an accidental gathering

One thing I like about following 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die is that while the acquisition of many beers that are listed in the book requires hunting, hustling and harassing, plenty of others are just there, available everywhere. Like Fuller’s ESB. I drank it last Monday. Met The Gorgeous Blond after work at the Porter and Sons resto-bar in Tel Aviv, to belatedly celebrate her birthday. There are 50 beers on tap at the Porter and about 70 different bottles. I fancied something relatively light, compared to the wintery Belgian ales that grace the menu, and opted for the ESB, the first beer that The Secret Agent and I write about in our Hebrew blog.

Beer arrived at the table and my note-taking amused The Gorgeous Blond enough to take out her android and shoot:

note the unrelated coaster: that's the new HaDubim Brewery coaster that was immediately added to my collection.

Fuller’s ESB was served with a big white head on top of the clear dark ruby-coloured liquid. It has a grainy aroma with very faint hnts of honey and fruity hoppiness. Honey is faintly apparent in its taste, along with light bitterness. The light-to-medium body properly held the rich and balanced goodness.

Look at this beauty

photos by Ophira Strenberg.

 After dinner we split. The gorgeous Blond took a bus to the southern town where she crashes til she moves back to the city, I took a bus to my neighbourhood, transferred my notes to ratebeer and moved on. Then, yesterday, The Secret Agent and I opened the 1001 Beers book. Secret Parents-In-Law are visiting the family in California and were kind enough to agree to bring us a couple of bottles. We flipped through the book, looking for not-too-obscure craft beers, when I accidentally opened page 129 and saw Fuller’s ESB’s entry. So here it is then, Beer #14 I must try before I die, effortlessly gathered in one of Tel Aviv’s nicest bars/ restaurants.