Professor David Nutt has just been sacked as the government's drugs advisor.It seemed he favoured scientific facts over political expediency.
I haven't managed to find his full ranking of drugs danger but the article I've linked to contains this snippet:
"Alcohol ranks as the fifth most harmful drug after heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and methadone. Tobacco is ranked ninth. Cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, while harmful, are ranked lower at 11, 14 and 18 respectively"
So be careful out there!
EDIT: The full report from Professor Nutt is here.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Rob's stag do (part two)
After dragging myself out of bed to fill myself with fried pork products it was time for round two.
Thanks to a tip off from a Daleside drayman we knew that the beer designed by Rob himself would be on at a Wetherspoons pub. So, shortly after twelve we found ourselves there ordering pints of Daleside Autumn Leaves. I must admit I wasn't at my perkiest at this point but the combination of malts and hops brilliantly blended by Rob produced what was without doubt the best pint I'd had that day.
Rob posing by his beer
We moved on to Brigantes after that, a posh looking bar with and excellent beer range. One of the beers had a silhouette of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson on the clip so I couldn't resist a pint of 'Living in the cask' by Elland brewery. It was a good pint too (similar to Landlord), though drinking it reminded that I saw Jethro Tull back in '85 which made me feel like an old git. Not as much an old git as Ian Anderson though, he was no spring chicken back then.
Rob and his dad in Brigantes
Next it was back to the maltings. I felt at this point that the pub crawl planning ability of the lovely Lisa wouldn't have gone amiss. In a beer oasis like York, with so many pubs still to visit, I think we were a long way from the need to make any repeat visits.
I took a detour to do some shopping as the lovely Lisa wanted me to bring her a beer from the York brewery. I also took the opportunity to get myself a pork pie as down South we can't get proper ones like you get in Yorkshire. Sadly the one I managed to find was a disgrace to the county and I may as well have had one from a Southern supermarket. Anyway, back to the beer.
By the time I caught up with the others Rob had already had a bottle of Lee's Harvest Ale and was polishing off a Rodenbach Grand Cru. I had a sip of that one and it was, as ever, sour but superb. It was back on to the cask beer for me though and I had a pint of Rooster's Yankee. It's another of pale hoppy beer full of Cascade hops. I'd avoided it when I'd seen it last night in the Ackhorne as it's the only beer in 300 beers to try before you die that the lovely Lisa had had but I hadn't and she was quite pleased having one over me in the beer stakes.
This time I was having it though so down it went. We started wending back to the hotel as some people wanted to get changed for the evening but we managed to call in at the Corner Pin on the way where I had a pint of Jenning's Little Gem. It was only a modest 4% ABV but managed to pack in a lot of flavour, especially considering it was served through the typical Northern sparkler.
I didn't bother getting changed but I did have time for a cup of tea to refresh me before starting out again. We were meeting some people from Daleside brewery at the next pub, the Postern Gate. This was our second Wetherspoons pub of the day. One Wetherspoons pub can be considered a misfortune but surely two is carelessness? Still, the beer range was good, and of course cheap, though the Wetherspoons policy of not turning round pump clips for beers that are off gets on my tits. I had an O'Hanlon's Port Stout, which was OK and an Exmoor Gold, which was good.
Next stop was the Phoenix, a pub which has just had a nice refurbishment. It was Landlord for me again here.
We shuffled on to the Edinburgh Arms next, a big pub that seems to be trying to compete with Wetherspoons on price. I'm not sure if this is the best business plan. Still the beer I had (York guzzler) was good. We only had a brief stop here as time was running low for the guys from Daleside as they had a train to catch. We dashed on to the Ackhorne where I had more Rooster's Yankee.
After that we those of us that were left went on to some god awful rock bar. They had crap beer and to be honest the place smelt like a toilet. At this point I made my excuses and left, along with the more aged members of our party. I guess there comes a time in a man's life when he just really doesn't want to sit in bars that smell of poo.
We did managed to call in at the lighthorseman on the way back to the hotel for a another pint though. I had a Golden Wunder, which was Thwaites 'Oktoberfest' beer made with German hops, though with a name like that surely it should be made of crisps? Anyway, that we me done for the weekend, all that was left was to sleep it off before re-fueling on fried pork for the journey home.
Young Rob resting after a busy weekend
Thanks to a tip off from a Daleside drayman we knew that the beer designed by Rob himself would be on at a Wetherspoons pub. So, shortly after twelve we found ourselves there ordering pints of Daleside Autumn Leaves. I must admit I wasn't at my perkiest at this point but the combination of malts and hops brilliantly blended by Rob produced what was without doubt the best pint I'd had that day.
Rob posing by his beer
We moved on to Brigantes after that, a posh looking bar with and excellent beer range. One of the beers had a silhouette of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson on the clip so I couldn't resist a pint of 'Living in the cask' by Elland brewery. It was a good pint too (similar to Landlord), though drinking it reminded that I saw Jethro Tull back in '85 which made me feel like an old git. Not as much an old git as Ian Anderson though, he was no spring chicken back then.
Rob and his dad in Brigantes
Next it was back to the maltings. I felt at this point that the pub crawl planning ability of the lovely Lisa wouldn't have gone amiss. In a beer oasis like York, with so many pubs still to visit, I think we were a long way from the need to make any repeat visits.
I took a detour to do some shopping as the lovely Lisa wanted me to bring her a beer from the York brewery. I also took the opportunity to get myself a pork pie as down South we can't get proper ones like you get in Yorkshire. Sadly the one I managed to find was a disgrace to the county and I may as well have had one from a Southern supermarket. Anyway, back to the beer.
By the time I caught up with the others Rob had already had a bottle of Lee's Harvest Ale and was polishing off a Rodenbach Grand Cru. I had a sip of that one and it was, as ever, sour but superb. It was back on to the cask beer for me though and I had a pint of Rooster's Yankee. It's another of pale hoppy beer full of Cascade hops. I'd avoided it when I'd seen it last night in the Ackhorne as it's the only beer in 300 beers to try before you die that the lovely Lisa had had but I hadn't and she was quite pleased having one over me in the beer stakes.
This time I was having it though so down it went. We started wending back to the hotel as some people wanted to get changed for the evening but we managed to call in at the Corner Pin on the way where I had a pint of Jenning's Little Gem. It was only a modest 4% ABV but managed to pack in a lot of flavour, especially considering it was served through the typical Northern sparkler.
I didn't bother getting changed but I did have time for a cup of tea to refresh me before starting out again. We were meeting some people from Daleside brewery at the next pub, the Postern Gate. This was our second Wetherspoons pub of the day. One Wetherspoons pub can be considered a misfortune but surely two is carelessness? Still, the beer range was good, and of course cheap, though the Wetherspoons policy of not turning round pump clips for beers that are off gets on my tits. I had an O'Hanlon's Port Stout, which was OK and an Exmoor Gold, which was good.
Next stop was the Phoenix, a pub which has just had a nice refurbishment. It was Landlord for me again here.
We shuffled on to the Edinburgh Arms next, a big pub that seems to be trying to compete with Wetherspoons on price. I'm not sure if this is the best business plan. Still the beer I had (York guzzler) was good. We only had a brief stop here as time was running low for the guys from Daleside as they had a train to catch. We dashed on to the Ackhorne where I had more Rooster's Yankee.
After that we those of us that were left went on to some god awful rock bar. They had crap beer and to be honest the place smelt like a toilet. At this point I made my excuses and left, along with the more aged members of our party. I guess there comes a time in a man's life when he just really doesn't want to sit in bars that smell of poo.
We did managed to call in at the lighthorseman on the way back to the hotel for a another pint though. I had a Golden Wunder, which was Thwaites 'Oktoberfest' beer made with German hops, though with a name like that surely it should be made of crisps? Anyway, that we me done for the weekend, all that was left was to sleep it off before re-fueling on fried pork for the journey home.
Young Rob resting after a busy weekend
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Entrapment!
I've just got back from my local Sainsbury's laden with clanking bottles again. Last week it was Fuller's Vintage Ale going cheap that got me, now they're selling off beer competition leftovers for 50p a bottle. I piled all the Brewdog Chaos Theory into my trolley but I thought taking all the Williams Brothers IPA would be going too far, so there's still some of them on the shelves in the Brookwood branch. If you have a Sainsbury's nearby it's well worth checking it out ASAP.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Rob's stag do (part one)
I've just beer to the beer oasis that is York for young Rob's stag do. I know Rob from when I was studying brewing at Heriot-Watt. He now works for Daleside brewery.
First stop was the Lowther pub:
It was only a brief stop though as the only cask beer they had on was John Smith's, so we made our excuses and left.
In York you're never far from the next pub so we called in at the King's Head.
The is a Sam Smith's pub and was a keg only establishment, as it didn't even have their piss poor Old Brewery Bitter on. More annoyingly it didn't have their wheat beer on either so I had a bottle of pale ale. It was OK but nothing special.
After this things improved as we got to the Ackhorne.
This had some decent beers on but I wasn't too taken with my first choice Saltaire Blackcurrant cascade. It had the citrussy smell of Cascade hops but I found the flavour too much in the way of blackcurrant. My next choice was more like it, Wylam Summer Magic. This was a pale beer with Amarillo hops that really hit the spot.
The it was on to the Maltings, an excellent beer pub I've been to before.
My first one here was Outlaw IPA. It seems Outlaw brewing is the name that Roosters brewery use for their experimental beers. Outlaw IPA was beyond being a pale hoppy beer and was in fact a full on American style IPA. I'm not convinced cask is the best way to serve this type of beer but it certainly worked in this case. If Roosters fancy doing any more experimenting I'm quite happy to be a guinea pig.
For my next beer I was looking for something darker. No matter how good golden coloured beers are I don't generally make a session of them as they don't seem to sit that well. So I went for Summer Wine brewery's Teleporter. This was at the other end of things from Outlaw IPA, being as black as your hat and made from ten types of malt. It was excellent and put me back in balance.
Then it was on to the Guy Fawkes, the pub I stayed in when I was last in York.
The sign's had a V for Vendetta makeover.
I went for a Timothy Taylor's Landlord here and it was as lovely as ever. There was a brief outbreak of arm wrestling at this point for reasons I can't quite remember. It was clearly time for some food now so some of us went off for a curry, whilst others moved on to the next pub. Still having my wits about me I opted for the curry, washed down with plenty of water.
We caught up with pub goers at the Old White Swan.
They were looking a bit worse for wear and had decided that maybe food wasn't such a bad idea after all.
I had a Yorkshire terrier, another pale hoppy beer, but a good example of the style.
It was getting late by now and some people there was talk of going on to a club. That's not really my thing so it was bed time for me, and as the talk the next day was of Chardonay I don't think I missed anything.
First stop was the Lowther pub:
It was only a brief stop though as the only cask beer they had on was John Smith's, so we made our excuses and left.
In York you're never far from the next pub so we called in at the King's Head.
The is a Sam Smith's pub and was a keg only establishment, as it didn't even have their piss poor Old Brewery Bitter on. More annoyingly it didn't have their wheat beer on either so I had a bottle of pale ale. It was OK but nothing special.
After this things improved as we got to the Ackhorne.
This had some decent beers on but I wasn't too taken with my first choice Saltaire Blackcurrant cascade. It had the citrussy smell of Cascade hops but I found the flavour too much in the way of blackcurrant. My next choice was more like it, Wylam Summer Magic. This was a pale beer with Amarillo hops that really hit the spot.
The it was on to the Maltings, an excellent beer pub I've been to before.
My first one here was Outlaw IPA. It seems Outlaw brewing is the name that Roosters brewery use for their experimental beers. Outlaw IPA was beyond being a pale hoppy beer and was in fact a full on American style IPA. I'm not convinced cask is the best way to serve this type of beer but it certainly worked in this case. If Roosters fancy doing any more experimenting I'm quite happy to be a guinea pig.
For my next beer I was looking for something darker. No matter how good golden coloured beers are I don't generally make a session of them as they don't seem to sit that well. So I went for Summer Wine brewery's Teleporter. This was at the other end of things from Outlaw IPA, being as black as your hat and made from ten types of malt. It was excellent and put me back in balance.
Then it was on to the Guy Fawkes, the pub I stayed in when I was last in York.
The sign's had a V for Vendetta makeover.
I went for a Timothy Taylor's Landlord here and it was as lovely as ever. There was a brief outbreak of arm wrestling at this point for reasons I can't quite remember. It was clearly time for some food now so some of us went off for a curry, whilst others moved on to the next pub. Still having my wits about me I opted for the curry, washed down with plenty of water.
We caught up with pub goers at the Old White Swan.
They were looking a bit worse for wear and had decided that maybe food wasn't such a bad idea after all.
I had a Yorkshire terrier, another pale hoppy beer, but a good example of the style.
It was getting late by now and some people there was talk of going on to a club. That's not really my thing so it was bed time for me, and as the talk the next day was of Chardonay I don't think I missed anything.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Beer ties are staying
The Office of Fair Trading has rejected CAMRA's complaint about beer ties. It says it has found no evidence that ties between pub companies and landlords are harming competition in the pub sector or contributing to higher prices.
I've heard that managers of pubs tied to chains have to pay around £30 a firkin more than the free trade price, so if it doesn't contribute to higher prices it must just contribute to pub managers being screwed over.
The BBC story is here.
I've heard that managers of pubs tied to chains have to pay around £30 a firkin more than the free trade price, so if it doesn't contribute to higher prices it must just contribute to pub managers being screwed over.
The BBC story is here.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
This one's a bit different
On Sunday I made my Christmas beer. As you can see from the picture of the inside of the copper I've posted above this one's a bit different. To get that Christmas flavour I've added to a dark beer spices and oranges, and it's going to get dried fruits added when the fermentation has died down a bit.
I'm a bit worried about this one though. Normally when I brew something a bit wierd I only use a small proportion of the wort and use the rest to make something a bit more normal (see e.g. here). With this one I've done a five gallon batch so I've potentially 40 pints of something I don't like. Oh well, fingers crossed ...
Monday, 19 October 2009
Pale ale ponderings
Me and the lovely Lisa went to the Crown in Horsell on Saturday night. After extensive research we've decided that it's the only decent pub in walking distance. The beer of the night for us was Itchen Valley Pure Gold. I'm sure all my fellow beer nerds can guess what this was like just from the name: yes that's right its pale and hoppy. We found it to be a good example of the style and it went down very nicely. The fact that like most golden ales it had a slight haze to it got me pondering though.
Why are the golden ones usually a bit hazy? Is it just because they're paler so it's easier to spot? Or does the lack of dark malts mean that the mash pH is too high and more tannins are extracted leading to more protein-polyphenol complexes in the beer? Should the brewers chuck in a bit more AMS/CRS to the mash liquor to bring the pH down for gold beers?
Down the pub it may have looked like I was just staring into space after my third pint but these are the important questions that were going round my head.
Why are the golden ones usually a bit hazy? Is it just because they're paler so it's easier to spot? Or does the lack of dark malts mean that the mash pH is too high and more tannins are extracted leading to more protein-polyphenol complexes in the beer? Should the brewers chuck in a bit more AMS/CRS to the mash liquor to bring the pH down for gold beers?
Down the pub it may have looked like I was just staring into space after my third pint but these are the important questions that were going round my head.
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