Some of them were just old, but some of them were old and interesting. Actually, that's not quite correct - they were all old and interesting to me, but I suspect that I might be in a minority on that.
Monday 24 February 2014
One Person's Bric-a-brac Is Another Person's Treasure
A long drive from Leeds to Salisbury to visit the family, and a meal out to celebrate three generations of birthdays at a rural pub, yielded an unexpected collection of old bottles, not tucked away in a glass case, but out on the shelf in a corridor on the way to the toilets.
Some of them were just old, but some of them were old and interesting. Actually, that's not quite correct - they were all old and interesting to me, but I suspect that I might be in a minority on that.
Some of them were just old, but some of them were old and interesting. Actually, that's not quite correct - they were all old and interesting to me, but I suspect that I might be in a minority on that.
I'd pay a few bob for them.
ReplyDeletePerhaps unsurprisingly, you were one of the first people I thought of when I saw those Hardys
DeleteSome real treasures there but, from the photos and your description, not stored under ideal conditions. It might be worth your while making the pub an offer for some of the rarer ones, and then displaying them properly in your shop. Alternatively you could recoup some of the cost by holding a few comparative tasting evenings.
ReplyDeleteBack in my youth I collected bottled beers, but 20 years or so ago space considerations, plus pressure from my SO persuaded me to get rid of them. I gave them to a fellow collector, who later moved away, so heaven knows where they are now?
I wasn't that upset to see them go, and I think it does one good to let go of such things.
Funnily enough, I thought the opposite - that I had a few bottles that would brighten the collection up a bit. As you surmise, not stored very well, although if they were mine, I'd have drunk them by now
Deleteit reminds me of the time I saw a massive magnum of Samichlaus in a West Country pub just standing there, getting warm and oxidised. I could have wept.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's hardly the most elegant of beers to start with......
DeleteThey're all history in a bottle. Each bottle contains a multitude of back-stories placing them in time. Those stories include everything from farming, malting and brewing to branding, bottle manufacturing and labelling, to distribution, sales and why that particular bottle was kept and the beer never consumed.
ReplyDeleteYeah History Channel, all that socio-agro-industrial-economic history, it's all there in those bottles...
sometimes you can be surprised at how well these beers keep even when kept in poor conditions. Had a 35 year old Eldridge Pope Thomas Hardy variant a couple of years back that apparently had been kept on a windowsill for several years. It was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI've been collecting vintage bottles for quite a few years now. I love the story and history behind each and every one I acquire. Some I keep and simply adore and others I eventually open and share with friends. We opened a quart of Commonwealth Ale by Ind Coope and Allsopp a couple weeks ago for a friend's 60th birthday. It was brewed for the Coronation of QE2 in 53'. It also happened to be the same year as his conception. It was a great experience for all!
ReplyDeleteMake sure you have a bottle of lime cordial to hand if you open these up. If they are a bit past it, you can neck owt with lime cordial.
ReplyDelete