The Brewers.

It really is all about the beer.

Since December when I last posted, a few things have changed on the supply side of Liberty as well.

First, who has gone?

Well, Brewdog never really arrived, as it became clear that their ethos was very different to ours. And Plain Ales decided that someone else would do a better job of taking their beer into London, so we wish them both all the best in the future, but don't call us......

The unpleasant bit out of the way, who has arrived?

Well, we now have not one but two great English Craft Lager makers with Calvors joining us earlier in the year. Thier Dark Lager is really very good, and as with Cotswold they do it properly, with the beer 'lagering' in the tank for at least six weeks to give it the proper depth of flavour. It's completely different to most people's understanding of what 'lager' is if you've only ever drank bland Corporate fizziness.

Following hard on their heels, a Foursome of West Country brewers. Firstly we finally convinced Justin that we'd take good enough care of his casks and got the fabulous Moor Beer on board, if you haven't tried their unique take on beer, from unfined golden beers to big hefty dark and fruity 'Old Freddy Walker' than you really should. Somerland Gold in the Keg is probably going to be the taste of my Summer now I've found a pub nearby that sells it, and then there is Arbor Ales from Bristol. Arbor have a really strong range of cask conditioned beers that are a little bit from the left field, but truely excellent to drink. Their single hop monster 'Yamkima Valley' weighs in at a respectable(!) 7.5% ABV and saved my life the other evening when I wondered exactly why it is that I put myself through our weekly 'routine'. It reminds me EXACTLY why I love this job. It's mustard.

The other two, Cornish pairing Tintagel and Harbour, well, Tintagel enticed me with two really great beers at 'The Front Bar' in Falmouth, 'Harbour Special' and 'Cornwalls Pride' convinced me enough that they where worth the long drive to Cornwall, and over at Harbour they have another graduate of the Herriott Watt school of mad brewers working on a fantastic new brewery plant, so I very much look forward to their first selection of brews when they arrive this very week. If the pre-production test brews I was treated to at the brewery where anything to go by, they should be a bit special.

And so to the Welshers. Step up messers Tiny Rebel of Newport. what can I say? Any brewery that hands me a single hop Nelson Sauvin beer as good as 'Full Nelson' is straight on the list, and for youngsters they are deffinitely doing it right. This week sees another new beer out their box of tricks, 'Cutch' which has, in the Sesame Street tradition, many hops all starting with the letter 'C'. Thats Citra, Chinook, Cascade, Columbus.......

Still not done.

Ilkley came to us with an offer of their new MJ keg range, featuring the blinding Summit IPA and equally God like Fortis stout, but we quickly twisted their arm into letting us have their casks down here as well. They danced onto the stage with two collaborations, with Pete Brown and Mellisa Cole, they then topped that by drafting in HRH Princess Anne to brew a Jubilee Beer. Now, that's skills.

Last but by no means least, Grain from Norfolk have been working with us for a while, and enjoyed their second strong rotation last week with a chance to grab hold of their 316 Extra Pale with the new stainless pump clip. These beers are awesomely good anyway, but when you have this on the pump, well you are a Don. I'm hoping that we can soon get Grain available every week for you lovely people.