Happy New Year: Celebration Stout !!!

Hey Everyone, So the New Year countdown begins and it only seems fitting that a special beer be on show today, so today we are in Dublin, Ireland, the place I will be celebrating New Year, so I hope you all enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
Celebration Stout

Brewery:

The Porterhouse

Brewed and Bottled:
The Porterhouse Brewing Company
Dublin,
Ireland







Alcoholic Percentage:

7.0% Vol

Measure:

330ml

Taste:

Roasted Malt, Deep, Full Flavoured, Coffee, Chocolate, Very Bitter, Smooth

Colour:

Black

Odour:

Slight Chocolate, Slight Malt

General Thoughts:

Celebration Stout is a really smooth, full flavoured beer, with deep, rich, roasted malt flavours. There is a strong bitterness to this beer, coming from what I recon is a roasted malt. There is also a bitter after taste to this beer, which for me works in its favour as it leaves you wanting to go back for more. This beer is not overpowering as it is well balanced, however you are aware of the beers strength and there is a slight alcohol taste to this beer, which isn't surprising as it is a modest 7% ABV. Celebration Stout is an indulgent beer, that should be enjoyed slowly, this is not a session beer, or a beer to drink in excess, but rather a beer that should be enjoyed on a special occasion, a special occasion like New Years Eve. The name definitely reflects this beer, a special beer to bring out when there is something to celebrate. On the whole Celebration Stout is a really tasty beer, full flavoured, with a moreish quality that keeps you interested. This is a beer to be enjoyed slowly and is a really nice beer, also has a warming quality to it. All in all I was very impressed with Celebration Stout and would recommend this beer to everyone to bring in that New Year.  

Price:

€1.99 (Based on Average Price)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE, GET OUT THERE AND CELEBRATE AND ENJOY SOME GREAT BEERS!!!

Shane

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Raging Bitch IPA !!!

Hey Everyone, Today's beer is all the way from the USA and the Flying Dog Brewery. I would also love it if you would all share your Christmas Experiences here. Hope you all enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
Raging Bitch IPA

Brewery:

Flying Dog Brewery

Brewed and Bottled:
Flying Dog Brewery
Frederick
Maryland,
USA






Alcoholic Percentage:

8.3% Vol

Measure:

355ml

Taste:

Strong Hops,Really Citrus, Slightly Sweet, refreshing, Smooth

Colour:

Golden, Amber

Odour:

Strong Hops, Light Citrus

General Thoughts:

Raging Bitch is a really delicious beer, deep, full flavours, everything that I look for in a great beer. This beer is really refreshing as well as having a slightly sweet, citrus note to it. There is a strong flavour of hops to this IPA also, which is something I really love in beer and this beer definitely doesn't disappoint. There is very little carbonation to this beer, but the most outstanding attribute of this beer is the well balanced flavour. You would expect a beer with an 8.3% abv to taste really alcoholic, however this beer doesn't at all, it is very well balanced and before you know it your looking for your next bottle. Raging Bitch also has a moreish quality to it, making you want to go back for more after every mouth full, which to me just makes it a fantastic beer. On the whole Raging Bitch was a huge surprise as it packs a real punch, yet is so well balanced. This is an outstanding beer and one that I would certainly recommend to everyone and would buy on a regular occasion. Great tasting, fantastic flavour, all round great beer. A big congratulations needs to go to the Flying Dog brewery, really great beer.

Price:

€2.50 - €3.50 (Based on Average Price)

Shane

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Belfast Ale

Hey Everyone, Now Christmas has passed it's time to look forward to the New Year, 2013 is on it way and why not bring in the New Year with some great beer. Today's beer is from Northern Ireland, Hope you all enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
Belfast Ale

Brewery:

Whitewater Brewery

Brewed and Bottled:
40 Tullyframe Road
Kilkeel,
Co. Down,
Northern Ireland,
BT34 4RZ




Alcoholic Percentage:

4.5% Vol

Measure:

500ml

Taste:

Bitter, Hops, Slight Citrus, Bitter After Taste, Refreshing

Colour:

Dark Orange / Light Brown

Odour:

Hops, Malt, Citrus

General Thoughts:

Belfast Ale is a deep, full flavoured beer, with a strong hops flavour to it. This is a very refreshing beer, with a moreish quality to it, making you crave your next sip. There is also a slight citrus note to this beer coming from the hop content of the beer. This beer also leaves a bitter after taste which helps keep the palate interested, which is a great thing in a beer. This beer also have very little sweetness to it making it that little bit more bitter. Belfast Ale is a  medium carbonated beer, with a slight malt taste too it. This is a very nice beer, a pleasurable drink, one that I would recommend to others as a nice, pleasant, easy drinking beer. This beer packs more of a punch than I was expecting which was great. Belfast Ale is a real all rounder, very nice beer, an overall great beer.

Price:

€2.80 (Based on Average Price)

Shane

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My Christmas Experience !!!!

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and hope Santa was good to you all. I am really interested how people all over the world spent their Christmas day, So today's post is my experience of Christmas Day and I would love to hear from you all as to how you spent yours. I hope you all enjoy and get involved sharing your experiences : ) !!!

Christmas Day

I am a huge fan of Christmas and love everything about it, especially getting together with all the family and sharing stories, laughter and most of all some good beer. There is nothing better in my eyes than spending the day in the company of your closest family and friends, enjoying a nice cold beer and watching some TV as well as other activities. I am also a huge fan of everything that comes with Christmas, the Tree, sharing presents, watching the ones you love receive your gifts and the joy that this brings them, this is for me the most rewarding part of Christmas. I do think that we are in an age now where the material aspect of Christmas has taken over from the key message of Christmas, sharing the day with your family, however it is still a great feeling watching people opening their gifts and the happiness that these gifts can bring people.

This Christmas I was privileged to wake up to a wonderful view, grabbed myself a nice hot cup of coffee and jump under the duvet in front of a nice open fire. An open fire is a rare treat for someone who spends most of their year in a city, where there is no fire at all, so being in the country with the warming, close and cozy feeling that comes with the fire was a great treat. After a while we sat around and opened our gifts, which was great, not necessarily just because we were receiving gifts but to see the faces and gratitude from those closest, making you feel great about the gifts that you have put thought into buying. After the presents were opened and shared between us, the main event needed to get underway, of course i'm referring to Christmas Dinner. This is something that takes a long time to prepare and get ready, with the Ham, Turkey and all the trimmings but is something that we all seem to look forward to most all year round. I have to say it never disappoints and this year was no exception, a really great meal shared and some great beer to go with it. Once dinner was done, everyone stuffed and unable to move, we all retreat back to the living room, open fire and just chill out. This for me was just the perfect day and perfect way to spend Christmas Day.

I have shared with you how I spent my day and would love to hear from you all, from all over the world, how you spent yours. I am really interested in how different parts of the world celebrated this day, but most of all I want to know what beer people enjoyed over the festive period.

I look forward to hearing from you all and the more of you that get involved in this the better. Just leave your experiences in the comment box below, don't be shy, share all.

I also want to thank everyone for the support we have received on the blog over the last couple of months that we have been around and would like to keep this going for the new year also. We aim to continue the blog as it is, with some added extras along the way of course : ) !!!!

Shane

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MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!!!

Hey Everyone, I wanted to thank you all for viewing the blog over the first couple of months that we have been here, your support is really appreciated.
I hope that you will all continue to come back to the Genuine Beer Blog in the new year and watch the blog grow from strength to strength with all of your input. Thank You again everyone, but most of all

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

I would love to hear from you all in the days following Christmas, about your Christmas Day's and maybe we could tell each other about them, this would then give us a great view of how different people have celebrated Christmas but most of all the great Beer that you have all had over the festive period.

Look forward to hearing from you all real soon, Bring on the New Year,

Shane

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Beer 2011 !!!

Hey Everyone, Sorry there hasn't been a blog post for the last couple of days, have been mad busy on the run up to Christmas, tonight we are back with the 12 Beers of Christmas, Hope you enjoy !!!! 

Beer Name:
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2011

Brewery:

Anchor Brewery

Brewed and Bottled:
Anchor Brewing Company
San Francisco
California,
USA






Alcoholic Percentage:

5.5% Vol

Measure:

355ml

Taste:

Full Flavoured, Mulled Spices, Refreshing, Fragrant, Smooth

Colour:

Dark Brown / Black, Red tint

Odour:

Spices, Raisins, Fruity, Fruit / Christmas Cake, Prunes

General Thoughts:

Merry Christmas beer is a very interesting, deep, full flavoured beer. This beer is heavily spiced with Christmas spicing. This beer has a real fruity flavour to it, brings out all the characteristics of Christmas. To me this beer really catches the essence of a Christmas Pudding in flavour, those deep, all spice qualities, with the fruit notes. This beer is heavy on aroma, with the fruitiness being at the forefront, however the taste of the beer is more subtle. There is a real fragrance to the taste of this beer also. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year beer changes its recipe every year, so these characteristics may be different in the 2012 variety. This is a very seasonal beer and would be enjoyed by anyone that enjoys the deep, rich flavours associated with Christmas. This is definitely not a beer for the faint hearted. Merry Christmas beer is a smooth, full flavoured beer, with dried fruit and Christmas tasting qualities to it. A nice beer, however it was a little sickly after a while, probably enjoyed in small doses. On the whole a nice beer, to enjoy on occasion throughout the Christmas period.  

Price:

€2.50 - €3.00 (Average Price)

Shane

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Seriously Bad Elf !!!

Hey Everyone, Today we have the next beer in line in the 12 beers of Christmas countdown. This Beer is an absolute cracker so I hope you enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
Seriously Bad Elf

Brewery:

Ridgeway Brewing

Brewed and Bottled:
6 Chapel Close
South Stoke,
RG8 0JW
United Kingdom





Alcoholic Percentage:

9.0% Vol

Measure:

500ml

Taste:

Hops, Spiced, Full Flavour, Refreshing, Smooth

Colour:

Golden, Amber

Odour:

Slight Hops, Malt

General Thoughts:

Seriously Bad Elf is a seriously interesting beer. This beer has really deep, full bodied flavours, one of which is a spiced note, that gives this beer the winter, Christmas beer characteristics. This is a smooth beer with little carbonation and an all round nice feel on the tongue. This beer is a real surprise as it is remarkably well balanced for such a high ABV% beer. Seriously Bad Elf is not over spiced or overwhelming in spicing and is also not overpowering in alcohol taste in anyway. This is surprising for a beer that is 9% ABV as you would expect this will mean that the beer tastes really boozy, but this one doesn't. This is also a rich, moreish beer that will leave you wanting to go back for more and more with every sip. Seriously Bad Elf is an extremely palatable beer, that is extremely festive in feel and taste. This is an outstanding Christmas beer and one that I would seriously recommend to anyone out there that would like to taste what a real Christmas beer can taste like. I very rarely give a beer 5/5 unless it shows me something outstanding, something that makes it stand out from the crowd, this beer seriously does that for me and that is why I awarded it the score. I would really recommend giving this beer a try I promise you won't be disappointed, Congratulations to Ridgeway Brewing for creating this amazing beer.  

Price:

€2.50 - €3.00 (Average Price)

Shane

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London Porter

Hey Everyone, Today we are back to the 12 beers of Christmas, If you didnt manage to check out last nights post check it out here this post offers a great Christmas gift suggestion. The beer in question today isn't technically a Christmas / Seasonal beer, however it fits perfectly into the criteria for me. Hope you all enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
London Porter

Brewery:

Fullers

Brewed and Bottled:
Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC
Chiswick Lane South,
London,
W4 2QB
United Kingdom

Alcoholic Percentage:

5.4% Vol

Measure:

500ml

Taste:

Very Chocolaty, Bitter, Smooth, Refreshing, Deep 

Colour:

Dark Brown

Odour:

Slight Chocolate, Coffee

General Thoughts:

London Porter is a great, really deep, full flavoured beer. This packs a huge amount of flavour, the main one being of chocolate. There is a very prominent chocolate taste, with also a slight taste of coffee. This deep, dark flavour comes from the roasted malt used in the beer. This is a very smooth beer, with little carbonation, giving this the perfect quality in a refreshing beer. London Porter also has a real warming quality to it, something that would be perfect for the cold winter months and nights that we are currently in. This beer doesn't taste overly alcoholic considering it is a slightly stronger beer than the average porter, going back to how the original porters once were. London Porter isn't strictly a Winter / Seasonal beer, however I have chosen it as one of my Christmas beers as it has all the characteristics that I would look for in a Christmas beer, deep, full flavoured with a warming quality. On the whole this beer is a great, smooth drinking beer, which is packed full of rich, dark malted flavours, bringing a warming quality. This beer is a real treat, smooth in texture and taste, a beer that is well worth the money. Overall a really great Christmas Beer selection. 

Price:

€2.99 (Average Price)

Shane

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The Christmas Countdown: Yorkshire Ale - Gift Idea #2 !!!

Hey Everyone, So today its back to the Christmas Countdown, Christmas is nearly upon us and you may still have a few little gifts that you want to get for a Beer Lover out there. I want to introduce you all to a great site and great company, Yorkshire Ales. If you are looking for a company that puts huge amounts of passion into their craft and produce then this is the site for you. Yorkshire Ales specialise in locality, all of the produce and beer that they sell on their site comes from the local area. 

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This post is to introduce you to a few of the products that Yorkshire Ales have on offer for Christmas that would act as perfect gifts.








The Beer
So to kick off this post I thought I would introduce some of the beers that Yorkshire Ales have on offer. They offer a huge variety of beer, so I thought I would focus on just a few that are perfect for Christmas. These Beers are seasonal and all come from the surrounding area to the brewery. This is the key philosophy of Yorkshire Ales. They keep all of their beer and produce local, which for me makes this company so much more appealing. I am a huge fan of making the most of your surroundings and the fact that all of the produce and beer is local is a huge plus for me.

Here is a list of some of the seasonal Ales / Beers that Yorkshire Ales have on offer to buy.

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1. Bridestones: Winter Warmer. This beer comes from the Bridestone Brewery, located in Hebden Bridge. This  beer comes in a 500ml Bottle and is priced at £3.00. 
2. Great Newsome: Winter Warmth. This beer comes from the Great Newsome Brewery, located in Hull. This  beer comes in a 500ml Bottle and is priced at £2.50. 
3. Yorkshire Dales: Jingle Pot. This beer comes from the Yorkshire Dales Brewery, located in Askrigg. This  beer comes in a 500ml Bottle and is priced at £2.60. 
4. Yorkshire Dales: Silent Night.  This beer comes from the Yorkshire Dales Brewery, located in Askrigg. This  beer comes in a 500ml Bottle and is priced at £2.60. 

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You can click on the links above and it will take you to the Beer Shop where you can buy the beer you've clicked on.

Other Gift Ideas

Yorkshire Ales also offer a large variety of other produce which is also all local and from the surrounding area, making it have that personal feel.

Here are a few of these other gifts ideas:

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1. Cherry Brandy: Cost: £16.95
2. Chocolate Snowman: White Chocolate, Cost: £6.50
3. Festive Plum Chutney: Cost £2.25
4. Sloe Gin: Cost: £16.95
5. Tankards: Cost: Half Pint £10.00, Pint: £15.00

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For more information on the above products just click on the link that you wish to view. All of these products are handmade and have the personal touch to them, which makes them perfect for a Christmas Present.

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Yorkshire Ale is a fantastic site and company that offers a wide variety of beer and other produce, that will cater for a wide selection of customers. The best thing about Yorkshire Ales for me is the personal touch. You really get the sense that a lot of time and passion goes into this business and in making sure that the customer gets the best products available to them. The other great thing about Yorkshire Ale is the use of their surroundings, they make great use of all of the options that are available to them in all areas of Yorkshire. I also have to say just how friendly and helpful the staff are at Yorkshire Ale. From my dealings with them, they have been nothing but helpful and gone above and beyond to provide a great service. On the whole Yorkshire Ale is a fantastic company and site that is not to be missed.

Looking for that perfect stocking filler or present for the beer lover then look no further, Yorkshire Ale is the place to go !!! 

Yorkshire Ale
http://www.yorkshireales.co.uk/

Shane

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