This Post Has No Title... (IsThat A Self Cancelling Phrase?)

You may have noticed an absence of blog through August and most of September. I would like to say this was due to there being no internet access at the tropical beach paradise we decamped to for that period, but it would be a lie. We've all been very busy brewing, selling, delivering, cleaning etc etc. Whilst this is still the case, a few minutes have been found to ramble on in, so here we are.

What happened that period then, I hear you ask. Well, the usual round of brewing - Britannia saw another brief return, we did a couple of 'Western' beers (but not Western Anorak - not yet...), Polar Star saw a return (again), and really does look set to be a 'Fairly Regular' beer. Oatmeal Stout has made a return to the range (it is a winter beer for us), and I have to say it is as good as ever, if not better. Vulcan is the current 4.4% special, a golden-brown best bitter brewed with a Japanese hop variety grown in the USA. And the aforementioned Polar Star is on it's way. Looking a bit ahead, once Polar Star is finished we will be brewing 'Buntingford Witch Project', a beer last brewed when we were in Buntingford (2002, IIRC). Hopefully the name won't be lost on folk... Needless to say the approach of Halloween has prompted this, and whilst we won't even try to match the original beer, the recipe will be much the same (water & yeast excepted).

On the expansion front, things have started to move (slightly) again. Now that we have a Dave working here, we have a much clearer view of demand - we knew it was there, but now we can show it. This means we can approach funding from a wider range of sources, and although the bottling line is still firmly on hold (little real benefit finacially at present), a bigger plant is very much desired and needed.

In other news, the elusive Marsh Harrier re-appeared in early September, with 2 friends. Indeed there may have been a fourth - certainly we have seen one female and two males, and possibly a second female. Whether they had nested locally (Fowlmere?) or were just passing through on migration back to Asia we don't know, but it was to have seen them, albeit only for a few days. We have had our supposed Hobby confirmed by some RSPB-ists, and of late the Buzzards have been enjoying the September sunshine. In fact their calling overhead has given the place a feel of Tolkein's Middle Earth, or maybe we shouldn't have the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy over two nights the week. If I start seeing strange old men with beards, I'll let you know. What we are currently seeing though are Herons flying past (or more likely one with no sense of direction), and it is now open season with the Goldfinches - this morning I got a fly-by twittering from 30-40 of them, all looking very smart in the morning sun. Meanwhile our friendly Robin, who last year seemed happy to fly around in the office if allowed, has this year taken to landing on the roof, and singing into the ridge vents, thus creating the impression he is inside. He even whistles down the chimney into the copper when Catherine is inside it on cleaning duties. Oh how we laugh as we waste time looking for him, before realising his knavish little japes. Mind you, I blame the Pied Wagtails. They're never far away, and I'm sure they are egging him on....