Category: Events

National Left Hander’s Day 13th August 2011

Posted on August 12, 2011by in BITE, Events

Left handed dayIt’s predominately a right-handed world we live in,  many of us ‘lefties’ have been persecuted by sinistrophobia* at some point in our lives, either by people or by design and manufacture. If you’re one of our many BITE readers who is naturally left-handed, this coming Saturday (13th August) is your day to hold your left-hand up high and be counted as we celebrate ‘National Left Hander’s Day 2011’.

Get down the pub, demand that the barman serve you a pint in a left handed pint-glass, stand at the bar drinking from your left-hand and intrigue your friends with your knowledge of left-handedness.

(*Sinistrophobia – the fear of left-handed people.)

Some Left handed Facts:

  1. As a fellow left-hander, H. G. Wells wrote the first draughts of his famous books, ‘War of the Worlds’, ”The Time Machine’ and ‘The Shape of Things to Come’ using his left-hand.
  2. When current U.S. President Barrack Obama signed his name and the wrong date in the visitors book at Westminster Abbey, he made the gaffe with his left-hand, being one of eight left-handed U.S. Presidents to serve office.
  3. Master puppeteer Jim Henson was left-handed, making by proxy Kermit the Frog also left-handed.
  4. Left-handed people are three times more likely than right-handed people to become alcoholics, the right side of the brain being more susceptible to the effects of alcohol.
  5. Left-handed stroke victims have been known to recover faster than right-handed stroke victims.
  6. Left-handed people are also generally better at 3-dimensional perception. This has connections to creativity, and it’s known that left-handed people process shape using a “visual simultaneous” method in which several threads of information can be processed simultaneously into the brain.
  7. In 60s music, Jimi Hendrix played a right-handed Fender Stratocaster strung upside down to accommodate his left-handedness.
  8. Paul McCartney of The Beatles is left-handed; when he first played alongside John Lennon , he played Lennon’s right-handed guitar upside-down. Ringo Starr, also left-handed, made 50% of the Beatles members of the left-handed club.
  9. In the Middle Ages, writing with your left-hand was believed to be a sign of demonic possession and often punishable by death.
  10. Half of left-handed people use a computer mouse with their right-hand, and have a  higher average of multi-tasking, in this case being able to use a pen and paper at the same time as a computer mouse.
  11. Dreams, gut-feelings and paranoia are controlled by the right side of the human brain, left-handed people can tap into these instincts with much more ease than right-handed people.
  12. Left-handed peoples eyes adjust to being underwater much quicker than right-handed people giving them faster orientation skills.
  13. Adolf Hitler was right-handed.

If you’re left-handed or you know a left-handed fact, you can leave a comment in our comments section below, or by joining in the conversation on our Facebook page.

 


BITE review of the 2011 Great British Beer Festival

Posted on August 5, 2011by in Beers, BITE, Events

BITE had a great time at the 2011 Great British Beer Festival, it’s fantastic value for money and the perfect day out for any beer lover, with a lot of beer drunk, some wild boar curry, a few pork scratchings on board and a lovely smile from Mrs Kebabs (Mr Kebabs supposed wife)  – here’s our round up review of this years event organised by CAMRA.

Great British Beer Festival 2011
London was in a state of blistering humidity on Wednesday, refreshment was one thing on every persons mind.  What better way to stay refreshed than drinking some beer in the cool climate of Earls Court, a sanctuary from the heat of the day and with more than 700 real ales available under one roof BITE headed into the Great British Beer Festival, the biggest pub in the world.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Harvey Bar
We first approached the Lister bar for some Dark Star – Hophead, a nice light pale ale with a low ABV (3.8%) to get the day started, the plan was to wander once round the outside getting a taste for our next beer of choice, but all good plans go to waste, we ended up at the Harvey bar gravitating towards the curious Chocolate Orange Stout they had on offer. Even though this was only the second beer of the day, the Abbeydale brewery Chocolate Orange Stout, with it’s dark chocolatey taste, hints of coffee and bitter orange this became the most memorable beer of the day in terms of taste, the concoction really deserved the top spot in our top “top 10 beers of the festival“.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Jenner Bar

We found ourselves next at the Jenner bar, maybe it was the beautiful nurses pulling pints that made us stop, and here we got stuck into some Flying Elephants (Ulverston brewery) a really nice low ABV (3.7%) pale beer, with a clean, crisp taste – said to have been brewed to commemorate one of Cumbria’s great exports, Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame.  This being the third pint of the day, we certainly started to smile like Stan, “we certainly did Ollie”.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Black Bar

At the Black bar we were going to sample some Commando Hoofing (Cotleigh brewery) but being ex-Glastonbury goers, whenever we see the word “Glastonbury” we’re always reminded of English Summers, shorts and wellies, poorly played acoustic guitars round smoky camp fires, and a certain nostalgia builds up inside us.  We opted instead to to try the Glastonbury Hedgemonkey, and it was a good choice, this bitter was strong, powerful stuff, but quite flowery aromatic at the same time, we only wish we could have tasted it at the Glastonbury festival itself.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Bombadier Bus
After a quick stop at the Bombardier bus to drink to Rik Mayalls aggressive humorous streak we moved on through the swelling crowds to the Hastings Bar, this was ultimately where we seemed to make a faux-camp for the rest of the day, all going off and doing different things but coming back to this one meeting point.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Hastings Bar

Being camped right beside it, it was the Hastings bar then that took most of our money as we quashed some pints of Ghost Ship, Broadside, Moonshine and Gorlovka, Adnams – Ghost Ship being the favourite another half pint each went round so we were all in agreement, but by now we’re starting to get sea legs, and thinking of weighing anchor and finding some food.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Mr Kebabs
Mr Kebabs really earned his name, the lamb-shish was perfect, but notable culinary skills have to go to the Wild Boar Curry we tried,  where the wild boar was sourced from we neglected to ask, but we’ve got it on good authority that the boar in question was indeed ‘wild’, perhaps too much emphasis on the fact that it could have been a party animal before becoming a curry ingredient…

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Oktoberfest London

After a quick chat to Lara (yes there were lots of beautiful women at the festival) from Oktoberfest London we ended up back at our point of entry at the Lister bar for some Ramblers Ruin (Griffin Inn) we certainly felt like we’d been rambling for a while now and were in need of some refreshment, Ramblers Ruin was a dark hoppy bitter with a really nice biscuit after taste.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Nightingale Bar
On a scorching hot day, it was time to cool things down with some Ice Maiden (Hart brewery) from the Nightingale bar, and some Moorhouses Black Cat, … ok and some Newbury Wyke White Squall. Feeling tanked up again, we wandered around the various pub games going on, a fine display of skittle skills was being shown off, as well a some archery like marksmanship on the dart board.

2011 Great British Beer Festival - Gray Bar
It was then we wound up at the Gray bar, for some halves of Oakleaf – Some Are Drinking a very clean gold pale ale.  And some Grainstore – Rutland Panther, a nice low ABV ale to finish the day off.
2011 Great British Beer Festival - Homeward bound
Edging north into the countryside on the train home, we watched the last minute of the sun creep behind the hills, reflecting on the day we all have to say, what great value for money a day out to the Great British Beer Festival really is, we met some really wonderful people and the Earls Court venue is not just accessible for any traveller, it’s got the right amount of facilities i.e. toilets to cater for such a large crowd of drinkers, service at each bar was swift we never waited more than 30 seconds to be served.  We also mentioned how hot it was today, but inside Earls Court the temperature was nice and cool, the atmosphere laid back and friendly, and we loved the English custom of; if anyone drops their glass and it breaks the whole crowd lets out a “hooray!” So here’s looking forward to the Great British Beer Festival 2012!

If you’ve any comments feel free to leave them in our comments section below, or join in the conversation on our Facebook page. Cheers!


BITEs Top 10 beers at the 2011 Great British Beer Festival

Posted on August 4, 2011by in Beers, BITE, Events

Of all the beers we sampled at the 2011 Great British Beer Festival, we drew a short list together of the top 10 we recommend, in reverse order, drum roll…

Acorn Gorlovka
10. Acorn – Golovka, (Stout) 6.0% ABV
[Purchased from the Hastings Bar]

 

Adnams Broadside
9. Adnams – Broadside, (Premium ale) 4.7% ABV
[Purchased from the Hastings Bar]

 

George Wright Pipe Dream
8. George Wright – Pipe Dream, (Bitter) 4.3% ABV
[Purchased from the Nightingale Bar]

 

Abbeydale Moonshine
7. Abbeydale – Moonshine, (Pale Ale) 4.3% ABV
[Purchased from the Hastings Bar]

 

Adnams Ghost Ship
6. Adnams – Ghost Ship, (Pale ale) 4.5% ABV
[Purchased from the Hastings Bar]

 

Hart of Preston Ice Maiden
5. Hart of Preston – Ice Maiden, (Bitter) 4.0% ABV
[Purchased from the Nightingale Bar]

 

Griffin Inn Ramblers Ruin
4. Griffin Inn – Ramblers Ruin, (Beer) 4.1% ABV
[Purchased from the Lister Bar]

 

We’re now getting to the top 3 beers of the festival as recommended by BITE, things are getting serious, this is thirsty work comparing these last 3, it’s going to be a close call for the top spot!

Ulverston Flying Elephants
3. Ulverston – Flying Elephants, (Pale Beer) 3.7% ABV
[Purchased from the Jenner Bar]

 

Glastonbury Hedgemonkey
2. Glastonbury – Hedgemonkey, (Bitter) 4.6% ABV
[Purchased from the Black Bar]

 

Amber Ales Chocolate Orange Stout
1. Amber Ales – Chocolate Orange Stout, (Stout) 4.0% ABV
[Purchased from the Harvey Bar]

 

Of course there were so many beers, stouts, bitters, ales, ciders, , wine on offer – as sensible drinkers even we could not sample everything, we apologise to any brewer who thinks their products have been overlooked. And… winner of the best t-shirt must go to this gentleman, huzzah!

Relax with an Otter

We’ll be back tomorrow with a round up of our road trip to the Great British Beer Festival 2011, if you’d like to leave a comment you can do so in our comments section below, or by joining in the conversation on our Facebook Page.

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The Great British Beer Festival 2011

Posted on August 1, 2011by in Beers, BITE, Events, Real Ale

The Great British Beer Festival 2011It’s only a day to go, just one more sleep until the Great British Beer Festival 2011 opens it’s doors, you can even view the live feed from the festival. BITE will be there, sampling beers, talking pubs, and trying not to wobble.

The Great British Beer Festival is the UK’s largest real-ale, cider, perry festival, organised by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). The festival is also home to the Champion Beer Of Britain award, the 2011 winner will be announced this Tuesday 2nd August. But, it’s not just about the beer, the festival is described as being the “biggest pub in the world” so expect nothing more from the atmosphere, there will be live music, pub games, plenty to eat… and of course drink.

BITE will be on a special look our for Birds Brewery – Black Widow Stout, Old Dairy Brewery – Gold Top, Redemption Brewery – Fellowship Porter.

Are any BITE users also making the pilgrimage to Earls Court for the GBBF 2011? If so, feel free to leave a comment in our comments section below, or join in the conversation on our Facebook page.

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Armed Forces Day 2011

Posted on June 23, 2011by in Events

Armed Forces DaySaturday 25th June 2011 is Armed Forces Day in the UK, an opportunity for the nation to show it’s support for all those men and women who make up the British armed forces.  The 2011 national event is to be held in Edinburgh although there will be many more events being held up and down the country.  The Armed Forces Day website has a useful events page highlighting events that may be taking part in your local area (Armed Forces Day Events click here).

The armed forces defend the UK and it’s interests, working around the world to bring peace to troubled nations, tackling drug smuggling, piracy, combating terrorism and delivering aid or protection to those who need it most.  The main objective of the armed forces is currently focused on restoring order in Afghanistan and reducing the grip of power that the Taliban have over certain provinces within the country.  Good news indeed that only today William Hague the UK Foreign Secretary announced that Britain was in key peace talks with the Taliban, this could mean that some of our UK forces serving in Afghanistan will be home before the planned 2015 withdrawal. (Sources, SkyNews, This is London.)

The Americans have been supporting Armed Forces Day since just after the second world war (1949), but the event is still relatively new to the UK, replacing Veterans Day in 2009, but it’s also a time to reflect on the service that those veterans have given to our great nation, and the personal sacrifice  that so many brave men and women have given to defend Britain and her interests.

If you’d like to read more information about armed Forces Day you can do so by visiting the Armed Forces Day website. If you are attending an Armed Forces Day event let us know by either posting in our comments section below, or by joining the conversation on our Facebook page. Cheers!