So, another year of uni begins. For first years, it means new and exciting experiences, finding what student culture they can, and for the rest of us it’s more of the same old, same old. Fortunately for me, as Craccum’s resident beer geek, more of the same old means another year of drinking quality malt and hop beverages and extolling their virtues to you, the reader, in the hope that you will come to appreciate fine beer as much as I do.

Now beer drinking (and drinking in general, for that matter) is well and truly entrenched in student culture. Sadly, this is in a way that garners negative reactions from media and society, with the focus being on quantity rather than quality and the aim being to achieve a state of stupor. I’m here to say that that is not the only way to drink beer, and in fact it can be a much more rewarding experience to seek out quality over quantity.

For many of you, your experiences of student drinking will have started (or will start) at Shadows, our student bar which is just so conveniently close to your lecture theatres. Its tap range is based around Lion Nathan, which doesn’t allow for any truly outstanding beers, but there are some reasonable options for the discerning drinker. My current Shadows beer of choice would be Speight’s Old Dark, which has significantly more flavour than some of the bland, mainstream lagers and draughts available. Like many dark beers, the flavour is founded on the sweet malt rather than bitter or fruity hops. I know that many beer drinkers shy away from dark beers, and sadly this is generally due to eschewing the extra flavour in favour of being able to drink a larger quantity. It’s true that dark beers do sit a little more heavily on the stomach, but I suggest taking the time to enjoy one slowly, and who knows, you might find that it’s right up your alley.

In addition to being one of the better beers at Shads, Old Dark makes a fantastic cooking beer. It has become a standard ingredient (along with coffee and dark chocolate) in my rice and bean burritos. It also might be useful for making desserts, and in fact it is possible to buy Speight’s Old Dark ice cream. I’m sure you can find a way to enjoy it.