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My Last Tip(ple)

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.

You'll have to excuse the short break between this and the previous post of mine about beer. I've been testing my Spanish while hanging out on the beach in Spain. "Dos cerveza por favor” will get you two beers (why settle for just one) delivered to your table. I’ve also been climbing mountains in the South of France, which is where I discovered perfection in a bottle – a 9% Leffe! There is a god! There could be many but my recent discovery of this elixir means there should be at least one. There are probably two because surely another one needs to exist in order to explain the perfection that is Charlize Theron (thank you Lord). I’m not prone to stalking beers on the web but I perhaps should have been as the bottle I came across on the bottom shelf in a small supermarket, attached to a petrol station, in an out of the way town somewhere in the Pyrenees Oriental region in the South of France, has “The Taste of 2007” (in French) on a sticker on it. That was like last year man! I’ve gone at least 8 months without it being a part of my life.

Anyway...

I've drunk a lot of beer.

I'm not inclined to drink lots of beer for the sake of drinking lots beer and have even turned down free beer because what was offered would make me go "hmmm." But I do like drinking beer. Some of you can be witness to that and can probably remind me of a few nights I've forgotten about. Beer, to me, can be just as varied in flavour as wine and so I think shouldn't be written off by those who lump it into the "beer is horrible" category.

So here are the beers I think you should all give a go. Some might not tickle your fancy but I reckon at least one of them will make you go "Ooooo, that's not half bad."

Leffe Blonde or Leffe Brune
These beers is the bomb. I've found the Blonde on tap in many places in England and, surprisingly, in Stockholm (where I managed to acquire two good quality Leffe glasses by fluttering my eyelashes nicely at the ladies behind the bars). It has a fairly sweet taste with a hint of banana coming through. Believe it or not the Blond packs more of a wallop than the Brune. For a mass-produced beer it kicks some serious arse over any lager. It will also seriously kick your arse if you drink a lot of it.

Old Peculiar
This is my favourite English beer of all so far. I've only found it in a few places and tend to drink the bar dry when I do find it. Only yesterday did I find it on sale in the small Sainsbury Local near where I work. They have now run out of it.

Emmerson's 1812 India Pale Ale
You can't go wrong with this IPA, although you can't buy it in the UK (as far as I'm aware). Bugger. But I have fond memories of grabbing a bottle of this, drinking it back in the hot sun and gale force Wellington winds.

La Trappe Tripel
This one I discovered while floating on cloud 9 in Golem, Amsterdam. It packs a wolloping huge 8% into the bottle so be careful when you stand up to go the loo after your 3rd or 4th.

Old Speckled Hen
I don't know what it is about the English but they like to get across that their stuff is a bit on the vintage side. But still, this is a very tasty bitter despite being "old.” I’m not a big bitter fan, with the only thing worse being larger, but this would be a good introduction for anybody into the realm of warm English beer.

Lastly, Mr Love made a request that I share with you my favourite drinking song. I don't sing. My singing voice was once described as being like that of a young boy going through puberty. Since then I resist all urge to let the muse take over. That said, get me drunk and shove a microphone in my face and I’ve been told I'll holler like I was born to do it... apparently. I claim ignorance of such activities.

Get drinking everyone.

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