Two of my favourite brewers collaborate and make the perfect Northern Stout

Two of the North's most celebrated brewers have collaborated for the first time to launch a 4.4% stout, Northern Rising.

The culmination of over a year's worth of work between the two award-winning breweries, Northern Rising will be released in cask and keg within Northern Monk's and Timothy Taylor's own venues, and in pubs across the UK, plus 440ml nitro stout cans in supermarkets and online. (Which I'll have to look out for, obviously!)

The team at Timothy Taylor's and Northern Monk have used specially selected roast barley and crystal malt in the brew, so expect a malt-forward and satisfying chocolate flavour. 

Golden Promise malt is also in the mix, a staple of Timothy Taylor's cask ales, which gives the beer that trademark full body and ultimately satisfying mouthfeel.

Russell Bisset, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Northern Monk, said: “We've been huge fans of Timothy Taylor's for many years and a collaboration with them has always been on our bucket list. It's a collaboration years in the making from when we first floated the idea of working together.

“We settled on a beer style that's 300 years old, started in London and made famous in Dublin. We had fun getting together and developing different concepts on what we could do together and landed on a stout, an exciting challenge. Stouts are the fastest growing beer style in the UK, and we're stoked for people to try our take on a classic.”

Andy Leman, Timothy Taylor's Head Brewer, said: “Northern Monk is a fellow Yorkshire brewery that we've been proud to call a friend for many years, and one that has produced some of the most exciting craft beers in the country. 

"It's been fantastic to blend their craft beer credentials with our real ale expertise to produce Northern Rising, a truly delicious stout.”

Northern Rising will be pouring at Timothy Taylor's and Northern Monk venues on cask or keg, at the famous Keighley & Worth Valley Beer Festival which runs from 17-20 October, and in selected bars and pubs across the UK from mid-October.

It will also launch in nitro stout can in 400 Morrisons stores from the end of October and will be available from both northernmonk.com and timothytaylorshop.co.uk.

Northern Monk and Timothy Taylor's will release details of launch events and stockists through their social media channels and websites, so stay tuned.

https://www.northernmonk.com

https://www.timothytaylorshop.co.uk

Insta: @northernmonk

Insta: @timothytaylorsbrewery

Wetherspoon Real Ale Festival 11 to 22 October

Between Wednesday 11th October to Sunday 22nd October the Wetherspoon pub company is running another of its highly successful and very popular real ale festivals at all of its pubs up and down the country.

Real ale fans will be able to sample beers from award-winning brewers, taste brews from five international breweries, take a look at 25 ales that are totally new to Wetherspoon pubs and enjoy up to 30 different ales and beers.

Beers you could try will include Conwy Kashmir IPA, Harviestoun Broken Dial, Joe’s Garage

Bohemian Pale Ale, all the way from the Czech Republic, From the USA there's New Realm Hoptropolis IPA, Robinsons Fear Of The Dark, Steel & Oak Easy Stout from Canada, Yazoo Dos Perros from Tennessee, Zululand Zulu Blonde from South Africa.

Also there's Salopian The Murmurings of a Lost Leviathan, Titanic Cherry Porter, Thornbridge Hubble, Wychwood King Goblin, Hogs Back Ratfink & Ripsnorter, Evan Evans Challenger, Maxim Slovenian Pale Ale, Inveralmond Ossian Oatmeal Stout, Castle Rock Phoenix Tears and other beers besides, plus the usual array of other ales. Plus several ciders (including craft ciders, usually) and food is available all day.

Prices may vary between pubs, also check if the Festival Third of a Pint scheme is still operating.

For full details check out the link here https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/news/2023/09/autumn-real-ale-festival

We are fortunate that we have four Wetherspoon pubs all reasonably local to us and we'll plan our visits accordingly. 

Brewdog Black Heart 21st Century Stout

I'm drinking a Brewdog Black Heart 21st Century Stout.

It's 4.1% vol and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, to be honest.

It's got a good, solid black colour and has very little appreciable head. Even though they have copied Guinness by adding a widget to the can. Never had a flat can of Guinness with or without the widget, but I digress. (Maybe how I poured it?) 

There are harsh and bitter coffee tastes to it, which leaves a not particularly pleasant aftertaste on the palate.

I think there are also chocolaty hints, too, plus perhaps something else. Liquorish,  maybe? I don't know, but it doesn't work well with the overall flavour, sadly.

In their promotional material they seem to be knocking Guinness for being old and boosting Black Heart for being new.

But it's all in the taste. If it tastes good, the age of the recipe doesn't matter.

However, what's better than Black Heart and also, perhaps, Guinness? Brew Dog Layer Cake Stout, which is a perfect pint of great, stout-hearted goodness!

Peanut Butter Milk Stouts

This is another of my Home Bargains beer purchases. These beers are brewed by the Tailgate Brewery of Nashville, Tennessee. https://www.tailgatebeer.com.

I love peanut butter. I particularly like peanut butter whiskey, but especially with properly hot Jamaican ginger beer. Not ginger beer, but ginger ale.

But on to the peanut butter milk stout, plain and with strawberry jelly/jam.

Peanut Butter milk stout. There was definitely a strong peanut butter aroma from the beer. And it did have a peanut butter like colouration.

There was a peanut butter taste plus a strong, malty taste and a somewhat bitter aftertaste.

The Peanut Butter and Strawberry milk stout had a similar colouration. It tasted very similar to the peanut butter milk stout, but there was also a slightly sweet undertone that I attributed to the strawberry jelly content. 

However, tin my opinion, the strawberry flavour was not strong enough to make any real headway through the stronger peanut butter flavour. If I were brewing this stout I'd certainly consider adding more strawberry jelly to the recipe because of this.

I'd have to point out that, although these beers are interesting and well worth seeking out, that they are not really to be considered as milk stouts, to be completely honest.

However, they are intriguing enough that I'll certainly be looking out for beers from Tailgate Brewery in the future.  

To check out the beer range at Home Bargains use their store locator service https://storelocator.homebargains.co.uk

Or you can visit your website at https://home.bargains

From memory I think I paid about £1.49 a can.