Ale on tap.....

After a summer of some very good and busy events at the Hillbilly garden kitchen (see previous blog) I felt there was something missing. The question was how easy would it be to add a beer tap?

A lot of the craft ale bars that I have been to offer their cask and keg ales by the growler, this didn't really meet my need and whilst I could buy bottles of ale I still wanted a better solution

After a bit of research I found a really helpful chap (Neil) from Naked Keg, you can find him via his ebay shop (link here) or his web site (link here)

After much conversation we (Neil and myself) decided on a single tap with a 5 litre keg/growler and a sodastream CO2 bottle (more volume than CO2 mini bottles and easy to refill), this gives me the option to add a splitter to the gas bottle to add another tap and keg, but also be able to add more kegs to the single tap at busy events, I have now also added smaller 2 litre keg for every day use (I'm not a big drinker and I'd rather top up often than have beer get old)



I had a space on the bar top, I wanted to leave the larger area for food and decided to set the tap to one side, this gives me space for a second tap (although I might change the single tap tower to a double) and also a good area for other drinks and glasses etc. Rather than mount the drip tray on the counter top, I made a slot under the counter for it to slide in to, again gave me more bar space.




















I added a shelf for the kegs which I would put inside a large bucket (to fill with ice) and mounted the CO2 bottle in a small piece of drain pipe (it works better if upright), this also made sure I could keep the beer line as short as possible (for efficiency)



Mounting the tap was simple, drilling a hole for the beer line and then securely bolting the tower to the bar top, the drip tray slides into the slot, the lines connect to the keg via a valve, a really nice unit that the beer line and gas line plug onto with a gas release valve (which can be used to vent gas before disconnecting or for purging the oxygen from the keg). The gas bottle has it's own regulator so you can manage the gas pressure (the keg is rated 60 psi although it works fine at around 15 psi)

And finally I need a good source of ale to keep the kegs topped up,  my new friends at Fallen Acorn Brewing (a five minute walk from home) provided that piece of the puzzle with their Expedition IPA, a slightly bitter citrus IPA and at 5.5% a reasonable strength



All in all a very nice set up and easy to implement, the advice from Neil at Naked Keg was invaluable and having a local brewery like Fallen Acorn nearby, an added bonus.



















All the links are in the text in green, if you are thinking of something similar, I can recomend Naked Keg (for both equipment and advice)

Hillbilly garden kitchen

Something a little different than my normal blog about walks, our garden has been an evolving beast (as so many do when a young family grows up and the needs change), and in this new incarnation we have built a rustic garden kitchen, trying to capture a bit of the deep south and the home of the BBQ.

"Bulls Kitchen" in old Viking runic text (pyrography thanks to my daughter)

The area we had allocated was around 8ft square so easily big enough, it was at the end of the deck that we used for eating out on so a perfect fit

The first job (after clearing the land and leveling off was to mark out for the posts, I used 75mm fence posts set into the ground with post fix, i also used the same posts to make the frame and supports for the long food bar

Slabs were set (on a concrete base) just within the area of the kitchen that would be walked on, 10mm pea shingle (matching the rest of the garden) added all around

I really wanted 'used' galvanised roof sheets but wasn't able to find any suitable, or that I could transport and new galvanised cost too much. I had to settle with painted steel roof sheets, I'm sure they will weather in and not look too bad in a year or so

The walls were then clad in treated timber (the local wood yard cutting them pretty much to size and to fit in my car) this was painted first in colour outdoor wood paint before being 'aged' with brown watered down fence paint.

The effect is exactly what we wanted, looking like different old wood panels had been used, the front bar was added with a small counter top with space to sit at, the long counter is wider to allow for food to be served

The double barrel smoker fitted in along with the wood fired pizza oven, I built shelves for a drinks cabinet and loads of storage under the long food counter

and added in a fridge along with lighting (connected to an RCD switch in the garage)

The kitchen sits very nicely in the garden with the rest of the outdoor lighting

Then comes the fun task of adding the decoration, starting with the 'Jack Daniels' drinks shelf and empty 1 litre JD bottles with fairy lights inside

Aldi provided the galvanised food serving trays, napkin and cutlery holders plus the drink bottle stand

..... and finally the food, hot wings, jointed rabbit in garlic, lemon & herb marinade and mutton shish

The ever changing garden 16 years apart

I'll return with a walking blog soon (Petersfield to Rowlands Castle)

The High Atlas and The Pasha of Marrakech's Kasbah

Walk date - April 11th 2017
Walk time - 2.33 hours
Distance - 6 miles
Altitude - 5,900 feet

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We love Marrakech and this was our fourth visit to the city, on the second day we arranged (privately) for a trip into the High Atlas and for a walk, we left all the details up to our guide and good friend Charaf, giving him a free brief with the only request to have a walk in the mountains and visit a Kasbah.

Charaf picked us up at 7am from the main square in the heart of Marrakech (Jemaa el-Fna) in a really nice Dacia Duster, very comfortable and more than capable for the drive ahead, the plan was to take the N9 from Marrakech and then turn off once we have crested the High Atlas at the Tizi n'Tichka pass and aim to be in Telouet to visit the Kasbah and have a late lunch, stopping en-route for coffee and refreshments

We met the local guide a few miles outside Telouet, he was a Berber and descendant of the Glaoui tribe he grew up and still lives in Telouet, now working as a mountain guide in the High Atlas, his English was excellent and narration during the walk about the wildlife, villages, lifestyle and of course the history of the Glaoui tribe and the impact they had on the history of Morocco was truly fascinating.


We left the road and headed off towards a small Berber village, whilst the sky was a little over cast, it was still very hot and dry, the plain we were walking in although relatively flat was some 6,000 feet up in the mountains, the route mainly followed tracks although we did do a little light scrabbling over some looser ground.


The plan was to walk through a number of small villages with the Kasbah as our end point, Charaf drove on ahead and arranged lunch for us




This area of the High Atlas was one of a very few crossing points for the travelling caravans of traders coming from the Sahara and heading across to Marrakech and west of Morocco and of course Europe, they would stop at the Kasbah for safety, food and rest, then pay for guides through the mountains.

In one village we met a lady carrying a stack of freshly baked bread, she had the village bread oven and was taking the bread to her neighbours. As is the custom, should she meet anyone during her delivery she has to offer them bread, so we enjoyed some very freshly made bread, our guide had also brought with him some fruit for us during a brief rest period.

By most of the rivers near the villages the women were washing their floor mats and clothes



We past through an area where all the local villages used to gather for a weekly market, now used as a makeshift football pitch and headed back towards Telouet and the Kasbah






Let me just run through our equipment for the walk, we both had small trekking packs (mine a Helium 17l, Liz a Helium 10l) from Decathlon and both had 3 litre hydration packs (which we did need) make sure, if you do take on a trek like this (even a short one) to have plenty of water, it was hot and dry. We both had wide brimmed sun hats, mine a Peter Storm River Ranger from Millets, we had sturdy Karrimor boots and I was trying out my new Helikon-Tex Shorts, which were excellent and I can highly recommend, cool with plenty of free movement. We did carry jackets and waterproofs, just in case.







The final stop was the Kasbah, the tribal home and palace of El Glaoui, The Lord of the Atlas and Pasha of Marrakech who was heavily involved in the French occupation and coup in the early 20th century, shortly after his death in 1956 all his property was seized, including this Kasbah which was only returned to the local tribe in 2010, so for 60 years this magnificent palace was left untouched (except for the elements), only a small part is now open to the public and the £2 entrance fee seemed such a small amount compared to other more mainstream sights.



Due to the remoteness of the Kasbah, it isn't on the main tourist route (unlike Ait Benhaddou) we shared our visit with a handful of other people and having visited Ait Benhaddou before, I would say this was far better.



A small area of the Kasbah had a tiled roof which protected the inside, the decoration was just as it would have been when the Pasha still lived here. We spent quite a long time walking round the areas we were able to access with our guide, who used to play in the ruins as a child.


A short walk back to the main road and to a restaurant for a late lunch (it was about 3pm now and we had breakfast at 6.30 so much needed). Charaf had ordered for us and again didn't disappoint, we were first brought out a large tray of hot roasted vegetables and pasta with a basket of bread, followed by a lovely tagine of slow cooked lamb with roasted figs and apricots then a dessert of fresh fruit.


All this food plus water for less than £6 each

Then we got back into the car with Charaf and headed back to Marrakech stopping again en-route of a coffee (a very interesting tasting coffee at that)

If you ever feel the need to leave the hedonistic madness of Marrakech (why would you) but if you did, a trip to the mountains is highly recommended, you can book organised trips through most hotels or riads and travel with a small group. We are lucky to have our Moroccan friend in Charf we were able to arrange something a little more unique and a total mystery adventure as we left everything to Charaf to plan and arrange (if you would like Charaf's contact details, please let me know)

All I can say, is this was one of the most interesting and unique walks we have had the privilege to do in a country we love to visit, although I am sure more will follow......





























We stayed at a small riad in Marrakech called Riad Maizie, managed by the wonderfully attentive Will and featured in the book Cinnamon City by the owner Miranda Innes