Camden Town Brewery launched a nitro-keg stout late last year. Although cask-conditioned stout is a great thing, this is a clever move in commercial terms as well as striking a much more effective blow against the ubiquity of Guinness in London’s pubs than cask stout could ever realistically hope to achieve.

First, in commercial terms, like many of Camden’s beers, it sits only just over the conceptual line from the usual suspects. It looks pretty much like Guinness; it feels a bit like Guinness in the mouth; and, although considerably more flavourful than recent pints of Guinness we’ve had, isn’t “imperialised”, flavoured with chocolate/espresso/whisky/etc., or full of flowery US hops. Many people who normally drink Guinness (not beer geeks) will order this and go on to drink more than one pint, probably without grumbling. It’ll sell.

And, secondly, there’s why they deserve a medal: this beer might start to wean people off their automatic, go-to brands. It starts to send the message that there are stouts other than Guinness and that it is possible to stray from your usual brand without being struck down by lightning.

If we want to see choice in pubs, we just can’t have gigantic, monolithic brands stealing all the oxygen in a given space, as Guinness currently does, and Camden are doing something about it.

Fuller’s cask-conditioned Black Cab Stout is a marvellous development, too, but, we suspect, a step too far for many Guinness drinkers, lacking the familiar creamy head. And let’s not forget that Sam Smith’s nitro-keg stout has been around for years…

In the kinds of hotels, chain restaurants and pubs where these things tend to take place, you thank God for small mercies. For example, when faced with three kegged lagers and smooth flow Marston’s Pedigree, kegged Marston’s Oyster Stout is at least something new. And it wasn’t bad with a big roast dinner, either.

At a Mexican restaurant in Covent Garden, where the waiter was desperate to push a ‘bucket of Corona’, there was Negra Modelo: yes, it’s boring, but there’s a ghost of a malt flavour in there, and it’s not skunked. It’s better than water, and certainly better than cheap tequila.

Guinness have set out (pretty successfully) to turn St Patrick’s Day into International Guinness Day but their’s wasn’t the only stout about this week.

For example, Cask in Pimlico had the brilliant, Guinness-baiting Sussex Extra Stout, while Shepherd Neame rolled out their own tastefully branded (ahem) Double Stout.

Could it be that the market is managing to do for stout in March what CAMRA is trying so hard to achieve for mild in May? We’d love to see stouts and porters other than Guinness on sale in pubs during the rest of the year, but this is a start.

It’s Stir-up Sunday today, and I’m having a go at my first Christmas pudding.  My dad always makes puddings according to an old family recipe and I’ve been meaning to have a go for ages.

Of course, the angle of interest for the beer geek is the vexing question of what beer to use while making it.  Pete Brown went for a rare beer used in the Queen’s pudding, no less.  And we see that Thornbridge have supplied their excellent St Petersburg Stout to some luxury pudding manufacturer.

Now, I’m always a bit sceptical about using good quality booze in food — by the time you’ve added all the other ingredients and cooked whatever it is you’re making, I find it hard to believe that the beautiful balance and flavourings that you appreciate in your tipple are going to shine on through.

I turned to my two culinary stalwarts at this point.  Delia suggests using both extra stout and barley wine (“pubs usually have it”, she says, optimistically.  I wish they did, Delia, I wish they did).  My dad, on the other hand, uses a tin of Guinness.

I scoured the beer cellar garage, and returned with some Coopers Best Extra Stout.  We’ve had this a few times before (it seems to be a popular option in our local off licence) and find it a delicious, reliable, sturdy stout.  As we’d recently bought a six pack, I had no hesitation in using a whole bottle to marinate my fruit, spice and vegetable mix.

The mix has been soaking overnight, so today it’s time to mix in the other ingredients (breadcrumbs, flour, eggs), stir it up, make a wish and then steam them for many hours.  The puddings will then have a month to mature until Christmas.  We always used to eat puddings that were made the year before, so I’ve made two, so I can keep one back for Christmas 2010.

Boak

While attempting to prove to Bailey that Stir-up Sunday was not some bonkers tradition my parents invented, I was pleased to note that the top Google ranking goes to this site put together by a junior school in Kent. I have added this additional link to do my bit to keep them there.

If you’re looking for an Easter treat, how about some Porterhouse Chocolate Truffle stout?  I gather it’s their spring special and it’s a beauty.  It’s smooth, bittersweet, and seems to have a hint of mint about it.

We tried it a couple of weeks ago when we were looking for the legendary Galway Hooker, without luck. The rather diffident bar man didn’t say whether they’d run out, or never took delivery, or give any explanation whatsoever.  There just wasn’t any, full stop. Perhaps it was at another bar and the effort of explaining this was just too much for him.  You only get a two second window to order a drink on a Saturday night at the Porterhouse, after all.

See here for an earlier article about the Porterhouse.

I wish more British pubs had a porter on tap, at least between September and March. More as in all.

I’ve been weaning my brown-beer-loving Dad onto dark beer for a few months now. He was bowled over by Sam Smith’s Taddy Porter at his birthday dinner; loved their Imperial Stout when he tried it in London; and had his socks knocked off by a particularly impressive bottle of Meantime’s London Porter on Christmas Day.

On Boxing Day, he sighed and said: “I might go to the pub if they had a nice porter on, but they won’t, will they?”

Knowing the pubs in my home town, I had to agree that the chances were slim of finding a dark beer other than Guinness.

It was with some excitement, then, that he reported his discovery of a pub in Plymouth (the Thistle Park Inn, where his band were playing) which was serving Sutton’s Plymouth Porter. It sounds delicious — Dad said treacle; Adrian Tierney Jones suggests it’s made with Cascade and/or Bramling Cross hops. It made my Dad’s day.

Brentwood Brewing is a small outfit run by Essex CAMRA activists and borne out of a good old-fashioned love of real ale. Their winter seasonal Chestnut Stout is a corker. Or do we mean a conker?

It tastes — and don’t laugh at the Gooldenism — like chocolate bourbon biscuits. There’s only a little bitterness at the end, but it’s not sickly either. For a beer that claims to be only 3.999% (ha ha) it’s got a lot of body, too. Could we taste chestnuts? Probably not, to be honest, but it’s a fantastic stout we’d be pleased to see more of. Good job, chaps.

Compare this with Milton Caligula which we tried on the same night: 8.8% and, according to the barman, supposed to taste like blue cheese. Eugh.

Photo by FotoDawg at Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

The Speaker in Westminster (one of our favourite London pubs, in a funny kind of way) is having a month of stouts, porters and wheat beer. Here’s what they’re expecting to serve up throughout January:

Acorn Gorlovka Stout 6%
Allendale Tar Barl Stout 4.5%
Brysons Patrick Stout 5%
Burton Bridge Bramble Stout 5%
Dark Star  Espresso Stout 4.2%
Hop Back Entire Stout 4.5%
Itchen Valley  Treacle Stout 4.4%
Little Valley  Hebden’s Wheat 4.5% (Cloudy)
Mauldons Peggoty’s Porter 4.1%
Milestone Raspberry Wheat Beer 5.5%
TSA Scotch Mist 5%
Westerham Puddle Dock Porter 4.3%
Wylam Haugh Porter 4.6%

We’ll try to pop in once or twice as we’re wholeheartedly in favour of every pub serving up at least one dark beer at all times and, as TV’s Dr Tanya Byron would say, we want to reinforce this positive behaviour.

We’ve fallen out of love with the Pembury a little recently. It’s partly that familiarity breeds contempt, and partly that we’ve got bored with Milton’s so-so beer.

But last night, in a strange reversal of the usual situation, we ended up there because someone else had chosen the venue, and our faith in the pub was somewhat rekindled.

The cause of the turnaround? Between us, we managed several pints of Banks and Taylor’s superb Edwin Taylor’s Extra Stout. It was in fantastic condition, and suitably autumnal. We weren’t taking notes, so there’s not much we can say other than that it was black and tasted it.

Our pregnant and therefore nearly teetotal friend sat staring mournfully at our booze over the top of her J20 most of the night. When we weren’t looking, she would grab one of our pints, nurse it, and breathe in the aroma and say exultantly: “It smells soooooooo good!”

Edwin Taylor also stood up well to the bottle of Hercule Stout that we enjoyed near the end of the evening — no mean feat at half the strength (4.5% up against 9).

In other news, disaster was narrowly averted when we pointed out why Stella wouldn’t be a good name for a girl…

Oakham Ales‘ Hawse Buckler is just the thing for a cosy pub on a chilly autumn evening.

Thanks to the handy colour coding chart in the Helter Skelter in Frodsham, Cheshire, I spotted that it was the only black beer on offer and ordered a pint before I’d clocked the strength – a not insignificant 5.6%.

It was black, with a beautiful tan head, which I’m always pleased to see on a dark beer. The first sip was one of those rare moments where a smile spread across my face before I’d even had chance to engage my brain. I was instantly reminded of a beer which seems to divide opinion — Great Divide’s Yeti Imperial Stout.

Oakham reckon HB is a porter, but it’s got enough body to justify calling itself stout. It’s got all the coffee and chocolate flavours you’d expect up front, followed by a massive smack of citrusy, sharp, grapefruity hops. These flavours don’t work together, but they sure as Hell contrast nicely. It’s like drinking two different beers at the same time and therefore an extremely stimulating experience.

Yes, it’s a bit extreme, and, no, I couldn’t drink it all night, but it is exactly what it claims to be — ‘a special’. I’m not surprised it won best strong dark ale, best dark ale and was a contender for the world’s best overall ale at the World Beer Awards this year.

Maieb is also a fan of Hawse Buckler. And Beer Justice answers our queries about why the Helter Skelter isn’t in the Good Beer Guide here.

Bailey