A night with HardKnott

After last months meet the brewer session at Cask Pub and Kitchen with Arbor Ales, I was eagerly awaiting this months instalment. Last night Dave from Hardknott Brewery was down and had brought with him a selection of casks and 1 keg beer. I'd heard of Hardknott before and regularly follow Dave's blog. Unfortunately I'd only had the chance to taste the Infra Red before, which was great,  and so I was pretty eager to get stuck in and try some more Hardknott beers.

Top of my tasting list was the Colonial Mayhem, an 8.1% mild using bags of American hops, which Dave had brought down as the only cask ever! Luckily, despite arriving a little late and missing Dave's talk, we still managed to snaffle the last half of the cask. It was truly inspiring; I fear I don't have the words to give it justice but it was smooth, silky and with hints of dark winter fruits. Other notable brews of the evening were the Dark Energy, a 4.9% silky stout, and Cool Fusion, a 4.4% pale beer with a nice ginger taste. It was also nice to try the PyroWeisz which was a smoked keg beer. It was very good and a heated discussion soon enveloped our table as to whether it tasted of smoky bacon crisps or beef jerky! Both delicious treats in my book!

Meet the brewer events really are a great way of encouraging people to go to the pub and try different beers. Its also great to be able to listen to the brewers talk about their beers with such passion and enthusiasm. Needless to say, next months evening with Fyne Ales has already been put in the diary.