The Session #144 - ‘The best beer you can drink at home right now’
I have made no attempt to hide my distaste for my hometown. There’s a severe lack of investment and it’s one of the most impoverished towns in the country. This means that for the most part there’s not a lot to offer - this includes pubs and restaurants.
On top of this I, live at home without a car, meaning that it’s difficult to get around Skelmersdale - the second largest town in the North West without a train station. What all this means is that I drink at home way more than I go out for a pint, which is a shame.
The nearest ASDA is about an hour and a half round trip, and I’m not carrying a crate that far. I work a full-time job so I only really drink on the weekends - a nice way to kick back and relax after a hard working week. The beer in the fridge 90% of the time is whatever the family like to drink, usually meaning the cheap lager that was bought back at Christmas - Budweiser, Fosters, Bud Light.
Although this is what I drink most of the time should I need to pierce the seal of an aluminium can filled with liquid fun - it’s the beer that is in the fridge 10% of the time that I enjoy the most, and what I feel is the best beer that I can drink at home right now.
Every month when payday rolls around, I like to treat myself to an online delivery from a brewery around the country. February was Ross-on-Wye Cider, and their mixed bundle of 50cl Limited Edition bottles of strong, smoked S.V. ciders, this month is Track Brewing Co. in accordance with their announcements of the ten-year anniversary of Sonoma, a beer that means a whole lot to me!
I think it’s the scarcity and variety of these beers that make them the best thing that I can drink at home. I know that it seems like a cop-out and I sincerely hope that I’m keeping in spirit with the prompt, but it’s the fact that I don’t get to drink them all the time, that makes them so special to me.
Leaving Sheffield, the beer capital, last year was tough. But these monthly orders really help be reconnect with beer in a meaningful way. The aforementioned cider I even got to enjoy with a uni mate which made the experience even better.
Honourable mention:
On the odd occasion I’m able to get out to the shops on the weekend I’ll always get myself some Guinness, especially since I’ve got these tasty glasses to drink them out of. These beers hit the spot for Six Nations weekends and Premier League Darts, so deserve a mention on this piece.
This piece was written for “The Session” - a monthly writing challenge recently restarted. You can find the instructions/guidelines and more information further on this here.