I don’t drink alcohol, generally speaking, but I do enjoy a good beer every once and a while. I always find it interesting, the crowd which beer attracts. Living here in Hawaii we have seen a few beer festivals in Honolulu and we have seen a few wine festivals.  They attract completely different clientele.

The wine festivals are always more quiet and reserved. The beer festival, well gosh… “It’s a festival so we’re supposed to get loud and party. Right?” As I say, beer and wine attract different crowds. Sufficed to say I prefer the crowd of the wine festival but the beer of the beer festival.

When it comes to beer, I like a good dark beer. When I was younger I was weened onto beer with such names as Löwenbräu, Heineken, & Corona.  I, luckily, never acquired a taste for Budweiser, Coors, or Thunderbird.  I quit drinking alcohol some years after college.  I have heard my whole life how the British ales were quite fantastic. When I took my first trip to Europe I knew I would want to try some of the beers and ales over there. Thus, to date I am the only person I’ve known who weened themselves back onto alcohol. This of course was to try these fine British ales. I flew into London. I took the rail (train) to Nottinghamshire where I stayed in Thoresby Hall Hotel just outside of Sherwood Forrest.

There I met a (soon to become) good friend James Doonan. He was originally from Edinburgh, Scotland. I remember joking with him. I said, “You are from Scotland. Great. Maybe you can help me. I have heard of 2 cities: Edinburough and Edinburgh which won is it.”  He replied, “Edinbudda.” I laughingly responded, “Now that’s 3!!”

Regardless of how you pronounce the names in the U.K. they do have some of the best smoothest brews I have ever had.  It was well worth weening myself back onto alcohol. So well worth it I brought a 6-pack back to the state with me. Their red ales were smooth and tasty and went down like kool-aid. Ahhhhhhhh. They are not over carbonated like here in the states so they tend to be deceiving and can hit you hard before you know it. Then you stand up. I highly recommend playing darts, snooker, or pool while drinking their beers and ales. That way when it is time to sit down it is time to slow down.

At a recent Beer Fest I had the opportunity to try possibly the best beer I have ever had.  As the story goes with many a microbrew: The ale is from a gentleman who has been brewing since his first brew kit in college. His hobby became his passion.  He opened a brewery and restaurant and is cranking out some amazing brews. The one I tried is from Moylan’s Brewery called Irish Style Red Ale. It has that red caramel flavor that I love and it goes down your throat so smoothly. It’s the type of beer that tastes amazing and fills you up.  You truly feel satiated after a single 20 ounce bottle.  Mmmmmmm. If you have the chance folks, I recommend you make a trip to Novato, California or seek out a distributor of beer who stocks this fine drink.  This is what I talk about when I speak of a life worth living. Thank you Brendan Moylan for crafting a truly life enriching drink.

James Christopher

ThruJimsEyes.com

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