Whilst I drink my coffee on a Saturday morning, I invariably scroll through Blue Sky and pick up the link for Boak and Bailey's weekly summary of beer things.
I also subscribe to their newsletter so if, by chance, I should miss it on the scroll, then I definitely won't forget.
I love the round up with a wide selection of extracts and links - some which I follow and enjoy, some I don't follow but very rarely, I follow the link and find that I completely disagree with the writer of the article being highlighted.
One thing I've learned is that the "good"ness of beer is very much in the eye of the beholder beyond the basics of "does it taste or smell off".
It so happens that I'm a lot less eager to drink traditional "bitter" or "best bitter" or even the thing oft referred to as "pale ale". I do drink it from time to time since I live, most of the time, in Harveys Country and I like it as a grounding beer (you're back in Sussex, now, girl).
All this means I don't get ludicrously excited, any more, about seeing Timmy Taylor on the bar. I mean, it's fine, and a well-kept pint of it will be welcomed where there's no/few other beers on offer (unlike GK IPA which, no matter how well kept, I won't drink - glass o' red for me, please).
Anyhow, leaving aside style of beer I was very sad to see someone in the round up completely (even if maybe a little tongue in cheek?) dismissing gravity dispense completely.
I'm used to the "tight head sparkler is the only way" vs "tight head sparklers are evil" debate but I really didn't think that gravity dispense was so controversial - though, thinking about it - for people who think tight heads are the optimum serving suggestion, then it's two steps lower on the ladder, I guess.
Having been to many a beer festival (only one, GBBF, with handpumps) I have a real fondness for gravity.
One of the reasons we love our Sussex local so much is that whilst the mainstay cask beers (Harveys, obvs and usually Timmy) are dispensed via handpumps, most of the guest beers come from the "cellar" (cold room behind the bar) from casks on tippers, and gravity dispensed. We both adore it.
Actually, quite a lot of pubs we like don't use pumps (Cricketers in Berwick, Orchard in Bristol, The weekly cask in Beerarama, maybe the Square and Compass?) and for years my "Christmas Beer at Home" was a polypin from a local brewery.
Why do I like my cask beer on gravity? The simplicity is attractive (I'm a simple woman), but especially when it's really fresh I think there's a mouthfeel (BBB hates that word) that makes the first slurp especially wonderful - with the condition alone providing the gentle refreshing prickle on my tongue.
This from someone who has migrated from the "keg beers are rubbish" school in the last 10 years or so, definitely towards the f*cking hipster beer thing. (We have friends the same age as us who really don't quite understand, but that's their prerogative).
I'm not going to challenge the author - they're almost certainly more knowledgeable than me - but I'd encourage people to at least not be put off by it. Even for modern, hop forward beers.
This weekend, the new guest at our local was Verdant Lightbulb (on gravity) and even 24 hours after it went on it was absolutely stunning.
Next weekend we're heading up to Yorkshire - I'll probably have to keep my opinions on sparklers to myself...
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