Stringers announces Bezzy Mate Program.

We're pleased to announce the Stringers "Bezzy Mate" initative. For a single one-off payment of 93 quid you can get with the program.

But what exactly do you get with the program?

The exclusive (shared with all other members of the program) right to call yourself our "Bezzy Mate"!

A photo of us (supplied in a digital format) with space for you to photoshop yourself in!

A receipt! (Or VAT invoice if required)

Discount at all our bars!

The undying Respect of your peers!

Etc...

Wine? Pah!

I dunno but what Hardknott Dave seems to have got himself up a bit of a dead end on his Wine v. Beer thing. "What about wine's sense of place?", say the wine buffs. "Oooh, you've got us there", we're all supposed to say, before returning to our grimy sheds to slop out a few more buckets of scummy old beer.

Thing is, it's just not so. Commodity wine has managed to partake somewhat in the glory of the truly good stuff. This is nonsense. Affordable varieties of plonk (or even some quite pricey numbers) knocked up in some booze factory out of a few lorryloads of grapes from here and there, sugar, glycerine, tree bark, enzymes, fishguts, crab-shells, preservatives and colour, somehow get thought of (wrongly) in the same way as some remarkable, lovingly-crafted masterpiece of oenology.

Contrariwise for beer.

Tosh, I say. Also, Pah!

Fussy, elitist and overcomplicated?

Many thanks to Velky Al For drawing our attention to this little gem by Keir Graff in Timeout/Chicago

“Beer doesn’t have to be fussy, elitist and overcomplicated.
That’s what wine is for.
Beer should be for the rest of us: affordable, easy to enjoy, thirst slaking and confidence restoring.”

Read the piece here.

Incidentally, why was all the glassware in Star Trek so obviously difficult to drink out of? I know that Jim is swigging from the bottle here, but even the glasses were mental. Why was that? Huh?

Retired? Comfortably Well Off? CAMRA cares what you think.

Good News Everyone!

“CAMRA is looking for 60 members who are not CAMRA Volunteers, but do not reject the idea of becoming active within the campaign, to participate in some Focus Groups at the Great British Beer Festival.

These sessions will take place on Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th August 2011 at Earls Court and will only take about 90 minutes. You will only be required to participate one of the sessions.”

So, if you're not doing anything else (like working or caring), and you can afford to get yourself to London (or are already in London) - CAMRA wants to hear from you. Sheesh. Who's idea was this?

Awesome Beard

I've been transferring the latest batch of our completely boss big ol' stout "Mutiny" to cask. We'll hang on to it for a few months before it's ready to go out into the world. It's such an AWESOME beer, I spontaneously grew this AWESOME beard - just from the fumes! Imagine what it'll do to you! You'll all turn into super-bad werewolves or something.

Also, I have a crudely photoshopped, but OUTRAGEOUS, Snake Plissken eyepatch. That's how much PASSION we put in.

Concerned readers please note: it's not a real beard.