Most popular posts

Inspired by Boak & Bailey's look at the stats for their blog, I decided to do the same. Not for this year, but all time.

I was surprised to note that four of the most popular were published this year, inlcuding the second most popular of all time. Even weirder, numbers 9 and 10 were posted on the same day in October this year.

post title	date	views
Beer in North Korea	21 Dec 2011	4270
A day with Carlsberg (part one)	3 Sep 2017	3733
A tale of two bars	22 Mar 2012	3225
Grätzer - it's official	5 Mar 2013	3034
A day with Carlsberg (part two)	4 Sep 2017	3027
Let's Brew Wednesday - 1850 Truman Double Stout	23 Dec 2015	2410
When was Brettanomyces discovererd?	29 Jun 2013	2089
Why I don't read beer magazines	30 Jan 2013	2038
I'm number two	7 Oct 2017	1864
German Dunkles in 2014	7 Oct 2017	1791

This is probably as retrospective as I'll be getting as the end of the year approaches. Most my head is already in next year, planning various trips and wondering about which books I should publish. I'm already assembling a list in my head for the latter.

I've several partially complete manuscripts. Which to finish off first? Victory! Vol. II is on the cards. But that could change. I'm also planning new, expanded editions of some existing books.

At the beginning of March the Historic Lager Festival will finally go ahead. I've been trying to get this off the ground for a couple of years.

Lots of collaboration brews planned. And a new dream: getting a range of Warwicks beers on the bar of a former warwicks pub. How difficult could that be? After all, I did get Watney's Red Barrel brewed this year. (And very nice it was, too.)

There's so much to look forward to. Why look back?

1914 Boddington Stout

This is going to be a real treat. A Boddington beer with several types of malt. You must be so excited.

In 1903, Boddington still produced two Stouts: SS (Single Stout) and DS (Double Stout) at 1052º and 1069º, respectively. It looks like they dropped the latter and renamed SS simply Stout.

There’s no way that you could have called a beer with a gravity of just 1054º a Stout in 1914. Whitbread’s Porter, for example, was 1052º in 1914. Which has got me thinking more about Porter and its fate. It’s looking more and more as if, rather than disappearing, Porters were just relabelled as Stouts.

Let’s crack on with the grist, which is pretty exciting but also includes a big problem. The percentage of base pale malt is pretty low, only a third of the grist. Two other malts make up most of the rest: amber and high-dried. The percentage of amber malt is very high, making me wonder if this might be a diastatic form. Then there’s the high-dried.

I really don’t know what the best substitute for this malt is. I’m tempted to go with a dark Munich malt, but I’m really not sure how close that is. If you have a better idea, let me know.

The sugar in this beer is something described as “UI”. At least UI think that’s what it says. The handwriting is pretty bad. I’ve replaced it with No. 3 invert. Though it might have been something closer to No. 4 invert.

As with all Boddingtons records, the logs only tell me that the hops were English and Californian.

1914 Boddington Stout
pale malt	4.25 lb	34.55%
black malt	0.05 lb	0.41%
amber malt	3.50 lb	28.46%
high dried malt	3.50 lb	28.46%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.75 lb	6.10%
caramel 2000 SRM	0.25 lb	2.03%
Cluster 185 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1054
FG	1018
ABV	4.76
Apparent attenuation	66.67%
IBU	29
SRM	36
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	135 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

Newark Malt kilns Ablaze

There’s usually only one reason malt kilns make it into newspapers: when they burn down.

Newark used to full of maltsters, both large and small. Look on old OS maps and there are malt kilns all over time, often just sandwiched between houses. I’m not sure I’d want to have a malt kiln in my back garden. Way too dangerous.

“NEWARK MALT KILNS ABLAZE
FIVE FIRE BRIGADES.
The whole of Newark was brilliantly illuminated a huge fire which broke out Tuesday night at the malt kilns of Messrs. Gilstrap Earp & Co., Ltd., in Northgate. The flames could be seen six miles away, and the glare was visible at Mansfield, eighteen miles away, Grantham, and other places miles from Newark. Many people from Nottingham, Grantham, Lincoln, and other places in the district helped to swell the crowd of thousands who watched the firemen’s efforts to check the flames.

An employee of the Firm, when passing the kilns shortly before seven o’clock, saw smoke coming through the roof. With another man, he entered the building and tried to put out the flames, but they were beaten back the fumes of burning malt. The whole of the building soon became involved, and the local Fire Brigade was faced With a formidable task, the Church of St. Leonard, across the street, the adjoining foundry of Messrs. Bradley, and the brewery of Messrs. Warwick & Richardson being in imminent danger. Help was sent by the Mansfield, Lincoln, and Carlton Brigades.

The fire started in what known as the Farnham Kiln, and police and firemen stood on the roof of another similar building, the Northgate Kiln, as  well as on roofs of neighbouring houses, to direct streams of water into the flames. The combined jets from the Brigades and from the equipment at the kilns were kept playing on the fire, but the blaze remained unchecked, and spread to the rear of the building. To add to the difficulties, burning and smouldering malt poured through the windows and

The Collapsing Floors
formed blazing heaps in their paths. Where the fire originated was gutted in a short time, and efforts were concentrated in an endeavour to prevent the outbreak from spreading to the Northgate Kiln.

The gutted, kiln. capacity of 120 quarters, and was lull malt, is valued roughly at £10,000, without the contents.

At 11.30 p.m. the fire was still burning fiercely, and the Northgate block was imminent danger, the connecting corridor of wood and being alight. The fire had also spread to Messrs. Bradley’s foundry.

The Chief Constable of Newark (Mr. J. McConnach), who was directing the fire fighting operations, had a narrow escape from serious injury when a roof collapsed while he was endeavouring to recover part of a hose which had become ignited through a burning mass of malt bursting through the lower windows of the kiln.

By midnight the fire was under control, and Messrs. Bradley’s foundry and the Northgate kiln block had been saved. Odd flickers of flame, however, necessitated the firemen remaining on the spot during the night. About sixty firemen had been engaged, each of the visiting Brigades bringing ten men. The Works’ Brigade of Messrs. Warwick & Richardson also did excellent volunteer work.”
Grantham Journal - Saturday 05 April 1930, page 8.

Gilstrap Earp & Co. was one of Newark’s big maltsters. I regularly come across malt described as “Gilstrap” in brewing records. That London brewers were using Gilstrap malt is a sign of its quality and the size of the company.

Both Gilstrap and Earp were mayors of Newark. Earp had also been a brewer as well as a maltster. The secondary school I attended was on a street named in his honour. I had absolutely no idea at the time of the brewing connection.

It must have been a pretty ginormous fire if it could be seen from Lincoln, Mansfield and Grantham. All of them are a good distance from Newark. There obviously wasn’t a great deal in the way of entertainment back then if thousands flocked to Newark just to see a fire.

Like many larger breweries, Warwicks had their own fire brigade. A wise precaution, especially if there were malt kilns nearby.

Warwicks & Richardsons AK

Now here was a surprise. Newark was famous for AK. Except it was Holes AK, Not Warwicks.

So I was pretty surprised to find this advert:

Shipley Times and Express - Saturday 01 April 1893, page 1.

It’s left me wondering a few things. When did Warwick stop brewing AK? And why? Was the brand becoming too associated with their rival?

Where they were advertising is odd, too. Shipley is in West Yorkshire, outside the area where I thought Warwicks traded. Which I thought was pretty exclusively the East Midlands. Those six gallon casks they’re advertising are non-standard, too.

A shilling a gallon is the standard price for a Light Bitter like AK. It would have had an OG 1045-1050º.

Mr. Warwick dies

My interest in Newark brewing has bee rekindled since I got my hands of  a Warwicks & Richardsons brewing record.

There was good money to be earned in the brewing trade. If you were one of the owners. W.D Warwick, as chairman and presumably large shareholder in Warwicks & Richardson, certainly seems to have had a bob or two.

"Mr. W. D. Warwick's Will.—Mr. William Deeping Warwick, of Balderton Hall, Newark, chairman of Messrs. Warwicks and Richardsons, Limited, the Newark Brewery, of Messrs. Morris's Rutland Brewery Company, Limited, and of Messrs. McGeorge and Heppenstalls, Limited, wine and spirit merchants, of Newark, who died 30th May last, aged sixty-nine years, left estate of the grots value of £83,153 8s. 8d., of which the net personalty has been sworn at £32,462 15s. 1d. Probate of his will, dated 7th June, 1905, with two codicils, has been granted to  his widow, Mrs. Emily Sarah Warwick, his son, Mr. William Arthur Warwick, both of Balderton Hall, and Mr. Charles John Huskinson, solicitor, of Newark. The testator left £500, his personal effects, and consumable stores, horses, carriages, live and dead stock, and his smaller effects at Balderton Hall, to his wife Mrs. Emily Sarah Warwick, absolutely, together with the use for life of Balderton Hall and the balance of his household effects, and an annuity of £1,500. He left £205 and 200 ordinary shares in Warwicks and Richardons, Limited, to his son William Arthur Warwick, an annuity of £250 to each of his children Henry Branston Warwick, Emily Clara Greenwood, and Gladys Mary Beaumont, and £105 to Mr Chas. John Huskinson. He directed that the residue of his property should accumulate during the life to his wife, and on her decease left 800 shares in Warwicks aud Richardsons, Limited, to his son William Arthur Warwick, 500 such shares and £5,000 upon trust for his son Branston Warwick, £7,500 upon trust for each of his daughters Emily Clara Greenwood and Gladys Mary Beaumont, and their respective issue, and the residue of his property to his said two sons in equal shares, giving them successively the option of the purchase of Balderton Hall, and those effects there not left to his wife for £12,000."
Grantham Journal - Saturday 26 July 1913, page 2.

The first thing I wanted to know was: where was Balderton Hall. If it was worth £12,000 it must have been a substantial property. One of the reasons I'm wondering is that I grew up in Balderton and I'm trying to think of a house of that size in the village. There is one I can think of, just past the church on Main Street. This:

And it's called "Old Hall". My guess is that this is it. It's way larger than any other house in Balderton. Fancy that. I never knew one of the Warwicks lived close to where I grew up. I wonder when the last Warwick moved out?

William Arthur Warwick was obvously W. D. Warwick's dedicated heir. I wonder if he was company chairman, too?

1914 Boddington B

I used to think that low-gravity Milds didn’t exist until WW I. But I’ve now realised that wasn’t true.

My perceptions were distorted by only having looked at large London breweries, whose Milds were untypically strong. Outside London there were sub-1040º Milds well before the war. Boddington B being a good example.

This was Boddington’s weakest Mild. Looking at it just the recipe, I’d struggle to identify which period it was brewed in. It looks very much like a 1930’s Mild in terms of strength. It could even be 1950’s Mild at the strong end of the spectrum.

It must have been a bit of a shock for provincial Mild drinkers if they visited London. An X Ale in the capital was usually over 5% ABV and there was no weaker alternative, if you wanted to drink Mild. X Ale was the only Mild they brewed.

There’s not a great deal to the grist, just pale malt, flaked maize and sugar. As the type of sugar isn’t specified, I’ve hedged my bets and plumped for No. 2 invert. It really could be anything. Though, as it appears they used the same sugar in all their beers, I doubt it was anything very dark.

Most of Boddington’s beers at this time contained Californian hops, but, for some reason, this has Bohemian hops instead. Which I’ve interpreted as Saaz. Some of the dry hops were Californian, but all the rest were English. I’ve guessed Fuggles, but some or all Goldings would be fine, too.

1914 Boddington B
pale malt	6.50 lb	78.79%
flaked maize	1.25 lb	15.15%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.50 lb	6.06%
Fuggles 140 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.25 oz
Saaz 30 mins	0.25 oz
Cluster dry hops	0.13 oz
Fuggles dry hops	0.13 oz
OG	1037
FG	1010
ABV	3.57
Apparent attenuation	72.97%
IBU	13
SRM	5
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	140 minutes
pitching temp	63º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

Warwicks & Richardsons beers in 1910

I’m so happy to have finally got my hands on a Newark brewing record. Especially as it’s from my favourite period: just before WW I.

And also because it matches up nicely with a Warwicks & Richardsons price list I have from 1906. It’s not a complete match, as I haven’t been able to find XXXX, B or Porter. On the other hand, there are a couple of beers that are in the brewing record, but not in the price list: HA (presumably Harvest Ale), XXX B and HB. 

I’ve been rethinking my ideas on Edwardian Mild. It’s clear that, outside London, X Ale and XX Ale were often below 1050º. Warwicks XXXX Ale, which I haven’t found in the brewing record, probably had an OG in the low 1060s. That I haven’t found it implies that it wasn’t brewed very often.

Though XXX Ale, which is around the strength of a London X Ale, was the commonest of the Warwicks Milds. Looking at the price list, I would have guessed that the four Mild Ales were parti-gyled in various combinations. But this wasn’t the case. Mostly they were brewed single-gyle, as were the Pale Ales.

Warwicks & Richardsons beers in 1910
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	boil time (hours)		Pitch temp	max. fermen-tation temp
HA	Mild	1036.6	1013.0	3.11	64.39%	3.85	0.56	2	1.5	61.5º F	69º F
X	Mild	1043.8	1013.9	3.96	68.35%	4.98	0.86	2	1.5	61.5º F	69.5º F
XX	Mild	1048.5	1014.7	4.47	69.71%	4.95	0.95	2	1.5	61.5º F	70º F
XXX	Mild	1055.4	1016.3	5.17	70.50%	4.95	1.07	1.5		60º F	70º F
LBB	Pale Ale	1042.7	1012.5	3.99	70.78%	3.68	0.62	2	1.5	62º F	70º F
TA	Pale Ale	1050.1	1015.5	4.58	69.06%	5.82	1.00	2	1.5	62.5º F	69.5º F
BB	Pale Ale	1052.6	1015.8	4.87	70.00%	6.58	1.38	2	1.5	62º F	70º F
XXX B	Pale Ale	1049.9	1015.5	4.54	68.89%	6.58	1.31	2	1.5	62º F	70º F
IPA	IPA	1059.8	1018.0	5.53	69.91%	7.40	1.84	2	1.5	61º F	70º F
A	Strong Ale	1067.9	1022.4	6.01	66.94%	4.93	1.36	2	1.5	60º F	70º F
HB	Strong Ale	1062.9	1019.9	5.68	68.28%	4.00	1.00	2	1.5	60º F	70º F
SS	Stout	1053.7	1022.2	4.18	58.76%	4.83	1.12	2	1.5	60.5º F	70º F
DS	Stout	1069.3	1028.0	5.46	59.60%	4.80	1.46	2	1.5	63º F	70º F
Source:
Warwicks & Richardsons brewing record held at the Nottinghamshire Archives, document number DD/NM/8/4/1.

The Strong Ales look weaker than in London. A London KK was around 1075º and a KKK 1085º at this date. Even the stronger (and missing from the log) B would only have been around 1073º.

SS, Single Stout, is only about the strength of  a London Porter. While DS, Double Stout, is well short of the 1080º gravity of Whitbread’s Double Stout in 1910. 

The Pale Ales are the one set that are similar to London strength. Whitbread’s four Pale Ales in 1910 ranged from 1048º to 1063º. Though their IPA was one of the weaker examples at just 1049º Whitbread’s strongest Pale Ale was simply called PA.

Warwicks & Richardsons beers and prices in 1910
Beer	Style	OG	price per barrel	price per gravity point
HA	Mild	1036.6
X	Mild	1043.8	36	0.823
XX	Mild	1048.5	42	0.866
XXX	Mild	1055.4	48	0.866
LBB	Pale Ale	1042.7	36	0.844
TA	Pale Ale	1050.1	42	0.838
BB	Pale Ale	1052.6	48	0.912
XXX B	Pale Ale	1049.9
IPA	IPA	1059.8	54	0.903
A	Strong Ale	1067.9	60	0.884
HB	Strong Ale	1062.9
SS	Stout	1053.7	42	0.782
DS	Stout	1069.3	48	0.693
Sources:
Warwicks & Richardsons brewing record held at the Nottinghamshire Archives, document number DD/NM/8/4/1.
Lincolnshire Chronicle - Tuesday 25 December 1906, page 1.

There's still time

to get one of my classic UK styles (all four of them) books before I get tired of giving a discout. Or just for Christmas.

There's 15% off Strong!, Bitter! and Mild!Plus. And a massive 20% Off Porter!

Everything you ever need to know. Well, not 100% everything. All you need to know about British beer 1800 - 1973. What else matters?

This wouldn't be a book plug without me trying to make you feel guilty about my poor, disadvantaged kids. But the bastards wouldn't fill in my Kindle tax declaration so eff them.

Buy one/some/all of my excellent books. I might just keep wasting most of my life doing this shit if enough of you do.

Inversion

I was so excited at finally getting my hands on some Newark brewing records that I initially missed something.

There's a section in the Warwicks brewing records that I've never seen before, titled "Inversion". It might sound a bit odd, but once I'd spotted it, I immediately understtod what it was. They were inverting sugar themselves:

The example above is from a Mild Ale and the suagr in question was something called "Glebe".

This next one is from a brew of Double Stout and in this case the sugar was "Trinidad".

The name Trinidad implies that this was cane sugar. I'm not sure why some beers used one type of sugar and others a different one. Especially as both were being inverted.

Obviously, you need the acid to invert the sugar, so that's no surprise. I'm not so sure why the chalk is there.

The Double Stout inversion, despite using only about 25% less sugar, had far less water: 8 barrles as opposed to 18 barrels. Which would have produced a thicker, higher gravity invert. Would it also produce a darker invert? Everything else looks the same: the time, quantity of acid and quantity of chalk.

I've read in brewing text books about brewers making their own invert. But that's a good bit earlier than this. With commercially-made invert sugars readily available, it seems odd that Warwicks were still making it themselves in 1910. Seems like a lot of extra trouble.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1910 Warwicks IPA

Here’s a beer with which I have a very personal connection. And not just because it’s from my hometown.

Warwicks & Richardsons was one of the two large breweries in Newark-on-Trent, the other being Holes. The latter being the first place I worked. And one of the beers I filled into kegs in 1975 was the last Warwicks beer still being brewed: IPA. IPA was Warwicks standard Bitter, the equivalent Holes beer being AK.

Until a few weeks ago I though no brewing records from Newark breweries had survived. Happily, I was wrong. They’ve a few documents from both Holes and Warwicks archived in Nottingham.

British brewers have been pretty inconsistent in their use of the designations Pale Ale and IPA. Much to the annoyance of modern style Nazis. But this really does look like a classic Burton IPA, at least in terms of gravity. The hopping isn’t quite as crazy.

As you would expect from a beer intended to be pretty pale in colour, there are no coloured malts in the grist and a high percentage of non-malt fermentables. It’s one of the ironies of pre-WW I brewing that often the most expensive beers, high-class Pale Ales, contained the smallest percentage of malt. Sugar and flaked maize were used to keep the body and colour as light as possible.

No. 2 invert is my guess. In the record in just specifies it as “Glebe”. It could also be something like No. 1 invert. I just don’t know.

The hops were a mixture of Oregon and English. I don’t know the variety of the English hops. Goldings is just a guess. You could also opt for some, or all, Fuggles. What is noticeable is the totally crazy level of dry hopping. In the original there were 396 lbs of copper hops and 207 lbs of dry hops. That’s a completely insane ratio.

Given the very high level of dry hopping, it wouldn’t surprise me if IPA was still being brewed as a Stock Ale and aged for months before sale.

1910 Warwicks IPA
pale malt	8.25 lb	64.71%
flaked maize	3.00 lb	23.53%
No. 2 invert sugar	1.50 lb	11.76%
Cluster 120 mins	1.25 oz
Goldings 60 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	2.00 oz
OG	1060
FG	1018
ABV	5.56
Apparent attenuation	70.00%
IBU	48
SRM	8
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	165º F
Boil time	120 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale

Dreams coming true

When I first saw this Warwicks & Richardsons price list, I was sure of one thing. I'd never know exactly what all these beers were like. Becasue none of their brewing records had survived. Or so I believed.

Edd Mather recently put me right on that front. That there are some records from the two big Newark breweries, Holes and Warwicks & Richardsons, in Nottingham.

My schoolfirend Henry - who lives in Nottinghamshire - duly trailed over to take some snaps. Including ones of their 1910 brewing book. Just four years after the advert.

I've not completely sucked out all the goodness from the snaps, but I've spotted most of the beers in the ad. A would have confused the hell out of me without knowing for sure that it was a Strong Ale. It would have been my guess, despite it making no sense. A would usually designate a low-gravity beer.

I'm so excited about this. Especially as Henry has a brewery, Cat Asylum. We can bring Warwicks IPA back to Newark. How cool would that be.

Lots more about Warwicks & Richardsons beers to come.

Canterbury Ales

I awake with a headache.  If only the cause was an overindulgence yesterday. A couple of paracetamol would see that off.

We have to queue to get into the breakfast room. It’s mobbed. Probably because it’s Saturday. Luckily, we don’t have to wait too long.

My stomach is playing up. I can barely eat at anything. I force down a slice of bacon and half a fried egg. What is wrong?

The plan is to go to Victoria and get a train to Canterbury East. But first I watch the Rugby League World Cup final. The first time I’ve seen England look stronger than Australia. For at least part of the game. Have the Aussies got worse of England/GB better? A single converted Australian try is the only score.

Victoria is just as I remember it from my London commuting days: totally overrun with people. And it’s the weekend. I dread to think what it’s like during rush hour. We’re aiming for a train at 12:07. We’ve got 20-odd minutes but the queues at both the ticket machines and manned counters are huge. We plump for the counter queue.

Tickets in hand, we’ve just a few minutes to rush to the other side of the station where our train is waiting. We jump on and find seats.

I haven’t brought ant train beers. Not sure my stomach is up to beer at the moment.

I notice the distinctive blocky shape of a Norman keep. “Look Dolores, there’s a castle.”

In tuns out to be Rochester. The town and its castle look impressive from the train. It seems to be a popular destination as our carriage mostly empties. Giving us the chance to swop to seats with rather more legroom.

We pass orchards with row after row of low hedge-like trees. Dolores remarks “Lots of the trees still have apples on them. That’s a bit weird considering they’ve lost all their leaves. I wonder why that is?”

“No idea.”*

I spot the distinctive poles and wires of a hop garden.

“Look, Dolores, a hop garden.”

“Yes, very interesting.” Dolores says unenthusiastically. To be fair to her, it’s not very big. Unlike in Bavaria, where hops stretch as far as the eye can see.

Jumping off the train in Canterbury, I start to take the most direct route to the town centre. Except the road I want to take is designed to deter pedestrians. Nowhere to cross, no pavements and fences at the edge of the road. I guess they don’t want us to go this way.


Instead we have to take a footbridge over the road that leads to a little park, which is separated from the road by the city walls. We walk along the top of the walls a bit, then climb a mound that gives us a good view of the town.

That’s enough dawdling. We head into town. Which is bustling with shoppers. With all the decorations, it looks very Christmassy. Which is exactly what Dolores is after.

“Can we go to a pub?” This is good news. And unusual. Dolores dragging me to a pub. “I need to go to the toilet.” That explains it, then.

I consulted my 2018 Good Beer Guide back in Amsterdam. The best bet in the centre of town seemed to be the Foundry brewpub, which is on a side street off the main drag.

It doesn’t look very open. The front door is closed. Then I notice a note on the door. It says they are open, the door is just shit to keep the cold out.

Inside it’s pretty full. The closed door is doing its job: it’s cosily warm inside.

Order Dolores Gold as the nearest to Bitter, then read what hops are in it: Magnum and Citra. Oh, er. I hope she likes it. Too late to change my mind as the barmaid is already pulling it. Dolores isn’t a fan of what she calls grapefruit beer.

“How’s your beer, Dolores?”

“Fine.” Luckily, she hasn’t noticed the American hops.

“Do you want to try my Porter?”

“Eeugh. That’s horrible.” It is a bit harsh. But it isn’t that bad. Though it’s way too pale – barley darke than a dark Bitter.

It’s getting very crowded. A group partially seats themselves at the empty spaces on our table. I reckon we were lucky to get a seat. We must have arrived just after someone left.

On the way down, Dolores noticed that there were trains going in the other direction to St. Pancras. Getting a train there would save getting the tube from Victoria. So Dolores picked up some timetables in the station and is trying to work out the best route home.

We only stay for the one. Dolores wants to have a proper poke around town before the shops shut.

The town is full of French, Dutch and Germans. I guess they’re over for Christmas shopping.

“Just wait until after Brexit. Then there will just be just us British people her.”

“Have you forgotten that I’m, German? And you’ll be Dutch next year.” She has a point.

Two burly, tattooed are men facing up to each other, hurling insults. And looking close to hurling fists.

“Come ‘round the corner where there’s no camera, you coward.”

A copper turns up and as we scuttle of hurriedly, I remark to Dolores: “Nice of them to lay on some street theatre.”

We potter around a few shops – Marks, Smiths. And pick up a few bits and bobs. We pop into a specialist calendar shop. They must have a seasonal trade. I contemplate getting a tank calendar for Andrew.

“It’s a shame they don’t have a Bob’s Burgers calendar for Lexxie.” I quip. Family joke there.

We head over to the cathedral. I’d told Dolores that it was dead important and impressive. The gate that leads to the cathedral complex is certainly impressive. But you have to pay to pass it.

“Pah! £12.50 to get into the cathedral complex – they’re taking the mick.” Dolores isn’t impressed. We decide to give it a miss.

It’s about time for another pub. Fortunately, there’s one on the little square where the cathedral gateway is. It’s called the Old Buttermarket.

“Oh look, it’s a Nicholson’s pub. They usually have decent beer.”

Dolores’s face lights up as she sees the handpulls: they’ve got London Pride.  No need to ask her what she wants. I go for a Thornbridge Wild Holly.

It, too, is mobbed, but we find a space by the window. A German couple with English friend are sitting next to us. Their conversation turns to Brexit and I automatically start shutting it out. I’m bored shitless of this Brexit shit.

I get another pie, Dolores a steak. I swop my mash for her chips again. It’s almost like we were meant to be a couple.

After a couple of pints, we stumble outside. There’s no-one on the cathedral gate so we wander inside the precinct. We can’t go inside because there’s a service. But I get some impressive snaps of the giant yellow moon over the cathedral roof.

Going back via St. Pancras is definitely a good idea. It’s much quicker. And we finish within walking distance of our hotel’

Though to break the walk we drop by the Euston Flyer on the way back. More London Pride for Dolores, an ESB for me.

There’s no Double IPA left at the Waitrose when we nip in for some hotel beers. Damn. Have to make do with Thornbrige Halcyon at a punt 7.4% ABV. At least I have a pint glass to drink it from. Dolores picked one up in a pub earlier.


* The answer is Brexit. They were short of pickers from Eastern Europe this year.



The Foundry Brew Pub  
White Horse Ln,
Canterbury CT1 2RU.
Tel: +44 1227 455899
http://www.thefoundrycanterbury.co.uk


The Old Buttermarket
39 Burgate,
Canterbury CT1 2HW.
Tel: +44 1227 462170
https://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/southeast/theoldbuttermarketcanterbury


The Euston Flyer
83-87 Euston Rd,
Kings Cross,
London NW1 2RA.
Tel: +44 20 7383 0856
http://www.eustonflyer.co.uk

What I drank in London

In my hotel at least. Pleanty of cask stuff rushed over my lips, too. No keg, obviously. I can get that whenever I want.

This isn't everything. I couldn't get the bastard labels of some of the bottles. In the days of returnable bottles, it was a piece of piss to recover labels. A quick soak in hot water and they's often float off of their own accord. German labels are still like that. And a lot of Belgian and Dutch ones. ones from the USA are worst. I can rarely recover any of those.

Though I did manage to get this one:

I even removed it without much damage.

Crafty labels can be pretty bad. The self-adhesive sticker type can mostly be prised off intact, but its a bit labour-intensive. And you have to stick them on something ales as the back remains adhesive.

But I'm sure you don't want to hear about my label travails. I'm really sure you don't.

I drank an eclectic selection, with both trad and mod stuff.

Notice a theme? There's one if you look closely.

Historic Lager Festival update

March 3rd at the Urban Chestnut in St. Louis. That's the basic information.

The full lineup of brewers and beers hasn't been finalised yet, but there are some very impressive names already committed. I can barely contain my excitement. Especially now I know there will be Kulmbacher, a beer I've wanted to try since I first learnt about it.

It's going to be the beer festival of the year. For me, at least. I'm pretty sure nothing like it has ever been staged before. Another dream that's coming true.

More details to come, as I get them.

A very generous offer

on my classic UK styles (all four of them) books is still on. Hurry up before I get mean and raise the prices again.

I've knocked 15% off Strong!, Bitter! and Mild!Plus. And a massive 20% Off Porter!

This is you chance to get these unmissable books for a paltry sum.

Alexei doesn't need vodka money any more. He's switched to gin. So he needs tomic as well.

"When can we go to the off licence, dad?" he says.

"Sorry Lexie, those nasty people on the internet haven't bought enough books. You'll have to drink meths this week. Put in enough tonic and you'll barely notice the difference."