Being struck down by the flu last week meant I was bed ridden and unable to fulfil my blogging duties. Luckily for me some of my lovely friends were willing to step into my shoes and Sean from Mullen Bartending headed over to the Oast House on Spinningfields for a new ale tasting!
On entering the Oast House we were greeted by Warren who was leading the tasting. This was fairly new territory for me, usually running and attending spirit tastings myself, I didn’t really know what to expect. Warren ran through some of the different types of brewing and ingredients before we started with the beers. Here is a brief rundown of them all:
Thwaites – Nutty Black. Dark ruby mild with hints of roast nuts and bittersweet flavours.
Phoenix Brewery – Arizona, Don’t let the name mislead, it’s brewed in Heywood! Great tag line, “Dry as a desert, Refreshing as an oasis” fairly pale with citrus notes.
Thwaites – Lancaster Bomber. Golden chestnut colour, Malty warming aftertaste.
Red Willow Brewery – Reckless. Champion pale ale from Macclesfield.
Thornbridge brewery – IPA (Indian Pale Ale). Fruity, light and strong!
Erdinger Weissbier – This white beer was always likely to be the favourite, I’m a massive Erdinger fan, but it still caught me by surprise at how different it was to the other expressions. Soft, slight citrus and a long finish.
Schneider Weisse – This German wheat beer was the oddball of the pack for me because it came along as the strongest beer of the evening yet it was strangely easy drinking which, is dangerous. This carried flavours that I’m not usually a fan of (banana and beer isn’t my thing, no sweet tooth….so I thought) but this wasn’t the case! Refreshing and had a great length to the finish which always left you wanting more.
The last 2 were new beers are not even on the market yet and were part of the Beer spotters portfolio (This is the company run by Bez of Happy Mondays fame), the first named simply The Beer Spotter was easy enough to drink but for me lacked any significant qualities, the second had no name…..Very mysterious! But the taste was unreal, big hoppy flavour with a soft honey finish which sat together in the middle perfectly! As I’ve already said I’m not really a sweet person but this is something that I could easily see myself ordering at the bar.
As for the Oast House, the venue looks beautiful. Outside and inside is the same with a warm cosy almost log cabin kind of feel to it, the craft beer selection is fantastic and as a spirits fan I love a good back bar! To finish the tasting they brought us a choice of Burger or grilled chicken kebab, both with seasoned fries. I chose the kebab and it was beautiful from the presentation to the smell and then the flavour. All in all I great night and service from the hosts to the waiting staff and bartender.
I’m not a beer or ale drinker but have to say I am intrigued by the Schneider Weisse with banana! The food sounds fabulous as well I will definitely be visiting soon.
If you fancy the ale and beer tastings you can find out more information at www.theoasthouse.uk.com/ale-tasting.
I was invited to this event as a guest of the restaurant. This is an honest account of the experience my guest blogger had on the evening.
1 Comment
Never been to the Oast, but will give it a go next time me n hubs are in town.