Let’s brew Wednesday - 1939 Boddington Mild

I’d almost forgotten that it was Mild month. What better excuse for some lovely Mild recipes?

I’m so pleased that I got my hands on some more Boddington’s records. Especially ones from before WW II. Like this one. A beer brewed 9 months or so before the war started.

The biggest surprise about this beer is its strength. With an OG in the low 1030º’s, it looks much more like a post-war Mild. Standard Mild gravities were usually a bit higher before the war.

In the 1930’s Boddington had some unusual ingredients in their grists. Like wheat malt. And enzymic malt. The latter seems to have been very popular before and after the war. I’m not 100% sure how it differed from normal malt or what it’s purpose was. I suppose to help mash efficiency by ensuring there were plenty of enzymes.

It’s another example of a darkish beer with no darker malt than crystal in it. The colour coming from sugar. There’s the usual problem with proprietary sugars, in this case DMS and FL, plus an unspecified invert. I’ve simplified it to all No. 3 invert.

The log isn’t very informative when it comes to hops. For the English hops, it only identifies the grower or dealer, not the region where they were grown nor the variety. I’ve guessed Fuggles. I’ve assumed the Oregon hops listed were Cluster.

It looks like a nice straightforward drinking beer. Which I guess was the point

That’s me done. Just the recipe now.

1939 Boddington XX Mild
pale malt	4.50 lb	63.16%
crystal malt 60L	0.625 lb	8.77%
flaked maize	0.75 lb	10.53%
wheat malt	0.25 lb	3.51%
enzymic malt	0.20 lb	2.81%
caramel	0.05 lb	0.70%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.75 lb	10.53%
Cluster 90 mins	1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.25 oz
OG	1033.8
FG	1007
ABV	3.55
Apparent attenuation	79.29%
IBU	46
SRM	21
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	162º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

Busy again

Projects schmojects. I've always gor something on.

It being May I'm on a Mildy jag. Seems I'm some sort of expert on the topic. If only because no-one else knows fuck all.

Lots of what I do isn't very romantic. Been writing recipes today. Stuff  I won't be posting. Well, mostly not. It's for a book.

Herer's a clue to what I'm doing:

Random Dutch (beers part twenty-seven)

It's a sunny bank holiday. So obviously I'm hiding indoors with my beer stash.

Dolores is getting anxious about the spread of bottles acrss our living room floor. Time to drink some more of them

To start is a beer from a very local bunch, Two Chefs Brewing.

Two Chefs Tropical Ralphie 5% (€2.45 for 33cl)
Despite my best efforst, it looks like London Murky. Even with most of the yeast going down the sink. Fruit salad with a background of bubblegum. But in a good way. It's a lot harsher in the mouth, like it's been infused with tobacco. The finish is pure bitterness. A rather strange beer. It says Weizen on the label. Is this a hopped up wheat beer? I can't detect any wheat beer character. Maybe there's a bit of clove in the arom. Or is that just my imagination?

Next is a beer "brewed by women" (Gebrouwen Door Vrouwen). Not sure how true that is, as it's brewed at Lindeboom, a small, long-established Lager brewery

Gebrouwen Door Vrouwen Bloesem Blond 6.2% ABV
No murk in this one, just sparkling gold. Smells quite perfumy. Like the elderflowers it contains. Loads of elderflower in the mouth, too. Pleasant enough, with some malt hiding behind the curtains with its shoes poking out. No point trying to hide, I can see you. It's pleasant enogh beer. Though I suspect the elderflower overload might become tiring after a couple of bottles.


"You'll probably like this, Dolores." I say, pointing at the label.

"Right, brewed by women. By a man, most likely."

"I didn't mean you'd like it because of the name. But because it's got elderflowers in it." Dolores collects elderflowers and makes cordial and syrup out of them.

"Mmm. It is quite nice. Quite girly with the elderflower."

Canadian Lagers in 1909

I couldn’t leave these analyses unused. If only for my own peace of mind.

Plus there haven’t been that many tables here of late. Or much about Lager. Seems like several birds are being taken out by a single missile.

I was most intrigued by two beers called Salvador. Especially as both have very modest gravities, far away from Doppelbock levels. Evidently one of the brewers at Reinhardt had worked at Zacherl, which does imply that there was some connection between Salvador and Salvator. I’d love to know what colour Salvador was.

Because if it wasn’t dark, then it would have bugger all in common with the Salvator brewed in Munich. Some of those have an OG double that of the weaker Salvador. And while the average attenuation for the Munich beers is under 60%, both the Canadian beers are over 70%.

Which leaves me wondering: was Salvador originally similar to Salvator but changed over the years? Or was it always very different, basically using the name and little else from the original? We may never know.

Having said that, many of the OG’s look low compared to European Lagers. Pilsners were usually in the range 1048-1050º, Lagerbier over 1050º and Export over 1055º. About the only exception were the Schenkbiers sold in Austria-Hungary which were in the low 1040º’s. Virtually none of the Canadian Lagers is over 1050º. A couple that are on the stronger side – the two called Budweiser – I suspect were really imported Ameriucan beers.

I saw a similar pattern with Canadian Ales, which, while stronger than the Lagers, were also mostly weaker than their British equivalents. Was this generally the rule, I wonder, that Canadian beers were slightly weaker than elsewhere? Let me know if you have the answer.

Canadian Lagers in 1909
Brewer	Town	Beer	Style	Price	size	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
Reinhardt & Co.	Toronto	Bavarian	Dunkles	15c	bottle	1048.1	1011	5.39	77.13%
Beauport Brewing Co.	Quebec	Lager Beer	Lager	10c	bottle	1036.2	1003.3	4.63	90.88%
The Korman Brewery, Ltd.	Toronto	Perfecto	Lager	15c	bottle	1037	1005.1	4.56	86.22%
Bajus Brewery		Lager Beer	Lager	15c	bottle	1037.3	1010	3.90	73.19%
O. Archambault	Iberville	Salvador	Lager	13.3c	bottle	1038.4	1011.4	3.83	70.31%
Holliday		East Kent Lager	Lager	8.33c	bottle	1039.3	1009.4	4.27	76.08%
Carling Brewing & Malting	London, Ont.	Lager Beer	Lager	15c	bottle	1040	1011.4	4.05	71.50%
Victoria Phoenix Brewing Co.	Victoria, BC	Lager Beer	Lager	15c	quart	1040.7	1012.7	4.05	68.80%
O'Keefe's Ltd.	Toronto	Lager Beer	Lager	15c	bottle	1041.6	1009.8	4.49	76.44%
Cosgrove Brewing Co.	Toronto	Lager Beer	Lager	10c	bottle	1041.8	1015.7	3.76	62.44%
The Capital Brewing & Malting Co.	Ottawa	Capital Ale	Lager	5.83c	pint	1042	1009.6	4.71	77.14%
C.H. Harther	Hamilton	Lager Beer	Lager	11c	bottle	1042.7	1013.1	4.20	69.32%
Carling Brewing & Malting	London, Ont.	Lager Beer	Lager	11.67c	bottle	1042.7	1014.6	4.05	65.81%
L. Chapot Fils & Cie.	Montreal	Blue Ribbon	Lager	20c	bottle	1043.1	1017.5	3.69	59.40%
Carling Brewing & Malting	Ottawa	Canada Club	Lager	10c	pint	1043.1	1014.7	4.05	65.89%
Strathcona Brewing & Malting Co.	Strathcona	Lager Beer	Lager	16.67c	quart	1043.4	1011	4.56	74.65%
Union Brewing Ltd.	Montreal	Lager Beer	Lager	11.33c	bottle	1043.9	1012.6	4.42	71.30%
Kuntz & Co.	Waterloo	Lager Beer	Lager	11.67c	bottle	1043.9	1016.4	3.90	62.64%
Victoria Phoenix Brewing Co.	Victoria, BC	Lager Beer	Lager	16.67c	quart	1044.5	1011.5	4.63	74.16%
Reinhardt & Co.	Toronto	Salvador	Lager	10c	bottle	1044.9	1009	5.00	79.96%
Blackwood Ltd.	Winnipeg	Lager Beer	Lager		pint	1044.9	1015	4.27	66.59%
Lethbridge Brewing & Malting Co.	Lethbridge	Lager Beer	Lager	16.67c	quart	1044.9	1016.1	4.12	64.14%
The Moosejaw Brewing & Malting Co., Ltd.	Winnipeg	Lager Beer	Lager		pint	1045.1	1018	3.90	60.09%
James Ready, Ltd	Fairville, St. John N.B.	Lager Beer	Lager	13.3c	bottle	1045.2	1010.1	4.93	77.65%
Golden West Brewing Co.	Calgary	Lager Beer	Lager	16.67c	quart	1045.4	1013.7	4.49	69.82%
McDonagh & Shea	Winnipeg	Lager Beer	Lager		pint	1045.5	1014.4	4.42	68.35%
Reinhardt & Co.	Toronto	Lager Beer	Lager	15c	bottle	1046.3	1007.8	5.39	83.15%
Calgary Brewing & Malting Co.	Calgary	Lager Beer	Lager	16.67c	quart	1046.6	1015.7	4.34	66.31%
Canadian Breweries Ltd	Montreal	Ekerts	Lager	8.33c	bottle	1046.8	1010.1	4.63	78.42%
Kuntz & Co.	Waterloo	Lager Beer	Lager	10c	bottle	1046.8	1016.1	4.27	65.60%
George Patry	Quebec	Lager Beer	Lager	15c	bottle	1047.4	1019.2	4.12	59.49%
H. Kuntz	Hamilton	Lager Beer	Lager	10.67c	bottle	1047.6	1017.2	4.34	63.87%
The Union Brewery Ltd.	Montreal	Kuntz	Lager	20c	bottle	1047.9	1015.8	4.49	67.01%
G.E. Amyot	Quebec	B.B.	Lager	13.3c	bottle	1048	1012.4	5.00	74.17%
The Hamilton Brewing Association, Ltd.	Hamilton	Regal	Lager	20c	bottle	1048.4	1015.4	4.63	68.18%
Edmonton Brewing & Malting Co.	Edmonton	Lager Beer	Lager	16.67c	quart	1048.4	1015.1	4.71	68.80%
G.E. Amyot	Quebec	Lager Beer	Lager	10c	bottle	1050	1011.5	5.39	77.00%
George Patry	Quebec	Lager Beer	Lager	15c	bottle	1051.2	1013.3	5.32	74.02%
G.E. Amyot	Quebec	Lager Beer	Lager	11.67c	bottle	1051.7	1012	5.55	76.79%
Vancouver Breweries. Ltd.	Vancouver	Cascade	Lager	13.33c	quart	1052.2	1016.2	5.00	68.97%
Vancouver Breweries. Ltd.	Vancouver	Cascade	Lager	16.67c	quart	1055	1015.3	5.55	72.18%
Average						1044.8	1013.0	4.49	71.17%
O'Keefe's Ltd.	Toronto	Pilsener	Pilsner	10c	pint	1039.6	1008.6	4.42	78.28%
O'Keefe's Ltd.	Toronto	Pilsener	Pilsner	15c	bottle	1041	1007.5	4.85	81.71%
The National Breweries, Ltd.	Montreal	Ekers Bohemian	Pilsner	8.33c	bottle	1043.4	1012.5	4.42	71.20%
L. Chapot Fils & Cie.	Montreal	Budweiser	Pilsner	25c	bottle	1049.8	1015.3	4.85	69.28%
Copeland Brewing Co., Ltd.	Toronto	Budweiser	Pilsner	15c	bottle	1050.4	1012.4	5.24	75.40%
Average						1044.8	1011.3	4.76	75.17%
Reinhardt & Sons	Montreal	Vienna	Vienna Lager	10c	bottle	1037.1	1006.5	4.71	82.48%
Source:
"Ale and lager beer" by McGill, A. (Anthony), 1910, pages 4 - 19.

Munich Salvator 1869 - 1914
Year	Brewer	Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1869	Zacherl	Salvator	Bock	1065.7	1022	5.63	66.51%
1890	Hackerbräu	Salvator	Bock	1071.6	1030.3	5.32	57.68%
1890	Münchener Salvator	Bock	Bock	1073.2	1028	5.80	61.72%
1890	Zacherlbräu	Salvator	Bock	1074.7	1033.9	5.25	54.63%
1890	Salvatorbräu	Salvator	Bock	1075.9	1034.2	5.37	54.94%
1890	Spatenbräu	Salvator	Bock	1076.7	1040.6	4.62	47.05%
1898	Zacherl	Salvator	Bock	1077.1	1029.9	6.10	61.22%
1914	Paulaner	Salvator	Doppelbock	1071.2	1033.5	4.7	51.27%
Average				1073.3	1031.6	5.35	56.88%
Sources:
"British Medical Journal" March 6th 1869, page 218
"Handbuch der chemischen technologie" by Otto Dammer, Rudolf Kaiser, 1896, pages 696-697
"Brockhaus' konversations-lexikon, Band 2" by F.A. Brockhaus, 1898
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, page 168.

Bottled beer in the 1950’s – Bright Bottled Beers (part fifteen)

This is so exciting. We’ve finally got as far as bottling machinery.

Bottling machinery is some of the most expensive kit in a brewery. And because by its very nature, it’s full of moving parts, it’s also the equipment that breaks down the most often. An unreliable bottling machine can be a real nightmare for a brewery.

Jeffery warns of the danger of over-mechanisation of the bottling process.

“Bottling Machinery
Before entering into the question of systems, we want to draw attention to bottling machinery, and weigh up its merits and demerits. In every trade there is a tendency to replace manual labour by machinery on the score of economy. Whether this is always wise or not, mechanization has come to stay and so long as a machine can be relied upon to do the work regularly and without stoppage on account of breakdown the idea is good. In our opinion, there is a danger in making machinery too complicated and comprehensive. We have even seen machinery where dirty bottles are put in at one end, washed, filled with beer, stoppered, labelled, and discharged ready for sale at the other end. The machine was extremely ingenious, and excellent so long as it worked satisfactorily. But what chaos it would cause and what loss in the event of a serious breakdown. No brewery owning such a machine would have enough trained hands available to be able to revert to manual labour while repairs were taking place.

With mechanization in separate units, however, it is an easy matter for one unit temporarily to be replaced by manual labour.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 346.

I doubt any decent-sized brewery would contemplate going  back to manual bottling if a machine were broken. They bottle on such a large scale that any attempt to partially bottle by hand would be laughable. Unless you have more than one machine, I can’t see what you could do in the event of a breakdown, other than wait for it to be repaired.

Jeffery recommended having different machines for different operations:

“Frankly, we are not in favour of very large and intricate machines. We consider it far preferable to have separate units for bottle washing, filling and labelling. The governing ideas of each unit should be restriction in size so far as is compatible with efficiency, accessibility (especially internally), solidity in construction, and absence of small working parts which are liable to wear and break with undue frequency. Each unit must be economical to run, especially with regard to motive power. With a system so controlled and designed, it is far easier to carry on if one unit is out of action for a time.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 346 - 347.

I’m pretty sure that modern machines all combine filling and labelling. Just checked Briggs, and I’m talking out of my arse. A modern bottling line has several machines.

“The bottling line consists of a series of machines and processes:

· depalletizer
· decrater
· washer
· empty bottle inspection
· flash pasteurization or sterile filtration
· filler
· crowner
· tunnel pasteurization
· full bottle inspection
· labeller
· crater
· palletizer
· cleaning”

"Brewing Science and Practice" by Dennis E. Briggs, Chris A. Boulton, Peter A. Brookes and Roger Stevens, 2000, pages 761 - 762.

This seems rather obvious:

“In choosing and deciding upon any piece of bottling machinery, the factor which has always to be borne in mind is the probable future cost of repairs and renewals which will be occasioned by wear and tear. Some machines may be cheaper than others in first cost, and do identical work, but it will invariably be found that the working parts therein are on a much smaller scale. In adopting such machines, a risk is run of inconvenience and loss occasioned by breakages and stoppages. Cheap machines are never cheap in the long run. ”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 347.

At the start of the 1950’s brewers were often happy to get hold of any equipment. With exports having priority, they might have to wait years to get their hands on a new bottling machine. As did Offiler.

Bottles next.

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Time to complete the whole Mega Book Series  -   Porter!, Mild! plus, Bitter! and Strong! Be the first in your town with the full set.


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Let's Brew Wednesday - 1939 Boddington CC

There’s a story behind this recipe. One with a happy ending.

When I was in Manchester a few years back I went to photograph some Boddingtons records. I was really disappointed that all they had were a couple of books from the 1980’s. Then Boak and Bailey posted something about the difference between Boddie’s Bitter in the 1960’s and the 1980’s. I immediately emailed them asking where they’d found the 1960’s brewing log.

It turns out there are a lot more Boddington’s brewing books. A full set from 1900, in fact. Which is brilliant news. It turns out they were in the process of moving when I visited the archive and not everything was available. I’m already penciling in a trip to Manchester.

Boddington had weird beer names before WW I. A was Pale Ale, BB was Mild Ale and CC was their Strong Ale. I can’t really detect any logic there. It’s been suggested that their CC might be the origin of “C” Ale, a strong beer exclusively brewed in the Manchester area. Could be true. I haven’t got a better explanation.

This is probably the quickest I’ve gone from getting hold of a record to publishing a recipe. I haven’t had my hands on it a week yet. I was so excited I had to rush it out.

The only unusual feature of the grist is the presence of wheat malt. In this period they put it every one of their beers. Could be a head retention thing. In their Stout it made up 12% of the grist. Which is quite a lot. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that much in a British beer.

Otherwise it’s a typical 20th-century Strong Ale or Mild: pale malt base, a touch of crystal malt, flaked maize and sugar. If you’d shown me just the recipe I would have said it was a London-brewed Burton.

I’m not sure if there was a draught version at this date. It’s possible that it was only available in bottled format.

That’s me done, time for the recipe.

1939 Boddington CC
pale malt	7.75	62.63%
crystal malt	1.50 lb	12.12%
flaked maize	1.50 lb	12.12%
wheat malt	0.75 lb	6.06%
caramel	0.125 lb	1.01%
No. 3 invert sugar	0.75 lb	6.06%
Cluster 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 90 mins	0.75 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.50 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1056
FG	1015.5
ABV	5.36
Apparent attenuation	72.32%
IBU	62
SRM	37
Mash at	149º F
Sparge at	162º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1318 London ale III (Boddingtons)

More Offiler’s fun

I find defunct regional breweries weirdly fascinating. Even ones like Offiler’s who have left few ripples on the pool of history.

I suppose they disappeared a bit too early and were located a bit too far away from where I grew up for them to have made any impression when I was younger. It now has me wondering: were the occasional Bass pubs in Nottingham originally Offiler’s houses?

This is surprisingly revealing for a single sentence:

“SITUATIONS VACANT
A limited number of vacancies for Women and Girls in the bottling department at Offilers' Brewery Ltd., Ambrose-st., Derby. Good wages and working cons.”
Derby Daily Telegraph - Wednesday 05 July 1950, page 10.

Why revealing? It demonstrates two things. First, that bottling was on the up. Despite beer sales falling overall, bottled sales were surging. Brewers needed both new personnel and equipment to keep up. Second, that although women weren’t usually employed in breweries, they did work in bottling departments. For some reason that was seen as suitable work for women, while other jobs in the brewery weren’t. Maybe it’s because it involved cleaning.

Actually, there’s a third point: that wages and conditions were relatively good in breweries. There was a reason for that. Breweries employed relatively few people compared to the capital and turnover involved.

More confirmation that bottling was booming:

“Brewery Bottle-Washer Blocks The Road
WHEN workmen to-day started installing this new mechanical bottle-washer at Offilers' Brewery, Ltd., Ambrose-street, Derby, the street had to be closed to traffic as it was completely blocked the 29-foot-long washer.

The washer, made to order Meyer-Dumore Bottlers' Equipment, Ltd., had had a two-day journey road from London, but Offilers had been waiting for it about three years.

The first one made for them had to diverted to export, Mr. F. R. Offiler told a "Telegraph" reporter.

It was hoped to complete the installation of the 20-ton washer by this evening.
Derby Daily Telegraph - Friday 18 August 1950, page 6.

The article demonstrates some of the frustrations of brewers in the immediate post-war period. New machinery was difficult to obtain. Partly because of shortages. But there was another reason. With the UK desperately short of hard currency, exports took priority.

Not quite done with Offiler’s yet.

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More barrrel-sized fun

I just remembered something. William Younger always recorded what they racked into in their brewing records.

Which means I can see exactly what sized of barrels they used. The last William Younger logs I have are from 1949-1950. What sorts of barrels were they using? You can probably guess. But here they are:

It says something that the pre-printed form includes butts, but nothing smaller than a quarter hogshead (18 barrels) of half barrel (also 18 barrels). You can see that XXP, a Bitter of 1032º, was only filled into hogsgeads and barrels.

The second beer in the image is No. 3 Bottling. That is, the bottling version of their No.3 Strong Ale (or Scotch Ale, depending on which side of the border you were). It's no conicidence that it was mostly racked into hogsheads. Most wouldn't have been bottled by Younger themselves, but by third party bottlers. Beer was usually delivered to these in hogsheads.

XXPS, a stronger Bitter of 1037º, wasn't filled into hogshead, but barrels, kilderkins and half hogsheads (27 barrels). Logical enough. As a draught beer you'd expect less to have been filled into hogsheads.

The last beer in DBS, Younger's Stout, was racked into a wide variation of cask sizes. They didn't brew a huge amount of DBS, so it might seem strange that some went into hogsheads. But this was another bottled beer. I'm more surprised at the small size of some casks. Presumably relatively low demand meant bottlers took smaller casks than with more popular styles.

Historic Williamsburg day three

It’s me Paul, Jamie and Martyn Cornell for breakfast again.

I won’t bother telling you what I’m having. You know by now. Here’s a hint: it may contain bacon. It takes a while again. Meaning for the second day in a row we’re a bit late hitting the auditorium. Except for I’m-just-having-a-muffin Cornell.

I’m on today. But luckily there are several speakers before me. Starting with Frank Clark, who works at Colonial Williamsburg and set up the conference. Working here, Frank gets to wear 18th-century gear. Always good to have at least one speaker in costume.

After Frank it’s Martyn’s turn with a look at the industrialisation of London’s brewing industry in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It’s a topic very dear to my heart. Though, as usual, Martyn comes up with some stuff I’ve not heard before.

After a quick coffee break, Martyn is followed by Mitch Steele, who discusses the history of IPA. Another one of my pet subjects. And very entertaining the talk is. He mentions that he suspects 19th-century IPAs shipped to India contained Brettanomyces, though he has no evidence other than suspiciously low FG’s. Ah. I think I can help there.

Now it’s my go. In a departure from my usual talks, this one isn’t full of tables and numbers. It’s mostly about people. But I break from my scheduled gumph to tell Mitch that Brettanomyces was found in Bass IPA in the 1930’s. Thought he’d like to know that.

When I say my talk - International Cooperation in the 19th-Century Brewing Industry – is mostly about people, it’s about a few specific characters. Gabriel Sedlmayr, Anton Dreher, Michael Thomas Bass. It’s difficult to overestimate the influence of Sedlmayr on world brewing. He was key to the spread of modern brewing and specifically modern Lager brewing throughout the globe. Intrigued? Get me to come and give the talk.

I always enjoy presenting especially when I get a few laughs. I’ve timed it well and finish just about spot on time. Not that it matters so much as lunch is next.

Though me and Mitch can’t directly go and eat. We’ve a book signing to do in the museum bookshop. A few people drift up and we scrawl in their books. I doubt anyone can ever read what I write. I probably couldn’t.

Once the punters have dried up, we head over to DoG Street Pub for some food. It’s nice to have a chance to chat with Mitch. I’m particularly fascinated with life within a macro brewery.  Mitch has some good tales of labour relations in different AB plants, prompted by me recounting the disaster of Bass’s Runcorn brewery.

Mitch has to pick up his family at the airport and unfortunately misses the remaining presentations: Brewing Historic Beers for a Modern Market by Tom Kehoe of Yards Brewing Company in Philadelphia; Brewing History by the Pint by Tanya Brock of Carillon Brewing Company, Dayton Historical Park; and, to end the event, The Past and Future Beer by Randy Mosher. And we’re done.

Even though my hotel is booked until tomorrow, Paul, Jamie and I are driving back to Washington this evening. It’s handy having the room still, as I can tinker on my computer and pootle around in privacy for a little longer.

We meet up with some of the other in the hotel bar for refreshment before leaving. While my laptop tries to download several hundred Windows updates in my room. It turns into a frustrating experience. Having joined a table of people who had just settled up, the waiting staff don’t seem to think I need serving. Moving to another table where they’re still actively ordering doesn’t improve affairs much, I end up having my tongue hanging out for upwards of 40 minutes. I think my second longest ever wait for a drink*.

I eat a hamburger, drink Devil’s Backbone from jam jar, and say many farewells. Then we load up our stuff in Paul and Jamie’s car and hit the road.

It’s late when we get back to Pail and Jamie’s. I’m totally knacked and go straight to bed. Tomorrow I fly back to Amsterdam.





* Hofbräuhaus in Munich, at well over an hour, is easily top.




DoG Street Pub
401 W Duke of Gloucester St,
Williamsburg, VA 23185.
http://www.dogstreetpub.com/