Full(er) Beer st

Roustabout Rambles: An occasional series.
Had an enjoyable time this week time having a Hogarthian wander, me and P went on a tour of the Fullers Brewery at Chiswick. It a fascinating place, a rambling Victorian building full of steel stairways, pipes and incredible smells. It was difficult to decide whether the hop store, fermentation room or general malty waft is the nicest aroma. The hop room smell is incredibly intense, it’s slightly chilled which adds to the almost menthol blast of hoppyness.
Fullers also have an excellent robot in barrel filling warehouse which does an spectacular ballet, almost a bar trick of picking up and twisting round 4 barrels at a go. Our guide was friendly and informative and the food and beer in the pub next door are excellent. The London Porter is lovely. We liked the 70’s beer cans anyone fancy a Fullers Foursome!
The Fullers brewery is near the Hogarth roundabout. So we nicely segue onto the Hogarth exhibition at the Tate. I promised myself this page wouldn’t a rant page so please excuse the following. It is probably a failing in me but I am increasingly turned off by these big exhibitions there are just too many people in there. It’s particularly annoying as you’ve paid a premium (£10) to go to these exhibitions and yet you can’t see the pictures for other people’s heads, the whole atmosphere is cramped and restive.
That being said the pictures are great, I prefer the prints to most of his paintings. A couple of things occurred while I wandered round firstly Hogarth and grant Mitchell are separated at birth. The amount of detail in the pictures is similar to religious paintings with signs and symbols used as jokes and connections some of that are opaque to us now.
Secondly his satire still work today one his painting the enraged musician still has contemporary resonance, the recent story about rock’n’ roll turn coat Bobby “keep it down I’m posh now me” Gillespie and Kevin “been making people deaf for years” Shields complaining about a Stokey pub making noise late night is beautiful mirrored in Hogarth’s cartoon “the enraged musicians”. In this print the prissy musician can’t produce his latest opus because the street scene of London has intruded.
One more thing I would like to add is this excellent reworking of a primal scream number by my talented Bro S.
Come Together (Nimby Anthem)
Come together oh yeah
This is a beautiful day
It is a new day I am a nimby
We are together, we are unified
And all for the cause
Because together we got power
Apart we got power
Today on this program you will hear gospel,
And rhythm and blues, and jazz
All those are just labels
We know that music is music… well its just noise!!
I found the repetitiveness disturbing and I was unable to sleep because of it, (repeat x4 and fade)
To continue our Hogarthian ramble (we’ve done a brewery, and art gallery ) we retired to our club for some excellent whisky followed by a ruby and finally a pint in the local Weatherspoon. The term “straight out of a Hogarth print” is over used but the regulars of your average Weatherspoons could be found in a London pub anytime since the Romans left.
Slight return.
Lastly whilst in Chiswick I am sure I stood behind James Dean Bradfield from the Manics at the Barclays cash point. I know that the former generation terrorists have long since passed on their fire brands but it made smile seeing him at this temple of the system!.
Here are some song titles from the MSP ..
"Natwest – Barclays – Midlands – Lloyds"
Gold Against The Soul