I was the beneficiary of Big Mick's kindness at the FSGW Getaway and downed a few cans of his Guinness on the last night. There is no question that the nitrogen infusion is successful science but I wish he'd warned me about the widgets because one cut my tongue on the way going down and it stills feels like I haven't passed them yet. They keep rattling around my lower regions like a pocket full of marbles.

I've been drinking Murphy's in Ireland and London since 1970 (the pre-Heineken days). I find it similar to Guinness with the exception that the characteristic "planned bitterness" of Guinness is missing.

I once had an English "mild" (rather than "bitter") draft beer in the Amsterdam brew pub in Toronto that was of gigantic proportion. The brewer was Flower's, an old Stratford-upon-Avon company that probably belongs to Hilton Hotels or Mercedes-Benz by now. It was a great beer. Has anyone ever had that?

All the best,
Dan