We all have at least one memory of a great drink.
I bet if I were to ask you, you would be able to sit down and tell me in great detail about a beer beside the pool, a glass of wine on a terrace on holiday, or a cocktail that after an entire afternoon of wandering and shopping just hit the spot.
In fact, ask me and one of the best drinks I can recall was on holiday in South Africa – I was at a beach cafe with a group. It was hot, sunny, and my drink was just perfectly cold, refreshing and delicious. And as we looked out to the ocean, dolphins started frolicking in the sea in the distance. We were all transfixed.
The drink? An iced coffee.
Sometimes it’s as much about the experience as it is the drink. It doesn’t have to be the best drink in the world – a fancy pants red wine that cost £100 a bottle, or a whisky that’s £50 a dram. Sometimes it’s the right drink at the right time.
And sometimes that is just a good beer. Not a super hopped dry number from a local craft brewery. Or a crisp cold stout. Sometimes, it’s about a sunny day with friends, and a simply good beer. Crisp. Cold. Big glass. Condensation running down the side.
That’s where Budweiser Budvar at The Oast House comes in. It’s far from the first tank beer in Manchester, third or fourth I think. It’s a trend that seems to be growing and given the Oast House’s outside space, it’s the perfect match.
I can recall coming across Budvar long ago in bottled form – and at the time they became a firm favourite in my local, but my visit last month was the first time I’d tried it fresh from the tank. Budvar is matured for 90 days, meaning that the whole brewing process takes 102 days. It’s then brought straight from the cellars of the brewery in České Budějovice in the Czech Republic.
Budvar is a very easy drinker. Light bitterness, a little creaminess, it’s not aiming to be the hoppiest, or the maltiest, or the trendiest. It is what is is. Good beer. And works well with food too – try it with the Oast House platters, with crisp coleslaw, creamy cheese and a perfect potato salad. OK, so the platters may be a little more Italian than Czech, but it still works.
And when there’s sunshine forecast for this weekend, what could be better?
See you at the bar.
With thanks to the Oast House, and to Jo Miller and Warren McCoubry for hosting us, and introducing us to the beer and it’s history. It’s now no longer a late nineties pub memory!