Goatee Phil's Review of 2023
Where I'm at
Twelve months further on and I am now on medication which is making a difference. And I feel a whole lot better! But what the whole experience made me realise was that perhaps, at 70 years of age, it was time I considered retirement so, at the end of October, I finally gave up work. I'd recommend it.
Drinking around
Now that my health has stabilised, holidays are back on the agenda. We managed two in 2023 and they were both memorable but for very different reasons. I have already written about our trip to Bruges, which we're both already looking back on as a classic. Our second jaunt, just before Christmas, was our first proper cruise together.
We did go on a three day cruise way back in the 1990s, before we were even married, but I
don't think it prepared me for this latest one. This was a geriatric special, a Fred Olsen cruise to Northern Europe, specifically to the Christmas markets of Hamburg, Copenhagen and Oslo. Just a couple of hours into the trip, we realised that we'd missed a trick by not buying a couple of those T-shirts that say It's weird being the same age as old people.
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| The beer's rubbish, isn't it? |
don't think it prepared me for this latest one. This was a geriatric special, a Fred Olsen cruise to Northern Europe, specifically to the Christmas markets of Hamburg, Copenhagen and Oslo. Just a couple of hours into the trip, we realised that we'd missed a trick by not buying a couple of those T-shirts that say It's weird being the same age as old people.
I didn't expect there to be anything beery worth drinking on board - there wasn't - but I did have hopes of finding some decent beers on our three stops - Hamburg, Copenhagen and Oslo. We ran out of time in Hamburg to find an interesting bar, ending up in Brewdog on the Reeperbahn. They didn't have much of a selection on and I ended up drinking Hazy Jane. Could have been worse, I guess.
Things were a bit better in Copenhagen, even though we only had about four hours to explore the city. The Christmas market did have a Mikkeller stall, which appeared to have sold most of its stock. We still managed to bag five interesting and varied brews and, as a bonus, the restaurant where we stopped for lunch had a small but decent list of beers. I opted for a seasonal brew, the eccentrically named Anarkist Red Noses. According to Untapp'd, it's brewed by Theodor Schiotz, who are based in Odense.
Better was to come in Oslo, the most enjoyable stop on our jaunt. After thoroughly casing the
market, and loading up on Glugg (aka Gluhwein), we popped in a bar called Brodrene Bergh, where I chanced upon a Rodenbach brew I hadn't had - their Alexander, a glorious fruity sour. Later on, after heading back to the ship for our free evening meal, we went back into the centre to visit the Amundsen Bryggeri for, in my case, a couple of their IPAs. Nice, but hey guys, where were the imperial stouts? It was well below freezing, for heaven's sake!
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| At the Amundsen Bryggeri |
market, and loading up on Glugg (aka Gluhwein), we popped in a bar called Brodrene Bergh, where I chanced upon a Rodenbach brew I hadn't had - their Alexander, a glorious fruity sour. Later on, after heading back to the ship for our free evening meal, we went back into the centre to visit the Amundsen Bryggeri for, in my case, a couple of their IPAs. Nice, but hey guys, where were the imperial stouts? It was well below freezing, for heaven's sake!
That's not the last of my beery tales from the cruise. Among the onboard experiences available to be booked were a beer tasting and one for wine. Both were run by the crew's resident sommelier. I have two observations relevant to both - one, he clearly was more comfortable talking about wine than beer and two, he was a terrible presenter.
Let's concentrate on the beer tasting. Leaving aside the fact that, all modesty aside, I could have done a much better job myself, my main complaint was the selection of beers. I would have sourced beers from all three countries that we were due to visit. Instead, the selection was entirely German and even then it didn't reflect the richness of the country's heritage. The beers were:
Bergquell Brauerei Lobau - Lausiter Schwarzes Porter (4.4%)
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| The guilty beers |
Paulaner - Salvator Doppelbock (7.9%)
Kostritzer - Schwarzbier (4.8%)
Paulaner - Hefe Weissenbier (5.5%)
Franziskaner - Weissbier (5%)
Credit, first of all, for the inclusion of the Salvator - a superb beer, and a personal favourite. Of the others, why two weissbiers? OK, there were subtle differences, but why not include a kolsch instead? And as for the other two, the Kostritzer is a decent beer but the Lausiter was bland and forgettable. Why not a Munchen Dunkel?
I suspect his intention was to deliberately showcase beers that were similar but slightly different. His wine selection also included close but not exact matches. Still, both sessions were preferable to playing bridge.
The best things of 2023
This is the bit where I usually reveal my pub of the year, beer of the year, brewery of the year and so on. The problem is that most of my choices don't change. I'd still go to Brighton's Evening Star in preference to any other pub in the city, if I had to choose, but one thing that illness, and retirement, have done is made me think about why I drink, when, where and with whom. I've done a lot more drinking with friends this year, and this has meant me choosing a pub where I can happily drink the same beer for an evening. If I'm on my own, I'm more likely to pick somewhere that has a wide range of beers.
The pubs
Here instead are my most-visited pubs of 2023, with some observations on the beers that I've been drinking there:
The Star always has six cask ales on, one of which is generally Burning Sky Aurora. It is my favourite brew so it's invariably the one I go for. Occasionally, I'm tempted by another beer, and on recent visits I've gone for Elusive Oregon Trail IPA, which I'd never drunk on cask before, and the welcome return - for me, at any rate - of Siren Soundwave. Both were, needless to say, superb.
Another reason to love the Star is the fact that, amongst their kegs, there is always an imperial stout and/or a barley wine. The pick this year was Overtone's Barrel-Aged Parabol. Rich, dark and warming!
The Foghorn isn't technically my local - it's in downtown Portslade (yes, I know its BN3
postcode strictly speaking places it in Hove, but come on ...!) and I live in Portslade Village. But I'm not particularly fond of the village's two pubs so, when I fancy a pint but not the trek into Brighton, this is where I come. Handily, the Foghorn usually posts a list of its Friday beers on Instagram.
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| Charita with cousins Sheldon and Lisa |
Like most micropubs, they always have a best bitter and (session?) porter amongst their five cask ales. My choice is usually an IPA or pale - inevitably I will go for Aurora when it's on; ditto Thornbridge Jaipur - though I will occasionally pick from the four kegs, particularly if one of them comes from The Kernel!
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| Two Very Old Timers! |
Their five cask ales fall into broadly the same categories as the Foghorn, though the best bitter, and often the session porter, is usually brewed by Rick, the gaffer. I particularly recommend his dark ales (great book title, eh?), with a special nod to the barrel-aged Very Old Timer. Takes one to know one, I guess.
Rick and Ruth are also big fans of the legendary Midlands brew Sarah Hughes Dark Mild. Keep an eye out for its next appearance - you don't want to miss it!
The Hole in the Wall
First the bad news - the Hole in the Wall is bit like a badly designed micropub. Instead of a single bar, it has two, with the serving area in the middle and a narrow passageway between the tiny drinking areas. It's also slightly off the beaten track, tucked away behind Regency Square although not far from the seafront. But once you've found it, you'll also find a fine selection of beers, with always four on cask and eight on keg. They seem to have cornered the market in tap takeovers, with the likes of Burning Sky, Beak, the Kernel and Pentrich among those featured this year.
First the bad news - the Hole in the Wall is bit like a badly designed micropub. Instead of a single bar, it has two, with the serving area in the middle and a narrow passageway between the tiny drinking areas. It's also slightly off the beaten track, tucked away behind Regency Square although not far from the seafront. But once you've found it, you'll also find a fine selection of beers, with always four on cask and eight on keg. They seem to have cornered the market in tap takeovers, with the likes of Burning Sky, Beak, the Kernel and Pentrich among those featured this year.
Like the Foghorn they regularly advertise new beers on social media, as well as their current offerings, which I find really helpful. Guess then that I'll be balancing precariously on one of those stools by the bar again very soon. Who's the next tap takeover?
The beers
Something that I'm really starting to notice lately is that most craft brewers seem to place less importance than before on the idea of a core range of beers. It seems as though every time I see a beer from, let's say Beak or Verdant, it's another new NEIPA or Hazy Pale. I even wrote about the same issue in my best of 2022. But a note to all craft brewers: whenever I see an old favourite like Soundwave it's like seeing an old friend and therefore maybe, just maybe, novelty is overrated? I have written in earlier blogs about the apparent need for new beers, new hop strains, new approaches to brewing beer. People will still drink those beers but I bet I'm not the only drinker that would welcome just a bit more standing still.
Northern Monk - Heretic (6.5%)
Karbach (US) - Light circus (6%)
Pressure Drop/Beak - Posey (6.8%)
Northern Monk - Heathen (7.2%)
Other Half (US) - Go with the flow (6.5%)
It's not a long list so I guess I'm just getting harder to please!
If I turn to my other go-to styles of imperial stouts/porters and barley wines things look a lot rosier - and not just because they're stronger. Here the only issue is whether the beer is sweet or not. A lot of drinkers clearly enjoy strong sweet dark beers but not me. Happily, the name will usually tell you if a beer is sweet and, if not that, the description is likely the clincher, where one is provided.
This is my pick of the imperial stouts and porters that I've drunk this year:
Overtone - Parabol (11%)
Pohjala - Kamin (11%)
Omnipollo/Side Project - Billionaire's Hot Chocolate (12%)
Fremont - Dark Star: Chocolate Vanilla Maple Syrup (13.1%)
Pohjala - Oo cassis (10.5%)
and the barley wines:
Moor - Benny Havens (10%)
Pohjala - Plum Barleywine (12%)
Orbit - WLS060 (11.1%)
The breweries
As with my favourite pubs, my favourite breweries don't really change, although this year there's only been one - Pohjala, unsurprisingly - where I've drunk more than three different examples of their beers. Why is that? I think the answer might lie somewhere between my comments on hazy beers and the fact that I have drunk less at home than I normally do. I do still get emails from the likes of Cloudwater and Northern Monk with details of their new releases, and I take notice of what beers the various venues that I follow on Untapp'd are offering, so I have a good idea what new brews are doing the rounds. I'm just not drinking many of them!
One thing I have realised this year is that my drinking is increasingly tempered by the thought that, however much curiosity I may still have about new beers and ones that I haven't drunk before, I'm much more likely than before to choose a beer that I know and enjoy rather than one I don't know. Which is good news for the following breweries:
And what does the future hold?
Now that I'm retired, and once again in reasonable health, it's time to embark on a project that has been on the back burner for a long while, chiefly because of the time I felt it would take. Three of my blog entries to date have examined the pubs and bars of Hove. Now it's time to tackle Brighton.
To review the whole city I would need to cover postcodes BN1 and BN2. Since the latter would involve trekking out to Woodingdean, Saltdean and all the way out to Telscombe Cliffs, I'm confining myself initially to BN1. That alone will mean visiting somewhere in the region of 150 pubs, bars, cafes and taprooms. Expect the first of at least half a dozen postings sometime between now and the end of April.
Happy drinking!
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