Bar snacks

It always strikes me when visiting the Continent how good their bar snacks are. Whether it’s tasty cheese in Belgium, pretzels in Germany or sausage in Austria and Switzerland (much of which is provided at little or no charge), the stuff on offer always seems to compliment the beer so well. And there’s rarely any fuss made about it either.

Sure, there are some decent bar snacks available British pubs. Pork scratchings and pork pies certainly make for excellent accompaniments to beer (what is it with beer and pork btw?) There’s also something to be said for the humbled peanut, roasted or salted.

But more often than not it’s a choice of Cheese and Onion crisps or, when then landlord’s generosity gets the better of him, a pile of grisly looking sandwiches made with cheap white bread and ham from Asda served on paper plates.

Pickled eggs may provide some sustenance to the truly famished, but do they really go with beer?

Given the choice of having an infinite amount of one bar snack for the next year, what would it be?

Do we want or need a revolution in British brewing?

Tandleman made an interesting post on the subject of British brewing.

His contention (as I understood it) is that British brewing hasn't really changed all that much in recent years, contrary to the claims or perceptions of some. He remembers drinking hoppy beers made with American hops years ago. He also posted a photograph taken 20 years ago which featured three bottles of what some might now call 'artisan ales'. His view was that whilst niches may grow, British brewing 'remains solidly middle of the road' and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

My question is this: is this a bad thing?

Do we want British beers to push the boundaries, with British Brewers becoming a tribe of Heston Blumenthals? Or would we rather see quality stouts, porters, milds, golden ales, and yes, 'session bitters' produced by professional brewers with the emphasis on quality ingredients, processes and selling it to a local and loyal market?

Or is there room for both?

Southern Sam gets a blog

After several months viewing other beer blogs and posting comments, I thought I'd join in the fun and post some my thoughts here instead.

More interesting posts will follow. Hopefully!