Ted has a hair of the dog

No not literally... “hair of the dog” is supposedly a hangover cure. It means having a “little” more alcohol, which of course gave you the hangover in the first place, but this time with the aim of lessening the effects of the hangover … the jury is still out on whether it really works or just makes you feel better about your hangover.

Beer, it seems, is widely prescribed as the best hair of the dog. Beer or ale is probably the oldest beverage we humans have produced, although we may not really be able to claim to have "invented" it. It seems that almost any cereal containing the right natural sugars can undergo fermentation all by itself due to all that wild yeast floating in the air everywhere. So beer probably started becoming part of everyday life, along with bread, as soon as we had domesticated cereals and created tankards.

In the Middle Ages brewing beer turned dodgy undrinkable water into something safe to drink, and thus it has been consumed by all social classes in Europe for centuries. Fast forward to (what else!) the industrial revolution and the technology to produce and distribute large volumes. More than 35 billion gallons (133 billion litres) of beer worth $295 billion are now sold each year.

The fastest growing sector globally is “craft” or “artisanal” beers - a range of hand crafted beer using a variety of different ingredients and hops from all around the world to produce different styles from lagers through ales, porters, and stouts, many of them small batch and “one off” offerings to be savoured.

In anticipation of needing a small supply of “cleansing craft ale” (aka hair of the dog) post New Year’s celebrations, I headed off to see Jen and Glenn at their not long opened store, Hop, Burns & Black in Peckham. They really know their stuff and the store is full of a variety of tasty craft beers (Hop), a selection of hot sauces and chilli products (Burns), and a small but perfectly formed collection of real vinyl records (Black).

Peckham was hailed last year as the most up and coming, funky, arty, and generally laid back neighbourhood in London, with loads of great things to do, see, eat, and drink, so next time you’re in the vicinity drop in to HB&B and get crafty.