Down Kettering

We were tempted down Kettering way to attend a christening. It was just far enough to have us stopping over the night before at a Premier Inn, because we know how to push the boat out as a family, and that had a cafe attached. Say no more, says I, and we're down there having tea with me trying out the ales. Now, warning be made, it was a Brewer's Fayre and the selection was far from being decent, I mean, they had Tribute on but had run out. No chance of a delivery that night. In the end I settled for a half with my meal and then went back again later for a second half and a bottle of pale whilst I read my book for the evening - Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch in case you were wondering - and then retired to bed.

The christening was a lovely occasion but I am a poor judge of social situations and so I shall leave it at that, after all, this here's a beer blog and what you're really here for is some noodling on the ales and some thoughts on the selection. What I will say is this: if your lager is cheaper to the tune of almost a pound for a pint versus a half of real ale, there's something wrong. Mind you, I've wondered before if real ale is the gentrification of drinking and thus deliberately slanted 'gainst the working classes, this pricing structure would seem to suggest that at least some big companies think so.

Still, the staff were quite lovely and helpful to this rather odd beer bore and let me get on with my reading with some ale in the evening so I really can't complain. Would you like to know more?

Beer Review: Wolf Rock

What madness is this? Another sunny weekend and another chance to have an ale in my garden? Surely the end times cometh! Well, okay, maybe not, but at the very least this is a moment to celebrate and enjoy the moment. And I shall enjoy this moment with a Red IPA from those people over at Sharp's, they of the Doom Bar (link) brewers, and obviously have something a wee bit different in their Wolf Rock that has been sitting in my kitchen, biding its time and waiting for this moment. Well, it has its moment and I have a trowel and a place by the sundial to dig some soil ready for planting something and the time to spend having an ale to enjoy the sunshine and the weather.

Yes, the madness has been unleashed for another Sunday and you have, as ever, the choice on whether or not to continue into the rabbit hole. As Morpheus asked: "how deep does the rabbit hole go?" And, as I often answer when watching The Matrix, this isn't Alice in Wonderland even though you referenced the white rabbit in a convoluted sequence earlier.

Would you like to know more?

Beer Review: Doom Bar

This one has been a long time in coming. I keep seeing the bottles in the shops and virtually every pub that has ales from the cask and claims of 'real ale' have this as one of their headliners. As a consequence I was quite chuffed to see it as part of a gift from Willow's parents. So, thank you.

It is, of course, Sharp's Doom Bar and the fact that I see it everywhere probably means that it's been reviewed pretty much everywhere. However, none of those people were me on a dark summer's evening, so there!

Would you like to know more?