The Pale Journey #3 Timothy Taylor's Landlord

Timothy Taylor's Landlord

Appearance

A really beautiful amber colour. Very rich and deep with a wonderful head to boot. 

Aroma

Wonderfully malty but not overpowering.  The smell has a nostalgic fell to it. Like going to an old 'proper'' pub when I was a child (a few decades ago now).  Where the overarching aroma was smoke and beer - and this beer has that smell. 

Taste

Surprisingly sweet and then giving way to a malty taste that is quite wide in the mouth.

As the beer courses down the gullet, the after taste is pleasant but a little clingy.  Quite heavy on the aftertaste even though it' light on the sip.

This a very lovely tasting beer and it's definitely one I will seek out again.

The Pale Journey #2 Marstons pedigree special pale ale

First impressions

A deep golden appearance, darker for a pale ale (in my opinion)

Strength is 4.5%

Aroma

A slightly malty smell sweet at the same time.  Appetising and enticing 

Taste

Surprisingly bitter, I would have expected it to be less bitter with the maltiness of the smell.  This beer happens to be a favourite of my Mum's (along with Owd Roger from Marston's too) and our tastes do differ.

For me it's a beer that I can enjoy on occasion but not as a session and there isn't really anything special about it for me.

It's one of the most popular (Costco sell it by the crate!) and I suppose it's that down the line aspect (something for everyone) that means it's not for me.

The Pale Journey #1 - Marston's Old Empire

From my stash of pale ale, today's choice was Marston''s Old Empire

I have chosen this one as it is already a favourite of mine.

I thought I would go for a bit of a structured way of reviewing the beers.

First things first, I am not part of CAMRA, have no brewing experience or any in depth knowledge or inclination to know how beer is made.  So these reviews are going to be my own opinion.  At the end of day, everyones taste buds are different and we each appreciate different flavours.

Information on the bottle.

Marston's Old Empire is a true India Pale Ale - golden in colour and bursting with thirst quenching malt, hop and fruit character.
Brewed in accordance with the tradition for which Burton became famous - brewing the best beer for export to India in the 19th Century - Old Empire is a wonderfully refreshing beer with a tangy, clean bitterness as benefitting the finest beers in this style.

Volume
5.7%

First appearances
A beautifully golden colour, like deep straw.  What you'd expect from a pale ale.

First taste
As it says on the bottle, it is tangy.  For me, it had a slightly iron or copper taste at first, with a sweeter taste as the beer touches all the taste bud.  The taste is a surprise as you would expect, from the appearance, for it to taste sweeter - or more golden.

The rest of the pint
Once your taste buds are used to the taste, it gets better.  The beer becomes smooth and the golden texture and taste starts to come through.  There is no after taste or rather any unpleasant after taste and I have enjoyed a (ahem) couple of these in a single evening.  It's a very drinkable beer and works as a social beer or a food one.  I like simple food but good quality and this beer goes well with strong natural flavours (steak, pork for example) but without admonishments.

My Pale Birthday treat

It was my birthday recently and after a very lovely day out in Oxford with a walking tour as part of my birthday surprise.(http://www.oxfordwalkingtours.com - ask for Stuart). I neglected to take any photos too - perhaps too consumed with the beauty of the buildings  and the history of the place. I thoroughly recommend it.

As a family, when it's our birthday's, we try and visit the birthday boy or girl on the day if we can, as we are busy, it's one of the few times we get together.

My brother came round with gifts (bonus!) and he always puts thought into the gifts he gives.  It's great and very much appreciated.

He knows that I have a liking for real ale and he bought me a veritable collection of pale ales.
Not just a crate of beer (certainly not unwelcome) but different ones, from different breweries, regions and countries.  27 of them - plus a bottle of very nice red wine.

I shall be sampling them one at a time though on separate occasions so I can fully appreciate them.  If I drank more than one in a single session, I think it would turn into a sessshion and I would really appreshiate 'hic' them!

And as my brother asked for a report on each, what better way to report than on here!

First up is:

Marston's Old Empire IPA.

I hope you will enjoy my pale ale journey and if there are any questions or suggestions about what I should cover in my review, please feel free to comment.

Now, I'm going for a beer.  :-)

Speak soon
Steve

The Dark Tower Challenge

I am a Stephen King fan.  I am not ashamed to say it and I have shelves (yes plural) of his works.

It was reading Stephen King's ' Salem's Lot' for a GCSE assignment that got me into him and ever since then, I have been hooked.

Some time ago, I forget when, I found the 'The Dark Tower: Book one - The Gunslinger' and duly read it.  It was different from Mr King's usual style and I loved it.  I wanted the rest but life happened (kids I think) and I didn't think about the Dark Tower series at all.  Book one stayed on the shelf, surrounded by it's brothers in writing (as in IT, Four Past Midnight, From a Buick 8 and many many more) and waited for my own journey to the Dark Tower to continue.

It as always at birthdays or Christmas times where I would be asked, 'Is there anything specific we can get you?' but asking for the Dark Tower series seemed a little over the top - the complete set was cheap!

I considered buying the Dark Tower series for my Kindle.  I read more and faster on my Kindle, but at the time, I think the price was only a few pence less than the physical book.  It didn't feel right.

As I got book one from a charity shop, and as my hometown has several charity shops, I began checking each one on a sort of regular basis.  Finding the other books became a challenge.  I had popped into Waterstones and seen the books, all new and shiny on the shelf, and yet I knew that, if I was patient and tenacious (kinda like the Gunslinger chasing the man in black) I would find the rest of the books in the charity shops.

 Earlier this year, as I wandered back up the high street, I popped into the shop that has the most books and lo and behold, I found books 3 - The Waste Lands, 4  - Wizard and Glass and 5 - Wolves of Calla.  Yay!

So I have read book 1 and was now in possession of books 3,4 and 5.  My own sense of order won't let me jump ahead so they sat on my shelf for weeks,  untouched.  Only looked at.

Now only to find book 2 -  The Drawing of the Three and I can continue reading the story.

Fast forward to last week - while we were in West Wales on holiday, we found a bookshop in Cardigan.  Cardigan is a beautiful place.  A really lovely town with lots of character and some splendid shops.  This particular bookshop was new and packed with books.  But the books were old - or I should say, used.  This shop is exactly what i would like to do as a retirement folly.

Have a shop that stocks used books of all different types and for my own shop (The Reading Room) I would also offer a

This book shop is the personification of my own dream/folly.  A shop full of books that have been loved and read, and then available to be read and loved again.  It was there where I found book 2, The Drawing of the three and book 6, the Songs of Susannah.

My delight at finding this shop was surpassed by the sheer jubilation of finding not only the second book to continue (I was re-reading book 1 again as my holiday fiction) but I could carry on right up until the end of book 6!  I also have plenty of time to find the final chapter Book 7 - The Dark Tower.

The challenge is still on, There is the final book to find and the Wind through the Keyhole - an additional tale.

The question of blogging...

I was asked the other day why I hadn’t updated my blog for a while and as a huge advocate of social media, I really ought to be doing something more and regularly – after all that is what I tell my clients to do.

Social Media has become a buzzword and an essential tool (option) for your marketing and promotion. Used correctly, it can drive traffic, provide insight, information, develop relationships and ultimately build trust with whom you are reaching and reading. However, very much like a human relationship, social media is something you do have to keep doing regularly in order to keep in your readers ‘mental’ top ten.

So why do I find it difficult to actually keep up with any kind of blog and actually provide something that is useful and relevant to the market.

Like a lot of people that want to use social media as a forum for promotion and opinion, my time is a huge issue. It takes time to write, and then ensure you write well.

If you are on the move in your business, you can’t type and drive (it’s illegal); your day may be filled with work – can you justify taking an hour or 2 out of your day to write your thoughts and opinions. If you are working on a contract, would the people paying you be happy for you to do that? Generally not; unless it is part of your role.

So when does that leave you time to write? The evenings of course, but I have a family (I am chief story teller at bedtime :-) ), my own business admin to attend to and my house doesn’t manage itself.

Writing takes; time, effort and thought. Especially thought. Your message needs to be relevant, useful and most of all interesting (I’m repeating myself here – are you catching a theme?). If you’re message is targeted, then it should be written for your audience – I know that sounds obvious but you wouldn’t write to English professors using text speak.

To me these feel like genuine reasons why I don’t update my blog, or my auto journal enough. But perhaps they are just ‘Formula 1 drivers*’ excuses. I don’t know.

However, this blog was inspired by the question from @NickyKriel on twitter and it was her blog post on the #ff or ‘follow Friday’ that really launched my thought process. Curiously, her advice about follow Fridays is (paraphrased), ‘don’t just “follow Friday”, give a reason why you should follow them. Or, in other words, make sure that the people you are suggesting are interesting and relevant. Nicky has a fantastic blog about social media and Twitter and I highly recommend you have a read. It is most enlightening. http://www.nickykriel.com/blog/

So perhaps, for me at least, it is a combination of time (lack of) and also inspiration that stops me from updating my blogs regularly – (more excuses?). But having identified my excuses – they aren’t really reasons – I can now action myself into doing something more about it.

This action is ongoing but it starts with a first step. Interestingly this week I have had more time, despite being busier with clients, because I gave up Facebook for lent. All of a sudden, my evenings have opened up. It’s quite scary seeing the reality of how much time good ole FB takes up, and it’s only apparent when you stop using it. As a direct consequence, I have been able to read web articles, books and have conversations with people outside of FB and lo and behold, I have been inspired and had the time to write.

As a parting piece of advice try unplugging yourself from your favourite online activity/ area for 2 weeks. You may be surprised to discover how valuable your time really is.

* Formula 1 drivers rarely blame themselves, it is usually the car, the set up, the tyres etc.

The Mayonaise Jar

This morning I was sent this and I thought it poignant at this time of year where everything is so frenetic. It's an oldie but it's message is still relevant - especially in today's age of social media.

The Mayonnaise Jar

When things in your life seem , almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
And had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and Favourite passions -
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Remember your golf balls this Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone.