After a tough morning eating pancakes (thanks Jay!) and watching Heidi run a half marathon (well done Boo!), we went off to meet the rest of Heidi’s running club, Team in Training. We were a little bit early, so had to find somewhere to shelter from the English weather I seem to have brought with me. The only place open near by was the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Taproom (oh, and a bakery, but the wisdom of the group decided on Taproom).

A perfect opportunity to start work on a bucket list item – learn to enjoy beer. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to order a flight of beers, and roped Heidi in to help me. I was looking forward to trying the best three or four beers the brewery had to offer. Little did I know, I’d ordered a flight of 8 – EIGHT – beers.

And what did I discover? That I’m still yet to really like beer. That there are a LOT of different kinds of beer, with different flavours, colours, consistancies. That I really don’t like the bitter taste most beers have. But I do like the darker, beers that have coffee/chocolate flavours. I actually enjoyed the People’s Porter, but not sure I could make it through a pint.

After trying all 8 beers (I was very proud of myself), and congratulating Heidi’s team member Tim on his 100th race, we all headed over to The Westend Tap. Another Taproom, another chance to work on my appreciation of beer. This time the barman, from Devon, UK, no less, suggested I try one of the popular fruit beers, so I had a Tied House Raspberry Wheat beer. Although I did like the raspberry flavour, it still had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, and after all the beer I’d had before, I felt quite full and so didn’t fully enjoy it.

Still a work in progress, but I’m definitely getting there. I’m enjoying trying something new, and can’t wait to find the one that converts me. Here’s to beer!