Your old fat friend has been frolicking fiendishly in the beautiful City of Lichfield once again. I headed for this wonderful oasis where there are no less than 34 watering holes, but on this occasion favoured a new venue called the Hog’s Head. This is a Whitbread house and one of its attractions recently was an ale and cider festival. It boasted up to 50 ales and ciders from £1.50 a pint. Never one to miss a bargain, yours truly mosied on down to meet the new host. Young Nick was a jolly young fellow with a sense of humour that quite matches my own. This cheeky chappie and I had a delightful few days testing and tippling some tasty ales.
    I fully intended to give you all six of the best, but as you know, Old Fireglass always goes that little bit further, so here we go :

1. Everard’s Tiger Best Bitter with an ABV of 4.2% has a gentle aroma of malt, hops and fruit, which leads to a well-balanced palate and a dry finish. Being Everards, no Viagra was needed after this little tipple. In fact, my dear pirhana fish sent me down with a four-pint jug and a sick-note, stating that I was to stay in all the next day.
2. is Hook Norton Old Hookey. With an ABV of 4.6% this was full-bodied with a bitter, fruity and malty aftertaste well worth truanting for.
3. is Mackays Hopscotch. At 4.2% ABV this is a golden coloured ale with a strong hoppy aroma and an intense bitter taste. Hopscotch? It felt more like Leap-frog after a modest sampling of this lively brew.
4. is Morlands’ Old Speckled Hen: a big boy with an ABV of 5.2%; it is initially sweet, malty and fruity. With a dry hop-flavoured finish it certainly set me acrowing!
5. Another strong brew is Poole Hedgehog with an ABV of 5.2%. It’s a ruby red, full malt brew, friggle-hopped for bitterness. Caution is needed: it has quite a princely kick.
6. is Wychwood Old Devil, weighing in at 4.7% ABV: a bitter beer featuring honey, with a dry fruity finish. If I didn’t know better, I would think this was named after Old Fireglass himself!