RICHARD CATTON suggests three international beers to summon up warmer times abroad.

THE last time I stood in for your regular Pints of View columnist, I was looking forward to what promised to be the hottest weekend of the year.

With this in mind, I decided to recommend a few bottled beers which I thought would go well with the thousands of back garden barbecues I anticipated would take place that very Saturday.

That was in May. The hottest day of the year came and went and unfortunately, it seems, so did our summer.

Indeed it is now August and on the way to work this week I have to confess I put the heater on in my car to take the chill out of the air.

One colleague, having returned from two weeks in Corfu, said the wet Yorkshire weather was more then she could stand and longed to be back in the Mediterranean sun.

And so it is for readers, who have returned from your summer holidays this week to a near autumnal North Yorkshire, that I dedicate this week’s column.

I have chosen three beers from around the world which I hope will take you back to the beach bar or the pool side paradise.

Pack your bags and let’s go. First stop is South America, where we are greeted by Desperado (okay, so it’s brewed in France), a lager infused with the taste of tequila. This has been growing in popularity in bars and clubs all over Europe and it comes in a generous 660ml bottle.

This is a pale lager and the first glug reveals a strong hint of lime. It goes down easy enough and was a big hit with the missus too. There was just something I couldn’t quite put my finger on which was troubling me about Desperado, then it hit me – this was shandy. Strong shandy at 5.9 per cent, but shandy nonetheless.

Back on the aeroplane and on to our next exotic location – Vietnam – where we head Hue City, home of the Hue Brewery, home of Hue Beer.

This is another pale lager and comes in at the magic five per cent mark. The rice, which is used in the brewing of Hue, really comes across in the taste and takes away some of the sweetness which I suspect would be there without it.

The beer has a grassy aroma and, after drinking the Desperado, I had a shameful urge to add a dash of Lemonade just to give it a bit of pizzazz.

Let us now leave the banks of the Perfume River and head to North Africa and that most evocative of locations – Morocco, and there grab yourself a bottle of Casablanca at five per cent.

I was quite surprised with this one because I was expecting something fairly light in taste, but discovered quite a malty flavour.

Still lighter than most though, this was the best of the three I tried from my travels and I would imagine I could get through two or three of these in the garden should the sun decide to get his hat on.


• DON’T forget that next month sees the first beer festival to take place in the village of Stillingfleet, between Selby and York.

Organiser John Thompson said: “In partnership with Brown Cow Brewery, we’ll be serving a selection of hand-pulled Yorkshire ales plus a cider and a perry from noon until the barrels run dry – so get there early. There will also be wine and soft drinks, plus a selection of sandwiches and during the day there will be a variety of live musical entertainment.

“Entry will be just £5, for which you’ll get a specially-produced souvenir glass, a programme and a voucher for your first half pint. And proceeds will be helping us to improve the heating system in our little Village Institute.”

The event takes place on Saturday September 4, in Stillingfleet Village Institute.

• Details on 01904 728182 or 01904 728732.