The General Conversation Thread

When this latest flair up calms down I'll seek solace in that, well at least till the next one.

Bah!

 

I don't want to pile misery upon misery General but a pal of mine in Aus who gets gout was told by his Doc that it was caused by too much beer

 

...and hot chilli sauce!

 

Take that back!

Bah!

 

That's a common suggested cause, there is so much advice on line, much of it conflicting with a few constants like beer and fructose but so far I can honestly say beer has not seemed like a trigger for me. In fact my last 2 out breaks have followed attempts at losing weight, so reduced drinking, less fat and carbs more fruit, this could be the fructose related cause? Though vitamin C is reckoned to be good in gout prevention too.
I just don't want to have to go down the permanently medicated route, not least of all because of the terrifying list of potential side effects.

Bah!

 

I know about 5 people out here who have gout, and EVERY one of them is an Aussie.

 

I am not an Aussie!

Bah!

 

And you are not out here either. Plus, I am certain I don't know you. (Bah).

 

#Humblebrag

 

Too much sun and crap beer perhaps. Some nice boutique / craft brewers are taking off in Australia now but for the most part the beer is pretty average here. Plenty of choice, but every brewer seems to copy one another. There's more samey naff lager than you can shake a didgeridoo at. Nice and cold though!

 

Quick-witted twitter response

 

Fosters and Castlemaine says it all.. Our main brew in the Philippines is San Miguel, which is better than the Spanish version, though in the last couple of years a couple of excellent craft breweries have started up.

 

Went to the Lord Mayors Celebration in Norwich last night. The lads were more interested in going to pubs rather than the actual event, so only had a brief look around, and managed to get a good pub garden view of the fireworks. From what I saw, it looked fantastic. So much going on, was really nice to see our City put on such a night. Was like a carnival and a fair all in one.

 

Shows how staid and behind the times we are in this country. A city the size of Norwich, plus huge catchment area gets one solitary night of 'street fun' in a whole year!
Many European cities have numerous week long events all through the year - Sevilla has two in April alone, and Valencia never has too long to wait for the next excuse to get the pyrotechnics out! God forbid, people are actually encouraged to participate and have fun in most cities

 

But do they have a city of ale?

Bah!

 

Oid rather go to Norridge wear peepul talk proper than some plearce abroad thass full o' them bluddy furriners!

 

Must be a woman driver!

 

Or a Beer Festival, Winter Ale Festival (but with a different name for the next 2 years), Virgin Wine Tasting and I think it's 3 'Oktoberfests' (but only one of them is actually in October!!!)

 

Not my scene particularly - I shudder at the prospect of £7-8 a pint, but the 'craft' beer webberlution is rife in all parts of Europe. Ljubljana has several breweries of it's own, for example.
And the whole thing is ongoing, not just for ten (10) days a year
That aside, I just had a divine pint of Buffy's Norwegian Blue (4.9%) in the Red Lion.
Gimme a trad ale any time