Today I thought I would focus on the new trend of the moment “Boutique Beers”.

Now some of these beers/lagers have been around for a few years now, but they have suddenly turned into the cool chic drinks to have in your hand on a night out down the local.

There are a few regular names, which you have probably tried, Sam Miguel, Hoegaarden, but there are a few newer or not so well known names like Modelo and Kasteel. These beers are normally of high strength, which is needed as the price is normally high for the amount you get, but well worth a try.

Here is a good picture taken with a challenge set. Try as many different ones as you can and decide which one is the best. Sounds like fun. I think its always worth trying a beer twice, just to make sure you still don’t like it.

If you want to keep up with the times and keep your street cred at the highest point, you could start by standing in the corner of the bar with one of these in your hand.

Enjoy!

A little bit different to my usual blog, but this was pointed out to me and I thought it would be a nice read for a Monday.

The English compound noun cellar door (especially in its British pronunciation of /sɛləˈdɔə/) is commonly used as an example of a word or phrase which is beautiful in terms of phonaesthetics (sound) with no regard for semantics (meaning).^[1] It has been variously presented either as merely one beautiful instance of many, or as the most beautiful in the English language; either as the author’s personal choice, that of an eminent scholar’s, or of a foreigner who does not speak the language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellar_door

The cellar door like the one picture above has always been intreging to me, what is really under those doors, what lives down there? I think this could be down to a list of scary movies I have watched over the years, but they are a opening to a whole world of imagination and mystery. Then again it just could be a good place to store, your wines and beers.

Well we are now in the month of December, would you believe it?

It’s self indulgent time, pies, to much to drink, to much to eat and time to hide the scales, until the New Years resolution of losing weight comes into play. We’ll all do it, but hey, why not enjoy yourself.

I have already told myself, what’s the point in watching what I eat and drink. It’s Christmas.

Last night I watched “It’s A Wonderful Life” for the first time. What a lovely film, I was snuggled up on the sofa with my fiancé and our little dog Daisy, and you couldn’t help but smile as it came to an end. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a must for the festive season.

I’m really getting into the Christmas spirit now and the Christmas tree will be chosen and up on Friday. Woo-Hoo

So onto beers, this one I’m going to leave up to you. There will be many choices of jolly beers, wines and eggnog. I’m going to see what the local supermarkets have to offer and the ones that catch my eye are the ones I will be sampling this month. I will report on my findings.

A short blog with not much about beers this time, but I promise it will be more informational next time.

Enjoy your parties, surely there will be some great stories to come.

Well this is more like around the pub in one night.

It was time for our annual lads weekend away, so we decided to choose a lovely little village called Dunstan on the Northumbria coast. It is a miles walk from the Famous Craster Kippers and a 3.5 mile walk from Dunstanburgh Castle. It really is a beautiful spot, where I spent a lot of my childhood.

This was also the opportunity for myself, my best man and my two ushers to get together, also known as the Gud lads. I’m sure such stories as, falling over fences, which weren’t there, crab fishing where there are no crabs, walking to Dunstanburgh Castle convinced we were being followed by creatures unknown to humans and hiding from helicopters behind a rock, will fall on all the open ears on my wedding day.

Anyway onto the beer. I’m always one to try a local beer and to my luck they had three local cask ale beers.

Secret Kingdom 4.3% Deep amber colour with a good head, nice and fruity aroma, fully bitter taste.

Farne Island 4.0% Amber coloured bitter, perfectly blended malt and hopes, which makes this a well-rounded balanced and refreshing. Brewed at the Hadrian & Border Brewery.

Newburn 4.1% is a dark golden coloured beer with a hoppy taste.

All three were cracking beers and I would highly recommend a visit to The Cottage Inn. It’s welcoming and has a great choice of beers and food.

I hope you all enjoy.

Matt

On Wednesday I was asked to go to Middlesbrough Football ground to see the AX50 in action. I good idea I thought.

Little did I know that I would be tricked to pose with the unit, and as you can see from the pictures I was extremely happy to get my picture taken. Mind you some of my stances are were right out of littlewoods catalogue.

It was a tough day, and hopefully next time I’ll get to visit my teams ground (Newcastle United).

All in all some great pictures of the AX50 in the place it loves to live.

Please see link below.

http://flic.kr/ps/LfyKG

After a lovely Saturday night with my fiancé and future sister-law at our local Indian restaurant, I thought I would make it easy for myself and look at well crafted beers and lagers from……. yes you guessed it India.

Well we all know the favourites and you can’t argue, they are refreshing and go well with your Chicken Tikka Marsala and  if your daring (unlike me) a Vindaloo.

Cobra and Kingfisher are all top quality beers, which will help your tongue  feel cool once again after you taken a big bite of a green chilli thinking was a green pepper.

If only we all looked that good whilst eating a chilli.

My favourite has to be Kingfisher, I believe it’s lighter, crisp and makes you feel more refreshed than the other two. It is India’s largest selling beer and it is available in 52 countries outside of India.

My Fiancé and I dancing the night away, this is why Kingfisher is my favourite.

Cobra is less gassy and has a smooth taste, which appeals to ale and lager drinkers with a premium strength of 5%. Founded in 1989 it was brought to Britain as they thought Britain needed a smoother lager.

There are a number of Indian beers, which are recommend but I haven’t had the opportunity to try them yet. One of the reason I joined Analox, is for the chance to travel to different breweries across the world and try all the different flavours, which will hopefully make me the beer concessioner we all want to be.

Starting off in France.

As I’m new to Analox and taking on the hospitality and beverage market I thought I would start with one of my keen interests….Beer and Lager (this is also my first blog ever, so I do apologise).

Having travelled to France on a number of occasions, my aim is to try the best cheapest Supermarche biere they have on offer. It’s like going to the library to choose a good book, it takes time and if you get it right, it’s unputdownable.

I know this might sound like a tough task, but when the sun is shinning and the BBQ is sizzling, the drink becomes a very important matter, and you must have a limitless supply throughout the cooking and eating. There is nothing worse than walking into the kitchen, opening the fridge and realising there is no beer!

So keeping this short my top 3 of French lager/beers from aisle number 5 of Eguzon Superstore is:

1. Kronenbourg original (not 1664) – Crisp and refreshing imgres
2. Export “33” – Perfect for all occasions Export 33
3. Biere DeLuxe – In all good English supermarkets, maybe just Asda (slightly cheating, but 10 bottles for £3.06 it saves on the cost of petrol. Biere DeLuxe

Anyone fancy a beer?

That’s my top three, if anyone would like to add a quality French Supermarche biere to the blog, please feel free and I will try it on my next trip.

Having nominated Help for Heroes as one of its annual charities, Analox has confirmed that two of its staff are facing up to the ‘Stockton River Rat Race’ as part of their fund raising drive for the charity.

One of the North East England’s most iconic football venues has worked together with gas analysis specialists Analox Sensor Technology to ensure safe operation of its cellars where drinks and dispense gases are stored.

A South Yorkshire fast food restaurant was evacuated on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 following a leak of the potentially harmful gas carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Staff and customers of McDonalds in Balby, Doncaster were evacuated from the building when the gas began leaking from a cylinder – the gas is used in the dispensing of fizzy drinks. No one was hurt in the event, but emergency services were called and entered the building using breathing apparatus to disconnect the cylinder and ventilate the premises.

Analox Sensor Technology, which is based in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, has worked with the hospitality industry since the early 1990s, designing and supplying gas analysis equipment which is vital to protect lives in such an incident.

Mark Lewis, managing director of Analox Sensor Technology, commented: “In this case, the staff were alerted to the leak and able to act quickly to ensure that no one was hurt. A leak of carbon dioxide can prove fatal. It is colourless and odourless which cannot be detected by humans but is toxic. As concentrations rise following a leak it becomes increasingly dangerous to humans.

“Carbon dioxide is widely used in drink dispensing, and there is increasing awareness of the risks. All employers whose staff work with CO₂ need to ensure full protection by making sure the staff are educated about the risks and that there is an appropriate alarm installed to alert people in the building to a leak long before anyone is adversely effected.”

Analox’s range of carbon dioxide alarms for the hospitality industry includes the Analox 50, a mains-powered CO₂ alarm which can be wall-mounted in a cellar. The firm has also recently introduced the Aspida, a personal CO₂ monitor which incorporates a ‘man down’ alarm that will sound if the unit detects no movement by the wearer within a specified amount of time.

For more information on carbon dioxide analysers for use in the hospitality industry, please contact Michelle on 01642 715950.