A Wyche's Brew for Halloween
Oct 19 '02 (Updated Aug 04 '04)
The Bottom Line It's all in the review...top lines, middles lines, bottom lines, starting lines, white lines......
I may have mentioned it before but my local pub always has a couple of guest beers which they change on a weekly basis. This means that without too much effort, I can sample different beers on draught on a regular basis. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're pure bowff - but what is life but a gamble.
Anyway, last night I was perusing the choices on offer when my eye was drawn towards the gruesome image of a huge and ugly, leering, grinning, evil face. (I really should drink somewhere more salubrious!) The face was of that of a pumpkin on one of the handpumps. A Halloween brew called Pumpking, no less. Now who would brew a beer specially for this time of year? Who else but those spooky little guys at the Wychwood Brewery.
So did I sample some? Well this review would be ending about now if I didn't, so work it out!
* The Brewery *
Wychwood brewery started life back in 1983 as a one-man business producing 8 to 10 barrels per week. As demand grew, a much larger operation was set up on the site of an older brewery, which dated back to 1839. The Brewery now produces some 30,000 barrels a year.
The brewery uses local water from the river Windrush, English malt, hops and yeast. No additives are used and over the years the brewery has received many awards, mainly from the branches of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale).
The brewery benefits from the fact that some, if not all of the larger supermarkets in the UK now stock a wide range of quality ales in bottles. Both Hobgoblin and Fiddler's Elbow are extensively available across the UK in bottles and it is even relatively easy to get these brews on draught outside the Oxford area, even in darkest Scotland.
For more information, check their website. Here you can find details about the range of ales they produce as well as worldwide suppliers.
Abridged from:
http://www.wychwood.co.uk
At this point let's take a well deserved break and get into the seasonal mood with a couple of true stories.....
A couple were getting ready to go to a Halloween party but the wife had a terrible headache. She told her husband to go anyway. After a short argument he agreed, and she took some aspirin and went to bed.
Later she awoke and felt great, so she decided to go to the party and see what her hubby did when she wasn't around. As soon as she arrived, she noticed him on the dance floor getting very friendly with every women in the place, and groping them whenever he could.
She then cut in and rubbed close to him. When the song ended, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Let's go outside." So the two of then sneaked off and occupied themselves in one of the parked cars.
Midnight was to be the unveiling of the party-goers, so she slipped out and went home before the clock struck twelve.
When he got home she asked, "How was the party? Did you meet any interesting people?"
He replied, "It was OK. I ran into a few friends and we ended up in the basement playing poker. It wasn't much fun though. But the guy I loaned my costume to had the time of his life!"
********
Little Johnny was on a park bench stuffing all of his Halloween candy in his mouth. An old lady came over and said, "Son, don't you know that eating all of that candy will rot your teeth, give you acne, and make you sick?"
"My grandfather lived to be 105 years old!" replied Johnny.
"Did he eat five candy bars at a sitting?" the old lady retorted.
"No, said Johnny, but he minded his own feckin' business."
Back to the beer....
* The Pour *
Pumpking pours to a light ruby-red, autumnal colour with a good, rocky, off-white and long lasting head with masses of lacing all the way down the glass. The aroma has a very strong, rich, fruity quality - akin to a fruit pie. There's a definite baked apple feel and hints of vine fruit and banana with only a vague suggestion of floral hops.
*The Taste *
It's full-bodied with a chewy mouthfeel....very smooth with not a great deal of carbonation, it's almost overwhelmingly fruity with a good level of sweet maltiness. This beer is more like a malt loaf than many malt loafs! I can't help thinking of apple pie with this beer, it has to be one of the fruitiest I've ever tasted. It's not until the finish that any hop flavour makes an appearance but when it does, it's a powerful, heady, flowery kick with just the right amount of bitterness to balance the beer beautifully.
PS I couldn't taste any pumpkin in it!
* The Verdict *
At 4.7 % ABV, you could safely drink a few of these - and I did - without talking complete nonsense - which I also did!
It's rich and smooth and eminently drinkable and an excellent seasonal brew. Perfect to sip on while sitting beside a warming fire with some good company.
Would I drink it again? - Does Halloween stuff go on sale in the shops earlier every year?
Sláinte
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Alcohol & calculus don't mix. Don't drink & derive
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