At last I’m back from the eye doctor and I’m okay so far, having had a suprachoroidal hemorrhage during cataract surgery, a rare complication whose frequency is between 0.03% and 0.1%. (Mine was the first one my experienced ophthalmologist had ever seen.) Fortunately it was a small one, is contained, and while the clot will slow the healing process while it gets resorbed, so far it looks like eye #1 will be okay. For the time being I’ve canceled surgery on eye #2. But I looked up what I had, and here’s an object lesson—one I have not learned—never to look up symptoms on the Internet:
FEARED COMPLICATION! That put my kishkes in knots, and it was with a heavy heart that I dragged my butt to the ophthomologist. Fortunately, a retinal specialist had already told me that my hemorrhage did not turn out not to be so fearful, as it was small and contained. Today the symptom I developed yesterday—stabbing eye pain—was diagnosed as “part of the normal healing process.” One of Coyne’s Rules for Life is this:
Never look up your symptoms on the Internet, for everything eventually devolves to cancer.
But in this case it devolved to a guide dog and a white cane. Warning: do not discuss my hemorrhage or prognosis as it will make me grumpy. You can tender well wishes if you want!
On top of this, I was way late for my appointment because there was a deadly crash that shut down inbound Lake Shore drive. Some joker, probably drunk, drove his car south into the northbound lane, killing a poor woman in a head-on crash that also involved another car. Not a good start to the day.
But eye digress. The point of this post was to be that this is Drink Beer Day and my friend Andrew Berry has a British Ale to recommend. You’ll remember from this morning that he sent me a photo of an empty pint of my favorite session beer, Timothy Taylor Landlord. But he claims (wrongly, I think) that there’s a better beer. I got this photo in an email titled “The best pint IN THE WORLD.”
I emailed back saying, “What is the beer?”
He responded, “Harvey’s Sussex Bitter. The best beer in the world, according to A Berry. Brewed in Lewes, Sussex. You probably had some when you came to Down House with me and my summer school students. Harveys is served in both pubs in the village of Downe.”
That was a great trip, as the tour of Down House, Darwin’s home, was led by none other than Janet Browne, who wrote the definitive biography of Darwin (now in one volume, condensed from the original two).
I then wrote Andrew this, “You haven’t tried all the beers!!! Plus you must mean session pint.”
His response?: “And, yes, I’ve tried ‘em all. Every beer ever brewed anywhere ever. And Harvey’s Sussex Bitter is indubitably the Best of them All.”
When I asked if he was in Downe (the village where Down House resides, he answered, “Downe? Nope, this is Harveys pub in Sevenoaks, where my mother lives. The Bricklayer’s Arms.”
And he sent a photo (below). Look at that place! The genuine pubs of England—the ones with real ales cellared well and without music—are one of that country’s great contributions to the planet. Let us hope they endure.
Had a wonderful Irish Red Ale from the Great Northern Brewing Company the other day, and it’s my new favourite beer.
Personally I am on Team Timothy Taylor. (It’s Madonna’s favourite ale, too. Not that that has any bearing on my preference.)
“But eye digress” – we see what you did there 🙂
It sounds like you’re in competent hands – even with a perfect surgery and doing every drop appropriately complications can develop. But the good news is you’re human! I’m on the veterinary side of ophthalmology and have days where I wish my patients were human. We do cataract surgery in non-human species, too, but at higher complication rate simply due to species differences (post-op inflammation, anatomy of drainage angle/size of lens, etc). Most humans do well with cataract surgery, and if complications arise most are quite manageable! Sure hoping for all things good and positive to come!
I love British beer—bitter, if you please. And there is nothing better than a pint served in a pub such as you describe—even if the publican generates a laugh among the patrons when, hearing my American accent, by asking if I want ice with that.
Selecting a favorite is difficult, especially since I have tried so many, though Harvey’s Sussex does stand out, possibly because it was not commonly served at our usual pub. Working in Oxford, and letting the publican choose for me (different one every day) does blur matters. One might imagine that beer for long does impede one’s work capacity after long, but at that age, I could handle one(!) pint, saving the rest of my consumption for after work.
So I can’t participate in your poll. But I can say that I am happy that your recovery is proceeding apace
Oxford is the home of one of my favorite pubs–the Turf Tavern, where they must have at least 15 cask ales on tap at any one time. Their fish and chips, accompanied by at least two different pints, is Paradise enow.
I love the Turf Tavern! But how in heck does one make a choice there?
I usually went to the King’s Arms for lunch, as it was close to the lab in which I worked, and was the traditional place for the lab members. Occasionally, I could get them to take me somewhere else, just because I really wanted a tour of the Oxford pubs—or at least a small sample.
I think I had a pint of Harvey’s Sussex bitter on my one visit the Turf Tavern on my only visit ever to Oxford. Whatever it was, it might well have been the best beer I ever had.
The Turf Tavern is the BEST
Good fish and chips as well.
Unfortunately, a lot of bitter beer seems to be described as “amber” – brand names seem to have changed with the reduction in ABV to reduce tax charges on higher strengths – even session beers seem to have been reduced to get under tax thresholds. Unfortunately, my most recent experience of visiting the UK was not that great beer wise, but last year, whilst visiting Bath, I had a chance to re-sample the gorgeous Bath Ales’ Gem in The Salamander Pub and also visit for the first time The Black Fox – which had an awesome real ale called simply Black Fox. I’m not sure I’ll ever get the chance to have Harvey’s, given I’m in NZ and unlikely to get back to the UK!
Just to add that live and informal music is entirely acceptable in a real pub. There are pubs where, on certain days of the week, locals will take along their guitar or violin and sing or play a song or two.
Yes, I meant recorded music.
I love Belgians, and SCALDIS and DE GARRE are the best of the best for me.
Harvey’s is a really good beer but the best I’ve ever had was a cask Thwaites at the Cross Gaits in Blacko. Sadly while the pub is still there it no longer does cask ales.
https://www.inapub.co.uk/pubs/in/Lancashire/~/venues/the-cross-gaits-inn/nelson/bb96rf/21403
I worked as a bartender in Milwaukee (1969 – 1971) at a saloon named Someplace Else, located on Water Street. (Sadly it burned down in the early 1980s).
One night a group of Germans entered the bar. They were on a tour of the USA to locate the best beer in America. Milwaukee was their last stop. I asked what their favorite beer was so far, and they said Point Beer Lager. In those days you had to go to Stevens Point WI to get it. It is my favorite.
https://www.pointbeer.com/
There is a handy tool to find where it can be purchased:
https://www.pointbeer.com/#find-brews
There are two lagers: Amber and Special. Which one were they referring to?
The Special. I don’t think they had an Amber then. But I could be wrong. This was over 50 years ago. I like them both.
There are various connoisseurs of beer, and from them come various declarations of the best beers. It is a simple matter to ask Gemini about their opinions. There are several candidates given, and surprisingly, a couple are brewed in the U.S. One even in Iowa, which isn’t far, and I am thinking about looking for it here.
My favorite brew that I can easily find is Rochester Red. The best beer I ever had, though, was a coconut stout out of Maui, which I drank much of when I had visited the island. Unfortunately, the canned version that I can get here is dreck since you can taste the can.
UPDATE:Oh, that Iowa beer (it is called Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout), is challenging to get! Available mainly through a lottery. Oh, well….
I had Landlord this past summer during a family trip to the UK. It was excellent, in my top couple of beers I’ve ever had. In England I think I had it at 4 different pubs. I tried a few other local brews while there and can’t remember what they were, but I enjoyed the red ales quite a bit.
I had Guinness in Ireland and while I’m not a Guinness fan here in the states, the taste was much better over there and I’d put that in my top 3 too.
Bell’s Oberon and Two Hearted IPA are in my top tier as well; I’m not normally an IPA fan but really like Two Hearted. And Oberon is fantastic.
I rarely drink alcohol, but I was in London and Dublin for a few days last August. There was a pub just two blocks from my hotel in London which served Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, so I ate dinner there and had a pint. I don’t know much about beer, but I thought it was pretty good. I’d have it again.
In Dublin, I had a pint of Guinness. It was very good. It tasted much smoother than the Guinness we get here in America.
King and Barnes Sussex Bitter used to be my favourite, but the brewery has closed now. It’s nice just to try local beers around the UK – there’s so many good ones. My current favourite is probably whatever interesting beer I tried most recently. I had a lovely pint in Manchester a couple of weeks ago, but I can’t remember what it was. Not very helpful, am I?
The best bear in the world is the one you have in a glass/bottle in front of you.
‘Never look up your symptoms on the Internet, for everything eventually devolves to cancer.’
Succinct and such good advice. I’m far into my 80’s and I long ago gave up on Dr Google. He’s scarey.
Pre-internet I learned to stay away from Reader’s Digest articles that were titled “I am Joe’s (body part)”. They inevitably described chronic or even fatal maladies that scared the crap out of me.
Glad you’re OK!
Samuel Smith’s Chocolate Stout.
Is that brewery still open?
Yes. Just had my favorite with a burger in my hometown, Chillicothe, OH. They have been in operation since 1760 something, drawing water from the same well.
Yep. All over London. Well was when i was there in Apr/May. I even occasionally find some imported to NZ…
Marston’s Pedigree is the ale I favour. However I’m willing to concede that my love for is substantially due to the fact that it was the beer I started on (hiding the back bar of The Shakespeare Inn at about 16 years old) many years ago in Newport, Shropshire.
I’m glad that you’re recovering well Jerry. One of the best beers I’ve ever had was by a brand called Brooklyn Lager. They have a variety of flavors and it has been quite a while since I had this so I can’t remember which one I enjoyed the most. I’m no connoisseur but I have also enjoyed Guinness on tap a few times and if you are ever in Trinidad you must have a Stag. Cheap and mass produced but crisp, fresh and well bodied.
Eye am pleased with the good report from your doctor.
Sadly, when it comes to beer, I’m like a gay guy at strip club. I just don’t get the attraction. (I do drink beer, but only for the buzz, and only if nothing else is available). In fact, I’m baffled by the fact that anyone likes the taste of the stuff. I thought I was the only person in the world who felt that way, until I read this comic from XKCD. (I kind of shared his suspicion that people only pretend to like beer until my son’s dad gave him a sip of beer from his bottle when he was just 2 years old. I was sure he would make a face, but instead he grabbed the bottle from his dad and tried to guzzle the rest of it down.)
Ha, that’s funny. How old are you, and wherefrom? I didn’t like beer until I was about 20 years old, at which point I was visiting family in Munich, and had my first taste of the local Hefe-Weissbier. Compared to the swill I had tried to drink in college (in 1980’s central VA), Weissbier went down like milk. I couldn’t believe it, it didn’t even taste like beer at first. Suddenly I was in a totally different universe! Nowadays it’s not so hard to find a really tasty beer in USA. Admittedly also, I gather that as one grows older, one becomes more tolerant of (or less sensitive to) bitter or sharper tastes.
Of the beers I’ve tried (which is not all that extensive)…
Best ever: Rochefort 10
Second best: La Trappe Quadrupel Ale
Both are complex (and very high alcohol content). Sipping beers…
The St. Bernardus Abt 12 you posted is also quite lovely.
Your 1 and 2 are very high on my favorites list as well. Given your stated preferences, if you ever come across Corsendonk you might like that as well. Both their Dubbel and Tripel are, for me, on par with your 1 & 2.
Thanks for the tip, Darrell, I will look for it
Agree on IPAs, it tastes like Pine-sol to me.
I like porters and my current favorites are Einstök Toasted Porter or for dessert Duclaw Sweet Baby Java.
Non-porter I would pick Old Peculiar.
Westvleteren 12 is still the best! You can only get it from the Trappist monastery in Vleteren, Belgium. The monks only sell to private customers, not to businesses. Twelve years ago, my friend Tony and I were walking around the North Sea, and on the leg from Calais to Bruges we made a 50 km detour inland just to taste that beer. It was worth it! It is heavy stuff, around 10% alcohol, and it makes subsequent hiking very difficult.
Some years ago, can’t remember exactly how long, I was determined to try Westvleteren 12 though I live in the US. I found a place that would ship it to you. I bought six bottles and the shipping was considerably more than the cost of the beer. I seem to remember over $100. It arrived packed as if I had packed it myself with used materials, but intact.
I don’t regret it, it was superb, but for me it is not a contender for best even among Belgian Abbey ales.
You can get it in liquor stores in the Netherlands nowadays. The monks are allowing this to prevent re-selling at absurd prices. They’re €5 per bottle usually (at least that I’ve paid for).
I also really like Westvleteren 10.
Other good beers: Rodenbach, Duchesse de Bourgogne. Rochefort 10, Orval, Westmalle Tripel.
In the US: Boulevard Tank 7. Canadian Unibroue beers (Fin du Monde or Don de Dieu).
I’m honor of Drink Beer day, I had a homebrew Tripel.
I like Belgian styles.
Harvey’s does brew fine beer. My favorite beer of all time seems to change from time to time as I travel in the UK. But they all seem to be cask conditioned ales. Looking forward to some great beers as I head back this evening from DTW to LHR.
Cask ales all the way for me. In the UK, my favourites have included Hobgoblin and Old Speckled Hen, which you can get in Canada, but now, alas, only in cans. Fortunately, there are a number of pubs in Toronto where one can get a fine real ale.
I can’t imagine that I’d be able to choose one beer as “the best.” Today my favorite is Weihenstephaner HefeWeissbier Dunkel. I can even get it locally lately, though it ain’t cheap. Their regular HefeWeissbier is also outstanding. One of the few I’ve seen with a 99 score from Beer Advocate (for whatever that might be worth).
“Some joker, probably drunk, drove his car south into the northbound lane, killing a hapless woman in a head-on crash that also involved another car”.
Sadly, there seems to be some sort of internet challenge in which young idiots deliberately drive on the wrong carriageway (and film themselves doing so). There have been several incidents here in the UK.
Favourite?
Have you tried “Skullfu**er” from ManBun Brewing, an IPA with hops, Habanero, patchouli, and hops (they like hops)?
I certainly hope such does not exist, as I abhor most IPA’s, but, wandering down the aisle of the local, I would be unsurprised if such does.
Commercial beers, I’d go with one of several lagers, Sam Adams baing the most accessible to me without needing to drive more than 20Km.
Specialty/seasonal beers, I am at present enjoying the heck out of a River Horse “Hipp-o-lantern” (as I sit with my black cat in the tractor barn hoping that he will eat and drink a bit and hold it down today. If not, back to the vet tomorrow morn. He only tried to bite the emergency vet once last night, and I needed no medical care after getting him in the carrier, both of which are quite telling) out of Trenton, NJ (Ewing? somewhere down there. Glasses aren’t strong enough to read the label. Used to be Lambertville). The only fall beer I actually enjoy. Actual pumpkin, minimal Seasonal spice. Most either go full Starbucks, or hops wild.
Any of the Munich wheat beers (Paulaner, Franziskaner, Augustiner, etc.) are my favorites. I must say that Trader Joe’s has a passably good facsimile made in CA (I think) of a Munich style wheat beer (i.e. a Hefe-Weissbier), which they sell at a very economical price. I confess I have a bit of a sweet tooth, when it comes to beers, as the Munich wheats are very fruity… they taste quite a bit like bananas.
Tegernseer Hell is likely one of the best Bavarian beers I have ever had. Hard to obtain outside Bavaria. I have drunk quite a few over many years at a regular annual trade show in Amsterdam, courtesy of a Bavarian exhibitor who transported them by road to the show.
My favorite beer available to me in southern Washington state is: Old Speckled Hen in the nitro cans (not in the bottles).
Runners-up:
Carlsberg Elephant premium lager
Saison DuPont
I make no claims on world status.
All (all) of the locally-brewed micros I’ve tried (a large number) are over-hopped, out of balance, and use boringly similar hops, yeast, and malt.
Hope springs eternal in my doggy palate; but, alas, no joy.
If you ever visit Sheffield on a Friday or Saturday then I strongly recommend a trip to the Taproom of the brewery of St Mars of the Desert. This is a small brewery in an industrial area of Sheffield and produces some of the best beers I’ve ever tasted. The beers range from traditional English ales to lagers and various continental styles. ABVs range from 4 to 10% and the latter can be served in smaller portions. I went with my son in June. It was a lovely day and the courtyard in front of the taproom was filled with tables and over 100 satisfied customers. Some of the customers had traveled from the length and breadth of England just to be there.
Yes, Harvey’s Sussex Bitter is lovely. Had one in Lewes at the wee Harvey’s pub near the brewery. Thomas Paine lived nearby years ago. There is also a pub called Rights of Man. Like to think that Hitch would have approved.
I am surprised no one has mentioned what actually is the best beer in the world: Delerium Tremens from the Huyghe brewery in Belgium. It has won numerous awards and was voted the best beer in the world.
https://www.delirium.be/en/beers/delirium-tremens