September...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thought I'd share this with you - my son brought round a few beers for a bit of a sesh, inlcuding a few I hadn't tried before. The only one in this pic I had previously drank is the ESB. The others were all new to me. My impressions:

1) Black Sheep Ale: a well made but rather ordinary beer. Would happily drink it but wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. 5/10.

2) Fullers ESB: Bloody brilliant. Still one of my favourites and an excellent session beer. 9/10.

3) Fullers 1845: Clearly a lovingly crafted and very well constructed beer. Just a tad too bitter for my taste. 7/10.

4) Red Oak Belgian Chocolate Stout: Actually an Aussie beer, the "Belgian" refers to the type of chocolate used. This is not luscious like a Young's choc stout, rather, this is quite an austere, dark, bitter type of stout. This would be an acquired taste. A difficult beer, but well-made. 6/10

5) Judas Blonde. This is a real ripper, somewhat like a Hoegaarden with guts. To be consumed with care, but a "you must try this before you die" beer, even if you don't ordinarily like blondes. Very alcoholic (8.5%) 9/10.

6) Trippel Bornem. Another high-powered Belgian blonde (9%). This is one of those rare beers that forced an involuntary "wow!" from me when first tried. However this is such a potent, yeasty, fruity, demanding beer that I was quite ready for something different by the end of one small glass. Bloody nice though. 8/10

However, the actual surprise beer of the night (actually several nights) was a Czech beer - the Kozel Dark Beer (sorry not in pic). At just 3.8% we thought this would be a lightweight non-descript, but in fact it was simply delicious. Very easy-drinking. Those Czechs know how to make some damn fine brews, and this would be one of the best. And it's just a mid-strength! Changed my perception of low-alcohol beer, I can tell you.

All of which all just reinforced my belief that the Brits, Germans, Belgians and Czechs make some truly wonderful, startling and exceptionally yummy beers. And I would just like to thank all the brewers concerned for saving my life by making the stuff so bloody expensive...

(no running to report)