we're back...

ok, so i hadn't really mentioned (at least here) that we were gone, but we were. and now we're back. we spent the last week sightseeing and visiting family in the UK and france. we spent the first couple of days in london, then flew down to the south of france to celebrate my aunt anna's 60th birthday with my extended family.

while we were in london there were many pubs visited and many real ales (ales conditioned in casks and dispensed with a hand pump instead CO2) tried. look for reviews of both to show up on joefoley/beer but they'll be delayed... i left my beer journal at the house we were staying at in france. i'll be able to get it back, but it might take a couple of weeks.

flavor wise, british beers are pretty light and made to be easy drinking. also, they tend to be fairly low-alcohol, most of them hovering around 4%. there was a lot of variation in quality... real ales from the mainline brewers (fullers, youngs, etc...) tended to be bland and disappointing, but the smaller brewers made some very tasty (if still fairly light) beers.

more stories and pictures later... it's late and i've got to work tommorow.