Beer Provenance....

England 5 (was it?) v San Marino 0

Thursday 9 October 2014

Twitter @ball_sup

Message to all Brewers. Provenance. Provenance. Provenance. I'm a sucker for knowing stuff about the beer I'm drinking. Give me specifics & I'll buy it. Guaranteed.

The pre match drink was in The Snooty Fox next to Canonbury station. It was the first day of their part of the Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight. I can't even recall when Green Hops became a Thing.  Maybe I've never been in the right bit of the country at the right harvest time.

Of course, Green Hop beers and Provenance go hand in hand.  I had a beer from Trumans. Bethnal Green Hop at 5.5%. Some of the hops had been harvested from Spitalfields City Farm. Provenance. Kerching.

I had a beer from Westerham. Scotney Green Hop Harvest Ale at 4%. Some of the hops had been harvested from the gardens of Scotney Castle National Trust property. Provenance. Kerching.

Some of the tasting notes for other beers listed which farm they'd been grown on. I don't know why, but I just love all that.

I also tucked into Ripple Steam - Green Hopped Classic IPA at 4.5% & Gadds - Green Hop Ale at 4.8%

But, the Stand Out beer of the day was Kent Brewery - Green Giant at 6%.  There was a nice sweetness which I couldn't quite place. It wasn't Barley Sugar like some Belgian styles. But I did have it down as "Sweetshop".

Nice & complex, lots going on. You know what. I'm going to say - like Thornbridge Jaipur. Believe me that's a compliment.

(After the game, I tracked down a bottle of the Camden/Beavertown - One Hells of a Beaver collab at 5.2% in The Three Johns in Islington)

What to say about the game. Football killing itself. An expanded EURO 2016 means you can qualify 3rd in the group. Minnows chucked in with sharks. Half empty grounds across the continent. The media are full of stories of an NFL franchise at Wembley to help the FA pay the debt for the stadium.

Here's a plan for FA/UEFA/FIFA. Build stadiums. Pay them off by hosting competitive football games that mean something. Plan ends.

Ditch friendlies. Stagger & seed EURO & World Cup qualification. Introduce a league style system so that major nations play more competitive games against other major nations. Until I'm blue in the face.....