WHAT A WEEK, BUT SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT.

TUESDAY

Well it's been a busy week for me. Last Tuesday was our usual quiz night in the Bridge Hotel , Durham . Came second and enjoyed 3 pints of Bombardier Gold, ideal for a warm summer evening.

THURSDAY

Next up was a book signing at the Dun Cow in Sunderland. This was to publicise the launch of the an updated version of the CAMRA Real Heritage Pub Guide.  When I was at the Great British Beer Festival earlier this month , whilst wandering around the bars in the vast Olympia in London, I spotted a lone gentleman sitting behind a pile of books. I sidled across for a nosy and discovered this was Geoff Brandwood, the author of the aforesaid book. We had a chat and agreed to met in the Dun Cow two weeks later. Confessing he had a poor memory for names I said I was Ken, and to look out for the local CAMRA T shirt.

Now back to the Dun Cow. Before Geoff arrived I ordered a pint of Chocolate Stout by local brewer, Two by Two. I was then given strict instructions to drink the Jakehead IPA next as there were only 2 pints left ( how can you tell ?), as Leeds Midnight Bell was due on.  Never heard of it, but decided to humour everyone and try it later.

Geoff arrived and the inevitable happened. He was getting served so I sidled over ( again) and saw this startled blank, who the hell is this clown look. " Er we met at GBBF, Im Ken"  The penny dropped and we soon enjoyed an interesting presentation about his book.

After the presentation the Midnight Bell came on and this then became the topic of    conversation. It looked like a Stout, had  the strength of a Stout but didnt taste like one. We were all intrigued till         someone Googled the brewery to find it was actually described as a mild. Fantastic beer which I discovered will feature at the next Sunderland Beer Festival.

FRIDAY

Next day Mrs Ken and I headed up the Northumberland coast to see the Tall Ships Regatta in Blyth. We had never been to Blyth town centre before ; I had read that Wetherspoons had converted on old Cinema, The Wallaw, into a magnificent pub a couple of years ago . The place was huge, with an old projector in the entrance and a fantastic mirrored display behind the bar. Above the main seating area the old cinema balcony was still intact complete with seats

FRIDAY EVENING ( still knackered from Blyth)

That evening saw a group of local CAMRA members getting together for a curry in South Shields. The customary meeting up point is the Marine Pub , which when it reopened had only one handpull. Tonight there were 3 and the Dark Star Espresso went down a treat. We had preordered some bottle beer, to drink in the curry house close by . Now last time we did this they put our bottles in the freezer. We spent half the meal defrosting the stuff. This time they went the other way and left them out of the fridge altogether, so the beer was warmer than the Curry.

 MONDAY

Well the only thing missing from all this now is a Beer Festival. So off I set on the Bank Holiday Monday on my bike to our local Arts Centre. They hold a festival twice a year, Easter and the Late August holiday weekend. 

This was the last day so there weren't many of the 32 planned beers left to try. Pale and Golden ales were prominent, as seems to be the case at their festivals. No stouts! A couple of porters had sold out. Does that tell you something ? If the dark beers go first, then surely there is a demand for more ? Although the ones I had were OK , not as memorable as the Midnight Bell in the Dun Cow. 

Note that I left having had a few beers but my bike still managed to find its way back home.

TODAY

As I complete this I am about to get ready to go out to the quiz again in Durham, so the cycle is complete.

It's all go these days.