Beer Tourism in distant parts

 

The trouble with travelling away from North Oxfordshire is that you often end up missing our pubs and our beers. A trip to West Cork revealed that real ale is in very short supply there, in fact, in my experience, non existent. The alternative was Guinness or Murphy’s. Now the story goes that the Guinness in Ireland tastes much better than the Guinness over here. As I rarely drink the stuff I have no idea whether or not this is true. All I can say is that it is a very smooth drink and slips down a treat. The problem being that a certain monotony sets in and you end up reaching for the wine bottle. I suspect that the truth is that the best Guinness is the bottled variety, and I noticed several locals always drank that.

N Oxon member, George Corstorphine, reported back about beers in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and Hawaii. The advertising is great with calls to’C’mon, Get Hoppy’ and being told about ‘Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Hoppiness’. T Shirts can be bought stating that you are a ‘Beer Bitch’ (Great Mother’s Day Gift! said the advert), or a ‘Beer Stud – it’s not the size of your beer, it’s what’s in your glass’. The beer directory shows the extent of the micro-brewing industry in the USA, and the beer festivals are reputed to be excellent, with small sampling glasses for trying lots of beers. The beers from Hawaii show a tendency for lagers, but they advertise India Pale Ale at 6.3%, Wild Hog Stout at 6%, Kahana Kolsch at 4% and Plantation Pale Ale at 5.5%, as well as a Belgian style beer, Abbey Ale at a challenging 9%. No wonder George is smiling!