Juggler

DAMN! I wish we could get as good a selection of USA Craft brews over here. Some good, some OK and some awful in the UK selection. Love the Youngs Double Chocolate and I was surprised to see the St Peters sitting up there on the shelf (from my old stomping grounds down in Suffolk.) Unfortunately there was the watered down and not as good as it used to be Old Speckled Hen sitting there. Sodding Greene King taking over breweries and then closing the places before watering down a once great Ale! I shall be starting to purchase my new brewing kit soon as I've tired of the kits now and want to try something more involved. Yup, Juggler is going into the realms of a Full Mash brew!

It's a national sport in Europe so those of you coming across be warned! My best moment came a few years back at Phantasialand when I was wandering down the queue line for "Mystery Castle." There's four of us all walking down together when the speedy footsteps can be heard behind so I just stepped across into the path of the footsteps and promptly clotheslined some kid. I just turned round and snarled "NO" at him at which point the rest of the runners put the brakes on. Needless to say they didn't try to get past us any more. The trouble with a lot of the queue lines in Europe is that they are 8 people wide and it's impossible to stop them jumping. I also put the brakes on a couple of kids jumping past me at Efteling. The parents and the rest of the family were ahead of me and were actively encouraging the kids to "get by." That stopped at me and I politely explained to them that their kids were NOT coming past and if they wanted to be with their kids they can wait for them out of the way but they were not coming past . The father swore at me in Dutch thinking I wouldn't understand but I knew a few words and he used most of the worst ones. As I passed him in the queue (where they were now waiting) I asked him if he actually bothered to teach his kids any manners but from the language he was using I guess he probably didn't. He went to say something else but before he did I just said I understood every word he said and I didn't appreciate being called those names! He shut up pretty quick after that!

WOW! Youngs Double Chocolate has made it across the pond, I'm impressed!

YAY, the weekend's here at last and that means no work but more beer! So rather than take a picture of my tea (well food does tend to crop up from time to time in this thread) I've decided to add a random picture of what turned up in a parcel for me today. Oh, and some beer photos too! and yes it does appear to be getting better with age. Delicious. Ah yes, a good creamy head which is just right for a Stout. This is me and my mate Harold the Barrel. (Now there's a musical reference for the teenagers!) I love beer and beer loves me! My new gizmo, a Mistmaker. These things are just way cool.

Bump - Reviving thread based on a definite plan for 2008. Due to a job change and financial problems (not enough cash saved in time) the 2007 trip fell by the wayside. However it's going to happen next year for certain and there'll be four of us flying across. I'm aware of the driving issue and lots of parks one after the other etc. but it is something we've done every other year round Europe covering just as many miles in the same amount of time. Plus we had the whole camping thing to deal with as well so this will be easier for us in a way as we'll be using motels. So one thing I'm trying to get a feel for is the accommodation and what chains would people recommend and which ones should we avoid like the plague? In terms of the when, we're looking at early to mid June 2008 which I figure should not be too bad in terms of the places being busy. Again as I said in the original post I'm open to all suggestions, ideas, thoughts etc. Thanks, Jason

Finished work at 7pm tonight so I dived straight into a Blackadder just to wet the whistle before I wolfed down the curry and some poppadoms. Now the main tasting of the evening was going to be the Thomas Hardy Ale at 11.7% which Mr Pete (Muttley) had already tasted and pictured in this very thread. OH WOW! I LOVE this stuff. Reminds me an awful lot of Port with that warm feeling in the back of the throat after taking a sip. Bottoms up! Yes only a small amount but at this ABV you wouldn't want to start knocking back pints of the stuff. Glass bottle, bottle glass!

By the looks of that picture it's been brewed in a Nuclear power station. Yee Gads, he's got THREE hands!!!

YAY, new ISP sorted and uploads are working fine. So a brief run down of some of the beers of the last few weeks. Meanwhile Muttley isn't too sure what to do with his. The Welsh lad snorts his beer! IT IS. Here I am in the classic TPR Beer Drinkers pose with a glass of St Peter's "Lemon and Ginger." A select taste which not everyone liked but I love citrus and adore Ginger so this certainly got my seal of approval. Barrels. Must be a beer festival. After a busy Saturday working this was opened immediately after finishing my shift. BY JOVE it was nice. The Holy Grail. An extremely pleasant and refreshing Ale. Jugglers own Dragon Stout.

Finally got the Video sorted for our Rotherham Beer Festival Trip back in February. Enjoy!

I would add more pictures but yet again my routing is causing issues and I am struggling to upload. All will change once I sort out my new Broadband service and then we can all rejoice in C.U.T.S. brewing. (Cupboard Under The Stairs)

Full report on the beer festival is on the way however tonight I've cracked the first half out of the barrel. Here she is, 40 pints of Dublin Stout brewed by my own fair hands.

Right, that does it. Next year I want dates, I want accommodation and above all I want beer. Don't worry I'll pay for the flight but put me up for a few days damn it so I can sample an American Beer Fest. Ahhhhhh, only another 3 days of work and then it's off to Bury St. Edmunds for the East Anglian Beer Festival next Saturday. Plus the first showing of my Camping & Coasters 2006 DVD which I hope goes down well considering the trouble I had getting it sorted. OK, so what do I do now.... Ah yes, time to barrel the Stout I started a week ago.

Well I'm now starting on the selection of ales. The selection has increased. I am now a happy man.

^^^ You mean there's more than one Growler I can fill........ Well the drinking is not happening this week due to being on call of an evening. Although I am working from home so it's not all that bad.

You mean the Woodie that they SAY they're going to build every year when really they've already decided to build something else. It's a smoke screen, always has been always will be. They get the locals all worried about some noisy, ricketty woodie and when they kick up a stink they miraculously whip out plan B which funnily enough is already fully prepared and ready to go. I used to go to Awful Towers four to five times a year but now I'd only go if someone paid for me or at least got me a good chunk of the extortionate entrance fee reduced. It just makes me mad when I trundle off round Europe on my tours and see how parks should be run then come back to the second rate and poorly presented CR4P we put up with over here.

Sorry but Alt.. Awful Towers is just a massive cash cow for the owners who don't really give a toss about building a park that's fun for ALL the family and comes in at a decent price. The place is always messy with a good proportion of Chavs helping the mess along. It's rife with queue jumpers and for what it is it's expensive. Instead of investing those millions that they waste every time on the latest "World's first" they'd be better off spending the money on proper theming, cleaning the place up and at least a dozen good flat rides to start spreading the queues out a bit. The so called "Magic" disappeared a long time ago but for some reason the owners just can't see that. Oh, I know why they can't see it! The size of their bank balance is blocking the view of the park!

Tries to post picture of beers again.... (This is getting silly now)

Tries to post picture of beers again.... (Apologies for repeats having issues my end)

Tries to post picture of beers again.... Well looky here!

YES, AT LAST. A beer posted in the beer thread from the USA that I've managed to get over here. I happen to agree with your appraisal as well so that's a bonus. I was much more impressed with the Anchor Porter and I still have their Liberty Ale to try.

Well seeing as I'm STILL having upload issues (I'm convinced it's my ISP.) I managed to get todays BREW of the day pictures up to my gallery at last. and the events as they progressed are here Brewing A Dublin Stout all dry kit to start with. You'll notice the "tea bags" which contain the raw hops and malt which had to be brewed three times in 2 litres of hot water for 20 minutes. Next add the Malt, Dextrose and then add spring water up to the 23 litre mark, stir vigorously for 5 minutes, check the temperature (20-25C) and then add the yeast. Another stir, pop the lid on and leave for 5-7 days. I needed to do another brew as this bottle lark is getting expensive!!

Oh yes indeed. I'm in the process of moving onto a more involved setup and purchasing, bolier, mash tun, wort chiller etc and then start working on my own recipes.

Well I would post a picture of my worldly ales but I can't upload for some reason.

Well once the camera batteries have enough charge in them I shall enlighten the forum with a host of ales. Some of which have travelled from across the pond and I will be able to embark on a journey of discovery.

^^^^^ Talk about the Rabbit in headlights look!!!