Welcome to the Grown-up Travel Guide 2015 Beer Diary!
A little background info: in December a group of us decided to set up the 2014 Beer Advent Calendar, whereby we would try a new beer each day up until Christmas. We shared our tipples on Facebook and Instagram and a great time was had by all – plus we all got to learn about some fine brews from around the world.
Faced with a sense of emptiness when the challenge was over I decided that 24 days a year was just not enough. Why not a year of beer? And so here we are. I reckon a beer a day can keep the doctor away – but even if not it’ll be fun, right?
Given that a large proportion of the year 2015 will be spent in foreign climes there will be the added element of finding a new brew wherever we travel and there are a huge number of excellent beers available here in Norway too – most of which I doubt any of our readers will have heard of.
Your participation is not only encouraged but required – just use the hashtag #grownupbeerdiary if possible. Add your entries here and/or use our social media channels – whatever works best for you.
To keep it simple follow the same format as we do here: describe your day in a maximum of five sentences, add some info about the beer and a photo or two.
Obscure ales and imports IPAs are always interesting but there’s to be no snobbery here – anything goes, even alcohol-free as we all need a good alternative now and again. We’ll work out the practicalities as we go – but since the first day of the year is nearly over we better get started on this journey around the world – in beer form. Cheers!
Day 115: April 25, 2015
Diary entry:
So whaddya know? The full English breakfast here was even better than the previous ones.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, this hotel is as English as they get and a real treasure.
I was sad to leave as I wish I could have spent time exploring the battlefields in the area – next time.
Back on the road again, I headed into the stunning Drakensburg mountains and checked in to the equally stunning Champagne Castle Hotel.
The rate here includes all meals but I had to skip afternoon tea as I was still full from lunchtime…
The Beer:
Name: Amstel Lager
Producer: Brandhouse, Cape Town, South Africa
Alcohol content: 5 %
Bottle size: 330 ml
Purchased from: The Champagne Castle Hotel, Winterton, Central Drakensburg, South Africa
#grownupbeerdiary
Yes, no surprises here either. Good old Amstel, in its South African guise, is an acceptable mass-produced lager.