Contributor and friend of D&C, Nick recounts the worries and glories of searching for beer in a new country. When Nick is not recovering from bouts of drunken debauchery, he whiles away the hours as a kick-ass User Experience Designer in London.
I've now been to plenty of bars that serve a great selection of beers, like The Phoenix on Cavandish Square. Yet getting out of the bars and into the festivals and supermarkets can be very rewarding.
Most of the English ales you will find in pubs will be mass-produced and the quality varies depending how they are stored. Getting yourself along to a Real Ale Festival will introduced you to some drops that will vary greatly in taste and will open your eyes to just how good these ales can be. Supermarkets, oddly, are also a great place to find a large variety of interesting ales, and you'll often be able to get them on special. I've just now made my way through a Black Sheep Ale and an Olde Trip.
Yet after a few months I felt like I'd exhausted my local beer selection--and I wasn't satisfied. I needed more variety. I needed to get out. I needed Amsterdam.
Yes, I went all the way to Amsterdam for beer. Actually, my reason for going was a "boys trip", but while I was there I found the best place ever to go for a beer.
Down a narrow alley off one of the canals is a tiny bar called Gollum. It was awesome! They had over 200 varied and tasty beers from all around Europe to get to know on a more personal basis. I could be overstating the number but it was certainly an impressive collection. I got to know the Rochefort 8 (9.2%) and the Rochefort 10 (11.3%) intimately. They even came home with me later. The beers are fairly similar but the 10 has a sweeter smell and taste than the 8 and is also thicker. Each has a relatively thick head on it and is quite cloudy when poured. But don't let murkiness put you off. Each mouthful will excite your taste buds with a yummy caramel and toffee flavour with hints of fruit coming through.
What was even more exciting was this bar's proximity to heaven. By "heaven" I mean the beer store directly opposite. Every beer you tried at Gollum, and even more from all around the world that you couldn't try, was available in that shop. This was bliss. They also have a cute fat cat lazing around in the store which enjoys a good cuddle (actually Gollum has a cat also). A chat with the dude running the shop about what you like will enable him to put together a good list of recommendations. When I arrived back in London after my trip I discovered a very similar store at a place called Borough Market, which is a big food market on the South bank by London Bridge. I have made many a trip there to chomp on a freshly made venison sausage in a bun while deciding what selection of beers I will try next (sadly they don't have Montheiths Black).
Up next, my final recommendations and a little drinking song.
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