#285 Timothy Taylor – Landlord

Name: Landlord
Brewery: Timothy Taylor
Style: English Bitter
ABV: 4.3%
Source: Stephen at Galbraith’s

Remember how way back at the beginning of the blog I used to write about some beers as if they were love interests?

Admittedly that was partly because I didn’t know how to give actual descriptions of beer, and so “it’s the kind of beer you could introduce to your friends to” was about as good as I could manage, but also I was ‘fresher’ back then. Every beer was a new taste sensation, and I fell head over heels fairly often.

And yet, this dried up old prune is in the first flush of  love again. I’ve decided that Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, whoever he is, is to be my second husband*after Bookbinder - although like the former he will still be occasionally cheated on by the likes of Rex Attitude.

I knew it was marriage material from the moment I caught its scent – which was of clean floral hops, honey and freshly baked bread. In the mouth it was creamy and sweet, but with a chalky dryness to the water and a subdued bitter kick at the end. To be honest I’m not even sure what it was that made it so special, it was just so well-rounded and lovely. I could drink it forever and never get sick of it. And oh! – imagine it from a cask!

Naturally I discovered my love of Landlord just as the country’s supply ran out, and apparently it won’t be back until 2013. I’m now kicking myself for looking past it on the shelves at New World for so long, never realising that it was in fact the one. (Or at least one of the ones.)

A big thank you to Stephen who shared his last bottle of Landlord with me at Galbraith’s. You get full acknowledgement as the person who introduced us, and can certainly be the best man at the wedding.

* To clarify – a beer that qualifies as a ‘husband’ is one that is well-rounded, sessionable, charming and reliable. Preferably he will also be based in New Zealand, but I’m willing to go long-distance for this one. 

#249 Greene King – Old Speckled Hen

Name: Old Speckled Hen
Brewery: Greene King
Style: ESB
ABV: 5.2%
Source: Waiheke Wines

Ahhh, my dear friend Old Speckled Hen.

While not the brightest, the boldest, or the tastiest beer in town, Old Speckled Hen will always have a special place in my heart.

When I was 23 (not so long ago really) I lived in London for a year. These days I look back with fondness at the cosy pubs, the grand parks, the nightly knife fights that would break out outside our council estate – but in truth I was mostly having a shitter of a time.

I worked in a windowless building at an awful job in a very boring place called Vauxhall, whose only redeeming feature was its position across the road from the pub. A group of us would go to there most days and drink as much Old Speckled Hen as we could squeeze into the lunch hour, before returning to stare at our computer screens and count the minutes until the evening tube.

Nostalgia is a funny thing isn’t it? Even that dreary scene seems somewhat charming to me now, and nothing brings the memories flooding back like a can of Old Speckled Hen.

It’s a malt-driven beer, but fairly light in the mouth and verging on watery. There’s a caramelly aroma, and in the mouth there are sweet notes of vanilla and fruit, along with a bit of grain and metal. The finish is lightly bitter, with not much of an aftertaste.

OK, so I now realise that it’s not really a brilliant beer. It beats most of the other large can beers we get on the shelves here – but as far as ESB’s go you could certainly do a lot better. 

Sorry Old Friend. At least we’ll always have Vauxhall.

#124 Fullers – London Pride

Name: London Pride
Brewery: Fullers (London, England)
Style: ESB
ABV: 4.7%
Source: Greytown liquor store

Just a very quick post on this one as I’m quite behind on the posts and frankly, still quite buggered after a weekend (/week/year) of excessive consumption.

This was Saturday’s beer, which I had in the middle of Dad’s 60th birthday after about 10 glasses of wine. Needless to say my memory is hazy and my notes… well. There were no notes.

I do remember that it had a lovely sweet, toffeeish malty aroma much like the day before’s Wee Heavy. In the mouth it was quite different though – not nearly as syrupy or sweet, with a much greater hop presence and a crisp, bitter finish.

I think I was a bit disappointed by it just because I was comparing it to the  Wee Heavy – but actually it’s a completely different style and there’s no reason why it should have been similar. Probably I was just riding the dizzying high of the malt wave and never wanted to come down. That or I was  drunk from the 10 glasses of wine.

In summary – I have no idea. I’m going to stop trying to write this review now before it gets any worse. Over and out.

#94 Emerson’s – Tally Ho!

Name: Tally Ho!
Brewery: Emerson’s (Dunedin, New Zealand)
Style: Summer Ale
ABV: 4.9%
Source: Emerson’s shop (Dunedin)

If there’s one thing I like more than a pint of Emerson’s beer, it’s a 2.5L flagon of Emerson’s beer.

That’s exactly what I got when I was at the Emerson’s Brewery/shop in Dunedin on Wednesday, and that little German beer glass you see next to it is from an op shop in Oamaru. Seeing them together makes me feel strangely warm and fuzzy inside, and makes me sort of wish I lived in the South Island until I remember I hate the cold.

Here are a few snaps that I took at the shop/brewery:

So the Tally Ho! is a a ‘summer ale’ -  a term that might make you think of that godawful sweet, flavour-injected, Monteiths crap. If it does, get your mind out of the gutter now and transport it to the garden of an English pub, in a little country town with a name like twattfordshire. Imagine the sun appearing from the clouds allowing you to momentarily take off your windbreaker, smell the honeysuckle mingling with cigarette smoke and chips, and imagine a lovely pint of bitter being placed on the wonky picnic table in front of you.

That’s what this beer is. Very summery, very English. It smells zingy and fresh – like herbs and cut grass, with maybe a little squeeze of citrus fruit. The aroma isn’t strong, but it’s there and it’s enough to draw you in.

It’s crisp and quenching in the mouth. Light, but with enough hoppy bitterness and spice to make itself known. Unlike my one experience of a British Summer (“The worst we’ve ever had” they said. I’m not so sure), the finish is long and dry.

This is exactly the kind of beer that I want to have a 2.5L flagon of in the fridge at all times – chilled and ready to combat the most severe attacks of thirst. Unfortunately there’s nowhere to refill it in Auckland, so (again like my English Summer) I’ll just have to enjoy it for the three days that it lasts.

#79 Townshend – Bandsman

Name: Bandsman
Brewery: Townshend (Upper Moutere, Nelson, New Zealand)
Style: English Bitter
ABV: 3.8%
Source: Regional Wines (Wellington, New Zealand)

It’s a touch inappropriate that I drank this beer out of my Arrogant Bastard Ale glass, because I could hardly think of a less arrogant beer to go in it.

The Bandsman is the second beer I’ve tried from Martin Townshend and, like the Sutton Hoo which I went all sorts of crazy over, this a beer I could see myself settling down and having a long-term relationship with.

From it’s low alcohol volume to it’s soft carbonation and delicate hop perfume, everything about this beer is gentle. It didn’t get all in my face and scream “Hey! Look at me!” it just quietly and confidently charmed the pants off of me.

But what sort of a beer review is that? What I mean to say is – it had a lovely aromatic hop aroma (New Zealand I’d guess) – a bit fruity, a bit floral, and a biscuity malt sweetness to round everything out. It was soft and fairly light with a gentle hop bitterness at the finish. To say it was quaffable is an understatement – but that’s just fine because it’s only 3.8%!

I’m heading down to Nelson for work in a few weeks and I’m going to try my darndest to get over to Moutere to visit Townshend, and to have a few pints at the Moutere Inn. According to Wikipedia it’s New Zealand’s oldest pub to be still operating in it’s original building, and it has Townshend beers on hand-pull. Is it just me, or does that sound like the best place to drink beer ever?