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– Struise Related / By John Paul Cassidy
If you are follower of what we do at Port Street Beer House, you will know that we constantly try to fill our fonts and fridges with the sort of beer that not only keeps things fresh and exciting for you (and us), but also to enable you to taste what are widely considered as some of the best beers in the world.
From time to time, although we think all of the beers on offer are worth a mention, sometimes we get a delivery of something that warrants a little more of an introduction. On both counts this is definitely the case for a selection of beers from a certain De Struise Brouwers that arrived in our fridges a week or two ago. The reason being that not only are they from Belgium, the country whose ‘beer scene’ is revered across the world, but in their relatively short history (well we all know that Belgium’s beer heritage owes a special thanks to a certain type of balding, dress wearing men stretching back several centuries).
De Struise have been voted as the ‘best brewery in the world’ (as voted for by the Rate beer members in 2007 only 4 years after they first began brewing), they were also voted as the ‘best brewery in Belgium 2010’ (as well as 2007) and have received numerous accolades individually for a number of their beers. So you can see why we think they are worth a special mention.
The beers we have for your delectation are as follows:
Pannepot – Possibly De Struise’s best known beer, is named after the old fishing boats that could be seen in the ports bordering France during the early 1900’s and is in the style traditionally enjoyed by the Fishermen who sailed them. A unique dark and flavourful beer with warming malt and sweetness.
Pannepot Grand Reserva – As the name suggests, this is Pannepot with a twist. Aged on Calvados (apple brandy) barrels, this reserve pours deep black with an amazing sweet aroma. Lots of dried fruit and wood on the palate.
Pannepeut – First brewed in 2006 specifically for the for the Danish Københavnske Øldage beer festival this Belgian strong ale has a rich dark fruit nose & sweet finish and due to it’s popularity production now equals that of Pannepot.
Rosso – Lively amber beer with nose of red fruit & yeast. Pours hazy orange with flavours of caramel with pleasing sour (ish) finish
Elliot Brew – Part of Ratebeer’s masters series this beer is a collaboration brew with the Danish heavyweight Mikkeller. Big IPA hop profile with Resinous notes & some sweetness and a big malt body with nice bitterness.
So now you have read about them, maybe it’s time to try one or two and make up your own mind or add your own tasting notes to the site. While you do so here is a little bit of useless trivia for you to ponder whilst you savour one of these beauties.
You may have noticed that on the De Struise crest there appears the image of an ostrich. The reason being that the beers were originally produced by owners of an ostrich farm-cum-bed and breakfast, for their guests. The company also takes it’s name from the historic Flemish word for ostrich, which also is a contemporary slang term meaning ‘tough’, and this why De Struise are referred to as ‘The Sturdy Brewers’. Considering the accolades they have received this is probably quite apt, if not a little little humble…. Enjoy!
Words by John Paul Cassidy
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– Meet The Brewer with Hardknott / Monday 30th April 2012
Back in November 2011, Hardknott proudly launched Vitesse Noir at our lovely establishment. SO we thought it was time to open the doors and let them take over a Meet the Brewer evening. Be prepared for a bit of Sooty action and some fine beers!
Brewery info /
This brewery was originally located at the Woolpack Inn, at the foot of Hardknott Pass, near Boot in Eskdale but in Feb 2010 the pub was sold and the kit taken to an industrial unit in Millom. The pub continues to sell at least one of the beers.
The inn was bought in February 2004 by Ann Wedgewood and Dave Bailey. They decided in 2005 that the Bunkhouse was not making a significant contribution to the business and so they decided to replace the Bunkhouse with a microbrewery. The Woolpack was known to have brewed beer in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Dave became famous as Hardknott Dave for his blog, which you can read it by clicking here.
Port Street Beer School Presents :
Meet The Brewer with Hardknott
Monday 30th April 2012
doors 5.30pm / event starts 6.15pm
£8 tickets available from the bar or 0161 237 9949
Port Street Beer House, Manchester, M1 2EQ
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– Record Store Day / Revolutions Brewing Company – Saturday 21st April
West Yorkshire-based craft brewery The Revolutions Brewing Co. has teamed up with Record Store Day to make a special beer to celebrate this year’s event on April 21st. We will be stocking this on cask at both Common and Port Street Beer House. The beer, to be called Revolver, will be available in cask and in bottles at selected outlets around the UK.
Record Store Day is a day to celebrate the cornerstone of our society that is, the independently-owned record shop. Special vinyl, CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists across the globe make special appearances and performances. This annunal event is celebrated on the third Saturday every April. We suggest you get off your arse, visit your favourite record shop and purchase some lovely music instead of downloading tracks for free, go support.
Our local emporium Piccadilly Records will be taking part in the event, we recommend you support your local dealer. Our big brother Common will also hosting a veritable feast of DJs on the day, you can read more about that here.
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– Festival of Britain(s Beers) / Your opinion
The Festival of Britain(s Beers) has seen such a wonderful week and a half of tasty beers, we only have a few days remaining.
So now is you chance to pay us a visit and more importantly we would like to know YOUR favourite beer from the past couple of weeks. Let us know by posting a comment below, maybe get a bit of debate flowing?
Highlights for us have been Camden Black Ink and anything by Gadds, two of the best brewers around at the moment! Amazing beers.
The Festival has proven such a success we have decided to make this an annual event, bring on 2013!