We are traveling in under 4 weeks to England! My planning mode is going into overtime...I've planned a GREAT trip for the kids, and special gardens for myself to see...but have neglected my dh...he's an angel and deserves some pampering. In our 13 years of marriage he's had about 10 beers (not because he doesn't like them, but because he DOES! He loves the dark ale beers but those are more pricey...and we pretty much cut out ordering drinks at dinners since we had the kids...means $$ saved so we can take them to England! Add it up, you'll see!

But, I'm practically a teetotaler and know nothing of ale...can any of you tell me which ones he'd like? He says he likes Guiness (served in US atleast) and pretty much says he likes the dark ones...

Any suggestions of any dark ales not to be missed?
Thanks!
Tara

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale from John Smith's Tadcaster Brewery near York is the best. It will be available most places.

Visit a Taco Mac before you go and let him have his own little tasting party. I can't remember how many hundreds of beer they carry, but it's a lot.

If he doesn't find a new favorite, I'd start with the dark ale on tap on your trip.

Beamish is probably one to try.

Where in the UK are you travelling.

One treat if you're heading north would be a visit to The Black Sheep Brewery at Masham near Thirsk. You get to see the brewery and try some of their beers.

The best Guinness you'd need to go to Dublin.

Can I suggest you buy a CAMRA good beer guide when you arrive.

Or look here... http://www.camra.org.uk/

Guinness isn't an ale, it's a stout.

That's not just a pedantry. Dark ales (whose availability is very patchy in England) taste completely different from Guinness (which is available absolutely everywhere that sells beer) or other stouts. Dark ales are much more like the standard English bitter ale, but with a lot more body and a smoother flavour.

Many pubs don't sell any dark ale at all (though a lot of the Heavies sold in all Scottish pubs could pass as dark ales), and tracking down a specific recommendation here will take you forever: you actually get a much better range in most big supermarkets.

Most pubs in the hard-copy CAMRA guide (the website doesn't include pub listings but will help you understand the broad categories of beer sold here) will sell dark ales. Taking him to a pub dark ale drinkers find interesting - which is absolutely not the same kind of pub as the tourist traps usually listed on this site, nor the kind of place most of us routinely drink in - would be a lot easier to manage than a quest for Narston's Old Peculier between Warwick Castle and Stratford, or whatever your itinerary is.

You ought to be able to get a copy to the US from Amazon.co.uk before you leave.

Alternatively, think about including a beer festival in your travels (listings by month at www.quaffale.org.uk/php/beer_festivals.php). Most go out of their way to be child-friendly (the one in my Cotswold town is actually organised by the school PTA) - and they'll all give him ample opportunity to sample a range of different kinds of beer.

In his shoes, though, what I'd probably appreciate most would be the discovery of a CAMRA-approved pub in or close to each overnight stop. Get onto Amazon now and redraft your route before you leave home.

All of which said, in West Oxfordshire (where if I remember right you'll be staying for a while) most big convenience stores and Co-op supermarkets sell Wychwood Hobgoblin, an excellent dark ale brewed down the road at Witney. The same brewery also brews Brakspear (your husband might like Brakspear Triple) and Duchy Original beers, (if you're here late enough their winter ale - available at the Waitrose opposite the Witney brewery - tastes pretty darkish).

Up the road, the Hook Norton brewery makes Twelve Days dark ale and Hook Norton stout in bottles, and Hooky Dark on draught. Most West Oxfordshire pubs will sell one or other of them.

But don't let him miss a couple of pints of straightforward Hooky Bitter - the liquid that lubricates practically all social life in the area that's not already been lubricated enough by Sainsbury's Ozzie Chardonnay

I'm generally not much of a beer drinker but I'll make an exception if Theakston's Old Peculiar is available. It's dark, smooth, malty and not bitter - and the name probably suits me

Sorry to add my own pedantry to this thread but a Stout <b>is</b> an Ale.

Beer = fermented mixture of malted barley (and possibly other grains), hops and water.

Ale = Above mixture made with top-fermenting yeast.

Lager = Above mixture made using bottom-fermenting yeast.

From the CAMRA site, &quot;There many different styles of real ale, varying from malty, lightly-hopped milds to dark and bitter stouts and porters.&quot;

I would definitely recommend focusing on the Real Ales - but remember these are going to be cask-conditioned and not as carbonated as most beer you buy on tap in the US.

You could treat your husband to a tour and tasting of the very good ales at Rebellion Brewery in scenic Marlow (there's plenty for you and the kids to do while he's on the tour).

http://www.rebellionbeer.co.uk/beers.htm

Like others here I would recommend getting a copy of the CAMRA guide and finding a good pub with a range of beers.

Avoid Guinness, Beamish and similar dead, over-processed, mass-produced rubbish like the plague. Stick to cask conditioned beers served in a drinkers' pub with a reputation to maintain.

Why darK? Surely taste is what matters, not looks. Too many people 'drink with their eyes'. Find out what <u>tastes</u> your dh likes and you'll do a lot better.

Thank you all!! Flanneruk, you are &quot;da bomb!&quot; when it comes to helping plan a trip....yes! ya got it right, we'll be in Oxfordshire..so I'll make sure to hit a market when land there...we're doing 5 nights London and 5 nights in a cottage in Bruern? the site also says Chipping Norton, so not sure if they're the same or just close to each other...we'll definitely look up those labels.

I am very ignorant when it comes to lager/ale/stout the bunch...but it does make sense when you all spell it out for me...the Peculiar label looks like a good one to try! CAMRA...need to go google that one and see what I can come up with...it will pretty much be all London for 5 nights and back at the cottage for 5 nights with just day trips out to Warwick and Cambridge and some neat Cotswold towns...if you know of any cool pubs in those areas...we might could hit them and seek out these labels..I'm jotting them down in my travel journal!

Thank you!
Tara

Whoa, Tara! A day trip from Bruern Cottages to Cambridge?? That is <u>really difficult</u>. There is no direct route so you would need to zigzag all across the country. They are barely 100 miles apart - but 2.5 hours would be the fastest I would count on making the drive. (3 hours might be closer w/ all the bottlenecks you go through). Cambridge is a MUCH easier day trip from London by train than from your cottage mid-way between Burford and Chipping Norton.

As for what your husband will enjoy - you've got lots of great suggestions so far. But really, just hit a good pub - preferably a CAMRA pub - and he can pick the barman's brain.

As for you, you might want to try cider - not anything like cider in the states. It is alcoholic (FOR SURE) but many non-beer drinkers can find ciders they really like. And if you like sweeter drinks - try a Pimm's Cup - especially if it is a warm day.

OH my! Janis, I'm just such a nut..we did a geography fair project on England and we found that it's the same size as our state of Alabama...in my mind the map distance from Bruern to Cambridge looked as far as my grandma's house..which I routinely make day trips to (100 miles)..but I never figured on all the twists and turns...took for granted they'd have highways like here..I've driven from London to Edinburgh but stayed mainly on the main Motorway only veering off for Newcastle/Nottingham and something by the sea. It seemed easy! Might have to ask for suggestions for 4 day trips from Bruern!!! Any ideas???? Thanks! And is Bruern in Chipping Norton or outside?

Tara

Bruern Cottages isn't in any town -- it is out in the country smack dab in the center of a triangle formed by Stow-on-the-Wold, Burford and Chipping Norton. You'd need a detailed map to find it. The reason the address says &quot;Bruern, Chipping Norton&quot; is because C.N. is the post office they use. For your grocery shopping there is a supermarket in Stow in the Wold. Burford is good for restaurants/shopping

As for day trips - there are literally enough things w/i 25 miles to fill 5 weeks let alone 5 days.

a short list would include:
Bourton-on-the-Water
Oxford
Woodstock/Blenheim Palace/Bladon Churchyard
Hidecote Manor garden
Hailes Abbey
Fairford church/Cotswold Woolen weavers
the Slaughters
Chedworth Roman Villa
Kiftsgate manor
Broadway/Broadway Tower

and then there is up north to Stratford/Warwick/Kenilworth

Oops - that should be Kiftsgate <u>Court</u> . . . .

if you don't have your CAMRA guide with you, just look for the Caskmark symbol on a pub. if i have a few choices in a given location with all things being equal, i will always choose the Caskmark rated pub as it is an indication that the place has been inspected for the quality of its beer related processes (eg beer is stored and served at the proper temp, lines are kept clean, beer is fresh, etc). you can have a good beer at a non-Caskmark pub but you cannot have a good beer if the quality factors that Caskmark uses in its evaluation are off. Cask ale is very prone to error and the pub needs to know how to handle it. you are better off having a well handled mediocre ale than the best ale that is poorly handled.

In short, the brand of ale is a moot point if handled poorly. quality of handling is not as sexy a topic as talking about favourite brands but, in fact, more important.

enjoy your pints.

The Waitrose supermarket in Witney is about the same distance from Bruern as the Tesco in Stow.

But no-one one knows would dream of slumming it at a Tesco when they could mix with people like oneself at Waitrose. Oddly, the Waitrose has a far better selection of proper beer as well. The supermarkets in Chipping Norton are useful only in emergency or for branded crap, and non-existent in Burford.

Input your postcode (OX7 6PY) into www.multimap.com, then zoom back and forth to see the relationsahip between Bruern and Chippy.

As you're only a few miutes' drive from Kingham station (or about half an hour's brisk walk along the footpaths), you might find a day by train to Hereford a lot easier to manage than driving. For an online map of the footpaths, input your postcode into the Get a Map feature at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk then zoom to the highest magnification.

It's not as dark as Guinness, but Bass Ale is my favorite -- and each bottle bears the &quot;royal warrant&quot; seal so I figure if it's good enough for the Queen...

Re-reading Ms Peas' travel plans:

Why on earth would anyone travel a hundred and odd miles each way to see Cambridge when they're fifteen minutes by train from Oxford?

Cambridge might - just - have the edge normally. But certainly not while the Universal Leonardo exhibition's on. http://tinyurl.co.uk/yjpq

&quot;<i>The supermarkets in Chipping Norton are useful only in emergency or for branded crap, and non-existent in Burford. </i>&quot;

Just to clarify a bit - when I said &quot;Burford is good for restaurants/shopping&quot; I didn't mean grocery shoping. There is a wondeful kitchen shop, a couple of nice ladies clothiers, a gallery and so on. Nice shops/tea shop/restaurants, etc. - but no supermarket.

When I rent a cottage in Burford or Kingham, I usually do my food shopping at the Stow Tesco - just find Stow easier to get in/out of.