BBC- Oz and James Drink to Britain.

I just found out that these episodes are on Youtube.

A few months back BBC America ran a series called "Oz and James Drink to Britain." It's continuation of a series of shows pairing British wine expert Oz Clark, with James May, one of the hosts of the British Top Gear."

In past series it's been more about wine. But this season covered the other world of British drinks, notably beer. cider and spirits.

They're a very lighthearted programs with great bantering, and a bit of info on homebrewing (badly) and the history of British brewing, showing the various regions, like Yorkshire and New Castle.

They may not be serious historical treatises, but they are a hoot.

Ep 1 Clarke and May travel to Yorkshire and Derbyshire, learn what goes into beer and visit a vineyard.





EP 2 Clarke and May travel to Wigan and visit a small commercial brewery.





EP 3 Clarke and May travel to Scotland, receive a blindfolded whisky tasting and meet brewers.





EP 4 Clarke and May travel to Ireland, test Irish Guinness and host "Strictly Come Drinking".

 

EP 5 Clarke and May taste some extreme beers, and attempt to work as barmen.



EP 6 Clarke and May travel to Wales, sample vodka, perry and wines.



EP 7 Clarke and May travel to the South West on a traditional cider farm and James makes his own Plymouth Gin.




EP 8 Clarke and May try British sparkling wine and visit a traditional Kentish hop garden.

 

They're fun. A lot of interesting discussions could be had from them. Does " terroir" or the environment the ingredients are grown/beer is brewed in affect flavor, like it does in wine? Should beer be "intellectualized" like wine, or is it purely the working man's quaff? Big versus small breweries, and whether beer has soul? Fancy homebrewing rigs versus bare bones systems? Is Oz secretly in love with James? Could you really brew a batch of beer from Oz's red knickers?

Important, earth shattering questions like that.

 

Watched it when it first came out in the UK and thought it was pretty good, even though the show is more about that james bloke being a tard than about beer/drinks.

 

A very enjoyable series!

 

It's NEWCASTLE not NEW CASTLE.

Aaarrrggghhh!

 

Thanks Revvy, you just gave me a few hours of entertainment for my shift tonight.

 

That's what I've been doing at work all day. I've only ever seen two episodes of this.

Enjoy!!!!! There's some gems in there.

 

Yes, it's funny and entertaining...although James is a bit of a berk.

 

I also watched all of the Oz and James wine programs on there as well, and although I'm not a wine guy that much, it was still quite enjoyable and informative. It actually did spark an interest in maybe starting to make more of them.

 

Great write up on the blog my friend.

 

Haven't heard anyone say berk for years. My dad called me a silly berk all the time.

 

I've been interested in seeing this, but 1.) kind of forgot, and 2.) didn't especially know where to look. Thanks for posting! I guess I know what I'm doing on my day off tomorrow...

It'd be great if someone did an American version of the show, although the likelihood of that happening is probably pretty close to zilch.

 

Always an interesting subject. And James May being the character he is,I can see a lot of where top gear gets it's flavor from. The I don't care what's in it,just give me a pint kind of guy. Oz seems to love playing off this. Good series. Great post,revs!**Finished watching the rest of the vids. Very enjoyable indeed. Not just travel,not just info. But the interplay between the blue collar,hands on sort in May & the sophisticate who still likes beer Clark.

 

I watched these (downloads ) a few months ago and found them to be excellent! I especially loved the episode of that dark Irish beer who's name escapes me . . .

James has the perfect personality to counter Oz's seriousness, though both have very good humor. I just wish they'd continue the beer series -- they could travel to Germany and Belgium

 

I'm hoping that since they did England, THEN America for the wine series, they come to the states for the beer again....But even a world tour would be great as well.

 

Was it this series or last where they visit thornbridge? Or was that oz and someone else? I think oz has done another series with someone who's name I can't remember.

 

There's a Christmas alcoholic drink episode that's fairly entertaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_and_Hugh_Drink_to_Christmas

 

The link on wiki takes you to BBC2,where it says it's no longer available to watch,just a clip.

 

That's correct, since it was produced by the BBC you would either have had to watch it when it aired or was available for streaming or pay for a DVD copy to be legal.

 

Look what I got in the mail today, the companion book.

 

Nice. Do they talk about the results of the brewing challenge in the book?

 

I literally just got it five minutes before I posted this...I don't know yet.