So you think you know about beer?
By Phil Mellows
When your old workmates make it big on Broadway, even if it’s Tooting Broadway, it can leave a bitter taste. But, as in a good beer, it’s balanced by a malty sweetness.
Since they became the Thinking Drinkers and scored a sell-out show at the Edinburgh Festival in 2011, Ben McFarland (above right) and Tom Sandham have enjoyed more full houses than a bingo night where, due to a mix-up at the printers, everyone’s got the same card.
Their performances are an anarchic cocktail of erudition and innuendo. You walk out of the theatre with your head fizzing with fascinating facts about drink to impress your friends with and learn that as well as making a nice wine, Semillon is a handy double-entendre you might deploy if you’re ever stuck in a broken lift between Basement and Lower Ground with a bunch of 14-year-old schoolboys.
Behind the smirks there is serious knowledge. In his earlier career Ben was named Beer Writer of the Year on no fewer than three occasions, while Tom claimed the title of Spirits Communicator of the Year.
And now, as a festive treat, they’re giving British Beer Breaks followers a sip of their latest show, The Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz, on tour around the UK from February. Have a go at answering these beery posers (I mean the questions) and then book your ticket for the full performance at a venue near you.
Oh, the answers. You’ll have to check back here for them next Tuesday (27 December). And if you’re still stuck for a present for that discerning imbiber in your life, in the run-up to Christmas, the Thinking Drinkers are offering a 20% discount on annual membership of their Spirits Subscription Club. “It’s what Jesus would have wanted,” as they say.
Balderdash – is a dubious mixture of beer, milk, quick lime and the excrement of which common bird (it’s not Turkey)?
Monks have been synonymous with brewing for centuries. But what is the collective term for monks? A flock? An abomination? A mutter?
In art, Madonna is a representation of Mary, Jesus’s mum. But what cask ale did Madonna, the pop star, say was her favourite pint?
Joseph didn’t get to use them, but in which Belgian city do you drink from a Bolleke? Ghent, Liege or Antwerp?
Santa Claus is pulled along by reindeers. But which Wiltshire brewery is still using shire horses to pull their drays after more than 125 years?
The Holy Tavern in Clerkenwell, formerly known as The Jerusalem Tavern, was once leased by which Norfolk-based brewery?
London’s most Christmassy pub – The Churchill Arms in Kensington – is festooned with 22,000 festive lights. But how many Christmas trees does it boast? 20, 50 or 80?
The 12th Century German Nun Hildegaard of Bingen is said to have been the first person to write about hops in brewing. But what other surprising thing did she write about for the first time? The female orgasm, piles, or UFOs?
What is the name of the Scandinavian beer style that filters the beer through spruce branches or juniper twigs?
True or False. The biggest selling homebrewing book in the UK is called The ‘He Brew’ Bible?