Spring Cheer and the Hunt

I worked yesterday again at my local pub. There were three, maybe four significant events. The first of these, the reason I was working, was that the North Cheshire Hunt was paying one of its annual visits to the area. The pub would therefore be exceedingly busy so it was all hands to the pumps. Before any fox lovers rush to the barricades, this is strictly a drag hunt, the trail having been marked beforehand in aniseed. Now I have to say the hunters were model customers. They were to a man and woman polite and cheerful despite the awful weather. After serving them some bracing pre-hunt snifters, we put on a stirrup cup of mulled wine and saw them off. Later they returned in force, muddy and wet and some, damaged.

The significant event beer wise was the pouring of the first cask of Spring Cheer, Lees new seasonal beer. The blurb promises wheat malt with hints of cinnamon and cloves. Hmm. I'm not sure about either in a beer that isn't dark, strong and Chrismassey. I needn't have worried though. The pale, golden, 4.1% beer was spicy from the wheat, full bodied, with just a hint of cinnamon buried in the smooth, bitter and hoppy finish. Thankfully I couldn't detect any cloves! It is a good beer. I hope to drink a few more of it today as yesterday I just had a half pint.


Oh and the other significant event? Scotland beat England at rugby. I won't bother with the fourth, preferring to leave United fans to their private grief.