Liverpool | Postcards From Here and There

Waterloo Beer Festival

The 14th Waterloo Beer Festival was held at Old Christ Church in Waterloo, just a short train ride from central Liverpool. On a hot day in a very atypical summer the venue was cool and most welcoming.

One hundred and sixteen beers from 29 different breweries along with ciders and gin were available for sampling. All beer was sold in halves. I sometimes think that thirds should also be an option as it enables you to try a few more of the beers on offer.

Elderflower Ale. Gibberish Brewing. Speciality Pale. 4.5% – With a taproom in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle Gibberish is very much a local brewery. Pale amber in appearance with a slight haze. Aromas of lemon and grass and the palate is soft, round and low bitterness. Doesn’t have much elderflower character which is a shame. Has a nice lemony tang on the finish.

Juicy 4pm. One Mile End. Pale Ale. 4.9% – From the East End of London One Mile End has been in operation for four years. This beer is dark yellow and cloudy. There are aromas of tropical fruits; pineapple, mango, melon, candied peel and lemon. Palate is creamy, low bitterness with orange pith and tropical fruits. As juicy as the name suggests this is New England IPA in style and has been double dry hopped. The finish is reminiscent of lemon and orange cordial!. There may be better examples of the style out there but this is very drinkable non the less.

First Chop Brewing Arm. SUP. IPA. 3.9% – With a brewery now based in Salford this beer pours amber, clear, small white head and some nice lacing. The aroma is malty, lemon, caramel and yeasty. The palate has a nice hit of resinous pine, pineapple and is smooth with a slight creaminess. Low bitterness. Nice malty finish.

Crusader. Milestone Brewery. Pale Ale. 4.4% – Light amber in colour, clear with a small white head. Aromas of malt and grassy. Palate is slightly sweet malt and is low bitterness. Well made and quite drinkable.

South Island. Vale of Glamorgan Brewery. Pale Ale. 4.2% – Very pale yellow, clear (just) and with a non persistent head. Aromas of citrus and hoppy mango. Palate is very dry, crisp, medium bitterness and malty in character. There is a nice bitter tang to the finish. Very light but characterful and very drinkable.

Gulp. Milk Street Brewery. IPA. 4.8% – based in Frome, Somerset. This beer is amber, clear with a small white head. Aromas of malt, caramel, bread and a touch of citrus. The palate has a little crispness and is not overly sweet. West coast in style.

Mango Fever. 4T’s Brewery. Special Pale. 4.6% – Brewery based in Warrington. This beer is yellow gold, clear, bright and has aromas of grapefruit, lemon, mango, pineapple, candied peel and pear drops. It has a good mouthfeel with medium minus bittering. There is a sweetness here and the flavour is reminiscent of fruit salad sweets.The finish is full on mango.

Yakima. Great Heck Brewing. IPA. 7.4% – Dark amber, clear and with a small white head. Aromas of malt, caramel, toffee and nuts. This is a serious west coast style IPA with bags of sweet malt flavours, it is creamy with low bitterness and hints of citrus and dark muscovado sugar. Very nice.

New World Natural Wines

The monthly tasting at Bunch Natural Wine Bar on Berry Street in Liverpool had as its focus natural wines from the New World. While New World wines have a considerable share of sales in the UK the natural wines are perhaps not very well known and not so often encountered. This may be for a number of reasons but principally production is often small, in relative terms, and many wineries can sell their production within their own country. Couple that with the fact that natural wines are often made with little or no sulphur dioxide at bottling means that they perhaps do not travel as well, especially over the huge distances from Australia and New Zealand. With these facts in mind it was a tasting that I very much looked forward to.

Naturalist Pet Nat. Cambridge Road. 2016. Martinborough. New Zealand. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris from Martinborough at the southern end of the North Island. The varieties are vinified separately using wild yeasts then blended together prior to bottling. There are aromas of lemon, pear and stone fruit which make this a very inviting drink. Dry but with a slight creamy texture thanks to the gentle mousse. Well balanced and with a lingering finish of lemon and a touch of bread yeast. Visit their website here

Since I Fell For You. Gewürztraminer. Ovum Wines 2016. Oregon. USA. Taking its name from a Nina Simone song this is a well made wine. Bags of floral, rose petal, lychee notes give way to tropical fruits. Medium bodied but rich in texture it is creamy with a hint of sweetness. The finish is long and floral. There is a purity of fruit here and a lovely freshness. This really is very nice. Visit their website here

Riviera Del Notro. Roberto Henriques 2017. Bio-Bio Valley/Itata. Chile A blend of Muscat, Semillon and Corinto. All have been vinified separately with skin contact; the Muscat for 5 months, Corinto for 7 months and the Semillon for 3 weeks. The wine is yellow/green with the slightest haze. There are intense aromas of grapes, roses and honeyed tropical fruits and this is reflected on the palate but with a slightly medicinal flavour. There is some volatile acidity. The wine improves a little in glass developing a smokey character. Very dry and a finish that lasts almost forever! A marmite of a wine, I became more of a fan as it opened out. Visit their website here

B’Rose. Yetti & the Kokonut. 2017. Barossa Valley. Australia. David Geyer and Koen Janssens began their label as recently as 2015 and now make a range of low intervention wines from grapes sourced from the Barossa and Eden valleys in South Australia. This rosé is an unusual blend of Gewürztraminer (vinified on skins), Cabernet Franc and Grenache. It is a glorious salmon pink colour with aromas of strawberry fruit with a few floral notes thrown in. The palate is light, juicy red fruit, slightly off dry in style. My sample had warmed a little in glass and would have benefited from being a little more chilled but this is not an unattractive wine that would certainly go down well in the garden on a hot sunny afternoon. Their range is well worthy of further investigation.

Rockwell Red Blend. Minimus Wines. 2016. Oregon/Washington. USA. Winemaker Chad Stock started the Minimus label in 2011 with an underlying philosophy to embrace experimentation in winemaking and to continually strive to explore all the possibilities available in this region of North Western USA. This is the second vintage of Rockwell, a blend of 40% Tempranillo, 26% Sauvignon Blanc, 14% Viognier, 16% Syrah and 4% Chenin Blanc. This is a very unusual blend with lots of red fruits, floral, smokey, candy floss. There is a slight sweetness on the front palate but it is dry on the finish with some grippy tannins. There is an awful lot going on here – a crazy blend that actually works very well. Smooth, very drinkable and a lot of fun. Try it and you may be surprised just how much you like it. Visit their website here

Terracura Syrah. Silwervis Wines. 2015. Swartland. South Africa. Winemaker Ryan Mostert has made a New World wine which is very much Old World in style, reminiscent of the great syrahs of the France’s Rhone Valley. The nose is a little closed but there are hints of berry fruits and smokey spice. The palate is dry with dark berry fruit, leather and peppery spice. The finish has some lovely brambly fruit. This wine needs a little time to soften a little at the edges. Very nice now but put a bottle or so away for a few years and it will be well worth the wait. Visit their website here

Double Fantasy Exhibition

There can be few people that have had so much negative press over the years as Yoko Ono. There was a time when she was blamed for the break up of The Beatles, her art was derided as worthless and she was portrayed as having an unhealthy control over John Lennon. That was the late sixties/early seventies and thankfully times have changed. Despite living in New York Yoko has maintained her links with Liverpool, the city of Lennon’s birth, and much of the enmity towards her has passed since his untimely death in 1980. It is therefore fitting that she has brought the story of her relationship with Lennon here to the city of his birth in an exhibition at The Museum of Liverpool at the Pier Head, close to Andy Edwards statue of the Fab Four.

Located on the second floor, the exhibition is on until 22nd April 2019 and entry is free. You could easily get round in an hour but if you have more time to spare so much the better, you won’t regret it.

Double Fantasy tells the story of John and Yoko life together through a variety of different objects and media. These include hand written lyrics to some of Lennon’s well known songs, their wedding outfits and other iconic items of clothing, guitars, pieces of Yoko’s art work and Lennon’s hard won green card.

Video clips are used well to add context and give their own insights at the time. A while room is used to show a video recording of Lennon performing Imagine at a white piano. It starts in a darkened room and as the song develops Yoko opens shutters to bring light into the room. If you want a real insight into the couples love for each other watch it until the very end.

The walls outside the video space are given over to visitors to leave their own personal thoughts on post-it notes. Some are trivial but many are quite poignant and reveal much about how the couple are perceived today.

I found the exhibition quite moving, something I hadn’t really expected and was quite surprised by. I certainly came away with a much deeper understanding of the depth of their love for each other and how, despite all that was written about them, it endured.

The end of the exhibition deals with Lennon’s murder and its aftermath. There is a chilling statistic displayed near the exit. It speaks loud and clear that John and Yoko’s campaign messages of peace and understanding need to be heard today as much as they were over 50 years ago.

You can get more details of the exhibition by visiting the museum’s website here