Oz And James' Big Beer Adventure

Not since the late Michael Jackson's The Beer Hunter, have we had a decent television series in the UK about beer. Dom Joly tried to feature beer in his Happy Hour series but only ended up with a piece of car crash television as he got drunk and unintentionally insulted Daisy in 't Brugs Beertje.

Now though, something decent might be afoot, as James May and Oz Clarke are currently filming around Britain, visiting pubs and seeking out the perfect pint. At the weekend they visited the famous Stalybridge Buffet Bar, and it looked like a fantastic time was had by all.

Oz is a serious drinks journalist, and James will be trying his damnedest to show him that beer is every bit as good as wine. I think though having read and heard Oz's opinions on the matter, that he is a big beer fan anyway, so the series should be a relatively serious study of our favourite beverage.

The series is due to air in October, and I for one, am looking forward to it.

Television's Top Pubs

The Guardian TV and Radio blog today has an article about TV's top 10 bars and pubs. It's a list which is bound to meet with plenty of dissent. For my part there should certainly be a place for The Jockey from Shameless and, my number one, The Grapes from Early Doors.

Whilst considering this list it made me realise how unrealistic pubs are on television programmes. I mean everybody drinks in them, from your real heavy drinkers like Frank Gallagher down to your sherry supping posh old ladies like Emily Bishop. I'm not sure many ladies of her ilk really are regulars in back street corner boozers, yet she's in there every night the old minx.

Of course television isn't really life as we know it, and television pubs even less so, but I do enjoy playing spot the pumpclip. I spied Westerham Grasshopper on The Apprentice this week. That's a beer I've never had, so does spotting it on TV count as a tick? I do hope so!

The Roughest Pub On TV

Shame on you if you live in the UK and don't watch Shameless. This tale of socially inept residents of a Manchester council estate is now in its fifth series, and unlike most series of its kind, is not showing any signs of getting tired and lacking longevity.

Like a lot of British television series much of the action takes place in the local pub. In this case it's The Jockey which is without doubt the roughest pub in British television. It's almost unheard of not to buy drugs with each pint; the pub is currently run by a murderer and his wife who previously slept with the man who later became her step-father; and all out brawls are par for the course.

Yet in spite of all this, the bar is adorned with three handpumps. I have never seen anybody drink beer though from these engines which are currently serving Adnams Old Ale (two pumps), and Wells & Young Bombardier. I am not sure why the otherwise accurate depiction of a rough estate pub has these beers (and there is no way Adnams Old would be on), but I can forgive it as it's such wonderful entertainment.