History tour, including stories on environmental, economic, and social issues (S.Hrg.113)

My recent success with a scavenger hunt showed that I can find my way to bars of the present, but when it comes to breweries of the past, I'm no expert, so I continued my celebration of the London Beer City Festival by signing up for "Porter, Peers & Pilgrims: A London Brewery History Walk," led by Des De Moor, author of many Campaign for Real Ale books, including The CAMRA Guide to London's Best Beer Pubs and Bars, which I got him to sign as a birthday present for TJ.

From our starting point at the Old Street Tube station, De Moor gave us some general background on brewing, which was the first modern commercial industry in London. The connection between the area and ale goes as far back as The Canterbury Tales; the unnamed host in the introduction encourages the pilgrims to share their stories over the "finest Southwark ale." In particular, London and England became known for brewing porter, which gets it dark color and acrid taste from the burnt grains that are used to make it and which gets its name from the people who used to drink it. 

Our first stop -- The Brewery, next to The Montcalm London City hotel -- once was home to Whitbread Brewery, the first purpose-built brewing building in the world. After opening in 1715, Whitbread helped perfect the brewing of porter. In fact, its porter tun room, now used as an events space, is the second-largest room in London after Westminster Hall. The building was closed in 1976, and the beer business was sold in 2000. Whitbread moved on to brewing Costa Coffee, possibly the only outlets more ubiquitous than pubs in London.

Next, we walked through the Spitalfields neighborhood to the Old Truman Brewery, founded in 1666 by the namesake family along with partners Hanbury and Buxton (left). By the mid-1800s, Truman claimed to be the largest brewery in the world. It definitely had large influence in London, as Charles Dickens mentions the brewery as a potential employment location in his novel David Copperfield. The building has hosted markets and special events since the brewery closed in 1989 (right). Shortly thereafter, Heineken obtained the brand but later sold it back to two local beer enthusiasts, James Morgan and Michael-George Hemus, in 2010. Truman's Beer re-opened in 2013 with The Eyrie, a new brewery facility in Hackey Wick.

After heading south, we found ourselves along the Thames at St. Katharine Docks (top), once the base location of Lion Brewery, which was at one time the oldest brewery and oldest continuously operating business in England. The brewery, later renamed Hoare & Co., was known for enlarging its aging vats to create mass amounts of the "Parson's black champagne." The ever-growing size of vats is partially to blame for the Great Beer Flood of 1814, which killed eight people. On the docks now sits the Dickens Inn, likely a former brewery warehouse that was moved from its original location due to development (bottom left). Some fellow tourists stopped for an ale at the inn, but since I had skipped breakfast, I opted for a coffee as well as a cinnamon and custard cruffin (croissant muffin) from the White Mulberries shop across the lock (bottom right).

As we headed across the Thames to the Southwark district heralded by Chaucer, we passed two more former and converted brewery buildings: St. George's Brewery, or the Hult Plaza Building that now houses an international business school (left), and Anchor Brewhouse, next to Butler's Wharf, which both are now developments with restaurants and flats (right).

On the south bank of the Thames, De Moor stopped to tell us about Anchor Brewery, which was built on the site of the original Globe Theatre and was known for its imperial Russian stout (top left). Both "Anchor" breweries developed in Southwark because it was a freer area just across the single bridge to London, which closed at night. Many vices were illegal in London proper, but the Bishop of Winchester allowed brothels and other houses of ill repute to entertain the deliverymen waiting for the bridge to open on the other side. Anchor Brewery started small in 1729 but grew under ownership by the Thrale family. Dictionary writer Samuel Johnson's ad copy helped sell the business to Barclay & Perkins, also referenced by Dickens in David Copperfield. Later, it was bought by Courage & Co. Brewery, as seen by the slogan on the former head brewer's house (top right). During its time under B&P, there was a bit of a scandal over the beatdown of Baron von Haynau by two bartenders (bottom).

Our tour ended near Borough Market, which houses an outpost of Neal's Yard Dairy. The dairy's decision to use railway arches for storage quite possibly sparked the recent trend of microbreweries setting up operations underneath Tube lines. De Moor set us free at The George (top), a National Trust site because it is the last remaining galleried inn in London (bottom left). I drank to its history by having a Rumrunner -- a rum-infused blonde ale by Greene King, the sponsor of the pub -- in its outside garden (bottom right).

 

On a less sunny day, TJ and I returned to The George's 335-year-old structure, so we could feel like Dickens and Shakespeare, who both frequented the watering hole, as we ordered pints from the tenders compartment, with its old cash register (left), then settled into well-worn wooden chairs in a crook next to the fireplace stove (right).

 

My last London Beer City Festival stop paid homage to the modern incarnation of the London brewery. I stayed in my neighborhood by heading to By the Horns Brewing Co. in Wandsworth (left), which for its Taste of Southwest event was hosting guest ales: Hackney Brewery's Red Ale; Weird Beard Brew Co.'s Mariana Trench pale ale; and Belleville Brewing Co.'s Red Wheat N' Blue and Northcote Blonde. First, I took the beer by the horns with the home brewery's Samba King rye blonde ale, then I had Howling Hops' Black XX Superior No. 1, a black IPA (right). I brought it all together in the end by finishing with a special collaboration between Belleville and Rocky Head Brewery: Unite, a blended white sour saison, which kind of tasted like drinking steak. I guess when beers are tapping the umami tastebuds, you know you're back in the 21st century of brewing.

I am thinking I ought to have a scavenger hunt (141Cong.Rec.S18311)

Ever since I was a kid, I have been a sucker for a scavenger hunt. For many years, I have wanted to come even close to finishing the Post Hunt, but at least twice I have fallen well short, despite my attempts to recruit ringers for my team. So I was very excited when I discovered that the London Beer Hunt would be part of the London Beer City Festival. I was the only member of my team, but it turned out I was a ringer myself.

For the hunt, you are emailed a vague "treasure map" with clues leading you to five different bars within walking distance of one another. When you get to each bar, you must find the clue word, and when you put all of the words together, you get a final phrase that you must utter at the last bar in order to receive your reward. There is no requirement to drink at each establishment, but if you don't, it's obviously unsportsmanlike.

From the initial map and clues, I was able to decipher two bars immediately because I had already visited them. I guessed the name of the first stop on the map from its clue: "Sing me a song, don't get the words wrong." Then all I had to do was use the interwebs to find the location of The Lyric (left). The bar had a broad collection of craft cask ales on tap: Big Smoke Brew Co.'s Electric Eye English pale ale, By the Horns Brewing Co.'s The Mayor of Garratt English bitter, Magic Rock Brewing's High Wire American pale ale, Two by Two's Monkey Puzzle IPA, and Waen Brewery's Red River amber ale. I went with Goddards Brewery's Ale of Wight, a hand-pulled citrus blond ale, which was a bit bitter, perhaps because it was the bottom of the barrel (right).

Participants can complete the hunt any time within the two weeks of the festival, but I got off to an early start on a Saturday, so The Lyric was pretty empty. When I arrived, there was only one other couple, who didn't appear to be in the hunt. As soon as other competitors showed up, I quickly swilled the rest of my half-pint and headed to the next stop.

From the clue "I'll lure you in, come play with my strings," I immediately recognized The Harp, which I previously visited after the Queen's birthday. I tried to order a half-pint of Raw Brewing Company's Grey Ghost IPA but I got a pint instead. But that was okay because it gave me a little more time to enjoy an enticing view and an interesting talk with John, an ex-barrister who practiced in Magistrates' Court on Bow Street, where Gen. Augusto Pinochet of Chile was tried for international war crimes.

On my way to the third stop, I got momentarily distracted by the sounds, scents, and colors of Neal's Yard (left). My stomach was a little rumbly, so I considered stopping by one of the many cafes along quaint Monmouth Street (right), but I knew I needed to stick to my mission. I thought a doughnut snack might create only a short delay, but when I saw that a single Krispy Kreme cost $2.50, I reconsidered.

 

The clue for the third stop, Craft Beer Co., was "No tricks here, just a lot of great beer," which twas true (left). The drink list was lengthy with a lot of intriguing options: Dark Matter, a black gose by Chorlton Brewing Company; Eve, an elderflower sour by Orbit Beers; and The Dude's Rug, a chai cider by B. Nektar (right). I picked a half-pint of a Cherry Stout that was part of the venue's current Tyne Bank Brewery tap takeover.

 

The fourth stop was also a bar with which I was already familiar. The clue "Be quick off the mark, to beat the top dog" led me to Holborn Whippet, where I had had a pint after doing my placement test for Russian classes at the Pushkin House down the road. After my test, I had Siren Craft Brew's Love of Work, an Earl Grey pale ale. Now off the clock, I opted for Mallinsons Brewing Company's Columbus, a single hop pale ale.

As I headed to the last bar, I got a little tripped, or tippled, up. The clue was "The final destination, the pantheon of beer," accompanied by a drawing of a pyramid with the Eye of Horus at the top. When I passed by The Knight's Templar, I was sure I had won. It was only after I ordered a celebratory beer that I realized a Wetherspoon's outlet with numerous pokie machines was probably not in keeping with the craft-beer spirit of the hunt (left). I was also waylaid by The Temple Bar, which seemed to fit the clue but was shuttered (right).

Just a street away I found Temple Brew House, which I was planning to visit after the hunt anyway because it was offering "Inside the Temple" brewery tours as part of the festival (left). When I sidled up to the bar, the final word of the phrase wasn't as obvious as in the other stops, but the nice tenders gave me a hint of where to look. I sipped Essex Street Brewing Company's Tempale as I surveyed the bar (right).

Finally, I had the last word, and when I spoke the phrase "Remember, beer speaks, people mumble" to the brew crew, they handed me a free London Beer City Summer Ale, created by Fourpure Brewing Co. specially for the festival. The beer tasted so citrusy it was almost like a shandy, but it also tasted like victory because the bartenders told me that I was the second finisher of the day, and since it was only the second day of the festival, I was most surely in the top 10 of the competition. I had finally found the scavenger hunt I was made for.

Competitors and spectators alike gather downtown for this annual race (161Cong.Rec.S5003)

A recent weekend in London was full of sports events, and since I couldn't be a competitor, I set out to be a spectator. On the Saturday, I struck out early for Battersea Park, so I could run a few laps around the Peace Pagoda (left) and the fountains near the Children's Zoo (right) before taking in my first race of the weekend.

I finished my run earlier than I expected, so I killed time -- and undid all my exercise -- by having a true full English breakfast, sans mushrooms, at the nearby Battersea Grill. Once I stuffed myself with eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, and grilled tomatoes, I headed back to the park's promenade to be Thames-side for the finish of the Doggett's Race.

Actor Thomas Doggett first organized the rowing race from London Bridge, near the Shard (left), to Cadogan Pier, near Albert Bridge (right), in 1715, to commemorate George I's ascension to the throne. Now, the Coat and Badge, a pub named after the prizes awarded to the winner, organizes the annual contest among young watermen.

Louis Pettipher crossed the finish line first by one of the shortest margins in recent memory (left). He was trailed by large boats with cheering fans and smaller ones with TV crews and a few former winners in their red coats and badges (right).

 

On the Sunday, everybody was talking about a different annual competition, the Community Shield match at Wembley Stadium between the winners of the Premier League, in this case Chelsea FC, and the FA Cup, the Arsenal FC. (A few days later, everyone was talking about the London Marathon because of some woman who ran without a tampon, but that world-class event -- and scandal -- actually happened back in April.)

Still finding my feet in regards to soccer -- er, football -- mania, I knew nothing about the match yet (nor the marathon, for that matter). And even if I had, tickets were long sold out, so I was more than happy to walk two blocks to watch RideLondon -- for free. When I walked Sage in the morning, they were just closing down the high street of Putney (left), but when we came past for his afternoon walk, skeins of cyclists were coming through (right).

Unfortunately, my bike didn't arrive in time for me to join the amateur FreeCycle, a dedicated cycling loop around downtown with festival stops along the way. After the amateurs cleared out of the loop on the previous day, professionals circumnavigated the part of the route around St. James's Park for the Grand Prix criterion races. The cyclists coming through my hood in the morning were mostly amateurs participating in the London-Surrey 100, an event so popular that participants are selected by lottery from the first 100,000 ballot entries (left). When the riders chugged downhill past The Railway pub, they were within 10 kilometers of the finish line (right).

 

There probably weren't many spectators for the first event of the day, the professional Handcycle Classic, but by mid-morning, some spare people, including myself, had gathered along the barriers (left). One inventive group of people used the closed-off road as an excuse to hold a street party. They were being serenaded by a string quartet as the cyclists sped by (right).

The final event of the day was the London-Surrey Classic, a 200k Olympic-style race in which 150 professional cyclists compete for the biggest one-day money pot. Event organizers handed out pamphlets with photos of the top racers' jerseys, so you could spot your favorite in the crowd. Apparently, this year's was a good race because two beloved Brits -- Bradley Wiggins, a member of the eponymous Union Cycliste Internationale Continental Team Wiggins, and Mark Cavendish, a member of the UCI Pro Team Etixx Quick-Step -- both competed. But the racers went by so fast that I couldn't pick either of them out -- nor the winner Jean-Pierre Drucker, a French-speaking interloper from Luxembourg who rides for the UCI Worldtour Team BMC Racing.

If you live in the city, spend a day in the country (ED468150)

Still thinking that London must be full of cool community festivals, I keep venturing out to ones that sound promising. One weekend, my best bet was the Waterloo Food Festival, mainly because it had the word food in the title; plus, it was direct train ride away from my neighborhood. But when I showed up at the Lower Marsh Market, all I found was a bunch of classic cars lining the streets alongside a sparse, none-too-impressive farmer's market. Turns out, this festival was much like the Streatham Food Festival, with special offers in area food establishments. In fact, even the non-food establishments were offering samples; after I bought a travelogue at the Travelling Through bookstore, I was offered a piece of cake.

I didn't want my trip to Waterloo to be a total waste, so I struck out to find The King's Arms, a historic watering hole a few blocks off Waterloo Road (left). This down-to-earth pub is situated on Roupell Street, a row of worker's houses developed in the 1820s by wealthy gold refiner John Roupell. The laidback atmosphere was reason enough to linger a while, but I was also pleasantly surprised by the range of local craft beers on tap. I had a pint of Mosaic pale ale by Kernel Brewery, a perfect blend of English bitter and American hoppy ale sensibilities, in my opinion. Also available were a Cowcatcher American pale ale and a Jamboree blond ale by East London Brewing, a Chieftain IPA by Franciscan Well Brewery, an Urban Dusk ESB by Redemption Brewing, a Mud Slinger chocolate milk stout by Wild Weather Ales, and a medium cider by Malvern Magic. I was satisfied with my earlier, free slice of cake, but if I had still been hungry, I could've ordered some Thai from the adjacent Kanchana's Kitchen (right).

Just when I was about to give up, I gave festival-hunting one last shot and finally found the motherlode, at the Lambeth Country Show. By early afternoon, Brockwell Park was layered in people for this annual event -- part amusement park, part petting zoo, part food market, part music festival, part sports exhibition, part all-day boozer.

July and August are the prime months for county fairs in Ohio, so this "country show" made me feel at home, right down to the community competitions, including for best vegetables (top left). Many of the competitors appeared to have adopted a film and TV entertainment theme. Among the scarecrow entries, set up to keep winged pests away from Brockwell Hall, was a two-for-one Titanic structure (top right). And sitting on the vegetable sculpture table was Game of Thrones' Jon Snowbergine, made from eggplant and carrots (bottom).

In another fantastical submission, corn and watermelon were used to make a fake unicorn, but there were plenty of real animals on hand, too. If you gave a donation to Berkley Owls, you got to hold one of their charges (left). In the Gate and West arena, your money got you a donkey ride (right).

In the "farm" area, I found the traditional 4-H-like pens of animals, mostly goats and sheep from Brymills Livestock, some of which were award-winning (left). Right next door, a few ewes were willingly being sheared in The Sheep Show, a kind of free ovine peep show (right).

The kids in attendance were getting their kicks on the many rides. If it weren't for the The Shard in the background, I might've thought the high-flying swings were from the Ohio State Fair midway (left). I was quite drawn to the giant inflatable slide, which brought back youthful memories of getting friction burns from sliding down a plastic one in a burlap sack (right).

 

However, I opted for the entertainment for adults, a variety of bands performing reggae, funk, soul, and jazz (left). The tunes were mostly background music, as I was distracted by my dinner: a hog roast in a bun, basically pork pulled from a whole spit-roasted pig covered with crispy crackling, savory stuffing, and chunky applesauce (right).

If there had been some country-music acts and some tractor pulls, I could've sworn I was smack dab in the middle of the Richland County Fairgrounds -- with a few exceptions. Although I distinctly remember locking myself in the cage of the Zipper ride during my days cruising the county fair, I don't recall there ever being a Skyfall zipline (top left). And there definitely were no free massages on offer in any of the outbuildings (top right). But most of all, I am absolutely certain that there were no cider, cocktail, and beer stands from which one could buy a Meantime Brewing London Lager (bottom).