Shakespeare's Local by Pete Brown

Shakespear's Local, scheduled to the book of the week on Radio 4 and getting separate publication in American, looks set to be Pete Brown's biggest book. But it's my least favourite of his works and I'm not sure if it's his fault or mine.

Having already been to a talk about the book before reading it turned out to be a bit like watching an overly long film trailer that shows all the best bits. Entertaining though the talk was it did take some of the excitement out of the book when I got to bits I'd already heard about.

This book is also noticeably slimmer than his previous work, and whilst Hops and Glory was a fat book that got slimmed down, Shakespeare's Local at times seems like a thin book that's been padded out. The author does have a witty writing style but clearly at times he doesn't have much recorded history to work with and there's only so far you can go inventing imaginary conversations and laughing at overly long historic book titles.

As a dedicated beer nerd I was surprised to see at one point Pete bets his life that Shakespeare drank beer. In Shakespeare's time the distinction between unhopped ale and hopped beer was still quite clear, as was his preference: for Shakespeare, it appears, ale was fit for kings and beer only for fools. I fear the gallows could be calling...

Discussing Shakespeare a bizarre theory from a previous historian of the George Inn that Shakespeare didn't actually exist is mentioned, but as I also have a fascinating for religious schisms, it's disappointing that the ale angle isn't. At one point English Catholics considered the hop to be a Protestant plant, so could Shakespeare's shunning of beer be more evidence of his Catholic sympathies? This fascinating (to me) ale/beer religious split connection is the sort of thing I ponder and I'd have been interested to see what Pete Brown's made of it, but I guess I'll have to settle for the fact that some minority interests are just too minority.

After a lull in the middle I thought the book picked up again as the amount of historical data increased and the author had more material to work with. A long term landlady of the pub is the real star of the book, but I guess her marketing potential can't compete with The Bard's. I did rather surprisingly spot a modern historical error as there's mix up of the Barclay Perkins Anchor brewery at Park Street and the Courage Anchor brewery at Horselydown, but the two do cause a lot of confusion.

Did I like this book less than the others because I'd heard some of it before or because the book just isn't as good as his others? I don't know, and most reviews are glowing, but I'd be interested to hear what other people think of it.

The Guinness FES test

Dubious as I am about over priced craft beer I think carefully before parting with my hard earned cash for something over the odds. But as a beer nerd there are some beers I can't resist trying, provided the price isn't too excessive, but once I've tried them will I buy them again?

For strong stouts I usually apply The Guinness FES test. 

As I can buy Guinness Foreign Export Stout in my local supermarket at supermarket prices I ask myself is it worth forking out craft beer prices for this strong stout? It's not often I find a strong stout I don't like but is it that much better I'm prepared to fork out that much more?

Many fine beers have failed this test, beers from Fullers and Kernel amongst them. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout passes, and strangely enough so does Guinness Special Export. Brewed in (or for?) Belgium I can't get it in Sainsbury's so have to pay more for it, but I think it's worth it.

Does anyone else have any benchmark beers?

I am a Prolific drinker

"So what's new?" I hear you say. As it happens the hop is new, though when I say new I mean old.

Dave at work has brewed up home brew batch using the Prolific hop variety. Thanks to his seasonal work picking hops he was given a small sample of hops from the two Prolific plants grown on the farm he works at.

Dating from 1852, it was once a widely grown varitey, though John Percival wasn't keen on it, describing it as "... of poor quality, coarse in petal, pointed square in section and poor in flavour." As modern tastes have changed we were very interested to see whether or not the flavour would be more appealing nowadays.

As it happened there wasn't actually much flavour. There was a noticeable hop resin aroma to the beer, but the taste was just a very clean bitterness. It made the beer drinkable but also rather unexciting. I don't think the Prolific hop will be making a comeback.

Diminishing returns

I remember reading once some advice about buying jackets for mountaineering. I went something like this:

• a £100 jacket will be twice as good as a £50 jackets
  
• a £200 jacket will be better, but not twice as good as a £100 jacket
  
• a £400 jacket* may be better than a £200 jacket but the improvements are getting marginal

This advice keeps coming to mind when I see overpriced** beer on sale in specialist beer bars and shops. 

I'm happy to pay for the extra money it costs me to get bottled not canned beer in the supermarkets because it's better. And I'm happy to pay the extra money that a pint of cask beer will cost me in a pub compared to bottled beer at home because I enjoy it more. I'll even fork out more for rare or interesting beers on occasion, though this can be a bit hit and miss. 

But when I get on to beers at £8 or more a bottle or pint I really think I'm getting in to the realm of diminishing returns. In fact as beer at these prices are often very strong, imported or experimental it may even be a case that I'd be paying more for a beer I'd enjoy less. 

Am I being a tight git that's missing out or are some people paying silly money for beer?

* Yes, such things exist.
** It's my blog and overpriced is the right term if you ask me.

Grape vs. Grain food pairing night

Keen as I always am to continue my professional development I went to an IBD meeting on Monday. And dedicated beer buff that she is the lovely Lisa came to. The event did happen to be held in a brewpub and included a six course meal which may have influenced her decision.

It was held at The Bull in Highgate, which has a good selection of beers, draught and keg, though as the scotch eggs were reasonably priced it's definitely a pub not a craft beer bar. 

We started with a quick tour of the 2.5 barrel brewery.

The brew house is at one side of the kitchen with the fermenting vessels in the cellar. After the tour we tried one of The Bull's beers in both it's cask and (key) keg form. The kegged version had a bit more aroma but an unpleasant harsh taste that wasn't present in the version served as god intended.

The main even was in an upstairs dining room, where we had a qualified beer sommelier batting for the home team and a press ganged stand in plugging the wine. Both did a great job, though keeping track of the votes got a bit messy as the evening went on.

This was the menu:

Brewers Grain Smoked Salmon, citrus creme fraiche
Beer: Blanche de Namur
Wine: Viognier, Domaine des Terres Rousses

Foie Gras Terrine, sour berries, toast
Beer: Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus
Wine: Syrah Rose, VdeP d'Oc

Smoked Wild Mushroom
Beer: Schlenkerla Rauchbier
Wine: Gruner Veltliner, Weingut Geyerhog

Braised Ox Cheek, celeriac mash, braising jus
Beer: Adnams Broadside
Wine: Malbec, Urban Uco

Apple Pie, vanilla chantilly
Beer: Innis and Gunn Original
Wine: Chablis,  Domaine des Temps Perdus

Black Bomber Cheddar
Beer: Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Wine: Mount Beautiful Pinot Noir


I'm not really one for food and drink pairing, as I prefer to get my dinner in early and then get to the pub, not waste time lingering over food. And there's no real point me going thought my votes as it was beer every time. I very rarely drink wine so it just tastes like wine to me, but as I regularly drink beer I can pick up the subtleties and notice the grapefruit, spice, coffee, liquorish, etc. Others with more rounded palates were more even handed in their voting though, with the final result being a 4:2 win for beer. Wine clearly won the vote for the terrine, and either the ox cheek or the cheese (I not sure which one though but both were close), the rest going to beer.

When matching drinks with food we were told the drink can cut though the food's flavour, complement it or contrast with it. The Cantillon lambic certainly cut through the terrine, though I think it was actually meant to complement the berries. The rauchbier went well with the smoked mushrooms, oddly though as after the mushroom it tasted more like normal beer; and the vanilla flavour of Innis and Gunn went well with the pie and vanilla cream. I guess these two were complementing. I didn't really notice any contrasting going on but spotting three things out of six courses isn't bad going for me. I'd also add the possibility that pairing can be crap as alternating swigs and mouthfuls of the Broadside and ox cheek didn't do anything for either, though maybe if the beer hadn't been too cold it would have gone better.

Despite being a wine philistine and not being one for beer and food pairing I did enjoy this event, maybe it's time for me to give The Brewmaster's Table another go.

The Demolished Man

It was Woking beer festival last night, a festival I can walk to and stagger back from. Disturbingly there were bouncers on the door and annoying there were wrist bands to wear. I don't know what's brought that on but I frown upon such practices.

Doomed for demolition

We got down there earlier than usual, which goes some way to explaining the urgent need for fried pork products this morning. The surge in brewery numbers finally seems to have reached Surrey, with a few more local wares on offer.

Tenser, said the Tensor

I made the most of the selection on offer, drinking 50 with my right hand and 50 with my left hand, and I didn't think it too many. Or at least it felt like that. Blond, brown, black, flavoured with ginger I drank them all. The lovely Lisa was more discriminating and though the selection a bit lacking, resorting to Ascot Ales Anastasia Imperial Stout (8% ABV) "to get some flavour". Fortunately she kept control and didn't do a Dan.

I caught up with friends old and new and the festivities seemed to end all too soon, which is a sure sign of a good night, and it was time to weave our way home.

Pete Brown on Shakespeare's Local

The lovely Lisa and I went to see noted beer historian Pete Brown give a talk on Monday night. Though it seems my description of him is no longer accurate, as he's now a noted pub historian too.

The do was at Windsor and Eton brewery, the back drop of shiny fermenters made a good setting, though I'm glad I wore my down jacket at it was bleedin' cold. Someone from the brewery was dishing out cask beer, though as I was driving I couldn't make the most of it. I was pleased to try the last of the W&E Jubilee beers "Canberra". A rich chestnut fruity beer made with Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin hops and maple syrup. W&E seem to have a policy of adding something a bit weird in each of their beers, though I'm beginning to suspect more for craft beer brownie points than any major effect on the flavour. Despite the freely available cask beer Pete Brown was drinking a bottle of Republica lager, a highly rated beer to some, but a sure sign of moral turpitude to me.

Pete Brown with his shiny new ibook

But enough of this nonsense, Pete was talking about his new book, Shakespeare's Local, a history of The George Inn in Borough. Like a good evening's chat at the pub the book touches on a number of important points, and then diverges off wildly when something else interesting crops up. Even the discussion on how old the pub is managed to draw in Trigger from Only Fools and Horses, Ancient Greeks, and The Sugar Babes amongst others. It all made sense at the time. A number of historical figures have drunk in, or at any rate near, the pub including of course Shakespeare, so it seems there's plenty of material.

The talk was very entertaining and some informative history too. I'm now slightly peeved with myself for making the lovely Lisa buy me the book for my birthday, as it means I can't read it yet! Oh well, not long now...