As you may have gathered from the previous post, I spent a quiet
birthday at home with the family, or rather with Eileen, as Matthew was at work.
I finished doing some tidying up in the garden, despite being under orders from
my good lady wife, not to overdo it. I’m not sure what she thought I’d be
doing, especially as the bone-dry ground far too hard for any digging. in the meantime, she prepared a very nice
joint of roast pork for our Sunday dinner. As far as the drink was concerned, I
went for something a little different for this special occasion, by selecting two
high strength alcoholic beverages.
The first of these was a large 750 ml bottle of Sainsbury’s Taste
the Difference Celebration Ale, which was given to me by a work colleague as a
Christmas present. However, with a potency of 7.9% abv, and a volume one
and a
half times that of a normal bottle of beer, I was reluctant to open it, because
I thought it was a lot of strong, high-octane beer to get through in one
sitting. I needn’t have been concerned because the beer was packaged in a corked
bottle, so it was quite easy to re-cork it, and save some for later – or at
least it was until the cork dried out!
I’m pleased to report that the beer was excellent, and
despite its high strength it didn’t taste sweet, or cloying, as one might have
expected from a beer of this gravity. According to the bottle, Celebration Ale
is best served lightly chilled and is perfect to be enjoyed on any occasion, including
celebrations, particularly in view of its strength. It is a blonde ale bursting
with bright citrus and tropical fruit notes, balanced with a subtle herbaceous character,
set against a warming spiciness, which derives from the use of Australian
Vic Secret hops. Brewed in the French town of Arques, a commune in the
Pas-de-Calais department in northern France, bordering Saint-Omer, an area that
has been under Belgian, English, French and Spanish rule at different times,
during it long history. It was definitely a fitting beer for a significant
birthday celebration.
The other drink celebration drink I enjoyed wasn’t a beer
but was instead a bottle of Waitrose No. 1 English Vintage Perry. Produced in
partnership with Weston’s, the renowned West Country cider maker, who were established
in 1880, and made with 100% fresh pressed pear juice this Herefordshire Perry
is made using fresh pears, selected from a single year’s harvest. The Perry is
slow matured to bring out the complex pear flavours generously refreshing scrub
that deliciously refreshing with baked fruit flavours and a hint of Ruby Grapefruit
and spice. It’s a perfect match for creamy cheeses according to the label on
the bottle. I’d selected it as the perfect match for a joint of roast pork, and
I certainly wasn’t wrong with that judgement.
The only trouble was this enjoyable and rather good,
sparkling perry has an alcohol content of 8.0% so, following on, from an equally strong beer,
was probably not a good idea, even though I was celebrating a significant milestone
in my life. As with the Celebration Ale. I didn’t drink the bottle all at once,
in fact I ended up re-capping it as best I could and drinking the remaining
half, the following day. Kept in the fridge it was still good and hadn’t lost
its sparkle or its appealing taste.
Now I was going to tell the tale about cider being
responsible for the first time I became tipsy, at the tender age of 14, but
looking back I discovered that I’d posted that particular story, back in August
2020. I must have been bored, during Covid, but the post is still worth re-reading,
especially as it sets out my feelings about cider, and how I disapproved with CAMRA
becoming sidetracked with their separate, and in my view completely unrelated campaign
in support of fermented apple (and pear) juice.
That stance has mellowed since then, especially as I’m not
longer a member of CAMRA, but also because I’m becoming more enamoured with
traditional cider and perry, and the role these drinks play in pub life today. Give
it a read, along with the other article it links to, which is about – you guessed
it, Waitrose No. 1 English Vintage Perry.
