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.

A DAY AT THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL

Yesterday saw another marathon session reunion at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival in Kensington Olympia, London.  I've worked out this is the 13th year I've been meeting up with friends and ex colleagues to catch up on things and basically take the piss out of each other.

As usual I got the most stick as I take my own food. The beer prices are bad enough, mostly over £4 a pint but I refuse to pay the rip off food prices.  So Mrs Ken always buys me a pack of out of date mini pork pies, ( pictured) , costing  a fraction of the cost the others paid for sarnies, chips etc.   

Anyhow, enough of the food ; the first beer to try ( I say "try" as enjoyed it many times) was Maxim Swedish Blonde. A great refreshing start to a long afternoon. 

Every year on the first day of the Festival the Champion Beer of Britain is announced, with an overall winner and beer category winners. Guess how many beers were selected from the North East . NONE. Disappointed is an understatement. 

Usually the overall winner has sold out by the time we get there. Heading for another bar,  of which there were several,  I  spotted a CAMRA guy holding a  pole with a sign, not unlike someone in ASDA holding a pointy finger showing a free queue at the checkouts. The sign said "Champion Beer Here" Sure enough, someone was frantically pulling pints / halves / thirds of Binghams Vanilla Stout

Now every year at the festival I bang on about speciality beers, such as Triple Chocoholic, Plum Porter etc and usually get a tut or a withered look for my troubles. Well, not this time guys. Finally a winner that's different.  Whilst it tasted nice, I have to say it didnt stand out above the rest to be honest. The Vanilla wasn't that prominent either. ( perhaps the pickle in the pies dulled the taste buds)

On the same bar I later tried an Oyster Stout . I haven't a  clue what an oyster tastes like, well you just swallow them whole don't you ? The beer had a stout taste but I think the oysters had clammed shut during the brewing process.

It was interesting the number of punters drinking London Pride , or Bombardier. National  drinks you can get anywhere. Try something you wouldn't normally drink !  ( well apart from the Swedish Blonde of course) 

Titanic Brewery had their own bar, with the ever present Plum Porter, so I tried something else. Raspberry Wheat - which was pink  ( "Ken, what on earth is that ?" ) and Cappuccino Stout - which  was black. ( Ken, what on earth is that smell ?) 

I have worked out I drank 13 beers, mostly thirds , which comes out at just over 4 pints overall. Doesn't sound much but you have to allow for walking to each bar as Olympia  is huge, queuing for beer and the gents ( yes, a queue in the gents !!) 

Nearly 6 hours later,  having started with a local beer, it was time to finish with one. Darwin Extinction. An appropriate name for this 8.3% Barley Wine which is dangerously drinkable. I feel asleep on the tube back to Kings Cross, waking up just in time. Didn't fancy a night in Cockfosters somehow. 

Already looking forward to next year

ITS HIS ROUND - GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL 2009

Well, its nearly that time of year. The annual trip to the Great British Beer Festival in London.  Ive been getting together with like minded boozers for the last 12 years so this will be number 13*. 

Travelling down from the North East and back in one day makes for a long day. In 2009 I stayed over on the way there , and back with a friend who lives in Nuneaton. A few weeks before the big day he announced his daughter had bought him an appropriate T Shirt from Asda, pictured. 
"Must get one of those"  so off went Mrs Ken shopping , coming back with the aforesaid apparel. 

We agreed we should get the others we would meet on the day to do the same so an email quickly went out to the rest of the guys.

On the day , our train from Nuneaton to London pulled into Rugby. There on the platform were 2 guys with the same T shirts. " Look at them two idiots". It was only when they got on that we realised they were meeting up with us, one of whom I hadn't seen for over 10 years.

This year the festival is at Olympia but back then it was held in Earls Court. As the afternoon wore on, more and more of us trickled in, all wearing the same. Not one guy bottled it, as you can see from the photograph below, taken by a bemused CAMRA steward. I think she got a fright as I'm the one with my fly open.


 

* Subject of next blog

OLD PECULIER - BEER OF THE MONTH

Last weekend I was at the Glasgow Beer Festival *  Many beers were tried of course, but one which I was saving for last ran out just as I was walking to the bar. All the beers were in metal casks as you would expect, except one - Old Peculier,  in a wooden barrel.

I wasn't too disappointed as at the beginning of June on a pub crawl in Bedale ( North Yorkshire) ** the first pint ( sorry 2 pints) I had was Old Peculier at 11 in the morning. It was absolutely magnificent. I was getting strange looks as I savoured the taste, with appropriate noises, of this well known beer. It is sometimes said that OP doesn't travel and tastes  better the nearer the brewery it is. Well Bedale is only about 15 minutes from the brewery in Masham so I can understand that.

In 2012 I did a tour of the Theakstons brewery, some photos are shown. We were staying the night in the White

Old Peculier bubbling away

Bear Hotel, their brewery tap,  so the OP was naturally top of the menu. It was actually the White Bear Beer Festival and during the evening a howling gale developed. Their marquee with the festival bar in actually moved sideways throughout the evening. Mrs Ken can confirm this, it wasn't the beer this time.

I believe I am correct in saying that Old Peculier was the first real ale I drank, back  in the early seventies. We were staying in a youth hostel in Hawes, doing the Pennine Way, and after a long days hike, the natural thing to do was head for the local boozer. 

I think it was called The Fountain and I will always remember our reaction when drinking the OP for the first time. We were all used to drinking S&N, Vaux or Camerons keg beers so this was a revelation. The colour and the underlying taste of liquorice hit me straight away . Needless to say I cant remember the stagger back to the youth hostel. Happy days

Some years ago when I was old enough to know better we had a pub crawl in York. The last pint I remember drinking was Old Peculier in the Old Starre Inn ( I think). My next memory is waking up in bed the next morning. Apparently we had left the pub to find another, had burger and chips, got the train back to Durham, had another pint in Wetherspoons then got a taxi home.  I cant remember any of it. Apparently on the train I got up to go to the loo. The swaying motion of the train cancelled out my swaying so I ended up walking in a straight line. Well at least this is what Ive been told.

How can one beer have so many stories ?  One more then I'm done . Ive been going to the Great British Beer Festival every year for some time now. In the early days Theakstons had their own bar, and for about three years two of us made a point of starting with Old Peculier . When I turned up the last time they had a bar, I made the point of  wearing my Black Sheep T shirt to wind them up. It worked  and but after the expected abuse, they still served me. Most beers that day didnt taste as good after drinking OP first.

You don't often see Old Peculier near where I live.(the bottled is not as good in my opinion). Its rarity makes it all the more enjoyable.  

So , no hesitation, my beer of the month.

  

*Glasgow Beer Festival

** Bedale Pub Crawl