A beery conversation with my old friend Mr. Tiffen

Maybe a year or two ago I was driving up to Sheffield with my old friend Mr Tiffen. He's a keen home brewer and general beer enthusiast, so I decided to wring every last bit of his beer knowledge from his mind. I recorded the conversation in the hope that I could make a reasonably informative blog post about it. It's a bit of an unusual post, but I'm sure you'll enjoy learning from a fellow enthusiast as much as I did. Pour yourself a pint or a dram, settle down in a comfy chair, and prepare to have your horizons broadened.

Beer review No. 7 - Berentsen's Sprek Gauk #5

Here we go, review time again. I've already written a couple of whisky reviews that I'm keeping warm while you read this one, so I'll have some more content up over the next couple of weeks. I'm starting a bit of a review series on blended whiskies, so if you're not wealthy enough to roll around in massive piles of cash like I am and can't afford the single malts then you can still enjoy the exquisite delights of drinking a whisky while reading my review of it. In the mean time here's a beer review. It was going to be a cheese review of Jærosten, but I munched it down without taking notes or pictures, so that's not happening now. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some more fairly soon. I've lost my train of thought now, so we'd better get into the action.

Whisky review No. 14 - Bunnahabhain Toiteach Scotch

Welcome back to another magnificent whisky review! I feel terrible to keep you all waiting so long, but the only solution is for me to work harder and we all know that's not going to happen time soon. I have been doing a bit of interesting taste related activity, like experimenting with reviewing espresso, reading up on norwegian alcohol production laws, and trying to make a compound gin. I'll try to get some notes on the gin up when I'm can, that was quite interesting. Anyway, I've been going on about it since I started the blog so here, at long last, is my review of Bunnahabhain Toiteach.

Whisky review No. 13 - GlenDronach 15 Year Revival Scotch

Greeting, especially to the Americans who have been reading in record numbers recently. Makes me wish they'd let me advertise on here so I could get a couple of quid in ad revenue, but apparently it's adult content. Once again I find myself apologizing for infrequent blog posts. I always build up your expectations so much and then leave you hanging for months. I've got a couple of decent beers around so I'll get a few of those done. They're quicker to write, since it's just one drink. The whisky ones take longer because whisky changes in interesting ways after you open it and by the time you're halfway down the bottle it's not quite the same. It takes me a bit of time to drink half a bottle of whisky so I can't bash out a review every night. I don't think my liver would take it. Anyway, I've wasted enough of your precious time so let's get to it.

Spirit review No.3 - Glenglassaugh New Make Spirit - The spirit that dare not speak its name

Crikey, I haven't written a review for ages! Sorry about that, I realize my regular readers must be weeping under tables in gloomy bars due to the long and hopeless wait. Or wandering from internet cafe to internet cafe stopping for an espresso and to check for new posts, only to suffer disapointment as bitter as the over extracted, tar like coffee. Do they still have internet cafes? I thought they were pretty much obsolete, but comment below if you've been in one recently. If we meet in person I'll try to reimburse you for the espresso too, but no promises. Anyway, it's been long enough, let's get into action.

Beer review No.6 - Berentsen's Vamp Premium Lager

I started writing this post a while ago, so this little introductory paragraph is a bit out of date now, but I liked it so I'm using it anyway.

Hello again and a very happy new year. If you don't use the Gregorian calendar, then please continue to enjoy your current year until such times as "happy new year" becomes appropriate. I just had a very pleasant visit to England for Christmas and brought back eight different whiskys and seven beers. Plenty of content on the way. I've also got a fridge full from before Christmas and several whiskys in the cupboard. Also got a cheese to taste. I had an awesome brie with truffles in the UK, but didn't take notes. It was very ripe and very delicious and was my first ever experience of truffles. Very pleasant, but pretty much tasted of mushroom. Anyway, I had a bottle of Berentsen's Vamp so here's the details:

Beer review No.5 - Berentsen's Neptun Wheat Beer

Ahoy there! It's finally beer review time again. I've been having some issues with my laptop's power supply, which is apparently a bit of a misnomer in that it wasn't supplying power. I think I've sorted it now, and I also think I've found a way to write blog content without having to be online. Copy and paste is amazing when you get the right font and stuff. I've been tasting things as always and buying things ready to taste. We're still working through the Berentsen's beers and I've been buying some Nøgne Ø beers to have a go at. I've now got a fridge full of beer waiting for tasting and a cupboard full of whisky. I did have a nice cheese to taste as well, but couldn't hold back on that one and ate it without taking notes or pictures. A delicious smoked Cheddar from Yorkshire that I bought in Filey recently with my old friend Mr. Tiffen and my educational friend Mr Eaton. That was a very fun weekend. Anyway, enough of this drivel, let's get to the beer.