Ad Birch 'the convert' expressing his feminine side!

The Beerbarians - The Second Blog... Kernel's Mustard

Whilst the eyes of the world were firmly fixed upon the Russian coastal city of Sochi, in preparation for what would prove to be a spectacular Opening Ceremony to the Winter Olympics, another Opening Ceremony rather passed under the radar of the major media outlets. What this rival ceremony lacked in budget, fireworks, column inches and Maria Sharapova, it more than made up for in excitement, magnificent beer and inclusion offered to all mankind. And so, it came to pass, that on February 1st 2014, in a flat in London Bridge, four men took their first steps towards Beer Nirvana. Those four men…. The Beerbarians!

After an impeccably observed (ahem) Dry January, blue skies and bright sunshine heralded the arrival of February, and with it, the first gathering of The Beerbarians and friends. As is to be expected at the beginning of such a journey, there were many questions to be answered… How do you break the duck after Dry January? Where should the day take us? Which beer gets the honour of being the first ticked off from the list? Why was The Hopstar wearing sunglasses indoors?

Our first decision, and first controversy, came while deciding what would be our first beer of 2014. The unanimous decision was to choose a beer not on the list (yet). Within our midst is a fledgling brewer (The Master), and he arrived with his latest brew ‘The Conversion’ – a nod to the beer’s muse, The Convert – primed and ready to be sampled by a number of all too willing guinea-pigs. A classic London-style porter, excellently balanced between rich, roasty notes and subtle hoppy complexities, that met with genuine approval from all present. Keep an eye out for Braggin’ Rights!

Just a 5 minute stroll from Beerbarian HQ (the home of The Hopstar and The Convert) lies a place that has become something of a spiritual home to us all, the Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey. Many a Saturday afternoon has been spent here, sampling the fine array of pales, porters, saisons and stouts, each living up to the staggeringly high standards of the last. Kernel beers are now starting to permeate pubs and stockists the length and breadth of Britain, and the place on the list afforded to Kernel’s Export Stout is testament to a brewery right at the forefront of their craft. As such, the decision as to which beer should be our first from the list was an easy one. With robust, but perfectly rounded, roast coffee flavours, complimented by chocolate and hints of vanilla, this sumptuous stout truly is liquid velvet and is a must for any beer enthusiast.

Following further consumption at Kernel, and the arrival of more friendly faces to join us - swelling the group’s numbers well into the teens – we headed on to another favourite watering hole, The Howl at the Moon in Hoxton. The more observant amongst you may recognise this as the location for the Arctic Monkeys ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’ music video. On an early evening marred by numerous inabilities - Manchester United’s inability to overcome the combined forces of British weather and the Motley Crue of thugs and hounds of war collectively referred to as Stoke City FC, The Hopstar’s inability to consume chips in a civilised manner, England’s inability to hold onto a lead against France in the rugby, and The Convert’s inability to keep his beer in his glass rather than all over his jeans – we did however manage to tick off our second beer on the list. Odell’s Cutthroat Porter marked our first foray into the American stronghold of 253 beers on the list, with its delicate mouth, and smoky finish this proved a popular choice.

As we departed the Howl, our paths, for the night, were also to be parted, as The Convert went in search of dry jeans and dirty beats in Brixton, whilst the rest moved on for further refreshment in Haggerston, Shoreditch and Dalston. As per the rules we have set for this challenge, beers can only be ticked off if all four members are present and consuming, so at the end of the opening day 999 beers remained on our pilgrimage. If, like The Hopstar, you would like to know what happened during the rest of the night come join us for a beer and we’ll be only too happy to tell!

After confirmation finally came through on the Sunday that The Hopstar was still alive following the previous nights antics, we reconvened on the Monday for the British Home Brewing Awards held at The Craft Beer Co. in Islington. Whilst The Master’s entry ‘The Conversion’ did not eventually take home a prize, this was an excellent event, full of enthusiasts and interesting folk, each with their own beer stories to tell. Along with a superb Rye IPA, we also tasted our third listed beer of the weekend in the form of Belgium’s Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus. This marked the first experience of a Gueuze for The Convert and The Hopstar, and first taste of Brasserie Cantillon’s produce for The Monster. Served in a wine-style bottle, complete with cork, this raspberry beer represents one end of the beer spectrum that is all too rare in large swathes of this country. With its tartness and slightly sweet undertones, this is excellent on the nose and with each passing taste the inexperienced palate catches up, finding new layers and depths to the flavour. This proved to be the perfect beer to relax with at the end of a long weekend, and with the added bonus of complimentary bottles of Dark Star Six Hop, courtesy of the event’s sponsors, in the leaving packs, the opening salvo came to a close on the highest of notes.

  Apologies for the lateness of this blog, we will catch up in the next couple of days with tales of the second weekend of the challenge. We will also be in Birmingham on 21/22 February, itinerary to follow in the coming days for those of you who’d like to join us!

Follow us on Twitter @The_Beerbarians

“Beer, it’s the best damn drink in the World” – Jack Nicholson

Here at the @the_beerbarians we always do a 'proper job'...how cool what?!

Time for a bit of Williams bros, a massive fan of their other beers but never had this before…head to our tumblr feed to find the result!

The hopstar enjoying his 4th beer of the #1001Beers "Dark Star - Six Hop" mmmmm (at home of the Convert and the Hopstar!)

Beer number four, the first free beer courtesy of @darkstar "six hop" sounds good to me!

Beer number 3, a personal favourite, Cantillon brewery - Rose de Gambrinus courtesy of @craftbeercoN1 (at The Craft Beer Co.)

Beer number two, Odell brewery's cutthroat porter. Really lovely balls out flavours going on here! 999 to go #1001Beers (at Howl at the Moon)

Beer number one, kernel brewery's Export Stout...pure beery velvet! (at Kernel Brewery)

Hopstar & the Master getting ready for #1001BC excited doesn't begin to cover it!

Friendship comes in many forms. Be it newfound, fickle and fading, forever and a day, or forged over many years upon circumstantial meetings where beer is the ever unifying factor…the latter of which is the basis upon which the Beerbarians first came into existence. Beerbarians is the moniker...

The Beerbarians - First post...the post that hurts the most!

Friendship comes in many forms. Be it newfound, fickle and fading, forever and a day, or forged over many years upon circumstantial meetings where beer is the ever unifying factor…the latter of which is the basis upon which the Beerbarians first came into existence.

Beerbarians is the moniker given to four friends hailing from the traditional market town of Macclesfield in Cheshire, who are about to embark on a journey that will test their commitment to a challenge that is fraught with tests on many levels; be it logistical, geographical, financial or emotional…but what of this challenge? Before we address the task at hand it seems fit to go back to where it all began.

Picture this; it’s the year 2000 and the post revelry world lets out a collective sigh as the millennium bug turns out to be little more than an epic fart on the history of scientific hypothesis. The digital age is taking hold and the world is entering a new frontier, whilst three 13 year old adolescent boys, hiding away in a third floor bedroom are about to change their lives forever. As each one of them sneaks their first taste of what could be considered ‘real ale’, they realise like many before them that beer really is great. With their newfound raison d’etre, courtesy of 12 stubby bottles of Shepherd Neame’s – Spitfire…a 4.5% spicy little toffee nosed number, they set about on 14 years of consumption and discovery which would see them frequent pubs the length and breadth of the British Isles, supping their way one by one through the multitudes of fantastic ales that this great nation has to offer.

And so to the challenge…“1001 beers you must try before you die!” This fine publication by Adrian Tierney-Jones sets out country by country all the beers that any self-respecting beer buff should sample in their lifetime. Think of it as a bucket list for the beermoth, or perhaps more suited to our plight, a magna carta of Beerbaric proportions!

So here we are at the end of a dry January, the three original beer sneaks, Mike Lally, Adam Birch and Alistair Lewis plus one valiant addition to the team, our very own d’Artagnan, Ryan Woodley-Mitchell. The 1st February 2014 is fast approaching and with it the official start of the challenge, we have a tasty array of beers to commence proceedings and the stage is set for what looks to be a truly testing but wholly enjoyable step in our four lives. This blog will provide record of each and every beer we consume and no doubt many of the accompanying stories to go along with them, so join the feed, join the conversation and join us on our journey through 1001 of the world’s greatest beers!

In the words of Benjamin Franklin “beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy”.