well mercifully this is the last week of wobbling post for tonight, as am tired and need to relax before going back to work to, well, sit in front of a better computer. So here are the details of Friday and Saturday.
Once again I had to meet Chala after work, this time I had to go to the bank first before hot footing it to the Bath Hotel for my first visit after it reopened. Arriving at 5PM I admit I have already described the finer points to you (well, all but one of you it seems) so I'll skip onto venue 2....
Forum
As it was actually Chala's birthday (and despite my having something to celebrate which I can assure you I managed on Saturday), we started in the Forum. This time I dallied with the idea of a half but in the end opted for some waaarn, which is apparently supposed to demonstrate maturity.
We got to our meal destination in good time and more wine flowed, but unfortunately, despite a planned continuation of ale celebration, the whole event cost us so much that we went home early with no beer consumed.......
Saturday - Sheffield Tap
Having left Chala to fanny about in shops with Thangor I headed off on a quest to avoid hearing any football scores, whilst also drinking to keep the thoughts at bay. Choice one, at midday, didn't herald any scores but did at least prove a poor idea in terms of avoiding Football details.
The bar at the Tap was perhaps best described as a scrum. The door policy seemed to be basically if you are wearing a football shirt keep it hidden but it was a sea of Wednesday everywhere you turned. Worse still beers were going off (running out) left right and centre.
Despite this I got a delicious pint of the Mallinsons Nelson Sauvin. They are making a determined bid for my 2012 top ten, having been a kind of begrudging choice in the past, whether by fault or accident. The Nelson Sauvin was a great chance to separate the flavour of the hop, which I was now clear didn't have the acidic, chemical bite of Simcoe.
In the room at the back there were many fans, made up with a contingent of French Owls. This rather incongruous mix was a breath of fresh air though in a busy, tense venue that was by beer 2 slightly thinning out. Just before I headed back to the bar a throng of lasses appeared en route to somewhere far away (based on their absurd amounts of stowage, and thats not a euphemism) and this perhaps proved important in the bigger scheme of things.
Meanwhile I quickly got served again and had a half of the Magic Rock High Wire IPA and Curious. The Curious was better even than it had been at Dada, with a brilliant burnt toffee flavour that mellowed into the aftertaste perfectly, making this the beer of the day so far. Alas, I cut short my visit, since the other visitors had sought to arrive with those annoying streamer things which you blow and they make a crap noise? Even with beer and reading matter to distract me, 4 people hooting at once is just annoying! So I ran away, and everything.
Shakespeares
As you know I was at the Rutland first, which was documented in a post earlier so I shall give details of my next stop, at Shakespeares on Gibraltar Street instead. Here I had a pint of Navigation brewery stout from a new concern based in Nottingham, which was a fantastic beer. Initially I thought it was an Elland beer based on the info on the board. I had this along with an essential pack of crisps and finished on a really enjoyable Dark Star Six Hop IPA, £3.20 a pint, and 6.2% ( I misread as 6.5). Despite the threat of citric and ascorbic meltdown this was a brilliant blend of hops to create a satisfying strong pale ale.
Kelham Island Tavern
My first visit for a while and I opted for old reliable - a pint of the Thwaites Nutty Black. This was a brief visit, chatting to the guy I saw in Shakespeares about football (the results of which I now knew) and beers here in Sheffield. It was nice to slow down and enjoy another dark pint of beer and a chat, but with celebration on my mind I opted to go for a last one in the Cat round the corner....
Fat Cat
Fatty's, as it can be known (L'Chappelle) was busy as you'd expect and I got only a half in here which in the melee of rejoicing and slight cider invoked tiredness I negated to record. Still, what better way to finish my beer travels on a wonderful day (I should point out that I got promoted Friday, so this was a multi layered celebration, including the achievements of Beefy family club, in that someone once played for them, Hyde United) than with a beer at the pub where, virtually, my love of real ale began.
From here I wended my way home via the shops to spend an evening with Chala and to have a fabulous surprise meal. Overall a fantastic day of highs, and almost no lows. Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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