>I’ve been lazy with this. I’m sure my many millions of readers have been repeatedly pressing F5 in the vain hope that I may have actually posted something about my ’40 beers’ project. I am in fact way past 40 new beers now – I passed that milestone some time in mid-december. I’ve enjoyed every single one – even the Tesco Value Bitter.
Anyway, here’s a few more:
23) Purkmistr Bohemian Schwarzbier (Bottle): Coffee and “butcher’s shop” (in a good way*) nose. Espresso, burnt toast, expansive and mouthfilling dark maltiness.
24) Northmaen Rousse (Brasserie La Chopelle) (Bottle): Herbal, smoky, cigar tobacco whiffs. Hazy amber body. Peppery, pine notes and lots of vanilla coming through, and some almost Bourbon-like flavours. Even got a hint of Calvados. Unusual, complex and enjoyable – one for sipping, not swigging.
25) Saint Colombe Ambree: (bottle) Explosive head which vanishes quickly. Murky amber body. Bit sour, with faint buttescotch flavours and an odd ‘seaweedy’ nose. Weak fruit cordial. Utterly flat. A dull drink, like an unsuccesful hombrew. Nope.
26) Potton Village Bike (bottle): Initial tangy hit diminishes quickly to a thin, watery finish. ‘Epsom salts’ and faint raspberry in the nose. Not enjoyable.
27) L’Abbaye Des Rocs Montagnard (bottle): Dark amber body with sustained, lacing head. Smells of sweet orange with hints of tobacco. This is a real mouthful – Strong toffee, fruit, liquorice – delicious and warming. Syrupy and robust – this is a big drink. I’m no lightweight, but I was feeling the 9% after only a couple of mouthfuls. Good stuff – one for a fireside.
Next!
* Whatever that means. I’m writing these up from notes taken in the field, jotted down after a few pints. You can tell can’t you?
(The picture above was taken at the Elizabethan Bar at Westward Ho in Devon. Never been in before – I’d always assumed it was Smoothflow territory, it being effectively a holiday site social club. It was a nice surprise to find a good pint of Tribute with a dramatic view. The Elizabethan is charmingly old fashioned. The menu still includes prawn cocktail served in a wine glass.)
Ten-Inch Wheels 
>Does your age now increase? Is it in line with the beers consumed?I think there is a little booklet to be made out of all this research!
>I was in The Harp with an old mate last night and had more pints than I would normally consume. Today I definitely do feel like my age has increased dramatically!
>Isn't that "Westward Ho!" — the only placename in Britain with a punctuation mark built in?
>Ah – I missed off the '!' through force of habit. I've got loads of pictures taken in Westward Ho! on my flickr stream and the captions looked daft on there, so I left 'em off.The village sign does look very odd the first time you see it!
>'The exclamation mark looked daft on the captions' I meant to say. Duh.
>Boak still doesn't believe me when I tell her the punctuation mark is part of the place name. She thought it was National Express playing silly buggers the first time she saw it on the front of a coach. Heh heh.