CHERTSEY

BOATS, BRIDGES, BOILERS ... IF IT'S GOT RIVETS, I'M RIVETTED
... feminist, atheist, autistic academic and historic narrowboater ...
Likes snooker, beer, tea, rivets and solitude, and is strangely fascinated by the cinema organ.
And there might be something about railways.
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Friday, 17 April 2020

Supporting local businesses

I've just had an email from CAMRA saying how important it is that I renew my membership, and for once I believe them. It's thirty five days since I was last in the pub. I'm not saying that's a record - it almost certainly isn't, even for me - but right now it feels like a long time. I hope my local survives this. In the meantime, I can't support the brewery that owns 'is closely associated with' it, because they only do cask (I hope they survive too).

I have however been supporting Abbeydale, who supply their wares in ever-so crafty 440 ml cans. Tonight I had Heathen, which tastes of mangoes.
Previously I've been alternating that with Reverie, which is cloudy and tastes of grapefruit.

I have just taken delivery of a consignment of Voyager, which I am hoping will taste of hops, but somehow I doubt it.

Once I've got through two dozen cans of that, I might give Kelham Island a try. Their beers are rather more to my taste, and come in proper bottles (though I can't say I care for the label redesign); their website, however, is being rather uncooperative.

Still, don't let it be said that I'm not doing my bit to support vital local businesses as best I can.
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4 comments:

  1. Jim18 April 2020 at 09:24

    Sarah, I recently gave up my membership of CAMRA mainly because it seemed to me that the organisation was far more interested in beers tasting of mangoes and grapefruit than in the "malt and hops" beers it was set up to protect. Each to his or her own I suppose but I quite like beer-flavoured beer and I'm now investigating which "proper" breweries will supply it direct - in glass bottles! Cheers!

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  2. Sarah18 April 2020 at 10:55

    Ironically, I joined last year in the hope of expanding my social life, but then did nothing about it. I take your point. I certainly like beer flavoured beer (more hops than malt for me: despite the woefulness of most of their cask offering, my all time favourite bottled beer is Marstons Old Empire.) And I cut my teeth of course on Harvey's Best. Or I'd settle for Landlord, or London Pride (bit on the malty side) or even Directors, though that gives me a headache. Strangely, I've never managed to stockpile beer in the way I easily can chickpeas...

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    1. Jim18 April 2020 at 18:32

      I first joined in 1974 when I lived in Brighton (then a Watneys monopoly). I think our ideas of what qualifies as good beer are pretty similar, but I have just ordered a case of XXXB from Batemans together with a couple of bottles of their 7.2% Vintage Ale. That should keep me going for a while and it does count as supporting a local business - just not one local to me.

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  3. Sarah18 April 2020 at 19:47

    Well, I can report that Abbeydale Voyager smells of passionfruit and tastes of bitterness. I think I'll give the Kelham Island website another try. Easy Rider or Pale Rider would both be fine ...

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