First Pint is the Sweetest

I've been suffering from dental problems which are ongoing and likely to continue expensively for some time. It looks like the many years of neglect by the Scottish Schools Dentistry Service   - I made that up - I went to the normal dentist as a child and as with almost all children of my time, I ended up with unstraightened teeth and a mouth full of amalgam. I don't recall eating that many sweets, but I suppose I did. Or maybe it was the various flavoured soft drinks of the time. I suppose it is too late to sue Garvies, McDougall's and of course AG Barr* for all the sugar in liquid form that they forced down my innocent neck.

As a result, the week before my trip abroad I went to the dentist with toothache. I was given those antibiotics that you can't drink with, so a week before I was alcohol free. I wasn't that bothered about it , but when we went to London en route to our Eurostar train A whole day in London without a pub visit was unthinkable.  Has anyone ever tried Erdinger Alcohol free wheat beer? Well, if you have you'll likely never want to repeat the experience. At the buzzy Commercial - an expensive non real ale favourite of ours - it was only the people watching that made the experience remotely bearable and I commend it to you on that basis. The stuff tastes like off unfermented wort.  It is simply disgusting. 

A walk back to another favourite, the Culpepper and Nirvana Pilsner. A whopping £6.60 for this.  It started off well then collapsed into a thin, vaguely worty tasting nothingness with a touch of citrus.  Again, just don't. Frankly I'd rather drink soft drinks. At least they are what they purport to be.

So, Monday lunchtime was freedom day for me. Our Eurostar sped through Kent and into France. I was thinking that our journey to Cologne allowed an hour and quarter in a local bar.  Fab.  We arrived in Brussels on time and I knew where to go. I was soon sitting in weak sunshine with 500ml of Hoegaarden.  It was nectar even at nearly 8 euros a pop.  Given the proximity of our train it was even rather leisurely. In fact I added another 330ml to my glass.

So, my advice if you can't have beer, don't bother with the alcohol free stuff. It is pretty grim.  And why can't we get soft drinks in pubs in decent measures? I had 0.25 of ginger beer in the Commercial. That's just a mixer. Ludicrous.  Actually, one thing I loved in Australia was the availability of ginger beer in both  alcoholic and no alcohol form. We could do with more of that here though I think bottled boozy stuff is sometimes available.

* All soft drinks purveyors of my childhood. 

My tooth has since been removed. It wasn't an abscess as they thought.  Just plain old beyond saving.  I had a lot of toothache on my hols, but I was very brave.

 

A Couple of Things

We had our CAMRA Rochdale, Oldham and Bury committee meeting at the Baum in Rochdale last night. It used to be our main branch venue until changes made it too small for our needs, but it was good to be back. The beer there is always excellent and as if to prove it, in addition to our meeting, I presented an award for 20 consecutive years in the Good Beer Guide. In my few kind words, I recalled the heady days of a Good Beer Guide entry and subsequent Pub of the Year award, leading ultimately to that toppest of top gongs - CAMRA National Pub of the Year. The year? 2012, though then it was revealed to the world at large in February 2013.  How time flies, but it was good to remember it and see the evidence that standards haven't slipped since. Go there if you can. It's a smashing pub.

Now the Baum is one of the few outlets I know of for Hoegaarden Witbier. I didn't have any as I'd forgotten about it and anyway there was a cask beer well worth drinking, namely Thornbridge Twin Peaks. American Pale Ale at 5%.  This was a fab beer. Clear as a bell and with a fresh cask just on, it was beer of the night by a considerable distance. Like the Baum, seek it out.

Is that the two things then? Well no and here I'd like some feedback. The barman told me that Hoegaarden in draught (keg) form is ceasing UK distribution. Wow.  I can't find anything on t'internet confirming this though. Does anyone know if it is true? 

I have an urge to buy some Hoegaarden now, so maybe I'll check that out tomorrow or even go back to the Baum, where to add weight ohis story, the barman told me they had got several extra kegs in. 

The Baum is next to the Co-op Pioneers Museum. That's another story though.