After a period of stagnation due to funding issues, the Bloodhound SSC - supersonic car - project is again underway. At a goal of 1,000 miles per hour - that's one fast British car - click here for the update. I have noted earlier in this blog that when I clock upwards of 60 miles per hour in my Midget I get a bit nervous.
Here's a link to the project's homepage - click here.
The Bloodhound SSC. Photo: Stefan Marjoram via Flock and Siemens
Have you been spitting on the sidewalk lately - You do know that in many places in the US you would be breaking the law, and subject to criminal prosecution. If you're a lady, and you happen to live in the UK, and you happen to be attending the Thetford Town Council meeting, did you know that you are required to ask the mayor's permission to remove your hat.
Here's a few links to articles about some rather odd laws in both the UK and the US.
First, by Bethan Bell of the BBC - click here.
Next, here's one from Sean Clare, also of the BBC - click here.
And, here's one from the US, actually one from each state - click here
Finally, here's a good one in urban legends in the UK, by Bethan Bell - click here.
Those Dudes - the UK Chief Medical Officers. I just go this communique from the good folks at CAMRA - scary stuff. Here is the letter in full.
Click here to find out more about CAMRA - like I said, good folks. To bad we don't have access to MPs over on this side of the pond.
Urge your MP to attend a debate on the new alcohol guidelines
As you may be aware, in January this year the UK’s Chief Medical Officers issued new guidelines on alcohol consumption. These guidelines are amongst the most restrictive in the world. The new guidelines state that:
CAMRA is concerned that these guidelines were formulated by an Advisory Group which included members with links to a group associated with the temperance movement.
Further, a survey of GPs has shown that the majority of respondents disagree with the Chief Medical Officers’ statement that there is no safe level of alcohol; and believe that moderate alcohol consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle.
We need you to help us raise this issue with your MP ahead of a debate that will be taking place in the Westminster Parliament on Tuesday 28th June from 4:30-5:30pm. Please write to your MP today to ask them to attend and raise the following points in the debate:
Lobby your MP today to ask them to speak out on this important issue during Tuesday’s debate.
I just picked up a couple of old press photos of one of the MG Liquid Suspension Specials, which raced the Indy 500 for a few years, back in the mid-1960s. Click on our MG Archives for more details on these "sort of" MG racing cars.
Bob Veith at the helm of Race #54 - a Huffaker/Offenhauser racer known as the MG Liquid Suspension Special - 1965.
I stopped in my local bottle shop the other day, and found this - Jameson Caskmates Irish Whiskey. I am not exactly sure when this particular collaboration began, but since the Franciscan Well Brewery opened in 1998, it must have been some time after that.
What this is - not unlike the cooperation between Grant's Whisky and Innes & Gunn brewery - is a whiskey aged in barrels that formerly held beer, in this case a stout brewed by the folks at the Franciscan Well Brewery.
I haven't tried this yet, but as a fan of good Irish whisky, I am looking forward to it - and will report back soon.
For the full story on Jameson Caskmates Irish Whiskey, click here.
As John Jameson said: "So smooth I would drink it even if my name weren't on it." I agree!
Update: I was cruising around the interweb today and found the Jameson press release for Caskmates. In part it noted: Born in 2013 over drinks at a local neighborhood pub in County Cork, Ireland, Caskmates was created by two longtime friends, Dave Quinn, Master of Whiskey Science at Jameson Distillery and Shane Long, Head Brewer at local Irish micro-brewery Franciscan Well.
There you go - cheers!
It's always nice to know exactly what goes in the beer that you are currently enjoying. Many brewers, especially the smaller operations, have made it a quest to source only local grown ingredients. Trouble is, for most breweries in Scotland, the prevailing weather conditions are not very conducive for the growth of hops, forcing them to buy their hops from further south.
Well, according to this short video (click here), farmers are trying techniques used for growing berries, to try growing hops in Scotland. Evidently, the local brewers can't wait for the results, their goal being a fully Scottish beer.
Video by BBC Scotland's Graham Fraser
Two of the greatest things in the world - and public house and a dog. So if the dog happens to be in a pub, well all that much better. On this side of the Atlantic, you don't often see dogs in a bar, but over in Europe dogs seem to be more welcome.
Anyway, I just ran across this website called "Dogs in Pubs," which is essentially a photo site showing dogs hanging out in pubs. Lots of great photos, although the site has not been updated since 2014. Still, good photos, so click here to stop by.
One of my favorite pubs in all of Europe (well, sort of a pub, or rather pub-like, I suppose). After closing time the owner would lock the doors with a few selected patrons - and dogs - inside. Great times.
An interesting list brought to you by Emily Bell at VinePair.
Read it here.
What Americans Think Britain Is Like vs What It's Really Like.
Funny stuff from Jasmin Nahar and Sophie Gadd - click here.
33 Pretty Interesting Facts About London Pubs - by Luke Bailey from BuzzFeed
A good read - click here.
After a freezing day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - and yes it really was freezing - we stopped in The Brockway Public House - in Carmel - for a fortifying pint of Guinness. Nice touch in the foam - cheers.
Whenever we are on the road we are on the lookout for decent pubs. So this weekend is part of a huge racing month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and as such we are heading north. This is the third iteration of the Grand Prix of Indy - Indy cars racing on the road course, going the opposite direction, at the Speedway. It is the best show in open wheel racing in the world.
Yes, there I said it - the current Indy car series is a much better show than the current Formula One series, and has been for a number of years. And I say this as a guy who attended his first F1 race in 1978. I love F1, but in so many ways it cannot compete with Indy cars. By the way, we attended the last F1 race at Indy, before Bernie decided the venue was no longer suitable. Don't agree - drop me a line - but be nice.
Anyway, this is our third year in a row attending the GP of Indy, and we stopped for an overnight in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We had dinner at a place called the Double Dogs Pub. A nice place, but much more of a sports bar than a pub. Still, the food was great, service was fine and they had a decent selection of beers, including one of my favorites British Ales - Boddingtons in the Pub Can. Speaking of the food, if you are a hotdog fan this is the place. As an American it is in my DNA to love a good hotdog.
Again, Double Dogs is more sports bar than pub, but still a good place - I would recommend it.
Apparently, this beer has been out for a little while, but as things take a little while to reach my part of Florida, I have only recently found it. Innis & Gunn Bourbon Aged Dark Ale.
I don't really know much about this offering from Innis & Gunn - like which particular brand of bourbon was first in the casks. And, like the first offering from Innis & Gunn, was the bourbon infused with the beer, also. Anyway, I will let you know more when I find out.
If you know more - drop me a line
Just picked this photo up for a couple of bucks. Like I said, I know the What - a D Production Triumph GT-6 - but am trying to figure out the Who, When and Where. Most likely a track somewhere in the U.S.
Any ideas out there?
Drop me a line - Cheers.
I have always thought that the Pub Can was a little piece of beer wizardry - a wonderful way to serve a decent pint of ale. And, I have always been fond of Old Speckled Hen - MG connections notwithstanding. So I was quite pleased to find that my local emporium is now carrying Old Speckled Hen in the Pub Can. Cheers.
Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it - Now, bottoms up. Cheers for the Pub Can.
Well, perhaps. But, one thing for sure - Sheffield will be on my travel plans the next time I am in the UK.
Interesting story here on the BBC.
A 1983 German postage stamp commemorating the Reinheitsgebot.
So perhaps a bit off topic, but any good beer drinker knows about the Reinheitsgebot. So, 500 years ago - in April 1516 - the Duke of Bavaria laid down the law by issuing an edict dictating just what ingredients could go in beer, namely: water, barely and hops. Sorry, but no yeast. But then again nobody knew about yeast 500 years ago. The new law was called the Reinheitsgebot, say: Rine-Hites-ge-Boat. Some beer historians theorize that the good Duke really didn't care all that much about the purity of beer, but rather he wanted to control the various grain supplies.
The Reinheitsgebot is still in force, but not enforced, today, and many German brewers are now doing their own thing. Regardless, many a German beer purist will insist his or her beer is made to the letter of the Reinheitsgebot law. Indeed, many German brewers proudly proclaim their adherence to the law. Cheers, or more accurately, Prost!
We stopped by the local British Car Club show yesterday. Decent turnout as always, but strangely there were no MG Midgets or Austin Healey Sprites. And, being a Sunbeam Alpine fan from way back - an Alpine was my first British Car - I was on the look out for an Alpine or two. Nope, a row of pricey Sunbeam Tigers, but no Alpines. Pity.
Most of know, and enjoy watching, the cooking duo known as The Hairy Bikers - David Myers and Simon King. Well, the pair, which we have followed as they galavant around the world in search of the odd and interesting, has come home to the Old Sod, and launched a new series on BBC2 called "The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain." The show is appropriately subtitled "The Hairy Bikers unearth hundreds of years of fascinating history hidden in Britain's boozers."
The first episode is set to air on TV on the 18th of April, and will appears shortly after on the BBC website, so we should be able to see the show over here. Until then there are a few short clips here. Cheers!
Stopped in to a local - O'Riley's Irish Pub - for lunch last Saturday. Nice warm day in Pensacola - perfect for sitting outside watching the people go by. Had a couple of Bass Ales - yes, I know Bass is now brewed in New Hampshire, but I had a couple for nostalgia's sake - and a plate of fish and chips (batter made with Boddingtons Ale, and fresh made chips). Lovely. And then home for a nap.
Exactly how many O'Riley's pubs are there in North America? There are two in Pensacola.
