Scottish & Newcastle beers in 1996 yet again

More details from the beer specifications document. I'm doing a great job of spinning multiple posts out those few typewritten sheets.

This time, they're all beers for domestic distribution. Though some were sort of going overseas.

First is a watery keg beer of around just 3% ABV,

McEwans Pale Ale
Holyrood brews kegged at Park Stores.

Distribution: In road tankers ex IIMV room to Contract Bottlers

Tyne - Bowser filtered for kegging.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

Nothing very interesting there.

Next is another watery Pale Ale of just 3% ABV.

Youngers Pale Ale
Holyrood brews kegged at Park Stores. Fountain brews kegged at Tyne.

Distribution - In road tanker ex HMV room to Contract Bottlers:

Belfast - Supplied rough. Processed at Belfast and bottled as Wee Willie Pale (1/2 pints) or Holyrood Ale (pints) - coloured to 36º.

Kendal - Supplied sheet filtered (colour 24º) for bottling.

London (Bates) - Supplied sheet filtered for bottling.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

Technically, Belfast is overseas from Scotland. Interesting that the pints and half-pints were sold under different names in Belfast. And that the beer was coloured darker. It was 24º, as brewed.

Finally, we have Brown Ale.

Brown Ale
Processed at Park Stores.

Distribution - In tanker ex HMV to Contract Bottlers:

Kendal - Supplied sheet filtered for bottling (LS 1/2 pints) as.

London (Bates) - Supplied sheet filtered for bottling (LS 1/2 pints) as.

Belfast - Supplied rough where it is processed and bottled in in pint crowns as Nut Brown Ale or S.D.A. or in 1/2 pint dumps as Wee Willie Brown.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

It's fascinating that they were still using third-party bottlers. At least, that's what I assume contract bottlers were. As S & N didn't have any breweries south of Newcastle, they also had limited numbers of sites to bottle. Economically, it makes far more sense to ship beer by tanker, then bottle, rather than moving bottled beer around the country.

Again, the pints and half-pints got different names in Northern Ireland. I'm guessing that S.D.A. stands for "Special Dark Ale". Which, if they mean specially weak, is an appropriate name.
 

1951 Maclay PA 6d

To follow on from my recent video about Scottish 60/-, I thought I'd publish a recipe for a post-war version. Even better than that, it's a beer I drank myself. In fact, it's about the only Scottish-brewed 60/- I've ever drunk.

You might find the name confusing. 6d was the price this type of beer retailed for per pint between the wars. It would have been double that price by 1951, but the name remained. At least in the brew house. I'm sure that in pubs it was called either 60/- or Light.

The recipe is pretty typical for Scotland, with just a single type of malt, plus adjuncts and sugar. I say one type of malt. There were actually three, all of them pale malt. Having a blend of base malts was pretty typical in the UK. So that, when a supply of malt ran out and was substituted, there wouldn't be a sudden big change in the flavour of the beer.

The two sugars were No. 1 invert and something called DCS. I know that the latter was invert-based and dark, so I've substituted No. 3 invert. Caramel would have been added at racking time to take the colour to around 20 SRM. At least to some of the beer. Knowing what Scottish brewers were like, the chances are it was sold in every shade from as-brewed to almost black. All achieved through the addition of caramel at racking.

The two mashing temperatures are before and after an underlet.

There were three types of English hops, no vintage specified. 

1951 Maclay PA 6d
pale malt	5.50 lb	85.21%
flaked rice	0.33 lb	5.11%
No. 1 invert sugar	0.50 lb	7.75%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.125 lb	1.94%
Fuggles 90 min	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.50 oz
Goldings 30 min	0.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1030
FG	1012
ABV	2.38
Apparent attenuation	60.00%
IBU	21
SRM	4
Mash at	148/157º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

 This is my recent video on the 60/- style:

 

UK pseudo-Lager in 1978

To accompany my recent video on YouTube about pseudo-Lager, here are details of a few.

It's a bunch of Lagers from regional English brewers. Mostly from the North, with just a couple from the Southwest. The brewers vary in size quite a bit. Greenhall Whitley and Vaux being the largest, Palmer the smallest. 

Given the nature of these breweries, I doubt very much any of them had the plant required to brew a Lager properly. Perhaps a couple of largest. But there's no way brewers like Hydes or Palmer had the necessary equipment.

There's quite a variation in both the price and the strength. Federation, unsurprisingly, being by far the cheapest. I'm surprised how many top 4%. My impression of Lager at the time was that it was pretty watery stuff. Though those ABVs are the result of very high degrees of attenuation. Which would also explain my watery impression.

There's a real dichotomy in their names. Some go for Germanic or Nordic names, while the others are resolutely English. 

UK pseudo-Lager in 1978
Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (p)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Cameron	Icegold	33	1038.4	1005	4.35	86.98%
Federation	Ace of Clubs	27	1034.9	1007.2	3.60	79.37%
Hull	Top Score	38	1037.9	1005	4.29	86.81%
Vaux	Norseman	34	1038.7	1005.9	4.27	84.75%
Greenall Whitley	Grunhalle	33	1036.7	1005.4	4.08	85.29%
Hydes	Amboss	35	1034.7	1008.55	3.39	75.36%
Lees	Gold Medal	36	1033.7	1002.7	4.04	91.99%
Matthew Brown	Slalom	30	1037.2	1004.75	4.23	87.23%
Oldham Brewery	Rheingold	30	1035	1007	3.64	80.00%
Robinson	Einhorn	34	1035.9	1004.1	4.14	88.58%
Thwaites	Stein	37	1034.6	1007.8	3.48	77.46%
Hall & Woodhouse	Brock	36	1032.4	1005.5	3.50	83.02%
Palmer	Shilthorn	40	1041.4	1004.7	4.79	88.65%
Average		34.1	1036.3	1005.7	3.98	84.27%
Source:
Sunday Mirror - Sunday 08 October 1978, page 4.

My video on pseudo-Lager: 

What is psuedo-Lager?

A short video looking at the fake Lagers brewed in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s.

 

Scottish & Newcastle beers in 1996 again

Robbie Pickering mentioned in the comments of the last post about whether Double Century Ale was just being brewed for export. Well, the document does mention where beers were destined for. It makes for interesting reading. 

I was quite surprised by how many beers were being exported or used as ships stores. For example, McEwans Scotch Ale.

Processed at Park Stores for Export or Ship Stores as McEwans Scotch Ale.

Sheet Filtered for kegs, bottles and cans.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

Oddly enough, one beer which doesn't seem to have been exported was McEwans Export

Holyrood Brews kegged at Park Stores. Canned also at Park Stores for British Rail & general trade (10 oz. cans).

Distribution: Tankers ex HMV Room to

Contract Bottlers
Belfast - Rough for processing & bottling as Monk Export (1/2 pint dumps).

London (Bates) - Sheet filtered for bottling (LS 1/2 pints) as McEwans Export or Monk Export.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

While McEwans Strong Ale seems to have been exclusively for export.

Processed at Park Stores. Bottled &, canned at Park Stores for Export and Ship Stores as McEwans Strong Ale, the export trade being to Jamaica, Canada and general export.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

Pretty sure this is the beer currently sold in the UK as McEwans Champion. Back in the early 1980s, McEwans Strong Ale was brewed at the Guinness brewery in Jamaica. When that closed, it must have been brewed in Scotland and exported.

Another beer that seems to have been exclusively for McEwans Milk Stout

Processed at Park Stores. Bottled at Park Stores for export mainly to Jamaica as McEwans Milk Stout.

Bottled also for general export trade as McEwans Extra Stout. 
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1. 

 I can't remember ever seeing that in Jamaica. A shame, as it looks like an interesting beer.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1893 Bentley IPA

Isn’t this exciting? A Yorkshire IPA. And one which might even satisfy a style nazi of today.

With an OG of 1064º, it’s a full-strength Pale Ale. Though a not too great level of attenuation leaves it a shade under 6% ABV. That’s the racking gravity. I’m sure the real FG was lower.

There’s not a great deal to the recipe. Just two types of pale malt, one English, the other Middle Eastern. Along with some sugar which is only described as “Garton”.  As they were a big invert sugar producer, I’ve guessed for No. 1. As I assume they were trying to keep the beer pale.

Interestingly, there are no adjuncts. By this time, most brewers had adopted adjuncts, usually in the form of flaked maize.

There were three types of copper hops: Hallertau from the 1892 harvest along with Kent from 1892 and 1886.  It’s weird to see hops as old as that in a fancy Pale Ale. The dry hops were Kent from the 1892 season. 

1893 Bentley IPA
pale malt	9.75 lb	77.23%
No. 1 invert sugar	2.875 lb	22.77%
Fuggles 110 mins	2.50 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	2.50 oz
Hallertau 30 mins	2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	1.00 oz
OG	1064
FG	1019
ABV	5.95
Apparent attenuation	70.31%
IBU	84
SRM	8
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	110 minutes
pitching temp	60º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor

 

Flying back to Amsterdam

I rise around 8:30. Wouldn’t want to miss out on breakfast. It’s often the highlight of the day. I guess that shows my age.

I go for the same as yesterday: fried egg, cheese, tomato and cucumber. It’s a fairly light meal. Accompanied by a couple of double espressos. Which wake me up a treat. That was exactly the idea.

I have a nice chat with some of the other judges while I eat. Getting to talk to lots of different people is one of the reasons I go judging. That and travelling to places that I’d never go to otherwise.

The bus leaves for the airport at 10:00. It’s an hour or so in the bus. But we’re still there well before my flight. I have to wait a while before the KLM check-in desk opens. Which I spend chatting with the two Argentinian judges. Much of it about football.

As soon as the desk opens, I check in and trail airside. And straight to the lounge. Well, with a short detour to the duty free, where I pick up some Ukrainian and Poznan vodka. Never seen Ukrainian vodka before.

The lounge is pretty small. Not much food. Slightly weird sandwiches. But free-pour spirits. Now doesn’t that lift my spirits? I take full advantage. Wouldn’t you?

I have a couple of hours to enjoy myself in the lounge. Which is nice and quiet. It’s so much more relaxing in a lounge than outside, where there are always people milling about. That’s why I’m so keen on hanging onto my gold status with KLM.

That reminds me of another reason I go judging: lots of long-haul flights. Great for getting up to gold status every year.

I have to make do with cattle-truck class this way. Not so unbearable, as it’s only a short hop.

As I haven’t checked in a bag, I’m straight out of the terminal and into a taxi with minimal fucking around.

Soon I’m opening my front door. Inside Dolores is waiting with tea. As always. 

Grodzisk part two

The rest of my time in Grodzisk. Where I do some more judging, have another brewery tour and hang around at a beer festival.

 

Breweries, judging and a beer fest

I manage to drag myself out of bed around 8:00. As planned. There’s a win to start the day. It’s going to be a busy one.

Breakfast is a pretty decent buffet. With fried eggs and bacon. Though the bacon is rather undercooked. I accompany my fried egg with cheese and tomato instead. Probably healthier.

At 9:30 a bus takes us to an estate on the edge of the village of Wąsowo. Where, in addition to the numerous other activities, a small brewery recently opened on the site. Called, logically enough, Browar Wąsowo.

After a quick tour around the various former farm buildings, we dive into the brewery. Housed in a red brick structure. It’s all very new and shiny inside. As you would expect for a brewery that only opened in 2025.

We’re taken around the various rooms in the brewery, which is two storeys with cellars. Before returning to the fermentation room for samples. Beginning with a Grodziskie which has only just finished primary fermentation. “A bit raw still.” We’re told. It takes perfectly fine to me. With the smoke and hops in good balance.

Next is a Pilsner. Which is clean and decently bitter. Very drinkable.

We roll over to the onsite restaurant. Which is also a sort of taproom for the brewery, serving seven of their beers on draught. Today, that’s: Berliner Weisse, APA, Witbier, Lager, Black IPA, Hazy IPA and Saison. A pretty decent variety of styles. Not just IPA variants.

There are bits of food for us. And samples of the draught beers. Which, just as they were in the brewery, are very good. I kick off with a Black IPA. Mostly because you never see them anymore. Maybe a bit on the roasty side, but pleasant enough. The Hazy IPA I follow it up with is also fine.

It’s getting on for 13:00 when we drive off in the bus to return to Grodzisk. For a bit more judging. The second round. But there’s time for a quick beer outside. It is pretty hot, after all. I wouldn’t want to dehydrate.

Yesterday I judged “straight” Grodziskie. Today it’s the category for beers with additional ingredients. Some interesting ideas, not all of which work for me. But a couple where they really do.

Only eleven beers. No need to fill out score sheets, either. I just scribble a few notes. I really mean scribble. I struggle to read them a few minutes later. There’s a lively discussion. Which is resolved without resorting to physical violence.

Our table is one of the last to finish. And the lunch buffet is running a little thin. Just about enough left for a decent meal. I wash it down with some Grodziskie. I’m not missing any chance I get to drink it here in Grodzisk.

Once lunch is chomped and Grodziskie has been drunk. we return to the malt house for a tour. Working from the bottom up. Much of it hasn’t been fully renovated. Some isn’t even slightly done up. With the top floor not being safe to enter.

The brew house is just across the yard. It has a pretty traditional layout. Though the equipment is all shiny stainless steel. There’s even a baudelot cooler. Which seems to be in use.

The open fermenters are hard to see, with their tops far overhead. They look pretty big.

It’s about a 15-minute walk from the brewery to the festival, Grodziskie Piwobranie. I’m glad that the sun isn’t out. On the way, we walk past some random old Soviet military equipment parked next to a building.

The festival is quite a modest affair, held in a town park. With lots of families. There are half a dozen brewery stands, each selling a range of beers. At pretty reasonable prices: 3 to 4 euros for a half litre.

I get myself a half-litre of Lager. Well, someone else gets it for me as my credit card won’t work. It’s a pleasant enough beer.

All the judges climb onto the stage for the competition results. Which I don’t understand, as they’re in Polish. Once that’s done, we trail off the stage again. To make way for a Queen cover band.

As a storm is forecast, I find a seat under an umbrella. I wouldn’t want to get drenched. Noticing a stall with an old bloke selling what look like bottles of spirits, I wander over there. 

I buy a half litre of some fruit-based spirit. It’s little rough. Let’s be honest, it’s very rough. I mix it with some beer to make it more palatable. Which is successful to some degree.

I chat for a while with the Finnish judge. And share s shot of my dodgy fruit stuff. He seems perfectly normal. 30 minutes later, he’s flat on his back. I didn’t think the fruit stuff was that strong. But his legs seem to have stopped working.

As everyone is feeling a bit tired, we arrange to be collected by the bus an hour earlier at 21:30. Of which I’m mightily pleased. I’m feeling pretty knacked. 

Raindrops start to fall when we’re halfway to the bus. I’m a bit wet when I climb aboard. It’s a bit of a drive back to Grodzisk. But it’s not straight to bed back at the hotel.

A gaggle of judges crowd into a room. Where football is watched and beer is drunk. Though I’m not drinking beer. I’ve brought myself a stiff whiskey down from my room.

Germany are surprisingly losing. Though have pulled things back by the time I retire to my room. I’m too old to stay up past midnight. And don’t.




Browar Wąsowo
Poznańska 2, 
64-314 Wąsowo, 
Poland.



Folwark Wąsowo
ul. Poznańska 2, 
64-316 Wąsowo, 
Poland.
http://folwarkwasowo.pl/



Browar w Grodzisku Wielkopolskim
Poznańska 16B, 
62-065 Grodzisk Wielkopolski, 
Poland.
http://browargrodzisk.com/

 

Here's a video of the day:

 

Scottish & Newcastle beers in 1996

Back with that odd document of loose sheets. Which contain some useful information about Scottish & Newcastle's beers.

What's nice, is that the bitterness levels are recorded. Well, for the pale beers. They didn't bother measuring it for the Brown Ales and Stouts. Which leads me to believe that they weren't very bitter.

Sweet Stout was brewed at 540 EBC. After blending with "reprocessed beer", i.e. ullage and other crap, the colour was 270 EBC. Something similar happened with Brown Ale, which was brewed at 220 EBC and then blended with reprocessed beer. In both cases, there must have been quite a high percentage of rubbish blended in to reduce the colour so much.

MxEwan's IPA, McEwan's Pale Ale and Younger's Pale Ale all look incredibly similar. The only difference being a slightly higher FG in McEwan Pale Ale. Scottish & Newcastle had another IPA, Younger's IPA, which was much stronger, 1042º. It was also sold as sold as 80/-, just to make things even more confusing.

XXPS was also sold as Scotch Bitter or, when in cask form, 70/-.

McEwan's Scotch Ale and Export look remarkably simialr, with just 1º difference in gravity a 1 IBU in bitterness. Irinically, it seems to have been Scotch Ale that was exported.

Talking of exports, McEwan's Strong Ale was exported to Jamaica and Canada. While Milk Stout was exported to Jamaica. The same beer was exported elsewhere as McEwan's Extra Stout.

I ssume that the Strong Ale is what is now sold as McEwan's Champion. A Scotch Ale of pretty decent strength, looking much like the ones brewed between the wars.

Double Century Ale was a Brown Ale of the strong type, which was introduced in 1949 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of William Younger. I wonder when it was discontinued? 

Scottish & Newcastle beers in 1996
Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	IBU	colour
Wm. Younger	Brown Ale	Brown Ale	1030.5	1006.5	3.18	78.69%		85
Wm. Younger	Double Century Ale	Brown Ale	1053.0	1009.6	5.74	81.89%		70
McEwan	IPA	IPA	1030.5	1006.8	3.14	77.70%	17	24
McEwan	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	1030.5	1009.1	2.83	70.16%	17	48
Wm. Younger	Pale Ale	Pale Ale	1030.5	1006.8	3.14	77.70%	17	24
Wm. Younger	XXPS Btg	Pale Ale	1036.5	1007.6	3.82	79.18%	24	25
McEwan	Export	Pale Ale	1043.5	1009.2	4.54	78.85%	27	25
McEwan	Scotch Ale	Pale Ale	1044.5	1010.2	4.54	77.08%	26	26
McEwan	Sweet Stout	Stout	1030.5	1011.5	2.51	62.30%		270
McEwan	Milk Stout	Stout	1058.5	1020.0	5.09	65.81%		270
McEwan	Strong Ale	Strong Ale	1088.5	1022.0	8.80	75.14%	30	85
Source:
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

What is Scottish Sixty Shilling?

The short answer is: pretty much dead. Look at this short video if you want to learn more.

 

Let's Brew - 1894 Cannon KKK

Strongest of Cannon’s range was KKK. Not that it’s all that strong by 19th-century standards.

My guess is that this was considered an Old Ale or Stock Ale. Not 100% sure about that. Though their parent company, Tomson & Wooton, called their KKK a Stock Ale.

No surprises in the recipe. Which has just a single type of malt, described as “Scotch”. Interesting, given how far Kent, where the brewery was located, is from Scotland.

A single type of hops, too. East Kent from the 1893 harvest. Pretty fresh, given that this beer was brewed in January. The hopping rate is a little lower than in XXX. Which isn’t what I would have expected. Though the dry-hopping is heavier.

As I believe this was a Stock Ale, it’s logical that it would have been aged. Probably for at least twelve months. 

1894 Cannon KKK
pale malt	14.50 lb	100.00%
Goldings 90 min	2.00 oz
Goldings 30 min	2.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1062
FG	1015.5
ABV	6.15
Apparent attenuation	75.00%
IBU	46
SRM	5
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	163º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1099 Whitbread ale

 

Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications

There's a bunch of papers in the Scottish Brewing Archive title "Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications". They seem to be the reply to an enquiry about the Scottish & Newcastle beers brewed in Scotland in the 1990s.

The original enquiry isn't included, just the reply, and a bunch of loose sheet.

23rd June 2001
Dear Alma
Pleas find enclosed the specifications of the fountain and Holyrood Beers. These would be about five years old and I think that they would be correct lor the previous fifteen years. I hesc are Photostats taken from Gordon Buchanan's own note book and I hope that you can cut them up a bit as I have no access to a guillotine and the notes were back to back. I now have them in the correct order. I lope to see you soon

Kind Regards
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

The loose sheets contain colour specifications for all the beers. Plus individual sheet for some beers. Which include things like OG, FG, IBUs, colour and CO2 content. But no details of ingredients or process.

At the very end, there's an interesting note.

The query relating to McEwans Pale Ale was related to the market for "low" gravity beers. Many of the customers were involved in the coal industry and they requested higher colours. Pale Ale was brewed at 1030 and blended with fairly large quantities of yeast pressings. The bottled Pale Ale was sold as Blue Label mostly in small screw tops and the darker Pale Ale as larger Green Label screw tops. The principal beer sold in the fifties and sixties was 5/A which was 25 Lovibond and for the Glasgow and Lanarkshire market 46 Lovibond. It was strange that the miners market changed to lager and paler beers at a later date.
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

5/A was the brew house name for McEwans Pale Ale. And pretty watery stuff it was. This is from the specs, so the 1990s version of the beer:

McEwans Pale Ale
OG	1030.5
FG	1009.1
ABV	2.83
App. Attenuation	70.16%
colour EBC	48
IBU	17
Source:
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

I'm sure all those yeast pressings added character to the beer.

I already knew about the Scots colouring up the same beer in different colours for different markets. You'll note that the 1990s version was brewed at the darker colour. The pale version seems to have disappeared. Though the spec is for the keg version. An earlier sheet has these two bottled beers:

Beer	EBC
XXP (P5/A)	30°
G5/A (D5/A)	80º
Source:
Holyrood and Fountain beer specifications held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/8/1.

Where P5/A stands for Pale 5/A and D5/A stands for Dark 5/A. G/5A is Glasgow 5/A. Which shows the Glasgow version as being even darker. As dark as Dark Mild.

Wasn't that fun. All from a few little bits of text. 

What was the year of Oat Beer?

Find out in my short video. It's a fun story.

 

I fly to Poznan

A quick report of a short trip I made last weekend.

I trail over to Schiphol a little after 09:00. Which leaves me time to warm up for the flight a little in the lounge. 

The food isn't too bad in the lounge this time. It's the non-Schengen one that I don't visit often.  Not been impressed with the food in the past. The rostis are really nice. Scrambled egg could do with some seasoning.

 

But there's free-pour whisky. Of which I take advantage. Though don't abuse. It's a thin line that you need to walk when you're an enthusiastic drinker like me.

I bump into Ferry at the gate. He's judging in Grodzisk, too. Though we both live in Holland, we first met in Brazil.

When my boarding pass is checked before getting on the bus, there's a beep and I'm given a slip of paper. I've been upgraded to business class. I guess because the flight is overbooked. Now there's a win.

After waiting on the tarmac for a while the bus return to the gate. Two vehicles have collided close to our plane. We have to wait for that to be sorted out. We depart quite late. 

The food is definitely better than the usual KLM slop. And I get a couple of whiskies to wash it down. Which also helps. 

After landing in Poznan, we're whisked off in a bus to our hotel Along with other just-arrived judges. It takes a while to get to Nowy Tomyśl. After just about enough time to drop of our bags, it's back on the bus to go to Grodzisk.

Where we're judging in the former malt house of the last brewery to make Grodziskie before the style's extinction in the early 1990s. Which is pretty cool. And it's right next to the brewhouse of Browar Grodzisk. Current brewer of Grodziskie

We don't have to judge a stupid number of beers - my table has 17. Just as well, as the judging kicks off in the early evening. There are some pretty good examples in the ones we judge. And a few not so good ones. But there are always a few duds, whenever you judge.

I'm judging with two Polish men, Michal Kopik and Jan Lepek and a German/Greek woman, Dafne Peppa_boy. We have some robust discussions about some beers. Which is part of the fun of judging. If everyone 100% agreed, int would be a pretty dull process.

For those of you that haven't experienced the Grodziskie style, here's an overview of its characteristics.

colour: very pale
grist: 100% oak-smoked wheat malt 
hops:  Polish varieties
yeast: top fermenting
OG: 7.7º Plato
ABV: 3.1%

The last two I've taken from the Classic version brewed by Browar Grodzisk. It's also usually bottle-conditioned.

I like versions where the hops and smoke are in balance. Combined with a light body, making them very drinkable. Quite a few of the beers I judge fit those parameters perfectly. And are a pleasure to drink.

I already know quite a few of the other judges. Which makes things easier. Catching up with Evan Rail after many years is fun. Great to learn that U Rotundy remains a s wonderful as ever. Plus lots of other great stuff about beer in Czechia.

Judging is scheduled to end at 21:00. It's a while after that when all the tables are done  And it's pushing 10:00 when we hit the restaurant Schabowy & Salata.

Our, quite late, evening meal is very decent. What I expect in Poland, where the food is usually pretty good. I do like a good Schnitzel. One made out of actual meat. Unlike the shttty ones made from reconstituted gunk they sell in the supermarkets in Holland.

(I was wondering about the name of the restaurant: Schbowy & Salata. I could get the second bit But what about the first? Kotlet schabowy turns out to be what I called a Schnitzel. It's the Polish version of a fried, thin, breaded piece of pork. Like I said earlier, it was excellent.)

Of course, there's also Grodziskie to drink. From the beautifully elegant, slender glasses. 

It's after midnight when I get my head down Aiming for an 8:00 start tomorrow. A gulp or two of hotel whisky whisks me off rapidly to sleep. 

  

Browar Grodzisk
Poznańska 16B, 
62-065 Grodzisk Wielkopolski, 
Poland.
https://browargrodzisk.com 

Schabowy & Salata
Osiedle Wojska Polskiego 18D, 
62-065 Grodzisk Wielkopolski, 
Poland.

Here's a video report of my trip: