Wikio - Top Blogs - Wine and beer The Real Ale Girl: June 2010

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Good, strong stuff.

So, in the post football come down, its impossible to get any real work done, sio here I am with my first blog post in zeons. My apologies for lack of bloggage, I can't really explain why I've been quite so busy, so that will have to be that. Let's hear no more about it. Although if someone wants to by me an iphone, I'll gladly blog a whole lot more.
So what's been going down? I've been drinking a lot of strong stuff, that's what. The lovely ladies at the glorious Royal Oak in Tunbridge Wells gave me an exclusive, top secret, tight lipped tasting of BrewDog's 41% (or is 42%?) Sink the Bismark. Now give me that over whisky any day (and I like a good whisky). It goes down like a dark velvety dream, without the vinegary bite you get from beers a fifth of that strength. Still, don't know if I'd be up to paying 40 quid for 330ml- is is a beer after all! I thank the Royal Oak landlady for her generosity and interest; people: go to that pub!
Another crew who know how to make a goo9d strong beer are the folks at the HardKnott Brewry. Having been given a pair of limited edition bottles at the Ale v Lager evening at the White Horse ages ago, I was eager to get stuck in. Howver, I soon realised I have night in and nights out. I have nights in for recuperating, for doing a bit of out of hours work, for cleaning, for laundry, all that dull stuff, washed down with beers of around 4%. I have nights out for drinking strong stuff that leaves your lips numb. So here was a conundrum. I was home on no evening that was suitable for a 10% + beer. These glorious Cumbrian ales sat untouched, waiting for a Friday night in. It did'nt come. They eventually came on the train with us (Boris hasn't killed that joy) on our way to the magnificent Dartford Working Mens' Club a couple of weeks ago.It was 7pm, the commuter looked at us as if we were bonkers, as we exclaimed the tatsebud beauty that these beers brought with them. Strong, yes. Lip numbing, yes. Drunk making, absolutely. Vinegary and eye watering, not at all. If I manage to get hold of any more of Dave's beers, I better plan some nights in.