I must apologise for the lateness of this post – I had planned to write a review of my fave beers of the month but “shock horror” I forgot to take any photies of most of the yummie beverages I have consumed since New Year. And there have been several. New Year’s Eve itself, spent at my favourite local pub (possibly favourite pub of all time in fact) The Grove Inn. An afternoon in Manchester with a couple who are getting married in March which involved a cheeky half in Port Street Beer House and then a trip to Beermoth to buy a few cheeky bottles to take home and share with my man. A wedding where I came home with a bag of exciting stouts as a thank you gift. And various other bottles of awesome craft beer bought locally – the advantage of living where I do is that they are not hard to come by. It’s something I am increasingly passionate about. I bloody love the stuff. Black IPAs are my fave but a good hoppy IPA and a nice stout go down plenty fine too. Yay for BEER. SO I thought I’d compile a little montage of the various beer related photies that have ended up on my Instagram feed in recent months instead. But first…here’s some beers I’m looking forward to trying in the very near future (maybe even later tonight).

So I mentioned The Grove above. Well it’s something of a mecca for beer lovers. ALmost every beer geek I meet has at least heard of it, many have been to it. They boast 18 cask ales and a further 11 on keg. Plus a couple of good keg lagers and 3 ciders. Looking at a typical board is simultaneously daunting and incredibly exciting. There’s pretty much always going to be somehting for everyone. And if not – there’s an immense bottle stock too including 3 gluten free ales, a whisky selection to die for an a vast array of artisan spirits and liqueurs to choose from. I usually favour the guest kegs and get overly excited by the pokier brews. My favourite regular breweries on the bar include Magic Rock, Thornbridge, Ilkley, Marble, Red Willow and Kernel. I only ever drink halves at the Grove – they tend to be between 6-10%  so it’s better that way. My favourite beer last year, hands down, was the incredible Black Coffee IPA that Partizan brewed especially for North Bar in Leeds – a collaboration with Dave from Laynes Espresso (my fella supplied the coffee beans and was fortunate enough to be invited down to London to witness the beer getting underway). We managed to secure a few bottles to drink at home and I got through a fair few halves at The Grove too. It was the first beer I awarded 5 stars to on Untappd. But since then there have been others. In particular…there has been Magic Rock Cannonball. A hoppy sensation with hints of tropical fruit and an incredible bitter crescendo. And that, folks, is my beer of the month. There have been other tasty beers, I grant you. But only Cannonball has achieved 5 star rating.

So you want to know which other ones get special mention? Oh alright then. Big thumbs up to Black Ops from Salopian – a well received recommendation from Paul & Jenny who are getting married in a few weeks. Double high fives to Diablo and Maelstrom – two ridiculously good and really rather hoppy numbers from the awesome Summer Wine Brewery. And a nod and a smile to Bad Seed Brewery‘s India Pale Ale which I tried during a consult at one of my fave bars, Friends of Ham in Leeds. Yes, I was drawn to it because I’m a Nick Cave fan girl. And yes, it was absolutely delicious. Finally, I have to tip my hat to one of the few non UK breweries that I can’t resist – Rogue. Found their gobsmackingly good XS DIPA on keg at Tilley’s in Newcastle a couple of months ago and nearly exploded with happiness. This month I’ve tried Dead Guy Ale (ok) and Dry Hopped St Rogue Red Ale (damned fine). Yay for craft beer!

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