yay brewdog

had some incredible beers on at work the past few weeks - its such a hard job to have to taste all of them...and then even harder to decide which one i want to indulge in at the end of my shift...we've had some great beers lately, notably some good ones from local brewer Arbor Ales who made an amazing espresso/cocoa driven intense stout just for our rare ales night at the Portcullis
http://www.arborales.co.uk/joomla/

and the 7.3 % smooth going cakelike brew Old Freddy Walker from Moor Beers http://moorbeer.co.uk/our-beer/old-freddy-walker



Though the most outstanding have been the two we've had on from our scottish friends up at Brewdog

The First was 5am saint - the smell of this cascade hop driven beer brought me back to california right here in bristol - an amazing, almost perfect 5% Red ale


Here's the tasting notes

'Had on cask @ work at the Portcullis Clifton Village - Bristol.

pours a beautiful redish brown with a nice one finger head and plenty of lacing

smell just reminds me of california...i had a half pint and kept savouring the aroma - just pure perfect hop goodness that almost all english beers lack...normal piney citrus character, though this one had a unique strawberry fruityiness that was really nice.

taste is just wonderful for a red, just enough hops to drive this amazing brew, enough malts to carry the profile and compliment the fruit...the alcohol is very nice @ 5%...enough to create a lovely mouthfeel and the right amount of warmth (strong by brit standards! haha) but low enough to be a session ale. It isn't as over the top as american reds often are, still maintains the british balance, and is awesome on cask.

freaking solid, one of my all time favourite British beers...one of brewdogs best.'

OVERALL SCORE: A




And in addition had their 10% paradox isle of arran imperial stout aged in scotch whisky barrels.

Solid, here are the tasting notes from last night (bored during slow sunday shift)

'On cask at the portcullis Clifton village

Pours black and viscous with a bit of lacing and a small head

nose is slightly peaty whiskey smokey chocalte liqueur - can you have all that?

Taste starts out sweet and liqueur like and moves into a bitter oaky peaty finish - very nice but not nearly as smokey as some of the other batches

overall a deliciously drinkable, smooth balanced cask brew - rad

Note - some Brits can't handle 10% beer A local literally tripped out of the pub and almost passssed out after a few of these...leaving half of his half pint behind...funny.'


OVERALL SCORE: A-

Climbing update - Brean Down - first 5.12 c/d (7b+)!

Wow, its been ages since i published anything on my blog - i keep thinking i'll be more into it, then i just get busy/lazy etc...in reality, i guess i'm not the best at my online life.

Anyway, to give a recap of the past 6-7 weeks of climbing in england, i have to bring you to brean down.

Brean down is a small but picturesque sea cliff about 45 minutes drive from bristol that offers shelter from the wind, a seemingly permasunny (almost) microclimate and some concentrated classics in the 7a - 8b range.

the climbing is slightly overhanging, and sustained with amazingly cool (if sometimes small) holds - a welcome break from the sometimes strange, beta-intesive holds of the Cheddar gorge.

my first session or two there, i worked through the easy climbs on the left...climbing the 6cs, onsighting a 6c+, and doing a fun 7a...

then a couple weeks in archie and i went over to a 7b (or 7a+ depending on who you ask) called The Roof of Inequity - which Archie managed to quickly flash as its a bit morpho (new word for height dependent) - it took me a few goes, but finally worked out the tricky powerful roof sequence and it felt easy. Here is a shot of another guy on the crux moves of the Roof.

After getting the Roof, i knew it was time to move on to the hard classics of the crag - everyone kept talking about this route called Chulilla, saying it was the best at the crag, and one of the best 7b+ routes in the area (some say quite hard for the grade).

So that day, i got on and surprisingly did all the moves (with great difficulty) - knew it would go but knew it would take some time...i've decided how much I've always sucked at having the patience to redpoint routes over mulitple sessions, and have had many climbers tell me how much harder i should be climbing - figured this was a good route to give some redpoint attempts on.

I spent two more brief sessions working out the moves on chulilla, trying, failing, coming up with new beta. The climb is basically really hard insecure moves off the ground on polished, bad holds, then some powerful throws over a bulge to an akward but good no hands rest...de pump then carry on into a V5 ish boulder problem that involves huge moves on two finger pockets up a blank wall...then a shake out and to on to a 6b slab section top out.

The 3rd day of trying to redpoint the route, i showed up to brean on a beautiful warm sunny day, warmed up and got on the route, and quickly found myself at the rest after desperate moves, milked it for 4 or 5 minutes, then cruised through the crux...i felt like i finally clicked back into reality when i clipped the chains - this was a new level for me in my climbing, and felt like i clicked into another mental game on the send....syyyyyyyked! First 5.12c/d - really nothing in the scheme of things, but a big deal for me. here's a couple pics of me on the route.


I now have plenty of other projects at the crag, including the latest one - El Chocco 7c that involves one of the most interesting moves i've done on a route.

Overall, i'm really glad to have found a great place to go to climb hard in bristol and lots of friends that are psyched as well.