S & I are generally drinkers as a couple...with the occasional pal thrown in for good measure.
We very rarely initiate a wider social gathering although neither of us completely shun them, either.
However, when The Crown (our esteemed local) gave us a little advanced warning of its autumn beer festival, we felt the need to share with our colleagues.
So it was, that the Saturday evening saw 7 of us crowd around a table and drink far, far too much fantastically kept real ale.
A couple of the guys had never been to the pub; one young lady (a colleague's daughter) had never really been introduced to good beer;and some knew the pub, knew the beer but don't spend enough time there as a rule.
Andy had about 8 beers in perfect nick and I think between us we tried them all.
It was a fun evening (as evidenced by a slight hangover the next morning).
I seem to remember spending most of the evening trying to persuade A, who co-produces a great magazine/paper on beer, that cask ale is the pinnacle of good beer and the rest are pale imitations to whom we run when the real stuff isn't available.
Obviously I didn't actually convince him. He humours me by smiling and saying he likes to hear me rant on the subject and happily drinks both cask and good keg beer during the evening.
This is entirely right and proper, of course.
The other high point of the last couple of weeks has been the presence of my very favourite Harvey's beer: Star of Eastbourne.
Its very seasonality - like asparagus and proper strawberries - is part of its attraction, but the main story is the complex, well balanced hoppy deliciousness of it.
I have to admit when I entered The Victoria and saw it on the bar, I actually let out a bit of a squeal. The pub ended up with two or three casks of it, which we helped consume over the course of October. And now it's gone for another year. Sigh.
What I'm lusting after right now (not right now, it's a tad early) is a really, really good black IPA. This would match the grim weather and the subject of a theatrical event that I'm helping to staff at the Wish Tower. Highly unlikely to get one in Eastbourne, sadly...but I'll keep looking.
