Richard had the bottle to be a pioneer
FROM time to time I’ve mentioned the new specialist bottled beer shops that have opened up in the borough but this week I want to mention the oldest of them all Richard Genders first opened The Bottle Stop (136 Acre Lane, Bramhall) in 1984.
Back then he really was something of a pioneer and Richard recalls making a hand-made sign for his first draught beer (there’s always one of those to take away) which was the then highlyregarded Ruddles County (it’s still a decent pint but not a patch on its former self).
The beer scene has changed beyond all recognition in the intervening 32 years and when I last called in the draught beer was Marble’s Manchester Bitter, and the bottled range has strength in depth from breweries in the UK, Belgium and Germany.
Many of the beers are from tiny breweries (both new and old) and include some real hard to find rarities too.
Despite this the pricing is very keen - Richard is now assisted by his son David, who sources much of the Belgian beer, and who told me that the prices were set with the aim of selling the beers to make room for new discoveries rather than having them hang around as pricier unsold stock.
What’s not to like about that?
The Bottle Stop opens from 9.30am to 9.30pm and is well worth a visit; on my last I picked up three interesting beers and here they are.
BLACKJACK SMALL SAISON (4.5%, 330ML, £1.69)
I’VE mentioned Manchester’s Blackjack Brewery before.
Based in a couple of railway arches just down from Rochdale Road, Rob Hamilton produces a huge array of different beer, all worth trying. Saisons started life as rustic Belgian beers (and the best still are) but many breweries around the world have taken the style and run with it, some more successfully than others.
This is called a ‘small’ saison as it’s perhaps at the lower end of the gravity range for this type of beer but it still ticks all the boxes for me.
It’s a hazy lemon with light spice and sherbety mandarin orange on the nose.
As you drink the spice is still there but joined by refreshing lemon and other citrus notes and all these lead to a quenching dry finish with growing bitterness.
Really very good – and great for the hot weather.
NORTH RIDING BREWERY NZ IPA (5.5%, 500ML, £3.60)
THIS brewery started life at Scarborough’s North Riding Hotel and while it’s now moved to a bigger industrial unit some beers are still made on the premises.
I’ve been a fan of these beers for some time now but in the past year or so they have started to gain some traction across the north.
That’s hardly surprising as many of them, both dark and light, have big, bold flavours and New World hops are generously used.
This version of their NZ IPA uses Waimea, Motueka and Rakau hops which bring a slightly restrained fruitiness to this pale copper-orange beer.
On the nose there’s herbal grassiness and as you drink there’s slightly sweet soft fruit to start with – ‘forest fruits’ perhaps – with a growing dryness that develops into a moreish bitter finish.
Very satisfying.
HAWKSHEAD KEY LIME TAU (6.28%, 330ML, £2.98)
BASED up in Staveley (near Windermere), Hawkshead, under the guidance of head brewer Matt Clarke, has become one of the UK’s top breweries.
Each year they take part in a ‘Rainbow Project,’ a collaboration between seven UK brewers and seven from overseas, each taking a colour of the rainbow as its theme.
This was a joint enterprise with Colorado’s Crooked Stave Brewery and is a ‘kettle soured’ beer. Don’t let that put you off because this is delicious.
It was inspired by key lime pie and that’s more or less what you get – albeit in beer form.
There’s lime zest and lemon peel on the nose (fresh lime zest and lemongrass are among the ingredients) and while there’s some tartness as you drink, it certainly doesn’t knock you back.
The sourness is then balanced by a soft creamy ‘pie crust’ note (there’s also some lactose in there) and the finish has prominent lime and a Schweppes ‘bitter lemon’ sharpness which lingers.
It’s an odd combination which turns into something of a triumph.
Superb.