Catching up.
First order of business was Earl's Court for the Great British Beer Festival. Full of friends including emperor, jacquic, roz_mcclure, mirrorshard and countertony. And lots of singers, including some I knew already and some excellent new people (Tim S-W, Ruth H, and Sara B spring to mind).
As is customary, some tasting notes:
Castle Rock, Harvest Pale (Champion Beer of Britain 2010) - Golden ale with a wonderful nutty start, good hoppy flavour and intensity. Excellent. A worthy champion.
St Austell, Clouded Yellow Interesting golden beer with hints of banana in the start, and spices in the finish. Very individual taste. Available in bottles.
Hobson's, Old Henry Good strong English bitter, quite hoppy.
Fernandes, Malt Shovel An amazing dark mild that thinks it's a porter in intensity of flavour, but only 3.8%. I like malty beers and this is a special one.
Hopback, Slovenian Rhapsody Inoffensive, hoppy golden ale that I probably would have liked more had I not had it straight after the wonderful Harvest Pale (see above).
Lymestone, Stonecutter As a Simpsons fan, I had to try this. However, I was disappointed - it tasted like flat lager that had been left out in the sun for an hour or two. NOT recommended.
Purple Moose, Ochr Tywyll y Mws (Dark Side of the Moose) Dark ale that was one of my favourites last year and was again as good as I remembered. Deep, intense caramel flavours, sweetish finish.
Tring, Mansion Mild Tring are my pet brewery (as you all know), being 10mins' drive from work, and their products are often served at my parties. This year at the GBBF, Mansion Mild was their only offering. And it was no disappointment - the characteristic Tring nuttiness in a flavoursome, smooth mild up to their usual standards.
Tryst, Bláthan Light, summery golden ale, rather like Badger Golden Champion in that it has elderflower (or something similar) added. Very refreshing, and a good choice for a long summer evening. Recommended.
O'Hanlon, Port Stout Aged in port barrels, good smooth sweet stout with a typical aftertaste of strong black coffee.
Then off to Dublin to sing the services at St Patrick's for the weekend with the guvs (St Peter's Choir).
Image of St Patrick's (including some guvs) under
There was a lot of walking around Dublin, a trip along the Luas for the public transport geeks in the choir (one train driver, a couple of engineers, some trainspotters and one bus geek), quite a bit of beer (including Porterhouse, natch, though the Temple Bar one rather than the better one out in Phibsborough) and the occasional Very Interesting Thing such as the Long Room in Lord'sTrinity College, Dublin.
For those who haven't seen it, TCD looks much as Downing might want to when the latter grows up. The Long Room is a magnificent library full of old books. The whole room had to be extended upwards by a couple of yards when in the mid-1800s they ran out of room! Of course, the Book of Kells is mind-blowing, but we all knew about that, and so I was more impressed by the Long Room.
I now have blisters and didn't sleep properly (on a sofa bed in a self-catering apartment; amusingly, the other two guys in the same situation in the other two apartments broke their beds - but I didn't). Nevertheless, it was fun apart from one minor irritant, the prices in Dublin, and one major irritant called not being able to take any cash out. My chip on my bank card failed, and they're sending me a new one out; however, the old one couldn't even be used in cash machines. I had to pay for stuff with my company credit card and foresee some talking to Accounts.
Finally, I have a Pavlovian response to this song. It always, always makes me cry. Though perhaps this version has less saccharine and more Aussie grit.