hops came in with a delicious, tongue-puckering zestiness, dryness and fresh citrus blast although the good malt body and interesting fruitiness balanced proceedings superbly.

The delicious hop-buzz continued into a moreish bitter, fruity finish with plenty of bitterness and yet more dry, citrussy hop flavours which left a beautifully bitter, hoppy aftertaste from a beer I never suspected would produce such greatness... which, as I said, is the perfect example of why you shouldn't prejudge beer!

Our recent re-visit to Düsseldorf after a gap of over five years confirmed to me just what a superbly drinkable beer style Alt is and how much I enjoy draining those little 20cl glasses over and over again!  It really is an experience every beer lover should have and standing in a little alcove in Uerige opposite the continuous flow of alt from the wooden casks whilst steadily supping glass after glass is one of life's better beery moments. 

Here, yet again, was the lesson never to think you know what you'll like best; I assumed I'd put Uerige at the top of my altbier table but, despite it being the hoppiest and driest of the four "smaller" producers, I actually enjoyed the beer from Füchschen more!  We'd tried to get into Füchschen on our second night but arrived to find the place rammed - literally - with football fans; so full was the pub that we couldn't find a single millimetre of bar area where we could lurk for a couple of beers so decamped to Frankenheim for some cheap-tasting swill which came a poor second to "proper" alt.

We tried again on our final day in town for an afternoon meal before the tedious fester at the airport and I was amazed by the rich treacle-toffee flavours, the typical altbier peardrop hints, a full grainy malt palate with a dab of bitterness to finish; this wasn't the beer I thought I'd enjoy best but, relaxing in the tiled brewpub with our glasses of alt, it suddenly struck me that as much as I loved Uerige's Hallertauer hop attack, ample bitterness and treacly, toasted maltiness, the alt from Füchschen somehow trumped it into second place by sheer drinkability and silky dark maltiness with just a suggestion of hops.

Other good beers drunk in February.

I've always like Slater's beers but not really sampled many since their move to Stafford.  Why Knot was a fresh-tasting, fruity (as their beers generally are) and floral beer, slightly sweet and honeyed, with more fruitiness and some elderflower-esque hops to finish off this beautifully drinkable brew.  Alan Hinde's Coastal beer gets up to the Wellington in Birmingham regularly and his Men-an-Tol Mild was a cracker with it's ruby-red hue, hedgerow hops and a dry, toasted grain finish with yet more berryish hops; okay, maybe it's not a mild in the commonly accepted sense, but it was a lovely fruity and hoppy brew and charmed my tastebuds perfectly.

Little Ale Cart continue their run of form with Sea Eagle, reeking of American hops with citrus esters oozing out all over the place, plus our very own brew, Steel City Czarna Kawa, which had a huge coffee hit over the firm bitter, dry stout and far exceeded my expectations for what was, after all, a single trial cask!  Windsor Castle Mud Rat had a smooth, rich chocolate malt flavour, initially simple, yet it developed a more roasted finish and ended like a stout.  Redemption Pale Ale was a surprise in London for it's intense fruitiness, good balance of malt, fruit and bitterness before a moreish rounded finish whilst Brewdog's Nanny State was finally scored in the Edgar Wallace (thanks to the landlord!) and despite being a touch too burnt and chocolatey to balance the hops, the grapefruity Chinook character was superlative and the bitterness during the aftertaste intense and lip-smackingly good.

Over in Germany, we visited Gulasch Bräu in Düsseldorf and found their single beer, Helles, being served from wooden casks in the local style and a bit of a whopper it was too, all juicy maltiness, spicy hop, a dextrinous, mash-like body and a fairly bitter, dry and hoppy finish.  The other two brewpubs in Düsseldorf, Zum Schlüssel and Schumacher, didn't quite reach the loft heights of the other two although their beers weren't bad by any stretch, Schlüssel's being slightly too sweet for me and Schumacher's a touch too dry and thin for the level of bitterness although their Jongbier was almost a polar opposite and very worty; not my beer of choice but interesting nevertheless.

Moritz Fiege are are fairly large brewery in Bochum so I was surprised to find their Pils to be almost Czech in style with plenty of worty, malty flavours counteracted by a good dry bitterness with grassy hops in the aftertaste (and their Alt wasn't too bad either), whilst even the usually bland chain brewpub Johann Albrecht in Düsseldorf managed to produce a mashy, solid, dry and bitter helles with an almost herbal-hop flavour in the finish.

Most of the other German brewpubs, sadly, contrived to cement my opinion that not enough brewers are prepared to challenge the ludicrous Rheinheitsgebot and produce more interesting beers, but more sadly most can't even be bothered to brew good quality standard helles and, in particular, dunkels either with standards of the latter being especially poor; thin caramelly pils, anyone?  I love Germany as a country and drinking environment, but it's a shame the beer scene is so moribund with very few exceptions.

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Beer of the Month - January 2010
Brewery: Trois Dames	From: Sainte Croix, Vaud, Switzerland
Beer: Bise Noire	Score:
Details: Bottle-conditioned 330ml, 7.2%, from the excellent Au Grain d'Orge beer shop in Crissier, Lausanne.
2nd: Little Ale Cart Boswell   3rd : Trois Dames Pacifique
UK scoops during the month :  21	Foreign scoops during the month : 48

I honestly never thought I'd be giving a Swiss beer beer of the month although, thinking back on the 100+ I've now had, there are some pretty decent beers being produced by the local micros and the country is definitely on the up as far as brewing goes.  Even knowing I'd be in the country for over 2 weeks with work didn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm that I'd scoop many beers (wrong, 48!) or enjoy that high a percentage of them (wrong again, over half got a score of 3 out of 5 or higher) but without doubt the discovery of the week beer-wise just has to be Trois Dames.

Bov, the Swiss beer expert, reckons that Trois Dames are "maybe the best brewery in Switzerland" and, having tasted nine of their beers in the last month, I'd be inclined to agree with him (based on my much lower Swiss beer experience, obviously) with regards to brewing skill, style variation and plain old beery interest.  To show just how varied their range is, my nine beers were, style-wise, IPA, Brown IPA, Irish Red, Wheat beer, Dry stout, English Best Bitter, Espresso stout, Schwarzbier and New World pale ale; not bad, eh?

My choice of BOTM out of these nine (all of which scored 3 or above except the Irish Red) is the superlative Bise Noire.  This is, according to their website, some kind of take on Schwarzbier but there's something in there that no German brewery (except maybe Brewbaker?) would add if my tastebuds aren't mistaken and that's orange zest or other orange flavouring. 

Okay, so maybe some of the orangey taste comes from what tasted like a hefty addition of Simcoe/Sorachi or similar fruity hops, but to my well-travelled tastebuds there was definitely something orangey going on in there and it was beautifully done; just a hint, flitting around the taste and difficult to pin down, but definitely there adding even more complexity to what was already a very interesting beer with all the caramel, chocolate and sticky, fruity hop and it finished with a glorious burst of tarry, chocolatey malt, bitter hops, sweet caramel plus yet another hint of orange fruit which made this a beer to remember.

Little Ale Cart get on the podium yet again - well, they have hit a great run of form recently - with Boswell, a fruity, bitter, tangy brew which displays all the characteristics Richard is striving for in his beer in a pale-as-you-like package.  Yes, there's some balancing maltiness, but it's all about those hops and these are leafy, fruity, fresh and tangy on the tongue with gooseberries, peaches and sticky hop oils exploding everywhere.  The finish has all this plus a restrained bitterness atop a firm malt backbone and, even amongst the other excellent LAC beers recently, this one is probably the best they've brewed thus far.

Bronze goes to Trois Dames again for their deliciously hoppy Pacifique Ale which I sampled on tap (the only time I saw their beer on draught) at the relaxed and beery La Bossette bar in Lausanne.  I suspect this brew contains some Nelson Sauvin hops although it also had plenty of the "rosepetal" flavour characteristic of Cascade and Centennial, but when a beer is this tasty, hoppy and downright enjoyable semantics like that hardly seem to matter in the bigger scheme of things.

Amber in colour, it had a sweet toffee and rosepetal hop aroma which set the scene for the flavour.  A dextrinous malty sweetness, maybe a touch too sweet for greatness, began proceedings although this was quickly overtaken by plenty of fruity, rosey bitterness with lashings of piney hop and lychee/honeysuckle fruitiness from the hops.  The finish was still fairly sweet yet the deliciously fruit-led hop charge balanced it out with just enough bitterness allowing the rosepetal and fruity finale to wow my cynical old tastebuds into paroxysms of praise.

Other good beers drunk in January.

Little Ale Cart are, as I've already said, in a rich seam of form at present and their Ivanhoe and Woolwinder both hit the spot equally well, Ivanhoe having more oily hop juices whilst Woolwinder was a myriad of swirling sharp, citrus zestiness.  Pictish Rakau, made with new organic hops from New Zealand, thankfully showed only a touch of the diacetyl which has plagued their beers recently (they always have a touch but it's grown unpleasantly butterscotchy recently) and instead was chock-full of fruity bitterness with a bitter, tart and tasty hop and bitter finish.

Back in Switzerland, Trois Dames IPA was a lesson in how sipping beer just doesn't give you the full impression!  I tried the beer three times in different locations and, on each occasion, I liked it more and more; maybe I was getting used to the admittedly intense flavour, maybe I simply acquired a taste for it, but all I can say is that by the end of my third bottle I was waxing lyrical over it's peachy, hoppy and piney character with a delicious juicy, fruity hop taste (Simcoe?)  and yet more bitter, fruity fresh hoppiness in the ample malty finish with a lasting bitter aftertaste.  Their Brown IPA was almost as good if a touch too perfumey amongst the mounds of rosepetals and dark maltiness yet still had plenty of character (and hops!) which cheered me up no end.

Docteur Gabs is a small brewery near to Lausanne operated by young brewers and, although they don't take the flavour risks of Trois Dames, their beers are examples of well-made, solid and tasty brews which I'd drink any day of the week.  I particularly liked their stout, Ténébreuse, which possessed a deliciously dry, roasty flavour coupled to a winey, roasted and burnt, dry finish; great stuff, and their seasonal hoppy lager, Gabslag, wasn't half bad either plus it had an amusing name... always a bonus.

Finally, I can't not mention my visit to Verein Unserbräu in Basel, one of the rarest brewpubs in Europe which opens for a mere three hours a week on a Tuesday evening!  See the latest Gazzateer for more info, but basically it's a homebrewer's club which has - presumably - a license to sell their beer in their own bar which resembles a basic cafe with a small brewkit in the window.  Four beers were on tap and very good they were too, in particular the Sweet Stout which was nowhere near as sweet as I'd feared and instead was packed with roasted, nutty and frazzled barley flavours which mellowed to a sweetish finish balanced by the burnt maltiness, and the Solothurner, an amber lager whose lingering candyfloss, toffee and juicy maltiness was lip-smackingly impressive.

• January 2009 : Bi-du Rodersch

• February 2009 : Port Brewing Fresh Hop High Tide IPA

• March 2009 : Little Ale Cart Cameronian

• April 2009 : Marble 1425 v3

• May 2009 : Hakusekikan Barley Wine

• June 2009 : Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri Pickla Pils

• July 2009 : De Cam Kriek lambic 2005

• August 2009 : Brewdog Chaos Theory IPA

• September 2009 : Little Ale Cart Osprey

• October 2009 : Marble Trial Run

• November 2009 : Barfußer Rotgold

• December 2009 : Thornbridge Raven