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Kung foo IPA could quite easily be added to my list of favourite ales,a strong IPA at 5.9% from The Grasshopper Brewery grasshopperbrewery.co.uk I sampled a pint recently and fell in love with it.My only concern is it’s not a session ale and I have only sampled one pint,so adding it to the list is a bit early at the moment.We stopped by at the pick and davy and I had this beer due to a bit of confusion between me and the bar service but no harm done it was superb.Only one was sampled as I already had sunk a couple before that and needed to stay awake as it was only 6.30.

This is my top 10 beers as of 11-09-2020 the list will probably change on a week by week basis depending on how many different beers I sample,so keep coming back to see what’s been added/taken away.Although it’s a top 10 they aren’t really in any order of preference.Having said that I would put Jaipur at No 1 anytime,it does take some beating in my book.

• 1. Jaipur 5.9% (Thornbridge).
• 2. Proper Job 4.5% (St Austell).
• 3. Stainless 4.3% (Stancill).
• 4. Nymph 4.2% (Grasshopper).
• 5. Ay Up 3.9% (Dancing Duck).
• 6. Infinity 4.6% (Blue Monkey).
• 7. Crackendale 5.2% (Thornbridge).
• 8. Splendor 4.3% (Navigation).
• 9. Tribute 4.2% (St Austelll).
• 10. Endless Summer 4.5% (Black Iris).

Feel free to comment at glenn.lycett@gmail.com or glenn.lycett@yahoo.co.uk. or send me your own lists so I can sample more beers (purely for research purposes).

The first festival I attended at the priory was around 8 years ago,when it was still in its infancy.The festival back then was on Friday,Saturday,Sunday nights and Monday afternoon and took place on the May day Bank holiday weekend and August bank holiday weekend.Our choice of night has always been the Saturday as this seems to have a real nice vibe to it.The first visit was a bit of a disaster for us,walking all the way there around 8.00PM (its about a 40 minute walk from our house),only to find they had ran out of beer,luckily the Horse and Groom at Moorgreen came to the rescue as this is exactly half way back home.In the early days there was only a limited amount of beer allocated for each day and breweries didnt commit too much because of the low turn outs for a new festival.The good news is though that the festival has gone from strength to strength over the last few years due to the excellent commitment of the organisers adding food outlets,fairground rides,live music and many more real ales to choose from.We do now make it a family gathering when we attend with my wifes 2 sisters and brother and their children and even grandchildren.Theres a lovely setting at the rear of the barn and tearoom with a backdrop of the priory ruins where most of the festival attendees set up for the night.With it being quite a good distance from the nearest town it tends not to bring in the beer monsters who want to cause trouble after two pints of Stella,and only encourages real ale connoisseurs and families.The festival is now an important feature of the local community and long may it continue.The festival over the last 3 years has extended its opening times to Thursday Evenings,earlier starts on Friday,Saturday and Sunday and a Family fun day for the Bank Holiday Monday.I would also like to mention that entry to the festival is free and also free parking where you can leave the car overnight for collection when the hangover has diminished.

Unfortunately due to Covid the May and August 2020 Festivals were cancelled and what a massive blow to the local community that was,its a talking point all year round and when something is not happening the mood of the town is low.Lets hope for the community that we see a return for 2021.

My first encounter with Proper Job was in The St Kew Inn in Cornwall stkewinn.co.uk and it has to be in my top ten favourite beers.Proper Job brewed by St Austell brewery staustellbrewery.co.uk is an award winning IPA,packed full of citrus,grapefruit and pineapple flavour.Golden colour using Willamette,Cascade and Chinook hops,and using Maris Otter Pale malt.This is a go to ale whenever it’s on the bar.Give it a try it won’t disappoint.

Born in 2006 it was originally brewed at 5.5%,but was reduced to 4.5% a few years later to meet session expectations.The bottled version which hit the shops in 2011 is still at 5.5%.Apparently in the St Austell run pubs they sell 12,000 pints a week.Proper Job is now sold worldwide and is available as far away as Australia.

Stainless….A British standard Pale Ale,with floral and fresh citrus aromas,crisp,hoppy, gold pale ale.A real refreshing ale that I thoroughly enjoyed drinking at my local The pick and davy.

A bit more of a relaxing start to day 3,still up and about quite early but the sun was shining so a nice bacon cob for me and an egg and mushroom one for Angie out on the patio was a wonderful treat.Ironbridge was the next destination on our itinerary and only a 10 minute car ride away.The sat nav directions took us down some back roads and with it being a world heritage site we did expect to see some significant sign posts, absolutely nothing of the sort we came down into the town and didn’t realise we were in Ironbridge until I spotted the bridge from the car park entrance.It was still quite early and it was a Sunday so we decided on a walk,goodness what a walk it turned out to be(uphill into the woods for a non stop 20 minutes) not for the faint hearted it has to be said,but produced some wonderful views.The last part of the walk took us alongside the river Severn back into Ironbridge.Over the bridge we went to find a nice coffee shop,we could only locate 2 which were open and our first choice was full,so we opted for the second choice as it was a bit further away from the bridge it wasn’t so busy.A latte and a shortbread biscuit later we were back on our way to the cottage.I would just like to add that car parking in Ironbridge was free on our visit which is very unusual for a heritage site.

Back at the cottage and looking through the leaflets that the kind owners had left for visitors we decided to walk to Wenlock Edge (10 minutes from the front door).Wenlock Edge is a limestone escarpment around 19 miles long and run primarily by the National Trust.Again we stuck to the paths as much as possible, but soon became lost and we were again saved by mobile phone technology. Around a couple of hours later we found ourselves back in the centre of Much Wenlock(more luck than judgment),and while we were there decided on a pint,the thought was let’s try the only pub we’ve not been to since we arrived in Much Wenlock and away we marched.The Talbot Inn thetalbotinnmuchwenlock.co.uk is yet another great old pub,we didnt see the inside because of the covid restrictions it was table service only and we sat in the beer garden which was very nice an modern,about 6 or 7 decent sized tables were on offer so we opted for one in the shade as it was a lovely sunny day and we had been walking so was in need of something a bit cooler.The HPA had ran out and no other real ales were on offer so reluctantly I ordered a pint of Thatchers cider.Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with a cider i just find them a bit sweet and gassy so 1 pint is enough.

We were now in need of an early night to be ready for our packing and journey home the next morning.A double episode of Downton Abbey put payed to the early night but not to worry the walking and drinking made sleeping very easy.

Early start for a day out walking in the Shropshire hills,parked up in the nearby village of Church Stretton which is another historic market town and started on the first leg of our walk.Long Mynd-Pole Bank was the summit we were heading for,the ascent was quite hard going but extremely rewarding with some magnificent views of the Shropshire Hills and the far reaching Brecon Beacons.We were following a printed walking route,but at the top misjudged the direction a bit and got slightly lost luckily the smartphones of today have a host of technology and half an hour later we were back on the correct path.The second leg or descent was also hard going with lots of craggy paths and random large stones,but again well rewarded with an ice cream at the National Trust Cafe at Carding Mill Valley Car park.Finishig the walk back in Church Stretton we were again rewarded with a nice slab of cake and a latte in one of the many cafes Church Stretton has to offer.

In the late afternoon we had a drive into another interesting town Bridgnorth,an historic market town.Bridgnorth is set out as a lower town and upper town with a inland funicular railway to transport you between the two,basically the left bank of the river Severn is the low town and the right bank is the high town.We fancied some fish and chips so set about hunting down a nice chippy with the help of TripAdvisor (Riverside fish and chips) and headed for a seat on the banks of the river Severn to consume them,they were absolutely delicious.Now for a quick pint,again TripAdvisor was loaded for some information and off we went with sat nav in hand,The White Lion was our destination but on arrival because of the restrictions due to Covid we were unfortunately turned away as they were full to the rafters.Just a couple of hundred yards further on we came across The Old Castle theoldcastlebridgnorth.co.uk a wonderful pub where we found a table in the beer garden and ordered a now very familiar HPA (Hereford Pale Ale).Limited myself to just the one pint as we needed to drive back to Much Wenlock.Back at the cottage we decided to have a drink indoors now the sun had gone down and i chose the Greene king IPA,a very pleasant beer.

At the beginning of August my wife and I embarked on a weekend away as the lockdown restrictions were eased, booking a lovely cottage through airbnb on the outskirts of an historic market town called Much Wenlock at the top end of the Shropshire Hills AONB.The cottage was beautiful and only a 10 minute walk into Much Wenlock town centre.Our first evening was spent doing the local town walk which I downloaded onto my mobile,this was thoroughly enjoyable and lasted around an hour taking in all the local history on the way.

Our first pint of the evening after finishing the walk was in the George and Dragon thebestpubintheworld.com,a pint of HPA (Hereford Pale Ale) was ordered and a large pinot Grigiot for my wife and we headed for the beer garden with it being a lovely sunny evening.The beer garden turned out to be a small alleyway at the side of the pub with only 3 or 4 tables but wasn’t an issue as it was nicely laid out.The HPA went down a treat and another was ordered.The pub was serving food on this visit and it looked so tasty that we decided to book a table for Sunday lunch.Next stop The fox in,a few minutes walk from the George and on the way back to the cottage foxinnmuchwenlock.co.uk a 16th century inn that’s been refurbished to a very high standard. Again headed for the beer garden found a lovely patio with around 10-12 tables.A nice pint of Shropshire Pale Ale was ordered and was very fine indeed.

Back at the cottage we decided to have a little drink in the gazebo nicely situated outside the back door,my choice was a Marstons Pedigree and my wife had a glass of 19 Crimes chardonnay, the Marstons went down a treat but although the wine was a reletively expensive one (for our standards anyway)Angie wasn’t too keen and I ended up finishing her glass whilst she opted for a Rattler a very tasty Cornish cider.The sun had now gone down and after a good distance travelled and walked and drank this first day it was time for some rest.

Just down the road from me is the fantastic Blue Monkey Brewery.Originaly started as a one man brewery in a nearby town (Ilkeston) in 2008,it went from strength to strength winning their first awards in 2009, one of which is a go to beer of mine BG Sips.The popularity of the brews became so big he eventually moved to a purpose built brewery building on Giltbrook retail park (a stone’s throw from the peoples favourite Ikea) in 2010.I have sampled most if not all of the variety of beers on offer and not one disappoints, from BG Sips,Original,Evolution, 99 Red Baboons,Ape Ale,Guerrilla Stout to name a few all slightly different but taste wonderful. They did their first beer festival last year and what a great event it turned out to be,great beers and gins,Pizza and live music,fine weather it’s what dreams are made of.Presumably the festival will be cancelled this year,but it will certainly be going into my diary for 2021.They do have a brewery shop and do tours of the brewery on certain days so if ever you are in the area give them a visit you won’t be disappointed. www.bluemonkeybrewery.com

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon
• 500g pie venison
• Plain flour
• Knob of butter
• 150g onions finely sliced
• 150g button mushrooms,halved
• 150g red peppers,deseeded and chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 350ml India Pale Ale
• 350ml vegetable stock
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
• Cut the bacon into lardons and fry until they release some fat.
• Roll the venison pieces in seasoned plain flour then add to the pan and fry until browned
• Remove the bacon and venison and pop it into a casserole dish.
• Add the butter to the pan and fry the onions,mushrooms and peppers until they are softened and beginning to colour.
• Sprinkle with the dried thyme and add them to the casserole.
• Rinse the frying pan with the beer to free up any crispy bits and add the liquid to the casserole.
• Add the vegetable stock (a stock cube can be used but only use two-thirds of the water suggested on the packet).
• Season with salt and pepper then cook in the oven for about 90 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
• Refrigerate overnight if possible, as this allows the flavours to mingle.
• To serve,heat the casserole to boiling point and thicken the gravy with cornflour, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Serve with buttery mashed potato.

Delicious,cooked this casserole on many occasions and complimented it with a pint of IPA.