NEWS

Andy Mogg did a great job of organising the latest #Twissup on Saturday 12th November. Newcastle was voted as the destination this time. We met the other Twissupees in the Bacchus at 11.45am. An assortment of beer writers, bloggers, brewers, beer fanatics and above all Twitter folk were there to greet us. Great to meet the Newcastle bunch again. Mainly known by their Twitter names it was good to put a proper name to a proper face. What a fantastic place the Bacchus is. A good selection of cask, keg and bottled beers from all over the world. Where to start? My first beer was Tempest's Canyonero 5.9% a beautifully well balanced fruity hop experienceand my no.1 beer of the day. Peachy aroma and full fruity body with a clean finish. Sean had a Black Isle Porter 4.6% nice body with a roast finish. Then we took it up a notch...I had tried to resist but The Highland Brewing Company's Old Norway 9% was calling. A beautifully delicate cask conditioned barley wine. Gorgeous fruity aroma, lots of American hops (if I had to guess I would say probably Centennial) sweet full body. It reminded me of our Bede's Chalice 9% which happens to be my favourite of our beers. Sean had something dark and strong, waiting to see if he can remember what. At this point the rest of the group announced that they were starting to head off towards the new Tyne Bank Brewery in Ouseburn where there would be plenty of beer to sample and a brewery tour by their brewer Mark. Tyne Bank are a really great bunch of people and we would have been interested to go but there was no way I was going to knock back my 9% quickly and we thought it might be a good idea to get some food to soak up some of the beer. The Bacchus has a great food menu and even includes beer matches. Steak and chips each cooked to perfection and we were ready to go again. (I couldn't resist another Canyonero with my meal and Sean had been jealous of my Old Norway so had that with his).

A 15 minute walk and we got to the Free Trade Inn, Ouseburn, just as the other Twissupers were arriving. Mick didn't disappoint and I was left wondering where to start. I took the abv down a notch to a Summer Wine beer. This is a brewery that likes it's dry hopping and again what lovely people. Eager to talk about all things beer and their innovations. Good to chat to more beer enthusiasts and writers for their take on the beer market today. It was great to be amongst such a forward thinking bunch. Nothing is off limits and not a beard in sight. Mick also had our new beer Bullion 4.2% on offer. I have to say that after the super hoppines of the Summer Wine beer it was hard to taste more than a nicely balanced session bitter from the Bullion. So I moved back up the abv to an absolute corker of a keg beer from Hardknot. Vitesse Noir 11% (we shared a third of a pint) a triple imperial stout infused with vanilla, coffee and chocolate. Vanilla aroma, and huge malt body. Full and creamy and very smooth with not overpowering roast finish. That description doesn't do it justice. Just like our Temptation....try it with dark chocolate. It's a sipping, 'finish a meal off with' beer. From there we decided to keep going up so it was a Mikkeller Black Hole 13.1% bottle from Mick's fantastic bottled beer menu. This is an imperial stout on a par with Temptation. I have to say in my opinion, no better than a well aged Temptation. So then it was Temptation time. We shared a bottle. There had been some discussion about one of the Free Trade's regulars adding a shot of Pernod to each half a bottle so I thought 'when in Rome' and gave it a go. It did feel very wrong but actually I could get a taste for it.

I was so impressed with the Bacchus that we headed back there for another Canyonero, Old Norway and Rochefort 10. Rochefort 10 (blue cap, dark beer, 11.3% ABV). Reddish-brown colour, with a very compact head and an aroma of figs, feels like honey in the mouth and fantastic as always. Then it was off to the Centurian before catching the last train back to Durham.

Still not finished, we headed to the Head of Steam off North Road in Durham. Shame about the music. Started with a Delirium Nocturnum 8.5% Belgian bottled beer. Normally would have been impressed but it didn't stand up well against the other beers sampled over the day so it was back to the Rochefort 10 again to finish.

Overall very impressed with our local beer scene. Bottled beers were served in the correct glasses and the cask beer kept and served perfectly. Add to that good company and you've got a perfect #Twissup. Well done and thank you to everybody who helped to organise it and make it so special.