I promised I’d provide details of my recent haul from the excellent Beers of Europe. Well, here you go. Mainly beers and mainly from the UK, Germany and Belgium. A few oddities from elsewhere, bought either for interest or novelty value (as indeed were some of the Brits), also found their way into my stash. Photos are arranged by loose themes, although more research has revealed a few flaws in the pattern.
Britain first.
I’ve ordered mixed crates of bottled beer from Beers of Europe before but a combination of a work-free Friday and noticing online that it had received some hard-to-get (and much-desired-on-my-part) Belgian bottles led me to visit the company’s retail premises in person.
Open to the public seven days a week, Beers of Europe is located on a typical industrial estate in Setchey just south of King’s Lynn in Norfolk. The warehouse is fairly well situated for visiting continental brewers or receiving stock via eastern England’s ports (including King’s Lynn) but I can’t say for sure that that’s why it’s in Norfolk. Still, it made for a pleasant and at times interesting drive, especially passing under US military jets from RAFs Lakenheath and Mildenhall.
My experiences of pubs and bottle shops in Melbourne and Sydney have certainly whetted my appetite for a return visit. But they also opened my eyes to a parallel but even less explored phenomenon: the even newer vogue for alcoholic cider and even its pear equivalent, perry.
Many of the establishments I visited during my 10 day stay in the country had at least one cider on sale, often on draught, with unthreatening imports such as Ireland’s Magners and Sweden’s Rekorderlig being extremely widespread. Of greater interest, several of the products available came from native producers.
Continue reading “Wizards of Oz part four: cider with Aussie (and other fruity tales)”
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