#8 - Christmas, Running Miles and the Vacuum Week

Just a short update before normal service resumes.

I've just finished watching a YouTube video featuring a chap tackling the Worcestershire Way, a trail that's relatively local to me but one I've somehow never got around to running. It stretches from Bewdley to Malvern, roughly 50km of countryside, hills, woodland and all the mud Worcestershire can throw at you. It looks an absolute cracker.

Needless to say, it's now firmly on the list.

The Christmas Vacuum

I've always thought of the period between Christmas Day and New Year's Day as a bit of a vacuum. Nobody really knows what day it is. The fridge is permanently full. The television offers little worthwhile viewing. And society collectively agrees that normal rules no longer apply.

This year's vacuum week naturally involved a healthy amount of beer, a little wine, the odd whisky and, perhaps unsurprisingly, a substantial amount of running.

In total, I managed 98 miles over the festive period as I continue to build towards my planned 40-mile ultra at the end of January.

The weather did its best to make things interesting.

Over the course of the week I encountered:

• Storm-force winds with gusts of 50-60mph
• Torrential rain
• Thick fog
• Frost
• Ice

Pretty much the full British winter collection.

By the end of a seven-day block that totalled around eighty miles, I must admit I was starting to feel it. The legs were heavy, motivation was wavering and everything creaked slightly more than normal when getting out of bed.

Thankfully a couple of days off over New Year worked wonders.

The batteries have been recharged and, at least mentally, I'm ready for a planned twenty-five miler this Saturday.

That said, I've just checked the forecast and the weather appears to have other ideas. Strong winds, icy conditions and the possibility of snow are all being mentioned with concerning enthusiasm.

Me Versus Garmin

The weather may prove problematic for another reason.

My Garmin appears to have developed an annoying habit of either pausing itself or restarting altogether whenever conditions become properly cold.

After trawling through the various online forums, it appears I'm not alone. The consensus seems to be that colder temperatures can occasionally trigger the issue.

Regardless of the cause, it's infuriating.

The miles still happen.

My legs know they happened.

Yet somehow seeing two or three miles disappear from the activity file leaves me disproportionately irritated.

Fellow runners will understand.

Non-runners will probably think I should get a life.

Christmas Beer Explorations

On the beer front, Christmas provided the perfect opportunity to explore a few breweries in more depth. I bought a decent selection from Duration and Burning Sky.

Duration are a brewery I've enjoyed for a number of years and one I used to buy fairly regularly before my attention drifted towards the excellent Burnt Mill. Revisiting their beers has been interesting.

They're still very good. Perhaps not quite as good as I remembered, though.

I suspect the reason lies in the brewery's apparent cultivation of a distinct house yeast strain. Many of the beers seem to carry a subtle farmhouse-style character or hint of funk running through them. Some drinkers love that sort of thing. Personally, I'm not entirely convinced.

Challenging the Palate

The Burning Sky order was a different story. I deliberately chose beers that sat outside my normal comfort zone. Brett beers. Mixed fermentations. Saisons. Wild ales. Sours.

The sort of beers that many craft beer enthusiasts describe as "complex" and that normal people might simply describe as "odd".

Some were genuinely challenging. The sort of beer where the first sip leaves you wondering whether something has gone wrong. Then the second sip becomes interesting.

By the third sip you're not entirely sure if you like it but you're certainly curious enough to continue. Others were superb.

Particularly after a week of consuming rich festive food. The acidity and tartness of some of the beers cut through Christmas excess beautifully. They also paired remarkably well with cheese, something I'd never particularly appreciated before.

Will I become a dedicated mixed-fermentation beer drinker? Probably not. But I'm glad I ventured outside my normal West Coast IPA comfort zone.

Back to Brewser

One thing these experiments did confirm is that I enjoy discovering new breweries. For that reason I've decided to dip my toe back into Brewser. I love the concept.

Each month a brewery chooses the beers. No overthinking. No endless scrolling through online bottle shops. No simply defaulting to familiar favourites.

Just a fresh box from a brewery I might never otherwise have discovered.

My first box arrives in a couple of weeks and I'm already looking forward to it.

Brewing Plans for 2025

Before I head out to the Fuzzy Duck—otherwise known as my garage brewery—for a pint of homebrewed cask ale and perhaps a contemplative puff on my pipe (it still feels slightly odd that I reached fifty and somehow decided pipe smoking was a sensible hobby), I thought I'd log my brewing plans for the year ahead.

Like most homebrewers, every year becomes an opportunity to obsess over a different aspect of the process.

This year it's all about water chemistry and technique.

My local water is relatively hard, which is fantastic for darker beers but less than ideal for hoppy pales, lagers and lighter styles where subtlety matters.

As a result, I've finally taken the plunge and invested in a reverse osmosis system. It's something I've put off for years, largely because I dislike how wasteful the process can be.

However, it gives complete control. Strip everything out. Build the water profile back exactly as required. No compromises. No guesswork. At least that's the theory.

What's Going Into the Kettle?

I've also put together a sizeable ingredients order from the excellent Malt Miller, which should keep me supplied for at least the next six months.

The brewing plan currently looks something like this:

1. A low-ABV hoppy pale ale
2. A Baltic Porter
3. A proper pilsner, brewed early enough to lager and mature for summer drinking

Simple styles on paper but not necessarily simple to execute well. Which is exactly why I fancy brewing them. Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. The beer is calling, the Fuzzy Duck awaits, and there's a twenty-five miler looming later this week.

I'll no doubt report back with tales of frozen fingers, weather-induced suffering and hopefully a few decent beers along the way.

Cheers.