More Germans

Had another Oktoberfest beer at the weekend but this time it was a darker Marzen, which means it was made with traditional lager yeast but included a higher proportion of roasted malts in the grist. The result is a more toffee forward beer a little less dry and crunchy than the Pilsners around at this time of year. 

Monday Mirth

The contradiction that is middle-America...

Fresh

I don't often have German wine, it's a bit of an unknown entity for me, but we had pork for supper last night and so I opened this little number from Muller Catoir. I've had this bottle for around 10 years, I didn't mean to keep it particularly but just never got around to cracking it open, it was gifted to me by my Son's German pen pal when he visited us back when they were both schoolboys. I'm pleased  to report that the aging process has been very kind to this wine, it was delicious, a lovely apple and peach forward Riesling with a wonderful fresh acidity and concentration, a really great wine, I must look out for more!

An old friend

Popped open one of these last night (Chateau de Sales, Pomerol) as we had some lovely cheese from Neals Yard to polish off and this plush Pomerol went very well with them. Interestingly, this was the first "serious" wine that I ever bought, if I remember correctly it was from Majestic (the wine shop) in around 1996. I remember at the time it felt hugely expensive and exotic as at the time (you had to buy 12 bottles in those days) it was £10 a bottle.  Now it's a fraction under £30 which I guess isn't too bad for roughly 30 years of inflation, anyway, it was a great wine (for the price), Merlot dominated (as most Pomerol's are) smooth and silky with a moreish red fruit upfront attack that fills the mouth and then a shallow curve of a finish that lasts half a minute. Recommended.

I love "brown"..

Waiting for the train this afternoon and popped into RG1 the Siren bar in Reading. Had this new beer called "Follow me to the Fields", a brown ale sprinkled with some American hops (mosaic and strata), very tasty, on cask too (hence the foamy head) which is unusual and very welcome, an 8/10 very nice indeed!

Got a light?

Aurora visible from all the way down here in the soft-south yesterday evening, clouds have (predictably) moved back in today so probably not viable to see tonight, ah well, we take what we can get!

Friday Smirk

The ever insightful J&M pointing out the inherent need for human beings to feel like they belong to a tribe and how that feeling generates a sense of security from which to mock (and attack) other tribes.

Midweek Mirth

I know we live on a blustery little island but 4064 mph gusts? Perhaps someone at the Met Office has been watching stuff about hurricanes a little too avidly, although I bet this has put the wind up a few people...

Fleeing the nest

My Son moved out of the family home today and I gave him a lift to his new abode in Camden, London. He's sharing a flat near to Chalk Farm station which is right next to Camden Market and the Canal etc. It's a nice spot and he's sharing the flat with a mate, slightly daunting for them both but with the number of pubs and clubs around there I'm sure they'll have a blast, and now that he's earning money working for a law firm in town, he'll hopefully not need me to fund his entertainment any more ;) 

Just next to his flat is a bridge over the railway and if you take a stroll over it you come to Primrose Hill high street, and the entrance to the park land there, at the top of the hill (it's quite steep!) and after a sweaty slog up the path you are rewarded with a wonderful panorama of London, I snapped the picture above from the platform at the top of the hill, a top spot for reflection!