Ibeerian ramblings (sorry, couldn’t resist)
The Scoop was on holiday recently. Flying south, as many Finns are said to do, and arriving in Spain, I encountered both warm sunshine and some very good beer.
The Scoop was on holiday recently. Flying south, as many Finns are said to do, and arriving in Spain, I encountered both warm sunshine and some very good beer.
The craft scene in Estonia seems to have exploded out of nowhere. It must be only a year ago that I was reading about the homebrew scene there, and the first brew from Põhjala. Since then, over a dozen microbreweries have popped up, and they’re not afraid of experimentation. Estonia (specifically Tartu) played a role in the history of imperial stout, so maybe it’s no surprise to see a variety of stouts being produced (including a very minty mint stout); there’s also pale and red ales, weizens, and so on. Continue reading Estonia: a Baltic Beer Boom
I have only been in The Gallows Bird once before; me and a drinking buddy decided to go west instead of east for our semi-regular beer/cycle trip. It was August, it was mid-afternoon, and the place was pretty quiet. We had a couple of halves of something decent, served by a perhaps slightly gruff barman (not that there’s anything wrong with that), before saddling up and, if I recall correctly, stopping by Viisi Penniä and Janoinen Lohi on our way home. Good exercise..
For a place on the edge of a dual carriageway, sandwiched between a fire station and a couple of burger joints, Gallows Bird seemed relatively impressive. Still, I came away without any particular desire to hurry back. Continue reading A Note on Conviviality