Advent Calendar Window 17

Advent Calendar Window 17 - Holly Bush

"Pretty lights on the tree,
I'm watching them shine,
You should be here with me
Baby, please come home."

Salopian Brewery from Shrewsbury were established in 1995 and were once more affiliated with tasty, but rather standard ales such as Shropshire Gold and Oracle. They were ordinary Golden Bitters that sufficed when available, but never had me searching for more. Then, two years ago, I tasted their Darwin's Origin and realised they were innovating and bringing out incredible new efforts. It was balanced, hoppy and delicious.

Since then, they've been stocking their beers in the majority of "craft" beer shops up and down the land and receiving great plaudits. They seem to differentiate with tradition by the black labels with white writing showing that the beer inside is on the "newer" side. Since that applies to this Holly Bush behind Window 17 on this Advent Calendar, I hold out high hopes for it.

Salopian Brewery - Holly Bush 5.5%

This russet coloured beer is like no ale I've seen before. It's as murky as the ocean depths with so many shades of marigold, mahogany and tangerine. The nose is a fruit heaven sensation. Ooh sweet mango, papaya, summer berries and starburst. Holy fuck, this is good. Oh yes. That nose I just described, well just keep reading that whilst thinking about a sticky, chewy, sweet fruitiness and bitterness that tickles your tongue rather than shredding it in two. It's like alcoholic jelly babies. Body, carbonation, mouthfeel, other tasting notes - fuck you! I don't care right now. This isn't the time. In previous years, I would have torn this beer to shreds for not being remotely "Christmassy," but not this year. This year this wins. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Spirit Rating: 98%. I'm a giant orgasm of festive joy right now!

Comments

Children and Dogs in Pubs and Bars

I once took my niece to the pub. She was either 1 or 2 years of age. I often looked after her on Saturdays and on one of our weekly walks, for the first time, I stopped by the local pub, mainly because my friend was there with his daughter of similar age. The two kids got on well together and it was a lovely couple of hours; a perfect showcase of adult friends and their children existing in public houses. But my sister was furious. She didn’t rant or rave but her lips were purser than a 90s children’s show teacher. It was here that I learned of the effect that our childhood had had upon her. She recalls many an afternoon being bored in the corner of pubs that our Dad had dragged us to, arms folded in the corner with nothing to do, and she doesn’t want the same for her children. The idea of her first born being taken to pubs infuriates her; fearful that they would be subjected to the same unhappy experiences that she was. I don’t recall those times in the same way as my s

"They Had Their Issues, So..."

There’s a set of garages to rent as storage units near my workplace. One of them is taken by a local florist that uses it to store flower arrangements for various events, that are more often than not funerals. As such, at least once a week at 8am I will pass a car being loaded up with flowers arranged into heart shaped patterns or the letters M U M. It is a grounding reminder that, as I mentally grumble my way through the upcoming arbitrary grievances of my ordinary working day, a group of family and friends locally is going through the hardest time. It provides much needed perspective on days when I could do with being reminded of all that I have to be thankful for. These little moments explain to me why it is possible for us to share a communal loss when a celebrity passes away. Grief is often a personal and lonely experience, shared between a minority of people in your life. When a co-worker loses a relative or friend, it has little affect on me, bar signing of

The Ten Pubs That Made Me - Part 3: Dr Okell's / My Foley's Tap House and Leeds

A pint in Mr Foley's Tap House from December 2022 This is Part 3 (the fourth post) of an ongoing project. Please see the beginning of Part 0 for details. Come the end of this journey, there may be a lesson in procrastination that I am unlikely to heed. These posts stem from a list that I made three years ago and a series that I embarked on 18 months ago. We’ve only now reached a 30% completion rate and with this post we are back to fail for the second time. This odyssey began with a trip to Mr Foley’s Tap House in February 2022 – named Dr Okell’s bar on my first visits in 2005 – only to discover that it was closed. It did reopen by the time that the post was coming out and I managed a brief visit in December 2022. However, my July 1 st 2023 trip to Leeds, on which this post is based, is met with this sign at the door of the bar: A quick check of social media shows an Instagram post from the day before (June 30 th ) announcing the closure of the

Beer Compurgation

Search This Blog