Beer Compurgation

What are you doing this weekend?  You possibly have possibility plans. You've possibly discussed the possibility of making possibility plans. You've possibly discussed the possibility of possibly going through with the possible plans, possibly. But have you possibly considered taking in a small beer festival, possibly?  For this weekend sees Stalybridge Buffet Bar (nah, I've definitely never talked about it) hold it's first beer festival. Sure, it's only a small venture with sixteen cask beers, a couple of keg and a variety of bottles, but what were you doing this weekend?  The theme is 1940's and the festival pays a little nod to the U.S. with it's beer selection, whether that be the names, the brewing location or just the choice of hops themselves.  There are obviously a couple of other non-themed treats up the sleeve, including a rather good Manchester based Espresso Stout, but I don't want to give too much away. There will a

“It’s so loud inside my head, with words that I should have said. As I drown in my regrets, I can’t take back the words I never said” Lupe Fiasco, Words I Never Said I’m ready to talk. It’s been over a year since I opened up on this blog with a post about my long term suffering with depression and anxiety that I’d only just started to acknowledge, face and treat. I needed a release; a way of letting everybody know who I was and what was happening. I felt hiding it was making it harder. Talking about it undoubtedly helped for a period. The response from friends and loved ones was incredible and there was comfort there, but they couldn’t cure me of what I was struggling with. I'm still not sure whether it's the right time to be 100% honest about some of the major triggers of my problems. There were certain people and events that certainly made things much harder for me in the past 24 months. But they were just additions to underlying problems that have existed for y

There’s a mystification that comes with visits to Leeds that didn’t exist when I lived in the city seven years ago. The problem you have before each visit is the need to try and draw up an itinerary – the need to ask yourself the question, ‘Where am I not going?’ An absurb amount of choice is not a negative thing. Leeds and it’s surrounding county has a lot of good beer and good vibes to give out. But I don’t think I’d ever know where to go myself should I still live in the city. It’s a difficult choice between returning to places you know are brilliant and visiting new places with great potential. A disappointment can lead to finding a hidden treasure. A wrong turn can lead to a delightful detour. You could return every month and somehwere new will have inevitably opened. If you lined up the worthy places to visit In Manchester, you could do the city easily on a day trip. It's just their sporadic nature that makes this difficult. Leeds is different; it is enclosed and neigh

The first (of what I hope will be a frequent event) Manchester Brewery Expo was a celebration of beer that saw several of Manchester's breweries throw open their doors for talks, tasters and general good times.  I've already presented a photo blog of my day here.   It's also been written about as a wonderful day out by the Boozy Procrastinator and also by the Leeds Beer Wolf - the latter being whom I hung around with for most of the day, so the order of my day matches that particular post. Because of this, I've chosen not to rewrite what has already been well written, but to share some of the feelings and discoveries I took away from the day.  I only participated in the Saturday morning of the expo that took in the Piccadilly/Ardwick based breweries Track Brewing Co , Alphabet Brew Co , Privateer Beers , Squawk Brewing Co and Cloudwater Brew Co.  Beer geeks receive tank tasters like communion Line up politely, take the sacrament from the host,