Ale loving origins.

For the longest time I only ever drank lager. This cold, gassy stuff was drinkable but not enjoyable, it was more a refreshing drink on a summers day, or simply what I drank if I was at home.

About one month after I turned 18 my father introduced me to a local midlands ale called 'Banks's Bitter.' Immediately I was amazed at the complexity of the flavour, the rich tasting malt and the smooth hops leading to a powerful and exquisite taste.

"This is incredible," I said to him, my father smiling back, glad that I finally appreciated what he called 'real beer.' We would spend the rest of the night talking about beer in the pub over many more banks's, the conversation getting more and More merry as we progressed. From then on (once the hangover had ceased) I realised there was no turning back. I would spend the next week researching all the different types of ale, realising just how much of a world I had been missing out of.

Now three years later I consider myself an ale lover, and while not an expert, I hope I have at least some useful information to give on the topic of real ale. For me, my love of ale only increased with the slew of brews I tried at a variety of pubs. In September I moved to university in Essex, thus opening myself up to an entirely new world of beers that departed from the midlands style of brewing. Here I first tried beers brewed by Adnams, St Austell, and Badger. I also started to going to the local pubs that supported local breweries such as Mighty Oak, Mersea Island, Red Fox, and Crouch Vale.

My love for ale only increased with time, the fact that one of my closest friends was also a big ale fan only acted as a catalyst for the amount of beer I would ingest in the years to come. Last year I finally joined The Campaign for Real Ale, known more commonly as their acronym: CAMRA. This fine group has been pushing for quality real ale for over three decades now, supporting microbreweries and organising festivals to bring to the public eye the wonderful world of real ale. Through CAMRA, Britain has finally regained the title of brewing capital of the world.

This was only meant to be a very brief introduction to how I became involved with ale and my int erst in it. More detailed posts to do with my experiences as an ale lover are soon to come along with actual reviews of ales and breweries.