All Things Beer!

Been to Derby (passing through) a couple of times, but have only ever stopped into the Brunswick.

That was my fave but lots of other great pubs!

Love the jungle drums in Glasgow!  I heard via Twitter and FB that Ossett Silver King was on in the slop shop (hate that pub, but they do occasionally get some good beers, and I think they are trying to work on their reputation)... as Silver King is in my top 5 favourites, it had to be done.  We had a couple of pints and then had them fill up our 4-pint carry-keg (that we bought from The Grove in Huddersfield  ) to take home and drink.  Just finishing it off now.
They also had an Acorn porter on, and a really nice Oak Leaf beer that we've sampled before.

Glad I wasn't up there and walked into that pub! Went to Derby last weekend and me and my mate did a pub crawl, we had a little side bet of if and when we would see an Acorn beer! And we saw one! In fact in that pub I think we ruled out half the beers based on they were ones we can easily get locally!

Remember last time I went to London and the first pub I walked into had Acorn Barnsley Gold on!

Tykeman, I saw in the most recent What's Brewing, that Old No 7 is one of the finalists for the National Pub of the Year! 

Tykeman, I saw in the most recent What's Brewing, that Old No 7 is one of the finalists for the National Pub of the Year!  

Yes, it won the Yorkshire regional award.  

Caused a little discussion locally with one branch member saying whilst it's good it's not the best in Yorkshire, and then a long argument. She didn't think it was even the best in Barnsley, and then it turned out she didn't even vote in the branch!
I saw her point as there are some great pubs, but I like it for what it is. A good, straight-forward, no frills pub with great ale. And the fact it's a 5 min walk from my house helps! 

Caused a little discussion locally with one branch member saying whilst it's good it's not the best in Yorkshire, and then a long argument. She didn't think it was even the best in Barnsley, and then it turned out she didn't even vote in the branch!

Glasgow's pub of the year is beyond a joke.  A nice old pub, with 60's decor preserved, and lovely staff... but they only have 3 hand-pulls, all 3 are Fyne Ales, and... their cellar is too warm.  I can't even drink their beers in the summer, cos they are like soup.  HOW that became POTY, is beyond me (someone said it wasnt fair to give it to the same pub 2 years in a row?  It bloody well IS fair, if that pub happens to be the best in Glasgow!). 
I'm happy for the owners, cos they are really nice chaps, but... that cellar temp needs sorted out before I would even think of voting for them.  I voted with my feet, in a way... haven't been in there since May.

Had a "Brown IPA" from a brewer in Wales the other day which was really interesting.

And Cromarty Brewing Company- Happy Chappy and AKA IPA.  Mmmm. 

We went to an Oktoberfest event yesterday and they had a bunch of home brewers there with product to sample. I'm not able to drink right now, but DH sampled them. There was a cherry vanilla stout that he quite liked and a nice pumpkin ale, but his favorite was called Farmer Nut's Brown Ale. I smelled it and well, it smelled nutty! Who knew there were so many quality home brewers in such a small area of Baltimore!

We went to an Oktoberfest event yesterday and they had a bunch of home brewers there with product to sample. I'm not able to drink right now, but DH sampled them. There was a cherry vanilla stout that he quite liked and a nice pumpkin ale, but his favorite was called Farmer Nut's Brown Ale. I smelled it and well, it smelled nutty! Who knew there were so many quality home brewers in such a small area of Baltimore!

How fun! 

Going to Alloa beer fest on Friday. And don't forget the Wetherspoons autumn festival begins tomorrow. I have heard there are lots of American ales this time.

Going to Alloa beer fest on Friday. And don't forget the Wetherspoons autumn festival begins tomorrow. I have heard there are lots of American ales this time.

Yep, going to check out the 2 Wetherspoons in town tomorrow. They have, amongst others, collaborations with Stone Brewery, Harpoon, Abita, Cambridge. I was reading the guide and the challenge was in them brewing these beers to be cask conditioned, so they come over to a brewery in the UK and work with their US recepe but the British brewer's expertise in cask conditioned.
http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/static/pdfs/admin-generated/podium/ale-festival-october-13-204.pdf?t=1381736042

Going to Alloa beer fest on Friday. And don't forget the Wetherspoons autumn festival begins tomorrow. I have heard there are lots of American ales this time.

It seems like all there is in America right now are ales, and they're all pretty hoppy. This really annoys my lager-loving husband. I like ales, but it would be nice to see more of a variety.

We visited 3 of Glasgow's 6 Wetherspoons last night, to drink the fest beers.
The Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA was lovely... very jasmine-y, and to me tasted like Thornbridge Puja, which was one of those one-off collaboration thingmys.

I was amazed by the Batemans Hazelnut Brownie!  In the past, every beer that claims to have 'chocolate' flavour has disappointed me.  But this one REALLY DID taste of chocolate, and I would definitely recommend it.

Going out again in a couple of hours time to see what other lovely beers we can find!

Had the Abita Restoration Pale Ale and Everards Pumpkin Ale - both very nice. The other Wetherspoons was disappointing in the selection though they did have the chocolate brownie but i tend to steer clear of ones over 6% so came to No 7 and currently enjoying an Acorn Bishops IPA. As I've tried the others that are on I may go back for the chocolate brownie to round it off. If you want chocolate taste in beer I don't think you can beat Youngs Double Chocolate Stout,  it tastes like there's a whole bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk in the glass!

Have you had the Triple Chocoholic by Saltaire? I don't drink beer, but my hubby and another friend really like that one.