Name of beer
Lakeland Gold
 
Brewer
Hawkshead Brewery
 
Location
Staveley, Cumbria, England
 
ABV
4.4%
 
What the brewer says
“A refreshing, well hopped, fruity and bitter golden ale brewed with soft Lakeland water, yeast, English Maris Otter malted barley and a blend of full flower hops. The signature hop is American Cascade.”
 
PDP says:
This may be the most anticipated Poets Day Pint post yet. By me, at least.

As readers of last week’s blog will know, I have been taking part in the RNLI’s H2Only challenge – ten days drinking nothing but water. You will also be aware that I took advantage of the 12-hour buyout clause to visit the last night of the Black Paw Brewery’s pop-up bar.

However, that still means I’ve gone from around 10pm last Saturday to 5.37pm today without any drink other than water. I’m not saying I don’t really enjoy a nice, cool glass of water, and I may not return to caffeine on a regular basis, but I was starting to crave other flavours.

So, I chose a beer I’ve been saving for a special occasion, and that’s Hawkshead Brewery’s Lakeland Gold, a lovely 4.4% golden ale. I’ve sampled a few of Lakeland’s beers before at a tasting session and promised myself I would come back to them one day.

The bottle promised hoppy and refreshing and the contents live up to it. And that’s not just because of my having starved myself of varied drinks in the past days.

A light aroma is followed by a lovely, light hoppy opening mouthful. There’s a pleasant, but not overbearing aftertaste that leaves you ready for the next sip – or mouthful if you prefer.

Lakeland Gold is in the true tradition of Lake District brewing. There’s something familiar about it from the offset, particularly for me, as someone who formerly worked with Jennings. I’d say it’s something about the water, but, as any half-educated beer fan will know, if they have a smattering of geography, it’s likely that the water will have different qualities in Staveley than those found in Cockermouth.

It’s more likely to be the American Cascade hops, a particular style that I’m rather fond of.

As a golden ale goes, this is pretty much what you hope for when you open the bottle.

Alex Brodie’s Hawkshead Brewery has some excellent beer and, if you like them light, or are moving from lagers to beers, this is up there with the beers I’d recommend. I have yet to visit Hawkshead for one of their tours but it’s very much on the ‘to do’ list.

Would I drink this again? Oh yes, I’m almost considering bringing forward my plans to visit Hawkshead.

​Would I go H2Only again? Again, yes, so long as there’s a great beer at the end of it.

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What’s the most it’s cost you to get out for a pint?

I’ve heard many stories over the years of “I had to buy my girlfriend…” or “my wife wouldn’t let me come out unless…”. Some of the worst/funniest examples are too recent and raw to recount right now, but you get the point.

I’m quite lucky in that respect, but last night’s few beers came with a surcharge. All to a good cause, though.

A few weeks ago, I signed up with some workmates to the RNLI’s H2Only challenge – ten days drinking only water.

Only a few days before I started, I realised that last night was the last day of the pop-up bar run by my local brewery, Black Paw in Bishop Auckland. Brewer Phil Whitfield has been opening on the Saturday of every Kynren event in Bishop Auckland and last night was the final show of the inaugural 2016 season.

I’d promised Phil and some friends that I would be there.

Thankfully, the RNLI were prepared for special occasions landing in the middle of the challenge. They were probably thinking of weddings, birthdays or Christenings, that sort of thing, but all the same, a £12 donation was required before I could enjoy my first drink.

Having survived two days of caffeine withdrawal headaches, I paid my £12 to appease my guilt at abandoning the challenge for a few hours and settled in for a first pint that effectively cost me £15. Temple Bar, you’re not looking too expensive from where I’m sitting right now.

I have to say, as much as I enjoy a glass of water, the first pint of Paw’s Gold went down really nicely. So must the next three have, to be fair. I was four points into the good stuff a lot more speedily than normal.

Yes, I’ve paid more to get to a night, afternoon or weekend out, but the unusual circumstances made me wonder what other sacrifices, or unusual costs that have been incurred in order to get out for a few beers. Post your stories below.

You can support the RNLI and the sacrifices of my team here: JustGiving

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Name of beer
Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale
 
Brewer
Wells & Young’s Brewing Company
 
Location
Bedford, England
 
ABV
5%
 
What the brewer says
“Based on the Great British pudding, full of rich sticky toffee-ness.”
 
PDP says:
If there are two things that are fairly certain in my food and drink habits, it’s that if there is a choice of ale or another drink, bet on ale, and if sticky toffee pudding is on the dessert menu, I’m having it.

However, I might normally shy away from something that is so blatantly “novelty”. Saying that, I once had a beautiful mocha beer, so I was willing to give this a go.

A sweet aroma comes as if straight from the dessert bowl. It’s absolutely lovely, until you start to wonder…just how sweet is this beer going to be?

On the first taste, I’m reassured that it’s not overpoweringly sugary.

On the downside, I’m really not sure what it tastes of. It’s not sticky toffee pudding, too sharp on the tongue and, well, it simply doesn’t taste of it.

I’m not convinced by this…

…but in the interest of fairness, I’ll refill the taster glass and stick with it.

Still smelling powerfully sweet in a way that both excites and troubles. Let’s have another try.

It’s closer beer, but only by virtue of the fact that, other than the smell, I’m not getting sticky toffee pudding. It’s nutty.

​In all honesty, and it’s rare I give a bad review, this lacks the pleasure and enjoyment of either ale or sticky toffee pudding. Sorry Wells, this one’s a miss for me.

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​Name of beer
Goliath
 
Brewer
Wychwood Brewery
 
Location
Oxfordshire, England
 
ABV
4.2%
 
What the brewer says
“A full bodied and robust ruby bitter brewed with pale and crystal malts, with a rich and malty taste and a hefty whack of Fuggles and Goldings ops, just the beer to slay that thirst…”
 
PDP says:

For the approximately one person who has missed me, I was away last week and single-brewer drinking the week before that, hence there hasn’t been a blog. Sorry.

The reason for the lack of blogs is two-fold. First, I try to pick new brewers to focus upon where possible, rather than be a regular showcase for the same brewers time and again. Second, because my trip away last weekend was to Dublin, so there is very little I could contribute to the discussion on how Guinness tastes better in the Irish capital. Suffice to say that there was so much consumed that, at one point, I was three pints into drinking “not Guinness” before I noticed.

That’s Temple Bar for you.

Anyway, I am, in a way, returning to the theme of a blog from a few weeks back, when I wrote about “beer on a budget” and the joys of supermarkets’ own-label beers, brewed by big names but retailing for less.

Perhaps I should have gone to Lidl beforehand. A few days after posting that blog, while Mrs Poets Day Pint was checking out the centre aisle, I took a wander to the beer shelves and stumbled upon some brand names for even less. And no, not dodgy-corner-shop-brands-for-less (lager a week past its sell-by date, but cheap and still drinkable – 1995, I miss you).

I picked up a couple of bottles; Theakstons’ ever-popular Old Peculiar, and Goliath, from the Wychwood Brewery, a sister beer to Hobgoblin.

Well, Old Peculiar was as good as one might expect, and remains highly recommended.

Tonight, I’ve cracked open a bottle of Goliath, while sitting back and listening to The Infinite Monkey Cage podcast. I promise not to get all sciency on you with the review of the beer. As always, I will try to keep it simple.

For those who care, it doesn’t hold its head for long, but I’m not one of those. Yes, there is something satisfying with a heavy beer leaving rings (“one per sip is perfect”, so they say) but with a light ruby ale, I really don’t care.

It’s lightly aromatic, but the flavour is rich with malt, followed closely by a mix of hops. The aftertaste is really quite mellow, sitting pleasantly so you can either take a quick next drink, or let it hang there and take your time.

This is an ideal beer for someone who already enjoys an ale, or for someone who wants to try their first, in a move from lager, cider etc. And it’s a cheap – or inexpensive, if you prefer – first beer at £1.25 for a 500ml bottle (how cheap does that seem after a weekend in Dublin?).

So, there is cheap/inexpensive beer and there is REALLY cheap/inexpensive beer. But it’s often as good as, or even better than some of the beer that you can pay a lot more for.

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