Careful with the Spoons

So, farewell then, another JDW ‘festival’, or in their own words The World’s Biggest Real Ale and Cider Festival. (Which, considering it featured 50 beers, 8 ciders and 2 (count ‘em) perries, might be considered a bit cheeky. On the other hand, the overall total floorspace was massive.) The last time round I worked my [...]

Pints of ale and bottles of sherry

When I’m not drinking, baby, you’re on my mind When I’m not sleeping, honey, when I ain’t sleeping, When I’m not sleeping, you know, you’ll find me crying – Jackson C. Franks when I’m drinking, I’m always thinking, And wishing that Peggy Gordon was there. – Anon. When I’m not drinking, and sometimes when I [...]

Our ale it is brown

Getting the hang of hoppy yellow beers has had a down side, which is that I’ve gone off some of the sweet beers I used to enjoy. I’ve had some unhappy experiences with ginger beers, in particular. But what is a ginger beer? When I was a kid I made ginger beer one summer using [...]