Author: wilco

Categories
Beer

Brewdog Edge

Surprisingly I have not had this brewdog before.

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I was drinking it in my favourite Cardiff Pub the Goat Major, where I normally go for the lovely Brains Dark if they don’t have a guest on.

Brewdog Edge is a “dark” like beer – being a mild with a low ABR 3.2% but with a nuttier taste than it’s Welsh cousin – a definite winner, now if brewdog do Edge in bottles I would get a crate in for the shed- this one would be a keeper.

I have a few of their stronger bottles, but they always pack some great flavor into any brew they do.

Brewdog beers

Categories
Beer

Brains IPA too little for too much

I had a pint of the Brains IPA cask earlier in the week at the always a pleasure to go in pub, Goat Major.

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A light, copper colour ale with a fresh, hoppy taste and a clean, bitter finish. Brewed with two varieties of hops, combined with pale and crystal malts.

I liked it – as a session beer it would be fine as its a very weak 3.4% (what we seem to get from Brains anyway :))

I was a bit like Crown IPA (CPA?),which of course was taken over my Brains many years a go

I used to drink with my grandfather in his valleys club, it was more easy drinking than their not nice at all keg IPA Smooth.

When we are seeing barn (or shed) storming hoppy IPAs from the like of brewdog, it’s a disappointed that Brains could not gives us more flavour and show us that they are still a brewer of note and not just a pub/restaurant/hotel chain that brews half decent but predictably beer.

Iam not saying it was not a good pint, but it’s in a range of very similar beers from the Welsh brewery, they could have blown our red socks (with dragons on) off.

of course I will be having it again (once my tablets have worn off) but the price point will not win any fans (£2.60ish) when you can get a decent guest ale in other city centre pubs.

It will be a winner with the valley rugby fans coming down to the smoke, mind you.. but if in doubt have a pint of Brains Dark.

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Categories
Blog

Hair, full frontal nudity, french beer & mud

Last Friday myself and mrsunclwilco went to that London for a short visit.

I had a meeting with a potential sponsor for Shed Week 2011, and they and their PR company treated us both to a great lunch in cote bistro in Soho – good food and a couple of bottles of Kasteel Cru, a French Lager I have not had before and it’s was a pleasant surprise and I have since found out you can get it in Asda.

Kasteel Cru

The food was good simple French style – Scallops with lardons and Steak & Frites with Crème brûlée to follow, yes predictable but its what I fancied!

Anyway they also put us up for the night in a hotel near convent garden and got us tickets for a show, Hair……

with the broadway cast – not sure if that matters but it was a jolly romp of sex,drugs and hair but not as much as I would have thought giving the title.

Another new experience was on our return to Wales, we went off for a SPA day (not SPAR) which I bought for MrsUW birthday swimming, sauna, spa you know the sort of thing. – I know Iam going all sheddiesexual – and I had a Mud steam combi thing, Rasul Mud experience

This traditional Arabian inspired cleansing ritual combines the health enhancing properties of heat, steam and mud for a totally relaxing and skin conditioning treatment in a magical and sensory private environment with twinkling lights and aromatic vapours, whilst jets of steam keep the air warm and moist. Finally, a gentle tropical rain shower washes the mud away.

We got it very cheap from the groupon/myCitydeal Cardiff page – a bargin 60% off.

A great time was had by all.

Categories
Food

Paella – Prawn, chicken & chorizo – in a sandwich it can only be Tesco special edition

The warped minds over at tesco have come up with a follow up to their awful lasagne sandwich, with a quick jump across the med to Spain with their “Spanish Paella” sandwich.

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It has Prawn, chicken & chorizo on sun dried tomatoe bread, and even has rice in the filling (for filling!), it’s not bad for a at the desk snack, but I dont feel like popping my feet into the Taff and opening a cold San Miguel.

They seem to have filled it with thin chorizo which is always welcome than their nasty chicken, but to be honest I wont be having it again, as its all wrong.

I wonder what their foodboffins will do next a Welsh Cawl sandwich, Moussaka or even Moules-frites (mmm belguim beer)

Categories
Blog

Fabio Capello – gets a new job in Porec, Croatia

Just got back this week from a holiday in Porec in Croatia a lovely time was had by all 🙂

On the harbour there were loads of gift stands and tat for sale and also a few artists doing 20 minutes portraits of people, your normal holiday souvenir type of thing – you will be glad to hear I did not get one.

But one of the artists look like England’s Football manager Fabio Capello.

fabio capello doing some work on the side?

In fact some of the “celebrity” caricatures, he had done were the England squad, but no David Beckham – I wonder why 😉

If you want to be bored on the interweb, instead of coming round to my shed and looking at hundreds of slides, some of my other Crotia & Venice (we went there for a day on the ferry) photos are here.

Anyway I hope

Fabio Capello

does well in his new job 😉

Categories
Beer

The best beers are made in a shed!

The gurdian has this piece on home brew, I really have to get my shed in gear and get my shedbeer set up.

Slug stopper in shed window

If someone says they brew their own beer in their garage, what crosses your mind? If you drew a caricature would it involve a bearded, bulging stereotype, sitting in a shed with buckets and bottles and a speech bubble declaring it only costs tuppence a pint? Well, home-brewing has seen big changes in recent years, changes which are having an effect on the beers we see and drink in pubs and bars.

The people behind BrewDog started at home. As founder James Watt says, “there’s no better way to bedazzle friends than with an IPA that you brewed just for them.” For James Farran, now at Summer Wine Brewery, it was the enthusiastic feedback he received from friends that made him decide to go professional. James Kemp at Thornbridge Brewery brewed at home for 20 years before making the step up, and many new independent British breweries have made the move from dwelling house to brewhouse, including Kernel and Redemption, two recently opened London breweries.

Categories
Beer

Photomarathon and tapas style snacks in the Wellington pub Cardiff

On Friday myself and my son were going to the Photomarathon exhibition at the old library in the Hayes in Cardiff as we were two of the numbers!

But on the way we decided to get some food and popped into the newly refurbished Duke of Wellington, not normally my cup of tea a posh new pub.. but we were hungry and I fancied a pint.

Duke of Wellington

From Brains website : Situated in the Hayes, in Cardiff city centre the Duke of Wellington is an ideal location for a relaxing drink and bite to eat whilst taking a break from the hustle & bustle of the city. A combination of traditional British inn and contemporary style, the Duke of Wellington offers a great selection of food for quick lunches and light bites including sharing platters and tapas. We have a great range of cask ales as well as continental beers and a variety of wines, soft drinks and coffees.

They have spent a bit of money doing it up they have a the full range of Brains Beers and for the moment a Guest Ale the lovely Everards Sunchaser Blonde (which hopefully they will continue with some great regional beers)- the prices were not that cheap for drinks (over £2.50 a pint I think but not sure :()

Duke of Wellington

But they had a great snack menu with Six Items for £12 (from 5pm) which for two of us was just enough.

The selection from the menu we had was

Calamari (in thick batter) X 2
Blanche Bait (yes that’s white bait) very big and juicy
Prawns with a wonderful Garlic butter sauce to dip in X 2
Lamb Kofta with a great sauce

They have other more meaty items on the menu as well.

Duke of Wellington

The staff were a bit over clinging, but suppose they want to make a good impression on a new pub , I forgot how many times I was asked “everything ok Guys” – yes it was thanks.

There were not that many people in the pub as most where making use of the “alfresco” area out the front – we are not the continent how ever much the marketing people try and tell us 🙂 and I am sure the whiff from Caroline street which the pub is on the corner may affect the punters outside.

anyway I will be visiting again as the mini toad in the hole and mini pies look good as well.

Duke of Wellington

Duke of Wellington

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Categories
Misc

British Monarchy puts photos up on the Royal Flickr Account

Now that the British Monarchy has joined flickr and are sharing their photos with the world, well a lot of them seem to be from PA or government sources, but it would be good to see personal shots from the Royal Family that they have taken themselves is that not what flickr is about!

Anyway here a shot of the The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall pouring some ale in Neuadd Arms Hotel in Llanwrtyd Wells.

I thought Charles has a Leica so I wonder what his views are on the rise of digital?

Categories
Beer

Have brewdog gone to far this time? Stuffed animal beer

I love brewdog beers and have a few in my collection waiting for the log fire and dark winter days to drink the stronger ones where as their lower ABV are a joy to drink anytime of the year.

But they have produced the last of their line of extra strong beers at 55% ok thats strong but the thing that will get them a lot of press (which is their goal I assume) is that the limited edition one off run of 11 bottles is that each is stuffed within some stuffed roadkill, I can see the headlines now…..”Over the border and over the top, brewers kill animals to serve their beer from”, “BrewSquirrel, roadkill beer” you will come up with better.

Of course most of us will ever taste it as its £500.00 for the Stoat bottle and £700.00 for the Squirrel bottle.

Unless its a big ruse from the cheeky Scots. anyway good luck to them with their latest ploy to make beer more exiting for us non vegetarians

The End of History from BrewDog on Vimeo.

The End of History: The name derives from the famous work of philosopher Francis Fukuyama, this is to beer what democracy is to history. Fukuyama defined history as the evolution of the political system and traced this through the ages until we got the Western Democratic paradigm. For Fukuyama this was the end point of man’s political evolution and consequently the end of history. The beer is the last high abv beer we are going to brew, the end point of our research into how far the can push the boundaries of extreme brewing, the end of beer.

The End of History, at 55%, is the final instalment of our efforts to redefine the limits of contemporary brewing.

This blond Belgian ale is infused with nettles from the Scottish Highlands and Fresh juniper berries. Only 12 bottles have been made and each comes with its own certificate and is presented in a stuffed stoat or grey squirrel. The striking packaging was created by a very talented taxidermist and all the animals used were road kill. This release is a limited run of 11 bottles, 7 stoats and 4 grey squirrels. Each ones comes with its own certificate of authenticity.

Categories
Beer

This time last year I was taking photos of this

This time last year on the 18th of July 2009 or thereabouts I was taking photos of The Liver building in Liverpool and the great mersey tunnel air duct, as was spending a nice post shed week break with Mrsunclewilco and we also visted the wonderful Philharmonic Pub

I like them but still need a wider lens.