tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71157111292175146212024-03-10T19:14:25.804+00:00Travels With NateAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03393611989380622061noreply@blogger.comBlogger301125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-48064035707395889542020-01-14T18:55:00.000+00:002020-01-14T18:55:12.431+00:00How I Became Earth Ambassador to Krrrghbräu (Part One)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tuesday 3rd December 2019 was a particularly cold day. I remember it clearly as it was during a particularly tough week. I was hungover from the night before and had no food in the house so I decided to pop to Aldi. Whilst I was there, I grabbed a bottle of Rheinbacher and a Cornish Pasty and decided to sit on a bench in the middle of Anderson's Meadow in Norwich to eat and drink.<br />
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I mean, it started as a relatively normal day as that's the kind of routine I used to live by when I had no food in the house and nothing better to do, but little did I know how crazy my day would get.<br />
<br />
I sat down on the bench and I remember feeling absolutely bloody freezing and questioning why I didn't just go home to begin with. I rolled and lit a cigarette, took my bottle opener out of my coat pocket, popped the top off of my Rheinbacher, placed the opener and bottle cap in my pocket and took a swig as I would any normal day. Ah, delicious 11am Rheiny; refreshing.<br />
<br />
I was about to open my Cornish pasty and take a bite when I heard a strange noise; it was like metallic screeching and I'd assumed it was a car on the road, but looking over to the road on the right, that wasn't the case.<br />
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And then it hit me; a blood orange glow coming from the river, the aura was amazing. Now I'm a curious person, so I walked over to the river, seemingly unconcerned in my hungover state but that seemed like a mistake. I was blinded. I could feel them dragging at my arms, pulling me into the depths of the river but not feeling wet. The sensation of confusion yet clarity was like nothing I'd ever felt before in my life.<br />
<br />
I woke up in what appeared to be like an old medieval tavern, but it wasn't. It reminded me of something you'll see in a medieval movie... wood cladding on the walls, wooden flooring, booths around the room, dining tables in the middle, yet it wasn't. The actual bar stood out as being solid gold and shiny with silver keg taps and a strange looking three eyed creature with long hair, four arms and a slightly square face.<br />
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Waking up in a dream like state, I heard whispers of <i>"he's here. He has arrived. Get the man a beer"</i> and thinking <i>"OK, what the actual fuck?!"</i>. This is when I first noticed the different sizes, shapes and dare I say, races, of the clientele.<br />
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A large being that looked like they'd literally been made of camouflage shouted me over, <i>"Nate, what are you having?"</i> and I sceptically stumbled across to the bar, still in a daze.<i> "Who the fuck are you and where am I?"</i> I said as I glanced at him. <i>"Oh Nate, you know us. I'm Justin and that's Clarence behind the bar. C'mon, I'll get you a drink and explain why we've brought you here again".</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Again? What the fuck, man? I've never been here before."</i> I said, confusingly and fearful. Justin seemed to ignore me as Clarence was pouring a beer <i>"Here's your usual, Nate, Krrrrghbräu Pilsner"</i> and as he slid it across to me I was confused and in awe that it was literally glowing from all sides, perfectly carbonated, in a handled pint glass. <i>"Go on, drink up, we've got a lot to discuss since your last visit!"</i> urged Justin; <i>"What. Fucking. Last Visit?"</i> i replied whilst rubbing my brow and lifting my pint glass.<br />
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I was sceptical but I took a sip and it almost floored me; the aromas, the flavours and the sensations of what appeared to be a German Pilsner were like nothing I had experienced before. I mean, I've been to Germany and Czechia tons of times and had delicious lager but what the fuck did they do to this to make so magical?<br />
<br />
<i>"Justin, just how did you manage to brew something quite so... erm, perfect?"</i> I say, with my eyes glowing in awe. <i>"Oh so you do remember that I'm the brewer then?"</i> he replied. I nodded, but I did not remember.<br />
<br />
As I was introduced to all of the other beings in the room, really nice people by the way, I felt a sense of familiarity. Had I been here before? It feels like I know these people but I don't... or do I?<br />
<br />
<i>"Right, Nate" </i>said Justin, <i>"We need to talk about your last visit. When we brought you here, you got a bit drunk and said you were going to tell everyone so I'm afraid we had to erase your memory but we're ready. We're ready for you to talk about us, but you will never know the location. You won't find us. We choose who we bring here."</i> ... <i>"OK" </i>I replied,<i> "so what do you want me to do and why am I so special?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Justin let out a heavy sigh; <i>"You're a beer blogger, Nate. You're well respected up here and you're the only one we trust. We brought some others here, but it's OK, they won't remember and they were too - what's the English word for Hrhnnnngggg? - anyway, we want to offer you the job of Earth Ambassador to Krrrrghbräu. We want you to spread the message of what we're doing up here in preparation for the Earth trade agreement we're going to propose"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I sit on my gold bar stool, not quite knowing how to respond. I chugged the rest of my beer; I didn't want to, I wanted to savour it but I couldn't process it. By the time I'd finished, Clarence had already poured me another and joked <i>"Bet you didn't expect liquid in space, huh?"</i> but I was too confused to even laugh.<br />
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After necking my second pint with another promptly in front of me, I finally had the confidence to respond <i>"Propose to whom, exactly, Justin? Nobody is going to believe that some..."</i> I choose my words carefully so I don't offend, <i>"erm, beings from elsewhere are real let alone want to trade beer with wherever this is. That's fucking nuts"</i>. Justin took a physical step back and glared at me <i>"But don't you see it Nate? This is where you come in. We've been studying you for years and you seem to have some kind of bizarre influence over people because you're not like the rest. We've looked at all sorts... Matt Curtis, Adrian Tierney-Jones, Pete Brown. None of those are suitable. We need someone they won't expect"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
I finished my pint and you guessed it, Clarence poured me another. <i>"Got a bigger glass, chap? I need to go and think for a while"</i> but he just poured me another. I took my two pints and sat where I woke up, surveying the room, trying my hardest to wake up from the dream or come to terms with what Justin had told me. I sat with my eyes closed, thinking, only occasionally opening them to grab my drink and take a sip... every sip was so magical that it couldn't be real. I kept telling myself to snap out of it. As I was drifting away from my thoughts, I felt something nudge my leg. I kept them closed and felt something heavy land on my lap <i>"Jefforb, down boy"</i> I heard in the distance before opening my eyes to find what appeared to by a tiny blue camel sitting on my lap. I couldn't move. One of the beings came over <i>"I think he likes you. You can take him home, if you'd like" ... "Erm, thanks but how would I explain this?" </i>I replied. She laughed.<br />
<br />
I'd finished both of my beers and sauntered back to the bar for another, where Justin had presumably been staring at me the whole time. Clarence poured me a pint of which I took a sip and sighed because I was feeling the booze a bit by then, <i>"What's the strength of this, Clarence?"</i> ... <i>"Oh, it's only 8%, so one of our weaker ones"</i> he replied. Startled I said <i>"Oh you guys must have a different ABV scale here then</i>". <i>"Nah, it's just that earth people are weak and can't handle it", </i>and the entire bar let out a chuckle.<br />
<br />
I turned to face Justin again; <i>"So?"</i> he said <i>"Thoughts?". </i>I let out a deep breath and asked the question <i>"What do I need to do?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Part two will be available next week. Thanks for reading!</span></i>NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-92089193621204232682020-01-13T17:49:00.000+00:002020-01-13T17:51:11.709+00:007 Completely REAL Yet Unknown Facts About Beer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Beer is a wonderful thing; it comes in many different forms and there are at least 2,397 experts on the internet trying to feed you information about beer.<br />
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There are books, too. Tons of them. Y'know those paper things we kind of forgot about back in 2015? Well, them. They feel funny, so I'm unsure as to why you'd want one when you can get all of your completely REAL yet unknown facts about beer right here on Booze, Beats & Bites!<br />
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<b>HERE ARE 7 COMPLETELY REAL YET UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT BEER:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1) <b>Beer was invented in 1764 in Ukraine</b> - A chap called Boris Krakovic first came up with the special recipe with beer whilst tripping on LSD. He combined a few things and it just worked.<br />
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2) <b>Beer contains more than 4 ingredients</b> - Other sources will lead you to believe that beer is made with Malt, Water, Hops & Yeast but they are WRONG. There are actually 7 ingredients... the other three being real money, old gameboy cartridges and broken dreams.<br />
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3) <b>Beer is better for you than salad</b> - It's why beer doesn't need nutritional information on the label.<br />
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4) <b>Birthday breakfast beer is the law</b> - Since the UN introduced this global law in the year 1947, at least 6 million people have either been fined or jailed for repeatedly skipping their birthday breakfast beer without prior permission.<br />
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5) <b>Time of year + certain styles = changes</b> - For example, if you drink a stout in the summer, you are more likely to grow uncontrollable public hair whilst drinking a helles in winter automatically makes you shit at monopoly.<br />
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6) <b>Brewdog introduced beer to Scotland</b> - Before Brewdog existed, there was actually no such thing as Scottish beer. It was originally called "Malt and Hops Drink". Now, in order to advertise your "Malt and Hops Drink" as beer in Scotland, you have to pay a monthly subscription of £99.99 to Brewdog for the rights.<br />
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7) <b>There is a secret book about beer</b> - Believe it or not, there is actually a secret hidden book about beer that predates the invention of beer itself. Rumours suggest that it was buried 1082ft below the North Pole and predicts many beer events including AB InBev's buyout of Camden Town Brewery.<br />
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Well, there you go, those were <b>7 Completely REAL Yet Unknown Facts About Beer</b> that I definitely didn't just make up.<br />
<br />
NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-64958347787914870872020-01-11T16:46:00.001+00:002020-01-11T17:24:35.857+00:00The REAL Reason Keg Beers Are More Expensive Than Cask Beers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Ever since the dawn of the craft beer movement there has been a single topic of conversation that never goes away. A topic that haunts every corner of the beer internet, whether it's a CAMRA forum, Twitter, craft beer Facebook groups or Reddit.<br />
<br />
It's a conversation I no longer get involved in as there are a thousand different answers but I can tell you right now, the bullshit you're being peddled are LIES. Those answers cannot be further from the truth.<br />
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I feel bad as I've been hiding the answer for so long; I've been burying it deep within my soul and brain but I feel ready. I feel ready to tell you the truth, dear readers.<br />
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Here it is, and it will shock you to your very core. You will never be able to look at a keg tap the same way again; the craft beers you're drinking will forever taste different. They'll taste more magical, maybe, or will it ruin the illusion.<br />
<br />
<b>THE REAL REASON KEG BEERS ARE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN CASK:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
We are taught our whole lives that the Carbon Dioxide (CO2 from this point) in our beer is a natural resource in our atmosphere. We're told that it comes from plants and rocks, y'know, photosynthesis and shit, but it's all <b>LIES.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Dear readers, I can't tell you how I stumbled across this information as I was sword to secrecy. I was told that if I disclose my source, bad things will happen. I'm risking everything just telling you about this but I no longer care... you need to know the truth and it needs to come from me.<br />
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<b>CO2 IS HARVESTED FROM THE MOON.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
There is a company, an off-planet shell corporation whose name I cannot disclose, which is solely responsible for sending their tanker ship called "<i>The Van Helmont"</i> filled with beings called <i>"Carbonians"</i> up to the moon in order to harvest and process the fresh <i>"KraftBierKarbon"</i> that ends up in breweries and pubs across the world.<br />
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Honestly, readers, the process is complex and you won't quite understand due to not understanding how the <i>"Carbonians"</i> live and do things in life. This isn't me challenging your intelligence, it's just that some things don't need to be known. Some things are best left unknown and unheard.<br />
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I need to make it clear at this point that <i>KraftBierKarbon</i> is absolutely <b>NOT</b> the same as CO2 that is natural and comes from every day sources. It's a different thing; it's more magical, and due to the processes involved it costs <b>a lot more money</b> which I'm sure you can understand.<br />
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I'm sorry I had to break it to you this way, with very little in the way of an explanation but, dear readers, I felt you needed to know the truth. The truth that <b>CO2 IS HARVESTED FROM THE MOON.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I may go quiet after giving you this information but do not fear, dear readers, I will try to stay in contact whilst evading the <i>Carbonians</i>. Just think of me when you take your next sip of carbonated craft beer.<br />
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<i><a href="https://twitter.com/Shinybiscuit/status/1216029798268575744" target="_blank">this was inspired by a tweet from my good friend Katie.</a></i>NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-92117524728973799952020-01-03T20:09:00.003+00:002020-01-03T20:09:56.605+00:00Nothing Toulouse - What I Loved About This French CityI learned four years of French in school, and I was good at it according to my French teacher, who was actually French. She spent the best part of year 9 trying her hardest to convince me to continue with French into my GCSEs as she was confident I could be fluent one day but being a stubborn teenager, I didn't listen and continued with Spanish.<br />
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I'd never really given much thought about visiting France until I went to Paris maybe 6 years ago and despite the actual trip being shite for various reasons, I loved the city and vowed to return one day. The problem is, however, that I ended up getting obsessed with visiting Germany and the Czech Republic and rarely would think about visiting elsewhere.<br />
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That is until July last year when I saw £25 flights and thought "at that price, I have nothing <i>Toulouse</i>" (and no I won't stop with that pun).<br />
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So I booked, along with a little apartment, not far from both canals and gave the city my best shot...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0QmgXIVXn0l5rACzYd4_NeHjSDCfNDe838XP5gg7aFIBowsIgchl2mkEe6YvS4PJ1F1-qpJ_GBvsGjQ0W5Yx_VCOvsU-tUVMa57LqyEV8_y928XPh7qaIVVfSk-AT-BdEYQ6_KNHkw/s1600/80062225_10157147969968843_4221603306054615040_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF0QmgXIVXn0l5rACzYd4_NeHjSDCfNDe838XP5gg7aFIBowsIgchl2mkEe6YvS4PJ1F1-qpJ_GBvsGjQ0W5Yx_VCOvsU-tUVMa57LqyEV8_y928XPh7qaIVVfSk-AT-BdEYQ6_KNHkw/s200/80062225_10157147969968843_4221603306054615040_o.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>It's a Walkable City</b> - Honestly, you'd want it to be given how batshit crazy busy the underground was. I barely used public transport whilst I was there because pretty much everywhere I wanted to go was within walking distance, well, for me anyway.<br />
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<b>It's Beautiful</b> - Of course it is, it's French. Wherever you go in Toulouse, you'll find tree lined streets and walking paths beside the stunning canal which looks even better with the bridges lit brightly at night. Walking through the centre you'll find alleys and side streets that you won't be able to resist turning down, even if it's in the wrong direction to which you intended on going. And then you have Place Au Capitole, a sprawling square edged by designer shops, restaurants and cafes, perfect for people watching.<br />
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<b>Croissants & Coffee</b> - You could probably say the same about any French city but every morning I was in Toulouse, I would pop to <b>Le Montagu </b>for a Croissant and a Coffee and sit by the canal, feeling the warm gentle breeze whilst watching the world go by with the autumnal leaves falling from the tall canopy of trees.<br />
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<b>Happy Hour</b> - I never realised that Happy Hour was such a massive thing over in France but it is and for at least a couple of hours each night, the vast majority of pubs would do it. I think my favourite pub of the whole trip was <b>The Black Lion</b>, another English stylised pub as you can guess by the name. 13 taps and isn't really a craft beer pub, aside from the few Brooklyn taps. My choice was always <b>Kronenbourg Blanc</b> because I miss when they used to sell it here, and it was only about €4 during happy hour.<br />
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<b>Hypermarkets</b> - Y'all know by now that I am a supermarket fiend when I go on holiday. I can spend days visiting all the supermarkets like the old man I am so the opportunity to visit proper French hypermarkets was too good to miss out (I am aware I am sounding like the perfect holiday companion - queue up, ladies). I think the only time I used public transport was to get to one! Stopped at the Flunch chain of restaurants for a cheeky beer, before wandering round and buying cheese and wine and kronie. A day well spent.<br />
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<b>A Deli, then the Park</b> - My good friend Katy gave me tons of tips for Toulouse since her parents lived nearby, and they recommended a particular Deli that their friend owns. <b>On porte l'apéro </b>was a cute little deli where I got some strong cheese and the most unbelievably potent truffled ham. I then grabbed some bread and a half bottle of wine and sat in Jardins Des Plants, again, people watching.<br />
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<b>Of Course There's Bloody Craft Beer</b> - C'mon guys, you literally can't go anywhere these days. <b>Hopscotch</b> was a, I guess, Scottish style brewpub with a decent house lager and a very disappointing scotch egg. <b>Beer Mosaic</b> was a decent shopfront bottle shop with a few taps and classic cans of Adnams Mosaic, and the rather impressive <b>Au Poêle de la Bête</b> where I had a Cantillon Nath. Oh and we can't forget about the classic <b>Delirium Bar</b>... so much!<br />
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<b>Cheese and Wine and Bread</b> - Honestly just generally this. Anywhere you go, you'll find decent wine, cheese and bread; whether it's the supermarkets or local delis like I mentioned before... who needs expensive restaurants? One of the best places for a foodie is Marche Victor Hugo which has tons of meats, cheeses, fish and a bar that you can chill at with the locals.<br />
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<b>Local Vibes</b> - If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I like going to lesser known cities and exploring the more local areas and that's exactly what I did. One evening I found what I presumed was a student populated area with some bars and even live music playing on the street, which was an incredible vibe. Just grabbed a massive bottle of 1664 and joined the festivities! A local vibe also means fewer tourists and therefore friendlier locals, which is always great!<br />
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Anyway, there you have it, things I remember from the beautiful city of Toulouse and you should go because...<br />
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What have you got Toulouse?<br />
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NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-92013915981357035002019-12-30T21:29:00.001+00:002019-12-30T21:29:22.984+00:0014 Reasons To Visit The Franconian Beer Festival in NurembergI recall once writing an article entitled "Why I'm Over Beer Festivals" which turned out to be one of my most popular blog posts, clocking up over 9,000 views after somehow going viral on Reddit and in several of <i>those</i> Facebook groups.<br />
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Even after I wrote it, I still kept going to beer festivals. I just get sucked in because people I know will be there, which is arguably the best part of them.<br />
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The one beer festival I absolutely <i>had to</i> visit being the lager lout that I am, was the <b>Franconian Beer Festival in Nuremberg</b> and here's why:<br />
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<b>1)</b> <b>The Setting</b> - Imagine a beer festival in the moat of such a castle in a beautiful city as Nuremberg where you can look up at the large walls and high towers, shaded but still warm in the summer. That's how I can describe it. People talk about the IMBC venue being special, but I challenge you to visit The Franconian Beer Festival and not fall in love.<br />
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<b>2) Free Entry</b> - Yup, you don't pay a single cent to get into the beer festival which is a beautiful thing considering the price of some I've been to. There is also no festival glass to buy, which I'll get to later.<br />
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<b>3) It's Mostly Lager</b> - OK so this won't be a positive if you're not massively into lager but there were around 40 lager breweries from all around Franconia and each had at least two beers either on draught or bottled. Most of Germany is too traditional for cans yet. It's really hard for me to pick a favourite lager as I had a lot. I mean <i>a lot</i> since I went there probably three times during my trip.<br />
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<b>4) There's Some Craft Beer</b> - If you're looking for that more modern beer or something experimental, you're in luck! They had a small craft beer corner which featured mostly German craft beer but also had some international guests. The best beer I tried in this section was a <b>Jägermeister Barrel Aged Bock</b> by more modern Franconian craft brewery <b>Hertl</b>. This got some VERY mixed reactions when I posted about it on Facebook at the time but I can assure you, it was a banger!<br />
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<b>5) Soft Drinks for All</b> - Weird one for an article like this but it's important to point out that there are plenty of Franconian breweries that make their own soft drinks so they don't need to mess around with Coca Cola. I absolutely love this live local mentality. I actually bought a bottle of lemonade to cut a ridiculously bitter Zwanzger Pils that sadly I was not enjoying (Sorry Zwanzger). Anyway, the lemonade was nice!<br />
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<b>6)</b> <b>It's Family Friendly</b> - This probably won't please some people but hear me out... they have a designated family area and a play area for kids which means whilst there are families there, you don't have kids running about everywhere (I've also found that German kids seem more well behaved than British kids in public places).<br />
<br />
<b>7) There is Seating</b> - One of my biggest bug bears about many beer festivals I've been to is the sheer lack of seating but the Franconian Beer Festival did not have this issue at all due to the sheer size of it, in fact some breweries had their own seating sections. We managed to find seats most of the time, apart from obviously when it was ragingly busy at night but that can't be helped.<br />
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<b>8) Instabeer Opportunities</b> - One of my favourite things about Germany in general is how pretty much every brewery has their own branded glassware and this was no exception. Sure, you're gonna pay between 2,50€ and €4 to effectively hire the glass on on the deposit system, but you get that money back and meanwhile, you've got some banging photos of beer for Instagram. Sorted.<br />
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<b>9) Good Friends, Old and New</b> - One of the times I went during my visit, I went with the legend and my good friend that is Felix of <b><a href="http://www.twitter.com/orcabrau" target="_blank">Orcabräu</a></b> (his beers are a vibe, check them out) and <a href="https://twitter.com/AllenHuerta_" target="_blank">classic Allen</a> for one last hurrah before the military shipped him back to the USA. Absolutely great guys. I also met some really cool new people including other brewers and a German beer blogger called Domi of <b><a href="http://domis-reviews.de/" target="_blank">Domi's Reviews</a></b> (Warning: blog only in German)<br />
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<b>10) The Food</b> - Yes of course because it's a German beer festival there's going to be a hell load of hearty food from the classic Nuremberg Drei Im Weggla (3 Nuremberg bratwurst in a bun and I feel I need to tell you again, don't fucking use ketchup), Pizza, Grilled Fish, Takeaway Schäufele (pork shoulder) and many more world foods. And fruit salad, weirdly. Fruit salad at a beer festival.<br />
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<b>11) The Entertainment and Atmosphere</b> - Honestly, if you want decent drinking music whilst chugging endless pints of lager, this is the place for you. At every single section of the festival there was a stage with live music going on, playing a mixture of German and Irish drinking songs (some of the Irish drinking songs were even in German, which was oddly amazing). Everyone has a nice time, sings and dances.<br />
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<b>12)</b> <b>Just Visit Nuremberg</b> - Look, guys, I've been banging on about how awesome this city is for enough years so it's about time you bought some flights! I've wrote several blogs on the subject!<br />
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<b>13) Nuremberg is Close to Other Beer Tourism Destinations</b> - It's only about 40 minutes on the train from the famed Rauchbier city of Bamberg and even less time to Forchheim with it's iconic Kellerwald (more on that one another time).<br />
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<b>14) There are Very Few Foreigners</b> - Yeah, this is a bonus. You won't bump into any idiotic British ladz or stag parties like you would at a similar festival in a larger city like Munich or Berlin. Hooray!<br />
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Overall The Franconian Beer Festival is just absolutely brilliant. The atmosphere, the people, the beers, the local attitude and mentality of it all is amazing. Drinking at the festival is a little more expensive than drinking in the pubs in the city, I'd assume due to breweries having to pay for their pitch and staff etc. but it's still not going to break the bank paying around 4€ a half litre, but you will have to factor in your returnable glass deposit.<br />
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The next Franconian Beer Festival is on 10-14 June 2020 and I am strongly considering going again so if anyone wants to join me, that would be an absolute vibe!<br />
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Prost,<br />
<br />NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-80026047390152967162019-12-23T21:11:00.001+00:002019-12-23T21:11:45.478+00:00The Strange Phenomenon of a Charles Wells Pub in France (George & Dragon Toulouse)When I booked my trip to Toulouse for September I wasn't really sure what to expect from the city and its beer scene since very few people I know had spent time there so I did some googling, as you do.<br />
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What I found surprised me as it was unlike any other city I've been to in that many of the pubs and bars seemed to be modelled from the British style of pub.<br />
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I'd heard previously that Charles Wells had a chain of pubs in France and once I'd done some research I was determined I needed to check it out, and when I did it surprised me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTc1raaMoJ28cOm3crfDsff1Wb9Q9JIVWhWlX9sXb9oNwiM7yQCoOJPrsdp11LJ7eTjt-GvBRitcLG5H2qEnLE6LuhoBvzp2T1F2ukTJxu6PRPn43n_LPc66mY4FTQRW1SSrCEFnI5w/s1600/71405356_10156890839078843_7484196206537605120_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTc1raaMoJ28cOm3crfDsff1Wb9Q9JIVWhWlX9sXb9oNwiM7yQCoOJPrsdp11LJ7eTjt-GvBRitcLG5H2qEnLE6LuhoBvzp2T1F2ukTJxu6PRPn43n_LPc66mY4FTQRW1SSrCEFnI5w/s320/71405356_10156890839078843_7484196206537605120_o.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><a href="http://www.georgeanddragonpub.fr/" target="_blank">The George and Dragon</a></b> is situated on the corner of an unassuming narrow residential street, at the foot of a cross road near a couple of cafes and could well be described as an estate pub had it been in Stockport and not Toulouse.<br />
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There were a couple of tables out the front of the pub, with old chaps standing around chain smoking cigarettes, slowly drinking their dark amber coloured beer and occasionally engaging each other in conversation, nodding at all those who enter the pub as if they own the place. Had it not been for the fact that they were speaking French, they could have been anywhere in the UK.<br />
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Walking into the pub, I felt like I was in my local; the pub itself has a carpet, which is unlike Europe, it has low tables and stools with fixed seating on the back wall. The clientele was a mixture of younger people, you'd assume students as well as much older barflies.<br />
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The bar was in an awkward spot on a corner and you really had to fight to get to it but once you did, you saw it. You saw what made you realise that this was indeed an English pub - hand pumps.<br />
Two of them. One of which was John Bull English ale and the other was the quintessentially British beer Bombardier, a stalwart of pubs like Wetherspoons and Nicholsons. The keg beers were interesting too, only being beer brewed by Wells & Youngs, which included John Bull Lager and Banana Bread Beer, a beer I loved so so much when I was younger.<br />
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I knew walking in that if there were indeed hand pumps I would absolutely need to try a cask ale in France, just to see how it was and to be honest, the Bombardier was fine. It was <i>just</i> fine. It didn't remind me of drinking a cask ale; it was more chilled and seemed a tad more carbonated but the taste was fine; it was like Bombardier.<br />
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For research purposes I also ordered a pint of John Bull Lager which was nice enough but a tad sweet and then before I left I had to do <i>it</i>. I had to have a cheeky half of the famous Banana Bread Beer that I loved so much so many years ago and honestly, if I saw it on keg again I'd order a pint. It wasn't too sweet, it was like crusty brown bread with deliciously overripe and bruised bananas and legitimately left me wanting more but sadly, I didn't make it back during the rest of my trip.<br />
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It's funny though, how you can be in another country surrounded by a language that is so unfamiliar yet you feel that you're in a place you've been a thousand times. The George and Dragon just felt like I was in <i>my local</i>; the way I sat listening to conversations I didn't understand (same as the Norfolk accent, really), the way I hung my hoodie on a hook; the way I comfortably left my pint sat on my table whilst I went out for a cigarette, exchanging a brief look with the chaps on the next table as if we recognise each other from yesterday and the day before. People in the pub you know are only ever going to leave their seats to either get another pint, go for a smoke or take a leak.<br />
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The George and Dragon just felt like home, in the most bizarre way possible.<br />
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NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-28948605138842601992019-08-11T15:23:00.001+01:002021-03-07T20:51:38.383+00:00Slow Cooker Chinese Pulled Pork RecipeI love Pulled Pork as it's a versatile food stuff that you can cook and get plenty of meals out of, whether you're going to eat some now and take some to work the next day or freeze it for a rainy day.<br />
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I also love Chinese food, but I'd never thought about Chinese Pulled Pork until someone invited me to their house for lunch one day a little over a year ago, and fell in love with the Chinese Pulled Pork they cooked so I had to steal the recipe from him and make it myself.<br />
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Since then, I've probably made it about 5 times and each time people tell me how delicious it is and how the want the recipe but y'all know me, I'm slack at getting on my blog sometimes but here it is... my recipe for Chinese Pulled Pork:<br />
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<b>Ingredients (some amounts may not be exact as that's how I roll):</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyv_jAReTqBPzdmHrsCAduVqTRHPETxWqMRbkxnCjKJgpjNk4ppMZwFhtqkdyB7ltAr3J_k4L-d_EvzQNVxNbIPWINX1UJkOAfvmj_VwttexTREiMQRDTNBpM0PLrp4jdlUo_us0cufg/s1600/66400646_10156721081543843_4117378567338196992_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyv_jAReTqBPzdmHrsCAduVqTRHPETxWqMRbkxnCjKJgpjNk4ppMZwFhtqkdyB7ltAr3J_k4L-d_EvzQNVxNbIPWINX1UJkOAfvmj_VwttexTREiMQRDTNBpM0PLrp4jdlUo_us0cufg/s320/66400646_10156721081543843_4117378567338196992_o.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><br /></b><br />
1kg Pork Shoulder (rind trimmed off)<br />
1 jar of Lee Kum Hoisin Sauce (from an Asian supermarket as I'm convinced it's better than the same brand you get in the supermarket)<br />
Half a bottle of Light Soy Sauce<br />
Half a bottle of Dark Soy Sauce<br />
About a third of a tub of Chinese Five Spice<br />
A dash of Basil<br />
A few teaspoons of smoked Paprika<br />
Black Pepper<br />
Couple of teaspoons of brown sugar or honey<br />
A few cloves of Garlic (or lazy garlic or garlic powder. It's your call)<br />
Chili Flakes to taste (optional, depending on how you like your spice)<br />
A bit of Water<br />
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<b>Recipe:</b><br />
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Sear the pork on all sides so it's a bit cooked then stick in the slow cooker with everything on the above list on low for about 6 - 8 hours and top up with water to about an inch or two below the top of the pork... you want it liquidy but not too wet.<br />
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Once cooked, shred and serve!<br />
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I mean that's pretty much it so this is basically an ingredients list. It's my first time sharing a recipe, alright?<br />
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<b>Serving suggestions:</b><br />
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We usually serve the pulled pork in little soft tacos with green beans that have been cooked in some of the pulled pork sauce so they're still crunchy, but cooked, as well as some sliced spring onions.<br />
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Another suggestion, which is usually night two of pulled pork is either serving it with Egg Fried Rice (cook rice the night before, let go cold but lay flat so it doesn't clump. Scramble eggs in a wok with sesame oil then add rice, bit of chopped onion, some defrosted frozen veg and just wok with a bit of soy sauce and a dash of rice wine vinegar) or with noodles (you don't really need to do much with the noodles other than get ready to wok noodles, cook in sesame oil again with onions and a bit of soy sauce. I've got another noodle dish to share soon).<br />
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And honestly, that's pretty much it! I hope you enjoy cooking and eating it as much as I do, and don't forget to tag me on Twitter (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/NateDawg27" target="_blank">@NateDawg27</a>) or Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/beerynate/" target="_blank">BeeryNate</a>) with photos. Also, if you like it please share both the food and the recipe with my friends.<br />
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Cheers,<br />
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Nate<br /><br />NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-33661323258238573902019-07-16T10:42:00.001+01:002019-07-16T16:36:56.886+01:00The Best Things to Do in Gdansk, Poland<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOC-bWdfclmYF6N7wdLWwBjTi_LepGyooqbzBWSWD72vzLpdCqr7ROYQQN4zmPKzJ-NO-_N8qZigI5GhJfQ5Nr-WMcp3rn9xE1nkpjO4RFA9Y9hpg0_8uN21YRKYh3SWzBLOtOhoB28Q/s1600/IMG_20181127_115054_135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOC-bWdfclmYF6N7wdLWwBjTi_LepGyooqbzBWSWD72vzLpdCqr7ROYQQN4zmPKzJ-NO-_N8qZigI5GhJfQ5Nr-WMcp3rn9xE1nkpjO4RFA9Y9hpg0_8uN21YRKYh3SWzBLOtOhoB28Q/s320/IMG_20181127_115054_135.jpg" width="320" /></a>Sitting on
the Baltic Sea, the tri-city area of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia is not somewhere
I’d ever thought of going until we had some time booked off work, searched
“everywhere” on Skyscanner and found £20 return flights, but we’re glad we did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How to get there:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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We got
direct flights from Stansted using Ryanair who operate 2 flights there, and 2
flights back every day but it is serviced by other airports in the UK.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once you’re
there, it’s only a half hour bus journey into the city centre although if you
have loads of luggage with you, Uber is cheap enough.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where to stay:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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We stayed in
a Novotel very close to the centre because we’re a big fan of the cheap
convenience of Accor hotels, which cost us about £120 for four nights. Unlike
many cities, I would recommend stay right in the centre as public transport is
tricky due to it not being on google maps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When to go:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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If you like
cold weather, winter is the time for you! We’ve heard that the Christmas market
is nice, although we can’t vouch for that as typically we left the day before
it started. A colleague from work tells me, however, that it’s very nice in the
summer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Here are some of the best things to do in
Gdansk:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Visit the <a href="https://ecs.gda.pl/" target="_blank">European Solidarity Centre</a></b> –
The Solidarity Movement is a massive piece of Polish history which commemorates
the revolution of Solidarity and the fall of communism in Poland and is an
absolutely must visit to discover the history of worker’s rights in Poland.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Visit the <a href="https://muzeum1939.pl/" target="_blank">World War II Museum</a></b> – Easily
my favourite museum I’ve ever visited because I always enjoyed learning about
WWII at school and from my grandparents. This is a massive underground museum
that really doesn’t leave anything out. I was amazed at how much I learned
about the involvement of Italy and the Far East which I didn’t learn at school.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Go to Shopping Malls</b> – Honestly, I have
never been anywhere in my life that has as many shopping malls as Gdansk and
they’re bloody big too. It’s not exactly cultural but some of these
architectural behemoths are beautifully designed, especially when the Christmas
lights are on and if you go in winter you’ll be thankful that you can just jump
into one to warm up for a bit. They’re also handy if you want to charge your
phone as there are plug sockets and places to sit everywhere.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eat Local Food</b> – I’d never had any Polish
food before but after doing some research I knew I had to eat pierogi, being
the dumpling fiend that I am. Effectively, pierogi are the Polish version of
ravioli and come with a variety of fillings. We decided to stop at <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.pierogarniaudzika.com/" target="_blank">Pierogarnia u Dzika</a></b> on our first night
for a feast of Pork Pierogi, Black Pudding Pierogi & Polish Sausage, with a
pint of Tyskie of course.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUXtelzNJp79bDs1ezi7nUmv6faQDah8PwL7L960Jj3-5WkBjBbDCc849Tr62DLoSRFcm1BsQlyPx99swl99LnScm0awv1hiMiuDj4L6foV-Yu18_AfEcVuoUTKviKSJgDTjw4aieIQ/s1600/Gdansk+Collage+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUXtelzNJp79bDs1ezi7nUmv6faQDah8PwL7L960Jj3-5WkBjBbDCc849Tr62DLoSRFcm1BsQlyPx99swl99LnScm0awv1hiMiuDj4L6foV-Yu18_AfEcVuoUTKviKSJgDTjw4aieIQ/s640/Gdansk+Collage+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b><br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Get to the Beach in Sopot</b> – Although a
slightly snowy winter isn’t the ideal time to go to the beach, we enjoyed a
long walk along the coast and up the long pier, finding it baffling that there
were swans in the ocean. It was unsurprisingly quiet in November I have it on
good authority from a colleague who went to university in the area that it’s an
absolute party town in the summer. It’s also nice walking around the town
centre and seeing the weirdly shaped <b><a href="http://krzywydomek.info/home-page.html" target="_blank">Krzywy Domek</a></b>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Visit Some Unique and Cheap Bars</b> – We’ll
get to the craft beer later but one of the things we absolutely love doing when
we visit other places is visiting someone of the cheapest and local bars to get
a real feel of the city. Forget the bars and restaurants on the main street and
explore the backstreets where you can get a beer and shot for around £3. Some
of our favourite places in Gdansk were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://pwip.com.pl/" target="_blank">PijalniaWodki i Piwa</a></b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notocyk" target="_blank">No To CYK</a>, <a href="http://jozefk.pl/" target="_blank">Josef K</a></b>
& <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tabaka</b> which were all one
street over from tourist land. The most unique bar was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://bunkierclub.pl/" target="_blank">Bunkier</a></b> which is in an old nuclear fallout shelter, which was so
cool.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shoot Some Guns</b> – Maybe a controversial
one, but I’d always wanted to shoot some guns since we can’t do it in the UK
and I stumbled across a shooting range whilst doing some research. <b><a href="http://dsteam.pl/" target="_blank">DSTeamStrzelnica</a></b> was a great experience where we got to shoot four guns (A Glock 17,
a revolver, AK-47 and another rifle) and it only cost us £18 each to shoot a
full clip of each gun. It was a really fun experience!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eat Local Fast Food</b> – Don’t judge me
but one of my favourite things to do in other countries is to scope out what
the big boys in the fast food scene are doing in other countries and trying
regional menu items. I stumbled across possibly my favourite McDonald’s item
ever in Gdanksk – Curly Fries with Blue Cheese Dip. Everyone also needs to pop
into a Zabka convenience store and get a beautifully cheap hot dog for the road
– they’re everywhere so you can’t miss them!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Visit the <a href="https://muzeumgdansk.pl/oddzialy-muzeum/muzeum-bursztynu/" target="_blank">Amber Museum</a> (and buy some)</b> –
The Amber Museum was really cool because we got to see so many pieces of art that
were sculpted from the natural Amber that is found washed up on the beaches
around Gdansk. It’s worth also taking a wander down Ulica Maricka which is
known as “The Amber Street” to grab some souvenirs to take back home – the street
sellers are willing to haggle, and it’s a lot cheaper than the UK.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Check Out the Local Craft Beer Scene</b> – The
craft beer scene in Poland is blowing up right now and we found absolutely tons
of craft beer bars for a relatively small city. Some personal highlights were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/maverickgdansk/" target="_blank">Maverick</a></b> which is owned by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://rockmill.pl/homepage/" target="_blank">Rockmill Brewery</a></b> as the beer was good
and the customer service was simply amazing, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.labeerynt.pl/" target="_blank">Labeerynt</a></b> which shocked me as they had an imperial stout on hand
pump on the bar and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pub-Lawendowa/694073860623460" target="_blank">Lawendowa 8</a></b>
which again we got great customer service from. The prices were insane with
half litres of New England IPAs coming in at around £3.20. There are so many
more craft beer bars, though, which I’ll cover in a larger post at some point
but for now, take a look at my friend <a href="https://craftbeeramethyst.com/gdansk-poland/" target="_blank">Amethyst’s blog on the subject.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></a></div>
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There we
have it, this is how we spent 5 days in the beautiful but cold city of Gdansk.
In hindsight, we do think 5 days was a bit too long as there’s not absolutely
tons to do especially in a brisk winter, but it is a fun city to wander around.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Have you
been to Gdansk? Did we miss anything? Let me know!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-25237650527949711412018-12-13T16:15:00.000+00:002018-12-13T16:15:02.146+00:00#Wrestling - WWE TLC 2018 PredictionsIt's a weird time for WWE, especially for their flagship Monday night show, Raw. We have a heel "acting GM" in Baron Corbin who doesn't just make the fans hate him, but they legitimately want him to just go away and get off our screens, we have a tag team division whose best teams have been written to be laughing stocks, Ronda Rousey whose matches I'm starting to feel aren't worth watching since she's always going to win with an arm bar and never lose the title and apparently we have something called "The Universal Championship" but we rarely see that because current champ Brock Lesnar is a lazy bastard.<br />
<br />
Smackdown, however, keeps me interested week-on-week. Of course, there are some silly segments like the Miz sucking up to Shane McMahon (hang on, why has Shane suddenly reappeared every week?) and whilst the New Day's antics are fun, sometimes, like last night's USOs Vs The Bar rap battle are just baffling. We've got some good characters and interesting heel turns like Daniel Bryan's newly found self-righteousness, and Samoa Joe who really knows how to make things personal and that's before even talking about the depth of women's division. Each week, we get some quality matches showing that Smackdown is currently the dominant brand.<br />
<br />
The build up for this year's <b>TLC</b> (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) pay per view has been a bit hit and miss... I mean, on last night's Smackdown, surely AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan should have gone toe to toe to build up to their match? Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey's build up on Monday night was a car crash as well.<br />
<br />
So, what do I think is going to happen this Sunday at <b>TLC</b>?<br />
<br />
<b>Mixed Match Challenge Final - R Truth & Carmella Vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The winners of this match each get the #30 spot in their respective Royal Rumble matches in January, and is an easy one to call because honestly, R Truth & Carmella are just a joke with their whole "Dance Break" interruptions, albeit a welcome one. I mean, I can't see WWE realistically giving R Truth the #30 spot and even taunt at the idea of him winning.<br />
<br />
<b>Winners: Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Normal Match - Finn Balor Vs Drew McIntyre</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Whilst this could be an entertaining match due to it effectively being Ireland Vs Scotland, I really don't get why they've put it on a PPV with very little build up. I really wish I cared more about this match. My only guess is that they're building up to a #1 contender match in a couple of months for if/when Strowman wins the title.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner:</b> <b>Drew McIntyre</b> because WWE doesn't care about faces right now.<br />
<br />
<b>Ladder Match - Elias Vs Bobby Lashley</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This match feels <i>very</i> WCW because instead of a title being suspended above the ring, there will be a guitar which can be used as a weapon once taken. I absolutely love Elias as he's just a true maverick and a hilarious character. It could be good fun, if only they'd banish that irritating imp Lio Rush from ringside but...<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Bobby Lashley</b> after Lio Rush gets on his shoulders to take the guitar and get revenge on Elias.<br />
<br />
<b>Tables Match - Natalya Vs. Ruby Riott</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This has been a very interesting rivalry full of personal attacks towards Natalya and her family, particularly her late father Jim Neidhart so I have no doubt that it's going to be a great bout. No doubt the other two members of the Riott Squad are going to interfere at some point but I really think Natty has been pushed to her limit.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Natalya</b> because she deserves it and she must be at boiling point by now.<br />
<br />
<b>Chairs Match - Rey Mysterio Vs. Randy Orton</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Randy Orton seems to be a big fan of chairs, in fact he did comment on the last episode of Smackdown how comfortable steel chairs are. I think this has potential to be a solid match, although it's nothing we haven't seen before.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Randy Orton</b> as usual. He's just brutal.<br />
<br />
<b>Cruiserweight Championship - Buddy Murphy (c) Vs. Cedric Alexander</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I love 205 Live as I've always been a fan of the high flying antics of cruiserweight wrestlers so this should be a good match, although probably relatively short.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Buddy Murphy retains</b> and I reckon kicks off a rivalry with Mustafa Ali after his shining match on Smackdown.<br />
<br />
<b>Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Bar Vs. The USOs Vs. The New Day</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I hate triple threat matches but do you know what I hate more than triple threat matches? Tag team triple threat matches. The concept that only a member of 2 of the 3 teams is in the ring at the time and you either need to tag in or be tagged out by a member of the inactive team is silly. Tag team triple threats should be tornado with all people in the ring at the same time.<br />
<b><br /></b>
The Bar and The New Day have been rivals for a while but suddenly the USOs have been injected into the feud, which is nice to see to remind everyone that there are more than two tag teams on Smackdown.<br />
<br />
<b>Winners:</b> This is a tough call but I think <b>The Bar Retains</b> which will set up a feud with the USOs after their hideous rap battle.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Intercontinental Championship - Seth Rollins (c) Vs. Dean Ambrose</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This has been an interesting rivalry for sure but it's slightly annoyed me that it's <i>just</i> a singles match instead of a TLC or even regular No DQ match if I'm honest. I have no doubt that these guys can put on a good one without weapons, but I'd love to let Ambrose loose with a kendo stick or something.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Seth Rollins Retains</b> to continue the rivalry for an even bigger title match at the Royal Rumble.<br />
<br />
<b>Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match - Braun Strowman Vs Baron Corbin</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I didn't quite know how to introduce this, so if you're not sure I'll explain. Braun Strowman recently had an absolutely silly match for the vacant Universal Title against Brock Lesnar and lost really badly, when realistically he shouldn't have but he's also been feuding hard with Acting General Manager Baron Corbin because, well, Corbin is a prick. Braun wanted a title rematch but he also wants to get his hands on Corbin, whilst Corbin wants to be full time GM so this match came about... basically Stephanie McMahon said that if Braun wins, he gets his title shot at the Royal Rumble whilst Corbin gets stripped of all power, whereas if Corbin wins he becomes full time GM.<br />
<br />
The reason this is a tough one to call is because of a couple of factors; firstly, it depends on if Kurt Angle is actually coming back to be GM and secondly it depends on if they can get Lesnar to show up to the Royal Rumble.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: </b>I really cannot see them wanting to keep Corbin in a GM role due to fan's reactions so <b>Braun Strowman</b> wins, but the rivarly continues.<br />
<br />
<b>Raw Women's Championship - Ronda Rousey (c) Vs. Nia Jax</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
This rivarly has been boring and shite ever since Jax came back from injury. The rivarly was there ever since Rousey won the title, and then disappeared, and now it's back and just not good. It'll be a boring match.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Ronda Rousey</b> makes Nia Jax tap out via an arm bar as per fucking usual to retain.<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) Vs AJ Styles</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Let's face it, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles are two of the finest technical wrestlers anywhere in the world right now so even though we've seen this match a few times before, it'll never not be an entertaining match. Until Daniel Bryan's recent brilliant heel turn, I was convinced that AJ would reclaim the title but...<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Daniel Bryan retains</b> by using dirty tactics like another low blow.<br />
<br />
<b>Smackdown Women's Championship - TLC - Asuka Vs. Charlotte Flair Vs. Becky Lynch (c)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I think this could be the best match on the card because all three women are absolutely incredible but simultaneously, I think it could be a short match too. I genuinely think that Charlotte and Becky hate each other so much that they'll concentrate so much on beating the shit out of each other that they'll forget Asuka is there, who will steal the title.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Asuka</b> because as above, Charlotte and Becky will be too focused on each other to worry about her. This will also reignite the Charlotte / Asuka rivalry and free Becky up to win the women's Royal Rumble after which she can elect to challenge Rousey for the Raw Women's Title at Wrestlemania.<br />
<br />
<b>What's missing from this card?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
There are two key things missing here... obviously the <b>Universal Championship</b> as Vince loves him too much and won't take the title from him, and where the hell is Shinsuke Nakamura with his <b>United States Championship</b>? For some reason, I thought there was going to be a Nakamura Vs. Rusev match somewhere on the card.<br />
<br />
<b>Overall</b>, it has potential to be a great PPV although 12 matches seems extremely long for what isn't one of the Big Four so we could see some quite short matches.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you think?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-8070683864173988762018-12-03T11:32:00.001+00:002018-12-03T11:32:32.249+00:00A New Direction - Introducing a New ThemeIt's no secret that I've been struggling to write decent content for a while. It's a shame but I don't know; most of what I try to write I end up deleting because it's too controversial and I can't deal with the debates anymore. I'm tired of it.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To be honest, I've really fallen out of beer as something other than a beverage. At the end of the day, it's literally just a drink. I know for some people it's a lifestyle and their livelihood as they work in the industry, and that's cool, but that's not me anymore.<br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I do write, however, the content is generally about my <b>travels</b> as well as <b>beer and food</b>. I gave up on the <b>Beats</b> element about music years ago as I stopped listening to so much music, and frankly, my music reviews weren't very good at all.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, I needed to replace <b>Beats</b> with something and given my love for professional wrestling, why not change it to <b>Beatdowns </b>and write about <b>wrestling</b> since I watch so much of it?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, from now on, this blog will be known as <b>Booze, Beatdowns and Bites</b>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will focus on:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Eating and drinking my way through various towns & cities in Europe</li>
<li>Beer reviews</li>
<li>Wrestling opinion pieces</li>
<li>Wrestling predictions</li>
</ul>
<div>
I know that the wrestling part won't interest many people but hopefully it'll keep me interested enough to actually fucking write something.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Cheers,</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Nate</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
P.S. I guess this should contain a trigger warning that I may frequently write about things that are owned by large corporations.</div>
NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-75481296696791526562018-08-05T09:33:00.000+01:002018-08-05T09:33:37.737+01:00Craft Beer Guide to BerlinIt's taken me a while to get round to writing this post; it's something I probably should have written two years ago, and then a year ago but having come back from Berlin a month or two ago I think it's finally time to share my craft beer experiences!<br />
<br />
I love traditional German lager and drinking in the proper locals pubs when I'm away but I also really enjoy seeking out the modern craft beer scene and Berlin certainly has a cracking one, so I'm going to tell you about some of my favourite craft beer spots in Berlin <b>that you should visit</b>.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Brewpubs:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Berlin has quite a few little brew pubs which are small and range from the traditional to the modern, all of which are pretty cool.<br />
<br />
<b>Vagabund Brewery</b> - Vagabund is very modern and owned by American's I believe. It's a tiny, bright bar with a bit of street seating outside and maybe around 6 taps. You're probably not going to hear many conversations in German here! I had their American Pale Ale which was bright and hoppy as you'd expect.<br />
<br />
<b>Hops & Barley</b> - This is a cool little place with the tiny brew kit proudly sitting in the main bar area; again, it's small with maybe around 4 taps. When I went, I had their IPA which really didn't impress me sadly.<br />
<br />
<b>BRLO</b> - I've been a big fan of Brlo for quite a while after visiting their Brwfest last year (which sadly we missed by a week this time) and it was nice to come back and visit their massive, open sun trap of a beer garden. Brlo seems to encapsulate all styles of beer from traditional German pilsners and hefeweizens, all the way to hop forward pale ales and IPAs. I'm a big fan of their German IPA but I can't say I've ever had a bad beer from them!<br />
<br />
<b>Stone Brewing World</b> - Yup, you'd expect this to be on the list! We visited last year and it is ridiculous... I don't think I've ever been in a bar that has so many taps (75!). It's just a big, beautiful building located in an old gas works and it's well worth visiting if you have the time, despite being around an hour from the centre of Berlin. Their core range beers which you've likely seen in Tesco are all good, but try some of their more experimental beers.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJQiuQhDEAjpAU8xYOHnsN2A4YeHb7zrLhzE0Sp7znURp5XDtPhTDo3k0ECdO0qZEHyeNqgqFiQ-2TmuS-elmmFe67DRcgacYCbXCWFaIxUS1GTafa8iMzynnnoZf5VZsFYr4d9wOFA/s1600/35160536_10155851919783843_1855681499735523328_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1322" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJQiuQhDEAjpAU8xYOHnsN2A4YeHb7zrLhzE0Sp7znURp5XDtPhTDo3k0ECdO0qZEHyeNqgqFiQ-2TmuS-elmmFe67DRcgacYCbXCWFaIxUS1GTafa8iMzynnnoZf5VZsFYr4d9wOFA/s200/35160536_10155851919783843_1855681499735523328_o.jpg" width="163" /></a><b>Heidenpeters</b> - Located in the awesome Markthalle IX on the edge of trendy Kreuzberg, Heidenpeters is a must visit for modern and experimental styles of beer. Come here on Thursday evening for Street Food Thursdays where you can find any kind of food you could possibly want, and a deliciously creamy and hoppy Milkshake IPA.<br />
<br />
<b>Brauhaus Lemke</b> - My advice is to visit the smaller Lemke under the railway arch and not the massive bar because the service is dreadful there. They brew a decent range of beers, the best of which is their Berliner Weisse.<br />
<br />
<b>Eschenbrau</b> - This is my favourite brewpub that I've been to in Berlin. Weirdly, it appears to be attached to a kindergarden, so I can only assume that the brewer gets the kids to dig out the mash tun. They only have four beers on tap but we were so in love with the place that we decided to have all four.<br />
<br />
<b><u>The Bars:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Honestly, there are so many craft beer bars to choose from in Berlin ranging from international brands to new kids popping up selling all the craft beer that Germany and the rest of the world has to offer.<br />
<br />
<b>Brewdog</b> - I guess I should probably mention the large international Scottish brewery. It's not much different to their bars here as they have a large amount of their own beers as well as other beers from around the world. The good news is that if you're an EFP shareholder, you can still redeem your discount here!<br />
<br />
<b>Mikkeller</b> - Very bloody expensive but definitely worth popping in for some Scandi craft. It's a very modern and clean looking bar. Always a decent range of beers ranging from IPAs to sours and imperial stouts.<br />
<br />
<b>Protokoll</b> - This was new to us but recommended by a few people. The focus here isn't so much on German craft beer as much as beer from the rest of the world. Naturally, I decided to go for the lagers that were available, Nordic Kiwi Brewers Lingon Lager was particularly crisp, dry and fruity.<br />
<br />
<b>LabOr</b> - We fell in love with this bar after stumbling upon it accidentally! Apparently it's Hungarian owned so they mostly sell beers from their homeland, most notably from Mad Scientist Brewery. We ordered a tasting flight of 5x150ml beers to share which only cost around €9 which was really good value. All of the beers were pretty good but the standouts were West Coast Samurai IPA and Colonial English Bitter.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgovpymsCULtQ7lNdXxJPtoYNiM1GkpI_kt2R5P9_nN_qVBQ9cN_lAMeblAVCiPiXJC72iTWcvHapVVEnku8XPexpvNo16_Rrujh_6qeJvU8pH3wUYhAi83vxsEMB_Cd-NYV4CWcxGw/s1600/35299205_10155853608083843_3694283052701188096_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgovpymsCULtQ7lNdXxJPtoYNiM1GkpI_kt2R5P9_nN_qVBQ9cN_lAMeblAVCiPiXJC72iTWcvHapVVEnku8XPexpvNo16_Rrujh_6qeJvU8pH3wUYhAi83vxsEMB_Cd-NYV4CWcxGw/s200/35299205_10155853608083843_3694283052701188096_o.jpg" width="148" /></a><b>Hopfenreich</b> - I think this was possibly the first craft beer bar to open in Berlin and definitely one of the best; it doesn't look like a modern craft beer bar as it's an old school street corner dive with the banks of taps converted from old industrial machinery and a taxidermied hedgehog. The line up here is predominantly German, and you'll always find beers from the Spent Collective; I usually order a Red Oat Ale which is full bodied, juicy and biscuity.<br />
<br />
<b>Monterey Bar</b> - The last couple of times I've been to Berlin we didn't make it here so I made a point of doing so on our last trip. Again, it's a bit of a dive but I love it if only for the fact that you'll find heavy metal music blasting out of the speakers. The only negative for many people, however, will be that it is a smoking bar.<br />
<br />
<b>The Muted Horn</b> - And finally, what is for my money the best craft beer bar in Berlin. Reasonable prices and a massive selection of beers from across Germany and the rest of the world. You'll usually find one line dedicated to a Franconian lager, a few Canadian beers, some Cloudwater and an ever changing range of German craft beer. It's always a difficult decision as to what to choose but you can't go wrong with anything on the board really! They'll occasionally have a street food truck outside but the great thing is that you're free to bring your own food in or order takeout!<br />
<br />
<i>There we have it; my almost complete line up of craft beer bars in Berlin. I'm sure there are loads more that I've not managed to go to so let me know where else I should head on my next trip!</i><br />
<br />
NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-42860552564818928352018-04-16T13:08:00.002+01:002018-04-16T13:13:19.275+01:00Lidl Currywurst - A ReviewAh, Currywurst! A Berlin institution and indeed, if you've been to Berlin and didn't eat Currywurst whilst you were there, I'm not sure we can be friends.<br />
<br />
My first Currywurst was on my first ever trip to Berlin in August 2016 where I stumbled upon a stall at the Street Theatre Festival on Alexanderplatz; I grabbed a cheap €3 plate as well as a beer and sat in the warm sun, and fell in love. Later on that trip I visited the Currywurst museum (yes, such a thing exists) and although a novelty, I feel it was possibly the wurst (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) eleven euros I've ever spent.<br />
<br />
The premise of Currywurst, for those who don't know, is simple: It's effectively sliced boiled and fried sausage coated in a sweet curry ketchup and topped with curry powder; you'll usually find it served with chips and mayonnaise on nearly every street corner in Berlin.<br />
<br />
I'd seen the famous CurryKing brand of microwavable Currywurst in supermarkets in Germany but never did I expect my eyes to cast upon microwavable Currywurst in a lowly Lidl in Norwich, and of course that's what led me to this review.<br />
<br />
<b>The Product:</b><br />
<br />
A 220g plastic package of sliced bockwurst in curry ketchup with a sachet of curry power, and a wooden serving fork to give you that authentic Berlin street food experience. In fact I decided that instead of eating this at my kitchen table, I'd go stand outside the local corner shop with a bottle of Beck's in hand, but they told me to go away.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtwtNdRcC4vDdiXPQQyfLZ8niG1YBnBkgy91AJHItmtrO3P9heqw_XbOaWnuXEXKsPv1g8IeBTelzq2hNZnWwLDICJdRpzHDv4nLLayQuS6bDxgRONfDF8FVtTZOXEqZMct02aJrITQ/s1600/30708418_10155723833268843_2887436311860346880_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtwtNdRcC4vDdiXPQQyfLZ8niG1YBnBkgy91AJHItmtrO3P9heqw_XbOaWnuXEXKsPv1g8IeBTelzq2hNZnWwLDICJdRpzHDv4nLLayQuS6bDxgRONfDF8FVtTZOXEqZMct02aJrITQ/s320/30708418_10155723833268843_2887436311860346880_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>The Price:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
It's a very reasonable £1.19 for one, or £2 for 2. Actually cheaper than CurryKing in Germany.<br />
<br />
<b>The Review:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
They've used Bockwurst, which is possibly the worst German sausage they could have used. Bockwurst is a notoriously chewy sausage with a thick skin which makes it incredibly chewy and not ideal; it also has a very strong flavour by itself.<br />
<br />
Currywurst sausage is typically more of a hot-dog/butchers sausage hybrid, and for the authentic East German way to eat it you ask for it without the skin.<br />
<br />
The sauce itself is sticky, syrupy and sugary sweet; I'm not even really picking up any tomato flavour, but I get a bit of paprika. Looking at the packaging, it actually contains a whopping 26g of sugar.<br />
<br />
The curry powder, although relatively mild, sprinkled on top really is the saviour of what is not a very good dish at all.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tkm07IZNLkFpevLt1WBV7SpaY6TyIXzVONVvVqlAONb3znmXkDka8_Er3qYeXmNPFpmpi7N6SlbaRbiMf0VDwU2YsVegKbiHx6ZUpgssw3aIF7ULq4U7BMTHJJ9c7QsxuDtSJkokTw/s1600/20180416_124746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tkm07IZNLkFpevLt1WBV7SpaY6TyIXzVONVvVqlAONb3znmXkDka8_Er3qYeXmNPFpmpi7N6SlbaRbiMf0VDwU2YsVegKbiHx6ZUpgssw3aIF7ULq4U7BMTHJJ9c7QsxuDtSJkokTw/s320/20180416_124746.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
What I thought could be a total game-changer for convenient and reasonably priced microwavable snack food is in fact a sticky, sweet mess with the wrong sausage. Of course, I didn't expect it to be on the same level as Curry Mitte on Torstrasse in Berlin, but I was indeed hoping for more.<br />
<br />
Don't rush out. Just have a hotdog instead.<br />
<br />
NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-55222416967410947422018-03-18T13:05:00.000+00:002018-03-18T13:09:49.423+00:00Nuremberg Altstadtfest - Feeling the CultureWhen we learnt that our last trip to Nuremberg would coincide with the <a href="https://altstadtfest-nue.jimdo.com/" target="_blank">Nuremberg Alstadtfest</a> - or Old Town Festival - we got the impression that it was <i>just</i> a beer festival but as we discovered, it was so much more than that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDy_gr1WeX-iWCtnndcidZPuUHOVERu0BiA_-Kql6vjNOpWApysU1SDIylwvg_shEkFXYp5ljCbQK0yvE4lDdEjCpD5PPAPNwR8rZq5SLVD_0j1cB7vwDL0OwSQ-ABWy7WuDn19Xgq6A/s1600/20170915_154631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDy_gr1WeX-iWCtnndcidZPuUHOVERu0BiA_-Kql6vjNOpWApysU1SDIylwvg_shEkFXYp5ljCbQK0yvE4lDdEjCpD5PPAPNwR8rZq5SLVD_0j1cB7vwDL0OwSQ-ABWy7WuDn19Xgq6A/s200/20170915_154631.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The Altstadtfest which happens over 12 days every September is effectively a festival which celebrates the beautiful city of Nuremberg. It spreads across the whole of the old town and as we discovered, it was incredible.<br />
<br />
The main square is bustling full of stands selling traditional German food such as Drei Im Weggla (3 small Nuremberg Bratwurst in a bun, and for the love of god don't you fucking dare put ketchup on it) as well as various traders selling clothes and handmade items, and there's a giant stage where live music of all kinds takes place over the course of each day and evening until around midnight.<br />
<br />
If you stand on the bridge on the south bank of the river Pegnitz, if you're lucky you might catch the water jousting which is a highly entertaining activity to watch.<br />
<br />
And then you'll find the beer.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7tcL0u9WxN2mCDRm0hYy29CmQxDvR2FiBKsxwir2O_BeYCzSkIzmxhdIcDc8UkuYJhSG9_87ARgcgX_htSiKw4P1jDqXgrdzwAN2VLm15xqmHLzjWXJbLLVKN78F47FJgIS8aAn8Eg/s1600/20170915_150333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7tcL0u9WxN2mCDRm0hYy29CmQxDvR2FiBKsxwir2O_BeYCzSkIzmxhdIcDc8UkuYJhSG9_87ARgcgX_htSiKw4P1jDqXgrdzwAN2VLm15xqmHLzjWXJbLLVKN78F47FJgIS8aAn8Eg/s200/20170915_150333.jpg" width="150" /></a>What I had imagined was something akin to Oktoberfest in Munich with tents and long tables but what we walked into was even more incredible. Around 30 breweries and establishments construct wooden restaurants and pubs with full kitchens, long tables, beer taps and honestly, it's like being in a proper restaurant; not like being in temporary construction that's only up for 12 days of the year.<br />
<br />
We found the first small chunk of restaurants on Hans Sachs Platz, the smallest area, which has 10 places to sit and have a beer. We stopped at <b>Pyraser</b> first as we like their beers and it was unlikely we'd get a chance to visit Hutt'n where their beers are served this time. I had their Kellerbier which was a nice, slightly bitter, herbal and grassy hazy lager whilst Sammie went for the dark and roasty Schwarzbier.<br />
<br />
After this we decided to wander to the main part of the Altstadtfest at Insel Schutt where we were overwhelmed by the choice of a further 20 bars and restaurants! We stopped for a quick hot dog and <b>St Georgen Brau</b> lager at the first stand we went to, the frothy and soft lager being served as I like it, in a stone mug.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2ZUC-zA8hT8by8DUpVmExtvhR_50CtOXwfHSnkRXZ9uQISX0J775EWO9JnKhgOCWypZUlqIvhowg6VAB4AMYnh7AiI9t-_Oq-JkYqvqRE0RB9Gtnu9rD5OwKSPzzqnvRogwatS68QQ/s1600/20170915_154207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2ZUC-zA8hT8by8DUpVmExtvhR_50CtOXwfHSnkRXZ9uQISX0J775EWO9JnKhgOCWypZUlqIvhowg6VAB4AMYnh7AiI9t-_Oq-JkYqvqRE0RB9Gtnu9rD5OwKSPzzqnvRogwatS68QQ/s200/20170915_154207.jpg" width="150" /></a>We then stopped at <b>Herrnbrau</b> which was quiet during the day as it was tucked away at the back, behind everything else for yet another delicious lager.<br />
<br />
Our next stop was the <b>Bierwerk</b> restaurant where I had some kind of amber lager which I wasn't a massive fan of as I'm not into amber beers. This was even quieter than Herrnbrau which I figured could be because they're a slightly more daring brewery among more well known and traditional Franconian brewery.<br />
<br />
We were then wandering and about to go to Schanzenbrau as we loved their pub in Gostenhof the night before, but we saw <b>Gutmann</b> and had to go because <b>Gutmann Hefeweizen</b> is possibly my favourite hefeweizen of all time.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbXpcLEiBTfoGUrqof4viL39l_DXdD-QsOXBYfuraYAeDlZv3oxIrorvs77uMjgvqGXgWv3X66Pz4zRTxOaUDrKDaTqTEmH1M0Ijd9VhV0f68EyRqSv5DbCIIyxvQGk6kbzn0Jh9BRQ/s1600/20170915_171808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbXpcLEiBTfoGUrqof4viL39l_DXdD-QsOXBYfuraYAeDlZv3oxIrorvs77uMjgvqGXgWv3X66Pz4zRTxOaUDrKDaTqTEmH1M0Ijd9VhV0f68EyRqSv5DbCIIyxvQGk6kbzn0Jh9BRQ/s200/20170915_171808.jpg" width="150" /></a>It was here we had quite a lot of beer because we struck up a conversation with a bunch of German chaps on the next table. They really know how to charm the British with one of the guys' opening lines being "Ah, so you're British. You are all fucking stupid for voting for Brexit" to which we could only respond with "Well <i>we</i> didn't, but your point stands. Fair play". The conversation, unsurprisingly, was rather political from then on. Lovely chaps who ended up buying us what they described as a "Brexit sympathy beer", which is fine as I'll always accept a free beer from a stranger! We bought them one back anyway in order to strengthen UK-German relations, and also because we wanted another beer!<br />
<br />
Of course, this wasn't our only trip to the Altstadtfest whilst we were in Nuremberg because whilst pubs and restaurants fill up really quickly in the evenings, you've always got a spot on a bench next to a stranger!<br />
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I've never really seen anything quite like it; sure, in Norwich when we have an event like the Norfolk and Norwich festival on, they usually put a bar in a tent in Chapelfield Gardens but you're fucked if it rains, and you're lucky to get served a lukewarm hot dog let alone a full main meal of schweinbraten whilst chugging decent pints and chatting to random people who are also doing the same.<br />
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We absolutely loved the entire experience! Sure, it's not the cheapest way to drink in Nuremberg because beers are coming in close to €5 where the city average is probably around €3,50 but it was an awesome and sociable experience which I'd love to go back to and spend an entire day or two visiting each of the bars that we'd missed before grabbing a couple of bottles to watch the music in the hauptmarkt with!<br />
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Don't go to Oktoberfest, go to Nuremberg Altstadtfest instead.<br />
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Nate</div>
<br />NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-7174131627972193912018-03-14T13:54:00.002+00:002018-03-14T13:54:46.285+00:00Craft Beer In Nuremberg - Step Away From TraditionThe first time we ever went to Nuremberg we were pretty unaware as to whether what we refer to as "craft beer" existed over there. Of course, we did research beforehand but I guess since it was our first trip there, we really just went to the obvious traditional restaurants, pubs and brewpubs that we'd read mostly about.<br />
<br />
It wasn't until the second time I went, with Alec, that the craft beer scene was discovered; and then the next time last September with Sammie I discovered even more of this, outside of traditional lagers.<br />
<br />
I absolutely love Nuremberg and I'd highly recommend visiting, so I just figured I'd share with you some places where you can step away from the tradition of Germany and find some delicious craft beer...<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LukeKennedyIPA/" target="_blank">Mr Kennedy</a></b> - When I first visited Mr Kennedy, it was a tiny dark and dingy little bar on what seemed like quite a sketchy and dark street just behind the city walls, and then they moved location to a bigger dark and dingy bar in the old town, just a couple of blocks over from the castle. Mr Kennedy is associated with New Beer Generation brewery so you'll always find a good bunch of theirs on the bar as well as a guest or two, and fridges full of bottles from all around the world (stands to make sense that they've got a decent American selection since Luke, who you'll usually find on the bar is American). The last time I was there I had a <b>NBG Hop Pop IPA</b> which was juicy and full of bubblegum, and was quite well balanced. [<i>Location: 22 Brunnengäßchen Nuremberg</i>]<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HK70GRgCrtEt_2KTQxk_EyxBHqu_N1dqSDTvhowRQzREXDDUpK06F5saCITy5WHnZzPTYGCTNtlkr3ZmV5xsCaGvnIsYkUjK0NYwWZGRLMolzsPFrPJVdkJGN3WVtiiDhp5jeGxoUw/s1600/20170916_212341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HK70GRgCrtEt_2KTQxk_EyxBHqu_N1dqSDTvhowRQzREXDDUpK06F5saCITy5WHnZzPTYGCTNtlkr3ZmV5xsCaGvnIsYkUjK0NYwWZGRLMolzsPFrPJVdkJGN3WVtiiDhp5jeGxoUw/s200/20170916_212341.jpg" width="150" /></a><b><a href="http://www.bierwerk-nuernberg.de/" target="_blank">Bierwerk</a></b> - Quite a large and sterile craft beer bar which has a whopping 13 beers on draught which is probably the biggest selection of draught beers in Nuremberg. 3 of those beers are their own core range, as well as some of their seasonals, and the rest is sourced pretty much from all over Germany, as well as bottles from across the world. It was ragingly busy when we went, but thankfully it was a very warm September evening so we grabbed a half litre of their <b>Marzen</b> (Oktoberfest beer) from the bar and sat outside. I much preferred their Marzen to many I've had before because it had a decent hop bite and thankfully wasn't as sweet as the style usually dictates. The most random thing about this bar was that we found a Blue Monkey Brewery (Nottingham) beer mat! I'd like to go back for a cheese board sometime when it's not so busy. [<i>Location: Unschlittpl. 9, 90403 Nürnberg</i>]<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEPa30PTAjQvanhAn1xT7NReZaRTclU7mAckHHjgWGnfcOijtLzSsrYJX7Mn_Im_zsgLuM9zP8H9CHXhspuL6IjtG5AsjeVCUMrWyBSTLTQxXAyICU3nG9oJUDZC_8qs42gBebhxzig/s1600/20170915_135445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEPa30PTAjQvanhAn1xT7NReZaRTclU7mAckHHjgWGnfcOijtLzSsrYJX7Mn_Im_zsgLuM9zP8H9CHXhspuL6IjtG5AsjeVCUMrWyBSTLTQxXAyICU3nG9oJUDZC_8qs42gBebhxzig/s200/20170915_135445.jpg" width="150" /></a><b><a href="http://boeheim.de/" target="_blank">Boeheim</a> Bar</b> - This is the first of the Boeheim Brewery's two locations which are both in the centre of Nuremberg. This is a tiny, and very shiny bar with a familiar back of the bar tap wall which has 5 taps, as well as a few bottles. As well as drinking in, they also have 1L bottles that they'll fill for you to take home. When I visited, the only food available were hot dogs that were warmed up in one of those novelty home hot dog makers. I recall having their IPA and Hell here, which were both respectable; the IPA being more malty and English style, but still with a decent chunk of citrus. [<i>Location: Klaragasse 11, Nuremberg</i>]<br />
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<b>Boeheim Bierhalle</b> - A slightly larger bar/restaurant and literally only a couple of streets over from their original bar. This has outside seating, 6 taps and serves BBQ food (which I will be coming back for). I had yet another Marzen here, and it was good. It had a slight candy sugar sweetness but it seems they're trying to modernise it with a little more fruitness. [<i>Location: Brunnengasse 11, Nuremberg</i>]<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAOK3SYOZMEpWv3yd7m9wf7acaSah-Il9RqpPoB5Qzy-47aaLY70RLtYnOw86-V4UDsjT2KoW2fZ1dCtXQArp5UhUeYyvqCNBRkfwvHt2PafWRlQJBZax9-ducTC7rsGRzjF_CCGzUQ/s1600/20170915_190319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAOK3SYOZMEpWv3yd7m9wf7acaSah-Il9RqpPoB5Qzy-47aaLY70RLtYnOw86-V4UDsjT2KoW2fZ1dCtXQArp5UhUeYyvqCNBRkfwvHt2PafWRlQJBZax9-ducTC7rsGRzjF_CCGzUQ/s200/20170915_190319.jpg" width="200" /></a><b><a href="http://kater-murr.com/" target="_blank">Kater Murr</a></b> - Again, this is very much in the city centre, just off of Konigstrasse, so it's easy to get<br />
to. I believe the name translates to "Tomcat" which is funny since we met a lovely doggo here. This place is quite big, bright and I'd go so far as to describe it as "very Shoreditch" as people sit sipping coffee with their mac books. This bar has Teku glasses. I had a fairly unremarkable Green MONKey Hersbrucker imperial pilsner but Sammie chose correctly and went for <b>Orcabrau Kirschenwäldchen</b> cherry gose which was deliciously sour, salty and bursting with fruit. [<i>Location: Johannesgasse 14, Nuremberg</i>]<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.cafe-wanderer.de/" target="_blank">Café Bar Wanderer & Bieramt</a></b> - This is probably my favourite craft beer bar in Nuremberg. It's only a VERY tiny place with a few taps, only a few tables and some seats at the bar but in the summer, it spills out into the streets with wobbly tables on the cobbles. The square that it's in is a proper sun trap and the ideal place to soak up the sun with a beer. Last time I was there was a very hot September day so we sat outside drinking juicy and hazy pints of <b>Braustelle Helios</b>, a Kolsch but not as you know it. I could be so bold and say that it was hitting the juice levels of citra heavy Kernel beers; it was just so good. [Location: Beim Tiergärtnertor 6]<br />
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I love Germany, in particularly I love Franconia. Nuremberg is such a nice, traditional city with plenty of old buildings and in a way it reminds me of Norwich with the sheer amount of churches and cobbled streets.<br />
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Underneath the tradition and in the background, modern beer is starting to poke through if my extensive <i>research</i> is anything to go by. There are some great bars and breweries doing more fun and untraditional beers which is great to see and again, seeing the craft beer scene in Nuremberg develop reminds me of how I've seen the scene in Norwich grow and I'm excited to see what happens next!<br />
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if you just want more traditional beer in the city, check out my blog from a couple of years ago: <a href="http://www.boozebeatsbites.co.uk/2016/06/places-we-drank-in-nuremberg.html">http://www.boozebeatsbites.co.uk/2016/06/places-we-drank-in-nuremberg.html</a><br />
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NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-28105599980647393082017-12-14T18:47:00.001+00:002017-12-15T09:21:32.291+00:00Golden Pints 2017Last year I tried my hardest to write my Golden Pints and ended up giving up because it was a year in which I did so much and visited so many different places so I just couldn't make any decisions. This year I've possibly visited even more places, and tasted even more beers so it's still difficult but I'm determined to get something down.<br />
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<b><u>Best UK Cask Beer:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Honestly, I'm still drinking less and less cask beer than I ever have in the past although I've still drunk a lot of it. Here I could just default to a beer that I know I've loved for ages, but I won't. The cask beer from 2017 that really sticks out in my mind is <b>Elusive Brewing Level Up</b> Red IPA; I spent a night in the Plasterers for landlord Craig's birthday a few weeks ago and he'd invited Andy from Elusive down to Norwich along with Iain from Wild Weather to host a tap takeover, and out of all of the great beers I tried that night I just kept going back for Level Up with its juicy, tropical and almost dank and sticky hoppiness paired with a strong red malted backbone. I went back the next day for more, naturally.<br />
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Other notable cask beers I've enjoyed a lot are <b>Grain Rye Pale, Almasty Session IPA</b> and <b>Tiny Rebel Juicy</b>.<br />
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<b><u>Best UK Keg Beer:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This is an easy one given my love for quality lagers... <b>Lost and Grounded Keller Pils</b> is as good as any top of the line lager I've had in Germany. It's crisp, fresh and highly smashable. I just wish it was available on tap here all of time.<br />
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Other notable keg beers from this year are <b>Thornbridge Lukas, Adnams Earl Grey Lager</b> & <b>Three Blind Mice Juice Rocket.</b><br />
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<b><u>Best UK Small Pack:</u></b><br />
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To be honest I'm pretty much blind to whether a beer comes in a bottle or can; it really doesn't matter to me so I don't think it's necessary to have separate sections like many people do. <b>Fourpure Juicebox</b> has been outstanding every time I've had a can of it this year because it does what it says on the tin, it's bursting full of hoppy fruit juice flavours but isn't overly sweet so I can literally chug a bag of cans.<br />
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I've had a lot of other great small pack beers too obviously, with highlights being <b>Burnt Mill Pintle</b>, <b>Magic Rock Shredder</b> & <b>Weird Beard Gumball</b>.<br />
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<b><u>Best Overseas Draught Beer:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
This is possibly even harder than the British section considering I've spent 5 days in Prague and 16 days in Germany this year (as well as a few hours in Austria) and have had the pleasure of visiting many little towns and villages whilst I've been there.<br />
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The thing is, as many decent IPAs or other non-traditional European style beers I've had it's the lager I go to the mainland for. It was only this year that I first tried <b>Tegernseer Hell</b> (Germany) and it fast became a favourite after finding a bar in Munich in May where I sat alone chugging pint after pint at the €2,50 Happy Hour. It's just crisp, refreshing and so chuggable because in Germany the beer is never overchilled.<br />
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Other highlights were <b>Orcabrau Wanderlust </b>(Germany), <b>Permon Cryohop Mosaic</b> (Czech Republic) & <b>Mahrs U </b>(Germany).<br />
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<b><u>Best Overseas Small Pack:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I'll be damned if this isn't one of the easiest sections, even though I've been spoiled rotten with even more great bottled and canned beers from abroad. When I visited Stiegl Brewery in Salzburg for a day back in May I was lucky enough to try some rare bottled beers from their cellar. The beer that absolutely blew me away was <b>Stiegl Jahrgangsbier 2015 - Sonnenkönig II </b>(Austria), a tequila barrel aged double witbier. Holy fuck, it was beautiful. You could taste the barrel ageing and sweet agave from the tequila which married well with the classic orange and coriander flavours of a witbier. I only had a few mouthfuls in the tasting cellar but popped the cap back on and snuck it out with me, only to drink the rest on the train back to Munich.<br />
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Some other packaged overseas beers I've really enjoyed are <b>Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout</b> (USA), <b>Evil Twin Old Fashioned Lemonade IPA</b> (USA) & <b>Berliner Kindl Pilsner</b> (Germany).<br />
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<b><u>Best Collaboration Beer:</u></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I've got a bit of an issue with collaboration beers unless it's for a particular special event, but I'll save that for another time. One thing I'll say though is that I've probably had tons of collaboration beers this year, but they're not always labelled properly in pubs.<br />
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My favourite has been <b>Duration / Left Handed Giant Strategic Partnership</b> which I spent an evening drinking with Bates & Miranda from Duration. It was murky as hell, and juicy as hell. Would totally drink again.<br />
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Other notables include <b>Duration / Deya This Ain't My First Rodeo</b> & <b>Brewdog Berlin / BRLO Dr Frank's Happy Pils.</b><br />
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<b><u>Best Overall Beer:</u></b><br />
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<b>Lost and Grounded Keller Pils</b>. Just send a keg to my house please.<br />
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<b><u>Best Branding:</u></b><br />
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The new Suffolk brewery <b>Burnt Mill</b> have awesome branding. The keg badges look great and the cans look even better.<br />
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<b><u>Best UK Brewery:</u></b><br />
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This is bloody difficult but I reckon <b>Magic Rock</b> because I will order one of their beers every time I see it on keg or cask, and grab their cans every time I see them. They're just consistently good and have a broad range of beers.<br />
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Honourable mentions for <b>Thornbridge</b> and of course <b>Oakham</b>.<br />
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<b><u>Best Overseas Brewery:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Again, I've been spoiled this year but I'll go for <b>Pivovar Matuska</b> (Czech Republic). They brew hop forward beers like <b>Raptor</b> and <b>Apollo Galaxy IPA</b> and I'll order them every time I see them. In fact this year in Prague I think we walked about 2 miles to a bar we'd not been to before just in the hope they had a Matuska Beer. They did.<br />
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Special mentions for <b>BRLO</b> (Germany) & <b>Stiegl </b>(Austria).<br />
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<b><u>Best New Brewery Opening:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I've really been impressed with two new breweries locally - <b>Burnt Mill</b> & <b>Ampersand</b> and can expect to see big things from them in the future. And of course you have to look out for <b>Duration</b> because if their collabs have been anything to go by...<br />
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<b><u>UK Pub/Bar of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b>The Plasterers Arms</b> in Norwich, obviously. Everything from the best cask & keg beers in the country, to the biggest bottle list in Norwich that's packed full of rarities from around the world, the frequent tap takeovers, the delicious pizzas and the complimentary rude service from Craig, the Manager makes it the best pub in Norwich.<br />
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Other pubs I enjoyed drinking were <b>The Stoneworks</b> in Peterborough and <b>Brewdog Norwich</b>.<br />
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<b><u>Best New UK Pub/Bar of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Downstairs at <b>Hawthorne</b> in Norwich. It's not a craft beer bar and primarily a cocktail bar, but they do have decent beers like Trumans Lager on tap. Besides, mine's an Old Fashioned.<br />
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<b><u>Best Overseas Bar of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b>The Muted Horn</b> in Berlin was an absolute standout bar for me this year... 22 taps of incredible craft beer from all around the world at reasonable prices in the heart of Berlin along with the friendliest service we got in Berlin.<br />
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Other overseas bars I absolutely loved were <b>Klub Malych</b> (Pilsen) and <b>Pivovarsky Klub</b> (Prague).<br />
<u><br /></u>
<b><u>Best New Overseas Bar of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I have to pick <b>Beertime</b> in Prague for this one because we stay in Smichov every time we go to Prague and up until now, the immediate area to where we stay has been devoid of craft beer up until now. Prices were reasonable, the courtyard was sunny and you can get a pint of Double IPA served in a Nonic pint glass for around £3.<br />
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The only other I can think of is <b>Boeheim Bierhalle</b> in Nuremberg which was great.<br />
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<b><u>Best Brewery Tap of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Obviously <b>Stone Brewing World & Bistro </b>in Berlin. 75 taps of deliciousness in a massively awesome space. Only downside is how far out of the centre it is!<br />
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See also <b>Schanzenbrau</b> in Nuremberg and <b>Stiegl Brauwelt</b> in Salzburg.<br />
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<b><u>Best Beer Festival of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I've already written about this but <b>BRLO Brwfest</b> is exactly how it should be done. We had an awesome day there, drinking beer from all around Europe in the sun with new friends.<br />
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<b><u>Supermarket of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Without a shadow of doubt it's <b>Marks and Spencer</b>. They seem to have cut their range down quite a bit now, but it's for the best because they've really looked at which beers sell and focus on them. Plus they're making waves with selling full cases of beer from the likes of Fourpure and Adnams, which is a tick in my book.<br />
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<b><u>Independent Retailer of the Year:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
I am so, so happy that <b>ABV Store</b> opened on Norwich Market this year because it's an absolute blessing. Dan mostly only ever seems to buy one case of each beer which means that almost every time you go in there you'll find something new, but on the flip side if you miss it and it's only a special you'll miss out. Thankfully it's right in the city centre so I can visit on my lunchbreak. Norwich has needed a central bottle shop forever.<br />
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<b><u>Best Beer Blog or Website:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Mate, of course it's <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkNJohnson" target="_blank">Mark Johnson</a> with his blog <a href="http://www.beercompurgation.co.uk/" target="_blank">Beer Compurgation</a> because he's a bloody good and passionate writer, and 99% of the time I can't disagree with anything he says.<br />
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Shout out to Andrew Fitchett with his blog <a href="https://hotbreakblog.com/" target="_blank">Hot Break</a>, too because he's the other Norwich Beer Blogger!<br />
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<b><u>Simon Johnson Award for Best Twitterer:</u></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm gonna go for <a href="https://twitter.com/pilotbeeruk" target="_blank">Pilot Brewery</a> because they're just hilarious. I'll leave you with this tweet below:<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
We're only stuck with this stupid brewery because of a typo when we tried selling a load of artisan bees.</div>
— Pilot (@pilotbeeruk) <a href="https://twitter.com/pilotbeeruk/status/837936605172281345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<i>And I think that's it for this year. I drank so many great beers, in awesome places with some really nice people and it was just so difficult trying to write this in the first place. See you soon for more blogs.</i>NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-73104834171062027312017-12-06T13:04:00.003+00:002017-12-06T13:05:21.092+00:00Pubs of Norwich: The Dyers Arms<i style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15.4px;">This is a series of posts where I am planning on visiting every single pub in Norwich regardless of any preconceived views about them. Even if I have been to a pub previously, I won't blog about it until I revisit it for this specific purpose.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></i>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">It's one of those pubs that nobody has ever heard of unless you've lived near it; it's been there for years, so what's it like?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>The Location:</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">It's on a street corner near several other pubs, and a couple of kebab shops in the Sprowston area of Norwich.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>The Pub:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">It's grotty and grimey, not exactly small and has a double sided bar, a dart board, a TV and weird seating around the edges of the room instead of in the middle.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>The Food & Drink:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">Any hopes of a gastronomic or craft experience can go out of the window, and on my visit you couldn't even hope for a brown, twiggy real ale as both hand pumps looked like they haven't seen any use since the conception of CAMRA 40 odd years ago.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXcvPuUPHIhKYxeo2mV1xfGOJmIlvLbhThenwWv6cezVWd_isTzh-Ad55RVUgHpL4Z8LeGUBElL76jUT8R4105-6_jbPS_ODu3ik7ztRg0p4ysSMPn4OM8sLZK4lp5i-p4XQ6LLaC8Q/s1600/IMG-20171202-WA0000.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXcvPuUPHIhKYxeo2mV1xfGOJmIlvLbhThenwWv6cezVWd_isTzh-Ad55RVUgHpL4Z8LeGUBElL76jUT8R4105-6_jbPS_ODu3ik7ztRg0p4ysSMPn4OM8sLZK4lp5i-p4XQ6LLaC8Q/s320/IMG-20171202-WA0000.jpeg" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">The keg taps were blessed with delights such as Carling, John Smith's, Kronenbourg and Theakston Mild.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">No Guinness on tap here, but there was a surger on the bar.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">If you're wishing to dine, you're in luck because you can have a probably out of date packet of crisps or nuts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>Events:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">Late enough on a weekend night you'll probably see a lot of eventful happenings, but a tap takeover it is not. I was told once by an ex-colleague that about 20 years ago he was at his girlfriend's house one night and decided to run across to the pub to buy a packet of condoms from the vending machine; he walked in and someone hit him with a bar stool. Never found out whether his condom mission was a success.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">Oh, they show sports too. Unclear whether they actually pay for a Sky TV pub license.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>Atmostphere:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">Whatpub describes it as <i>"a homely, cosy & friendly pub"</i> but I would certainly not. It's grim and dusty. Not been cleaned since 1963. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;"><b><u>My Visit:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">I walked in and got weird looks; I stepped up to the bar and scanned the taps before ordering a pint of Carling because it doesn't seem like the kind of place where you're allowed to order a half. Once the locals (who were shoving as much double cheap spirit and coke down their necks as possible) realised that I'm not a cop, it was OK but still weird.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="background-color: #fff1ea; font-size: 15.4px;">I took my pint of Carling outside in the cold and stood at a bench that looks like it'd collapse beneath me if I sat on it and contemplated the fact that I never really have any intention of returning.</span></span>NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-63216903171761360892017-11-25T13:02:00.002+00:002017-11-25T13:36:03.381+00:00Pubs of Norwich: The Fat Cat<i>This is a series of posts where I am planning on visiting every single pub in Norwich regardless of any preconceived views about them. Even if I have been to a pub previously, I won't blog about it until I revisit it for this specific purpose.</i><br />
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Of course the first I start with is an easy one as it's my local; it's a pub I've been going to on a regular basis ever since I was first legally old enough to drink alcohol, and now it's my local being a 2 minute walk from my house.<br />
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<a href="http://fatcatpub.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Fat Cat</a> is a pub that every fan of real ale has heard of, from Penzance to Dundee, and indeed I've met people from outside of the UK that has heard of it's legendary status.<br />
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<b><u>The Location:</u></b><br />
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The Fat Cat is located on a street corner just off of Dereham Road in Norwich, on the corner of Nelson and West End Street. It's easily a 15 minute walk from the city centre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyZszHD19oITnv1qRIKigKAkGfuPZb22U8p7Okb32HujGl6SO1ISLYCArP4_52S-XfT9klZzH1usv-HzctTfLwoxeXS7wIlC0206xa68X8ZLaybB38NtMcC7DpA9L2D7cycHZQ_8rQg/s1600/Fat+Cat+Bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyZszHD19oITnv1qRIKigKAkGfuPZb22U8p7Okb32HujGl6SO1ISLYCArP4_52S-XfT9klZzH1usv-HzctTfLwoxeXS7wIlC0206xa68X8ZLaybB38NtMcC7DpA9L2D7cycHZQ_8rQg/s320/Fat+Cat+Bar.jpg" width="240" /></a><b><u>The Pub:</u></b><br />
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It's a fairly spacious pub with tables on the street outside, and plenty of seating inside including a back room which they open on busy evenings as long as it's not hired out for a private event.<br />
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Everywhere you look, the pub is covered in vintage breweriana and advertising from Black Cat Cigarettes, original Bullards windows that are still intact, and old Adnams signage. Looking up at the ceiling you'll see tons of old serving jugs and tankards hanging there.<br />
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<b><u>Food and Drink:</u></b><br />
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It is primarily a traditional real ale pub so on the bar you'll find 12 hand pumps, along with another 15 beers served from gravity. The Fat Cat owns its own brewery so you'll usually see at least four of theirs on the pumps which start at a reasonable £3ish a pint for their Best Bitter (oh I remember when it was £1.80 and I'm sure some people remember when it was even cheaper). They always have a good selection of almost every style you can think of on cask, so there really is something for everyone. Usually you'll find Oakham Green Devil, something else local from Adnams or Lacons, and treats from further afield like Dark Star or Marble. If you're lucky they'll be serving Bass on gravity.<br />
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Moving on to the keg taps, they have 6 taps that always serve Belgian fruit beers, a standalone ornate Erdinger fount, a group four lagers/ciders which delightfully serves Budvar and 4 taps dedicated to craft keg. Usually a good mix too, but nothing too crazy or expensive and usually contains something from Marble, so I'm happy.<br />
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There's not much in the bottled selection anymore, a few Belgians and Sam Smiths but when there's so much choice on draught that's not an issue.<br />
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They also have a large selection of real ciders, a small selection of wines and some spirits for those not into beer. Soft drinks come in the form of cans of coke, and a selection of more interesting canned soft drinks.<br />
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Good luck if you're hoping to get a decent meal here because you have three options for food, just as an old fashioned pub does: Crisps, mighty pork pies and, if you're lucky, hand made cling film wrapped rolls which run out VERY quickly.<br />
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<b><u>Events:</u></b><br />
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You don't really get events at the Fat Cat because it is what it is... just a pub. Although they'll usually do something like dedicate a certain amount of pumps to a certain brewery to coincide with Norwich Beer Festival, like recently they had Timothy Taylor Week.<br />
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<b><u>Atmosphere:</u></b><br />
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You'll be hard pressed to find a time when it isn't busy, and when you don't struggle to find a seat which is usually the mark of a good pub. In the summer, you'll see people lined up on the curbside outside, hoping their pint glass doesn't slide off the window ledge, then diving for a bench the moment it looks like a group is moving on.<br />
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<b><u>My visit for this post:</u></b><br />
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It was relatively quiet for a Friday night and we managed to get a seat without any hassle. We noticed that they'd decided to get in on the trendy mulled cider game, which Sammie indulged in, whereas I had my standard couple of pints of Oakham Green Devil which was a very nice drink and went down well.<br />
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All in all, the Fat Cat really is a must visit pub for anyone coming to the area.NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-85377438477966361362017-08-30T13:17:00.001+01:002017-08-30T13:29:11.775+01:00How to Visit Prague (and not get ripped off)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For those who follow my blog, you'll know that I love Prague and indeed every Czech city I've been to. It's an awesome country with great architecture, nice people and cheap beer but there's an issue - like any touristy city, there's a massive issue with people getting ripped off.<br />
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If I had a Czech Crown for the amount of times a friend or colleague comes back from Prague and boasts about <i>only</i> paying 99 crowns for a pint, I'd have enough to buy a pint in a respectable pub or hospoda that doesn't rip people off.<br />
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While on the face of it paying the equivalent of £3.50 doesn't sound that bad, <b>it really is</b>. I frequently tell people that the most expensive <i>normal</i> lager in the Czech Republic is usually Pilsner Urquell and even so you should <i>never</i> be paying more than around 50 crowns (£1.70) for a pint of it.<br />
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Yes, I know, people reading this blog who went to the Czech Republic 20 years ago will be flabbergasted that the price of a pint is that much these days when it was previously only about 10p a pint but that's what happens - inflation and the weak pound - but it's still cheap if you know where to go and what to do.<br />
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<b><u>Arriving in Prague:</u></b><br />
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It is most likely that you'll arrive in Prague at Vaclav Havel Airport and I would strongly advise against using the taxis that are parked outside because <b>they will rip you off</b>. There is also an Airport Express Bus that goes directly to the main train station but <b>it is not cheap</b>, in fact it's probably about £8.<br />
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You can use public transport although it will consist of a bus and then an underground journey which isn't too helpful if you have luggage with you, so your best bet is to use <b>Uber</b> which will probably cost around £8 to the centre which isn't too bad if there are more than one of you.<br />
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<b><u>Currency:</u></b><br />
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DO NOT CHANGE MONEY AT CHEQUEPOINT. This is literally the worst thing you can possibly do as a tourist in Prague. They advertise 0% commission, but they literally give the worst rates ever because where you'd usually get around 28 crowns to the English pound these days, you'll be lucky to even get 20 here.<br />
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Of course there are honest currency exchanges in Prague but it's much better to exchange your money before you go, at somewhere reputable like Eurochange or Debenhams.<br />
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Also, whilst you can buy things using Euros in the Czech Republic, <b>local currency is cheaper</b>. If you look at a bill in a restaurant and convert both crowns and euro currency into English, I can guarantee the price you pay in crowns is better for your wallet.<br />
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<b><u>Old Town Square:</u></b><br />
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Old Town square is pretty; there's no denying it. It's fun to see the Astronomical Clock, then take a walk over the beautiful yet horrifically busy Charles Bridge but you see that pop up police station right in the centre of the square? It's there for a reason. It's there because the area is rife for pickpockets. You won't see them and you won't feel them slide your wallet out of your bag or pocket until you go to pay for something and boom, you'll notice it's gone.<br />
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The shops of old town square are a rip off too. Want a traditional Czech gift to take back to your mum? Well it'll cost an extortionate amount and is actually made in China. Go find a farmers market instead to find some genuine hand made gifts to take home.<br />
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<b><u>Beer & Food:</u></b><br />
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Of course I wanted to go a little more in depth about the beer situation since this is a beer blog, but I'm also going to include food. This basically follows on from what I was saying at the start, and about Old Town Square.<br />
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When walking around Old Town Square or up near the castle (the two main tourist areas) you will see several things...<br />
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<b>Kiosks:</b> These kiosks primarily sell 3 things - Trdelník, Prague Ham and Drinks. All of these things are a rip off. Trdelník despite all of the signs <b>is not traditional Czech dessert</b>; its origins are unknown but it's suspected to be Hungarian. Prague Ham, whilst delicious and is well worth eating, is a rip off from these kiosks because the price advertised is actually <b>only for around 100g, not a portion</b> so they'll pile it up and guess what sucker? You're stung with a bill for 300 crowns and you'll have to pay it. Drinks are extortionate too as they'll charge you probably 100 crowns for a 330ml can of deliciously warm Pilsner Urquell <b>that you're not legally allowed to drink in public</b>.<br />
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<b>Restaurants:</b> If it boasts about selling "traditional" Czech cuisine in English and/or the menu has pictures on it <b>STAY WELL AWAY</b>. There are several restaurants in the touristy areas of Prague that like I said above will charge you a horrific price for beer but that's not all. The food is crap and massively overprice - whilst a main meal in a <i>real</i> traditional Czech restaurant would cost you around 125 crowns, these restaurants will charge around 300 crowns whilst also sneaking a massive service charge and cover charge on you.<br />
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<b>Instead</b> of visiting the kiosks and restaurants around Old Town Square, just walk a couple of streets over to Dlouha to visit <b><a href="https://www.chlebicky-praha.cz/" target="_blank">Sisters</a></b> for a delicious open faced sandwich topped with Prague Ham or anything you can imagine; and pop to <b><a href="http://lokal-dlouha.ambi.cz/en/" target="_blank">Lokal</a></b> for a cold, reasonably priced pint of tank fresh Pilsner Urquell with some delicious Czech Cuisine. <b>Lokal</b> is a small chain of maybe 5 restaurants in Prague and you can't go wrong. There's also one at the other end of Charles Bridge - U Bile Kuzelky, on Misenska.<br />
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<b>There you go, my top tips to avoid getting ripped off in Prague. Of course this is not a comprehensive guide but just a few observations that I've made when I've been there and also a couple of bits that I've borrowed from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM9_KZNJw8qGuEHJf4lcfIiGwpiRtcKAm" target="_blank">Honest Prague Guide</a> on YouTube because they're great guys, doing a great service to stop people from getting ripped off.</b><br />
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I have plenty of other blog posts about good places to eat and drink in Prague, including posts about craft beer bars where the £3.50 a pint is justified so take a look at the rest of my blog!<br />
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Thanks,<br />
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Nate<br />
<br />NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-38731491879159660862017-07-28T13:33:00.005+01:002017-07-28T13:33:57.862+01:00BRLO Brwfest 2017 - A Craft Beer Festival for All<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUp_bSWVq4zhueZKdpLR_FTjFjZLEZc_uGuqesPHAeu2optSvFaji8CXxIjD9cE3N3p0ANs02eFrfYRxtEOn6l6btdCzWKYpUw2lDCovWdDuFMTgI_z3rvpv6iELrNQ4Var4Ut5wtng/s1600/IMG_3762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUp_bSWVq4zhueZKdpLR_FTjFjZLEZc_uGuqesPHAeu2optSvFaji8CXxIjD9cE3N3p0ANs02eFrfYRxtEOn6l6btdCzWKYpUw2lDCovWdDuFMTgI_z3rvpv6iELrNQ4Var4Ut5wtng/s320/IMG_3762.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/BRLObeer" target="_blank">BRLO</a> is a small craft brewery located in 38 shipping containers not far from the centre of Berlin. They brew a range of beers similar to what craft breweries in the UK & the USA are brewing such as IPAs and Pale Ales as well as more traditionally German beers such as Helles and Berliner Weisse.<br />
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I first discovered BRLO Pale late one night in Kaschk in Berlin last August and I fell in love; it was definitely one of the best beers I had of that trip so we knew we had to visit the brewery bar when we were in Berlin last month.<br />
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We discovered just before we went that our visit would coincide with their Brwfest celebration - a mini craft beer festival where they'd invite some of the breweries they're friends with to come and pour their own beers in the yard of their Brwhouse. They'd invited 11 of their friends - 9 of which from various countries in Europe including my friends 40ft in the UK, Edge from Barcelona and White Hag in Ireland as well as three new German breweries - and had various street food and music things going on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRslh9V9I_gJHxYitDgDb4yOYCkqwF1ssK7azfJPwKYnCaOVbmsQucRJFyOvb2gHTs6dv367UUQfouk3B1X8C1sW4H1lbu9-h46BKxIhCEZdXMb7SiAxW2e3yhUsf-WLGlNIHUm71fag/s1600/IMG_3765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRslh9V9I_gJHxYitDgDb4yOYCkqwF1ssK7azfJPwKYnCaOVbmsQucRJFyOvb2gHTs6dv367UUQfouk3B1X8C1sW4H1lbu9-h46BKxIhCEZdXMb7SiAxW2e3yhUsf-WLGlNIHUm71fag/s320/IMG_3765.JPG" width="240" /></a>As y'all know, I'm a beer festival skeptic but since we were in Berlin and planning on heading to BRLO at some point anyway we thought we'd check it out along with <a href="https://twitter.com/BegleyChris" target="_blank">Canadian Chris</a>.<br />
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The most important thing that struck me when we first got there is that despite there being a craft beer festival going on within the confines of the brewery, you could still just go there and drink BRLO beer from their own bars as you would on any given day. Whenever I've seen similar events at UK breweries, regular drinkers who don't want to take part in the festivals have to elsewhere. I absolutely loved this approach that doesn't exclude regulars who just want pints of BRLO beer.<br />
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For those who wanted to get involved, you'd pay €5 for a special festival glass which includes a token for a 300ml pour from the hosts BRLO and having that glass allows you visit any of the craft breweries who were pouring at the festival. Prices were good, typically being €1, €2 or €3 depending on the size of pour you wanted... yes, it was possible to get a full grown up glass of beer at a craft beer festival!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2Ip4b_cUlHxtInONVGEXX42uUitFeLZqStFnLojXa3y0cNm7EB0ZvoUZ8x2k-auL08Oe3kk4tRz96XjAKtpX0oz9SERRjYh5du9vNj7ln7W2TdyKRslaHRWsmOHS0s8qqKUCSyk9XA/s1600/IMG_3772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2Ip4b_cUlHxtInONVGEXX42uUitFeLZqStFnLojXa3y0cNm7EB0ZvoUZ8x2k-auL08Oe3kk4tRz96XjAKtpX0oz9SERRjYh5du9vNj7ln7W2TdyKRslaHRWsmOHS0s8qqKUCSyk9XA/s320/IMG_3772.JPG" width="240" /></a>I started by cashing in my BRLO token straight away and had their <b>German IPA</b> which was a dark and chewy caramel based IPA with plenty of tropical fruits going on in the background. Very enjoyable and somewhat of an English/American IPA cross.<br />
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Next we dashed across to <b>White Hag</b> an Irish brewery whose beers I've enjoyed before both in Dublin and Munich to try their <b>Little Fawn</b> session IPA that The Beer Nut had previously said I need to try, and it was a nice and light IPA. I could have had several, alas there were more beers to try including <b>Edge Gose Margarita</b> that Sammie got a goddamn it, it was like if a margarita and a beer were to bang and have a beautiful baby.<br />
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We popped to the bar next door to see <b>40ft Brewery</b> from Dalston where Tanya whom I'd briefly met before at 40ft's Technoberfest last October. We chatted about our love for the London beer scene and how Braumeister Ben is a legend and she kindly gave us a free beer! I went for the <b>Pale Ale</b> which I'd not had before and it was fruity with a solid malt base whilst Sammie went for <b>Larger</b>, an awesome German style lager that I've previously drank loads of. Sammie wasn't really feeling lager so I finished hers, with great pleasure.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZ-N2GAgyFo_1kz4fSiA2e2rE6uuhI2UBOOJYp0C-hCE4kfPljdFXOx5-znSKMvAj0ciLiLZlIIGYqIZrixCPhLqQSw9Z1UjLF24DJSNLOru2IQHUf4j0uAJqwVuphGMncbjFNsh1zQ/s1600/IMG_3769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZ-N2GAgyFo_1kz4fSiA2e2rE6uuhI2UBOOJYp0C-hCE4kfPljdFXOx5-znSKMvAj0ciLiLZlIIGYqIZrixCPhLqQSw9Z1UjLF24DJSNLOru2IQHUf4j0uAJqwVuphGMncbjFNsh1zQ/s320/IMG_3769.JPG" width="240" /></a><b><br /></b>
Next we dashed back across the other side, trying to avoid getting hit by kids playing cornhole (they beat Chris) and I went to the <b>Stone Berlin</b> bar and had a large glass of the <b>Go To IPA</b>, another session IPA that I absolutely love. Sammie berated me for my boring choice of beer because I drink it all the time. Sammie was slightly more interesting and went for <b>Motel Beer Purple Noon</b>, a grisette which is a lesser seen beer style. It was spicy, fruity and a little funky. Very enjoyable!<br />
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We then noticed a sign saying we were at the meeting point for brewery tours and it was the right time so we figured it'd be nice to see the brewery. The lovely Devin (whom we'd met before at BKL) turned up along with other people who wanted to join the tour, whilst he had to make the decision of whether the tour was going to be in English or German! Luckily everyone in the group could at least understand English so we went along with the tour. See, they say that once you've seen one brewery you've seen them all but it's not about that. It's about meeting the people and hearing the story. Besides, it was a bloody beautiful brewhouse! Devin was funny and engaging and a great host!<br />
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Near the end of the tour we got to try a brand new beer that was almost ready to come out which was a pale ale with tea, and it was absolutely delicious.<br />
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My next stop was at Norwegian brewery <b>Bevog's</b> bar where I had <b>Rudeen</b>, which was honestly one of the best Black IPAs I've ever had. In another not-so-surprising twist, Sammie had yet another sour beer in the form of <b>Jopen Coastal Gose</b> from the Netherlands and it was honestly one of the saltiest beers I've ever had. I don't think I could have handled more than a sip!<br />
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Yet another IPA for me, <b>Kinn Vestkyst</b> (which I'm assuming means West Coast in Norwegian) and it was one of the beers of the day... as juicy as you'd want from the style. Then out of nowhere OH MY GOD SAMMIE IS STILL ON THE SOUR. Back to Ireland for this one... <b>The Puca Dry Hopped Lemon Sour</b> from <b>White Hag</b> was lemony and acidic and delicious.<br />
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Just one more beer to finish our trip and I went Spanish with <b>Ziggy</b> a session IPA from Barcelona's <b>Edge Brewing</b>. It was soft and citrusy and basically the youngest brother of their DIPA i'd had before. I don't even need to tell you that Sammie drank <b>Kennedy</b> a berliner weisse from <b>Schneeeule</b> which again was ridiculously sour!<br />
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By this point we'd drunk loads of delicious beers so it was time to head off for some food. We toyed with the idea of going back but we were knackered and went back to our hotel.<br />
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It was genuinely the best craft beer festival I have ever been to and if they do it again in 2018, I can guarantee we'll be back!<br />
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Thanks for an awesome day, BRLO!NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-83051345212925867032017-06-27T13:07:00.006+01:002017-06-27T13:07:58.593+01:00Prague 2017 Day 3 - Viewpoints, Weird Donkeys and VietnamDay 3 started much the same as any other with us moaning about hangovers before making sandwiches at the apartment before heading out.<br />
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We decided to head up to Letna Park because we'd not been there before and we'd heard it has great views over the city (also, beer gardens.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3QhFP4ScUpPOEKDUthj64hKc2vexnnVnkJOba_HvRyTeXrx9SayeHj6gL-LrGAtS7WgzS-jTdKByqQ2esZifaBuGzT1H0zmiXv1rGsN2p-Dhg6sN8269I2ElOXmOBiBfMxw_f-s-FQ/s1600/LEtna+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1078" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3QhFP4ScUpPOEKDUthj64hKc2vexnnVnkJOba_HvRyTeXrx9SayeHj6gL-LrGAtS7WgzS-jTdKByqQ2esZifaBuGzT1H0zmiXv1rGsN2p-Dhg6sN8269I2ElOXmOBiBfMxw_f-s-FQ/s200/LEtna+1.jpg" width="200" /></a>We jumped off the tram somewhere in Holesovice near the Generali Arena where AC Sparta Prague play, and for a team that I've seen play champions league games I was surprised how small their stadium is. I guess ice hockey is more their thing since the TipSport Arena where HC Sparta Prague play is massive.<br />
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We wandered through the greenest space we'd seen in Prague, the large Letna Park and found the Metronome where there was skateboarding and the universal sign for "You wanna buy drugs, fam?" and holy shit, the view was incredible. A wide unobstructed view of the city I love in all its glory.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8HYK7C5_nrhqZ9TKOuzXC6nZIuW0A_A2O3RSTgvJYovrs2quHT6_7ZNVynJmNulPeOPSt0X7nsXEoijs9r4RsfKvy85TGQoKKHmsgBYrjt_FbCG89HSLYWejrfhxi-XWZsbMIQy1Og/s1600/Letna+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8HYK7C5_nrhqZ9TKOuzXC6nZIuW0A_A2O3RSTgvJYovrs2quHT6_7ZNVynJmNulPeOPSt0X7nsXEoijs9r4RsfKvy85TGQoKKHmsgBYrjt_FbCG89HSLYWejrfhxi-XWZsbMIQy1Og/s200/Letna+6.jpg" width="112" /></a>Afterwards we took a short wander and accidentally found a <b>Staropramen</b> beer garden serving Tankova at very cheap prices, about 32kc if I remember correctly. Despite it only being 11:30am of course I had to have a pint of the 10 degree (which is not the horrible stuff we get here). It was so nice sitting in the scorching sun drinking beers, chatting and smoking cigarettes. Some English girls then arrived who knew ALL ABOUT BEER, it was great because I learned that Corona is from Italy. NOT. We prevailed through their knowledgeable conversation which somehow, effortlessly switched to make-up and I have no idea how. We decided to have another pint with Sammie once again making the mistake of thinking the cider wasn't Kingswood. Obviously it was, to her disappointment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileHA0KH_z9CJaPNobH076Av_cKgIvTjy6IqjmbijdP8VKm7I2rk0oijG1hQlMvVXdx3rgDGPK4uqiO5IWuOHzbKGH4dBtkzpyUnECChTCAg-7wBYfW8aku1klMKU8MFjNrI2ePVahRA/s1600/Letna+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileHA0KH_z9CJaPNobH076Av_cKgIvTjy6IqjmbijdP8VKm7I2rk0oijG1hQlMvVXdx3rgDGPK4uqiO5IWuOHzbKGH4dBtkzpyUnECChTCAg-7wBYfW8aku1klMKU8MFjNrI2ePVahRA/s200/Letna+2.jpg" width="200" /></a>We decided to head towards <b>The Prague Market</b> in Holesovice with another stop at another beer garden. This one wasn't quite as nice and only had <b>Gambrinus 10</b> which I actually prefer in bottles and Sammie had a bottle of <b>Frisco</b> which is like a blended fruit cider from the makers of Pilsner Urquell.<br />
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We finally found the market and it was wonderful. I felt like I was walking around Great Yarmouth due to the sheer amount of stalls selling genuine knock off merchandise and cheaply made everything, except there were more Vietnamese people than in GY.<br />
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We found the food hall which was wall to wall of fresh produce. Fruit, vegetables, meats, cheeses and the freshest carp you could find... in fact it was so fresh that it was swimming around in the tank still! Next, food was on the agenda, and the only food we could find was Vietnamese, but I was OK with that! I had some curried chicken noodles which were alright, washed down with a can of <b>Gambrinus 10</b> that boasted 10% extra, whilst I got lost in translation and accidentally ordered Sammie a chicken pho, but it was delicious and fresh so no complaints.<br />
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We decided to walk through the housing estates and construction sites of the very quiet Holesovice area towards <b>Pivovar Marina</b> which I'm sure that you don't need to know Czech to figure out that it's a small craft brewery and restaurant next to the water. The restaurant and beer garden are both massive and there's a small, probably only 5bbl brew kit behind the bar. The <b>Holešovický ležák 12</b> was a delicious unfiltered lager, popping with sweetness and fresh grassy hops whilst Sammie's <b>Marina tmavý speciál 13</b> was rich and chocolatey.<br />
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We got the tram into the centre next and went to another place on our hit list for the week, <b>T-Anker</b> which is a bar/restaurant on top of a rather brutalist looking department store. With the sun shining down on us, and the amazing view over the city it didn't even matter that their house lager was just OK.<br />
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Next we were going to meet Adam, Brendon and Bellos somewhere that I would never have chosen before. A well known, misogynistic chain of American bar/restaurants. <b>Hooters</b>. Tankovka <b>Pilsner Urquell</b> and chicken wings were delicious and cheap enough but I couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling I had being in a restaurant where the management's entire philosophy is for female waiting staff to get their boobs out.<br />
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We moved on swiftly to <b>Craft House</b> where we'd been the other night and was handily across the road. They'd shaken their tap list up a bit so there were fresh new beers for us to try. <b>Hendrych H8</b> is a pilsner that I'd had before and was tasting as delicious as ever. Sammie's <b>Raven Morrigan</b> Irish Dry Stout was silky smooth, creamy and full of chocolate as a beer of the style should be. <b>Raven</b> is one of the best Czech craft breweries out there so I had to grab a pint of their juicy, <b>Casquinox</b> IPA which unsurprisingly was full of Cascade and Equinox hops whilst Sammie had been craving something sour so went for the locally brewed <b>Zubaty Pes Kiwinator</b> which was an uber salty and bitter Kiwi Gose.<br />
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We left the guys to their own devices and went somewhere that Sammie had seen online and we'd been recommended before, <b>Pivovarsky Klub</b>. We walked into an incredibly busy tiny bar since the downstairs was closed; the bar man who was doing everything by himself including drinks, glass collecting, glass washing, serving food, seating people, the works was incredible calm and collected, asked us to either come back when downstairs is open or just wait for a seat. Bars of this small size in the UK struggle with even three people on so he was doing an impressive job. Eventually he spotted two seats at the bar so reserved them for us and we jumped in. There's a small but carefully curated tap list of 6 beers, one of which I'd noticed was <b>Benedict Světlý ležák 12</b> which Joe had recommended me on twitter, and holy shit it was one of the best lagers I had all week. Perfectly crisp and hoppy. Sammie went for <b>Rebel pšeničný</b> which is a perfect banana and clove tasting creamy hefeweizen.<br />
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It was with this, we decided to call it a night. Stopping via Tesco and sitting in Sacre Couer park with a couple of beers on the way back to our apartment as the next day was going to be boozy...NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-19385012601615156402017-06-23T12:59:00.002+01:002017-06-23T12:59:24.352+01:00Prague 2017 Day 2 - Not Just Pilsner in PilsenWaking up with irresponsibly sore heads, we had some breakfast at the apartment and caught the train to Pilsen, a city of a little over 150,000 about an hour and a half on the train from Prague.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQMjWBkyBk0BOvTDF-I29xd8O_vmsI9zhUYVd-pl76989YlyEuaTmnTqt_EaX1dF0hSrSAqzne-buIzuvbKR6aTJL-mn9Y4Pa8xnPq4LICBt5RTxKayzUE5gXSMYCqSYr6_cpHQUV4A/s1600/Pilsen+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQMjWBkyBk0BOvTDF-I29xd8O_vmsI9zhUYVd-pl76989YlyEuaTmnTqt_EaX1dF0hSrSAqzne-buIzuvbKR6aTJL-mn9Y4Pa8xnPq4LICBt5RTxKayzUE5gXSMYCqSYr6_cpHQUV4A/s200/Pilsen+1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a>I'd been to Pilsen once before, back in 2015 to do the Pilsner Urquell brewery tour which I didn't fancy doing again so this was a trip to see the town and visit some pubs.<br />
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First stop was actually the <b>Pilsner Urquell</b> brewery where they were preparing for a performance art festival later that evening. As it was a nice, though somewhat blustery day, we sat outside drinking their ubiquitous beer which I'm sure I don't need to introduce by now.<br />
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After that we took a wander over the river, taking in the sights of the beautiful city and found <b>Na Parkanu</b>, a pub I'd heard so much about before since they sell <b>Unfiltered Pilsner Urquell</b>, probably the only place to do so. I'd had it once before, directly in the cellars beneath the brewery but I was underwhelmed with this and that's probably because it's a case of needing the experience more than you need the drug. Next, a poster in the pub caught my eye; it was advertising <b>Master Summer Ale</b> which comes from <b>Prazdroj</b> who make Pilsner Urquell so I went for that. It's great seeing an extremely traditional brewery making their take on a modern craft beer and it not being shit! It was exactly what I expected from a summer ale... citrusy and refreshing. Sammie went for a cider, thinking it wasn't <b>Kingswood</b> but much to her disappointment it was. It just tastes like Apple Tango (which I don't mind so much).<br />
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Whilst we were walking towards somewhere else, we figured it'd be hilarious to pop into the British and American sweet shop and to our entertainment found Bud Light, John Smiths and Boddingtons in the beer fridge!<br />
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After that we found another little craft beer bar and bottle shop that wasn't on my radar, <b>Pivotecka</b>, so it would have been rude not to stop. Lovely little hipster looking oasis where I observed a mixture of people from two guys who were clearly on a craft beer crawl, to two coders with the macbooks discussing development stuff and a guy who was slightly confused that they didn't sell Pilsner Urquell so made do with another lager. I think there were about 15 beers on tap, which was pretty astounding. I figured it was time for an IPA so I went for <b>Zichovec 15 Degree IPA</b> which was happily drinkable. A little hoppy but more English style. Sammie went for <b>Hellstork Doppelcock</b> which is a honey doppelbock. A little too sweet for my liking.<br />
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Next stop was <b>Francis</b>, another craft beer bar which actually sold Pilsner Urquell so I had a pint to which Sammie judge me as she ordered her <b>Zhurak Melounie Oatmeal IPA</b> which I wish I would have had because it was rich with a thick body and a boatload of fruity hops. It actually reminded me of Siren Soundwave.<br />
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Back round the corner and we were hungry so stopped for a dirty kebab which was very delicious and wasn't the last of the trip.<br />
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Next stop was <b>Na Cepu</b>, another little craft beer bar where I had the <b>Pivečka Cascade IPA</b> as I wanted hops again. It was nice, but not exactly bursting. Sammie had some weird beer that tasted like apples. I wasn't into it.<br />
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We walked towards the station and purposefully missed the next train out to go to <b>Klub malých pivovarů</b> which I'd heard was good, and boy I was not disappointed! 8 taps of craft from the Czech Republic's finest. I started with <b>Kout na Šumavě 10 degree lager</b> which was crisp and delicious whilst Sammie had <b>Frýdlant Albrect 12 degree</b> as she'd had the dark version the previous night and enjoyed it. I have to admit I preferred this one. We decided to have one more beer which turned out to be the best I'd had all day, and possibly the best of the trip. <b>Permon Cryo Hop Mosiac</b> was a punch in the face with mosaic hops, citrusy, bitter, toasty, juicy. Basically it's 100% what I want in a beer and I should have had another pint. Sammie had a bottle of <b>Sedmy Schod</b> because she has one of their beer mats but hadn't tried it before. I wasn't a fan; it tasted like one of those old American imports.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLn0OT0h2TH3iLNL3Ar25-FB3Mi6ECEgnAYfzdMOjjWc7nm5ZxedOeMXNJ6QoFtUIwAwU6m8rKO7sUNT7mlNX6guOvxBppokPU_cbWgPoudttSNmeo94xXaEhGqexrHr6TM8L-rjPOLQ/s1600/Pilsen+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLn0OT0h2TH3iLNL3Ar25-FB3Mi6ECEgnAYfzdMOjjWc7nm5ZxedOeMXNJ6QoFtUIwAwU6m8rKO7sUNT7mlNX6guOvxBppokPU_cbWgPoudttSNmeo94xXaEhGqexrHr6TM8L-rjPOLQ/s200/Pilsen+7.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Next stop was the train station and we had some beers on the train and got off at Smichov. We wandered across the river and went to <b>(A) Void</b> which describes itself as a floating gallery. The atmosphere here was banging, with music and dancing which was nice considering everywhere we'd been in Pilsen was dead. We had a couple of beers here, but just relatively boring Lobkowicz lagers but remember what I said earlier about needing the experience more than the drug? Well that. We absolutely loved sitting in the scorching sun, drinking pints and listening to music.<br />
<br />
More craft beer next as we found <b>Kulovy Blesk</b> where I found what I think was my only <b>Matuska</b> beer of the trip, their wonderfully summery and hoppy <b>California</b> whilst Sammie went for <b>Bad Flash Hop Wings IPA</b> which was equally tasty.<br />
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And that was day two, more beeriness, more cheeriness but a different city to explore.<br />
<br />
Nate<br />
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NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-13952915046284729502017-06-21T13:19:00.002+01:002017-06-22T09:32:22.823+01:00Prague 2017 Day 1 - Monks & Craft BeerAh, the now annual trip to Prague. A wonderful occasion as it's one of my favourite cities. The old world style buildings, mixed with modern architecture. I love it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJ2_I15hM5QSE5bVt5Y5Zia269d4c9I7cxueojCDPf2f1tQ-cNgdZ_dZPzpWIJ6OhwlCIzzL7WoQX2M_t43QyxK1RDAWB6pdws5vc399mVtSv6p-tAH4LTo9h_1MBHLfB2GMyOx1igw/s1600/KRMA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJ2_I15hM5QSE5bVt5Y5Zia269d4c9I7cxueojCDPf2f1tQ-cNgdZ_dZPzpWIJ6OhwlCIzzL7WoQX2M_t43QyxK1RDAWB6pdws5vc399mVtSv6p-tAH4LTo9h_1MBHLfB2GMyOx1igw/s320/KRMA.jpg" width="240" /></a>Usually we don't arrive until quite late at night but this time we opted for an early flight meaning we could get there in time to enjoy our first day. Obviously an early flight means a mandatory 6am pint of Adnams Mosaic at the airport too, which is always a delight.<br />
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We landed at around 11:30am and got an Uber to the apartment we were staying in, but we were too early for Check-In so we decided to pop to our local for the week... <b>Smíchovská Krčma</b>. It's a small, and cheap, pub and restaurant with a half constructed back garden in shade of the sun. The beer selection is the same that you'd find in many Prague pubs with the likes of <b>Pilsner Urquell</b>, Radegast, Kozel Cerny and Gambrinus of course. Obviously I opted for the crisp and refreshing Pilsner Urquell which was probably the cheapest PU of the trip at 39kc for a half litre which was perfect on a hot day. I went on to have three before check in.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrHb1xIW_tAejjyrEzhnD_YVgNPD8hlN38c-MqO3mjaNRTJJE7ppeD2fZBx9EonWRI46KKQbmMkD_VeAtpqpwBQdolCAyDn9dYiQlhEPxmAZ3sWNpr6ba_iKm9xACQWJuHEGb78u8fA/s1600/Bernard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrHb1xIW_tAejjyrEzhnD_YVgNPD8hlN38c-MqO3mjaNRTJJE7ppeD2fZBx9EonWRI46KKQbmMkD_VeAtpqpwBQdolCAyDn9dYiQlhEPxmAZ3sWNpr6ba_iKm9xACQWJuHEGb78u8fA/s320/Bernard.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Our apartment was still being cleaned at the time of check in so we dropped our bags and decided to take a wander for a beer or two and groceries.<br />
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The next stop was an old favourite, <b>Bernard Andel</b>, which was the quietest I've ever seen it and it led me to wonder if people even drink on a Sunday. I had the <b>Unfiltered 12 Degree</b> which was colder than the previous Urquell and delicious as always, whilst Sammie opted for a bottle of their new <b>IPA</b>. It seems that Bernard are trying to get all modern on us! Their IPA was nothing to speak of; it was probably more English style with its sweet maltiness and no hop bitterness to speak of.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY9c98MrgTp6kBl7OExNyLjGU4DSNyO20DatgSisy11ro8A84qFrjG-6jjpZrBe1ip2qegvSS9lBhgzJL98wzaU33MSxz66mG0iFKfy2nXxWq_Xdzue-g3NJ5DsPMXXdBDgpxMu6zVw/s1600/Lollihop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY9c98MrgTp6kBl7OExNyLjGU4DSNyO20DatgSisy11ro8A84qFrjG-6jjpZrBe1ip2qegvSS9lBhgzJL98wzaU33MSxz66mG0iFKfy2nXxWq_Xdzue-g3NJ5DsPMXXdBDgpxMu6zVw/s320/Lollihop.jpg" width="320" /></a>On the way to Tesco and back to the apartment, we stopped at the very new <b>Beertime</b>... CRAFT BEER HAS FINALLY HIT SMICHOV! 14 taps of modern craft beers (and the occasional craft lager). I went for a half litre of the locally brewed <b>Sibeeria Lollihop</b> IPA at 6.6%, mostly because of the novelty name but it turns out it was a nice little juicy banger full of fruity hops and was served in a nonic glass, to my delight. It also seems that <b>Zichovec Pina Colada Cream Ale</b>, which was very sweet and creamy and tasted a bit like a pina colada. It wasn't for me, but Sammie loved it.<br />
Czech craft breweries are being as playful as the likes of Omnipollo as Sammie went for <br />
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Decided to have a couple of beers at the apartment next, one of which was <b>Tesco Finest Unfiltered Lager</b> - yes, even Tesco is getting into the craft beer own brand game over there! It's unclear as to who brewed it but I was impressed as it's exactly how a porter should be, though maybe a bit thin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikTRnIR2ozEcfrX76MG7ki6ME9C_3iwZxLGclmT8X7hHTQTkVm3n2iyBk7JIJMs11n7LoPYvV6XlWNTZJmIT-VOplNqt27cgFbc8o5mstTX_2u5rLla9jEpiR1VZHc7rNXiLpM5n0b5Q/s1600/Strahov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikTRnIR2ozEcfrX76MG7ki6ME9C_3iwZxLGclmT8X7hHTQTkVm3n2iyBk7JIJMs11n7LoPYvV6XlWNTZJmIT-VOplNqt27cgFbc8o5mstTX_2u5rLla9jEpiR1VZHc7rNXiLpM5n0b5Q/s320/Strahov.jpg" width="320" /></a>Our next stop was <b>Klasterni Pivovar Strahov</b>, which I've seemed to have missed on my previous two visits. We accidentally sat down on the same table as a gun loving, Trump supporter from North Carolina who despite having been living in Prague for 15 years barely speaks it. He advised me to get the <b>St Norbert IPA</b> because apparently it's exactly the same as Pliny the Elder. Spoiler: It's a really decent beer, strong malty backbone and a nice hoppiness but Pliny it is not. I think I was more impressed with their <b>Weizen</b> that Sammie had.<br />
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We walked down the hill next and found another bar from the poplar <b>Lokal</b> chain at U Bile Kuzelky. I think I've talked about Lokal before - they basically just sell <b>Pilsner Urquell Tankovna</b> which is why it's awesome. Enough said.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpQv4-287ygkdd9q9OusgpKmqk_fSKjVCxsyTGvlad2gcesIEdvdKmIQsY2mcQEdv9a-k3VWx3pQzjBNhu8xJ17k9hhRGsKM3wUNkxqYhFG4bElQoSm4o-rF-0De-31hE21QKsc5mCQ/s1600/Monastery+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpQv4-287ygkdd9q9OusgpKmqk_fSKjVCxsyTGvlad2gcesIEdvdKmIQsY2mcQEdv9a-k3VWx3pQzjBNhu8xJ17k9hhRGsKM3wUNkxqYhFG4bElQoSm4o-rF-0De-31hE21QKsc5mCQ/s320/Monastery+View.jpg" width="320" /></a>Next we were going to meet my friend Adam and his merry band of Cumbrians in Vortex bar but it appeared to be closed so we just headed to <b>Craft House</b>, somewhere we'd been before. <b>First Order Green Door IPA</b> was drinkable but nothing special but Sammie's <b>Frydlant Albrecht 12 Katerina</b> dark lager was full of caramel and roastiness.<br />
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Afterwards we decided to walk back to Smichov instead of using public transport because Prague is pretty, and that way we'd walk past <b>Hells Bells Rockin' Pub</b> and I can tell you that this time it was not rockin'.<br />
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We've always had pleasant experiences here but this time, a different guy was working on the bar. I only realised when I ordered my second drink that he was massively overcharging us by 40kc so we were paying 74kc for a fucking Staropramen. Being slightly drunk I figured I wasn't going to be an arsehole drunken Englishman so we finished our drinks and left before popping across the road to <b>Pivnice U Mejly</b> which is a little oddball 24 hour sports bar we quite like. Here, the prices were exactly how they're meant to be. A solid 31kc for Staropramen 10.<br />
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We then decided to go home to sleep as the next day we were catching a train to Pilsen.<br />
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NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-65643957913498091172017-06-06T13:06:00.000+01:002017-06-06T13:06:01.744+01:00The Real Reason Why RateBev is TerribleThis weekend <a href="http://goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2017/6/2/ratebeer-zx-ventures-acquisition-minority-stake-anheuser-busch-inbev" target="_blank">Good Beer Hunting broke the news</a> that an <a href="http://www.ab-inbev.co.uk/" target="_blank">AB Inbev</a> owned investment firm has bought a stake in popular beer ratings website, <a href="https://www.ratebeer.com/" target="_blank">Ratebeer</a>.<br />
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This led to a #Hopinions poll by my friends at Beer O'Clock show asking whether it's a good or bad thing. Here is the poll and my response:<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
I honestly cannot decide. I actually think it's neither because it happened ages ago and nobody noticed any difference so far.</div>
— Nathaniel Southwood (@NateDawg27) <a href="https://twitter.com/NateDawg27/status/871429511325384704">June 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Now I thought long and hard about this after I tweeted it and realised that it's a terrible thing; not for the industry but for the people within the beer community.<br />
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<b><u>The Irrelevant Reason</u></b><br />
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There was a lot flying around on twitter about how AB InBev will now have access to all of this big data and market insights which is a bad thing, but it's not. They already had access to it. Everyone did. Anyone can harvest data from Ratebeer to tell you what the most popular beers are in a given region. Besides, how would ABI use the data? Sure, they've bought craft breweries but craft brewers don't need to be told what's popular. The data side of things is irrelevant.<br />
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<b><u>The Real Reason</u></b><br />
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What is relevant, however, is the fact that the knowledge of this buyout could destroy a whole community of tens of thousands of people across the world.<br />
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It's not secret that I'm not a fan of Ratebeer - in fact I regularly refer to it as "hatebeer" - but I am a fan of the sense of community that craft beer has.<br />
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See, Ratebeer has thousands of subscribers from all over the world that share one common interest... craft beer. Although it's actually not strictly true that they only have one common interest because the second is that <b>they hate big conglomerates like AB InBev</b>.<br />
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Just look through the Ratebeer forums every time a AB Inbev or some other conglomerate buys a craft brewery and you'll see hundreds of posts showing outrage; cries of boycotting said breweries, and photos & videos of angry beer geeks drain pouring $25 bottles of beer because they can taste the corporate structure.<br />
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Now I've not looked at the Ratebeer forum since this announcement but I'd bet my last 50p that there are many angry people on there; people looking for a way out; somewhere else to go and trade beers; somewhere to continue being a part of that community, and I doubt I can see them all flocking to Ratebeer's biggest rival, Beer Advocate.<br />
<br />Sure they could all go to Reddit, or they could keep in touch via strings of emails or WhatsApp groups but it's not the same. It was one of the only surviving forums when forums all but died.<br />
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Where will they go now that they know the evil eyes of AB InBev are on them, stealing their thoughts, because you can't wear a tinfoil hat on the internet.<br />
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The Ratebeer community could potentially be destroyed and this really isn't good for the beer community.<br />
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However...<br />
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<b><u>An Opportunity That Can't Be Missed</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
If I were the owner of <a href="https://untappd.com/" target="_blank">Untappd</a>, I would be rubbing my hands with glee, thinking of all of the potential new subscribers I could potentially get. Historically, Ratebeer and Untappd are worlds apart as Untappd users generally don't take everything quite so seriously but this could change.<br />
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Sure, right now you can toast and comment on checkins; you can rate them and split the format you had them in but if I were the owner of Untappd I would be paying my app developers to work overtime, throughout the night working on a forum that former, disgusted Ratebeer users could flock to, to share beer and rage at the next buyout.<br />
<br />This could be a massive and wise move for Untappd. It doesn't have to be the end of this whole community. Just a migration.<br />
<br />
Nate<br />
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NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-18045973182405714042017-05-16T18:55:00.000+01:002017-05-17T11:57:55.630+01:00A Day in Salzburg with Stiegl BreweryWaking up bright and early on the Thursday morning in a hungover haze in a dorm shared by 7 other people, I was basically still drunk. I panicked as I couldn't find my wallet or passport, but I still had my phone. I was led to believe that everything had been stolen, went to the police, then got back to my hostel to find the key to my locker where drunk Nate had stashed everything. I am such an idiot.<br />
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But that's not the point of this blog post; the point is to tell you about the awesome day I had with Thomas Necker, Export Manager for <b><a href="https://www.stiegl.at/en" target="_blank">Stiegl Brewery</a></b> in Salzburg, Austria.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeN8w2VYVmW14SQG3sDFob3GlTHJKZT-fC5pcQ9v57gJJzjYmGQ2zNkpSAa-h5Tvh93-X47r9SKB53Lqo4PjMj_NoLPAWMfztwS0PosgE8JgKOBBH05OSB8YxdytAeU5eQSGKzuxmiGQ/s1600/IMG_3277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeN8w2VYVmW14SQG3sDFob3GlTHJKZT-fC5pcQ9v57gJJzjYmGQ2zNkpSAa-h5Tvh93-X47r9SKB53Lqo4PjMj_NoLPAWMfztwS0PosgE8JgKOBBH05OSB8YxdytAeU5eQSGKzuxmiGQ/s320/IMG_3277.JPG" width="320" /></a>I've been a fan of Stiegl brewery for quite a few years; in fact (geek moment), my 1,000th Untappd check in was Stiegl Weisse, and my local, the Fat Cat has recently had their flagship Goldbrau and Grapefruit Radler.<br />
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I've also been good friends with <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroboozerMart" target="_blank">Martyn</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SpyRight" target="_blank">Andy</a> from <b><a href="http://www.euroboozer.co.uk/" target="_blank">Euroboozer</a></b>, their U.K. import partner for several years and that's how my trip to Stiegl came to be. I'd mentioned on Twitter that I was planning on a day trip to Salzburg during my stay in Munich and Martyn responded asking if I'd like to see Stiegl Brewery and really, there was only one sensible reply... "HELL YES".<br />
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I arrived in Salzburg at about 11:30am on Thursday, my hangover had cleared, and I was ready to see this city I've heard so much about and the brewery whose beers I'd come to love.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhAgoYUBEjyuMmpQ9FNcstaIRF7hbLFid5kfZgRbnUuaArAuxO8lBemh-rzPOWeYdW5XlXFvIEWSVIm50j8SZANon_NPwHLyiKbZnoeSNdE7azeQAhXMLQsMCEdNe6CAP1HoxCwkO1VA/s1600/IMG_3279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhAgoYUBEjyuMmpQ9FNcstaIRF7hbLFid5kfZgRbnUuaArAuxO8lBemh-rzPOWeYdW5XlXFvIEWSVIm50j8SZANon_NPwHLyiKbZnoeSNdE7azeQAhXMLQsMCEdNe6CAP1HoxCwkO1VA/s200/IMG_3279.JPG" width="200" /></a>Thomas picked me up from the train station and drove me through the picturesque city, almost like a tour guide, telling me about some of the history of Salzburg. For example, I didn't know that Salzburg hasn't actually been a part of Austria for that long as before, it was basically run by the catholic church!<br />
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We arrived at the brewery, a large pastel yellow complex on the edge of the city; in front of the building there's a field with farm animals, ample space to expand on but they're not allowed. Why? Not because of planning permission but because the owner of the brewery's villa is across the road and he's said that for as long as he's alive, there will be no building on that land as he wants to be able to see the brewery from his house. What a guy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSFAYw7KwDhT269hFurVPGnPToTrNcoOADjGaKi-DJAAxiyfIGy19kMpCW1mUwPRcDIWvvz31ySJkcbTQXNQe_o3QxXSnPCoiOv9JnR9vzA_85UJjZ0gO_T8Ykisz6JRAxclxD5rLTA/s1600/IMG_3280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSFAYw7KwDhT269hFurVPGnPToTrNcoOADjGaKi-DJAAxiyfIGy19kMpCW1mUwPRcDIWvvz31ySJkcbTQXNQe_o3QxXSnPCoiOv9JnR9vzA_85UJjZ0gO_T8Ykisz6JRAxclxD5rLTA/s200/IMG_3280.JPG" width="150" /></a>We wandered through, past the tents and busy workers getting ready for the May Day celebrations that happen the Sunday after May Day. I didn't even know that they celebrate May Day on the continent and in fact Thomas was surprised to learn that I know about the tradition of the May Pole!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuygxG3MFzG2USv4L8plxhwcaI1IuHkXo_1OXvPVkRvMrZWfNBLrkZfblmQi7ROwOHe4Z55Rj_j82oOsWsXYGAY1bX11ZD2vMVksU87vpEoSDMGv9XjCF0wbM09KOLdcERSDF4f83AQ/s1600/IMG_3285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuygxG3MFzG2USv4L8plxhwcaI1IuHkXo_1OXvPVkRvMrZWfNBLrkZfblmQi7ROwOHe4Z55Rj_j82oOsWsXYGAY1bX11ZD2vMVksU87vpEoSDMGv9XjCF0wbM09KOLdcERSDF4f83AQ/s200/IMG_3285.JPG" width="200" /></a>We walked through a yellow arch into the biergarten courtyard before Thomas gave me a quick tour of the three onsite restaurants. There's a more formal restaurant where the owner of the brewery has his table that he likes to dine on (it is in no way exclusive, however), a more modern looking craft beer bar style bar, and the main restaurant where we would have lunch. I was very surprised to learn that you are allowed to smoke in restaurants in Austria, something which I do not disagree with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7J8UKbF6D-vmixvGVUUVMfR5LlRFSPfRmticoGhJfHItOHu0yeIfso2Btp2E2QrnVm9aD_qHlf-fmEtLYM5-ZG58vPUHBqo8Cf8hzYFoF2g3z9yq5KA-alL60kTve7bDTt1YVF-jcg/s1600/IMG_3290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7J8UKbF6D-vmixvGVUUVMfR5LlRFSPfRmticoGhJfHItOHu0yeIfso2Btp2E2QrnVm9aD_qHlf-fmEtLYM5-ZG58vPUHBqo8Cf8hzYFoF2g3z9yq5KA-alL60kTve7bDTt1YVF-jcg/s200/IMG_3290.JPG" width="150" /></a>Since I was in Austria, what do you think I was going to have to lunch? Wiener Schnitzel of course; it was a no brainer. I was a little thrown off by the fact that they don't have kartoffelsalat and instead just parsley potatoes or chips, but OK, I opted for chips, along with a half litre of <b>Stiegl Pils</b>. I'd not had the Pils before, and it was beautiful. Crisp, floral, a little hop bite and refreshing; it was nothing like the Northern German style Pilsner as it didn't have that herbalness, and in fact it was closer to Czech style. It makes sense that it's a combination of the two since they're both bordering countries. The Schnitzel was the best I've ever had; tender pork, a bit fatty, a crunchy batter on the outside, and a very large portion. The Pils cut through the grease perfectly. We decided to have one more beer here; the unfiltered lager which was delicious too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF1RuRrEWJIx5W4gddTEu0PNEf9Rcymg5tNz9UhfjmxMg10W12kpWyjhoJWxSkwkz3B-lIqU2zWQKhE-Ak6fx0trf0bX8Ju8QFPn-tggEuldnq_ywVBernkEZBBRtQlar41SYhKQPUJw/s1600/IMG_3293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF1RuRrEWJIx5W4gddTEu0PNEf9Rcymg5tNz9UhfjmxMg10W12kpWyjhoJWxSkwkz3B-lIqU2zWQKhE-Ak6fx0trf0bX8Ju8QFPn-tggEuldnq_ywVBernkEZBBRtQlar41SYhKQPUJw/s200/IMG_3293.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
We then toured the massive brewery, including the beautiful brewhouse which is situated in a building designed by Dr. Volkmar Burgstaller who also designed Red Bull Hangar 7, another beautiful building. Now I've been to a lot of breweries, big and small but this brewhouse was possibly the most beautiful I've seen.<br />
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We walked through the brewery and the museum with Thomas passionately talking about the 525 year history of the museum. It was refreshing to hear such passion and dedication from someone who truly loves and respects the company and the beer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kmvaAdfQ1YebqqYKJUFL58Oc1VVkxYpYm4e9B8tJ8Us2kY-uyGfgIdOzJqIe28UyGbVR2iO4760p-wbJ_5h_Gg1AgAxwb4l6qzB_MR4EEKFjqElTtZndD8rQpgKszCeiIL1UG8w15A/s1600/IMG_3297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kmvaAdfQ1YebqqYKJUFL58Oc1VVkxYpYm4e9B8tJ8Us2kY-uyGfgIdOzJqIe28UyGbVR2iO4760p-wbJ_5h_Gg1AgAxwb4l6qzB_MR4EEKFjqElTtZndD8rQpgKszCeiIL1UG8w15A/s200/IMG_3297.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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An interesting fact I learned is that their flagship Goldbrau can't win international awards because its style is a Marzen, but an Austrian one which is basically a Helles, unlike its German and internationally recognised counterpart.<br />
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After the tour, Thomas chose some rare and special Stiegl bottles from the fridges in the bar before we went down into the private tasting cellar to try them.<br />
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Going into this dark, wooden clad room adorned with bottles and barrels was really something special. I've never seen anything quite like it. When breweries do private tastings, it's usually in the corner of a railway arch or some industrial building but this felt more akin to a wine cellar in Burgundy or Tuscany. It was really something special.<br />
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And so were the beers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgkah5Egiv43OtmiEOn-uVsL5phmFulM52xZugf4Mkq0PG6Vul8d1BwarVPnwYvuIqi9MWKVc0itJfppumGjWtS13xa16Ml9xKNK5k3BjrN7MNULchDgi5QwybOIomcgsjzlsPDgbew/s1600/IMG_3299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgkah5Egiv43OtmiEOn-uVsL5phmFulM52xZugf4Mkq0PG6Vul8d1BwarVPnwYvuIqi9MWKVc0itJfppumGjWtS13xa16Ml9xKNK5k3BjrN7MNULchDgi5QwybOIomcgsjzlsPDgbew/s320/IMG_3299.JPG" width="180" /></a>First up was <b>Grenzganger</b>, a Hibiscus Gose at 4.9% and a great example of the style. It was full of juicy yet tart hibiscus with that little bit of salt on the end reminding you that this isn't just a fruit sour. Next we had my favourite beer of the entire trip a <b>Tequila Barrel Aged Double Witbier</b> and holy fucking shit it was special; it wasn't light at 9.5% but nor did it taste the ABV - classic orange and coriander flavours, a smattering of booze before woody agave flavours. I loved it so much that I finished the bottle on the train back to Munich. Next was a <b>Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout</b> which did exactly what you'd expect with a thick mouthfeel and delicious, deep chocolate flavours, before finishing on the weirdest beer of the trip. <b>Wildshuter Urbier</b> was beer without hops, made solely from ingredients that are grown on their farm around 40km away; its ingredient list boasts 3 different types of malt, honey, dates, saffron, coriander and aniseed and was insanely bizarre. It's one to sip and savour.<br />
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After the tasting, Thomas accompanied me into the centre of Salzburg; something I was not expecting at all. When I've been invited on tours before, I've done the tour, maybe had lunch and been left to my own devices but not here. Thomas didn't just treat me like a guest at the brewery, but rather a guest to the city of Salzburg. It was amazing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmyPhqZxaqwBovZEqsfKL92mMaFUPAT86_JEpBA7qSP7LacyvWkRtwwDuJlzk4AWz-02DDvg1_yZCHS9dfWKllkMCGyKHmjcnFG5qpn4v4EmduVc9BWWJvVVdhjrdcJklH8T_tOca6hg/s1600/IMG_3302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmyPhqZxaqwBovZEqsfKL92mMaFUPAT86_JEpBA7qSP7LacyvWkRtwwDuJlzk4AWz-02DDvg1_yZCHS9dfWKllkMCGyKHmjcnFG5qpn4v4EmduVc9BWWJvVVdhjrdcJklH8T_tOca6hg/s200/IMG_3302.JPG" width="200" /></a>We drove into the centre, absorbing the sights of this beautiful city, and parked in a car park that was built inside a goddamn mountain. It was such a surreal experience.<br />
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We wandered through the historic city centre, all of the time I was in awe at the beauty and hated that I didn't have much time left there. We had a look inside the majestic cathedral, adorned with marble and 5 massive organs risen high above the pews.<br />
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We wandered through streets lined with high street shops that were hidden in the facade of buildings that are hundreds of years old. I saw Mozart's birthplace (fun fact: Mozart actually once visited and drank at Stiegl brewery; they found it in an excerpt from his diary a few years ago) which is an apartment building with a Spar convenience store underneath. We saw the "Stiegl" (little steps) from which the brewery gets its name.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_NZ6E7sPDn3RP1u4Asm22TD_018csqEHzN8UTRCz-M8eOSScHPgHG5NeyGMgJu8_xV2l3-BPyNL7dDq0BEmdQHbSFcVDv2NUWWVrqtehLE5AmjdHVq4H543wg3nUaiE-QwsP7XwZUg/s1600/IMG_3308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_NZ6E7sPDn3RP1u4Asm22TD_018csqEHzN8UTRCz-M8eOSScHPgHG5NeyGMgJu8_xV2l3-BPyNL7dDq0BEmdQHbSFcVDv2NUWWVrqtehLE5AmjdHVq4H543wg3nUaiE-QwsP7XwZUg/s200/IMG_3308.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmi1ZNwPXmv4Z3b69gmQJbWx1jv_a2vwJHXTbV39vUZo0BzFZFme4dZOwVcsO8NsGnzS3EIXkD8dQbLQEZ8AZuXdLW8sIeTr9i-iv-bbuO0pA9Bm4CQIznoTaeMnkvDRaBB7e5N1uTEA/s1600/IMG_3315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmi1ZNwPXmv4Z3b69gmQJbWx1jv_a2vwJHXTbV39vUZo0BzFZFme4dZOwVcsO8NsGnzS3EIXkD8dQbLQEZ8AZuXdLW8sIeTr9i-iv-bbuO0pA9Bm4CQIznoTaeMnkvDRaBB7e5N1uTEA/s200/IMG_3315.JPG" width="200" /></a>We walked up a steep hill before finally getting in one last beer of my day in Salzburg... at <b>Augustiner</b> which is no relation to the one in Munich. Still, it's Augustine monks doing what they do best - brewing beer. Inside this massive building, down a wide, steep marble staircase you find yourself in a corridor aligned with independent food vendors. You get to a crossroad, turn left and find shelves adorned with half litre and litre stone mugs and the concept is simple: You grab the size mug of your choosing, rinse it in the fountain, pay the lady at the kiosk for the size of beverage you would like then you take it to the old Austrian man who fills it from a massive wooden barrel before sliding it, wild west style across a metal counter to you. The experience is as magical and as medieval as the beer is good. We took a seat (in the smoking room) and drank in the place that I could spend an entire evening and afternoon drinking.<br />
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Alas, after those two last half litres that slid down as smooth as anything, my time in Salzburg was over for the day and I had to head back to Munich.<br />
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A massive massive thanks to Thomas Necker from Stiegl for taking time out of his day to show me not only the brewery that he's so passionate about, but for showing me the city that he loves so dearly.<br />
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Nate<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: I didn't pay for my day at Stiegl Brewery with Thomas. The beers and lunch were on him. Not once was I even asked to write about my day but I have anyway. I did pay for some stuff in Salzburg though - Smokes (€4,90), a pack of Mozartkugln (€7,50), a half litre of Augustiner (€3,10), a taxi back to the station (€8,50) and two cans of Goldbrau for the train home (€1,60). Oh and my Bayern Ticket on the train (A bargain at €25 for unlimited travel on regional trains in Bavaria, which also gets you to certain border towns too, like Salzburg)</span>NateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115711129217514621.post-6127971182042196242017-05-15T12:51:00.000+01:002017-05-15T14:13:08.333+01:00A Wednesday Night In MunichIt's only been a couple of months since Sammie and I were in Munich but I decided to take a quick solo trip to get away for a few nights.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2XIBF3gQ9qrs8sZ5CGreKWfp1UbYte2117PgMYF7Ls1E5lB_M0i26Plx4B70jjtyNkuxYbf5Sz-1dCLzTTLCxLxM66HCChjJ86o3qAYMPJ3fj0e1jXrUUM132MFZlPnD2UcKZ5-q6w/s1600/Airbrau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2XIBF3gQ9qrs8sZ5CGreKWfp1UbYte2117PgMYF7Ls1E5lB_M0i26Plx4B70jjtyNkuxYbf5Sz-1dCLzTTLCxLxM66HCChjJ86o3qAYMPJ3fj0e1jXrUUM132MFZlPnD2UcKZ5-q6w/s200/Airbrau.jpg" width="200" /></a>I arrived in Munich on Wednesday evening, through possibly the most efficient passport control system ever and decided to seek out <b>Airbräu</b>, a brewpub located just outside of Terminal 1 at Munich Airport. I didn't see much inside, but had a rather large beer garden that I imagine gets really busy at the height of the summer; the weather was nice so I sat outside and ordered a half litre of <b>Fliegerquell</b>, an unfiltered Helles. Since this was at an airport, I expected it to just be somewhat of a gimmick, with shit beers that tourists will neck down but I was pleasantly surprised. It was fresh, clean, grassy hops, a little citrus, and really bloody nice.<br />
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Next I checked into my hostel and decided to head to the rather trendy Schwabing district in search of a couple of pubs I wanted to check out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2m41FL0s0A4fjmtggfuYbTUsusecxWa_zSd5OXEVruxtHw058phFYI-2v7EdQnO_LoAzCs8habJDhboD_CGbaOV67eJ82ia_KgtNdcwUhvrOylHb_F0ti0_tR8e4AYDkVDkyivEUKQ/s1600/Hell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_2m41FL0s0A4fjmtggfuYbTUsusecxWa_zSd5OXEVruxtHw058phFYI-2v7EdQnO_LoAzCs8habJDhboD_CGbaOV67eJ82ia_KgtNdcwUhvrOylHb_F0ti0_tR8e4AYDkVDkyivEUKQ/s200/Hell.jpg" width="200" /></a>First I went to an international bar called <b><a href="http://www.the-keg-bar-muenchen.de/" target="_blank">Keg Bar</a></b>. If, in the UK you'd open a pub called "keg bar" we'd all see it as a hilarious imitation craft beer bar but this was anything but; it just just a bar trying to be a bar. It was large, underground, and kind of dark. It shows sports and had a bar billiards table that was under a cover and unused. The menus were all in English and amusingly they had Meantime London Pale Ale on keg as well as Aspall and Guinness. Only one German craft beer was on keg, which was the locally brewed Crew Republic Munich Easy IPA, but I wasn't here for craft beer, I was here for the €2,50 <b>Tegernsee Helles</b> happy hour because it's one of my favourite lagers and I'd never seen it that cheap! I sunk about six pints of this chilled, but not cold, frothy lager of beauty, and ate a burger before heading off.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvreuDyh1NRxmj3IMO7y7n4CUX9yN3vcyJdyYgrVnAxQYkXjv-RK8eAJ1IF6hGYithiCjIccH2OFBF_5wadeuVOAgNdLJbfQV1DaJfzuBC_aY39jiHbyUXl2p6dlmW4qETGVlYvtu-qA/s1600/Augustiner+bottle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvreuDyh1NRxmj3IMO7y7n4CUX9yN3vcyJdyYgrVnAxQYkXjv-RK8eAJ1IF6hGYithiCjIccH2OFBF_5wadeuVOAgNdLJbfQV1DaJfzuBC_aY39jiHbyUXl2p6dlmW4qETGVlYvtu-qA/s200/Augustiner+bottle.jpg" width="150" /></a>I had originally gone in search of Schwabinger7, a legendary dive bar but discovered I was an hour too early so I popped to a kiosk for a bottle of Augustiner Helles and sat on a bench drinking it because I'm classy. I then noticed a bench at <b>Trumpf oder Kritisch</b> across the road free up so I went and had two pints of <b>Augustiner Helles</b> outside of this impressively hipster bar whose menu was printed on a broadsheet newspaper!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQo7UaL6trPyYwCRQoPUCsCEt20yBydJHuRn27WKOA8vRVdnuh7MmyBqRlfW1X5s1InVY8XThZOcTL3Ectxs8Blumhr3529-PMrAhGI-SvABd3DjNLRk9mQzBWsnJACXZeEYR5R3W6w/s1600/Sieben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQo7UaL6trPyYwCRQoPUCsCEt20yBydJHuRn27WKOA8vRVdnuh7MmyBqRlfW1X5s1InVY8XThZOcTL3Ectxs8Blumhr3529-PMrAhGI-SvABd3DjNLRk9mQzBWsnJACXZeEYR5R3W6w/s200/Sieben.jpg" width="160" /></a>I then saw that <b>Schwabinger7</b> was open across the road, so I went in and downstairs to this filthy dungeon, perched myself at the bar and had a quick pint of <b>Lowenbrau</b> which is probably the worst of all the Munich big six. <br />
Even as soon as it opened, the atmosphere was great, with a varied music selection that switched between techno, metal and pop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRnKTZBR46DVBZoarFeyxAehJY_RoPlvBjrmU8qESUX_r1_I1qrufWf4ahODsMkgeAp65LIlP0jdRoMhrIplNxPSKw6q9JV1F-QcHrmMivUV878gc3mf12vXugmNanKfatZ3H5bb1oA/s1600/Stone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRnKTZBR46DVBZoarFeyxAehJY_RoPlvBjrmU8qESUX_r1_I1qrufWf4ahODsMkgeAp65LIlP0jdRoMhrIplNxPSKw6q9JV1F-QcHrmMivUV878gc3mf12vXugmNanKfatZ3H5bb1oA/s200/Stone.jpg" width="200" /></a>I finished my beer and headed to <b>Red Hot</b> which despite its name, was not a strip club, and in fact an American style BBQ and craft beer joint. I didn't eat here <i>*narrator: he probably should have eaten here*</i> and just had a drink. There were 7 beers on draught here; four from <b>Stone Berlin</b>, one from <b>Jopen</b> in the Netherlands, <b>Left Hand Milk Stout</b> from Colorado, and a lager (I forget which). All of the beers except the lager were highly irresponsibly strong so I was sensible and opted for a 0.3 of <b>Stone Ruination</b>, a hoppy as fuck, palate wrecking double IPA at 8.5%.<br />
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Next stop was the always awesome <b>Weisses Brauhaus</b> for another sensible beer, <b>Schneider Weiss Tap 5 Mein Hopfenweisse</b>, which I've talked about before. I love this beer because the 8.2% is very well hidden in the fruity hoppiness and soft wheaty base.<br />
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Now my final (I think) stop of the night, where I vaguely remember going was <b>Raw Metal Bar</b>. I say vaguely because I know that I had google directions saved on my phone the next morning, and I looked at photos of the bar online and remember it somewhat but I was fucked at that point.<br />
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The only other thing I really remember was going up an escalator, presumably at the Goetheplatz U Bahn station, drinking a bottle of Augustiner Helles. And the rest, as they say, is history.<br />
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Next post on my trip to Stiegl Brewery in Salzburg tomorrow... or some point.<br />
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NateNateDawg27http://www.blogger.com/profile/06772699066842742319noreply@blogger.com2