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Beginner’s Guide to Lincoln Beer Festival
by Steve Renshaw
With Lincoln Beer Festival only a week away, Steve Renshaw answers questions from first-timers.
Isn’t a beer festival just old men sitting round drinking warm beer?
Certainly not – we get a really good mix of customers. Of course, this includes beer aficionados, but we also get workers popping in for a few pints at the end of their shift, clubbers starting off their night with us, visitors to the city, and plenty of students. And our bar manager won’t forgive me if I don’t tackle the warm-beer issue. Real ale is best served between 11oC and 13oC, so you can fully appreciate the flavours. We have the equipment to ensure that we keep it at just the right temperature.
But I don’t like beer.
There are hundreds of brewers across the UK producing thousands of distinctive ales, so perhaps it’s just that you haven’t found the right one yet. We’ve got over a hundred, so this is your chance to try some different ones. And the beauty of the festival is that you can buy a third of a pint, which allows you to appreciate the different styles and flavours without getting the worse for wear. We’ve also got some really unusual foreign beers to try. And if you really can’t find a beer that’s to your taste, we’ve some fantastic, farm-produced cider and perry.
So what is real ale?
In the early 1970s, CAMRA coined the term “real ale” to make it easy for people to differentiate between the bland keg beers being pushed by the big brewers and the traditional beers whose very existence was under threat. Real ale is a natural product brewed using traditional ingredients and left to mature in the cask through a process called secondary fermentation. It is this process which makes real ale unique amongst beers and develops the wonderful tastes and aromas which keg beers can never provide. Continue reading “Beginner’s Guide to Lincoln Beer Festival”
Lincoln Beer Festival 22nd-24th May 2014
From humble beginnings in the late 1970s, the Lincoln Beer Festival has grown to become a major event in the city’s social calendar. Last year, over 3,500 customers enjoyed the traditional ales and great atmosphere. Visitors are attracted to the event from across the country.
The first Lincoln Beer Festival was held in the upstairs room of the Stag’s Head on Newport in 1977. Since then, it has been held in the Assembly Rooms and the old Drill Hall, and under canvas on the Brayford and The Lawns. The festival returned to the Drill Hall in 2005, and this year’s is the tenth to be held at the venue since it was refurbished.
Steve Renshaw, the festival organiser, said, “I’ve been to lots of beer festivals but I’ve not been in a better venue than the Drill Hall. The main bar area has plenty of room for drinkers to chat about the beers. We have live music in the café area, so it doesn’t impact on the conversations. And, if the weather is good, the courtyard is a great place to chill out. We’ve developed a really good relationship with the Drill Hall staff – putting on the event is a real team effort.”
The festival has two main aims. For those who are regular drinkers of real ale, cider and perry, a wide range of drinks is provided, many of which would not normally be found in this part of the country. Ales from many local breweries are also showcased. And for those who are not yet devotees, the huge variety of styles and flavours to be discovered in our traditional British drinks is demonstrated.
At the first festival, back in 1977, there were just ten beers. This year’s real ale list has more than 100 entries from all over the UK. Also featured are traditional, farm-produced cider and perry, plus bottled beers from around the world.
The festival is organised and staffed by unpaid volunteers from the Lincoln branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
Mild Month
May is Mild Month
CAMRA promotes Mild throughout May.
This year we are asking the active CAMRA branches to encourage at least one pub in their area to stock at least one Mild during May for the local pub-goers to try.
We would also encourage non-active members to speak to their local licensees to see if they would be willing to try some Milds during May.
We have produced a pack which contains promotional material to support Mild Month. You can order you pack online here.
What is mild?
Milds are black to dark brown to pale amber in colour and come in a variety of styles from warming roasty ales to light refreshing lunchtime thirst quenchers. Malty and possibly sweet tones dominate the flavour profile but there may be a light hop flavour or aroma. Slight diacetyl (toffee/butterscotch) flavours are not inappropriate. Alcohol levels are typically low.
Pale milds tend to have a lighter, more fruity aroma with gentle hoppiness.
Dark milds may have a light roast malt or caramel character in aroma and taste.
Scottish cask beers may have mild characteristics with a dominance of sweetness, smooth body and light bitterness.
Original gravity: less than 1043
Typical alcohol by volume: less than 4.3%
Final gravity 1004 – 1010
Bitterness 14 – 28 EBU
If you want flavour, try a real ale
by Steve Renshaw
I’m sure the Batemans’ Biscuit Barrel Beers (featured in the Echo on 20th March) will divide opinions among drinkers. But whether they like them or not, pubgoers will certainly have a view. And that’s the great thing about real ale these days – there’s so much to talk about.
There are more breweries in the UK than at any time in the last 70 years and they are producing thousands of different ales. The many microbrewers have rejuvenated the industry through innovation and experimentation. It’s common for pubs to have a choice of different and ever-changing ales on offer, meeting the demand from drinkers for exciting flavours.
So how do brewers manage to produce all these different flavours? Amazingly, it’s just with two basic ingredients, malt and hops. There are some speciality beers with added ingredients, but let’s just stick to the basics.
Malt is cereal grain, usually barley, that has been soaked in water and allowed to germinate. During germination, the starch in the seeds is converted into sugar, which the yeast feeds on to produce alcohol during the brewing process. The germination is halted by heating in a kiln. Depending on the length of time in the kiln, the malt can range from pale to almost black.
Pale malt imparts a sweet, biscuity flavour to beer, amber malt gives a toffee taste, and dark malt is responsible for hints of coffee and chocolate.
Hops provide the bitterness to balance the malty sweetness and also enhance the aroma. Today’s brewers can choose from a vast range of hops from across the world. These impart flavours including fruit (citrus, tropical, apple, berry fruits), floral, spices, nuts, honey and vanilla.
In order to try out a variety of flavours, I went along to the Forum during Wetherspoon’s recent real ale festival. Reading through the tasting notes for the fifty beers that were available during the two-week period, I counted fifty-two different hop varieties. And the descriptions included phrases such as “apricot and grapefruit aromas”, “zesty, citrus undertones”, “light biscuit body”, and “hints of peppery spice”.
These sound more like descriptions of wines, rather than beers. I selected a tasting tray of three different thirds to see if I could recognise any of the aromas and flavours.
And what about the beers?
Batemans Oatmeal Biscuit (3.6% ABV) is a light-coloured beer brewed with malted barley and oats, raw cane sugar and two hop varieties. It should have a “distinctive biscuit flavour” and “crisp sweetness”. I detected a strong almond aroma that made it difficult to pick out any other flavours. A bit too sweet for my taste.
Daleside Sea Fever (4.5% ABV) is a golden ale brewed with two new-world hop varieties. I was on the look-out for “aromas of pine, tropical and berry fruits” and “a richness of flavour which culminates in a refreshing, soft bitter finish”. I certainly noted a sweet, fruity aroma. The flavour was beautifully balanced between the hops and malt and, yes, the aftertaste was of lingering bitterness. Very moreish!
Titanic Iron Curtain (6.0% ABV) is brewed in the style of a traditional imperial Russian stout. The description mentioned “a deep, rich, burnt flavour which complements the biscuit malt character, balanced by large quantities of hops”. The burnt coffee aromas and flavours of dark malts are easy to detect. I could taste a plummy fruit flavour in there too. Mmm!
If you want to explore the different flavours in real ale, come along to the Lincoln Beer Festival. It’s in the Drill Hall from 22nd to 24th May.
Lincoln Branch Pub of the Year 2014
The Dog and Bone on John Street has been selected as the Lincoln CAMRA Branch Pub of the Year for 2014. The selection process started with a vote by local CAMRA members. Then five judges visited the pubs that topped the poll to assess the quality of the beer, the atmosphere, service, community focus and value for money. The other finalists were Lincoln’s Strugglers Inn and Jolly Brewer, and the Dambusters Inn at Scampton.
The Dog and Bone is a hidden gem among the old terraced houses off Monks Road. It is a thriving community local run, since February 2013, by enthusiastic husband and wife team, Chris and Sarah Sorrell. Above the bar is a collection of old valve radios and paraphernalia that always sparks discussion, and the pub’s board games are popular and well-used. The walls display works from local artists, and the wonderful garden is an oasis of calm. On the bar are five real ales and two handpull ciders. The pub belongs to Batemans so beers from this long-established, Lincolnshire family brewery feature, along with interesting guest ales.
Lincoln CAMRA chairman, Aaron Joyce, said, “To win Pub of the Year after just twelve months in charge is a fantastic achievement by Chris and Sarah. They’ve taken this great little community pub up to another level.”
The Dog and Bone now goes forward to the Lincolnshire round of the competition, where it will be up against the winners from the Gainsborough, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Louth, Grantham and Fenland branches.