Tuesday morning we left the quiet English countryside for the bustling sounds of London…and the Great British Beer Festival.
Arriving by train, we took just enough time to drop off our bags at the hotel and head over for the trade session. It was amazing and overwhelming at first. We had no idea how this festival worked. Turns out, first you buy the size glass you want: 33ml, half pint, or full pint. We opted for pint glasses, which have the smaller quantity markings on them. In the end, I never got more than a half pint anyway. And you can return the glass at the end and get your money back.
This festival is unlike any festival we have been to in the States. Not only because of the size of pours, but also because you pay cash for your beers. Basically, the place was like one huge pub. Some breweries had their own bar set ups, some of which were quite elaborate. The one confusing thing, besides not knowing what beers to buy, was that the beers were all different prices.
At the risk of sounding like a total eejit and rookie traveler, I’ll tell you about the first beer I bought. The price was £1.70 for a half pint. I gave him what I thought was the exact amount. He brought back the coin marked 50 and indicated that he couldn’t take it. I was completely dumbfounded and couldn’t figure out why. Well, when I got back to Chris and was telling him the story, I looked a bit closer. It was actually a 50 Euro cent piece and not a British 50p coin. What a rookie! Oh well, I figured the guy chalked it up to another goofy American.
The mood was crazy. People in drag. Pubs with huge contingencies all dressed in matching shirts. Singing. And of course, beer drinking.
We started out at the Irish bar, where we talked with Aiden from Galway Hooker, Liam from Carlow Brewing, and Cuilan from Messrs. McGuire. We also talked with John, aka TheBeerNut, from irishcraftbrewer.com. We were having a great time, but the Irish beers were right next to the American beers and I felt it was wrong to come all the way to England to be near American beers that I’m already familiar with.
Sierra Nevada sponsored the “U.S. and Rest of the World Bar” and S.N. Wheat and Big Foot were served. Other American beers offered included Lost Abbey’s Angelshare, Stone IPA, Cape Ann Brewing Old Fisherman’s Ale, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, and a Sly Fox beer that I can’t remember.
The highlight of the day had to be the contingent from the Cornish brewery Skinner’s. Thirty to forty people strong, they spent the all day drinking beer and singing songs, mostly traditional. They even had a guy in drag dress up as Betty Stogs, the name of their bitter. And when the beer won champion best bitter , the revelry increased.
In the end, between the two of us, we tried around 12 beers. The trade session was ending and the masses would start coming in, so we decided to call it a day at GBBF. We were meeting our friends Paul and Eilís at The Old Fountain later and needed to rest up for the second part of our night.
It was a good day of beer drinking and fun. Tomorrow we actually get to sleep in and will do some sight seeing.
We arrived in England a bit delayed, but safe and sound. We are staying in the Somerset village of Nether Stowey for a few days before heading back to London for the Great British Beer Festival.
This morning, they offered us an equally tasty traditional English breakfast sans beer (darn!) and then guided us on a walk through the Quantock Hills.
The front bar was very traditional and probably hadn’t changed much in 400 years. Chris wanted to take some pictures but the regulars didn’t look in a posing mood.
The hike was just challenging enough for me, as it is our first full day here in England and I’m a bit jetlagged. Despite dragging a bit, we enjoyed the company of Ian, Lynne and two black labs Buster and Ozzy. We miss Porter and Stout, so this was a perfect fix of dog play. They allow dogs at the Old Cider House, so last night we also played with Gibbs, a spaniel here with his owners on holiday.
On Saturday, we went on a little van trip with some friends up to the Hood River area. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day as we headed east on Hwy 84 for my date with destiny.
First stop was Big Horse Brewpub on the hill overlooking the town. Big Horse was a rest stop as we had more 3 breweries to go. We just ordered a sampler tray.
We ended an almost perfect day with the highlight brewery; Walking Man Brewery in Stevenson, Washington. Walking Man has excellent beer, including a Kölsch and a Black Cherry Stout. The standout, however, was the Big Black Homo, an imperial IPA made with black malt. Believe me, we got a lot of mileage out of double entendres on that one! The joke is that the imperial IPA is called Homo Erectus and all the beers they derive from it have a play on the name… for example, the bourbon aged version is called “My Old Kentucky Homo”.
It was one year ago at the 
We went straight to The Wet Dog Cafe/Astoria Brewing Company for beer and lunch. We then walked the beaches of where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It was beautiful and the force of the waters was surprisingly strong and loud. When I mean loud, I mean not only the water, but also the scream of the Caspian Terns. A sound that was kind of neat at the beginning became more tiresome as the day and night wore on. In a group, they sound like a cat fight or babies crying. Despite the call of the wild, we just enjoyed being in the fresh Oregon air. A nice change from the Basin Complex fire induced smokey air of home.
For dinner, we went to 
There we were, sitting at a table enjoying the free wireless, rivoted to our respective computers and drinking pints. The couple at a nearby table was apparently looking at us and whispering. As they got up to leave, the guy said “Bye Chris” and shook his hand. He then showed us thebeergeek.com that he had pulled up on his phone. They walked out before we could catch their name or invite them to sit with us.
Saturday, we finished up our Ireland trip with a pub crawl around Dublin. We went to a few new pubs that Chris had seen in a travel guide and they were well worth it. The authors obviously preferred the old school ornate pubs. They were on the quiet side and off the beaten path.
We moved on to Pub #2 which was a return to the 
For the end of phase one of the pub crawl, we headed back in the direction of our hotel and stopped at the Long Hall, another ornate Victorian-era pub. And yet again, Chris was able to get his large bottle.
We finished up our Ireland trip back at the Porterhouse to see the house band Sliotar. We first saw Sliotar 10 years ago and on our Ireland trips we plan to be in Dublin on a Saturday or Sunday so we can see them perform.