Opened it!

Dark, bold, viscous, tonnes of chocolate, side of port and fantastic with a bit of blue cheese!

Scooper would have loved it! happy Birthday to the old bugger! x

Open It?

So Mrs Rabidbarfly and I have had our kitchen done, and i found this little beauty in a box that had been packed away during the work, i'd totally forgotten it was there! There's some other more dubious stuff in the boxes but this looks like it'll be fun!

De Molen, Black Jack

Anyone think we should have an 'Open it' session soon?

What's little gems have you got hiding in your cupboards? Feel free to share.

Motley Brew Monday

Because life's too short to drink shit beer!

Motley Monday, Mofo's!

Peace out.

Belleville Brewing Continue

Good news yesterday as international brewing monster ABInbev have come to an agreement with tiny South London micro, Belleville Brewing Co over the use of the name 'Belleville'.
Apparently ABInbev took exception because it sounded like 'Belle-Vue' of the kriek variety that the multinational produces and gave Belleville Brewing Co a cease and desist order.

Common sense seems to have prevailed in this case though as both parties went to the table and worked out their differences. What it came down to I don't know but it's good to know that the brewery that took its name from a primary school rather than a sickly cherry beer, can continue using its current name!.

Belleville Brewing Co was set up in January this year by a bunch of parents of children from Belleville primary school, and they've been producing some very drinkable, American inspired beers since then, a change of name and branding would have cost them a fortune possibly even putting them out of business.

So here's to Adrian and the guys at Belleville. Cheers!

ABInBullyingMode

So the mighty Anheuser Busch has been throwing their considerable weight around. As the Daily Fail reports here.

A couple of weeks ago they issued a cease and desist notice on South London micro Belleville Brewing Co. because according to the gargantuan beer company the name Belleville Brewing Co is too close to Belle-Vue Kriek, their sickly fruit beer and they are saying that the group of dads who named their brewery after their childerens primary school (the primary school that I went to, incidentally) are making money off the name.

Now this just strikes me as a bit 'Portman-group-esque'. For starters they are assuming that all their customers are stupid and illiterate, after all Thames Surfer seems quite far removed from Belle-Vue Kriek, or is that just me?

No common sense.

No confusion for beer drinkers that can read.

Secondly if, as a multi-billion pound business, you're really that afraid of a micro brewery making money off your beers name then why don't you just offer them a few million quid for the brewery? After all that's the new trend isn't it?

Now obviously Belleville Brewing Co doesn't have the resources to fight ABInBev and they will, by all accounts, be changing their name, which I think is a massive shame. It's just another instance of big business shitting all over a smaller one.

To the Light.

The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. And you have burned so very very brightly.

Rest in peace, Scooper. I'm going to miss you brother, you will always be an honorary Womble!

I will be raising a glass of Orval to Simon on Saturday at 5pm at The Rake, I hope those of you in London will join me, lets celebrate someone who was truly a reminder that beer should be fun!

I know the Sheffield Tap are doing something similar, as are a couple of people in North Bar in Leeds so if you're in the vicinity raise a toast to his genius at 5pm and lets be united in being thankful that he was with us at all!

If you're in another part of the world lets hashtag the #scooper at 5pm.

Love, peace and motherfucking chicken grease.

G x

Smile Like You Mean It.

I don't know about you but I'm getting a bit bored of reading about lots of negative experiences that people post online about bars, breweries, staff, service etc...after all, it seems far too easy to bitch and moan about things.

I got a tweet about the staff at The Rake last night that made me smile as it was a positive one and it's got me thinking and what I'd like you to do is share your experiences in the comments box about great experiences you've had recently or ever really and I'll collate them and post on here in a couple of days time.

I'll get us started with an easy one.

Last Thursday Nick Otley and one of his sales guys, Lee were in town and we had a few beers at The Rake before heading off to Dukes Brew and Que for dinner.
I had not booked dinner, I merely gave them a call and asked if they had three seats available, they said come on down so we did.
The service, as ever was impeccable. The food was amazing(as usual) and the beer was great(also as usual). I had a great evening with friends and everyone went home happy. Dukes is one of my most favourite places to eat and drink and I can't wait to go back.

so that's it. Please share your stories, I'd love to hear them and I think we could use a smile every once in a while.