Beer Compurgation

People are suffering serious health problems, the NHS is being overrun, there’s an increase in those turning to drink for solitude in these monetarily worrying times and so the government is proposing their usual elucidation to the majority of issues: increase prices on everything . This isn’t a tax. Oh no. The government could not have made that clearer. But where a tax hike would cause outcry and outrage, surely a sweetly worded limitation would be seen as the ideal solution to a serious problem amongst the public. But once again, the enthusiasts, the self-controlled and the happy are forgotten and punished. I don’t want to challenge the legalities of such a proposal or the hypocrisy, but I want to look at affects or, as David Cameron would like me to say, the benefits of this plan. It seems there are two types of people who the government and doctors believe will profit from the minimum pricing scheme; alcoholics and binge drinkers. Of course, they will have spoken to

I love Christmas. I really do. A lot of people despise me for it. I own six Christmas jumpers/cardigans. I don’t tire of the music. I have all the films. I have strict protocol around the subject. I will walk out of a shop if they dare play any song before the 1 st December. But from the 1 st onwards, my iPod only plays festive tunes, I wear nothing but clothing with reindeers on it, my diet becomes minced pies and the ginger infused coffee specials from coffee shops that feature fewer beans and less drink for a higher price. I also, shamelessly, love Christmas beers; lazy brewers just making the exact same beer they’ve made all year but shoving some cinnamon and cloves into the boil to create something that imbeciles like me hail as a seasonal triumph. I had a thought the other day. A thought so good that it was obvious immediately that somebody else thought of it long before the internet was a conceivable organism. A quick search on a popular search engine confirmed my sus

I suppose my purpose when blogging was that I had a few opinions about certain areas of my “hobby” that I wanted to address, whist also getting to share my own tastes and experiences. Sometimes I’ll find something that angers me, sometimes something that is worth debating. Occasionally, when sat at home bored, I’ll theme my evening with a few bottles of similar style or brewery to entertain myself more than anything. This weekend this was never my intention. I found myself, unusually, with little to do socially so I cracked out a few bottles I fancied at random with no intention of sharing the experience on these pages. However, after experienced a huge contrast in quality in two beers, I couldn’t resist writing something down. It started on Friday when, after a dreadful working week came to an end and a few warm-up beers, I turned to my Nøgne ØSunturnbrew , a beer I had been keeping for a while. I’ve only tried the beer once, at Indy Man Beer Con, and hailed it my favourite

Have a Beer for breakfast: one of those “live a little” phrases sometimes bandied about by optimistic Americans preaching about how can all find further carefree enjoyment in our lives, (Yes I am thinking Colin Farrell in Scrubs right about now.) I suppose this is a light-hearted concept, although a little close to being a novelty, which makes for a selling point. Can you make a beer perfect for breakfast? I don’t want to be overly pejorative about a simple idea, but having seen the dark side of alcohol, it doesn’t sit comfortably with me personally. Nevertheless, let’s approach this blog as a light-hearted experiment. I have both the Mikkeller Beer Geek and Beer Hop Breakfast beers stashed away and it seems right to compare them together.   I’ve chosen an evening when I am functioning off two hours sleep, have a slight hangover and have been fending off a prolonged migraine for the majority of the day. I couldn’t feel like I’ve just woken for breakfast or want a cup of tea anym