Just sharing another beer project I am about to embark on here:
The Great Baltic Adventure , is a sailing journey from London up the Thames, across the North Sea, to the Baltic Sea and deliver firkins of Imperial Russian Stout to the historic city of St. Petersburg Russia, following the old nautical charts of when Catherine the Great developed an affinity for Stout in the late 18th and early 19th century.
I will be joining a crew of brewers from London and famous beer writer of the year Pete Brown for this adventure, what’s kind of cool is that Pete had taken a keg from Burton on Trent on 07 all the way to India like they did in the 19th century. I of course took brewing equipment to the Canadian arctic this past summer to re-create a 19th century ale that was brewed in Burton as well. We will now join forces and share writing and blogging along the way on this latest beery adventure together.
I’m sitting here with my laptop trying to ignore the miter saw and the three sticks of trim that will finish my adventures in bathroom remodeling. I did get a nice 2-1/2 day break, earlier this week, from the bathroom remodel when my wife’s car decided to spew antifreeze from the intake manifold gasket. Oh man am I tired of these adventures and could use a sailing trip right about now. Have fun with your remodel. cheers, j
The adventure is in sailing on a fairly small ship, only a 60’ clipper , pretty spartan conditions at best, the concept is to take the Imperial Stout to a major beer festival in Russia at the journey’s end. I am working the US market and have been in touch with Stone in Escondido and a few other brewer’s here in Pennsylvania. Of course US beer will have an even longer trip by (plane first ) to Greenwich/London even before boarding the ship bound for Russia.
Here’s the ship, Thermopylae
With all due respect, as a lifelong sailor I must point out a few things. Unless the picture you posted is the wrong one, that’s a cutter, not a clipper. Clippers are large multi masted ships with mostly square sails. A cutter is a monohull with a single mast, one main sail, behind the mast, and two head sails, or jibs in front of the mast. And 60 feet is not small. I know plenty of people working their way around the world on boats half that size. And it won’t be spartan by any stretch of the imagination. That boat is equipped with all the latest navigational electronics (I can see the antennas etc) and will have comfortable sleeping, cooking and bathing arrangements. No, not as large as at home, but very adequate to be sure. That be a YACHT.
I know you live local, I’d be more than happy to give you a sailing primer over a few beers so you know somewhat which way to turn when you get on board…
The boat is called a clipper on their website, they call it a clipper ( they simply must not know as much as you )and the captain told me in an email, it is fitted for racing not comfort, suggesting, and I use his words " it’s quite spartan below decks not fitted out like a yacht, where comfort is not an option" including showers !
Now if you could help Pete Brown, a few London brewers and I with beer history, that would really help us.
Sigh… the word “clipper” does not come into play in this vessel, period. Not sure where he’s coming from. Could be a language thing. For two people that speak the same language, English, it is amazing how many failures to communicate we have. Some of the worst problems I have with ATC are with the Brits. Hell, even the Scotts are easier to understand on the radio sometimes.
OK, he stripped it out below…too bad.
Beer history? Not my forte, sorry. But if you are serious I can put you in touch with someone locally. LU proff and brewer extraordinaire. She would be happy to help.
My offer for the sailing primer still stands. It could lessen your suffering.
Ah, after looking at the website again, I see they call the boat the “Thermopilae Clipper”…
That doesn’t mean they are calling it “a” clipper, or designating the sailplan as a clipper. It’s the name, and the name only. As in calling it a “Zephyr” or a starship the “Enterprise”
Looking forward to reading about your adventures! If you should find your way into the Pacific and down around the Port of Hilo in the Sandwich Islands give me a shout. I’ll meet you at the dock with some local kine pia.
I’m sitting here with my laptop trying to ignore the miter saw and the three sticks of trim that will finish my adventures in bathroom remodeling. I did get a nice 2-1/2 day break, earlier this week, from the bathroom remodel when my wife’s car decided to spew antifreeze from the intake manifold gasket. Oh man am I tired of these adventures and could use a sailing trip right about now. Have fun with your remodel. 
