Category Archives: Siren

Day 23 and a Siren call of Summer

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day-23

There’s still no concordance with The ‘official’ Beer Hawk tasting video, the team today are opening a bottle of Dry Hopped Anchor Steam Beer, the bottle I got on Day 19, instead of Two Roads Espressway stout. I’ve got a hopeful eye on the larger flap to Day 24 of the Advent Calendar, and I’m dreaming of it being a pint bottle of dark beer. I’d be quite happy with a bottle of the Two Roads stout. Maybe the packers in the warehouse just got mixed up? We’ll see.

Normally, I might get all worked up about a Siren beer, this one just didn’t get my pulse racing. It wasn’t the fact that it was a 2.8% QIPA (Quarter), more the fact that the Siren web site says that Half Mast is a seasonal special that was brewed between May and October 2015. Thankfully a scan of the bottle shows a BBD of July 2017, which is acceptable. Phew … I wouldn’t have wanted a jaded, faded bottle of low ABV un-hoppiness by now. They must have brewed it again this year, it’s actually billed as the perfect summer time drink in the Siren online shop (out of stock). Get your web site updated Siren! Thing is, I’m not sure that I want a bottle of ‘the perfect summertime drink’ in a winter Advent Calendar Beer Hawk?

So, is this beer a fine example of the brewers art, flavour and balance in a low ABV beer? A brief foamy head soon disappears from the top of this hazy pale golden beer. The aroma is ripe fruits, maybe pineapple? Pineapples, grapefruit and tropical fruits continue on the palate and it finishes with quite a sharp, dry bitterness. Refreshing, tongue tinglingly zesty. I wish I was sat outside in the garden and the sun was cracking the flags. Unfortunately we’ve got the back end of storm Barbara and it just doesn’t feel right drinking this in front of a roaring fire.

I asked Mrs C what she thought? ‘That’s nice, refreshing, but it’s just lacking something?’ I then told her it was only 2.8% ABV, which met with the response, ‘That’s a cheat!’ She meant on the Beer Hawk  cost of the case front here and not the brewer. However, £2.25 online from Siren and £2.39 from Beer Hawk, so it’s not the cheapest option in the case.

I thought this was an impressive effort in the flavour stakes at 2.8% ABV. Well done Siren, I would expect no less.

Verdict: I didn’t expect a Summer beer in my case, it was nice to try it, but I think this is a bottle of old stock they wanted to get rid of?

Mr Foleys Beer Festival

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Mr Foley'sI always worry about Mr Foleys on the Headrow, Leeds. It’s such a good pub, but why is it always pretty quiet during the afternoon/early evening? I’m assured that it gets pretty busy later on, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, which is good. If I’m honest, I really think that more people should be calling in and trying what’s on offer because it’s got a lot going for it.

For a start, the grade two listed building is pretty impressive. Originally the old Pearl Assurance Company chambers, hence the name; Mr Foley was the founder of said insurance company. The premises are now a rambling semi-open multi level affair that provides a nice ambience, whatever you favour; stood at the bar, sat at a decent table, slumped in a comfortable settee or the best bit (for me), sat at one of the tables on the upper mezzanine floor cum balcony looking down on the bar.

Mr Foley's aerialOn the downside, the Westgate end of The Headrow in the Civic quarter is a fair trek from the up and coming Arena and Cultural quarters of leeds where most of the newer bars and pubs seem to be. You could of course combine a visit with a drop into the nearby Victoria hotel, Town hall tavern or somewhere like that, or even one of the two nearby ‘Spoons.

I think it’s fair to say that when it opened, a good few years ago now, Mr Foleys was well received, unfortunately it went down hill for a bit. Well that’s definitely not the case now. I’ve been calling in on regular basis now for well over six months and on every visit I always get a cracking glass of beer. There’s a comprehensive choice available, as good as anywhere, twelve real ales, ten craft lines, twenty four traditional ciders and loads of bottles. Yes, you did read that correctly, twenty four different ciders, that’s why it’s Leeds CAMRA  cider pub of the year (2015). There’s also tea and coffee but no food, apart from pork pies and the like. In terms of the all important toilet test, once you’ve walked what feels like half a mile down into the bowels of the premises, then it passes with full marks.

Mr Foley's JasonIn terms of real ale then York Brewery are well represented and they usually have Guzzler, Ghost and Terrier on because it’s their boozer, in fact the only one they have outside of York. Beyond the York standards then expect to be surprised, modern IPA’s, stouts and porters figure highly on the tap list, more often than not decent offerings from cutting edge brewers.

We called in at the weekend to see what they had on, primarily because they had a beer festival event going on. Thirty different cask ales , including three wooden casks, one from Ridgeside and two of their own brews. Prices varied with the mean being around £3.60 per pint. As well as the twelve pumps on the bar they had set up a stillage and bar on the middle deck of the pub, everything gravity fed and properly cooled.

Mr Foleys glassI tasted quite a few during the session, they did thirds. Stand out for me was Siren Rysing tide (7.4%), obviously a Rye beer but tasty, tasty, very, very. Others that hit the high notes were Ridgeside Stargazer (5%) from the wood. I love this beer and it just had that hint of something else that a wooden cask gives. I also tried York Terrier (4.2%) from the wood, again there was just that little extra to this easy drinking session ale. The big surprise for me was York Otherside (4.5%) which had been specially brewed and given a massive hit of extra Centennial and Simcoe at the dry hop stage. It really was one of those beers you could have drunk all day, they really need to brew it like this on a routine basis. In terms of quality, everything I had was spot on, which was also the opinion of some of the erudite beer enthusiasts I spoke to.

Mr Foley's exteriorThe festival started on Thursday, so when we arrived on Saturday about ten of the casks had gone already. Mostly the lower strength, easy drinking pale ales. I asked Jason Allison, the manager, how the event had gone. He told me it was looking like a big success. Friday night had been packed out and he did not expect to have many of the festival beers left by the end of Saturday. In fact two more barrels went off while we were there. Although there were plenty of people in, the Saturday afternoon session was really relaxed, sat at a table with a lovely crowd of beer minded people, I really enjoyed myself.

Keep your eye out for the dates of their next festival, it is well worth attending, and so is Mr Foleys, at any time, and in my opinion it’s currently one of the better real ale bars in Leeds for choice, quality and ambience. Go on give it a try and be surprised.

Shuffledog, the new Leeds Brewdog

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Shuffledog intLeeds Shuffledog is Brewdog’s latest bar, it’s also Leeds’ latest addition, but probably not for very long on both fronts, so I went along to have a look. First thoughts? Impressed. Will it sustain? My verdict is this is a worthy addition to the already outstanding beer scene in our fine city and I reckon it will be around for a long time to come. It’s got to be, they’ve signed a twenty five year lease!

As you walk in the first thing that strikes you is how light, airy and open the main bar is, surrounded on three sides by floor to ceiling windows on the ground floor of Crispin House, a converted factory consisting of eighty plus, loft style apartments. Those of you who have been in Leeds for more than two minutes will remember it as H W Poole’s bootmakers and even older residents, as Heaton’s garment makers. Either way it sits at the apex of this grand building on NewYork Road, in the up and coming Northern quarter of the rapidly expanding Leeds City centre scene.

Shuffledog extInside it’s a variant of the standard Brewdog post modernist fit out with it’s recycled gymnasium type floor and graffiti art. Although they are always slightly different, I always think I’ve wandered into the Crystal maze – Industrial zone, when I walk into a Brewdog. There’s seating all round the windows in various guises and a big open space around the sizeable bar. Daniel, one of the managers explained that they might look at putting some more furniture in. It could possibly do with it because at 4.30pm on a Sunday afternoon we got the last two seats and the punters were all sitting down, rather than standing up throwing it down their neck, style people

In terms of beer this is something a bit different for both Brewdog and for Leeds. Firstly there are thirty five draught beers on. I know the term might be a bit hackneyed, but think Craft beer. So what’s different there, apart from the huge range? Well, there’s no cask, no hand pulled ales, just keg. There’s no bottles either, just keg and a massive neon sign saying, ‘Craft Beer Spoken Here’. Too right it is, a comprehensive selection of the Brewdog standards, which is something the original Leeds Brewdog never seemed to have. ‘What do you mean they haven’t got Dead Pony on … again?’

Shuffledog barOn top of this there were familiar local names like Rooster’s and Ilkley, through Cloudwater to Stone, Firestone and Mikkeller and lots more esoteric ones in-between. I’ve never seen five Cloudwater ales on in one place before. My first drink in Shuffledog was an IPA from this excellent Manchester brewer – I really, really like their beers. Chris served it up for me and then started suggesting what else I might like, pushing tasters under my nose. ‘Try this, you’ll definitely like this one, it’s a Braggott.’ I tried it, I liked Siren Craft Brew Uncle Zester, a blend of mead and barley malt; sour, almost balsamic vinegary, sherbert, passion fruit and … erm … Green Giant sweetcorn niblets, to balance it all out. Wonderful, so good we went back, after touring town, for another one, even at £3.50 for a third, it is 8.5% though. Overall I thought the prices were reasonable, a bit dearer than normal, but I guess you get what you pay for and I paid £5 for a half of a decent Mikkeller brew in another excellent city centre bar that same afternoon.

The next divergence from your standard Brewdog is the food. At the minute they are doing the usual cheesey/meaty platter type stuff. Billy, one of the crew, said the food range was going to be extended soon and a more comprehensive selection of vittles will be offered. I had a look in the sparkling kitchen behind the bar, a chef was taking stock of things and it looked suspiciously like a full kitchen to me, with two big griddle plates. It’s the biggest kitchen to date in any of the Brewdog bars. Billy told me that even the staff don’t know what the menu is going to be yet, but it’s coming and it looked to me, like it would be pretty soon.

Shuffledog tableOkay Rich, so what else is different? The name; Shuffledog not Brewdog. Pretend you’re following Richard O’Brien down the stairs into the sizeable air conditioned basement (you will have to at some point, the bogs are down there) where he will offer you games of skill, tests of brainpower and even some mystery games. You could start off with venerable board games, graduate to classic arcade games or even one of three Pinball machines. You could of course miss all these out and start with the highlight, the mighty Shuffleboards which dominate the basement. Forty grands worth of highly polished precision finished wooden decks on tables. I’ve never seen anything like them before, apparently it’s quite big in America. Best described as a table top cross between bowling and curling. The idea being to precisely slide the heavy metal pucks along the deck to score points at the other end. The only problem being the other end is twenty two feet away and the pucks just fly over the microscopic silicon beads which cover the playing surface.

I played a few ends with Joe, another friendly Shuffledog crew member. He said he wasn’t an expert and hadn’t played until last week! Verdict, it’s tricky, but addictive. Mrs C could beat me hands down. There’s always a crew member in the basement to supervise the tables. It costs eight quid an hour to play and you don’t have to leave the table to get a drink. Just tell the crew member what you want and the drinks are brought to you. I think it’s pretty good value. If four of you play it’s only two quid each an hour, you can spend more playing pool or snooker in some places.

Shuffledog crowdThe outstanding feature for me was the staff. I’ve mentioned a few and I know it’s their job to promote the venture, but they were all genuinely friendly, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about what they were doing. I really enjoyed being shown round and having everything explained to me, thanks.

Overall, I think Shuffledog is pretty cool, best range of craft keg anywhere I have been and I’m looking forward to see what the food is like. Good concept with the Shuffleboard tables and I genuinely think people will go and play this, within I month I predict Shuffleboard leagues and competitions. Whatever, this is another jewel in our string of beads (1) .

1. string of beads – Leeds, rhyming slang.