I work with a couple of guys who think this is brilliant but like you I am unconvinced.
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Now onto Magic Rock Common Grounds Attachment 2011
A coffee porter with lots of chocolate and vanilla ,5.4% with subtle bitterness.I've had this on cask at their Brewery Tap in Huddersfield ,it great 8/10
I've been watching a game from 1988: Luton v Oxford on youtube. Not exactly high definition, and the pitch was made of plastic. It's half-time, 3-2 to the Hatters. I think there are more goals to come...
Received a delivery from Laithwaites this week to keep Ms Camra in red wine.
Had a couple of glasses of Cab Sauv from Moldova. Never had a wine from Moldova before, it's pretty good as well (like almost all Lathwaites wines).
We have another 5 bottles of that one. so I'll definitely be having more. :cheers:
ELB are sending me 24x500ml bottles of Quadrant Stout at what seems a very good price of £55.00. Other than that it's Punk, Jaipur and Vocation from the nearby Tesco Express as the queue at the big Tesco has become ridiculous.
Getting towards the dregs of the cellar now - tonight's was Isle of Wight Garlic Beer (brewed by Yates and actually not bad). Mainly over 8% stuff left, apart from the 'special' bottles. Might be forced to requisition supplies from Big Smoke, who deliver locally.
The League Cup has been competed for every year since 1960, it's just not always had that name. See this for details. At the time the Hatters won it, it was called the Littlewoods Cup.
Last night I was watching a performance of One Man, Two Guvnors on youtube, accompanied by a couple of beers. It was hilarious - haven't laughed so much for years. By comparison, I barely noticed the beers I was drinking.
Bad Co x Wilde Child Tectonic is a 10.5% imperial stout, but it was a bit too gassy for me, and I had to pour it from one glass to another to release some of the bubbles. A bit too sweet too, with not much at all in the way of depth or complexity.
Next was Tollgate Old Rasputin 4.9%, a porter which I have had in a pub from the cask, but I think this bottled version was actually better. It's bottle conditioned, which can have variable results, but this one, which had been sitting on top of my fridge since Saturday afternoon, was somehow in perfect condition.
We usually pop out for a few drinks on a Tuesday night in normal world, so I think we shall be calling in at the bar tonight.
Picked up some Bad Co. beers today brewed exclusively for Asda. American IPA 5.2 % and West Coast Pale Ale 5.6%.
Very reasonable at £1.25 for a 330ml can.
Ms Camra will no doubt be starting off on a can of cider and then some red wine.
I'll report back on the Bad Co. beers later or maybe tomorrow. :cheers:
I'd bought another can of Abbeydale Deliverance at the Dram Shop on Saturday, previously drunk on 23 March, so I must have liked it. Also on the menu last night was Wilde Child Righteous Indignation, a 7.4% New England IPA. Not my favourite style of beer, but variety is the spice of life, apparently.
Yesterday a delivery from local Stancill Brewery arrived: a three litre bag-in-a-box of their very good 4.4% porter. £15 for just over five pints, with free local delivery. I'll be tapping that one today.
Stocked up for the bank holiday weekend, which I'm sure will be very busy in the Boots (aka my garage = Public Bar or the front room = Saloon Bar), today I had a delivery of two mini-kegs of Rudgate Ruby Mild (the neighbours have commented on how often a Rudgate van comes up our quiet cul-de-sac). Also got a few slabs from Roosters due tomorrow.
I've been making room in the cellar (aka my garage), tonight with a few bottles left from the last Beer Hawk box, Hawkshead - Red, Camden - Pale, Six Degrees North - Belgian IPA and O'Brother/White Hag - Moonlight Maze. The last of which would be a "sinker" if times weren't so hard ;). Actually that Irish stuff was so bad I had to have a Baby Faced Assassin to take the taste away. :D
I'd forgotten about Easter! I'm struggling to remember which day is which. I'm getting two boxes of ELB Cowcatcher tomorrow. They've dropped their prices and are doing free local deliveries while the rest of them seem to be retaining their pub or crafty off licence prices.
These five litre kegs look a good option but do you have a fridge large enough to put one in? I can put up with cold beer but not warm.
This bag-in-a-box idea is a good one, but it doesn't result in any good photos. Apart from anything else, the box is fairly boring, and then the pouring requires two hands, which makes photography a bit tricky if you don't want to drop the glass.
I interspersed a couple of pints of the Stancill Porter 4.4% with a bottle of Tollgate Duffield Amber 4.6%. This was not as well conditioned as the same brewery's Old Rasputin from the other day. Perhaps it was a bit too warm. We live and learn.
But the pubs will be on reduced hours on Good Friday ...................OH
My garage is cool enough at present, I would recommend drinking in two days, mine are real ale and need a few days settling before opening. They obviously need a stable base and being sedimented you will have half a pint or so waste in the bottom. Later on a small fridge will be useful, they're about 18" high and 10" wide.
Yesterday's special was a couple of tins of Eden River Yuzu Juice, picked up at Morrison's remaindered pile for a £1 a go! An extremely bitter, citrus IPA with grapefruit and tangerine as well as the eponymous yuzu, which was quite drinkable after having got past the first kick in the face. Might be nice on a hot summer's day but I can't say I will be seeking it out. Unless it's still £1 a tin...
I put my keg of Harveys in the fridge at first, but it's too cold in there. It lost condition and the flavour was badly affected. So instead I took it out about two hours before pouring, which improved it on both counts, without the beer being too warm to drink.
For my next one, I'm leaving it in a cupboard which doesn't get much sun. Hopefully this will help to maintain optimum temperature.
Currently enjoying this one from Vocation and Magic Rock
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Making a serious dent in the stocks of Langport Bitter - might need another delivery very shortly.
Vocation Imperial Stout stash being tucked in to! (48 cans to get through). Maybe early but I was up at 4:00 for training at 6:00. :)
I've been in a pub today!
It's all right, no one was breaking the law. Off-sales only. The Gardeners Rest, which initially closed with (most of) the rest on 20 March (some set up take out services), has had a re-think about all the untapped barrels in their cellar. An email was sent out this week to all shareholders (it's a community-owned pub), inviting us to come on down this weekend, when two beers per day are available to take out at just £2 a pint. I was there this afternoon and bought four pints of Joules Slumbering Monk 4.5%. Potential customers have to queue (two metres apart) on the pavement outside, with one person at a time entering the pub and paying for their beer with contactless payment. (Service is not limited to shareholders, it's just the publicity that's limited. If it spreads by word of mouth, more beer gets sold. But they don't want hundreds of people all turning up at the same time. Just three hours per day: Sat 3-6, Sun 12-3. Maybe Mon.)
Happy days!
Beer is essential provisions and you should tell anyone who says otherwise where to go! I've just about given up on the big Tesco as the queues and the increasingly unreliable buses are a real pain. I'm getting a double order (96 bottles) from ELB next week. Tesco Express is a bit dearer but not travelling and not going to the pub (JDW excepted) is saving me a fortune.
Just slipped down a BrewDog Indie,a new one on me and decently bitter without going over the top.A winner 4.2% 8/10
Attachment 2058
Welcome to Saturday night in the Pubs Galore Bar! (It is Saturday, isn't it?)
For my first pint, I'm finishing off the container of Joules Slumbering Monk that I bought at the Gardeners Rest yesterday.
OK, two pints, then. Cheers!
Next one up .. 6 Degrees North Hopclassic Belgian IPA (cant find the degree symbol on my keyboard :o)
Bit of poke at 6.6%,bottle says notes of apricot and citrus but I get a nettle thing,deep bitterness and a nose like bottled White Shield of old.Interesting 8/10Attachment 2059
Bottle conditioned so unusually for me I poured with care.
Just on my third Langport Bitter. I', a bit concerned that the Brewery isn't delivering next week, so I might I have to dip into the back of the cupboard in my workshop where there are some miscellaneous old bottles from the local Spar shop. Mostly Hibgoblin, Goram and Spitfire, I think.
Whoops, big thumbs, small keyboard, can't find specs.
And that ruddy Malinois has just helped herself to half a pint of bitter.
Not many people use the Spar, because they'd prefer to queue at the Co-Op. Yesterday the Spar had 5 different bottled ales, and no queue. The Co-Op, though, had 3 ales at £1.60, but it took over half an hour to buy them. Now it's Summer, though, I might start drinking cider from the local cider mill at around £1.20 a pint.