Who were the best British comedy actors of television and movie fame and why

There’s no doubt about it, British comedians are amongst the best in the world. In Australia we have been delighting in some of the best humour they have served up on the small screen for the past 50 years. The British sense of humour seems to be most akin to our own and we love the same sort of characters. In this article I will identify those whom I consider to be amongst the best of the British comedians and comedy actors of the small and large screen. I also intend to do separate articles listing some of the best from Australia and the USA.

The first I will mention is Rowan Atkinson, probably best known and loved as Mr Bean – that crazy character who is like a child in an adult’s body and gets into all manner of strife – with his most recognizable props being his lime-green Mini and his brown knitted teddy bear with the button eyes.

Then there’s Michael Crawford – also a gifted tenor – but known to many as the incredibly absurd sitcom character, Frank Spencer who causes major calamities wherever he goes. He is a similar character to Mr Bean except that he has a lot more to say. When one thinks of Frank Spencer, they are likely to picture him in his trademark trench coat and beret, wearing one of his many idiotic facial expressions – along with an equally comical mannerism and saying in his characteristically daft way, “Oooh! Betty!”

Another outstanding British comedy actor is John Cleese, best-known as the obnoxious Basil Fawlty from the classic sitcom, “Fawlty Towers”. Although there were only 12 episodes ever made, this program and its main character are amongst the most enduringly successful of British comedy acts. As with Mr Bean and Frank Spencer, one’s sides are almost split time and again by the incredible situations Basil blunders his way into in ever-snowballing fashion .

A female comedy actor who has a very well-known alter-ego too is Patricia Routledge, who of course played the infuriating, pretentiously snobbish Hyacinth Bucket, who insisted her surname be pronounced “Bouquet”, drove her poor husband and neighbour almost to distraction and was simply mortified by the scandalous behaviour of her “shabby relations”.

Then there’s Dawn French, best-known for her role as Geraldine Grainger, the lead character in “The Vicar of Dibley”. She plays a very human, liberal and even somewhat bawdy female vicar with a great sense of humour and a great weakness for chocolate.

John Inman is one of my favourites in the role

Beer reviews: Jenlain Ambree Biere de Garde

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, France is not a country that one would immediately associate with beer, but they do brew it. Granted, not in the quantity of choice and most definitely not in the quality, of the neighbouring countries of Belgium and Germany, but brew it they do. And since I was holidaying in France in September, it would have been churlish, not to say downright un-francophile of me not to sample as many French beers as was humanly possible in that short space of time. (Always maintaining a responsible attitude to alcohol consumption at all times. OK kids?)

So without further ado, let’s discuss one of these Gallic imbibements, Jenlain Ambree Biere de Garde, right here, right now.

Duyck is a family name from the part of Flanders which extends into France. The farmhouse-style brewery that bears this name is located just across the border from Belgium, in the village of Jenlain, near the town of Valencienes. Their best known beer is the biere de garde which they have been brewing since 1922, in fact they kept this style alive when many other brewers in the region were abandoning it. They also brew a lager style beer and seasonal specialities.

Jenlain Ambree Biere de Garde comes in a 750ml wine-style bottle with a wired, champagne type cork. It looks, to all intents and purposes like a bottle of wine, but it’s not. This review would be off topic if it were.

It’s brewed with top-fermenting yeast and is unpasteurized.

I decided to try this beer as Jenlain Lager is available at my local supermarket and, having sampled that a few times, and enjoyed it, I felt duty-bound to investigate it’s amber cousin.

This beer pours to an attractive, rosy, amber colour with lots of carbonation and a massive, bubbly head which dissipates fairly quickly. It doesn’t leave an awful lot of lace on the glass. There’s a hoppy, fruity, tea-like aroma and it’s also somewhat fruity, mostly apples. I don’t really sense a lot of malt in the nose.

It’s full-bodied with a light, syrupy start, some gentle malt flavour – but nothing which demanded attention, and some fruitiness – apples with a hint of orange. It has a strange flavour, a little sweet and spicy and an artificial fruitiness – almost like a food additive flavour. It’s not unpleasant, just very hard to define. It turns very dry in the finish with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

At 6.5% ABV, this beer packs a decent punch. I found it rather too bitter for my taste but it was still a pleasant, refreshing beer. It’s not really a beer that would accompany many foods, in my opinion, more of a summer evening’s indulgence. I think it would be a good, refreshing, thirst quencher after a hard day’s work – whatever that is.

Best German restaurants in New York City

With all the German restaurants that New York City has to offer, it can be hard to decide where to eat. Here are three of the best German restaurants in New York City.

Heidelberg Restaurant

The Heidelberg restaurant has been in business since 1936. They offer excellent German food and great beer. Enjoy Octoberfest specials such as Filet Stroganoff with rice and red cabbage or Sauerkraut Goulash, all year long.

Brunch is served between 12 and 4pm with Potato pancake and smoked Salmon-sour cream and capers as one of the choices. Lunch specials, soup and sandwiches and entrees are available Monday thru Saturday 11:30am to 3:30 pm. For dinner enjoy an appetizer of baked Camembert cheese, the soup of the day, followed by a delicious entre of Bratwurst, Potato pancakes or Schweineshaxe (roasted pork shank with sauerkraut and boiled potato), to name a few.

Finish off with a desert and your favorite non alcoholic beverage or German beer. Expect to spend between $10 to $20 dollars per entre. Take out is also available.

Heidelberg Restaurant is located at 1648 2nd Ave., New York, NY. 10028. (212) 628-2332.

Silver Swan

The Silver Swan is open daily between 12pm and 11pm. Appetizers include Ochsenmaul salad, Mushroom toast and duck plate with truffles, each for a price of $8.95. Enjoy a warm soup bowl of lentil, Pea or Barley soup, Goulash or Chicken Consomme with dumplings. Each priced between $4 and $7 dollars a bowl.

Cucumber, German potato and pickled red beets, are a few of the available salads. Sausages include Jagerwurst and Weisswurst, among others. Have Muscoy duck or roast chicken or turkey.

There are many entre’s to choose from including Roast pork, German meatloaf, Sauerbraten and much more. Entre’s range between $14 and $25 dollars each. Enjoy a Schnitzel plate of Paprika Schnitzel or Rahmschnitzel to name a few. Apple Strudel, cheesecake and Rote Grutze with vanilla sauce are a few desserts to pick from. Don’t forget about the old world bar and very large beer selection.

The Silver Swan is located at 41 E. 20th Street, New York, NY. 10003. (212) 254-3611

Hallo Berlin

Hallo Berlin has a full at of imported German draft and bottled beers and special imported beer such as Schneider Weiss beer and October Fest beer. Along with beer, all kinds of soda and beverages are available.

Enjoy appetizers such as Roll mops (stuffed marinated herring), cucumber and string bean salad and a jumbo German pretzel. Have fresh soup of Split Pea, Lentil, Deal potato, White bean, Cauliflower and chicken vegetable. All soups are made daily.

There are many choices of sausages, sandwiches, lunch specials, German fish dishes and lunch and dinner plates, as well as dessert. Try a plate of Two Roll Mops (vegetable stuffed marinated herring), Koenigsberge Klopse (white meatballs with mashed potatoes, caper sauce, red cabbage and wine sauerkraut or Jaeger schnitzel (huntersteak with spaetzle). For desert have a slice of German cheesecake, Black Forest cake or Apfelstrudel with a scoop of ice cream. Expect to spend around $20 dollars per entre.

Hallo Berlin is located at 626 Tenth Ave., New York, NY. 10036. (212) 977-1944

You Must Try German Wines

It’s true that for some, Germany may be better known for its beer than its wines.  And in some ways those people may be right – German beer is well-known among those who love beer and those consider it to be the BMW of brew, no pun intended.  However, the beautiful weather along the Rhine River and breathtaking regions of Germany make it prime for wine production, and the truth is that German wines are some of the finest in the world.  Germany is the ninth largest wine producer in the world, and makes some 1.2 billion bottles annually.  This is despite the fact that German vineyards take up less then one-tenth the area of the vineyards of France, Spain, or Italy.

German beer is known for being thick and hearty, and German wines are not very different.  They are typically a bit drier and less fruity than most other wines produced; they also have a higher acid content.  Reisling is the most popular wine produced, although the cheaper table wine of Liebfraumilch is also a favorite of those who want a hearty wine while watching their budget.  This is one of the few wines of Germany that is mass-produced; the rest are typically produced very painstakingly.

Because of the climate of the country, red wines are difficult to produce, so most of the darkest of the German wines are typically blush or rose.  There are however some very high quality pinot noir wines, and other varieties of red wine, that are produced in the country, and they are often considered some of the best in the world.

While Germany is somewhat limited in the types of grapes that can be made for German wines, the biggest problem that seems to be presented from the land is the steep elevations that make it almost impossible to harvest those grapes mechanically.  Most German vineyards still are harvested manually.  Most winemakers do not hesitate to continue this tradition, as they are used to the hard work and labor that is needed to produce the best of wines.

The Germans have never been ones to shy away from the hard work also needed to consistently improve their product.  German wines are no different.  The plantings of grapes for red wines has seen an upsurge in some years, and then a downturn in others, all in response to customer demands for better and more exotic tasting wines.  Germans are not to be put off by how difficult it is to grow the wide variety of grapes that are needed for the varieties of wines that the world loves.

So it seems that while Germany may also be known for its beer and polka, there’s no doubt that its wines deserve just as many accolades as its fermented cousin.  While you may not want to try to order some at Oktoberfest, a celebration typically reserved to celebrate beer brewing, you may very well want to try some German wines the next time you have the chance.

The best breweries based in and around Denver, Colorado

If you are a real true beer lover, coming to the Mile High City must be like going to beer heaven. Colorado is the micro-brewery capital of he world. There are way more good beers and breweries than you can visit and taste all their different brews. It is almost as good as going to Octoberfest in Munich, One of the breweries actually sponsors a “Beerdrinker of the Year” Competition every year. According to the Beer Institute, Colorado ranks number one in terms of gross beer production. In 2006, Colorado produced 23,370,848 barrels of beer. It also ranked third in the country in the volume of brew pubs. Colorado is home to 4 of the top 50 breweries in the nation. There are 92 breweries in Colorado so no matter what your little heart desires, it is hear somewhere.

Coors Brewing Company in Golden is a regional division of the worlds fifth largest brewing comapany and of the third largest brewer in the United States. The Coors Brewery in Golden is the largest on a single site. Coors was established in 1873 by Adolph Coors and others. One thing, you won’t find any Clydesdales around Coors. They use Pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water in their beers. LOL They produce 8 different beers currently. My favorite is Killians Irish Red. Coors is sold nationally now but for years you could only get it in Colorado. When I was a kid growing up in Nebraska, a six pack of Coors was like liquid gold. Bootleg Coors was a profitable business.

Anheuser-Busch or Budweiser has a big brewery just north of Ft Collins right along I-25. Like Coors, they offer very interesting tours of the plant and if you are 21 you can go to a tasting room and have a couple of samples of their various different brews. They are now making some pretty good small batch microbrews.

New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins makes some good beers. Among them is Fat Tire which is sort of the in beers around Denver. New Belgium is unique in that it is the first wind powered brewery in the U.S. and currently the largest in the world. They started in 1991 and have grown steadily. I get a kick out of their delivery trucks that all have a sign on the back that says, “Contents Under PLEASURE”.

Another unique brewery is up I-70 to the west a ways at Dillon. It is the Dillon Dam Brewery and they say they have the “Best DAM Beer in the State” It is a pub and restaurant and is one of the largest brew pubs in the nation. They serve handcraftedl agers and ales and root beer. They brew about 2000 barrels a year. They say that

Does it matter if your beer is American brewed? – Part 3

The first sip of an ice cold beer can be the most refreshing moment of the day. There is far more to appreciating a good beer than most people realize. American beers on the whole are accessible and often cost less than other varieties, and there is much to be said for the crisp patriotic taste of American beers.

However, if you want to really sit down and enjoy a full-bodied beer with character, many beers from around the globe have a lot to offer. If Anheuser-Busch were purchased by a Belgian company, it seems this would be a perfect marriage of quality, variety, taste, and accessibility.

I find that there are many layers of taste to choose from. You may find that dark beers are bitter, or that lighter beers may taste more of citrus. Some taste of wheat, others taste of barley. Some beers have an aftertaste that is wonderful, and some have an aftertaste that you may not want. There are beers of all flavors these days. When you try different types, you may be surprised that what you find yourself enjoying the most are beers you never would have thought of trying. It is always a simple matter of taste and preference.

Some of my favorite beers are European, because they have full flavor and are excellent for sipping for the enjoyment of the taste. The key is to not choose a beer based on price or simply in order to drink a lot of them. A good beer is a good beer, and has a spectrum of qualities that are unique, whether it came from Belgium or the United States. If the brewer of your favorite beer is the best at what they do, that will be your favorite beer for a long time to come.

Overall, I would encourage people to reach for a good American beer, because it definitely supports our nations economy. Some people feel that American beers seem to have a “watered down” taste to them, especially if you are used to thicker and fuller beers. It’s important to remember that there are many varieties to choose from, and if you look outside the box, you can discover new and exciting ways to enjoy a quality beer. But even so, we should not forget about delicious beers that come from around the world. With the merge of an American company like Anheuser-Busch and the legacy of Belgiums expertise in the beer brewing industry, we could enjoy the best of both worlds.

Beer reviews: Carling Lager

Remember those adverts on the telly? The ones where the buxom blond barmaid leans over the bar, displaying her ample assets for easy ogling by a completely male clientele in a dingy, smoky pub, then smiles sweetly as the order is shouted, “Hey, Mabel!, Black Label!”

Mabel didn’t have a speaking part, but at the end of the commercial, she gave the TV viewers a friendly wink (quick spell check – yep, that’s wink).

You don’t remember?

Well you wouldn’t. Unless you’re of an age that as a youngster, you thought feminism was some sort of kinky game where you dressed up in your mother’s clothes (or was that just me!) – and you watched these ads in glorious monochrome. It didn’t matter that the Carling* logo was black on white – the TV only had one other colour anyway…..grey.

But that was long ago and advertising trends have changed. Nowadays, apart from sponsoring just about every sporting event imaginable, one of their better known catch-phrases is: “I bet he drinks Carling”. (Don’t put your mortgage on it.)

* The Black Label name has been dropped and now the beer is known simply as Carling.

You’re wondering why I’m prattling on about advertising, right? Well try doing a search for this beer and you’ll be bombarded with trivia about ad campaigns. Even the official website drones on about marketing. Try and find out which hops and malt they use, any special brewing techniques employed, or even, heaven forfend, what the stuff tastes like and you’re in for a disappointment.

Carling used to be part of Bass before becoming part of Interbrew before becoming part of Coors UK. Naturally, in South Africa, Carling is brewed by SAB who own Miller. While in Canada, it comes under the Molson flagship.

So you can see it’s a beer that has a strong independent identity…..

With such a huge marketing presence, it comes as no shock to learn that Carling is the UK’s best-selling beer – accounting for 1 in every 5 pints of lager sold. In supermarkets and off-licences 1 in every 8 cans or bottles of lager sold is Carling. So it would seem that variety is NOT the spice of life.

THEY SAY: “Carling is skilfully brewed using lightly kilned British malts, aromatic hops and Carling’s unique yeast to create a malty, sweet flavour, balanced with a hoppy ‘clean flavoured’ bitterness, and the aroma of freshly harvested grain – cool, crisp and superbly refreshing.”

Carling pours a bright and clear, golden yellow colour with a pure white crown of foam that very quickly collapses into

Taste The Best Beer In Town

For people who brew beer at home, a packaged beer making kit is the right choice. As long as your kit has the four ingredients needed to make beer, then you can have a finished product within seven to 10 days. You can also purchase beer-making kits online. Beer-Wine.com is one of the most popular online sites where you can get complete beer making kits needed for brewing beer at home. From beer making equipments to brewing grains and bottling supplies and so on, this online company gives you a wide array of choices where you can build your beer making kit from scratch.

Get you Personalized Kit:

Beer making kits come with an instructional book that guides you through the process of brewing beer at home. A normal beer making kit comes with: a 6.5-gallon primary fermenter with lock and lid, an adhesive thermometer, a bottle filler, a hydrometer, a bottle brush and more. In addition to this, you will need a large boiling pot and two cases of 12 oz. bottles.

Beer making kits come in wide varieties. Depending on your interest and the kind of money you want to spend, you can go for a deluxe beer making kit, ultimate beer making kits, ingredient kits and more. For more information on selecting ingredient kits, you can check out the online catalogue of Beer-Wine.com. Of all the beer making kits available in the market, the premium gold beer making kits are the best in the market. They have all the necessary ingredients to make beer of remarkable quality. The unique blend of brewing hops and special cultured yeast is used to make crystal clear beer. The premium gold kits produce six gallons of beer and 23 gallons of highly distinctive ales.

The whole process of brewing beer and ales is not new. In fact, the Germans introduced a law prohibiting the use of any ingredients other than the four raw materials. However, as markets for beer expanded, this law was abolished by the European Economic Community (EEC) to promote free trade and also to preserve beer. With more competition, cheaper varieties were used in the brewing process. To live up to the authentic and traditional spirit of making beer, the premium gold range kit was introduced for making the finest quality beer. Connoisseurs Range was also introduced to make strong beers that feature different beer styles from around the globe.

So if you want the real, memorable taste of beer, then go for authentic beer making kits that will give you the finest and best quality beer at home—a standard which even international markets cannot reach.

A beginners guide to the different types of beer

Beer is one of the most common of all the drinks in the world and is consumed by almost every country in the world. So how many different kind of beer are there. Larger and Bitter, pilsner as well. No loads and loads and being as more time is spent on talking about wine than is ever spent talking about beer I will start by trying to classify them all in some kind of order. Now the other thing to know is that you ether have top fermenting beer or bottom fermenting beer. What does that mean I do not know but a top fermenting beer is ale and a bottom fermenting beer is a Larger. As far as I can tell, it is something to do with ware the bubbles come from when either it is fermenting from the bottom or it bubbles at the top. A top fermenting beer is a more complex flavor and a bottom fermenting beer is a cleaner tasting beer.

So lets start with the beer of my home country , the United Kingdom.

Bitter, English and Wales make this. Dry, hoopy beer that is what I was raised on.

Brown Ale, sweet, mild ale England, France and Belgium make a version of them.

IPA Indian pale Ale, the British Empire had to take a beer with them and by ship so this was the one that was made.

Honey Beer. This form of traditional beer is making something of a come back. It is not unpleasant but rather sweet as you can image.

Light Ale, Low Gravity beer, just the weakest brew.

Mild. A low gravity beer that was the drink of the workers.The thing used to be with mild that all the other beers used to be filter back in to the mild in the good old days so at the end of the week you could be drinking best bitter almost.

Old Ale, strong mature rich, and dark, you do not get this much nowadays.

Pale Ale, English bottle beer that is stronger than light ale.

Porter. A brown mild ale, heavily malted, My favorite of all the dark beers.

Scotch Ale. Normally maltier than the English ale.

Stout. Dark , black brew heavily hopped, roasted barley the classic must be Guinness.Also Guinness comes from Ireland and not the united kingdom. But we have milk stout, sweet stout, oat meal stout, Oyster stout and Imperial stout.

Barley Wine. Syrupy strong brews.

Then you get beer from around the world. I know that there are many and most of them vary from town to town and place to place but this is a list of just a few of them .

Abbey beers. From Belgium strong and fruity. Belgium has a lot of beers. People think of Germany when you think of beer but Belgium

Favorite beers – Part 2

One “tops” beer is tough to pick. Please do not ever force me to narrow my favorites to one.

While I am a discerning beer lover, if it is an ale (not a lager) and makes a nice head, I will ingest its bubbly goodness. That said, here are my preferred ales:

Pyramid Hefeweizen

www.pyramidbrew.com

Launched from the U.S.A.’s Great Northwest, this beer is one of the best from the microbrew boom. With its come-hither head, Pyramid Hefeweizen invites quaff upon quaff. You will usually see it served with a lemon wedge. Try it without – the way the Germans would drink a hefeweizen. This excellent beer is best enjoyed by itself, or with a nice grilled salmon fillet.

Schneider-Weisse Edel-Weisse

www.schneider-weisse.de

In a world awash in wheat beers, this one bests the rest. Brewed in hefeweizen’s birthplace – Bavaria – Edel-Weisse is the best tasting “helles” (pale) wheat beer. Pour the beer into a tall glass and hold it up to light, and what you will see is far from pale, lifeless. No other hefeweizen has as much “going on” as Edel-Weisse.

High & Mighty Beer of the Gods

www.highandmightybrewing.com

Brewed in Holyoke, Massachusetts, this beer has no peer. Words truly do it no justice, but I shall try. All I can say is I find it not unlike a hoppy pale ale, but with something special – a little, lovable “value added benefit”. You might take it in with a spicy dish, or on its own.

Maudite

www.unibroue.com

Montreal’s Unibroue brewery makes a range of excellent – “Belgian-esque” – ales. Of them, the dark wheat Maudite is my favorite. A little heavy to be consumed in mass quantities, this ale “goes down well” with a range of hearty dishes, or as dessert.

Jenlain Blonde

(no company webpage found)

In late-2006, I found Jenlain Blonde – rather, it found me! Normally, I do not choose beers called “blonde”, but at my local beer bar (The Dirty Truth Beer Hall, Northampton, MA) one night, that changed. I asked the bartender what draft of the establishment’s forty she would select for me. She recommended Jenlain Blonde. I acquiesced and was soon quite glad. Originating in France, Jenlain Blonde “reads” like a pale Belgian ale. I found it sweet, but not syrupy – with a lasting, white head. If Jenlain Blonde finds you, buy it! Drink it (responsibly, of course) – unaccompanied, or with a light meal.

For more on these fine ales, visit the breweries’ webpages.

Cheers!

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