Yeast Eats Sugars and Shits Alcohol and CO2

One of the greatest things in Britain is the, almost infinite variety of small brewery beers available.

There is no excuse for anyone not being able to find a quality brew to suit their taste anywhere in the UK.

On a scientific note, one fact that few are aware of is that 'real ale' is a living breathing product, as alive as the last fresh Oyster you slurped done. Ale is delivered in casks as an unfinished product and requires the full attention of a competent Cellarman to deliver it's promise. Never forget this fundamental truth; yeast eats sugar and shits CO2 and Alcohol; simple. One of the issues encountered with cask ale is freshness. As the ale develops in the cellar the yeast consumes the sugars creating fizz and more alcohol. The result is that an ale will steadily lose it's sweetness over the 3 or 4 days it's generally fit to serve.

The other great benefactor of the above characteristics is the risen dough business - bakeries. Bakers are dependent on the CO2 to make the holes in bread and buns and pizza base.

So there we have all bases covered. All dependent on yeast to shit CO2 and Alcohol.

Brexit and the Tories - In a Democracy you can change your mind.

For the last 4 years we have been condemned to discussing and mithering about, ranting and raving over a question we should never have been asked.

The Cameron government decided that the best way to deal with the annoying buzz of the Eurosceptics in the Tory party was to take, what was assumed to be a non question, to 'The People'.

What has followed as all now know has been a complete disaster, akin to throwing our country under a bus.

To my utter disgust I now hear that the one MP with the least understanding of real peoples lives, one Jacob Rees-Mogg, has changed his mind about Theresa May's 'deal'.

Last night the Government Petition Site sent an email to all 5.8+ million petitioners the standard verbal about why it won't agree to another popular vote.

This Government stands by this commitment.

Revoking Article 50 would break the promises made by Government to the British people, disrespect the clear instruction from a democratic vote, and in turn, reduce confidence in our democracy. As the Prime Minister has said, failing to deliver Brexit would cause “potentially irreparable damage to public trust”, and it is imperative that people can trust their Government to respect their votes and deliver the best outcome for them.

Department for Exiting the European Union.

Apparently 'we the people' aren't allowed to change our minds.

I thought we lived in a democratic country but it seems this is an illusion wheeled out to suit.

In a democracy you can change your mind. 

reduce confidence in our democracy

What has 'reduced confidence in our democracy' is the blinkered approach with which the PM has pursued her 'deal' to the point of her own destruction. It is that that is the current cause of 'reduced confidence in our democracy'.

potentially irreparable damage to public trust

The damage that this farce has and will continue to do to public trust will take a whole generation to repair, and then only if a government is scrupulously honest and fair with all it citizens. The Tories will never be that.

Where do we go from here?

As I type I'm aware that the day's news will be filled with a long list of options to discuss a way forward now that the Tory party has surrendered its role as the governing party in the UK.

Tomorrow sanity may have returned and we'll get an apology for the cost and destruction of real peoples lives that has ensued from David Cameron's vanity.

Perhaps when I wake I will find it was all a very bad dream.

Where did 2014 go?

Probably the most significant changes to my life was during the last quarter of 2013. I applied for a post in a new team. I was finally interviewed and appointed in the spring of 2014.
Since then my feet have barely touched the ground. If anyone follows me on Twitter (@thenctoo) they will know that I have erred toward the quick and dirty world of ambiguity to speak of whatever drives me at the time.
Again this summer we went off to Penzance in Cornwall for a week and extended weekend to help celebrate the Summer Solstice in the Golowan Festival (Pretty naff and out of date). They have a Facebook page too - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Golowan-Festival-Official-Page/277967782386.
Every summer the people of Penzance and Penwith mark the Solstice with a week or more of Arts events, showcasing the best and variety of the Arts in the far South West of Cornwall.

One of the high points for me was the arrival of the Mazey Day Cornishman special train hauled by preserved diesel hydraulic locomotive D1015 Western  Champion.

Kakatsitsi, Master Drummers from Ghana https://www.facebook.com/kakatsitsi 

The celebrations culminate in two festival days. On the Saturday the town of Penzance enjoys Mazey Day and is given over to the procession of schools and community groups showing of their themed creations. Despite there being barely 40 thousand people living in Penwith they have to hold 3 processions as it's not possible for all the groups to be paraded at once.

As well as the parades there are stalls and entertainments as well as a considerable amount of drinking.
One of the high points for me this year was the Spingo tent. It was delight to see so many of their brews in one place. Probably the only time it happens outside Helston.

On the following day the town celebrates Penzance Quay Fair Day with stalls, entertainments and more drinking.

A Year or more on...

Hello again to all my readers.
I suspect that all my readers are Search Engines trawling through all the Blogger pages.
As a reintroduction of interest in these pages I am writing a brief chronology of the past year or so.

A Cornish Black Pudding

If you type 'Ian Lentern' into the Google search engine it will return results with the following page at the top of the list: Ian Lentern Butchers: Traditional Family Butcher - Penzance

During our stay over Christmas in Penzance we had the opportunity to visit the Ian Lentern Butchers shop for a couple of bits and pieces to feed us over the holiday period.

When I first entered the shop I was impressed by the well displayed meats and uncluttered space. At the far end was the chilled cabinet containing the cooked meats and the initial object of my interest, Black Pudding. Yes, I know Cornwall has a reputation for first rate Hog's Pudding but if anyone knows me or has followed this blog for a while they'll know that I'm always keen to try different black puddings from all of the country.

So, for a little less than a pound I purchased a short length of Black Pudding to have with my breakfasts for a few days.

Lentern's Black Pudding is delicious. It is certainly not a very black pudding due in the main because of its natural skin. Cutting a 12mm slice I found it to be firm and retained its structure. The contents were well defined. Blood, barley and fat are in appropriate proportions  and the aroma was enticingly savoury.

 

 

 

The pudding's consistency was not over compressed and crumbled slightly when cut. Finally the taste; Lentern's Black Pudding is as the aroma suggested, savoury without being over spiced, seasoned with salt the pudding had a richness which demanded a fresh slice of buttered toast to gain the best from it.

 

 

I enjoyed the pudding so much I resolved to purchase a whole one which I did on our way to the station, bound for home. A whole pudding weighed just 732g and at £7.25 per Kg cost £5.31.



It is now sliced and frozen for me to enjoy with breakfast and the occasional lunch for the next couple of months.



Montol Eve

The journey down from Bath was gloriously uneventful. Barring the unfortunate child 3 seats back, bored literally to tears, who boarded the train with us in Bath and at St Austell  left us to enjoy the final few miles. With the dubious Christmas songs from further down the carriage, we ran down from St Erth and in to Penzance.

Montol on December 21st is a recently revived festival of the Winter Solstice.

 

 

We joined the parade up to the prehistoric Lescudjack Hill Fort where the 'Lord of Misrule' lit the beacon fire an dances were performed.

 

With a gale of some 40 mph blowing the dry timber in the beacon didn't last long before being blown through the lee of the basket. The walk back down to town was a much less ordered affair and we left the group at Leskinnick Street to enjoy a fine pint of the Cornish Crown Brewery's Porter in the Crown.



Tum-tee-tum - Heavens - Do I have a blogspot?

For no other good reason than, Site Meter has reminded me that I have a fallen readership (5 hits last week), I am writing these few words to wake up the search engines to the fact only checking back once per day is probably not sufficient, should I recommence my pursuit of literary fame.
Needless to say, Twitter seems to have attracted me away from the more formal blogging in favour of random 140 character 'tweets' with the monicker @thenctoo.
In a vague attempt to push my total hit count up from the current 9066 to a 5 digit number, I feel perhaps I'll pursue this writing thing a little further.
Keep your eye on these pages.....