a swift one - 18,000 and counting !!!
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As regular readers will be aware, I am a 'beer ticker'. And whilst I was at The Star Beer Festival I notched up my 18,000th beer. I knew I was fairly close to the figure, but did not realise how close. For anyone interested it was the Hophurst 'Cosmati' and a pretty good beer it was too. But it started me thinking....
18,000 beers since I started this project back in 1990 in the Barge and Barrel in Elland with a pint of Felinfoel 'Double Dragon' and a conversation with a bloke at the bar and Dave, the barman. It seemed a bit of fun at the time, and something to combine with my love of buses. Little did I know !!
Now 25 years later, I have probably spent enough to have bought a small Scottish island, but have earned far more than that. I have drunk beers from all corners of Great Britain, and often travelled far and wide to get them. I have been drinking in the depths of Scotland in the snow, toured Cumbria in search of one beer, visited some of the best pubs in London, explored Tyne and Wear, managed to fit three beer festivals in one day (a Royal Wedding day as well!) , and drunk regularly in some of the most interesting pubs in the north.
I have encountered the good, the bad and the downright weird in the beer world, and that's only the beer ! I have seen a great change in beer styles from the early days, and have developed a love and knowledge of single hopped beers, and wheat beers, and have gradually had my taste buds weaned away from the more traditional flavours I used to associate with beer. I know what I like, and what I will dislike, even though I will still drink it, such is the nature of ticking.
But throughout the 18,000 beers it has been my privilege to meet some really great people, and I am honoured to have plenty them (you) as friends. So thank you all, from brewers, to licencees, to tickers, you have made the journey so interesting. I have no hope of catching the numbers achieved by people like Brian Moore (a 40,000 plus legend, and a thoroughly decent bloke), but will keep trying, for research purposes only you understand. No doubt catch you in the pub later as I start on the next 18,000.
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