37 Holiday Beers

Right at the start of the holiday I set myself a challenge of drinking 50 different beers during the holiday. It started well, but fell apart in continental Europe where the choices seem far fewer. In any case, I ended up drinking 37 unique beers, which are listed below.

1. Rebellion Zebedee, The White Horse, Oxford
2. Old Speckled Hen, Gardeners Arms, Oxford
3. Caffrey's, O'Neill's, Oxford
4. Greene King IPA, Gardeners Arms, Oxford
5. Boddingtons, Orgasmic, York
6. Ayingerbrau Lager, Kings Arms, York
7. Bass, Punchbowl, York
8. Miller Draft, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh ^{(note 1)}
9. McEwan's 80 Ale, Biddy McGuires, Edinburgh
10. Smithwicks, Kilford Arms, Kilkenny
11. Guinness, Kilford Arms, Kilkenny
12. Kilkenny, Maggies, Kilkenny
13. Murphy's, Kyteler's, Kilkenny
14. Harp, Farringtons, Dublin
15. Stella Artois, O'Neill's, Dublin
16. Beamish, Davy Byrnes, Dublin
17. John Smith's Extra Smooth, Sam Weller's, Bath
18. Hopback Brewery Crop Circles, Sam Weller's, Bath
19. Tetley's Bitter, Huntsman Inn, Bath
20. Courage Best Bitter, Cellar Bar, Bath
21. Fuller's London Bridge, Dickens, London
22. Ridley's Old Bob, Liberty Bounds, London
23. Spitfire, somewhere in London
24. Cobra, an Indian restaurant in London
25. Grolsch, BA Terraces Lounge, Heathrow Terminal 1 ^{(note 2)}
26. Cruzcampo, Cruz de Malta, Madrid
27. Amstel, VIPs, Madrid
28. San Miguel, Pita House, Barcelona
29. Estrella Damm, Gracia Chinese, Barcelona
30. Maisel's Weisse Dunkel, Mestre ^{(note 3)}
31. Tuborg, Mestre
32. Kronenburg 1664, Florence
33. Nostra Azzuro, Florence
34. Peroni, Rome
35. Tsing Tao, a Chinese restaurant in Rome
36. Carlsberg, Rome
37. St Louis, Rome

Footnotes

1. I just asked for a pint of lager, and this is what I got. I learnt to be more specific after that. It's dubious whether this should be counted at all, since it barely passes as a beer.
2. It may have been before midday, but if the beer's free one might as well drink it. As we left Britain I had consumed 25 unique beers and felt confident in the challenge.
3. At this stage became disheartened with my lack of progress, and stopped noting down where the beer came from.

Back to the Europe 2004 index.