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Brave New World: Northern Monk Brew Co New World IPA (6.2% ABV)
Craft beer has recently become, if not ubiquitous or always readily available, then certainly a trend of which people are increasingly aware. There are a number of examples of mainstream breweries and retailers, with varying success, attempting to capitalise on that popularity. There are also some new breweries that, on closer inspection, give the impression that they don’t quite “get” what is special about craft, but think that the concept might sell.
Against that context, and admitting that craft is an amorphous concept at the best of times, it might be easy to overlook genuinely interesting new breweries in all the noise. However, even before trying any of their beers, I was already reasonably confident that Northern Monk Brew Co would subscribe to my own concept of craft because of the involvement of David Bishop, familiar to beer blog readers and Tweeters as keen homebrewer and blogger @broadfordbrewer. You can read about David being approached by a prospective business partner and his progress with the brewery on his blog. You can also read an interview with co-founder Russell on This Beer Blog.
Their first beer is an IPA which was brewed in cuckoo/gypsy manner at Hambleton, which will be the provisional arrangement, along with some interesting collaborations, before an actual Northern Monk brewery is complete. Northern Monk had a launch party last week at The Sparrow in Bradford. I wasn’t able to attend, but did pick up a couple of bottles from Friends Of Ham in Leeds.
IPA is basically the core craft style and I’m happy to say that New World IPA is a great example of what it is intended to be. The first impression is excellent, with a lovely fresh aroma of pine and apricots. The taste is well-balanced, with a nice mix of fruity sweetness and a good lasting bitterness. It’s tasty but not so characterful that it wouldn’t seem “sessionable”, which could be a little dangerous for a 6.2% beer that doesn’t come across as that strong.
Regarding his short term ambitions, David has said:
So what do I want to achieve? I want to support my family and I want to do that by getting paid to do the thing that interests and excites me: brewing beer. How I go about doing that is also important to me and I need a game plan. Over to Stuart:
“The apparent conflict between idiosyncrasy and balance brings me to the question which I ask myself today. Am I trying to get a number one single or win the Turner Prize? Does there need to be a compromise?”
As a brewer just starting out I want to brew decent, tasty beer. I want the beer to be good enough to allow us to brew a second beer and so on. Don’t get me wrong, I want to do the best I can, but I’m not aspiring for a number one single. Not yet!
So now that we have that first beer, it’s gratifying that it tastes good, the branding looks good and the blurb is refreshingly free of utter marketing bollocks – the reality is that for a new brewery the branding is probably almost as important as the beer. The bottle isn’t covered in geeky detail about ingredients and IBUs but that’s all on the website.
On this evidence I’m very happy to say that Northern Monk’s first beer is more than good enough to ensure that people come back for the second. I very much hope that they do, not just because I like David and want him to make a living doing what he loves, but because, more selfishly, I want to drink more of his beer.
See another (better) review of New World IPA on Booze, Beats and Bites. Details of the first places that you might find Northern Monk beers in bottles and on keg are on their Twitter (@NMBCo) and Facebook pages.
Brooklyn Brewery Pop Up, 20-24 The Calls, Leeds City Centre
James Clay, importer of some of the best American, Belgian and German beers to the UK, have succeeded in an application for a licence to open a “pop up” Brooklyn Brewery bar in a warehouse on The Calls in central Leeds, despite police objections.
The bar will be in a currently empty warehouse at 20-24 The Calls, about 50 metres from BrewDog Leeds and 100 metres from The Stew & Oyster (Calls Landing). The licence application documents, which can be read here, show similar objections from the police as were made in the BrewDog licensing saga, to opening any new bar close to “an area which is an alcohol related crime hotspot, Call Lane” and the same “appreciation versus inebriation” arguments.
The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that representations were made to the sub-committee that the bar was to attract, “the well-behaved and “discerning” drinker, prepared to spend £7 or more on a pint of speciality beer“. A representative of the West Yorkshire Police stated that, “People with money still have the ability of causing trouble when inebriated.” Surely not.
The bar is stated to be temporary, although it is not clear for how long it is expected to operate. The licence is restricted to Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Interestingly, it was stated that the bar is “a temporary arts and cultural space used for the purpose of marketing“, that it is primarily an exercise in promoting the Brooklyn brand and may operate at a loss. However, at £7+ a pint I assume the loss won’t be made on the beer.
I’ll be interested to see how this pans out and whether the set-up will offer something different to the existing craft beer bars in Leeds. When I read about it, I initially thought of the regular Friday evening “happy hour” sessions held in the brewery in Williamsburg when we went there in 2010 (see photo), with picnic tables, plastic glasses, beer vouchers, pizzas delivered to the front door and ultraobscure beers. I assume that this new venture, “pop up” as it is, will seem a little more permanent, but who knows? Spit and sawdust can be pretty hip.
BrewDog Leeds: Appellant Alchemist
Further to my previous post on the initial licensing decision and as you may have read elsewhere, BrewDog were successful in their appeal of the initial refusal to grant a licence to their Leeds premises, and the new bar is intended to open in early 2013.
The initial decision concentrated on the crime figures linked to the existing late night economy in the immediate area. The District Judge was apparently rather more convinced by BrewDog’s submissions about promoting the educated appreciation of craft beer and their discerning clientele. I found the following paragraphs of District Judge Anderson’s* decision particularly interesting:
No doubt when the 2003 Licensing Act came into being, no-one foresaw the emergence of an operation such as Brewdog. They are a Scottish company specialising in craft beers with a devoted clientele. They do not operate large public houses selling cheap lager or cheap food. They have outlets in other cities including in cumulative impact areas where they operate well and without police objection. Now they seek to come to Leeds. […]
The company takes a didactic approach, with books on brewing, and customers invited to watch instructional videos playing at their premises. Their customers could be described as “alcohol geeks.” They are not run of the mill or everyone’s cup of tea, but there is a demand for outlets selling a good quality of beer. […]
If I accept, as I do, that the enterprise sells expensive beers in expensive measures, then I think I can conclude that the people likely to be attracted are not “get it down your neck” drinkers but rather better heeled customers. The type of clientele a premises attracts has a material part to the play in the decision, because if I am not worried about their clientele and am impressed by the running of their bars elsewhere, it follows that it is unlikely that their clientele will have any adverse impact on the area here.
Personally I’ll be glad that BrewDog has a presence in Leeds, if only so I can claim my shareholder discount, as a moderately-heeled alcohol geek who will buy expensive beer in expensive measures, provided I can convince myself I’m getting a bargain.
*Not to be confused with Judge Anderson.
Chapel Allerton Arts Festival: Live At North Leeds
Chapel Allerton Arts Festival is an event held each summer in the North Leeds village (suburb), during which Regent Street is closed off, a stage is set up, and local businesses set up food stalls. It’s run entirely by volunteers and the entry fee is an optional donation of £3.
Previously Roosters used to run the beer stall that supplements the overstretched Regent, but this year the festival bar was especially good and diverse, featuring local cask beers (mostly suitably summery pale ales) from Kirkstall, Ridgeside, Wharfebank, Leeds Brewery as well as Roosters. They even had kegs of Leodis Lager and Kirkstall Framboise.
On the Friday night, whilst Hope And Social played an appropriately optimistic and community-spirited set, I had a Ridgeside Desert Aire and Kirkstall Three Swords, which were very tasty if, unavoidably given that the temporary bar had just been set up on the street, still a bit green.
If Friday was nice, Sunday was brilliant: the sun had come out, the New York Brass Band (more accurately the new York brass band) were playing horn covers of A Message To You Rudy, Take On Me and Sweet Dreams, the Sukothai stall was doing mixed skewers and ribs for a fiver and Kirkstall Dissolution IPA (a robust IPA that takes quite a few sips to adjust to how good it is) was in absolutely perfect condition at £3 a pint. People’s clear enjoyment of the whole weekend was a tribute to the health of Leeds’ local breweries as well as the hard work and good taste of the volunteers.
Friends With Benefits: Friends Of Ham, 4 New Station Street, Leeds City Centre
Friends Of Ham is a new bar in Leeds city centre, on New Station Street close to The Brewery Tap, Layne’s Espresso and, um, Yates’. It’s the labour of love of Claire and Anthony Kitching, who decided to move north from London and open a craft beer bar-come-deli in West Yorkshire.
The slightly enigmatic name relates not to the comrades of the biblical Ham, the son of Noah who was disowned and cursed for seeing his drunken father sprawled in the nip. Rather (if I recall correctly) it’s a pun on a Spanish tapas bar called something like “Amigos Del Jamon”.
The bar itself is over two levels and is remarkable. A small shopfront ground floor has legs of ham hanging from hooks above the bar. The basement, whilst cosy, must be twice the size and contains sofas, long tables, a porcine gallery and a shuffleboard table. The decor is eclectic, welcoming, quirky and thoughtful.
Whilst the bar is full of little touches that signal a unique attention to detail, the selection of food and drink shows similar care and a particular attitude. Those of us who have been following Friends Of Ham’s progress on Twitter and Facebook know that there has been a dedication to finding the best products from the best suppliers that has involved a number of gruelling tasting sessions and advice from experienced Leodensians such as staff member Tyler Kiley (formerly of Mr Foleys) and Neil Walker of Eating Isn’t Cheating (who has posted about the bar here).
Cask beers on the preview night included Red Willow Smokeless and Quantum Bitter and the keg beers included Kernel Amarillo IPA, Magic Rock Clown Juice (a delicious wheat IPA), Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Lakeland Lager and Delerium Red (a Kriek). The back bar had a box of Ampleforth cider and the fridges contain a great range of interesting beers, from Orval to Redchurch East India Pale Ale. Interestingly the licence application included their decision not to stock spirits at all.
The food appears be good, simple and tapas style, will include a range of excellent meats, cheeses and, most excitingly for me, Scotch eggs from the Handmade Scotch Egg Company, including their amazing black pudding version, “Black Watch”. Bascially, exactly what you’d like to eat whilst enjoying an Orval, an Ampleforth cider or a glass of red wine.
Friends Of Ham is a bar and an idea that deserves to find a devoted following. It will be enjoyed by beer geeks, wine buffs and foodies. It is also a welcoming and stylish space that should appeal to a wider demographic that enjoys socialising in a relaxed atmosphere but finds little of interest in the microwaved meals, worn carpets and skidmarks of many traditional pubs.
Read more about Friends of Ham from David at Broadford Brewer here, from Mark at Opportunity Hops here, from Zak at Are You Tasting The Pith here and from Neil at Eating Isn’t Cheating here.
[UPDATE – Friends Of Ham is open as of 10 July 2012 and will be building up to offering the full food menu. Currently it’s selling a range of meats and cheeses.]