I love the smell of paintball in the morning...

Who fancies going paintballing? The Surrey Paintball Centre does a £20-a-head package, including 200 paintballs and lunch, and the place looks pretty good. This shouldn't be viewed as a chaps-only outing, of course. Las Chicas, who in my experience are generally complete cold-eyed killers, should definitely be volunteering for some action. (That probably didn't come out sounding right...)

Here's a video to get everyone really excited! Get ready to hop in a Slick and haul ass with the other red legs, go find us some Charlie at the LZ. Or something.

Beer challenge - prize categories

FOR THE 2010 BEER CHALLENGE, GO TO:

http://chertseybeerchallenge.blogspot.com/

• Best beer
• Best label
• Best name

Any other suggestions?!?

Beer challenge - list of competitors

Fantastic response to the beer challenge. We now have the following participants:

• Sean 'Thrust and' Parry
• Patrick 'Have finger, need pie' Martin
• Craig 'Method Man Gotta fly Qantas' Hazeldine and Ulrich 'Man with a Plan' Kleinsteuber
  
• Richard 'Fatboy' Cable and Kayte 'Best not indulge in any nicknames' Cable
  
• Myles 'Vino Collapso' Willingale
• Steve 'If you thought the hotel was unusual, try the beer' Dobson
• Al 'His Royal Gayness' Davis
• Chris 'All killer no filler' Greenwood
  

Also, point of clarification on the rules. You may go off-piste with additional flavours to 'individualise' your beer, but the same basic ingredients should be used by all competitors. So if you've added in some orange peel and a half pound of hash, that's mental but basically legitimate. If you've left out the 100g of Fuggles, you're a cad and a bounder, but we'll still probably drink it.

Otters shirts - any takers?

Interest was shown, following our epic dragon boating victory at Windsor, in Chertsey Otters club shirts for future epic victories. We can get a shirt with club crest (attached) in either fitted (for the laydeez) or standard style (for the fuller-figured gent). The attached rugby shirt image is the approximate design, with the leading consensus at the moment being for body colour of pale/powder blue and contrasts in chocolate brown.

I need minimum 15 to place an order, at approx £23 a shirt from Badger Rugby. Suggestions, thoughts and alternative designs all welcome. Add as comments, or drop me an email.

The St George beer challenge - try your hand at brewing

Hello all. Latest news on the latest Chertsey Otters endeavour - a beer brewing competition. A couple of weeks back, a small posse of Otters assembled in the Crown to watch England play like drains against the Irish. Inevitably we ended up making our own fun, which including drinking a Very Large Quantity of Bombardier and indulging in intellectual pursuits like shouting and one-armed press-ups.

Turns out someone suggested a beer-brewing competition, presumably based on the assembled group's clear fondness for, and application to the drink of heroes. More improbably still, the next day someone also remembered this suggestion and a handful of people thought it was a good idea.

So, the terms of the competition are this:

1. Brew your own beer, to be ready on or near St George's Day (23 April).
2. The starting recipe to which all competitors must adhere is attached as an image (click on it to see it reet big - it's dead easy to do).
3. You may enter solo or form teams, but not with professional brewers.
4. The results to be judged by a professional brewer (he's the bigger of the two in the photo). A minimum of 5 bottles must be submitted.
5. No lager.
6. Your beer must be christened.

Handy contacts:

• Art of Brewing in Chessington: KT9 2NY, telephone: 020 8397 2111
• Whytes Home Wine Equipment, Protea, Stompond Lane, Walton-On-Thames, Surrey, KT12 1HB, telephone: 01932 856542

Remember, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. And the possibility of being stuck with 40 pints of undrinkable bilge water. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Are you a man or an Otter?