Breakfast

Andrew came up with a good one yesterday. We were discussing the breakfast customs of different nations. "What do the French have for breakfast?" Quick as a flash Andrew answered "Red wine." How's that for racial stereotyping? Of course, everyone knows it's cognac, not red wine, the French have in the morning.

Sorry about the filler nature of this post. I did have a proper one in mind. Comparing the price per gravity point of Guinness and Whitbread's own beers in the interwar period. My guess is that Guinness was more expensive, as two breweries were takinfg a profit from it. Whitbread are great for comparison purposes as they sold large amounts of Guinness in their pubs but also had a Stout of their own with a very similar profile.

But we're not quite finished with the kitchen. We're looking at tiles this evening. No time for me to go through the spreadsheet. The weekend. Maybe then I'll have time. And time to extract some more dodgy Porters from the Whitbread Gravity Book. There's just so much to do.

New kitchen: the upside

Our house is still chaotic after the installation of a new kitchen. The chaos doesn't just affect the pots and pans. It's had an impact on my beer stuff, too.

I had to empty and move one of my bookcases. One of the ones dedicated to beer. To be honest, a couple of the shelves were a mess, piled with folders of old notes, labels, maps and god knows what else. I really should sort it all out before putting the bookcase back. But it's me we're talking about. I'll probably have some more pressing task - like watching "American Dad" with Lexie - that will distract me.

The kitchen cupboards, I had believed, were free of any beer-related items. Not quite true. The ones we couldn't really get at (long story as to why, so I won't bother trying to explain) held a surprise. Three bottles of beer that must have been there since we moved in twelve years ago. I say bottles, but they're really cork-stoppered earthenware flasks. I'd forgotten all about them.

The sell by dates are all 1991. So they weren't exactly fresh when put in the cupboard back in 1996. And the beers themselves? Hertog Jan Dubbel, Tripel and Grand Prestige. They've been in a cool, dark place. And at a steady temperature. Ideal conditions for ageing. I wonder what they taste like?

I would show you a photo of the new kitchen. But my camera is on the blink. Maybe tomorrow.