I know, "not another beer post?" they're saying. Well it has been awhile, and this did strike my funny bone!
First, last Feb. CJ posted this:
quote:No, for the record, there is no "Bulldog Drummond Beer." I made it up. I also made up "Hog's Butt 3972 Ale" which he didn't comment on so maybe there is such a thing. There are, after all, over 5,000 beers in the U.K. so maybe I got lucky and named one of them.
Now, fast forward to a few days ago. My assistant, knowing my new fondness for British ales, gave me a gift certificate to Chicago's best-known liquor store that carries a variety of beers and wines. So, I go there looking for bottle-conditioned beers British. I almost find CJ's "Hog's Butt!" It is called Salopian's "Entire Butt." We had quite a laugh over that one! Shufitz said, "Hon, would you like an "Entire Butt" tonight? The two runners up were RHC's "Ale Mary" and Cropton's "Monkman's Slaughter!" Remember, these are all bottle-conditioned, a rather small percentage of British beers. I wonder why their beer names are so funny!
Of course, with so many beers to name and their being the need to diferentiate, a plethora of names is inevitable.
There is quite a tradition of using punning or otherwise "clever" names when entitling Britsih beers and you can find out the names of most of the World's bottled beer here: http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/
Some examples: Ash Vine, Hop & Glory; Badger Brewery, Tanglefoot; Brakspear, Bee Sting; Bridge of Allan, Sporran Warmer; Daleside Brewery, Old Legover; Exmoor Ales Ltd, Exmoor Beast Strong Ale; Freeminer Brewery, Deep Shaft Stout; Gibbs Mew, The Bishop's Tipple; Harviestoun, Numbskull Ale; Itchen Valley, Fagins Bottle Conditioned...and that's only as far as the I's!
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
Well, this isn't so funny, but it is a beer word! Amongst the English ales we purchased, we bought a Yorkshire Ale, called "Riggwelter." They had a dictionary definition of "Riggwelter" right on the bottle!
"Riggwelter: from the Old Norse, rygg - back and velte - to overturn. When a sheep is on its back and cannot get up without help, local dales dialect says its rigged or riggwelted."
