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Hinckley and Bosworth Sub Branch, Advance Foreign Trip Party to Far off Beer Festival Locations to see if it's worth a visit for the branch (somebody has to do it) Group

On Thursday 19^th April 2007 a sub group, Steve Colbourne, Bill Smith, Tim Brotherhood and Phill Wholton (plus four non members) of the sub branch boarded a very early flight from Stansted Airport to Tallinn. After a two and half hour flight we touched down to a modern and expanding airport. I think they are hoping to take more than two planes at once. A taxi was caught and delivered us to a fine hotel, situated a five minute walk from the bustling old town centre.

As this was a purely research trip it did not take long to unpack, and find our bearings from the first bar we found having obtained the obligatory literature from the tourist information centre.

  We were treated to our first Talonian beer  A Le Coq out of a bottle which cost roughly £2.50. We studied the map and proceeded to another bar which was much cheaper and served draught beer at a cheaper price. It also goes without saying that we were peckish so we had Garlic Bread with everything. The rest of this day became a bit of a blur as they do not tend to put the strength of the beer on the beer taps.

The following morning after a brisk clear the air walk and bus trip, we realized that it was cold and we had not yet had our daily alcohol intake so with the guidance of our master map reader, Bill we made for the Hell Hunt pub

To our surprise it felt like home as they were serving draught Bass and Newcastle Brown. After a sample of their fine ale! and food it was time to move on to another drinking establishment called the Karia Kelder, where they served the other local brew called Saku.

After more consumption the night again became a blur.

On our travels we found out that there is a beer festival in Tallinn, 4^th to 8th July this year. Is it possible that a formal branch outing could be arranged along with a brewery trip?

I am sure that there is a lot more that I could write and tell but the only connection it has to do with beer is that we drank it, and lots of it

As you can see from this picture they serve it in man size glasses. Some people as you can see managed two glasses at a time.

After four days of research it was time to jet back home and try a real pint of beer at The Plough. Boy did it taste good after all of that gassy stuff they call beer.

Photos & words by Phill Wholton

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