Real Ale Runabout
On Wednesday John and I participated in a Real Ale Runabout. Every second Wednesday in the summer, there's a bus that leaves the central station at 7 pm on a unique route, touring several pubs of interest in nearby towns and villages. It's sponsored by the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). We thought it was a brilliant idea and had been keen on trying it for some time, and we finally scheduled a date and joined a tour.
Looking around at our fellow passengers, we realised we could have been the youngest there, and likely had the least-developed bellies. We had a perfectly sunny evening, and at our first stop in Wortham we enjoyed our ales in the garden. It set as we made our way to Botesdale. Our third stop was Walsham le Willows. At least, that's what the schedule says. To be honest, we could have been taken most anywhere and we wouldn't have known.
I think we visited five pubs in all. There were two ales we hadn't tried before, one of which we both quite liked named Pageant. At a later pub, my first pint was off, really hoppy, perhaps from the top of the keg, and not at all like the one I'd had at an earlier pub, so I had one more to remember it properly, and it was better.
I also remember the first pub was known for only offering beers made in East Anglia. Many of England's best-known beers, including Adnams, Greene King, Abbots, and St. Peters, are already made here in Suffolk, but all the same I was quite impressed with the variety of coasters on the walls representing the local beers they'd served.
But looking back and doing the maths, we'd probably sunk more pints than we would have planned. The tour was also out later than we expected; we left the last pub at the closing time of 11 pm, and it was about an hour back to Ipswich plus time to get back to our neighbourhood, giving me many fewer hours until work. I think that's why we seemed so young - I think late-night tours mid-week is better suited for the non-working. I was surprisingly productive on Thursday but was dragging heavily in the afternoon. So it's a great idea but I don't think I'll do another one ... at least not while I'm still working.
Looking around at our fellow passengers, we realised we could have been the youngest there, and likely had the least-developed bellies. We had a perfectly sunny evening, and at our first stop in Wortham we enjoyed our ales in the garden. It set as we made our way to Botesdale. Our third stop was Walsham le Willows. At least, that's what the schedule says. To be honest, we could have been taken most anywhere and we wouldn't have known.
I think we visited five pubs in all. There were two ales we hadn't tried before, one of which we both quite liked named Pageant. At a later pub, my first pint was off, really hoppy, perhaps from the top of the keg, and not at all like the one I'd had at an earlier pub, so I had one more to remember it properly, and it was better.
I also remember the first pub was known for only offering beers made in East Anglia. Many of England's best-known beers, including Adnams, Greene King, Abbots, and St. Peters, are already made here in Suffolk, but all the same I was quite impressed with the variety of coasters on the walls representing the local beers they'd served.
But looking back and doing the maths, we'd probably sunk more pints than we would have planned. The tour was also out later than we expected; we left the last pub at the closing time of 11 pm, and it was about an hour back to Ipswich plus time to get back to our neighbourhood, giving me many fewer hours until work. I think that's why we seemed so young - I think late-night tours mid-week is better suited for the non-working. I was surprisingly productive on Thursday but was dragging heavily in the afternoon. So it's a great idea but I don't think I'll do another one ... at least not while I'm still working.
posted by Michael Nelson at 12:46 pm
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