Christmas is nearly here

Christmas day is nearly upon us, and I have to say that, as in previous years, it’s crept up on us and caught us unawares. When all is said and done, Christmas is just another day, albeit with lot of fuss and faffing around associated with it. To be fair though, it does brighten up the darkest time of the year, so you can sort of see why the early Christian church adopted the old pagan festival of Yule, as a means of celebrating the slow, but steady lengthening of the days, following the winter solstice.

At the moment, all three of us Bailey’s are caught up in the yo-yo effects of the latest respiratory virus that is doing the rounds. Mrs PBT’s has been quite badly affected, and it seems that now son Matthew has also gone down with this bug, something that is unusual for him, as he normally has a cast iron constitution. Working in a forward-facing, customer service roll (retail), doesn’t help, but at least he can take things easy for a couple of days before the mania of the Boxing Day sales kicks off on Wednesday.

Apart from feeling somewhat washed out, I’m OK, and will be looking forward to cracking open a few beers later on. As in previous years, I’ve built up quite a stock of both bottles and cans this year, although it’s mainly the latter. As in previous years, it will be just the three of us, sitting down to Christmas dinner tomorrow. With Eileen and I having lost both or respective sets of parents, and with siblings scattered far and wide, the Christmases where we all squeezed around the table are long gone.

I must say I prefer things with just the three of us, as those large, family get togethers could be a little strained. Also, in times past, they often involved me having to drive, and whilst I never intend getting trolleyed, I do enjoy a glass or three with my turkey dinner, and post dinner as well. Just as well, I suppose, as I’m once again without the use of a car, following an almost identical repeat of September’s glow plug warning light issue, and a loss of power from the engine. This followed a drive home on Friday afternoon, following a shopping trip to the Tesco superstore at Riverhead.

Matthew and I had driven over to, to stock up on various Christmas goodies, of the food variety, in an annual father and son trip that has become something of a tradition in the Bailey household. I’ve written about this before, so I won’t bore you with any further details, apart from saying we normally make it an evening visit. Thinking the store would be less crowded during the afternoon, we arrive at Tesco shortly after 2pm and were surprised to find the place absolutely rammed. We got that wrong, but after escaping from the store, and with our goodies safely stashed in the boot, we set off for home.

We were motoring quite nicely, along the main A21 trunk road, towards Tonbridge and had just reached the summit of River Hill, when the car suddenly lost power and the glow-plug warning light started flashing on the dashboard. I had a real feeling of déjà vu, as this seemed an exact repeat of the incident, we experienced on the M25, smart motorway, just three months ago, but this time around, I was determined to keep going and reach home, rather than having to be recovered from the side of the road.

We made it back, without any dramas, and the vehicle is booked in for a diagnostic check, this coming Thursday. September’s issue was a faulty fuel injector, and given the age of the car, and the mileage on the clock, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same thing. The annoying thing is I was planning (still am) to part-exchange the car against a newer model, so I could do without the expense of repairing the vehicle, just to get shot of it in a few weeks’ time, but we will have to see how the maths works out, when set against the cost of repairs. In the meantime, I’m not too bothered about being without a car, as I have my bus pass and railcard, and Matthew can ferry Eileen and I around, for a while.

So back to the festivities, or lack of them, as our infectious condition did mean us having to cry off from the annual “mulled wine, cider, sausage rolls and mince pies” with our neighbours down the road. I’ve a feeling we missed this annual get together last year, due to me having COVID, but whilst it’s nice catching up with what’s occurring down the street, I really don’t like mulled wine, and I’m quite particular over the cider I drink, as well.

I walked down to Waitrose yesterday, to collect our pre-ordered turkey crown, plus a few other bits and pieces. Whilst in the store, I bumped into an old friend who I hadn’t seen for some time, who was out shopping with his wife. With seasonal aliments being one topic of conversation, my friend’s wife informed me that she’d been suffering from the “boomerang” effects of this chesty cough for the past six weeks – a prospect that fills me with considerable trepidation, apart from the fact she is probably a decade or so older than me. Time to stock up on some strong, seasonal  beers, methinks.

I’m tempted to crack open the bottle of Harvey’s Christmas Ale that I’ve got downstairs, although I shall probably opt for the bottle of Westmalle Dubbel, that I left chilling slightly, on the back doorstep, because as it is the season to be jolly, I can’t think of anything better than a rich, dark, and warming winter ale. Writer Jonny Garrett has this topic nailed, in his excellent “A Year in Beer” book that I read last year. I made a list somewhere, inspired by Jonny’s book, of the best beer and food pairings, and I’ve just managed to lay my hands on it.

There’s nothing that out of the ordinary on the list, so I should be safe with my carefully accumulated collection of Quadrupels – for the Christmas pudding, strong porters and even that bottle of St Bernardus Christmas Ale that I’ve got, stashed away in the cupboard under the stairs. For “in between” drinking, I’ve got several bottles of Pilsner Urquell keeping cool. As for the main event, there’s my perennial favourite, Fullers 1845. Coming in at 6.5% abv, this strong and full-bodied, bottle-conditioned amber ale is just the thing for a roast turkey, Christmas dinner.

Still to come is my look-back at 2023, with particular regard to beer and travel. This is something I’ve done for most years, in common with most other beer bloggers and writers. In the meantime, though, I’d like to wish each and everyone of you a happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year, and thank-you all for staying the course, and continuing to read this blog.

The Beer Bucket List - from a personal perspective

It's strange how people sometimes come into one’s life then, as quick as they appear, they vanish. When you're approaching the 70th anniversary of your arrival on planet Earth, all sorts of people have crossed your path, often going back many decades. Apart from family members, these people include those who we went to school with - infant, primary, and secondary school, and then, for those fortunate to have attended university, people from your student days.

Following on, and into the world of employment, in whatever category, there are work colleagues who become a part of one’s life, for various periods of time. If, like me, you've worked in a variety of industries, and for several different employers, sometimes in different parts of the country, then there are more people whose career paths cross with yours.

The example I'm about to give, isn't someone who was part of my life for any significant period of time, and it isn't someone I claim to know well either, but the other day his name flashed up on a well-known beer blog (Boak & Bailey), along with a link, that provided a fascinating insight into how this individual started off with a beer related blog of his own, before branching into the world of writing, publishing and PR- the latter with at least one well known and well respected international brewery. With this in mind, it's worth taking a brief look back not just at what this former blogger's achieved, but how one of his later books ended up give me something to reference my own their experiences against, and this latter point is really the main subject of this particular post.

I started Paul’s Beer & Travel blog, in the autumn of 2008, joining a number of individuals whose names and reputations were far more illustrious than my own, and some of whom are still writing about beer today. Most though why they got bored with the subject, branched out into different areas of interest, made a definite career out of beer writing, or sadly in a number of cases, have shuffled off this mortal coil. Just over a year later, in December 2009, I had an enforced day off work it's due to heavy snowfall, I was unable the drive into the factory. In addition, there were no trains running either (no surprises there), so feeling at a loose end, I decided take a wander down into Tonbridge.

The following narrative, from my post of 18^th December tells the story, and provides the link to this article, some 14 years on. The snow clouds had cleared leaving a beautiful bright and crisp sunny morning. so off I went with no clear-cut plan, apart from picking up some Czech currency for my forthcoming trip to Prague. This accomplished, I made my way to Tonbridge's only independent book shop, MR Books, for a chat with the then owner Mark Richardson, and also to see if I could pick up a copy of Jaroslav Hasek's, satirical classic, The Good Soldier Svejk, ahead of my forthcoming visit to Prague.

"You're not the first beer blogger in today", Mark informed me. "Oh", I replied, "who was the other?" The "Pencil & Spoon" blogger, I was told, and he said he wants to meet you. "Mark Dredge" I said, slightly surprised, "in here? "Why not," said MR Books' proprietor, "he only lives across the road in one of the new flats". I responded that I would like to meet Mark, so following a quick phone, call the winner of the British Guild of Beer Writers New Media Writer of the Year 2009 duly appeared in MR Book’s shop.

I hadn't realised that Mark lived in Tonbridge, but it turned out that him and his girlfriend had recently moved into one of the newly-built flats that occupy the old market site, opposite MR Books shop. Mark couldn't stay long, as he was in the middle of preparing dinner, but we had a pleasant chat, nonetheless. We both griped about the lack of a decent boozer in Tonbridge, and certainly the lack of anywhere selling the darker ales which ought to be about this time of year. MR Books suggested that I open a pub but having run the Cask & Glass off-licence for five and a half years, I'd had more than enough of the licensed trade!
 

We parted company, promising to meet up soon for a drink, but as is often the way with such well-meaning intentions we never did. Continued following Mark’s Pencil and Spoon blog, even though he seemed to be branching off it in a slightly different direction, and it was to be a further five years for our paths crossed again. In the summer of 2014, I attended my first European Beer Bloggers Conference. Held in Dublin, this was one of three such events held in various European capitals I enjoyed, during the latter half of that decade, and was, as fellow beer Blogger, Tandleman, forewarned me, a very boozy affair. Tandleman was right of course, and to say that the beer flowed freely would be an understatement, and what’s more it was included in the price of the conference package.

Not included though, was accommodation, or the cost of travel to and from the host city. However, some pretty decent food, plus a substantial end of conference meal, was part and parcel of the deal, so who stumped up the cash for the food and the beer? The answer of course, is the sponsors, and given the location of the conference, it’s no surprise that Guinness were one of the main backers of the event. Also high amongst the main sponsors were Czech brewers, Pilsner Urquell, who had brought over their own mobile bar, complete with integral cooling unit, plus glass rinser. It was then that I bumped into Mark Dredge again, who by this time was working for Pilsner Urquell, as part of their PR team.

Three years later, and Mark and I crossed paths again, not in a physical sense, but following an approach from the publishers of his latest book. Titled The Beer Bucket List,” was described by publishers Dog ‘n’ Bone, as a “Collection of over 150 unmissable beer experiences, featuring the world’s greatest beer, bar, breweries and events: it’s the ultimate bucket list for every beer lover.”

Asked if I would like to review what turned out to be Mark’s 5^th book, I of course said yes, and after my complimentary review copy arrived, I soon got stuck into it. You can read what I wrote here, but for the point of this article, I want to list those unmissable beer experiences of Mark’s that I have enjoyed myself. So, without further ado here they are, in no particular order.

• Tour Fuller’s Griffin Brewery
• Best of British Cask Ales (too many to mention)
• Modern (Pale & Hoppy) Cask Ales
• Drink in some Wetherspoons Pubs
• Best of London’s Historic Pubs
• Bermondsey Beer Mile
• Blue Anchor - Helston
• Kent Green Hop Fortnight
• Thanet’s Micro-Pubs
• Visit Burton-on-Trent
• Marston’s Burton Union system
• Sunday roast with a pint of Cask Ale
• Pint of Marble at Marble Arch Inn
• Great British Beer Festival
• Edinburgh pub-crawl
• Drink Guinness in Ireland
• Porterhouse Brew-pub, Dublin
• Oktoberfest Munich
• Augustiner Hell vom Faβ, Munich
• Hofbräuhaus, Munich
• Annafest, Forchheim
• Schlenkerla Tavern, Bamberg
• Weihenstephan – world’s oldest brewery
• Altbier in Düsseldorf
• Kölsch in Cologne
• Drink Baltic Porter in Poland
• Drink Pilsner Urquell in Plzen
• Drink Polotmavý in Czechia
• U Fleků, Prague
• Drink Westvleteren 12° at In de Vrede café, next to the brewery
• Three Classic Belgian Breweries – Rodenbach, Brasserie Du Pont, Westmalle Tripel
• Three Essential Belgian Bars - Moeder Lambic, 't Brugs Beertje, De Halve Maan
• Amsterdam Braun Café, De Wildeman
• Carlsberg Brewery, Copenhagen
• Experience a Hop Harvest
• Visit China – the world’s largest beer market

Writing about the book on his blog, Mark says he was inspired by thinking about where in the world he'd most like to drink a beer. And then by thinking about where he'd suggest others go to drink. The list included the places that any beer lover really should go, plus all those many oddities and idiosyncrasies that make beer – and travelling for beer – so great.

So, with just 36, out of a total of 150 experiences ticked off, there are many more places to go, and beers to drink, but don’t forget, Mark’s list is just one person’s take on the beer world, and others, including me will have their own ideas as to what constitutes an unmissable beer experience. Please let me know what you think.