Earlier, I was able to pick up my beers for the Beer Swap.  I was very excited to find that Sam Lanes, from Real Ale Reviews, had sent through the following choice selection of beers from parts of Yorkshire.   Can’t wait to start the tasting.

• Copper Dragon Orange Pipin
• Leeds Brewery Best
• Leeds Brewery Pale
• Saltaire Brewery Cascade Pale

The plan
It was simple enough – take two interesting beers to the beach, taste them, compare them, BrewRank the beers and video it. Oh yeah, we also needed to pick a winner.

The setting
We had post card perfect day and beach side location. Brighton beach (in Sussex, UK) on a sunny, clear and very warm day (temperature was around 25C/78F)… If it weren’t for the pier and the shingles (should really call them rocks) on the beach we could have even been in the actual South Pacific. It was a Monday or maybe a Tuesday. The beach was pretty empty. Although there was a guy paddling his surf board and a few tasty bikinis around, but that’s not important. What matters is the beer.

We had chosen well. It was the Epic Pale Ale vs. the Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale. This seemed to a fitting pairing. Two unique beers. One brewed in New Zealand with lots of hops (Cascade? – I am sure we could find out on the excellent Epic website but we’re lazy) and the other brewed in the UK using Kiwi Hops and by a Kiwi-Italian brewing duo… Crazy. Had to be good.

Tasting Notes (abridged)
Ummm, need to re-watch the original video… [UPDATE to follow]

The Video (Beastie Boys mix): Filmed on Brighton beach in Sussex. This is the 1st in a possible series of beer taste-offs planned. Two great craft beers with lots of hops and unique tast – one from the UK and one from New Zealand but with crossed paths in the global world of craft beer. Backing track is Beastie Boys / Now Get Busy from the Wired CD (Creative Commons license). Enjoy!




The Winner
Epic won by just a tad. More bold. Epic scored 16 and Kipling scored 15.5 (out of 20). Both BeerVikings agreed on scoring and the winner (this time).

Verdict on the Flip Mino?
Well, the Flip is easy to use. Not sure about the camera work and the sound. Need to skill up on doing videos and editing software. Fun. Easy. This is just the beginning of Beer Viking TV.

What I Say:

Dark brown beauty.  A caramel, grainy with balanced hop coming through nose.  From the nose, I was expecting it to be a lot heavier and surprised by a Sweet and Sour (the rye malt?) giving way to what I would have describe as a sweet, cherry, bitter hoppiness, that fades leaving you with a wonderful after taste.

I know this is in effect to be a Double/Imperial IPA but I would suggest that this actually could be considered more along the lines of a Belgian trippel and would be curious to taste it in a flight against such.

What They Say:

Before that, I have to have an additional say with I love the fact that the Shmaltz Brewing Company (who are behind He’brew and Coney Island) published the recipe to this find brew.

Malts:  2-row, Rye Ale Malt, Torrified Rye, Crystal Rye 75, Crystal Malt 65, Wheat, Kiln Amber, Caramel 70

Hops:  Warrior, Cascade, Simcoe, Crystal, Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial. Dry Hopped with Amarillo and Crystal

Ladies and Gentlemen, Shmaltz Brewing Co. is proud to introduce Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A. Brewed with an obscene amount of malts and hops. Shocking flavors – far beyond contemporary community standards. We cooked up the straight dope for the growing minions of our nation’s Radical Beer junkies.

11th-13th February are the dates for the Battersea Beer Festival.

They have published an advance beer list of the beers that will be available for tasting.

Here’s a wishlist that will grow, please add to the list or suggestions:

Downton IPA 6.8% ABV

Elland 1872 Porter 6.5% ABV

Saltaire Cascade Pale Ale 4.8% ABV

Moor Old Freddy Walker 7.3% ABV (though would be a dream if they can get the the JJJ Triple IPA)

Abbeydale Matins 3.6% ABV

Triple FFF Alton’s Pride 3.8% ABV
Triple FFF Pressed Rat & Warthog Mild 3.8% ABV

Wickwar Mr Perretts Traditional Stout 5.9% ABV
Wickwar Station Porter 6.1% ABV

Purity Pure Gold 3.8% ABV

Otley O1 4.0% ABV
Otley CO2 4.2% ABV
Otley OBB 4.5% ABV

And of course, don’t forget that Dark Star will be there.