Billy's Booze Blog

Amongst the many random things that I do, I spend about a week each spring predominantly underground. This isn’t part of my love of spelunking (as a child I bribed outdoor instructors to not make me go into caves. I am only slightly better now), a bear-like tendency to hibernate or due to being a [...]

I like the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Not only do they allow me to claim that I’m ‘off to my club’ of an evening and there-in drink interesting whiskies, but they also put on events. I may have failed to attend an event for the last 2.5 years, but this most recent one gave me [...]

Not all that many, but a couple I want to mark in my brain: Harviestoun Old Engine Oil – the dark beer that I thought was the base of the Ola Dubh, but after a taste of this at the Vintage Ale tasting I’m not so sure. It’s a thick dark beer with loads of [...]

Being a denizen of West London it’s difficult not be exposed to Fuller’s beer. Luckily, I’ve been a big fan even before my gradual western movement through the boroughs of London hit Chiswick, and my years of living fairly near the brewery have been rather convenient for finding numerous good pints of London Pride. However, [...]

While up in Speyside in February I didn’t do all that much out of the ordinary – I was driven around, drank beer, drank whisky, stood on some skies, drank some more beer… However, in a fit of ‘surely that can’t be all there is to it’, we made an excursion on our last day [...]

I could claim that this post is my political statement in light of the upcoming election, however, that would be a lie. I just rather like the label on this beer – Ballard’s Duck House. Now, I’m not entirely sure which beer this is – on the front the label says Duck House, but on [...]

Well overdue with this, so here is a not so quick list of quickish descriptions: The MacPhail Collection 1969 Glenrothes. I grabbed a tiny taste of this at Hawksmoor while I was visiting to try out the ice ball machine. 39 years old and a recent acquisition, it’s much loved by the bar staff and [...]

My occasional flirting with Qype and the London food blogging community leads to fairly random events popping up on my radar – this Tuesday I ended up at one. The idea of supper clubs isn’t particularly new: a bunch of people, some you know, some you don’t, turn up at your house and you make [...]

Being a science fiction fan I spent the long easter weekend just gone hidden away in hotel by Heathrow airport attending Eastercon, the yearly british sci-fi convention. While the con committee managed to rustle up a bar full of London Pride and Old Rosie (even if the cider did its traditional thing and disappeared a [...]

While down in sunny Horsham recently, to see my family and nip over to nearby Crawley for my podcast buddy Matt‘s birthday (Pizza Express – they do Peroni Gran Riserva, which is quite nice), I had a few moments to pop into the local beer shop – The Beer Essentials. I grew up in Horsham [...]