Friday 22 October 2010

Lager Taste Challenge: Round 2!

With the first lager taste-off tonight proving to be immensely popular, Hawkshead Lakeland Lager has already sold out after it's 11-0 victory over Budweiser. You guys are liking craft beer over big brands it would seem, so on to round 2 of the Lager Taste Challenge: We've lots of stock of Flying Dog's brilliant Old Scratch Amber Lager, so we're cracking some open for you all to taste this weekend, with 6 packs on special offer again, and the option to try big brand lager Budweiser against it, so you can judge for yourself if American craft beer is worth paying the difference for.

Flying Dog are a terrific brewery based in Maryland, who create some of the most delicious beers going, including some of the most weird, wonderful, and sometimes downright bizarre concoctions you'll come across in a beer bottle. We've been massive fans ever since we first got our hands on their stuff earlier this year, and their beers now dominate the American craft beer section of the shop. Despite being pretty pricey (our supplier's working on getting costs down), they sell like we're going out of business due to their utter deliciousness.

If you're yet to taste them, I strongly urge you to try one or two as soon as possible, and you may as well start off with Old Scratch. It's a super duper malty affair, with a deep amber colour (hence the name, obviously) and lovely richness about it. It's worlds apart from your typical every day lager, and is almost a style of its own really, but should make for a fascinating comparison.

Lager Taste Challenge at The Wineyard

This weekend we'll be having a little Taste Challenge at The Wineyard & Deli. Being a big advocate of some of the amazing craft brewing that's going on at the moment, I'm constantly encouraging people to try new beers that we're stocking, and to see how good they are for themselves.

In this spirit, I thought we would have a bit of a show-down between a top-notch craft beer and a similar beer from one of the big international brands. If it's well received, we may do more of these in future.

All this weekend, if you pop in the shop, we'll have two beers open for you to taste for yourself and compare. In the craft beer corner is the superb Hawkshead Lakeland Lager, and standing up for the big brands is Budweiser. Try them both and see which you prefer, and of course, which you think is better value for money.

Each are on offer with discount for packs of 6, and are chilling in the fridge waiting for you to rush them home and get them opened. We'll be running a poll throughout the weekend to see which comes out on top, and I'll announce the winner on the blog. Take part and judge for yourself if craft beer lives up to the hype.

Ben Hodgkinson
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Assistant Manager
The Wineyard & Deli
23 Princes Crescent, Bare, Morecambe, LA4 6BY
Tel: 01524 400011
Mob: 07891 460437

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Upcoming events:
- Pinot Tasting (wine) at The Wineyard & Deli, Friday 22nd October, 7pm - Tickets £10 each.
- IPA Tasting (beer) at The Wineyard & Deli, Saturday 23rd October, 7pm - Tickets £10 each.


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Saturday 16 October 2010

Britain v America: IPA Tasting

This Saturday I'll be hosting The Wineyard's first ever in-store beer tasting. The night will revolve around hoptastic IPAs from Britain and America, taking a look at some cracking examples that each country is currently producing, and learning a bit about the history of the style to boot. Expect an informal and fun evening, with 10 beers to try, food from the deli to nibble on, and my own enthusiasm and passion for the beers we're trying.

We'll kick off with a very traditional British example of this historic style, and work our way through some more contemporary reinterpretations of it, before moving on to an American attempt at the traditional approach, followed by the increasingly well-known "American IPA" style, finishing up on the phenomenal Flying Dog 20th Anniversary brew - An IPA brewed with Belgian yeast.

The provisional line-up:

  • Worthington's White Shield IPA
  • Williams Bros Joker IPA
  • BrewDog Punk IPA
  • Hardknott Infrared
  • BrewDog Hardcore IPA
  • Left Hand 400 Pound Monkey English-Style IPA
  • Goose Island IPA
  • Great Divide Titan IPA
  • Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
  • Flying Dog Raging Bitch IPA

If you'd like to join in, tickets are just £10, and there will be some tasty mixed case deals to cash in from on the night too. You need to buy tickets in advance, and there are limited numbers available, so don't leave it too late if you want to avoid disappointment. If you want to try the beers yourself, but can't make it to the shop on Friday, get in touch and we can arrange to ship you a mixed case via courier.

The evening's fun kicks off at 7pm, and ought to last 2 hours or so. If you'd like to book, or require further details, you can get in touch with me via any of the means listed below.

The Wineyard & Deli
23 Princes Crescent, Bare, Morecambe, LA4 6BY
Tel: 01524 400011
Mob: 07891 460437
E-mail: wineyardanddeli@gmail.com

Friday 8 October 2010

Check out our stonking new beer fridge line-up!

On a bit of a whim yesterday, I decided it was high time we freshen things up in the beer fridge at the front of the shop. The American craft beers have been going very well for us for a good while now, so time to mix it up a bit I figured. With no strategy or planning, and nothing guiding my choices other than the simple requirement that the beer be damn tasty (and the prices be damned), I trundled back and forth from the beer room grabbing armfuls of bottles straight off the shelves (I said no strategy! I immediately had to go down to the cellar and bring up bottles to fill the shelves - Why not just go from cellar to fridge eh?) and crammed them into the fridge until I was struggling to get the door closed.

The result? One heck of an eclectic assortment of beer styles, breweries, regions and flavours, including some fairly pricey bottles depending on your views on the price of a pint these days (it's a touchy subject, I know). Tipping the scales at the steep end, we've got the likes of Hades, Liefmans and Infrared weighing in around the £3ish mark, and at the bargain basement clearout level, there's Vedett Extra White reduced to just £1.20/bottle (it's BB is this month; the wholesale guys bought waaaay too much so I offered to put it in the shop on a bin end and help them out. It's actually rather tasty, and more than worth £1.20).

The full line-up:

  • Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Beer (fantastic crisp, light and refreshing wheat beer from Chicago)
  • Hawkshead Lakeland Lager (gorgeously moreish pilsner from one of the UK's best breweries)
  • Liefmans Cuvee Brut (sparkling cherry beer from Belgium)
  • Hardknott Infrared IPA (Ruby red IPA - big big flavours & punchy hops)
  • Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA (American style IPA, full of hops)
  • Anchor Humming Ale (seasonal San Francisco beer brewed throughout the Autumn, deliciously refreshing fruity hops)
  • Vedett Extra White (Belgian wheat beer)
  • Great Divide Hades (Belgian-Style Golden Ale from Denver, Colorado)
  • BrewDog 5AM Saint (Very hoppy amber ale, packed with distinctive flavour and style)
  • Knops California Common (marvelous Scottish interpretation of Californian "Steam" beer)
As you walk in the front door of the shop, the fridge is facing you, with "Beer with flavour, right here" rather cheekily now emblazoned across the front of it. Stop by and pick out a couple of bottles each time, if for no other reason than to try something new and different. Some of these beers will be unlike anything you've ever tried before, others will be fantastic versions of styles you already know and love. Whatever the case, they all deserve a chance to fill your glass over the next couple of weeks.

If you'd like a mixed case of this lot delivered to your door (or any other beers for that matter), get in touch with me via e-mail: wineyardanddeli@gmail.com. We have some 150 beers to go at. ;)

Have you tried any of these beers before? What did you think of them? Any favourites you think I should put in next time round?