Badger Beer Tasting

---

With some time on our hands prior to Wednesday night dinner, Paul, Mark and myself undertook some beer tasting. Hall & Woodhouse in Dorset brew traditional bottled ales as well as a number seasonal beers. Mark and Paul's friends James and Ben returned from Dorset with a selection and tonight we put the amber ales through their paces.

The first beer we tasted was the light and tasty England Gold - very much a drink to be enjoyed on a hot summer's day.

Next was the Badger Original which according to Paul tasted like burnt sugar, or possibly caramel (doesnt burnt sugar become caramel?). Thankfully it didnt taste like a camel otherwise we'd be in a lot of trouble.

The third beer was the Poacher's Choice, a beer of fine colour and a lingering biscuity and olive aroma (though that might have been due to the biscuits and olives we were also eating). Mark marked it low for a lack of aroma. I should have recommended he eat some more biscuits and olives!

Finally we drank the Fursty Ferret, a drink not for the fursty - whatever that means.

And the winner? The Poacher's Choice was our choice and a clear winner over the others. Having said that the other three beers were all delicious yet there can only ever be one winner.

We then watched the 7.10pm Singapore Airlines A380 fly overhead, an amazingly slow moving aeroplane as it jetted across London.

Another friend of Paul and Mark's (Claudia) popped over for dinner. Paul made a great pea and prawn risotto and we ended dinner with a selection of incredibly rich and delcious cheeses including an American blue cheese called Rogue River at $110 (Aus) a kg, it is one of the most expensive cheeses found at Neal's Yard Dairy arguably the greatest cheese shop in England.

---

Photos

Four Fine Beers
The line-up from winner to loser. (right to left) The Poacher's Choice was undoubtedly No. 1 in our eyes

A380
How do these monsters manage to stay in the air?