Beer, beer and more beer

If I'm ever going to OD on beer, it'll probably happen this week.

Let's face it, I've already had a fairly beery weekend, the GBBF starts today and I'm armed with a season ticket and a hitlist, and last night was the fantastic British Guild of Beer Writers 25th birthday event which meant unlimited free beer.

That's right. Unlimited free beer - almost all of it very rare and much of it very strong (like the 10.7% Fuller's 'Imperial Stout' brewed in collaboration with a Guild member and with 'dry-rosebudded' with, err, rosebuds.)

It was basically a help-yourself beer festival in a room full of celebrities from the beer world, and life doesn't get much better than that. Even Roger Protz's speech wasn't as bad as I feared - I think he only said 'Socialism' twice, and Vegetarianism didn't even get a mention!

Free beer for beer writers. That's worth writing about!

I finally got to meet Tim Webb with whom I had a healthy exchange of words on the cask vs keg debate in the pages of London Drinker. (Contrary to my expectations, all the beers on were cask. Even Thornbridge 'Calver' which is normally only available in keg! Like I said, rarities abound.)

Baby of the House

I was almost certainly the newest member of the 220-strong guild, having only signed up a few days previously, but I'd been intending to join for several years, and that's worth free beer, right?

On the basis of last night's sterling hospitality I wish I'd done so years ago, even if my normally robust constitution felt a little delicate this morning and the thought of several successive nights at the GBBF filled me with trepidation.

So, the final results of the Pub of the Year will have to wait for a few more days. It'll increase the tension, I'm sure.

And as for the 5:2 diet, I think we're going to have to write off this week and fit in a couple of extra fasts in the future - the energy I get from beer calories alone this week will be capable of powering all the electric chairs in Texas.

So now, it's off to the GBBF I go. First pint: Texas Brewery 'Electric Chair IPA' (78.5%).

Well, maybe.