Real Ale–the way beer ought to be

by Sean McLachlan on

A trip to the pub is a quintessentially British experience, and if you’re a beer snob like me, you’ll insist on drinking real ale. The term “real ale” is reserved for beer that’s brewed using traditional ingredients and secondary fermentation.

“Traditional ingredients” means there are no artificial clarificants, preservatives, or other additives. “Secondary fermentation” means the yeast is still alive in the cask, so that fermentation continues, providing a fuller, fresher taste. Don’t worry about getting the microscopic little guys in your glass, because the yeast settles to the bottom and never comes out of the tap. Because they’re still fermenting in the cask, such beers are often called “cask conditioned” or simply “cask” ales.

The British take their beer so seriously that they have a full-time lobbying organization to ensure real ales don’t disappear under the onslaught of tasteless lagers. The Campaign for Real Ale is a national organization that promotes the brewing, selling, and drinking of real ales. They support traditional pubs too, on the basis that they’re an important aspect of British culture and need to be preserved in the days of theme pubs, big chains, and plasma screen televisions.

One of CAMRA’s campaigns is for an honest pour. A pint glass is only a full pint if the contents come to the bottom of the lip. While this makes it a little hard to carry back to the table without sloshing it on the ground, you will be getting what you paid for. Some people take a sip before leaving the bar, but a real Englishman can carry a three or four pints at the same time through a crowded pub without spilling a drop. Legally, up to 5 percent of the glass can be head, so don’t threaten to sue if you see a bit of white at the top.

CAMRA sponsors real ale festivals across the U.K. These can be a great way to sample lots of different styles. Their website has an up-to-date calendar.

While constant vigilance is the price of good drinking, traditional brewing is actually enjoying a heyday. There are more than 600 breweries in the U.K. brewing an estimated 2,500 ales. Many of these are small, local operations that only distribute their product to a few nearby pubs as a guest ale. Others have national distribution.

Another important organization is Cask Marque, a body that reviews how pubs serve their cask ales, rating them on variety, serving temperature, and overall quality. Those that get high marks are awarded a Cask Marque sticker on their window, shown here. You can rest assured that within there are quality ales served the proper way.

If you’re headed to England, Scotland, or Wales, the folks over at Real Ale Pubs have done your homework for you and have made an extensive list of pubs serving a variety of real ales. If the article I did on gastropubs whet your appetite, then check out the site Dining Pubs, which lists not only gastropubs, but pubs that serve more traditional yet still excellent fare.

Dim Sum Dialogues: Wan Chai

by Stephen Greenwood on

The streets are seedy, ragged and flooded with dim red, yellow, and orange neon lights. In between tiny food stalls and convenience stores, dozens of young filipino and thai women in short leather miniskirts loiter outside modest club entrances.

Sometimes they call out offers for free cover charges or beseech pedestrians to come inside for just one drink. Sometimes they sit quietly, poised and complacently staring off into the distance, taking a drag from a freshly lit cigarette.

An electric sign on the street depicts a yellow sun traced by a multi-colored rainbow. Beneath the rainbow a kitsch, outdated eighties typeface spells out “Wan Chai” in English. However tacky the sign may be, it’s an appropriate ambassador for the district – a place that’s equally well-worn and colorful. A patchwork of individuals from all walks of life and professions.
Down the street, young men in business attire mingle outside of Carnegies, a loud pub famed for late-night dancing atop it’s central bar. Inside, mixture of ethnicities and ages sing along to the YMCA song – while a handful of people on the bar recklessly clutch a long brass railing for support.

A few more steps down the road, a group of high school students celebrating graduation stumble out of a 7-11 holding Smirnoff’s with straws. They hold a spontaneous competition on the sidewalk to see who can drain theirs the fastest. It’s permitted to carry open alcoholic beverages on the streets in Hong Kong, and a much cheaper option for those that would rather not pay the standard $6 or $7 USD for a drink inside the bars.

Many places in the area feature live 80’s and 90’s cover bands that perform songs by bands such as Eagle Eye Cherry, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and of course… Michael Jackson. One of the most popular spots is a small place called Dusk ‘Till Dawn, and certainly lives up to it’s name – it’s not uncommon to see revelers spilling out on to the streets at sunrise, wearily hailing a cab. Others trek to the MTR station to catch the first morning train at 6.30am or catch the minibus routes that are run 24 hours a day.

The establishment of the district stemmed from the growth of the British administration in Hong Kong. It was once the central landing point for the British Royal Navy and other incoming foreign ships. Wan Chai became legendary for its nightlife and prostitution circles, especially in the 1960’s with US servicemen resting there during the Vietnam war. Stories from this era were featured in Richard Mason’s book The World of Suzie Wong, which was then turned into a feature film in 1960.

While Wan Chai is notorious for it’s nightlife, there’s no lack of activity in the district during daylight hours. A HK$4.8 billion extension was added to the waterfront Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in 1997, providing a total exhibition area of 65,000 m². Book fairs, art conventions, film festivals, technology expositions, and cosplay competitions all frequent the space – there’s a good chance that something interesting will be happening if you’re visiting on a weekend, so check out their schedule of events.

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Hong Kong Arts Centre are also situated near the waterfront, making Wan Chai one of the few areas in the city to take in a selection of musicals, plays, and concert performances. For dining, there are restaurants of every price range and nationality – Thai stalls, Vietnamese cafés, Irish taverns, Mexican cantinas and of course Chinese Dim Sum or dai pai dong.

For bargain shoppers, there are plenty of small shops that specialize in clothing, shoes, sportswear and cheap domestic appliances. It’s not the high-end shopping found in Central, but there are plenty of great bargains that have found their way over from the mainland. Wan Chai also offers a few wet markets, with one of the busiest being on the fringe of neighboring district, Causeway Bay – near the Times Square MTR stop.

It’s safe to say that the face of Wan Chai is changing – especially from it’s heyday of infamy in the 50’s and 60’s. But it’s attraction to night owls will stay the same – which for many is a cheaper, grittier and more adventurous alternative to the steep streets of Lan Kwai Fong.

If you only have a few days in Hong Kong, don’t hesitate to include Wan Chai on your agenda.

2/3 of Brit pubs to increase beer prices

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nearly a fifth of British pub owners are increasing beer prices now, taking the national average above the current level of ₤3 a pint. Ten percent are looking to pop an extra 15 pence on every glass, with two-thirds looking to push prices higher by 5 pence to 10 pence. The price of a beer has tripled over the past 20 years, obviously making it a better investment than that Enron stock you’re hoping will bounce back.

A new 2 percent tax is contributing to the elevated cost of intoxication, though operational expenses (like updating menus and cash registers) are leading to the extra imposition.

Seven percent of pubs will absorb the extra costs until September. Ninety-seven percent don’t give a shit about your need to imbibe at a value.

Best cities for a pub crawl?

by Abha Malpani on

On holiday, it’s not uncommon to consume large quantities of toxic beverages. An attempt to check out the city’s nightlife = an all-nighter pub crawl.

Some cities are just geared to allow for the most memorable crawls (assuming you remember stuff post getting plastered, which of course, isn’t the objective). Here are the Lonely Planet blog’s idea of a what entails a good pub crawl, here are mine:

  • A number of bars in the same area, so you can walk the whole way (or even crawl if necessary!).
  • No dress code. You have to be allowed to enter the places without stuck-up bouncers. Preferably, there shouldn’t be bouncers at all and you should be able to enter with flip-flops.
  • Cheap. Getting drunk, not remembering anything, AND not having any money left — not a good combination.
  • The places should be filled with locals rather than tourists.
  • Friendly bar tenders. Rude bar tenders with a chip on their shoulder for anyone out having fun while they are working, can ruin your night.
  • Bars with games, happy hours, and music. A little bit of research and you can find a cluster of bars with special drink offers and games to win them alongside music and/or jam sessions.

Basis these criteria, my favorite cities for a pub crawl — that believe it or not, fulfill at least 5 of the 6 points above, are:

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Madrid, Spain
  • Wollongong, Australia
  • Phi Phi Island, Thailand

What are your favorite cities for a pub crawl?

Smoke-Free Pubs in England may Stink Worse than Before

by Neil Woodburn on

With the recent legislation prohibiting smoking in pubs in England, your favorite British pub will no longer smell like smoke. The problem, however, is that it might smell a whole lot worse.

Shortly after a similar smoke-free law went into effect in California nearly ten years ago, I visited my favorite neighborhood bar in Venice Beach excited that I would no longer be accosted by wafts of stinky cigarette smoke. The moment I walked in, however, I was overwhelmed by a far worse smell: cat piss. Apparently the two cats who lived in the bar regularly did their duty their as well. All the cigarette smoke had masked their little secret over the years.

I had never imagined a bar might smell worse after cigarettes were banned but this often the case. Usually it’s not cats, though. Bodies sweat, people throw up, food goes bad, carpets grow moldy–a lot can turn foul in a bar or nightclub.

With this in mind, one company is trying to capitalize on the new funky smell of smoke-free bars in England. According to a recent Reuters article, Ambius is a company that normally produces and sells scents to casinos and hotels. The company is now targeting pubs in England with promises of making their watering holes smell as wholesome as crisp apples or rose petals.

Nice! It sure beats cat piss, if you ask me!

(Photo: Wsogmm on Flickr)