Back in the lake district

On Thursday I went up to the lake district again this time for a friends wedding, so no rock based heroics. There was some heroic drinking though, or at least it felt like it as there were some heroically strong hangovers.  

Our first stop as usual was the Watermill at Ings.



It now has a banner proudly proclaiming it's Cumbria CAMRA pub of the year, a well deserved victory. They had at least eight beer on draught, mostly brewed by themselves. I had a Bit'er Ruff (4.1% ABV) a pale brown best bitter, which was nicely balanced and the lovely Lisa got the Collie Wobbles (3.7% ABV) a refreshing golden ale. The beers came in lined glasses so we got more for our money too (though I must admit I've never understood why CAMRA campaign for lined glasses - wouldn't pubs just put the beer prices up if they were forced to have them? ).

 On Friday we went to the Royal Oak in Braithwaite for a meal with our mates and various other wedding guests. As we were getting there early I had the cunning plan of sticking to the 3.5% ABV Jennings Bitter so I wouldn't feel too rough the next day. This worked well until the suggestion that as the forth pint would be our last we should switch to the 5.1% ABV Sneck Lifter. With the sparkler removed this is an excellent strong dark beer with more than a hint of chocolate to it. When the condition has been knocked out of it and air forced into it's obviously blander though. We enjoyed it so much we decided we'd have another absolutely final beer. You can see where this is heading can't you? After the absolutely final beer we had the absolutely absolutely final beer. As I finished this before anyone else I was kindly given some more by a mate. Then we managed to drag ourselves off to where we were staying. The beer took its toll as the hangovers the next day were evil - the sort where you don't think you're going to die, you hope you're going to die so the pain will stop.

This didn't set us up well for the wedding but as all we had to do was sit at the back of the church we just about coped. The beer on for the evening was Keswick Thirst Run, a pale 4.2% beer with a citrussy hop taste. Unfortunately it seemed to be being served at room temperature so didn't have much condition with or without sparkler. I had a few pints over the course of the evening but got my pacing right this time, unlike one of the bride's sisters who got falling over drunk but still managed to cop off with one of the people working there. It's do enjoy it when people provide the entertainment like this. 

I was a bit washed out on Sunday morning but not suffering any pain. We had a quick stop at Booths to stock up from their excellent beer range and then it was back to civilisation.