Warwick University Real Ale Society 

I hope you're all having a great Summer so far, and you're all finding plenty of time in your undoubtedly busy schedules to fit in lots of good ale.  Just a reminder to keep a look out for ale festivals over the Summer, as there's nothing like sitting with a good pint of cask ale outside on a sunny day.

Of course there's the biggie; the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) at Earl's Court in London from Tuesday 3rd August to Saturday 7th.  With over 200 ales on offer, this is bound to be a good time.  For more details and beer list, go to http://gbbf.camra.org.uk/home.  Several society members will be there, including myself (Matt) and Jere.  Also, my personal recommendation is the Kingstone 1503; brewed to an authentic Tudor recipe.  It's a good beer that I've had bottled many a time, and I look forward to trying it cask, so there best be some left on Friday night when I get there.

Something a bit closer to uni for those of you still somewhere near the bubble is the Heart of Warwickshire real ale festival on Fridar 3rd and Saturday 4th September.  This festival will be held at Harbury, near Leamington.  Full details here: http://www.camrahow.org.uk/index.php?p=festival

And finally, just one more quick festival announcement (as it's one I always go to and really enjoy); the Worcester ale festival will be on from Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th August.  This is always a good festival, with a varied selection of ales including quite a number of speciality fruit ales if you're into that sort of thing.  Their website is down at the moment, but details can be found on the CAMRA website at http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=242449.

That's just about it for now.  I'll perhaps see some of you at upcoming festivals, but if not I'll see you bright eyed and bushy tailed for the start of another year drinking at university. 

We said at the beginning of the tour to make sure that Krakow forever remembered the name of Warwick Real Ale. I can safely say we carried out this task with ease (the hostel will certainly remember the complaints we lodged against them, but come on! No pots and pans??? No towels? What kind of outrageous establishment did those people think they were running?!) After touching down in Krakow in the late afternoon on Monday we hit a few pubs and one club, with all of us managing to make it safely back to the hostel in the early hours of the morning, even if one or two people were simply unable to drag themselves into the beds provided. The next day we took our alcohol consumption at a slow pace early on in the day, taking a SLIGHLTY eventful boat trip (Robbie) along the river and doing a bit of sightseeing before making our way to a guided pub crawl in the evening. Here we sampled a few too many vodkas and the greatest beer which Poland had to offer before moving onto another club. From then on only the photos which we somehow managed to take in our drunken state can tell us about the hilarious night which ensued! Once again some of us were too smashed to even make it into our beds, although who knows? Maybe the floor was just more comfortable! Wednesday was all about the sober up stage, curing those hangovers in the best way possible; MORE BEER! That eve we departed back to the UK, leaving Krakow trouble free at least until the same time next year.

People's experiences on this amazing tour have taught me a number of important things:

1. If it's a long walk between the club and the hostel, ensure you go to the toilet BEFORE you leave the club 

2. Punching someone in the stomach repeatedly does not help them throw up any easier 

3. If you want to impress a Polish girl, don't try and give them your empty wallet as a gift! 

4. The police don't take shit from drunken tourists

Good luck to the guys who go on tour next year, you have a lot to live up to!