Hooky Dark
Even though it is silly season, I have been keeping a level headed approach. Sadly that means I have not been drinking as much as I should be as I hate seasonal drinkers in pubs. They are the worst kind, clutching their pints of Peroni thinking they know what good beer is and overlooking the brilliance on offer on the handpumps.
My mate Chris (with the big head) used to be one of these types, but I have slowly brought him round and now he is borderline open minded. Anyhow, Chris is planning a pub crawl tomorrow from Hampstead to Highgate and wanted to borrow my CAMRA London pub walks book. He had a narrow window of time in which he could pick up the book on Wednesday evening so I arranged to meet him at the Melton Mowbray on High Holborn with the view of getting a pint of Fuller's London Porter in. Sadly when I arrived he had already ordered me a pint of Discovery, despite the fact that it could have snowed at any minute! To be fair they didn't have the Porter on and had Fuller's other seasonal beer Jack Frost which I don't really care for, but I am willing to be open minded!
Anyhow we ended up going round the corner to The Castle for a second pint and after negotiating my way past Peroni drinkers, I finally managed to 'secure' two pints of Hooky Dark (3.2% abv) which is the Hook Norton Brewery's Mild offering. This beer was lovely and certainly carries a lot more flavour than it's abv suggests. The conditioning was reaching the end of it's stretch though and some oxidized flavours were starting to come through. I don't understand how The Castle can keep 7 handpumps on all the time when they have a predominately lager drinking crowd?
Anyhow, my year at work here is about to wrap up and a few of us are heading down The Gunmakers for a beer. This will be my last post till the new year as I am off on a beer adventure of sorts (ok, I am following my in-laws around Europe, but there will be beer). First stop is Munich for a short one nighter on Monday followed by 3 nights and xmas in Salzburg, 3 nights in Vienna, 3 nights and New years in Prague, then a short hop to Amsterdam for 2 nights, Brugge 2 nights and finally Paris 2 nights and back at work on Jan 8. I should have lots to blog about on my return, but hopefully in a revamped format for episodes post NYE.
For now, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Tim
Labels: Ale, Hook Norton, Mild, The Castle
posted by Tim at
Saturday, December 20, 2008
5 Comments:
It's been a great year, Tim. Happy trails and see you in the new format.
Take care there Tym. May Christ be with you in all your European adventures.
There's a nice Augustiner Haus just opposite the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Very nice paintings on the walls. Has a medieval feel. I highly recommend it. Food is also good.
P.S. Please let me know if you find Avery over there!
Tim, have a great break. Thanks for supporting the Gunmakers over the last few months!
Hi Sausage, I have been in that Augustiner Haus before and posted about it here. They also have another much larger one on the main drag, which is much better.
And Jeff, props to the Gunmakers for being so close to the office and providing such great beer. I will most likely be in for a marathon session on Jan 9th and hopefully will get to sample some of the famed Wallsend Brown.
Sadly there won't be any Wallsend Brown until next week! This week I have Landlord, Bitter & Twisted, Oakleaf Hole Hearted and Rosey Nosey in the cellar. The lovely Sally managed to break one of the handpumps this evening so I'm down to two ales and a real cider until InBev come and fix it!
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