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Friday 29 June 2012

Pale Rider

Tonight, I dropped by a local of mine to catch up with a friend. The Barnsbury has a great selection of cask ales, and had a few there that I had never seen before. I was initially amused by one beer's claim that it had been CAMRA's champion beer of 2004. I mean, guys. 2004. It was up against the great Purity Mad Goose and a slightly tribal-looking pump promising New Zealand hops. The beer in question was Kelham Island Brewery's Pale Rider.

Mainly, we were too distracted - along with the rest of the pub - by the final ten minutes of the Italy Germany match. In particular, to the supreme efforts of the German goalie who drew applause while making his way up the field as if to attempt some Schmeichelian miracle. It wasn't until a short while after that it hit me: This was a very good beer. There was a real pineapple tang, and the beer had body enough to back it up. No unnecessary bitterness, no jarring aroma. Despite the dated credentials, this beer is perhaps the most imaginative English ale I have tasted in a long time.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Einstök Toasted Porter

A bottle of Toasted Porter
A few days ago I was having a regular catch up with an old uni friend at the Rake in Borough Market. We had warmed up with a draft of IPA, and were ready to select our second drink of the evening. Obvious first port of call: to consult the guy in the Oakley glasses. My friend is into dark beers, so Oakley points us to the Anchor Bock Beer tap. The first taste was a little sweeter than we expected, but it was interesting enough that we went for a half. To go alongside it we asked for something just as dark, less sweet, and perhaps a little smokey.

"Ah," said Oakley, his finger now in the air. "I have just the thing."

Thursday 21 June 2012

Parakeet

I remember watching that one-off, feature-length Doctor Who set in 1999. They had it wrong: According to their vision of the future, ambulances would still have wheels in 1999. I knew that couldn't be true. Even weirder, Sylvester McCoy was listening to a record. In 1999! And the record skipped. That was part of the show or something. I can't really remember.

Parakeet are a band that is covered in dirt and sings through a radio 17 years ago. But they are a band that sings. This is what was going in the future while pop music was fighting over itself.