Beer lover Alan’s 15,000th pint is hand-made for him
By: JimOldfield
September 23rd, 2012
When Geordie beer ticker Alan Stobbs sank his 15,000th real ale, it tasted all the better for the fact that HE had helped brew it!
Alan, 64, tours breweries and festivals around the country to sample and make tasting notes on as many beers as he can.
And he’s so well-loved at his “local” – the Three Kings Brewery, based in North Shields’ Victoria Pub, that brewer Ewan McCann created Alan’s very own ale… with his customer’s help!
The aptly-named Beer Monster, a 5 per cent porter, was ready just in time to become Alan’s milestone ale.
The retired railwayman admits that since he got the tour-and-taste bug, he is sometimes away from home for days at a time – leaving his wife a glass widow!
But despite helping brew his own Monster, Alan says he has no ambitions to be a brewer – preferring rather to sit and drink the stuff…
