Real ale festivals, there’s only really two ways to approach them. Firstly, you can get roaringly paralytic having imbibed and vomited your body weight in pongy, soupy beer and pongy, acrid cider. Secondly, you can be so overwhelmed by the quantity on offer, with no way of distinguishing between any of it, that you instantly [...]
I have often said that is not only the best India Pale Ale I have tried but also my favourite beer ever. Yet I have been told on many occasions that Worthington’s White Shield is a superior IPA. Consequently, I’ve kept my eyes peeled for it, finally scoring some a few days ago. At last [...]
I took a picture of this the other day but didn’t review it. I worry that in this space of time someone might have been fooled into buying this piss-boring, slightly vile cider and so thrown their money away on a poor fun investment. Waitrose Organic Vintage Cider 2008, 5% This dreary nose just smells [...]
I’ve never tried this beer before. I’d rather that state of affairs had been maintained. Anchor Steam Beer, 4.8% One of the primary (of many) problems I have with this beer is that it smells of cat shit. Put the glass to your mouth and the horrible smell of cat egestion fills your nostrils. This [...]
My little drinkie I am treating myself to with lunch today is tequila flavoured beer from France. ‘Oh dear’, you may be thinking; I think that would be an overly generous assessment. Desperados beer flavoured with tequila, 5.9% I’m smelling this and the civilised parts of my mind are screaming, “Why did you buy this, [...]
This summer we are burning through Alsace and Burgundy. Alsace is considered to be the place in France where the best beers are brewed. I’ve got one here to test that. Meteor, 4.6% Bloody hell, I’ve just looked at the label and it contains caramel as a colourant and ascorbic acid as an anti-oxidant. That [...]
Goroka, the current speciality coffee pod in the Nespresso range is, alas, deeply sub-interest. It is too bitter with no depth of flavour; quite simple and unsatisfying if I am honest. This is a shame as I have had some great coffee from Indonesia, from where this hails. I’ll stick to Ristretto and Arpeggio, the [...]
My trip to France has been a tale of woe so far, beyond picking up some Pibarnon 2001 for a knock-down price. Dinner was, perhaps, even more depressing than what approximated for lunch. We had a recommendation to go to a microbrewery in Lille called Les 3 Brasseurs. Going to a microbrewery is usually an [...]
My last Estonian beer, drank half an hour before getting a taxi to the airport. I won’t miss them. A. Le Coq Special 1807 Jubilee Edition, 5.2% Smells like standard lager, nothing thrilling here. Apart from the fact that it is slightly sweet and a bit chemical, this could be any standard European lager. It [...]
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