Hello,
the Closed Shop at Commonside held a "Ploughmans" evening last night. I was invited by people from the real world and decided it would be a nice change to attend. I say a change. Going to the Closed Shop is hardly an unusual step for me. Neither is drinking beer. Or eating a bit of pork pie. Or becoming a trifle refreshed and boarding a late night bus. Or drinking Blue Bee tangled Up IPA. So, admittedly none of that was a change. The cheese and crackers was though. Except, I had them at Bedlam bar last month. So, erm...
Anyway, the regularity of its constituent parts matters not. It was £6.00 a go, you got delicious food from local suppliers and a free pint. It was all tremendously exciting, and done with friends. In fact it was rather good.
Snap wise, Urban Pantry supplied 3 cheeses, oak smoked Wensleydale, Colton Basset Stilton (or Cropwell Bishop, I confess I don't know which one of the two I had) and Dewley Farm Lancashire. Also provided were spiced apple chutney from Just Preserves and chicken liver pate from Findlaters Fine Foods, as well as pickled onions from a jar, which were, like the Seabrooks cheese and onion crisps, of unspecified origin. There was also pork pie and a steak slice (or veggie alternative) from legendary apostrophe experts Kevin's pies, and finally, an ice cream free Cornetto and a wowipob, as Doctor Hibbert would say.
It all came in plastic containers like a lunchbox, and the sight of loads of people crowded together (a little) opening boxes and taking out their food and chattering away was reminiscent of a school lunch time. Except the food was nice. And no-one had semolina.
The free pint was a good deal when you consider you could use it to get Blue Bee Tangled Up IPA, which at £3.30 a pint makes your Ploughmans £2.70. Please note, Neil, that I don't consider an apostrophe is necessary as the food does not belong to a ploughman that I own, or indeed any ploughman, and also is the name of the assembled ingredients, thus can be a straight forward plural. So nerr...
Anyway, I had arrived before seven to "check out the scene" and demolished a rather tasty pint of Blue Bee Nectar Pale whilst awaiting my troughing and slaking companions, Gav, Clare, Neil and Jane. All too soon however, the drink had mysteriously disappeared so I had to have a pint of Blue Bee Tangled Up. When all had arrived we got to grips with the ticket system.
Now, working as I do for a dysfunctional entity where even the simplest processes are rendered needlessly complicated, I was amused at the idea of buying a ticket, to exchange for your Ploughmans, and two further tickets, one for each half to which you were entitled. Especially since, prior to being given their tickets, plenty of people wanted their first half of beer to be paid for with one of said tickets, whilst others in their group, paying together, wanted to use both of them, and others none. Cue a dizzying yo yo of paper stubs and a wry smile from me.
To be fair though the staff needed to keep track so the idea was along the right lines. As was mine, which included drinking more Tangled Up, and the Titanic Cappuccino stout which was very pleasant.
The food was a hearty snack (as promised), and although it could have done with a few more crackers it was still very tasty (and lets face it, had it come with a surfeit of crackers and almost no cheese, that would have been far worse). And the cheese was very nice. Especially the Stilton, with just the right amount of shoe in summer on the nose...
Thanks to my friends for great company and to the Closed Shop for putting on something a bit different. I look forward to attending the next themed night, the "Tavern Haunter Night", in which I arrive at the pub, and drink lots of beer. Entrance free. The next one is at some point on Saturday 12th May....
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Blue Bee Tangled Up IPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Bee Tangled Up IPA. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Single Pub Of Contact
Afternoon,
I'm noticing a bit of a trend to my drinking patterns lately. Not just obvious markers such as "to excess" and "recklessly" but more subtle patterns are emerging. I seem to be finding myself wanting to stay put once I get to a good pub.
This isn't exactly a groundbreaking outlook of course, but one of the things that has happened as a result of this blog is that I sometimes visit quite a few pubs in one "session" so that I have stuff to report. It's not like the blog owns me - because I enjoy tasting different beers, and soaking up different atmospheres in venues. And also, the walking between pubs probably does me good.
However over the last week the concept of a session, in its traditional sense of staying in one pub, has become more prominent. Staying put is the new crawl. I think it may catch on, much like other recent inventions, such as the wheel....
If you want to try out my new hobby, you will need the following:
A : a good pub
B : a few good beers to choose from
C : some money
D : plenty of time
Last night I followed the above recipe with some success, as below...
I was heading to the Closed Shop and was meeting Wee Keefy for a few drinks. I knew he was only coming out for a couple, after which he'd likely be off home so I planned to wander down to the Uni Arms or the Bath afterwards. There was an exemplary range of beer on again at the Shop, and it was really busy when I arrived at about half 7. I got a grammatically accurate pork pie and a pint of the excellent Dancing Duck Dark Drake and awaited the arrival of the brother of mine.
The Dark Drake was on excellent form so when he arrived, and, as everyone does, went to the upper part of the bar to look at the beers on the top two pumps instead of reading the sign, I recommended it to him, and got another pint for myself. In the end he had a half of Robinsons Unicorn and half a Drake. We were soon ensconced with good beers surrounded by people enjoying good beers. This is a heady and largely irresistible cocktail.
I had half of the Welbeck Dark Horse next (two dark beers out of 6 - spoilt!) and half a blue Bee Tangled Up IPA, as did WK, and we continued chatting. At some point Father O-matic arrived with Pete Green from the world of writing. It transpired he was having some sort of birthday so once WK had sloped off home like a good lad I joined the party and spent a very agreeable few hours talking beer and pubs and, erm, other things. I also accidentally had numerous pints of Tangled Up IPA. I think this made me sleepy.
Alas the throng departed around 23.00 and I had to find the cash for another half to last me until I had to leave for the night bus. I'd been sat in the Closed Shop for about 4 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. And to be honest, once I was in, I never gave the idea of moving on a second thought.
A similar thing happened on Friday, although for reasons of mastication I did venture on from pub number one in the end. I'd headed for Shakespeares after work with Mr Howard from the world of music, and we sat in the beer garden, in defiance of common sense, enjoying the echoes of sunlight that were imprinted on the scene from earlier. We were both on pints of the rather smashing Raw Mount Adam, a zingily hoppy, fruity, pale beer cramming in loads of flavour at 3.6%.
We were soon joined by Steve who went for old reliable Deception whilst I had another Raw. As our conversation turned to that Woman the atmosphere became more charged and passionate and it was only right that my next pint was of Steel City Brewing Metal Fatigue, with just the right amount of bitterness to represent the feelings of the brewers toward the subject figure, and just enough hops to make its drinking enjoyable and valedictory at the same time. A very good beer.
More Raw followed but alas Dave and Stave were off to get smashed on Buckfast and play gin rummy (have I remembered this right?!) so I stopped for a last one before heading on to eat. That last beer was a pint of the strong Arbor and Bristol beer factory English IPA, a surprisingly soupy but not unenjoyable concoction that may have been brewed with British hops.
My final and thus non session stop off was in the Bath Hotel, where I had one of their legendary hot roast pork sarnies, a half of Raw Pacific Gem and a pint of the Bristol Beer Factory Bitter Californian. There's been plenty of Brizzle stuff up in Sheffield lately and quite frankly that can only be a good thing.
So it seems that I have used the above recipe to end up in two cracking pubs drinking great beer. Although, having left to go to the Bath, I think I've not completely nailed this new hobby. Here's to my getting plenty more practice at staying in pubs for a long time.....
Wee Beefy
I'm noticing a bit of a trend to my drinking patterns lately. Not just obvious markers such as "to excess" and "recklessly" but more subtle patterns are emerging. I seem to be finding myself wanting to stay put once I get to a good pub.
This isn't exactly a groundbreaking outlook of course, but one of the things that has happened as a result of this blog is that I sometimes visit quite a few pubs in one "session" so that I have stuff to report. It's not like the blog owns me - because I enjoy tasting different beers, and soaking up different atmospheres in venues. And also, the walking between pubs probably does me good.
However over the last week the concept of a session, in its traditional sense of staying in one pub, has become more prominent. Staying put is the new crawl. I think it may catch on, much like other recent inventions, such as the wheel....
If you want to try out my new hobby, you will need the following:
A : a good pub
B : a few good beers to choose from
C : some money
D : plenty of time
Last night I followed the above recipe with some success, as below...
I was heading to the Closed Shop and was meeting Wee Keefy for a few drinks. I knew he was only coming out for a couple, after which he'd likely be off home so I planned to wander down to the Uni Arms or the Bath afterwards. There was an exemplary range of beer on again at the Shop, and it was really busy when I arrived at about half 7. I got a grammatically accurate pork pie and a pint of the excellent Dancing Duck Dark Drake and awaited the arrival of the brother of mine.
The Dark Drake was on excellent form so when he arrived, and, as everyone does, went to the upper part of the bar to look at the beers on the top two pumps instead of reading the sign, I recommended it to him, and got another pint for myself. In the end he had a half of Robinsons Unicorn and half a Drake. We were soon ensconced with good beers surrounded by people enjoying good beers. This is a heady and largely irresistible cocktail.
I had half of the Welbeck Dark Horse next (two dark beers out of 6 - spoilt!) and half a blue Bee Tangled Up IPA, as did WK, and we continued chatting. At some point Father O-matic arrived with Pete Green from the world of writing. It transpired he was having some sort of birthday so once WK had sloped off home like a good lad I joined the party and spent a very agreeable few hours talking beer and pubs and, erm, other things. I also accidentally had numerous pints of Tangled Up IPA. I think this made me sleepy.
Alas the throng departed around 23.00 and I had to find the cash for another half to last me until I had to leave for the night bus. I'd been sat in the Closed Shop for about 4 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. And to be honest, once I was in, I never gave the idea of moving on a second thought.
A similar thing happened on Friday, although for reasons of mastication I did venture on from pub number one in the end. I'd headed for Shakespeares after work with Mr Howard from the world of music, and we sat in the beer garden, in defiance of common sense, enjoying the echoes of sunlight that were imprinted on the scene from earlier. We were both on pints of the rather smashing Raw Mount Adam, a zingily hoppy, fruity, pale beer cramming in loads of flavour at 3.6%.
We were soon joined by Steve who went for old reliable Deception whilst I had another Raw. As our conversation turned to that Woman the atmosphere became more charged and passionate and it was only right that my next pint was of Steel City Brewing Metal Fatigue, with just the right amount of bitterness to represent the feelings of the brewers toward the subject figure, and just enough hops to make its drinking enjoyable and valedictory at the same time. A very good beer.
More Raw followed but alas Dave and Stave were off to get smashed on Buckfast and play gin rummy (have I remembered this right?!) so I stopped for a last one before heading on to eat. That last beer was a pint of the strong Arbor and Bristol beer factory English IPA, a surprisingly soupy but not unenjoyable concoction that may have been brewed with British hops.
My final and thus non session stop off was in the Bath Hotel, where I had one of their legendary hot roast pork sarnies, a half of Raw Pacific Gem and a pint of the Bristol Beer Factory Bitter Californian. There's been plenty of Brizzle stuff up in Sheffield lately and quite frankly that can only be a good thing.
So it seems that I have used the above recipe to end up in two cracking pubs drinking great beer. Although, having left to go to the Bath, I think I've not completely nailed this new hobby. Here's to my getting plenty more practice at staying in pubs for a long time.....
Wee Beefy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)