Paulaner Original Münchner

Feeling hungover and slightly hungry, I decided to compromise with Mrs CB and let her select a place for lunch on the bank holiday Monday. To my disapproval she chose All Bar One (ABO). For those international readers, ABO is a chain bar - which is themed upmarket and is actually not that dissimilar from Weatherspoons (except its full of wankers rather than the socially inept). One thing that ABO does have going for it is the international beer selection. I opted for Paulaner Original (4.8% abv), a pale Helles style lager. This beer was ok, it came in a fancy glass, but I guess that they don't sell a whole lot of the stuff as it tasted past its prime. Hopefully I will not have to go back to one of these drinking factories anytime soon!

As an aside, I think I have an aversion to any pub (chain or not) that identifies each table as a number which you have to quote at the bar when ordering food.

http://www.paulaner.com/

Bath Ales Barnstormer

Over the bank holiday weekend I escaped from London and headed out Bath, a town steeped in history which pre-dates the Romans. After a morning exploring the Roman Baths and an afternoon relaxing in the new thermal pools, it was time for a beer. Being a Sunday, most of the inter sting pubs were closed and after a couple of false starts (read quiet and quaint on the outside, disco boombox on the inside) we finally settled on a cosy little pub with a student like feel called "The Porter". This pub was slightly alternative and only sold vegetarian food, not really a problem as I had eaten anyway but the best part was the pub was serving up local beer. Upon inspecting the pumps I decided to go for a pint of Barnstormer (4.5% abv) from Bath Ales. Barnstormer is a fruity dark ales, which roughly falls under the style of Porter, but only just and that is a very loose interpretation. By taste it is very much a bitter, however it does have some chocolate roastiness. A well balanced and satisfying ale!

Bath Ales are actually not located in Bath itself but in Warmley, Bristol just a short hop west of Bath. Since commencing operations in 1995, the brewery has slowly expanded and commenced distribution to major supermarkets UK wide after setting up a bottling facility in 2007. You can find out more about Bath Ales, and Barnstormer in particular at this website.