All posts tagged beer

Michelin Starred Kinloch Lodge offers ‘beer flights’ matched to every dish

by Andrew on March 2, 2010 in Eating Out with 1 Comment

Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye, owned by bestselling cookery writer Claire Macdonald, is championing the offer of ‘beer flights’ on its recently Michelin-Starred menu.

Sixteen beers have been selected for the list, and fifteen of these are from Scotland.

Tom Eveling, who manages Kinloch Lodge with his wife Isabella, selected the beers so as to offer guests a wide and gastronomically appealing list. It is one of the most extensive bottled beer lists of any restaurant in Scotland.

The beer flights have been matched to every dish on the menu and sit alongside the restaurant’s established wine flights, malt whisky flights and the ‘beer and a dram chasers’.

The Scottish beers include examples from the islands of Skye, Black Isle, Orkney and Arran whilst the Scottish mainland is represented by Edinburgh, Alva, Alloa and Fraserburgh: All manner of colours and styles of beer are on the list with ingredients as exotic as heather, seaweed and raspberries – historic beer ingredients popular in Britain before the arrival of hops in the 1500s.

Sam Smiths raspberry beer from Yorkshire is the only English beer.

Tom Eveling comments:

“Choosing the best flights to match each dish has been a real eye-opener. People still seem to think that wine is smart and wonderful with food and that, for some unknown reason, beers are not. They are wrong. The reaction from our diners has been very positive. Several have expressed both surprise and delight at the pairings, and there has been genuine interest in trying the new experiences which our beer flights offer.

“Scotland now brews a myriad of fantastic beers. I believe we should be proud of what we brew and match it to all our wonderful Scottish food. It would have been a real oversight not to offer this choice on our menu.

“My current favourite pairing is the Innis & Gunn Blonde, an oak aged beer from Edinburgh, with our ‘Fruits from the Loch’ dish; while my wife Isabella loves our cheese course - Strathdon Blue, with prune and orange mousse, Perthshire honey jellies and savoury cinnamon syrup matched with Ola dubh.

Tom is passionate about offering ‘flights’ to diners because he and Head Chef Marcello Tully believe this is the best way to match the tastes on the plate with those in the glass.


A Berry Good Beer from the Eden Project and Sharp’s

by Andrew on January 29, 2010 in In the Press with No comments

A new seasonal beer created by Sharp’s Brewery and the Eden Project has been flavoured with some very special ingredients - berries picked from bushes at the project’s site in Bodelva. Sloes, rosehips and hawthorn berries were picked by Eden staff in October and then used by Sharp’s head brewer Stuart Howe to create Winter Berry Ale, the latest in the brewery’s Seasonals range.

Winter Berry is a cask conditioned beer with a dark ruby colour, full of vibrant berry flavours, with the sharp fruitiness of the berries balanced and enhanced by the use of top quality malts and hops. This winter beer is now available in pubs across the country and in the Eden Project’s own restaurants and bars.

For the Seasonals range, the Eden team has unearthed the unusual, sometimes forgotten plant products used to flavour beer. The other beers in the range are 6 Hop IPA (spring), Honey Spice (summer) and Red Ale (autumn).

Complementing the new brew is a special pint glass which has a unique ingredients panel on the back.

Tracey Smith, Eden’s Commercial Relationship Manager, said: “It’s great to have worked with Sharp’s on this range, combining our plant expertise with their brewing know-how. Together, we have produced a selection of beers showcasing the best local ingredients that are proving to be a hit with drinkers.

“The glass adds that extra Eden touch too. We’re all about illustrating the relationship between plants and people and if people sipping on their pints get to the bottom of the glass knowing a little more about what goes into their beer, then all the better.”

The relationship between Eden and Sharp’s is long established and has previously produced Eden Pure Ale, which continues to be a popular part of the brewery’s bottle range.

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Beer With Puddings - Tea Will Never Be The Same Again

by Andrew on August 10, 2009 in food with 1 Comment

beer_and_puddingCould Chablis with Oysters, Champagne with strawberries, and Lapsang Souchong with afternoon tea be a thing of the past?

In a special tasting held at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair, recently voted ‘the best place for afternoon tea in London’ by the Tea Guild, Executive Chef Lee Streeton and his team treated a group of gastronomes to a selection of dream-worthy puddings matched with some very singular beers.

Rupert Ponsonby, Co-Founder of the Beer Academy, comments:

“Beer with breakfast, elevenses or afternoon tea would have been commonplace in Centuries gone by, when water was undrinkable and the boiling of barley with hops was a much safer, and more enjoyable bet. We know that beer goes wonderfully well with a variety of international cuisines but we have never before looked in such depth at beer with puddings.

“Beer and puddings are such happy bedfellows as they share so many complementary flavours. The roasting process of barley creates biscuit, caramel, coffee, honey, chocolate and liquorice flavours; whilst the hops can bring lychee, passion fruit, orange and lemon as well as subtle hints of herbs and spice. Not to be outdone, those under-sung heroes of the brewing process, the yeasts, also create extravagant flavours such as bananas, peaches, cloves and bubblegum. Perfect complements for so many British puddings.”

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The BitterSweet Partnership - Women and Beer

by Andrew on April 1, 2009 in On The Web with 2 Comments

bittersweet screenshotThe BitterSweet Partnership, which has been set up by Coors Brewers aims to address and remove the gender imbalance that exists around beer consumption and targeting.

The BitterSweet Partnership conducted research of over 2,000 women to get their thoughts and found that there are very real barriers and myths that exist around women and beer. They found that a third of women in the UK enjoy drinking beer, but feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to order it outside of music or sporting events. 42% of those polled think the industry should change its advertising first and foremost if it’s to make beer more appealing to women -and it’s not a taste issue, as only a quarter (26%) said the taste should be altered.

The Bittersweet Partnership has been set up to understand what women really want when it comes to beer - everything from advertising, education about the true calorific content, through to the glass it is drunk from. This information will be used to develop new initiatives to improve the drinking experience and change the way Coors brands engage with women in the future.

There’s a dedicated website, www.bittersweetpartnership.com and for more information you can see the full research report.

[This article first appeared on The Spirit World]

Food Safari

by Andrew on March 20, 2009 in Taste, Tasting Events/Shows with 1 Comment

food safari Food Safari runs events and workshops that offer behind-the-scenes access to some of Suffolk’s best loved food and drinks producers.

“We specialise in Field to Fork days which provide a complete food experience, in many cases combining farm walks and tours with hands-on workshops and cookery demonstrations.

We aim to connect food and drink lovers with dedicated and inspiring producers like Pinneys of Orford (oysters and smoked fish), the Wild Meat Company (game), and Blythburgh Pork. You will hear the fascinating stories behind these products, see how they are produced, and even get your hands dirty plucking a pheasant, making sausages or baking bread.”

Forthcoming events include Wild Game in a Day (Sunday March 29th) - a hands-on day of, preparing, cooking and eating a variety of feathered and furred game, Free Range Pork in a Day (Saturday 16th May & Sunday 11th October) - a walk around the famous Blythburgh Pigs before a butchery demonstration to make your own Suffolk sausages and Barley to Beer (April 2009) - the whole brewing process with an interactive tour of award-winning micro-brewery, Grain, and see where their barley grows. The day includes a beer and food matching tutorial.

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