Hammerton’s Chicha/Chica is a Peruvian red ale, 4.5%ABV.

I allude to a confusion of names, simply because above the pump the beer was labelled Chica, but on the web more references to Chicha proliferate.  My Peruvian Spanish is very rusty, but if memory serves me correctly ‘chica’ means ‘a girl, or a young woman’ and ‘chicha’ is ‘a kind of beer, typically made from maize’.  I admit, that second term was not something I ever learned on my school curriculum: hurrah for Google Translate.

So, I am sticking with Chicha.  Purely based on sensory input; ignoring all possibility of imaginative literary allusions.

Chicha is a gorgeous pint.  Like a flame-haired maiden running through a field of wild poppies in a diaphanous crimson dress.  Continuing the red theme of the day, I had a supper of borscht casserole and rhubarb pie.

Less gorgeous was next morning’s motions.  Like a bloody catfight in an abattoir.  Absolutely nothing to do with the excellent ale though.

Blame it on the beetroot.

© Beery Sue

Beery Sue gets off to an explosive start to London Beer Week.