Tasting Fine British Ales
The ale tasting at the Turf Tavern, organized by our Merton hosts, was most educational!
posted by Jeff Martinek @ 11:12 AM
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
The ale tasting at the Turf Tavern, organized by our Merton hosts, was most educational!
Previous Posts
- Natalie and Tom -- Two of Our Indispensible Merton...
- The Turf Tavern---One of the Oldest in Oxford
- Philip Rieff - American Conservative and Oxford Sc...
- "A New Way of Conquering"
- "What Have You Got In Your Pocket, Love?"
- Merton College Info on Wikipedia
- Meanwhile, back in the States. . .
- The FABULOUS Lady Tess'
- Outside the Merton College pub. A smart lot, they...
- High table in action
2 Comments:
Hi Jeff. I am just now reading your blogs, as your message was routed to my Junk folder at MSSU. I also have a blog at Blogger; however, my purpose is to respond to your post about ales.
When I was at Oxford, Christ Church, in July of 2001, our tutor, James Bond (yes, really) arranged an ale tasting party in his room. We tasted six monastery brews. It was an excellent evening. His room overlooked a pub dating back to the 12th century. It was a nice view to be raising a glass to.
I went to the Eagle & Child on two occasions while at Oxford and sat in the Inklings corner the second time, raising a glass of Guiness to the memory of Tolkien & Lewis & Co. Then the next week, I took Leslie, Kelly, & Hannah over to Oxford from London & we went to the Eagle & Child once again.
I can see you are greatly enjoying your time there. I guess it's over in a couple of days, right?
Dale
Dale:
Glad you found the blog!
Yeah, it was great beyond words--a life-changing experience, really.
I see from the other entry you figured out that we had both gone to the Turf for ale-tasting.
I love the pub culture---so honest and local and conversational, and so infinitely superior to the American "bar scene."
As I've explained to people, the typical British brew is heavy in body and light in alcohol, whereas American suds are the exact opposite. (Coors is 5% alcohol, but goes down like water; whereas a 5% brew in Britain is labeled "strong ale" and usually very, very thick and chewy). Getting through a pint of British Bitter is a bit like eating a small loaf of pumpernickle---it takes time, and it's supposed to! People sip and talk and laugh and pay attention to one another, unlike American bars, where you're much more likely to see people getting deliberately sloshed while staring at a TV screen or a video poker game.
The pubs in the Cotswolds where especially interesting to me, as they are truly "public houses" in the sense that community life revolves around the one pub in the village. Usually its been around for centuries and the locals are as fiercely proud of it and protective of its unique history as they are of the village church----sometimes more!
Yes, we could learn a lot from the pubs of Britain and how measured, social drinking can be, as they say across the channel, tres civilisee!
Post a Comment
<< Home