Zero Degrees microbrewery is housed in an art-deco former hotel garage in the City Centre. The brewster Victoria Stippa is shortly to move to Austria to take up a new job there and she has brewed this one-off beer in honour of octogenarian pub regular Norman Tandy, who has been a CAMRA member since the 1970s.
Stormin' Norman is a dark, Munich Style wheat beer, Victoria previously worked at famous Munich-based brewer Paulaner so the beer is true to that style. The beer pours with a slightly beige head and has an aroma of of cloves and caramel. Initially sweet tasting with some rich caramel notes, that leads onto an aromatic finish. Dry, flavoursome and very drinkable, Stormin' Norman is a fine finish to the time Victoria has spent in Cardiff.
This article originally appeared in the South Wales Echo 09.02.13
Popped into the excellent Zero Degrees in the centre of Cardiff to try their latest brew, the bananarama. I've tried banana beers before, a company called de Troch produced a truely awful one a few years back. This is not so bad, it seems to be based on their wheat beer and the banana flavour is present in the nose and initial taste, before the spicy flavour of the wheat beer kicks.
Not too bad but don't think I'll have another.
Zero Degrees, 27 Westgate Street, Cardiff, CF10 1DD
Situated opposite the Millenium Stadium, this art deco building was originally built as a garage, the motiff on the front of the building still has “Queens and Royal Garage” above the new “Zero Degrees” sign. Below the signs, the large glass windows provide a view of the brewery, immaculate shinning stainless steel vessels which are illuminated during the night with colourful lights. Zero Degrees is a lot different from the usual brew pub, here the brewery is not tucked out the back of the pub but positioned strategically at the front for all to see. The entrance, on the left hand side of the building leads to thee bar area with the serving counter at the rear of the brewery. Again stainless steel dominates with a collection of tubes and pipes leading from the cellar tanks to the beer taps. The brewery brews a range of different beers including a Pilsner, a Wheat Beer, a Pale Ale, a Mango Beer and a Black Lager, in addition a monthly guest beer is also brewed. In October the monthly special was a 6.5% Oktoberfest Beer which had been maturing or lagering in the tanks since it was brewed in early August. Other seasonal beers have incuded an Apple Wheat Beer and an Asian Lager. In December the beer is Peach Vanilla. The resident brewer, Victoria Stippa is originally from Germany and previously worked for the Paulaner Brewery. There is an interview with her on Wales Online.
A nice touch is that a sample selection of all the regular beers can be ordered giving the customer the opportunity to try their range of beers without having to order halves or pints.
The interior of Zero Degrees is cavernous and there is a choice of seating on the ground floor from tables and chairs to sofas and stools. The bar is circular in shape so that wherever you choose to sit the brewery is always at the focal point of the pub.
Also on the ground floor is the open-plan kitchen with it's pizza oven, which bears a similarity to part of the brewing plant. Directly opposite the kitchen are the cellar tanks for the beer. Food is available all day with pizzas being a speciality on the menu together with more unusual pub food such as mussels.
Upstairs there is more seating and at the front, above the brewery, a doorway leads to an outside terrace, an unique feature for a Cardiff City Centre pub. Customers do not have to worry about carrying their drinks upstairs as a dumb waiter is installed by the bar.
Zero Degrees features a regular price promotion with all the beers reduced to £2 a pint between 4-7pm. At night the bar becomes popular with sports fans as the widescreen televisions and projector are put into use.
Popped into Zero Degrees, Cardiff to try their Xmas offering, a 4.2% beer. Flavoured with apples and cinamon so there is a christmas theme to this ale. Lots of fruit on in the aroma and in the taste. A bit cloying and sweet but at least they have made the effort to produce a christmas ale. Hat tip to Keith Flett for telling Brew Wales about this beer.
Popped into the Zero Degrees in Cardiff, not a pub I use regularly but will give it a go once in a while. Six beers brewed on site available today, the 6% Octoberfest the best of the lot, both in terms of flavour and accuracy of the beer style. This brewery on Westgate Street has a very modern feel to it, despite being housed in a former 1930s Art Deco garage! The beers: Pilsner - light and hoppy but a heavy malt aroma, may be served too young here. Lager the beer for a few months or even weeks if you want it to call it a Pilsner. Pale Ale - not very pale as is red in colour and not very at all similar to an English ale as US hops (Cascade and centennial are used). Cloying sweetness, not a well-balanced beer. Black Lager - a taste sensation of roasted malts hitting the tongue, leading into chocolatey overtones. Wow factor on this one, suggest having the Smoky Mexican pizza with this. Wheat Ale - the banana aroma of this beer is the first hint of what to expect from this beer, a very good example of a German Wheat Beer tastes like. Surprisingly good. Mango beer - mangos go well with curries with chutneys but with beers? An interesting fruity aroma leads to a sickly sweet mango flavour. Can only think to match this beer with a curry. The sample tray pictured above cost £2.50 but did not include the Octoberfest Beer which was the best of the night. Zero Degrees is a good addition to the Cardiff scene, a US style brew pub, just wish the beer was a bit less cold an fizzy.
Best to visit this place between 1700 and 1900 hrs as its happy hour so beers are £2 a pint. Cardiff`s 3rd brewery offers on the site brewed beers, pizzas cooked in their open kitchen and arty uncomfortable seating. Art-deco building gives rise to a boutique brewery which is a bonus for Cardiff but it does have a rather clinical ambiece. The beers , well they are all carbonated (admitted by zero degrees staff) so we are left with fizzy "keg" beers. But its a brewery and they do a taster of all 5 of their different brews for £2.50. My own personal tasting notes follow: Pale ale - not that pale, slighty hazy, well over-carbonated but an excellent dry finish. Black lager - very coffish in fact almost overpowering. Wow a breakfast beer if ever I tried one. Wheat ale - for some reason part of an orange was put into the glass (hint its lemon in a wheat beer but only in the North of Germany) spicy fizzy yeasty and cloudy - dreadful if you want a decent British wheat beer then go to a Sam Smiths pub. Mango beer -yeasty cloudy and, well Crap. Last one to try is the Pilsner - sparkling clear and after half an hour after being poured is still fizzing proving that the so called "real ales" are under CO2 pressure. Actually the pilsner is very good - smooth, good ,hoppy aftertaste despite being under blanket pressure something the Campaign for Real Ale is willing to allow now in the Good Beer Guide as they allow Bristol Zero Degrees in.
