Drinking In The Rain

I wasn't expecting the rain this morning when I took my dog for his morning walk, but I have no complaints about it. I like rain in general, rainy days make me happy for some reason, whereas the heat and humidity of summer makes me grumpy and lethargic.

We often talk about beers which are great for a summer day, or for when you have just finished mowing your lawn, but we don't seem to talk much about the beers which are perfect for drinking in the rain, perhaps sat outside under an umbrella.

In my experience, the best beers for rainy day drinking are ones which lend themselves to slow savouring rather than 4 mouthfuls and its gone kind of things. Clearly then it has to be a beer which isn't negatively affected by the rise in temperature during the half hour or so of its existence in the glass. Just perhaps it is days like today, overcast, rainy and mild, that something like an IPA comes into its own? Preferably one hopped with English varieties, not lemon suckingly bitter and soul destroyingly strong, about 5% is plenty.

It would be a nice day to sit in a beer garden, covered by an umbrella, reading a book, or the papers, with a pint for company and listening to the gentle patter of rain against the leaves. It's that kind of day today.