Drinking in the Drink Inn

Hello folks,

        I thought it about time that I made you aware of my experiences of the above activity, which prior to the unending death of medically engineered sobriety, took place quite regularly. I have to say, as well as being a thoroughly decent boozer, my visits are partly a tribute, especially not being keen on the Bankers, to the Three Tuns. It seems that their closing has impacted strongly on my drinking life, not least my trying the Drink Inn. Sure I still see Nate as he now works in the cradle of greatness which is Shakespeares, but I probably popped in the Tuns every other day....

Anyhoo, at the beginning of April I was orf to see Tash and waited 65 minutes for a number 40 to not bother showing up, so headed into town on the X5, alighting on Commercial street. Thirsty, after the near nine minute journey, I decided to pop in the Drink Inn. Having heard on Faceache that it sold mainly Carling and Bradfield I wasn't holding out much hope for decent beer but of course, ye Faceachers pulleth mine leg. Though reserved, there are a fine selection of slurps in the Drink.

I noticed he had a new-fangled keg ale on as well as some decent cask - I had a half of the Sheffield brewing Co Seven Hills on account of not having had any for a while, and a whole pint of the Beavertown Gamma Ray. To be fair, the Gamma Ray was over a £1.00 a percent at £5.60 for a 5.4% beer - so near Dev Cat or Sheffield Tap crazy prices, but it was my first visit and after being questioned carefully about what I wanted I decided to bite the bullet and gulp the juice. It was, in case of doubts, delicious. There's even a link here to details about it. I also quaffed a can of Wild beer which was on offer at something inexpensive, alas in the time since, I have forgotten its moniker....

My next visit saw me in for a quick one with Matty on his way to WF's. We each had a pint of the Hawkshead Great White cloudy wheat beer at 4.5% and £3.50 a pint. It occurred to me that this was also slightly pricey but in fact, you can hardly get any pint for under £3.50 in much of Sheffield now. The Drink is quite central after all, and being a micropub, relies on a small stock to get by. The Great White, by the way, was in absolutely excellent condition and went down far far too easily.

My third and fourth visits, with Tash both times, saw them running short of stock re wines, which is a shame, since Tash drinks more wine than anything else these days. That said, the gentleman did us a deal and charged us less for the more expensive one when the other ran out. I also had a fantastic can of BrewDog Neon Overlord chilli IPA, which I understand was quite difficult to get hold of. Despite the fears of Meathouse, this was very tasty and the chilli did not overawe. During the snooker finals a man came in claiming to be an American tourist who sang a couple of sings, although, it seems, on his last visit he had been Irish....

Our last visit together saw more wine shortages but Drone Valley Treeshekker dry cider was on so I think Tash had that and some lovely gin and tonic. This s also where I finally ran out of credit on my lovely card which I never had niver. A final stop off with Matty and Tash saw us enjoying Gamma Ray and some from a cask, which would have had a name, you know, in order to differentiate it from other products. We also had some rather fab Hobgoblin crisps from Burts.

The Drink Inn is deceptively large as there is seating at the back next to the bar, and has its own branded glasses. The beer has always been well kept and he keeps an interesting range of cans and bottles form microbreweries. The man himself is from Nottingham and has a name, I dunno, Rob, Richard, Pete, Ethel, one of those, or of many others. Since I normally call him Ay up it scarcely matters. Tash had a chat to him every time she was there and he seems like a decent genuine bloke. He told me they get big crowds for events and on matchdays so its well worth selling Carling as that is the most popular drink. A sensible business decision.

As soon as am off meds I will be popping into the Drink, in more ways than one, as soon as I can. In the meantime I wish man from Nottingham with a name all the very best, and hope you will also pop in for a drink. At the Drink Inn.

You very bestestest of health


Wee Beefy

Drinking tea in Shakespeares

Hello,

            its important at the early stage of this post to confirm the above was not me. I do drink tea, yes, but that is one of many things that I do at home that I do not undertake in Shakespeares, or indeed any other pub. Trimming my facial hair, cleaning my teeth and stroking Benny* are a few others.

Anyhoo it was after overtime and two couples came in and the two Ladies of the group expressed concern at drinking more beer in another pub and it was, perhaps by them suggested they had a cup of tea. Chris said this could be done. All of a sudden they seemed quite embarrassed. Sensing their unease I decided it would help if I calmed them down. So I said "Its OK you are the second and third customers I have seen order a cup f tea in here. In six years.....

The group were from sunny Scunny and comprised Dave, Lee, Kate and Katrina, or another female name with a "c" or a "k" at the beginning. Or, it could be none of these. They had nipped into sunny Sheffield for a days drinking and were heading for the BrewDog bar next. Having established that they could now receive emails alright I had quite a good chat with them.

I was on Kernel Mosaic IPA at 7.1%. In a surprising development, it was chuffing ace. Cloudy, or as I now say "London Opaque" and absolutely bursting with hoppy juicy bitterness from the Mosaic. This was, quite frankly, an excellent pint. I had three just to make sure, along with a Red Willow Wreckless (or similar) at 6.6%. Although I had this first and enjoyed it, this could not match the excellence of the Kernel.

I had been drinking the same the night before on payday. Am fairly certain that I didn't have anything else to drink that night, apart from a pint of the Blue Bee Eukanot and two of the Hopjacker Beer House pale at the Bar Stewards. They have finished their stint of temporary licences and are well on their way to securing a full or at least long term license to sell bose. I wish Al and Charlie all the very best in their future operations at the micropub.

I went there three times this weekend, once to start, once to take Wee Keefy who had never visited before (and according to his camera to have a mini Beefdoze) and once for a pint and a bottle of Augustiner Edelstoff lager to take to Mr P's. A fantastic beer if you have not tried it.

My last mention this month goes to the Drink Inn micropub on Commercial street. One of the side effects of the Three Tuns closing is there are very few places to go near the tram line which serve decent real ales and aren't the Bankers. he Drink Inn fits the bill perfectly. I have probably been in about four or five times in the last month and enjoyed it every one. Especially the can of BrewDog chilli IPA that I tried.

Well worth popping in for a taster. As the Bar Stewards will be when they reopen in a month or three's time. Huzaah!

Cheers

Wee Beefy


*Benny is a cat.