Jazzy D's Soul Notes

Don’t you just hate it when somebody pedantic wants to fuss up on the difference between ale and beer? Technically, they are correct in the sense that ale does not have alcohol-free versions. I do not give an arse on the fine minutiae between the words. I just hate nonalcoholic beer. So there!

So, talking of the golden substance known as craft ale, my local pub now has Leffe Blonde on tap. This is a richly delicious 6.6 % ABV craft ale that I suppose is more of a lager than a beer. The difference is in the fermentation process. At least, it gives the punter a further choice.

Last night I watched all my current quiz shows on the telly; Only Connect, Univesity Challenge, and Mastermind plus Counterpoint on the radio. I find it's a great way to stimulate the old brain cells. I then read a while before falling asleep. I was already in bed by then.

Well yes indeed it is. The squelch of my trainers on wet ground. It has been raining all day without stopping.Sometimes hard and fast, and somrtimes a dribble.

I have been to Canterbury to do a covert charity shop vist. I am in my local pub in Faversham getting wet inside. A good few beers I think.

I also have two newish LPs and three CDs to listen to when i arrive home.

Well, once again, another sunny day. After the turntable arrived and I checked it out with an LP, I then went towards town to post those eBay items off.

Walking up West Street towards the clock tower I noticed that Ewart was outside the Bell pub drinking beer. So I joined him for a couple of Master Brews.



After our drinks, I walked to the post office and then looked around some of the charity shops before going home. I found a classical LP for a quid of the soprano Emma Kirkby. She tends to sing music from Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell and others of the baroque period.

So in the ned, a good day.

During October Spoons had their beer festival (9th to 20th) and these were the beers (from a selection of 40) that I tried -

Hook Norton Steaming On 3.8 % ABV - a light golden session ale.

Arkells 3B 4.0 % ABV - a ruby coloured ale that I found disappointing  and bland.

Cotleigh 40 Years 4.3 % ABV - a fruity pale ale.

Birrificio Argo Terzo Tempo 4.4 % ABV - Italian ale that has a creamy malty flavour to it. Very quaffable!

Belhaven Barn Dancer 4.5 % ABV - a Scottish brown ale of deliciousness!

Wadworth JD Boss Hog 4.7 % ABV - fruity spicy pale ale with grapefruit finish.

Brewster's Punk Is Dead 4.8 % ABV - hoppy amber fruity ale.

Alesmith Nut Brown 5.0 % ABV - from California this was a highlight. Malt, chocolate and toasty flavours in this smooth dark ale.

Greene King Ruby Abbott 5.2 % ABV - Ruby coloured rich malty ale.

Theakstons Old Peculiar 5.6 % ABV - Still one of my faves. Dark ruby beer with cherry and rich fruit overtones.

Ballistic Short Fuse 6.5 % ABV - from Queensland Australia, this strong golden IPA was my top fave beer! A complex fruit bowl of apricot, mango and pineapple notes in this solid bitter and well-hopped beer. Outstanding!

And there you go.

Travelled down to High Brooms end of Tunbridge wells to do a couple of visits.One a supermarket and the other a cincession inside adeoartment store.Finished all the reports incluing a delivery from a supermarket this evening.

Soi had a pepperoni pizza with a Hobgoblin Ale followed by fresh blueberries.

I will post my snaps later. Meanwhile here asre three form my bro at te beer festival today.




I took this one using his phone.



He took this one without me noticing. I was selecting my next strong ale.






Old timey hillbillies having a ball.

Like a game of football, it was a beer fest of two haves. The good half was the beers and company, the bad half was the location. The Corn Exchange is too small to hold a beer festival. Also, the choice of food items is not as good as the Eastbourne Winter Gardens, and way too expensive for what you got. I did not bother eating there, and decided to eat after we dedicded it was time to go.

These are the beers that i tried -

Brighton Bier Cyclops Eyedrops 6. 0 % ABV
Dark Star Imperial Stout 10. 5 % ABV
Grainstore Nip 7.3 % ABV
Long Man Copper Hop 4.2 % ABV
King Lost Kingdom 5.2 % ABV
Salamander Divine Retribution 5.2 % ABV
Langham Black Swallow 6.0 ABV







The two reprobates ..



Graeme studying the guide to see what next he shall try.




 Me necking into another ale!

I am ready now for the evening, three top bottle ales to drink , Ridleys Old Bob (5.1 % ABV), Wychwood Hobgoblin (5.2 % ABV) and Green King IPA Reserve (5.4 % ABV).

All yummy beers to watch football on TV. Chelsea V Benfica, and later the pub.

Thursday evening was spent over at my brother’s place. We had a spaghetti dish washed down with wine. Friday morning we caught the 11.04 train from Brighton station to St. Pancras, and then transferred to an East Midlands train to Leicester, and finally a Cross Country train to Oakham. We then caught a taxi to Uppingham. Arrived at the Crown Inn at about 3pm.





Dinner was going to be at 7pm so i took the opportunity to go on a walkabout.

I popped into an Age UK charity shop which doubled-up as a coffee shop selling cakes ,teas and coffee.  I bought a book for £1 , Julian Barnes “Flaubert’s Parrot” (Picador). I then had a poke around the Loros secondhand bookshop opposite and picked up a copy of the Ian Fleming book “Casino Royale” (Penguin Modern Classics).



Afterwards, I had a beer at The Vaults, and one brewed by themselves., which was called Vaults Ale I think, about 3.6 %  ABV, hence a good session beer.



I took some photos around the compact little town, or offically a village, as it only has a population of 3,500. These will be n a separtae blo.

Before dinner, Mike and I had a few beers. Being an Everards tied house we started with the Tiger beer (4.8 % ABV). During dinner I had a pint of their Original (5.2% ABV).

They also had guest ales and thus i had  a pint of Castle Rock  Preservation Ale (4.4 % ABV). In total, including the one at the Vaults i had seven pints of beer that evening. I might have kept up up my borther a bit with my loud snoring when we retired to bed.

On Monday i took a bus trip to Sittingbourne to see what was available in the shops, and particularly ,if any charity shop was open. Unfortunately, Sittingbourne is quite a crappy town for shops and apparently it is the pikey capital of Kent (so my cousin informs me). However i did discover a Weatherspoons in the main high street of the town. It is called "The Summoner" and i had to take a photo of it since my surname (Sumner) is a contraction of the word summoner, "one who serves a summons".



I had bought a single journey bus ticket, so after a delicious pint of beer at The Summoner, a very tasty Lymestone Brewery Stone Cold (4.7% ABV), i took a train from Sittingbourne to Canterbury.


Canterbury , being a city, has more shops than Sittingbourne and apart from the cathedral, has a Waterstones, and as i walked around, i came across another interesting Weatherspoons pub.I also managed to find a real tobacco shop called The Pilgrim Shop and bought some pipe tobacco. The tobacco shop is opposite  Weatherspoons, but as the pub was heaving with punters, i walked into Waterstones and bought the paperback "The QI Book Of The Dead" at half price in their sale. I then took a slow walk down one of the side streets and discovered a great little pub pictured below.



The Bell and Crown is a small friendly pub with a superb jukebox playing tracks by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,Tom Waits, Charles Mingus, The Clash, John Lee Hooker, etc.

Some top quality beere too! Old Dairy Brewery Copper Top (4.1 % ABV) is a lovely local brew and the pint of Hopdemon Dominator (5.1% ABV) is a good strong ale. I then finished the day with my favourite Belgian ale, Leffe.