Tapping back into Untappd

I’m sure that I mentioned previously that I’d bought a new Smartphone over the Christmas period. My trusty old Galaxy J5 was out of space; in fact the phone memory was so clogged up that I couldn’t install updates or even run certain apps, as there just wasn’t sufficient room.

I did a fair amount of research, and one manufacturer whose name kept cropping up was up and coming Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi. I visited their London  outlet, the Mi Store,  in Shepherd’s Bush’s Westfield Shopping Centre, at the tail end of November and, as I wrote at the time, it provided the perfect opportunity to view and try out the company’s range of Mi phones at first hand.

I resisted the temptation to make a purchase there and then, instead waiting for the inevitable Christmas offers to appear. I eventually purchased the model I was after from that well-known online store, but because of the Christmas rush, it didn’t actually arrive until 10 days ago. There then followed the ritual of swapping over the SIM card and transferring all my contacts, and MP3 files, from my old phone to my new one.

Last weekend I thought it appropriate to upload a few apps, and with almost 42 GB of available space, there was plenty of room. I didn’t go mad, as I remember what had happened before, but one app which did catch my eye, was that modern day, answer to a beer-tickers’ prayer -  Untappd.

I wrote a post about Untappd, back in 2015, in which I claimed that the world of beer-ticking had moved on from the days of scruffy, barely-legible lists, maintained in tatty old exercise books. I stated that with the advent of the Smart Phone, and the growth in associated Apps, electronic versions of “ticking” were now available, bringing the “delights” of this hobby/obsession to a completely new audience.

Untappd is undoubtedly the best known electronic beer ticking app, and whilst American in origin, it continues to be extremely popular on this side of the Atlantic as well. “Un-tapping” beers became a favourite pastime for many drinkers; initially amongst the craft-beer faction, but with the passage of time the App has found increasing popularity amongst cask drinkers as well.

Five or six years ago, I tried Untappd myself, but gave it up after a short while, for a number of reasons. The majority of which were phone-related, but there were other more mundane reasons, such as I forgot to use it or sometimes, I just couldn’t be bothered, but now we’ve reached a new decade I have decided to give Untappd another try.

The amazing thing was that after all this time my old account was still out there, fully operational and enabling me to pick up from where I’d left off. The only thing I need now is a new contract to go with my shiny new phone; one that will allow me much more data, for those times when the pub or bar hasn’t got Wi-Fi, the quality is poor, or it just doesn’t work at all.

That will be my task this coming weekend, but before closing this post, here’s Untappd’s mission statement, lifted straight off the App’s website:

“Untappd is a new way to socially share and explore the world of beer with your friends and the world. Curious what your friends are drinking or where they're hanging out? Just check their profile where you can toast and comment on their beers! Untappd will offer you beer recommendations based on what you and your friends have been enjoying, so you’ll have no reason to not try something new! As additional encouragement, Untappd allows you to earn a number of cool badges for completing a variety of different criteria.”

Purely for medicinal purposes!

So far January has been pretty much a “dry” one for me; not through choice but, as a result of one of the worst colds I’ve had in years, I just haven’t fancied a beer.  A cold seems to affect ones sense of taste in such way that makes overtly hoppy or bitter beers unpleasant to drink. It must have something to do with those taste buds that are responsive to bitter compounds.  

With this in mind, a beer that was both strong, and on the sweet side seemed the best way for me to ease me back into  drinking again,  so when I saw this 440ml can of strong milk, imperial stout on sale at Tesco yesterday morning, it was just what I was looking for.

Weighing in at 7.5% abv, London Beer Factory Big Milk Stout does exactly what it says on the tin – and it comes in a strange tin at that because, as with other LBF beers, the entire top section of the can is removable, once the ring pull has been cracked open and the seal broken.

I am not certain that this is a good idea, because to me, the beer seemed slightly lacking in condition. I wonder therefore whether it is harder to achieve and maintain an adequate seal, all the way round the top perimeter of the can.

The beer is described as full bodied and robust; a description I would not disagree with. It is a “big beer,” smooth dark and full-bodied, with plenty of added lactose, to impart a rich and creamy texture.

Additional flavours come from the inclusion of vanilla and cacao nibs. So a can of this lush and chocolate rich stout, drank shortly before bedtime, was the ideal nightcap, and just what my body and I needed to get ourselves back on track.

Just what the doctor ordered

I started to feel slightly more human yesterday, so much so that I ventured out for a while during the evening. I needed to pick up a few groceries, whilst son Matthew wanted to buy himself a case of beer. There was also the small matter of calling in at the Nelson Arms in Tonbridge, to discuss a small matter relating to this Sunday’s post-Christmas meal.

It has been something of a tradition in my local CAMRA branch, as I’m sure it is in many other branches, to arrange a meal, in a local pub, for members and their families, as a means of celebrating the festive season. More most of the 35 + years I have been associated with West Kent CAMRA, the meal has been held prior to Christmas, but with this being the busiest time of year for most pubs – what with Christmas parties, plus the annual invasion of what many might call the “amateur drinkers,” the branch took the decision, a few years ago, to move the event into January.

This switch suited many CAMRA members as well, especially as the run up to Christmas is often a hectic time for those still working, or with families to consider, so this year’s post-Christmas get together will be taking place at the Nelson. 

The Bailey clan will be attending, and Matthew has very kindly offered to drive us there and back. This is because Mrs PBT’s still doesn’t feel up to walking a distance of around 2. 5 miles there and back, so it is good of son Matt to step up to the plate.

Matthew also drove us yesterday evening, and after we had bought the item we were after in Waitrose, dropped us both outside the Nelson Arms. The pub was reasonably busy, especially for January, and supporting local pubs during this notoriously quiet time of the year, was another factor in the decision to postpone the Christmas meal until the New Year.

I did my usual quick scan of the hand-pulls as we approached the bar, and could not fail to notice the clip for Harvey’s XXXX Old Ale. This delectable dark ale is one of my favourite seasonal beers, But yesterday was the first time this winter, that I’d seen it on sale anywhere. I had intended on only having a half; the reason being this cough and cold I’d been suffering with had put me off my beer, but with the bright-red pump clip just inches from my face, meant I just had to go for a pint.

I was glad that I did, as despite my taste buds having taken a knock, the beer was very it as good as I remember it from previous years. Matthew and I grabbed a seat, which allowed me the opportunity to try out the camera on my new Xiaomi phone.

A little later on, Matt the landlord appeared behind the bar, so I popped across for a chat. I’d also noticed the presence of Lacon’s Audit Ale on the bar. This legendary beer, from Lacon’s of Great Yarmouth,  is a resurrection of an historic style of beer, brewed by the original Lacon’s Brewery, back in the 1930’s.

Audit Ale has been a fairly regular feature on the bar of the Nelson, ever since it won an award at CAMRA’s Winter Ales Festival, last year. The story goes that after enjoying this 8.0% beer at the festival in Norwich,  Matt was so impressed with  that him and his wife pre-ordered some casks from Lacon’s, and then drove up to Yarmouth to collect them.

This was my first taste of this award-wining ale, and I was surprised at how pale in colour it was.  Unsurprisingly it had a tremendous depth of flavour, and was just the thing for someone suffering the after effects of a cold. Needless to say I restricted myself to a half, particularly as I'd been off the beer for the best part of a week.

Matt told me that he’d only just put the beer on, and that it would be even better by Sunday, after it’d had undergone a further period of maturation in the cellar. If the Harvey’s Old lasts out until Sunday as well, this year’s post-Christmas dinner should certainly be an occasion to remember!

A pint of "Brexit Best?" - No thanks!

Somewhat predictably, and perhaps almost inevitably, there have been calls for brewers to produce a "commemorative beer" to mark Britain’s imminent departure from the European Union. The calls have come from a group of Conservative MP’s, led by Kate Griffiths, the newly elected MP for Burton-on-Trent.  Ms Griffiths called for a special “Brexit pint” to mark what she calls this historic moment.

In the House of Commons she asked the Brexit secretary to support her proposals. "Would my right honourable friend agree that to mark us leaving the European Union, our fantastic local breweries in Burton-on-Trent should brew a celebratory Brexit beer?"

Responding for the government, Stephen Barclay said: "Mr Speaker from the reaction of the house my honourable friend strikes an extremely positive note. I know her constituency is famed for its beer and am sure many members of this house would welcome them celebrating this occasion in such a way.”
 
Not everyone in the House of Commons agreed, with the Scottish National Party in particular, less than impressed. Their spokesman said that “Brexit would not be a moment of celebration for many people across the UK, but rather a moment of considerable concern.” 

Unsurprisingly I am in total agreement with the SNP.  Brexit is an unmitigated disaster, which has already cost the UK economy almost £70bn – the equivalent of around £1,000 for every person in the country, and no amount of flag-waving is going to change that. Like the event itself, Kate Griffith’s Brexit-inspired beer, is much more likely to leave a nasty taste in the mouth, than be a cause for celebration.

There are no sound economic reasons for us to be turning our backs on our nearest neighbours, in the world’s largest trading bloc; only ideological ones. The people behind Brexit are a relatively small, but rather cunning clique of right-wing, libertarian, ultra-free marketeers who, quite cleverly, managed to convince sufficient voters that the ills which afflicted large areas of the county, were due to our membership of the EU.

In doing so, they conveniently forgot to mention that the austerity measures introduced by a previous Conservative government, were the real reasons behind many of the nation's problems. These Euro-sceptics were aided and abetted by a hostile press that had spent the past three decades painting the European Union in the blackest of lights possible.

Given this background of suspicion and outright hostility,  the outcome of the 2016 referendum was hardly surprising, and that’s without taking into account the influence of the Russian government and the shadowy activities of groups such as Cambridge Analytica.

Given the narrowness of the result, the triumphalist calls  from MP's such as Kate Griffiths and Stephen Barclay, for a celebration, are at best insensitive and at worst damn right insulting! They ignore the fact that in the December 12^th  general election, by a margin of more than one million, more UK voters backed parties calling for a second EU referendum than supported those arguing for withdrawal without a confirmatory vote.

In addition, with less than three weeks to go before 31^st January, a new poll has shown that voters are now split by the highly symbolic margin of 52-48 per cent in favour of Remain; the reverse of the result of the 2016 referendum.

I for one certainly won’t be celebrating on 31^st January, and neither will I be buying any Brexit beer. The only consolation is that with this sorry event taking place in winter, the obligatory calls for Union-flag bedecked street parties, a good old fashioned sing-song and all the other jingoistic nonsense can safely be ignored.

The best laid plans and all that - or man-flu again!

Unfortunately the man-flu returned with a vengeance, just in time to scupper any plans I my have had for the weekend. I thought I’d shaken my cough and cold off whilst in Dundee, but according to Mrs PBT’s, who knows far more about these things than I do, I must have picked up another bug, during my time away.

The temptation is to blame being cooped up in an aircraft where there’s the risk of contracting something nasty from a fellow passenger, but last week’s flights were only just over an hour each way, and having read up on how air is circulated, and filtered on a plane, I’ve discovered the environment is far healthier than you might think. So all in all, it’s a bit of a mystery.

The main event spoiled by this particular bug, was another pub walk; this time to the Spotted Dog, near Penshurst. Mrs PBT’s visited the pub just over a week ago, and came back with glowing reports – although she didn’t relay any information about the beer. So when a couple of members from our WhatsApp Weekend Walking Group put forward a walk to this attractive, but rather isolated old pub, I jumped at the chance.

Unfortunately I started feeling rough on Friday morning, and by the time I arrived home from work, the cold was in full swing. An early night didn’t help matters and neither did a lie-in. I drove Mrs PBT’s down to Waitrose to pick up some shopping, and then called in at the Post Office to collect a couple of Passport renewal forms – one for her and the other for Matthew. They’ll no doubt be getting those nasty, new blue passports, but my own maroon one, still has six years left on it.

Despite feeling under the weather, I used the time wisely, sorting out and putting away some of the things I got for Christmas. With bottles and cans of beer featuring high on the Christmas list, I worked out I’ve got sufficient beer to float the proverbial battleship, or put another way enough to last me well into spring.

I also treated myself to a new phone, and whilst I ordered it prior to Christmas, it only arrived on Friday. I therefore spent some time setting up and optimising my new Xiaomi Mi 9T phone. Unfortunately I’m not a tech-wizard, and for some reason I was unable to transfer across all the contacts from my old phone.  I’ll get one of my technicians at work to have a look at it.

The main reason for me upgrading my phone was the memory on the previous one was so full, that many of the apps had stopped working, but the other reason is the Mi 9T has a 48 MP, triple lens camera capable of use at low levels of lighting. This should prove handy when taking photos for use on the blog.

I had another electronic device to play with as well, in the form of a “Sports Watch” which will synchronise to my new phone. Now me and the word “sports” don’t exactly go together, but the watch will come in useful for tracking my lunchtime walks and also counting the number of steps I undertake each day. The plan is that it will assist me with increasing my fitness levels  over the coming months, and help me lose some weight as well.

It would have come into its own, had I felt well enough to have participated in this morning’s pub walk. I haven’t really felt the need for a beer, and whilst I did crack open a can of Jaipur last night, with my taste-buds not functioning as they should, this normally excellent beer, tasted absolutely foul. So it’s a cup of coffee instead and then another early night. We’ll see then what next week brings!!

Dundee

I arrived back home from a three day business trip to Scotland at around 6.30pm on Wednesday evening. I want to emphasise that it was a business trip, so there was precious little opportunity for sneaking off and doing some pub exploration of my own. Despite this, it was an enjoyable, and at times fun, experience and, as the old cliché goes, just good to get out of the office!

I travelled up with our Business Development Manager, in order to give a presentation to the sales representatives from one of or

largest UK customers. This was new experience for me, but everything went well, we picked up some first rate feedback and met lots of interesting and useful (from a business perspective), people.

Dundee was our destination, and was my first visit to the city which looks out across the Firth of Tay. We debated the best way of travelling there and back, with flying coming out on top, despite me wanting to let the train take the strain. Our fly-drive was definitely the best option, as it meant we had the use of a car whilst in Dundee. In addition the flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh was only just over an hour, compared with four and a half hours by train and seven and a half hours by car, should you be foolish to attempt the drive in one hit.

There is one direct, daily return flight to Dundee, with Logan Air; never heard of them, then you are not alone. They are a Scottish regional airline which operate out of Stansted for the Dundee route. We drove past Dundee Airport on Monday evening, when we took a quick drive into the city. Let’s just say it was small, with a tiny, 1930’s style control tower, perched on top of the flat-roof terminal.

So all things considered, our choice of plane plus hire-car, was the best, and least stressful option. I was impressed with Edinburgh Airport, despite the construction work being carried out to improve its capacity. It is well-laid out making it easy to navigate one’s way around.

There are good public transport links, not just to the city centre, but to two peripheral stations, where onward journeys can be made to various Scottish destinations, as well as some across the border into England. On the way to collect our hire car, we passed the tram terminal. I made a mental note of it for future reference.

Our route to Dundee took us north across the recently-opened Queensferry Crossing, which carries the M90 motorway across the Forth, and runs adjacent to the Forth Road Bridge. Use of the latter is now restricted to buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians, following the discovery of a number of structural defects in 2005.  Visible the other side of this 50 year old suspension bridge, is the iconic Forth Rail Bridge, which opened in 1890. 

After crossing the River Tay, to the south of Perth, we turned onto the A90, which took us all the way to Dundee. The city’s Double Tree by Hilton Hotel was our home for the next two nights. It was comfortable, well-appointed and reasonably priced at £66 per night; a rate which included a decent buffet breakfast, or kippers, if preferred.

The presentation we attended was held at the nearby Invercase Hotel, which had fine views across the Tay estuary. We returned to the hotel on the Tuesday evening, for a dinner and fancy-dress party. It was a long and tiring day, especially for my colleague who talked himself hoarse, but it was good for our company and we received some really positive feedback about our products and the service we provide.

I said at the beginning of this post there would be very little about beer or pubs that I could write about, and for a start, I saw no cask on sale. On the first evening, my colleague and I walked along to the local Beefeater restaurant, at Gourdie Croft, largely at his suggestion.

It was only a 15 minute walk, but quite a dodgy thing to do, as the route followed the A90 dual-carriageway, and whilst there was a pavement along one carriageway, we had to cross over to the other side - a move that included hopping over the crash-barrier on the central reservation!

There were two hand-pulls on the bar, both with their Doom Bar clips turned round. The bar manager was quite apologetic, but the non-availability of DB was no great loss as far as I was concerned. I consoled myself with a couple of bottles of Erdinger Wheat Beer. The meal was pleasant enough, even if it was standard Beefeater fayre.  We walked back along the grass verge on the opposite carriageway, as I said I would rather end up with muddy shoes, than get knocked down by a speeding car!

The beer selection at our hotel was actually better than the Beefeater, as the bar offered bottles of Schiehallion Lager from Harviestoun as well as Brew Dog Punk IPA. At the Invercase Hotel though, it was Tenants, Stella or a real blast from the past in the form of McEwan’s Export (keg of course). I had a pint of the very bland Tenants, before moving on to red wine for the rest of the evening.

My colleague was careful not to consume too much alcohol that evening, as although we took a taxi to and from the evening party, there was the small matter of him having to drive the following morning. I’d warned him about Scotland’s draconian drink-driving laws, as had several other people, because given the much lower permitted blood-alcohol limit, it is quite possible to be over the drink-drive limit the morning after the night before.

Fortunately he heeded the advice, although as it was 11am when we checked out of our hotel, I imagine there was ample time for the alcohol to be fully metabolised. Our flight wasn’t due to depart until 14.55, so we took a leisurely drive back to Edinburgh Airport.

There was still time to kill before our flight, so after returning the hire car, and passing through security in double-quick time, we decided that a drink and something to eat was in order.

There is a large Wetherspoon outlet airside, at the airport in the form of the Sir Walter Scott, and cask is obviously a feature, but my eye had been caught by the nearby Brew Dog bar, so that’s where we ended up. A pint of Lost Lager for my colleague, plus a pint of Indie Pale Ale for me,  was just right.

Afterwards we each grabbed a baguette from Pret A Manger, before boarding our Easy Jet flight back to Gatwick. My train journey back to Tonbridge took the same time as the flight, as there were delays due to signalling problems.

It was an interesting trip, although I unfortunately picked up another cold, whilst away – hence the delay in publishing this post! The photos are rather random, but they should convey something of the flavour of my short trip north of the border.

It's the same, the whole world over...........

Real Ale, Real Music, whose excellent blog I only discovered recently, describes the inertia, slovenliness and lethargy that infects the nation during the period between Christmas and New Year, as the “dog days of winter.”

It is the equivalent, as it were of the well-known “dog days of summer;” the period between July and early September when the weather is traditionally at its hottest and its most uncomfortable. These climatic conditions are perhaps, unsurprisingly, characterised by stagnation and a lack of activity.

What I’m leading up to here is there has been very little for me to personally write about, as since before Christmas I haven’t been anywhere to speak of, or done much that it worthy of sharing with a wider audience. So what is a frustrated beer writer to do under such circumstances?

The answer of course, is to look elsewhere for inspiration, so a quick Google search for beer-related news stories, threw us, amongst other worthy items, this particular story from 2018. The story surfaced on the Independent’s website, but looking at the small print it originated from the New York Times. It concerns that most German of institutions, the local beer-hall which, believe it or not, is facing very similar problems to the traditional English pub.

As in the UK, changing demographics, and an increasingly ageing population, has led to a significant drop in the number of traditional pubs, restaurants and beer halls. So whether they be “gasthof” , “wirtshaus” or “kneipe”, their numbers declined by a massive 20 per cent between the years 2010 and 2016, according to the German Hotel and Catering Association.

Increasing urbanisation, that has drawn young people away from rural areas and depleted villages, combined with different aspirations of a younger generation have all left their mark. Now, with more people relying on social media as their source of news stories, or the place to exchange gossip, traditional outlets like the village local are dying on their feet.

The Independent’s story focused on the settlement of Handorf-Langenberg, in northwest Germany. A village of 1,500 inhabitants where Zum Schanko, the village beer hall that had acted as community centre and celebratory space for countless birthdays, baptisms and other gatherings with family and friends closed, following the sudden death of its owner, Hubert Frilling.

Mourners, who had packed the nearby Church of St Barbara for Frilling’s funeral, were told by the local the pastor, that “The heart of Handorf-Langenberg has stopped beating,” but what made matters worse was no-one seemed willing to take the place on, and run it as a traditional beer hall.

There had been interest in the premises for places such as pizza joints or Asian fast food outlets, but this wasn’t what the locals wanted for their village. Fortunately, as has happened over here, a number of local people got together to raise sufficient funds to buy the pub for themselves, and continue running it along traditional lines.

This was achieved by setting up a cooperative and selling shares to local residents and others who felt a connection to the beer hall. The oldest shareholder was in his eighties; the youngest, received a stake on the day she was born. It was still a race against time, to raise the €200,000 needed to buy the place but, as with all good stories that end happily, they managed it. 

They even found someone to run the place in the form of  Andreas Mählmann, from a town 30 miles up the road, but who knows the local dialect still spoken by many patrons. Together with his partner, Gabi Von Husen, they offer a menu based on  schnitzel and sauerbraten, with special menus for Christmas, plus the all-important asparagus harvest in the spring and kale in the winter.

Stories like this one, have been repeated all over Germany but, as in England, not all have a happy ending. In a bid to try and save traditional pubs, the government in Bavaria approved a €27m package of financial support, aimed at helping owners of beer halls and restaurants in rural areas survive, but not all states have followed Bavaria’s example.

As part of their fund-raising campaign, the people looking to secure Zum Schanko, wrote to Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, hoping to capitalise on how he had highlighted the country’s urban-rural split in his annual Christmas address the previous year.

A letter signed by the president himself came back, praising the effort to save Schanko as “a striking example of what can be achieved in rural regions through taking the initiative and self-help projects”.

Unfortunately we do not have such enlightened individuals heading up the UK government, so even more than in Germany, it is up to us as individuals who love and care about our traditional pubs, to continue giving them our support.