My new bookcase

A momentous day
Today was an important day. Me and Andrew assembled my new bookcase. For the first time in five years there isn't a single book on the floor. That's a major achievement. Now I just have to find somewhere to put all the magazines.

"What's in your new bookshelf?" About 100 mixed books. By mixed, I mean in various languages and from various periods and locations. They're all beer-connected. That is my theme, after all. Do you want to take a look? I thought you would, nosy git.

The top shelf has my Brewers' Almanacks and Statistical Handbooks:



Shelf two has a couple of Scandinavian books and assorted books on British brewing, shelf three is mostly brewery histories.



Shelf four is German and Dutch/Belgian, shelf five has bound copies of old German technical brewing magazines:


Who said I would run out of ideas in six months?

Modern Stouts

I thought I'd continue the Stout theme.

I dream of writing the definitive history of Porter. That's why I'm collecting all this material. There is a point to it all. I hope. If my heart keeps on thumping past my 85th birthday, I might just see it through.

Brauwelt is a very useful magazine for number-obsessives like me. It's full of them. Unsurprisingly their main focus is Germany. But occasionally they venture out into the ale world.

This is a comparison they made of various British, Irish and Australian Stouts.


Anything strike you? Compare the bitterness levels of Guinness Foreign Export Stout and Special Export Stout. In my defence, I've rarely drunk FES in recent years. Special Export is my regular summer treat (what's better on hot day than a lightly-chilled strong Stout?). I hadn't noticed there was such a big difference between FES and Special Export.

I keep saying this. Maybe if I say it often enough, someone will listen. A bottle-conditioned version of Guinness Special Export would be one of the best beers in the world. Do you think if we asked nicely Diageo would make some? Yeah, flying bacon time.

To add a little historical perspective, here's a random selection of 1950's Stouts from the Whitbread gravity book.