Birkonian

Drunk mostly in De Garre today, but still drank some excellent beers from elswhere. Hercule Stout, Viven Imprial IPA and XX Bitter.

Zinne Bier from Brasserie de la Senne.

Gulden Draak Qudruppel in De Garre. This would be called a banked head in Hartlepool.

This is how Cameron's Strongarm is served in Hartlepool.

Rebel Local from 't Verzet in Cactus Cafe, prior to watching Teenage Fanclub.

Excellent afternoon yesterday with @bonsvoeux1.bsky.social Strong beers in De Garre followed by further excellent beers in 't Brugs Beertje. Père Noël my first Christmas beer of the season.

Draught 2025 Chimay Bleue. Very smooth, good.

And relax

Next stop is the very crafty Le BerthoM. 20 draught beers but eithr IPAs or Duvel Moortgat offerings. I settled for a West Coast IPA from the Italian brewery Ducato. I can manage that style, just about.

Stayed in Bugatti for a second beer. I've drunk plenty of 3 Monts beers in the past but never their Saison. I'm impressed. The bar also has Dominicains Triple from 3F near Mons and Cuvée des Trolls, both also on draught. A good find.

Draught beer prices in Lille are very reasonable. Typicaly €4 to €4.50 for a 25cl. draught beer even for a 8.5% Triple.

I moved on to the nearby Bugatti because their beer board looked interesting. A clean and comfortable bar with many Bugatti photos and posters unsurprisingly. L'Angelus Blonde is very good.

A visit to La Mousse Touch'. More beers on tap from other breweries than previously, such as Saison Dupont and from Brussels Beer Project. Blonde Touch is a bit bland and over carbonated. Served in a BBP glass.

Final beer in Hôp[i] over the road from my hotel. Grosse Soif is an o.k. Triple, but I've been spoiled by my earlier beers.

Final beer in Hôp[i], across the rod from my hotel. Grosse Souf is a Belgian style Tripel. Very drinkable, but earlier beers were better.

Cuvée des Jonquilles from Au Baron. A top class beer. I've drunk some excellent beers today.

I've moved on to La Capsule. Franc Belge may be from a Belgian brewery, but De Ranke is only 15 miles from here.

Next up, La Copain Blonde from Brasserie des Copains. Very tasty despite the haziness 😀

I'm in the small but perfectly formed La Biche et le Renard. An atmospheric bar on Rue de Gand in the old town. A favourite of ours. Six beers on draught, all good. I'm already half way through the superb Ch'Ti Triple from Castelain.

I've arrived in Lille. All very quiet after the rioting over the weekend. First stop is Beer Square. Mongy Ambrée was decent, but the Vieux Lille Triple from Brasserie de Sources is excellent. Reviews consider it almost a Biere de Garde, which is no bad thing. I'm on my second.

I returned to the Wetherspoon pub on Friday evening. Drank a pint of Oolong ESB. It's brewed at Oakham by a Chinese brewer. Very impressive. I wished I'd tried it earlier in the evening. I would have drunk a few.

Took the train to Castleford. The Junction sounded o.k. Supposedly 6 beers from wooden barrels. There were 3, 1 of which was Stancil Secret Potion. A pale beer, which didn't really seem suitable for wood. Another on offer was an IPA. IPA from a wooden barrel?? Castleford makes Birkenhead look posh.

Working at York races, staying near Castleford. There's a Wetherspoon over the road. The Varvar Session Golden Ale was decent. A Ukrainian brewer using Hook Norton's kit.

Harvey's Armada Ale in Denbigh Castle, Liverpool. Excellent.

Drank my first Fuller's Vintage Ale 2026 last night. After pouring, I was surprised by the hop aroma with hops also present on the palate. Soon gave way to more typical maltiness, but without a strong flavour. Tasted a little thin. It didn’t stand out as one the best vintages, but time will tell.

Some very nice pints of Brampton Brewery Terminus in Glassworks, Chesterford, before Tranmere's worst performance of the season so far.

Then excellent pints of Joseph Holt Bitter in Hare and Hounds, Manchester en route to watch Warrington's dismal effort in the Super League Grand Final. At least the beer was good and cheap. £3.60 in Chesterfield, £3.70 in Manchester.

Some very nice pints of Brampton Brewery Terminus in Glassworks, Chesterford, before Tranmere's worst performance of the season so far.

*Chesterfield" damb you spellchecker

Well said.

Pilot@pilotbeer.co.uk

Yes diesel is expensive at £2 a litre but a milkshake IPA works out at about £18 a litre and tastes an awful lot worse.

My route home from Italy was via Strasbourg and Paris. In Strasbourg I visited Le Grinchaux, Le Garde Fou & Le Grande Tigre. Le Grincheux was to my liking with a variety of French and Belgian draught beers, mostly served in glasses from Brasserie Rulles. Couldn’t resist draught Rosé de Gambrinus 1/

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Next stop was Montparnasse, but Line was cloded, which made the journey a bit fraught. I intended to have a beer in Paname Tap House, which I've visited previously, but found it hard to find as have others. Eventually, I found it, but it was unexpectedly closed. 4/

I made the short journey to the excellent Mez Beer. Mercifully few IPAs on their list, so I lingered for some time. O'clock After Work and La Bouledogue Triple were two I remember enjoying. Final stop was Le Falstaff, a lively pub which I enjoyed. La Bête from Castelain was very good. 5/5

Le Garde Fou had 14 draught beers, but as 13 were IPAs I didn’t linger. Le Petit (not Grande as stated previously)Tigre is a very busy brewpub, popular with Strasbourg's younger clientele. The beers aren't anything special but perfectly drinkable. 2/

On to Paris, I started with a stroll along the Seine towards Bercy. I enjoyed a Parisienne Triple, served in a plastic glass 😬 while enjoying the surroundings. I continued to Bercy Village and drank a rather bland pint of Blonde in the Frog at Bercy. 3/

19 Sept

Decided to stay in one night as storms were forecast. Didn’t materialise, but we'd stocked up on alcohol, cheese, charcuterie and nibbles. I'd always wanted to try Baladin Nöel, but the bottle is too heavy to transport home. So why not drink it in September in Italy. 1/2

19 Sept

Nice flavour of hazelnuts and very smooth, but not quite the body of Belgian equivalents. Enjoyable. Other good beers were inbibed. 2/2

15 Sept

A few of the recent beers I've drunk in Peschiera. Kom Op Miki is a Winter Saison/Triple brewed by Schigibier. Draught Baladin Nationale. One bar has a range of Baladin draught beers. Birra La Dama Red Bear is locally brewed.

10 Sept

Yesterday was first in Peschiera. A few suitable beers were taken. I also drank Ichnusa Non Filtrata on draught, which is very quaffable even if it is owned by one of the global baddies.

Frothingham Best Bitter from Great Newsome Brewery in Hull, served by hanpump. Hull is not in Italy.

Never heard of the brewery, but it's a very good beer.

Blak Eyes Stout is brewed by Birrificio Styles south of Ancona. Very good.

I'm now in Lambrate. Drinking Milanese Bitter from handpump.

I'm in Bierfabrik, Milan and I'm drinking Marble Manchester Bitter. They also have a beer from Buxton Brewery. I will endevour to drink Italian beer later.