Beer Exploration
reached new heights in the Kings Arms at Reeth.
I have had some
lovely beer on this trip and on other trips. I have
had challenging beers, fruity beers, strong beers,
and pleasant beers. All interesting in their own right.
But as the sub-title to this book indicates, we are
in search of the 'Perfect Pint', so would we recognize
it when we found it? What, after all, is the Perfect
Pint? Is beer also affected by the 'Wine Bias Theory',
by which even a moderate bottle of wine tastes wonderful
when it is drunk with friends in convivial surroundings?
Certain tangible
guidelines are certainly in place, some widely agreed,
some a matter of personal taste. The beer needs to
be served at cellar temperature; it needs to be relatively
clear with slight natural effervescence; the pint
needs to be a full pint. Personally, I prefer a beer
with good body so it is relatively smooth; it must
have good depth, noticeable hoppiness, and a little
bitterness. I prefer darker beers to lighter beers,
mid-range ABV (alcohol by volume), and of course pleasant
surroundings in which to drink it. Timing can be important:
a beer is much more inviting to me after a long walk
across the moors with a pack on my back, than if I
had just rolled out of bed following a particularly
heavy pub night.
Of course, can
there ever be such a thing as the Perfect Pint? Like
World Records, they are there to be bettered. Maybe
for a while we may say, "Yes, that's a good pint,
but it is not as good as that Perfect Pint we had
in the Dirty Dog". But then one day, somewhere,
we will stumble across a beer to top it. Was the Dirty
Dog's beer Perfect? At the time, maybe, but that does
not mean that we give up the search, heaven forbid!
Not for a moment do I think that the search should
be so all-consuming that I take a sip of a new beer,
consider it not as good as the Perfect Pint, and leave
the rest. Beers have different qualities that are
all interesting and unique and deserve exploration
and heck, sometimes you just have to drink the whole
glass to discover them. Sometimes it even takes another
round just to be sure!
I had been in
the Black Bull, had a very pleasant pint in there,
talked to some locals, discovered some history, and
now moved on to the Kings Arms, right next door. I
was on an exploration, duly taking notes, and lined
up the next beer, a Black Sheep Special. It took me
by surprise. What adjectives are used to describe
a Perfect Pint? Deep? Hoppy? Well-balanced? The word
I used (out loud) was, "Wow!"
This is as near
as I have ever come to a Perfect Pint. It was at just
the right temperature, where there is not that cold
edge to numb the taste buds, nor is it so warm that
it tastes musty, it was right in that tiny zone. It
had strength, character, depth, flavor, length, taste,
hops, bitterness, smoothness..... basically the full
package. This was a spectacular pint of beer.
I went to the
bar, demanding to speak to the person in charge of
the beer. With some trepidation, they produced the
poor fellow. I told him that I had been in thirty
pubs drinking beer all around the country over the
past few days, and that this was undoubtedly the finest
pint of beer I had drunk in any of them. One local
asked me if he could join us for the balance of the
vacation. The landlord seemed proud of his work. It
was a nice moment. And great beer.
The pub itself
was also pleasant, with a large inglenook fireplace
and a goodly crowd of locals around the bar. Some
tourists wandered through, but neither the weather
nor the season encouraged visitors to Reeth.
