Date: 23 January 2010 - EUROPEAN TRIP
Sampled by:
PV, ROC, MG, KOC, TM, PC and RN
PV entered the smoky atmosphere of the pub later than arranged and fully expecting to meet an assembled committee. No other Mengo members were there. The locals were agitated. Had Mengo upset them? No, their agitated state was merely because the pub was on fire and evacuation would interrupt their afternoon session. And Mengo, they had just missed the planned train and were late. On being passed by a fire engine, they did at least correctly guess the vehicles destination.
The Fire Service quickly put out the chimney fire and Mengo were not far behind in sorting out the destinations of their European Trips for the next couple of years. The voting quickly produced two front-runners; Hasselt (Belgium Limburg) and Nuremburg, went forward to the second ballot, with Hasselt ultimately coming out on top. So it is off to an untried area of Belgium this year followed by a new German destination in 2011.
| Pub | Location | OS Map Ref |
|
| Eight Bells
| Alton
| GU34 2DA
|
Comment | | After the excitement of the chimney fire and European trip voting, the usual Saturday afternoon conversation resumed over some excellent beers. Due to the committee meeting, the locals thought we came from CAMRA. But we had to disillusion them; we were not part of the Campaign for Real Arsonists. They considered Mengo Drinking a poor substitute.
|
| Brewer | beer | % | Price | Mark | Comment |
|---|
| Bowman
| Swift One
| 3.8
| -
| 4.0
| Top session beer
|
| Bowman
| Wallops Wood
| 4.2
| -
| 4.0
| Nice nutty taste
|
| Sharp’s
| Doom Bar
| 4.0
| -
| 4.0
| Excellent pint
|
| Ballards
| Best Bitter
| 4.2
| -
| 4.0
| Standard Best
|
| Suthwyk
| Skew Sunshine
| 4.6
| -
| 4.0
| Lovely
|
| Pub | Location | OS Map Ref |
|
| Railway Arms
| Alton
| GU34 2RB
|
Comment | | The Triple fff brewer, Graham Trott, had just delivered a brewery tour party to the pub and was in an informative mood. ROC was pleased to hear Graham confirm he planned to brew Apache Rose Peacock this year. Back to the present, the breweries current seasonal beer was available and those who cared were able to try the lactose impregnated stout, Midnight Rambler for the first time. Despite it low strength of 3.9%, the chocolate roast malts provided an authentic stout taste.
|
| Brewer | beer | % | Price | Mark | Comment |
|---|
| Triple fff
| Alton’s Pride
| 3.8
| -
| 3.5
| ROC’s favourite session
|
| Triple fff
| Pressed Rat
| 3.8
| -
| 3.5
| Not PV’s favourite mild
|
| Triple fff
| Midnight Rambler
| 3.9
| -
| 3.5
| Nice stout
|
| Triple fff
| Moondance
| 4.2
| -
| 3.5
| Not a patch on Apache
|
| Triple fff
| Stairway
| 4.6
| -
| 3.5
| Enjoyed by PC
|
| Triple fff
| Comfortably Numb
| 5.0
| -
| 3.0
| Not enjoyed by PV
|
It was then back to Aldershot and the Garden Gate where the anoraks of Mengo had to contend with a pub full of nerds holding some sort of old computer games convention.