Well folks, after several weeks of 2010 we have at least come up with a them for this year’s main range of special brews.  And, with all the originality of of idea everyone else has embraced – and indeed an idea we have sort have dabbled with in a random way in the past, we have gone for Single Hop beers.

The basic concept is very simple – we will use the same basic recipe of Pale Ale malt, a dash of wheat, and a shot of Caramalt (for sweetness and a richer golden colour).  Then we will add a different hop variety each time, using the same variety for both bittering and aroma.  The volume of hop will be the same – so some brews will have a stronger aroma/hop flavour than others, to reflect the characteristics of the variety used.  In terms of bittering, we will use the same basic calculation on each brew to keep the bitterness about level across the range, but even so, there will be variations that reflect the hop used.  Each hop variety has a role in the beer – be it aroma or bittering or flavour, so some beers will be full of aroma, others will have a distinct flavour to the bitterness.  Each beer will be 4.0%, with an OG of 1040.

The first brew was ‘Bobek’, a Slovenian variety suited to lagers, but still full of citrus/lemon flavours.  Second will be ‘Nelson Sauvin’, a hop named for it’s amazing likeness flavour wise to the Sauvignon grape – something that should present itself quite noticeably on the finished beer.  Indeed, if ever there was voted a hop to trump all hops, I suspect Nelson Sauvin would be the winner.  Later beers will involve varieties such as Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, Willamette (all USA), Goldings, Fuggle, Beata, Bramling Cross (all English), and a number of European hops.  There may even be a beer or two that will have a name that is likely to be unpronounceable whilst either sober or without the aid of a safety net.

There was a grand idea to feature an image of the relevant hop on each pump clip, but that is looking unlikely, but only because of a seeming lack of suitable images that we can confirm as being correct – or because most such images are actually great for plant lovers, but frankly boring on a pump clip.  After all, one hop cone looks just like any other in most cases, and an image of one cone on a sheet of paper against a ruler (the standard it seems…) is nothing compared to a nice shot of a hop yard overlooked by distant mountains.  Or in the case of some Kentish hops, Maidstone.

So folks, start your taste buds!

Despite the recent further unrequested batch of snow (that’s the cold frozen water sort by the way, in case you came here after Googling for Amy Winehouse or England Footballers), the first of this year’s Lapwings arrived late on Thursday (the 25th Feb 2010, for those reading on the BBC iPlayer).  There are still here, albeit in greater numbers some 2 days later, so, I think I can officially announce that Spring may possibly have Sprung – subject to legal advice, a full safety audit, and a broader public debate with all key stakeholders partners allied to my seasonal prediction remit.

Indeed we are now in a situation whereby any nocturnal disturbance causes a squadron of Lapwings to scramble into flight, along with much vocal activity on their part.  This in turn has disturbed the motley collection of owls we have built up over the winter (must have been a healthy crop of mice in the fields), which then manage to wake all sorts of creatures normal silent at night.  Indeed I am certain my amateur ears have noted the warning calls of several bird species as a result, including (and I have listened to recordings on the interweb to confirm this) three or more Albatrosses, the rare Squirrel Herding Eagle, two Waldo’s Perturbed Finches, one (male) Greater Striped Turnip Baboon, and almost certainly a Walrus – which obviously is on migration.

All this bodes well for the coming year, and I will of course report updates at extremely random intervals, often several weeks later than intended.

In the meantime, we have a raft of new beers for folk to try (see what I did there?  Seamless, wasn’t it.) , such as Bobek – a 4.0% golden beer brewed with Bobek hops.  Bobek is the new name for Styrian Goldings, which are in fact a type of Fuggle.  Whilst there is nothing wrong with Styrian Goldings as a name, it seems that since the political breakup of the area of East Europe once known a Yugoslavia etc, Styrian has become somewhat out of favour, so the hop formerly known as Styrian Goldings is now available under several names depending on the location it is grown in (the USA growers did the same thing for a while, so it’s not a new thing…), which may or may not include the likes of Bobek or Celeia.  On the other hand, this may all be pure flannel, as there is some suggestion they may all be just a tad different.  Agreement it seems, it hard to come by…

All this neatly leads on to another new beer, ‘Pure Flannel’ (did you spot the lead in…?) which is a 4.7% bitter (premium it seems is the word if you follow the laws of beer marketing), and is the first of a range of election themed beers (now the name makes sense, eh?) replete with suitable pump clips.  Whilst of course our tongue is firmly in our cheek, there is a serious message to all this – we live in a democracy, and as such election times matter.  Mostly though to those poor hapless muppets who will inevitably lose their jobs in public office.  And we should spare a thought for the ensuing hardships they will suffer – albeit only for a few hours as they await a place on the board of whatever plc/bank/oil company they have been ‘sympathetic’ to over their time in office buying duck houses or employing a third secretary for their cleaners.

Oh, and don’t forget the budget, coming soon to a payslip near you.  Will it be set for vote winning or debt clearance, any bets?