So in an all together not so surprising move, where my lack of filter and impulse control seem to just take over, and after I managed to gain entrance to this years 34th London Wine Fair, I went to work chatting, learning, and networking in typical cheerful BrewGirl style.
squee and oh holy crap please don’t ask me for my badge
Yup. That totally happened.
As usual, I shan’t bore you with the nitty gritty details of the dark and seedy underbelly of the wine world or how I managed to underground railroad my way in…
I was there for one thing and one thing only. Beer.
Craft beer. British Craft Beer.
not actually at the London Wine Fair, but you know, BEER!
Now, I know I am a noob. I have only been doing this whole homebrew thing for less than a year. I have only delved headfirst into the craft beer scene for only a year more than the homebrew lark. I have been drinking for quite a bit longer and the whole culinary school thing kinda lends a bit of weight to my beery opinions. I guess. Sort of?
Regardless, the folks in the craft beer community are far and wide some of the nicest people you can meet. Even though I was only a “freelance writer” (this blog totally counts right?) and even with my limited knowledge I was still accepted. Unfortunately most of the booths were manned by distributors or sales reps and not necessarily brewers. Though many of the sales reps were actually people who worked on site at the brewery and you could tell they had a love for the place.
Anyway. ON TO THE BEER!
Getting to the beer section required (yes, REQUIRED) that I stop and check out some distilleries and wine vendors. In classic neurotic BrewGirl style I actually mapped out my route. I circled (obviously in pink biro [ballpoint pen]) the booths I wished to check out. I started with Ron Caney, rum from Santiago, Cuba. Dodging the request for a business card and with trembling voice I requested a wee dram. The lady behind the table dubiously provided me a quarter shot of golden rum. The Oro Ligero (a blend of 3 to 5 year old rums) was pretty much vanilla and sunshine in a glass. I could, and would, happily sip this unadulterated, bar a cube or two of ice. I didn’t want to press my luck so I hastily waved my thanks and snuck away. First stop done, palms sweating, I headed to stop two…
Williams Chase Distillery is already known to BrewGirl. When BrewGirl was younger, more carefree, and slinging drinks, the Williams Chase name was new to the market. In 2010 we started stocking the apple-vodka based Gin so I was quite interested in checking out their booth. I was fascinated to learn that the estate, which produces entirely English Vodka and Gin, recently purchased a vineyard in Provence, France. They are in the process of rebranding the current wine towards a younger audience. Case in point, the burlesque dancer strewn across one of the labels. The newest, and purely Chase release, is their 2013 Provençal Rosé, which is in the decidedly Chase brand bottle complete with fancy glass stopper. As usual, BrewGirl pansied out and made good her escape before sampling this particular tipple. I am sure, however, there is plenty of room for the young company to grow a bit on this venture and they seem to be on a good path. Speaking of paths, I am honestly trying to get to the beer before getting completely hammered on “tasters”…
The last stop in this section was meant to be the Angus Dundee Distillers but they were quite busy and I am quite awkward (to say the least) so I snapped a few pics and meandered away.
okay not yet on to the beer…
Quickly in regard to wine (as if I can be quick about wine, lolz). In attendance were all sorts of distributors of wines. In the main halls of the fair were mostly large names and many serious looking besuited shapes. Upon entrance to the fair I had quickly ducked past all the stern eyes and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, no small feat given my mismatched owl socks and cowboy boots. Unphased, I continued on, as the only section of the fair in which I was interested, was located in the Galleria Hall.
Esoterica is a new addition to the wine fair. It is the destination for the smaller independent importers of the quirky, rare, unusual, organic, biodynamic etc. Some wines were meh. Some were bleh. The section on Wines from China caught my eye but, less so, once I cottoned on to the fact they were just made in China (like so many other things amiright?) but were crafted by expats.
The two wines that really got my attention were the Vinho Verde from Mico (distributed by Mason & Mason) and the Tarongino (distributed by Winesque). I have always looked for Vino Verde, it’s flavor is literally more green to me, more citrusy, more lush, more more-ish. I was introduced to it years and years and years ago (okay, maybe let’s just ignore the amount of years ago) by one of my many, many, many ex-boyfriends (let’s ignore the many on this too.) Ever since I have always kept a look out for it when I go wine hunting, usually to no avail. Now, to be fair I am quite distractible so my eyes may have passed over a bottle or two in favor of a beer or a lush Zinfandel. If you happen to find any Vino Verde, give me a jingle, I’ll happily help you toast your accomplishment.
Now, the second wine standout… That Tarongino. Wine made from orange juice. Let that sink in. ORANGE. JUICE. I was doubtful. I played along with the adorable Italian sales rep. Yea, yea, sure it’s something special… One sip and holy mother of Bacchus. Made with Valencia oranges the wine was sweet but had a delicious bitter backbone to keep it from being cloyingly so. I did not sample the Clementina (Clementine) version though I am certain it was lovely. The Sanguina (blood orange) tasted as if you had freshly pressed a bucket of blood oranges and filtered the resulting juice until it was a crystal clear, lightly pink elixir of pure joy. Aaaaand that is pretty much going to be the base of all my sweet dreams for the next few years I reckon.
The last label is from Vinterloper which I didn’t at all taste. I just loved the artwork. The husband, a former basketball player, is the one making the goods, his wife, is the artist making ’em pretty. After reading all the webernets I really wish I had grown a pair and tried their wines in lieu of just taking pictures.
beer! oh, wait, no, still not beer…
Okay. Seriously, guys. BEER!
Basically this is now going to turn into a geeky, no description slideshow, because 1) it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want and 2) details get fuzzy from here on out…
Meantime Brewing, Beaer’s Premium Lager, Brew Dog, Freedom Brewery
Harviestoun Brewery, Harviestoun Ola Dubh, Old Dairy Brewery
Moor Beer Company, Beerd Brewery’s Monocle English Pale Ale, Beerd Brewery’s Silvertip NZ Pale Ale
Bath Ales Brewery, Wild Beer Company, Siren Craft Brew
Batemans, Batemans Bohemian Brews on show, pouring Black Pepper Ale, finished Black Pepper Ale
Mastri Birra Umbri, gorgeous bottles, secret ingredient (lentils local to the brewery)
A few words (again, lolz). So many of the beers on show were quintesentially British. Smooth, gently carbonated, aromatic hoppy nose, light hop flavor, and incredibly easy to drink. I don’t want to do them an injustice by not espousing their deliciousness, but after a while they do all become a haze of comfortable tastes. There were several that really leapt out at me:
Beaer’s Premium Lager (apparently the brewery is so young one beer had only been tapped and tasted the night before) have worked hard to create a low sugar but not low flavor beer. They succeeded in a way that the larger, not to be named, conglomerate beer companies have failed to do. Malty and light with a fluffy head. Their Pilsner style lager is as it should be but with a diabetically friendly low sugar content. Their remaining lineup is pretty solid.
Beerd Brewery’s Silvertip New Zealand Pale Ale was tropical and light and refreshingly crisp. The fizz was just right and the hops were clean and abundant without being overbearing. Monocle English Pale Ale was also super delish. This little brewery is actually brewing out of Bath Ales location and was born from a craft pizzeria in Bristol, so most of what they do is experimental. I can’t wait to see what else they do.
Bath Ales were all completely sessionable. The beer names are adorbs. The Ginger Hare, according to the sales rep, had a way of drawing the ladies to the table. It will come as no surprise to those that know me, that I do so adore the gingers, so I too was snared. Wild Hare, the sales reps’ personal favorite outshone the lineup, crazy smooth, perfectly balanced malt and hops. Another purely British brew where all the malts and hops used were grown in Britain. Plus the bunny logo makes me think of Watership Downs and I love them even more.
Wild Beer Company had a few that I was meh about, but that is the BrewGirl opinion and I still like what they are trying to do. The Sourdough basically tastes like I’m in the kitchen kneading the still warm bread dough. I am super happy I brought a bottle home to share.
Siren Craft Brew. Besides having a gorgeous label (I’m a girl and have always loved mermaids, get over it) every one of the beers I’ve tried are seriously good. The IPA is as usual not to my palate but the gentle aroma of hops on this one was nearly enough to turn me. Broken Dreams, a breakfast stout, is outstanding. However, the beer I would happily follow a crooning song to my death is the Caribbean Chocolate Cake collaboration with Cigar City. Pardon my language, but holy crap tits. I can’t even describe this Imperial Stout. I wish I had had more luggage space.
I actually didn’t try the main line from Batemans. I was too excited to try the Black Pepper Ale released under their Bohemian Brews label which gives Batemans the creative license to experiment with new flavors without perhaps ostracising their main following. The clever marketing on this ale is that a little sachet of black pepper is hidden under the collar with directions on forming the perfect glass. I wish I had had the forethought to ask for a taste prior to the black pepper being added to my glass, but hind sight, fifty fifty and all that jazz.
Due to the ritual of grinding pepper, pouring beer, grinding more pepper, and perhaps my girlish delight, we managed to attract the attention of a little film crew. Two gents from MGL Media were in attendance and with camera poised on my taster glass we all waited for the last ground of pepper to float lazily onto the frothy head. Long story short this crazy BrewGirl from California with the mismatched socks may very well be in a Craft Beer documentary coming out next year… WTF?!
The last brews I tasted were from the Italian brewery Mastri Birra Umbri. The bottles were what drew me to the very simply bedecked table. Now, don’t get me wrong, having a table laid out with only a bucket of bottles on ice and two un-chilled bottles as display is a risky manoeuvre considering most booths were covered with layers of beer, pamphlets, coasters, and all on varying heights. The table was unmanned on my first pass down the alley. If not for the film crew convincing me to wait for the fella to come back I would have missed out on the highlight of the day.
As I mentioned before, the bottles, black grolsh bottles with gold trim, and elaborately bedecked golden keys, they pretty much had my inner Asian chomping at the bit. The beers were exceptional. I know I could tell one had Saison yeast and that seemed to impress the Italian a bit (I’m going with he was impressed and not bored so shut it) but really I forgot all my tasting notes because the fella wasn’t a sales rep, he wasn’t a logistics manager, he wasn’t a distributor, HE WAS THE BREWER! Be still my heart. Pretty sure my awkward level went super saiyan at that moment.
Another long story short, the final pour he gave me, he didn’t explain, he just cryptically said “I’m going to pour you this, and then we’ll talk about it later.” I cautiously sipped the deep russet beer. I am pretty sure it was a dubbel but with an underlying current of earthiness. The Italian smiled and rummaged under his table. Then handed me a bag full of lentils. I took the offering, looked him straight in the eyes, and exclaimed, “You’re [effing] kidding me. [Effing] LENTILS?”
I’ll end on this note… I gave that man a hug. A proper, awkward, over the table, slightly tipsy, BrewGirl hug.
Best day.
brewgirl at the end of a long day… deliriously, deliciously, disturbingly cheerful
[also, i totally don’t have a pic of my mismatched owl socks, but they are pretty great, trust me.]
brewgirlsocal 