This post is a part of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I will be trying a new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out Grown-up Travel Guide and his #grownupbeerdiary, where Andy Higgs came up with the diary format in use below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
Day 267: September 24, 2015
Diary entry:
And let’s add another unbearably long day to the list!
We had an early morning wake-up today for the drive to Weeze to catch a 7AM flight to London. I don’t know why people complain about them, but I love the Ryanair experience. Well, except their landings, those seem to always be too hard. We weren’t checking bags, and knew what to expect with the seats and rush, so it’s perfect for us! Two round trip flights for under $75 total, all-in!
A lot cheaper than the trains we had to take the rest of the day…
Stansted Express to London Liverpool Street, where we stopped for breakfast while rush hour finished its throes, and then the tube to Paddington and Great Western Railway to Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare where we were going to visit Dismaland, the UnHappiest Place on Earth, the five-week exhibit by Banksy that ends on Sunday. I booked the flight a few weeks back when Erin mentioned when she would be coming home, but had to hope for tickets when they went on sale. That was last Wednesday, and I managed to score two tickets for our desired 2PM time at the exact moment they went on sale. Seems I was lucky, as most other people I know who tried for tickets failed!
It was a good thing I didn’t fail, too, as the line of people hoping for walk-up tickets was quite long, and I don’t know how many, if any of them ever made it in to the exhibit!
We spent four hours exploring the exhibit before our return to London, where we had a great Fish and Chips dinner at Vintage Salt near Liverpool Street station. I must say, one of the best fish and chips I ever had! And the service was outstanding as well! It was a quiet night, and they were closing early when we got there, but the fryers were still on, so they let us in and served us still, even though we were the only ones there and they were preparing to close for the night. Awesome!
Final train ride back to London Stansted, and our hotel near the airport, the Hilton London Stansted, which I was able to get a great deal on with points and cash, and gave us a much needed night’s sleep where we could sleep in a little before our morning flight tomorrow.
The Beer:
Name: Curious IPA
Style: English IPA
Producer: Curious Drinks (Chapel Down)
Alcohol content: 5.6%
Bottle size: 0.33l
Purchased from: Hilton London Stansted Airport
A Kent IPA with Kent hops. Decent underlying hoppiness, offset with some maltiness. Decent. Not really bitter enough for me though.
Commercial Description (from untappd.com)
A balanced but powerfully hoppy India Pale Ale brewed using the finest pale ale malt and three complimentary hops. Primarily they use Goldings – the traditional, fresh, sweet, delicate king of English hops. Next they add Brambling Cross, a spicy blackcurranty beauty and lastly they finish with a touch of the extremely clean fresh Citra hop, for a quenching zestiness. In balancing these three exciting hops, they have created a beer of great power yet drinkable harmony.
