UK beer in the new era

Yeah, used to be an easy-to-find (in Brighton at least) and reliable beer when you weren’t near somewhere with more choice, and I had hoped that now they were available in supermarkets in other places it would be a handy option, but…

fav UK brewery at the moment is Yonder (https://www.brewyonder.co.uk) - mostly saison/witbier styles with foraged ingredients, closest comparison is probably Wild Beer Co

Campervan Brewery Neon Blitz - Blueberry Berliner Weisse dry hopped - delish with a nice tropical bite

Not quite on the level of their Himalayan Gose but really nothing is

Speaking of Wild Beer, we've just opened a Dr Todd...

...and they have fucking taken things somewhere truly insane. Amazing. Beer of the year

Obviously RateBeer hates it. Fucking CAMRA squares

RateBeer was acquired by ABInBev so I plead that you not give them any traffic in the future. Thank you. Untappd is probably the best current arbiter of public opinion.

ah ok ty for the h/t

Untappd is a great little app.

I went to the Wild Beer Co. headquarters a while back. It's on a dairy farm in Evercreech and the shop, a low barn, concealing essentially a cave full of great discs of cheese, was unmanned. You have to ring an old-fashioned buzzer, titled 'push green button for cheese.' Easily one of the best places I've ever been to. Beer was great, too.

I had some innis & gunn mangoes on the run IPA last night, lovely flavour + nice and strong and I like the small cans so you don't look like a typical pisshead walking with one in the park. Shame it's a limited edition thing.

Redchurch alive and kicking apparently, and their table sour is truly wonderful - has that full round vinegary punch lacking in so many weak canned sours that I find myself slogging through (you know the sort, delicate herbal weisse-style bores where the effort's misplaced and the flavour's negligible)

I'm drinking a bottle of Boss Brewing Nutjob 4.5% Peanut Butter Pale and have to report that you should probably learn from my example and not do this to yourself, it's like diluted vinegar that's been left out too long then put in a sodastream.

HIT OR MISS – RHUBARB PASTRY SOUR (contains LACTOSE) – 4.6% ABV

A super-fun, summery collab with our neighbours DOH Bakery! This sour uses superfresh rhubarb, lactose, vanilla and hibiscus for a sweet and tangy pastry treat!

i now have 3 breweries within a 10 minute bike ride of me producing beers of just astounding quality. (and the occasional cursed batch like the above.) crazy times.

Which three?

https://www.howlinghops.co.uk

https://prettydecentbeer.co

https://www.gravitywellbrewing.co.uk

Our local brewery is Turning Point, and everything they produce (barring an ill-advised “mango sorbet” sour) is utterly fantastic. Top tips: Yellow Matter Custard (vanilla), Milk Foley (strawberry), Gravediggers Biscuits (coffee porter), and their perennial best seller, Disco King.

The major local craft brewery here in Glasgow would probably be Overtone and similarly they make some consistently fantastic beers. I can't keep up at the moment though as they've been doing at least two new releases a week for a while, so I'm about 2-3 months behind. If you're a DIPA or a TIPA fan then any you see by them should be a good buy especially.

I had one Turning Point last year when I did an order from Yorkshire Craft Beers I think, which was really great, but haven't kept up with them. Heard of Gravity Well and Howling Hops, but never tried them. Pretty Decent is a new one to me. Will keep them all in mind.

Despite loving the flavours and viscosity, I can't really cope with DIPAs and our local breweries (southern Hampshire) all seem to be heading more in that direction.

The Overtone beers I've had are all lovely.

I got a mixed case from Howling Hops last summer when they were doing huge discounts and they were all solid if unspectacular.

Only had a couple of Turning Points and they've been heavyweights (and coincidentally collabs) but pretty good especially the Tripel with Torrside.

I've liked everything I've had from Overtone, and particularly remember a cold brew coffee IPA.

Odyssey are my locals I suppose but I only really get to drink them during the football season because it's when I'm in town. Some amazing beers, I'd say a couple of years since anything really outstanding but consistently great.

Apparently Wild Beer have taken to calling their annual sour brew 'Coolship'. Not had one yet. Might be time

Been enjoying the newest sours from my two most local breweries Brick (guava) and Villages (yuzu) - perfect sunny weather drinks and reasonably light. Also had a few really nice beers from Arbor (based in Bristol) lately, the session ale (Pocket Rocket) is delicious.

I like Wild Beer's small batch brews but there's nothing exciting in their core range any more. I'd still drink them but would probably pick something else if there was an option.

I have to bite my tongue giving them money though after the crowdfunding fiasco.

I've been picking up some of Wild Beer Co's smaller batch stuff like you mention lately for keeping a while. I've always liked what I've had from the more wild/barrel aged etc 'special' side of their production, but not sure I've ever bothered with the core range.

I missed the crowdfunding fiasco though, what was the story there?

Back in the day Millionaire certainly, and to a lesser extent Bibble and Ninkasi, were probably as important as Jaipur in setting the benchmark for what the big names in the burgeoning craft beer market were capable of.

They were absolutely whoring themselves around to the macros at the beginning of 2017 saying they'd sell up if the price was right and could they please build a new brewery and taproom. When they didn't get any takers they crowdfunded over £1M to pay for it instead. Current status of the new brewery 4 years down the line is "still looking at potential sites".

These days I just drink <6% NEIPAs and sours that taste of dessert (sorry Tracer!)

If it has the letters IPA in it I'm avoiding unless there's literally nothing else. Gotta have hard rules

Anyway, currently in Bethnal Green dicing various taprooms. Boxcar isn't really calling out. Will keep browsing the map

Five Points it is. Feels like a decent call

Five points pale is a high point of the genre imo

Had a really good Best Bitter and an excellent Mild from Boxcar in the past so maybe that's where their strength lies.

https://i.ibb.co/qFn5DSF/IMG-20210627-183354.jpg

This is the one. Awesome

Isn't Mother Kelly's in Bethnal Green? That's a brilliant taproom.

I almost entirely drink IPAs these days, along with the odd blonde or pale or sour. Keeping in mind that I'd happily die before ever again drinking e.g. London Pride, Theakstons, Deuchars, Doom Bar, what are some more interesting British non IPAs that I should look out for? Non small batch preferred so I have a chance of finding it.

Attic Brew's Fig. 2 sour a genuinely complex and worthy addition to the UK hoppy sours canon

Kernel's raspberry sour once again a murderous beast, kiu

louis is the tombot of beers

is he a sour fascist too lol

two tribes have a completely acceptable range of non-hop-monster beers including a very pleasant lager and they are all available at my corner shop, the proprietors of which have decided their muslim scruples will allow them to sell alcohol after all. finally this house is starting to feel worth it. who needs crossrail.

Hey look, a different beer thread! I'm going to be in Leeds for a week at the end of the month, and my sister offered to pick up some beer for me, but I have no idea what to tell her to buy! There are more than a few pubs nearby, and some of them do carry-out, and some of them have cask ales, and some of them have good selections of craft and Belgian and etc., but it's all pretty foreign to me. Any suggestion for a good go-to to have around the house? Northern Monk x? North Brewing Co. y? I'm (way too) used to hoppy high ABV IPAs, too.

Northern Monk and North Co are both great. My two favourite northern English breweries at the moment are Vocation and Turning Point. From elsewhere, Tiny Rebel, Deya and LHG (Left Handed Giant) are both very good: we've currently got Tiny Rebel's Lush (cask) and Deya's Steady Rolling Man (keg) on tap at the pub where I work, and the latter is so popular that we've stopped swapping it out for other keg beers. (NB I work at the best pub I've ever visited in over 40 years of going to pubs, 30 minutes north of Leeds. We have six cask pumps and eight keg pumps, immaculately well kept and all sourced from independents, plus a good selection of cans in the fridge. Come and visit!)

Was in York and Newcastle a couple of weeks ago but the best UK beers I had were probably by Edinburgh's Vault City, who know their way around a fruited sour in a way that most UK breweries simply don't (i.e. full, rich flavours rather than gimmicky buzz)

Next time I'm up north I'll have to pay Knaresborough a visit...

Elusive and Burnt Mill kings of WCIPA at the moment. Verdant and Deya for NEIPA, also Black Iris are great.

Some decent core beer from North and Northern Monk but better in the specials ranges so harder to predict what you'd see. For my money Sonoma by Track is better than e.g. Sputnik/Transmission or Faith from those two.

Full Circle are my quiet tip for the best North East brewer but unsure how far out of area you can get their stuff.

Brew York have some good beers in them but are easily distracted.

SMOD might be the best in Yorks (ok S Yorks) but Neepsend and Abbeydale both worthwhile.

Torrside are banging but might be too far away.

Oh yeah I definitely had some good stuff from Verdant in the (iirc) porter/brown ale dept

Tiny Rebel got "me too'd" a few years ago and IMO their beer went right downhill afterwards. Too many gimmicks and adjuncts and not enough solid beers - I still maintain a test 1% beer I had in their Cardiff bar was the best thing they've ever made.

Actually Wylam are worth a shout although they got "me too'd" as well but seem to be riding it out.

Josh, if the pubs are on untappd then I can look at the check-ins and make recommendations.

Awesome, thanks already to everyone! I'm going to get googling. FWIW, the closest walking distance neighborhoods are ... Headingly and Meanwood? Next closest (but too far to walk, I think) are Chapel Allerton and City Centre.

I've no taste for modern beer these days but I did enjoy an hour or two in the Terminus Taproom and Bottleshop in Meanwood the other week.

We've got Verdant's Headband on tap at the moment, and their I Played Trumpet On That Tune in the fridge.

Left Handed Giant's King Of The Woodland, a 12.5% Imperial Stout, is exceptionally fantastic, and very popular while we had it on tap; given its strength, we mostly sold it in thirds and halves.