One man and his beer hoard....

This post was prompted by the following question on Twitter from Neil Wines 

@MarkC_Belfast @roywillighan @Wattie187 @TheGazzz @StephenStitt @tubboy79 @ Sorry is the fun not in the drinking? Rather than the stashing ?

— Neill Wine (@neillwine) March 29, 2015

So why do I have a cupboard full of beer in my house, rather than just buy what I want to drink there and then?

Well there are a few reasons that I will try to explain:

1/ My love of Imperial Stouts – This for me is the main reason, as most of the beers in my cupboard fall into this category. These beasts have a high ABV, averaging in and around 10%. For this reason I am not sitting down to drink 5 or 6 of them over an evening (not saying that hasn’t happened mind you). I also tend to buy 2, drinking one while the other is put away to see what a bit of aging will do to it. I often find aging will round out the alcohol, giving the beer a smoother finish. These type of beers are similar to good wine in that respect.

2/ Ordering online – when ordering on line it is better to buy more rather than less from an economic point of view. So again when a big box of high ABV Imperial stouts arrives, it fills the beer cave back up for a while and it takes time to deplete the stock for reasons outlined above.

3/ The Pokemon effect – gotta catch ‘em all! There is currently, due to the increase in good bottle shops, plenty of opportunity to buy some exceptional beers or limited editions. When these opportunities arise I have just got to purchase, partly for fear of missing out and partly the excitement of trying something new. This usually means buying more than I can drink, even if the cupboard is full. Despite self imposed buying bans, I often get lured back by some big American stout or Belgian sour.

4/ Special occasions – This follows on from the previous idea of special edition beers, but is more to do with keeping them for special occasions. Much in the same way people buy a bottle of wine to open on an anniversary, I have beers that serve a similar purpose. Think Deus Brut des Flandres and the like.

Bring these 4 together and you have a perfect storm for an abundance of beer knocking about the house. Not always the case, but I do usually have one or two floating about. So instead of having a wine cellar, I have a beer cave and to be fair you probably wouldn’t query why someone has an overflowing wine rack (I was going to say wine cellar but I don’t know anyone with a wine cellar).

All of this could be me just trying to justify a hoarding compulsion, but I like to think it is all above board and normal.

Don’t judge me.

My name is Bruce.

So where is Northern Ireland at...

As mentioned previously, the Northern Ireland beer scene is exploding with 15 breweries currently in production (possibly 16 now or even more if you believe everything you hear) with more to follow this year. Roy Willighan did a good overview of these breweries in his post “Northern Ireland Breweries as of 2014 and beyond...”.

In such a small country and market can they all survive?

I personally think they can but they need to look around them to see what everyone else is doing not just what the status quo up to now suggests. They then need to make sure, if they are not doing something different, they need to be better than the competition. In my general day to day I look at User Experience and User Centred Design. A key point is, if you are going to produce something you need to do it better than what is already out there, otherwise there is no point. Users have an expectation of how something will work/taste/feel and if you fall below that expectation they won’t come back. They can be an unforgiving lot and within the digital world this can be easily voiced.

The benefit that the Northern Ireland breweries currently have is that expectation of great beer is fairly low for the general populace, which will give them time to get their feet under the table. In saying that the times are changing and fast! There is a growing availability of imported beers in off-licenses and bars, some of the current breweries are already pushing their own boundaries and collaborating with others and we are seeing beer clubs popping up all over the place to educate the palates of Northern Ireland drinkers. So the time for thinking outside of the box, growing the community and the industry is arguably now.

I understand the thought that branching out beyond the norm is a business risk, and that risk not paying off is in some cases financially not an option. With that in mind we have seen that the risk isn’t as great as you may at first perceive, just look at the success of people like PokerTree and their Dark Nirvana Dark Cascadian ale and collaborations with Marble (Little Barney) and Inishmacsaint (Crann) Look at the pubs in Belfast, The Garrick that has been in this space for a long time is hardly empty. New kids on the block The Hudson, Sunflower (not new more reinvented) and The Woodworkers again seem to be doing a roaring trade any time I am in. Not saying my presence has anything to do with it mind (If so where do I get my paycheck?). Further afield this is also the case, with places like Kiwis Brew Bar on the North Coast attracting a good crowd and serving a great selection of local and not so local brews. The various beer clubs are always busy and The Woodworkers Tap Takeovers are well attended. We are even seeing the competition possibly pushing the old heads into territories new, Buck’s Head double IPA from Hilden anyone. There is even a new Beer Festival on the horizon the ABV Beer Festival that is selling well from what I have heard.

It isn’t just the locals though, in the relatively peaceful times Northern Ireland finds itself, the tourists are coming in droves. A lot of them from countries with a massive array of beers who want choice, so let’s give them more than Guinness! Let’s give them something they don’t expect to find in our wee country, a diverse range of awesome local beer.

Am I barking up the wrong tree or just kidding myself? Either way I am excited at what the future holds and look forward to see what this year brings!

They call me Bruce.

So we all like a challenge.....

some will take you an hour, others a lifetime. I fear the challenge that I was inspired to undertake by Gary is one of those lifetime challenges. To work my way through “1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die”.

Unlike Gary I have no intention of reviewing all beers in this brew bible, more likely it will be the odd update should I be reviewing a beer that appears on the list. By way of first update I have managed to knock 193 beers of the list, so still a fair way to go.

A bit of a warning to anyone who wants to attempt this feat, it will hit the bank account hard. Mainly due to beers that are difficult to obtain locally, which living in Belfast means this is largely the case although that situation is improving. This will lead you to online drink stores, I will finish this post with some that I have tried and others recommended but haven’t tried yet. Even with the online stores, I have resigned myself to the fact that some of these beers will only be obtained through travel. Not a bad thing in some cases; but travelling all the way to South Africa just to get Castle Lager isn’t going to happen. But with an up and coming trip to Belgium on the cards I do hope to plough through the Belgian section – both on location and by bringing others back.

Another point to note, if you are a completist you will have to drink up some good old Budweiser. You know that beer that doesn’t like to be fussed over.

Online stores I have tried:

Ales by Mail

Drinks Store

McHugh's

Recommended by others:

Etre Gourmet

Beers of Europe
Brewdog
Beeritz
Beer Hawk
Beermerchants

Biershop Braugasthoefe

Biershop Bavaria

By way of introduction....

Rather than reinventing the wheel I am going to lift, paraphrase and amend a blog post I wrote for Boundary Brewing (more on them in future posts).

So probably best to start with what attracted me to beer; let me correct that, good beer!

Like most in their youth I supped the standard fare; cheap, available and fairly tasteless lager in Northern Ireland pubs. Through partaking in Katy Dalys’ post-work Friday Ale Sale I became aware of better and tastier beer. Around the same time I was becoming a lover of wine and attending a wine club. In buying this wine I was frequenting local independent off-licenses, off-licenses that stocked more than their fair share of good beer. And it was as I began to sample this range that my love affair started!

Now everywhere I go I look out for new beers or firm favourites and get annoyed if presented with the same standard fare from my youth (probably at the expense of becoming a pain in the ass to my drinking companions).

Not just content with buying great beer I wanted to start brewing my own. Researching how the process worked; ingredients, styles and equipment. Initially using kits, and then modifying them. More recently, with the assistance of the ever helpful Michael, I have gone all grain!

Taking all that on board, the recent upsurge in local breweries (15 to date) and the appearance of Beer Club Belfast it is a great time to be into beer in Northern Ireland. Looking further a field, it is a good time to be into beer full stop!

So what is my intention with this blog? Well the clue is in the title, it is simply a channel for me to share some of my thoughts and musings on beer and beer related topics. Reviews of beers I think are worthy of one, thoughts on the local scene in Northern Ireland, tales of my beer related travels, my adventures in brewing and some general opinion pieces. All opinions are my own, honesty is the policy and no offence is intended.

So I hope you find at least some of my posts of interest.

They call me Bruce!