April is English Ale Month

April 5, 2009

While almost everybody knows that St Patrick’s Day falls on March 17th, providing a great reason for anybody with any hint of Irish blood in them (or not) to celebrate and enjoy the ‘craic’, it’s less well known that England’s patron saint – St George is celebrated on April 23rd.

London’s Mayor rerecently announced that, for the first time, St George’s Day will be celebrated in London much the same as St Patrick’s Day, so we at The Brew Club have decided to declare April ‘English Ale Month‘.  We have, as you might expect, some unusual brews from Bob the Brit as well as reviews of some English Beers that are available in the United States.

The most famous legend about St George is that he defeated a dragon in Libya that was partial to devouring maidens. This legend was concocted in the middle ages and, you might be surprised to learn, has no foundation in fact – not only had St George been dead for nine hundred years, but there are no records of dragons in Libya at that time.

As well as being the patron saint of England, St George is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Prague, amongst others.  So why is April 23 St. George’s Day?  Well that’s the date St. George was beheaded near Lydda in Palestine on 23rd April 303 AD!

If you want to check out what English Beers The Brew Club has reviewed over the past year, here’s a quick list to get you started.

• Boddington’s Bub Ale
• Shepherd Neame’s Masterbrew
• Butler’s Oxfordshire Bitter
• Thomas Hardy Ale
• Cobra Blood Orange Lager – Brewed Under License
• Prize Old Ale
• Young’s Double Chocolate Stout

As April progresses, we’ll be posting reviews on Blacksheep Brewery’s Holy Grail Ale and Riggwelter along with  Theakston’s Old Peceuliar.  We have ‘Two Old Hens’ the Old Speckled Hen and Old Crafty Hen, Fullers London Porter , Fullers London Pride and Fullers ESB, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Bitter, Bass Ale, Robinson’s Old Tom, and the love-it or hate-it Newcastle Brown Ale.  That’s a lot of English Beer!

English Ale Month.  The perfect beer between St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco De Mayo!

The Brew Club is also looking to fill a couple of ad spots.  If you’re interested in advertising  on a beer blog, keep us in mind!

Posted in English Beers, Other Stuff