Gifts for those awkward men … and women

It’s that time of year, the time when the shops put up decorations and display their Christmas gifts. It’s not only a reminder of the impending holidays but also the agony that some of us face choosing the perfect gift for our loved ones.

 

The awkward middle aged man who is non-committal about what they want for Christmas is one of the most difficult challenges. Fortunately, very few men refuse a beer related gift and that is where Haresfoot Brewery can help.

 

Our First Beer Festival

Several of the pubs in Berkhamsted host great beer festivals – The Rising Sun, The Crown and The George & Dragon – but our festival last Saturday was the first beer festival in a brewery in Berkhamsted for at least one hundred years and possibly ever.

Our theme was a Celebration of the Chilterns and, in addition to four of our own beers, we offered ales from eight other local breweries. Beer selection for beer festivals seems to be one of the dark arts. Should they be unusual and niche or known favourites? We enlisted Dave Culliton from Aston Clinton Beer Festival to offer advice, select the ales and, with his able team, manage the bar.

 

Easter means Hares not Bunnies

Easter is almost upon us and the shops are filling with chocolate eggs and bunnies. But if you really want to be Easter-authentic then I propose you celebrate Easter by toasting your beloved with a pint of Haresfoot ale rather than a chocolate bunny.

Easter is thought to be German or possibly even Babylonian in origin. Most believe that Easter gets its name from the old English Ēastre or Ēostre, the Teutonic cum Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring (see picture), for whom a festival was held in her honour every year at the vernal equinox. But some believe that Easter is derived from Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of spring, and a homophone of Easter.

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please

The tangential title of my blog is the 1980 hit single of Splodgenessabounds – a "song” which tracks the frustrations of a man not being served at his local bar. But I digress, the point is that lager and crisps, that most rudimentary of pub orders and the default beer and food combo, is a very distant relative of the current trend offered by sommeliers of beer and food pairing.

The push for beer and food matching has been around for several years now. Famously, the sommelier at Le Gavroche, Michel Roux Jr's two-starred Michelin restaurant, advises on the beer choice per course. Last year, Britain's Beer Alliance launched their “There's a Beer for That” campaign, which allows you to request beer matches for food on their twitter feed (just tweet @BeerForThat with #beermatch).