Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Just off to get some milk, I won't be long...

I'm in the pub. Right now. We ran out of milk so I had to go out, didn't I. The Co-op's the nearest shop that's open now, two or three minutes away. But Wetherspoons is a few doors closer to home. Convenient, right. And the beer festival is on, isn't it. This means I literally can't walk past without seeing what's on, just in case that one beer I'm waiting for is now on. That one beer. This year it's Ballast Point's Calico Ale. Ballast Point in a pub a few hundred yards from my flat? I'd never have thought the sweet day would ever come. Never. But there was hope. I knew it was coming. One day it'd be here. One day soon. I checked the taps earlier, about 7pm, and it wasn't on. It's just past 9pm now. It not being on didn't stop me returning as there were a couple of others I wanted to try that are currently on the bar - that smoky Twaites beer, the jamaican stout, something with plums, why not. But I'm back here and guess what... It's on. Ballast Point Calico Ale. A bloody Ballast Point beer served in a pub on the road that I live on. Brilliant. I just don't want it to disappoint. Some of the other brewed-under-license beers end up being dire shadows of what they should be. At Shepherd Neame they usually do a decent job (with other people's recipes, anyway). But this one? I've got one mouthful left in my pint. One glorious gulp. And then? Then I'm going straight back for another.

(Bursting aroma of pithy citrus, slightly burnt; smooth, caramel body, hints of chocolate; a bitterness that clings like silk to a soft thigh. I like this beer a lot)

5 comments:

  1. "A bitterness that clings like silk to a soft thigh."

    !

    I'm guessing a few more amber ales came between the first one and posting that!

    Whatever you do, don't forget that milk! Returning home in your state without that milk = big trouble! :P

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  2. I tried the Thwaites smoked wheat beer last night but it didnt blow me away. A bit stouty, a bit wheaty, a bit, meh. not bad. The Jamaica stout is decent as well...

    But the Callico is a stunner!

    How much do you wanna bet it won't get voted best on fest though? It'll be an amber british bitter like every year!

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  3. something with plums????? SOMETHING WITH PLUMS?

    If that's the polish plum beer, I adore it, and I always looong for our local Wetherspoons to get it on tap, since the first couple of times they had it during a beer festival.

    It's my favourite beer.

    (I'm not usually a beer drinker, that's my other half).

    Mmmm dreaming of plum beer!

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  4. @kavey see, I told you we should go to the pub. They do breakfast these days, you know...

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  5. It's a great beer. Shame Sheps don't do beers like that more often!

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