Some interesting beer and whisky discussion. There's a lot of new micro-breweries in the Benelux that are brewing in the English style with plenty of hops. They've started to cotton on to the fact that overly cane sugared ales i.e. Dubbels and the like are in the most part inferior to beer brewed with hops as a preservative. I will be auditioning some IPA's a little bit later, if I can give the missus the slip.

I was in Mumbai two weeks ago and the duty free was overly stocked with Johnnie Walker with Gold at USD$37 and Blue at USD$80 per 750ml bottle, needless to say I returned with lap top bag full of contraband. At those prices I can forgive the caramel added, the chillfiltering and the blend status.

Edgar Allan Poe was no stranger to beer, at least when not imbibing Kendal black drop:
'Fill with mingled cream and amber,
I will drain that glass again.
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain —
Quaintest thoughts — queerest fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances?
I am drinking ale today.'

My 21 year old son says the new trick in Sydney is to get a bottle of vodka and then stick a few of your favority lollies ...marshmallows ..rasberry snakes...whatever. Then place infused vodka bottle in the top deck of the dish washer. Leave for full cycle. Then remove at end of cycle...freeze and pour you favourite flavoured vodka....

There you go Gen Y does it again.

Last edited by meister (2010-11-27 02:20:43)

In this forum is it so that when you have something to drink or if u r drinking something then only have discussion here!

At the weekend, mostly Sambrooks Wandle http://www.sambrooksbrewery.co.uk/beers.html
It is a good strength for a session beer and since Youngs left Wandsworth it is the best choice local beer.

The Bricklayers in Putney used to server the full Timothy Taylor range but had problems with decent supplies. http://www.bricklayers-arms.co.uk/

The landlady even offered to collect the beer direct from the brewery, but the brewers were not interested in a flagship pub down South. So now she has a range of beers. Hophead Dark Star is a good one. She also had Burton Bridge Bitter on. I stick to Sambrooks mostly. It is useful to be able to shout the name over customers heads when there is a crowd in and you cannot see the pump clips.

I collected a new car from Burton on Trent a few years ago. It was painful to see a Coors logo above a town that was once the epicentre of British brewing.

Last edited by Kingstonian (2010-11-29 04:17:47)

The White Horse, Parsons Green, or Sloaney Pony as it is also called, had an Old Ales festival at the weekend
http://www.whitehorsesw6.com/about.php

I declined the offer to attend. I can only drink one of those beers and last year there was no alternative on offer and it  was too crowded as well. Even the Youngs pub on the other side of the green has gone downhill into gastropub territory.

Got a Duvel from Tesco though which is not too bad for an 8.5% beer.

Bandol - La Bastide Blanche 1997. Still slightly tough but opens out after an hour or so and is pretty lifted, with great underlying minerality. Bring on the sausage.

Last edited by Avgvstvs (2010-11-30 04:38:50)

I've knocked down an entire 3/4 liter of Black Bottle tonight, and I polished off the same of 12 year-old Jameson's last night.  The thing I've learned about good whiskey is that it seldom leaves you - or at least me - hungover, unless one goes completely overboard.  One cheap bottle of red wine, and I feel like Lucky Jim, waking up with mouth like a latrine; but good whiskey just leaves one a little fuzzy in the morning.  Ambrosia, it is.

Linkwood 15 yr old - Gordon & Macphail bottling. Sweet and long.

l've been making some interesting drinks during the week and i'm feelin' really good. Been sprouting lots of seeds and making `green drinks'.

*  organic alfalfa juice
*  weed juice
*  flower juice (squeezed from yellow dandelion)
*  organic buckwheat juice
*  organic fenugreek + mung bean juice
*  organic fermented wheat water made from 2 day old sprouts (a brilliant tarty drink that is amazing and contains more acidopholous/bifidus than animal yoghurt)

l'm real enjoying these awesome drinks. l might even polish off a big plate of alfalfa before bed (my favourite food). Nothing nicer than a big plate of salad greens, but never should vegetables be used; sprouts, seeds, and grasses are always best.

When you start doing the fun stuff like this, you only start needing 2 hours sleep a night. l used to get by on 90 minutes a night with the occasional need for a 3 hour night rest. Life become less stressful because you have alot more time to do things, mornings will never be rushed again. lt's really great.

Last edited by The_Shooman (2010-12-11 08:23:43)