Beer moments of 2022

Well, it's been a while since we used this platform. Combination of "life stuff", changing priorities, feeling fulfilled enough in our jobs that we don't need this outlet in the same way we once did... but anyway. I've missed it, and I now feel I have something I want to share, so here goes. 

We considered putting together a "Golden Pints" this year - there's a lot of fantastic beer around, and we've imbibed plenty of it over the course of 2022. But what's actually truly stuck with me, more so than the liquid itself, is the time, the place, and the moment in which that beer was enjoyed. And as we head towards another year of uncertainty for the beer industry as a whole - from suppliers of raw materials, to breweries, to pubs, bars and beer shops - it's these sorts of experiences that are absolutely critical, and that can't be replicated. The social side of beer is such a unique and wonderful thing, and that's something to cherish.

So here's my personal list of "beer moments" of the year (with apologies for the terrible formatting, I remember now another reason why we haven't been using Blogger much!)...

• 
  The Banked Beer: Being inspired by Reece Hugill's excellent piece on banked beers (which you can
  read on Pellicle's website here) and having lots of fun attempting our own at Beertown Malton - itself a definite highlight of the year.
• The Party Beer: Creating an impromptu dance floor at St Mars of the Desert's Smodfest, and absolutely buzzing off the playlist (as well as the very delicious Festbiers). SMOD's taproom is closed until the spring, but is well worth a visit! As a slight aside, this song from said playlist has been a firm feature of my "10k bangers" running music ever since the festival. 
  
• The Shouty Beer: Losing my voice whilst joining in Massaoke and genuinely believing I may actually be Bonnie Tyler at Fyne Fest (in a recurrence of a 2019 phenomenon)
• The Cosy Beer: My glasses steaming up when coming in from the cold to a very cosy Sheaf View - our local. Just one of those pubs that immediately feels warm and welcoming and serves a damn good pint.
  
• The Thirst Quencher: A post race pint of Lukas on a hot summer evening after splashing through the River Derwent to cross the finish line of the Grindleford fell race (the beer had been kept cool in that same river!
• 
  The Family Beer: Sharing a can of Abbeydale Brewery's Irish Stout with my Guinness loving grandad, who enjoyed it but then decided he actually preferred our IPA - he's a convert to hops! Here we are enjoying a SALT Jute together. 
• The Basic Beer: Making lagerita cocktails (aka a margarita, topped up with that most underrated of beers, a supermarket stubby) to go with homemade seafood boil on my birthday 
  
• The "Heal Me" Beer: Spending a hangover day in the wonderful Track taproom, soothed by Steep Soda, restorative lager and a blanket covered in cats 
• The Summer Beer: A fridge cold can of Schoff and a new book in the garden on the first warm day of the year, watching the bees buzz round the rosemary 
• The Fun Beer: Laughing til my belly hurts on many occasions when filming Does It Shandy? videos with my pal Michael - you can find our YouTube channel here! A highlight that was sadly lost due to my technical incompetence was a heartfelt duet of Islands in the Stream where the lyrics were all shandy themed. Maybe one day we'll revisit this musical phenomenon.
• The Heatwave Beer (Festival): A weekend spent with incredible company at Little Earth Fest, drinking oodles of refreshing mixed ferm bevs and setting up an excellent collaborative snack table with our pals at Ampersand Brew Co. Definitely get a trip to Little Earth Project in your diaries if you can - an absolutely beautiful part of the world and they even have a campsite and some little lodges, so you can stay over too!  
  

I'd love to hear which beer-adjacent moments have made an impact on you this year!

Cheers!

Laura

Lux Row Distillers

We were recently invited to take part in our first flash blog event of the year, organised by the Whisky Wire, tasting two award-winning whiskeys from Kentucky's Lux Row Distillers. Kentucky bourbon is iconic, and isn't something we've had much opportunity to drink before, so we were looking forward to sharing these whilst embarking on a rewatch of Game of Thrones. Season one, episode one, two lovely whiskeys - here we go!

Both the samples we tasted were recently awarded gold medals in the Super Premium Bourbon category at both the Luxury Masters and American Whisky Masters awards, and each retails at around £35 for a 750ml bottle. Here's what we thought of them...

Ezra Brooks 99 Kentucky Bourbon (49.5% ABV)

Described as being a "pure, oak barrel aged straight bourbon", this was held as a classic example of just what a bourbon should be at the recent awards. We found soft oak and toffee penny style caramel on the nose. The palate held a really smooth profile that hid the booziness incredibly well - so easy to drink! The gentle oak and silky caramel carried through from the aroma along with a warming apple pie character, whilst just a tickle of spice (that reminded us of all spice berries) at the back of the throat kept things interesting.

Rebel 100 Kentucky Straight Bourbon (50% ABV)

This is a wheated bourbon which is the newest addition to Lux Row's Rebel Bourbon range, bottled at a higher ABV to ramp everything up a notch. We found oodles of straw on the nose for this one, grassy and spicy with sticky dried fruits hiding behind. The flavour held a lovely rich, buttery character which was tempered by a good level of chilli-esque heat and a freshness reminiscent of sharp apple skins. Only slighter higher in alcohol than the Ezra Brooks but it makes itself felt! A long, hot, spicy-sweet finish to follow.

Overall - we really enjoyed both of these whiskeys. Two drams which really exemplify what Kentucky Bourbon is and can be, whilst simultaneously remaining interesting whiskeys. The Ezra Brooks was the more accessible, "all occasion" type of whiskey of the two, and for this reason would be the one we'd be more likely to add to our spirits cupboard - we'd love to try it in a classic Mint Julep - but we wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of them. 

With thanks to Steve at The Whisky Wire for having us!

Cheers,

Laura and Jim

Beer memories: Derventio Cleopatra

Cleopatra, for me, is one of THOSE beers. One of those beers-that-got-you-into-beer, a familiar pumpclip on the bar, an ever reliable pint. I used to drink Derventio Brewery's Cleopatra during my student years in York (where, despite them being based in Derby, Derventio's beers were oddly prolific). I was an awkward fresher who much preferred sitting contemplatively in a comfortably fusty woodclad pub having a quiet sup with a couple of pals over spending a night in a dingy nightclub with a vodka and Irn Bru (yes really), freezing in a cardigan and wearing heels I couldn't walk in. And when home for the holidays popping for a pint with my dad, I'd find Cleopatra's fruity tones greeting me upon entry to the Fat Cat, an iconic Sheffield venue and one where many of my earliest beer memories were made. 

In 2014, Jim and I went to the inaugural, now legendary, Beer Central bottle share. It was a small and friendly social occasion, and the first time we were really able to chat and get to know Beer Central's proprietor, Sean. The brief for the evening was to take along a bottle of beer that you liked, and about which you had a story to tell. I took a bottle of Cleopatra, and shared the tale as related above.

And now we've heard that, sadly, Derventio Brewery have gone into liquidation, with the owners planning on taking retirement. The news was broken to me by Sean, via a gift of a bottle of that very same beer that I'd shared with him close to seven years ago.

The bottle tastes of nostalgia. The beer itself is a 5% pale ale, hopped with First Gold and with the addition of apricot (we assume flavouring). It's old school, it's easy drinking, it's kinda sweet, certainly fruity - reminiscent of the yellow fromage frais - and it's still, to me, absolutely delicious. 

A total classic, and it will be missed.

Laura x

Not Another Golden Pints

This post is spurred on and encouraged by the words of Julie O'Grady, co-owner of Neptune Brewery and founder of Liverpool based Ladies That Beer: "I’m not doing a best beers, or brewery for 2020. Why? Because getting beer out has been hard enough for many breweries to survive for lots of reasons from cash flow, staff, closed pubs. If you’ve managed it, to me you’re a winner." Here follows a far more rambling echoed sentiment.

This year has been shit, and we aren't out of the woods yet. I had hopes for late spring, but just yesterday morning Matt Hancock said "we are confident we can get out of this pandemic by spring", and I trust his word about as much as I do the cat telling me he hasn't been fed.

But the spirit of this industry remains strong, if a little downtrodden - there are heaps of gold we can focus on and things that we may be able to retain from this cesspit of a year. Here are just a few that have stood out to me.

Online tastings / Zoom chats / YouTube videos / Live videos

This year has forced the hand of events planners and marketing managers all over the industry, and we saw the traditional beer festival being cancelled completely in the majority of cases - but some were moved online as venues around the country closed.

Virtual Independent Salford Beer Festival - As always Jim and the team absolutely pulled it out of the bag with their beer fest and moving it online this year was no exception. Offering a series of tastings over the course of a weekend, hosted by Melissa Cole, Andy Parker of Elusive Brewing and Charlie Hooson-Sykes who led a cider event. They really retained the community spirit of the festival and even managed to raise an incredible £7000 for charity.

I also co-ran (with Laura) the Abbeydale Brewery Funk Fest At Home, bringing our mixed ferm (including some exclusive festival beers) and collaborations with Little Earth Project and London Beer Factory, hosting conversations and tutored tastings with both of the aforementioned teams. We also worked with Jules at Hop Hideout who organised a fantastic Cider Sunday tasting event with Albert from Ross Cider. Jules has also curated some great virtual events for Hop Hideout's 5th birthday this year, as well as running quiz nights throughout the year and generally helping to bring our community together.

Fyne Ales showed the world their glen over what should have been their festival weekend. And Cloudwater brought together a previously unlikely mix of guests to their webcasts, featuring breweries such as Allagash and Green Cheek from the US. 

 

Moving events online, while not ideal, has at least allowed for an alternative take on the usual meet the brewer events and tastings. We've been musing that this helps to increase accessibility for many people who may normally not be able to attend, whether that is down to transport, location, or preference. Being able to participate in events from your own home could be a critical tool going forward and could be a great addition to our beer scene longer term. It's made our world seem smaller, and there are positives to be gained from this.

Webshops, online and takeaway.

The move and growth in brewery-led online sales, as well as pubs and bars pivoting to provide online and takeaway services, has been extraordinary. Before *gestures* all of this, for small breweries run by a small team, the time needed to set up and run a shop for a relatively small quantity of beer was not really worth the while. Even if the margins are higher, so increases the workload both in terms of packaging and paperwork. But it became essential as the pandemic struck and pubs were closed - more beer was moved to can, minicask and keg for sales of beer direct from breweries, and more crowler machines entered bars, as did the simple milk carton for off sales. While these are not perfect imitations of draught beer from keg, and especially cask, they certainly fill a hole for people wanting beer and also help their local survive. Also a polite request to the boffins at NASA - could you do something useful like focus on an Angram and sparkler attachment for 2l milk containers, or a Czech side pour for 946ml growlers? Ta. 

While minikegs are a large part of the current sales. After having filled literally 1000s of them I can safely say I will not be sad to see the back of them. (Just to point out firmly here that this is entirely a personal view, cos Laura said I had to).

Voices, writing, and long-term projects.

It has been great seeing a few projects appear, and some grow.

Burum Collective is a new initiative established by Helen Anne Smith in an effort to bring a greater mix of voices to the beer, wine and cider scene. Spaces such as this with an emphasis on equality of representation is a vital part of how the UK will develop its independent drink scene. 

Emma Inch who has been in the beer scene for a while with projects like Ferment Radio has taken that idea on the road, and recently with hosting the Beer Nation podcast too - a roundup of the year featuring a selection of UK podcasts, organised by the Beer O'Clock Show. It's great to see people coming together in collaborative work like this and it's the sort of thing that will hopefully continue.

 

One of our absolute favourite writers, Katie Mather, has somehow managed to not just produce some stunning work this year but also open Corto - currently a REAL LIFE SHOP, soon to be bar, when it's allowed - with her husband Tom. We are very excited for when we are able to travel to Clitheroe to visit.

And Cloudwater have launched their Wayfinder residencies, to provide a platform to help drive change within the industry.

So to sum up - our industry has undoubtedly lost so much this year. We have worked so hard for comparatively less, we have been scapegoated and have taken more than our fair shame of the "blame". It will take a long time to recover and some of the repercussions are yet to be seen. But we have also found so much this year too. We have adapted, we have shown care, compassion, and resilience, we have maintained relationships and built new ones. And we have stood firm at the heart of our communities. And for that, this is an industry I am very proud to be a part of.

Cheers,

Jim

Christmas Bevs: Cider Time!

Hi again!

Well tis the season for festive merriment and currently in South Yorkshire we're not able to go out to the pub, so we're making our own Christmas magic at home via a selection of tasty bevs. We've already got beers covered - you can read more about our top picks for this December here. But this year we've also developed much more of an appreciation of cider, thanks in no small part to the many outstanding producers we've come to know.

First up, we've picked a couple of crushable little gems from Sussex's Ascension Cider - Pilot (4.8%), which is made of apples only and is described as a "sparkling super fruity session cider". Lightly effervescent, mid-sweet with a gentle acidity and a great bite of apple skin character in the finish. We're also really enjoying "Into the Jetstream" (3.8%), which is a wild fermented cider blended with braeburn and cranberry juices. Ridiculously refreshing with that zip of cranberry astringency in the finish. The perfect turkey buddy.

We've also got a bottle or two of Ross Cider left over from the fantastic cider event which Hop Hideout organised last month as part of Abbeydale Brewery's Funk Fest At Home. The Somerset Redstreak is one of the most quintessentially apple-y beverages we've ever imbibed, and we reckon it'd be an excellent partner to a good cheeseboard. This one's 6.5% but ridiculously easy drinking, which we have found with all of the delicious options we've tried from Ross.

Pilton - Ice Cider (10% ABV). We drank a few bottles of Pilton's excellent keeved ciders over the summer, with many of their releases perfectly suited to sunshine sipping. So we were pretty delighted to find this winter-appropriate variety on Trembling Madness's webshop. It's a dessert style cider, made from slow fermented freeze-concentrated apple juice. We're very on board with dessert wines and the like here and have only tried one ice cider before - it was Icelandic, and it was intense and delicious, so we're very much looking forward to indulging in this one with a mince pie. Sadly we didnt have the foresight to take this out with us in the one flurry of snow we've had this year so far, so you'll have to make do with another cat picture instead.

And while we're here, shout out to Duck Chicken and Little Pomona too, which we only won't be drinking this December because we've already accidentally drunk it all. Just too damn tempting. Both absolutely excellent producers... if you ever see a bottle of Duck Chicken Gigglejuice anywhere, BUY IT and then thank us later. 

Cheers... or should we say Wassail?!

Laura & Jim

Missing Pints: The Festival Tuborg

So we were calling this little "memorable pints" series we appear to have started our Pub Chronicles, and then I went and threw a curveball in the mix. The Festival Tuborg.

The moment, the time, the place, and the company are oft cited as being some of the major components of beer. And whilst musing on this we realised it doesn't even matter if what we're drinking is watery flavourless slightly yellow stuff out of a paper cup that's worth 10p upon return. There's just something about being rained on, sunburnt, sleep deprived and full of crisp sandwiches and cold noodles, surrounded by a cluster of people who all feel the same way as you do, that makes the Festival Tuborg taste... if not perfect, then flawless. 

We made some of our very best friends at Download Festival in 2010. We met whilst working on the entrance tent putting wristbands on festival goers. We shared a few beers and TetraPak cartons of Tesco Value wine. We spent 5 days together and left the festival feeling like we'd all known each other forever, and the people we met there are to this day some of the most important people in our lives. Many more festivals, club nights and house parties followed - with one of the constants being a can or pint of mainstream lager. And y'know what? It really doesn't matter that the taste is unremarkable. 

Those pints hold us to a time and a place. They're karaokeing to Bohemian Rhapsody with 1000 other people. Crying at System of a Down. An elbow to the head in an Offspring pit. Ecstatic over spring rolls. Waiting eagerly for Rammstein to blow our minds. Being hysterical over portaloos. Making up whole new dance moves. Adding a long straw so we don't have to sit up out of our sleeping bags. Understanding, sharing, and belonging.

We miss live music. 

We miss festivals. 

We miss our friends. 

And we miss pints of crap lager.

Laura

Christmas Bevs: The Beer Edition

So advent is now upon us and we thought we'd share a few of the liquid refreshments we're planning to imbibe over the festive period.

In previous years we've stocked up with extra special "Christmas Day beers", imagining a December 25th evening where we'll carefully select a big and boozy imperial stout and maybe a decadent barley wine, gaze at them with reverence and sup delicately, savouring the complex flavours found within and appreciating every sip. Then the big day arrives and we spend the day quaffing a Bucks Fizz with breakfast, a pint in the pub at lunch time (already had a cry that this isn't an option this year), couple of lagers whilst cooking, wines chosen to pair with our meal (more on that to come) and maybe a G&T before bed, far too full of meat and cheese to even consider cracking out the impy stout. Those beers sat forlornly in our cellar for many a moon, until lockdown hit and we employed a "Christmas Day Thursday" mentality, where more time at home meant the moments of enjoyment and quiet contemplation the beers deserved could be found. 

Anyway, what we've learnt is that if we want a nice beer, it doesn't necessarily need a special occasion to be saved for. But also that something a little more restrained is more often than not what we want to drink while we're feeling festive. And with the pubs still closed here in South Yorkshire, popping out for a refreshing pint or two is very sadly not an option. So here are a few of our beery choices that we're looking forward to enjoying at home over the next few weeks...

Burning Sky - probably our brewery of the year, Burning Sky seem to absolutely nail every beery style they turn their hands to, with relentless consistency of excellence. We've recently bought ourselves a box direct from the brewery, covering imperial stouts to IPAs and fruit beers. But at the heart of it, what we feel they truly excel at is mixed fermentation and saison brewing. We're really looking forward to trying the two shown below in particular - a 3.5% dry-hopped table saison, and the Biere Cerise, which is an 18 month aged brown ale base beer aged on whole sour cherries, at a nice and accessible 6.7% perfect for sharing.

Gluhkriek - mulled things aren't for everyone but we bloody love them, and they're something we only ever drink around Christmas so they're guaranteed to fill us with fuzzy festive feels. Last year we discovered Liefman's Gluhkriek (6.0% ABV), a classic Belgian cherry beer which is recommended served warm, and without meaning to be over-dramatic it may just have changed our lives. So for the second year in a row this is our "putting up the Christmas tree" beer, sourced from York's Trembling Madness (one of our favourite places to visit, although due to current restrictions we stayed at home and purchased online this year). We even have a choice of his 'n' hers Santa mugs or those naff boots you get at Christmas markets to drink it out of. Lovely.

Christmas Crispies - we're big fans of a classic continental lager here, especially of the German variety. So imagine our delight when popping into one of our favourite local beer shops, Archer Road Beer Stop, to discover three different Christmas themed Festbiers, from Huppendorfer, Grief-Brau and Tucher - a different selection to the Oktoberfest beers we worked our way through a couple of months ago which were all from the more oft-seen brands such as Hacker Pschorr and Augustiner. Often remarkable in their sheer un-remarkableness, we have never had a bad word to say about these absolutely solid and spot on beers - crisp and refreshing, with just enough sweetness - our favourite all-rounders when you just want something to satisfy and quench the thirst. Oh, plus bonus cat for you to enjoy.

Barley Wine - well you didn't expect us to pick everything of a restrained nature, surely?! We got hold of a bottle of Lost In Leith from Edinburgh's Campervan Brewery in the autumn and have been keeping it safe ready for the festive period. Lost In Leith is also the name of Campervan's bar, which has a barrel store including three foeders (it's very firmly on our to-visit list when we're allowed to get up to such shenanigans again). This particular beer was aged in a combination of two different bourbon barrels, which we expect to have boosted all those delicious rich caramel and fruity notes we look for in a barley wine. We've been really impressed by the beers we've tried from Campervan before so we're really excited to get stuck into this one. 

 

What beers will you be drinking in the run up to Christmas this year? Let us know any gems you've found - and please as far as you are able, support our independent breweries, pubs and bottle shops!

Cheers,

Laura & Jim

Pub Chronicles - Three Stags Heads

 A sign at the bar loudly proclaims:

"PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR DRAUGHT LAGER, AS A SMACK IN THE GOB MAY OFFEND".

Our first experience of the Three Stags Heads, based on a busy main road in Derbyshire with only a farm and a greasy spoon for truckers as neighbours, was as part of a Duke of Edinburgh expedition. We'd travelled from Stoney Middleton across the seemingly endless Longstone Moor before reaching Wardlow Mires. Our digs for the night - a particularly non-descript field by the side of the pub, which serves the dual purpose of camping and lambing. On that first trip we were charged £1.50 per night to put our tent up - returning a few years later we discovered a surcharge of an extra 50p, along with the upgrade of a lightbulb in the cinderblock loo.

We've woken up on many a fuzzy morn in this field, only sometimes because of a wobbly lambing ewe tripping over our guy ropes, but always with the aid of Black Lurcher.

Brewed by Abbeydale Brewery solely for the Three Stags, Black Lurcher is a baffling anomaly, a quirk that the brewery has retained for decades. The pub was the very first customer of the brewery back in 1996 - they asked for something unique, and almost 25 years later they still have it. A 7% well-hopped dark ale, it's collectively one of our favourite beers (disclaimer: Jim has now made it a few times, but it's been up there since well before our days of working at the brewery). Named for the canine companions you'll find yourselves surrounded by in the Three Stags', it's one of those beers you get thirsty just thinking about - black as tar, always served in a heavy tankard with a thick yet effervescent creamy top which gently oozes over the rim of the glass in anticipation of that first sip. Heavy, satisfying, strangely refreshing and very much of the place.

The pub itself is an inadvertently Gothic delight. A mummified cat and a taxidermy hare carrying a shotgun are the main sources of decor and even Laura (at a not-so-lofty 5 foot 1) has to stoop to make her way through the heavy doors into the "front room" of the pub - the sort of room that even in the height of summer with blazing sunshine outside, you can guarantee there'll be a roaring fire inside, with one-time landlord Geoff ever-present in a rickety seat in front of it, a lurcher at his feet.

The pub holds no prisoners with their house rules - the aforementioned lack of lager, a strict "no phone" policy, and definitely no music or other such frivolous entertainment. One trip of ours coincided with the World Cup, and we were greeted by a blackboard which simply stated "WHAT FOOTBALL?" It's the type of pub where you make the most of it for yourself - a quiet, contemplative, well kept pint, a chat with the seemingly omniscient staff, and if you're really lucky, you'll even get to pluck your own pheasant for tea.

The Three Stags' is one of the last places we visited before lockdown hit back in March, and it's without doubt one of the pubs we absolutely cannot wait to get back to when they're able to re-open. We'd love to encourage you to visit when you can, but if you do so on the back of this, please don't tell the staff you read about them on the internet - they'll probably bar us for life.

Cheers!

Lockdown 2.0 - missing the pub

I miss pints.

I miss a table with torn open packs of Sneiders Pretzels.

I miss lacing.

I miss a sarni for snap after early brew shifts.

I miss 4:15 lagers with the team.

I miss the joint acknowledgement that we are, indeed, in rounds.

I miss the pub.

Both mine and Laura's first introduction to beer was in the same restaurant with our respective parents. While they never knew each other, they had a shared knowledge of the best Northern Pakistani food East Sheffield in the early 90s had to offer, in a sadly now closed classic curry house called The Kashmir. Reminiscent of a greasy spoon, but where the sticky tables were accompanied by gilt depictions of Mecca, and the usual glass fridge of uninspiring sandwiches was replaced with a warming cabinet of poppadoms.

While we sat as children with glass tumblers of mango lassi and wooden bowls of saag aloo, large breads and bowls of multi coloured fluffy rice littering the lightly viscid table, all watched over by owner Bsharath (we knew him as Paul), one of the most gentle people you could ever wish to meet, who'd been working there since he was 14 years old - there amongst it all would sit a plastic jug or two of pale ale, carefully brought over from the hostelry across the road.

The East House, somewhat renowned in Sheffield for being the site of a triple murder on New Year's Day in 1960, was an old school boozer which was much loved by many despite having a reputation for being a little rough around the edges. It was warm and welcoming, there was already a friendly greeting from the landlord, and the beer was always well looked after. The pale ale in question was Abbeydale Brewery's flagship, Moonshine - and what turned out to be my first taste of beer in a pub once I was old enough to join my parents in supping a glass, is now a beer that I work in a team to create - pre-lockdown, over 30,000 pints a week.

The Kashmir closed in 2010, followed by the East House in 2013. And in reminiscing about missing the pub in general, I realised how much I still miss both of these two venues - the sense of comfort, familiarity, total lack of pretension, and overall quiet enthusiasm for just getting on with what they do best.

 I miss the pub. 

Jim.

Puffing Billy Steam Vodka

From the team at The Borders Distillery comes Puffing Billy Steam Vodka - an unfiltered malted barley vodka, named after their specially-commissioned Carterhead still in which it is made. The Borders Distillery opened in March 2018 and is the first Scotch whisky distillery in the area since 1837. Their method of production of their vodka is completely unique, with the vapours steamed through charcoal inside the still rather than filtered, which the team believe would strip out some of the character which they meticulously strive to preserve in its entirety. They use this same technique to produce their Kerr's Borders Gin.

Vodka isn't the first thing that tends to spring to our mind when we fancy a tipple and as such it's pretty underrepresented in our spirits collection. Nonetheless, it's one of those drinks that whenever we have one it's something we really enjoy, and Puffing Billy definitely fits this theme.

Suggested serves

The recommended "neat" serve of this is called "The Steampunk" - served from the freezer, in a chilled shot glass with a crack of black pepper and a cornichon pickle. We didn't have cornichons, so went for a sliced burger gherkin, but we reckon it was just as good! Incredibly smooth, well rounded on the palate and takes the sharpness of the pickle with ease. Lovely warmth and creaminess which is lifted by the light acidity of the garnish. Laura picked up on a bit of a bubblegum character too (from the vodka, not the gherkin, just for clarity). A sipper, not a shotter!

We also tried Puffing Billy in one of the recommended cocktails, "Billy's Mojo"- effectively a mojito with the rum replaced by vodka. Lime juice and brown sugar were muddled with mint leaves freshly plucked from our garden, before ice, vodka and soda were added to the glass. A thirst quenching and refreshing long drink, perfect for a sunny afternoon.

The Borders Distillery team also recommend drinking Puffing Billy in a "Borders Mule" with cloudy apple juice, lime and ginger beer, which we can fully imagine would taste delicious. Sadly not all ingredients we could easily come by on our lockdown-appropriate trip to the local supermarket, but something we'd be keen to try in future!

We also reckon it'd be fantastic with sharper fruit flavours, perhaps in a gooseberry martini - definitely a versatile spirit that would be a good addition to any mixologist's drinks cabinet.

Cheers,

Laura & Jim

Disclaimer: We were invited to give this unique spirit a try by Steve at The Whisky Wire and were sent a sample for review. This has not affected our feedback - this post represents our genuine, honest opinions.

Fermentation Station

One of the things we have found ourselves with recently is more time. And as the old adage goes, with more time comes more fermentability.

Whether it's sauces, fruits, chillis, or even potatoes, there are often fermentation jars on the go around our kitchen,and we've stepped it up a gear in the past couple of months. So this is a little round up of our little fermentation projects, with some ideas of flavour combinations and some techniques that anyone can have a go at.

Fermentation is essentially a way of preserving perishable foods by encouraging the growth of bacteria to lower the pH, increasing the acidity. The bacteria, while wild in this case, are the same that occur in live yoghurt - lactobacillus. They're literally everywhere, just floating around nonchalantly constantly on the search for something upon which to feed. Here, we are encouraging the lactobacillus by reducing the activity of other wild yeasts and bacteria with salt. It may feel like a lot of salt sometimes but by the time it's ready to eat, the acidity will have picked up and the flavours of fermentation will have balanced the salination.

Our first top tip would be to use decent salt, not table salt as it has anti-caking agents and can be iodized, which will inhibit bacterial growth. Opt instead for sea salts (we're Maldon fans), or if you're made of gold you may want to give Himalayan salt a try (although the mineral benefit is largely bullshit). Generally speaking, everything needs around 1.5-2% salt by weight of your base ferment.

Also worth mentioning for beginners, that the process of fermentation involves the creation of gas. You need to get yourself an appropriate fermentation jar (Kilner jars are good), and "burp" your little bubbling babies every day for a week or so, and then every other day until you see no more release of gas. This will help to prevent stinky explosions.

Here's a few simple ideas to get you started...

Beer vinegar 

For this, you'll need a vinegar mother. Live vinegar (which means it includes a mother) can be bought in most supermarkets, and flocculates (settles) easily. If you leave a bottle to settle overnight and decant the clear vinegar off, leaving the sediment behind, this is the mother. Splitting this between around 400ml of "food" will work well. The food can be anything with a little bit of sugar left. A bit of "leftover" wine or cider, or the last bit of that minikeg that you've bought because you can't go to the pub, all work well.

The vinegar will start to sour quickly - over a couple of days to a week - and you can start using it at this point, but leaving it to mature for a month or longer will intesify the flavour.

As you start to produce vinegar, the mother will munch on the sugar and carbohydrates you feed it and will grow, allowing you to eventually produce more. This will help your brine fermentations by pitching a little hither and thither.

Beer pickled onions 

Onions
Salt (1.5-2% onion weight)
Brown sugar (5% onion weight)
Beer:Vinegar (60:40 - enough to cover the onions)

Any onions can be used for this, but I like something a little more interesting - if you can get some little silver skins, some shallots or rings of red onion then go for it. To prep the onions, first peel them, halve them (and if they are larger onions I like to quarter them) but leaving a 2cm join at the root end. this allows them to pickle quickly and evenly, but helps the onion retain its structure. Weigh your onions and calculate your dry additions. Dissolve them in a little beer (we used a pale ale - don't go for anything too hoppy, but anything with a bit of sweetness or something saison-ny would work well... we're going to try a stout next!) and pour over your onions in a jar, topping up with more beer and vinegar to cover - the above ratios are approximate so just use whatever you have available. It'll take around 5 days to start softening the intense raw onion flavour, but will develop nicely over a month.

Served simply with a hunk of cheese and a generous slice of bread, these are delicious.

Kimchi

Cabbage or Chinese greens
Gochuchang (between 1tsp and 1tbsp per 200g of cabbage by weight, depending on how spicy you like it)
Salt (1.5% by cabbage weight)

Optional extras (per 200g of cabbage)
Spring onion - 1 finely chopped
Ginger - a thumb, either grated or jullienne
Garlic - 3-6 cloves crushed or chopped
Chillies - 2-4 chopped
Fish sauce - a good glug or two

First, weigh the greens so you can calculate how much of the other ingredients you need. Chop the cabbage into ribbons or if using Chinese greens, such as Pak Choi, into quarters. Take the salt and rub it into the leaves and all the nooks and crannies of your chosen veggie. Set to one side for around 15 minutes, while you mix the gochuchang and optional additions together.  At this point thoroughly rub the sauce into the leaves. Simply jar it up and leave for a week to a month for all that funk to come through.

I like to keep topping mine up with fresh cabbage - just give it all a good stir and the leaves that have been in longest will start to soften and break down, with the fresh taking on all the flavour and adding a pleasing crunch. A bit like a Kimchi solera system.

Garlic and Ginger

50/50 garlic/ginger chopped loosely
Salt

Mix everything together, leave for a few days until the aroma intesifies and then blitz.
You can then smosh into any food that needs garlic - it's great to fry off as the base of curry and stir fry, or toss into some fried prawns with a little lime juice. Or perhaps the base of herb pesto, warm through with some olive oil and toss into pasta.

I have really enjoyed using this paste - the garlic really intensifies but also rounds out with the fresh spice of the ginger, as well as having the added advantage of convenience from a jar. It HONKS but it's so worth it. Ridiculously easy too.

Pickled Chillies

A bushel of chillies
Salt (1.5-2% of weight)
Water to cover the chillies in the jar
Vinegar culture if you have one, just a splash

There is no skill involved in this whatever, just throw it all together in a jar, shake to dilute the salt and leave for a couple of weeks to pickle. Consume. Perhaps on a Ploughman's lunch, chopped into a rarebit, or chopped into butter to top a naan bread with. Basically anywhere you fancy a little bit of heat, these guys are there to help.

Green Tomato Ketchup

Green tomatoes
Salt (1.5% of the weight of the toms)
Sugar (10% weight)
Chillies
Black pepper

Roughly chop the tomatoes, into halves, quarters, whatevs. Chuck everything in a fermentation jar and cover the now salty, sweet and spicy toms with water, seal and then shake. Loosen off the jar to allow for fermentation and leave for 3-5 days. Then, blitz everything until smooth - the skins and the pulp shouldv'e broken down a little, but after blitzing give it a taste. More chilli or black pepper could be added, but the acidity will continue to build after the blending so no need to vinegar.

Fermented potatoes

Inspired by Brus in Copenhagen, where we ate fermented fries with mushroom ketchup nearly three years ago. We still think of them daily.
Potatoes
Salt (1.5% of the weight of the potato)
Water
Garden herbs (we use a lot of rosemary)

Chop your potatoes, chuck everything in a jar and leave it for a bit. While initially it may seem odd, this is totally worth it, whether you opt for brining overnight before frying off potatoes for a breakfast hash, or going for a longer ferment on a roast potato for a Sunday dinner, this process really intensifies the flavour and firms up your spud. They are splendid after 3 days, oven roasted for an hour at 180C with a nob of dripping.

Once you've embarked on your first few projects and you are happy with the way your ferments are tasting, then why not chuck a little bit of a similar base into your next batch?
Beer vinegar -> pickled onions -> ketchup

All of thes ideas above are interchangable, blendable and pitchable. If you are really happy with the flavour profile of something, sacrifice some of it to the next batch rather than shoving it all on the next toastie, however tempting that may be. Future you will be grateful.

Let us know what you try, and happy fermenting!

Jim

Walsh Whiskey Tasting

Well. It's been a while, blog. We missed you! A combination of a remarkably busy year at work, a big holiday, and some general writing lethargy have all meant we haven't been able to make much time for this little corner of the internet as we'd have liked. But we thought we'd start ourselves back off with sharing our thoughts on a selection of Irish Whiskey! We were lucky enough to be selected to take part in The Whisky Wire's twitter tasting with Walsh Whiskey this evening, who are the masterminds behind the Writer's Tears brand along with The Irishman.

An absolutely magnificent package arrived from the lovely Walsh Whiskey team last week, complete with Santa hats, which made this officially our first festive event of the year. We'd usually say it's a little early, but hey, there's whiskey, so who are we to bah humbug about anything?!

First up is Writers' Tears Double Oak (46%). The nose is soft, fresh and bursting with crisp apple notes, which makes us think of those fat shoelace apple sweets! Vibrant, but with the oak casks (a mixture of American Bourbon and French Cognac) smoothly holding up the backbone. As it opens up it gets softer yet, the sharp apple character rounds out to a spiced crumble with custard. Definitely starting to feel cosy! On the palate, the orchard fruits still are there in abundance, ripe pear sitting nicely alongside that apple we keep banging on about, and a zesty character nestling among it all. Gentle vanilla and cinnamon help make this a delightfully balanced drop. Reminiscent of porridge topped with some spiced stewed apple compote. That's breakfast tomorrow sorted! 

 

Onto whiskey number 2! The Irishman 12 Year Old is a Single Malt, triple distilled, bottled at 43% ABV and comprising exclusively first fill Bourbon casks. On the nose there's the sea breeze at low tide, somewhat heartier and more robust than the last. There's the warmth of open fire, reminiscent of a cognac. Toffee apples and grassy samphire. Maybe even a little lavender? An odd mix perhaps and plenty going on, but the whole thing is harmonious nonetheless and nothing seems out of place. To taste, we're getting dried fruit and salted caramel alongside stewed apricots drizzled with just a little honey. There's a  zippy note of candied orange peel, followed by a rounded, slightly oily walnut character to finish. It's somewhat spicy too, with black and pink peppercorn fragrantly jazzing things up and lasting right through to the end of a lingering, only gently tannic finish. Impressively drinkable.

 

Dram 3 is The Irishman Marsala Cask Finish (46%). This one has been matured in a combination of American Bourbon casks and Oloroso sherry butts, before being finished for 15 months in Marsala hogsheads. More delicate than the 12YO on the nose, it dishes up floral honey, a hint of treacle, sugared almonds, vanilla and, somehow, JAMMY DODGERS. On the palate there's dusty shortbread dunked in cocoa, but alongside dried lime. The effect reminds us of a chocolate lime sweet! A long warming finish makes this a soothing winter dram. We could definitely spend long nights in front of the fire with this one. Usually only available in The Loop, Dublin Airport, so we were very lucky to get to try this one!

 

And finally, we move on to finish with Writers' Tears Cask Strength 2019, weighing in at 53%. Surprisingly gentle on the nose though, that alcohol doesn't punch you in the face. Sumptuous vanilla custard, fudge sweetness and hints of freshly dried hay alongside newly churned butter. Moving on to taste, this whiskey continues to belie the ABV, politely knocking on the door of your tastebuds rather than going at them with a battering ram. Upon sipping, it's creamy AF. Like actually drinking cream levels of creamy. Vanilla, nutmeg, Battenberg slices and dried cranberries in the mix too, alongside a tropical note, possibly dried papaya? We can confirm this is a veritable delight alongside a mince pie. Almost scarily drinkable.

Overall, accessible and elegant whiskies and a great evening spent dramming at home. A huge thank you to Steve at The Whisky Wire for having us along, and the Walsh Whiskey team for such an array of treats to get us well and truly in the Christmas spirit.

Fingers crossed we won't leave it seven months next time!

Cheers,

Jim & Laura

 

Bonus picture of Tosin, obstinately not wearing a hat

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Mowgli Street Food, Sheffield

Those of you who know us will know how much we rate a good curry. It's a style of food we regularly seek when eating out, as well as being something we enjoy cooking for ourselves at home. So we were definitely excited to be invited along to the preview night of Mowgli, situated on the trendy Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, a couple of weeks ago.

Mowgli Street Food aims to offer an authentically Indian experience. It's a small chain which already has branches in Liverpool, Nottingham, Oxford, Birmingham and Manchester, with venues set to open in Leicester and Cardiff later this year too - we understand there is a family connection to Sheffield amongst the ownership too. The emphasis is on bright and vibrant dishes designed for sharing and served market-style as and when they're ready.

The venue itself in Sheffield has only recently been vacated by the Cat's Pyjamas, a similar eatery, which initially seemed a bit of an odd choice to us, but we guess time will tell. It's had a pretty extensive refurbishment though, and we loved the laid back vibe inside - you can even choose to sit on a swing seat! All fitted out to a high standard and with a view into the kitchen itself which is something we like to see.

We were recommended 2-3 dishes per person and advised that sharing was encouraged. We got going with the Yoghurt Chat Bombs, a house speciality. Crispy little bread puffs filled with spicy yoghurt, definitely one to eat in one mouthful and a joyous burst of flavour and freshness, with a lovely mixture of textures. The only criticism here is that there were five of them which is an awkward number to share. We moved on to sticky wings served Manchurian style, sweet and cloying on the palate (we mean that in a good way), heavy with molasses and reassuringly messy.

Moving on to what we initially thought would be more main courses rather than starters, we ordered three curries - paneer, lamb and prawn. These arrived in a very cute little stack, all fairly small portions, so it's best to consider the menu as one rather than thinking of it as courses, especially as the food comes out in no particular order. All three curries were delicious, and we were pleased by how different they all were (there's nothing as disappointing as ordering a variety of curries and them being served in a generic sauce, so we're happy to report that this was most definitely not the case at Mowgli). Fluffy little Puri and some delicious Fenugreek "fries" (actually more like roast potatoes) were ordered alongside. Worth mentioning here that the staff were BRILLIANT at helping us select dishes, everyone we spoke to knew the menu inside out which for a newly opened venue is impressive to see.

Drinks wise, the cocktail list was innovative and and on-theme. The Turmeric infused whisky sour was a particular highlight, and Laura wants to go back to try the Chilli and Mango Margarita. Our only criticism with the drinks is that they took a long time to arrive (more noticeable due to the otherwise impeccable service), and we had to request drinking water a few times before it was brought over - we reckon this was simply due to the newness of the restaurant and is something which could quickly be improved upon. It would also have been nice to see a local beer option available, but again this is something that could (hopefully) potentially be added in time.

Overall, we very much enjoyed our meal. Everything was absolutely roaring with flavour, without being overpoweringly spicy, and distinctively original. There's been an opening offer of 50% off food on for the past couple of weeks which we believe has now ended - in our opinion that does now make it a tad on the pricey side, especially as the portions weren't enormous, but not to the extent that it would put us off (and we did leave absolutely stuffed!). There was definitely enough on the menu to entice us back to try a totally different range of dishes, and we're particularly intrigued by the Tiffin boxes which offer pot luck on what you get... Curry roulette is our kinda gambling.

Thanks to Kate and the Mowgli team for having us!

Laura & Jim

Disclaimer: our meal was provided free of charge, this has not affected our opinions which are all our own.

Long it to London: Cask 2019

According to the rather sweary youth on our train, we gather that to "long it" is to spend a period of time travelling to somewhere a fair distance away. For him, this meant travelling to the legendary brewing town of Burton (we reckon not for the beer), which was somewhat fitting for us, who were headed to London for a day of drinking at Cask 2019 - a festival now in it's second year dedicated to serving and celebrating beer from cask only.

We LOVE this as a concept. Cask has so frequently at modern beer festivals been considered as almost an afterthought, seen as a "cheaper" product not worth the hassle of set up and regarded as outdated (we know we're oversimplifying things here, but we want to talk festival not beer politics), all things which organisers Affinity Brew Co aimed to overturn. And we reckon that for, the most part, they massively succeeded.

We all know that cask is being lauded as making a bit of a comeback at the moment (although personally we're not sure it ever really went anywhere in the first place), with breweries such as Cloudwater and Buxton adding it back into their roster after a few years of absence, and the queues outside festival venue TESTBED1 in Bermondsey certainly proved that enthusiasm for cask is truly alive and well.

The venue itself was an odd one - we're of the understanding that Cask was the first large event to be held there (but please do correct us if we're wrong in this). It was an interesting space, described unhelpfully on their Twitter account as "a place for testing", an ex-dairy warehouse in a railway arch. A bit on the damp side, with limited seating and even less in the way of natural light (hence lack of photos!), with the one bar located right at the end of a long and narrow archway, it didn't scream beer festival... but the atmosphere more than made it for it. We had a fantastic afternoon of both catching up with old friends and putting names to twitter handles. The festival staff were faultless throughout, with speedy and friendly service at the bar and security doing a sterling job of stopping people forming a ridiculous single file queue which snaked around the building.

The majority of beers we drank on the day were good, with a few being exceptional... we're looking at you, Brussels Beer Project "Black Swan" - a 9.9% Blackberry Baltic Porter which was in absolute top nick. The Little Earth Project "Stupid Sexy Suffolk" (6.5%) was tasting absolutely incredible as well: flinging flavour to the face, balanced, fruity and acetic with just the right level of astringency in the finish. The Partizan Lager was a very pleasant surprise, and we were smacking our lips at the first cask in existence of Fyne Ales "Deathbed", a 9.5% dark Scotch Ale which we collectively described as liquid Soreen.

However, although it was clear that the casks had been well cared for, there were a few beers that could have done with a little more condition, and we'd love to see some Angrams coming out to play. We did also find ourselves commenting on occasion that some of the beers on offer were clearly better suited to being cold and fizzy. Don't get us wrong, the variety was excellent, and it was obvious that the breweries involved had largely endeavoured to send something exciting and genre-defying, which is great, but we were definitely drawn to the pintable, more straightforward brews that work so well in cask (well done Boxcar for sending a 3.4% Dark Mild - it was exactly what it purported to be and one of our beers of the day).

Overall, we had a great day... as much to do with the company we were in as well as the beer, but hey, in the words of the great Garrett Oliver, "beer is people" and Cask 2019 certainly brought that to life for us. It's about time cask beer had a turn in the spotlight and kudos to Affinity for allowing it to shine. Well worth the trip down to the big smoke, and a festival that's firmly on our beer calendar.

Cheers!

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Prince of Wales, Sheffield

The Prince of Wales, on Ecclesall Road South, Sheffield, re-opened to the public last weekend following a stunning refurbishment and overhaul of its food and drink offerings. We were invited down to sample the new menu and check our the slick and sophisticated interior a few days prior to the full opening. Here's a few words on our experience and photos that will definitely make you hungry...

Upon arrival we were quickly ushered to the bar where Laura swooned over the gin infusion station (and of course promptly ordered a gin). It's like pick and mix for grown ups - once you've got your beverage in hand, you are free to select your own garnish... and there were an abundance of things to choose from, from the standard lemons, limes and mint leaves, to exotic lychees, kiwi slices and goji berries. A BRILLIANT idea on a calm night filled with polite media and blogger types, how this will pan out on a busy weekend is yet to be discovered, but hey, we had fun. Worth noting that the bar staff were confident in suggesting recommendations, too, which was a definite bonus.

Kirkstall Brewery Virtuous IPA was the only "craft" keg beer on offer at the time of our visit, although there was a cask line ready to be used (and a cask of Abbeydale Moonshine waiting in the cellar). So despite it not being a beer focused venue, it was really nice to see that there was at least a local and an independent offering.

A selection of canapes was brought over whilst we imbibed, which were all delicious and the first indication that we'd perhaps underestimated the menu we were to be treated to, having expected a more "pub grub" offering. The words "gastro pub" and "elevated" are terms I'm not hugely keen on but it's fair to say that the food the Prince of Wales has gone for is certainly more of a style you'd expect in a fine dining restaurant. Highlights were the delicately spiced and fragrant lamb koftas served with coconut tzatziki, and crispy chilli beef with little pickled onions.

Following our nibble platter we were ushered into the dining area for our main meal. The space is large but still manages to retain a cosy feel and I liked that our table had a view of the kitchen pass - our only criticism being that the "mood lighting" made it a tad tricky to properly see what we were eating and meant we had to turn the flash on our phones as a makeshift torch to get decent photos. Ah, blogger life.

Our starter was a great big dollop of cheese - an unctuous, creamy baked camembert, to be precise, served with (slightly oily, but yummy) dough sticks and sharp cranberry dip. You can't really go wrong with cheese and this was a total oozy, messy treat.

The main menu offered up a selection of the usual suspects, pizzas, steaks, and burgers, all of which were presented with a little more refinement than the standard pub output. For example, in the case of the Wagyu beef burger (already an upgrade on the standard house burger) half a lobster can be added to the side for those inclined to such things.

We eventually selected the chorizo, crab and king prawn linguini, and the roasted pork belly with scallops. Both dishes were beautifully cooked and the scallops were incredible - wonderfully buttery, with a slight bite and perfectly placed within the dish. Great wine selection to go with it all, too.

Desserts were a bit more of a mixed bag - the brownie and chocolate pudding were both tasty but a little on the stodgy side, but the melting chocolate bomb was sensational in looks as well as flavour and Laura had the best Cointreau hot chocolate she reports to have EVER had, not words she uses lightly.

Being completely honest here, it's not the type of place we would usually choose to eat out - owned by one of the big pub chains, we were expecting a relatively straightforward food offering and a not-particularly-exciting drinks selection. However, we'd definitely set our expectations far too low, and were surprised in a very good way at what a brilliant evening we'd experienced. It's definitely somewhere we would go again, and both commented that it'd be a great place for our family members that like to go somewhere formal as opposed to uppity (again, not normally a vibe we go for when dining as a duo!) for a special occasion. The food and drinks are a little pricier than we'd generally spend hence a sense of occasion being necessary, but the value for money we reckon is still there.

If you'd like to know more, head to the Prince of Wales' website where you can also view all of their menus in full.

Cheers,

Laura and Jim

Disclaimer: We were provided with a meal and associated drinks free of charge in exchange for a review. However, this has not affected our opinions, which as always are completely honest and all our own.

Beer Is Our Happy Place

Why we aren't doing Dry January

To all those abstaining, reducing, limiting or quietly enjoying your alcohol intake, during this month we wish you well. We aren't writing this as an admonition, a lecture, a criticism, or as a way to undermine the decision. We appreciate your choice, and wish you well, from the sideline, or rather from a pub lounge, snug or otherwise.

Really we want to say why aren't doing Dry January, a "Dryathlon" and woe betide becoming "Dryathletes."

Just over a year ago, we went booze free for a full month. We made the decision together, around one of Jim's lowest points in his life. A stretch of emptiness and unhappiness, sleepless nights, that led into early shifts in the brewery. A period of too much whisky, which went hand in hand with bad sleep, the cycle of abuse of his body, the wearing down of mind careering to burnout, then..... Chester Bennington.

The death of a childhood icon is hard enough, but when it's self caused, after a period of self abuse despite being surrounded by his family. The situation was too close to home, and it hurt. It Hurt.

Looking back it's a turning point for that wave of unhappiness... there were still lows, but there was a maybe an exit of the quagmire, and we wondered if that could come with sobriety. We set a date, November 2017, postponed (from July) primarily due to the over full calendar of beer fests, events, birthdays and more events.

Perhaps the month would push toward clearer, happier minds. Maybe some good sleep, maybe better skin, shift some weight and have a few more quid to take towards Christmas. So, through tired and teary eyes, a kickstarter was set up, and a little hope glimmered.

The month itself was a long one, without fanfare we plodded through the days, still hoping for clarity, both of mind and skin. a lighter step, through fewer hangovers and a little weight loss? But as the month passed alcohol was replaced by cheese, and the positivity of pub companionship was replaced by boredom and restless isolation. (in no way a reflection on our friends, who were all very supportive, but a general feeling of self-inflicted inadequacy). None of the enthusiastic promises that campaigners for sobriety chime were delivered.

While we did head out occasionally, the lack of appealing choice that wasn't a saccharine pint of fizz was pretty much non existent. For those of us (which is both of us) who like the bitterness found in beer, or the dryness in a red wine, essentially the only thing to drink was tonic. While periodically we would stumble across a good Root Beer it wasn't in our usual haunts. Laura turned to tea in abundance.

And so, after a month of abstemiousness, which came to an abrupt end with the work Christmas outing on December 1st (what could possibly go wrong? Ask the Beer O'Clock Show Crimbo Crawl lot...), we had raised a massive £1000 for CALM (a charity which works to raise awareness of and make moves to combat male suicide - please do look them up if you aren't already aware of them). A humbling amount of money and overall worth it to give up something we genuinely enjoy for the cause. But we didn't feel a sense of achievement. We weren't worthy of any sort of accolade. We just stopped drinking, and largely stopped enjoying ourselves.

What this month off did give us was a reassurance that our drinking habits aren't doing us any harm. Rather they offer us an outlet for enjoyment, for shared experiences, and job satisfaction. By the end we just really clearly appreciated what we had missed - yes, the flavour, but more importantly the pubs and people and comradeship.

We are mindful of our drinking choices - always have been, but even more so following the month off. Whilst we do drink alcohol most days, often this will be one carefully selected bottle or can of beer which we'll share and enjoy. Quality over quantity is a much used mantra but it's something we like to apply to our lifestyles, not only in terms of alcohol but also in the food that we eat and the clothes that we wear. We support local businesses, we buy ethically sourced products wherever we can.

The pub is an institution, a community asset, and across the nation we are in danger of losing our locals and we will use them all year round. We'd like to at this point direct you to a campaign which we believe shares these values - Tryanuary. In championing local beers and venues, Tryanuary supports the beer industry during a month which can be particularly difficult.

Maybe this is less about the January thing and more about our love of the pub, and of what else it can bring apart from "just" a pint. They are our happy place, and if you haven't already found yours, there is a window seat, booth or corner with a beer mat waiting for you to fill it. Go and discover yours.

Cheers,
Jim and Laura

*Written in part in the pub - Pour, to be precise. We had a lovely time.

Happy Place

PS - Jim's doing ok. While there are still some times of darkness, there is much that is light. There's no magic solution, no "off" button on the brain, but we still see the decisions described above to be part of an acceptance, a self-awareness and a realisation that it's good to be open and most of all to TALK.

If any of you read this and need a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, or a pal to have a pint with, please don't keep quiet. We're both here, and we're listening.

Pps - our fundraising page is still active, justgiving.com/mashtunandmeow if anyone would like to support the work of CALM.