Sunday 3 November 2024

Lazing in Cairo

We get up again around 2 PM. I’m so confused about what day and time it is. I’m not so sure how wise staying up for breakfast was. I feel totally exhausted.

“What do you fancy doing, Andrew?”

“Pub.” he says succinctly.

We looked for pubs close to our hotel before leaving Amsterdam.

“How about the Five Bells?”

“Sure, Andrew.”

Five Bells exterior

It’s not far. Just a few blocks away. Thankfully, we don’t have to cross any busy roads. That looks so fucking dangerous.

Most of the pub is actually outside, covered by a tent. There are air-conditioning units. But, as it isn’t that hot, they aren’t switched on.

We both order a Stella. No, not that Stella. It’s a local beer. Though one which is produced by a brewery owned by Heineken. 

A bottle of Stella beer.

“What do you think of the beer, Andrew?”

“It’s OK.”

He’s not wrong. It’s drinkable, if unspectacular. He must quite like it, as he’s polished off his before I’ve had more than a couple of mouthfuls of mine.

We decide to order some food. Plate of chips for Andrew, falafel for me. Though neither of us is very hungry. We pick at our meals in a leisurely way.

A plate of chips and a plate of falafel'

One beer is enough for me. Not that I stop drinking. I move over to whisky. A local one. I’m not made of money. It’s OK Wet and pretty alcoholic. Rather like me.

There’s football on a TV. A local game. It reminds me of South America. Where there’s always football on TV in every pub. Often more than one game on different TVs.

There are only a couple of other customers. More staff, in fact.

A second footy game starts. A rather more important local game, given the behaviour of the staff. They’re paying far more attention. And reacting far more to events on the pitch. The game finishes two all. And, oddly, immediately goes to penalties.

We hang around for quite a while. It’s only at around 7 PM that more people start turning up. Which is our cue to leave.

Inside the Five Bells.

“Let’s go to the supermarket on our way back.” Andrew suggests.

There’s one called Metro just opposite our hotel. Which is where we go.

I think I know what Andrew is looking for: beer. It’s a very well-stocked shop. But the one thing they don’t have is beer. I can’t say that it surprises me. Instead, we get some mixers for our duty free. And some cheese and a bag of salt and vinegar crisps.

Back in our room, we get stuck into the duty free. Mixing the Tanqueray with this weird lime green Schweppes stuff we got. As there was no tonic water in the supermarket.

We spend the remainder of the evening sipping away and watching stuff on my laptop. It’s quite late when we crawl off to bed. About 2 AM. We aim to rise around 9:30 AM for breakfast. Hopefully that will work.

Despite us having risen late and done fuck all but hang around in a pub for hours, I’m still feeling knacked.

Duty free Bowmore is my impetus to sleep.



Five Bells
13 Ismail Mohammed,
Abu Al Feda,
Zamalek,
Cairo Governorate 11211.

Saturday 2 November 2024

Let's Brew - 1880 Chapman PA

Similar to AK, but a good bit stronger, was Pale Ale. Basically, it’s a full-strength Pale Ale. Pretty much the same strength as an equivalent beer brewed in London.

The grist is very simple, consisting of just base malt and a single type of sugar. The latter being listed as laevulose, an older word for fructose. The percentage is even higher than in AK, coming to about a third of the total.

There were equal quantities of two types of hops: Kent from the 1879 harvest and Hampshire from 1880. Kent hops from the 1880 season were used as dry hops.

The big question is: was this a Stock Pale Ale? I’m not sure, to be honest. It’s pretty heavily hopped, at 12 lbs per quarter of malt. But not too crazily hopped. And I know that it was racked into barrels, kilderkins and firkins. I wouldn’t expect a Stock Pale Ale to be put into a cask as small as a firkin. My guess id that it wasn’t a Stock beer. Perhaps it was semi-Stock and aged three months or so. 

1880 Chapman PA
pale malt 7.50 lb 68.18%
fructose 3.50 lb 31.82%
Fuggles 90 mins 3.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins 3.50 oz
Goldings dry hops 1.00 oz
OG 1059
FG 1009
ABV 6.61
Apparent attenuation 84.75%
IBU 77
SRM 8
Mash at 148º F
Sparge at 168º F
Boil time 90 minutes
pitching temp 57º F
Yeast WLP023 Burton Ale


Friday 1 November 2024

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part sixteen)

Another mixed set again. All breweries whose beers I definitely drank. All in the less fashionable parts of the North and Midlands.

It's so long ago when I visited the Higson's brewery tap in Liverpool that I was underage at the time. Obviously, being the 1970s, getting served at 17 was no problem.

I remember Holts from the 1970s, too. Not from beer festivals, but from a visit to Manchester in 1979. I was wandering around Salford. As you do. When I spotted this rather nice looking Edwardian pub. Which brewery owned it? No indication on the exterior. Inside, no pumpclips on the handpulls. Leaning over the bar, I was able to make out the brewery name on the bottled beer: Holts. There's low-key advertising for you. In the late 1970s, lack of a brewery name on the outside usually indicated a Watney's house.

Holdens remain what the were then: a solid, small Midlands affair. Selling loads of lovely Mild.


Higson
Liverpool,
Merseyside.
Founded:    1780
Closed:            1990
Tied houses:    160

The last independent brewery in Liverpool, Higsons was bought by Boddington in 1985. I drank their beers when in Liverpool in 1973 and was reasonably impressed. After closure, the brewery reopened as Robert Cain and was passed around between a few owners and endured a couple of bankruptcies.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1039.3 well-flavoured, well hopped
Mild Mild draught 1033.4 Dark Mild
Bitter Pale Ale keg    
Mild Mild keg    
Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Double Top Brown Ale bottled 1033.9  
Stingo Gold Barley Wine bottled    



Holden
Woodsetton,
Worcestershire.
Founded:    1875
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    8

One of the small breweries in the Black Country which started life as a brewpub. Considering their small size, they brewed a decent range of beers. And pretty good ones at that.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1039 well hopped, sweetish
Special Bitter Pale Ale draught 1052 full bodied, hoppy
Mild Mild draught 1036 Dark Mild, well balanced
Old Ale Old Ale draught 1065 full bodied
Golden Keg Pale Ale keg   full flavoured Bitter, chilled and filtered but not pasteurised
Pale Ale Mild bottled   A Dark Mild



Holt
Cheetham,
Manchester.
Founded:    1849
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    80

One of several independent breweries in the Manchester area, Holt was of a fairly modest size. Its tied estate was fairly concentrated in the Greater Manchester area. In the 1970s, they sold pretty much exclusively to their own pubs. They didn’t usually even supply beer festivals. Their beers were pretty good. Especially the Bitter, which truly lived up to the name.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1038.5 well balanced traditional brew
Mild Mild draught 1033.4 malty Dark Mild
Pale Ale Pale Ale bottled    
Six X Barley Wine bottled    
Diamond Ale Brown Ale bottled   strong Brown Ale
Brown Stout Stout bottled 1040 medium sweet


Thursday 31 October 2024

Flying East

“That’s ridiculous, Dad. Your business class ticket is cheaper than mine to sit with the plebs.”

“I know, Andrew, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

“Very funny, Dad.”

“No need to thank me, Andrew,”

Air fares can be completely illogical. But I’m not complaining, in this particular case.

It’s a bit of an odd journey, this one. We start a little after 15:00, but don’t get into Cairo until 01:30. Partly because we have over three hours in Charles de Gaulle. (My favourite airport in the world. Just like living in Alphaville.) With a shorter layover, we could have done the journey quicker, but we’d always to arriving at 01:30. Which isn’t great.

We head off for Schiphol around noon. To make sure we have plenty of lounge time. Andrew may be travelling cattle-truck class, but, via me, he can still get into the lounge.

The airport isn’t too busy and we blitz through security and passport control.

When I’m signing Andrew into the lounge, the nice young lady says: “Do you realise that you’re in the wrong part of the airport? You need to be on the Schengen side.”

I’m so used to flying to non-Schengen countries, that I automatically went to that part of the airport.

“You can still come into this lounge, however.”

 Which is what we do. Having plenty of time.

Rendang and whiskies.

I begin with my traditional brace of whiskies. Following up with some food. A rather nice beef rendang. The best hot food I’ve ever had in this particular lounge. Yum.

We have a couple of drinks before heading over to the right part of the airport. We’ve still plenty of time before our flight. And drop by the other KLM lounge.

The other lounge.

The food isn’t as good. On the other hand, they have self-pour spirits. A feature I always love.

Me and Andrew say goodbye to each other on boarding. With me heading for luxury and him for squalor.

A light meal of artichoke salad, cheese and a doughnut.

It’s a pretty decent meal for a one-hour flight. Artichoke salad, cheese and a doughnut.

Back on the ground, I wait for Andrew to disembark. We make our way towards terminal 2E. Which is where our Cairo flight departs from. It’s quite a complicated walk. I love Charles de Gaulle. It’s like living in a dystopian 1960s French film.

Alphaville_airport.

On the way we pick up bottles of duty free. Bowmore for me, Tanqueray for Andrew.

Snack of cheese, boiled egg, ham, gherkins and wine.

Next stop is the Air France lounge. Where Andrew and I stock up on food and drink. I go for boiled egg, cheese, ham and gherkins. And, for a change of pace, red wine.

Cairo by night from the air.

On the next, longer, leg I have a flatbed seat. Which is dead cool. I can properly stretch out.

Despite the luxury seat, I’m feeling pretty knacked when we land in Cairo. Immigration isn’t too bad in terms of waiting time. But when we get landside we can’t find the transfer I arranged. Instead, we get a normal taxi.

Soon we’re dodging dangerously through the traffic. I used to think US motorways were scary. This is next level. Repeated use of the horn replaces obeying any of those pesky traffic laws. Cars and motorbikes pass within a few inches of each other.  At speed. None of the motorcyclists are wearing helmets.

We roll up to our hotel and get ourselves checked in. By the time we’re done, it’s getting on for 3 AM.

We have a nightcap of Bowmore and Tanqueray. Which makes it even later.

“What are we going to do now, Dad?”

“We could stay up a little longer until breakfast starts at six.”

Two breakfasts: croissants and pretzels; scrambled egg and sausage.

Which is what we do. Scrambled egg and chicken sausage. It’s not bad. I skip coffee, as I’m about to go to bed. Andrew has a few croissants and a pretzel.

We turn in at around 7 AM. I drop off immediately. It’s been a very long day.

Wednesday 30 October 2024

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1877 Chapman Double Stout

This is slightly before the period this book covers. But, as it’s the only record for this beer, I’m going to run with it.

Compared to even a London Single Stout, this looks pretty weak. London Stouts were usually over 1070º. Chapman, by the way, were based in Brighton on the south coast. As a rule, London-brewed beers were generally stronger than equivalent beers from the provinces.

The grist, on the other hand, has very much a London feel about it. As there’s a pretty large percentage of brown malt. Along with the usual pale and black malt. Most provincial brewers tended to go for a simpler grist of just base malt and black malt for colour.

There’s also sugar, in the form of No. 3 invert. Which is a pretty typical type to use in a Stout.

Equal amounts of three types of hops were used. Two types of Kent and one described as Bavarian. All were from the 1875 harvest. 

1877 Chapman Double Stout
pale malt 9.75 lb 67.24%
brown malt 2.50 lb 17.24%
black malt 0.75 lb 5.17%
No. 3 invert sugar 1.50 lb 10.34%
Hallertau 90 mins 1.25 oz
Fuggles 90 mins 2.50 oz
Goldings dry hops 0.50 oz
OG 1065
FG 1015
ABV 6.61
Apparent attenuation 76.92%
IBU 45
SRM 34
Mash at 148º F
Sparge at 171º F
Boil time 90 minutes
pitching temp 60.5º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

Tuesday 29 October 2024

Beer Guide to the 1970s (part fifteen)

Three very different breweries from the 1970s today.

In the second half of the decade, for the first time in 50 years (since the clubs breweries immediately after WW I), new breweries began to spring up. And, by the end of the decade, the centuries-long decline in brewery numbers was reversed. They were a combination of production breweries and brewpubs. The latter had a habit of using malt extract, something I really couldn’t stand. Reminding me of poor-quality homebrew. 

Those founded by professional brewers tended to produce better beer. Though, generally, the quality was variable. Probably, at least in part, due to cobbled-together brewhouses that were prone to infection.

Many new brewers didn't last long, packing in after just a couple of years. With most of the trade tied up, finding outlets was difficult. Especially as almost all produced only cask beer. Some invested in their own tied houses. Which was a good way of finding outlets. If you had the cash.

Heavitree is an example of a brewer who switched to being a pub company. How long did they last, I wonder?

And Harveys is, well, Harveys. And still going strong.


Harvey
Lewes,
East Sussex.
Founded:    1790
Closed:            still open
Tied houses:    24

A small, much revered brewery located just a little north of Brighton. As time has progressed and other southern brewers have either closed or made their beers more bland, Harvey’s beers have stood out more and more. I’ve always had a lot of time for their beers.

beer style format OG description
Bitter Pale Ale draught 1033 nutty flavoured 
Best Bitter Pale Ale draught 1040 stronger and a little sweeter
Mild Mild draught 1030 A pleasant dry Dark Mild
XXXX Old Ale draught 1041 strong dark Ale
Elizabethan Ale Barley Wine draught 1090 strong and satisfying
Keg Bitter Pale Ale keg   Best Bitter in keg form
IPA IPA bottled    
Blue Label Pale Ale bottled   A stronger Pale Ale
Nut Brown Ale Brown Ale bottled   medium sweet
Exhibition Brown Brown Ale bottled   stronger than Nut Brown
Sweet Stout Stout bottled    
Elizabethan Ale Barley Wine bottled 1090  



Hawthorne
Gloucester,
Gloucestershire.
Founded:    1978
Closed:            1982
Tied houses:    1

An early new brewery, which opened in the Norfolk House Hotel. They didn’t stick around for long. I doubt very much that I ever came across their beer. If I’m honest, I mostly avoided new breweries in the 1970s as the beer was often crap.

beer style format OG description
Extra Bitter Pale Ale draught 1038  
Special Bitter Pale Ale draught 1042  
Hastings Bitter Old Ale draught 1066  



Heavitree
Exeter,
Devon.
Founded:    1790
Closed:            1970
Tied houses:    135

Despite exiting brewing in 1970, Heavitree continued to run their tied estate, being supplied beer by Whitbread.
 

Monday 28 October 2024

Random beer review: Zillertal Scottish

Just cracked a can, as you young people say, of a beer I brought back from South America this summer.  Zillertal Scottish. I bought it, well, because it's a Uruguayan Scottish Ale. Who wouldn't want to try that?

All the weird cross-cultural stuff is the man reason I bought it. A brand with an Austrian name, based in Uruguay brewing a Scottish Ale. Irresistible.

My expectations? Low, as usual.Experience has taught me that's the best approach.

Before I dive in, like the gentleman I am, I offer Dolores a taste first.

"It's OK."

Reassured. I take a sip.

"That's nothing like as bad as I feared."

"Praise indeed, Dad." Andrew reacts.

"It's OK. Not a bad attempt. Quite sweet and malty. Like a beefed up 8o shilling."

"I've no idea what you're on about, Dad. You sound like the Real Ale Twats."

"Thanks. Haven't you learnt the classic Scottish styles yet?"

"No, Dad. I've got better things to do. Like learning Sanskrit."

"This is like the strongest Scottish Pale Ale, but even stronger. Halfway to Strong Ale."

"Whatever, Dad."

"What did you think of Zillerrtal Pils?"

"OK. Like standard Pils."

Like drawing blood from a stone it is, sometimes. 

Bloody kids.

Sunday 27 October 2024

Duesseldorf with Mikey (again) part two

[Slideshow]

1 PM - time for breakfast.

 
What to drink for breakfast? Alt.

Noodles for breakfast,

Time for some Uerige Alt.

That Alt didn't last long.

That's where  the Alt came from
 
A change of pace - Mikey's choice.

A baby barrel of Alt.

Drinking shots of Alt.
 

 


Saturday 26 October 2024

Let's Brew - 1910 Barclay Perkins Export Brown Stout

Barclay Perkins brewed a wide range of Black Beers on the eve of WW I. Mostly, for the domestic market, though there were some intended solely for export.  Like this version of their flagship Brown Stout.

The grist is surprisingly different from the domestic version. Starting with the base, which has no pale malt and is all SA malt. For which I’ve substituted mild malt. SA malt produced a less readily-fermentable wort, which is what you’d want in a beer that would undergo a long secondary conditioning. Probably at least six months.

There’s no crystal malt here. And there’s a bit more amber malt. Oddest is the inclusion of oats. Which seems strange for an Export Stout. Instead of No. 3 invert there’s No. 2. I’m guessing to prevent the colour getting too dark.

As an export beer, the hopping is obviously heavier. It’s 5% higher at 12 lbs per quarter of malt (336 lbs) compared to 8 lbs in the domestic version.

Four types of hops: Hallertau from the 1910 harvest and Sonoma from 1909. Plus East Kent from 1909 and 1910. The latter were also used as dry hops.
 

1910 Barclay Perkins Export Brown Stout
mild malt 8.50 lb 52.31%
brown malt 1.50 lb 9.23%
black malt 1.50 lb 9.23%
amber malt 2.00 lb 12.31%
flaked oats 0.50 lb 3.08%
No. 2 invert sugar 2.25 lb 13.85%
Cluster 150 mins 2.25 oz
Hallertau 90 mins 2.25 oz
Goldings 60 mins 2.25 oz
Goldings 30 mins 2.25 oz
Goldings dry hops 1.00 oz
OG 1076
FG 1018
ABV 7.67
Apparent attenuation 76.32%
IBU 116
SRM 45
Mash at 148º F
Sparge at 168º F
Boil time 150 minutes
pitching temp 59º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale

 

Friday 25 October 2024

Duesseldorf with Mikey (again)

 [Slideshow]

 

My hotel room with Altbier decoration.

First port of call - Fuechschen.

Guess what we drank? Alt, of course.

Standing outside Fuechschen.

More Altbier at Zum Schlussel.

Haxe for one - I'm a hungry boy.

Bye, bye barrels of Altbier.

Going home in a cab. Mikey's legs have stopped working.



 

Thursday 24 October 2024

Chile farewell

I’m just up when my alarm goes off at 6:50. I had a weird dream about having taken a model railway on holiday with me. And panicking when I had to quickly pack it to return home. What could that possibly mean?

It’s only a few minutes after opening when I roll up to the breakfast room just after seven. Yet there are already half a dozen guests getting stuck into the buffet. As I also do.

I take some of the weird bacon. Because it’s better than nothing. And goes with the scrambled egg.

A breakfast of bacon, scrambled egg, coffee and orange juice.

There’s a weird fruit. The label says watermelon, which it clearly isn’t. It has a weird texture, crunchy and soft at the same time, that’s really disconcerting. As is spitting out the seeds that form the crunch.

Breakfast with watermelon and weird fruit.

It’s 7:50 by the time I’ve checked out. But an Uber comes in a minute. Then we have to wriggle our way through early morning traffic. Until we hit the open road of the motorway. We woosh up to the airport.

It’s a bit of a walk from the drop-off point to check in. I remember that. At least I use the priority immigration queue this time. (In the summer, the kids wouldn’t let me.) Allowing me to dodge a considerable queue.

I get two bottles of pisco in the duty free. Not sure how good it is.

Rolling up to the lounge, there’s a problem I’m not good enough to get in, status-wise. Not even if I pay. That’s a bit of a bummer. I can pay to get into the lounge over the way, I guess.

Which is what I do. It starts seeming less of a good deal, when they tell me that I can get three free alcoholic drinks. After the bar opens at ten. My flight is at 10:50.

Despite getting my three double whiskies down in six minutes, they’re already boarding non-priority passengers when I troll up.

After a bit of a struggle with finding where to plug in the headphones. I sit back to watch House of the Dragon. Entertaining nonsense.

I’ve upgraded to premium economy. Mostly in the hope of better sleep. But also for the better food and booze.

The meal I’m served en route to Buenos Aires is certainly a cut above the slop they dished out coming the other way.

Chachingo bar in Buenos Aires airport.

It’s not as much of a walk for the transfer in Buenos Aires. And what do I spot, right next to my gate: a beer bar. There’s at least 30 minutes before we reboard. Plenty of time for a beer. Helpfully, they have a row of bottles on the bar, indicating which beers they have.

“I’ll have one of those, please.” I say, pointing at a bottle of Porter. Chachingo Porter, to be precise.

Chachingo Porter.

It’s not bad. Quite roasty.  Definitely going down nicely. I’m surprised to note that it’s just 3.5% ABV.

Can I say I’ve visited Argentina now? I’ve drunk an Argentinian beer, on Argentine soil. Does that count? Or do I need to be landside?

After some more faux-medieval plotting and slaughtering, we’re served another meal. Also OK. And I get a whisky with it. Which is more than OK. Just what I need for what’s coming next.

Sometime after the meal, when the lights are off, I crash out. Proper sound sleep of four or five hours. I’ve only woken up because I’m a bit cold. I retrieve my blanket and get some more decent sleep. Only waking when breakfast service starts.

Breakfast is alright. Though some of it is sweet. I don’t do sweet stuff. I get a whisky to accompany the food. Only joking. Orange juice and coffee, really. I’m not that much of a pisshead.

There’s quite a queue at passport control again. Then they switch on the electronic machines and call over Dutch citizens. In Dutch. And only the Dutch, not EU citizens. I whizz through. Being Dutch and understanding Dutch. Though, I suppose, the two usually go together.

It’s a bit of a wait for my bag. Immediately after grabbing it, I’m in a taxi dodging its way around the heavy morning traffic.

No Dolores to greet me with tea. She’s in Germany. Though at least Andrew is up. Even if he hasn’t made tea.

I put the kettle on.
 

Wednesday 23 October 2024

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1910 Barclay Perkins East India Porter

Here’s just about the end of tradition of brewing Porter especially for the Indian market. East India Porter being the Black Beer equivalent of IPA. The main difference from domestic Porter being heavier hopping. Though, by this point, the gravity was also higher.

As usual, there are loads of coloured malts. Specifically, brown, black and amber. Though there are a few idiosyncrasies about the grist. The oddest is the presence of oats. As this wasn’t parti-gyled with an Oatmeal Stout, the oats must be intended for this beer. Was some of it sold in India as Oatmeal Stout?

Then there’s the sugar. Which, for some reason is No. 2 invert rather than No. 3. Why would that be? Perhaps the colour would be too dark with No. 3 sugar.

Four types of hops this time around. Some foreign ones, too. Namely, Hallertau from the 1910 harvest and Sonoma from 1909. With East Kent from 1909 and 1910. With the latter also used as dry hops. 

1910 Barclay Perkins East India Porter
pale malt 8.00 lb 57.66%
brown malt 1.50 lb 10.81%
black malt 1.25 lb 9.01%
amber malt 0.75 lb 5.41%
flaked oats 0.375 lb 2.70%
No. 2 invert sugar 2.00 lb 14.41%
Cluster 150 mins 1.75 oz
Hallertau 90 mins 1.75 oz
Goldings 60 mins 1.75 oz
Goldings 30 mins 1.75 oz
Goldings dry hops 1.00 oz
OG 1064
FG 1012
ABV 6.88
Apparent attenuation 81.25%
IBU 93
SRM 40
Mash at 149º F
Sparge at 170º F
Boil time 150 minutes
pitching temp 59º F
Yeast Wyeast 1099 Whitbread Ale