Tag Archives: Cask Ale

Experiencing the Great British Beer Festival

When I let my intentions to attend the 2010 Great British Beer Festival (henceforth to be referred to as GBBF) be known, numerous people let me know not to go on Saturday. Sadly, having already bought the tickets and being a Monday to Friday working man, Saturday was my only option. It turns out that most of the good beer is gone by Saturday and the crowds tend to be rather raucous. I had no problem with the latter, but the lack of quality beer was disappointing. That being said, if you enjoy people watching, Saturday is the day for you. I will not elaborate; attend next year to see for yourself.

The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court

To give you a bit of back-story, the GBBF is held every year at Earls Court (an enormous convention center in London) the first Tuesday to Saturday of August. CAMRA UK organize GGBF, which is well attended by hundreds of brewers from around the UK who provide casks of beer. It costs £8 to get in, another refundable £3 for a tasting pint glass (yes, pint), and then beer can be purchased from various bars in 1/3, 1/2, and full pints at rather affordable prices. I was used to having my testing vessel at a beer festival come in the form of four ounce taster sized cup and was quite surprised at the full pint glasses on offer. Luckily, most British beers are lower in alcohol content than typical North American festival beers, so the full pint did not do me in.

I was quite pleased with our pints

In searching for quality beer, we did indeed find that almost half of the beer listed was sold out. We didn’t particularly enjoy what we tried of the other half. It might be that the beer was starting to spoil after five days sitting in an open cask or that only the poorer quality beer was left, but I was not particularly impressed with the overall beer quality of what I tasted. I admit that this might have been to do with me lacking in knowledge of the vast number of British brewers and I’ve vowed to do my research in the future. Next year I’m going to go earlier in the week and come prepared with a list of fine beers to try. What I am quite sure of is that the beer available at GBBF was nowhere near as adventurous or varied as what you might find at a festival in the Pacific Northwest. I’m sure the various ales on offer were chock full of subtlety, but subtlety detection seems to disappear after a couple pints.

All the good stuff sold out...

After a few disappointing pints, I stumbled upon the international bar where I found a few of my west coast favorites. I took comfort in a bottle of one of my favorite beers, Deschutes Black Butte Porter. I then went back to challenge myself with a 500ml bottle of Green Flash Double Stout. You might say this did me in. I’m once again going to complain about the propensity for festival organizers to hold events such as these during the day. I wasn’t particularly inebriated at 7PM on Saturday, but what’s a slightly inebriated person going to do post GBBF at 7PM on a Saturday? Carry on, that’s what. Needless to say, the following Sunday was one of those “I’m never drinking again” days, which usually last me a week. However, I’m in England now, so I only managed to take one day off.

Festival goers at GBBF

All and all, it was a very interesting experience and a fun time, I’ll be back. Next year, I’m going on a Wednesday night and I’m going to go prepared. This strategy will hopefully help me come up with some non useless commentary in 2011.

Cheers,

Chris

The Wenlock Arms in London

We’ve been in London for a couple of weeks now, time enough to check out a few pubs. Obviously I was aware that pubs were a big deal over here, but I wasn’t really aware of just how big a deal. There are probably twenty pubs within a ten minute walk of our flat. Back in Canada, there weren’t any pubs within a ten minute walk of where I lived and my pub of choice was a 15 minute drive. English people are also very worried that pubs are closing down at an alarming rate. In my opinion, these pubs must be closing down for a reason, that being they suck. Every pub I’ve walked by in England so far has been packed, and this is at all hours of the day, so it’s hard to imagine any half decent pub needing to close down. Anyway, I love pubs, so I’m pretty happy with my new found selection.

When first looking for interesting pubs to try I stumbled upon the Wenlock Arms, which is frequently voted North London pub of the year by CAMRA. They advertise nine casks of quality beer, so I obviously had to check it out. It was in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood that you would only go to if you lived there or were heading for this pub. The pub itself was a bit rundown, as was the clientele. I supposed I expected the young, hip crowds you find everywhere else in London, but what I found was a bunch of old dudes who look like they drink too much. Given the Wenlock Arms is a beer destination, it is fitting that it attracts beer nerds, and for good reason. The two beers we tried were both outstanding. It’s been a few weeks so I don’t remember what I had, but I was delighted to have a hoppy beer rivaling something from out of the North West for the first time in London. Built in 1836, the place has some pretty cool history too. Anyway, I’ll be back to try more of their delicious beer and to find out what it actually was, but I’ll only go there with serious beer people who will overlook the atmosphere.

While not every pub has nine casks of delicious beer on offer, pretty much all of them have at least three. This includes The New Rose, which is a convenient one minute walk from our place. It’s a livelier spot frequented by the trendier locals hereabouts and it just might be our regular pub. Their website is brilliant too.

Cheers,

Chris

Rad things pertaining to Drinking Beer in England

We’ve been in England for over a week now and I’ve noticed a few things that I quite appreciate about drinking beer here:

Real Ale – Or cask ale as we would call it, is available at almost all pubs. Commonly you’ll find six or eight of the major brands on tap and then there will be three beer machines pumping out real ale. Often you’ll find Fuller’s London Pride, Young’s Bitter, or Wells Bombardier available, among other British ales.
Ordering at the bar – Whether it be beer or food, you order at the bar here. There is no pretense of table service and I much prefer this means of ordering. You go to the bar, order, pay, and have your beer shortly after. I much prefer this to table service where you are at the mercy of your server when it comes to ordering and settling up.
Public Drinking – You can drink in public here. You can buy beer at a store and crack one on a train or in a park. You can order a beer at the pub and then walk out and enjoy it on the street if the weather is nice or the place is too crowded. I was shocked the first time a saw open alcohol in public, but only because it isn’t allowed back home, which isn’t to say it doesn’t happen anyway. People definitely drink in public at home, but either hide it or fear confiscation. Why bother with a silly law? People who want to drink in public will do it anyway. In the words of my aunt when told about our law, “but how do you have a picnic in the summer then?”
Good Beer Guide – CAMRA UK publishes a Good Beer Guide to England detailing the many great pubs over here. I recently purchased this book only to find that there is also an iPhone app. The app uses the phone’s GPS to pinpoint your location and walk you to the closest approved pub. Considering that I don’t know a whole lot about my current whereabouts, this app is a revelation. My iPhone is now a good beer finder, wooo!

Cheers,

Chris

Frequenting the Alibi Room

I’ve never really had a frequent haunt, the kind of place that I could walk to and visit frequently. The closest thing to a local watering hole I have is Big Ridge in Surrey, which is a fifteen minute drive for me. Granted, there is Dublin Crossing, a fun fake Irish pub within walking distance, but it isn’t a place I want to latch onto.

Lately, I’ve found myself going to the Alibi Room almost once a week. I am lucky (or unlucky, depending on your impressions of the neighbourhood) to work only a block away, making it quite a convenient place for a pint after work. Even if the Alibi Room wasn’t so conveniently located for me, I would still make an effort to get there once in a while. They have the best beer selection in the lower mainland and are the only place you can get many of the local craft beers they serve. They have 19 rotating taps as well as three beer machines pumping out cask conditioned ales, which also change on a weekly basis. Notwithstanding, their food is very good and reasonably priced.

The great Alibi Room beer menu, updated weekly

The Alibi Room is really the one stop shop for beer in the entire Metro Vancouver area. It saddens me that there are no similar places. Why I wonder, do none exist when the Alibi Room’s success (it is always busy) clearly indicates an existing demand? Maybe Erik and I should open up a place of our own?

Cheers,

Chris

Cask Ale Sundays at The Whip

Two incidents made Sunday a strange day for me. The first happened that afternoon during my soccer game. I was subbing into the game when a spectator’s dog bit me on the thigh. I’m not sure what I did to provoke it, but the dog lunged at me as I was running past it onto the field. I’m still sporting fang punctures and a nasty bruise. How often does that happen? Had you asked me right then, I would have assumed that would be the strangest thing to happen to me all day. I was wrong.

It was Erik’s birthday this week and the Wolfe family tradition entails going out for a meal together. Tempted by the CAMRA newsletter, we chose The Whip to enjoy the cask ale they feature every Sunday. Sadly, CAMRA members had already consumed the cask of R&B Red Devil Pale Ale by the time we arrived. No bother, The Whip has an excellent beer menu and we were able to drink some tasty local craft beer. I enjoyed pints of Storm‘s Hurricane IPA and Black Plague Stout, both of which were highly enjoyable. Some undercooked yam fries aside, the food was also excellent. I really enjoyed my Mexican chicken burger.

It was as we were eating that Sunday’s second strange incident occured. We were enjoying our meals when a group of extremely intoxicated people arrived, taking a table near us. They were no trouble, but I can’t say I enjoyed their company. The serving staff quickly took note of their level of innebriation and cut them off. I heard one remark “this is the third bar we’ve been kicked out of” only for the waitress to reply “this is isn’t a bar, it’s a restaurant!” The group was allowed to finish their beers, giving one fellow the chance to expose himself in the middle of the dining room, perform the “windmill”, and place his genitals in his friend’s glass. How often does that happen?

I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it, I mean the incident, not the… I don’t blame The Whip in the least. Upon hearing of the infraction, the offending group was quickly removed. The Whip’s staff even gave us coupons for a free pint and 15% off during our next visit. We’ll definitely go back because the food, beer, and atmosphere were great. Happy birthday Erik, you’ll definitely remember this one.

Pictures of our visit: