Days of the Beer, August 26

The beer for today is once again a cider, Strongbow.

On August 26, 1346, the Battle of Cressy took place near Crécy in northern Fance. Many people consider this battle as the beginning of the end of chivalry (so it is dead???) The battle was part of the Hundred Years' War.

There were about 16,000 men from England, taking on about 86,000 french. The french force was mostly nights, wearing mail with plate. The english had 7,000 longbow archers. The french had to walk uphill through mud to get to the English, who mowed them down with their arrows.

This battle was a turning point in that it cemented the place of the longbow over knights and crossbow. Once the longbow had killed the horses, the knights were then killed.

Strongbow Cider (by Bulmers) is named after Richard "Strongbow"de Clare. He had nothing to do with this battle as he died 200 years before.

So, in honor of the end of chivalry, and the dominance of longbows, go get you a Strongbow. It's one of my favorite ciders.

In CU, it's available on draft at Bentleys pub. It's also available at several other locations in bottles.