Where u from?

[jamesstew]

Minneapolis, Minnesota here. Good to know you James.

Back at ya, I used to work downtown (Target Corporate) and have many bad memories of standing outside in winter to have a smoke. The way the high-rise buildings channeled the wind made smoke-breaks outright misserable sometimes. Although where I work in Eagan now has a smoking area it is only semi-enclosed and still open to the elements. Furthermore I would feel like a criminal after walking down a long passageway to get there. Now I'm sitting at my desk with a portion of N&J and no one is the wiser.

I love the stuff, one of my favourites to have in winter. Spitfire isn't too bad, is it really popular over kent way? like on tap in almost every pub? I know its from there ... over here its Brains which is everywhere .. always sounds funny asking for a pint of Brains, sound like a bloody zombie.

I spent a lot of time as a kid in Wales and Cornwall as a child and always make a trip out west when I visit as my mother's family is from the area. I've had many a pint of Brains in Wales and St Austell in Cornwall as I like to drink locally while on vacation. The problem with getting Hobgoblin and other Wychwood beers here is they are often light-struck after sitting on shelves in the clear bottles. Fortunately there are a couple of places where I live in the US that serve proper real-ale from the cask.

Cheers.

[snusfather]

I grew up around Harrisburg Pennsylvania, moved arond a bit while in the Army and have settled (semi-permanently) in Illinois. Rock Island is part of the Quad Cities on the Missisippi River divideing Iowa from Illinois. At least we got an AHL team, the "Quad City Flames". Most of my family lives in Erie PA. and I have a brother in Cedar Rapids IA.

[Umran]

agree with Zero; Hobgoblin is lovely stuff. However I'm more partial to Spitfire (Kentish prejudice), but also really love TT's Landlord, Fuller's ESB (my first taste of beer, sips from my Dad's as a child)

I love the stuff, one of my favourites to have in winter. Spitfire isn't too bad, is it really popular over kent way? like on tap in almost every pub? I know its from there ... over here its Brains which is everywhere .. always sounds funny asking for a pint of Brains, sound like a bloody zombie.

[MN_Snuser]

Originally from the UK (county Kent), moved to Houston, Texas at 10 years old, moved to California (OC) at 12, settled in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) a couple of years back. I go back to the UK every couple of years, have to take advantage of my dual-citizenship, and agree with Zero; Hobgoblin is lovely stuff. However I'm more partial to Spitfire (Kentish prejudice), but also really love TT's Landlord, Fuller's ESB (my first taste of beer, sips from my Dad's as a child) and others to numerous to mention.

Minneapolis, Minnesota here. Good to know you James.

[jamesstew]

Originally from the UK (county Kent), moved to Houston, Texas at 10 years old, moved to California (OC) at 12, settled in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) a couple of years back. I go back to the UK every couple of years, have to take advantage of my dual-citizenship, and agree with Zero; Hobgoblin is lovely stuff. However I'm more partial to Spitfire (Kentish prejudice), but also really love TT's Landlord, Fuller's ESB (my first taste of beer, sips from my Dad's as a child) and others to numerous to mention.

[Starcadia]

Born in Sweden, grew up in the USA, currently in Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C.

[Zero]

Wales ... where the men are men and the sheep are nervous, eh boyo?

:lol: love your av, man - Hobgoblin is a delicious ale 8)

[Schweinebub]

I am from Germany originally and lived there the first 25 years of my life. About one and a half years ago I moved to California. Winter without having to worry about snow or ice is great. :wink:

[Umran]

Wales ... where the men are men and the sheep are nervous, eh boyo?

[Knoxboxen]

Norway

[Svarthvitt]

Norway, of course.

[Sjulimann]

Norway here, and its ****ing hot around the capital theese days...

[bruno]

Well, to be fair, as an outsider who has lived over the past three years in the UK, one whom finds the BNP and UKIP equally distasteful, I have to say that Craig's summary isn't really that far off. Whomever the blame may rest on, the UK is going down the bloody toilet. There's lots to love about her, no doubt, but, there's also no escaping the fact that there is a serious devolution of social and moral stature going on here. The BNP would simply blame foreigners for everything while the reality is probably something more...systemic. :?

Well aren't you both rays of sunshine Maybe I'm just an optimist but every generation says 'society is going down the toilet' so much so its become cliché.

Yes that true, every generation says that. But this does not mean it is always false. Look at any big empire of the past ... Now I don't want make down your optimism. The situation is different: mondialisation, the rise of internet, the spreading of snus ...

Talking about "snus" ... I'm not so sure we can be so optimistic right now. It is obvious that snus is a successful harm reduction product. Even if snusing was as dangerous as smoking for the consumer, it would be an harm reduction for the neighborhood of the consumer, and should be encouraged on that base alone. But the available evidences are that snusing is already a powerful harm reduction for the consumer.
How could we be against harm reduction? It is like forbidden security belts in cars because a security belt does not guaranty 100% security. It is weird.
I'm afraid that those who are against all form of tobacco consumption are a bit of a fundamentalist. Quit or die. By definition, for them, tobacco is bad. So if you find a way to consume tobacco without dying, it means you are cheating. If you like tobacco, you deserve to die, apparently, for them. Many says it could also be a strategy developed by the big pharmaceutical industry. After all most pharmaceutical nicotine products are more expensive than snus. Gosh! An objective alliance between big money and fundamentalism ... Brrrr ...
Got nervous ... about time to take a good snus under the lip :wink:

[bruno]

Bruno, can I come visiit? Your lovely country has the best beer in the world!

You are welcome. We have good beers, and we have *many* sort of beer. If only we could have as much sort of snus ...

[sagedil]

Well, to be fair, as an outsider who has lived over the past three years in the UK, one whom finds the BNP and UKIP equally distasteful, I have to say that Craig's summary isn't really that far off. Whomever the blame may rest on, the UK is going down the bloody toilet. There's lots to love about her, no doubt, but, there's also no escaping the fact that there is a serious devolution of social and moral stature going on here. The BNP would simply blame foreigners for everything while the reality is probably something more...systemic. :?

Just curious about what you think of the direction of the Conservative Party.

I am an outsider, and have little context, but what I have seen lately, they have been impressing me. I have read Andrew Sullivan for 4 years now, and I know he is very favorable about the direction they are taking. Just curious as to your reaction.