My Heart Beats for You

I have just finished caressing the 9s of a special beer for the Stratford on Avon beer festival. The beer for want of a better name is to be called Wild Amber Massive (not my fault). It is an amber beer fermented very warm in an open tank with abbey yeast. The beer was then racked into casks with a blend of wild yeast strains only one of which survived to do anything. The beer has been rounding off for the last 3 years in the cellars and tasted very good when sampled yesterday. The original beer was light for its 8.8% strength. Thanks to the wild yeast and the long maturation the final beer is incredibly dry for an amber ale at 9% ABV. If you are going I would value your comments.

If you are organising a beer festival, why not ask me for a special beer? We can do business, I'll do ya a very special price.

I have used all my restraint to not quote Shakespeare in this post. I have always wondered how people who live in Stratford feel about him, given that everyone they meet will probably say “ah Shakespeare country!” when they hear.

I was thrilled to get a call from one of the men responsible for developing my love of beer yesterday. Saint Roger of Protz called to ask what I am brewing this year for inclusion in the Good Beer Guide. I still get a little tongue tied when I speak to him. Not least because of the time I tried to kiss and cuddle him in a pub car park. Better than inner city sumo I suppose.

If anyone is wondering, the “real” ales Sharp’s are making this year are

• Cornish Coaster
• Doom Bar
• Sharp’s Own
• Sharps Special (bottle and cask conditioned)
• Chalky’s Bite and Bark (bottle conditioned)
• Single Brew Reserve 2011 bottle Conditioned

Seasonal beers Atlantic IPA, Honey Gold, Autumn Red and Abbey Christmas

As well as 20 or so one off brews

I’m sure this will all be reported in the GBG.

I leave you with this thought. How stupid do you have to be to buy an automatic soap dispenser which is designed to stop you getting your hands dirty when dispensing soap?