Tuesday 2 May 2017

Three men, one boat

I was talking to our cellar man about the sad demise of Pitchfork ale (gone bust apparently) and how it was always the good who die young, then he informed me that the ale 'Summer Lightening' got its name from a story by G.K. Chesterton (I think).

I try not to drink ales with stupid names. I wonder why brewers name their beers stupidly. We have one local beer called 'Piston Broke' and that is an illusion to the engineer I.K. Brunel, I think. There is another beer which I refuse to drink called, 'Cripple Cock'. The label is a male chicken walking with the aid of a crutch. Very funny.

On the other end of the nominal spectrum, there is a very good beer which sometimes turns up, called simply, 'Beer'. Ordering a pint of it is still irritating, because even the seasoned bar staff often ask, "Which one?" before they understand. There is usually a panic-inducing 4-second wait between asking for it and watching it being poured.

Eventually I struck upon the above title as a name for a beer which alludes to more than just an amusing book by Jerome K Jerome. Well, I thought it was funny anyway, but I had - by that time - consumed two and a half pints of Mother Ludlam's Hole.

13 comments:

  1. A silly name suggests a silly beer; I'd rather put my faith in Guinness, or Worthington, or Harvey's.

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    1. I don\t mind silly beer. Sabrina Guinness was pretty silly.

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    2. Like Cro, I would expect a silly beer from a silly name. I could not resist to google silly beer names. 'HOPtimus Prime' is a good one. And then there is one called 'Woolyback/Overly Manly Black IPA', which features on its label, I kid you not, a bare-chested Putin riding a black bear.

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    3. Really? That would be throwing up before the hangover.

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  2. Summer Lightning is a really great beer, although a tad strong.

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    1. I still do not understand how 1 percent can make the difference between a quiet drink and making an arse of oneself, but it does happen.

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  3. Haha!

    I love that name, because I like that book. And there's the rest of the title... Maybe there could be a second beer called "Nothing of the Dog".

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    1. I don't think we can get that here, Weave. Maybe it doesn't travel.

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  5. Thank you, Tom, for another informative post.

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    1. I wish - every now and then - that you would be offensive toward me, Frances, but then again I want it all.

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    2. Now you are making me laugh. Just you wait, Mr Tom.

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