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23-12-2010, 12:19
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[/URL][URL="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eQjR-WeaVPY/TRMpfi7pesI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/_mn5JrgreNs/s1600/IMAG0023.jpg"]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eQjR-WeaVPY/TRMpfi7pesI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/_mn5JrgreNs/s320/IMAG0023.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_eQjR-WeaVPY/TRMpiS4HXSI/AAAAAAAAAkY/DQW9ntuBoZ4/s1600/IMAG0024.jpg)A big thank you to Badger Beer (http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/). The lovely people at Badger (http://www.badgersettaleclub.co.uk/open-gates.aspx) sent through a much appreciated early Christmas gift of a Fortnum & Mason’s Oval Game Pie (http://www.fortnumandmason.com/product/game-pie,11014.aspx). That’s got to be nicer than a 99p Sainsbury’s basics pack of pork pies. 1.5 kg of Pork, venison, rabbit, pheasant, pigeon, pork liver, chicken, chicken liver & seasonings all wrapped in pastry. It’s meat heaven. I’ve still got to drink the lovely beer they sent (http://cookinglager.blogspot.com/2010/04/best-things-in-life-are-free.html) me and suspect the 2 will go very nicely together as I look out of the warm house into the freezing Siberian temperatures outside and decide that sitting in with a nice slice of pie and one of Badgers beers is just the ticket to comfort, relaxation & not freezing to death outside.

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With that, Christmas week is officially Badger Beer Week on this here cooking lager blog, in the clearest sign yet that in the commercialisation of Christmas the price of this blog is little more than a nice slice of pie. It’s what the little baby Jesus would want. So with a couple of days before having to attend a Christmas eve “camp” fancy dress party at the squeezes “best gay mates” flat, then a Christmas and boxing day of visiting my parents, her parents, her sister, some aunties I am kind of hoping to neck my badger beers in the relative peace and quiet of a warm house and all the rubbish TV lined up on the free view recorder.


Noticing the free view box had recorded me “Oz & Hugh (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x334f)” I could sit down with a slice of pie, a nice beer & watch some beer related TV programming. I occasionally get to watch what I want. Not often, but occasionally. It appeared the usual fake matey Top Gear inspired blokeish rubbish as 2 gormless middle aged men set upon an odyssey of drink as they went about setting up rival bars one playing the part of the CAMRA geek and the other a normal everyman. Oz portrayed the CAMRA geek by his behaviour and neglected to do his audience the courtesy of a visual shortcut by not donning a white beard, sandals, bow tie and sticking a copy of the Guardian under his arm. I have one question. Beer Blogger & Brewer and all round decent chap Stuart Howe of Sharps Brewery (http://brewingreality.blogspot.com/) did them the kindness of not only appearing on this rubbish, but also giving them some beer to drink, yet all we saw was the back of his head? What was going on there? I have nothing to say about the rest of the show. Alright, but haven’t we seen it all before?



I’d love to say I considered carefully which beer might go best with this pie, but in all honesty I picked one at random. All food goes with all beer. Matching is pretentious rubbish borrowed from wine bores. Pretty much any wine goes with any food too, but admitting as such would leave a quarter of an hour to fill in most TV cookery shows if they just said. “I went down Tesco and picked this one because it was cheap, it goes quite well I think, not too bad, drinkable and not at all like diesel fuel. Ummm its red, not sure where it’s from, the bottle might say. Umm, Bulgaria, is that good or bad? ”

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So I cracked open a Tanglefoot promising melon & pear with a copper colour. A fruity smell, crisp sweet & spicy. 5%. Very nice. A clear bright glass of beer with a lovely effervescence (fizz) on the taste. A malt dominated flavour with subtle hops. Full mouth feel with a dry finish as you get it down you leaving a burnt caramel aftertaste. Cracking stuff.


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I’d of had a second but the next random pick from the selection box was Golden Champion 5%. Summer in a glass. Just the ticket for when the depths of this Siberian winter are annoying you. Contains Elderflower. A floral tangerine smell to a copper beer with a crisp fruity taste. Like drinking a bunch of flowers. Sweet is the dominant flavour with a floral hint of a half remembered sweet shop of childhood. I’d of finished this but the squeeze stole it off me after a few gulps.
I’ll try a few more tonight and hack away at more of this giant pie. Suffice to say all the beer goes very nice with game pie, as I suspect most things would. Time to open the Christmas quality street.



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