Hoorah! I go on holiday to Santorini next week and I can’t wait. Two weeks of sun, sea, girlfriend, reading, swimming and continental lager. And I will drink a bucket load of ice cold Mythos, sitting on the beach, in the hot sun… there’s nothing better. I’ve had Mythos in London and it was terrible but over there it’s something else. But I know this for sure: at some point I’ll have a serious craving for big hops. No matter how much I love Mythos, there will be a couple of times that I just need a hop fix to feed the junkie in me.We’ve paid for extra luggage allowance and I’ve decided to take less clothes so that I can fit in a couple of bottles of beer to drink while I’m out there, which I think is a sensible move. Realistically I think I can squeeze in three or four bottles. But the question is this… what bottles do I take?! Or, If you could choose… Which three or four bottles would you take away on a two week beach holiday? Choose realistically from the beers you’ve got or can easily get.
I still haven’t decided on what I’m taking yet… Do I want all IPAs? Do I want something big and dark and strong? Do I want something refreshing yet complex like Orval? Do I want to take special bottles or standard ones? What the bloody hell do I do?! I’ve mentioned before my difficulty at choosing beers, so how will I manage to pick just a few to last for two weeks?!
I managed to grab a bottle of Stone’s Ruination IPA when I went to The Evening Star in Brighton at the weekend so that is totally in (although it’s a large bottle so may mean sacrificing another bottle). The rest, I’m not sure. I’m thinking a BrewDog Coffee Imperial Stout because I’m preparing for a stout craving and this one is easy drinking and I love the hops at the end. Hardcore IPA and Punk IPA options. Maybe a gueuze for something different. Maybe Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
ReplyDeleteI fear it’s going to take me longer to choose the beers than it will to pick out all the clothes!
Id have also have to take coffee stout and mikeller stateside ipa (thats my fave at moment) the 3rd bottle would be a hard decision, i quite like some of the badger ales or honey type beers when the sun is shining...hmmmmm ill have to have a think.
ReplyDeletewhen we go wildcamping i usually have to choose carefully as i can only carry so much, what beer i take usually depends on where were are camping, if its not by a stream or tarn then it needs to be a beer that can be drank warmish although frozen carpisun drinks make good icepacks that you can drink.
I think Orval is always a good choice for a high quality somehow-quenching beer :)
ReplyDeleteDidn't you think at some blanche ? I love them in hot seasons. Seems like the trend is to produce flowery witbiers instead of orange and pepper-like by now. And yes, IPAs could generally do the trick imho :)
Ciao, Luca
Go IPAs all the way mate. You won't want a treacly stout in the 40 degree heat!
ReplyDeleteRuination, Hardcore, Halcyon should cure your hop shakes.
I wouldn't take anything! One of the highlights of a holiday in a non-beery country for me is the first pint of weak session bitter when I get home, which always tastes astounding. Absence makes the heart grow fonder...
ReplyDeleteMoggy, Stateside IPA would be a massive contender if i had a bottle of it - i really enjoy that beer!
ReplyDeleteLuca, I'm not a massive witbier fan to be honest and if I can only take a couple then it's not in my first choices.
Dubbel, you always speak sense!
Bailey, that's a great point and it's completely logical! Maybe I should reconsider?!
I'm with Bailey - it's like taking Heinz Beans with you. Go with what's available locally.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, leave off the beer and try something else instead :o
Actually, on second thoughts I concur. Leave out the beer geekery for a couple of weeks and enjoy the local fizz. I discovered Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen for the first time when I was in Tenerife last year.
ReplyDeleteDo some online research too. You never know, there may be an unusually good bar out there. I managed to find a great place run by an Austrian couple selling draught Gaffel Kolsch and all sorts.
That's it, I may have been turned!!
ReplyDeleteBut Haddonsman, leave off the beer?! This is shocking! I will need beer, nothing will quench in the hot sun like a cold pint of beer. If I abuse wine in the same way I'll be left in a terrible state! :)
Santorini is known for its wine so I got that. Plus there's always ouzo!! LOL!
I think I'll still take that one bottle of Ruination. It'll ease the fact that I'll be missing the American beer festival at the White Horse.
TEA the beer(lol), Summer Lightening; Hophead, Hepworth; new organic and Whistable bay Organic from Sheps
ReplyDeleteOr you could take some hop pellets and chew them whilst drinking Mythos?!
ReplyDeleteI think you should leave the beer at home so you have more room for your girlfriends clothes :)
ReplyDeleteMany years since I've been to Santorini. Lovely place, but I bet expensive now. I'd just take a eye drop sized bottle of hop oil. Easy carried and gives you a blast of hops if used very sparingly.
ReplyDeleteYou need to take:
ReplyDelete1 bottle of Punk IPa
1 bottle of Jaipur
1 bottle of Sierra Nevada
That should just about do it.
Leave it behind, man! Abscence makes the heart grow stronger, don't you know.
ReplyDeleteLauren, don't leave anonymous comments, you aren't putting clothes in my bag!
ReplyDeleteAnd hop pellets and hop oil, there's an idea!
Mythos - tastes amazing in Greece, awful in the UK, how so?! Is it psychological? Or does anything cold taste better in the heat?!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if I had to take 3 bottles in my suitcase I'd take the following on holiday:
Leeds Pale (I would have said Roosters but think that's only on tap) - great in the (rare) Leeds sun;
Brooklyn EIPA - all time favourite (although I'm also loving Stateside & Ruination at the moment!);
and third hmmm, I'm liking the idea of a fruity Badger ale or even a Thwaites Wainwright which was delicious recently. What about an ironic Toyko* (Brits abroad?!)
But there's nothing better than relaxing with the local stuff: local wine or Mythos and a pot of olives in the sun!
Real Ale, yeah I think there is some psychology to it, for sure. After drinking it for two weeks I put it down to the extra sweetness in the beer which really satisfies the hot, dry, sea-salty Greek air. It just doesn't work the same in the UK!
ReplyDeleteI did have an amazing time drinking just Mythos and to be honest I wish I hadn't taken the others because I didn't want/need them. Lesson learned!
You must be right about that sea air, or the psychology, or both. Mythos definitely tastes better on holiday!
ReplyDelete