Beer: "proof that God loves us"

[metal beat]

Barrel aged Whiskey Soule Ale - 9.8%.  man, does this pack a punch - surprisingly smooth.

 

[frankn]

Old Inn, Congresbury, Somerset. 
Good food and great hand pumped beer.  Lots of old beams, very low ceilings and lots of bunting for the upcoming Queen’s jubilee.  It’s a 16th century pub!!

Butcombe Original and 

Timothy Taylor Landlord 

beers. Preferred the latter. 

[frankn]

Palmers - brewed since 1794!!!!!

The pub has been here since 16th century. 
The Gold and the Copper beers are excellent drinking.  Nutty and flavoursome. 
This is one of the pubs in the village associated with Montacute House in Somerset. 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/montacute-house

[frankn]

Beer posters in the toilets, much better than graffiti!  I like the gardener one, very much like me. 

[frankn]

Sally, Mum, Chris, Barbara (friends of Sally’s mum) and I went to dinner at an excellent pub/restaurant in the middle of the Somerset peat region, known as the Somerset Levels. 
The Duck serves good beer and superb food. There has been a pub here since 1856. 
Chris and Barbara are lifetime locals of the area, Chris is a retired dairy farmer and cider maker.  Extensive local knowledge and both have strong, broad Somerset accents.  The pictures (sorry about the lights) tell a story of life there that was ending in the 1950s. Chris remembers riding on the footplate of the trains across this area in his teens. 
The Tribute  (Cornish ale) was very nice. 

[frankn]

Another Butcombe pub!  The Lamb Inn (1480) @ Axebridge, Somerset. Across the street the museum is housed in a Tudor (1500s) built house. Amazing to think that the hands that built these properties were here in the reign of Henry VIII’another pint of GOLD - can’t get to much of a good thing. 

Edited June 5, 2022 by frankn
Clarity

[frankn]

Next village along the road, this is where we are currently staying (thanks to Sally’s sister & b-in-L). Winscombe, Somerset. 
Cheddar Ales, Hardrock. Not a bad drop, but thinner taste than the previous pint, but easy on the palate. 

[betocool]

Around the UK in 80 pints?

 

Love your work!

 

Cheers,

 

Alberto

[frankn]

Rainy day here in Somerset, spent the day ferrying M-i-L between Cheddar Gorge and Taunton to see grand and great-grandchildren.

Being such a weather challenged day, had a pint of Guinness in the aforementioned Woodborough Arms in Winscombe whilst ordering a takeaway beef vindaloo and lamb madras with the missus. Will have a night in binge watching new series of Borgen (I think) on streaming telly. 
A couple of alcohol takeaways for enjoyment after the curries. 
 

Edited June 5, 2022 by frankn

[Cloth Ears]

7 hours ago, frankn said:

Rainy day here in Somerset, spent the day ferrying M-i-L between Cheddar Gorge and Taunton to see grand and great-grandchildren.

Being such a weather challenged day, had a pint of Guinness in the aforementioned Woodborough Arms in Winscombe whilst ordering a takeaway beef vindaloo and lamb madras with the missus. Will have a night in binge watching new series of Borgen (I think) on streaming telly. 
A couple of alcohol takeaways for enjoyment after the curries. 
 

Been loving your work...it's almost like I'm there.

[frankn]

No pubs today, but did visit an award winning English winery. 
https://www.aldwickestate.co.uk/vineyard-tour-tasting/

Also some pics from around the area. Cheddar reservoir where they allow the sheep to graze (note no tail docking). 
The cleft in the hills is Cheddar Gorge - where the world famous style of cheese originates (and Cave Aged Cheddar is simply the best).
Axbridge village, church of St John the Baptist originally built in 13th century (current building dates from 15th century). 

 

[frankn]

Bit of a drive yesterday for lunch. Drove 2hrs to The New Forest in Hampshire. 
Nice beer and food in the White Hart pub, meeting old friends. 
The Jubilee Celebration ales brewed by Flack-Manor and Bowman breweries  were very easy to drink, nice balance of flavours served at cellar temperature. Hand pumped, naturally. 
Along the way we also met some new friends. 
Gloucestershire Old Spot (group sunning themselves by the roadside) - a select number of farmers are allowed to have their pigs free-range in the NF , generally they are all traditional English breeds. 
Also between September-December each year about 600 pigs are allowed “pannage” - to roam and eatfallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts and other nuts that are on the forest floor, which are poisonous to New Forest ponies and cattle.  This dates back to ~1079 !

The donkeys were very friendly.   

[frankn]

Quiet day yesterday, had to rest up after a serious walk (for me) caused the knee to blow-up and so went to visit family - ended up having dinner in a nice 16th century pub called Old Pound Inn in Aller, Somerset. I tried, and enjoyed my 1st pints of Teignworthy brewery Reel Beer.  Very happy to have found this beer as it drank very well, accompanying 3 bangers, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed carrots with a nice onion gravy. 
As we arrived early evening I didn’t get a picture of the pub so I’ve used a stock photo from the CAMRA Good Beer Guide app (CAMRA = Campaign For Real Ale, CAMRA has existed for over 40yrs in UK and before Apps etc. I used to have their published handbook of recommended UK pubs/beers/food in the glovebox of the car. 

[frankn]

Salcombe Brewery , Seahorse bitter. 
very tasty, nice length. 
At Porlock Weir, Exmoor. 

[frankn]

A quick pint in Cheddar before heading back to Winscombe. Very nice old pub and another good bitter. 
Couple of pics of BSA motor bikes built several decades apart. They both look good but I think I’d go with the new one (less hassle). Riding across Exmoor in good weather like today would be nice. 

[The Fez]

On 12/06/2022 at 5:14 AM, frankn said:

A quick pint in Cheddar before heading back to Winscombe. Very nice old pub and another good bitter. 
Couple of pics of BSA motor bikes built several decades apart. They both look good but I think I’d go with the new one (less hassle). Riding across Exmoor in good weather like today would be nice. 

'ave you been to London to see the Queen? - How about a spot of county cricket mate?

[frankn]

No county cricket yet as I’ve been in Edinburgh for a few days so I’ll throw in a couple of travel pictures along the way. 2nd image is from Edinburgh Castle looking across to the Firth of Fourth and the beginning of the highlands. 
3rd is pulling pints of Nicholson’s Pale ale and Vocation Session IPA  

4th - 6th are the pints settling nicely. 
Followed by some tourist snaps. 
At the castle they are setting up the seating for the upcoming Edinburgh Tattoo. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by frankn
Correction

[frankn]

HOPPY Innis and Gunn Session IPA from Biddy Mulligans followed by Nicholson’s Pale ale and classic Stewart Brewery Heavy (fairly sweet brown ale) , loved the motifs on the heavy’s pint glass. both establishments are in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh just off the Royal Mile  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by frankn
Removing duplicates

[frankn]

Manchester this week, or more accurately the suburb of
Green King IPA. Nice drop, easy on the throat in the early evening sunshine. 
The last picture is the name of the other pub on the corner. 

[frankn]

Departing the Manchester region today on the TransPennine Express train to York and then by bus onto Shiptonthorpe to walk some of the Yorkshire Wold Way.  
Good memories of some nice beer in Manchester but also recovering with Covid which has slowed us down a bit. 
Couple more pictures from around the area and also beers from the local “The Royal Oak” - a classic pub name. 
Walking along the River Mersey - should have had a background of Gerry and the Pacemakers :

 

People around every corner
They seem to smile and say
We don't care what your name is, boy
We'll never turn you away

So I'll continue to say
Here I always will stay

So ferry, cross the Mersey
'Cause this land's the place I love
And here I'll stay

 

in the double beer glass picture the Pedigree is on the left and the Banks Amber on the right - both have the very creamy head that is a characteristic of many midland/Yorkshire pints. Both a very nice drop. 

 

[frankn]

Off amongst the villages along the Wold. 
Theakston brews are renowned (Old Peculiar is a winter favourite). This was their bitter and worth the walk to get it. The pub is a gem with very good food too. Beer, Nice mouth feel and balanced hops - a lot of “new school” brewers could learn from some of the “oldies” I been drinking these past months. 
The Thwaites bitter was closest to a London style bitter I’ve had in Yorkshire. The beer was nice but the pub lacked atmosphere, possibly because we were in early giving my ankle a rest. 

[frankn]

Pint of Black Sheep to round out the Yorkshire leg of our trip. 

[frankn]

Always a nice drop, in the city of Cambridge. 

[frankn]

Last few brews whilst in Cambridge. 
Went to the Geldart pub for lunch and listen to good live music. 
Below is the details about the pub in The Good Beer Guide and I’d say they are spot on. 
I liked the Exmoor Pale best, followed by the Laine Fader IPA and then the Amerillo American Pale Ale (okay, but too hoppy / citrus for a mild day in the UK). 
Note the handles on the gravity pumps - very good. 
Worth a visit if you are in town. 

[oztheatre]

I was chatting with a GP a few months back and the topic of alcohol came up. I'm really not a drinker, just enjoy the odd cold one after mowing the swamp land in summer. 

But this GP is pretty clued up and told me something that really means you need no more excuses to crack open a cold one.

Doc says there are medicinal benefits to alcohol. He says take the petrie dish full of bacteria and plasmids and exosomes for example, then says what do you think happens to all the bacteria when you pour beer all over them? Proceeds to say, next time you get a bit chesty, have a cold one with lime as this will kill anything in your throat and mouth before it gets to your chest.

 

Now I have a BWS card  i also got the coof and killed it dead with 3 corona's per day for 3 days. Turns out corona kills corona lol