We’ve just returned from the GBBF trade day at Earls Court. I’ll confess that after all the build up and hype I was disappointed. Several of the beers I bought were warm and hazy and totally and completely flat. Thankfully the ISB was as clear as a bell and had some condition but it wasn’t presented in its best light either. If a brewer wants his/her beer to be served with a sparkler on the tap then CAMRA should take this into account. I understand that Southerners expect their beer to be flat as a mill pond but we like head up here!
I would have hoped that CAMRA would take more pride in the quality of the beers being served at the GBBF but I had to chuck one that was so warm and cloudy it was undrinkable. For me to say it was undrinkable it must have been bad! Two others I bought were less than great and certainly couldn’t be described as clear. They were also warm and there’s nothing worse in my book than warm beer.
Another gripe was the price of it! I had to pay £3 a pint for ISB that we sold to the distributor at a rock bottom price. Who’s making a killing here? It certainly isn’t me!
The hall looked half empty and grubby/tatty. There weren’t enough seats or tables and the toilets were a mess. This was just trade day so I hate to think how bad it’ll get when the massed public are allowed in.
On a more positive note I got to experience the commute to London again. It’s been more than a year since I chucked in a lucrative career in I.T. to pursue my own mad dream. I used to make the trip to London regularly and in the course of the past year I’d totally forgotten what a crap place London is. It’s a dirty, smelly, noisy, grubby, tatty dump. I’d also forgotten how totally crap and smelly Virgin trains were. I sat there this morning and it all came flooding back to me. Why do those trains all smell of toilet? It’s horrible. The smell can only be described as “that of old toilet”. It must be a fact that when you use the trains every week you get desensitised to the sheer awful stench but both trains today absolutely stank. They were also hot and uncomfortable and in typical style the on board shop closed up about two thirds of the way through the journey too.
In a way then today was a good day. I got to remember that I’ve made the right choice in chucking in the high life. I got back to the brewery tonight to pick up the van and stood outside the brewery door and stopped and breathed in. No more smell of Virgin trains. Instead the sweet aroma of Shropshire countryside. No din either, just the sound of the river slipping past and a couple of buzzards getting harassed by some magpies. Do I miss the old life? I miss the money, that’s for sure, but I sure as hell don’t miss all that London crap.
