sure am mate!
Sierra Nevada Hoptimum
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Flying Dog The Truth
Bell's Expedition Russian Imperial Stout
Not all at the same time, of course. This is the current fridge stock.
This week I've been mostly drinking: Dark Matter Spiced Rum.
In their own words: 'The taste equivalent of warping into a liquid black hole but without every atom in your body being crushed to an infinitely small point.'
Formsta's tasting notes: Its like drinking a liquefied mince pie. Drink neat over ice.
Fanta, ice cold.
John Glaser's Compass Box whiskeys. On a run of them.
Egham beer festival at the weekend. Great little United Services club. Really good bands on too. No cover charge. Unfortunately festival started on Thursday and a lot of the more interesting beers had already gone. Otherwise I would have tried Southwark brewing St. Peter's stout at 8.9%. 'First cask anywhere.'
Weekend before was a drinking spree in Chesterfield and surrounding areas. Good beers at reasonable prices. No gastropubs. Brampton, RAW, Spire, Ashover and Townes breweries. Used to visit Chesterfield for work (there is a massive Royal Mail centre up there that we did some work for) Never stayed overnight though. Derbyshire can be middle England at its very best.
Nice local brews by a place called Independent Brewing in Bel Air, Maryland. Carpe Diem IPA and Vanyasa Tripel.
Alpine Pure Hoppiness. A double IPA from the other coast. Only 8 percent but so wet with hops it smells and tastes like weed.
Drank nearly half a bottle of Thomas Dakin gin (42%) with Fever Tree tonic water (4 bottles of) last night, plus I had a glass of wine with dinner. Too much really, but good quality stuff, no ill effects in the morning.
Harvey's mild and Harvey's Pale Ale at the Royal Oak in The Borough. Reasonably priced. Interesting and good value menu too partridge etc. We did not eat but they gave us free chips sausages etc anyway.
Also visited The Rake for the first time and then on to The Sheaf where the famous Becky's Dive Bar used to be in the 1970s. http://boakandbailey.com/2012/07/beckys-dive-bar-southwark/
The Borough Market is far too poncified now. Full of exotic food and trendy eateries. I preferred it when it smelt of cabbage and food was doorstep sandwiches in The Wheatsheaf.
Same old same old... DFH 90 and Alpine Pure Hoppiness.
Stone Imperial IPA Enjoy By 12.25.16, fresh from the tap in a growler.
Coffee, in one of those stupid plastic "glasses" with a double wall, made by Bodrum?
Rye Whiskey- Sazerac 18 year old and Old Potrero.
I purchased two JW expressions for over Christmas: Blender's Batch Red Rye Finish as cheap as the awful Red Label, but many times better as a mixer with Fever Tree's Ginger Beer. The Select Casks: Red Rye Cask Finish aged 10 years, in the price zone of the Green Label and very decent it is too neat or on the rocks.
The above will be my aperitif drinks this holiday season.
Highland Park 18yr
Grannini pink grapefruit juice with Badoit
Birmingham ales. A crawl around some of the second city's best pubs.
I had only visited for work in the past. City centre and bull ring are fine now. All that concrete rubbish has gone. However just outside the city centre places like Digbeth are full of empty factories and offices awaiting redevelopment. Big hopes resting on HS2 rail plans.
Decent beers. Holden's mild etc. No longer in the stranglehold of Ansells and Mitchell & Butler.
Only ever drove through Birmingham, never wanted much to stop, even when I was a UB40 fan. That M6/M5 reminds me of Antwerp a bit, the drive past the city.
Guinness West Indies porter 6%. Bottle from Morrisons.
Really need to find a source for John Martins Belgian Guinness.