Helsinki Part 2 - Helsinki Beer Festival 2015

After the slightly disappointing visit to the One Pint Pub, it was time to head on to the main event - the Helsinki Beer Festival. It was taking place in a building known as the Old Cable Factory, a massive former, erm, cable factory which has been converted into an exhibition space. But before we got there, there was one more pub on the way that I wanted to try out. Amsterdam is a large, airy modern pub owned by the same company as the excellent Kaisla. Despite the name of the pub it downplayed the Dutch theming, with the odd reference to a bicycle being the only concession to our Dutch cousins. The beer list was sadly nowhere near as exciting as Kaisla's, and again I didn't notice anything on cask. The pub had a mini festival on showcasing IPA's, so I felt it rude not to try one. Notkea IPA from Panimo & Tislaamo Teerenpeli was a rather good example of the style, with a lovely hoppy finish that was very enjoyable.

After this pre-game drink it was onwards with my pals to the festival. Although the festival started at 12pm we got there for 4pm, as the entertainment started at 10:30pm and quite frankly it looked unmissable:

We wanted to be concious for these guys so the later start was a good idea. As with anything beer related in Helsinki the entrance fee wasn't cheap - 17 euro to get in, although we could check in our coats for free because we had pre booked. The cloakroom check scam was one of the more annoying things about Helsinki - just about every bar after 11pm required you to "check in" your jacket into the cloakroom - an easy way to charge an entrance fee without charging an entrance fee as everybody wears a jacket there! After the cloakroom check in we walked into the large main hall - its factory history showing quite clearly with the high ceiling and industrial decor.

Unlike the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) in London Olympia which lets in lots of natural light to brighten the proceedings, the Cable Factory's large windows had been completely blacked out, leading to a dark and slightly foreboding atmosphere. However unlike the GBBF the crowd in Helsinki where mainly young, so maybe they appreciated the more clubby surroundings. The place was packed with breweries local and international plying their trade. Apart from a "British Ale" bar on the upper level, the majority of the beer was keg. This didn't really matter in the end as the majority of the beers I tried were very tasty.

I sampled many beers throughout the evening. A guide in English listed the award winners and other notable beers. Highlights for me were Thor Bock by Suomenlinnan Panimo, a supremely drinkable Bock style beer with excellent, easy drinking malty flavours. Hillbino's Rye Hiffer IPA by Panimoravintola Bruuveri was an excellent IPA, with big hoppy flavours in the finish - top stuff. Sadly the food offering at the festival wasn't anywhere near as good as the excellent food selection at the GBBF. I spotted around five stalls selling grub, including BBQ, Burgers and German sausages, the last of which I decided to grab some tasty, and inevitably expensive, currywurst. It was washed down with Hainfelder Spezialbier Dunkel by Brauerei Hainfeld, which matched the food very nicely indeed. My favourite beer of the festival ended up being one from the local Helsinki Brewery, their IPA being a top notch example of the style - hoppy, fruity, and not to heavy on the booze.

We managed to stay awake until the entertainment, and Martti Servo and the boys didn't disappoint with a very enthusiastic performance. The Finns absolutely loved them - singing along merrily, dancing wildly and there were even a couple of conga lines. I didn't understand any of the lyrics apart from one song where you were expected to shout "sauna" during the chorus - I was happy to oblige. This was clearly a kitschy act with a bit of cult appeal and it was a lot of fun. Look them up on YouTube for an idea of their act. An excellent end to a well run and very pleasurable beer festival.

In my next update I'll be telling you a bit about the pubs I visited on the Sunday and Monday after - yes somehow despite drinking my weight in booze at the festival I managed to cram some more in at some very good Helsinki boozers. See you soon!

Helsinki Part 1

A few weeks ago I visited Helsinki with a friend of mine for the annual beer festival that was taking place. I'd never been to that part of the world before and a beer festival was a good excuse as any to visit, so I took the opportunity to spend a long weekend in this charming if chilly city. We were going to the festival on the Saturday, so I had Friday night to explore some of the pubs in town. After doing extensive research on ratebeer.com, I had a list of decent pubs recommended by the crazy beardies on that site. It looks like over the past few years Helsinki has really embraced the craft beer scene, and there's been an explosion of pubs serving decent beer, including an inevitable BrewDog. I intended to visit as many of these boozers as possible!

First up was Oluthuone Kaisla, a large pub centrally located by the train station. This pub looks deceptively small from the outside, but once inside it's surprisingly cavernous, and as I ventured deeper and deeper into the pub more and more rooms revealed themselves. With plenty of nooks and crannies and a buzzing atmosphere this was a comfortable place to enjoy a few beers. My friend had already staked out a table, so it was down to the tricky business of choosing what to drink. The beer list was extensive, with plenty on keg and bottle, but sadly nothing on cask. I played it safe on my first beer with Kukko Pils from Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas (get ready for more crazy brewery names throughout this post) as I needed something refreshing and sharp after being cooped up in a packed plane. The Pils certainly fit the bill, clean and refreshing and a pleasure to sup. My next beer was more adventurous, the Hoppe IPA from Suomenlinnan Panimo. This was a big IPA with bold, brash flavours and it was absolutely delicious.

I was prepared for Finland to be expensive beer wise, but those two beers came to a combined total of around 14 euros! Apparently the alcohol tax had just been raised again - I'm sure it was merely coincidence that it happened just before a beer festival was due to take place. Despite the initial shock of the prices I very much enjoyed my time at the Kaisla. It was like a larger than life version of a Wetherspoons but with a jolly, classy atmosphere and music being played.

I liked the Kaisla so much I returned on the Sunday evening where it turns out they do a special promotion - pints for the price of a half. I doubt the barmaid had seen a smile so wide as the one on me when she told me the news. This much welcomed promotion brought the prices down to an almost reasonable level. I enjoyed pints of Pekko Pale Ale by Malmgårdin Panimo and Plevnan Smörre IPA from Koskipanimo, both of which were very suppable and in the case of the IPA packed full of big flavours. They tasted even better as I was only paying around 5 euro a pint instead of 8 euro! The promotion did highlight an irritating habit of Helsinki pubs where they do not halve the price of a pint when ordering a half - it was always a little bit over.

Back to the Friday evening. After the Kaisla, we moved on to The Black Door, a solid interpretation of a British pub. Two handpumps were on the bar, serving Skinners ales, including Cornish Knocker. I dread to think how much it would cost, and I'm not a huge fan of Skinners anyway, so I stuck to the Finnish keg beer. Diane was a new beer from the local Maku Brewery. It was a bit rough and ready and needed a bit more work but it was pretty tasty. The pub was packed and lively with young and old alike, some tables with big groups and some customers happily enjoying a pint on their own. Helsinki is one of the few cities I've been to outside of the UK that captures the spirit of British pubs, people are here to drink and chat, but it's done on a bigger and dare I say better scale. The rest of the night was a bit of a blur as I ended up in a Russian bar which served only one beer (Carlsberg) and one vodka before ending up dancing like a idiot in "authentic Oirish" bar Molly Malones. I think I drank a Kilkenney. It's not important. I had a lot of fun.

The next morning I wasn't feeling so much fun, but after a hearty breakfast it was time to head to the Beer Festival. By lunchtime I had perked up a bit and decided to try a couple of more pubs on the way to the festival. First up was One Pint Pub, a well respected little bar at the bottom of a block of flats, it was so well hidden I had a bit of trouble finding it. With its dark glass and low lighting I thought the place was shut from the outside, but through the gloom I could make out some punters. Walking in there were only three punters in, all sitting at a table to themselves reading a paper. With no music and no fruit machines it was a bit like being in a very small Wetherspoons. My half of Red Neck Ale from De Proefbrouwerij was OK - a bit of a limp IPA and not as strongly hopped as the label suggested. There was a huge selection of bottled beers available, plus plenty of keg from little known breweries, but it all came at a cost - this was the most expensive of the pubs I'd visited so far. The atmosphere was dead so I left after my half, but I imagine this place can get quite jovial when there's a few people in.

That's it for now - next week I'll tell you about the festival and some more pubs I visited in Helsinki. See you on Sunday!

The Old Jail, Westerham

The Lovely Jemma's parents live in leafy Biggin Hill, right on the border of London and Kent. When visiting we often take a walk around the surrounding countryside. Biggin Hill is in the London borough of Bromley but walking through the rolling fields it feels a million miles away from the big smog of the capital. There are plenty of pubs in the surrounding area for the thirsty rambler, including the Queens Head and the Aperfield Inn, both of which I've written about previously. Be careful when going into the Queen's Head though, as humble man of the people and millionaire city banker Nigel Farage lives in the area, and you may just find him in the pub necking 100 pints in one sitting or whatever down to earth activity the papers are portraying him doing.

When on our walks there is one pub we frequent more than others, mainly because it's just far enough to make the walk worthwhile but not long enough to get me whining like a little girl who has dropped her ice cream down a drain. The Old Jail is a Enterprise inn with a comfortable countryside feel inside, all low beams and old wooden furniture, and a sizeable beer garden outside. I think the reason I haven't written about this pub is that it's a bit, well, "vanilla." The ales are in good nick but the selection doesn't get any more exciting than Harvey's Best Bitter, and the food is good but I'm writing about pubs, not restaurants. It's certainly a nice place to stop if you happen to be in the area but it's not worth making a special journey for. However last week they held a beer festival which is just about noteworthy enough to write about, and quite frankly it's been a quiet week for blog content.

My heart sank a little when the beer list posted on their Facebook page included Doom Bar and Bombardier, but I also noticed there were a couple of local Westerham Brewery beers on which I hadn't tried before so I headed down. The festival setup was quite jolly, with a decent food tent and some arts and crafts stalls. After nosing around the stalls and buying some delicious home made salad dressing, I popped to the back of the garden, where the beers where being served in a hidden corner behind fencing. The beers seemed to be the shameful secret rather than the main event. The Westerham Brews were available so I tried their Bonfire and Hop Bomb. The Bonfire was very pleasant, a solid best bitter perfect for a slightly chilly autumn afternoon. The Hop Bomb was OK but it had a slight sourness to it which I didn't find appealing. I also tried a Sharps Special which despite my low expectations was actually pretty good, a strong bitter which would easily warm the soul on a long autumn night.

Despite the slight chill the sunshine was out and we enjoyed hog roast sandwiches along with the beer. There was a good turn out and hopefully it will encourage the Jail to do more beer fests in the future as it was pretty good overall. It always pleases me to see pubs doing these community days, and if some local traders and breweries get some business out of it all the better. Cheers.

Orpington Liberal Club

Orpington is one of those suburbs that nearly every Londoner has heard of but none of them have visited, and with good reason. The high street is mainly made up of coffee shops, cafes and charity shops and while it is somewhat nice to see so many independent businesses as a whole the shopping experience is lacklustre. It doesn't have any big anchor stores such as Marks & Spencer or even a Primark which makes it a bit useless for shopping, especially when there are better shopping options nearby such as nearby Bromley. The only reason anybody local may want to visit Orpington, or "Orps" as it is known by absolutely nobody, is that it has a gigantic Tesco, a sprawling shrine to commerce spread over two floors and selling just about everything you can imagine. Perhaps it's the cause of the death of Orpington's high street.

Orps is also lacking entertainment wise, with precious few pubs and no cinema or theatre. There used to be an Odeon but it closed - maybe the local chav population destroyed the place. Pub wise there isn't anywhere particulary good. Most are filled with "undesirables" - although I am a wuss so anybody wearing tracksuit bottoms and looking slightly shifty is considered undesirable to me. Even the pokey Wetherspoons, usually a good bet in scruffy shopping towns like this is a bit too shabby to spend much time in.

Luckily there is one place in Oprington for the real ale drinker, but you have to be a member to enjoy it. In an unassuming house across the road from the Tescos is the Orpington Liberal Club. I'd been meaning to visit this place for ages as I'd heard good things, and it has received plenty of positive recognition from CAMRA. Last week they had a beer festival on which non members could attend, so I took the opportunity to stop by for a visit.

The cosy little club has a comfortable lounge room and small bar, featuring six handpumps. For the beer festival an adjacent room was set up with around 30 casks - mainly local beers but also some from further afield, including Marble Beers from Manchester. I tried a fair few, and highlights included Clarence and Fredericks Single Hop Amarillo, a crisp and deceptively easy drinking pale ale from one of my favourite new breweries. Who knew something good could come from Croydon? The Tonbridge Union Pale Ale was another favourite, a rich, malty and slightly fruity treat. Outside there was a barbecue, although what appeared to be a logistics mess up meant there was no food served until 1:30pm. I was absolutely ravenous and a wee bit tipsy by that point so I purchased a burger as soon as they were off the grill, and munched it down while listening to folk and blues music played by an enthusiastic and very good local troupe.

All in attendance were invited to vote for their beer of the festival, and the eventual winner was Toujours from Gyle 59. I had a taste and I could see why it won - it was an accessible, easy drinking saison, a lovely introduction to the style. Overall I had a great time at this friendly little club - there was a lovely community spirit to the whole thing and the beer, food, music and atmosphere all came together very nicely indeed. I had a brief chat with the owner who clearly cares about the beer and his club. Well worth a visit if you do somehow end up in Orpington - perhaps you really like visiting gigantic branches of Tesco.

Caterham Beer Festival

I'm not sure why I decided I should update my blog every Sunday. My life really isn't exciting enough to sustain a riveting, informative and witty blog post every week. I was at the point where I wouldn't have any content for today's update as absolutely nothing of note was happening in my life which was pub or beer related. I was starting to worry that I may have to do a post on what my definition of craft beer is, or complain about how evil pubcos are ruining the industry. Just as all hope seemed lost The Lovely Jemma's dad got in touch. He had won two wristbands to the Caterham Beer Festival but he couldn't go due to a previous engagement. Well I had no choice but to make use of the wristbands and I spent last Saturday afternoon sampling some tasty ales.

This was my first visit to Caterham and as I exited the train station I was disappointed by just how nondescript the town centre is. Most market towns seem to be working from the same identikit template these days, packed with the same stores and brands. However I did appreciate that Waitrose and Morrison's were across the street from each other so you could quickly tell a residents social standing in Caterham depending on which one they ventured in too.

The festival was taking place in Soper Hall, which was a very pleasant venue for a beer festival. There were two rooms serving around 40 ales plus a few ciders, and all the ones I tried were in good condition. Highlights included Black Cherry Mild from Kissingate Brewery, a delicious fruity and chocolate stout which hit the the perfect middle ground of sweetness and malt. Jarl from Fyne Ales was also on offer, and I enjoyed a half of this accomplished, crisp and hoppy ale which I think is deserving of the many awards it has won.

I remembered to take pictures! Here's Soper Hall

Things took a turn for the bizarre when me and The Lovely Jemma decided to venture out for some lunch. Although the beer festival had some interesting looking food options including a wood fire pizza van and another stall selling tapas, it was all outside and I didn't fancy standing out in the cold shoving food down my gullet. I consulted the mobile version of the Good Beer Guide and found a pub nearby that sold food. Using Google Maps we set forth. Google Maps is a great tool but I really wish it would warn you of any steep gradients when giving directions. We ended up walking up an incredibly steep hill and by the time we reached the top I was wheezing and sweating like a demented puffin.

Still at least there was food on the horizon and we walked into the pub, The King and Queen. Walking in I noticed a distinct lack of menus. No matter, we found a comfy table by the log fire and I went up to ask the barmaid for a food menu. "We don't do food any more" was the apologetic response. Apparently the landlord had recently changed and the new landlord doesn't have a license to serve food. By this point we were both ravenous so we rather shamefully left the pub having purchased nothing and went on a quest for food.

This is where things went a bit weird. We found a pub down the road called the Royal Oak, and a menu outside the pub proclaimed there was food, although oddly they claimed food was served in the Royal Oak "Cafe." We walked into the pub and this was a real locals pub/mortuary. As we walked in the customer chatter went a bit quieter and we got strange looks as we were under the age of 50. I ignored it and headed to the back of the pub where a cafe sign was displayed. As we headed into the back room we must have went through some kind of time travel portal as we appeared to be in a Northern greasy spoon caff from the 70's. Except it was in the back room of a pub. "It's like we're in Blackpool!" exclaimed TLJ as we took a seat. All the caff clichés were there - we got offered tea or coffee, served in big sturdy mugs, asked if we wanted a newspaper, the menu was made up of mostly pork products and chips, and we got offered bread and butter with our meals. It was as greasy spoon as you can get. But we were in a pub. Utterly bizarre but the server was very friendly and the food was pretty good. I really wish I took pictures of the place but I was worried if I got my camera out I may end up getting burned alive by the regulars due to using the devils tools. I didn't sample an ale, this didn't really seem the type of place to cater to real ale drinkers, but I did see a lonely Harveys handpump on the bar. In fact the landlord seems rather proud of their lager selection according to their Google page:

Landlord, Alan Lander, says that the pub prides itself on the quality of its beers and lagers.He said: "We are owned by Enterprise Inns which means we can serve a bigger range of beers and lagers. For example you would not normally expect to see both Carling and Fosters available under the same roof."

Lots of happy drinkers inside the hall.

Back at the beer festival, I was pleased to see that breweries from the South East area were well represented. I sampled Nektar from Cronx Brewery, a new startup based in Croydon who are starting to make a name for themselves. The ale was incredibly bitter, maybe too much, and I could start to feel my mouth turning in on itself. There were some sweet notes but this was a bit to much of a bitter thud for me. Still there was promise there and I look forward to trying more of their beers. The Westerham Brewery Double Stout was a more skilful, robust beer, but as they've been going for a lot longer than the Cronx boys maybe that isn't surprising. A rich, tasty stout, this was the perfect beer to have before heading home in the cold winter air.

Overall this was a well organised, friendly and very enjoyable beer festival. The only downside was that there was no seating area, but space was at a premium so I can understand that they wanted to pack in as many punters as possible. I look forward to going back next year. I may even pay for admission!

Beer festivals a go go - CAMRA Great British Beer Festival 2013 and Woodies, New Malden

Last week was a good time for drinking copious amounts of ale. First up was a visit to the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival 2013. This is the second time I've visited the festival at Olympia, and it's a much more pleasant space than its former home at the dark, dank Earl Courts. The light airy building is very welcoming and the lay out this year was great, with the bars spaced out nicely and avoiding the cramped conditions that build up as the day goes on. The only downside is that there never seems to be enough seating, and as I get older and creakier this is getting more important for me. To be fair most of the patrons who did grab a seat were probably way past creaking territory and were approaching snapping and cracking, but it would have been nice to have more places to rest my tired feet and beery head.

The only picture I took at the festival and it's not even indoors. Useless.

The Championship beer of Britain, announced at the festival, was the 1872 Porter from the Elland brewery. I managed to grab a sample and although it's a very solid porter, with a great malt start and a fruity finish, it felt a bit of a safe bet for a championship beer. With so many exciting breweries and beers appearing over the past couple of years, it's surprising that CAMRA claim that the best ale of the year is something that feels decidedly old fashioned. Maybe CAMRA are rebelling against the craft ale scene with this choice or maybe there's no agenda at all. Who knows?! Certainly not me. Not going to stop me from blogging about it though.

As usual there was an excellent selection of ales on offer and I sampled a fair few of them. Highlights included the Chocolate and Vanilla Stout from Titanic which was an excellent ale, with a wonderful sweet aroma leading to a perfect balance of sweetness and burnt hops.The Triple Chocoholic from Saltaire was another winner, with wonderful, subtle chocolate flavours and a good, long dry finish. Fine stuff all round. The American section was very busy, as it has been at past festivals, and by the time I got there there wasn't a lot of choice left. I tried a half of the Snake Dog IPA from Flying Dog which was a very solid American pale with strong hoppy flavours, but like a lot of American beers it was very boozy (7.3%) - almost unnecessarily so.

There were a couple of duffers. Sharp's Own from Sharps was a rather insipid effort at a golden ale, with a rather limp and watery taste that all beers from InBev seem to suffer from these days. It was still passable, and nothing like the horror of A-pork-alypse from Brains. A porter with bacon flavour added, it tasted exactly like taking a sip of a sub standard porter and then shoving bacon fries into your gob while still swallowing your booze. It wasn't completely horrible and after one sip I didn't start vomiting all over the floor while CAMRA stewards desperately threw sand on the floor in an effort to soak up my technicolour stream, but it wasn't a very pleasurable ale. Much like casting Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs, it was a brave but ultimately stupid effort.

Despite a couple of iffy beers I had a great time at the festival and it's probably the best one I've been to in the last six years or so. The food on offer was tremendous and I managed to get through a pork pie, scotch egg, wild boar burger, pork scratchings and seafood medley. In case you're wondering I didn't eat it all at the same time, had I done so I think I would have tested the very limits of how much vomit one man can produce.

The crazy decor at Woodies.

On Saturday I paid a visit to another beer festival, this time at Woodies in New Malden in SW London. Woodies is a former sports hall turned into a pub. Walking in you're bombarded with sports memorabilia everywhere, plastered on the floor, walls and ceiling. There's also a lot of funeral programmes (presumably of patrons past) dotted about, which seemed a bit morbid. Overall though it's all very eclectic and there was a jolly atmosphere. There were plenty of tasty ales on offer. Park Life from Windsor and Eton was a good start, a light hoppy session beer that I would be quite happy to drink all day. 80 Shilling from Dark Star was a fine attempt at a dark Scottish ale, with a strong malty flavour and undertones of orange peel. Good stuff.

The American Pale Ale by Clarence & Fredericks is probably one of the best things to come out of Croydon, where the brewers are based. Good hoppy flavours and floral notes made this a solid attempt at a pale ale. Frankly I was amazed the beer made it to the festival at all and the delivery wasn't hijacked by a gang of Croydon's drug fuelled crazies, or some bored kids. Finally, Good Health from Goody Ales was a solid golden ale sporting a nice dry finish, and a slight hint of Tim Brooke-Taylor.

A petting zoo was there for the day so I got to laugh at some sheep, ducks and goats, the primary reason for the existence of any petting zoo. I gave a wide berth to the geese though as I didn't fancy running, screaming, beers in hand, being chased by the orange beaked, beady eyed, honking bastards as they try to nip my legs into pieces one peck at a time. The day was further sullied by the arrival of my least favourite amateur paganists, the hated and sinister Morris Dancers. Thankfully this troupe, although enthusiastic, weren't very good, so I was pretty sure their bizarre ritual wasn't going to resurrect any ancient Pagan Gods this time.

My camera spontaneously combusted shortly after this photo was taken.

I had a great time in Woodies despite the Morris Dancers and if it wasn't located in what appeared to be the Twilight Zone I'd make more regular visits there. If you happen to be in the New Malden area it's well worth stopping by the place for a drink or five.

Next update will be the conclusion of my jaunt around Preston. I've also made a recent visit to Bath which I'll no doubt be blabbering on about. See you soon!