Box of Brilliant Beers

I was given a box of zero alcohol beers as a birthday gift. Styled as Another Box of Brilliant Beers. Presented by Beer Hawk.  Just started sampling; over the next couple of weeks I thought you'd be interested in my tasting comments (it'll be the last couple,of weeks by the time you read them).

It's worth noting that up to 0.5% alcohol is defined as 'alcohol free', although supermarket self service checkouts don't seem capable of recognising that and require the same authorisation as full alcohol beers do.

Jupiter 0.0%: A lightish but fairly hoppy Belgian beer. I like it.

Jever Fun 0.3%: This Pilsener is dry and unexciting with not much taste.

Maisel's Weisse 0.5%: A wheat beer that has a very fruity taste - Ocado calls it a banana flavour and I can definitely taste that. I really like it for its flavour but for me it's let down by being excessively fizzy. But another plus in this case is it's a 500ml bottle!

Bitburger Pils 0.05%: A slight pleasant sourness on this Bavarian beer. Perfectly drinkable.

Franziskaner Weissbier 0.5%: A flavourful, slightly fruity beer which is one of the best so far. 500ml!

Wheesht 0.0%: This is the real deal! By which I mean it's very much to my taste. A dark ale brewed at Harviestoun Brewery in Scotland. A great taste with a hint of chocolate. 'Wheesht' is apparently old Scottish slang for 'shh'! I don't imagine they mean to keep quiet about this product! I discovered you can buy a 12 bottle case of this for £12.60, although (a) there's a flat rate £5.95 for shipping orders of less than £50 and (b) the bottles are only 330ml. Needs a bit of thinking about.

Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropica 0.5%: Very fruity and fizzy pale ale brewed in Newport, Wales. A nice light drink for those who like a lager top. Although bubbly out of the can, it quietens down quite quickly.

Ghost Ship 0.5%: A well-known pale ale brewed in Suffolk by Adnams. Pour this into a wide-bottomed glass and you will see the gorgeous amber colour. Matched by the strong, earthy taste.

Lucky Saint 0.5%: I've come across this before. Brewed in Bavaria for Not Another Beer company, it's a light lager very similar to Heineken Zero. Not my favourite.

Leffe 0.0%: A Belgian brew which has quite a nice sweet taste and very little fizz. I think there is added sugar, as the calorie content is 40 per 100ml, compared with say my favourite St Peters Without at 29. Despite this, I could drink more of it, although it's not as hoppy as I prefer; just different for an occasional early evening drink.

Zero Five 0.5%: Brewed at Thornbridge Brewery in Derbyshire, this is fruity - apple? mango? - and very fizzy. Pleasant enough but not in the Top Five for me.

Hoegaarden 0.05%: A wheat beer brewed "with coriander orange peel" in Belgium. I really like the wheat beer taste and this one is not excessively bubbly.

My top five from these? Not in order, I could happily drink the two wheat beers - Hoegaarden and Maisel's - as well as Franziskaner, Wheesht and Ghost Ship.

I've recently bought a mixed case of my favourite St Peter's Without but I'll be looking out for these five.

Thanks for the birthday present Dan!

News from the Front

Supplies report for St Austell on 29th September 2021

Petrol and diesel: ✅

The new Guinness Zero large advertising placard (Tesco) : ✅

Actual bottles/cans of Guinness Zero: ❌

CO_2: ✅ (based on a rum and raisin ice cream eaten in the cause of research)

Wind: ❌

Why wind? Apparently the immediate cause of the UK's current energy problems is a lack of wind. A few calm days and the UK has to fire up dirty coal power stations. In Monday's Times, respected (by me) columnist Edward Lucas wrote that "our current system depends too much on gas (vulnerable to supply shocks) and wind (vulnerable to the weather). This will get worse as we decommission our remaining coal and nuclear power plants." He goes on to propose investment in small nuclear reactors but surely we can find a way to generate more wind.

If the whole population of the UK were to be tasked to undertake a synchronized 'blow' - all of us blowing hard in the direction of the nearest wind farm - every day at 11:00 (just like people used to do to 'clap for the NHS') I'm pretty certain we could generate enough to power the country for the next 24 hours. With me? 1-2-3 blooooooooooooooooooow:

Shout out for St Peter's Without

So yesterday, switching from tea to beer at half time enabled England to win their match. I've not yet seen an acknowledgement from the team of my part in the victory. But I do want to acknowledge the beer's part.

I was a given a couple of bottles of St Peter's Without, a craft zero alcohol beer brewed in Beccles in the county of Suffolk, UK. I only drink occasional alcohol, being more partial to zero alcohol beers. This is a particularly tasty example, very hoppy and flavourful - well done St Peter's Brewery! - so I bought a further supply.  They do four varieties of zero alcohol beer: Original, Gold, Organic and Elderberry & Raspberry, with a mixed case of 12x500ml for £21.00. I'm definitely going to give that a try - unless of course they decide to donate one in a sponsorship deal😁. They do have interesting chunky bottles:

I'm not sure if other Saints have their own breweries but I guess there has always been a tradition of monks and religious orders brewing and distilling. Not sure why, although Arthur Guinness was a devout Christian who starting brewing beer "to wean people off spirits". Works for me. But does the brewery have Papal permission for use of the Saint Peter nomenclature? Perhaps copyright protection expired a couple of thousand years ago, so I could have called this blog Saint Peter without problems. Imagine that, St Peter blogging today!

Heard of Ninkasi? She was the Sumerian Goddess of Beer around 1800 BCE and her poem A Hymn to Ninkasi is a clay tablet that was simply a beer recipe. Not kidding; it's true. Here is a bit:

You are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.

You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,
Ninkasi, you are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes,

You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort,
Brewing [it] with honey [and] wine
(You the sweet wort to the vessel)
Ninkasi, (…)(You the sweet wort to the vessel)

I guess it's not easy to be certain about translating ancient Sumerian tablets.