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20p per pint discount on cask ale/cider for card carrying CAMRA members every day!
Come up to the top of Halkyn Mountain and join us as we drink in the atmosphere of the house of ale repute!
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Blue Bell Inn Beer & Cider Log (BLOG) - Tasting Notes |
I'm often asked what beer I would recommend, my reply has always been
"sorry I can't, all palates are different - taste them and make up your
own mind." It doesn't sound that helpful a response but having
spent many years travelling and supping all kinds of brews, a taster
will get you past the problem I experienced of having a pint in front
of you, bought with your own hard-earned cash and feeling upset as you
really couldn't stomach finishing the beer.
You can help those still in a quandary by adding your own beer comments and there's guidence from CAMRA & Cask Marque along with some notes from Roger Protz (Good Beer Guide) below. Here is information on how beer and cider is actually brewed from WikiPedia and you can use the alternate view to see what's coming soon or our bottled beers & ciders. To help you distinguish between Welsh and other cider & perry varieties we've used the Welsh forms for Seidr and Perai! Press here for CAMRAs NBSS (see below).
...Ohh yes, you brewers out there are welcome to add your own beers & ciders too or help us improve these pumpclip images, descriptions & ingredients!
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  Scorpio Porter from Hanby Ales in Wem Shropshire.
This 4.5%abv dark porter has an interesting and complex palate introducing hints of coffee and chocolate contrasting and complimenting the background hoppiness.
After the announcement by Greenall Whitley that they were to
close the Shrewsbury and Wem Brewery at Wem, the then Head Brewer (Jack
Hanby) had a lot of thinking to do, several job offers were put to him
which one by one were declined. A further option was to start from
scratch and build a new brewery.
During the winter of 1987 Peter Simmonds and Jack Hanby got together to
look at the feasibility and location options. Dozens of buildings were
investigated and rejected, it was eventually decided that the only way
to keep brewing in Wem was to find a site to erect a new building. A
building was located in mid-Wales which could be dismantled and
re-erected on a suitable site. It was decided to take the step of
dismantling the building and storing it until a suitable site could be
found.
The Shrewsbury and Wem brewery finally closed at the end of February
1988. In April dismantling was started by Jack and four enthusiastic
friends carefully removing sheet materials before getting to the main
framework of the building. After five weeks the building complete was
moved 50 miles to Wem using 9 lorries 2 cranes 1 fork truck and 2 Hymac
diggers. The largest objects were the 45ft trusses weighing in at a
triffling 4.5 tonnes.
By December after the constant frustration of not finding a suitable
site where planning permission would be granted it was decided to start
the business off in a totally unsuitable rented building on Aston Park
with the view of building our own building on leased land also on Aston
Park. Consequently 8th December Hanby Ales was born, initially just
wholesaling other brewers products, brewing did not commence until
Easter 1989.
the brewing plant was aquired and put together on a framework
so that when the move to new premises arrived it could be carried out
with minimal down time. The spring of 1989 was completly frustrating in
that planning permission was submitted and accepted and then when test
holes were dug it was found that the site selected was mainly peat and
totally unsuitable to construct a concrete building. A new site was
found and planning permission resubmitted and building finally
commenced in June 1989.
Brewing continued in the rented building
until February 1990 when the brewing plant was moved lock stock and
barrel ready to brew seven days later. The original plant although very
primative was very versatile using two mash tuns, three coppers heated
by, electic emmersion heaters, and a hop back so that anything between
6 – 12 barrels could be brewed.In 1996 an extra mash tun was added and
larger fermenting vessels so that we could brew between 6 and 18
barrels.
In September 2000 the brewhouse was completely stipped,
a new mash tun capable of mashing 900kg of malt and a 35barrel copper
were installed with associated hot and cold liquor tanks and paraflow
heat exchanger. Since 2000 additional fermenting vessels have been
added to increase capacity and replace less suitable vessels.
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You might wish to use the new beer scoring system from CAMRA. It goes like this...
CAMRA has a new online National Beer Scoring Scheme
(NBSS). The NBSS is a six point scale
(0-5) for judging beer quality in pubs that has been designed to assist CAMRA
branches in selecting pubs for the bestselling Good Beer Guide. In the past
CAMRA members filled in cards to rate the beer in a pub and then submitted the
entries to CAMRA, but now they are able to fill the details in online at
www.beerscoring.org.uk - making the process quicker and easier than ever
before.
CAMRA members will be asked to examine the look, smell,
and taste of each beer before offering their evaluation. The scores are:
0 = Undrinkable: No cask ale or the quality is so poor
you can't finish it.
1 = Poor: Barely drinkable
2 = Average: Competently kept but uninspiring.
3 = Good: Good beer in good form. Worth another pint.
4 = Very Good: Excellent beer in excellent condition,
another pint is a must.
5 = Perfect: Very rarely given by the seasoned drinker.
Probably the best beer you are likely to find.
Should you feel like waxing lyrical, Roger Protz kindly let us reproduce some tasting notes for your guidence below...
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Term
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Description
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Sweet
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Sugary
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Bitter
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Tonic Water, Quinine
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Hoppy
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Floral, Grassy, Citrus
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Tropical/Soft Fruits
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Peach, Pineapple, Banana
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Malty
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Toffee, Horlicks, Biscuit
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Burnt
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Coffee, Burnt Toast
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Body
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Fullness, Thick
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Alcoholic
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Spirit, Warming
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The Language of Beer
Nose:
the aroma. Gently swirl the beer to release the nose. You will
detect malt: grainy, biscuity sappy. When darker malts are
employed the nose will have powerful hints of chocolate, coffee, nuts,
vanilla, liquorice, molasses and such dried fruits as raisins and
sultanas. Hops add superb aromas of resins, herbs, spices,
fresh-mown grass and tart citrus fruit - lemon and orange are typical
with intense grapefruit hints from American varieties. Sulphur
may also be present when waters are 'Burtonised': i.e. gypsum and
magnesium have been added to replicate the famous spring waters of
Burton-on-Trent.
Palate: the appeal in the
mouth. The tongue can detect sweetness, bitterness and saltiness
as the beer passes over it. The rich flavours of malt will come to the
fore but hop bitterness will also make a substantial impact. The
tongue will also pick out the natural saltiness from the brewing water
and fruit from the darker malts, yeast and hops. Citrus notes
often have a major impact on the palate.
Finish:
the aftertaste, as the beer goes over the tongue and down the
throat. The finish is often radically different to the
nose. The aroma may be dominated by malt whereas hop
flavours and bitterness can govern the finish. Darker malts will
make their presence felt with roasty, chocolate or coffee notes; fruit
character will linger. Strong beers may end on a sweet or
biscuity note but in mainstream bitters, bitterness and dryness come to
the fore.
ROGER PROTZ
Editor Good Beer Guide
On sale at the bar!
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What's On |
- Friday night singalong with...
November 21, 2008 (8:45 pm)
(Music) Traditional singing night with Roger Hampson at the keyboards, every Friday night.
- Sat. Free Guided Walks - 10...
November 22, 2008 (10:15 am)
(Walks) Every week we do two 1.5 hour walks (a fast 4-5 mile and a slow 3-4 miles) with the exception of the third Saturday in the month when we have the option to do an additonal longer 3 hour 6-7 mile walk with Bob Mossop or the normal walk.
You will be able...
- Trad Jazz every Sunday with...
November 23, 2008 (3:00 pm)
(Music) Mad Ed's Hot Five plays here every Sunday afternoon.
Check out this link for more information.
- Conversational Welsh
November 24, 2008 (7:30 pm)
(General) Join us with this 1st year Deeside College lead weekly Welsh language course.
- Tues Games Night - whist, b...
November 25, 2008 (5:00 pm)
(General) Jeannette's Games Night.
You can play games here most nights but tonight is the night to come and enjoy whilst, beetle, cards, board games (monopoly, scrabble, cluedo, mid life crisis and many others), dominoes, darts, dice, pool.
We're raising...
- Free Guided Walk - 2pm Thur...
November 27, 2008 (1:45 pm)
(Walks) Around 1.5 hours and 3-4 miles you will be able to take in the stunning 360 degree panoramic views of over 60 miles on a clear day. The walks vary in route from week to week finishing off at the Blue Bell Inn for a chat and refreshments.
This walk is...
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Open from 5pm Monday to Friday and 12pm Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays.
Food: Saturday 12pm to 2:30pm and Sunday 12pm to 2pm (menu here).
Advance bookings taken for food / drink outside of these hours.
Coaches welcome by appointment. - We take most major credit and debit cards.
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| Copyright © 2005-2008 Blue Bell Inn, Halkyn. |
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Beer + Cider Log 
