Something seriously simple learned from sitting at the bar of The Grapes all night while they served some pretty lively Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Decanting makes bottled ales much more enjoyable and closer to their draught counterparts. So from now on, I’m going to carelessly pour my bottle of ale into a large jug and then [...]

I have been giving ale a bit of a rest lately. Mainly due to my growing stomach, but also because I have stacks of wine to get through ! I’ve had the odd pub lunch with Brad – but nothing exciting enough to write about. Until today! My Italian friend Enrico fancied a pint of [...]

Having been a bit grumpy at work this week I was glad to see the back of it. So getting home nice and early and popping the cap on an ale was definitely what the doctor ordered. And the ale left in the fridge was ‘ASDA’s Whitechapel Porter’. I have to say I wasn’t optimistic [...]

I was beginning to think I was going off bottled ale. I’ve had a good 10 bottles and not enjoyed any of them. Until I found ‘Rolling Hitch’ by Darwin Brwery Ltd. I picked this one up in ASDA. I bought one of everything they had – and so far this has been the best. [...]

I spent a long afternoon in Cambridge and for some reason ended up consuming only Greene King Ales. Cambridge has loads of great pubs, but I hadn’t realised that so many were GK’s! Striker – A special ale for the World Cup period and not special at all, pretty boring in fact. XX Mild – [...]

If you want a bottle of ale that will not let you down, then Greene King Abbot Ale is the ale to go for. If I ever go to a pub and am unsure about the other pumps, I will always plump for Abbot. I’ve never had a bad one. And the bottled stuff is [...]

McEwan’s Champion is – in their own words “…a very strong dark traditional Scottish Ale with an intense rich flavour, yet surprisingly easy to drink. I mainly agree. Although it isn’t that easy to drink. It is so so gassy in the bottle and you really need to knock that gas out to enjoy it. [...]

I managed to find a pub in london which serves Badger Brewery ales on draught. It’s called ‘Old Nick’, it’s in Holborn and I’d been meaning to go there for ages. The place suffers from – not being open at weekends – but is very nice, and this was the first weeknight in quite a [...]

Brad and I went to a pub called the Green Man (near Smallford, Hertfordshire) and they had Deuchars IPA on tap. Well they had the tap – they were out of the ale. So we didn’t get to try it. I haven’t been back there – but I managed to find a bottle. Deuchars and [...]

Time to score some bottled ale (ooh careful – I sound like a drug user) My top five as of today is: Fuller’s Golden Pride Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Green King Abbot Ale Theakston XB Badger Tanglefoot Spooky – five different breweries. This is a coincidence I assure you. Bottom Three are: Caledoni0an anything… Sierra Nevada [...]