Monday 23 December 2013

Drinking's Answer to Lap Dancing



There were 12 casks in the cellar at Sharp’s this morning. A monstrously-record pre-Christmas week of sales reduced a stock level of over 17,000 casks to 12 like Christmas piranhas decimating a cow carcass. The buzz you get from a week like this is one of the best feelings in brewing. When I joined Sharp’s we were selling just over this amount in a year. 

I was in Germany last weekend. Cologne to be precise. My second time in the vibrant city, home of Kolsch, a pale ale that really wants to be a lager. I tried about 6 different versions of the style and enjoyed their cleanness although none really impressed. Spending the evening before in Brussels meant that these beers were measured with a tight gauge. My judgement may also have been influenced by what I think is the stupidest way to sell beer ever devised.

In Cologne you get beer in a slim cylindrical 200ml glass (less than half a pint). The reason for the small size is to ensure that your beer is fresh. Waiters with a special basket-like tray full of fresh glasses work their way between the tables and will replace your empty glass with a full one unless you cover your glass with a beermat. Great idea, no one likes flat, warm keg beer. What is a great idea in theory becomes a torture of deprivation when there aren’t sufficient waiters to replenish glasses when they are empty.

I spent what felt like half my life waiting for a beer. In the first pub I waited for 10 minutes with a mouth like the Sahara before I finally got a beer. As you would expect 200ml went in two sips and fewer seconds. My empty glass then sat on the table for another 10 minutes (leaving occasionally to be licked clean of beer by a desperate drinker). When the waiter came back I asked for 4 beers. I got one.

If you go to a Brauhaus in Cologne and find forehead-shaped dents in the table you know why! The scene of the red-faced Englishman going from hope to despair via anger and frustration was repeated in another 3 pubs before I gave in and went back to my hotel via the off licence. I wasn’t desperate to get blind drunk I just wanted to drink steadily and not spend all afternoon preoccupied with the likelihood of getting another beer before I needed to catch the train back home. 

The first thing I did when back on English soil was to walk up to the bar and order a pint, drink it and order another one. Ah freedom.

So as the year comes to a close it’s time to look back to a year of change and plenty of high points and forward to bigger challenges and rewards. I wish you a great midwinter celebration and a successful and enriching New Year.
  

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm 15 years old. I was born with HIV my mother passed away because of the HIV infection And I regret why i never met Dr Itua he could have cured my mum for me because as a single mother it was very hard for my mother I came across Dr itua healing words online about how he cure different disease in different races diseases like HIV/Aids Herpes,Parkison,Asthma,Copd,Epilepsy,Shingles,Cold Sore,Infertility, Chronic Fatigues Syndrome,Fibromyalgia, Diabetes Hepatitis even Cancer I was so excited but frighten at same time because I haven't come across such thing article online then I contacted Dr Itua on Mail drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com I also chat with him on what's app +2348149277967 he tells me how it works then I tell him I want to proceed I paid him so swiftly Colorado post office I receive my herbal medicine within 4/5 working days he gave me guild lines to follow and here am I living healthy again can imagine how god use men to manifest his works am I writing in all articles online to spread the god work of Dr Itua Herbal Medicine,He's a Great Man.

Ewan Adams said...

How to choose the most reliable online casino of 2019: 5 tips. Click here to open the full guidance.

John kim said...

How can I explain this to the world that there is a man who can cure HERPES, I was diagnosed for the past 1 year I have being into HERPES since 1 year, so I decide to look for help in the internet then I found a post write about this great man called DR. Yakubu , people say good thing about him that this man have cured, a lot of people in the internet, him has power's to cure HSV1 AND HSV2 I don’t believe that there is a cure for Herpes Simplex Virus because though there is no cure for herpes that what I have in mind HERPES had no cure well , my HERPES is negative through the using of herbal cured of DR yakubu , I contacted this man for help because of what i see in the internet. if you need his cured just email him now on dr.yakubuherbalhealingclinic@gmail.com , thank you DR. i will never stop shearing you testimony DR. Yakubu . him Can as well CURE THE FOLLOWING DISEASE:-1, HIV/AIDS, 2, Diseases of the hear 3, Malignant tumors 4. Cardiovascular diseases 5. Diabetes mellifluous 6.Influenza and pneumonia 7.Alzheimer's disease 8. hsv1 - hsv2. If you need LOVE SPELL. E.T.C contact him dr.yakubuherbalhealingclinic@gmail.com or you whatsapp him on +2348057353647...
Dr.yakubu 하나님은 내 삶을 회복시켜 주신 것에 대한 축복을 계속할 것입니다. 나는 사람들에게 증거를 계속 나눌 것입니다.

Roseline said...

I was been suffering hardship from HIV/AIDS since 9yrs now, and i happen to have 2 kids for my husband, and now we cannot proceed to have another kids all because of my disease and now i have do all what a human like i and my husband can do just to get my disease healed, i have went to several places to seek for help not even one person could ever help, until i melt a comment on the daily news paper that was commented by Miss Maria about how this powerful traditional doctor help her get cured of the disease (HIV-AIDS) " my fellow beloved" i firstly taught having a help from a spiritual traditional healer was a wrong idea, but i think of these, will i continue to stress on these disease all day when i have someone to help me save my life?" so i gather all my faiths and put in all interest to contact him through his Whatsapp number +2348057353647, so after i have contact him of helping get my disease cured, he respond to me fast as possible that i should not be afraid, that he is a truthful and powerful doctor which i firstly claimed him to be. So after all set has been done, he promise me that i will be healed but on a condition that i provide him some items and obeyed all his oracle said. I did all by accepting his oracolous fact and only to see that the following week Dr.yakubu write me on my email box that my work is successfully done with his powers, i was first shocked and I was been suffering h to be the happiest woman on earth after i have concluded my final test on the hospital by my doctor that i am now HIV- Negative. My papers for check are with me and now i am happy and glad for his miraculous help and power.
With these i must to everyone who might seek for any help, either for HIV cure or much more to contact him now at these email dr.yakubuherbalhealingclinic@gmail.com or his Whatsapp number +2348057353647

Sharon Wayne said...

I want to thank Dr Emu a very powerful spell caster who help me to bring my husband back to me, few month ago i have a serious problem with my husband, to the extend that he left the house, and he started dating another woman and he stayed with the woman, i tried all i can to bring him back, but all my effort was useless until the day my friend came to my house and i told her every thing that had happened between me and my husband, then she told me of a powerful spell caster who help her when she was in the same problem I then contact Dr Emu and told him every thing and he told me not to worry my self again that my husband will come back to me after he has cast a spell on him, i thought it was a joke, after he had finish casting the spell, he told me that he had just finish casting the spell, to my greatest surprise within 48 hours, my husband really came back begging me to forgive him, if you need his help you can contact him with via email: Emutemple@gmail.com or add him up on his whatsapp +2347012841542 is willing to help any body that need his help. 

financialserviceoffer said...

Are you searching for a very genuine loan at an affordable interest rate of 3% process and approved within 4 working days? Have you been turned down Constantly by your Banks and other financial institutions because of bad credit? Loans ranging from $5000 USD to $20, 000, 000 USD maximum LOANS for Developing business a competitive edge / business expansion. We are certified, trustworthy, reliable, efficient, Fast and dynamic for real estate and any kinds of business financing. Contact us for more details and information.
Thanks & Regard
Dr James Eric Finance Pvt Ltd
(Whats App) 91-8929509036
E-mail: financialserviceoffer876@gmail.com

Post a Comment