Flaming Nora

Regular readers(*) will know I'm a laydee who likes a drop of real ale every now and then. If you didn't know, you can read more on me waxing lyrical about the merits of good beer here in Fancy a Fruity Blonde ? and I profess my love of beer here . And so, as you can imagine, I'm over the moon to discover there's a blog for girls just like me, it's called the Girl's Guide to Beer Blogspot, written by Melissa Cole, who has my dream job. She's a freelance beer writer and a Guild of Beer Writers committee member. (*)you lovely, lovely people.

I love beer, me. Mind you, I won’t say no to a glass of chilled white wine or a deep and sensuous red either. But when it comes a choice of drinks in a pub and that choice is between fizzy over-priced lager with an after-taste of gun metal, or some flowery, fruity real ale, I’ll go for a glass of proper beer every time. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) do their best to promote beer as a decent drink for us ladies but the image of the organisation is still, I’m sad to say, that of beer bellied fat men wearing sandals and smoking a pipe. Well, I can assure you dear reader that I’m neither fat nor a fella and I’m not wearing sandals today. As for the pipe, that only comes out on a weekend. So, where to start if you’re a beer virgin and you want to give it a go in a pub? Bars and pubs selling real ale offer a confusing array of beers with names that might as well be Ye Olde Sheepdip, Bathplug Liquor and so on and it’s hard to know what to try. My rule of thumb, and beer experts up and do...