Carry on cruising - a further retrospective post from onboard ship

Spoiler alert, I wrote the bulk of this post whilst on board ship but was unable to publish it due to the Wi-fi and internet problems I encountered. I had almost forgotten about it, but then, after seeing a request from a cruise-news hungry commentator, I dug out the laptop, polished the rough edges away from the post, and added the finishing touches. Just reading what I wrote, brings back happy memories of a relaxing time afloat, and it isn’t hard to close my eyes, drift off and imagine I was back on the Queen Victoria, as she made her way through the clear blue crystal waters of the Mediterranean.  

Why not allow your imagination to transport you too, as you settle back in your chair and dream of bright blue, cloudless skies, whilst a warming sea breeze, that has blown all the way from Africa, transports you away from a damp, soggy and decidedly stormy late October-early November, English autumnal day. So read on and see what you think.

Our cruise around the Mediterranean has taken us to variety of different places, and when it is over, we will have visited Spain, Greece + three of its islands, Italy (Sardinia), and Portugal. So far, we have been blessed with perfect Mediterranean weather, although that could of course, change when we head back out into the Atlantic and begin our homeward journey across the notorious Bay of Biscay. The latter has a reputation for stormy weather, but as I sit here typing this post, looking out across the perfectly flat and calm waters, coloured an intense cobalt blue, it’s hard to imagine the storms that could potentially lie ahead on our journey back to blighty.

It's the perfect way to travel, and I can’t tell you just how relaxing it is, sitting up on the top deck, with a choice of either a sunny or a shady position, and just watching the ocean slipping by, as the ship glides serenely through the azure blue ocean. Whether it’s that novel you always promised yourself you’d read, typing up a blog, such as this, watching a film, either in the theatre or in the comfort of your cabin, attending a lecture – also in the theatre, there’s plenty one can do in order to while away the time.

On Friday morning I attended a really entertaining talk from legendary cricket commentator, Henry “Blowers” Blofeld, who had the whole audience in stitches with his tales from the commentary box. His recollections of fellow commentators John Arlott and Brian Johnston, themselves both proper characters in their own right, were also packed full of memorable moments. What was particularly notable, was the way that “Blowers” delivered his talk, without the use of notes, without hesitating, or being lost for words. Apparently, Henry has two more talks to give during our return voyage to Southampton, so I shall definitely be booking myself a front row seat.

There have been other speakers as well, including a veteran British Airways and former Concorde pilot. Coincidentally, the ex-air stewardess, we met earlier, said that she knew this individual, and had flown with him in the past. Also, on the “public speaking” team, was veteran newsreader Peter Snow, accompanied by his wife Ann MacMillan. Peter Snow seemed nowhere near as accomplished in the art of public speaking as “Blowers,” although to be fair I only watched part of his talk on the TV, in our cabin. 

There are plenty of other activities include watercolour painting, fencing, dancing (various types, all of which mean little to me), keep fit, and quiz nights. I have been keeping myself by walking as much as possible, either by laps around the promenade deck, or by using the stairs rather than the lifts, wherever possible. Three laps around the deck are equivalent to one mile, whilst for lightweights, two laps equal one kilometre. As far as decks are concerned, there are 12 in total, although the top two are for the first-class Princess & Queens Grill passengers, as opposed to the rest of us, whilst the lower Deck (A), is where the medical centre is situated.

Whilst on the subject of medical matters, a passenger was evacuated from the ship, by helicopter, on our first night out of Southampton, and this morning, as we left the ship in Lisbon, we saw another poor lady being stretchered off into a waiting ambulance. She had fractured her leg, after slipping down an external staircase, and no, this isn’t a rumour as three people we have got to know, witnessed the incident.

This brings me onto the demographics of the cruise passengers, and the fact that most of them appear much older than ourselves – and yes, that is possible! I’m not certain why this should be, as the four previous cruises we’ve been on have all contained a wide spread of different age groups. The only explanation I can think of is, that just under three weeks, the duration of this particular voyage precludes most people employed in a typical 9 to 5 position. The majority of companies place a two-week maximum period of leave on their employees, for obvious logistical and operational reasons, and so, unless one is retired, or like me just working part time. I was fortunate to have been granted a three-week break, although I gave nearly six months’ notice, and did so in writing.

One thing to mention, before I sign off, I didn’t manage anywhere near the amount of reading that I had planned, and this was down to several factors, that included writing this blog. We also made friends with quite a few other fellow cruisers, thanks in no small way to Mrs PBT’s, who palled up with a diverse crowd of nicotine addicts, up in the “smoking area” on Deck 10. It would have been rather churlish of me to have sat there, with my nose stuck in a book, rather than joining in the conversation.

There is another reason though, and it’s one that cropped up on last year’s Norwegian cruise. You see, my good lady wife thinks I am boring if read, rather than spend time talking to her. I wouldn’t mind so much if she wasn’t the person with her eyes glued to the TV when we’re at home, but since when did logic or consistency ever form part of the female psyche? I shan’t say anymore, even though she rarely, if ever, clicks onto this blog, but you never know!!

 

 

Out of favour(ly)

Like most people I receive far too many emails, and this might be because I have two Yahoo accounts, plus a Gmail one. I also have my own work email account, which is strictly for business.  Unfortunately, I’m not a person who keeps on top of his inbox, despite the best of intentions, although for professional reasons, my work emails are kept right up to date. The other day, I noticed an email from Beer 52, the long-established beer subscription service, advising me that Flavourly, another beer delivery organisation, had ceased trading after entering into administration earlier in October.   

 

Slightly puzzled that Beer 52 had my email address, I remembered that I have dealt with this beer subscription service, at some time in the past. Working on the basis that one person’s misfortune is another’s business opportunity, Beer 52 appear to be approaching former Flavourly customers, in a quite unashamed grab for business. This was evident from the email, below, which went on to say. “Beer 52 was approached to see if they could help Flavourly members continue to discover great beer. and were delighted to share the following service update."

 

“As a former Flavourly customer, you have earned a free case of craft beer (worth £27)! Click below and use your personal code and we'll send an 8-pack of craft beer from our latest theme, award-winning Ferment magazine and a couple of snacks.” It sounds tempting, or perhaps not, although there is no obligation to continue with your subscription because that is what you are signing up to, should you decide to take-up their offer. Beer 52 confirm this by saying, “Of course, you’re free to take the case and run. But if you decide to continue your monthly beer, drop, we’ll send you a new themed box every month, from the haziest NEIPAs to the crispest pilsners. No minimum commitment, cancel anytime.”

I have used several beer subscription services in the past, but it’s worth taking a closer look at Flavourly, not just because they are in the news at the moment, but because they operated a rather different business model to other beer providers. This involved partnering with selected craft-beer breweries, commissioning one-off “specials” or “collaboration beers”, and then guaranteeing to buy these beers in large volumes. The beers were then offered to Flavourly’s customers as exclusives.

This provided a certain volume for the breweries concerned, alongside the bonus of a firm commitment from Flavourly to take the entire batch. The aim was to boost efficiency, attract investment in new equipment, and negotiate better rates on ingredients with their suppliers.

Therefore, unlike certain other online beer retailers, Flavourly were not a subscription service, and with nothing to sign up to, customers could just order, as and when they pleased. Having said that, the company did tend to pester you with emails, highlighting their latest offers, but with no obligation to buy, you could just delete these messages. The beers that the company sold were packaged solely in the 330ml can format, which must have helped streamline their mail order despatch, business model.

This did at least mean that potential subscribers had an inkling of the types and styles of the beers they would be buying - an improvement on the “traditional” beer subscription services, where the provider rather than the customer, chooses the beers supplied. From my point of view, collaboration brews were alright for those wanting to tick beers on “Untappd,” but perhaps not for those who preferred something more permanent rather than “one-offs.”

Flavourly was set up by Ryan O’Rorke in 2012, following an appearance on Dragons’ Den, where he was offered investment by all five dragons. He eventually accepted a joint bid from Piers Linney and Peter Jones for £75,000 in return for a 20% stake. Over the previous two years, Flavourly had generated £600,000 in revenues, had shipped more than 500,000 products to its 10,000 subscribers, and was forecasting a tenfold increase in sales.

Flavourly also raised cash through several crowdfunding exercises, but In 2017 it was sold to Drinkshare Holdings for £118,000, a company which Mr O’Rorke was a director of. At the time of the fund-raising Flavourly was touted as having a value of £1.2m, so somewhere along the line the company decreased quite dramatically in value, and investors who backed the original startup were reputedly left out of pocket. I’m not sure how you value a company whose only assets are the stock it is currently sitting on, plus possible warehousing and distribution space. The latter two can be contracted out, so in the end it boils down to the offers that Flavourly had in which to tempt the customer. I’m beginning to think that apart from the possible novelty value, the brands plus types of beer the company were offering, had slowly stated to lose their appeal.  This is certainly what happened in my case.

At the beginning of March 2022, I ordered myself a mixed case of 48 cans of “craft beer” from Flavourly. My motives in buying this rather large case were mixed but were underscored by a desire to have a selection of different beers at home, to choose from. I’m not sure whether this actually worked, as some of the beers were, quite frankly, disappointing. You could argue that with such a large selection to choose from, there are bound to be a few duds, and you would be right in thinking this. However, at the other end of the spectrum you might expect there to be a few stunners, but there wasn’t any, although there was a few worthy of seeking out again.

I worked out that there were 22 different brews, which suggested that whilst there were two cans of most of the beers, there must have been three of some of them. At the end of the day, you win some, you lose others, and on the plus side I had the chance to enjoy some interesting beers. The flip side is the continual search for the new and the original does, at times, invoke a deep-seated sense of longing for the comfort and sense of security that goes with the familiar. In which case, make mine a pint of Harvey’s Sussex Best!

In summary, I feel the points I have raised above must have at least been partly to blame for the fall in valuation of Flavourly as a company, and the decision to put the business into administration. but where this leaves the breweries commissioned to produce the specials and collaborative beers, is any one’s guess. The concept behind Flavourly remains a bold one, and an interesting one too. The reasons for its failure are varied, but in the end probably boil down to the fickleness of the great British public.

Whether this could have been foreseen, is a question for another day, but one thing’s for sure, I won’t be taking Beer 52 up on their offer, as eight cans of supposedly “free beer,” just aren’t worth the hassle of cancelling my subscription further down the line.

Green Hop Ales come of age at the Dovecote

On Friday, in the company of three members of West Kent CAMRA branch, I visited the Dovecote Inn, situated in the tiny hamlet of Capel. Two of us travelled by bus, taking the 205 Autocar service from Tonbridge, and then alighting at Five Oak Green – a linear village, close to Paddock Wood. From there, it was a 20-minute walk, along the lanes to the Dovecote, which along with the adjacent row of Victorian houses, forms part of a rather isolated settlement.

Capel must have been a larger settlement at some time in the past, as half a mile up the road is the church of St Thomas a Becket, which dates back to Norman times. Becket himself is said to have preached at this church, and the tower was partly rebuilt following a fire in 1639. The church contains some extensive wall paintings, which cover most of the nave, which I haven’t seen, although I shall make the effort to do so, when I have a bit more time. The building is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Returning to the Dovecote, the pub is holding a Green Hop Ale Festival this weekend, and with 14 different beers on sale, as well as the pub’s usual stalwarts of Harvey’s and Larkin's, it would have seemed rude, not to have paid a visit. It also provided, for me, the ideal opportunity of sampling a few of 2023’s crop of GHA’s for the first time. I had missed out on the launch of Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight, for a variety of reasons, and shortly after the promotion’s launch, I was out of the country for three weeks. The event at the Dovecote therefore presented an opportunity to redeem the situation, in a small, but quite significant way.

The significance derives from a school of thought which says that although Green Hop Ales are intentionally brewed using freshly harvested hops, the finished beers benefit from a period of maturation and storage. This idea, and the principles behind it, is slowly gaining traction, and when one looks back at the concept over its relatively short history, it begins to make sense. The very first Green Hop Ales were of necessity experimental, as no one really knew how many hops needed to be added at the start of the brewing process, or how the finished product would turn out.  

Hops, of course, are normally dried and from experience gained over many years, the brewer knows the correct weight of hops to be added to each brew, in order to achieve the desired result and a consistent end product. Freshly harvested hops are not dried and are added “wet” – or “green” and whilst some might think it a simple matter of extrapolating back the dried hop weight for the wet one, in theory it doesn’t always work out like that.

Consequently, many of the original GHA’s were unbalanced, and rather over-hopped, to put it mildly! I remember some of these beers possessing a rich resinous taste, alongside an almost oily texture. In many cases you could actually feel the hops oils coating your tongue and the roof of your mouth. This feature was obviously apparent to the brewers of these beers, and gradually, they now seem to have cut down on the amount of wet hops used. As mentioned earlier, the suspicion was green hops were being added to the brew-kettle at the same rate that would have been used for normal dried hops.

Appropriate adjustments were made, but many lovers of these beers felt that the pendulum had swung back too far in the opposite direction. This was apparent in 2019, when I attended the launch of that year’s Kent Green Hop Beers Fortnight, at the Canterbury Food & Drink Festival. I wrote at the time that whilst all the green-hopped beers I tried that day were good, there was little to distinguish them from their normal dry-hop counterparts. 

Several of my companions said the same thing, and we all decided this was because the brewers of GHA’s had become more adept, over the years, at using hops in their natural “wet” state. So, by cutting the amount of green hops used to brew this uniquely seasonal type of beer, the brewers inadvertently removed the very characteristics that attracted drinkers to green-hopped beers in the first place. In effect, a unique and very time of year dependent beer, had been turned into just another run of the mill and rather ordinary one.

Fast forward four years, and in response to this, and with an eye to perhaps rekindling some of the hoppy-resinous character that was a salient feature of those early, GHA’s, the aforementioned idea of allowing the beer to age, and mature, has come about. A chance to sample some of them presented itself at the Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival, a collaboration between West Kent CAMRA and the Tunbridge Wells - based, heritage railway. As in previous years the event included a dedicated Green Hop Beer Bar, featuring one of the widest range of GHA’s in the country.

The beer festival took place last weekend, which unfortunately clashed with our return from holiday, especially as there was lots to do on the home and domestic front. In a small, but still significant way, the Dovecote’s Green Hop Beer Festival acted as a replacement for the main event, at least for me. There were 17 GHA’s on sale, the majority racked on a stillage, occupying an alcove, close to the front door of the pub. 

I think I am correct in saying that this was the Dovecote’s first event involving green hop beers, and the selection they put on was a mixture of old favourites alongside a few newcomers. The majority of the beers were from brewers based in Kent and Sussex, although there was one from north London-based Redemption using hops freshly harvested from Townend Hop Farm, in Herefordshire. The latter was an important feature, as the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, have now overtaken Kent in terms of the acreage of hops grown.

I kicked off with Gadd’s Green Hop from Ramsgate, described as a pale ale high in bitterness, with floral hops through and through. This 4.8% beer didn’t disappoint, as I knew it wouldn’t, especially as Gadd’s have a reputation amongst local drinkers for the quality of their beers. Next up was the 4.3% Cascade Green Hop from Bexley Brewery. Brewed, as its name suggests, using fresh Cascade hops, I wasn’t sure at first whether or not to go for this one. Bexley Brewery beers always seemed a bit hit and miss to me, but after my CAMRA friends informed me, the company had upped its game, I bit the bullet and went for it.

It was a decent and refreshing session bitter, so I was pleased not to have let past prejudices affect my choice of beer.  I only had time for one final beer, as I needed to be back at Bailey Towers before 3 pm. You might have seen me mention the decorators we had in, whilst we were away. Their brief was to paint the walls, ceilings and exposed woodwork on our stairs and landing, a task we had only half-heartedly undertaken during the past three decades. I’d also asked them to remove the stair carpet, and with Mrs PBT’s keen on having a new one laid, a surveyor from Carpetright was booked to call.

This meant having to leave to leave the Dovecote at 2.15 pm, in order to catch the 205 bus back to Tonbridge. Before leaving the pub, I squeezed in a swift half of Wantsum Bullion, a 4.6% green hop stout brewed using Bullion hops. I written previously that the concept of green hopped dark beers doesn’t really work. This offering from Wantsum Brewery did little to change my mind, but sometimes you have to give these things a try.

I left my three friends to enjoy a few more GHA’s, plus some of the Dovecote's delicious looking food, and made my way back to Five Oak Green and the bus home. On my way to the bus stop, I realised I had left my umbrella in the pub. There wasn’t time to go back for it, so after a quick phone call with the licensee, to confirm its presence, I shall have to call in for it, some time over the weekend. It will be a good excuse to discover which GHA’s are left, and to grab a quick one for myself.

 

My longing for a pint of English ale, in an English pub, is finally satisfied.

After over three weeks’ worth of blogging about cruising and visiting foreign parts, we come back down to earth now with a bang, in the form of a brief respite from exotic locations, blue skies and hot sunny days afloat. In common with all good things, our three-week cruise sadly came to an end when we docked at Southampton, early on Friday morning.

A rather damp Saturday was spent unpacking followed by a shopping expedition to Tesco, in order to restock the food cupboard. Sunday dawned bright and sunny, so after a brief lie-in, I was up, and out of bed, at least half an hour before Mrs PBT's. By the time she eventually surfaced, I had a machine load of washing on the go, had finished emptying my suitcase, and returned virtually all of the items taken with me on the cruise, back to their rightful place.

My wife was some way behind me, although we were not in a race with one another, and to be fair, she probably packed twice as much clothing as I did. She had also packed for both warm and cold conditions, as I later discovered, when I started emptying one of her cases. As it turned out, the cardigans, scarves etc, all designed to keep her warm on deck when the winds were blowing, and the rain lashing down, were not needed, as apart from the last three days we were blessed with wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures that were positively balmy.

Afterwards, I did a spot of tidying up in the garden. There were several bowls worth of tomatoes to be picked, and Eileen ended frying some of them up for a light breakfast/early lunch. You can't beat sun ripened tomatoes freshly picked from the garden, and with some thick, crusty bread to mop up the juices, this was just the thing to set us both up for the day ahead. By mid-afternoon I had achieved most of what I’d set out to do in the garden, and decided it was time for a well-earned pint of traditional English ale. Consequently, I headed down into Tonbridge to the Nelson Arms which, as many followers of this blog will be aware, is one of the best pubs in town. To underscore this status, the Nelson was recently announced as one of four finalists, in the 2023 CAMRA National Pub of the Year contest.

I am not sure when judging for the final round of the contest takes place but having got this far, and into the top four finalists, is a fantastic achievement and something that Matt, Emma, and the rest of the team at the Nelson, can be immensely proud of. Being Sunday lunchtime, I expected the Nelson to be busy, but even so I was taken aback at just how many people were crammed into the pub. With no chance of a seat, I squeezed myself in at a corner to the left of the bar counter and waited to be served.

As always, there was a good selection of beer on offer, but the one that caught my eye was Shere Drop, from Surrey Hills Brewery, and a beer I've always held in high regard. The pint that the bar staff pulled up for me, certainly didn't disappoint, and whilst it wasn't strictly true to say that it hardly touched the sides, I still managed to knock it back quite rapidly. It’s hard to say whether my thirst was due to the warm and sunny late October conditions outside, my brisk walk down from home, or a combination of both, but whatever the reason that pint slid down a treat. It was definitely one of the best beers I’ve had in a long, long time.  

I noticed a friend from CAMRA, sitting round the corner and enjoying Sunday lunch with his wife and either mother or mother-in-law, and popped over to say hello, but not wishing to intrude on an extended family meal, I only stopped for he briefest of chats. Jon asked if I'd gone over to the Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival, which was taking place over the weekend. I told him I hadn’t, as I had just returned from holiday. He replied that he hadn't been to the festival either but had heard that prices were on the steep side. The high prices were confirmed on Monday, by a work colleague, although she did say the beers were in good condition.

Either way, I’m pleased for both the local CAMRA branch, and the staff of the Spa Valley Railway, all of whom work tirelessly to make the event a success. For my part, I was just pleased to be spending my time in an unspoiled, traditional town pub that could be on the verge of scooping the highest award that any pub can wish for, rather than being crammed in at a crowded and, at times manic beer festival, regardless of how many beers might be on sale.

Returning to the Nelson, the pub certainly appeared popular that day, with sports fans in the left-hand bar, and diners enjoying a Sunday roast, or an afternoon drink in the rest of the pub. Despite the hustle and bustle, Matt still found time for a brief chat with me, before being called away to take another food order help the waiting staff clear space for the next influx of hungry local residents. Taking time to acknowledge customers, both old and new is always the sign of a good landlord, and Matt is definitely one of the best.

Following on from the Surrey Hills offering, I decided to go for a pint of Gales HSB, a beer that is something of an old favourite, but which has made a comeback in recent years, thanks to promotion from “new” owners, Fuller’s. I wrote about HSB back in the summer after it made a couple of appearance locally, turning up in both Tonbridge and Lewes. It was in fine form at the Nelson as well, on Sunday, so perhaps I should have stuck with it, instead of going all experimental.

By this I am referring to an “Elderberry Porter” called Ebulum, from Rother Valley Brewery, which wasn’t quite as appealing as it sounded. Having sampled homemade elderberry wine in the dim and distant past, I should have remembered that these berries have a high tannin content, which can impart a very astringent mouthfeel to the finished product. Ebulum was no exception, and although an interesting experiment on the part of the brewery, it really didn’t work for me.

The beer was OK, and certainly not undrinkable, but at the same time I was glad to have only ordered a half. By the time I'd ordered this third beer, several of the dining parties had left the premises and eventually I had a very nice and comfortable easy chair tucked away in the snug bar, which is almost a separate room, to the far right of the main bar. It was an extremely pleasant way to while away a Sunday afternoon, and just what I needed to set me up ready for the rigours of a return to work after a three-week absence.