Beer, Sausages, Cheese and Chocolate!

Rashleigh Arms Beer & Food night

A real mixture of food and drink and one which you would think could make the average person quite unwell, but this featured in a recent night I ran at the Rashleigh Arms (pictured) in Charlestown.

Beer and food is probably second only to craft beer as being  the buzz words in the beer industry at the moment. Every brewer, small or large is trying to associate their brand with a food dish. In truth, the brewers have not really cracked the association as yet with consumers. There is a lot of talk of thinking beer rather then wine when dining, but in practice very few people think like this. So there is a lot of work still to do!

However, you have to start somewhere and I like a number of other Beer Sommeliers are running beer and food nights of varying types. My night at  the Rashleigh turned out to be a huge success. It helped tremendously that licensee Rob, really wanted to do the night and was also very organised.

We started with matching the sausages first. The Cornish Bratwurst was matched with Korev, a fine crisp, clean Cornish Lager.  If you think of German sausages and beer/lager and how well they go together, it was hardly surprising that this worked well. This was followed by a sausage flavoured with 1913 Stout, which of course was matched with the beer of the same name, followed by a cracked black pepper sausage that matched Admiral's Ale. A spicy sausage matching a spicy beer, it worked well.

Next onto the cheese. This is perhaps the best food match of all as the acidity in the beer cuts through the creaminess of the cheese. Cornish Yarg went down well with Smugglers Vintage, the rich toffee vanilla of the ale balancing the fullness of a powerful cheese. A real surprise was how well smoked cheese matched Clouded Yellow with the natural banana, clove and coriander of the beer, scrubbing the tongue clean of the smoked cheese ready for the next mouthful. A real match of contrasts but they worked very well together.

Finally onto the chocolate and what we really needed here was a fruit beer, but St Austell don't have one in the range at the moment (watch this space!). However using Proper Black, a black IPA, full of citrus hops and expresso coffee flavours, then this was a fine match with a coffee flavoured chocolate.

In total we had over 50 people for the evening, all of which had been introduced of the concept of matching beer and food when dining. In my view there are no rights or wrongs with this concept, but some combinations do work better than others. Luckily everyone is different so try some experiments of your own.

Ramsbury Brewery

A recent visit to Wiltshire included a stop over in the Bell at Ramsbury, a fine pub in it's own right but made even better as its the showcase for the Ramsbury Brewery brands.

The pub itself is full of character and the food all that you would expect from a small rural town business at the heart of its community. Quite distinctive but wholesome. We also loved the honesty bar for those staying, at the top of the stairs and adjacent to the rooms. A great idea!

My first Ramsbury was the Flint Knapper, a good beer but it this was quickly followed but the Ramsbury 506 and what a great beer this is. A 5% IPA style brew, it was well balanced citrus, bitter and a touch of malt. I really like Hopback Summer Lightning but the 506 is certainly up there with it.

An unusual name, 506 is named after the American Parachute Regiment that was based in Ramsbury during the Second World War and the beer is a fitting tribute.

Ramsbury Brewery itself forms part of Ramsbury Estates, a large long established farming business on the outskirts of Ramsbury. The farm grows barley for brewing including the sought after Maris Otter variety and forms part of the stunning Kennet Valley. Living in Cornwall it's difficult to imagine countryside that will match the far South West but this certainly comes close.

The 506 was the start, but there are other beers worth a mention. Ramsbury Gold is the breweries best seller and you can see why. A golden easy drinking beer, it is a fine balance of malt and hops and the superb colour makes it very attractive to drinkers.

The next are probably two marmite beers. I'm not a great fan on honey beers, being too sweet and I prefer a hop bitterness. The Honeybee is a good honey beer and will have its fans but its not for me.


The final beer is a real marmite of a beast at 6.1% abv, quite literally! Named after the specialist breed of cattle farmed on the estate, the beer is quite a challenge. I found it a real meaty beer, quite smokey bacon, a bit spirituous and on the sweet side. However some people loved this beer and having used it at beer tastings and as part of the Craft Bottle Beer range we offer, I can appreciate it's finer points.

Good luck to Ramsbury Brewery, they are about to invest in a new brewery and they brew some great beers. Do try them if you see them.

Craft Bottle Beers

So Craft Bottle Beers finally got underway at Saltash Regatta last weekend. It has taken a lot of planning and hard work, a few false starts, not to mention costly mistakes, but at last we have begun to sell a few bottles of beer.

Our plan is to sell a selection of beers from local craft beers at events throughout the South West - its a hobby mainly but it does at least give me a chance to indulge my passion for beer and in particular bottled beer to enjoy at home.

Craft Bottle Beer Stand

Saltash Regatta is a two day event with local stall holders and producers all vying to sell their wares. Sadly the weather was not great but I'm delighted to say our stall was very popular. In fact the event rivalled some larger food and drink festivals for popularity and we were certainly pleased with how well we did.

Our stand could have been better and some things we planned to do in terms of branding did not work as hoped. However we were at least the equal if not better than many of the other stall holders.

Our first sale was a bottle of Cheddar Ales Potholer. a very tasty golden beer and one that

Golden/IPA's

proved to be a popular seller throughout the day. We had a range of 17 different beers and split them into beer styles to make it easier for customers to follow. The most popular style was the Golden/IPA range of which we had seven great beers. Of these special mention of the Ramsbury 506 as the first IPA to sell out. This is a wonderful beer and drinks very well in bottle - a fine balance of citrus hop that is not overly bitter.

Penpont Shipwreck Coast also sold well from this style as did the Piston Broke from Box Steam Brewery. Of the Pale ales,  Box Steam Tunnel Vision was the most popular with many local Cornish folk likening it to Doombar, although I'm not sure if that's good or bad!

We probably had too many Stouts on sale and although I personally love this style of beer and it is on the comeback, there are still many people who still find the roasty, toasty liquorish flavours challenging.

The final style we called Strong/Vintage ales. I was surprised how well these beers sold. Ramsbury Horny Highlander a 6.1% real meaty beer tasting of smokey bacon and slightly spirituous sold very well. I struggled with the flavour a little myself but lots of people liked this beer. Another lovely beer in this style was the Bellingers Moonlight, a fine dark malty beer erring on the side of a Porter but not quite.

So off soon to source more beer for our next confirmed event which is at Mount Edgcumbe Classic Car show on Sunday 4th August, although we still hope to find something suitable for late July as well. Lisa and I both loved the days, talking about beer and helping to guide people as to what flavours and styles will suit them best. As a Beer Sommelier this is a really satisfying part of what we are doing and it was great to impart a bit of knowledge to people who were genuinely interested.

Wish us luck for the next one.......

Beer and Cars Combined

There can be fewer unexpected locations to find a brewery than with Bellingers of Wantage. Traditionally brewing is closely associated with the farming industry and so many small breweries start life here, in fact farmers were once brewers as in the case of the Saison style of beer. Nowadays many start up breweries can be found on industrial sites and although this does not carry the mysterious charm that craft drinkers seek, it is very practical and commercially viable.

Front of the tin brewhouse

Bellingers however is fronted with a very modern car dealership for Vauxhall and Chevrolet cars. It's quite an impressive business and building and you would never know a brewery existed but for some signage on the forecourt. The car dealership boasts all that you would expect from a cutting edge sales business, with vehicles displayed to look their very best. The brewery on the other hand is situated in a shiny tin covered building that is hidden away at the rear with the dealership's service dept.

Bellingers are a 4th generation company and the brewery uses an image of Les Bellinger who flew with the RAF in the Second World War and then went on the lead and grow the company in the years thereafter. The company is now a major landmark as you approach Grove and Wantage from Oxford.

Being an ex resident of Wantage and certainly proud of my Oxfordshire roots I am delighted to find  this brewery and recommend their beers.

Two beers I purchased were the IPA and the Moonlight. The branding on the former is not great and does not reflect the beer, which certainly is a refreshing IPA, however the colour ways suggest a darker beer. The branding on the Moonlight I liked a lot better, reflected Bellingers heritage and the label colours and balance just seemed to imply a quality beer.






Bellingers IPA & Moonlight
 



The IPA had a hint of chocolate combined with citrus on the aroma - chocolate orange like! The palate was more hop, pineapple, herbal like, but there was a hint of fruity esters as well. The finish was bitter and touch astringent which actually I quite liked. Overall a beer in the English IPA style and very drinkable.

The Moonlight was the more interesting of the two beers. Chocolate and fruity esters on the aroma, there was a lot going on here. The palate was fruit cake, spice, roast and a bit nutty. The mouth feel was nice and full, with good conditioning bringing the beer to life. I liked this beer better and it is a good example of a Strong pale ale.

I' m looking forward to my next visit home when I will make another trip to this craft brewery to try some of their excellent brews.