Ten British Beers You Should Try

So here we go with a list of ten beers that anyone hitting the pubs of Britain really should sample. There are, of course, many more outstanding beers in the UK, produced in smaller runs by tiny breweries. They should be looked out for, certainly, but they are going to be difficult to track down. On the other hand, the ten beers below should be relatively easy to find and will give you a flavour of what beer in Britain is all about.

Taylor Landlord (4.3%)

This is the beer that Madonna claimed on BBC TV to be her favourite and boy has the brewery done well out of that! Timothy Taylor is a relatively small regional brewery, based in Keighley, West Yorkshire. It’s been active since 1858 but in the 1950s it launched Landlord, a new best bitter. That was a good move. The awards have arrived by the bucketful, including four Champion Beer of Britain titles, bestowed by consumer champions CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale). Landlord, I find, is always a satisfying beer, loaded with floral notes from the generous, but clever, use of hops.

Wadworth 6X (4.3%)

I live fairly close to the sleepy Wiltshire market town of Devizes, where the imposing red-brick façade of Wadworth’s brewery is a major landmark. The name of the brewery is synonymous with that of 6X, its leading brand and, I have to say, it was one of the beers that turned me on to traditional ale back in the 1970s. I still enjoy a pint or two today, and not just for old times’ sake. Wadworth beers have a malty, dried fruit character, and 6X is no exception.

Theakston Old Peculier (5.6%)

Like Wadworth, Theakston’s brewery was one of the champions of traditional (‘real’) ale back in the 1970s, a time when it looked as if pasteurized, pressurized beer was going to take the place of beers like those in this list, which are all naturally matured in the cask. After a time as part of the Scottish & Newcastle group, Theakston is now back in family hands and its brewery in the North Yorkshire market town of Masham is well worth a visit. Old Peculier is its most famous beer, a dark, old ale that is fairly sweet and filled with complex fruit flavours. The strange spelling of its name relates to the ancient ecclesiastical court, or Peculier, of Masham.

Marston’s Pedigree Bitter (4.5%)

Burton-on-Trent in the Midlands is the home of pale ale. It was here that the bright, hoppy beers of the industrial revolution were perfected, thanks, in no small part, to the mineral-rich local water. The last major ale brewery left in Burton is Marston’s and the company’s Pedigree Bitter remains the classic Burton pale ale. I always know when my pint of Pedigree is fresh. It has a strong sulphurous aroma – not appealing to everyone, I know, but to me characteristic of that unique water supply. Pedigree is also fermented in wooden casks with a yeast that helps create apple-like fruit flavours. Find a pint in good condition and you’ll enjoy one of the great beers of the world.

Fuller’s London Pride (4.1%)

Not so long ago, London Pride was basically that, the pride of London. You couldn’t find it elsewhere in Britain very often. All that has changed, however, as the beer has spread rapidly around the country, allowing more and more people to appreciate its brilliant balance of malt and hops. Fuller’s is the big brewery you see on your right as you take a cab from Heathrow Airport into central London. All its beers are well worth checking out.

Caledonian Deuchars IPA (3.8%)

This is a fairly young beer. It was only introduced in the 1980s but, since winning CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain title in 2002, sales have rocketed all over the country. The brewery, in Edinburgh, now belongs to the lager giant Heineken but its ales are definitely worth tracking down. They won’t always be as easy to find as this pale, citrus-accented, thirst-quenching bitter, but the effort will be well rewarded.

St Austell Tribute (4.2%)

Right down in the south-western tip of England stands the St Austell brewery, the oldest in Cornwall. Fortunes have been revived here in the last decade with the appointment of an adventurous head brewer who has revamped the entire range of beers and added several new ales, to much acclaim. One of the newcomers is Tribute, a beer that was first brewed in 1999 to mark the momentous day when a total solar eclipse blacked out southern England. At the time, they called the beer Daylight Robbery and sold it only locally. Now, under its new name, it’s available much more widely, allowing more people to enjoy its lime and grapefruit citrus notes.

Adnams Bitter (3.7%)

British bitter is the envy of the world. Other countries have brilliant beers, but nowhere really has anything like bitter – a fairly low strength, but characterful ale with a hoppy and, as its name indicates, bitter taste. These are beers that you can quaff by the pint without being bowled over by alcohol; beers that oil the cogs of conversation in the best British pubs. There is no better bitter than the one from Adnams, an outstanding brewery in the time-forgotten Suffolk seaside town of Southwold. Some people even say you can taste the sea air in the beer and I think they’re right.

Greene King Abbot Ale (5%)

Greene King is a brewery based in the Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds, but its beers are now available nationwide, with its IPA session ale (3.6%) the most prominent. If you don’t have to worry too much about strength, however, I would thoroughly recommend trading up to Abbot Ale, which is far more than IPA’s big brother. At its best, this is a terrific, substantial beer, brimful of fresh juicy fruit flavours, some from the choice of hops and some from the fermentation process.

Woodforde’s Wherry (3.8%)

Another former CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain, Wherry is a deliciously fruity, easy-drinking bitter that hails from rural Norfolk (a wherry is an old type of cargo boat used on the Norfolk Broads waterways). The brewery was only founded in 1981 but is growing steadily and Wherry is now sold throughout East Anglia and further afield. You may not find it as easily as other beers in this list but, if you do stumble upon it, make sure you take full advantage. I do.

Beer Trivia - Homebrewing

Everyone loves trivia. Whether watching Jeopardy, reading a homebrewing guide, or playing Trivial Pursuit, we all love answering those little-known questions and impressing those around us.

And here's five little known interesting facts on our beverage of choice: good, refreshing beer!

To begin with, have you ever had the unfortunate luck of being served a watered-down beer? Didn't that just burn you up? Well, back in ancient Babylonia around 1750 B.C., a law was passed that if a barkeep gave a watered down beer to a patron, the owner would be drowned in his own offending brew. Now I call that justice!

Also, most of us know the story of the pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock. But here's something to impress your history-loving friends with next time you're out: The big reason the pilgrims stopped there and did not travel south to warmer climates is simply because they ran out of beer! Just think: If they had brought more homebrew with a homebrewing guide, we may never have had a Thanksgiving!

On the other hand, Americans would not celebrate our independence during July 4th - and this would also mean that July would not be known as "American Beer Month" - I mean, what's more American than drinking homebrew with our best buds?

If you didn't know about that, though, then you probably didn't know that later on in the fall, down in Denver, Colorado, there is a huge celebration called "The Great American Beer Festival." Every year over thirty thousand people come to drink beer, share their own homebrews, and just enjoy themselves with other beer lovers.

The final little known fact? You can join those of us who are homebrewing. How? Quite simply, go to http://www.freehomebrewguide.com and download your free homebrewing guide, with 13 easy and delicious beer recipes.

How to Make Beer Clone Recipes

Although I make a vast majority of my own beer, I still like to head to my local tap house and have a fresh, quality craft beer from time to time. I benefit from this in a couple of ways and so can you.

First, it helps with the continuous education of my passion for beer making by discussing the specifics of the beers I am drinking with the knowledgeable bar staff. I also solicit feedback from my fellow patrons at times and their input can be informational as well. This can lead to inspiration for tweaking an existing recipe you use or creating one from scratch.

Second, have you ever been out at a bar or restaurant and tried a beer that you absolutely loved? That has happened to me more than once. For most people, that initiates the desire to purchase more of that beer whenever they visit their local watering hole or liquor store. However, for me and the eager home brewer, this could be an opportunity to duplicate our favorite adult beverage. The problem is that the beer bottle does not have the recipe on it and most of the time, that information can be a highly guarded secret.

Well, it's a good thing that there are clone recipes to make beer like our favorites. The easiest way is to Google "beer clone recipes". You will find and adequate amount to start exploring. One of my favorite sites for clone recipes and home brewing information in general is BYO.com. I have hand picked 5 clone beer recipes from their site to get you started. Good luck and enjoy!

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone Author: Greg Snapp

Hundreds of our customers at my homebrew shop have made this. Most swear it's identical to the original. Dry hopping is essential for classic Cascade flavor and aroma. (5 gallons)

Ingredients:

* 8 oz. caramel malt, 30degrees Lovibond * 6 oz. DeWolf-Cosyns cara-pils malt * 6 lbs. light malt syrup * 1.5 oz. Perle hops (8.2% alpha acid) for 60 min. * 2.5 oz. Cascade hops (5.4% alpha acid): 1 oz. for 15 min., 1 oz. for 5 min., 0.5oz. pellets (dry hopping). * Wyeast 1056 (American ale) * 11/4 cup dry malt extract

Step by Step:

Add grains to 1.5 gal. water. Bring slowly to 170degrees F. Remove grains and bring to a boil.

Total boil is 60 min. Boil 10 min. and add Perle hops. Boil 45 min. more, adding water as needed to maintain liquid level. Make first Cascade addition. Boil 5 min. more. Turn off heat. Wait 10 min. Add 1 oz. Cascade. Wait 3 to 5 min. Remove hops and transfer to fermenter.

Top up to 5 gal. Pitch yeast at 70degrees F.

Ferment three days and rack to secondary. Dry hop with 0.5 oz. Cascade pellets. Ferment two weeks at 65degrees F. Prime and bottle.

Fullsail Golden Clone Author: James Crane

The rye adds a pungent fruitiness characteristic of Full Sail Golden ale. (5 gallons)

Ingredients:

* 6 lbs. pale malt extract * 1 lb. light dry malt extract * 8 oz. crystal malt, 10degrees Lovibond * 8 oz. flaked rye * 3 oz. Cascade hops (6.1% alpha acid): 1 oz. for 60 min., 1 oz. for 30 min., 1oz. for 2 min. * 750 ml. starter of Wyeast 1056 (American ale) or White Labs California Ale pitchable yeast * 3/4 cup dextrose for priming

Step by Step:

Steep grains for 30 min. in 2.5 gal. water at 150degrees F. Remove grains and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and add extract. Total boil is 60 min. Return to boil and add 1 oz. Cascade. Boil 30 min. more and add 1 oz. Cascade. Boil 28 min. more and add 1 oz. Cascade. Boil 2 min. more. Top up to 5 gal. with cold, preboiled water. Cool below 75degrees F and pitch yeast.

Ferment at 68degrees to 70degrees F until completed (about five days). Secondary ferment 10 days to two weeks. Prime with dextrose and bottle

Sierra Nevada Stout Clone

Creamy and malty with notes of dark caramel, chocolate, light molasses and ripe plums. An American stout that truly typifies citrusy hops and black malt.

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain) OG = 1.065 FG = 1.019 IBU = 60 SRM = 40 ABV = 5.8%

Ingredients:

* 9.0 lbs. (4.1 kg) American pale malt * 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Munich malt (10 degrees L) * 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) American Black Patent malt (500 degrees L) * 0.67 lbs. (0.30 kg) American crystal malt (60 degrees L) * 14 AAU Magnum hops (60 mins) o (1.0 oz./28 g of 14% alpha acids) * 5.8 AAU Cascade hops (10 mins) o (1.0 oz./28 g of 5.75% alpha acids) * 2.0 oz. (57 g) Willamette hops (0 min) * Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast * 1 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Mash 154 degrees F (68 degrees C) for 60 minutes in 16 qts. (15 L) of mash liquor. Boil wort for 60 minutes. Ferment for 7 days at 68 degrees F (20 degrees C). Rack to secondary and condition for 14 days at 68 degrees F (20 degrees C).

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash) OG = 1.065 FG = 1.019 IBU = 60 SRM = 40 ABV = 5.8%

Ingredients:

* 0.33 lbs. (0.15 kg) American pale malt * 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Munich malt (10 degrees L) * 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) American black patent malt (500 degrees L) * 0.67 lbs. (0.30 kg) American crystal malt (60 degrees L) * 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Briess Light dried malt extract * 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Briess Light liquid malt extract (late addition) * 14 AAU Magnum hops (60 mins) o (1.0 oz./28 g of 14% alpha acids) * 5.8 AAU Cascade hops (10 mins) o (1.0 oz./28 g of 5.75% alpha acids) * 2.0 oz. (57 g) Willamette hops (0 min) * Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast * 1 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Mash at 154 degrees F (68 degrees C) for 60 minutes in 7.5 qts. (7.1 L) of mash liquor. Combine partial mash wort with dried malt extract and enough water to make at least 3.5 gallons (13 L). Boil wort for 60 minutes. Add liquid malt extract with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment at 68 degrees F (20 degrees C). Rack to secondary and condition beer for 14 days at 68 degrees F (20 degrees C).

Sam Adams Winter Brew

(5 gallon, extract with grains) OG = 1.069 FG = 1.016 IBUs = 26 to 30

Ingredients:

* 6.6 lbs. Briess wheat malt extract syrup * 1.5 lbs. crystal malt (60degrees Lovibond) * 1 lb. wheat malt * 1.5 lbs. Munich malt (20degrees Lovibond) * 1 teaspoon Irish moss * 1 oz. Curacáo orange peel (bitter orange peel) * 0.5 oz. ginger root (freshly grated) * 0.5 tsp. cinnamon (powdered) * 9.5 AAU East Kent Goldings o (2 oz. of 4.75% alpha acid) * 4.5 AAU Tettnanger o (1 oz. of 4.5% alpha acid) * 4.7 AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker o (1 oz. of 4.7% alpha acid) * 3/4 cup corn sugar to prime * German Lager yeast (White Labs WLP830) or Bavarian Lager yeast (Wyeast 2206)

Step by Step:

Steep the grains in 2.5 gallons of water at 150º F for 30 minutes. Strain out the grains, add the wheat malt syrup and return to a boil. When the wort begins boiling, add East Kent Golding hops, Irish moss, and boil for 60 minutes. Add spices for the last 15 minutes of the boil.

Add Tettnanger and Hallertau hops for the last 2 minutes of the boil. Remove from heat and cool wort in ice bath or with wort chiller. Transfer to fermentation vessel (glass carboy). Add enough cold water to the wort to bring the volume up to 5.5 gallons. Pitch yeast and ferment at 50º to 55º F for 3 to 4 weeks. Prime, then bottle or keg. You should lager this beer for about 4 weeks prior to serving.

All-Grain Option:

Replace the wheat malt syrup with 3.5 pounds of pale malt. Increase the Munich malt to 4 pounds and the wheat malt to 4 pounds. Also change the boiling hops to a smaller quantity, 7 AAU (1.5 oz of 4.75% alpha acid). I would suggest a two-step mash schedule for this beer. This involves doing a 30-minute protein rest at 122º F, followed by 60 minutes at 155º F.

Note that the quantity of boiling hops are slightly lower for the all-grain batch. This is due to the greater hop extract efficiency that results from a full boil of the entire wort volume. The remainder of the hop, spice additions and fermenting instructions are the same as the above extract-with-grains recipe instructions.

Bend Brewing Co. Hophead IPA Clone

The secret to a good Imperial IPA is dry-hopping. It can make or break this style. It is very important to have a huge aroma that leads you into the beer, complementing the inherent bitterness. - Tonya Cornett, Brewmaster

Hophead Imperial IPA Bend Brewing Co.

American-Style India Pale Ale (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)

OG = 1.073 FG = 1.017 IBU = 100 SRM = 6 ABV = 8%

Ingredients:

*14 lb. 10 oz. (6.6 kg) 2-row pale malt *8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (30 degrees L) *1.1 oz. (31 g) Saaz hops (first wort hops) *19 AAU Chinook hops (90 mins) o(1.6 oz./44 g of 12% alpha acids) *1.8 oz. (51 g) Northern Brewer hops (5 mins) *1.8 oz. (51 g) Cascade hops (5 mins after knockout) *1.5 oz. (43 g) Cascade hops (dry hop) *Wyeast 1968 (London ESB) or White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) yeast (2.5 qt./~2.5 L yeast starter) *0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step:

Mash at 155 degrees F (68 degrees C) for 60 minutes. Boil for 90 minutes. Ferment at 68 degrees F (20 degrees C). Dry hop for 7 days.

Extract option:

Reduce amount of pale malt to 1.5 lb. (0.68 kg).

Add 7.1 lbs. (3.2 kg) light dried malt extract at beginning of boil. You will need to perform a full-wort boil to get the specified level of bitterness.

J.T. Freeman is an avid home brewer that has been producing quality brew out of his own home for over 5 years now. His passion and knowledge are obvious in his articles, blog, and book "Effortless Homebrewing". His writings are an excellent source of first hand experience for anyone involved with making beer at home.

How to Identify the Best Beer For You

Generally there are minor variations on beer styles from brewery to brewery. There are three terms to distinguish in between the flavor of beers. Now you have to take time to learn these flavor characteristics and decide what balance of these traits suits you, thus you'll be consistently ordering a perfect enjoyable beer bottle for you. Please have a look at these three terms as listed below:

Fruitiness - Most of the Pale ales have a fruity flavor within them, but the fact is there is actual fruit at all in the beer. This fruity flavor is actually a by-product of the yeast fermentation in the brewing process.

Malt Beer - This is the most widely used Beer style. Actually malt is derived from barley and wheat, and is the part of the beer that is fermented. You will find many varieties of malt, with varying flavors. Many people also find a malt flavor to be somewhat sweet.

Hops Beer - It is widely know for its bitter flavor. Actually hops are a plant that is also added to beer, and they give beer a bitter flavor. Pale ales are generally the hoppiest beers available in the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Australia.

Now you have to know about the beer styles. There are two widely used categories of beer styles known as bottom-fermenting beer and top-fermenting beer. Top-fermenting beers or Ales are more complex with fruity characteristics and include wheat beer, stout, porter and ale. While bottom-fermenting beers or lagers possess a cleaner finish and include bock, Oktoberfest, pilsner, American lager, and malt liquor. Bottom-fermenting beers are very light in color, light bodied and usually have little to no malt or hop characteristics.

So now that you have the idea of beer styles and know all the basic flavors that are present in beers, you can explore the different varieties of beer and find the best one that suits you and your palate.

The author of this article is Beer of the month club. If you want to explore more about beers then please feel free to visit Monthly beer club.

Beer - What Goes Well With It?

If you ask John Michael Montgomery what goes good with beer, he'll tell you the following:

It goes good with beer and the Friday night atmosphere. Of this cross-town bar where the cars all get steered to. And it goes hand-and-hand with my crazy buddies and this three-piece band, An' the pretty girls and the games we play and the smoke and mirrors: Yeah, troubles come, but they go good with beer.

Well, this probably isn't what you expected to find when looking for something that went well with beer, but the truth is, a lot of things go good with beer and not just food.

Yes, of course there are the foods that we love to eat that go good with beer. You've got your classic beer and pizza combo. Can anything even come close to the taste of an ice cold beer and a hot slice of pizza? For that matter, even a cold slice of pizza and beer is pretty good. For some guys, that's pure heaven.

Then there's peanuts and beer. That's why they sometimes call them beer nuts. You can walk into your corner bar, especially if it's one of them home town doggie places, if you know what I mean and just ask the bartender for some beer and nuts. He'll know just what you want. Or, if you're too lazy to leave the house, just have a jar of those Planters nuts laying around, open up a nice cold brew and have yourself a picnic. For some guys, that's all they need.

But beer is not just about what you eat with it. Beer can be used as a very useful tool for picking up women. A typical scenario is you're at a bar, you order your drink and there's a cute gal sitting two stools over. You turn to her and in your most macho voice you say to her, "Can I buy you a beer?" Now if you were a real sophisticated guy you'd probably ask her if she wanted a drink. But offering her a beer is so much more manly and raw-at-home-boyish.

Then of course there is the beer as used for a prop when playing pool. You're standing there with your pool cue in your hands while you're buddy is running the table on you and the last thing you want to do is look like a loser of a dork, so you kind of lean on your cue stick, cock your body to one side, pick up that nice cold long-neck bottle (has to be long-neck) and take a nice, slow, long guzzle. You'll look so cool, people will think you're winning.

And finally, beer is just great for sitting in front of the TV and watching your favorite episode of NYPD Blue. Has to be a manly type of program. None of that girl stuff. While you're doing this, you lean back, spread your arms across the back of the couch and let out a good loud...Well, you get the picture.

Beer. It goes well with just about anything.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Beer

Homebrew Beer is Easy, Fun and Delicious

If you've ever had a homebrew, or eaten in a brewpub - you know those restaurant/bars that have the giant brass holding tanks on display as a part of their decor and where everyone loves to hang out - you've probably wondered what it would take to create your own beer at home.

Now obviously, most of us have no where near the space needed for that kind of operation, but actually, it doesn't require anything like that kind of investment of space, equipment or even the time in order to brew your own homemade beer.

You can get started with as little as a six-gallon fermenter jar with an airlock, and some ready-made malt with hops. Malt extract has become easy to find in the can, so there's no longer a reason to worry about the difficult and messy task of malting your own grains just to get a nice homebrew.

It can be as easy as mix, brew, bottle and enjoy.  Mixing is done in the fermenter - all you need is hot water, a malt kit, cold water added for volume, and the right yeast.  The whole process is even easier than making bread - and the results are just as spectacular!  The fermenting happens as the yeast eats the sugars, all while you sit back and take it easy.  Once the fermentation is finished, you can bottle your liquid gold and soon after you'll be enjoying that first delicious sip.

It's easy to make your favorite types of beer at home - and you can add your own special ingredients as you develop your own recipes.  Not only is it easy and fun, but you can save a lot of money over buying the boutique commercial brands in the grocery stores.  You'll be pleasantly surprised to discover you can brew up to six gallons of your own homebrew for only about $20-30.

If you've ever tried a homebrew, you know how much fresher and more flavorful they can be than what you buy in the store.  Why do you think the brewpubs do so well?  Their microbrewed beer is definitely a cut above the commericial brands.  And homebrew easily competes with the microbrewery beer - especially when it's made by you!

Ready to get started brewing your own delicious beers the easy way? Get your free guide to homebrewing 13 easy and tasty recipes for ales, lagers, stouts, and other great beers. Go to http://EasyHomebrewTips.com

Avoid Lagers in Britain

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If you're planning a holiday in the United Kingdom then you may well be planning a visit to a traditional British pub. It is, after all, something that seems peculiarly British.

As a local, I'd certainly recommend that you do indeed head for a few pubs during your stay. You'll notice that they vary quite considerably in appearance, atmosphere and character.

We all have our own favourite pubs, from the friendly local that's hidden away in a back street to the pub that remains popular thanks to its considerable beer garden.

I live in a town that is popular with tourists and hence see many wandering in to local pubs. It's always interesting to watch their faces as they take in the scene. It must be great to look at scenes such as this for the first time.

You can often see how thrilled they are to be part of a real British establishment. They then walk up to the bar and order a lager.

At this point I often begin to feel sorry for them. Britain has been flooded by cheap imported lagers in recent years but these are by no means the taste of a real British pub.

Far from it. They often lack any taste or character. Don't make the mistake of ordering a lager at a pub in Britain - you'll find it far more enlightening to try one of the local brews.

Traditional British beers and ales have been making a resurgence. While lager sales fall, ale sales have been performing more strongly, with more and more locals remembering what is so great about beers that actually taste different.

It's a great opportunity for many of us to celebrate local beer production and it's also a chance for visitors to enjoy the best of British.

Take a look at beers that have been made locally - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

You can find out how to make beer by reading further articles by Keith Barrett

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