Warwickshire Avon - Innkeepers and Infundibuliforms

The works liquid lunch I instigated this week had many participants of both sexes willing to take a break from the screen for a while and enjoy this nice spell of weather we are having. Now the conversation turned risque rather too quickly for my liking especially as we don't know each other that well, still I suppose it got ones mind away from the mediocre pint.

It's amazing what a cellar dweller can muster up when he knows how to keep beer. In-fact post lockdown when the pubs were open the first port of call was one of the local pubs where dare I say it I cannot see how the beer can be kept any better.

A perfect pint poured every time, a perfect head that clings to the glass and a clarity every pub should try to replicate. What some pubs serve up is frankly embarrassing, vote with your feet I say, they will soon learn, but them maybe the likes of me are way down the pecking list to try to get bums on seats, beer gardens full.

Now at this particular establishment the landlord is front of house, pulling pints etc nut he is also the cellarman, now a cellarman is responsible for the duties involved with the fermentation cellar and all beer released to packaging. Wort is made in the brewhouse, but beer is made in the cellar. The quality of our beer can be greatly affected by the cellar processes.

Ensuring quality must be the primary focus to ensure the quality and integrity of our product. He is responsible for cleaning and sanitizing fermentation and conditioning tanks, as well as transferring beer from tank to tank, ensuring the beer is transferred slowly and in an aseptic manner. 

He is also responsible for monitoring the fermentation of beer, the cooling of fermenting and conditioning beer, and carbonating beer to the correct level. Cleans and sanitises product lines and other equipment as well as the general working environment in the cellar such as cleaning the floors, outsides of tanks, miscellaneous parts, floor drains, catwalks, filtration equipment, brewer’s office work area, cellar racks, and containers.

In addition, the cellarman is also responsible for checking dissolved oxygen of the beer, and any other task in the cellar that is deemed necessary. No job is too big or too small for the cellarman to complete. Slap dash shouldn't be applied here, if you fancy partaking in some beer keeping but are a little haphazard or cannot be bothered please don't bother, with declining pub numbers we need cellar men to be on-top of their game. 

Now this fishing lark I've been dabbling in for the last numbers of years I don't think I've ever been at the top of my game. But then I'm quite open about it, fishing for me is all about solitude and location rather than the fish size. Ok it's always nice when a specimen fish turns up out to the blue because it can transform a medicore sesssion in to a memorable one at a dip of the float, a quiver of, well a quiver stupid.

Whilst I was working my magic on all things CATIA I was pondering on where to fish the weekend and all of a sudden the 'bomb hole'  popped in to my head. Now I'd not fished this area for a while but with the river very shallow and clear indeed the depth of the 'bomb hole' should give a decent fish some sanctuary overhead at least.

Simple Chub rod tactics with a hunk of highly visible breadflake, nothing complicated, let the Chevin Chasing commence. I'd not caught a half decent one yet this season and I fancied a decent bend in the rod from probably my favourite river species.

Boy the river is clear but the first narrow band scan through of the 'bomb hole'  revealed some fish in residence. Despite using some rather large pieces of breadflake all that seemed to be around were roach, not big ones either but they decided that their mouths were man enough for bait.

I stuck with it though but after a few hours without a decent fish it was time for the off. What to fish for, where to go ?. Well I've got some maggots so maybe a Gudgeon session with Sam, hopefully they will be biting because I know where some nice ones hold up.