Camra

[Robster]

Hangovers are alot better in general.

One thing I have noticed is the other night I had a few watching the Scotland game,6 to be exact and then moved onto 3 cans of budvar and I cant remember going to bed!!.

When mixed with fizzy pop lager it feckin floors you lol.

[djjimbob]

Haven't been in this thread for yonks

Went to the GBBF the other week and had a great time. The highlights were the first and last I drank. The Champion ale - which was Ruby Mild from Rutland Brewery and a stonking American IPA (6.5%) which toasted me for the journey home.

Happy days! York Beer Festival in the middle of Sept too.

Also I went on a real ale trail with some new found pub friend. Dewsbury, Hudderfield and Stayleybridge. Had a wicked time and probably had about 12 pints over the course. The best pub was the Rat and Ratchet in Hudders. Bloody lovely and the chili olives they do are mind-blowing!

Also, my local had Timmy Taylor's on draft the other day - special price of ?1.50 a pint!

[Ish]

My fasting from the booze will be temporarily put on hold for a few days from tomorrow as I am visiting the spiritual home of British beer for a stag weekend. Much Burton Bridge beer will be consumed I am sure.

Of course 2 pints and I'm anyones these days so it should be interesting!

[prinnysquad]

Had some GREAT BEERS in the North York Moors over the last few days. I'll do a little write up later, I've got to unload those 25 bottles out of the car.

Also got a tale of woe - aka, The One That Got Away - that I've yet to recover from.

[Robster]

Love a good tale of woe me

[Ish]

Highlight of the trip so far has been the Damson Porter in the Burton Bridge Inn.

Favourite pub is the Coopers Tavern. Love it in there, so much character.

[Robster]

Innis & Gun and Asda Gentlemans Ale both £1 a bottle in my local asda, worth checking if your local asda is doing it too!.

[prinnysquad]

FESTIVAL ALERT

Plough Boy (Team Juans) and I are moseying down to the Norwich Beer Festival on Monday evening, to test out some newbies. Anybody in the area is welcome to hunt us out and hurl abuse.

[Plough Boy]

Hell - it's a long time since anyone's been in here!

Thought I'd ressurect it with my 2009 'Beers of the Year'

Bottle wise, real top quality beers were hard to come by and only 1 really stood out from the crowd for me.
William Godell Celebratory Ale - Adnams - 4.5% - got this little doozy in the Adnams shop in Southwold (750ml bottles) and picked one up for prinny and VP too. Really creamy with a definite taste of gooseberries. Top stuff.

On the Cask front it was a whole different matter.
So many good beers this year. It all kicked off in Feb when prinny and I went to the Lakes for his missus' birthday. Midway through a lakside stroll we stop off at the Badger Bar. 4 beers on tap. We take the 2 we know we haven't had. They were ok. The other 2 are Hawkshead Bitter - Hawkshead - 3.7% and XB Premium Bluebird Bitter - Coniston - 4.2%. We're now in a quandry. We haven't had these either but time is pressing and the girls want into Ambleside for lunch. Prinny's powers of persuasion come to the fore and he encourages warming soup all round at the pub. Best. Descision. Ever.
In the last 3 years these are certainly 2 of the best beers I've had. The two of us were sat with utterly contented smiles just thinking 'job well done.'
Fast forward to the Norwich Beer Festival in October (a now annual pilgrimmage). Normally beer festival beer is average. Recent travel and being knocked about in the set up means beer is often not at its best. Not so this year. A Drop of Nelson's Blood - Farmers Ales - 3.8% was a really tasty pint with as you might imagine a subtle hint of brandy.
Now Christmas ales are not often my bag. Frequently I find them too heavy so imagine my delight when on another beer purge with prinny pre Xmas, this time in Durham, we chanced upon Nadelik - Sharps - 4.6%. I couldn't tell you what it tasted of but whatever it was it was bloody amazing. We were beer hunting that day but returned at the end of the session for another of these beauties.
1. Hawkshead
2. Nadelik.
3. XB Premium
4. A Drop of Nelson's Blood.

Up to 1147 by the end of 2009. Having a baby really had an impact on numbers!!

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Wychwood brewery hobgoblin ruby beer 5.2
very dark and very nice, slight coffee after taste after checking bottle it reads roasted malts so this would explain.

Had a couple of those this afternoon. Always seem to go down well and as a bonus, we have a Wychwood pub here called The Hobgoblin which unsurprisingly, has it on draught. Alway make sure to pop in there while I'm in town!

[prinnysquad]

Trust you to land on your feet FuMMiDuDD.

I'll be posting a top 3 very shortly, as soon as I've collated all my bits of paper.

[Ajay1986]

Went to the pub last night straight after work and had 3 Hobgoblins and 2 pints of Oxford Gold.

Had some interesting bottled beers recently as well

Flying Dog Gonzo Porter - Very heavy but surprisingly I found it overly sweet which I wasn't expecting.

Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale - Spot on beer, quite light with just the right amount of bitterness.

Brew Dog Punk IPA - BOOM!!! This beer blew my head off at first, its the most intense beer I can remember drinking. Didn't find it that pleasant at first but it definitely grew on me half way through, wouldn't drink more than 1 at a time tho.

[prinnysquad]

Nice to see you back on teh beers again Ajay.

Still deciding on my lists...

[AlonzoUK]

Brew Dog Punk IPA - BOOM!!! This beer blew my head off at first, its the most intense beer I can remember drinking. Didn't find it that pleasant at first but it definitely grew on me half way through, wouldn't drink more than 1 at a time tho.

Tescos had the 4 bottle packs of this for 3 pounds at the weekend. If you think the IPA is strong you should see their other beers, including the madness that is Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% Stout). I've tried the Hardcore IPA in the past and it wasn't bad.

[prinnysquad]

All Brewdogs are beautiful I find. I've got a £9 bottle of Tokyo hanging around ready for the grand opening (18.2%, iirc), and loved 77 lager, hardcore IPA and punk IPA. I think I've had Dogma too (heather honey) and liked that.

Just need to hunt out Trashy Blonde, Paradox, Rip Tide and TNP

I love the offhand cuss-filled rants on the labels too!