I'm sitting here enjoying one of my favorite beers (the first old friend), Morland's
Old Speckled Hen. In my opinion, there is no other beer that tastes like 'Hen, it is a classic. And thankfully, it is still readily available here in Texas which is becoming a UK beer wasteland as fewer and fewer brands and individual beers are constantly disappearing. Old Speckled Hen was first brewed by Morland to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It was named after the company's run-around car, a Featherweight Fabric Saloon (any fan of
Top Gear will know what a 'Saloon' is), that was often parked outside the paint shop. It acquired a lot of over-spray and become known as the 'Owld Speckl'd Un' which became Old Speckled Hen when the beer was launched. Lovely!
I received an IM the other day from one of my best mates, Alan McRobb, from Glasgow (actually it was Alan that first turned me on to Old Speckled Hen). At first I was a bit annoyed as he was winding me up by rubbing it in that he had recently visited Tennents Bar on Byres Road in Glasgow, one of my favorite pubs and a frequent hangout for me when I lived there for a short time. If I haven't mentioned it here, Alan is the one that got me started on this whole thing. When I first went to Scotland I had no idea what cask-conditioned ale, or real ale, was. On subsequent trips, Alan set me straight and helped to develop my appreciation and taste for some of the world's greatest beers. He taught me about how real ale needs to be properly kept and not to be shy in sending a pint back that was 'off'. I owe it all to him (do the accolades never cease?)! By the way, Tennents is also a place where some local celebs are to be seen on occasion. I met BBC Scotland radio and television personality
Tam Cowan here as well as the great sports journalist,
Graham Spiers (again, Alan told me who Graham was).
Well, part two of Alan's IM was to tell me about a great new ale from
Marstons, the long standing and historic brewery from Burton-On-Trent. The beer is EPA or English Pale Ale. Alan has always been a fan of a 'Burton and he was very impressed with this beer. It is described by Marstons as '...a refreshing lighter blonde ale with subtle citrus flavours and a delicate bitter aftertaste'. It is supposedly modeled after the famous pale ales of Burton-On-Trent, but it does use American Cascade hops along with Styrian Goldings which makes it kind of a hybrid between traditional and modern. Never one to question Alan's tastes, I'd bank on this one and if you are fortunate enough to be in an area where you can get it - do so!
Finally, I got an email through my website,
ScottishBrewing.com, from Terry Dicks, Managing Director of a firm that has launched the UK website,
Your Round. This is a growing website that links everyone from the brewer to the publican to the drinker for real ale in the UK. Search for your favorite brewery/beer and find out what pubs have it on, or, search your local pub to see what they have on. Many pubs are signing up with webcams. This is a great thing so check it out!
Yours Aye!
Neil
