Saturday 18 August 2007

Beer!

The annual Mumbles Beer festival was on Thursday-Saturday this week, which Ann and I went to Thursday and Friday evening. It had gotten big enough that they actually held it in the same hall I graduated in a month ago.

They had a good selection of booze, even some cider and perry alongside all sorts of exciting rarities.

I sampled over the two nights:

Last Rights (Barley Wine, 11%)
Black Sabbath (Mild, 6%)
Honey Gold (Honey Ale, 4.2%)
Nut Brown (Brown Ale, 4.5%)
Missy Sippy (Bitter, 5.5%)
Blond Witch (Wheat Beer, 4.5%)
Battle of Rhuthun (Dark Bitter, 3.8%)
Cheddar Cider (Cider from 'Cheddar')
A Scrumpy I can't remember the name of...

I'd never had a Barley Wine before, it was rather dangerous. Alongside these, I had small amounts of whatever Ann had, as well as other friends who we met there. Ann seemed to go more for the novelty name approach, while I was looking for types of beer rarely/never to be seen normally.

Among the more amusing ones were:

Son of a Bitch (Bitter, 6%)
Stairway to Heaven (Bitter, 5%)
Molly's Chocolate (Chocolate Stout, 4.2%)
Pink Panther (Speciality, 4.5%)
Dark Side of the Moose (Mild, 4.6%)
Old Slug (Porter, 4.5%)
Cheshire Cat (Golden Ale, 4%)

Perry was sampled as well and was quite nice. The whole thing was rather enjoyable and it was nice to see many people wearing 'Hobgoblin' T-shirts...

While we were there on the first day, there was a leaflet for a re-enactment society (gunpowder, so boring) but it did get me thinking it would be fun to join the Medieval re-enactment society in the university next year. We shall see...

Blackberry season is upon us and they're all over Swansea, particularly the coastal path. Ann and I went out one day and filled a litre container in the space of about 15mins. Will go out next time the weather is nice again.

Adrain and Emma popped in briefly on the way back from holiday which was nice. Went to see the Simpson's film (more and extended episode than film really) then we walked them up Wind Street and The Kingsway (Drunken hangout no.1 &2 on Friday/Saturday night).

Good news on money front, I have been given a Bursary from the university for half my tuition fees (~£1,500). Whee!